Weekend at Kerry`s

I had a lovely weekend at Kerry`s. She now has just a week to go now and there is no real sign of anything occuring just yet. She has everything prepared, her case is packed ready for the trip to hospital, all the baby things are all ready too. Now all she can do is sit and wait, and wait....and wait. Actually as you can probably guess she`s completely fed up with doing nothing and she`s always glad to get out to collect Roman from school though despite it being just a short walk there and back it takes her twice as long as it used to. Jim and I are on edge all the time now and every time the phone rings we both jump! Anyway, like I said, it was a lovely weekend. On Saturday we went to a local garden centre (oh joy!) because Slava wanted a few plants for his garden. Faced with so many plants I just had to buy some myself and purchased three azalea, a foxglove, a eryngium and some new gardening gloves. There are so many garden centres near to Kerry and I have only visited one of them so far...so many plants and so little time...lol! Roman loves shopping seeing as how he has been shopping with Kerry and I since he was a tiny baby. I suppose he will one day drive some poor girl crazy with his retail therapy! Yesterday afternoon we all went to a pub/restaurant called the Star Inn. It`s in the Hampshire countryside in a village called Highclere. The view from the windows was lovely as was the whole meal and I would happily go there again sometime. What more could you ask than a beautiful day, eat good reasonably priced food with your family in pretty surroundings?

I have to thank everyone for the birthday cards and good wishes that were sent to me. Despite having to work I had a really nice day and was given some lovely presents. Kerry and Slava, Danny and Salina got their heads together and bought me gift cards for the same shop. Now I can buy what I want, when I want...well done kids! Jim bought me a lovely red handbag and Roman also bought me a handbag he chose himself, I was so touched that he chose it just for me. Kerry took me to one side and told me I was lucky because Roman originally liked a bright yellow one but she managed to persuade him that I don`t really like yellow...bless him!

Today is Slava`s 30th birthday and we all clubbed together to buy him a beautiful Emporium Armani watch. I bought him a plastic watering can as a joke seeing as how when watering his garden on Sunday I had to use Roman`s toy one as he doesn`t own a proper one. I still have lots to do in the garden thanks to Jim. He has finished digging out the new bed and now I have lots of space to plant in. Today I bought some more seeds and some summer bulbs that I must get started tomorrow. Now, along with the plants I bought Saturday and the ones I bought today I also have siome that I ordered online yesterday evening. It`s that time of year when I seem to spend a great deal of my wages on plants and anything garden orientated....but it`s all worth it. I just hope we have a good Summer this year to show it off in all its` (I hope) glory.

Anyway, at the moment I`m calling Kerry everyday to see if she`s ok. As soon as I know anything I`ll be sure to let you know. Bye Bye for now. :o)

March Winds a Blowing!

Just a few of my Spring flowers in full bloom. I`m really pleased with them this year and hopefully they will be even better this year. I took a close up of the Magnolia so you can see how pretty each flower actually is, or was. March winds have battered it beyond all recognition now. The Pieris, 3rd pic from top, is the best its ever been though the photo doesn`t do it justice. The flower bed is a bit bare at the moment but all the herbacious plants have come safely through the Winter and will soon be in flower along with any other plant that catches my eye!

Well the false Spring that we all enjoyed has disappeared to be replaced by bitterly cold March winds that are doing their best to batter my garden to bits. As I mentioned above my Magnolia has taken a real beating and I`ve had to cover some of the more delicate plants with bell cloches to prevent them being broken. I know its supposed to be windy in March but I`m bored with bad weather now, I want to get out in my garden and spend my afternoons pottering around. Yesterday Jim started to dig out an extension of the flower bed we started last year. Our lawn is too big and I need more planting space. Once that`s done I`m having a raised bed for planting vegetables, it`ll only be a smallish area but big enough for what I have in mind. I`ve planted all my seeds and am hoping for the best that they all come up. All the tomato seeds that I planted have germinated and there are far two many for me to use, I`ll probably give them away to friends and family. In fact, I have seeds on almost every windowledge in the house. There are some in a heated propergator and some dahlia`s and gladioli in the greenhouse. I must admit that I`ll be glad when they can all go in the greenhouse because at the moment, even with a heater, its still too cold at night.

Kerry has only two more weeks until the baby is due. She had her last appointment with the midwife today and in her fortieth week she`ll see her doctor who will admit her to hospital to be induced, that is of course if nothing happens before then. The midwife said that all is well and the baby is ready now. Now its just a case of waiting. On Friday it`s my birthday and I`m going to spend the weekend at Kerrys. Jims working so he`ll come over on the Sunday when we`ll all go out for lunch. As Kerry doesn`t have a spare bedroom I`ll be taking our fold away bed and will sleep in Roman`s room. He says he`s looking forward to me staying and so am I, I just hope he doesn`t snore too loudly...lol!

