Hogmanay

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I've got a bit of a soft spot for writing in the sand.

Happy 2011

Having spent Christmas with O's family we are heading south for Hogmanay to spend time and have a second Christmas with my family.

Jealous

Baby nephew was given a Cozy Coupe for Christmas.

I'm green with envy.

I spent so much of my childhood begging for one of these cars.

I would drag my Mum to the Early Learning Centre so I could play on theirs. 

I didn't attempt to get in this one and have a play - some dreams you just need to let go of.

Baby nephew LOVES the car.

Family Camper Van

My Mum-in-law gave me this tin of shortbread for Christmas. Only she cut up pictures of my family and stuck them to the windows so I didn't miss my family on Christmas day too much.

We had a fantastic Christmas, hope you all did too. 

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My pretty

The cat lays claim to another bauble

if only it wasn't so cute to watch

Well my dears the Christmas madness has descended upon us all.

Pretty things are grabbing everyone's attention.

Tonight we bake cupcakes as our contribution to the food madness.

Hopefully the white stuff will stop falling from the sky because tomorrow we will make the long journey northwards to spend Christmas with O's parents. At least we'll have cupcakes to keep us going if the journey is too horrendous.

This will be my first Christmas away from my family. Although I will miss them I know that Christmas will be full of people, food and laughter - what more do you need?

I hope you all have a fantastic time

I'll be back after the madness

3 to 4

3am Thursday morning



I was awake, I was wide awake, I was listening to the wind blow rubbish around the street this kind of sums up the thoughts in my head:


I’m thirsty, I’m awake, it is 3am, I’m awake, I don’t want to go to work tomorrow, I’m awake, it is 3am, I have to go to work tomorrow, I’m thirsty, (roll over). It is windy, it hasn’t been windy for ages, why is it always windy on bin day, how many beer cans do my neighbours collect or is that the same one, I’m thirsty (arms over head). I’m awake, it is 3:15am, why did I marry such a noisy sleeper, I’m thirsty (lie on side), the Apprentice was good, that beer can is really noisy, I don’t want to go to work tomorrow, I need to wrap my Christmas presents, I don’t have enough Christmas cards, need to post the cards I’ve got, I’m thirsty (roll over). I’m awake, what the HELL is he dreaming about, someone go and pick that bloody can up, I’m awake, I’m thirsty (leg out of duvet). I want to be asleep, will it snow tomorrow, will I get to my Christmas party, I don’t want to go to the Christmas party, I want it to be Christmas holidays now, I’m tired, I’m thirsty (too cold limbs under duvet). Why am I so awake, I’ve been awake for hours, must be nearly getting up time, maybe I should wake him up, sounds like he is having a nightmare (lie on side), I’m thirsty.


O wakes up, feels around for his glasses and sticks his nose through the blind to look at the weather.


Me “what’s it doing?”


O “windy”


Me “you ok”


O “weird dreams”


Me “you sounded like you were being chased by a murderer”


O ………………..snore…………………


Me “humf”


The inner dialogue continues:


How can he get back to sleep so easily, why can’t I just fall asleep, thirsty (lie on front). Maybe I should get up for a drink, this would be a good blog post, this would be a dull blog post, what would the blog post look like, thirsty (lie on side). Fucking beer can, need to sleep, will be useless tomorrow, don’t want to go to work tomorrow, need to sort stuff out for Christmas, wonder if the owl/cat is back in, she’ll be scared of the wind, I’m thirsty, (roll over). Maybe I should get up and write this blog post, don’t want to disturb him, maybe should just disturb him, not fair that he can sleep and I can’t, really thirsty (arms over head), will look at phone.


So I catch up on twitter


Inner dialogue continues:


Arhhh I’ve burnt my retinas, someone should invent a less burny retina phone, shouldn’t have exposed my eyes to the light, should be asleep. Would like to be asleep, it is 4:10 how can it only be 4:10 I’ve been awake for hours, when I find who is responsible for that beer can, they’re going to need to buy me a beer, I’m thirsty………


…………………


…………………


………………..


Hmmmm feels like waking up, it is waking up, nooooooo refuse to wake up…………….


