*****HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDEN*****

It's one of my beautiful granddaughter's birthday today. She is 11 and I had a play with some of the photos that I took of her when we had a photo shoot. She is such a model poser and I love these photos of her.

I can just see this in about 7 years time!

Have a wonderful day Eden.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving me lovely comments. I appreciate them all.

Truth or lies?!

I was nominated for a 'Creative Writer' blogger award by Darcy recently and - believe it or not, it has taken me a while to come up with the required 7 truths and lies!

First, there are rules.

1. I need to express gratitude to the blogger who bestowed the award. Oh yeah ...Darcy.

2. Display the blog award on my blog proudly. *Chest expanded*!



3. Be nice and provide a link to the person who gave it to me.....the Delightful Miss Darcy....and then here is the scoop!

4. Tell up to 6 outrageous lies about myself and at least, 1 outrageous truth. Or, switch it around and tell 6 outrageous truths and 1 outrageous lie! I will leave it for you to decifer which is which!

5. I need to then nominate 7 creative writers to do the same. OK....I can see those hands up screaming "Pick me, pick me"! LOL. Check the list below to see if you have been chosen.

6. I then have to post links to each of the nominees I have named below.

Here are my 7 truths and lies.

1. I once sat in the cockpit on Concorde!

2. Steve Harley (& Cockney Rebel) and I are friends. We sat next to each other in class at school!

3. I rode a camel around the pyramids in Giza!

4. I LOVE flying and I once piloted an aircraft!

5. I was in a band when I was younger!

6. My dad was born in Cairo, Egypt which in turn makes me a mummy!

7. I have shares in Cadbury's....I keep them going by eating 10 bars of chocolate each day!

These are the peeps that I have chosen.

Emma
Sian
Sue
Keryn
Mandy
Linby
Enfys

Lastly, I need to inform each nominee by posting on their blog to let them know.

I'm feeling in an impish mood after that!
Have fun and toots for now.

It's A Family Affair!

What a week it's been! First it began with my mum's fall and her hip replacement surgery. As it was half term, I had my eldest daughter Lisa and family come stay and my middle daughter Michelle and family came over every day for family time. Cooking for 9 of us meant an early start in the week and as we like our desserts, I made 4 throughout the week and Cameron helped bake chocolate chip cupcakes.

Cameron is the official 'taste tester'!

I also made a mahoosive tray of lasagne that we had with homemade chips, garlic bread and salad.

Before:
After:Fruits of the forest cheesecake... with a digestive biscuit base was one of the desserts that I made.

Mascapone cheese, double cream and a strawberry jelly mixed.

Topped with fruits of the forest. To be eaten with ice cream...

...or not.
Then I made a Banoffee Pie....making the biscuit base with crushed coconut biscuits and melted butter.

Add one can of the most delicious creamy toffee....top with slices of banana and whipped cream...

...and a dusting of cocoa powder.

As you might have noticed, the favourite kind of dessert includes a biscuit base. Now this one has a different base - made with crushed ginger biscuits and melted butter. This Key Lime Pie was inspired by a recipe that the Delightful Miss Darcy dished up for her family recently. Scroll down until you see Lime Jelly Cheesecake.

Oh...and one more dessert that I made but didn't take a photo of (it was whipped out of my hands before I could say "David Bailey"!), was a homemade rice pudding that was always a childhood favourite of mine - and my 3 daughters. I will fight anyone for the skin....but I didn't need to! LOL. It was all MINE.

So now you should be suitably full...I will certainly be considering a diet of some kind in the next couple of weeks....until my youngest daughter's visit in August that is....and I start all over again!

Update on my mum!

I want to thank you all soo much for your kind words of support, love and concern for my mum. For someone you have never met or even know. That is what I love about this blogging community - the sheer sisterhood - a completely supportive family.

My mum is an amazing woman. She has had a major operation at the age of 96 and when my sister told her that she has got a new hip, she replied "oooo....have I"!

