The wedding

Perfumed Daphne

My bottom has at last sat itself upon a chair....

Snowdrops

Last week the family came home.
D2 iced  D1and C's 3 tier wedding cake (while I HAD to look after baby A! such a hardship! Let me at her- she is just smiley smiley smiley). We went to Eslington Villas for lunch to celebrate D3s 30th birthday (and D2's 32nd)- a secret from her who thought in the excitement we'd all forgotten her big day of becoming elderly!

Relaxation with bridesmaids and dvds....

Then amid photographers, manicures, pedicures (thank heaven for Layla) hairdressers, florists, makeup artists, etc we prepared for D1 and C's big day...... The bride had something old (a  1950s sixpence), something new ( her dress), something borrowed (a pearl pin from her sister's bouquet) and something blue (dress lift loops inside her bridal gown) and a silver sixpence in her shoe. No 'hoy oot' as there were no children available to catch the coins thrown by the bride's father- (there is a chickenpox epidemic here).

A vintage car took bridesmaids and mother of the bride to the church; son-in-law M and baby A followed us. The only sour note in a beautiful day and I shall not even deign to detail the keep-fit lady (nay she was no lady) who made M move the car (containing the baby) so she could park outside the church.

The marriage service was concelebrated and the registrar P was as delightful, relaxing and efficient as she always is.

We did a 'takeover' of Beamish Hall; fires blazing.... M playing the music during canapes and aperitifs... the WinterGardens looked beautiful, Master of Ceremonies was super and I don't think I am biased in saying the meal and the service were excellent.
D1 had done the stationery (based around the black and white theme - Newcastle United?) which was much admired and the 3 tier cake was baked by me, iced by D2 and cut in the evening when more guests had arrived.(and when there were a variety of burgers, chip cones etc served) Hip Operation played live and we danced till coaches at 1 a.m.

We awoke to beautiful snow drifts!

We dined in yet another magnificent dining room for breakfast (Bobby Shaftoe must have had a lot of money from his entrepreneurial exploits)

Local farmers ploughed us out about lunchtime and we headed home for another wee party with some of the kids- relaxing playing table football , eating sweets and spring rolls!
Between the lot of us we may not have two hapennies left to rub together but it was SO worth it.....

Everyone has gone now , beds and towels washed and dryed in the glorious sunshine all week; we emptied the chuch of wedding flowers since it is Lent and now the house is perfumed with ivory lilies, roses, freesias.

There! You asked- so that should bring you up to date.....

My blue hyacinths cast a sweetness ALL over the house and will always remind me of the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital (long gone and gentrified into luxury apartments) and L's birth 30 years ago.

Now my mind turns to Spring... seed potatoes, compost, Lenten hellebores, and daffodils.

Easter can't be far away! Planning my bonnet.......

Les Miserables

...was miserable. We saw the show with London cast years ago (in the distance) at the Point Depot in Dublin- we didn't like it then..... we have just seen the much accoladed film 'Les Miserables' and were not struck on it either. Call us Philistines but ......

We went to see Joe McElderry last week too; Joe was being awarded the Variety Silver Heart for his work for charity; I think he has a brilliant voice but oh! the backing was too loud so we could not hear him; the Hilton sat us at a table near the door so we were in a cold draught - next to the lovely Sadie- the bra lady. 2 of the Variety staff insisted on standing in front of our table so we could not see Joe or the screens- H1 asked them to move at least 4 times.

No family gathering for pancakes for Shrove Tuesday this year due to other events - we will have them another time. H1 and I went to friends and met up with lots of folk we hadn't seen in ages- and the pancakes (especially those in Cointreau ) were delicious; not like mine with traditional lemon and sugar!

Ash Wednesday's snow and wind have calmed and the sun is out in a blue, blue sky. In the southfacing border the sun is bathing a primrose which is encrusted with the palest of flowers. The tips of early flowering tulips are peeking out; the spears of daffodils and narcissi are well up- Spring is coming!!

... and this morning there was a Valentine lying on the doormat. I wonder who it is from?

Cinderella and confetti

Poor girl magics her way into a ball and a Prince fancies her; 'Cinderella's glass slipper found its way back onto her tootsies and wedding bells rang out. Our pantomime seemed to be a smash hit. The cast and crew have all been out to eat together since.
Now the backstage crew (including me) have the cold going around which turns your nose into a dripping tap.

The confetti has arrived- do other nationalities have confetti?

I am saving money for the hoy-out. Do other folk throw out money (from the car/carriage) as the bride & her father leave the house to head for the church- it demonstrates symbolically the dowry the wealthy father (parents!!) are giving to the bride & her husband. As kids we always went to see the bride leave home & hoped for a hoy out.

Do other nations also do the
'something old
something new
something borrowed
something blue
which the bride has to have around her person on the BIG DAY ?

