Thursday 21 August 2014

Catching Up

We have had a busy, fun week and I am grateful for these past days.

At the weekend we caught up with some longstanding friends, who we have not seen in over three years!  Guillermo and his family have travelled over from Spain and have been in the area these past few weeks:

 The man himself taking photos.



 Showing off his cowboy boots that his older daughter brought back from Oklahoma on a school exchange.  The kids pretend that they are not with him when he wears them :-)




 Pip with Carmen and Paula.



Benedict and Pip have spent some extra time at holiday club this week.  The whole experience has been such a positive boost for Benedict's confidence and he has been buzzing everyday with new information and has loved hanging out with the other kids.  Needless to say he was quite sad, coming home today as the realisation of his situation sunk in :-(  I am praying that something good will happen for him soon and I know that God has a special plan for him, so this keeps me going :-)



 Yoda Pip!



 A medium sized Japanese Knot Bag for Miss G, the head at Pip's school and the mastermind behind the three week holiday club.  She was there everyday from seven in the morning until six at night and was not paid a penny!  The other army of helpers were paid out of a special fund.  She is a keen knitter and I thought she would appreciate somewhere to keep her many projects.  Her office currently looks like a tornado has swept through, leaving a trail of chaos in its wake ~ hama beads, kids toys, spare school uniforms, books, books and more books! Knitting projects, stuffed toys, photographs, coffee mugs, musical instruments and paper strewn everywhere!!  Despite the chaos, I bet she can lay her hand to anything needed :-)



Dave and I have not lain idle, we have caught up on paperwork, the household budget ( sorely needed), the top part of the house has had a jolly good clean and I even managed some baking for the kids lunches at holiday club:



 Pizza Pinwheels ~ the savoury version of cheese and tomato.




The sweet version ~ peanut butter and chocolate spread.



Tomorrow we are off to Cumbria to visit Kathryn and Mary Grace, so no doubt there'll be plenty of pics of the little one.

Tootles, San x 




 

7 comments:

Eva said...

How did you become friends with people from Spain? Glad to hear that the kids had a wonderful time and you got some things done. Why is the bag called Japanese knot bag? Have fun with Mary Grace!!

Eva said...

Oh, and the boot story is funny.

Sandra Ann said...

We met Guillermo when we were trying to run a Home of The Mother camp for girls in the summer of 2007. He was lecturing at Liverpool university and had his family staying with him for that year.

Guillermo knew of Emma's order and was looking for activities for the kids as a means of keeping them occupied and also improving their English.

Sadly the camp did not work out but thanks to the kindness of our priest friend, the family were able to stay in an empty priest residence in Kirby Lonsdale, Cumbria and so when they can they visit make a trip to England.

Their son who is Benedict's age was not with them for this trip as he has been attending school in Oklahoma for the past month and on the return journey home, Carmen the next youngest at fourteen will be staying in Ireland for three months to lodge with a Catholic family and attend school.

Guillermo has travelled extensively as part of his work as a university lecturer and he values the opportunities for his family to improve their English speaking skills. They are one very special family and we are blessed to know them.

Sandra Ann said...

As for the bag the handles slip together and form a knot as part of the folding mechanism. The design itself originates from Japan hence the name. There are some really quirky sewing patterns from Japan, you don't have to be able to read Japanese to follow them but you do have to be competent in sewing to use the drawings as your main guide.

Hope this makes sense! I am awake as a result of another back injury. I leant forward to pin some material and felt a crack in my back and was unable to straighten for five minutes! Not great and we are looking after MG whilst Kath is at work but I know the kids will do a great job at keeping her entertained ;-)

Sue Elvis said...

San,

I love the teapot bag. You are very talented! Miss G sounds like a beautiful person.

sustainablemum said...

I too hope you find a way for Benedict :). What a lovely generous present you have made :)

Eva said...

Thanks San, for the long reply. It does sound like an interesting family. The son all alone in Oklahoma! He seems to be almost too little for that. I am sorry about your back and hope this will not happen again.