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Friday 30 September 2011

Musings- Found them...

I have joked that while we are on the Isle of Anglesey we are going to hunt down Prince William and his new wife. Sadly we haven't seen them, most likely because we saw them on the news last night talking to some kids in a hospital. And that hospital was not on the island! How inconvenient, didn't they know that we were coming? :)

Anyway, this afternoon while walking around the outskirts of Caernarfon Castle, I spotted this in a tourist shop window...


Face masks of the happy couple. I thought it was such a fitting end to our holiday that I just had to take a photo.

So I ask you... Where did you last holiday and what Royals did you see? :) xx


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Thursday 29 September 2011

Photo - Sand, sea and a spade...

We know she is a little bit young but we couldn't resist getting Katharine a bucket and spade. :) xx


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Wednesday 28 September 2011

Musings - Checking in...

So I thought I should check in properly and let you know how the holiday is going. We are having a great time! The weather is amazing to say that it is the end of September, I know I keep saying that but we are so pleased. :)

We have been travelling around the island visiting castles and beaches, haven't found Prince William yet though. The coast in outstanding, I have been snapping away with the camera.

In the evenings we have been so tired that we have been playing Scrabble and cards which has been hilarious. Katharine has been so over stimulated that getting her to sleep has been a nightmare but she always wakes up sunny.

Anyway we have almost reached our morning destination so I will sign off.

But here is a quick photo of Kieran enjoying the weather... :) xx


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Tuesday 27 September 2011

Photo - History...

Today we are visiting Beaumaris Castle and its town. Bit windy but the sun on the water is amazing. :) xx


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Monday 26 September 2011

Photo - Getting sunburnt...

It's the end of September and just look how beautiful the weather at the beach is. :) xx


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Sunday 25 September 2011

Photo - Going Costal...

Up bright and early this morning for a quick drive to the coast while we find a place to visit. :) xx


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Saturday 24 September 2011

Musings - From The Fax to The Angle...

Well we are on our way. The car is packed, to the brim, very heavy, but we got it all in. :)


Poor Rohan, she looks like she is part of the luggage. She won't mind though when she is running around the beach, eating dead crabs, being spoilt because her Grandparents are with us. I can't wait to see Katharine's face when we dip her toes in the sea and build her very first sand castle, weather permitting.

Well I best stop for now because, oddly, typing on the iPhone while we are in motion is making me feel a little sea sick. I guess that rules a boat trip out, ha ha.

:) xx

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Friday 23 September 2011

Photo - Insisting...

Poor Rohan, she just doesn't understand that Katharine is too young to play. :) xx


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Thursday 22 September 2011

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (22nd September 2011)

Writing as part of Mama Kat's Writing Workshop

WHERE I’M FROM

I am from Sunday bus rides to my Grandparents house in Sunday best with boredom Sunday smiles, from factor 50 sun cream yet still I burned and stationery fetishes for pencils, pens and the like.

I am from the street that Nelson named, from red brick warmth and sparkling window panes. From my very own stripy room filled with books, dreams and the luscious Ethan Hawke pinned in place. The sound of laughter, the smell of cake, the sight of family and the taste of melted chocolate and home made bubbling fudge.

I am from the purple clustered heather, the Bronte wilderness of rolling moors harsh with barren beauty, blustery with high up winds, untidy hair, pink cheeks.

I am from Christmas Eve presents tauntingly laying under the tree and finding strength in laughter even when hearts do break, from Lorna but not the one of the Doones and the Carters of the Village and the Rhodes’ of the Den.

I am from blurred vision, pathetic eyes yet pretty spectacles. From size six feet from the women on my mother’s side and their love of shoes which clashes with the thriftiness of the men on my father’s side.

From reaching for dreams, aspiring to be something better than I am and not eating too much raw cake mix when I am licking the chocolate covered spoon.

I am from Henry’s Church, formed of England whether right or wrong. Lapse, undecided, guilty, longing for that peace but unwilling to mix faith with the restrictions of religion and the damage caused in its name. I am from a belief in Angels, choosing them as my guidance and living life as Gabriel would want.

I’m from a lineage of Yorkies, the White Rose being the flower of my birth, from a long line of Fredericks and an ancestry that is something I have yet to discover beyond my father’s father’s father. I am from mince pies at Christmas made every year without fail and Maltesers and Toblerone and arctic roll.

