Monday 31 August 2009

Gardening and stuff............

In a shock move I went out and sorted out both the front and back gardens with mum today. Dunno why I suddenly decided to do it as I HATE gardening but I wanted to make sure that it was short before the autumn/winter months creep up on me. There was a fair bit to do but at least it will now be easy to maintain so that I won't be faced with a jungle once spring arrives (which is what happened last year)

Have to admit that it does look very nice now.

Was delighted to have Sam return to me after being away at Livvy's for a couple of days. Unfortunately this was dampened somewhat by a shocking revelation from Sophie (more to follow on that over the next few days/weeks)

On a more positive note I have now signed a new rolling lease on my house so I won't have to sign annual contracts or pay agency fees every year so in the long run things will be cheaper for me (shame the rent didn't come down, on the plus side it didn't go up either!)

Lovely dinner of chicken and salad and chilling in front of the telly, followed by ice cream YAY!

Dreading tomorrow as I have to go the dentist although it is just a check up but will result in me being referred to the Hutton dentist to have my wisom tooth extracted (and possible another wisdom tooth needing filling or pulling too). By the way, I hate dentists more than I hate gardening! To make matters worse I will have to pay for the privilege of all this dental work, oh joy!

Sunday 30 August 2009

Post holiday laziness

Today we did absolutey nothing at all!
Well we did lots of holiday washing but other than that we did nothing.
Late breakfast (well lunch really) of nibbles and cheese and just spent the day dossing.
TV/surfing/reading and a kebab for dinner
That was it, nothing more nothing less LOL

Saturday 29 August 2009

Isle Of Wight - Day 8

Well today is the last day of our holibobs :o(
We all got up early to finish packing and have a breakfast compromising of anything that was left in the fridge.
Due to my tablets I had been unable to drink and so these delights will have to wait until I get home (they were bought for the names when we first arrived):



As we were in good time we decided to detour via Osborne House, taking advantage of our English Heritage membership and also to get more lemon curd!:





After the wonderful sights of the House, and a nice cuppa in the gardens, we headed off to Fishbourne to get the ferry back to Portsmouth.

Ferry coming back into Isle Of Wight:


That Hovercraft again:


The Catamaran:


The Glitz-Mobile on deck:


The Spinnaker Tower on the home approach:


Once we got back to Portsmouth we pottered around for a couple of hours before meeting up with my Uncle Richard and Auntie Robbie who I haven't seen for 15 years. We all went to Nandos, had a lovely meal and a quick catch up. Was really nice to see them again and will make sure it isn't another 15 years before the next one. Unfortunately my cousins James and Sarah were unable to make it so hepefully I can meet up with them soon.

Mum, Robbie, me and Richard:


See all the pictures here: 290809IsleOfWight

Friday 28 August 2009

Isle Of Wight - Day 7

Theme park fun again today, this time in the form of Blackgang Chine.

It was a bit Piratey which is no bad thing:


We started out in the hall of mirrors:


A cool cafe:


A crooked woman outside a crooked house:


This is a rubbish bin. This is a rubbish bin that talks to you! Somewhat disturbing if you ask me:


Outside Rumpus Mansion:


Gargoyles to you!


Into Frontier Land:


The best part of Frontier Land for me was the wonderful undertaker's and the awesome signs they had:





I did decide to take advantage of their latest offer though:



Toni:



Following our Blackgang Chine fun we went to Ponda Rosa to get something to eat only to find that about 15 million scooter riders had descended on the place and we were told there would be nothing available for 1.5 hours. We booked a table for later and then popped back to the cottage to start packing ready for our departure tomorrow.

We all indulged in a fanastic carvery and came back to the cottage completely stuffed. Just as well we had packed earlier as we certaily wouldn't have wanted to do it when we got back.

Stuffed and tired we had some tea and sorted out our pictures (and in my case blogged as well) with a view to having an early-ish night before our travels tomorrow.

