MY MAY DAZE!

Before my daughter's baby was born in March I would never have believed that once Alfred was born I would spend so much time with them both. He is eleven weeks old today and I don't think there's been that many days where we haven't seen each other if only for a short while. As Kate is returning to work in September it's been really great to spend so much time together. I've had lots of cups of tea, quite a few lunches and endless cuddles with Alfred so how can I not be happy.

May has just flown by so I thought I really must get back to my blog and give a quick update of other things I've been up to.

We've been talking about taking my parents for a sightseeing drive around London for sometime and as it was my mum's 91st birthday last week we thought it was an ideal opportunity to take them on a tour. They both were born in East London, Dad in Plaistow and Mum in Stepney so we headed off in that direction and then on to Stratford so they could see the Olympic village, they were quite amazed. 

From there we headed into the city and parked so that Dad and I could walk down to the bank where he used to work. He found that quite nostalgic I think but was pleased that we went.

We drove along the embankment pointing out the Shard and other new buildings and then headed to Canary Wharf where I'd booked a table for lunch. We were lucky the rain held off until the afternoon so we were able to to have a pre lunch drink sitting outside. Mum and Dad reminsced about their younger days and told us many stories, some we'd heard before but others we hadn't.

We all had such a good time, it was a perfect day.

Unfortunately both Charlotte and Jack were under the weather over the bank holiday weekend so on Monday Jessica came to us for the afternoon. Her Grandad was working on his boat in the garage (I shall post a photo next time!) and after watching me for a while sewing she headed outside to do some woodwork herself. Between them she helped create this little table which she was very proud of.

This week we've had a family day out. Our plan was to go to Walton on the Naze but with the children recovering from their ailments we decided just to head for our park by the river in Maldon.
Carter's Steam Fair  is there this week so Charlotte and Jessica loved that and along with Kate they enjoyed flying high. Jo and I took the easy option and watched them while minding the babies. That was thrilling enough for us!

Encouraged by everyone's comments regarding Blossom the rag doll, I made Tom.

 He was a rather difficult little man to make. The week before last it took me 3 hours to make 3 arms!
You may be questioning 3 arms but, even worse there wasn't a matching pair amongst them. I was so frustrated with it all I gave up. A whole week later, I picked him up again, undid 2 of the arms and remade them.  He did eventually turn out ok but I think he's quite delicate and will need plenty of TLC.

And finally, having said, no more yarn until Yarndale, I have just received my order of Drops Muscat to make the girls little jackets for their holidays. They are very excited as I emailed the colour chart to Charlotte and let them choose the colours for themselves. Mint green for Charlotte and the orange for Jessica.

Message to self: I must not start these until I've sewn up the cardigans for the boys!!!

CELEBRATING AT THE TOP!

Last Monday, when I opened my birthday present, I thought, how lovely, we're going to spend next weekend in London and then I thought, oh dear and I don't feel at my best.

Tuesday came and husband stayed at home. He now didn't feel well either and I wasn't feeling any better.

We'd been struck with this head cold type of thing that gave us continual headaches, fuzzy heads, loss of appetite and just generally lacking in energy. 

Wednesday for him was only a slight improvement but my determination kicked in and I thought myself much better. Only I wasn't and on Thursday with the weekend looming I decided that a doctors appointment was my way forward and thankfully I managed to get one.

So on Friday arm in arm with my husband and my antiobotics off we went for our weekend in London.

It was the first time I'd been out for a couple of days and the blast of fresh air seemed to do us both good as we wandered along Southbank on our way to the hotel.

When I originally saw that Michael had booked matinee tickets for the Saturday to see Made in Dagenham, I laughed and asked if he'd booked the earlier tickets to ensure I stayed awake during the performance. Thankfully, I was relieved he had done as I don't think either of us would have been able to keep our eyes open, if it had been in the evening.

We really enjoyed the show, it made us laugh and as every hour passed we were beginning to feel so much better.

Sunday came and with it, lots of lovely bright sunshine.

Perfect for our afternoon up the Shard.

