London Calling

 So as you will have seen from my previous post, we surprised the children with a trip to London yesterday to soak up a little of the Olympic atmosphere and feel just a little part of such a fabulous Games.

 We were up bright and early to wait for the coach from Shepton to London,

 we even had our nails painted in the Olympic colours for the occasion!

 and for me, it was the Olympic Rings that I really wanted to see - the iconic image of the rings on Tower Bridge.

 And it didn't disappoint - they were huge!

 We walked along the Embankment past large out door screens and decorated Olympic mascots,

 past many an Olympic Volunteer, dressed in their cheery pink uniforms.

 There were flags and bunting down side streets, along walkways wherever you looked.

 We walked as far as London Bridge, one more glace at the magnificent Tower bridge and the Olympic rings then we tubed it to Trafalgar Square,

 to see the Olympic Countdown Clock and Nelson wearing his Union jack hat.

 The children did get very hot and tired! It was just our luck to pick the hottest day of the Summer to go to London but we booked it over a week ago and must confess had been willing it not to rain ever since!!

 So we decided to head along Regent's Street to see all the Countries colourful flags,

 look at some of the fabulous shop window displays and ultimately,

 bribe the boy with a visit to the 5th floor of Hamleys and the Lego department!

 Hyde Park was our next stop,

 to see where the Marathon swim and Triathlon had taken part. We were too late to go into the BT Live area to see the large screens etc but

 quite frankly, some of us had just had enough!

 So we tubed it back to Hammersmith, picked up our coach

and headed back home to Somerset, having had a thoroughly good day!

Birthday Boy!

 Hard to believe it but this morning my baby turned 10 - the all important double digits! 

 All the presents were suitably wrapped in dots and spots paper.....

 ....and opened in a flash!

 Sam is saving up for his own computer and now has £315 towards one, not bad for a 10 year old, I'm thinking by next birthday he may well have got there! Of course there was a little bit of Lego thrown in, I love the fact that he's still into his Lego and I have an hour of peace now, because he is upstairs busy building.

Pancakes were the breakfast of choice, just to put me to the test this morning. We have a trip to the cinema this afternoon to see the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid film and a table booked at ASK! 

We also surprised the children with a trip to London on Friday - we don't have tickets for the Olympics but have surprised ourselves with how addictive it's been, so are heading to London to soak up a little of the atmosphere, see the rings on Tower Bridge, the flags along Regent Street and if we are lucky enough, get into Hyde Park to see some of the Marathon Swim! We only have 6 hours but will LOVE every minute and the good news is that the sun might even join us too!

Frome Flea and Artisan Market

 Sophie and I were there bright and early to visit Frome Flea and Artisan Market - we haven't been before so had no idea what to expect. We started at the Flea Market down near the Cheese and Grain - it was small and there were a few traders I recognised from the the Shepton Flea - Sophie treated her self to some cupcake material from Kirsten at Make and Do, I was very good and just looked!.

 I thought the flowers in Frome looked very pretty.

 Oh La La Lampshades really caught my eye - she has a website coming soon!

 We decided to head up Catherine Hill straight away and then amble our way back down.

 We visited the Pop Up shop Tea 'n' Cake where a collective of local artisans have come together - it looked great - I wish them well - it's only on for the week so do pop in if you are local.

 There were so many food stalls - I'm surprised I had no photo's of cakes as there were so many delicious temptations about but I stayed on the straight and narrow and bought treats for the rest of the family, not myself.

 I saw the lovely Julia on her stand 'Julia Davey Ceramics' and stopped for a chat.

 I was tempted to treat myself to some spotty pebbles  made by Clare from CRM Ceramics

 The flowers on display were beautiful.....

 .....and Yes! I treated myself to another bunch of sunflowers,

which look lovely at home - I hope it stays dry for them, it was a very lovely way to spend a morning and if you are tempted, it's on the first Sunday of the month *See more info here*

16 years!

 Yesterday Jeff and I celebrated 16years of wedded bliss - quite an achievement I guess!

It really was a very happy day and still remembered fondly by us and friends and family alike. It was hot and sunny unlike yesterday and my bouquet of sunflowers was really bright and cheery.

 Our wedding day is still remembered for the sunflower theme and every year, a bunch of sunflowers will be found at home in celebration.

 I feel very lucky to have married Jeff, our vows were said for all the right reasons and 16 years on, I can honestly say I'm as happy now as the day we married. We look older and are hopefully wiser and have two beautiful children to celebrate too!

Here's to another 16 years, although I worked out that I'll be 57years old then - eek!

Come and say HELLO!

 On SUNDAY 19th August you can find dots and spots in the Shepton in Business Marquee at the Mid Somerset Show in Shepton Mallet. We will have some of our lovely products on sale at *SPECIAL* show prices.

 It's held at the Shepton Show Ground, in the field directly opposite our house (not that that is at all important!)

It's a traditional Agricultural Show and is completely *FREE* to get in, so why not come along!

Just bring along this little voucher (Print from here) and mention that you follow us on twitter, facebook or here on the blog and we will give you a *FREE* roll of thin decorative sticky tape with any purchase...... just because we like to say hello to our followers and appreciate the time you take to follow us, so come and say HELLO!