The One About a French Tradition . . .

For those of you that read my blog regularly you'll know that I spent nearly 8 years of my childhood in France.  We were very lucky on where we lived because there was a good British community in our village, and several families with children of similar ages to us that lived very nearby.  We never really celebrated any of the French Traditions privately at home, but some of our friends did.  My sister and I were invited round one afternoon, on Bastille Day to celebrate with our friends.  Well it was all completely new to us, we were probably 7 and 9 years old ( me being the eldest), and we were wearing hats round the table like you would at Christmas.  Well our friends Mum brings out this special cake and says that there is a coin inside and whoever gets the coin gets to make a wish!  We were quite excited about this having never heard of it before!  Unfortunately because it was such a big cake , and there was only four of us none of us found the coin!

This memory was triggered a few weeks ago (and I can't remember why now), and at the time I couldn't remember what we were celebrating.  Then someone mentioned Bastille Day in passing - and thats when I put it all together and decided this was going to be by next Story for Sian's Storytelling Sunday this month!  Make sure you pop over to her blog to read some other great stories!

The One About My Scavenger Finds So Far . . .

Despite not having a great holiday, we did manage to have a couple of days out where I got some photos for Rhinda's scavenger hunt:

1. A Pier - one of the ones that I thought I'd have to make a special trip to get, but accidentally found when we took a slight detour on the way to the aquarium whilst on holiday.

3. A Border - I got a couple of pictures for this, but I'm going with the flower border as that's the first thing I thought of when I saw this entry in the list!

6. A Historical Landmark - I think Siezergh Castle counts for this!  We had a lovely peaceful morning there, just the three of us.

9. A Fountain - I was going to take a picture of the fountain at the Trafford Centre for this one, but then we came across this fountain whilst at the zoo on holiday.

10. A Horse - I actually got two pictures for this but the first one wasn't very good as it was taken through the car window.  The horse and its rider were coming towards us down the country lane, and as the road was quite narrow going under a bridge, Mark stopped the car to let it pass -and for me to take my photo!  The horses in the photo are from Lakeland Maize.

12. A Maze - we made a special trip for this one.  We were going to take a trip to Muncaster Castle but it was 90minutes drive away.  So when we saw a sign for Lakeland Maize we were intrigued, and went to investigate.  It seems a farmer had used his fields and animals to put together a tourist attraction, the main attraction being his maze made of maize!

17. A Church - Mark stopped the car so I could jump out and get this photo.  We saw some far pretties churches whilst we were away, but didn't get a chance to photograph them.

19.  An Outdoor Stairway - Siezergh Castle had a lovely outdoor stairway, plus can you spot anything else?!

With the movies poster already found, I make that nine entries so far.  So I've still got a way to go before finishing!  I still think the bride will be the tricky one!

The One About Our Lake District Holiday . . .

Last week we went on holiday with Mark's Dad, sister, her husband and twin boys.  We were staying in two adjoining bungalows in Teebay.  The holiday started off with a traffic jam, a ten minute journey took about 40minutes, then the motorway was on and off between national speed limit and slowing right down to 40mph.  But we got there eventually, and while C, P and the boys were exploring the area Mark and I decided to get the travel cot put up and everything unpacked and put away.  The lady who owned the bungalows also ran a B & B, and was hosting a tea & cake party that afternoon, along with a raffle.  Mark and I got there for the tail end of it, and bought lots of cupcakes for 10p each!

The nearest supermarket was a good twenty minute car journey away, and although we knew we were going self catered we'd decided to wing it rather than come prepared with food.  So Mark and his dad went off to the motorway services off junction 38 of the M6 which has a farm shop attached to it while I stayed behind while Alissia napped.  I've been told that the shop has won awards, but I couldn't comment because I never actually went.

Mark and my room - the four poster was lovely but the men kept banging their heads on it!

Not long after it was bathtime and bedtime for Alissia, and considering we were in a new place, and she was sleeping in a travel cot in the same room as us, she went to sleep fairly easily.  All that was left to do was to enjoy a nice glass of wine and meal and just relax.  I think that was the only time on the holiday that we were relaxed, because of everything else that followed.

The lounge where we spent an awful lot of time those first few days

 

Half past midnight that first night Alissia woke up, which for her is very unusual because she's been sleeping though for weeks, and of she wakes up its generally after 6am.  Well she'd had a very explosive nappy, which I was very surprised about, again never happens at night.  So we sorted everything out, tried to get her back to sleep, but she just kept on pooing.  It took us a couple of hours to get her settled and back to sleep.  I thought it was just the change in water and that if we got her some Evian water everything would settle down.  Boy was I wrong.

