Christmas 2010

Another Christmas has come and gone. Alice was incredibly excited and a lot more aware this year of what Christmas was all about and how many days there were to Christmas etc. She did very well though and woke at 8am on Christmas Day. She drew a list for Santa Christmas a few days before Christmas and on it was a drawing of a doll and a dinosaur with a long neck. Santa was very kind and brought her a family of dolls and a dinosaur with a long neck. She said, it was exactly what she asked for.

Stuart's dad, Ian made Alice a dolls' house. It is utterly amazing and by far her best present. Stuart was asked to go and measure our front door and Ian made a scale model of our front door for the dolls' house. He also painted it the same colour as our house. The letter box on the front door was made by his father many years ago, so Alice's great-Grandfather. Ian kept it all these years and put it on her front door. He even made a door bell to match ours too. I think my next job is going to be making curtains for it.


All the furniture has been bought by friends and family and goes really well in the house.

Alice playing with the house.

And again.


She also got a tiny tears doll and the first thing she wanted to do was see her going on the toilet. So she was stripped and fed some water in her bottle, so Alice could see where she did a wee from!! Alice has called her doll Rosie. She got lots more as well as these toys. One of her favourites was a balloon animal kit from Santa. I made her a mouse yesterday and she carries it around quite a lot and strokes it a lot.

This is just a wee update as I haven't done it in a while. Also these photos were taken with our new digital camera. We think the pictures look a lot clearer, however, these have been reduced for the blog.

Snow, Snow and More Snow and It's still Snowing!!

Yes, as you can it has been snowing since Wednesday 24th November. Thought I would post a few photos of the snow. This was last Friday, when the snow started to fall a bit more.

The was Saturday 27th out the back of our house.



The car in the front covered in snow.

Alice in the garden, trying to walk through the snow. It wasn't sticking together at all so we couldn't build a snowman.

Mr and Mrs Snowman sitting on the chairs!!

Alice pulling her doll Lou-Lou up the street in her sledge. Poor Lou-Lou had not clothes on!!!

Stuart trying to get the car off the drive last night to go shopping. He reversed it and because there is a dip before the road goes back up again it wouldn't go past that dip. The wheels just kept spinning. So he digging the car back onto drive!!! He's walking with his massive ruck sack today instead!! About an hour and a half after this photo was taken it had snowed about another 4-5 inches.

This morning it was -9 degrees and it had snowed all over again. We just can't believe how much it has been snowing. The other day we had thunder and lightning through the snow!! Didn't witness it as it was late at night and early in the morning. That's really rare as a phenomenon!!!

On Sunday as the temperature had lifted slightly, the snow started to melt a bit. So the snow that was sitting on the roof slid down and took our guttering with it. So the guttering is strewn in different parts of the roof and the garden below. The noise was horrendous, I thought Stuart or Alice were coming through the roof (I was right below were it was happening). So with no gutter to catch the water and very low temperatures this was the scene outside our bedroom window this morning. One of those icicles is about 60cm long and about 10cms in diameter.

The road at the top of our street was horrendous this morning. People couldn't get their cars up the hill and so they were just getting stuck not being able to go anywhere. A poor woman was nearly in tears. I went over to her (was with Alice so couldn't offer to push) and asked if she was OK. She said the car just won't move and she doesn't know what to do. So I went to the other cars and got people out to help her. Then another couple of blokes who were walking past pushed her up the hill too. Then all the other cars behind couldn't get up either, so they were all having to help each other. Another man skidded her car and just missed some railings. He had a group of people helping to dig the car out for him. At the top of that hill is a bridge going over the metro line and they would get up the hill and get stuck trying to go over the hump of the bridge. I've never seen anything like it!!!! The hill is not that steep or big!!!!!

I hear on the weather forecast that it's due to remain for another wee while yet!!! People here just aren't used to these kind of conditions. The snow is a bit stickier now, so we might get out tomorrow and try to build a snowman. I think some boys are trying to build an igloo in the field behind our house. They've been at it since yesterday!!!

A Video at Last!!!

Here's a video from May onwards. Loads of clips. My mum (Pauline's) really enjoyed stamping on the music shapes, we couldn't get her off it!! That's in W5 in Belfast. A brilliant place. The song is Stuart's sister Catherine, her bloke Simon and his two girls, Lily and Jasmine. They wrote the song for Ian, Stuart's dad, for the holiday as it was to celebrate his 70th birthday. Very good it was too!! The last few are of our holiday in North Yorkshire last week.

