A lovely day - the melt down

Well it's half term so a week off work and it started with a sore throat, ugh!! Anyway it wasn't so bad today and it was grandmother and granddaughter day as Marc, Sam and a whole host of kids were off to Alton Towers for the day.
Livvy and I spent a lovely day together, apart from major melt down but I'll tell you about that later.
First of all it was into town and ofcourse the day isn't complete without buying a toy so Dora the Explorer came along with us as this is what we bought. Livvy was so cute carrying it around with her all day and talking to it too. She told me to close the car door quickly when we were getting in 'because Dora is cold' she said.
We headed off to Shugborough Hall http://www.shugborough.org.uk/as I heard they had a farm and Livvy wanted to see the animals.
Well now that I'm a senior citizen I got in for quite a lot less, infact it only cost me £3 and Livvy got in free. The lady did give me an orange sticker to wear so that I didn't have to get my ticket out of my purse if I wanted a discount off any meals I had. I did wonder why - because do I really want to be reminded that I am now over 60.
It would have been a cheap day out if it hadn't been for buying lunch and the other little niceties that go along with a day out oh and the presents she wanted to buy for her brothers and mom and dad. This sweet little 2 year old knows exactly what she wants and it made me smile to see her stand back and look along the shelves to see what she could get them. Thankfully she didn't pick anything too expensive.
Shugborough is a beautiful place but if I'd paid the full price I wouldn't have been too happy as there wasn't really a lot happening today.
Everything was going well - but then 'melt down'. We were going through the kitchens, Livvy trying out the old fashioned scrubbing brush on the washing and then we went upstairs - sadly it fell apart after this - sweet little Livvy was obviously getting tired, wanted to be picked up but she was just too heavy for me so when I put her down that was it. She screamed - and I mean screamed and lay there on the floor shouting for 'daddy'. I just walked away in the hope she would have followed - but NO she still lay there screaming. I was determined not to go back for her so stood my ground while people looked at her, tried to talk to her, walked round her, almost climbed over and looked at me as if I was the monster from the black lagoon. She was just routed to the spot and was not gonna move for anyone.
Well after waiting as long as I could she finally won and I lost it - big time, I marched over, picked her up and then, heavy as she was, had to try and find my way out of the place going from room to room until I finally found the stairs down. My sweet little granddaughter just continued to scream.
Finally we got outside and I was absolutely drained. I could feel the tears nipping at my eyes but I told her I wasn't happy with her. She knew she'd won but continued crying and finally we made our way back to the car. I didn't want the day to end on a bad note and when she saw I was nearly in tears she calmly said 'you alright nana' then said 'sowwy'. We'd missed the animals first time around so I got the buggy out of the car and off we went to see the animals. She fed the rabbits, that were very few, we looked at some really smelly pigs and I mean smelly - I can stand most things but this nearly made me sick. Mommy pigs had just given birth and were feeding their young. We saw some guinea pigs and chickens and that was about it for the animals. There was a little play area which Livvy loved so she played on the slide and went on the swings. It was certainly a full day and we made it back to the car. I sat for a couple of minutes and when I turned round she was fast asleep.
Will I do it again - most definitely Yes, she is adorable and it's the first time she's done anything like that to me and she wont be doing it again.

Surprise

Well, I realized I couldn't get the book uploaded that I'd made for mam but I'll keep trying.
Had a lovely surprise the other my son and daughter in law decided to decorate the hall and stairs for me. It's my birthday tomorrow and they thought it would be nice to do something different and I just love it. They chose some wallpaper which was my favourite colour and a beautiful flower pattern in a soft green and brown. It's gorgeous.
I'm off to Shrewsbury for the day then I'm babysitting at night so no big celebration.

Mam's Birthday

It was my Mam's 86th birthday on 15th September and I created a book of memories for her. I hope you're able to view it. She is just so sweet and I never know what to buy her but she just loved her book even though it arrived after her birthday.

