http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/This is basically an online journal for me to share with you what is going on in our busy lives at the moment!! Tears and tantrums at the ready...en-UKMokoFeed10http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/http://data5.blog.de/design/preview/c2/62f446513004f2da916151bc0f6a04_160x200.jpghttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/10/05/so-so-busy-4823149/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2008-10-05:/2008/10/05/so-so-busy-4823149/Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:26:31 +0200 <p>Wow, doesn't time fly? We have been so busy this year, with Barry being area president of Moose he has been visiting lots of branches in the southern area. We don't get paid anything at all, expenses nothing, so it's crippling us to be honest, with the cost of fuel the wayit has gone up! We have enjoyed the ones we have been to though and have been made to feel very welcome where ever we go!<br> the kids are still all doing great, envious of Kelly and Alex who have recently had a week in France, we've missed it this year even though we enjoyed our trip to Florida. Steven and Hannah are moving into a house now, they leave the flat the end of October, they will miss it as it's a lovely flat and was their first home together, but this house came up and they are moving on!<br> Our dog has a bad back again, for the last 2 years it's happened exactly the same week, in July after we return from France, we spend time at the vets, he gets medicine and injections and is in pain for a few days, it's awful. Well Friday night he started and I jst had this feeling it was his back, it's later than usual as we've been giving him short walks rather than longer ones. We were going to take him to the vets yesterday then remembered that last year he had given us some metakam and said if it starts again next year you wil be able to give him this immediately, so we gave him a dose yesterday and another shortly. He isn't in as much pain as usual, yet, but he won't walk up the stairs or jump onto the sofa. I hate him being like this, I hope he'll be ok!! I'll try not to be so long next time and write a bit more xx </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/10/05/so-so-busy-4823149/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/10/05/so-so-busy-4823149/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/07/23/busy-lives-again-4487794/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2008-07-23:/2008/07/23/busy-lives-again-4487794/Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:13:40 +0200 <p>After Telford came the Moose southern area President's evening. This is what all our dance lessons had been for. Steve Spellor was the singer and he was/is amazing. We started the dancing with our hungarian waltz. Barry had to install the area officers into their positions, he's been warned so many times to not be flippant etc... that he was very nervous and made a couple of mistakes, I can honestly say I've never seen him so nervous and felt sorry for him. He jokes to cover and overcome his nerves and by trying to be something he isn't it didn't work!! He takes his position very seriously and 99% of people he's seen have told him to carry on as he was, that is who he is and as long as he's doing no harm and bein disrespectful he should be ok!<br> We had area picnic at Durlston country park in June and it was quite well attended, although windy the weather was dry and very warm and I got very sunburnt as I hadn't realised how it would be and hadn't put sun lotion on!<br> barry's been very busy visiting the local lodges and we've had a great welcome wherever we've been. By October he will have just about visited every lodge in our area at least once!!<br> In June we went to the Midlands, I had booked a room in the Travelodge for 2 nights back in January as it was only £9 a night, we went round the town, visited Barry's brother and my sister, and a friend, I took a trip down memory lane and walked to the estate i used to live, which was more emotional than I expected it to be! I had hoped to meet an old school friend, but Barry is struggling with me wanting some independence, so I didn't go in the end, but am working on it!!<br> Went to a cream tea on Sunday, the weather was beautiful (I was prepared and covered this time so didn't get burnt) The food was plentiful and the company as always was great (it was a moose event) They raised just over £200 in a couple of hours for the ladies circle, so well done them!! If I can work out how to upload a pic I will do later, I can't remember<br> coming up we have the silver anniversary of our very dear friends, kev and katrina, so going to be very busy again. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/07/23/busy-lives-again-4487794/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/07/23/busy-lives-again-4487794/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/05/13/great-guest-house-4167217/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2008-05-13:/2008/05/13/great-guest-house-4167217/Tue, 13 May 2008 10:31:37 +0200 <p>I forgot to say that while up in Telford we stayed in a lovely guest house, it's called Willow Guest House and is in Wellington. Our room was very comfortable the owners were the most friendly ones we had ever met. Breakfast was amazing, you had a choice of cereal, fruit juices, toast, jam or marmalade, coffee and teas (including herbal tea) and a fried breakfast with a choice of fried, scrambled or poached eggs. The sausages and bacon were all locally bought and the portions were great. We stayed with 2 other couples and were made to feel very welcome, we all said we'd have no hesitation in going back there if we are up that way again. <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/dining_room/2524395" title="dining room"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/395/2524395_a9e05a480e_s.jpg" alt="dining room" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> We stayed 2 nights there and on the second night we all went over to the pub opposite for a carvery. At 8 pm Dave, the onwer of the guest house joined us for a drink and chat, we sat chatting until 11 am. So, if you want a guest house in that area, look up willow guest house, Wellington, <a href="http://www.telfordguesthouse.co.uk">http://www.telfordguesthouse.co.uk</a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/05/13/great-guest-house-4167217/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>friendlyaccommodationtelfordwillow-guest-housecheapwellingtonhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/05/13/great-guest-house-4167217/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/05/09/a-fantastic-weekend-4152380/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2008-05-09:/2008/05/09/a-fantastic-weekend-4152380/Fri, 09 May 2008 15:06:52 +0200 <p> We had a great weekend, we left here on Friday about 7 am, we stopped twice along the way as we weren't supposed to be in the guest house until after mid-day, we got there about 20 to 12 in the end and he said we could go in. The room was lovely, Dave and AnneMarie were very friendly adn we quickly felt like we'd known them for years. We walked into Wellington which seemed very quiet, but we did buy a few bits. At 3 pm we were back at the guest house trying to call John to pick us up, but his phone was engaged. Luckily we'd got wifi and our laptops, so I managed, eventually, to find a way of contacting him through genes reunited (as I'd not got his email address) and said we'd been trying to call but the line was engaged, I tried again and got through, he'd just got my email as he was wondering why we'd not contacted him and remembered that I'd sent him my mobile number! They had accidentally left one of the phones off the hook, he'd answered one and called Marcia to pick the other up but left the one he'd answered off the hook!! He picked us up at 4 pm in the end, it was about half an hour to his place, he has this beautiful bungalow in this really pretty village, you can see these mountains that are in North Wales, he has this huge garden with some fields too, there were sheep in one field and he called them over to us, they were Dutch I think and black, so pretty! We felt like we had known them for years (John and Marcia, not the sheep) We chatted away and then at 6.30 we had dinner, roast lamb, not the ones from the field but from someone in the village!! We then had a choice of meringue with strawberries or rhubarb crumble, well I had to laugh, lamb is my favourite meat but we don't have it as it's so expensive and on Thursday Barry had said about this rhubarb in Somerfield and I said, oh I haven't had rhubarb crumble for years!! She's sprinkled chopped nuts on it and it was lovely!! We were with them until 9 pm when John then drove us to the Park inn to show us where it was and back to our guest house. Sue and Pat had arrived before we had gone out and Karl and Sandra arrived about 6.30 pm apparently.