Catching Up

I miss interacting with you all. I’m still occasionally posting and I’m still reading but I’m not finding time to comment on your blogs or to reply to your comments on my blog. Although I’m with Mrs T, I’m not sure the correct etiquette. So I thought I’d give you a quick update on life at the minute and reply to some of your comments in this post so that you don’t miss them. Firstly the reason I’ve been slightly distracted is that the wedding invitations went in the post today! Woop woop. I’m so happy to have them done and in the post. It also makes the wedding feel much more real. Now we might have actual guests there.

This weekend we are heading north to O’s family for a wedding. Can’t wait to see my nephew and we are hand delivering a few of the invitations so that will be nice. I hope people like them.

Now the invitations are posted I'll have more time to do stuff and more head space to comment on your blogs.

Getting back to you:

Cake

@amberdawn – firstly welcome it is lovely to have you here.
Getting someone to decorate the cake could be a blog post in itself. We did have someone confirmed who then had to pull out. We approached a couple of people who wouldn’t do it for health and safety reasons. In case someone got food poisoning and blamed it on the cake icing. We found someone who wouldn’t ice the sponge cakes although they did offer to decorate a couple of polystyrene blocks which we could use as the smaller tiers. We thought that, that was a bit strange and a bit rude to O’s mum. Plus the price they were charging was ridiculous. Finally we found our cake lady and she is lovely.

@Gaynor – I think one of the first photos you posted, one of your friend’s pictures, has you cutting your cake so it stuck in my mind that they are similar.

Mum2 - @Zoe – I think Mum2 might be busy but my Mum classes herself as honorary Mum to all of my friends. She will adopt anyone who is nice to her daughters. I’d be happy to loan her to you for the day or longer if needed.

Cat - @Rebecca – Cat wuvs you too

Hen do - @glasgowbride – The hen do was great. A blog post is coming I promise.

Yummy Yummy Cake

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This is basically what our cake is going to look like except without the flowers on top and with dark navy ribbon. (Gaynor I promise that we had chosen our design before I saw your cake but they are quite similar).

The cake is going to be the master piece of our parents. The bottom layer is going to be a fruit cake which my Dad will make. The next layer will be carrot and the top layer lemon sponge. The middle and top layers are going to be made by O's Mum. We know that they are up to the job as my Dad made #1's wedding cake and O's Mum made his sisters wedding cake. Such talented relatives we have and what better talent than cake baking!

The only thing they are not confident enough to do is icing the cake so we are bringing in a professional for that.

There is going to be a wedding

Today one of my favourite bloggers is getting married. The below poem was the first post of Catherine's that I read. I loved the poem and then I saw her photos and I was hooked.

Catherine, Richard and William I wish you all the happiness possible. I hope you have a wonderful love filled day.

Shores

If we were in Talisker on the shore

where the great white foaming mouth of water

opens between two jaws as hard as flint –

the Headland of Stones and the Red Point –

I’d stand forever by the waves

renewing love out of their crumpling graves

as long as the sea would be going over

the Bay of Talisker forever;

I would stand there by the filling tide

till Preshal bowed his stallion head.

And if the two of us were together

on the shores of Calgary in Mull

between Scotland and Tiree,

between this world and eternity,

I’d stand there till time was done

counting the sands grain by grain.

And also in Uist, on Hosta’s shore,

in the face of solitude’s fierce stare,

I’d remain standing, without sleep,

while sea were ebbing, drop by drop.

And if I were on Moidart’s shore

with you, my novelty of desire,

I’d offer this synthesis of love,

grain and water, sand and wave.

And were we by the shelves of Staffin

where the huge joyless sea is coughing

stones and boulders from its throat,

I’d build a fortified wall

against eternity’s savage howl.

