Mrs W is 40.. and is going to become officially MRS W..

So it was my birthday weekend and to say I had fun was an understatement, the run up wasn't too bad either, the previous weekend we had a day with Mr W's Big son and his lovely partner and I have been treated to a day working as a gardener at the EDEN PROJECT!!! WOW.. well if I can't learn how to garden from these guys I have no hope so that was a fabulous way to kick of my B'day.. made even more betterer by the fact that on our day trip I also consumed a few cocktails :-)
So I need to bash on and book that in the new year.. I am excited apparently I get to play in the tropical garden, the Mediterranean garden and potentially go up in the balloon to do some pruning.. amazing.

The spoiling of Mrs W then continued when my amazing family descended on Waen on Friday.. on coming into the house I found this amazing bouquet from the WI group.. what amazing ladies they are

My treat on Saturday was that we went basket weaving... myself, Mr W, my sister, mam, dad and niece all left with a basket and meanwhile my nephew was a one man Christmas decoration factory and so we were all treated to home made wicker Christmas trees to hang up too  :-)

MR and Mrs Waen's baskets are here; I HATE to admit that mine is the more ropey looking one on the right.. but its a complicated process so I am not too worried.. was funny to see my family all weaving and looking like we belonged to some sort of institution  :-)

On the evening we all chilled out (more about evening events in a mo) and admired our handy work whilst drinking copious amounts of pink champagne and then on Sunday off we trotted to a lovely national trust house who were having a Christmas market.. carol singers, reindeer and mulled wine.. YUM!

When we got back I was then treated to the best best food ever.. when I was a tiny person my favourite tea was what we called in our house the wedding tea.. its basically a buffet but NO-ONE can do this like my Mam and on this occasion with help from my lovely sister  :-) and here it is.. please bear in mind there were 7 of us not 77  :-)

As another surprise my sister had a replica of the birthday cakes that we had when we were small made.. how fabulous.. memories memories .. we each had the same one each year (why can't my niece and nephew do this?) and they were the BEST cakes!

So if that wasn't enough fun, nostalgia and bonding time I was then taken into our lounge to find a suitcase of 40 presents waiting for me.. one for each year.. and these weren't even my big pressies these were things that the family and Mr W had brought, found, produced from the archives of time, made etc. that reminded them of me.. queue the hysterical tears, laughter and joy .. and so in no particular order this is how it went; 

My Mam and Dad.. 

This was the major tear jerker and I am beyond astonishment at the things they have kept .. so I got; 

• a framed Michael Jackson glove with 4 of his singles (I was a big fan when small)
• A photo of me and my sister with my grandma.. queue the tears. 
• A ribbon that i used to wear in my hair when tiny... now this was not just any ribbon this was THE ribbon that I had in my hair on the photo of my sister with my Grandma.. now lease how do you do that?
• A copy of MY Playhour comic from December 1977 including a page that i had attempted to colour in (I was not good at the sticking between the lines bit)
• A painting set.. this was a dig at the time when, I was about 7 and  I spilt nail varnish on my duvet cover.. removed it with bleach .. realised that I had taken the pattern off.. (rats) and so then re-painted the pattern using my paint by numbers set.. would have worked too if I had remembered that people wash bedding. 
• A picture of Redcar with tickets and a giant Yellow top ice cream in the middle (we did like a lemon top) 
• The mister man book Mr messy with Mr crossed out and Miss written in.. I can't imagine what they mean. 
• A bag of S.R flour (I went to catering college) 
• Knitting needles (obvious) 
• and my old strawberry shortcake, blueberry muffin and cookie dough dollies from when I was small.. I saved up my pennies to buy them
  how cool was that .. but it didn't stop there.. 

My Sister; 

So from my sister I got; 

• A Christmas Bird wreath .. I feed the birds  :-)
• a book called Nip and Tuck.. perhaps time to consider in earnest 
• A book called Sister .. (aww)
• a TOPSY AND TIM book.. I LOVED these when small
• Purple rain on DVD  -  another childhood hero was Prince
• The smiths  -  heaven knows I am miserable now.. I was a gothic child and my sister a happy one.. sharing a room with me cannot have been cool
• Purple rain -  the single.. Joy of Joys bring on the dancette 
• A jelly straining bag.. Sis watched me farting around straining crab apples of some such a thing through my rubbish bag in the summer.. this was in the BIZ. 
• Onion glasses.. you pop them on when chopping onions (i chop a lot) to stop you crying.. hahahahahahahaha
• A candle house.. I love candles
  
  amazing.. spoilt and ruined but NO it didn't stop there.. 

