A slight case of overblogging

So... the last thing I really posted about was my parathyroid all clear (hurrah). Since then I've been busy, but I'll briefly summarise. Click through each photo for the rest of the album.

On my birthday (a Friday) we went out for dinner with Becky and Stuart and then went to see the latest Harry Potter film, which was great fun. Sadly we couldn't stop out for a drink afterwards as we had to get an early train to Burton-on-Trent for the wedding of Mike's cousin Stephen and Anna. It was lovely to see lots of Mike's family again so soon after our wedding: Chris and Margaret (Stephen's mum and dad) were particularly smug that it was now their turn to be proud parents of the groom. I love weddings, and this was no exception: lovely ceremony, gorgeous dress, a nice meal and then speeches, *loads* of dancing with a real band, and an excellent buffet.

Since we were in the region anyway Mike decided his birthday present to me was a bit of a holiday in the Peak district, so his Mum and Dad kindly gave us a lift to Buxton on the Sunday (very kind, since it turns out to be a very awkward journey to do by train, all those hills in the way). We pottered round the town on Sunday afternoon and went to see Show of Hands at the Opera House - which was great fun but made us feel very young :) On Monday we got a bus into the middle of nowhere (the bus driver kindly dropped us even though there was no stop) and went for an 8 mile walk along the Roaches to Lud's Church. Considering the time of year we were lucky there were only a few very muddy bits, and the weather smiled on us far more than we deserved, it was brilliant! And then on Tuesday we visited Poole's Cavern (a show cave dating from Victorian times) and Solomon's Temple (a folly on the hill above the town). It was a lovely few days away and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

In mid-December we managed another picturesque weekend away, this time in Yorkshire. We went to visit my mum and dad, and Mike's parents joined us there too. We had a Saturday out in the Dales, visiting the Strid near Bolton Abbey, having a fantastic lunch in Burnsall, and then driving up over the tops, past the last of the snow, and down through Malham. Fantastic. And on the Sunday we were joined by my sisters and John, Dave and Oliver for a big family not-quite-Christmas dinner, complete with turkey and trifle! It doesn't match getting to see them at Christmas itself but it was definitely a highlight.

And then of course there was Christmas proper. This year we spent it in the Forest of Dean with Mike's parents, and were joined by Pete and Val and Val's mum Hermine late on Boxing Day. It was another lovely break with lots of food (it wouldn't be Christmas otherwise) and lots of long walks in the snow and time watching the birds in the garden: Mike and I bought ourselves a good pair of binoculars and a bird watching scope for Christmas and enjoyed making the most of them.

Since we got back we've mostly had a quiet time - except for one lovely evening hosted by Clare. We've been shopping and spent our wedding presents in the sales - new cutlery, crockery, bedding and other odds and ends for round the home. And today we defrosted the freezer - we know how to live :) It may not be a very exciting start to 2011 but it's a happy one, and we're looking forward to the rest of the year.

We got married, and we're blissfully happy about it :)

OK, so that's the very short version. The slightly longer version is that we had an absolutely fabulous day. My dress and hair and flowers were stunning, and couldn't help but make me feel people weren't just being nice when they said I looked gorgeous, and Mike looked lovely too. The only cloud on the day was that Mike's mum Gina was very unwell in the morning and missed the ceremony, and that will always seem a little sad, but thankfully she was well enough to join us later, because I'd hate for her to have missed it all.

The ceremony was moving, Janet read a passage from Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Rae most of a poem by W H Auden, and both were absolutely lovely. The registrar was great, and even had a tissue on hand for Mike, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the music as much as we enjoyed choosing it - the theme from the Princess Bride for the entrance and The Darkness with I Believe In A Thing Called Love for the exit.

The weather held long enough for a lovely reception with all our friends and family in Old Court, and hopefully not too much of that was taken up by the formal photographs. It then proceeded to tip it down during the wedding breakfast, but in the splendour of the Old Hall we didn't care except for the quick dash across the courtyard to the loos. The food was lovely, the company even better, and the speeches were good and not too long.

