Blog in bits part 4

So, these are the final photos of all 5 kittens together with their Mum Muffin :o) Muffin was supermum and fed them all right up to the day they left!! Ylfa, who we thought was a girl, turned out to be a boy when she got down to Gertrud's so in the end Muffin had 3 boys and 2 girls - I got 4/5 right which isn't bad - is it????!!

blog in bits part 3

This was the summer when Nick and I developed caravan envy!!! In the middle of August, Ros, - Phil and the boys and Nick and I and the girls went away for the weekend - the Lyons in their so nice caravan and we in our awesome tent - but nonetheless - a tent!! The long and the short of that one is that the girls and I (and Nick too really!) all decided that tenting is not for us - however spacious the tent and however wonderful the weather (and the weather was TRULY gorgeous!!) tenting is just NOT civilised!! The girls hated the hot in the day, the cold at night and the BUGS AND BUGS AND BUGS!! Each morning, they shut themselves into Ros and Phil's caravan to experience the delights of the fly screens!! heheheeee - well, shortly after this one and only excursion we used our photos of the tent to sell it!!! hahahaaaa - Nick and I will be attending the caravan show at the NEC next weekend and we WILL be purchasing a caravan for next year!!

Aside from that, the weekend was amazing!! We stayed in a little place called Alne near Easingwold near York. We went to the Maize maze in Easingwold - and enjoyed go kart racing and trying to get to the middle of the maze to climb the tower. Ros and I feared for some time that we would be stuck in there and NEVER get out but ultimately Nick used his maze method to get us to the middle - and back out again! What a triumph!!

Izzy had a go at riding Finn's bike- Finn is 6 months younger than Izzy but an amazing cyclist - utterly fearless and very co-ordinated!! Izzy is as fearful as he is fearless!! heheheee - still, she gave it a go on this lovely site outside the tent and nearly got it - confidence was the only hitch! We had barbecues, ate at the pub one night and played in the park. Nick and Phil regressed to 4 year olds on the death slide and caused each other significant injuries!! hahahaa

We also had several games of cricket and it was fab to see the girls doing something that didn't involve dressing up / make up / computers / TV!! :o) Nick and Phil didn't hold hands all the time!! great photo!! heheheeeee

It was a fab break and we're looking forward to many more next year in our new caravan - watch this space!!

Blog in bits part 2

Having discussed it for years and thought about it and planned etc etc I finally got my first tattoo at the beginning of August :o) Bergny came too as she'd fancied having a tattoo for some time! I'd spent a lot of time planning what I wanted and decided on a pretty dove design with a few cute stars around it!!

It wasn't the LEAST painful thing I've ever done!!! hahahaaaa - yeah, it was a tad uncomfortable but I went first so I totally managed to stay smiling and nonchalent for Bergny ;o) Perhaps was a mistake cos poor Bergny was not then expecting the actual pain that she experienced!! Bergny nearly kicked Dave the Tattooist several times but in the end she was happy with the result too - a stunning Icelandic rune so she'll never get lost!

The first picture that I took of my tattoo looks very red eh?! I've just taken another one over my shoulder so you can see how its settled down :o) Its lovely now - and I don't feel it at all!!

Blog in bits part 1

Well, as its been so long I thought I'd do a few updates in bits!!

Firstly, when I got back from holiday with Nanna and Mum, the kittens were GROWING - take a look - beautifully decorated by the girls I think ;o)

Two of the kittens, Dave and Kizzy are now happily settled in their new homes. The remaining three are with Gertrud the breeder in London and hopefully will have new homes soon. It was a fun experience but they did somewhat wreck the dining room which needed rug doctoring and all sorts to make it habitable again, so, I don't think we'll be having any more kittens - adorable and cute tho they were!! The kids miss them but I think the experience was good just as a one-off ;o) So, this is the kittens at the end of July when we started our summer holidays!

in amongst the lilies, down by the sea but no sheep.....

This morning we went to Weymouth again and enjoyed the beach and the beautiful coastline. Just outside Weymouth is the water lily gardens housing a national collection of lilies so we went for a look there. Its very "monet" themed - which works well with lilies!!...

A water lily :o)

Mum taking a photo of me taking a photo of her in the water lily gardens ;o)

View across the beach and sea front at Weymouth - hazy today but still lovely weather

Nanna thoroughly enjoyed all the views across the ponds and the dragon flies..