Happy 60th Sis

I know it's late on my blog but I've spoken to you and I'm glad you had a great day Sis. Love ya lots xx

Visiting Sunderland

A 2 week visit to see my family in the Sunderland was great. It was lovely to see mam doing so well, she'll be 86 this year. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family and I miss them all very much, especially li'l sis in Texas as we don't get to see her very much but she has a fab blog that I follow so I feel as if I'm a part of what's happening in her life.
School holidays for me were later this year so I missed the Sunderland Air Show and arrived the day it was on but didn't get to go down as there would have been no parking spaces.
It was a beautiful first week, warm and sunny but we didn't do too much just sat in the garden and relaxes.
I went for a chinese meal on the Monday with Mam, my sister Brenda, and niece Joanne. It was lovely but unfortunately they ran out of spring rolls which were the best on the menu.
I thought the food was lovely until we went the Metro Centre later in the week. We did a bit of shopping and then went to Buffet King (we like chinese food) where you could eat as much as you wanted for a set price. There must have been a range of over 50 dishes to choose from and each one was yummy. My mam doesn't eat much normally but she just loved the chicken, unfortunately I can't remember what it was called but it was slices of chicken in a beautiful sauce and the chicken just melted in your mouth. She went back for seconds which is a first for mam.

Livvy, Tom and Ben in mam's garden just after they arrived for a few days.

Marc, Sam and the children came up for a few days the following week and we went to Brendas where all the family met up and we had a great time. It was probably the best day weather wise as we were able to put the bouncy castle up in the garden and the kids loved it.

Deborah, Brenda and JoanneGeorge, Marc and Michelle having a cup of tea and a bite to eat

Brenda, Joanne, Deborah and Michelle savouring the pizza

Bouncy Castle Fun - the kids just enjoying themselves

We ate, talked and just simply had fun.

It's not a visit to the North East without going to take a look at Marc's brick in the wall at the Sunderland Stadium. I bought the brick as part of his 18th birthday present when the football stadium was first being built and ofcourse the boys wanted to see where it was - unfortunately I didn't manage to get a close up.The rest of the week it rained but we went to the beach one of the days and just took the children to the arcades where there were rides and they loved it.

This next picture has to be one of my all time favourites. I have never seen two children laugh so much in all my life and their faces say it all. It was the best £2 spent that day. They were on two seats looking at a huge screen that showed them going through an underground tunnel - every now and again as they got to a certain part of the tunnel the chairs vibrated and Ben and Tom just screeched with delight. If I'd given them enough money I'm sure they would have spent all day on it but it was a joy to see and and hear their delight

I can't quite believe it but the batty died on my camera half way through taking photographs so I haven't any of mam and some of the other members of the family. I'm hoping some of the others managed to get some and will maybe email them to me so I can put them on my blog.

Rest and relaxation

School's out for summer - yeah. Looking forward to 5 weeks of rest and relaxation. Well maybe not if this week was anything to go by. It sure was busy, Sam and Marc on cross over shifts so I was up at 5 a.m. Monday and off to babysit and take my grandchildren to childminders then off to work for the day. Back to pick up three noisy grandchildren and we had a MacDonalds then it was home until Sam came in. Tuesday was the same but I also did a sleep over that night and then off to work. I was feeling a little tired. Caught my leg on the side of the car and grazed it and had a nasty bruise but its going now. Sleep over last night but Livvy decided she didn't want to sleep and woke at around 11 p.m. and then she just smiled sweetly and said 'no like bed nana'. It was near 1 a.m. when she finally went to sleep but I do adore them all and I love seeing them.
I'm off to the North East on Sunday for a 2 week visit so I might just get that rest and relaxation after all!!.

Grandchildren day

I had a lovely day with my grandchildren last Sunday. Marc and Sam had both been on nights so I took my three adorable grandchildren up to my little craft studio where they spent several hours painting and playing. I bought some ceramic pieces for them to paint from the chap in the next unit and they loved it.
Livvy painted a little pink elephant but unfortunately there was more paint on Livvy than there was on on the elephant but she enjoyed it.
Tom wanted to do a green dinosaur and must have used a whole pot full of green paint but he was happy and did a lovely job. We then added shades of a lighter green and he wanted to add red paint to the dinosaurs nails and eyes.
Ben was in his element painting a dragon he had named Merlin. He did it in shades of green and then painted silver on the dragons wings and gave him red eyes too.
They were so well behaved. We did a drive through MacDonalds for lunch and took it back to the studio.
Unfortunately I can't seem to get the photos off my mobile for some reason but I'll post them up as soon as I can sort out why.