<br> Saturday morning we went into Telford for a look around, Barry had to go to his meeting at 2.30 so Katrina and I went back into town and round the park, I must upload the pics to truprint as the park was lovely. They're on facebook if you still get onto that! We didn't go to Birmingham in the end as it would have cost £8.50 each for the train and apparently there wasn't much more there than we could see or do in Telford!<br> Saturday evening we went back to the guest house and at 6 pm I think it was, we went to the pub opposite with Kev and Katrina. Sue, Pat, Karl and Sandra joined us about 6.40, we got a big table as Pat's son was coming with his girlfriend. We had a carvery and if you ordered before 7 pm it was 2 for £9.95!! It was ok but not great but we had a laugh being so many of us there! We sat in the lounge after and at 8 pm Dave from the guest house came along and joined us, he bought us a drink too and we sat chatting till about 11 pm!!<br> The breakfasts in the hotel were brilliant, you had a choice of cereals, fruit juices, then a fried breakfast, 2 sausages, thick sliced bacon, egg (scrambled, fried or poached) beans, tomatoes, toast, it was all freshly cooked too and very nice! We said goodbye to Dave (Annemarie had gone to her mum's as James (their 3 year old) wasn't very well) I hugged him and he said that we were welcome back anytime, we had really enjoyed being there, he was on our level with his sense of humour, a really lovely guy and he is the same age as me!! His birthday is in November so I'm a few months older.<br> Sunday morning we had convention, boring!! It started at 10 am and we had a break about 11.30 for 15 minutes, then it restarted until 12.25, all that distance just for that!! I had a go on the hamper raffle for a quid but didn't bother with all the others, there are too many of them!!<br> We had lunch in the car and Barry and I both dropped off, we were so tired! We went back in at 2 pm as the 2nd session started at 2.30, We've taken part in the 50/50 club, we pay £12 a year (only £8 for what's left of the year) and you get entered into this draw each month. We were with the men for the 2nd half, I sat in the row behind Barry and he and the other area presidents were called up and installed, I found this a bit too formal, this one guy marching about, I'd have felt really stupid! They did the raffle, I won the hamper!! There are loads of things in it, chocolates as well as ham, tins of stuff and jars of stuff! Convention finished at 3.30 and after saying bye we set off. We got to Stoke Talke Travelodge about 4 pm and checked in, the room was ok but the place was full of teenagers, they'd all booked in to go to Alton Towers on Monday!! We were told about a carvery just down the road, so went for that, it was really nice, much better than the one on Saturday night, the annoying thing is that in the week and Saturday it's only £3.50! It was £6.95 each on Sunday!! I had a bath Sunday night but it wasn't very warm, I was tired and aching and wanted to relax. Next morning Barry tried the shower and couldn't get hot water, I did my hair in the sink. We set off at 8.30 and arrived at Eastham railway station, Merseyside about 9.40. It was just down the road from the travelodge but the carpark was free so we parked up and got 2 return tickets, it was only £5.40 for the 2 of us!! It would have cost us more than that in parking if we'd gone into Liverpool itself! It took half an hour to get there, we walked round a bit then went to McDonald's and had burger fries and coke, we'd complained last year in Yarmouth and got a free meal each, so used the ticket!! We walked down to pier head and got our free ticket for the mersey ferry. We could use it all day if we wanted, it was very interesting as they give a commentary about the city, we went to Seacombe and got off to go to the space museum, this was ok but more for kids really, but again it was free (from the competition I'd won last November) We went back to Liverpool and heard how the Liver birds were supposed to be eagles but ended up the wrong type of bird!! That the female is facing the Mersey looking for the sailors safe return, and the male is looking to the town for the pubs, if they ever go then Liverpool is supposed to be no more! Unfortunately because it was bank holiday the boat was packed on the way back, screaming kids, couldn't hear much!! I was so annoyed! Oh they do play a little bit of "Ferry cross the mersey" bit corny ha ha!!<br> We went into the world museum that is free but didn't see all of it, an excuse to go back really!! Plus it was bank holiday so meant that there were kids everywhere making it harder to see things! We had some chips before going back to the train and travelodge.<br> Tuesday I was up early, had a shower and at 7.45 Bill called me to arrange a time, I wasn't sure if he would come or not to be honest as I'd not heard from him all weekend. We walked into Eastham village and asked about eating and were told about this pub called the Eastham Ferry and it overlooks the mersey. We called Bill and told him and he said he'd meet us at the travelodge anyway and we can go to the pub after. He eventually arrived at 11.30 and I hugged him, he gave Barry 24 bottles of Guinness and me 2 bottles of wine in a presentation box for a special occasion, so I told him it was my birthday and he said Is it? So I kissed him to thank him for the wine. we went to the pub but it was closed until mid-day so we walked to the jetty that overlooks the mersey, the weather was gorgeous and it was lovely standing there looking towards Liverpool, bill kept saying how lovely it was and he wanted to stay there all day. I said, so do I! We went into the pub and Bill got me a double Tia Maria and coke and he and Barry had a lager shandy, then he got me another double tia Maria and coke, then he ordered lunch, I went for scampi and chips, Barry had 10 oz gammon and Bill had rib eye steak, it was lovely as the last visit was a bit rushed but this was more relaxed and we had more time to chat with him. He'd had his hair cut and was telling me he hated it. We went back outside and stood talking for a little while, it was 2.30 pm when we eventually said we really need to go now, I don't know when we'll see him again, we left there and went to auntie Pauline's, we had a lovely few hours with her and she did us dinner, we had a homemade steak and mushroom pie which was delicious, she also gave me this lemon flavoured drink they got from Italy, it reminded me of lemon sherbert bonbons! We left auntie Pauline's at 7.20 and got home at 11.20 pm, we had a lovely time away and I can honestly say it was one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time! I did thank Barry for letting me meet with Bill, he said that if he'd said no I'd have made his life hell anyway!! But Barry had been ok with him, no awkward moments, he said the daft thing is I really like him!