And after dinner there was drinking and dancing in the Old Kitchens (we were in the Old part of college all day :) and a buffet back in the hall for any of those who had room. We had our first dance to Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, which was great fun, and I think it has to be about the only wedding disco over where I've seen not just moshing and slam dancing but an actual circle pit. We rocked. But also rolled and grooved as well, with hopefully a bit of something for nearly everyone.

Everybody I've spoken to since says they had a lovely time, but it can't possibly be as much fun as we did, and they can't possibly have been as happy. Hopefully the official photos will be available fairly soon, but until then I'm relying on seeing those of family and friends on Facebook. I can't sensibly link to those here but I'll ask permission to put a few on Flickr. If you've any photos you took on the day I'd love to see them! We'll tell you all about the honeymoon and post lots of photos of our own in due course. Suffice to say we've had a lovely time in Italy too!

Thanks so much to not only everyone who came and made it such a special day but to all those who sent good wishes in any way shape or form. They're all very much appreciated.

( The readings )

First of all I just want to say a huge thanks to Emily for organising it. I had a fabulous time and was pretty much completely in the dark the whole way through. Perfect :)

( Read more... )

I did get a couple of pictures on the digital camera early on, though it wouldn't fit in the handbag along with the disposable one in the evening so you'll have to wait for the rest. They're over on Facebook but you should be able to see them.

I'm not a very girly girl, but I love traditions and a hen night is traditional. My sister has volunteered to organise it so it will be in reasonably good taste. So who would like to be invited to come along to my hen night? Dates, times, etc will be organised later, but probably the 21st/22nd of August. [Poll #1594664]

I've got in a bad habit lately of posting minor stuff on Facebook and nothing here on Livejournal. But the fact FB has now started importing people's journals properly again (judging from the sudden rash of old posts on my friends pages) I've been prompted to come and say hello :)

Not a huge lot to say mind, I've been chilling out, playing a bit of Sims World Adventures (The Sims meets Indiana Jones), a bit of Lego Batman (which we've now finished apart from one really *stupid* bit where you have to ski down a slope and get through all the gates and it's almost impossible). We had a second long walk after our Roman one - from Great Chesterford to Royston mostly along the Ickneild Way. Managed not to get burnt again and had a lovely pub lunch on the way.

All this walking is sneaky practice for our summer holiday: walking the Pennine Way from Gargrave to Appleby (two points just about on the way which conveniently have train stations :). Mum and dad are going to come and say hi and stay with us for the first night in Gargrave which should be lovely. We're still planning the wedding too, with me having contacted hotels and DJs this week - and having got our wedding rings a few weeks back. It's lovely to have my anniversary/engagement ring back and fitting again too!

Back to the hospital next week for a check up at the parathyroid clinic: had blood tests this week to check hormone level and calcium levels so they should have the results of those and the ones I had done in January. Hopefully all should be well. And I'm still gradually losing weight, and hoping when I go back to see the GP next month my blood tests there will be all good too, even though I'm not taking meds any more. I really don't want to have to start taking them again!

S'all good really.

Oh yes and of course I'm off to vote later today, although I doubt I'll be staying up for the election results tonight. I doubt it's going to be terribly good news in the morning no matter what the result is, but it could well be interesting!

Friday afternoon Mike and I took off, and went to chat with one of the team at Queens' about details for our Wedding: things like rough timings, and plans for numbers in the day and evening, a vague idea of what we might choose to eat, and knowing when they need to know final numbers and so on. It was useful. Then we went shopping, and bought walking socks for our summer holiday in the Pennines :) And went and chose and ordered wedding rings. It was a nice afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon Mike's parents arrived for the weekend. Taking advantage of the mild weather we went off for a tramp around Wandlebury: through the woods and down to the roman road, and round the ring ditch where we followed a kestrel from tree to tree for a short while. We went into town in the evening, and tried out the new Côte restaurant on Bridge Street - we weren't really sure what to expect, but were pleased to find a fairly classic French menu: I had steak tartare followed by moules frites, Mike had paté de fois gras and steak haché, whereas Evan and Gina both skipped the starters and went for coq au vin. Lovely light bottle of red to go with it and nice puddings. We'll definitely be back.