……………….


……………..


……………..


……………….


Beep beep beep beep beep.

How’s married life?

If O and I could get a £1 for every time we’ve been asked, “how’s married life?” we’d be loaded!

I’m sure I was guilty of doing it and for that I sincerely apologise.

Option 1

How’s married life?
Great, amazing, we’re so happy, thanks for asking.
Aww you’re still in the honeymoon period that’ll pass :)
F**k you

Option2

How’s married life?
It’s ok, just the same as normal really
Aww passed the honeymoon period already? :(
F**k you 

So how's married life? It is great I love my husband but it isn’t that much different to life before we got married. We still have to go to work (staring lovingly into each others eyes isn’t going to pay the bills and I hate to admit it but it does get a little dull after a while). We have to cook dinner (well he does) we have to clean the bathroom (well I do).

Still to be married folk I have some really bad news for you. Time does not stand still. You have this momentous day, you make these life altering promises to each other and yet time keeps going. Your guests will go to work on Monday, the postman will still deliver your credit card bill. I'm telling you it was a shock to me. I was expecting there to be a pause. Also you don't look any different either (this is starting to sound like losing your virginity). When you go and pay for the petrol the guy behind the desk will not understand why you are grinning like a mad thing - he really just wants you to pay and leave already. 

Married life is life but with extra jewellery, an extra sense of relationship security, an extra glow in my heart that he is my husband (don’t tell him that). The every now and again "wow we're married". A whole lot of extra paperwork (should have stuck with my own name).  Learning a new terminology – he is my husband not my partner or boyfriend and I’m his wife.

I had a fear that getting married would change us and perhaps it will with time. However, really I didn’t want our relationship to change that much because I wouldn’t have married him if I wanted something or someone different.

All of that aside – what is the right answer? Or what answer (not involving swearing) will make them shut up and go away?

*I first drafted this post when we'd been married for three months, the intensity of the questioning has reduced some so I not quite so angry and bitter as it might sound above. 

The week and a bit that was

You didn’t think you were going to get away without a post moaning about the weather did you. Oh foolish you, I’m in Scotland we’ve been dumped on from a great height – I therefore must moan. To be honest O and I have been lucky and have come off, so far, relatively unscathed.


Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin, it all started a week ago last Friday evening when we had a small snowfall, on the Saturday we had yet more snow and again on the Sunday. Sunday, O and I ventured out and walked to the shops to buy provisions for baking. We made Nana’s chocolate cake and Hummingbird bakery hazelnut and chocolate cupcakes (nomnomnomnom).

(if you kind of squint and tip you head to the side slightly you might be able to see a heart shaped hollow in the middle of the cupcake case)

On the Monday morning, O was rudely awakened at 6am by his boss, the member of their team who was on call had been trying to get to work since 3am. They were hoping that O, who technically lives the closest, would be able to get to work. During the winter part of O's job is to clear the car parks and footpaths of snow and ice. O headed off to work on his bike which to be fair was the only way he was getting to work other than walking – all trains were off and our car is technically a big sledge with wheels (as we discovered after far too many hairy moments in Jan/Feb). 


I finally dragged myself out of bed and trudged to the bus stop – at this point the emails from colleagues stuck in their homes had started to flood in. I can work quite happily – and often more productively from home. However I am the closest member of staff to the office so it was really my duty to at least try to get to the office – which I managed all too simply. I was the first through the door at 9:15 and proudly declared our office open, the glory of my achievement was slightly tarnished by the colleagues who made it in from much further afield. By 3pm that day though everyone had scurried home trying to get back before dark, the snow had started again. I took the executive decision to close the office and get my ass back to the warmth of home.


The week continued with O working ridiculously long hours and coming home like a zombie – I even had to cook two nights (this is unheard of). On Friday morning, just as we were about to start celebrating no snow in a 24 hour period, just as I was about to brave taking the car out it BLOODY STARTED AGAIN and kept coming. Friday night was O’s work Christmas night out which meant I had to deal with a very drunk and then very hungover husband. He didn’t eat again until 6:30pm on Saturday night which I think is the longest I’ve ever known him to go without food. Luckily my plans for Saturday had been cancelled or I’d have been a more annoyed with being kept awake most of the night. Saturday had meant to be a spa day to celebrate Hockey’s 30th birthday later this month. However, with the weather and lack of public transport we decided it was best to cancel.