<br> I have felt really tired since coming back home I suppose the heat has done that too, it's been absolutely gorgeous but today it's a bit dull, very close though.<br> Well that's it, a really good weekend and now we are looking for places to stay next year because national convention is at the Thistle hotel Brands Hatch of all places!! Why they keep picking the bank holiday weekend I don't know and such stupid areas that cost a fortune!!<br> We have area president's evening next Saturday and I'm really looking forward to it, we have been practicing our jive and can even do that now, so we will be able to dance a fair bit instead of keep sitting out!<br> I will go now, we have Zeus coming at 6.30 tonight so are trying to Zeus proof the house, poor Shintu will be really stressed by Monday morning when Kelly comes back!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/05/09/a-fantastic-weekend-4152380/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/05/09/a-fantastic-weekend-4152380/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/04/10/holiday-of-a-lifetime-for-us-4026173/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2008-04-10:/2008/04/10/holiday-of-a-lifetime-for-us-4026173/Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:15:47 +0200 <p>Well we have had a busy few months. On Tuesday 4th March 2008 our friend knocked our door at 5.30 am, he and his wife were taking us to Gatwick airport. Barry's email pal had sent us air tickets and booked us into a hotel near him in Clearwater, Florida!! We arrived at Gatwick at 8.30 am and immediately checked in, then we went off for breakfast. At about 10.50 am I think it was, we went through to security. For some reason I made the alarm go off, this woman ran this thing over me and checked me but nothing, don't know what did it! We flew by US Airways, we took off a little late. We were sitting by the window, just the 2 of us, it was very noisy and there wasn't much leg room to be honest. We had dinner about 1.30 which was chicken and something, not too bad, but we did keep comparing it to the flight with Virgin 7 years ago, that was amazing, but there's no saying it's still the same! We had a very bumpy landing in Charlotte about 5.30 and had to wait to get off the plane as they couldn't get the platform to us.   We had to go through immigration and security which took ages, then we had to run to the other gate to get our connecting flight to Tampa, Florida! We made it and arrived in Tampa at 8 pm their time. Met Jim's sister, Mona, and she took us to our hotel, a lovely room. During our holiday we ate out at lots of places, we had breakfast at Biffeaters, ate at Pizza Hut, Ponderosa, Good fortune Buffet, Cracker Barrel, Bennigans, Country Kitchen, I've probably forgotten some but it was so cheap to eat out!! We saw the beautiful beaches of Florida, visited Mona's family in Bushnell Florida, Barry was very brave and drove Jim's car, we were about 7 miles from Jim's condo so he'd drive there each morning but didn't fancy driving back in the dark, so we'd leave about 7 pm at the latest. Mona came down a few times to drive us to different places. Her house in Bushnell is gorgeous, we stayed overnight there and had a lovely time being part of her family. Everyone we met made us so welcome, the 2 weeks went by far too quickly and all too soon it was time to say goodbye. Mona came down to take us to the airport. We had been told to check in about 90 minutes early, well we couldn't find our info on teh computer, so got someone to talk to, he said that the flight had been changed and that Jim should have had an email about it!! It was due to fly out at 5.15 pm but had gone about 3 pm!!! I was now in panic mode, much as I absolutely loved Florida, I was now wanting to see my dog and the kids of course lol!! Anyway, this guy got us onto a flight to Charlotte and then onto Gatwick. We didn't have long before we had to go through security, so said goodbye to Jim and Mona, which was very emotional. This time we went through the security thing that blows air onto you, I had never seen this before so had no idea what was going to happen, I almost jumped out of my skin!! Barry stopped it working somehow! We made our flight though and had about half hour to spare before getting our connecting flight. We didn't sleep on the way back, it was just too noisy, I wasn't impressed with the food again and the breakfast was awful. the flight attendant we had wasn't very happy either, the guys on the way over were amazing, but this one was very sour faced and almost like a robot when asking "Tea, Coffee, juice, water?" to everyone at 5 in the morning! We landed at Gatwick at 8 am and waited ages for our luggage, then went through customs and had to wait for our friends to pick us up. I loved the palm trees in Florida and must have gone on a lot about them as Mona and Lisa gave us some lovely gifts of glasses, windchimes, necklace etc with palm trees on!! We would love to go back but it's going to be a lot of saving up, so have told the kids that for our anniversary and christmas we want money to put towards it. We'd definitely stay in the same hotel as it was plenty big enough, the shower was amazing and there was a little 2 ring hob, a coffee maker and a toaster. We are both extremely greatful to Jim for getting the tickets and paying for our accommodation, there is no way we could have done this trip without him and we can't wait to go back and see them all again sometime!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/04/10/holiday-of-a-lifetime-for-us-4026173/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tampafloridaholidayhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/04/10/holiday-of-a-lifetime-for-us-4026173/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/02/26/all-change-3785115/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2008-02-26:/2008/02/26/all-change-3785115/Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:38:17 +0100 <p>Well so much has happened since I last came on here!! Our son and his fiancee moved out on 1st February, after almost 2 years living with us they finally got this lovely 2 bed flat just round the corner, well about a 10 minute walk away! They've got it looking really nice and seem to be coping great, not that I didn't expect them to!! So now it's just the 2 of us!! Talk about strange, I miss my kids being around me, we don't see Kelly as much as I'd like to but we do still see a fair bit of Steven. The most change is that we don't have to wait before getting in the bathroom, we used to let them in first as they had to get ready to get out. We eat alone now, which is very strange, we've always eaten as a family and sat talking together, so it's weird just being us 2! We can eat our evening meals earlier now instead of having to wait for Steven to come home from work and we can eat what we want, as Steven is such a fussy eater, doesn't like lasagne, rice, pasta, mashed potatoes etc... we don't have to think of soemthing different that he can eat!! The poor dog is wondering what is going on, Kelly 2 years ago, now Steven, he still gets excited when he sees them! Last Saturday Steven and Hannah had a flat warming party and Kelly and Alex stayed here the night, Alex had to work on Sunday but Kelly stayed here and Steven and Hannah came round for dinner, so that was really nice, like old times!! At the moment it doesn't really feel like we're alone I suppose because so much is going on!! We're off to Florida on Tuesday 4th March. Barry's email pal sent us tickets last July to go and see him!! Barry's terrified of flying and was really hoping not to have to do it again after 2001, but here we are packing our cases ready to go. He's very excited about seeing Jim again and meeting Jim's sister. It will be nice to hopefully have a bit of sunshine and be warm,though I have been enjoying the gorgeous frosty but sunny days we've had here!! Still trying to get out walking each day, alone and briskly, but so far something crops up, I've managed it a few times and now I've got my mp3 player to listen to it makes it much better, apart from when my mobile keeps ringing!! No I won't leave it at home, just in case!! Well I'll try and write in this again a bit sooner than this time!!! keep well x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/02/26/all-change-3785115/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>moving-holiday-floridahttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2008/02/26/all-change-3785115/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/12/13/my_tooth~3440077/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-12-13:/2007/12/13/my_tooth~3440077/Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:47:58 +0100 <p>In September, while out at a meeting and dinner, I was eating a lovely pork chop when I felt a bone, hubby said, can't be a bone, they are boneless chops. I said, trust me I have one! I took it out and said, oh, it's a pebble, then felt something in my mouth, it was the front of my tooth, it had just fallen off!! I felt quite sick for the rest of the evening, one of my fears is losing my teeth. A few years earlier the same thing had happened to another tooth, also on the right hand side of my mouth!! Anyway, we'd not been to a dentist for 2 years because ours wrote to us last year saying, sorry, we're not seeing NHS patients anymore!! In the summer we got a letter asking us to come back to them!! I called them and enquired, oh, they say, you haven't been to us for almost 2 years? No, I reply, because you told me you didn't want me anymore so I couldn't come. Yes, but as you haven't been for 2 years you can't get an emergency appointment!! So, I got one for October some time!! I went along and showed her (she is actually a lovely dentist) and then had to make an appointment to go back on 11th December at 9.15 am!! I went along on Tuesday, didn't get in to see her until 9.30. She had a prod around, asked if there was any pain and I said no. She started to clean around the tooth but it started to hurt, so she injected the gum and then carried on with it. The whole process took about half an hour but I was left with a numb lip until just before 1 pm!! Anyway, last night I noticed it felt very uncomfortable in my mouth, very lumpy (oh and it's white, not silver like the other one I had) Now it feels sharp in one corner, so I have a feeling it's coming off :-( Which means I'm either going to have to go back before Xmas or suffer till after!! I do have another appointment in February, she wanted to keep an eye on some other teeth, and they did say if they get a cancellation in the meantime they will call me in sooner. She also told me that it may come off over xmas and if it gets bad to call them!! So have I just had a temporary filling or what? The last one was fine, no trouble at all! I don't like going to the dentis and now have to go even sooner than I wanted to.....oh well, merry Christmas!!! x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/12/13/my_tooth~3440077/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>fillingsteethdentisthttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/12/13/my_tooth~3440077/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/12/03/nearly_christmas~3387304/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-12-03:/2007/12/03/nearly_christmas~3387304/Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:26:00 +0100 <p>3 weeks tomorrow and it will be Christmas! Last year's was very quiet, none of our kids were with us and it wasn't the same! We've just put the decorations up, normally it's about the 26th November but I didn't feel in the mood again this year for some reason! So we finally put the tree up on Thursday and the rest of the decorations on Saturday, there's still the hallway to do! We've got a busy few weeks coming up, starting with this week. It's the annual Christmas cracker in town, we have a charity stall there. Normally it's free but this year they've charged £15 a stall!! We queried this because when we did our own fun day we were told by the council we could not charge charities for coming along, now the rules seem to have changed!I wonder if we brought our fun day back we'd be able to charge other charities? The guy running the cracker says it's administration costs! Well we had those too but still couldn't charge charities! We're setting up and doing until 6.30 then Barry's off to a meeting (with a christmas dinner) Thursday we have another Christmas dinner, then next week we have our own lodge's dinner!! A neighbour asked us to bring back our Xmas party, so after much discussin and trying to sort out a date, we picked 22nd December (no other Saturday was any good) The invites have gone out and we'll see how it goes now! It's not a big one like it used to be, just our usual group of friends that we have dinners with and the kids and a few of the neighbours. Have no idea what we are doing for New year, we can't leave our dog alone because of the fireworks, the couple we usually see the new year in with are going away, so it'll be just the 2 of us by the looks of it! I don't mind staying in as it's a bit worrying going out any time of year with stabbings etc... going on and there always seems to be more fights on New Year's eve!! But I do miss the whole atmosphere of being out and get quite sad as the clock strikes midnight! Oh well....Happy Christmas everyone! x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/12/03/nearly_christmas~3387304/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>crackernew-yearchristmashttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/12/03/nearly_christmas~3387304/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/11/06/quick_break~3256076/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-11-06:/2007/11/06/quick_break~3256076/Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:24:35 +0100 <p>We had a very quick but hectic break away last week!! I was so excited (as always) that I woke up at 3 am, I stayed in bed until 3.30 then went down to do a drink and get the flask ready, packed the sandwiches so that all we needed to do was get ourselves ready! this was done quickly and by 4.50 am we were on the road! We stopped twice along the way and arrived in Liverpool about 10.45, we were meeting an old friend of mine, he turned up half an hour later and we had lunch together, then we went into the city. Unfortunately we were so tired we only spent 2 hours there, so we have decided to go again sometime but stop nearer to Liverpool. We called into my aunt's on the way to the travelodge and spent an hour with her, I don't see her very often so it was lovely to see her even if only for a short while! We arrived at the travelodge for about 8 pm I think. We'd got a room for £15 a night so it was a real bargain. ON thursday we went up to Blackpool, wrong thing to do! We were just so disappointed with it. The lights didn't look like they'd be much, so after walking around the town and meeting our friends at 2.15 pm, we decided to have dinner and just leave. We left about 5 pm so didn't even see the lights on!! It seems to be mostly photos of Dr Who characters with a light behind them! We got back to the travelodge and I had a bath, oh, I fell over in Blackpool and grazed my knee and hurt my right ankle, it was bruised and painful, which is why I wanted the bath! Next day we got up and travelled to Belper, this was an ancestry thing, Barry's ancestors are from Belper and we were on a mission to find the house they lived in back in the 1840's!!! We found it and took a photo, we also found a nailor's cottage, well his ancestors were nailors, so there's a good chance they worked in something similar if not actually that one!! <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/nailors/2125421" title="nailors"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/421/2125421_1a4c342c9b_s.jpg" alt="nailors" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="240" height="180"></a>It was quite an experience thinking