'Les Miserables' is getting rave reviews- so when to go see it? Have you seen it? What did you think?

Going ,going, gone.

It is pouring down outside;
the piles of mucky snow have been washed away.
The hens have flown (except for a forgotten pashmina whose owner I have tracked down.)
Ticket sales are flying away for our pantomime production of 'Cinderella'. Oh yes they are!
Regretfully baby A. and her mum have departed after 2 weeks.

However our 'foster son' JP is coming to stay and the beds that were stripped after the hen party, were remade for J,M and B (his mother), have been stripped again and now are to be made for JP.
It is all go!
H1 has gone to play golf (in the rain?!)

I have no time to blog which I feel really bad about-every week I promise myself things will get less hectic but....
I confess I like being kept busy; however this baby will be a teenager before her grandma finishes the cardigan I am knitting for her-I thought I'd at least manage to knit one garment for each grandchild- I am a failure!!! Thank heavens for Mothercare!!

Now cameras and confetti......

Hen Parties

You really didn't expect me to blog, did you?

I have been up and down the A1 like a fiddler's elbow.Oh my goodness! Everyone of my friends who is in the 'grand' state of life told me how wonderful grandchildren are- some even said 'better than your own kids'- NEVER! but A is gorgeous- and the biggest thrill was when I sang to her (4weeks and counting) and she switched on a pensive facial expression and looked up at this idiot who was singing the same daft song to her and beamed at me!! Recognition! She is a delight who is tiny - you forget how small newborns are- and does something new every day....to gaze hard at pictures on the wall, to focus, to smile (not the wind sort) , to grip tight, to delight in the bath, to reach for a toy...... A shame she hasn't learned the difference between day and night yet- she is so awake she could go clubbing with us hens!

Meanwhile while I attempt to relieve the sleepless nights of the new parents by being a 'chief cook, and bottle washer', scrubber, ironer, and all things housewifely, H1 continues to play golf, bridge and all things too important to travel south. He reminds me so much of his parents/family who always found it just too much bother to travel north so didn't! They missed so many of the delights of their grandchildren.

Still in January but Christmas is way behind us now; the cake is finished ( gobbled before New Year!);  I recycle Christmas cards  by tearing the fronts off & using them throughout the next year for recording shopping lists; I keep some in my car so when I visit people in absentia I drop a note in their letterbox saying I called. The backs of the cards get deposited in M&S's recycling boxes to go to the Woodland Trust (to be made into mulch?) The decorations are back up in the loft for another year and we move into wedding mode!!

Well no! Before that we hit the hen party. I wonder do other cultures have stag and hen celebrations? I still remember my henparty-going out dancing with my female family and girl friends to celebrate my last day/s of unmarried freedom. First the staff at school decorated my coat (with the help of my gleeful students) and made me a hat then followed me all the way home to ensure I did not divest myself of the ridiculous garments which declared to the world  that I was about to be married. Then we danced the night away.

My husband does not have much recall of his stag night though I heard one of his group (was it him?) came home naked from Newcastle. It seems the male challenge is to get the stag drunk.

It is snowing so will we manage to stick to our arrangements? We shall have to play it by ear.

Talking of that reminds me- we have been to see 'Quartet' which we really enjoyed and would recommend especially if you are a musician.
I am prompted to tell you of our panto production coming up soon- OH yes it is! Cinderella is in dramatic need of a cast learning their lines- some of the younger members need to put down their mobs and get cracking! Can you hear the teacher frustration?

I went to Frankie and Benny's with my voluntary Year 5- we made healthy pizzas-I can hear you all saying'HEALTHY?'- well the sweetcorn, peppers and mushrooms were! Forget the pepperoni!

Where all my time has gone I do not know- I have just got back to my tome- Diana Gabaldon's 'Drums of Autumn' have just started beating again!
O.K. Friends to ring, folk to visit, lots of people calling in; there's the doorball- I need to get the kettle on
I promise to do better and get back to blogging soon.

An ordinary day

Back in routine ;the sky is blue; the sun is painting the garden with light at last; we seem to have been immersed in grey dullness for months - except when baby A. smiles.

I haven't had to prompt Buttons and Bows as much as I thought I would.....

An invitation for spag bol at L's and then a quick trip to see 'The Hobbit'- did I say quick? I got a wee bit bored by the Auks fighting a lot but it did bring back happy memories of reading Bilbo myself in early teens and then to my children.....my precioussss.....

Spot Benedict Cumberbatch....!?

A New Year

Sydney has already celebrated New Year there.
Oh dear another year looms with - I dare not type anything anti anyone but put it this way, H1 is not the most exciting, romantic complementary person in town- in fact entirely the opposite.
oh well I hope yours is happy (and healthy) when it comes