Crystal - 15th Wedding Anniversary - UPdate..

Today Hubby and I are celebrating 15 years of marriage!  Where has it gone?

Sophie has been with us for 10 of those years and the time since she was born has flown by much too fast.

Last year was a quiet affair and we went out for a meal.  There were only us and two other couples!  This time we are going back to the same restaurant but taking Sophie with us for a change.  She was disappointed she was left her at Grandmas last year.  Does her good to be taken out to nice places and get dressed up a little.  I think it promotes social skills and good manners.

It has been raining but the sun has won through this afternoon.  However despite the day Hubby is upstairs working and I am downstairs marking GCSE coursework.  Sophie is in between playing with her toys and games.  Such is life that it has to keep moving no matter what the day is.  

So best get back to it as I would like to finish before I go out later and it is taking longer than I thought.

I am going to promise myself a crafty day tomorrow as a reward and to do some baking with Sophie.

Take care

xx
UPDATE:
Had a lovely time and Sophie was wide eyed with it all.  Just look at what the chef did with our dessert!

Sorry about the picture but there were more candles than electricity and we were using an i-Phone as well.

Lovely lemon and lime baked cheese cake with lemon sorbet!!! Yum Yum.  I shall not need to eat until Saturday I should think.
xx

Diamond Jubilee Days

Image from google images

The past few days have been quite busy!

On Friday our school broke up for a weeks holiday and on Saturday we had about 20 friends round for a bit of a Jubilee party.  

Cakes were baked, I made some cupcakes with white butter icing with strawberries and blueberries for the red white and blue bit.  Due to small children we decided not to have a BBQ but instead had a nice piece of British pork with a bowl of sage and onion to add to it plus rolls and apple sauce.  Plus other plates of food.

Needless to say that due to organising and setting up I forgot to take any pictures before the guests arrived, sorry.

The previous weekends had been scorching hot so we put up our gazebos to keep the sun off, but as it turned out it was to keep the RAIN OFF!!  Boy did it rain too. Such a shame but as you can guess we carried on.

We just moved it all inside, the TV was put on to see what was happening in London and a few kept us up to date with events.  Some of our friends had not seen each other for a while so it was a chance to catch up.

By the time we had finished every glass, plate, bowl and piece of cutlery had been used and washed so a good way to spring clean my cupboards and thank goodness for dishwashers!!  I only have a midi dishwasher but it really helps to keep on top of things.

picture from google images

On Sunday we decided to sit in comfort with lots of tea and watch the Royal Boat Procession on the river Thames.  The rain was a shame but again it all carried on, well what else could be done?  I did feel sorry for the singers on top of the barge with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.  They looked soaked to the skin and freezing!  The first time they sang their bit hubby and I thought that they were facing the wrong way round and they were.  The barge did a really clever 360 turn and they had to sing it all over again and then again for good measure.  They did so well and it could take the rest of the week for them to fully dry out.

We decided to have a lazy day and watch the Jubilee events all day.  We remember doing the same 10 years ago for the Golden Jubilee.  I was pregnant with Sophie at the time, where has those years gone?

Moving on to Monday! 

A big family lunch to celebrate my  in-laws Golden wedding anniversary.  I made the above card.  The picture is a photo that I took of my roses.

Typically today was scorching hot and everyone needed a squirt of Sophie's sun lotion.  I had to go twice to the car to find various hats and an umbrella to keep Sophie from burning.  All seasons in about three days.

The view from the restaurant and hotel is gorgeous.....

Blue skies, sea and boats.

We sat on the  terrace until our table was ready and it was the best day for weather.

Afterwards we went back to my in laws house for a glass of champagne and wedding anniversary cake which had gold edible spray and sugar flowers.

Candles in the garden and then we watched the Jubilee concert held in front of Buckingham Palace.  It was very good and the fireworks at the end were brilliant!!  Luckily the rain held off the whole time but did start at about 11pm.  Unfortunately I had left some washing out but never mind.   We were also treated to some fireworks in Probus and they too were brilliant and we watched them from an upstairs window.

At the moment we have watched the carriage procession and some of the concert that we missed last night as it is being shown again on BBC 1.

The rain has held off again today although it is rather cloudy.  The sun is trying to show through.

Not sure what we have planned for the rest of the week.  Hubby has to go to the Isles of Scilley for a boat survey, could not get three tickets to go and the one time I could!  Sophie and I will plan something I am sure.

Hope you have had a good weekend and maybe had a chance to look in on what we have been doing here in the UK if you live further afield.

If you have been watching leave a comment stating which country you live in and where you were watching from such as your living room, garden etc.  60 comments is a tall ask but you never know....
I shall start off.........

xx
PS
OOpps! Spot the mistake? No? Good, but I was a decade out earlier.  I am too old for these late nights the brain can not function properly!  

Wedding Gift - Beaded Bag

A colleague at work got married this month and we were invited to the evening reception. They have been together for some time so a wedding list was not wanted as such. Vouchers etc were more long term useful if people wanted to bring a gift. A very relaxing and easy way of doing things for a change.

I wanted to make something ( of course) for the bride herself. We shall call her A and she works part time with me and one of the subjects she teaches is Textiles, so I had to make something extra special. The item I chose I have not made for a while and it is my party piece for wedding gifts/ Special events etc.

Her wedding colours were off white and pink. So plenty of beads needed.

Luckily, I had many of the supplies I needed, just the pink fabric. Looked for silk, not a scrap of pink silk to be found at all! So got a nice 100% cotton instead.

This is based on a Victorian beaded reticule. These are more like little purses and originally they would have contained maybe a special hankie, tiny bottle of perfume or a little trinket.

I really enjoy making them and no two are ever the same. I got started on these after my hubby's Aunt made one for me for my wedding day, I used instead of those plastic horse shoe things.

I made one for my best friend and had a real job trying to find out what the bridesmaid colours were. Nearly got myself into bother there but once the bride saw it on the day she picked up on the fact and said that my questions made complete sense and loved the fact it linked to her wedding colours. Phew! I kept the info to myself anyway, I did not even tell my hubby what the colours were as I made it in secret.

It has a draw string fastening and the ribbon is left long enough to hook over the brides arm and hang down but not get in the way. Much nicer that those plastic horseshoes!! Luck can be added instead by adding a token inside. Oh, I forgot to do that, oh well.

A pretty gift box was found. Sophie helped me to decorate the lid, and there you go.

The brides reaction? More than I was expecting which made up for the panic during making which resulted in needing to start again twice and staying up until 1.30am on one night until I had sorted out what had gone wrong! However, it was worth every second just for the look on A's face when she opened the box. That is after all why we prefer handmade, isn't it?

Tomorrow I shall show you the very first one that I made.

xx