that this is where his ancestors had walked all those years ago! We went to Matlock Bath and then Matlock itself before heading back to Belper to the Spotted cow for a carvery!! We met Barry's cousin who he had never seen before, we got in touch with all this ancestry, her mum and his dad were brother and sister and she found me on Rootschat! It was lovely meeting her and her husband. We left at 10 pm and went back to the travelodge. Saturday we were up and out by 8.30 as we needed to get back home so we could rest before going out for ladies night! We had been invited as guests so were on the top table and I had some beautiful flowers. We had a wonderful meal and then danced away and we got to do the waltz a couple of times too! We've not had another lesson since that first one, we're hoping we'll get one this month! Of course it's been Bonfire night too and they're still going off! On Saturday because our son was going out we had to ask mum to come over and doggy sit, he's terrified of the loud bangs, so we don't leave him alone when they are likely to go off which could be anything from 1 to 2 weeks!! Last night we went to a display on the beach, it was ok, but nothing special, but it's the atmosphere I like, feeling cold and the whole thing of bonfire night we've not been able to do it for years as we've always let the kids go out but as they went out at the weekend it was our turn!! We've got a funeral to go to tomorrow a few of us are going in our car, about 5 altogether! Well I'm off for a chat now, till next time x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/11/06/quick_break~3256076/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>bonfirebelpernailors-cottagefireworksblackpool-liverpoolhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/11/06/quick_break~3256076/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/10/17/christmas_is_coming~3151029/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-10-17:/2007/10/17/christmas_is_coming~3151029/Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:06:09 +0200 <p>Well for some reason, lay in bed last night I decided to work out how many weeks it was until Christmas, it was 10 weeks to the day!! Do I care, am I worried? No not at all, because as always for the last few years, I'm well organised!! I start shopping very early in the year and even wrap things up, I have several friends and family that live a distance from us, so it's always done this way so that if we see them we can hand out the gifts!! We saw Barry's daughter in Augst and gave her their presents, saves on postage and with the strikes lately saves on worry!! In the past things have gone missing too, so I'd much rather give them even if it's very early in the year!! Anyway, we only have each other to buy for and Barry's email pal in Florida, but we are taking his with us when we go next March (we have a little something to post off so he has something to open on Christmas day) Our decorations usually go up about the end of November, I just love the house looking festive and never get bored of it, they come down about 6th January but Barry often has got fed up of it by then and wants it down. I ALWAYS feel very sad at that time of year! Kelly turned 21 last month and we went to the Gurkha again to celebrate with friends and family. Apart from a handful of people (all family too) everyone said it was well worth the money and really enjoyed it! Kelly looked stunning in her tiara that Alex had bought her for her birthday, as well as the beautiful yellow sapphire and diamond ring. She had a westie that she's called Zeus<a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/kelzeus/2069597" title="kelzeus"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/597/2069597_16e62293f5_s.jpg" alt="kelzeus" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/mumdadkelal/2069598" title="mumdadkelal"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/598/2069598_cedb146300_s.jpg" alt="mumdadkelal" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> Here are 2 photos, one showing her the day she picked up Zeus, he's absolutely gorgeous and is doing very well, he's had all his jabs and loves going for walkies now! The 2nd photo shows Kelly with her fiance Alex, and my parents. It's a lovely family photo and as my parents have split up this was a rare opportunity to get such a great photo!<br> We're off to Moose area convention this weekend, then a week later we're going to Derbyshire to check out family history.<br> We've been having dance lessons at Weymouth Moose lodge, the ladies are teaching us, we've only had one so far, it was the waltz, we all really enjoyed it and they were so relaxed about it, it's all very good fun. Kelly and Alex couldn't make it as he works late, but Steven and Hannah did and they managed to learn it too!! Next one should have been tonight but there was a double booking so it may be next week. We're going to teach them the Hungarian Waltz that we learn at the ceilidh dance each year!<br> Well I'll go now, will report back with how our trip went later......Happy Halloween!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/10/17/christmas_is_coming~3151029/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>dancewaltz21stmooselessonshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/10/17/christmas_is_coming~3151029/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/09/24/happy_1st_anniversary_gurkha_sandford~3034196/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-09-24:/2007/09/24/happy_1st_anniversary_gurkha_sandford~3034196/Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:28:24 +0200 <p>On Saturday 22nd September 2007, we were very priveliged to be invited to the first anniversary of the Gurkha at Sandford. we arrived at 10.30 and filmed a little of the inside as we discovered that sadly Jennie would not be there as she couldn't get a flight back home in time. 9 of us had been invited but only 7 were able to go as Steven and Hannah were both working, poor things. We got a table and sat chatting for a while, then about mid-day we filed outside and were treated to the most amazing dragon dance, so colourful! Cars were going by and slowing down to see what was going on and we felt so proud to actually be standing there watching it all!!<a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=2003889" title="100_1427"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/media/889/2003889_f9003ecc6f_s.jpg" alt="100_1427" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> It was quite a busy lunch time as several people had been invited, but there was more than enough food to go round! The staff treat you very well and this day was no exception, though I have to say Jennie was missed by several people that day. We were all given little gifts as a memento of their anniversary, fans, chopsticks, purses, cocktail stick holders. If you've not been yet, please do go soon, tell them "Sweet and sour" sent you lol!! <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=2003923" title="100_1471"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/media/923/2003923_0147a6a341_s.jpg" alt="100_1471" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> We are off there again this coming Saturday as Kelly is 21 today, there are about 37 of us going along and we just know we are going to have a fantastic time, hopefully Jennie will be back then too. We are all really looking forward to this weekend!! Congratulations to the Gurkha, To AB, Jennie and all the staff who make our visits so worth the travelling to get to them!