Take a look over at my Honeycomb Crafts section and see the piece I enamelled today at a workshop in Shrewsbury it was mam and me and I like the way it turned out.

Marsden Rock

After a day of torrential rain it was nice to see this picture of Marsden Rock and it brought back memories of warm summer days spent at the beach. This impressive structure was a favourite place to visit when I was younger. At one time it had an archway that connected to another piece of rock but erosion took it's toll and it collapsed a few years ago and then the remaining rock stack had to be demolished for safety reasons so this is all that is left of the rock. When the weather is nice it is a sun trap on the sands. It is some years now since I've been to Marsden, the climb down to the rock doesn't seem too bad but there's a lot of steps to climb back up. I'm not so sure that I'd manage it these days. I'm visiting mam in a few weeks times so maybe I'll take a trip out there.

Here's Livvy li'l sis

There is only one word for her ... cute, oo and beautiful, gorgeous, adorable - OK I used more than one word but she really is a cutey. This is Livvy just before her 2nd birthday trying on a bracelet. With 2 brothers around she seems at times to be turning into a tom boy but at others she is just a sweet little girl playing with her dolls and trying on some jewellery.
I'm not quite getting into this one photo every day but I am trying ... yes some will say very trying ... but when I get a new camera that I can download pics from easily it will be a lot better and I'm certainly putting it on the birthday list.
It's been really warm this last week but the rain came today and it has cooled down somewhat - I think we can expect more rain at the weekend and possibly thunder storms tomorrow so I'm not looking forward to that.

Another pic

I used to be able to email pics from my phone but for some reason it is not working so I'm forced to look for old ones on my computer as already I've missed the one a day pic challenge I gave myself but hey ho I'll just have to buy myself a new camera and get some up to date pics goings. Here's a one of my cute grandson Tom. I have to say it was taken a couple of years ago, he's 4 now but it's the only one on my pc. He's just been in hospital recently as he has asthma quite bad and needs to be on a nebulizer but we're praying he grows out of it as he managed to get through the winter quite well. He'd been eating cake in this photo and yes still eats cake these day, I think he is probably a cake-aholic.

Ben

Well the next few days will be spent in looking at grandchildren pictures, that's if I can find any of Tom and Livvy. I have lots of Ben when he was younger as I had a decent camera then and I adore this one of him but I don't seem to have many of my other two grandchildren on my computer but I'm sure I'll find some. Ben would have been about 3 when this was taken so it was quite a few years ago but he is still just as handsome.

A paramedic visit that didn't lead to hospital

My sweet mam has had her fair share of visits to hospital over the last few years but thankfully when this paramedic paid her a visit it wasn't to take her off to hospital. It was taken back in 2005 when mam was visiting and my son Marc hadn't long qualified as a paramedic. He called in to see his Nana before he started work.

My own picture challenge

Well it's not often I get to blog these days and I keep telling myself I'm gonna get back into it and then time just seems to fly by, what with work and babysitting and youth club at church and the list goes on but I liked seeing my li'l sis's pics of the 30 days picture challenge on her blog so even though it's not really part of the challenge I thought I'd make a start by digging out some pics of my own and trying to add one a day - so this will be my own picture challenge.

I'm starting with this one taken a few years ago when I was visiting my mam and my other sister Nenna and I went out for a meal. We had a lovely night, it was really warm and we went to a little tapas bar in Gateshead. First time I'd been to one and it was yummy. We got to try several different dishes and while I can't remember what we had I do know I enjoyed it all. This pic was taken just before we crossed over to the other side of the river where the tapas bar was.

