Where to start?

Too many things to post about!
Firstly, thank you to Julie for nominating me for the Nice Matters Award - I am very grateful for such an accolade, and look - I have managed to post the picture - not so inept after all! 
Sue nominated me for this one too - and I made my acceptance speech a few posts ago. I really appreciate the thoughts behind the comments and emails this blog generates. I know how busy everyone is with work and homes and families, so taking the time to say 'hi' is extra special. This blog has become a really lovely window on the world. I know my family read it and keep up with what we're doing here. And increasingly, the growing numbers of far distant friends who visit regularly or call by now and then have become important to me. I get a real thrill when I see the comments from people I may never meet except through this medium. Thank you all.

Maddy - bless her - asked me to do the 8 Random Things post - I did it a while ago - but I am a fairly random person, so I expect I can come up with eight more. I'll have a think and stick them at the end of this post.

This last week has been busy with a whole variety of things - a trip to see my parents -  a hive of creativity with so much going on that one day is never enough to do and see all the things they are busy with.
Mum is making cot quilts to sell to raise money for sight savers - I'd post a picture but she is selling them faster than we can photograph them - almost! 
The latest interest is researching the family tree with help from my sister-in-law - Sheila.
The car is very grateful for its visit to Preston with a new number plate to boast about! (Thanks Dad!)
And, Mum gave me a huge stash of fabric for the project the Knitters are doing on Sunday. More later!

And speaking of knitters, we had an impromptu trip to Glasgow for no good reason. We decided that the essentials for a good day out must include, in no particular order.....

decent afternoon tea

good mates and .....

.....wool. As we managed all three this can be counted as a success.

This has been a baby week too - with a new baby next door - Noah, born yesterday, and a baby girl for my friends who live in the woods nearby. No name for this baby yet. All very wonderful!

My 'babies' are in Paris (Owen) and Amsterdam (Martha) having summer holiday fun while John is here and working hard.

On Sunday it will be Knitters who are working hard - turning our hands to sewing to make these amazing bags. I hope we make hundreds! There will be a progress report no doubt.

Now I am off to the shed. It needs a big old tidy up and then perhaps some more crafting! Take a look at this imaginative use of Melly's time, and these great bears that Sonnja is making. Worth sending her a bit of fabric (12'' by 24'' is all she needs) to keep this wonderful charity supplied with bears for AIDS kids.
There are so many really lovely things going on out there!

I'll think about random now
1. Not enjoying all the rain
2. Reading Q and A by Vikas Swarup and loving it
3. Looking forward to seeing The Bourne Ultimatum
3a. just watched the trailer - think I'll go right now!
4. I love taking pictures - nip over to my Flickr pics for a look
5. I like baking but it makes me fat
6. I never throw anything away - this is not good - hence the big shed tidy up I am avoiding by playing on the computer
7. I don't know what life would be like without Radio Four, but I hope I never find out
8. I wish chocolate would be declared the new Superfood rather than boring old pomegranates which are too chewy and vastly overrated.

Tag yourself if you feel like it.

Comments

[Meredith]

Bourne was great. I hoped you enjoyed it. Yes I agree I love baking and iut makes me fat. LOL. Nice blog. Cheery colors. I saw you blog linked from Sonnja's.

[willow]

I won't be able to make it to the sewing session, being a little too far away. But I may fire up my machine and have a go at sewing a morsbag. The instructions look easy to follow. Thanks for posting the link.

[Martha]

Do you think anyone's ever commented from a laptop on a boat moored to Amsterdams oldest squat before?
They have now.

I've been on an epic cycle around Amsterdam today. Didn't find Kitsch Kitchen or anything you talked about in fact but had a lovely time getting lost and going round in circles. It's a beautiful city, come back with me?

Heading home tomorrow, I'll ring you at the weekend. Going to go now and stroke the deaf cat and help with tea.

Love to you all and some more to John x x x x xx x xx x x x x xx x

[Marie]

Wow! You have a lot going on at the moment...where to start? The afternoon tea looks delicious; I love the yarns and I think that the bags are a great idea. I have been trying to make the switch to reusable bags for a while, but my other half is reluctant...I'm going to show him the article about the whales and that should convince him!

Marie x

[Maddy]

What do you mean chocolate is NOT the new super food, Ohhhh no!!

I love researching the family tree, I started two years ago and now have over 300 on it! Do you use the census records at?

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/Default.aspx

This is the BEST site ever for family tree lovers.

Have a smashing weekend.

[islaygirl]

i'm fascinated by babies who aren't immediately named. i'm so freakish about names that i can't imagine waiting for 9 months for one and not being ready to name it. i don't mean that as a criticism at all, it seems almost fairy-tale-like to me, mystical to have a little being here that doesn't have a name attached to it. if i ever have another baby i'll try not to name it for a couple of days.

[islaygirl]

and could i have said 'name' more often in that comment? no.

[katie]

when our second child was born, we could not decide between a number of names and after six weeks (!!!) we settled on 'John' (imaginative eh?) until then he had been 'baby' then #3 was born and we had a similar crisis of indecision - though he was a bit quicker - after about four weeks he was 'Owen' which - we later discovered - is Welsh for ..... John

[ra]

oh yeah pommegranates are rubbish. Did you know you can buy prepared pomegranate in M&S (saw it in the services on M6 on Wednesday and couldn't think what on earth it was till I read the label) bizarre!

Love those bags, better make me a few. And I loved the quote on the forum:
"You can't throw things away - there is no away!"

[weirdbunny]

A a child I once had a very upset tummy, and the last item of food I ate before this was a pomegranate. I've never been able to eat one since. Even the look of them makes me feel ill !

[little jenny wren]

I'd love to research my family history but I don't really know where to start and I'm afraid if I start I may never stop.

I think you'll find that chocolate is a Superfood because it is super good and definitely yummy.It doesn't cause any weight gain if you truly enjoy it while you are eating it.

When I was pregnant with our third child we did a family poll to choose her name, we ended up with Kate.

[carolyn]

Congrats on your award, sounds like you are busy enough without clearing out the shed!