From the Uncle who when sitting in his pram with sweets was accosted by the farm yard pig who took a fancy, grabbed a little arm and took off as fast as little trotters and wheels would allow, no long term damage though other than the story frequently told, and the Grandfather of the Village who grow in his allotment, who was quiet and brusque and who met me but I not him.

I am from suitcases stored and filled with albums stuffed with photos, walls covered and surfaces littered with frames and treasures. Souvenirs from visits, vacations and occasions tell the story of this is me, this is us, that was them. Life, lives that have been lived documented, told through smiling fuzzy random snaps, Snaps so precious as they hold time at a stand still while its parallel charges forward evolving history into anecdotes and sighs.

I am from love, laughter and longing. :) xx

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Photo - Both alike...

The monster and the monsterette. :) xx


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Tuesday 20 September 2011

Question: 27

What am I going to do come January when I have to leave my baby? Sob. :( xx

Monday 19 September 2011

Photo - Gimme gimme gimme

How am I supposed to resist these puppy dog eyes? :) xx


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Sunday 18 September 2011

Musings - Rugby...

This Sunday morning we are sat in our pyjamas watching the Rugby World Cup, England are playing Georgia, White versus Red, both teams bizarrely with a cross of Saint George on their flag. In our house rugby is the national game, football blah blah blah.


Rugby is a thugs game played by gentlemen, I always love that saying. It is a game not about hair styles, torrid affairs, what the wives are wearing or about how the latest manager is trying to get out of their contract because basically they have been crap.

It is about skill, team work and appreciating that your opposing team is as excellent as you are.

The next World Cup will take place on home soil, four years from now. That gives us enough time to save for tickets and enough time for Katharine to be old enough to come along with us and enjoy the game.

What do you consider your national game?

:) xx

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Saturday 17 September 2011

Photo - Just the two of us...

How cute are we!? :) xx


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Friday 16 September 2011

Snippet - Apps...

Some times my iPhone impresses me beyond belief, or rather the apps that are available do. Last night I downloaded Instagram, a photo app that is soooo much fun. To try it out I took a photo of my gross mocha cup but see... how artful does it look through the power of an App.


Okay so it still looks pretty gross but it WAS only my first attempt. :) xx

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Thursday 15 September 2011

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (15th September 2011)

Advice to new mothers...

I am a new Mum. Well, newish, my daughter is five months and one week old exactly, so I guess as I will be her mother for the next sixty(ish) years, five months is the tip of the iceberg.

So, yeah, I am a new Mum.
But I am not going to be the one giving the advice today, Katharine is.
And she can be quite stern... already.

Hi, I'm Katharine Lorelai, stubborn and bloody minded, five months old, wise beyond my years... listen up!

1. Get Some Fresh Air - Even if you are just stood on the doorstep, breathe. If you are anything like my mother you will find that you go through an entire day without even stepping foot out of the front door. Don't do it! Recycled air makes you grumpy, which makes me (your baby) grumpy and that won't work for anyone!

2. Stop Spending - You are going to see soooo many cute outfits, little t-shirts, shoes and socks, baby jeans which make you go awwww but stop! In the name of reason and a healthy bank balance stop! Babies are going to grow out of anything you buy in about two weeks, trust me, growing is what we do, it's our speciality. :) 

3. Brush Your Hair - So simple yet so important. Your baby will not want to get its first impressions of the matriarch looking like a scarecrow. But at the same time you are going to be feeling gross, you will be feeling hot, sticky, tired and well, like I said... gross. Brushing your hair will make you feel, bizarrely, so much better! It is freaky but taking two minutes to comb your locks will rejuvenate you from feeling like a limp rag to a slightly less limp rag. :)

4. I Might Just Wanna Scream - You have fed me, changed me, hugged me, cooled me, warmed me, napped me and still I scream. Unless there are obvious signs that I am ill or lacking something then trust me I just want to make some noise. Imagine being surrounded by giants who don't have a clue what you are on about, insist on talking to you in exaggerated high pitched tones, strip you naked just because you have done a wee and give you nasty white froth for every meal... yeah you'd wail a bit too!