Saturday was a right off in terms of being motivated to do anything and Sunday wasn’t much better – we managed to the shops to stock up and we ran a few errands. O, who is on call now, went to work to grit the paths. We’d managed 48 hours without snow and things were starting to look better – it wasn’t to last. Monday morning just as rush hour hit the snow was back, O had left for work at 6am so missed the worst of it. I got to the bus stop having slipped most of the way there (soft snow on sheet ice doesn’t make for easy walking) to discover that all the buses were being recalled to the depot. I was cold and wet, I wasn’t getting any glory for making it in to work so I trudged back home again – stuck the heating on full blast and a bowl of porridge in the microwave. I am so grateful that I didn’t need to go anywhere yesterday – the horror stories of hours upon hours being stuck on the motorway make me shiver at the thought.


My husband is obsessed with the weather forecast – I’ve stopped believing anything it says, however if it is to be believed then we are due to have a thaw on Thursday. Wonderfully at the moment the temperatures are dropping so low that the salt and grit doesn’t work – making attempting to get anywhere futile.

Bay tree

Dear Santa,


Please can I have a new bay tree for Christmas. I promise to take better care of the next one.


Thanks
R

Anna & Bean

Today is the day!

Lovely Anna is marrying lovely Bean

In true Anna style

eeekkkaaabbbllleeesss

(image 1, image 2, image 3)

Loveliness

The lovely Lisa Marie has given me this "One Lovely Blog" award and it is high time that I pass it on - rules say to pass it on to 15 lovely blogs.

I've chosen some long time favourites and some new finds.

Take my hand and my whole life too; Anna and the Ring; bunnies 'n' beagles; A Chocolate Lover's Confessions; We Ski Slow; shinyprettybits; the coffee girl; CraftMyLife; Red Boots; Some Vague Utopia; A Daisy Chain Dream; A Dandelion Mind; From becoming a wife to becoming a mama; Cakes and Bunting; Daydreams in Lace

There are many more that I love to read - but I'm always open to new finds. 

So I'll be interested to see who you pass it on to. 

Thank F*** It's Friday

(which I think is that my husband felt like saying when I came home as useless as a chocolate teapot)

(image)

Turns out that time flies when you are working every hour of the day. Had a huge work deadline today which I managed to meet at 17:10! Huge relief!

Dinner, gossip and a couple of drinkipoos with the girls tonight has helped me de-stress. 

Tomorrow we drive down south to Leeds to spend the weekend with my parents. Will also be seeing a good friend from high school who I haven't seen in almost two years - in which time she had a baby and I got married, so we have a LOT to catch up on.

I'M NOT BACK AT WORK UNTIL WEDNESDAY! Sorry I'm a little over excited about that.

I hope you all have something fun planned for the weekend. I'd love to hear about it.

(trying out a new font - opinions?)

Cee unveiled

By telling me, that my blog did not appear very chipper Cee was not having a go – what she was really saying was “You love writing, you love your blog, and you’re not doing what you love. There must be something taking up a lot of head space going on, what is it and how can I help”

I have been meaning to write about Cee for quite some time – let’s start with the fact that her name is actually Cass but as I’ve changed the names of everyone on the blog that is what she got lumbered with. When I first wrote about Cee as one of my Special Women I mentioned that she had her own blog and that, with her permission, I’d let you know about it. I would really like to let you know about her blog – she is hilarious. In fact, you may have heard one of her stories – the ketchup incident. I think it has become an urban legend. When Cass first phoned to tell me about the ketchup incident, I was home from University on Christmas break, my Mum came into the kitchen to find me on the floor with tears streaming down my face. She very nearly phoned an ambulance and it took a wee while for her to realise that I was laughing uncontrollably.