The Beach and Another Holiday

Haven't posted anything for a while. Just life takes over and before you know it you haven't posted for two months!!!

Alice and I bake quite regularly these days. After our holiday in Northern Ireland in June Stuart tends to take goodies into work from wherever he's been on holiday (I think his whole team does it). We forgot to get anything whilst there, so Alice and I made these Northern Irish delicacies. 15s. So called because they have 15 digestive biscuits, 15 glace cherries and 15 marshmallows in them. They are so yummy.



In July Whitley Bay had a sandcastle competition. We were amazed at some of the sandcastles which we were built. We thought it finished at 2pm and so went along after church and sat and had our picnics first. Then, once I'd registered we realised we had 15 mins to build it!!!! It was no-where near as elaborate as most of these. We were so impressed with the standard.

I think this car came third. Notice not too many children doing the building!!!!

It was great to see the beach so full!!

We built a Timmy from Timmy Time (who is a little lamb with a lot to learn, from the makers of Wallace and Gromit and Timmy is Shaun the Sheep's lamb). We were never going to win with this effort!!! We must get there earlier next year and go with a plan and really try harder!!! It was a lot of fun and great to see so many people enjoying themselves!!!


Alice was bought this umbrella for Christmas and this was the first time she got to use it. We have had rain, but any time we've gone out with the umbrella, it's stopped. However, this was a real downpour. If you click on the picture you'll see how heavy it was raining.

Last week we had a clan Grant holiday in Staffordshire. Stuart's dad was 70 in May and this holiday was to celebrate his birthday. Ian, Marion (Stuart's parents), Catherine (S's sister), Simon (C's partner), Lily, Jasmine (Simon's daughters), Stuart, Alice and me all stayed in a cottage near Leek.

This is Alice and Nana drawing in the cottage garden.

Alice and Grandpa birdwatching in the cottage garden.

We went to a rare breeds farm. Mostly sheep and goat, some chickens and peacocks and a few pigs, to keep Stuart happy. Alice and Grandpa feeding the goats.

There were a few wee bikes and ride on carts etc to go on at the end. This was Alice's first attempt on a bike. The bike was a perfect size for her and she did really well riding around on it. Guess what she'll be getting for her birthday next year!!!???

Stuart, Alice, Lily, Jasmine and I went to Gulliver's Kingdom, which is an adventure park for younger children. Lily is 12 (with black flower in hair) and Jasmine 9 (long blonde hair). They were about to go on a ride which went straight up and then dropped back down again. We did these types of rides before lunch!!!!

Before May Alice wouldn't go on these types of rides!!! She went on loads of rides last week. This was a wee ladybird ride with Jasmine.

The elephant ride with Stuart. The one, you can pull the lever to go up and down. We all had a great day!!!

Stuart, Ian and Simon went on a hill walk and so we girls went to Monkey Forest.

This monkey is the oldest at 29!!!

Stuart having a think!!!!

Sweet picture of Nana and Alice.

We went on a wee steam train on the final day. Alice pulling a funny face for the camera!!!

An update on the subsidence. About 6 weeks ago part of the tree next door fell down in the wind. About 20 foot of the top of the tree fell onto their fence and shed. People walk their dogs all day long under those trees and so thankfully no-one was there at 7.15 am.

Anyway, the council are now saying that a eucalyptus tree in our garden is also a likely cause of the subsidence for the three houses. When we dug up the roots under our house and the tests were done there were no eucalyptus roots just poplar roots. Since May our house has moved 8mm, which doesn't sound a lot but when whole sections of the house are moving in one direction and other sections aren't, this causes huge amounts of damage. The council are saying they want to do investigations near the eucalyptus to establish if there are any roots near it!!!!!!!!! If you dig a hole next to a tree you're going to find roots!!!

We contacted our local MP and he has written to the council and they are coming back about our tree in our garden!!! I spoke to our insurance person the other day and she is going to talk it through her manager and see what the next step is. It's obviously difficult to talk about it too much, as this blog is fully public and it might need to go to court!!!! So, a year down the line, we are not much further forward in this being resolved!!!!

The pic below is from our neighbour's tree that fell down.


Will try not to leave it 2 months before the next post!!!

Northern Ireland holiday

As you know we have been on holiday to Northern Ireland. We went for 10 days and stayed in a cottage about a 5 mins drive from Pauline's mum. We could not believe how glorious the weather was, normally you need to leave the house with your umbrella because you need to prepare for rain. We met up with my sister Maxine the day after we arrived, as she was going on her holiday to Florida that weekend. She's blowing out a birthday candle on a sand birthday cake!!!

