where did it go?.......
July I mean......
it sped by in a flurry of 'beginning-the-holidays' and birthdays.......
and my, oh my, the weather {for the most part}
did a beautiful summery job......
we had days on end of sunshine with just a touch of
rain-y-ness at the beginning and end of the month, so I was happy......
Evie and I worked together on a Galadriel costume
for a friend's hobbit themed birthday party.....
we had so much fun planning and working out just how
we were going to make that brooch and the headband, oh, and the dress.....
it all came together in the end and she was so pleased with the result....
it's amazing what you can do with a white duvet cover
some cardboard and a bottle of silver paint......
here are all the hobbits and wizards and elves and orks
ready for their afternoon of fun and adventure.....
my birthday was spent with these lovely people,
our home ed group in Bristol,
where the children spent the afternoon at a local park
competing in the annual sports event....
lots of traditional races can be participated in.....
including the sack race.....
welly wanging.....
and sprinting.....
such a lot of fun for all involved.....
and just a few days later it was my beautiful girl's
12th birthday......
she requested a sewing machine cake,
so a sewing machine cake I made......
{the Australian Womens' Weekly Birthday Cake Decorating Book
was my helper here.... I couldn't have done it otherwise.....}
and her thoughtful older brother bought her
one of her very favourite films.....
{we have already watched it...... twice......}
lots of friends came to visit our little part of the world
the day after her birthday for another celebration
and what a lovely afternoon we all had
relaxing {and playing} on the field by the house
where there is a big walnut tree which is perfect
for clambering up and playing {or chatting} in......
they even brought their instruments {and voices}
and sang 'happy birthday' to Evie which made her
feel very special and happy.....
next it was Brian's turn to be the 'special person for the day'....
Evie made him one of her awesome LEGO minifigure head t-shirts as a gift, which he LOVED....
and we went out for morning tea to a lovely quiet and quaint local tea room....
where Evie was 'mum'.....
our July also included a fab day out visiting the
Black Country Museum in Birmingham....
this living and working museum has been constructed
over the years using original buildings from the local area.....
these have been deconstructed from their original site and
re-constructed to make a wonderful old town which celebrates
many of the industries and traditions of the Black Country.....
there's even an old fairground with some rather spiffy rides....
this speedway ride went really fast....
to the extent that everyone was hanging on for dear life.....
Evie pronounced it 'great fun'.......
there's an old chapel......
lot of old cottages with working veggie gardens
{and one even had piglets..... this was Evie's favourite garden of all of course.....}
there was an old street with shops of all different varieties....
we sampled sweets from the old confectioners and chips from the old chip shop.....
yummy.....
and even though it rained throughout the day
we had a great day out at this most lovely of museums.....
the day after the Black Country museum we found ourselves
in Manchester for the day.....
Brian had been gifted a ticket to the cricket for the day so
the children and I tagged along and decided to have a
little mooch around the area......
we didn't have time to do too much but we were able
to find a rather fun swimming pool where the children
spent the morning riding flumes and rapids
and we spent the afternoon at the
Museum of Science and Industry.....
I loved the architecture of the aviation building....
all that stunning ironwork and those beautiful arches and windows.....
and the children enjoyed just browsing round the
science museum, which reminded us a lot of @bristol
{which we haven't been to for over 5 years},
'having a go' at all the different exhibits on show....
such a busy and fun month July turned out to be.....
and now we're already nearly half way through August......
time is flying.....
