The Royal Wedding

Today was the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey.  First to arrive was William and his best man Prince Harry.  Both looked very smart in their uniforms and I'm glad William went for his Army best as even though he works for the RAF at the moment I have to admit that the Number One uniform is very plain and not at all ceremonial.

All eyes were on Kate as she arrived, as millions of women all over the world were waiting to see what her dress looked like and I have to say it was not a disappointment.  She looked stunning. Very Grace Kelly.   Less is definitely more when it comes to wedding dresses.

Her sister Phillipa was her chief bridesmaid and considering her sister was just about to join the most famous family in Britain she did an amazing job at holding it all together.  Mr Middleton looked, at one point, as if he was going to burst with pride as the walked down the aisle.

Kate on the other hand looked very calm and collected.

The Abbey looked amazing and the trees were brought in on the request of the bride. 

After an "I will" from Will..........

and an "I will" from Kate...........

It was "I now pronounce you Husband and Wife".  Kate gave a little smile when she heard the crowd cheering outside.

Ladies and Gentlemen.  Their Highness's the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The weather held enough for the trip back to Buckingham Palace to be in the open topped carriage.  It would have been a real shame if the forecast rain had appeared and they'd have had to go back in the glass coach.

After going inside Buckingham Palace to have their official photos taken it was time for the happy couple to greet the crowd from the balcony.  No royal Wedding is complete without the kiss and William and Kate didn't disappoint the millions who had flocked to the Mall.

It was a fabulous occasion and just what the country needed.  I know there are some out there who thought it was all a waste of time and money and some who think we don't need a Royal Family and they are entitled to their opinion just like I am entitled to say it was an amazing day and I loved all the Pomp and Ceremony. 

Oh and you just have to love digital cameras.  Why wait for the official photos when you can get your own by photographing the TV.

Project Life week 2

I'm not sure if I'll make pages every week but so far I'm enjoying putting a few bits and pieces together each weekend.  This is last week.  A little late due to having to wait to print off one more photo.

 Not a very exciting week but then I suppose we all have weeks/months like that.

Where I live

Recently I've come across new blogs from all over the world where some of the ladies live in amazing places.  Like log cabins in South Dakota, a ranch in Montana or a cattle farm in Queensland Australia.  With this in mind I thought I'd blog a few pictures of where I live and the surrounding area.

So here we go:  (Click on pictures to enlarge)
1. Fochabers village

 2.  The fountain in the village square.

 3.  The Primary school in the village.

 4.  The community garden overlooking the River Spey.

In the surrounding area we have:
5. The ruins of Elgin cathedral.

6.  Culbin forest near Forres where Samuel had great fun pond dipping when he was younger.

 7.  Pebbles on Spey Bay beach, Moray Firth.  We get lots of whale and dolphin watchers on this beach but so far I haven't manged to see anything!!

 8. The beach at Cullen, a small village along the coast famous for it's soup Cullen Skink.

 9.  More pebbles this time at Findhorn near Forres.

 10.  Findlater castle ruins and the rugged coast line of the Moray Firth. 

There are so many other beautiful places to see up here too so I might have to do another post with more photos in at a later date.

Happy Easter

Wishing you all a very happy Easter weekend.

Too much wine?

I can explain!!!  This is not an indication of how many bottle of wine we drink on a Friday night. 

It's John's collection of corks as he seems incapable of putting them in the bin when he takes them off the cork screw but puts them in the kitchen drawer instead.

Aren't you glad..........

Aren't you glad that some days you actually did your hair and put your face on before popping to the supermarket where you meet an old friend you haven't seen in years and who always did and still does look fabulous?  I was so glad I did this morning :0)

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White chocolate Toblerone.  Delicious in either black & white or colour!!!

New blog header

I've always wondered how some blogs had lovely headers at the top with several photos in them.  I'd tried using Picasa but couldn't get the look I wanted so put up with one photo and a blog title.

That was until I was reading Clover Lane and found that she had put a post on her blog, a while back, on how to make headers.  She also made hers in Picasa and once I read her instructions I realised it was really simple to do.

Just goes to show that instructions can be a good thing.....if you actually read them!!!

New reading material

Recently, whilst Blurking!!, I found a few book titles I thought I might like, jotted them down on a scrap of paper and headed off to the library.  Imagine my horror when I found out that none of the books on my list were in any of the local libraries.  Something to do with most of them being from the USA or Canada.

Time to rethink the list.  I can't remember which blog it was on but Dissolution by C J Sansom was mentioned and duly noted.  A week later on World Book Day at school, I noticed that the Headteacher was reading the same book.  Then the following week my Mum tells me a good book to read is Dissolution.  Coincidence?

Another trip to the library only to find that the book is out and only book 4 is on the shelf.  Now I don't know about you, but I like to read my Who Dunnits in sequence!!  Determined not to break my New Year's Resolution of not buying books but using my local library (the only one I've ever stuck to), I resigned myself to waiting for the book to come back and take it out then.

