Tiddly Om Pom Pom

I FINALLY managed to get the photos loaded - m'enfin! So...top photo is a picture of my arm and thigh, just for the boys (hold yourselves back now...no rushing at the computer screen). Oh...and Celyn's in it too. Second photo is at Joe's Ice Cream Parlour in the Mumbles - deeeeeee-lish. And yes, once again, you can see my arm and my lovely new top from M&S (all this excitement in one day). Third photo is Hannah and Celyn in the hippo hole. The tide was nearly upon us in that photo and the hole was about to be lost to the forces of nature...and we scarpered up the beach about 3 minutes after the pic was taken! And the last 2 photos are what happens when you say to Celyn, "Right...let's go in the sea then"...she just starts RUNNING - LOL! Many thanks to Debbie for taking and sharing her photos with me x

Oh I do like living near the sea. Yesterday (well...the day before yesterday if we're being accurate, as I am up writing this at silly o'clock) Debbie Smith (a scrapping bud from The South Wales Crop amongst other things) came up to my neck of the woods and we headed off to Caswell Bay for the day, respective daughters in tow. And what a happy day it was (except for the INORDINATE amount of time it took me to park, the details of which I shall not bore you with as I had enough boredom to last 3 lifetimes actually living through the ordeal).

First stop on our adventure was to introduce the Smiths to Joe's Ice Cream which is probably the best ice-cream in the world. Truly. Debbie's face was almost shocked upon licking her first lick. It is so gorgeously scrumptiously gorgeous that you just have to taste it to believe it (but you HAVE to get the vanilla).

And then I dropped them at the beach and had the car parking ordeal (I need therapy to get over it, I tell you) and then, oh happiness, we just lazed about on the sand all day. Not doing much of anything. Going in the sea fully clothed (as one does when one has been traumatised by having to wait for a bleedin' hour (more!) to park. Thank goodness for my Air Con and Debbie's latest copy of Scrapbook Inspirations , that's all I can say). Trying to preserve one's modesty YET AGAIN by getting dressed in one's cossie with the help of a large towel and a windbreaker. Reading scrapping magazines while the girls dug holes (one rather large, which became known as the hippo wallow hole and which was glorious for cooling off...thank you Hannah!). Splashing about in the waves was probably the best fun though.

Celyn LOVES the sea and was in heaven when we all went in together. Caswell is a good surfing beach and the waves are great, especially when the tide is coming in. There were a couple of really big ones ('big' being a relative term of course but big enough for me to yell "Ooo ooo OOO!! Crap on a stick!" as it headed towards us all - LOL) and she didn't stress out about getting splashed in the face (unlike when she's in the bath, which makes no sense to me whatsoever).



Anyway...I managed to avoid getting completely sunburnt (I'm so fair it's not even funny) and we were all thoroughly knackered by the end of the day (happy tired). It was fun spending time with Hannah too (Debbie's daughter) who is quite lovely but was fun to tease when she verged towards 'Yeah but, no but...am I bovvered' behaviour. Oh the delights of teenagedom.

Today, 26 July, was my Mum's 84th birthday. Another happy day. I'm so grateful she's been blessed to live as long as she has. I lost my dad (so careless of me...mwaahaaahaaa) when I was 21 and I still miss him and the sad fact is I've lived longer without him than I knew him now. So I am always so grateful that I have been able to enjoy having my mum around for this long. She didn't have me until she was nearly 40, so I could very well have lost both parents relatively young and, in fact, she very nearly did die shortly after I was engaged to Husband in 1999. I remember standing in the middle of the street at 1 in the morning just waiting (for what seemed like an hour but was in fact about 3 minutes according to Danny) for the ambulance, saying a prayer "Not now, don't take her now...just not now." And He didn't. She gave me away at my wedding...and she's still here to bless my life. Happy birthday Mum xx