5. Big Bag Of Stuff -  You don't need to take the entire house with you when you take me out. A bum change, an accident clothing change and maybe something to eat. That's it. To start with, like my mother, you will take bags and boxes of nonsense with you, but never fear, practice makes for a perfectly packed baby bag.

6. Time Out - For sanity's sake try and get some time out. While the baby sleeps try not to think about the washing and cleaning that needs to be done, or the meals that need to be cooked or... you get the picture. Try and sit and relax, have a breather, a cup of coffee, a nap, anything that is just for you and you alone. Sometimes new mums get overwhelmed and the woman that preceded the new mum status is lost. Find her, sooth her, you might need her again some day.

And one last thing, as you are probably reading this with one eye on the screen and one eye on the washing machine...

7. Day Time TV - AVOID IT!!! It will warp your mind.

:) xx

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Photo - Forty Winks...

I do so love that the wee ones love each other. :) xx



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Location:Guess?

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Photo - Power of the Pen...

Vandalising Grandma's shopping list. :) xx



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Monday 12 September 2011

Snippet - Old? Me? How did that happen...

Today I turned 31. I feel slightly blindsided by it. I mean 31!

When I turned 30 it didn't seem too bad, it was the lid on the twenties sure but it wasn't screwed down tight, I could still peep back if I needed to. I was still so close to being 29 that for at least half the year my decisions made as a twenty something carried over. I could still grasp at the straws of my just after youth years.

31 feels strangely like I have tightened that lid, put it in a box, taped it up and posted it off to the archive storage facility that holds my energy and unwrinkled forehead. I swear when I woke up this morning my varicose veins were bigger, my boobs a little more relaxed and I am convinced there was something wrong with the bathroom mirror as that haggard old witch staring back can't possibly be me.

I groan louder too when I get up... oh dear.

But I think the thing that is getting to me most is that another year has passed where I have slacked through my life. Sure I had a baby, that's a huge non slacking thing to do, but I am no closer to getting done all the things I want to get done.

Am I going to wake up tomorrow and open nicely decorated 40 cards and realise that I have blinked through another decade?

I hope not.

Let's hope that the thirties are the new twenties... I will not get old! I am determined...

I might age, but I refuse to get old! :) xx

Sunday 11 September 2011

Photo - Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Kieran! 31 today. :) xx


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Saturday 10 September 2011

Photo - Mr and Miss...

Book ends having a rest after all the fun and frolics. :) xx



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Photo - Craziness all round...

Rohan's boyfriend has come for the day. :) xx



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Friday 9 September 2011

Observation - Science Fiction

Is it just me or is the television and movie world producing some amazing science fiction offerings of late?

Last night we watched the next instalment of TeenWolf and this morning we started to watch Lost Girl... Now being avid fans of the genre we have high expectations and find ourselves, at the moment, unable to be disappointed.

I am going to do some research this week and see what else we SHOULD be watching.

Any recommendations?

:) xx

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Thursday 8 September 2011

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (8th September 2011)

I am finding it hard to choose a writing prompt today. In all the time I have been visiting Mama Kat this has only happened once before. It's not that I don't have things to write, at the moment I have never been more inspired, it is more that I do not have anything adequate to say about any of the prompts.

I have never shoved anyone, not that I can remember doing anyway and as I am determined to keep this blog honest I didn't want to make up some story about me getting all UFC on some one's ass. Though I know that if it came to it, I definitely have a protective streak that would happily do a little shoving to protect mine and theirs.

As for first day of school and a summer recap, with Katharine only being little we have no stories yet to tell. And as our summer has been torrential rain... we have spent most of the time in side.

And of course my blog is full of hoarding stories so that would have been far too easy.

I toyed with the idea of sharing my 911 memories, of how being in the UK I was forced to watch everything from afar on the TV, feeling shocked and emotional... but then via email feed I read this post this morning Adventure's in Blogging: A future Nurse and NEW Dad!!!. I love reading Jim's posts and today he made me cry as I read his 911 memories.

I realised that it would be wrong of me to try and write about my vague memories of another Countries pain. So today, click on the link above and read what Jim wrote.

:) xx

Mama’s Losin’ It

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Snippet - Away game...

Recently I have been blogging on the go, usually from the master bedroom while I am straightening my hair or from the nursery while Katharine necks a pint of milk.

I am in training.