What a nice surprise it was last week when my sister came to stay and  handed me the first three books.  All for me as a Just Because Present ♥♥♥  Love you Sis x

Blurking!!!

Are you a blurker?  Do you even know what a blurker is?  A blurker is someone who reads a blog this blog, maybe smiles at a photo or two, nods in agreement at something I've written, perhaps even admires a crochet picture or a very rare scrapbook page I've made ... but never, ever leaves a comment to say they stopped by. 
Is that you?
If so, then please break that habit and leave a comment to say why you read about the daily doings of my life.  I'm not looking for compliments, although feel free to chuck in the odd one or two, I'm interested to know what makes my blog readable and perhaps how I can improve it.

I used to be one of those people but not anymore.  I am going to make every effort to leave a comment on every single blog I visit.  Even if it’s only to say Hi !

** This post was brought to you by Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers: Prompt 1by Shimelle and stolen from my sister Ruth’s blog here**

Project Life

Click photo to enlarge.

I've just started Project Life which is over on Big Picture Classes.  Basically it is a way of recording you life week by week, using photos, journalling and any other bits and pieces you may have collected during the week.  My first week was busy as I had family staying but I have a feeling that future weeks may not be as full.  Welcome to the mundane!!!

All Quiet on the Fochabers Front

It's very quiet here today as Ruth, BIL, my nephew and the dog have gone to Mum's for a few days.  It's been a lovely week and it seems a long time till the summer when we'll see them again.  My nephew is a sweetheart and has changed so much even in the last 7 months.  He's very chatty and will even let Auntie Liz give him Airplanes around the kitchen (but only if I make the plane noises and help him into land!!).  Ruth and BIL have done a brilliant job as parents so far and I know that not every day has been an easy one.  Anyone with children will tell you that some days you can be at the end of your tether and the next is just perfect.

Today for me was housework followed by washing and ironing but this afternoon I've finished my first week of Project Life by Becky Higgins
I'm not really sure what I'm doing but it's cutting up paper and photos so it's a step in the right direction.  And now I'm off to sit in the garden while the sun is out.

Here's a very rare photo of me and Ruth.  We're normally behind the camera so I got Samuel to take this.

Linn Falls

Yesterday we took a walk up to Linn Falls in Aberlour.  It was just far enough for my nephew to walk, have a snack at the top by the water fall and then get carried back to the bottom of the hill!!

Again it was a lovely day even if the sun didn't shine.

As usual I was behind the camera but John took this of me, taking a picture of Ruth, BIL and my nephew.

It will be all back to normal next week as the holidays are nearly over.

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Brodie Castle

Duffus Castle

 Another day, another castle!!  This time it was the ruins of Duffus Castle near the local RAF base

but only because we had to go Tornado spotting with my nephew.

A successful day on both counts.  We had great fun being "Plane spotters" and my nephew had great fun checking out the ruins of Duffus Castle.   We had a brilliant time running up and down the hill but Auntie Liz has to admit that she's not as fit as a 4 year old!!!!

Pancakes anyone?

It is "The Law" that you have to have a Baxter's pancake if you visit Fochabers!!  So today that is exactly what we did.  Mine and Ruth's were a plain pancake with butter and jam which we shared with BIL, Samuel had his with ice cream and my Nephew had a slice of his Mummy's. 

We also took a visit to the "Old Shop" which is fascinating.  It has all the original pots and pans used to make jam, an old fashioned till complete with a Sixpence from the reign of King George VI and a bell that my nephew loved as he could ring it and call "Service please".

Oh and did you know that Baxter's used to produce whole chickens.........................in tins!!!!

A trip to Brodie Castle

Yesterday was lovely and sunny, if a little on the chilly side.  Just the perfect day for a trip out to Brodie Castle to see the daffodils and walk around the pond.

I even managed to get a rare shot of Samuel who is very camera shy at the moment!!  He was waiting outside the bird hide while we were in there with my nephew watching the ducks.

Proof that Samuel is taller than his ever shrinking Mum :0)

A customary shot of the castle before heading back to the car to finish off the picnic and get  a cup of coffee to warm the hands on.

More visitors

We have more visitors this week ♥♥♥

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We have visitors

It's been absolutely gorgeous here today with temperatures in the 20s and just the perfect day for sitting,doing nothing at all. After a quick trip into town this morning I was all set to crack on and spring clean my kitchen but as the weather was so nice I took a cup of tea and went and sat in the garden instead. This turned out to be the best idea as we had visitors all afternoon in the shape of two tiny Coal Tits.  They've taken a fancy to the bird box that Samuel made a few years back in Primary school.

You had to be quick with the camera though as they don't hang about.

So out came the tripod and Big Lens and we sat and waited and they didn't disappoint, popping backwards and forwards to fill up the nesting box.

We just have to wait now for the little ones to arrive.  I'm glad we have some birds this year as Mr & Mrs Blackbird haven't nested here this year as we have no ivy for them to hide in.

It was also the day to see my first butterfly of the year and see my Bleeding Hearts coming into bloom.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be just as nice although I have domestic chores to do tomorrow as we have more visitors due in the afternoon!!!