So what is the point of this rambling you are asking? Go ahead and just link already! Well I would do but I am scared, it goes back to my whole anxiety over anonymity (yes other than the photos of my face). As far as I am aware, no one who knows me in real life other than Cass and O has actually found the blog and I would rather like to keep it that way. Cass on the other hand is very public with her blog; she has sent the link round to all her friends and family and has posted it through her Facebook page. My fear is that if I link to her blog then you lovely people go and read it (and you might possibly mention me) and if her friends and family get curious and link to you, they might find me. Paranoid me? YES big style!

If I do link to Cass’ blog and you comment you have to promise not to mention me (as R or Spare Thoughts).

If you do go and read her blog – you have to promise to be NICE, not that I would expect you to be anything else but I am fiercely loyal.

Tumble

There is nothing like your best friend telling you your blog doesn’t look chipper at the moment to kick start you into activity. Chipper is not exactly a word I would use to describe my mood or my life at present (or my blog - sorry).

Those of you that don’t follow me on twitter (why not?) won’t have heard that just over two weeks ago #2 (middle sister) took a tumble off her bicycle as she was on her way to work. That Monday O and I were driving home from our weekend with his parents. When we got home at about 4pm there was a missed call on my mobile with a voicemail from my Mum. “You’re probably still driving but give me a call.” There was no “asap” no “immediately” but from her tone of voice, I knew there was something wrong. I phoned and heard that #2 had come off her bike, no one is sure what happened but she was in hospital with cuts and bruises, about seven stitches to her lip, a broken cheekbone and four smashed teeth. Her CT scan was all clear and they were expecting to release her that evening – they kept her in. Her boyfriend and #1 (eldest sister) had been with her for the day and a wee while later I spoke with #1 to hear her side of the story. The theory is that #2 had swerved to avoid something (not sure what) and had hit the back of a van. She was taken to hospital on a full trauma call (team of doctors, strapped to the board, head in brace – have watched too many episodes of ER). However by the time her boyfriend got to the hospital (he works outside London) and by the time #1 got to the hospital (the one day a week she car shares) the police had left. No one could tell them what had happened. #2 cannot remember and is missing about 3 hours of the morning – she can remember cycling along and then being in the hospital and her boyfriend arriving, but none of the activity at the scene, none of the ambulance journey and nothing in the trauma room. Although she was apparently alert and conscious the entire time meaning, she must have answered all their questions correctly even if she cannot remember any of those conversations.

She will eventually receive a copy of the police incident report and have to deal with the repercussions if she was at fault and caused the accident – I had thought that if the only person she has hurt is herself then where is the blame to assign? However, if she has caused damage to another vehicle she will need to pay. Equally if she is not at fault, she is currently off work unpaid and has new teeth to buy (she has just started a new job and is not currently eligible for sick pay).

I was busy with work last week and whilst I wanted to see her, I didn’t really understand how I could help other than look at her and be there (plus she had a house full already) – I didn’t really understand her injuries at that point. Then I caught a cold and was told to stay away. The last thing she needed was a cold, plus she was under strict doctor’s orders not to blow her nose or she could put her cheekbone out of alignment. Feeling much better and a lot less contagious on Friday morning I boarded the plane to London, I was spending the weekend as my parent’s were going home to have a break and her boyfriend was flying to New York to run the marathon – which he did in 3 hrs 42 mins 58 secs – uhmazing!

I did not realise or I would have been there sooner.

(although not sure how I’d have dealt with the cold).

Externally she looks ok, her cuts and bruises had more or less gone, quite a few of the stitches in her lip came out while I was there and the swelling was going down. Her teeth still look terrible but it will take time for her jaw to stop aching (think she hit the ground, jaw first, with quite a clatter) she is fed up of mashed potatoes.

What I had not appreciated and had not been fully explained to me (trying not to worry me) is that she is constantly exhausted – I thought this was because of the bruises and the aching but actually, her brain is just tired, it took a big jolt.
She struggles to cope with more than one conversation at a time and found my parents and me chatting around her exhausting because she could not follow the numerous threads. She hasn’t managed to watch the TV although we did try watching Strictly Come Dancing – the movement of the screen, the bright lights and the noise made her incredibly tense, she frowned at the TV and tried to back away into the sofa. She struggles to use the computer for long periods because the flickering screen makes her head hurt. She doesn’t like going into the kitchen because the fridge is noisy, as is the dishwasher and washing machine and the clatter of the dishes. She is a wreck whenever she leaves the house, being in cars is extremely scary and even walking along the pavement because she feels everything is so unpredictable. We did go out for some walks and she is trying to go out more as she feels rather trapped inside – but it is taking small steps and she is a quivering wreck if a cyclist passes her.

