Just the five of us.

Force-feeding T!

Was it a teapot?

Lining up the grandchildren - the chocolate is to the right of the picture - follow the eyes!

We got there & it took only one small packet of chocolate buttons.

A busy weekend,shopping & cooking on Saturday ready to welcome the family on Sunday.
Aj arrived on Saturday lunchtime to lend a hand.
On Sunday morning aj peeled & mashed a sack of potatoes to finish off the cottage pies, prepared the vegetables & opened the baked beans, confident that these would be deemed essential to complement the meal.
We made blackberry crumble, bread & butter pudding, rice pudding, trifle & coffee gateaux, served with cream, ice cream & custard, for pudding.
All of the next generation of the family eventually arrived, apart from one nephew, along with spouses, partners & three close friends, 22 adults & 9 grandchildren in total.
It was great to see everyone together, for the cousins to meet up & meet all the children, seven of whom are not yet three.

We have had a relaxing day today; W & K went shopping with J this morning, whilst I watched D sleeping & hung out the washing.
Since lunch it has been raining hard, not fit to venture out.
A good excuse to sit down & do little for an hour or so.
Time for tea.

The Eagle has landed.

G is in Goa, MK, J & DK are here, so we are all ready for the weekend to start.
Yesterday I finished all of the jobs at home, including the ironing & those shirts, then I went to Solihull to take on provisions - the first big shop that I've done for a long time.

Today was a Thomas day. It was bright & sunny so we enjoyed our walk in the park & playing in the playground.
I must have had my "I need a friend" face on as so many strangers stopped for a chat about the weather, their dogs, children or to ask directions.
I met W, MK &family at the airport, we came home for stew & dumplings. Everyone is now settled, not to say in bed asleep, apart from W & me.
I hope that they all sleep well.

It is really autumnal; a nip in the air & leaves blowing about - the damson leaves always fall off first, they've nearly all gone.

I shall put a link to G's Karma Enduro blog tomorrow, when W shows me how to do it.
(livekarmaenduro.blogspot.com)

Home Alone.

I have just finished this blog, then it disappeared.
Bugger.
I am thinking of finding relevant film titles for all of my blogs from now on.
The only snag is that I know few film titles & those that I do know (James Bond & a few classics) may not prove very useful.

G is on his way to India.
We drove to Leatherhead to see Gina, Oscar & the twins, G went to James' practice for a chiropractic/acupuncture session.
After lunch we went to Terminal 4, via G's local office.
We had coffee with G's co-driver, Steve, & his wife & then I left them for their four hour check-in.
It took me so long to get out of the car park that the Satnav had kicked in & was giving me directions. Honestly.

After a half hour hold up on the M40, I called in at Bicester, helped Joe get T & KP ready for bed & collected the high chair that E had bought for me & arrived home at 8.30pm
My antibiotics seem to be working at last, I feel great & full of beans, despite having been awake all day. I'd better go to bed anyway as I have a lot to do tomorrow & 15 shirts to iron.

Hi, Jen.

AJ is at the local library at this very moment, catching up on her e mails & blogs after two weeks of enforced silence since her computer was stolen.
That's kept her off the competition sites & given others a chance!
I did enter the "This Morning" comp, on line this week, as I was on line with the TV on - how about that for multi-tasking?
I don't rate my chances of winning the £52000 too highly as I couldn't remember the order of the responses, & put Lewis Hamilton down as a tennis player!

I feel much better today, so the antibiotics must be working, albeit, slowly.
On the other hand, perhaps my immune system did it single-handed!
I shall burst into life shortly (I mustn't be seduced by Jeremy Kyle), clean the bedrooms & make up the beds. I then have the dozen shirts to iron that I avoided yesterday.
Looks like a nice day, weather wise.

Pain stopped play.

We had a relaxing weekend, in warm sunshine.
We went to Star City on Friday evening but the place was crawling with police, checking on cars (not volvos!),there was nothing that we wanted to see so we drove home, picking up an Indian takeaway en route.

G had a haircut on Saturday in preparation for his epic journey, starting on Wednesday.
Paula came over with J & T in the afternoon & stayed overnight as A was gallivanting with a group of quatrogenerians, in Edinburgh, for the weekend.

On Sunday morning, J collected the acorns from the yard with the tractor & trailer & T's help, then visited the playground in the village, before lunch.
I had intended to play tennis this morning, but I was struck down with an infection on Friday night & have had to visit the doctor today, as even G's best efforts at the pharmacy, with powders & cranberry juice failed to bring about a cure.
I've had a lazy day so far - two loads of washing on the line & lounging on the settee, drinking weak, decaf tea. What a wuz!

I have had a second letter from the cousin in Georgia. Her grandmother died in 1936.
My grandmother, her younger sister, died in 1957, I think. She has photos of Mum in her youth, which are quite rare.

I need to put a link to G's blog. Instructions would be welcome.

DK should have his plaster off by now. What a shock to loose you own body weight in minutes.

Three words that spellcheck can't cope with. Guess.
I did make one of them up.

On strike again.

OK, so I'm not worth a comment.
I spent most of the morning with the TV on, playing on the computer, in my dressing gown.
What a slob.
I had a bath, a watercress sandwich & then worked in the garden all afternoon, in the sunshine.
G came home early & joined in, mowing & raking.
I made butternut squash soup for dinner, followed by prawn & avacado salad & chocolate - healthy or what?
We have watched the big cat programme on BBC 1 again tonight - it is amazing & I recommend it to everyone - on CBBs as well.
Wildlife in Africa!

I have started looking through a suitcase full of papers & old family photos from my childhood, before repling to the newly found cousin in USA.
The second folder of photos that I opened were grannies, from a holiday in Denmark in 1957, including Copenhagen & Odense - places that G & I visited this summer. Many of the photos were of the same sites, 57 years on. Fascinating.
There are lots to get through yet.

Thomas day tomorrow & the sun is going to shine again.

I have now corrected this three times & lost the changes as we have no signal in the lounge.
I'll go upstairs to the powerhouse, rather than curse BT again.

Welcome Home.

I arrived home at around 8.00pm last night, G at about 10.30pm.
If you have trouble sleeping, I recommend spending the day with two small children; it always works for me.
I really enjoyed the morning, playing tennis at Coleshill, in bright sunshine.
I then went on to Knowle & Solihull to shop, had a snack in M&S, & arrived home at tea-time, to prepare a meal.
G picked aj & C up from the airport & we had a meal together before they set off for York.
Stockholm had been cold & aj had caught one & been off her food!
A good day.

Tomorrow I have housework to do & 60 winter pansies to plant out.
I hope that the sun shines.