My Niece; 

I was treated to; 

• a mug which says Keep Digging.. No explanation required 
• a book called The Pig.. they wanted to get me the pig of my dreams but Mr W he say no!
• Egg Cups  - for my girls eggs
• a purse with my name on SPELT CORRECTLY!! both niece and I can never find such things 
• A hand painted stone saying 'Waen'.

My Nephew; 

and from this little chap I got; 

• a Cat Chrtmas decoration   - I like cats and Christmas 
• a shoe Christmas decoration   -  i like shoes and Christmas 
• a pig mug - still no living pig (mean Mr W)
• a beetle car (small version) .. My fave. 
• a book on fruit gardening  -  I need this .. my yields were weak this year. 

Mr W 

So from the man himself I got; 

• a sheep dog mug (for my sheepdogs) 
• a camper van apron  -  I am a messy cook and like camper vans
• Plant sticks  -  to name the veg 
• button earrings.. nice
• Bingo -  I love a family game 
• White chocolates  -  my fave 
• welsh chocolate (an attempt to convert me) 
• Buttons made of slate -  I love to sew
• a case for needles (sewing ones that is) 

BUT if you think it stopped there think again.. Given the fact I LOVE to craft I was then treated to a craft from each of my family.. there is some serious crafting genius here.. 

Mr W made me a new sign for the house  -  ours got wrecked by the brush cutter man. 

My Mam knitted this and then felted it with a big flower

My nephew made a picture of me and a brooch out of Crisp packets 

check out my quaver face 

My niece made Christmas decorations out of stale bread! who knew?? 

My dad made me a model worm bus.. the story is that when I was small and went to his allotment I used to gather the worms up and put them on the potting table (bus) and drive them around.. I think I used to throw some off at each stop.. so here I am the ginger at the front of my bus of worms.. this is better than the real one 'cause my bus didn't have seats 

And my NON crafting sister (she saves lives for a living instead) made me a Christmas scene from something known as pop and slot! hahahahaha.. not a crafter but a good fake it xxxxxx

Well you would think this is enough for any woman eh? NO it wasn't .. I also received an amazing Pandora bracelet from Mam and dad.. A day with Mr W to learn how to keep pigs from my sister.. I reckon if they keep going with the hints it may pan out.. and also i got beautiful espresso cups with birds on and Mr W got me a trip for My Mam and I to go to New York.. with spending beans AND new suitcases!!

BUT There is still more... I recall somewhere at the start of this post that I said we had a chilled out Saturday night.. well it wasn't without excitement.. I am now an ENGAGED 40 year old woman.. with a beautiful Celtic, Diamond and Emerald ring .. standby for wedding stress .. 

I was also ruined by my lovely friends, work chums, people in the village, and Mr W's amazing family.. all in all.. I reckon 40 isn't too bad  :-) I am a spoilt and happy lady and am loving all concerned  :-)

the skydiving evidence..

see last post.. I make NO apology for my face on these photo's I was papping myself.. but what a hoot!
I am blessed to have such ace people in my life xx

Christmas and Birthday's - I LOVE December

Well its been all go here.. My new job is going well and I really like everyone I work with and the farm so its all good news. I have started my role as WI secretary, my first task is to learn everyone's names (this is hard for me) but will suss it out eventually.
 This has been my first week doing both my farm job and my work for the charity in Leeds and its been crazy but have managed and had fun being so busy (not that I wasn't before).

On Sunday I donned my waders and started cutting back around the lake for winter.. Mr W had to  pull me out at one point when my foot started to sink and the other one couldn't get a grip.. eek! but managed to get a little way around (about 1 tenth).. so a little way more to go!

