Monday 20 March 2017

5O years celebration

Well a celebration  of 50 years married. I was 19 he was 21 , seems very young  especially in this  day and age.. We met when I was 15 and he was 18 when I was  16 my parents decided to  move north to be near family up there . We had a break of a year as we thought distance was too  much of an issue.However I had not  bargained on my brother playing cupid. Martin still visited them and when a little while later they decided to  move too  he asked  him to put a word in for  him. Not  sure  if  he would have moved on I did  write and he said he would come  up to see me .Of course  the butterflies were still there  when I saw him  ,and I agreed to  take my holiday with his parents that summer. He asked me to marry him and we got engaged while I was there. We wrote  everyday from then apart from when we managed to  travel the distance by train.No phones or internet then We married on a cold day in March I had 4 bridesmaids and  2 page boys .We caught the train back to Weymouth.About 6  months  later mum and  dad  came back to live down  here.In the same street where they used to live. They did move again about a  year or  so later back  to the north.
We have had 5 moves of  house , but all in Dorset. We have  been here  for 40years now so I think we are settled. So our celebrations  for 50 years of marriage. 2children who we are so proud of and now 5  grandchildren who we love to bits.
Anyway what did we do for our celebration , well last Wednesday we  boarded the train  to London Waterloo travelling  first class.
Dreadful photo of me but never mind.Himself takes a better photo than me
We arrived in London at 1 p.m. and got a taxi to the theatre, it was a beautiful day and  we saw lots on the way. Mind you there is no way I could live there ,so many people rushing with purpose to their various destinations. Here is where we were heading .
Les Miserables I was so excited.
 The plaque outdide on the pavement.
Of course we had to have a snack and a drink at the bar before we went in.
That glass by my side looks as if it has someones false teethe in. It was grapefruit. We then were shown our seats.
We had a good view  of the stage.
What an experience ,we have never been to a London Show and this was a fabulous 3 hours of entertainment.
Martin bought 2 books  .
Here is the inside of one of them.
Another.
I would see it again tomorrow!!!!!!!!!
We left at 5.30 and as it was rush hour and knowing how long it had taken the taxi to get there due to traffic holdups on the way there ,Martin said shall we go by bike.Having a laugh methinks. He meant it ,but we weren't pedalling.

I thought oh well if he wants to thats fine,.  So we climbed in this rickshaw and with some trepidation on my part we set off . Here are some of the views we saw on our way they may be a bit blurred as it was a bit bumpy. We passed Chinatown , we went through it on our way there.
 China town was opposite the theatre. Then we saw where the Mousetrap is being shown.
The back of the cyclists head and the Mousetrap sign.
A pedestrian walking across Waterloo Bridge.
Dusk and the London Eye. It took us half the time to get back .He must have been shattered.It cost as much as a taxi but it was a first for us to do.Then on Waterloo station and of course I cannot pass a bookshop.
This just happened to jump into my hand.

We then had a bite to eat whilst we watched the people scurrying to trains. We caught the 7:30 train home, shame we couldn't stay the night but at the time we booked we still had Ollie.
On our way home after a wonderful day, 
So that was last Wednesday , then on Saturday the actual day Martin presented me with a beautiful bespoke diamond eternity ring . I bought him a gold watch ,which he said you usually get when you retire to which I replied No chance. lol. In the afternoon we took some friends Martins Mum and Sister (who was one of my 4 bridesmaids.) our daughter Kate and her daughter our grandaughter Caitlin out for a cream tea.
The rest of our family we took out for a curry on Saturday night. So happy times and lots more memories . Have not got many photos of the day itself , Caitlin was busy snapping away and says she is doing us an album. So look forward to that. We had lots of cards and in the evening we had gifts from all the grandchildren chosen themselves. but from  Graeme ,Sue ,Kate and Iain we were presented with this,
Tickets to see Alfie Boe and Michael Ball  in December , apparently they added an extra night because of demand and it is all sold out. So something else to look forward to. The little frame you see next to it was a present from my dear stitching buddy Sally, so sweet got to find a special photo to go in there. Thanks Sally..For all those who sent cards thankyou so much we were quite overwhelmed.
My old school friend that I have mentioned I meet for coffee on a Wednesday we have been friends since we were 5 ,my goodness  where has that time gone, she and her husband bought us these bookends, she knows our love of books.
They do have a touch of gold on them. We loved them . So my lovelies all over now, but many more memories and happy times to have and make.

