Red Letter Day's

At last I am back again.  Things have been so quiet here of late there has not been much news. I don't think that it would be of much interest to repeat what we get up to each week as each week more or less follows the same pattern !! 

However today was a bit of a red letter day.  It was the day when our youngsters at around the age of 18 get the results of the A levels exams which enable them to get into university/college/or perhpas an  apprenticeship..

It is always a very anxious wait. ..... why was it an anxious wait for me?.... and then a Red Letter day ? well my great Niece Samantha had sat her exmas and like 1000's of others had had a sleepless night before the post arrived and then the telephone calls started...The best news was that she had passed all the exams needed to get her into University, and, as she already had a place...depending on results...she will be off in a few short weeks to Plymouth University to study Music...Samantha has had diabetes since she was 6 and has and indeed still has a great deal of difficulty getting it under control although these last few months it has been slightly better since she had a pump fitted.....as if the diabetes was not bad enough she was also diagnosed a   Celiac and so her diet has been very restricted...She had lots of time out of school during these years and it is really a wonderful tribute to have been able to get her place in Uni.   So yes I am one very happy and proud Great Aunt...I only wish the Sarah my sister had been here to help her celebrate as she was very very supportive of Samantha and many times kept her going with her wise advice..

Now other news have I to share.....Oh Yes...my dresses !!  I was telling you a few weeks ago that a friend Helen had offered to make me a dress..or two or three !!  Now I have a great deal of difficulty buying any clothes and certainly can never buy a dress "of the peg" so to speak.. So for Helen to offer to make me one was a real wonderful thing. This she has done and she came on Tuesday with her two wee ones Scarlet and James and a rather  "large bag"  what was in the bag I wondered !! yes not one but 4 yes 4 new dresses. How she can have done them I do not know she had even hemmed them and all...she really is a genius and a wonderful dressmaker so I now have not one or two but 6 new dresses for the cruise (today I put out for recycling 6 old dresses that I have had for so many years one at least 25 years old !!)  I will photograph them some time and share them with you... Helen was saying that the wee girl Scarlet was watching her Mum make the dresses and asked her  " Mummy why are you making dresses for Sybil ?  does she not have a Mummy to make them  for her ".....LOL we did smile at the idea.....

Last week Tuesday, Mary and I had a day visit to Dyrham Park a lovely National Estate Home and Park near Bath    Dyrham Park was a treasure to enjoy; set in a dramatic deer park on the edge of the stunning Cotswold escarpment,  we saw the beautiful late 17th-century home of William Blathwayt, a hard-working civil servant who thrived during the political upheaval of three monarchs.  We explored how fashions changed over the centuries, from the original 17th-century Dutch-inspired interiors and formal gardens, to the very different style of Victorian country squire Colonel Blathwayt. The elegant garden is a more recent restoration, recreating the spirit of what had been lost, and was wonderful.  We enjoyed the visit very much and will go again later in the year the autumn colours shoudl be lovely and hopefully we will be able to see some deer as there are apparently many 100s around the estate...we did manage to glance a small group from the coach window.....It is a long 15/16 min walk from the car park to the house but they supply a wheelchair friendly shuttle coach down the long driveway...   we were also able to have a vey enjoyable lunch in the old coach house...

Well after this day of excitment  and an almost sleepless night....you would think it was me who was waiting for exam results.....I think I will have an early night. 

Remember always to LOVE ONE ANOTHER