A Cornish Wedding ...

As I told you, the 'Drama Queen' quilt was made as a wedding gift for my niece.

I rolled it up and placed it surrounded by tissue paper in a colourful

peacock patterned box.
(Please click on the pictures to get a better view.)

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Tied up with a white ribbon it was ready for presentation

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Jenny and Ben loved it.

I was so pleased and happy that I had made it for them.

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After signing the register

A very happy couple.

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Even the vicar wore red and white!

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The back of Jenny's dress was beautiful

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And the bride wore red shoes.

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Striking red and white wedding cake

(Ben supports Arsenal!)

and Ella, their dog, came too!

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Jen and Ben with their aunties

Me and my three sisters!

My youngest sister is Jenny's Mum.

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A beautiful end to a beautiful day.

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Ann x

At last I can tell you about my latest quilt .....

I couldn't tell you about this before because it was a wedding present

and someone might have seen the pictures and let the cat/quilt out of the bag!

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Anyway, here is the story.

I used a jelly roll called 'Drama Queen'

Just the thing for the bride I thought. She will appreciate it.

And she did!

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The pattern was called Daisy Chain - don't quite know why

'cos it doesn't look like a daisy chain to me!

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The border was made up with patterns of handbags and shoes!

My niece loved that, she saw both patterns pretty quickly.

She does love her shoes (as you will see later).

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The quilt took me a very long time to make - 8/10 months in all

Mainly because I was determined to be very precise and make a good job of it.

I believe I have.

However, when it came to the actual quilting I really came unstuck.

I had five goes at quilting it myself.  I haven't learned to free motion quilt yet

and although I have done some in-the-ditch quilting it did not look right 

and there were five un-pickings!

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So the quilting was done by Julie Peppiatt and she has made a

wonderful job of it.  I was absolutely thrilled with how it finally looked.

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The back was definitely for the bridegroom.

He is a fisherman and lifeboat volunteer and very much in

touch with the sea - hence the blue wavy theme of the backing.

He said the back was 'just right for him'.

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All in all a most satisfactory project.

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My only stipulation was that the dog didn't sleep on it!

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They decided they would snuggle under it in front of the TV.

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I really feel I'm a quilter now and

already have three further projects lined up!

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Happy Quilting!

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Ann x

Wonky's First Trip .....

'Wonky' is my lovely winning blogger prize from

Ilona - MeanQueen.  You can find her blog here .

Thank you Ilona

Here is Wonky's very first outing

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Wonky arrived very well wrapped and very colourful

Although she is called Wonky, she certainly doesn't look it!

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Here in Wales we are always expected to use our own bags wherever we shop

(Even buying new clothes in M & *) 

Which always seems a bit odd to me - not having your purchases wrapped and bagged as we used to.

So Wonky has joined our gathering of bags above.

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The first trip was to our local supermarket

Wonky holds an amazing amount of stuff!

I only needed her and one other bag to hold nearly a week's shopping!

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She is also so well lined that she held all our 

frozen and refrigerated goods today

and kept them all cool and still frozen while we went round other shops.

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A most wonderful gift Ilona

She will be well used

And has happily joined our clutch of well used varied shopping bags

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Thanks again

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Hope you all use reusable bags instead of those horrid plastic things 

which can do so much damage to wildlife, fish, and farm animals etc.

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Ann x

A couple of trips out ...

Carew Castle

A visit to Carew Castle is always worth while

This time of year there is always something going on

They have a vast programme of events right through into October

Including Medieval Fun Days, Herbal Days,

Twilight Tours, Knights Templars  Days etc.

Their website is  www.carewcastle.com 

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Nearly always a beautify sky nearby

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They often hold their Medieval Archery etc, down by the water.

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Tenby Harbour 

Our trip to Tenby frequently includes a stop at the harbour

for a huge mug of coffee and a piece of home-made cake

from the harbourside cafe down by the yacht club.

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Today we shared our space with this

rather nasty looking specimen!!  

He had his eye on our cake, but we didn't let him near it!

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Lots of visitors about bringing the town to life

Plenty on the beach, catching the boats out for fishing

or going across to Caldey Island

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We bought some lovely Dover Sole for our tea.

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Have a good weekend.

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Ann x

Saturday 2 August

Improving

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Swelling reduced

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Plenty of blue, red, yellow bruising

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Not limping quite so much

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Toes still taped up though

two or three weeks more I think

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Wine, chocolates, resting and TLC

are doing their job!

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Ann x

Sympathy required .....

So much for my fab swim! 

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On the way in to the sea I trod on a stone/pebble/rock! 

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Jolly painful. Been limping ever since. 

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Verdict this morning at A & E - chipped bones in two of my left toes!!
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4 to 6 weeks to heal!
At least I missed being plastered up to my knee!
Just keep the toes taped up.

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Rest has been prescribed. Time to finish some books methinks.
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Sympathy required.  

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Had the chocolate. 

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Just waiting for wine o'clock!

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Sorry, Not a pretty sight

Apologies to all those that hate feet!

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Ann x

Sea Swim

Hooray!

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Finally got in the sea

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at Coppet Hall, Saundersfoot

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It was great

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There were loads of folk doing the same thing

and sunbathing

and making sandcastles

and exploring the rock pools

and snorkeling

and kayaking

and canoeing

and digging

and playing

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and just enjoying themselves

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Hope you have had a wonderful weekend too

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Ann x

Tenby - St Catherine's Island

The lovely island at the top of my blog

is St Catherine's Island

on Castle/Town Beach, Tenby

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It is now open to the public

Only according to the tides though

They do give regular updates on opening hours

on their Facebook page

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Do go and visit if you are coming this way

on holiday

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They have a Facebook page under

Tenby - St Catherine's Island

and there is lots more information here 

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It was originally a fort

It has been a zoo

It has been a hotel (OH used to mend their washing machines!)

It has been closed for many years until 

this new ownership opened up to the public recently

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We haven't been yet, but it is well worth a visit.

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Ann x

Result!!!

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We have lost a total of 10 lbs between us!

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Wonderful!

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I have lost 6 lbs and OH has lost 4 lbs

That is over just 5 days

So we are having two days of Phase 2 over the weekend

and then return to another 5 days of

Phase 1 next week

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I don't think this will be too much of the strict phase

That is why we decided to have the two

days of slightly more to eat for today and Sunday.

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Are you on a diet at the moment?

If so, which one?

There are so many different ones around.

This one (Harcombe Diet) seems to suit both of us just right

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Parts of it seem very similar to the Slimming World

course I went on several years ago  

and I had good results then too.

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Good luck with your diet if you are doing one at present.

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Ann x

Feeling Hungry ....

Why am I feeling hungry?

Other Half has got us both on the Harcombe Diet

I didn't know anything about it

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I do now!

We are on day 3 of the first 5 days

which is very strict

My tummy is rumbling

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I long for a piece of toast and marmalade

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OH just made me put the fruit scones in the freezer!

They are not allowed out for some time!

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How long shall we be on it.

I think he wants to go longer than 5 days!

Then there is Phase 2 - Don't know what that is yet!

Can I stand it!

Will I last before running screaming to the biscuit/cake tin!

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To be fair I definitely need to be dieting

My BMI is 28.8 - a bit too high

I won't tell you my weight - but for my 5ft 6ins it is too much

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I will let you know if I lose any weight though

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Has anyone else out there done this diet?

If so, how did you get on.

Other Half has the book on his Kindle, so it is difficult to drop 

in to it to have a look. But the book is pretty pricey.

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Just dreaming!

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Ann x