Cloth House....via the macaroon shop

On Friday we went into London to meet up with our sons for lunch. I wanted to call in the Cloth House which is a fabric shop near Carnaby Street, they have lots if interesting fabrics. I bought some velvet ribbon, some vintage buttons and a little bundle of fabric off cuts. I am planning on making some cushions for Christmas gifts and will use the ribbon and buttons on them. We went via a lovely tea shop called Yauatcha which sells these beautiful cakes and macaroons. I have never been inside but have tasted the macaroons when our son in law bought a box for our daughter.

Inlaws Day

On Saturday we had an 'Inlaws' day at our house. We are three families linked by the marriages of some of our children. Our youngest son's wife is the sister of the wife of one of the sons of the third family...if you see what I mean. Between us we have 13 children and children-in-law. Only four of then could make the day, some of them live too far away and some were working. Since we have moved house (we used to all live in neighbouring streets but we are now an hours drive away) we have to arrange specific times to get together. We had a great day, the weather was lovely, we had lunch in the garden then went to Ashridge Estate for a walk and cup of tea in the tea shop. Arriving home for still more tea and cakes and relaxing for the evening.

God brought us and joined us together through our kids and we are so grateful to Him for that.

The whole group

The Mums

The Dads

The Kids, our youngest son and daughter-in-law in the middle

Clovelly, North Devon

While on holiday with my Mum we went to Clovelly in North Devon, for those who don't know this is a famous little village on the North Coast. It is a privately owned village with the residents renting their cottages from the owner. No cars go down through the centre of the village which has a steep cobbled lane all the way through. Shopping or other goods have to be transported down in wooden sledges which are pulled down over the cobbles.If you click on the link above you can visit a good website. The author, Charles Kingsley who wrote The Water Babies spent his childhood and then later years in Clovelly. I bought an abridged version with pictures for the twins, they are fascinated by the 'dirty' little chimney sweep and keep asking for the story to be read over and over so they can look at the pictures of him.

It was our first visit to Clovelly although my Mum had been years ago with my father when he was alive. She did really well walking all the way down to the harbour even though she has chronic asthma. My husband walked her along the harbour wall and then we got a landrover ride back up again!

After our visit we drove around the rugged Devon coast and came upon this beautiful view. I never cease to be amazed at God's incredible creation.

We have just got back from our holiday, we had a great time, beginning in Wales for 4 days with our daughter and her family. Wales was beautiful, we stayed in a cabin, went in the sea (which was very cold) and did some sight seeing. We then went down to Devon to stay with them for a further week before taking my Mum away to the North Devon/Cornwall border. The weather wasn't too good but we had some trips to the beach, visited a couple of National Trust houses,and ate loads of food! Our children have a beit of a mixed heritage...my husband was born in London but his father's side are from Cornwall and his mothers from Ireland. I was born in Surrey but my maternal grandparents were from Wales and Yorkshire and my paternal grandparents both from Lancashire. Three of our children were born in Cornwall and one in Devon.

The view from our cabin

Amy & Andy on their anniversary

Primrose & Maggie building

Cardigan, Wales

Getting ready for a bit of surfing, Bantham Beach, Devon

Burgh Island from Bantham

Wedding Anniversaries

I am about to go off on holiday on Friday, to start with we are spending a week in Devon with our youngest daughter and her family then we will pick up my Mum and take her down to Cornwall for a week. While we are away both our daughters have their wedding anniversaries. Our youngest daughter and her husband have been married 10 years on 21st. The first two photo's are of them, they have the twin girls. The third and fourth photo's are of our oldest daughter and her husband who have been married for six years on 23rd. They have two little boys who they have adopted. The third photo shows the moment during the wedding service when our son in law said by mistake "...according to God's holy WAR" instead of "God's holy LAW" !!! How they managed to keep it together after that I don't know.

They are great couples and we love them dearly.

Wall Hanging

Some time ago my daughter gave me some embroidered panels from South Africa, to make her something with. I was a bit concerned about the colours running so I decided on wall hangings as they wouldn't need washing often, if at all. The panels are all irregular squares and alittle wonky around the edges but I think that adds to the attractiveness of them. I will get them in the mail to her soon (incase she is reading this!)

I thought I would add a post about my daughter and her family, as I have mentioned before they are missionaries in South Africa, The work is tough but rewarding. A couple of years ago they were held up at gunpoint just after carrying out a kids club in one of the townships. They were unhurt but had lots of equipment taken and were quite shook up as they also had Joseph with them and lots of children from the township. Well since their visit to us and return home in July, their staff members and a group of volunteers have been held up again and everything taken including their 4x4. It happened in the same township but a different area, they have now decided not to return to that township. Alongside the kids clubs that they run in a number of areas they are also building homes for children orphaned through HIV/Aids. Below are some photo's, the top one taken at a wedding while in the UK, the other two of their first house, firstly you can see its roof peeping out above the trees and then there is one of the beautiful thatched roof. These photo's are the most recent that I have but I know the house is very near completion. They are also working down in the town of Durban with homeless people and prostitutes. They have an amazing property where they live, rented out to them to run their work from. People can go and visit and work alongside them. God has been consistently faithful to them.

Please pray for them as they carry out the work that God has called them to.

www.project-o.org