Taxi

Kerri's back from New York and I was on taxi duty this morning. Look what she bought me, carried all the way home just for me, isn't she just the best :O) It's a Christmas tree decoration all the way from New York and I laughed my head off when I opened it, look it's a taxi :O) Thank you Kerri I love it xXx It sounds as if they had a wonderful time and when they are feeling less jet lagged I'm hoping to go round and look at all the shopping she's bought & the photos she took.

Yesterday morning Andrew went to the doctors to have a piece of vein cut out of his leg. Every time he caught it, it bled for England so the doctor suggested some minor surgery. It hasn't stopped him doing anything but I think it hurts him sometimes. He has to have the stitches taken out on New Years Eve. So when he suggested going to Argos this afternoon to buy a bread maker, I could hardly say no could I. We had a £10 gift voucher which needed using anyway so we've been to get him one which has cheered him up no end :O) It will keep him out of mischief I'm sure not to mention all the fresh bread we'll be getting over the Christmas holidays :O)

After dinner we gave the front garden a spruce. All the dead plants have been chopped down and the leaves picked up, it looks so much better. Steve, Andrews colleague at work, gave him a huge bag that he had some building materials delivered in and it's made the gardening so much easier. We piled all the stuff in the bag, threw it in the back of the bus and took it to the tip. Within half an hour the job was a good un. Much, much easier than trying to get it into smaller plastic bags I can tell you.

Not sure if I mentioned Elena's trip to Newport after school with Lucy on Friday. She had a lovely shopping trip and of course didn't buy anything for herself :O) She is so good with money, she really knows how to look after it. But bless her heart she bought me something, a gorgeous bauble for the tree, isn't she just a sweetheart :O) Thank you Elena but you shouldn't have xXx Received a gorgeous little gift from do Ron Ron at work. A Thornton's truffle ~ yummy!His name's Ron but when we say his name it makes us sing ' Met him on the corner & my heart stood still, a do ron ron ron, a do ron ron' lol. Anyway this is what he gave me with a really sweet little card saying 'to Vanda, ta for lots of help & northern witt n charm this year, all the very best ~ Ron. Just before you say anything, all the girls in the office got one too ;O)

Can't go without mentioning the final of Strictly Come Dancing last night. I really wanted Lisa Snowden & Brendan Cole to win but Kerri did say to me no one has ever won the competition if they've been in the dance off. So I wasn't really surprised that tom Chambers won. I have to say he is rather handsome, an older version of Orlando Bloom? His last dance was brilliant and he did deserve to win. Last but not least, it's a very sad day as we've drunk all the banana & coffee rum between us. We're going to crack open the coconut rum tonight and then we will have to go and get some more next year. That's the best excuse I've heard for another holiday he, he.Just pinched this from Abby's facebook lol. It's all the girls Lisa lives with at UNI, Lisa, Abby, Katy, Emily & Andy :O)

Bring Me Sunshine

We have had such a rubbish summer weather wise that it amazes everyone when the clouds disappear & the sun comes out. Today we have had sunshine for 3 days in a row ~ OMG!! 3 consecutive days. Some of the flowers have stood up to the wind & rain like this beautiful Dahlia but there is evidence of the damage the rain & windhas caused, around the garden. Nothing on Floridian Hurricane damage of course but damage none the less. The mud splattered up the plant pots & petals all over the floor. And the rope that tied up the now dishevelled & broken gazebo. But the sun is shinning :O) Casting shadows over the freshly cut lawn :O) And it's warm ~ just like it should be.Lisa asked me to post some photos of her room when she had moved out. She tidied it all up before she left so here it is, in all its glory. Much different to how it looked a week ago but in her defence she was trying to get both her & Liam organised for Uni. The best thing about her being in her own house is that she has her own phone, not a mobile that eats your money but a proper landline. We've talked for ages tonight about what she's been up to & what her plans are for tomorrow. The best thing of all she's coming home with Liam for the weekend. Just brilliant!!

The Sun Is Out, The Sky Is Blue, There Ain't A Cloud, To Spoil The View!