Nearly home time - one more trip to Dorchester tomorrow then packing up ready for the long journey home on Saturday....

xxxxx

and just a few more...

some more sheep for you Lauren ;o)

The view from the single track lane on the way down to the farm where our holiday home is....

Nanna likes my hat! ;o)

enjoying a glass of bubbly on our first night :o)

bye for now!!

xxxx

few more pics.....

the view from Abbotsbury church across the hills - ancient Benedictine church built in the 1400s...

This is St Nicholas Church itself - gorgeous old church - we had a struggle to get Nanna in but she was determined so we shoved, hoicked and pushed and got her in ;o)

sheep for you Lauren.....;o) gorgeous fat faced old fashioned sheep!

Mum n Nanna taking photos in Abbotsbury :o)

xxx

enjoying our hols

well, Nanna, Mum and I are fully enjoying the sun in Dorset!! We've been to a swannery, wandered around Weymouth and been to a subtropical garden :o) Tomorrow, mum and I plan a little trip to Dorchester whilst Nanna gets a few more crosswords done and then we're all on a trip to the nearby village of Abbotsbury which has an amazing old Benedictine church and the ruins of an ancient monastery as well as several tea shops, art shops, antique shops and gorgeous old thatched cottages ;o) More stories and pics as the week goes on.........

love to you all

Nikki xoxooxoxoxxxxx

kittens

quick post just to say that there are lots of gorgeous kitten pics on Muffin's blog at Anson Road - check them out!!

http://www.ansonroad.co.uk/cats/pixiebob26/

enjoy ;o)

Nikki xxx

weddings and kittens

Well, first up, here are the kittens at 4 days old!! All thriving!! There are almost certainly 3 girls and 2 boys.  1 of the boys and 2 of the girls are very similar sizes then there's a much bigger boy (called Dave!!) and a much smaller girl.  We were a bit worried about the little girl on day 3 because she didn't put on much weight but it was just a one day blip and she's continuted to grow proportionally well from then.  3 of them now have their eyes open - SOOOoooo adorable.....I'll blog pics in a couple of days when they all have their eyes open ;o)

So, the kittens arrived on Sunday of last week.  On the Friday, it was our friends Robbie and Helen's wedding day - and the sun shone brightly for them :o)  It was a gorgeous day and Helen looked totally stunning - Izzy said she looked like a "fairy princess"!!  Helen had asked Caitlin and Izzy to give out the confetti as we came out of church and they were so chuffed to hold their baskets and give out hand made cones of dried rose petals - they looked adorable.  Robbie looked good too - all of the men in the party were in kilts as Robbie is Scottish and they looked great together.  

Here's a few pics - Nick took a picture of me and my work mates in the grounds of Headlam Hall - beautiful setting for a wedding.....

We brushed up ok?!!!

The beautiful bride Helen - very relaxed and chilled all day!

Robbie loves the girls and the feeling is mutual!

2 little confetti girls

....giving out confetti at the church door.....

On the Saturday after the wedding day, Nick went to Mauritius and Caitlin, Izzy and I went for a barbeque at Helen's parents house which was a really nice way to finish the wedding weekend - it gave Helen and Robbie chance to catch up with friends and family and look at the pics without the formality of the church and reception - top idea!!  

Nick got back from Mauritius yesterday looking all tanned - grrrrr - especially as the weather here has taken a turn for the colder and greyer :o( oh well, we had 10 days of amazing weather so a bit of rain was due!!  Good for my garden ;o)

Mum and Dad came for dinner and stayed over on Saturday night and I cooked a pretty yummy 3 course meal which Bergny also enjoyed - I think the English cuisine served here is working out for her!!

I've also joined the gym and managed to go 4 times already - needs must!!! I need to get in shape so I must go to the gym ;o) The girls had their first swimming lesson at the gym on Saturday afternoon - it was a trauma!!! Izzy is as neurotic and anxious as her Mum and, with the pool being 120cm and her being 115cm, the fear of drowning turned her into a Klingon!!  Sue, the ex army swimming teacher, stood for no nonsense and sent me away whilst trying to encourage a wailing Izzy to stop clinging to her neck....hmmmmmmm.....think this is going to be fun!  Next lesson, Saturday afternoon at 4:30pm again!

Think that's it - many bugs are going round at the moment, none of which are yet swine flu although I get daily updates from the NHS so I'll warn you all when its spreading further ;o)

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxoxx