Bournemouth

Back in 2001 we were living in Devon where we had lived for

19 years while our family grew up. My husband had a plumbing & heating business that due to the recession a couple of years previously, he had to close down and we also lost our house due to this. So not easy times but we decided to pack up everything and move to Dorset for my husband to go to Bible College. We had been in church leadership for many years but knew that this was the way that God was calling us forward. We had no financial backing, no house to sell to get us through the time at college and support our two youngest children, one was just going to university, the other still in full time education at home. Not only did God take us through this time and provide for us, we also came out at the end with only student loan debts. We look back on our time there as an amazing opportunity and are truly thankful for all we learnt and experienced.

We have been back on a couple of occasions and yesterday we got to go back again. One of the ladies from our church packed up her home back in September and moved down to study at Moorlands College. We were invited to her Pastors Day, had a great time at the college catching up with old friends and then had a 'pastoral' walk along the beach followed by tea and cake in the beach cafe...its a tough job but someone has to do it :)

Jake

If you would like to know this little boys story so far, please go to my daughters blog and read her latest post

www.littlefingersandfrosting.blogspot.co.uk 

Thank you for taking the time

vintage pieces of needlecraft

I've been doing a bit of sorting out and thought I would share photo's of some embroidery and appliqué work that has been passed down to me from my Mother. Some of the work was carried out by  her and some by my Grandmother. The  embroidered picture was done by my Father when he was young and in hospital with TB. The photo's don't do it justice as the glass is old. But I have childhood memories of looking into and losing myself in this beautiful garden. Some of the other pieces of work have little stains on them...some day I will try and remove the stains and may even use the pieces to make a quilt.

self control

Today Joseph received 'Star of the Week' award at his new school, he got to go up to the stage in assembly and shake the head masters hand.....I would have loved to have been able to see that. And look what he received his award for...exercising self control! What a great gift to have :)

my mother

In March my Mother will be 85. For the last few years she has been suffering with vascular dementia and has slowly become more confused. We have taken the decision to move her into a lovely home in Devon where she lives. This home is for people suffering with dementia. My brother is an architect and carried out the conversion on this beautiful building. 

We are just waiting for a room to become available.

Mum doesn't really understand that this is going to happen and we are praying that the transition will be a smooth one for her. With us living four hours drive away and my sister (not sure if I have ever blogged about the story of how my sister found us) even further away in Wales, all local jobs are left for my brother. 

For my Mothers birthday I have made a photo book of photo's taken over the years. 

I thought I would share a few with you.

Evelyn Myfanwy born in Wales 1928

 On the right side of this photo with some friends

 with her youngest brother Cyril

 Thomas Carlton...my Father

 on their wedding day

 with my bother and I....I have a grumpy face

 Evelyn Hannah...my Nana

 Shortly after we moved to Cornwall in 1973

 with my sister and I...my sister is 10 years older than I am and this was taken shortly after I discovered that I had a sister in 1984

This is taken at our daughters wedding in 1999. My mother is looking at the camera

ohio star quilt

I finished all 16 blocks for my Ohio Star quilt, trimmed the edges, cut strips for the sashing and joined them all up. I now have to attach the wider band around the outside and decide if I want straight or mitered borders. I prefer mitered but will have to see how neat I can get it. 

valentine treats

We have never much bothered with Valentines day because our wedding anniversary is just the week before. We take advantage of all those lovely 'heart' cards and gifts and give them to each other on our anniversary instead. 

But as regular readers will know, our youngest daughter loves a party and so I am sharing some of the lovely treats she made for their Valentines Tea Party. They invited their little friend from next door and as you can see, Gilby is chuffed to be sitting next to her on the sofa!

valentines

Happy Valentines Day!

Primrose is clearly up for it, Maggie is her mothers daughter and looks like she would rather still be in bed and Gilby looks a little bemused by it all!

Off to school

look what we found!

I miss these little guys so much, haven't seen them for 20 months. So when I received these photo's today I thought I would share them. They found this 'pet' in the garden as they were out playing in the sunshine...which we don't have here in the UK at the moment. 

Joe wasn't quite as brave as his younger brother Jesse, as the chameleon was hissing:)They watched him turn brown as he was on the branch and then turn back to green when they placed him back on the leaves. I always say you can teach the whole curriculum out doors!

a great day out

Our anniversary trip into London was lovely. We walked from Euston down to the British Museum, popping into the Contemporary Ceramics centre first. We then walked down to Covent garden, just strolling around the streets. I am always in awe of the architecture in the city, it amazes me that so many years ago they could design and build so amazingly even without the technology of today.

As China Town looked so inviting with the lanterns up for Chinese New Year, we decided to eat there and we weren't disappointed. 

After more strolling around and a cup of tea the rain began so we sat on a bench under a canopy outside a cafe, until it was time to make our way to St Martin's Theatre to see Mousetrap. We loved the play and the theatre.We then grabbed a cab back to Euston for the train home

(I didnt take this photo as photos aren't allowed in the theatre)