York

Arrived in the City of York today and walked the old city by foot. We plan to drive to the Bronte country and explore the Yorkshire Dales tomorrow before returning home to Coventry.

Oxford - May 13

After touring C.S. Lewis's home, "The Kilns" in Oxford, we grabbed lunch and then headed out on a 2 hour walking tour of the university/city. There are 39 different universities in Oxford and we gained access to Queen's College and Christ Church. The last photo may look familiar to anyone who is a Harry Potter fan!

First photo: photo of the garden from the kitchen window of The Kilns; 2nd photo: approaching Christ Church; 3rd photo: the Hall at Christ Church

Cotswolds Walk #1 - Minster Lovell

Andy and I dropped Rachel and Tyler off at Warwick Castle and drove south another hour to the edge of Oxfordshire where we did a 3.5 mile circular walk (just a little over 5km). It was an absolutely beautiful walk - through meadows, pastures, along the banks of the Windrush River, stopping to view the ruins of an old Manor Hall. Nothing could be more picturesque!

Peeping Tom

One of the things Coventry is known for (besides being bombed mercilessly during the war) is Lady Godiva. According to Wikipedia:

Godiva (or Godgifu) (fl. 1040-1080) was a noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive toll imposed by her husband on his tenants. The name "Peeping Tom" for a voyeur comes from later versions of this legend in which a man named Tom watched her ride and was struck blind or dead.

After touring the remains of the old and new cathedrals with Tyler today, Andy took this photo of a novelty Lady Godiva/Peeping Tom installed in the town centre's clock. When the clock chimes on the hour, the door open and Lady Godiva appears, riding her horse with Peeping Tom peering on.

Danny's last football match of the season

We were pleased when we arrived to warm weather - mid 20's. After a good night's sleep woke to blue skies and by 9:00 it was about 25 degrees. We went to see our nephew Danny's last football match of the season this morning and we (me, Andy, Rachel, Tyler, Mark and Kate) proudly cheered on the Hawkshill team (and saw Danny score a goal for his team).

May 9 - England bound!

We woke Friday morning to snow - not entirely unusual in May in Alberta, but instead of moaning about it, we were happy knowing we were hours away to hopping the big pond on our way to England. Photos taken while waiting for the boarding call at the airport.

Springtime in Alberta

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful ... what a welcome respite after the crazy spring snowstorms. Andy and I went for a 2 hour walk from our neighbourhood to Carburn Park where I took these photos. (we are breaking in our light hiking shoes that we will soon put to good use when we tackle some a few walks in one of our favourite parts of England, the Cotswolds!) The warm sunny +23 weather was a contrast the last remaining snow clinging to the banks as shown here. It was good to see the trees budding ... proof positive that spring truly just around the corner.

Happy 21st Birthday Lyden!

Lyden's 21st birthday was on April 24 and Rachel picked up this cute DQ cake to help celebrate the day.

Harry Potter Mad!

Both our children were hooked on harry Potter years ago and anxiously awaited the release of each new book. Andy, who rarely reads fiction, was bored one day so he pulled the first book off the shelf and started to read ... and read he did, at last count, he's read a total of 5 of the 7 books in a very short period of time. Now he is in the "inner circle" with the kids and their friends ... he can relate to all their wizardy references and share inside jokes. One day he sought Lyden's agreement:

Andy: "Hey Lyden, don't you think mom is a veela?"

Lyden: "Yep, but only 1/2 veela".

Me: "What's a veela? is that a good thing?"

Boys: "Oh you'll have to read the books to find out."

Needless to say I am feeling the odd man out but that said, I very much doubt I will take to reading to books myself!

April in Calgary

I have heard it said that there is no spring in Calgary, just 3 months of winter & summer battling it out and nothing could be truer! Andy took this photo during a recent spring snowstorm .... one week earlier we sat on these deck chairs enjoying +23 sunshine!

Visions of Venice

Bath

Final assignment from the digital on line class I've been taking.

Week 4 digital assignment

This photo of Jon Voight was taken on set during the filming of September Dawn in August, 2005. Andy worked as 1st AD on the feature and while it hit the movie theatres in the US, it was only recently was released in Canada (video only) at Blockbusters. The movie is based on a true event in 1857 and I recommend you rent a copy & watch it!









Credit:
Jessica Sprague's papers & brush set

UK 2007

layout made from scratch ...
Paper: Jessica Sprague - Beautiful You - coral ; Brushes: English Cursive from Obsidian Dawn, CD swirl; Selenhart flourishes; K Pertiet monogram.

Hoppy Easter

Easter weekend already!

Week 3 Digital Scrapbooking Assignments!

Welcome Spring!!

Hurray, the long dark days of winter have come to an end! Played with this photo in PSE5!

No Place Like Home

Week 3 class assignment

Palm Sunday family & friends potluck

just a few images from our potluck ... my sister-in-law Silvana made the pasta sauce, Andy made fresh pasta - he took turns rolling it out with Christine and Silvana - in this photo Rachel and Christine put the rolled out pasta through the machine to make the linguine, mom brought garlic bread, I made ceasar salad, my brother Scott and Lyden's friend Shane brought refreshments, Rachel's friend Christine a bottle of wine & Rachel and Tyler brought dessert - not one but 2 huge bowls of delicious berry fruit trifle!

After dinner my mother taught Rachel a new crochet stitch for the afghan she is making.

Two more digital layouts!

Wow, am I having fun learning! I can quite easily get lost and get frustrated when I follow the instructions to the "t" and it doesn't work the way it should but I persevere and the results are worth it! It's such a great feeling when it finally works. Off to play more in PSE5!

Farmer's Market

"Beautiful" digital layout

Results from my "mid week" assignment ... when I saw theme of the paper, my beautiful daughter Rachel immediately came to mind.

Digital Scrapbooking - 1st Lesson!

I signed up for an on-line digital scrapbooking class and this is the results from lesson #1.

March Mosaic!!

Antique Shopping in Nanton

Top photo - love the fresh spring like colors in this photo - the room was flooded with light which was a little suprising for the gloomy overcast winter day it was today! After church Andy and I drove to Nanton to check out their antique stores. For a small rural town, it was an impressive number of antique shops! We are searching for a new kitchen table, to replace our 25+ year old table currently on its last legs ... even though we didn't find anything in our price range, it's always fun to look!

bottom photo: Andy quickly spotted the England and Scottish flags.

What a slogan!

Not sure who the target audience is for this tag line ... the outdoor enthusiast or the single gal?

:)

Family Day

Andy and I hit the road today and stopped by Bragg Creek and Cochrane. Top photo taken at Bragg Creek - the red wooden sign hanging on the door said "welcome, come on in" but sadly the store was closed! Loved the thermos with the reto cowgirl theme and in Cochrane, we were delighted by the British Birds tea set we found in a home decor store.

Browsing

what is better than grabbing a coffee and browsing the local book store on a Saturday afternoon....one of our favorite ways of spending time together.

Special Valentine Card

I took the opportunity to combine both my loves .... Andy and scrapbooking and made this felt booklet to give Andy for Valentine's Day. I got the idea from another scrapbooker and put my own personal twist on it by adding photos, monograming and adding ties. Andy loved it!


We went for sushi at our local sushi bar and exchanged cards a day early to avoid the Valentine's Day rush (it's typically so busy Valentine's Day it's hard to get a restaurant reservation anywhere).

Tyler's Birthday!

Today we celebrated Tyler's birthday with a cake and a game of Quiddler, the new family favorite! Black Forest Cake is one of Tyler's favorite treats!