See all the pics here: 280809IsleOfWightDay7

Thursday 27 August 2009

Isle Of Wight - Day 6

Had a really good day today. Delighted at not having to go to the dentist and rejoicing with Sam's fantastic GCSE results we set off to do things.

We started off by going to watch Waltzing Waters, a fountain, music and light extravaganza which was very good despite assaulting us with the aural "delights" of Michael Jackson and High School Musical 3 medleys. It was very good though and amazing to watch. Photography was not allowed so here are a couple of pics from their website:



We then drove on to Haven Street to have a ride on the steam railway.



We just missed two trains as we arrived so we popped into their little cafe to have a light lunch and kill he time for the next trains. Unfortunately as we came out we ended up missing the next two trains (although by our watches they had been 2 minutes early). Mum had a grumble at the station master and guards and we drifted off to the museum to kill time.

Found these amazing signs:



This one was the funniest though..... Really? At a train station? No shit!


When the train arrived we got on and started to settle down when suddenly a guard appeared and told us that there was a single compartment available for us that he had saved for us in the oldest carriage that they had on the line. It was really nice and lovely little ride.


Nice window mechanism





Abbey "RAIL" Road


See all the pics here: 270809IsleOfWightDay6

Well done Sam, GCSE results in, 10 passes

Sam just called me with his GCSE results
I am so proud of him, he got 10 passes

Art - B
Drama - C
Science - C
Science (additional) - C
RE - B
Maths - B
Food -C
English Language - D
English Literature - C
ICT - C

No dentist today!

YAY!
Thankfully I seem to have the pain under control today so there will be no need to go to the dentist again. Have to say I am totally relieved as I didn't really want to have a tooth extracted while I am away on holiday. Let's hope that I can keep things under control until I get back. I have an appointment booked for 10:50 on Tuesday to kick things off :o(

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Isle Of Wight - Day 5

Lazy start to the day which was very nice. Got up and had a wonderful mixed grill breakfast. Pottered around doing nothing in particular. Toni started doing some puzzles and I fell asleep on her lap. After a couple of hours of lazing we decided to haul out arses of the cottage and do stuff. As it was chucking it down we had to opt for something indoors so decided on ten pin bowling.

We had a great time, much fun had by all. Just before we left we had a game of runaround air hockey.

I love hovercrafts so had to grab this photo:


Also one for my collection was the Isle Of Wight ice rink:


We then decided to eat out and went to the Hare & Hounds for a lovely dinner.
Gemima:


Aaron:


Unfortunately pudding had to be cancelled as my tooth pain had returned big style.

Me looking sorry for myself:


As things go it looks as though I may well now be paying another trip to the dentist tomorrow morning to have my extraction done. Fingers crossed I can get the pain under control before then!

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Isle Of Wight - Day 4

As the weather was threatening to turn on us we decided to try and get some of the outdoor things out of the way. The plan was to go to Alum Bay and go on a boat trip around The Needles. Had a lovely drive out only to be confronted by a sign saying that not only was the chair lift out of action due to high winds but that all boat trips were suspended too! So much for that plan!

We decided to walk down to the beach via the steps:

188 steps is nothing to an accomplished Tower 42er such as myself but it was amusing seeing the sign talk about the chair lift taking the strain when it was out of action!

There was a great view of The Needles about half way down:





We spent a short amount of time on the beach (what there was of it) watching the waves crash in.

Gemima posing:


Aaron being a teenage boy:


Mum:


Toni:


Mum decided to walk back up and we hung around for a bit to see if the chair lift or boats might start. After what seemed like ages the chairs did start but there was no sign of any action on the boat front. As we had no tickets we walked back up to meet up with mum and have some food. The food under the hot lights looked pretty grim but thankfully everything that we wanted was freshly prepared and tasted very nice.

Following food, Gemima went off with Aaron to make a sand shape with the many colours of sands that they have available. Brief trip to the tat shop and then we drove back to the cottage via the scenic route. What I did manage to see was really nice (fell asleep for some of the ride as my pain was starting to return). There is some gorgeous scenary and architecture scattered all over the island.

See all the pics here: 250809IsleOfWightDay4