Very Helpful

Olivia is keen to be 'helpful' in all areas of family life....from cleaning out the fridge after it's been defrosted....



to helping Daddy change his tyre when he gets a flat:






Being helpful is great fun and second only to getting a little bit messy!:

Fun with Collage Function

As you've probably noticed by now, I'm quite taken with the Collage function in Picasa 3.
Means you can upload loads more pics with considerably less effort...

More Play-Doh Bears

From left to right: Daddy, Olivia, Mummy, Pat.
Go figure. My daughter has a vivid imagination...

Visit from Cynthia

The end of June presented us with a surprise visit from Cynthia (ex of Harper) and her boyfriend Andrew. What a lovely surprise. It was fantastic to see them together and to meet Andrew for the first time.

Friday at the Bear Grill

Olivia and I went with Richard's sister Kate and her family (Alun and son Thomas) to the Bear to sample some of her Daddy's cooking. It was all very good!

Living History Weekend

My parents, Olivia and I went to Whittington Castle on the 27th June for their 'Living History Weekend'. Medieval re-enactors, The House of the Black Star put on a great display of archery
and other various fighting techniques, food and equipment. We had lunch in the tearooms (40 minute wait for egg mayo sarnies!) and a look around (it's well worth a visit). Olivia won a book on the tombola and I won a set of useless plant pots which I handed back to them!



After we'd exhausted all possibilities we returned to my parents' house for Saturday tea. Olivia had a bath and then proceeded to help her Grandad read the paper. Comments about people being poorly and needing to wash their hair were with reference to the Glastonbury revellers (!):

Dorset June 2009

This year we went on holiday to Dorset to join Pat, Sarah, Emma, baby Sophie and Sarah's parents who were camping at the fabulous Monkton Wyld caravan and campsite just up the road from Charmouth. We had a great time on the beach at Lyme Regis, visiting Abbotsbury and Axminster, Sea Life at Weymout and also enjoyed Sunday lunch at Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Canteen. It was Emma's 4th birthday on the Saturday so we had a large BBQ and were joined by a number of her relatives.