The word over at HS:MS this morning is cloud. I wish I could show you a photo Chris (my cousin) sent me of some wicked clouds. There are hardly any clouds outside this morning which is unusual :O)
You know how I LOVE my garden ... This afternoon Elena & I went to Puckpool to play tennis. I use the term very loosely lol, it was more a game of trying to hit a yellow ball over a net and hit it back again no matter how many times it bounced :O) The sun was really warm and after about 3/4 hour we gave up and had an icecream. The view of the mainland was stunning today, so clear. We had a bit of a photoshoot around the old battery. We took some photos of each other trying to make them look as if we were stood on top of the drinks bottle. It's not as easy as it looks :O) Elena managed to get me much closer to the lid than I got her. ~ lol. We were about to leave when the dotto train turned up. This one is another of Elena's fab photos :O)

Bloxors Genius

Anita over at HS:MS has started everyone off playing a very addictive game called Bloxorz. We're all complaining that we are stuck on a certain level or other but Elena's completed it in 2 days, all 33 levels!! OMG she's a genius ~ lol :O) I'm sat at the computer scratching my head and she says you do this this and this and it's done. She's just amazed me!
This afternoon Elena's started making a weather station so I hope in a few days we'll have some photos of what the weather's doing outside :O) Look what opened up in the garden on this dark, grey, miserable, wet day :O) Doesn't it make you just want to smile :O) Apart from working, going to Shanklin, hoovering, washing, making a menu for next week & writing a shopping list that's all we've done.

I Love Flowers :O)

Today's photo over at HS:MS is wet which got me out & about in the garden again :O) Here are some more photos of the plants and spiders!! You have been warned ~ lol! I can't wait for Andrew & I to get out and about walking again. One more Saturday changeover at work and then we can spend Saturdays together again ~ yippee! There's definitely been a change in the weather, the temperature has dropped to Autumn levels so it won't belong before the gazebo is taken down & the pool emptied :O( Poor Andrew is really suffering again with his Arthritis in his foot. Took Lisa to the doctors yesterday because she has an abscess in her big toe so she's on antibiotics and salt water bathing. Crikey, what am I gonna do with them? The rest of us are OK though :O)

A Sad Day

I had a better sleep last night and so did Andrew so I'm feeling more refreshed today. It's lovely to wake up and turn on the computer and someone has left you a message saying they care (thank you Angela).

One of my blogging friends has left messages everyday for the past few months, she's been a little ray of sunshine :O) It's one of those moments when you can't believe the power of the internet, a lady half way round the world has become a dear friend, caring about me, encouraging me and having a laugh with me. Then, after a week of no messages at all I learned she has passed away. My friend Vicky is now an angel in heaven. I know she is because she was an angel here on earth. She had just turned 50 and was a nurse in a large teaching institution somewhere in Ohio. She worked in the medical intensive care unit ... see, told you she was an angel :O) Her Mum & Dad & friends & family must be devastated and my heart goes out to them. I never met Vicky, but I feel like I've known her forever, I'll miss you sweetie, a lot X

Been out in the garden as today's word over at HS:MS was plant. I didn't use this photo of a sunflower in the end so thought I would post it here :O) These are the last 2 plums of the season :O( A beautiful pink Dahlia and ... one of my favourite flowers, Nigella or Love in a Mist :O)

A First For Elena :O)

Elena asked me if she could go to the beach today with some of her school friends. I put a smile on my face and said 'of course you can'. It's the first time she's asked to go anywhere on her own. Well I know she wasn't on her own exactly, but you know what I mean, without an adult. Well I have to say my heart was in my mouth and I had butterflies all afternoon. She came home after a couple of hours quite nonchalant. She'd had a great time with Emma her friend. I hate letting go of my babies but you just have to don't you. My theory is, if they ask to do something (within reason), they must be ready. Andrew & I both agreed that we were off playing with our friends when we were about the same age and when I was a child the two nutters, Brady & Hindly, lived about 20 miles away ~ yikes!

Well, I went to work this morning whilst my big ones babysat :O) Did lots of boring stuff like shopping, ironing & washing this afternoon ~ yawn! In between I picked Gemma up from work because she felt poorly poor thing, took Lisa to Sandown to drop her off at the beach to meet Liam who was on his break from work (hard life hey) and went back to work to try and sort out the credit card machine that has decided not to work. The damn thing's been up the shoot since Monday and I've been going round in circles trying to get it sorted. Busy holiday park, busiest weeks of the season and no credit card facility ~ not good! Anyway, apart from not having any hair left 'cos I've pulled it all out ~ lol, the credit card company are finally sending someone out tomorrow to hopefully get it fixed, fingers crossed.

Not taken very many photos at all today {roll eyes}. I managed to get one photo of a butterfly. We seem to get lots of this type flitting about the garden but they never seem to keep still :O) The other photo I took was this one. I went upstairs to put some ironing away and the light was flooding into our bedroom through the blinds. The wardrobe doors are usually just plain old white melamine and I thought they looked stunning with the light on them :O)