She is not enjoying the stay in hospital and neither did she earlier this year. She isn't eating right now and has had low haemoglobin, so needed a unit of blood last night and again this morning. However, that has helped her feel better and after my sister visited, said that she needs to manage her physiotherapy on the rotunda before she can go back to the nursing home in a few days.

Of course, it will be weeks, months even, before she will be able to walk properly again but knowing my mum.....she is a determined spirit and I reckon, she definately wants to receive a birthday card from the queen for her 100th birthday in 4 years time. Now that will be a treasure to keep for posterity!

Thanks again for your kind words.

A prayer request!

As you know from a previous post, I visited my dear old mum last week to celebrate her 96th birthday with her and my 2 sisters.

This morning, I had a call from my eldest sister to say that my mum has had another fall and hit her head - again. She was complaining of pain in her side, so the paramedics were called and took her to hospital, where she was x-rayed and it was revealed that she has a fractured hip!

Right now, she is in theatre - having surgery - a hip replacement and I would so appreciate it if you would please say a little prayer for her. I know she is a good age but if the worse happens - that she won't suffer. That is what I ask. Bless her. She is such a fighter - a survivor and has come through soo many falls and is really a strong person - but at the same time very frail, so I am thinking....it may be her time...ya know?

Thanks so much for your support everyone. I so appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers.

First blog award!

WOW! I've had such a lovely surprise. I received a 'Beautiful Blogger' award from Patrice all the way from Australia.


It's my first award and I am thrilled and I feel very honoured. There are rules that go along with it. First I have to thank the giver and add a link to them, so, thank you so much Patrice.

Then there are 10 things that I have to tell you about myself. So grab a cuppa and take a seat for a few minutes.

1. I am addicted to chocolate! It's no wonder! I share my birthday with George Cadbury and - my mum (now 96), worked in a chocolate factory when she was 14 for several years.

2. I'm a Fulham football fan. My sister was the secretary for the Football Association when I was 10 years old and she used to get us best seats for the matches at Craven Cottage. Then she became secretary for Fulham FC and I then had my own season ticket. We - my mum, dad and sister used to go regularly. She still goes now with her husband and is a HUGE fan but I haven't been since the Fulham vs Norwich match in 2005 when Fulham won 6-0!

3. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and have been for almost 31 years. It's the same church as Heidi Swapp, Lisa Bearnson, Becky Higgins, Cathy Zielske, Teresa Collins, Rebecca Sower and Karen Foster are members of....oh ...and The Osmonds!

4. I love charity shops and boot fairs. There is always a bargain to be had.

5. I am not a book reader but I have always had magazines of one kind or another - Cookery, Gardening, House and Home and Scrapbooking.

6. Autumn is my favourite season. There can be all of the seasons in it. The colours are spectacular and I LOVE Halloween.

7. I have taught scrapbooking classes in what used to be called Craft Central in the Wyevale Garden Centre before it closed down. I taught classes and had workshops in my home and I have done several instore demos in local craft stores and C&H Fabrics.

8. I love to watch home makeovers on the television. After doing an interior design course at college 12 years ago, I got into watching 'Changing Rooms' and 'Change That'. I got to meet Lawrence Lewellyn-Bowen and Linda Barker at the Home Show in Birmingham. I also got chosen to help Graham Wynne on stage and did 2 challenges which included painting in one and designing a room set in 2 minutes with the Irish red headed lady from another Home Show....Anne McKevitt.

9. When I was 7 years old, I got to play Sleeping Beauty and a fairy in the school production.

10. My favourite fruit is mango but I eat more bananas than mangoes!

So that's a little insight into my life and I now have to choose 10 other bloggers to do the same. I am going to nominate the following 10 peeps and then I have to inform them by leaving a message on their blog:

Tonje
Heidi
Cardarian
Angie
Sandra
Chris
Spyder
Sutty
Minnie-Mac
Tracy

Thanks so much again Patrice for giving me the opportunity to share some of my life's journey with you all.

Toots for now.

*****HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE*****

May has been a busy month for birthdays and wedding anniversaries in our family. Today is my middle daughter's 37th birthday! Eek!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and taking an interest in my life and craft journey.

Toots for now.