The good weather has meant that work has been really, really busy. The majority of the last week I`ve not had a quiet moment and the time has flown by. I know there is supposed to be a economic recession but I`ve yet to see any evidence of it, at least with gardeners. Mind you, perhaps people aren`t going on holidays or buying other expensive luxury items and are spending money on their gardens instead. I always say that as I don`t smoke, drink or gamble I can completely justify what I spend on my garden. Of course there are bills that I pay and grandchildren to buy for ( I say grandchildren because I`ve started buying baby things already though I haven`t bought too much pink just in case the baby turns out to be a boy...lol!

On Mother`s Day both Kerry and Dan gave me bouquets of flowers and lovely cards too. I put all the flowers into a large vase as I wanted to keep them altogether. When I look at them I think of both my children when they were about nine and eleven, the time when they put their pocket money together and bought me a picture which they proudly presented to me on Mother`s Day. It was so sweet of them as they had chosen it specially. The fact that it was probably the last thing I would have bought didn`t matter as the fact that they had got together to buy it, especially for me. I doubt either of them would remember now but even though the picture is long gone, I will never forget their faces when they gave it to me, they looked so happy...and so was I, more than they will ever know.

Anyway my friends, I`ll say goodbye for now and will probably post again when I return from the weekend away. Of course, if there is any news regarding Kerry I promise you will hear about it as soon as I can. Night Night. :o)

Scary Trees and Sculptures - A Weekend in Pictures

An ancient pollarded beech tree Looking up

This tree sculpture is simply amazing

and so are these...mind you, the dogs love them too...lol!

Roman pulling his pretend miserable face

Just look at his gorgeous smile...no wonder his girlfriend Connie wants to marry him...lol!

It`s been a lovely weekend. The weather has been marvellous, very sunny and very warm, just how I like Spring to be. As you can imagine I spent every spare minute in the garden weeding and tidying up. Between us we`ve now cleared all the beds of weeds and I can honestly say that the main heavy work is behind us....well apart from the small matter of digging out a new flower bed and making a raised bed for planting veggies! Never mind, the work is what it`s all about. A garden is a living thing that is never finished, theres always something to do and something that needs changing. Now I can think ahead to what plants I need for the Summer though as I`ve planted lots of seeds I shouldn`t need to spend too much.

The photos above were taken by Jim in Burnham Beeches woods. The beech trees there are very old and the have to have their upper branches removed (pollarded) to keep them from falling over under their weight, also it helps to allow light through to the forest floor. He also took the photos of the tree sculptures there. I think they are amazing and whoever the artist was he or she is very talented. The other photos were taken on Saturday night when we went out for a meal to celebrate Slava`s 30th birthday. It`s not actually his birthday until March 30th but Kerry thought it best to bring it forward in case she didn`t feel up to it then. She has only 3 weeks to go now and is feeling very uncomfortable. The midwife has told her that the baby is laying with her back against Kerry`s spine which will cause her extra pain during labour...very helpful to point that out I`m sure! Then the woman tells her that she will very likely have a long labour as she had a C-section first time around. Something tells me that the midwife wouldn`t win any prizes in tact and diplomacy!

Anyway, I`d better keep it short as I have lots to do ie. read journals, answer emails etc. Take care and bye bye for now. :o)

Photos and Cupcakes Galore!

It`s been a great weekend for socialising. On Saturday we went to the engagement party of our nephew Rob and his new fiancee Rachel. They are the perfect couple and I wish them all the best for the future, they are lovely people and deserve all the happiness life has to offer.

Kerry, Slava and Roman came with us but Danny couldn`t make it as he moved into his new flat on Saturday and just didn`t have the time. Roman looked very smart in his new shirt and jeans and had a great time on the dancefloor, first with me and our promised first dance and later with Slava and several young women ( 25 and over) who really took a shine to my little darling. How dare they!....lol! One girl told him he looked "Just like a little pop star in his designer shirt". I told him he was a lucky boy to be chatted up by the lovely ladies in their pretty dresses and he told me that "Your dress is pretty too Nana" Oh I did have a lump in my throat!

Posing in my new dress!

Kerry (hiding bump!) Jim and Roman all ready to go

Delicious looking and very tasty cupcakes and the engagement cake made by Rob`s mum, Jim`s sister Beryl.
More cupcakes....yummy!
Jim`s sister Sue with her youngest grandson Charlie aged 8mths.

Having a rest between dances. Roman`s drink of choice was apple juice, perfect for washing down the odd cupcake or two...lol!
Strutting his stuff on the dancefloor!