Sorley MacLean

Special Women 1

Having told you most of the details that are arranged for the wedding so far I thought I’d tell you a little bit about some of the guests that are coming – lovely readers I'd like you to meet my “Special Women”:
A few weeks ago I got an email from my Mum that had me jumping up and down and crying with joy*. My second Mum is going to come to our wedding. Mum2 was a lady from my village who answered an advert that my Mum placed in the window of the post office for a child minder**. Mum2 was the only person who answered the ad. They met and talked and Mum2 was given the job. She was to look after me and #2 after play-group, nursery, primary school and junior school. We spent so much time with Mum2 that she did literally become like our second Mum***. She first introduced us to Ribena, she never let us watch the TV while we had our dinner. She used to split my dinner plate in half and bargain with me that if I ate one half I could leave the rest. She would always catch me when I tried swapping food onto the other half, you couldn’t get anything past her. She even had a play park right behind her house. I can’t remember when exactly she stopped looking after us and went back to work****, probably when her own children were old enough not to need her around the house as much. I remember never making the same connection with any of the other women that came into to look after us (gosh that doesn’t sound good they were lovely women they just had extremely high standards to live up to). As you might be able to tell she is a very special lady to our family and was on the guest list before some of my Aunts and Uncles.

Maybe 10 years or so ago her daughter moved to Australia met a man and settled down there starting her own family. Some years later Mum2 and her husband went across to visit, tragically while they were there Mum2’s husband had a heart attack and passed away. Mum2 returned to England and tried to return to normal life. After another couple of years she decided that she didn’t want to be in England anymore and emigrated to Australia to help her daughter and look after her grandchildren. I can completely understand her reasoning and how hard it must have been. I am however massively jealous and still holding out hope that when/if we have children she will come to Scotland and look after them – I don’t think that is an unreasonable hope. Other than our parents there is no one else I would trust as much to look after them.

Australia is quite clearly a very long way away so I wasn’t holding out a huge amount of hope that Mum2 would be able to make it across. Until I got that email from my Mum. She had been on the phone to Mum2 who was worrying about what outfit she would wear and trying to work out her flights. I believe my Mum and Dad are currently trying to co-ordinate her flights from London (where her son and other grandchildren live). So that she has some company on the flight and we can go and collect her from the airport (*grinning* at the thought of seeing her).

*I was on my own in the flat so did actually do a happy dance around the coffee table!
**In the days when you didn’t have to have 100 qualifications and health and safety certificates to be a childminder.
***Luckily my Mum loves her as much as we do so she doesn't mind that we call her our second Mum.
****she went to work in a wedding dress shop, while I was shopping for my dress there were endless times I wished that she could be with me. I envy all the girls that she helped with their dresses because I bet she was the nicest wedding dress shop lady ever!

The Cat

She may or may not have practically fallen off the window sill not long after this photo was taken and then stalked off like she was too cool for school throwing the window sill dirty looks.

How well do you know the bride?

Readers, for what feels like the umpteenth time I need your help.

On Friday, ash cloud permitting, #1 & #2 will be arriving for my hen weekend. We are having a day at a spa and then a girly night in. My hen organising committee have asked me to come up with a "how well do you know the bride" quiz to help break the ice and to help all the wonderful ladies in my life get to know each other. So do you have any suggestions for questions?

My weekend:

Plenty of girl banter
Sisterly catch ups
Full body massage
relaxing in the sauna
Drinking - not much for me, I can count on one hand the number of drinks I've had this year so far. Drink does not agree with me at all!
Not very much sleep

His weekend:
Cleaning the flat
Printing invitation inserts
Cutting card for the inserts
Printing envelopes
Sleep
Bath

p.s. One of the organising committee actually reads the blog. Yup a real life person - when I get a free second I will tell you all about her but at the moment she has lost the link to the blog and is waiting for me to send her it again.

Stag Do

I'm feeling all out of sorts my boy is off on his stag do. 

His weekend:
Plenty of boy banter
Surfing
Drinking
A long journey
Not very much sleep

My weekend:
Cleaning the flat
Eating lots of unhealthy snacks
Watching lots of rubbish TV
Printing our invitations
Gluing bits of card for the invitations
Printing envelopes
Sleep
Bath
Reading

Random Fact

So as a break from all this wedding crap I thought I'd give you a random fact about me. I'm scared of filling hot water bottles. I luurrrrvvvve hot water bottles and could cosy up with one any day. But actually filling them fills me with dread. When I was young, about 9 or 10, I was filling a hot water bottle, it made some strange gurgling noise and scalding hot water erupted out the top all over my hand. Luckily #2 who was babysitting* immediately shoved my hand under cold water and held it there for a really long time. The day stands out in my mind not only because I nearly scarred myself for life. But because it was the day that I gave my pet rabbit away to the "farm**". She was a bitch of the highest order and my parents convinced me that by giving her away to a farm she would calm down and make her a lot happier.
This isn't my hot water bottle, I'm inordinately attached to a hot water bottle with an owl*** cover which was given to me by my Nana about a year or so before she passed away.

