More Flowers from Australia

These flowers arrived today for B2 from her Aunty Sam and family.

The delivery man was amazed that a little girl was receiving flowers and said she was spoilt. I think it is lovely to receive flowers no matter what age you are and when your family are so far away on your birthday it is even more so. Maybe no-one ever sent the delivery man flowers on his birthday and he was miffed ;p

Thankyou Aunty Sam, Uncle William, T and A for making B2's day so special.

We love you and miss you so much.

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Flowers from the PTA

I have run the school's Parent and Teachers Association at the B1 and B2's school for the past four and a half years.

There are over thirty people on the PTA now; there were only eight when I first started. I don't mind doing the work but the management of all those personalities gets me down after a while. I think people tend to forget that there is only one of me and thirty plus of them and they all have ideas about how things should be done and what we should be doing. Over the years I have learnt to take the attitude of 'This is how we are going to do it because after all I am the one doing the work so I will do it my way, if you want to do it a different way then you can do the work!' It may sound exceedingly bossy but it kept me sane - you can't please everyone, so I stopped trying.

For the past two years I have been trying to resign but I always get talked into staying. This year I did manage to downsize the job to an organisational role plus running the BBQ - which was a HUGE relief.

This arrived on my doorstep the week after the PTA AGM; it is from the PTA to say thankyou for staying on and keeping them on the straight and narrow. Thankyou PTA for the beautiful flowers and thankyou to all the people who volunteered to take on some of the workload. I think we can look forward to a fabulous fundraising year!

Flowers from Australia

These arrived today for B2 for her birthday.

They are from her Nan in Australia.

Thankyou Nan, B2 was so thrilled to get a bunch of flowers all of her own :)

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The Big Number Nine

B2 chose a vanilla cake with strawberry jam icing this year for her family birthday dinner this year. We tried out a new type of icing which involves cooking and whisking egg whites in double boiler and then adding the other ingredients. It was a very, very tasty icing but I think I need a bit more practice to get the consistency right.

Work the Camera Baby!

You look beautiful darling....

....so fluffy. Have you changed hairdressers?

Just turn a little to the right.....

.....a bit more....

....a bit more....perfect!

Wonderful, just the right amount of disdain.

That's a wrap.

This is what happens when I leave the camera where small hands can reach it. They photograph their favourite thing - Tilly :)

(Please ignore the spilt cat food and pen in the background; they are added for gritty realism)

More Birthday Flowers

This gorgeous bouquet arrived two weeks after my birthday; not that I am complaining as they were totally unexpected and made for a wonderful surprise.

They are from my sister and her family in Brisbane in Queensland Australia. Isn't international floral delivery a fabulous thing!

Thankyou so much for my lovely birthday surprise; there were lots of lilies (which are my favourite, as you well know).

:)

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Tiling

I have realised I never posted photos of the kitchen floor tiles when they were completed.

We are very pleased with how they have turned out. The tiles are several shades lighter than the previous tiles and they are about two thirds the size.

The wall tiles were put on yesterday and will be grouted tomorrow.

Guernsey, being a small place, has a limited number of shop choices from which to buy tiles. I shopped around regardless and managed to get our floor tiles for less than half the price we were originally quoted.

I also managed to wangle free delivery; it pays to dress nicely and smile ALOT ;)

Worktops; how you miss them when they're not here.

All the worktops are in. We choose the plainest black granite available.

It has natural black inclusions when you look closely but none of the gold glints that are in most granites.

One section of the bench had a large (ish) chip at the back but the tiler has assured me that once the wall tiles go on it will not be visible.

Now the bench tops are in I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is only just a glowing spot in the distance but it is there :)

Let the Christmas Cheer Begin!

While Mr Bee has been away I have had to fill my time as best I could. Nothing like a spot of Christmas decorating to lift the spirits. I have told Mr Bee that he shouldn't complain as last year I put the decorations up the day before Halloween.

I have these four boxes of decorations, two trees (one six foot and one eight foot), a large wooden advent calender and various other odds and sodds in cupboards around the house.

I am doing a Christmas photo shoot in a few weeks so I need to make sure everything is just right.

Plenty of time to tweek; that's my excuse and I am sticking to it :)

Birthday Blooms

It was my birthday this week and look what arrived at my door.

Thanks Mum, they are just beautiful. The lilies smell divine and fill the lounge with their scent.

On the night of my birthday my Dad called for a chat. I had just hung up the phone when my sister, in Australia, called. It was some ungodly hour in the morning there and I could hear my niece and nephew watching morning cartoons in the background. We talked for nearly two hours.

I miss home so much sometimes.

A Morning Tea Surprise

Each Wednesday morning a group of my friends get together for a cup of something, a nibble of cake and a good old natter. It is two hours were all the worries of work and home can be put aside and we can just be people, not Mums or employees, just friends having a chat.

Today when I turned up for morning tea I had a wonderful surprise. The ladies had made it a special birthday morning tea for both myself and another friend who shares the same birthday as me. I was given a piece of the cake to take home so all the Bumble Bee'rs had some as well. I had to cut it into slices very, very carefully to ensure that they all had a piece of the rose.

There were gifts and cake and a wonderful feeling of being special. Mr Bee is away for twelve days in Singapore and Hong Kong 'selling' Guernsey to the Asian business market so I suggested that we wait and have a belated birthday lunch with the children when he arrived home.

As a result it didn't really feel like my birthday but thanks to my wonderful friends it does now.

Thankyou 'Wednesday Club' for all your kindness and friendship.

XXX