Wills & Harry

Not one, but I have seen both royal Princes playing Polo this afternoon. Not the thing I'd expect the future king to be doing on the day after his 26th birthday but stiff upper lip and all that! Beaufort Polo Club was the venue and although I've never been to Polo before, I really enjoyed it and it's a darned sight easier to watch than football! And a lot more civilised. Lots of rugs, chairs, picnics and no shouting, singing or swearing like at the football - fab! Even the practise of running onto the pitch between bouts to flatten the divets was amusing. A great day out!
Both the boys were in black, I learnt that much! William sporting shirt number 4 and Harry wearing number 2. I took some great pictures of their backs of course, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart from the other guys on the field!

They have a new form of entertainment here in Gloucestershire... Cute Quackers... they train sheep dogs to herd ducklings and geese into pens.. mmm!
Hello horse and hounds! What stunning creatures those horses were - the rolls royce of horses. Me & Dom spent the day at Beaufort Polo watching the horse and hounds, drinking champagne and eating paella! Lots of eye-candy, just one problem.. they all seemed to have 2 year olds... eeek! Darn it..!!

Happy me...

Life is throwing a party! Lots of invitations and places to go and still there's no better place than home. No 'Trouble at Mill' here...! Just fun, laughter, smiles and sunshine.. x

AA!

They are much better than RAC, that's for sure! Poor Ginger broke her car so first she called out the RAC. He took one look at it, shook his head and left. So we called out the real men - Automobiles Anonymous! Armed with a couple of plastic ties, Mr AA man managed to mend Ginger's car in a flash. At one point it looked as if we might have to call out Green Flag to rescue Mr AA man. He had his nose pressed against the engine and was up to his elbows, stuck under the bonnet. But with a little bit of help and some very dirty engine grease, he managed to get free and fix the car. What a super star!

kitty in red pants...!

Well, what's a superhero supposed to wear?! I've been rescuing damsels in distress today which is all in a day's work for a superhero like moi! Ginger has broken her car - boo hoo - and Sara was at Southampton airport waiting to be collected. There was only one thing to do and that was get into my mini taxi and rescue them. So I've been to Southampton airport, onto Hobbycraft, a quick coffee and a piece of the most delicious homemade carrot cake (though a tad less cloves would have improved the flavour somewhat!), picked up the workers, took them to the only pub I know down there and it was then time to relax. Sara ordered every starter on the menu so we could have starters/tapas for lunch, which was wonderful. Then it was back to the airport for 3pm, a drive back home and now it's time to call the RAC!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, everyone has been missing me like crazy if the calls I've received today have been anything to go by. That means a very busy day tomorrow. Thank crunchie it will be Friday! X

Bath piggies

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed in Bath! Here, artist Al Greenall takes delivery of one of 100 model pigs ready to be decorated as part of a public art scheme.
Three thousand years ago, King Bladad found the healing spa waters of the city of Bath when he was out walking his pigs! This year they are celebrating by creating 100 pigs which are scattered across the city and all sponsored by individuals and businesses. They will all be auctioned later in the year to raise money for various projects, one being to boost funds for a cycle path between Bath and Bristol. If there's any left it will pay for a statue to toast this fine King. They have certainly added swine colour to the city!

Happy Dotty!

It must be a 70 something thing... somehow that makes looking forward to being that age all the more attractive!! When you get to the age of 70, you can have two birthdays according to the Whittingham clan. One in January and another in the summer when the sun is going to shine and you can have a party al fresco. I must admit I like the idea of a second summer birthday as long as that doesn't mean you have to add on another number.. phew..!

1001 uses for a champagne bucket!

Faced with the shame of hiding behind my shades, top down, but dirty... I decided today was the day I would clean my car. I got my champagne bucket. Hey, dual purpose works for me and you wouldn't want me to serve you vino and fizz out of a car cleaning bucket now, would you?! Mais non!. I filled it with water, got a couple of jaycloths and an old towel and I was ready to Go. I'd spotted one of my lovely neighbours, Mike washing his car (hands off, he can't be more than 25!) and have just spent a merry hour and a half scrubbing all those nasty flies and muck off my most treasured possession! Mikey lent me his BIG sponge... woo hoo! Yes, I know I looked silly with my small kitchen sponge but hey, I just couldn't be bothered to search for mine. I've washed my windows, splashed soapy suds over my bodywork, got on my hands and knees to scrub my alloys, rubbed frantically to get the tar off my bumpers, brushed my soft top, towel dried my lights, shaken my mats, scrambled inside to get the smears off my tiny back windscreen and four champagne buckets of water later, one frazzled sponge and dishpan hands, I've done it! now it's all shiny new again!
FANTASTIC!!