The most recent  photo of us taken on Saturday by Chris one of our dog walking friends.
Here is to many more anniversaries.

. Will be back soon with the stitching news etc.
Take care ,much love
Barb xx


Friday 3 March 2017

Pretty little violets ,picked 5 minutes ago in my garden

I love violets,  well I would as they are my birth flower. They are so delicate and smell  lovely.So my dears how are you all. Everything tickety boo here, I may not say that tomorrow when I get on the dreaded scales. I did have  good news  at the doctors today, my blood sugar is stable and there may be a chance I can come off medication at the end of the month when I see the dietician.

I was lucky to have 2 late birthday presents,one from  Angela my birthday twin,  So pretty and I have it sitting next to me on my table .
Then I received this from Kate , who has birthday the day after mine.  Whoo hoo more sheep.
Thankyou my friends , I feel very blessed. Two weeks tomorrow  the 18th ,Martin and  I will celebrate our GoldenWedding  Anniversary and I know  June and Ron of Butterfly Wings have theirs tomorrow, so if you read this  June  I hope you both have a very memorable day.
We are going to London on the 15th to  see Les  Mis. We still had Ollie when we booked it so we are there and back in a day. Then on the actual day we are  going to the same place as we had for Martins  Mums 90th birthday. We have invited a  few friends for a cream tea and then in  the  evening  we are taking the family out for  a curry. We  also  have booked a holiday in  May ,we are doing  a tour of Hebridean islands.  Somewhere we  always  promised ourselves we would  go. With Martins heart condition we were a bit   dubious  about going  abroad. So I will  tell you all about that when it happens. 
In the week  we walked round the harbour and the Pelican was moored up.
It must  have been  a  wonderful sight when these ships sailed the  seas. Just  looking at this pic the building on the left looks as if it is leaning.  From here  we crossed over and  walked along the esplanade ,it was bright and sunny but a  bit  on   the chilly side. I  was glad I had wrapped  up warm.
 This was taken from the pleasure pier looking  back toward Weymouth. This seemed like a scene from The Birds, I have seen pigeons and seagulls wanting food but there were so many waiting to be  fed by the man in  the shelter.
This was only a few,rooks or crows not  sure which. It was quite a sight to  see so many.We  walked  as far as the  Kings Statue where I took a pic of the bathing Machine  that used to be used in  Georgian  times, the  King himself bathed  in  the  sea. 


 Here is  the Kings Statue erected by the Grateful inhabitants of Weymouth .

 So that is this weeks rambling  to show you .On to stitching  and I have a couple of finishes to show you . One is my challlenge piece for this month over at Needlecraft Haven.
The next is Graemes knitted hat. Now I have started the scarf.


I have a few wips I  to  show you here is my Wednesday parlour stitch Welcome Inn by Little House Needleworks. Sorry it has not been ironed ,I am hoping that next week  it may be finished. 

 Next on  the table is  my Friday sheep  design ,which you  will be  seeing a lot  more  of  before it is finished.  This is the 2nd row. I love the bunnies under the fleece on  the washing line.Again apologies for the iron not being in action.
 This is Winter and I am really loving this Monday stitch with Sally, Only W to go and then I can start Spring.Sally will still be stitching  with me but not  on  Spring.  If anyone would like to stitch Spring with me let me know lol.
 Of course my blog would not be complete  without books, more  books !!!!!
 Yet more books.These I picked up at the 50p sale that is at Slimming World meet every week.


 Yet more but my grandson Jack bought me an Amazon gift voucher for  my birthday so when I saw Elly Griffiths and Joanna Trollope had  new  ones  out well they just had to jump into the basket.I think I had better stay away from the50p books tomorrow morning.
So my friends I will leave you with a wish for a happy week ahead , more stitching , books ,did Isay books  lol.We need more shelves. However did  you notice no stash buying  for a while.
Famous last words I know .
Take  care all and I shall be here again  soon. For all of you out there who leave me a little note thankyou , it makes such a difference to the day.
Hugs
Barb x

Hawthorns Scavenger Photo Hunt June

Well hello everyone ,super sets of photos last  time. Mine this time  again has been last  minute so shall we begin. The  words this month ...