getting into the swing of things.......

we had such a fun day on Tuesday here in our little corner of the world.......

{not that we don't have heaps of fun normally in our home,

but yesterday was just a little bit special.......}

the Olympic torch was due to make its merry way through our place

and the kids and I were determined to go and join the party......

{any excuse to have a little jolly and enjoy the sunshine and

the happy vibe of a crowd......}

we parked ourselves right outside the Cathedral on the green

and got there early enough to enjoy front row seats......

we chit chatted to our neighbours and had a right friendly old time.....

this was our view.......

the kids were each given a drum thingy which they were instructed to bang

heartily when the torch arrived {lots of blatant advertising was going on I

hasten to add but we missed a lot of it by being on the Cathedral green instead

of standing along the high street...... I was quite grateful for our quieter spot!!}

and then the lovely man numbered 47 arrived with a great big smile on his face

and a great big torch in his hand {surrounded by a little troupe of official-type-

looking people} and jogged merrily up to the front of the Cathedral for a little photo

shoot and jogged merrily back again.......

there was lots of clapping and cheering and it all felt very festive......

we then hightailed it to the high street to see the 

'passing on of the flame' to the next runner.....

and that was that...... a fun morning for the children to

remember and talk about in months to come......

on our walk back to the car I thought I would take a few

snapshots of the lovely buildings around the place and post

them here for any of you that would like a little snapshot of the

place we have landed....... it is rather pretty.......

and very old......

this is the area at the top of the high street where, twice a week, 

there is an open air market...... it is a place of much hustle and bustle 

on those days and a great place for a bit of a wander among the lovely

eclectic stalls that fill the square......

through the archway on the left is the penniless porch and the Cathedral.....

through the archway on the right is the Bishops Palace with its moat 

and mute swans.....

the Cathedral.......

this is one of my favourite places in Wells...... Vicar's close......

it's very, very old....... and quaint...... and lovely......

this view is from the top end of the close looking down towards the Cathedral.......

{doesn't that street lamp remind you of the one from 

"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"?........}

and this is looking up towards the top end of the close where there stands a little chapel.......

which is also really  rather beautiful inside......

what a lovely little city we live in.....

and today it gave its best..... with bells on.......

cyril......

gotta love tiny kittens......

especially ones called cyril........

a day at Stourhead......

when the national trust flings wide its doors for a weekend of free romps around its properties, 

then you absolutely MUST take advantage of the opportunity and head to your nearest spot 

with a picnic and a few special people and enjoy a lovely spring day of exploring.....

{around every corner there was another surprise.....

something to take your breath away......}

{grottoes and statues......

magical and secret......}

{tiny cottages with old stone benches.......}

{and ever such old glass windows.....}

{knarly tree roots........}

{big books in the library.......}

{isaac's dream....... a library with a staircase on wheels for reaching all the books......}

just lovely......

a bit of a catch up....

if you are new to reading this blog and you came here thinking

that it would be full of adventurous goings on, then I am sorry,

and I have probably severly disappointed you with the lack of

adventure which has happened in this space for quite some time now.......

so, let me put that to rights straight away and relay to you a rather

spiffy adventure that we had a few weeks ago......

the four of us, my sister and her husband, their two daughters

and their grand-daughter all went for a little holiday to the Isle of Wight.....

none of us had ever been to the isle before and so we were

quite excited to see what it was like.......

it was also our first holiday together since our return from 'down south'

and we were looking forward to being able to spend some lovely time

together crafting and chit-chatting and generally hanging out.....

the weather was a bit 'hit and miss'..... proper spring weather here in ol'

 blighty meant that we had lots of showers BUT we also had some lovely

blue skies and sunshine {even if it was a bit blustery.....}

but that didn't dampen our enthusiam or the enjoyment we had with

each other......

we visited the needles......

and walked down to the beach......

but made sure we got the chair lift back up to the top......

this chair lift kind of reminded me of our journey on  Puffing Billy

a couple of years ago...... a journey that seemed filled with possibilities for injury 

{I mean seriously, literally hanging out the windows of a train whilst crossing a rather

tall and very ancient, rickety bridge does make you think that the health and safety

people have kind of lost their minds a little.......}

this chair lift looked a tad ancient too and didn't really provide much in the

way of things to 'hold you in'......

 and because of that it held lots of excitement..... for most of us anyway.....

evie got to be the passenger in a couple of kiddy rides because

imogen was adamant that she wanted evie to ride with her...

it has to be said that these rides are not made for 10 year old

bottoms and evie had to squeeze herself in there rather snuggly.....

there was also opportunity for some members of our party 

to have a spot of 'penny arcade' time...... 

with the proviso that 'when the pennies are gone, they're gone'......

the children each chose a little 'trinket' from the gift shop to

fill up with the different coloured layers of sand that alum bay is 

famous for......

evie also wanted to have a go on 'the big blow up ball 

{that looks like one of those balls that hamsters run around in} 

on the swimming pool' thing.....

she seemed to think it was great......

not my sort of thing though.....

 it seemed everso difficult to actually stand up in it.....

we spotted SO MANY thatched houses here too.....

cider barns.......

16th century tea rooms......

even a thatched church...... 

{this photo was borrowed..... I couldn't get my camera out in time 

to take a pic as we drove along the road.......!}

what a fun time we had together......

here's to many more days out and mini trips over the coming months.....

look who's coming to live with us....... 

the little stripey tabby on the left (who will be called Cyril) 

and one of the little black kits (who will be called Gertie) 

arriving at our house in about 8 weeks...... 

Evie is beside herself with joy & excitement......