On the Friday, Stuart, Alice, my mum and I went to Belfast Zoo. Stuart has been wanting to go ever since we met, so he finally got to go. I think he enjoyed it more than Alice did.


The obligatory picture of a pig for Stuart.


Grant's zebras, so we needed to take a picture of that.


If you click on the picture itself you'll see the view from about half way up the hill at the zoo. This is looking out towards Carrickfergus, over Belfast Lough.

On Saturday we met up with some friends of mine at Lady Dixon's Park, on the outskirts of Belfast. Thanks all for coming, sorry I didn't get any pictures, it was a bit disjointed, as there were rather a lot of children to run around after (at least the blokes ran around and left the girls on the picnic blankets to chat!!). Perfect!!!!

My friend Elaine arrived a bit later with her girls. We went round the rose garden. The three girls ran around after each other, with us shouting after them, when we couldn't see (or hear) them any more. The girls had their scooters with them and rode up this hill. Alice waited at the bottom for them and as they arrived at the top, Alice ran about half way and they scootered down the hill with Alice chasing them. They did this for ages. Alice really enjoyed playing with them. Again you can click on the picture to get the full effect.

Monday we went up to another sister, Jacqueline's allotment. The view was spectacular. She's up on a hill and you can see right across Belfast Lough on one side, Stormont Parliament buildings in the middle and then Strangford Lough on the other side. No wonder she spends a lot of time up there. We had a lovely picnic and then round to see some chickens on a neighbouring plot.
Stuart and Alice at the allotment.

Then we all went round to Streamvale farm, which is just down the hill from the allotment. It was a really great wee farm. We fed some chickens.

Alice bottled fed a lamb.

Jacqueline cuddled a rabbit. Then we went in and had some ice cream, which is made on site from the milk from cows on the farm. The ice cream was the best I have tasted in a long time. Sooo creamy and full of flavour!!!!

On Tuesday we went to W5 in Belfast. It stands for who, where, what, where and when and is a science interactive place. It was fantastic and we all really enjoyed ourselves here. This is Alice and my mum sitting outside along the River Lagan before we went in for lunch.

Alice and Stuart playing at the cafe.

Alice spent ages playing at the cafe and then was in the middle of doing something, when she looked up, took a sharp breath in, pointed and shouted "there's a car!!!!". Then ran off over to it. Poor Stuart was stuck in that car for about 45mins because we could not get her away from it. She would go to the Tescos, get her shopping and then put it in the boot. She strapped Stuart in to his car seat and then put CDs on etc. She loved it. While they did that my mum and I played with the water.


You put the balls in this shoot and they are sucked up and then fall into a tube, then floated down in the water. We had a race to see who could get all their balls down first. I think Alice won, of course!!!

Wednesday, we drove up to the North coast and a wee seaside town Portstewart. We left quite late, so didn't have a great amount of time there. We went to Morelli's for lunch (famed for its ice cream) and then had ice cream on the sea front. Have to say we were disappointed with the ice cream, barely any flavour at all. Streamvale farm was definitely the winner for ice cream. Alice then spied a park and we spent the rest of the time there. There's a wee paddling pool, so paddled for quite a while in her pants and T-shirt.





This is Alice and Stuart sitting on the stairs in her make-shift car. Everything behind them is in the "boot".
On Thursday we went to Bangor on the south shore of Belfast Lough. I had remembered there was a wee paddling pool there, but didn't know if it was still there or not. They have now got a wee fun park there. So we spent the day at Pickie Fun Park. Alice played in the park initially, then we had lunch under a tree on a hill. Then on the train and then Alice spent the rest of the time paddling in the pool. She had a great time, chatting away to the other children.





Then into the cafe for ice cream. Alice spotted this "shark" and wanted to go for a ride in it. Stuart did correct her and told her it was a space shuttle. I think shark is better.

I could not believe how beautiful Bangor marina is these days. It felt like we were in the south of France or somewhere. Just gorgeous.

Thursday night my niece Claira came round. It was fabby to catch up properly, just a shame that her Stuart couldn't make it too. Friday we went swimming with mum and then met up with Jacqueline and my brother-in-law Ricky. Then I met up with a friend Lisa that night (as we hadn't been able to meet before that), so it was really great to meet and chat properly.

This a picture of the cottage on the last day, yesterday.

This was the view out the back.

These are the horses that we watched every day. They even came over a couple of times to the gate to say hello to us.
We all had a great time getting out and about, but more importantly spending some proper time with family and friends. Will put together a video in a day or two and post that separately.