Flying high with Daddy!

By 11pm Roman started to slow up and eventually he came over to me and climbed on my lap. He said he was very tired and could we go back to my house now. I told Kerry and we decided to take him home. We had driven over in two cars and Jim and Slava stayed until the end of the evening, 2.30am to be precise. It was Jim`s turn to drive so he didn`t have a drink all evening, Slava on the other hand did...lol!

It didn`t take us long to get home and before we were halfway there Roman was snoring in his car seat. When we got home he didn`t wake uop and I had to carry him indoors and up the stairs to bed, not a easy task now he`s so big! Kerry and I got him into his pyjamas and into bed without even a murmur from him and we went downstairs and enjoyed a very welcome cup of tea. All in all it had been a thoroughly enjoyable evening though I`m sure they would be a few hangovers here and there...lol!

On Sunday we all had dinner together before Kerry, Slava and Roman all went home. Just then I realised that the house was silent, the first time for the last two weeks. It was heaven, I had my home back....! And also my fridge was full of cupcakes and with Jim not being allowed to eat them it left just me to do the dirty deed. Jim`s sister Beryl told Jim that she didn`t want them to go to waste and I can assure you, they didn`t....I couldn`t let that happen now could I???

Bye Bye for now. :o)

Me and My Girl

Well the weekend went according to plan, at least it did for the most part.

On Saturday morning I had my hairdresserers appointment and in the afternoon we went shopping in Basingstoke which is a town near to where Kerry lives. We had been there before but only with Kerry and Slava and Jim and I wanted to find our own way around to see what was there. Its a good shopping centre, far better than our own which seems to be dying around us. The heart has gone from our town and I think theres nothing that can save it now. Many shops have closed thanks to the financial mess that we are in and for some reason the Council in their wisdom have decided to replace the red brick Piazza area in the High Street with light and dark grey marble slabs. The work is nowhere near completed and already the lighter slabs are filthy and badly stained. In short they are a total waste of our money. Oh well, we rarely go there now unless we have to, there are much nicer towns in the locale where I would prefer to spend my hard earned cash.

But I digress, after we`d been into Basingstoke and Jim and we had bought a couple of things for Roman we drove to Kerry`s where she cooked a tasty Shepards Pie which was very much appreciated. Slava was working so it was just the four of us and we stayed there until about 7. Roman was on top form and kept us all entertained with his antics and funny stories. To hear him you would think he was a much older child instead of 3 1/2. He`s so much like Kerry at the same age that it has to be genetic. She told me that he just never stops talking and I just laughed. What goes around comes around...lol!

The new TV is great though it`s taken a bit of getting used to. The picture is so much bigger than I`m used to but it`s much sharper and a joy to watch especially when there is a wildlife programme on. Jim is enjoying his DVD`s and yesterday evening he watched Independence Day for the 300th time, well not QUITE 300 but it seems like it...lol! He said it was brilliant watching it on the new TV so I doubt I`ll get the chance to watch it myself that often.

Yesterday morning Kerry and Roman came over and we went shopping in Uxbridge. I could see that she looked really tired and I asked her if it was wise going out at all. She said she was fine but after an hour she began to flag so we went and had some lunch. She told me that she`s been getting pains, a sort of cramp she says. Oh dear, I`m thinking, not while we`re out. As Kerry had a caesarian section last time she didn`t experience labour pains at all but I think she may be going to know all about them sooner than she thinks. Kerry wanted to buy quite a few things so we took our time and found what she wanted before heading home again. It was fairly crowded with shoppers and more than once she was pushed by people who either couldn`t care that she was pregnant or they just didn`t notice, either way it made me cross and more than a little worried to see my girl looking so vulnerable. When we got home I made us all a steak dinner followed by a tub of maple and pecan ice cream, which, I`m embarrassed to admit we ate the lot...except Roman who didn`t like it very much...never mind, all the more for me and Kerry....lol!

I`ve quite enjoyed my day off today. I didn`t get up until after 8 this morning, had breakfast, cleaned the kitchen and washed the floor. That was all the housework I was doing today. I went out later and bought nyself a new dress for the engagement party we are going to next weekend. It`s a soft grey sheath style dress, very simple and understated. I have red jewellery to set it off teamed with black patent spiked heels. Hopefully I will look ok come Saturday night. When I got home I did several loads of washing and got it all dry on the line, thus saving money on the dryer and it smells lovely too. I thought about a bit of gardening but it is very cold and I decided to give it a miss, there isn`t really much to do apart from weeding which can wait and sowing seeds which I will start on next week. All that left me with is the computer so here I am! Bye Bye for now. :o)