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*I imagine she will have got into quite a bit of trouble for allowing me near the kettle

** Not sure what really happened, maybe she did go to a farm
*** Too well loved to publish photos 

Baby Boom

When we first got engaged the only two children on the guest list were my niece and nephew and I don’t really count them as children. Since then though:
At the end of September my friend had a baby boy. She was the first of our peers to have a baby. Her son will be 10 months old by our wedding and running around causing chaos. I can’t wait to see him in his little suit and he happens to have the cutest smile I’ve ever seen.
At the end of January our new nephew arrived. He will be hitting the six month mark by the wedding. I might be biased but he is stunning.
Last Friday one of O’s friends had a baby girl, she was born a week early but at 7lbs11 I’m sure her Mum is grateful. This is the first baby amongst O’s friends and I think he is freaking out slightly that one of his friends is a Dad.
That is it for the day guests of our evening guests there are two more babies due before the wedding. One due in the next couple of weeks and another at the beginning of June. Oh and my makeup artist (good friend) has just had her 12 week scan, they are having an alien apparently either that or the scan wasn't very clear.
I’m looking forward to having lots of little ones at the wedding it just seems to be the stage of life our friends are at and it is wonderful to share that with them*. Our venue almost had a heart attack when we told them there could potentially be 5 babies at the wedding they only have 3 high-chairs, I’m not sure if they were horrified or relieved that most of them will be too small for high chairs.
So lovely readers I’m looking for any tips/advice you might have about how we can make the day easier for all the little families that will be in attendance?

*if you are not having children at your wedding that is your decision, we just made a different one.

Weekend

I managed to get myself on a course in Leeds so we are having weekend at my parent's house courtesy of my work. On the list:

Visit the jewellers to pick up O's wedding ring and to leave my engagement ring so the wedding band can be made to fit along side it. Really don't want to give them my engagement ring but it will be worth it.

I'm sure there will be plenty of wedding chat.

Saturday night:

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We are going to see the Blues Brothers with my parents. There will be singing and dancing, O might get very embarrassed. I promised that we wouldn't get dressed up.

Flowers all around

Oops posted too early by mistake sorry

So the florist* is booked, we are having low square glass vases filled with vendela roses, blue delphiniums, lilac, freesias, white veronica and silver green foliage. I'm having a tear drop bouquet and my girls are having hand tied posies. The boys will be having thistles as button holes. I'm waiting for my Mum and O's Mum to decide on what flowers they might want. Here are some of the flowers I sent to the florist for inspiration:

*we got on really well and she agreed to stick to my budget

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As my florist pointed out most of these are purple not blue which is what I'm going for. Huh?!

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

Remember I wanted these but flat?

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Well I've ended up with these:

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Oh and these:

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Oh and these:

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Don't ask I don't know.

Mother of the Bride

My Mum has bought her Mother of the Bride outfit. I think she might be the most glamourous person at the wedding - she will beat me hands down.

My Mum is difficult to shop for, being petite and having a upper half a different size to her bottom half it isn't easy to find things that fit her. She also hates shopping. #1 & 2 took her for a day with a personal shopper and this was the outfit that they came up with, a whole day and they only came up with one outfit. I had to cut off the hat they chose because I can't figure out how to blank out just her face (such a nice way to talk about my mother). My Mum's words it is "ok" if I can't find anything it will be the one. Huh, who would have thought that MoB shopping would be the same as wedding dress shopping. There isn't the perfect outfit just a "one" that will do. Anyway I happen to think she looks fabulous in her "ok" outfit.

Pft

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post. I'm still not back to "normal" but I'm working on it. Instead of trying to write anything sensible for the next wee while I thought I'd just show you some details. Concentrate on the things that I have done instead of worrying about what is still on the list.