And today the weather has been even nicer, so we hopped in their car and headed over to Wimpole. I don't know what it is with parents and National Trust properties lately: the other week we went to Anglesey Abbey and found it packed with people come for the snowdrops: today it turns out Wimpole was having a bonus day with free entry for everyone, including to the home farm where they're in the middle of lambing. We had a lovely time, and Mike took loads of photos, which I'll post on Facebook as soon as it will let me upload them. And as well as some very cute farm animals (and some very tame sparrows) we also added a treecreeper and some jackdaws to the list of birds spotted so far this year. And we had a lovely walk up through the park past the lake (which you can't even see from the house) to the Gothic Folly on the hill. Lovely and warm in the sun, shirtsleeves weather! Home for a lovely late lunch, with the patio door open to let the sunshine (and the neighbour's cat) in. Fab. It's a shame they had to head off so soon for the drive home.

Now that's what I call a nice weekend.

Addendum: photos

OK, I promised to talk about the house move. To be honest now it's 6 weeks ago, and hard to remember most of the details. Rachel, Ian, Richard, Pete and Laura were all great help though, and we got done in much less time than anyone expected due to lots of helpful hands (OK and to forward planning too). I took quite a few photos the day we moved, and of the place as it gradually got into shape over the next day as we unpacked, and couple of weeks as we bought and built more furniture, they're vaguely commented in the gallery below. Suffice to say that we're really really happy with the place, and loving living here. The only downside is a noisy neighbour, but another neighbour actually contacted our landlord about it, so he's looking into it for us. We've been and bought yet more furniture today, carrying a 23.5 kg media unit back from Fitzroy Street, and that's currently gluing together in the living room. We're just waiting on our dining table and chairs to arrive and then the place will be ready for a housewarming of some sort. Can't promise to invite you all, sorry.

I also promised to talk about the wedding, and that's now a fortnight ago, so I'm hazy on details there too. We went up on Thursday night after work, and had a quiet night in with mum and dad before going shopping on Friday morning for a few last minute odds and ends like earrings! Friday afternoon Steph came over and we had a trial run of getting her into the dress, which was corsetted with big ribbons up the back, and thankfully turned out much easier than mum had feared. Later we were joined by Grandad, Alan and Sharon (over from Northern Ireland), Hilary and Gem (friends from when Steph was at Uni) Em and John, and Dave and his family. It was a bit of a mad evening but we eventually had a lovely meal at the Navigation Tavern down by the canal.

On Saturday we had to get up early to get all of us through the bath and the shower before breakfast of scrambled eggs on toasted bagels, with bucks fizz to drink. Then mum, Em, Steph and I had to dash down the the hairdressers at 9am (when they open) to have our hair styled for the day. With three of us it was just a wash and blow dry (straight for me and Em, with plenty of volume for mum), but Steph was having hers put up in curls, and it was incredible how lovely it looked but didn't half need a lot of hair spray! We didn't have much time to faff though, for the cars were coming at 10:15, so it was back to the house to change and do makeup in a mad rush (including sewing my underwear into my dress to stop it showing - do you know how impossible it is to get a strapless plunge bra in a 40DD?). Still, we waved Steph and my dad off in the Rolls and Em and I followed in the Daimler, and John was left to drive Mike, mum and the buttonholes over to the wedding venue at Oakwell Hall.

Steph and Dad had arrived just before us, and we were escorted round the back with them to the old kitchen to go through the details before the wedding, before it was time for the music to play and for Emily and I to follow them down the aisle. It was a lovely wedding, with two readings from Mum and from Dave's sister Jenny. Steph and Dave both looked lovely (well, especially Steph) and both Emily and I were witnesses, along with Best Man Thomas. After the service we all congregated outside in the glorious sunshine in the gardens and rose petal confetti was thrown and lots of photos taken. Much amusement when the photographer asked those who were not family to leave the shot and nearly everyone stayed.