I love surprises

What a blessed Sunday. There I was working away in my little studio and I looked up to see a lady and gent coming into the shop. The lady was carrying a large bunch of flowers and as I looked at her I thought 'gosh she looks like our Brenda' - I did a double take then because it was our Brenda and George, I grinned from ear to ear and just shouted 'eeeeeeeee' as I downed tools and ran to hug her. They'd been to Solihull for a weekend part of George's 60th birthday pressie. It was so lovely to see them. Unfortunately Brenda took all the pics so I'll try and get George to email some to me and I'll upload them so you can see how they made some pendants while at the studio. We had a good natter and then went over to Marc and Sam's when I closed, unfortunately I was babysitting as Marc and Sam were going out but we had supper and then they drove back to their hotel. I can't tell you how it made me feel, I was so happy. Thanks for coming to see me Nenna, I love that sort of surprise and if you're reading this will you ask George to email some of those pics please and I'll put them on my blog for Niecy to see. Love ya. I'm off to the optician's now as I've got a small black spot that floats about in my eye and I can see it but it's got bigger and is giving me a bit of a headache so not on here for long.

I hate colds

Oo I do hate colds. Any type of healthy eating has gone out of the window this week as I'm full of cold. I've been off work for 3 days, just felt so yeuk and as I hadn't done a shopping I didn't have very many nice things in so just stuffed my face with anything I could find. I managed to get out for some bits and pieces yesterday and I'm beginning to feel better today although my ribs ache with coughing so much but at least I have some healthy food in. I'm hoping to be back at work tomorrow, then it's only a couple of days and then the weekend, I just hate the bunged up feeling and having to breathe through my mouth, not a pretty sight. Things could be worse so I will not complain, I will just give thanks that I am able to rest.

Happy Birthday Tom

Happy Birthday to my gorgeous grandson Thomas. Wasn't he a cute baby (I'll add an up to date one later). He is 4 today and is having his birthday party at a farm. Same one that I took Olivia too and I know he will love it as he's been asking to go there for ages. I think all the kids love choosing an egg.

Speaking of eggs. I was given a couple of goose eggs last week and they were huge. I gave them to the boys and told them they were dinosaur eggs, their little faces lit up but then Ben quizzed me a bit more and ofcourse I had to tell him they were goose eggs, but they've kept them. Don't have any idea what they are going to do with them, I think Marc and Sam will be hoping they break but the boys will just enjoy having large eggs for a while

Sisters, a touch of the Irish and an I Pod

Well today's blog is for you li'l sis - just been over to yours and thought I'd just say there are Kennedy's in the family on mam's side so you never know maybe you can say 'top o the morning to ya' cos we might just have a little bit of Irish in us afterall.
As for me I'm wearin me green cardie and I've got a green bag to match. I love the bag, bought it at M&S and it has 2 sort of flower type things on the side. I'm into green at the moment, it's one of my favourite colours. The good Lord certainly knew what he was doing when he was creating because I just cannot imagine a lot of red everywhere the way we have green trees, green grass it's sort of softening whereas red - but then maybe that's because I don't really like the colour red, well certainly not in clothes.
It's almost the end of another week and I'm feeling tired.

Here's one for you other li'l sis, I was babysitting on Tuesday and my sweet granddaughter woke up at 11.45 pm just as I was nodding off to sleep and she was awake until nearly 3 a.m. I tried singing (maybe that just made it worse), I gave her another bottle, changed her nappy, put her in my bed, back in her cot, stroked her brow, resorted to a spoonful of calpol incase she was teething and then when Marc came home at 2.50 a.m. I quietly said to her 'you should be sleeping now, daddy's home' at which she shouted very loudly 'daddy, daddy' smiled a lot and he came into the bedroom, said sweetly 'what are you still doing up at this time young lady' she smiled lovingly back at him. He picked her up put her back in her cot, closed the door, and not another peep out of her. She obviously knew who was boss and it certainly wasn't me.
I then had about three hours sleep and was up at half six getting ready for work and getting the boys breakfast when I was given the privilege of fishing Ben's I Pod Touch out of the toilet. He had dropped it - I wont go into any detail but it is now affectionately known as the 'I Poo Touch'
The things a grandmother will do for her grandchild. Oo and I've just noticed the time so I'm off to bed for a much needed sleep.
Love ya both xx

Well the healthy kick is working but very slowly, however after a visit to the North East to see my mam, my sister has inspired me as she's lost nearly a stone at Weight Watchers so this could definitely be the new me. I'll keep you posted.

I surprised mam with a visit as it was school half term and while I had Livvy for 2 days I thought it would be nice to go up and visit and it may be the summer holidays before I get up again.