But the most exciting thing to have happened of late is that on the 29th of November my very lovely friend Anne took me for a surprise day out to Manchester.. I had train tickets sent and the instruction to bring a lace up shoe and wear trousers.. OO heck .. as anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a risk taker so was a bit worried non  the less off I trotted having full faith that she love's me and wouldn't want to kill me..  so after THE most amazing lunch here..

http://www.the-french.co.uk/

which was a taster menu of which every mouthful was heaven I was feeling really rather relaxed s we hopped into  a taxi to the secret 'activity' destination.. and this is where we ended up...

http://www.airkix.com/our-tunnels/airkix-manchester.aspx

Indoor skydiving.. Oh me oh my!! NEVER have I been more scared but gosh did we laugh (75% of it was nervous laughing).. you get 2 1 minute flights which sounds quick yes?? .. NO.. they have time delay or something because those minutes were long.. waiting to get out of work on a Friday night type of LONG! But such fun.. for an extra 5.00 you can go right to the very top of the tunnel with the instructor holding onto you .. so of course in for a penny.. in for 5.00 and off we went.. I had such a GREAT day.. Love that woman!  Pictures will follow when I get them but my certificate is here;

Check me out.. love it more than my degree certificate!

So In other news the 1st of December came which means DECORATE THE HOUSE.. yeah yeah yeah.. and as I get giddy throwing tinsel everywhere Mr W flares nostrils and declares me to be lacking in taste.. ha ha.. every year the same.. every year but i love tinsel so I tinselled .. this year we are a 3 tree house.. greedy or what but as I am not seeing my mammy on the big day (NOOOOOO) and instead we are in welsh Wales with MR W's lovely son I have eased my no mammy pain with tree's.

The complete Girl tree 

The santa train fire guard - Much hated by Mr W

The big tree  -  Kris that's your Santa sack there look 

the tree in a pot bow tree (lights to be purchased) 

so the shopping and wrapping is done.. the turkey ordered, the hampers made we are good to go..

The Home made hampers have been flying out of the door (iI even sold one) I made 31 this year.. 19 for  our lovely friends, 1 made to order for MONEY, and 11 for Mr W's work team.. that's a lot of chutney, jam, wine, bath bombs, soap, lip balm and boxes!




 In amongst all of that I have been Knitting wise men.. I may have already said that every group in LLandinam has been invited by the church to decorate a tree in the theme of a Carol (a Christmas one that is not like Carol Thatcher) our Carol was 'We three kings' .. Bollocks.. jingle bells would have been a doddle!

A serious amount of hamper goods.. all home made.. feel quite proud. 

30 hampers all done 

two wise men.. no three only just came off the needles.. tree goes up tomorrow!

 And of course Freddie news.. Winnie used to bug the life out of our lovely Lolly dog.. jump all over him when he was getting a cuddle and stand on him at dinner time and drive him nuts.. you could almost hear him tutting and mumbling about the youth of today.. well Ms Winnie is having her pay back.. Freddie hangs off her ears, pulls her fur.. jumps all over her when she is getting a cuddle and generally drives her nuts.

he is also a Major thief.. if its not nailed down its in his bed, slippers, hair ties, books, gloves whatever.. but below he is practising for his Xmas dinner.. in bed with his friend Sprout
Gotta love him.

Lazy blogger that I am ...

Well I have been a busy bear and lots of things have been going on so I have been a rubbish blogger .. so a quick catch up on news..

Freddie is insane, toilet training has much improved (thank God) he has stopped chasing chickens but likes to still chase ducks .. hmm.. he has found a love a wool which is a pain in the neck when trying to knit.. he either runs off with said wool or barks at it if it moves.. strange fish.
My God son, friend and I took him on a long walk into the village when we returned he was one pooped puppy.. CUTE!

The garden is starting to get cleared for winter which is a cold process but fun.. was especially cold this morning with our little dusting of snow but slowly I am making progress. The giant Rhubarb around the lake has started to come down..but I need to wait for Mr Waen to come home to finish off because its a bit slippery and I don't fancy a swim in this weather.. Brrrr.