First stop, a lovely brunch, I'd call it lunch in the Oblix lounge and as luck would have it a table next to the window.

This is from level 32 and I took it with my phone.

After lunch we had to return down to the bottom before making our way up to the viewing platform on level 72. Here I let Michael take over with his camera to take the photos while I enjoyed the view.

We had a wonderful afternoon and from there set off back to where our car was parked and home. As we walked we chatted about the Shard and I wondered how on earth they would be able to keep all of that glass clean.

"Oh, it's all self cleaning" he said.

"Really!", I never miss a trick, "well, in that case why haven't we got that glass in our windows at home, we'll have that next!"

I simply hate, cleaning windows. 

THE TIGER THAT CAME TO TEA!

Firstly I must thank everyone for the lovely comments re my stay home vacation!

My tale for this week.

Last summer we had a ladies and little ladies trip to London to see We're Going on a Bear Hunt and because we enjoyed it so much we decided to go again this year.  

This time to see

The children were bubbling with excitement and we all had a spring in our step when we got off the tube train at Oxford Circus and set off down Regent Street.

It was only about 11am, and not overly busy. It was quite pleasant looking in the shop windows.

When we got to Hamleys, well, then we did have to deviate inside but as luck would have it, it was fairly quiet.  Charlotte and Jessica had a great time looking around and when we left none of us were overheated and gasping for fresh air. On our visits in the past the shop has been crowded and so busy.

We took Kate and Robert in there once when they were little and poor Kate became really hot and bothered and by the time we had reached the very top floor, she felt so sick. Though we rushed to get her outside we  didn't quite make it to the exit, in time.

I can guarantee every visit since, this memory always provokes a comment when we enter the shop and on this occasion, it was no different.

This time, it was Kate who said, " Do you remember when.......?"

Leaving Hamleys, with new colouring pens for Charlotte, those silly little wind up toys that do little tricks and make you laugh until they break, for Jessica and a Hamleys bear for Jack we headed to Piccadilly for our lunch in Jamies Italian.

The food there was pretty good and enjoyed by us all!

The Tiger Who Came to Tea at the Lyric Theatre was really good fun. It's only a little show, just on for an hour but as we found last year, such a great way of introducing young children to the theatre without them getting fidgety and bored.

Back outside for some fresh air we decided to go and see the poppies at the Tower of London. 

Charlotte and Jessica have been learning about the First World War and had taken part in our local parade with the brownies to mark its centenery. 

The poppies are amazing.

  

We couldn't start our journey home until we'd been re-energised with cups of tea and cake but finally we headed back to the train station having had, we all agreed, a wonderful day!

TAKING TIME OUT!

Last weekend Michael and I went for a really nice break away. We stayed overnight at a hotel near  London Excel and on Saturday evening we took the Emirates cable car across to the O2 arena.

Considering how close we live to London, this was our first visit to the O2 and we were there because we were seeing The Who! in concert. Neither of us have ever actually been Who fans in the past but I felt it was a band that we needed to see. They certainly didn't disappoint, being on stage for just over 2 hours I was just amazed how brilliant they were. If I've got half of their energy when I get to their age, I'll be ecstatic. We had a great time!

Wednesday saw me back in London again, this time with Miriam and Diane to visit the exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum - Kaffe Fassett A Life in Colour.

Lots of interesting designs and use of colour could be seen there and it did give me inspiration to work with hats and buttons.  A future project perhaps!

With no knitting on the go at the moment I am just enjoying dabbling with my crochet. I have got a pattern and drops apaca yarn ready to make a baby jacket but when I checked the pattern the jacket and buttonhole border is knitted as one and as the sex of the baby is unknown so I've got to wait a while before I start. Anyway sometimes it is nice to do something different and it will give me a chance to work out what  else I want to make.

Apart from that July is a busy baking time, both granddaughters and my son celebrate their birthdays and all three like me to make their cakes.

So I am researching ideas for a policeman's helmet, minnie mouse and moshi monsters. Any help with these ideas would be much appreciated!