The next day, her tummy got worse, she became very unwell, alternating between screaming or just lying listlessly in my arms, which for her is unheard of.  If she's awake she is usually alert and into everything.  The next day (Sunday) we decided to ring the out of hours doctors, and were told we could take her in to be checked over.  Because I was worried she would become dehydrated, and she was completely off her milk.  So off we went to the minor injuries unit for out of hours patients, where the doctor checked her over, said she had a slight temperature, and just said to keep offering her fluids.  Perculiarly she seemed a bit more alert and perky at the hospital, so while we were there we decided to have tea and cake in Penrith rather than driving straight back.  Then as we did get bak she seemed to go downhill again, and later that evening just after we'd had dinner, she started projectile vomiting.  It was the scariest thing ever, and we went straight back to the same minor injuries unit as earlier in the day.  Again she was checked over and we were told the same as before, she'd picked up a gastro bug and we just had to ride it out and just keep an eye on her fluids.

That next night neither Mark or I got any sleep at all.  Alissia would only sleep if she was next to me on the bed, I didn't sleep for fear of rolling over onto her, and Mark didn't sleep because he had no room on the bed.  Monday, and Alissia was the same, with very frequent dirty nappies, which was making her bum incredibly sore, so bad that it was nearly bleeding.  We told Marks Dad and sister etc to go out for the day without us as there was no need for them to miss out on enjoying themselves.  Because she was very pale and because her bum was sore we made an appointment for her with a local doctor who gave us some strong cream.  That night she went off to sleep in her travel cot, and we got a bit more sleep despite being up every couple of hours for feeds and nappy changes.

The next day, Tuesday, Alissia seemed to be a bit more like herself, so we said that we would meet the others for a day out at Trotters World.  That day, Wednesday & Thursday morning were good days (and I'll blog about them with photos next time).  But Thursday morning we notices that the fontanelle on Alissia's head (which is the soft spot on the front of her head) had become a bit swollen, but didn't think it was anything serious, and just decided to keep an eye on her.  But Thursday afternoon she became very sleepy and quiet again, and projectile vomited again while we were out.  So we decided we were coming home, being on holiday was just more stressful.  The next day we took her to see our own doctor, who checked her head and said it was nothing to worry about.  Then later that afternoon the doctor called us back in because he wanted a second opinion.  The second opinion was to go to hospital to get her checked over by a proper children's doctor.  So at 5:30pm last Friday evening that's where we went.  More examinations, more questions about the feeds and nappies and sleeps and everything else, a nearly failed attempt at getting a urine sample, and four hours later we're told we can take her home, not really any the wiser.  They weren't sure why her fontanelle swelled, and just wanted us to get her head circumference measured every couple of days to keep her monitored.

So, that was our holiday, which actually wasn't a holiday at all, and we came home more stressed than we were the week before.  Thankfully Alissia seems to be over most of the sickness bug, and her fontanelle is no longer swollen, and the measurements are all coming back the same.  So nothing to worry about now, but goodness we were worried silly this time last week.  If I mention anything about going on holiday again, remind me to think again.

The One About my First Alissia Layouts . . .

Not so long ago, when Mark was out at the rugby and Little Miss was asleep in bed I managed to do two layouts for Alissia's album.  These two are of those first few days with her.  I've got a lot of catching up to do, she's now five and a half months!  Where has the time gone???

Mark is doing overtime this week, and won't be getting in till late, so I might get round to doing some more :)

The One About the Scavenger Hunt Number 18 . . .

So when Rinda announced the start of her Scavenger Hunt this summer I jumped at the chance to join in!  However, because my point and click camera has died I've not really had the chance to take any photos, (that will be rectified this afternoon) but today I can share my first photo for the item Movie Poster!  We're off on holiday next Saturday so I'm hoping to get quite a few then, especially if someone else can be responsible for Alissia and I can run about with the camera!

This was taken with the help of my other half Mark who is joining in with us too! (I hope that's not cheating?)

I think that I'm going to struggle with photos of the Bride (I may have to go lurking one sunny Saturday - if the sun ever comes out again that is!) and of the pier (maybe a day out to Southport can be arranged!)  The things we do!!!

The One About the Giveaway on Life in the Craft Lane . . .

