Who reads my blog?

This was stolen from Meari. Frequent commentors, and lurkers alike... I'd *love* to hear from you! So who reads my blog??

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! And if we've never met in real life, leave me a comment of your favorite post I wrote and why it was your favorite.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually really funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Bookmark for Melanie

I know that Melanie has received it, so I can post a picture of the bookmark that I did for her - it's by Textile Heritage, and I enjoyed doing it, even though the backstitch took me ages!

Two parcels received!

Well, today was a bumper day for mail, as I received two lovely parcels - one I collected, as it arrived yesterday, and one was delivered.

The one from yesterday was from Carol in Oregon - what a lovely parcel. It was addressed to Teresa, as it contained a bookmark for her, and some hair bands. Teresa has TWICE been let down in a bookmark for kids swap, and was pretty upset about it. I offered to stitch on a tree skirt for Carol, and in exchange she offered to put together a parcel for Teresa - the bookmark is perfect for cat-loving Teresa, and the angel ornament is for me (part of a group exchange). NOT pictured is a set of US currency for each of my five children - they disappeared into their money boxes within about ten minutes of opening the parcel - with five children they take care of their treasures, lolol!

And now to the second parcel - a fridge magnet from JoAnn (kaghos) as part of a swap. The Bambi ornament is just perfect - we all love it - especially Bridie, my five year old! And there were some lovely threads with it - and last but certainly not least - a lovely little frog, who is now on our mantlepiece to frighten away other frogs. Though last night the children wanted to put him in the bath - they weren't allowed!

End of year presents

This year I made two presents for people at school. The first was for Shavina - the girl in Year Six who was Bridie's buddy. They have this system at our school, where a child in Year Six 'looks after' a new child to the school - sit by them at lunch, look after them in the playground, even sometimes hear them read. When it works, it's great. Bridie has just become such good 'buddies' with Shavina, and was so sad when Shavina left :o(. So I made her this cushion - just slightly adapting a Lizzie Kate design - substituting 'Buddies' for 'Friends'. She was so pleased!

And this is something that I made for the Year Six teacher - although she has never taught any of the children, she has really taken to Bridie, and has looked after her, and even given her little things - I suppose in honesty Bridie has been a 'teacher's pet', lol! She has left to take up a deputy head post in another local school, which is a shame, as she would probably have had Ruairi next year, and we were looking forward to that.

Fridge magnet exchange completed

Yesterday I heard that Kaghos has received the parcel that I sent her, so I can show the fridge magnet that I stitched for her - it's by Textile Heritage, probably my favourite kits for small finishes - they are such lovely quality, and such a good range of designs. This one has a matching keyring to do, that I've got my eye on.

London Duck Tour, August 2008

I decided that it would be a good idea to 'play tourist'. Funny really, but the children have visited London far less than I did as a child - probably because we live so close now (about fifteen miles), so don't bother as much. When I lived some distance away it was a big treat to go to see the sights! Also, in recent years, I've been a bit worried about the dangers of visiting the capital.

But then I saw the 'Duck Tour' advertised - a trip around the sights of London, first of all around the streets, then the amphibious vehicle takes to the water, and you get to see the sights from the river.

It was great fun - we all enjoyed it, even going on the train to and from London was an unusual event. I've taken loads of photos here...http://family.webshots.com/album/565152567uJNlOz

In a lot of them Eoin looks worried/unhappy - he didn't like being on the water at all.

Thought about going on 'The Eye', but the queue was horrendous - we will go back another day when we have got a pre-booked time. LOL, the children thought that the viewing pods didn't rotate, so you would be thrown upside down at the top!!