Mum has been with her practically since it happened, leaving this weekend to have a break and only because she knew I was there – she is coming back on Thursday. Thankfully, Mum is a clinical psychologist with forty years experience so she has seen many, many victims of road traffic accidents and is putting all her skills to good use trying to build up #2’s confidence.

Having to leave her yesterday was just heart breaking as it was the first time she had been left alone since the accident, it was just for a couple of hours as her friend came in to make her food but she was in floods of tears. Trying hard to be strong but not really managing it. She is also feeling guilty that she cannot just snap out of it and get on with stuff.

It is obviously going to take time for her to recover and we will need to see whether she gets any memories back. Being the baby sister I am not used to having to be the strong one – not sure I like it much. Looking forward to having her fit and well again, no matter how long that might take.

Spooky Nights

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Happy Halloween!

I'll be spending Halloween having a girly night with some of my best friends. 

Oh and trying to get used the change of the clocks which happened this morning. It means an extra hour in bed but also that we leave the house in the dark and come home in the dark - becoming vampires never seeing any daylight.

*Revision, I'm actually spending the night 

with snotty tissues in front of the tv*

Work

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This picture perfectly illustrates my attitude to my job for the last few weeks. 

I need to get out of this rut. 

Anyone got any tips/ideas how to get my motivation back?

This morning

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*Sound of O’s alarm buzzing*
O: *grunt*
*Pause*
O: huh?
Me: *turns over attempts to get head inside pillow*
O: huh? Am I supposed to be getting up at 5:51?
Me: huh? I don’t think so.
O: then why does the alarm think I should?
Me: I don’t care switch it off and go back to sleep.
*5:56 sound of O’s alarm buzzing*
O: huh?
Me: *SIGH*

Writing a list

Check out the other wonderful books from badbooks

Driving

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This weekend we are driving up North to spend time with O's family. I'm looking forward to homemade soups, baby cuddles, leaning on the rayburn to absorb as much heat as possible and listening to the rain and wind battering off the velux windows.

I'm also looking forward to the long drive with my husband where we get the chance in our little cocoon to talk about everything, anything and nothing. We'll sometimes listen to an audio book. We sometimes play car games - will there be more VWs or Fords passing us in the next 30 minutes? This only works when we go north (where there few motorways or dual carriageway) because it is hard and dangerous to play on the motorway. 


#2 and her boyfriend are terrible in the car together they just argue and get stressed. I don't really understand that and they weren't impressed with my suggested car games.

I'm looking forward to my alone time with my husband.

How do you cope with long car journeys?
Do you have any nice weekend plans?

Mini Moon 2

While we were driving back to Scotland from the Lake District, we had various thoughts about what we might want to do with the rest of our time off. O has less holiday allowance than me and it seemed a waste to spend the weekend and three days annual leave loafing about at home (not that there is anything wrong with loafing at home in fact I could be a professional). We also couldn’t afford to spend any more time at the Duck which is why the stay was short. We talked about heading up North to see his family, without the distraction of the wedding, so we could spend more time with our nephew who is growing and changing so rapidly. It turns out that people won’t allow you to hold babies while you are wearing a wedding dress they worry that they might puke on you – I was rather annoyed as I’d been looking forward to lots of baby cuddles. However when we got home we got some news from O’s family that meant that we wanted to be with them.