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/09/24/happy_1st_anniversary_gurkha_sandford~3034196/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>gurkhadragon-dancingsandfordanniversaryhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/09/24/happy_1st_anniversary_gurkha_sandford~3034196/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/08/06/busy_busy_busy~2765837/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-08-06:/2007/08/06/busy_busy_busy~2765837/Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:16:05 +0200 <p>Why do we always seem to be so busy in one go, then have nothing to do for weeks and get bored?? We travelled up to Norfolk on Friday to fetch Barry's daughter and grand-daughter, what a nightmare journey that was, we left here at 1.10 pm and finally arrived at about 8 pm, we only stopped for half an hour for a coffee, but got stuck in traffic on the M25!! We set off on Sunday to return home about 6.10 am as it had been so hot on Saturday we didn't want to be sitting in a car all day in the heat, this was a much better journey and we got home about 11.45. We have so much planned for this week, we're going to daughter's house tomorrow, we helped them move in last Tuesday but haven't seen it looking homely yet, then Wednesday I am helping on a stall in Weymouth, Thursday, not sure yet, may be going to Cornwall, Friday they're all off to Thorpe Park, Saturday girlie day out and in the evening the kids are going out, so we'll have to sort something to do with Katie!! Sunday we're supposed to be manning a stall at Lulworth castle but don't know if there are enough tickets for the helpers to get in!! Then afterwards the 8 of us are off to the Gurkha again at Sandford, have I told you how much we like it there?? LOL, good food but excellent service, it's Steven's 19th birthday on Friday and Sunday will be the first time we can all actually get together to go for a meal to celebrate it! The next time will be for Kelly's 21st birthday in September and at the moment Mandy is saying she will come down for it, that will be fantastic if she does, it would really make Kelly's birthday!! Well off to the fireworks in Weymouth in a bit so I'd better get moving!! x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/08/06/busy_busy_busy~2765837/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>sandfordgurkhafireworksweymouthhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/08/06/busy_busy_busy~2765837/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/07/25/great_holiday~2701113/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-07-25:/2007/07/25/great_holiday~2701113/Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:36:56 +0200 <p>We just had our first holiday alone, the 2 of us, no kids, nothing!! The first night we stayed at the B&B in Calais, we like to go there to see Alain, he's become a friend of ours and hugs and kisses us (well messes around with Barry) when we arrive. We travelled down to the gite on the Saturday morning. we were welcomed in the village by Bastille party, but our hosts were in their garden with friends. The gite was wonderful (can hardly complain for the price) We loved being in the village, never saw many people at all the whole week. Although we were in the courtyard of the owners, we didn't get bothered by them at all. We were the first people to stay there and they said they were pleased with us as they hadn't known what to expect. Anyway, the gite was a sort of bungalow, the bed was in the lounge in a corner, there were 2 chairs, not particularly comfortable for us, but ok, a tv and also a round table with 2 dining chairs. In the separate kitchen was a hob, an oven type thing which was actually really good, a microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, fridge and a little table with 2 chairs. We ate in the kitchen all the time as I didn't want to dirty the table cloth lol!!! She had left some roses in a vase and also a little bottle of home made liqueur, Blackberry, delicious! If you want night life and lots of people, then don't bother, it's very peaceful and out in the middle of nowhere really. It was about a 15 minute drive to Noyon, which isn't huge but is a nice little town, and 45 minutes drive to Compiegne, which is much bigger and has a chateau that you can visit. we foud the train station in Noyon for the first time, we've visited the area for 4 years and never seen it before!! We caught the train to Paris on the Wednesday and went to St Quentin on the Friday. We always go to Paris as we love it there and do somethig different each year, this year we went into the Notre Dame, which was actually a little disappointing. We've never been St Quentin before but it was well worth the visit, it was brilliant! Really did enjoy it there and will go again, hopefully next year. The owner took us to see the prison that Joan of Arc was in before being sent to Rouen to be executed! the holiday seemed to be over very quickly and it was time to return home. We went back to Calais and saw Alain again, be warned, if you go there he will play some kind of joke on you (well most of the time, I think he susses people out) He got this Belgian guy thinking the bank were calling about his credit card, the guy was not amused, apparently he'd done the same thing the night before to this English guy and he'd been on the thing for 5 minutes saying "hello" the english guy WAS Amused and found it very funny. We use Speed ferries and for the first time ever it was a bumpy ride home, I actually felt sick but wasn't!! I'd left my sea legs in the car too! We were home about 10 pm that night, seems like a distant memory now but a very good one. I did miss the kids though! Our dog had to go to the vets last night for the same thing that happened last year when we came home from France!!His back was hurting him, he had to have an injection in his shoulders, which left him a bit dazed all day today. Hopefully we've nipped it in the bud this year, I really don't want a repeat of last year! Now we are counting the days to when mandy comes to see us, we're picking her up on 4th August for 2 weeks, it will be so good to see her and Katie again as it was last Easter when we saw them! Kelly and Alex move into their new home on Tuesday (31st) July, so we'll be very busy next week..... till next time </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/07/25/great_holiday~2701113/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>holidaygitefrancehttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/07/25/great_holiday~2701113/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/07/06/nearly_holiday_time_again~2587388/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-07-06:/2007/07/06/nearly_holiday_time_again~2587388/Fri, 06 Jul 2007 20:45:37 +0200 <p>It's been a while since I last wrote on here again!! We've had a lot of things going on. Kelly had an accident in her car 2 weeks ago, that was the scariest day of my life! We got a call from some man who had seen it (her phone as usual was flat) all I heard was Barry saying that she'd had an accident and I went into panic mode!! then I heard the words, which hospital will they take her to? She was ok, physically, but very, very shaken up. We rushed up to see her and she was in the back of an ambulance. The people she'd hit were very nice (so far) she lost control of her car and went into them. She was sent to hospital for a check up then sent home. It took her 2 days to get behind the wheel again and then very reluctantly!! She's better now but more cautious! They had their mortgage offer this week, so all being well they will be moving into their house next month! They had a run in with the estate agents who have let the flat they are in, she found out on Wednesday that on Monday they had been in her home to do a check!! She had only just given notice on the place, pending on the mortgage offer!! They had not given her any warning and on checking her contract it states a minimum of 24 hours notice will be given!! She has written and complained! We had a shock on Sunday! We had booked our ferry last year and also the mobile home that we have had the last 2 year in France. We changed our ferry crossing to the day before so that we can go to Calais and see Alain, so on Saturday I emailed the campsite to ask what time we can get into the mobile home. He emailed back the following day saying, sorry, we don't have any accommodation!! Thank goodness we had changed the ferry or we might never have found out until we arrived!! No, we didn't pay a deposit, but assumed it was because we had been a few times, last year we didn't pay a bond because of this reason! Anyway, after much panic and the fast help from the mail online boards, we contacted gites de France and found a little gite 7 miles from Noyon, 100 euros cheaper!! We called them Monday morning, were faxed the contract, which we signed and faxed back, then Wednesday we had written confirmation! Very impressed I can tell you and on looking at the site there are bigger gites we could have used, all cheaper than the mobile home, which we had always thought was cheap anyway!! Total cost of our french holiday? Just over £200 for a week, this is the gite and the ferry!! Can't complain can we? I was feeling sick Sunday evening, looks like it was a blessing in disguise in the end! Will tell you about it later...... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/07/06/nearly_holiday_time_again~2587388/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>francegitegitesnoyonhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/07/06/nearly_holiday_time_again~2587388/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/04/02/totally_confused~2018499/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-04-02:/2007/04/02/totally_confused~2018499/Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:35:28 +0200 <p>I have been trying to log in here again and kept forgetting my info, just found the book with it and it was as I thought, I entered it, then it said wrong info, so I did a different password and it told me I was already logged in!! Anyway, have just had an amazing weekend. We had ladies night on Saturday 31st March, there were only 54 people there and to be honest we looked a bit lost in the room! However, we had a fantastic meal, sadly Alex had decided to go to a Liverpool match instead, so Kelly's best friend, Hannah, stepped in to take his place. The meal was amazing, I had goats cheese tartlet to start and it was so delicious! After the meal came the speeches and they are always fairly short and funny. then came the important part, the dancing. I must have danced to almost every cd that was played! Absolutely fantastic, we had a mini bus down and back home good job as I was aching like mad. Then yesterday we went to the Gurkha, there were 11 of us and we had a brilliant time, so we have eaten far too much this wsekend, which hasn't done the diets any good, so need to be more careful the next few weeks. Had I been losing a pound a week I'd be 4 pound lighter today than I am, so I need to catch that up somehow! trouble is I like my food too much and my chocolate especially!! <img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/670/1295670_6b62da4b5f_s.jpg" alt="family pic" vspace="5" hspace="5"> Got lots of pics on facebook and Truprint but thought this was a lovely family photo of just the 4 of us, usually there are 6 of us but we thought we'd just have us lot on this one! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/04/02/totally_confused~2018499/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/04/02/totally_confused~2018499/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/02/26/long_time_no_write~1808840/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2007-02-26:/2007/02/26/long_time_no_write~1808840/Mon, 26 Feb 2007 16:44:18 +0100 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1201190" title="Ghurkah Dec 2006"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/190/1201190_d38ccb300c_s.jpg" alt="Ghurkah Dec 2006" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a>I can't believe how much time has passed since I last did anything on here! We have been very busy, Barry's email pal came over from Florida, that was a great visit. We had a lovely holiday in France, the 6 of us went and we hired a VW Caravelle and all paid towards the cost of the holiday. It is going to feel very strange just being the 2 of us this year I can tell you!! The Gurkha oriental all you can eat buffet opened in Sandford, Wareham last September and we were all invited to the opening night which was amazing! We have all been back on various occasions, including Hannah's birthday in December, but I can't seem to remember how to upload a photo to this!! We also go every couple of months for lunch, usually 5 of us as it's Kev, Katrina and our friend Trudie however tomorrow Trudie has a dental appointment so it's just the 4 of us. NExt time will be April and there will be 10 of us so that should be fun!! Kelly is now working in a nursery in Sherborne and absolutely loving it, she will be starting a course at college soon to gain her NVQ. Steven is now at an opticians in Dorchester and loves it, he was working in an estate agents but the pressure of targets was making him ill and the pay wasn't great really, not worth it at all He was good at the job but not one for forcing someone into something which is what it seems they wanted! I will try not to leave it so long before Im back!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/02/26/long_time_no_write~1808840/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oriental-buffetrestaurantgurkhaall-you-can-eatwareham-sandfordhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2007/02/26/long_time_no_write~1808840/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/04/22/great_easter~746813/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-04-22:/2006/04/22/great_easter~746813/Sat, 22 Apr 2006 11:40:29 +0200 <p>We just had a fantastic week! We went up to see Barry's daughter on Easter Sunday, we hired a caravan until Friday so that we could give Mandy her space, Kelly and Alex went up there Saturday night and stayed with her, they left on Monday as they had to work. We hadn't seen Mandy and Katie for almost 2 years so it was fantastic to spend so much time with them. Now that we have found this caravan we hope to be able to visit more often as it was very reasonably priced out of season. <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=496139"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/media/139/496139_66a626b6fd_s.jpg" align="" alt="our family" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> It's very rare that we all get together and was the first time that Mandy had the chance to meet Hannah and Alex so it was a really good time for us all.....The week just flew by and on Thursday night we said goodbye to them both. We got home about 2.30 on Friday afternoon. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/04/22/great_easter~746813/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>familyholidayhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/04/22/great_easter~746813/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/04/08/slowing_down_for_a_while~711681/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-04-08:/2006/04/08/slowing_down_for_a_while~711681/Sat, 08 Apr 2006 10:23:47 +0200 <p>Well after a very hectic month of playing around with Ancestry, my time is up!! I received 2 more certificates, the birth of Henry, confirming his parents names, and also his parent's marriage certificate that gave me their father's names, this was fantastic. I need to confirm things, but it looks like with the help of others on other websites, I can now trace the Illsley's back to about 1750!! All this from just knowing about Henry being born in 1867 and dying in 1894, now look how far we have gone back. I keep wishing my Grandad was here to hear all about it, but maybe he has already met them all!! The certificates took 3 weeks to arrive, a week longer than estimated, however, Barry's dad's birth certificate came exactly on time, the day after I lost my subscription to Ancestry!!! Talk about frustrating... I did manage to find his grandfather's birth in 1891 though, so we will have to send off for that to get the next generation back. He has such an unusual name too, Edden Smith!! However, apart from fidning his birth and marriage I can't find him on the 1901 census, wonder what they called him? I have tried Eddie and Ed, but nothing! We just had a really good weekend, our friends came down from South Wales for Ladies night, we had a fantastic time, we drank far too much on Saturday afternoon, then went out for the meal and dance. They stayed until Sunday and then went home. They are having their marriage blessed in December for their silver anniversary and we have all been invited, including some friends of ours, so we have booked a guest house that has 7 rooms, and taken over it!! We have all 7 rooms in our names! The friends invited are "our" group of friends, and the kids and my mum and her friend, it's going to be an amazing weekend, I'm already looking forward to it, just imagine breakfast the next morning, with us lot there, hung over lol!