At the beginning of June Kirsteen from Life in the Craft Lane was having a give-away for her 100th blog post.  I was very lucky to win the give-away, and a voucher for Craft Island.  My goodies arrived this week, all pink or alphabets or baby related to be able to get on with my Alissia album (which I've completed two LO's for, they'll be in a different post later in the week).  Thank you Kirsteen for my voucher, and for brightening up my day when I found out!

The One About Our First Date . . .

In the January of 2009 I read an article about online dating, more specifically Sarah Beeney's website, My Single Friend.  It made sense, you write an online profile, but a friend of yours writes something too, you upload a couple of photos, and then if men looking at it like what they see they can send you an message through the site, and you can reply if you want to.  At the time I was working at a place where I wasn't going to meet anyone, and my group of friends didn't socialise with any single men, and I'm not the sort of girl who goes out on the pull in a bar or nightclub.  Plus, I'm actually quite shy and lacking in confidence.  It took me two months of thinking and deliberating before I broached the subject with my best friend, who then said she was going to suggest it to me but didn't want to upset me!  My mum took a little longer to convince, but I explained how safe it all was and that you get to know each other over email first, then can arrange to meet up if you want to.

At Glastonbury exactly a year later - two days after we'd moved in together

After a couple of dates with men that I just didn't have that spark with, Mark's profile came up on the site.  I emailed him first, and got a response back within a day!  We seemed to have a lot in common, and were messaging nearly every day.  It got to the point where I was excited to get home in case he'd sent me a message!  After 6 weeks of this we decided to meet up, (we would have met sooner but he went off to the music festival at the Isle of White).

At Mark's friend's wedding

Mark suggested that we go and play Crazy Golf at the Trafford Centre.  Now, at the time I wouldn't drive motorways because I was scared of them, and had only driven on them once myself before.  But as the only route to the Trafford Centre was by motorway, I asked my best friend to teach me how to negotiate them before I met up with Mark (that's how badly I wanted to meet him!)  We met up at 11am, and went for a coffee first, and just generally chatted.  All I can remember from that initial meeting was how nervous I was, and Mark telling me how his sister was pregnant with twins and showing me the scan photos!  Then we went off to play Crazy Golf.  Now I'm not very good at Crazy Golf, and needless to say I lost, but we had a giggle!  When we'd been round the course we decided that we weren't hungry for lunch yet, so went and played pool.  I'm even more rubbish at pool, but with this you can always ask someone else to help you line up the shot.  Which I did on a couple of occasions, just to get close to Mark!  I still lost though!

Mark's 30th birthday 'M' party - I was Morticia, Mark was Megatron - and yes he made the costume himself!

Then it was time for lunch, at Pesto, a little Italian place which serves up small dishes like at a tapas restaurant.  Which was new to me as I'd never been to one.  Well, I turned to the dessert menu first, which is something I always do when out - well how else do you know whether to have a starter or not because you want to save space for dessert!  And as I was looking the waitress came along and asked whether we wanted any garlic bread while we waited, which we did, and then we got talking about my love of desserts, and the waitress suggested that we just get a couple of dessert choices rather than a main meal.  And my eyes lit up!  I was being allowed not one, but three desserts, well that was it then - it had to be desserts all the way.  And because Mark could see my enthusiasm he agreed, (I later learnt that he's not actually a big fan of desserts - ever the gentleman).  He let me choose all three so there would be at least one that I like, and he still does this now, if we're out and the menu looks quite dodgy Mark will let me pick two main courses and if I don't like the one I'm given we switch.  (We've only had to switch the once when I ordered the curry in a pub, and it was far too spicy for me, so I had his lasagne instead!)  (Oh and whilst waiting for the food I went to the ladies and sent the obligatory text to Mum & best friend to say that yes I was ok and yes it was going really well).

At my friend Catherine's wedding

After lunch, because neither of us wanted the date to end, Mark suggested that we walk round the shops for a bit, because he needed a Father's Day pressie and card for his Dad.  We ended up choosing his Dad a T-shirt in Debenhams, and do you know what?  His Dad still wears that T-shirt now!

At my sister's wedding

We then went for coffee in Carluccio's, and then it was time for me to go home - I was going out for dinner for my Mum & sister's birthday, otherwise I think I would have stayed until we were kicked out of the Trafford Centre!  Mark walked me to my car and we discussed what our next date would be.  And did he kiss me??? Well I think I might just keep you guessing!

On holiday in Madeira

This post was brought to you for Sian's Storytelling Sunday, why don't you pop on over to her blog and read all the other stories for this month?