So Saturday morning it was back into the car and on the road up North. Our departure was slightly delayed by the fact that the DVDs with our professional photos on arrived just before we were about to leave so we HAD to stop and look at them. We had a lovely trip with lots of family time, even getting to see my parents who were on a tour of Scotland in their caravan. We took our nephew swimming (with his Mum and Dad) which was both lovely and terrifying. It is amazing to see his little limbs kicking about it the water but I was so scared that I might drop him or that he might swallow all the water, he was splashing everywhere. We were even given the privilege of baby sitting while his Mum and Dad went off for some couple time. At the time baby nephew hadn’t figured out how to crawl yet and moved around the floor doing seal flops. He was particularly determined in his mission to bang his head off the marble fireplace so it was a constant job to turn him round so he could seal flop off in a different direction.

We left on Tuesday afternoon, leaving my parents with O’s parents – a scary experience don’t really trust any of them to behave themselves without us acting as moderators. We spent Wednesday (my birthday) our final day of leave, after a long lie in, going to the different banks with our marriage certificate to get my name changed (living the high life).

Then it was back to reality and work.

Dreams of lace

(image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4)

The amazing, fantastic, wonderful Rebecca is getting married today. I can't put into words how excited I am for her and James.

Wishing you both a day and future full of happiness

Enjoy your honeymoon but come back quick and tell me all about it. 

I'm going to miss you!

I call upon these persons here present

I’ve been trying to compose this post in my head for about a week and it hasn’t gone well so we’ll see how it goes written down. I do have a point really so please be patient.

Wedding range in size from teeny tiny to grand swaths of people, however no matter what the size you need to have two people other than you and your partner to make the marriage legal. Someone has to witness the promises that you have made to each other.

In most traditional services the couple being wed stand with their backs to the guests. Bride on the left and groom on the right. The Bride’s friends and family then sit on the left and Groom’s friends and family are on the right (or vice versa if you are looking from the registrars point of view). This means that when the bride and groom turn to each other and when they are not staring lovingly into each other’s eyes and when the bride sneaks a nervous look behind her all she can see is the groom’s friends and family.

Now when we met with the registrar we had stated that we didn’t care where people sat. When I gave instructions to our usher (nephew) via #1 I again stated we don’t care where people sit let them sit anywhere. I do find that it is a bit of a popularity contest – the groom had more people on his side or the bride had more. However when I started walking down the aisle I noticed that we did indeed have a grooms side and a brides side.

We’d made ‘reserved’ signs to be placed on seats for Cee and her husband (there was a chance they might have been running late), the piper O's brother and my Dad. For some reason the reserved signs for Cee and her husband had been placed in the front two seats on O’s side (where his Mum and Dad really should have been sat). It was no great disaster and it meant that I had a friendly* face to look at as I made my small glimpses at all these people watching us publicly declare that we would love each other forever.

Are you still with me?

*Now friendly is really unfair to O’s side. I love his parent’s to pieces and it was lovely seeing them smile as they welcomed me into their family. I get on very well with his friends and seeing them helped me not to take things too seriously or get over emotional.

HOWEVER these are not MY people, I would have liked to see my friends and family – I want to know if my Mum cried (although perhaps we’d have both been in pieces). I’m sure there is some deep seated tradition about looking forward to the family you are joining and having your family behind you or some such nonsense.

But if you are still to be wed it is worth considering even planting one of your friendly faces within the groom’s side to pull funny faces at you (maybe it is just me).
If you have already been wed did you have a bride and a groom side and is it just me that thinks it is a bit unfair?

AND please have a word with your venue about how they lay out the seats (unless of course your seats are fixed). Our venue laid out rows of 3! Which is great for any single people but most of our guests were part of a couple and therefore had to split up and spread themselves out! An annoying little detail that there was nothing I could do about by the time I was at the top of the aisle.

Mini Moon 1

When we chose – were given – our July date we knew that we wouldn’t be going on honeymoon straightaway. O is a gardener and just couldn’t take a lot of time off in the height of the summer (ha! what summer?). I also knew that I take a long time to wind down after periods of stress. Plus O thought planning our honeymoon after the wedding would give me something to do and look forward to.

We were, however still determined to have a few days away and enjoy some luxury straight after the wedding. As is always the way we had so much choice of where to go it was very difficult to narrow down where to actually go. After lots of "I don’t mind", "I'll go anywhere" and "that looks ok" but no firm opinions given I was ready to tear my hair out. Thankfully around the time when I was really losing the plot Cee told me of a trip she was taking to the Lake District – more specifically to the Drunken Duck. She had a great stay and we thought it looked fab so to save having to look any further we decided on the Duck!

