The Jolly Sailor

Oh dear, poor Andrew, he's been in a bit of a tizz today. He's been waiting for Claire to phone to tell him how is Mum is and at one point he was ready to drop everything and go up north. The hospital said she's had a comfortable night but was still very poorly. Towards dinnertime he was feeling a bit better because he'd actually managed to talk to his Mum. They let you use mobile phones now in hospitals luckily. She told him she was feeling a bit better and not to bother going to see her. It still hasn't eased the way he's feeling. I don't think it will until he's been up to see her. We had a chat and he wants to finish work early on Friday and travel up to the hospital and come back on Sunday. Of course I'll go with him but it's going to be such a problem at work as I usually do the Sunday shift *tut*. I just hope she doesn't take a turn for the worse in the meantime.

No.6 of my 365 project :O)My keys; Andrew bought me the red fob for Christmas, it's a torch and will come in very handy :O)

This afternoon Gemma, Elena & I decided to go for a walk. We drove down to the Jolly Sailor car park in Sandown so we could walk to Yaverland & back. Just near the chip shop Gemma spotted Mum & Dad so we pulled over and had a chat, they were going for a walk too. We met up in the car park a few minutes later and set off to Yaverland.

Gemma, Mum, Dad, Me thanks Elena xXx Gemma's photo of the swan on the pond Elena's photo of the swan Me trying to straddle the wall ~ ouch! Mum, Dad & Gemma in the car park at Yaverland Elena with Culver Cliff in the background
A man actually windsurfing & it was freezing! The Champions with Gemma starring as Alexander Bastido lol A Pepsi for your thoughts :O) Gemma with a nice warm coffee Gemma, Elena & the Jolly Sailor

Christmas Presents

Oh my goodness me I was spoilt rotten yesterday. I don't think I've ever been as spoilt in my life before :O) Elena bought me Mamma Mia on DVD, Lisa bought me a gorgeous green pashmina & 2 bracelets. Gemma bought me Josh Groben's new CD & I had money from both my Mum & Dad & Andrew's Mum which is going to pay for the taxi to the airport in 100 days time, yes we're on the countdown to the Maldives! One of my best friends Kerri, had given me a lovely little bag with a mirror, lipstick & a pack of Casino Royale playing cards inside. How lucky can one person be :O) If that wasn't enough Andrew wrapped up lots of things for me including chocolates, a universal card reader, a digital photo frame, a tripod for my camera and some necklaces that match the bracelets from Lisa & Liam :O)

I didn't recognise the last present under the tree (you know what's what when you've spent ages wrapping up lol) and was surprised to find my name on it ... to Vanda love from Andrew? I started taking the Christmas paper off it & underneath was another layer of birthday paper. I had no idea what it was. I tore the birthday paper off to find a lap top & bag. I couldn't believe it and emotions got the better of me and started to cry. How spoilt am I? Andrew had wrapped it up with both kinds of paper because it's my birthday present too & I love it :O)

I had another fabulous present from Kerri, which I love (thank you Kerri). It's a little gift bag with a label saying "This kit contains everything you will ever need in life".

Inside is a poem ...
An eraser, to erase all your mistakes.
A penny, so you will never be completely broke.
A marble, for when you lose yours.
Elastic, so you can stretch beyond your limits.
String, so you can hold it together when you are falling apart.
And this gift to let you know someone cares!
How brilliant is that and even more special to think that she took the time to make it for me :O)

Tomorrow's a very exciting day too because Teresa & the gang are coming to stay for a week. We are enjoying the piece & quiet today before Max arrives lol. I can't wait to see them all and catch up with their news. We are having a chill out day today and a big tidy up tomorrow.

Hopefully we will be able to go for another walk this afternoon. We went down along the seafront again yesterday but it was freezing cold. The muscles on the tops of our legs were frozen solid lol. Hopefully it will be a bit a warmer today.

Update: We did go for a walk and the sun was out. It was still freezing cold though :O) We met Kerri, Colin & Colin's Mum on the cliff path and had a bit of a natter with them. We walked along the seafront into Sandown and back again. Gemma & Matt came for tea and Andrew cooked us an amazing Christmas dinner with roast Turkey and all the trimmings.

A Walk Along The Seafront

I have been at work all day today, stuck inside in this beautiful sunny, warm weather and Elena's been at school. She asked if I wanted to go for a walk so that's just what we did :D Photographs by Elena :O)

A Berry Nice Walk :O)

Back in June we walked up one side of the river Medina from Newport to Cowes and half way back again. We couldn't get any further because the footpath was closed whilst they cleaned up after the Isle of Wight Festival. Andrew ended up not being able to walk properly for weeks so today was the first chance we've had to finish the walk :O) Elena came with us and we had a great time :O) What a Bank Holiday weekend, lovely & warm, sun shinning, just glorious! This is another of Paul's wood carvings and sits on the river bank at the start of the trail. We walked towards the town through the industrial estate where the boatyards are. Some one decided their boatyard needed a lighthouse ~ lol :O) Past the back of the Quay Art Centre and along the road. Over the road bridge and up the otherside where we could see the front of the Quay Arts. Loads of people were out on their boats. We carried on walking by the side of the river until we reached the Folly Inn. We had lunch and a drink (shandy). We walked back with full tummys :O) Elena took over as photographer for a while :O) There are loads of little bridges over the tributaries of the river. Love swans, don't you :O) Elena did really well considering the distance we walked. Elena found a hollow tree to hide in. And a rope swing :O) Before we knew it we could see the start of our walk on the otherside of the river. Wasn't long before we were back in the town were Elena tried everything she could think of to make us laugh ~ lol! We crossed over the road bridge and walked back through the boatyards. Our legs were aching a bit so I asked Andrew if there was a quicker way to get back to the Nissan. Elena said yes, there is. We both looked at her in amazement and asked her how. Her reply ... take bigger steps!!! ROFLMAO!

Back to the title of the post ... A berry nice walk ... well what an abundance of food for all the animals & birds! Just couldn't believe the amount of fruit & nuts & seeds there was :O)These are just some other random photos I thought worthy of blogging :O)