Christmas - been and gone!!!! 27Dec2006

Well, I can't believe how quick that came and went.... I think my Christmas started with a lovely visit from Libby, Mark and Tori on the 16th December- with a surprise appearance from Kathryn - I had no idea she was joining us, but it was so lovely to see them all. I think we ate half of Iceland (the store, not the country!!) I was out on the town that night with my team from work - so Libby went on to visit some more peeps they know in the area.
I had a great night out, however I would have to say that I am glad the company had paid for it as it was an awful lot of money for a meal that was not really what it had promised to be. The soup was amazing - mushroom and parsnip , strange combination, but scrummy - and the rest was really not worth mentioning. (Actually - Libby, the chutney they served with my cheese and biccys was ok - not as good as your autumn chutney though)
So, Jay and I finished work on Thursday afternoon, flew round the shops to make sure we had food to come back to and then went to the library to rent some "books on CD" for our journey up north. You may remember the fog was atrocious and we find this a good way to travel, if you have any hold-ups you are generally well entertained if you have chosen well!!
Having been prepared, the journey was fairly uneventful - the fog round the Heathrow area was dense - but it was actually worse in the midlands - we managed it in approx. 5 1/2 hours with a stop.
Well - news of the lovely Madison - she is still beautiful and although she was only 3 weeks old she is trying desparately to smile believe it or not will make noises when you talk to her!!
Zoe seems to be coping well - poor Andy being in retail has been working all hours on the lead up to Christmas - up to 14 hour days, I dont know how these companies get away with it. I asked him if he had to do the long hours - and cutting a long story short, he would not be included in the store bonus scheme if he didnt do what they asked. Sounds like the arm is firmly up the back there!!
Amy is also working extra hours, for those who dont know her she is qualified in all things horsey (BHS exams) but has recently moved to an office job with MBNA, and is trying to be able to afford life in general - horses are an expensive hobby, and stabling costs along with everything else does not come cheap. She has a lovely 16hh dark bay mare called Babe, who she has promised to love and care for for ever - hence her show name Promise Kept.
Danielle, Jay and I spent a very quiet Christmas Day - we have a lovely cooked brekky, and dinner at 4.15 (on the button - as planned - no delays - amazing!!!!!) and then spent Boxing day with his Mum and Dad and Emily (Jays daughter), that was really lovely, we all ate far to much, but it was a lovely day - we played Upwords - like a sort of Scrabble - I won!!!!! (there you go Mum the grammar school education paid off at long last!!!!!)
Well - enough of my rambling - I wish you all a very Happy New Year - keep safe.

Caro xx

A hectic week..........14Dec2006

Well - its been one of those weeks - we were so busy over the weekend, both Jay and I worked on Saturday - I finished at 1pm, and Danielle and I went Christmas tree shopping!!! I am a die hard fan of real Christmas trees and can be very fussy regarding shape height and the like. I choose the 2nd one I picked up!!!! Its a Christmas miracle............ Usually I wouldn't bring it into the house so early - but Libby, Mark and Tori are visiting this weekend and I would like some air of festivity about the house!!

This is a good 2ft shorter than the size I would normally squeeze in, but I loved the shape so much I went for it!

At this point I would like to say it was all going swimmingly - there are 3 feline prowlers however that are interfering with decorations and water levels - namely........

Garfield - Mr "butter wouldn't melt in my mouth" - caught red pawed with a soft teddy angel bear in his mouth, surrounded by gold tinsel.............
Roxie - Miss " honest mum the bauble I was chasing had mysteriously fallen from the branch on its own"

and Fliss - who couldnt possibly drink water from any other source than the Christmas tree base - how does she cope the rest of the year?

Charlie - the elder statesman - can't really be bothered - he is a wise 7 years old and has been there, done it, and cannot remember what the fuss is all about.

Well just a short entry for today - I am on 1-8's this week - so being in the centre of Tunbridge Wells I have to leave about 2 hours before my shift as the christmas shoppers invade every car park around .

See you all soon....Caro xx

One proud mum............... 05Dec2006

Hi All - I know my big blister (libby) will have passed on the good news - but I have the photos.........
After a four hour dash up the motorway thru winds and rain - ~I arrived at the hospital with a few hours to spare - at 5.34 Friday 1st December 2006 Madison Louise came into the world - after a very short labour and on only gas and air - a very shell shocked partner Andrew, a proud Mum and a fantastic midwife with armour plated skin to defend her from the expletives (where do they learn those words.........) baby came kicking and bawling into the world - and very quickly started rooting and found a thumb!!! - just like her mum!!!!