At the end of September we are heading out on holiday. The Isle of Anglesey is to be our destination, for those of you who are not sure where that is let's just say that this is the home of Prince William and his new bride. :) Anyway, we are going for a week which means that the amount of stuff we are going to have to take for a family of three plus a furry one is going to fill the car to the brim.

Which means that somethings are going to be left behind, no not the husband, ha ha... my laptop. There isn't even going to be room for Netty the pink Netbook. So I have taken it upon myself to practice with the alternative option... my iPhone.

So over the next couple of weeks if my spelling is off, the justification just not quite right and the photos a little unpolished remember I am somewhere on the curve of learning and will be perfect in time.

:) xx

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Photo - 1 of the 5...

Katharine's Grandma only offered her a lick... The child went pear crazy. :) xx



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Monday 5 September 2011

Photo - A thing of beauty...

My parents bought me this for Christmas 1993,
it still works and I still love it. :) xx

Sunday 4 September 2011

Photo - A diva already...

Don't you just hate getting your hair wet...


:) xx

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Saturday 3 September 2011

Musings - Cheating...

Despite the semi-sensational subject title, this post is not about what you think it is going to be about... that is of course if you are actually thinking what I thought you might be thinking. If not still read on as I will get to my point eventually.

The thing is...

Last might I cheated on my blog!

It started out as a simple act of curiosity (isn't that what they all say?), a simple 'I wonder if that lawn is a tad more emerald than mine' and I found myself over at WordPress.com.

Yes, I even set up their free blog. I even played around a bit, chose a theme, pilfered my blogger header image. I feel so ashamed, weak, traitorous, confused... I don't know why I did it other than, perhaps, a subconscious need to move forward with my memoirs of existence.

But would it be moving forward?
Is WordPress better than blogger or just different?

Argh! Advice is required on this one...

Can any body out there help?

:) xx

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Friday 2 September 2011

Photo - Like Mother like...

If ever she is to inherit anything from me... My love of books would be high up on the list. :) xx




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Thursday 1 September 2011

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (1st September 2011)

Write a post about a childhood memory as if you're in that memory... from the perspective of yourself as that child.

I am eight and half. My favourite subject at school is Mathematics, I am currently taller than all my class mates, I am in love with Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block fame, I read ALL the time, I am precocious...

My bed time is eight thirty...

Hercule Poirot, my new favorite television show doesn't finish until nine...

I make a deal with my parents. The deal is that at nine o'clock when the show finishes and the credits are rolling up the screen, I have to run up the stairs with no chatter or messing about. I need to be in bed by five past with my eyes closed and the duvet tucked under my chin.

We shake hands, that was three weeks ago, the plan is working well.

But tonight, I am wide awake. I resent my enforced bedtime, even the extended one.

As the credits start to roll and the theme music plays I grin to myself in my armchair and close my eyes. I hear my Dad get up from the sofa when I don't do my usual jumping up act. He gently taps my shoulder but I stay really still. For effect I even pretend to snore slightly, he buys it! From her opposite side of the sofa my Mum tells him he might as well carry me up.

I stifle a giggle...

I feel him lift me and try to keep still, try and keep my eyes shut. I am not a small child, I am tall for my age but my build fits my frame. With my eyes closed I picture the journey across the living room to the bottom of the stairs. I hear my Mum follow, her slippers shuffle on the carpet.

My Dad whispers about how heavy I am, my mum says I look lovely when I am asleep.

I stifle another giggle...

We slowly make it up the stairs, it's awkward, my feet touch the wallpaper, I feel muscles strain around me. I can't believe I have got away with it. He has carried me to the top. I can't control myself any longer.

I start to giggle and open my eyes...

"Are you awake?!" He asks incredulously.
"Yup, the whole time." I am laughing now, whole heartedly. So is my Mum, she has sat down on a step half way up looking at my Dad as he tries to be all indignant.

Then he starts to giggle too because between me and my Mum the resistence to laughter is futile. I am chased into bed, kissed goodnight and told that next week... I had better make a run for it. :)

(This story, over the next 22 years, has been told many times, usually by my parents when I am trying to con my Dad into / out of something... it still amuses me but what I love most is that such a simple memory amuses them.)

:) xx

Writing as part of Mama Kat's Writing Workshop
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