Promised catch up

 Banana and pear loaf

I've not felt much like writing my blog lately, I've just been very tired and with more problems with my left eye I've been trying to cut down computer use. But I did promise a catch up. Over the last month I've been quite busy with work and in my spare time I've been doing some baking including the banana and pear loaf pictured above as well as bread.

Heat wave

A couple of weeks ago we had a heat wave - temperatures of 29 C at the end of September and beginning of October. We made the most of the weather on the 2nd October by having a picnic in Chicksands woods - pictured below. It was a glorious day of hot sunshine and our little picnic was lovely.

 Chicksands woods

Whizz Kidz

About a week before the heat wave I was asked to volunteer on a Whizz Kidz project at Heathrow Terminal 5. It was filming for a training DVD for BAA security staff. I had great fun being filmed going through security. The training is to help staff provide a more inclusive service for disabled people who are using the airport. The staff we were working with were fantastic, really keen to be involved. I was also lucky enough to work with Fran Williamson the paralympic swimmer. (She's won 12 world championship medals and 6 paralympic ones!)

Volunteering for Whizz Kidz made me think more seriously about volunteering more regularly locally, so I'm in the process of applying for a few positions.

Knitting

I've also been keeping myself busy knitting. I've finished a scarf I'd been working on for a little while this weekend which is pictured below. The wool is a fantastic wool cotton blend from sirdar called Crofter. My friend Lorraine bought me a ball of it earlier in the year so I ordered up some more and I'm about to knit Lorraine a similar scarf for Christmas.

Wedding plans
The other thing which has kept me busy has been organising my wedding and celebrations. I have a hen weekend in Brighton coming up. Then there is our wedding on the 11th November, we are having a small ceremony with just our witnesses and their partners. But even so I'm making sure that I'm booked into the hairdressers and have just ordered a small wedding posy for me to carry. It wouldn't seem right with out flowers. We're booked into a local pub for a meal afterwards.

Our real celebration isn't until we get back from honeymoon though when we are getting our family together celebration meal. Our nieces and nephews now add up to double figures so I'm planning stuff to keep them entertained all afternoon at the meal! Most of that is now organised which is a relief. It will be nice that the celebration is close to Christmas so we will have a Christmas meal and themed celebration of our marriage with our family including mulled wine - my favourite!