Tuesday after the wedding we threw stuff in the car and made our way South. Unfortunately we got stuck in a huge traffic jam because of a particularly nasty accident. By the time we got to the Lake District it was quite late in the afternoon. We stopped by at Castlerigg Stone Circle – but not for very long. Once we got to the Duck we were offered afternoon tea but chose against it not wanting to spoil our appetite. It is very important not to spoil your appetite because the food is AMAZING! So so delicious I could have eaten everything on the menu. You need to book a table well in advance because they were fully booked even during the week.

We were a little disappointed by our room it wasn’t huge – although the bed was. The problem being that the bed was huge because it was two beds pushed together and there was a tendency to fall down the gap in the middle.

Wednesday morning was a bit drizzly so we decided to go to the spa to which you get free access to. We enjoyed leisurely swims, time in the jacuzzi and a bake in the sauna and the steam room – I wasn’t brave enough to try the ice shower.  Once the weather had brightened up a bit we stopped in Ambleside to buy some lunch and headed to Coniston to hire a rowing boat – how romantic?! Until I turned into a complete wreck. I have no idea why or where the fear came from but I panicked that we were going to fall in the water, that all of our belongings were going to be ruined (camera, phones, car keys) and that we wouldn’t make it to shore. O being incredibly confident on the water thought this was hilarious and tried to show me how safe we were by rocking the boat. He stopped as soon as I burst into tears! I still don’t understand why I was such a wreck, I’m an ok swimmer and I'd have been able to swim to safety, there were lots of people out on the water so a passing boat would have helped. Once we were back on dry land I felt really bad because it should have been such a lovely jaunt out on the water with O playing the strong guy doing the rowing and I’d ruined it with my completely irrational hysterics. 

After I’d disgraced myself we headed back to the Duck for afternoon tea. We lazed about watching the tv and I had a long bath before dressing for dinner, there have been very few occasions in my life where I have felt the need to dress for dinner, that is of course unless I’m not already wearing clothes! We had another wonderful meal and fell asleep stuffed and a little fuzzy round the edges.

In planning our trip we'd had a look round to see what was on in the area and came across Ambleside Sports and that is where we headed on Thursday morning after checking out. I’ve never been to a Highland Games of anything like it and Ambleside Sports seemed to be the English equivalent. There was fell racing, grass track cycling, Cumberland wrestling (with costume competition) and hound trailing, which we'd never heard of. They scent a path using aniseed and then let a pack of hounds loose to follow the trail. The first hound back wins the race – this was the only event where there was bets being placed. I wasn't aware that you were allowed to let packs of dogs loose in the countryside.

After a long day of fresh air and some sunshine we began the long journey across country to Leeds where we were had a free nights accommodation courtesy of my parent's house. Then on Friday morning we headed back up to Scotland. 

Details: Thank you Gifts

Thank you gifts were tough to decide on and I spent a long time trawling the internet. 

My Mum: We didn't give my Mum a gift the weekend of the wedding instead we promised to make her a photo album once we gathered the photos together. We have kept that promise and sent her a photobook made by BobBooks - which she seems to love.

My Dad: We got him a bottle of Macallan whisky - it is his favourite whisky and we hope he will enjoy it.

O's Mum and Dad: We bought them a bottle of brandy - sourced by my brother-in-law handy having a wine merchant in the family.

O's sister: For playing the fiddle while we signed the register and as a New House gift we bought her and her husband a Le Creuset pan.

O#s brother: For being our piper and for his New Home gift we bought him and his girlfriend a Le Creuset pan too.

Debenhams had a sale on Le Creuset at the time.

#1 and #2: We bought them jewellery from here

Niece: We bought her an initial necklace from here and a clothes hanger from here (please note that Anna warns that it takes 8 weeks and it really does.)

Nephew: We bought his scrabble cuff links in his initials - as he informed us he doesn't have any shirt that requires cuff links but hopefully once he is older he'll need them.

