Weekend Away......

We  have had a lovely weekend away with my lovely Mum and my sister--Bill was well and truly out numbered! We had got some bargain rooms from Groupon at a new Holiday Inn in Birmingham,,,so decided to go and have a tour round Cadbury World using my Tesco vouchers-that saved a lot of money...used just £10 worth to get us all into the Cadbury World where if we had paid cash it would have been £60  so worth doing if you have them....

Mum and Sha...

It was really interesting to go round the factory..and we had quite a few freebies as well given  us,,all still in the fridge at the moment-except Bills Crunchie bar--he couldn't resist it...

We saw the drumming gorilla in action-that was brilliant...

when we came outside it had been raining  and we were greeted with this beautiful rainbow.....

The Holiday Inn on the Coventry Rd has only been open since last August and its still pristine.....it was Mums first stay away from home in over 40  years and she loved it...

I had also bought Groupon vouchers for an Indian meal and we all went to the Kasturi restaurant---it was a lovely meal...

but oh boy did we all make a mess on the lovely white tablecloth!

the shower at the Holiday Inn was huge and one of the best we have had in a room...could have stayed there all day...

good size rooms as well.....couldn't complain about any of it --had a great breakfast  when we got up...it was a real treat for mum and Sha....and for us after the horrible week we had last week losing our poor Sparky  cat..

when we returned home today after going shopping around Brum and picking up some bargains we found this pheasant out on the back patio...there was a pheasant years ago who used to follow Sparky cat around everywhere--we used to think it was because Sparks was a similar colour to a hen pheasant! Everywhere he went this pheasant followed,poor Sparks used to get right fed up with it and kept looking behind him all the time....I wonder if this was Sparks little mate come to say goodbye to him....he flew off into the field as soon as he saw me......we miss that little cat more every day....he was always here to greet us as soon as the car pulled up, no matter what time or how long we had been away...

Our Sparky---memories

Sparky with his sister Fizz...my sister Sharon had her...and a week later went on holiday , so we said we would have Fizz here with Sparky---would you believe that they had forgotten each other and they scrapped and scrapped! I rang Sharon in a panic and said we would have to take Fizz home as I was worried they would kill each other! They calmed down eventually and must of realised they were brother and sister!

Sparky disco dancing!!!

He stopped being a lap cat when he reached 6 months old--he hated being held or cuddled bless him....he went a sstill as a board when we picked him up-tail would be out staight and he would stickhis front legs into you as if to say please put me down....but he loved it when he was little...

Merry Christmas Sparks..

Ah Bless...

He loved Christmas...

This was the very first mouse he caught that we knew of... the first of many!!! Wouldn't mind a quid for every mouse and vole he has-besides the rabbits he bought home!

Chasing the squirrel here up the tree...

chillaxing....

he did get into some states when he was asleep...

Fizz and Sparky went to sleep on the stairs after fighting all morning....the stairs were always Sparkys territory...and everyone went very carefully if he was near the stairs or you would get a clip off him or even a bite if you were unlucky...his favourite game was to hide round the corner at top of stairs and pounce out when you got near the top---then he would spit , hiss and growl at you and try and swipe you one..then he ran in our bedroom behind the door and would leap out and do it again,,,,,,little bugger!

this was the only time he slept in that bed!!!!!! Lost count of the amount of beds he was bought  and he never used them!

Sparks and his beloved Dad....what a huge hole that cat has left in our lives...we sat in here last night and really missed the door being pushed open and Sparks walking in-we always said to him "Shut the bloody door Spark" he would just saunter over to where Bill had his legs up on the pouffee look at Bill as if to say "come on then shift yourself", and of course Bill being the softy he is would always move his legs for him to get on there...he ruled the bloody roost bless him.. Then a soon as we had got up and shut the door he would want to go out again and would pull the door and go out leaving it open again!

Little Izzy and Family!

Callum loved feeding grandads fish--he also found we had a magic fountain in the pond--Callum only had to say 'go and the fountain started up--and when he said 'stop' it stopped--maybe had something to do with Grandads remote control operated plugs that operated the lights and fountain--but we wont tell Callum that!

It was lovely to have Greg and family call by today--Callum starts school in September--cant believe where the time has gone--seems like yesterday he was little as Izzy!

Little Izzy is a month old now and she is really filling out bless her--she was really studying me hard today!

who's that? she looks like she is saying!

Grandad having cuddles...

Happy Families!

Spur Of The Moment-Trip To Wales

We decided that we wanted a change of scenery last Saturday so after a quick check on Late rooms .com we booked up and quickly we packed our bags and set off for St Clears in Wales.We had a lovely 3 night break--lovely food and drinks, weather was great and we returned home early this evening refreshed and armed with loads of new photos from which to paint some pictures both to sell and for class subjects.

Its amazing how much interest is got from the adverts on the car! There is always somebody interested in learning how to paint!

one of our favorite places--Tenby

Its a standing joke that I come home from holidays with more photos of trees than anything else!

this reminded me of an enchanted wood--the twisted curly trees are just beautiful!

beautiful sunrise coming up this morning--from our window in hotel!

we went for ride to Pembrook docks......

we were nearly home today and Clee Hill looked really blue in the distance--it doesn't show up to great in this photo..it was lovely to get back home ...thanks to my friends and sister who came and looked after the pets and house while we were away--especially at such short notice! We are back on the market tomorrow-and again on Sunday--so an early night is in order!

Lovely Break!

We got back yesterday from a couple of days away from home--part holiday--part research  for some paintings of the local area, so I can get some paintings done ready for the show at Welland.We stayed at The Rising Sun hotel, Cleeve Hill, nr Cheltenham where we had a room with this wonderful view.We cannot praise the staff at the hotel enough--from the time we checked in on Tuesday til we left yesterday every member of staff were so helpful and I'm sure we will be returning there for another break.

It was a little overcast when we arrived--but the view was still breathtaking--you could see for miles.

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there was a lovely seating area with huge windows overlooking the views

and lovely comfy sofas to sit on

The Malvern Hills in the distance

The food was excellent at the hotel---I'm sure we must have put on a few pounds while we were there--how could we resist this ginger pudding-which came with a chilli and toffee sauce and rum and raisin ice cream---it was scrummy combination which I will try at home sometime!

We went into Bourton On The Water on the way home-and walked along the river that runs through the centre-we spotted lots of lovely trout in there and an eel as well.

Such pretty scenery around Bourton

The eel was a good 2 ft long--none of the local people we spoke to had ever seen an eel in there before!

The Old Manse Hotel---looks lovely!

We went onto Birdland and saw these cute little chaps---they were waiting to be fed---and were well fed up because their pool had been drained that day!

Handsome Chap!

Snowy Owl taking in the sunshine

This little chap was called a frog mouth--for obvious reasons--

despite the sign saying she may bite-she was adorable and loved all the fuss she got from everyone

It looks like I'm strangling her here!

as well as lots of photos for reference for future paintings , the waitress kept us the tiny jam pots from breakfast--they are handy for holding the turps we use in class--we also picked up some beautiful pieces of treen from the local charity shops--absolute bargains--they cost a fortune at the craft fairs.I also found 4 ramekin dishes for my nephew Rhys who is a very keen (and very good cook)