HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, ELSIE

Oh dear, I'm a week late posting this.

It was Elsie's birthday last Sunday

but a little crisis in the family prevented me from posting on the day.

(All I will say is,

when our children are hurting, we hurt too.)

This is Elsie when she first joined the family last March:

Since then it's been a year of ups and downs

as we got used to fitting the needs of a puppy

into our living routine.

And even though she's still a bundle of trouble

she is well and truly part of the family.

Here she is on her birthday

wearing her Welsh flag bandanna

(inexpertly tied by mum)

'Hmmmm, I smell something tasty.'





I found this dog cake at the local garden centre before Christmas

and saved it for Elsie's birthday.

Oh Yum! Best birthday ever!

Blessings,

Andi xx

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

MAKING THE MAGIC HAPPEN

'New York?' I hear you say. 'Very exciting, but why all the talk about magic?'

Well you see, I've been married 24 years this year and in all that time I have never struck out on my own and arranged a holiday without M.

As much as M loves NY, he didn't want to go. It would be too cold, he needed a rest not a busy holiday, we'd never get the visas in time...

You name the excuse, he came up with it.

(and he didn't want to see the play, either)

So I was all for giving up my dream of going, until on Christmas Day my son said 'come on, Mum. Let's go anyway.'

So we did.

Just me, son, daughter and a monkey (more of that later).

(we think the tall black building might be the one used for outside shots of Chandler's office in FRIENDS)

We arranged tickets for the flight, theatre, Empire State Building, got our visas, made hotel reservations, all on the computer before we left England and I'm stunned to report everything went smoothly and worked out without a hitch.

(really liked this building as seen from Empire State Building)

Now for the monkey. Coco has been my daughter's special friend since she was four years old. He is a well-travelled monkey and much loved by me as well as daughter. He's like a member of the family.

Anyway, he tells us that although he was born in Stratford upon Avon (and is a descendant of Willy Waggledagger aka William Shakespeare), his father was actually King Kong.

So a trip up the Empire State Building to follow in his father's footsteps was in order

(although he agreed falling off the top wasn't such a good idea)

We did all the tourist things like a carriage ride around Central Park...

I was told Woody Allen lives in the tallest building in the photo above.

Daughter's only tourist request was to visit the M&M shop in Times Square

Where there are floor-to-ceiling tubes of M&Ms in every colour imaginable

Son announced the M&M shop was 'pure hell'!

So a photo was suitably manipulated...

Son in Hell

The Met

and the sunset over the harbour with Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Taken from the Staten Island Ferry.

So glad we took it upon ourselves to arrange this magic. Would love to go again and have more time, take things at a slower pace, and have M with me!

Blessings,

Andi xx

If You Want Something Done...

I wrote to Santa...

I wished upon a star...

My Niece even gave me this fab sign for Christmas...

But in the end I had to create my own luck

and make it happen myself...

THE SHOW...

THE PLACE...

THE SONG...

(click the pic)

('Happy Birthday, Uncle Frank'. Imagine being able to call Frank Sinatra 'Uncle'?)


Tell you all about it when I get back.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Blessings,

Andi