Cee: As a thank you for reading during our ceremony we bought her a notebook for her blog ideas (need to do a post on this soon).

Recaps: Married Day 1

After getting a few hours sleep – funny how it was completely different to the few hours sleep I had the night before – we woke and dressed for breakfast. I’d forgotten a sweater and O had forgotten his shoes (remember to pack for the next day too). Was quite tempted to put my dress back on but don’t think it’d have gone with the dragged back hair and clean face. We went down to the dining room for breakfast taking with us the thank-you gifts that we’d bought. We sat there for quite a while chatting with different family members drifting in and out as they came for breakfast or left to finish packing.

#1 and her family had to leave early to catch their flight and so the goodbyes began. After a while when everyone had at least started their breakfast we went back upstairs to start our own packing. The venue staff had gathered together a lot of the bits and pieces, table slates, table plan, left over order of services so that made things easier. All the vases of flowers had been placed in a back room so we invited guests to take as many of the flowers as they wanted and after taking plenty for ourselves left the rest at the venue for them to decorate their tables with during the week. If you are having flowers it is worth thinking about what to do with them afterwards – we didn’t.

Everyone was finally packed and putting bags into their cars so we said our final goodbyes and headed back to our flat. We’d let friends stay in our flat so caught up with them for a while. Finally it was just the two of us and we sat slightly dazed still surrounded by wedding stuff.

Details: Table Names

We named our tables after Scottish islands that we'd visited. 


The top table was named after the island where O proposed.


We were worried that we were going to have to name a table Mull. Our holiday to Mull was not the greatest. The moment we got off the ferry there was an almighty hail storm and things did not get much better after that. 


Luckily we remembered another island that we'd been to.


Our table names we displayed on roof slates with the names written on in chalk pen. 


Are you planning on naming your tables? (We came very close to just numbering them - because really it is just another bit of DIY to do.)
What did you name your tables after? 

Details: Jewellery

Jewellery was a real struggle for me. The wedding magazines seem to have a clear view of what 'wedding' jewellery is supposed to look like. Pearls and diamanté are just not me. They are also very expensive. I wasn't prepared to spend a large amount of money on a necklace that I knew I was only going to wear once. 

I finally decided to narrow it down to two options. The necklace that Rebecca kindly let me borrow and a necklace that my Mum lent me that I eventually, 2 days before the wedding, decided to wear. 

My something borrowed was this marcasite necklace that my Mum got for £5 from a car boot sale. I'm not sure if I've broken the 'something borrowed' rules but my Mum has now given me the necklace to keep (yay). I was bought a marcasite watch for my 16th birthday so I wore that too. Unfortunately I noticed too late that the battery had died - so I have no idea if I actually got to the ceremony on time. I hate not knowing what time it is so after the meal I changed to a working watch. 

Details: Internet friends are amazing

Not only did Rebecca from Daydreams in Lace make me this amazing hair slide

She also gave me a hanky embroidered with my name

and allowed me to keep hold of her beautiful pearl necklace while I hummed and hawed for MONTHS about what jewellery to wear and then I didn't even wear it!

(photo by Rebecca I presume

hope you don't mind me posting it)

Rebecca has less than a month to go until her wedding. I'm so excited for her and James and seeing all their details come together. I just wish I was able to repay her kindness.


scheduled post

Recaps: Almost done

So I think I might be almost done with the recaps*.


There are still a few details that I've to tell you about but on Tuesday we head off on holiday to Gozo - not sure why I'm not comfortable with calling it our honeymoon. Perhaps because we're planning on having more than one and we're not going for a single trip of a lifetime but several amazing trips. Technically it is just our first holiday as husband and wife. 


I cannot wait to laze by the pool, run sand through my fingers, read lots of good books, go snorkelling and eat a lot of food. 


When I get back** I've still to tell you about my jewellery, our table names and the mini moon. 


But what have I forgotten? Is there anything that you want to know about? Ask me questions.


*really I'm looking forward to write about something other than the wedding but I promised myself I'd get the recaps out of the way first. 
**unless I get chance to schedule some posts before we leave in which case you can read all about it while we are away.