Fabulous birthday weekend!

For a birthday of no great importance I was very spoiled and exceedingly well celebrated last weekend by all of my lovely friends and family. Dinner on Friday night with Polly and Simon with scrumptious food and even dancing! Saturday - pretty impressive lie in and then a complete spoilage of pressies, including the fab toy I am writing this on - swish new Netbook! Lunch in Canterbury with sprogs and Mozart in the Cathedral followed by sushi. Then Sunday a very soggy walk in Perry wood with Berry's and Smiths, after which a magnificent feast at West Street - pics to follow, but the highlight must surely have been the rousing rendition of Happy Birthday see film below. Not sure I have had it sung so loud and with so much love since I was very wee! Thank you all XXX

The 'real' sea

Much as I love living so close to the sea, there are days when the estuarine nature of our most local beaches just doesn't hit the spot. So with the first day for ages that wasn't utterly freezing and frosty we decided to go to Folkestone based on the fact that there would be proper waves and hopefully a beachside chippy.

Yes to the former but no luck with any sort of cafe or chippy apart from a very chi-chi kiosk selling hot choc for £2 and it was still exceedingly chilly with a biting wind. So not altogether a huge success. I was hoping that the 'Creative Quarter' which is Folkestone's up and coming bit might have some interesting things to see and do - but mostly it was shut and forlorn.

The kids did have fun on the beach running away from the rollers, but we all got rather cold and when it then took us another half an hour driving down the coast to find a chippy, it rather took the shine off the day. I think we will give it another go in the summer when it might be a bit more buzzy, but for now Folkestone isn't top of my list

Snapdragon

I have been a huge fan of Jane Lindsey from Snapdragon for ages having discovered her I know not how, probably on a wander round the web, as you do! She makes and sells some of the most beautiful objects as well as growing and selling her own cut flowers and writing an entertaining and informative blog which I have now added to the links on the right. You can see what I mean at snapdragon and in particular my favourite things are the embroidered designs - I asked very nicely and got a few lovely things for Christmas such as this gorgeous book

So now I am sharing her with you, pass it on, she's really worth it and you never know, someone might buy something beautiful for you too!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr Chilly

Seriously cold today, last day of the school hols, the kids had an inset day and we woke to a white landscape. I was lounging in bed (waiting for my tea...........) as "poor old Michael" had to get up and go to work - He has been somewhat teased as he didn't manage to work a full week for the whole of December as he was using up so much annual leave - so he brought me tea and reported that by 8.15 Stan was up and dressed and trying to make a snow man in the slush. When that failed he threw soggy snowballs at the windows! (Stan, not Michael)

Stan had complained last night that he was being sent to bed without "a proper supper" so I teased him mercilessly today, serving him a "proper" breakfast of porridge, followed by "proper" lunch of freshly made soup, croutons, ham, bread and carrots, with a "proper" supper of special cheesy baked spuds with broccoli, fruit salad and a whopping hunk of Choc brownie. Hope now he can't snitch on us to the teachers for underfeeding!!
I have to go back to work tomorrow - should be fun getting there as lane will be an ice rink as apparently tonight is set to be coldest day this winter - actually looking forward to work as there is much to do and I like doing it!

Here's to a fab 2009, getting lots done and embracing all of the fun and challenges that life throws at us!