This is Madison - minutes old having been disentangled from her umbilical cord - wrapped neatly once around her neck - giving me enough time to sprint down the corridor to get the camera from a very patient Danielle who was in the waiting room.Meet Zoe and Andy - I must say both Andy and Madison have got a bit more colour...........Madison and Pooh Bear - how plumptious and gorgeous is she?This is quite a line up.... from the back - Me!! Zoe, Nana (mine and Libbys mum) and Madison, quite something to have a photo with four generations!

Who's a proud Nanny then?

We will be visiting all up north just before Christmas so will have more photos then, I am going back to work for a rest now!!!!!!!!!!

Catch up soon - Caro xxxxx

A waiting game...........28 November 2006

Well I don't know if my nerves will hold up much longer - this impending Nanny-hood is not good for your health!!1 I jump every time the phone rings in work (can you imagine - I am in a very large contact centre with over a 100 staff!!!) I cant sleep in case I miss the phone - the fact it is about 4 inches from my head doesn't seen to enter the logic zone. Half of my clothes are in a bag to travel with and so I am now searching for stuff to wear so I dont touch the stuff that is packed. As well as that the washing machine is dying - and the new one doen't get delivered til next week - so as the spin cycle is only just about turning it takes about 2 days to dry any other clothes.
Anyhoo - Zoe saw the midwife today - she had a thorough examination - those mums amongst you will remember that :-0, things seem to be moving in the right direction and if nothing happens in between now and the 5th December - then that is when they will induce her - she is a bit disgruntled - well alot disgruntled - but hopefully things will move on their own.
I am just so worried I wont get there on time - having to negotiate the M25 at anytime is no fun let alone when you are in a hurry!!
Well will leave if there for now - hopefully we will have some news soon
Take care

Caro xxx

Some quiet time 18 november 2006

Well this is highly unusual!! All alone on a Saturday morning..... We have Amy and Mark down this weekend - she drove all the way down so Jay could help her with her broken exhaust - we could hear her car from about a mile away!!!! It is so lovely to have them here - we had one of Jay's home made curries last night which is always yummy, and always a request from Mark as he adores them. Right in the middle of cooking the poppadums we had a power cut - which is no fun being in pitch black with a frying pan full of hot oil!! fortunately it came back on after about 5 minutes - I really must make sure the torches and candles are out and handy now. We do have these black outs every now and then - generally when the weather is a bit iffy, we had torrential rain yesterday evening - so I think everything must have got a bit damp!!!!
Danielle is now the proud owner of a little Ford KA - it is an "R" reg and is a little cracker for what she paid for it. Jason is rolling up his sleeves to do the essentials - its wonderful having a mechanic in the house. I asked him if he ever got fed up with it - he never seems to escape the engines and muck - he just grinned and said - its what I do - and what I love. Bless him!!
We had a busy day in work yesterday - lots of fund raising for Children in Need - we did cake sales and all sorts of games and quizzes. The best had to be one of our managers who let us shave his head into a monk style haircut - he donned a monks outfit and then went to the pub for lunch - a good sport!!! He raised over 600.00 for that - not bad huh?
Well I think I will stop now - did I mention I am knitting a scarf for myself?
Not sure how it will turn out though - I am not a spractical as my big sister - what started as a 40 stich cast on now only seems to be 38 on the needles - not sure where I lost the other two..................

Catch you all soon - does anyone else read this do you think Libby?

a bit a of a performance 12 November 2006

Well if mid-week was dodgy, the end of the week got worse. I had what only can be described as a near fainting attack in work - not the sort of thing I am known for. Was looked after beautifully by my colleagues, and escorted home by the duty manager. This meant that my hubby and daughter had to go back into town later in the evening and bring my car back. Seemed like a good plan, until I got a phone call after they had left. Danielle had been driving her little fiat Punto - Fiona, which is her first car - she has only been driving a few months, and a big stag deer leapt out of the hedgerow giving her absolutely no chance of stopping and the front end of Fiona is totally wrecked. She was so upset - to make matters worse it wasnt killed and was dragging its back legs down the road. Jay called the police straight away - as they were on a very busy but unlit road - the A26 between Crowborough and Tunbridge Wells in case you know it. Soon a guy turned up who the police had contacted - he deals with the deer side of things and poor Jay was still trying to manage the traffic. The deer man couldn't deal with the deer as he needed a shotgun, so he called his colleague out. I didnt know this - but although these deer guys are licensed, they have to have the police present before they can discharge a firearm on a public highway. Still no sign of the police and they made the decision to carry on to stop the poor animals distress. So the deed was done - and they offered Danielle the antlers - bit callous I thought. Anyway Jays dad Dave came out with his van and towed them back home, and still the police never came.
So now we are on the hunt for another little car for Danielle, she didnt think it was worth claiming on her insurance, because she is under 21 she would have had to pay a 300.00 xs, and the car was worth only about 500.00. (well it was priceless to her)
So all that drama over with - we are now on Sunday and things have settled a bit. We have Emily this week-end and that is always fun. We are having sunday dinner with Jays mum and dad today - and Jay cooked a big curry last night which was lovely - so spot the one who hasn't cooked so far - I like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will stop now - catch you in the week folks - keep safe!!!