Livvy came over Monday and Tuesday as Marc and Sam were off to London with the boys to see the Dr Who Experience. It would have been too much for my sweet grandaughter so she stayed with me and we went to the farm. I was cross with myself because I'd forgotten the camera so no photographs but we had a lovely time. We fed the animals, goats, guinea pigs, chickens, pigs. The ducks to a little sort of march out of their pens and eat the food off the children's hands as they stand in a row. Livvy thought this was funny. We then went to the hatchery where some baby chicks had just hatched and we got to stroke one. The lady rested the duck on Livvy's arm and she sat looking intently at this little chick - she then stroked it so gently and then had a little look on her face that seemed to say 'OK that's it I don't want to play anymore' and she pushed the poor little chick off her arm. It wasn't hurt thankfully and at least she didn't push it as hard as the little boy further down the row, he just took an almighty swipe at the poor little thing - obviously he didn't like it at all - chick was fine I'm pleased to say.
She then got to choose an egg after feeding the chickens and she sat with it on her knee before we finally got to the car and went home. It was a long day but it was fun.
The Dr Who visit had gone down great with the boys and they arrived back home on the Tuesday evening very tired but they loved every minute of it.

Anyway, it was great visiting mam even if it was just for a couple of days. We managed to get to the town to do a bit of shopping and it was nice just being able to see that she was OK and having a chat. It's usually about food. I think one of the things mam really misses is not being able to cook the things she used to cook as she is on a low fat diet. I phoned her when I got back today at 5 o clock and she sounded good. 2 of my brothers were going round to see her so it wasn't so bad leaving her.
Before I fall asleep I'm off out to help at church Youth Club. Hopefully it wont be too busy tonight with it being the holidays but you never can tell. We usually have around 45 11-18 year olds and the church is not a huge one but they enjoy it.

Time to be healthy

This most definitely has to be my diet and healthy eating year. I had blood tests done a couple of weeks ago just my annual one to see if my blood pressure and cholesterol levels were OK. I had a call from the docs to say I need to go see them which probably means one or the other is up. I've also got to go for an ultra sound tomorrow on my gall bladder so either way whatever the outcome it's healthy eating time. I've decided I'm not going to weigh myself though because it just depresses me (well not really despressed but if I don't lose anything I just wonder it's all for). Anyway I will let you know how I get on and hopefully with lots of encouragement I'll be telling you I'm feeling fit, healthy, my gall bladder's OK, my blood pressure and cholesterol are down, so here's praying.

Is this my diet year!!!!

Here we are almost into February and well January has just been a month of saying I'm going to do things and really not attempting to do anything and the only reason is ... too cold. Yes, here in good old England we are not used to harsh winters and I have to admit as I get older I find the cold seems to creep around these old bones of mine and I just want to settle down in front of the TV and wrap a blanket round me to keep snug and warm.
I have though decided this is the year of the diet - again this is due to thinking I have gallstones. I had a dreadful pain around my chest just over a week ago and the doctor gave me an ECG which showed my heart was fine, it wasn't just indigestion so she's sending me for an ultra sound on my liver and then said it could be gallstones. So I am reading up on foods to avoid just in case it is. At least it's got me eating healthy but I'd value your prayers as she said if it's not gallstones I'd have to have an endoscopy (camera down throat) and I have to admit I just don't fancy having that done at all.

As for the diet, I will keep you posted as to how I get on or rather if I get on ...

Holidays are over ..

Christmas Day was spent with my son, daughter in law and grandchildren and the rest of the hols with my family up North. It was soooooo cold. It's a long time since we've had that much snow and I'm just so glad that it has now all gone.
There was just so many toys around on Christmas Day I don't think the children knew which one to play with first but the look on their faces as they opened their gifts was a joy to see. I've decided too I need a new camera or at least I need to remember to take pics.

My sister got 3 tickets for her, mam and I to go and see Winter Wonderland at the theatre. We take mam in her wheelchair as she can't manage stairs so we had a box to ourselves and a great view. It was a lovely night.

We had a very quiet new year just mam and I. We watched TV until after midnight and then by the time we had telephoned family to wish them a Happy New Year we made it up to bed around half one. I don't think mam has been up so late in a long time.

All too soon though it is back to normal and work tomorrow but it was lovely.