Big Brother comes to the Cotswolds...!

Chatting to ones neighbours is such a good use of my time and great for learning 'stuff'. Apparently.... when channel 5, which is rubbish here and only shows the ads for sky, showed a pop up box on my screen last night to say " Replace the batteries in your remote and do it within 10 minutes of taking the old ones out" they didn't mean me! Well, how was I to know that?! It felt rather weird having a Big Brother moment, but I thought technology had finally caught up and was now capable of telling me important stuff that a girl needs to know! If only electrical things could be more helpful, my life would be a lot easier. Sadly this isn't the case so my remote now has new batteries, thanks to the daft people who set us up here, which it didn't need. It's all to do with the sky box, so Mike says. Mmm, boys know so much stuff, it's shocking!

Girls Night OUT!

Tuesday night was "Girls Night OUT" for me and Tash! We got an early dinner (yes, early enough for high tea with the kids!) because we'd booked to see "Sex & The City", the best iconic girl movie of the 20thC. We took our seats on the back row thinking we were going to get the back three rows to ourselves. But by the time the cameras started rolling, the seats were packed and there wasn't a single guy in the house! The movie is a triumph! I've never been to a movie with so much laughter and expression. Perhaps it's because the girls felt less inhibited? It's easy to get stifled and not be yourself when there's a guy in tow!

We thoroughly enjoyed it and the two hours wizzed by with us wanting more! That, to me, is a sign of a great movie!

Flaming June

It's sweet, sunny June and so far it's living up to it's name of 'Flaming June'. It's been such a busy week with my work/life balance going right out of the window! Possibly why I was in bed just after 11 last night and woke up close on 9am. I've also slept through the night more than once in the past week which is unheard of. Perhaps I'm starting to hibernate?!

It's more likely that my body clock is catching up after a bad nights sleep on Thursday evening after my long day in Kent. I'm not used to anyone being unkind to me but hey, I was there to do my job. I can pretend it doesn't matter but it was personal to me. I hate it when people say it's not personal. That's a Meg Ryan "You've Got Mail" quote, which is very apt. Finding myself in the position where I am not me, but just an employee, is very unfamiliar territory for me. The experience has taught me a great deal.

Today's a sleepy, catch up day because I'm off to my champagne night tonight, woo hoo, I can't wait...!

out on the town..

Oh what a lovely evening.. the butterfly king prawns were delicious and the baked alaska too centre stage having been flambed at the table with brandy! The photo, taken with my phone, is totally rubbish, but the company wasn't! Lots of laughs, lots of yummy food and happy faces.. xxx

7 swans a swimming, 1 mum a sliding..

A family of swans are back. Here's mum out first thing in the morning to capture the best photo of the day! I'm sure the wait was worth it and the trek out of doors will bring forth some great photographs... and I hope your foot gets better soon! OUCH! all I saw from the bedroom window (yes, it really was that early!) was mum sliding down the bank as she lost her footing and ended up on her bottom... DOUBLE OUCH! x I called tonight to ask "How's my mother's foot?! and all I'd add is "Put your feet up and take it easy mum. I'm sure you can find a magazine to read or some stitching to do! Get better soon..." ;-) x

Couldn't see the wood for the trees...!

That could only mean one place... Westonbirt! It's such a great place for a walk and a bite to eat. The sun shone on the happy couple getting married there and me, mum and dad managed to catch the best of the sunshine before heading back home.

The rhododendrons were past their best really but still managed to give us a show worthy of a photo. We always seem to catch the trees just before they bloom, or just after!

"Here's looking at you sunshine!"

A father and daughter moment... x

Do you believe in coincidences..? We'd just sat down outside the restaurant when I spotted him.. mr f - a blast from the past! I leapt up and accosted him with a "It is you, isn't it?!"... and sure enough, he recognised me straight away and gave me a great big hug. Strangely enough, I'd recently mentioned his name at work and thought of getting back in touch. We're old Origin work colleagues and yes, he has a lovely wife and four children under 5 (yes, another one of those!) and he's a lovely guy too. He introduced me to his lovely children and his friend, who he promptly tried to fix me up with - he always did do that - his first words to me in the restaurant were - "Here on your own? no man in your life.. yet?!" Okay cupid, your next challenge is... it doesn't get any easier...

Good friends never go far, do they? x