Mike and I had a quick look round the hall itself, before we were called because it was time for me to go. This time Steph and Dave in the Rolls and mum and dad in the Daimler with us too, and again John got to play chauffeur for Mike and all the stuff. This took us on to the reception venue at Haley's Hotel and Restaurant in Headingley. There we had the public rooms to ourselves pretty much, so had a nice lounge around in the bar and library before a lovely dinner and some excellent speeches. Lunch finished at around 5, and then nearly everyone congregated on the steps or the lawn outside. Drinking wine and talking and playing catch with the small kids (Jake 5, Anna 3, Alex and James about 20 months). It was all rather lovely. And after we'd managed a small nap in our lovely hotel room we got up again for the evening do at 7ish, with more guests, a blues duo playing live in the lounge, a buffet dinner with a recorded "radio show" I'd prepared playing in the backgroun for that - though timings didn't work out right and only about half of it got played. Then Steph and Dave danced their first dance to Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl", and we partied on with more dancing in the lobby for the young-uns til Mike and I wimped out shortly after the best man around midnight. According to mum most of the rest gave up around 1 or 1:30, but there were a small bunch of die-hards up until 3.

And the lovely thing about staying in the same hotel was that we all got to meet up again over breakfast, and wave Steph and Dave off for their honeymoon in Turkey, before packing everything up into John's car and the immediate family heading back to Mirfield for a quiet couple of hours and a tapas lunch before we had to get the train home. Part of me still can't quite believe Steph's married, but I'm really really happy for her, and we all had a lovely lovely day. We didn't get a chance to take many pictures, we were too busy enjoying ourselves, but the few we did are here (mostly taken by Mike).

We have internet, yay! So obviously I should catch up a bit and talk about the two subjects I promised to mention:

• My sister's hen night(s) in Newcastle, March 9th-11th
• Our house move, March 17th, and settling in thereafter.

I'm not even a month late (just).

So, Steph's getting married the week after Easter, and she decided to have her hen night nice and early, as is much the tradition these days. Emily and Steph were both students in Newcastle, and Em lived there quite a while afterwards, and I think this paid a part in choosing the location. And going so far we decided to make two nights of it, and all arranged to arrive on Friday.

I got there first, despite coming nearly the furthest, by the simple expedient of taking the whole day off to get the train up. Natalie had done all the organising, and had booked us into a hotel some way out of town, which meant we spent quite a bit on taxis, but it was pretty cheap, and it did have a pool. So when most of the others arrived late afternoon we unpacked and then realised there was time for a swim. It was rather nice really, although admittedly we spent more time in the steam room and spa pool than actually swimming. A good place to chat and catch up on the gossip. Then we all got ready and headed into town, where we met up with Emily and Hilary who were the last arrivals. We just had time for a quick drink in the pub opposite the station before heading round the corner to a rather good indian restaurant, which Emily had recommended. We had a lovely meal anyway, but by the end of it we were rather tired, what with long days and long journeys, and we headed back to the hotel for bed.

On Saturday Emily and I needed to go shoe shopping, for our bridesmaids outfits, so we headed into Newcastle and hit the shops, joined by Steph, Hilary and Heidi. By the time we emerged from Clarks I'd spent 85 quid on 3 pairs of shoes: one for the ceremony, a flatter pair for in the evening since I'm not used to heels, and a pair of black pumps-style things for me, to replace the ones that were worn out at home. I've not spent so much on shoes in years! We dropped them back at the car, then met up with Kathryn and Natalie, who'd stayed back near the hotel, for lunch. This was at a little Italian place called Pani's, which is just off the road heading down from the monument towards the quayside, and I definitely recommend it if you're passing. Friendly, nice atmosphere, good food. We finished the afternoon by wandering the rest of the way down the hill and crossing the winking bridge (which was wobbling a little alarmingly) to wander round the Baltic - which was fab.

Back to the hotel to shower and change and straighten our hair for the evening out which was to be the hen night proper we all gathered in Kathryn and Natalie's room to surprise Steph with some presents (a photo album with contributions and notes from all of us, and a pair of flip flops which emboss the words "just married" in the sand as you walk), and drink some pink bubbly. I even made an exception for lent for the purposes of the celebration and had one glass myself - the rest of the weekend I stuck to soft drinks. Managed to get some pictures of this part of the proceedings, if nothing else. The group photo was rather fun to do with the camera on a timer and balanced on top of the standard issue telly, but it came out pretty well. (Click through for rest).