Caro xxx

Ps - Libby - get a move on with that shopping - it will soon be Christmas!!!!!!!

Ever had that midweek feeling?

Helloo - I have that middle of the week feeling at the moment, I had to sit through 2 1/2 hours of corporate nonsense this afternoon, I know I should be pleased our ompany is doing really well (bigger bonus after all!!) - but it was way above my head!!!! Even our q&a session at the end - I couldnt understand the questions never mind the answers................is it me????
Any hoo - the cold frosty mornings seem to have abated somewhat, I am a bit odd in that I love that sort of weather - we have been left with a sort of damp nothingness, which is a bit of a shame.
I have actually started Chrismas shopping - well impressed with myself - I was thinking I might start making some mince pies - problem is as quick as I make them, Jay likes to eat them - all for quality purposes I am assured, but it gets a bit tiresome after the 4th dozen!!!! and still none left for the big day!! I do make good mincey pies though - with a soft rich viennese topping rather than a pastry lid, makes a nice change.
I will be really strange in our house this year, it will only be three of us - instead of anything from 8 to 14 bodies!! I miss our big family Christmasses - but time moves on and I should be grateful for the many we shared together. Harvey Wallbangers wont taste the same without Libby cheering me on!!!! Think I may be able to manage a few sherries though............
Jay, Danielle and I will go to visit Mum, Amy, Zoe and baby and partners shortly before Christmas - and be back home on Christmas Eve. Then I think we will see Jay's Mum and Dad on Boxing Day with Emily, which will be fun.
Any way will leave you with those thoughts - happy shopping!!!!!! oh - and finding spaces in the car parks!!!!

Hello all....Nice to meet you - 3rd November 2006

Hello....
From the Gumbrells
Thats me... Caro, darling and much adored hubby, Jay, Danielle -youngest daughter still crazy enough to be at home, Emily - Jay's cutie pie daughter, who visits every other week.
I have two other daughters - Zoe and Amy - who live hundreds of miles from me with their respective partners Andy and Mark. Don't tell anyone, but at the tender age of 45 - Zoe is about to make me a Granny!!!!! How exciting... due anytime from the 20th November.
Also at our little house in East Sussex are our much pampered pets....
Charlie - very large black and white cat who yowls alot - especially at mealtimes, otherwise known as "hose"
Fliss - a delinquent cat from Manchester - is a stunning tri-colour, whose main aim in life is to trick you into fussing her and then she attacks with a fully loaded armoury of claws when you least expect it - aka "stumpy"
Marie - a powder puff cat of pure white fluff - far to posh for her own good (considering she was born is a stable - I don't think she remembers her humble begining) refuses to eat in the kitchen and will only take her meals in the dining room, now only answers to "princess tippy toes"
Garfield - what can I say - large ginger and white aptly named cat, eats anything he can (is partial to mouldy pies left by commuters at the station behaind our house) has a marvelous habit of "collapsing" right where you need to put your feet. earning him the title of "spanner"
Roxie - stunning sister of Garfield - a beautifully marked ginger and white who loves to chat with you has a very vocal range - nicknamed "Brrr" as that is generally her best chat starter!!
We also have a lovely Lionhead bunny called Leo - the cats love him, a fast growing Carolina Corn snake called Jake, and 6 fancy goldfish which I love to watch for hours.

Some of you may know my lovely big sister Libby - Woodlands World, she is the best sister in the world - admittedly she is my only sister - but I love her to bits and wouldn't want to change her for the world.

Well I think that will do for starters, I won't be able to update everyday like Libby does - basically cos I don't like computers much as I have to work with them all day!! With a bit of coaching I will try and get some piccy's and pop them on - 'specially the cats!!!!!

Catch you all soon...........