World Cup!

ARE YOU READY??

I am!

I may not have a flag on my car or a banner hanging out of my bedroom window but I've got my shirt! (OK I've got "a" shirt) This shirt that Cub*** had at the age of about 10 travelled to India and back with my friend Dave who offered to snazzy it up a bit.





Dave, one of my spinners, has done a lot of good work in India, restoring temples after the devastating tsunami in 2004 and building children's centres. On his recent trip he took one of Cub's old England shirts with him with the intention of putting my name on the back... oh my goodness I had no idea he meant something this magnificent!! You can read his story on tsunamidave.com and it is evident he became a local hero out there. It is well worth a read.




I'm not one for backing favourites so I have had my other £2 on France (England of course!)on the principle that a) I win more if they win and b) Rooney, Torres, Messi etc may tweak a little hammy at some stage and not be as dynamic as their fans are hoping. Drake had Italy in the work sweep 4 years ago and won £80 so you never know, its a funny ol' game.

*** Read Cub's predictions here!

Dad and an 80th birthday baked potato party!

Pat is a regular at my aquarobics class and is an inspiration to us all. She is tiny and quiet but I can see her because she stands right at the front and I can honestly say that she does the whole class from start to finish. I wasn't letting her 80th birthday go by without marking the occasion with some fuss of some sort, so armed with a couple of banners and a couple balloons and with Pat wearing pink shiny deely boppers, we splished and sploshed with a few extra whoop whoops and several "EIGHTY!!!!"s, and then headed off into the cafe for a sackful of baked potatoes and a slice of cake.



Dad came too and being the only male in a room full of women, he had some fuss too.











Bearing in mind we had got out of the water a mere 20 minutes before these photos we don't look bad do we and the tayros look delicious too.(They were)

Dot took a particular liking to Geoffers who wasn't complaining....(she undid all his shirt buttons...)





Pat may not be a wild party animal but she enjoyed every minute of her party and has got a nice bottle of Pat's Birthday Bubbly to enjoy on Friday. Congratulations Pat, I love you to bits, have a wonderful birthday! (And when you've got a minute please let me know the secret to you being this fit at 80)(WOW!)



In complete contrast, Dad spent a morning with 3 year olds in my Keep Fit creche on Monday and he proved to be a big hit with them all, Freya taking a particular liking to him!

A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees

My lovely friend has written another book!! And I feel very honoured to have been invited to the launch in a few weeks time where I will make sure Clare signs my copy. Great timing too, perfect for getting my teeth into on holiday this summer.

This is Clare's promotional video that she used at this years HAY festival (Wow!! The Hay Festival!) It was well worth all the hard work and she should be very proud of it. Lovely.

chez nic

coasters by drake

paperweight by emma olivia

cushion by Nixen Pixen

plant pot by Lyn

curtains by mum

sofa (left) by Myrtle

sofa (right) by AgeConcern

hoovering by Nixen Pixen

Coventry calling.

Well it wasn't the coolest of days to be cruising down the M6 but Coventry was calling so armed with rubber gloves and a gardening trowel I set off, leaving Husb and the Pixen to discover more Picasso delight at the Tate Gallery, Liverpool. Good progress was made, as, after a long family discussion about how best to adapt Dad's house and a mini confrontation with the new neighbour, we set about our tasks, ♪♫ ♪♫ "upstairs, downstairs and in the lady's chamber" ♪♫ ♪♫

While the Lidster tackled the kitchen and bathroom and managing to break a washing up bowl in the process, Dids cut the grass






and did a magnificent job of clearing the area behind the garage.








I forked, trowelled and weedkilled the front (while hoping The Bear would be placed in the 3.10 at Hamilton)(thanks Brownie but the uneven ground must have caught him out) and


job done,**




we all came home, and GG is now safely deposited in my colouring/burning chair...




I hope Jean likes her 85th birthday present!! She likes cats so there is a chance.



** doesn't Dids look brown?! Well he had a few extra days stranded in South Africa, courtesy of Richard Branson :)

** GG IS a cool dude , Ben (yum yum)

Swann, swans and swan

This is the week of the Swan!

Graeme Swann has just been awarded the England Cricketer of the Year Award having taken 99 wickets in 45 games for his country this year as well as helping us to bring the Ashes home last summer. He is rated 3rd in the rankings of Test bowlers and 4th in the rankings of best all-rounders, well done Swanny!

This week 6 cygnets have hatched on the Christleton pond and I was lucky to be able to see and photograph them as they usually make their way to the canal within about a week of hatching.






How fitting then that after weeks of nesting in the clubhouse container, our cricket club swan has now gone up, giving the final touch to our scoreboard.



It was a joint effort with Spen arranging for the stainless steel shape to be cut up in the North East,



... it was then sprayed with car paint by our 2nd team skipper.
It needed a beak and an eye so I painted those



and (Oh what a small world)one of my aerobics girls' boyfriend put it up!




Good team work folks, it looks good doesn't it?

Raby Castle, Mayday 2010

We have had May Day Bank Holiday since 1978, a day which signifies the end of the cold weather and the beginning of Summer,(usually) so after a particularly cold game of cricket at Urmston (where Husb kept warm by scoring 74) we headed up to Darlo to see the Pixen. Cub had arrived the previous day and they had already had a lot of fun at Low Force waterfall....



riding rams....



walking to High Force waterfall...






(It's a wonder they didn't fall in taking this..)



...and just being together (well they DID share a womb)



The following day we visited Raby Castle, seen here behind the cricket square, what an amazing venue for a cricket match.



The Pixen brightens everywhere up, especially when she wears her multi-coloured scarves...



....and the Cub just enjoyed being out in the countryside away from the hustle bustle of London.



As it was MayDay and there were no available maypoles to dance around, we tried a high frolic... (it took me several attempts to get this high)



followed by several large leaps...(whoopwhoopPixen)



It was such fun the cub joined in the May madness...(good landings, nice soft knees)



This is Cub being arty...



We were really impressed with this hedge, were the groundsmen slowly developing something here, maybe a portrait??




Raby Castle is set in spectacular grounds where Red deer and Fallow deer roam and this weekend we were lucky to see an orchid show in the greenhouse. It was a brilliant day and we all agreed we could get used to the idea of a 3 day weekend.



Drake didn't come, she was busy doing her new blog, well worth a look, here!