Anyway we supped up and headed back into town, in search of our dinner, which was booked at a teriyaki restaurant. The trouble was it didn't seem to be either of the ones that we'd thought it was. We eventually found it though, with the help of groom Dave on the internet relayed by Steph's mobile. It turned out to be very nice, though we didn't get to sit around the hot plate and have our dinner cooked in front of us. Very good value too. Anyway next stop was The Light - sort of like a posh shopping centre but full of bars and clubs instead of shops, and with a casino upstairs apparently. We spent the evening mostly outside one bar watching the world go by, then inside the same bar with some cheesy music to dance to, and then across the road at Tiger Tiger: a club on 3 floors, which we ended up in a rather crowded bar of, dancing in not really enough space, but had a good time anyway. Though Heidi and Emily both spent some time strategically trying to put one of the rest of us between them and the strange foreign boys who were trying rather too persistently to chat them up. We left around 2:30, knackered but having had fun.

The only trouble with late nights and staying in hotels is the checkout time the next morning. I woke and looked at the clock and was about to roll over and go back to sleep when I realsied that actually we only had about an hour and we'd best get up if we wanted showers first. Still, eventually we all got packed and gathered in the foyer. It seemed a shame to split up just yet though, so we all squeezed into Em and Nat's cars and headed out to Tynemouth to look at the sea and find some lunch. There was a minor disaster trying to get parked, but not harm done to anything but nerves, and mostly it was just because we were too tired. We managed to find a local bakery with a seated area anyway, and tucked into stotties and toasted sandwiches with bacon and egg and so on, and had a nice cuppa, before Emily dropped me and Hil back at Newcastle station for the train home.

It was a lovely weekend anyway, even if several things didn't go quite as planned, and Steph enjoyed herself, which was the whole point. No balloons, no ribbons, no L-plates and comedy tshirts, no dares and no making idiots of ourselves, just a good weekend out with good company. Just what we all needed. And here I'm going to stop for now, since a) this is v long and b) my arms ache, as we still have no desk - of which more anon.

Fabulous weekend at home:

Friday: Easy journey up with Mike on the train. Almost as soon as I'm in the door Steph asks me if I'd join Emily in being her bridesmaid. Absolutely chuffed to bits and obv say yes. Pleasant evening with homemade chilli mountain and lots of red wine, good company and good music.

Saturday: Spend the day bridesmaid dress shopping with Mum, Steph and Em - great fun. Obviously we decide on (one of) the dresses we tried on in the first shop (Monsoon). Amazing that we could find something that suited the shapes and colourings of both myself and Emily. Coffee and cake late morning, and lunch at Pret. The boys (Dad, Dave, Mike) spend the day at Elvington air museum, and join us for an evening drink before Emily has to head back to Hull to go see Razorlight (the hardship!). Dinner at Brook's which is fabulous. Gorgeous food and a lovely relaxed atmosphere - how many posh restaurants give each table crayons to draw on the tablecloth? Home for a cocktail before bed.

Sunday: Mike and I went out for a nice walk along the canal before Em and John arrive to join us all for lunch. Dave rings his parents and they're happy with the choice of date, so if mum can confirm with the venues and registrar on Monday they'll be getting married on Easter Saturday. Break open the cassis and bubbly and have kir royales as an aperitif to celebrate. Fabulous lunch cooked by Steph with able assistance from Dave: spanish cooked meat with tomato salad to start, followed by a lovely lamb stew with roasted red peppers, and finishing with lemon tart and chantilly cream. We sat around the dining with coffee and liqueurs and the rest of the red wine until Em began to get peckish again (about 5) and we broke out the cheese. The rest of the evening was spent recovering, and we shared some chips for a late supper over the DVD of the Isle of Wight Festival at about 9pm.

Monday: The others headed off to work leaving us to get up for a leisurely bath before getting the train home again. Where we decided it was time to spruce up a little in time for Whitby so Mike and I dyed each other's hair. His is a permanent blue-black which suits him better than I expected, and mine's got my standard rose-red dye all the way through, which means the brown bits are now a rich browny-purple and the front and some of the ends are lovely and bright magenta again. I've spent the rest of the afternoon gently geeking and then played with the self-portrait mode of my digicam and taken some surprisingly OK pics, including my new icon. See below for gallery of rest. Cunning camera angles can make one look so much thinner ;-)

Thanks: to lovely family for making it a brilliant weekend and lovely boyfriend for sharing it and making it even better.