Apart from that I have been up north as my lovely dad was run over and has some nasty injuries.. he is getting on okay now but a bit of worrying going on.. and the 40th birthdays continue and so we have had a trip to York with the lovely H.. I made a little cake for her  :-) I made one for my lovely niece too as she hit the giddy age of 12.. (where did those 12 years go?)
We also caught up with Mr Waen's little son as its his birthday too.. the last in the birthday list was my Mam so we all went for a nice  Sunday lunch.. including hop along dad.
Indeed, it's candles and pressies all the way this month.
My bestest pressie purchase was for my Boss and lovely friend up in Leeds.. who is fabulous scottish las.. so I bought her a gift bag and filled it with all things Welsh .. though I missed out the leek and daff's .. all Celts together  :-)


In Village news i have been voted in as the WI secretary as our current one stands down this year  which is fun and have been for a meeting with the lady that produces our fabulous village magazine and I am going to be trained in the editing of that so that it shares out the workload a bit..

I started my job on Monday which is good too so all in all I may be a lazy blogger but I am beavering away as ever..

The Birthday bun.. Chocolate.. with some chocolate, chocolate an a bit of chocolate. 

Freddie and his wool obsession.

Freddie also likes to chase Archie.. this is the hiding bowl!

More wool on the silly puppy.. this time wrapped 2 times around his neck.. 

after a 4 mile walk.. sleepy!

our lil bit o snow 

Decorating, bald house and toilet training

I have FINALLY finished painting the kitchen, utility room, toilet and stairs.. 4 full days in all.. Bloody connecting open stairs means you just have to keep going.. GRRR anyway its all done and at last I have been able to put out the new curtains, table runner and seat pads that I made.
The fabric is a source of disharmony in the house but she who makes them gets to choose the fabric me thinks.. and I think it looks jolly.

chickens and ducks :-)

I have also been out doing the Autumn pruning... in between hideous driving Welsh rain.. and the house is bald.. I have found the windows again.. Mr W was pleased as he said we have been living in a hobbit hole all summer.. so I have given it a jolly good hair cut so that next year I can train the growing stuff more.Spent hald a day hanging on the front of the house and 4 car loads of compost later.. Done; 

a lot of composting to take away 

and more

bald house

oooo look windows :-)

And of course there is the Freddie update.. GRRR.. this week I am really trying to hammer home the toilet training.. and it's not too bad but there is still work to do.. Freddie likes to be outside but mainly so that he can pull Winnies fur and be dragged about the meadow.. concentrating on 'wee wee's' is not high on his agenda. I must be honest i forgot how hard this was but every day we inch further forward. 

A tired Freddie after a run around the meadow.. and a bark at some cows (more training needed right there)

I brought in some logs and he was very interested.. 

At this stage one fell on his nose.. 

But not to be deterred

On he went.. I now have splinters of wood everywhere. 

Then it was on to help mammy do some sewing.. He did have hold of  something as it went through the sewing machine so he had to be given this off cut to play with. 

Freddie update

Well day one of Freddie passed by with some small triumphs .. we woke up at 6:00 to a hellish nightmare of 'puppy accidents' everywhere except where we had placed puppy pads.. so I refreshed my brain on puppy toilet training and 2 out of 3 of the day time performances happened outside.. WHOOOP!

It is good that I live where there is no-one nearby because I celebrated a puppy poo in the meadow much like Andy Murray celebrated his Wimbledon win.

Speaking of Win's .. our Winnie is slowly getting used to Freddie.. she is clearly not in love with him but think she is mildly amused in an 'I have an irritating brother' kind of way.

They both had a fabulous run around the meadow yesterday.. Freddie was mainly hanging off her cheeks but she handled it quite well.

Its raining like nobodys business here this week.. the waterfalls are have flowing water on them and the ground is like a bog so no gardening possible.. I am not fair weather but when you start sinking in the garden you know its time to come in.. bit frustrating as lots to do but not to worry it will stop raining in April  :-)

Anyway .. I know you are only interested in the pup not my to do list and so here he is..

this used to be a tiny stream.. it was up to the top of  Freddie's legs 

A proper waterfall..

1st major trip outside

Big sis keeping an eye 

I am so wet 'cause Mam made me have a wee and I took ages.. but I DID IT!!!!

Exhausting.

'halfway up the stairs is the stair where I sit'

Its not my bone but she has gone outside so I will just have a little go

On a non Freddie related note.. check out the BIG EGG.. Bigger than an egg.. Bigger than a kiwi .. poor chicken.. ouch  :-)