This And That

Five

Mary - Grace turned five on Wednesday, goodness how the time flies!

 Kathryn made the cake and it was delicious :-)  Lovely to see Our Lady in the background keeping an eye on our very own Mary!

Oliver Bear

 Pip met Ollie for the first time on Saturday.

I have been visiting on a weekly basis to help out, have catch up time with Sara and Grandma cuddles with Ollie Bear!  The following photos were taken on Thursday:

 My friend Sallie made this beautiful playmat/quilt, all the many different ways of saying "Hello!" throughout the world. The butterflies on the mat, were those from Sara's wedding dress!  Sara says, that Ollie loves looking at the cards and chatting to his toys ;-)

 "Goodness me, where did that bear come from?!"

 Our little bears first outing in Grandma's car.  We took a short drive down to the prom and had tea and cake overlooking the bay.  Here are some photos of Sara and Ollie on Monday in the exact same spot, courtesy of Grannie W:

Ben The Worker

  Ben has been involved with volunteering projects at our local water mill, assisting with the tours, serving in the cafe and assisting with grounds maintenance.  As a volunteer he also qualifies for expenses and so has enjoyed taking his mum out for a coffee treat after college on a Thursday!  Here he is having a well deserved break from serving tea and coffee after Easter Sunday mass at our home parish.

Other News

My job contract finished at the end of February, so I am back to crafting in the loft room.  I have plans to actually attend one or two local craft fairs with a friend over the summer, so hopefully this venture will prove to a worthy one.

Ben finally returned to college last week, so we are slowly trying to find our groove in the home school classroom.  He is working right through until the end of June, when he finishes for the summer.  I've already told Pip that we are working through until the end of July, so let the whining commence once July rolls around!!

In addition to volunteering duties, Ben alongside some of the other lads from Heron Corn Mill have been working on a music project.  He really enjoys the sessions, so much so, he used some of his birthday/christmas money to buy a small keyboard that links up to the computer and music maker software.  

Hope you have enjoyed the family pics and I'm now off to check up on those of you that blog x   

 

Welcome Baby Oliver

This little guy was born at 3:01 pm on Thursday 15th March.

Sara's labour started at 11pm on Tuesday 13th March, so it was a long, long stretch :-)  She did amazingly well and we are really proud of her.  There were a few hairy moments and I don't think I have prayed so hard in all my life!  Mother and baby are doing well and we hope to meet this cutie sometime soon.

Mother's Day Meet Up :: A Cat In A Case

Yesterday was Mothering Sunday here in the UK.  It always occurs in the fourth Sunday of Lent and was traditionally a time when those working in service, were allowed this day to return to their mother church and spend time with their families.  We managed to catch up with our respective mothers and Kath and MG on Friday, so today was a Sara and Tom day:

 I made heart shaped scones which we served with olive spread and blackcurrant jam.  We met at our favourite place in Grange and interestingly enough this was the same place where Sara and Tom announced their pregnancy!

 39 weeks and a few days and so ready for Nutkin to be born, hope this wee one soon puts in an appearance :-)

Pip was most definitely not in the mood for having her photo taken!

 

 A Cat in A Case

"What do you mean,I'm not supposed to be in here?"

" Surely you can work round me, 'cos after all I'm not sat on all of the books and papers."

" Good, that's settled then, I'm staying put for the time being!"

Woolly Wednesday On A Cold Winter's Day

The whole of the country has been hit by The Beast from The East (a cold wind from Siberia).  Thankfully we have been so far spared a red weather warning, but the temperatures did not venture much above 0C.  After having checked the weather we decided to make the short journey (40 minutes) to visit Sara and Tom.  I managed to finish three cardigans for baby Nutkin and given the extreme temperatures, they will be put to good use.

 Three gender neutral cardigans, although Kath did wonder whether I had an inkling that Nutkin is a boy!  To be honest I haven't a clue, but either way these cardigans will keep the little one warm ;-)

 This book is based around one of my favourite folk songs.

 My heart was cheered when I saw it and even though I'm only a few pages in, it is promising to be a really good read.

 A crocheted blanket should carry a health warning!! 

 I have had to take a break on this project for a while and then only work on it a row at a time.  When I was working on it continuously, the pain in my shoulder and down my right arm worsened.  In addition I developed a terrible pain in my neck and one morning I woke up and found it very difficult to move :-(  I am glad therefore that I have had knitting instead to keep me busy!

 Laughing at Dave taking a photo of me driving!  It was a challenge to keep the windscreen ice free and all I can say is thankgoodness for Aunty Maureen's sheepskin lined gloves to keep my hands warm.

 38 weeks today and so ready for this baby to be born!

 Pip having fun Tom and Sara's garden.

Once home we finished up some outstanding school work. I am happy to report that we have had two really productive days in the home school classroom.  A welcome change from a disastrous and miserable Monday!! We also had a last minute and much welcomed delivery of wood, so at half past five the kids and I were shifting over half a ton of wood in sub zero temperatures!  Within the hour it was all stacked and sorted and just in the nick of time as the snow once more began to fall.

Sunday Surprise!

Grand-baby Number Two, affectionately known as "Nutkin" is growing nicely in Sara's tum!  This image is from the twelve week scan taken earlier in the week.

Sara and Tom also celebrate their third wedding anniversary today :-)

Needless to say we are over the moon with the news and once the Christmas knitting is complete, I will be casting on for this wee one!