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/04/08/slowing_down_for_a_while~711681/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>treesilverancestryweddingfamilyhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/04/08/slowing_down_for_a_while~711681/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/03/20/waiting_and_waiting~661311/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-03-20:/2006/03/20/waiting_and_waiting~661311/Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:31:16 +0100 <p>Here I am again, I was so annoyed the other week, I decided to ring the GRO to find out what had happened to Barry's dad's certificate, the money had gone out the bank but nothing at all. I was told that they were refunding £4 as I had given a volume and page but they couldn't find him, for some STUPID reason I had put 1921 as his year of birth, but I know it's 1919!! So we have re-ordered it now, yes, I told him about it, I was just so mad with myself! Trouble is, there's now quite a delay on sending them out and by the time it comes I will have finished the Ancestry month. I have also ordered Henry's birth certificate and his parent's marriage certificate! My cousin has found his parent's graves and there is now a paving slab there with their names on! They think Henry may be under the new path! They're going to investigate! She's also found his grandad's grave, but as yet we are unsure whether he is maternal or paternal grandfather! It's all very exciting but so confusing, I hope that this marriage certificate I'm waiting for will clarify things more, knowing my luck I will get more confused lol!! Took a little break from this lot on Saturday 11th March and we had a day trip to London to meet up with some of my dieting buddies from the femail site, well what a day that was! Apart from the fact we'd never been to London before, I met 7 of the most lovliest people you could wish to meet! I spent about 3 hours with them while barry went round with one of the husband's who had also came along. We loved London and wished we'd had more time to look around, but have planned another one next month now, so will have fun then! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/03/20/waiting_and_waiting~661311/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>researchfemailfamily-treehttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/03/20/waiting_and_waiting~661311/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/03/04/success~611751/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-03-04:/2006/03/04/success~611751/Sat, 04 Mar 2006 12:33:37 +0100 <p>Well my auntie and cousin have both sent cheques for £10, what nobody knew (and probably still don't at the moment) is that I'd already sent for the marriage certificate. It came through on Thursday and I cried when I read Henry's father's name, it made him seem more real to me. No, I'm not going to put it on here as I think that it's unfair for those of us who have paid for this information!! I've sent copies to my auntie and cousin (though they don't know it's on it's way) I have given the rest of my family the opportunity and until they do contribute I think it's not fair to pass on the information to them. I've given everything else I've researched so far, even stuff I got through genes connected, which I'd paid to be a member of, but as far as information on certificates, no!! My cousin is off to Tamworth next week to see if she can find out where Henry's grave is, she said she will take some photos for me, so I'm really looking forward to that!! I wish I could be there to see it, if I got so emotional over a marriage certificate I wonder how I'd feel at his graveside? Barry is keen to trace his side now and he doesn't know that I've sent off for his dad's birth certificate, this will give him his grandparents names and something more to work on, so hopefully he can do a bit more research. I was a little upset at his reaction on Thursday as he seemed fed up of hearing about mine, I was so excited yet he made me feel I shouldn't be and that I shouldn't keep telling everyone, miserable sod!! lol Till next time x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/03/04/success~611751/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>treesresearchfamilycertificateshistoryhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/03/04/success~611751/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/27/still_searching~596841/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-02-27:/2006/02/27/still_searching~596841/Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:07:03 +0100 <p>I've been given some leads from Rootschat site and I'm trying to follow them up but to be honest without those certificates there's not much I can do. I need to find out this guy's father's name then I can confirm if the info I have is correct. If so it means I have found my great great great great grandad!! I emailed those of my family who are on the internet and suggested that if we all paid £3.50 each that would buy 3 certificates, I'm waiting for replies now. There are 8 of us, that's my dad, auntie, brother, sister and 3 cousins (as well as myself) so it's not really much to ask for is it? another auntie on mum's side is posting out some info on my grandad and great grandad, so maybe I can trace that side back a bit more then, she's sending some photos too which I can't wait to see. With all this family research obsession we have sort of neglected the family itself, so yesterday afternoon after dinner, we played Rummikub with Steven and Hannah, we also organised 2 murder mystery dinner parties, one for the 25th March, just the 6 of us again, and one for the 6th May (my birthday) which is for 10 people. We've written both invitations out to give everyone plenty of time to sort out a costume, but have also stressed that they don't have to dress exactly as has been suggested! Well I think I'll go and have another look at my family tree in case I missed something!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/27/still_searching~596841/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>familytreeresearchmysterymurderhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/27/still_searching~596841/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/23/still_researching~586542/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-02-23:/2006/02/23/still_researching~586542/Thu, 23 Feb 2006 15:05:34 +0100 <p>I have joined genes connected and rootschat now, still hoping for more info on my ancestors. I think it's about got to the stage where I have to consider buying certificates, then starts the dilema!! Do I buy them and keep the information to myself? So far everything I have researched I have passed on to just about everyone in my family, it's not really cost me anything, apart from the £9.50 to join genes connected, just a lot of my time so far, BUT, if I start paying £8.50 a time for a certificate should I pass any more info on? I've subtly suggested that all donations would be gratefully recieved, only one person has offered so far, but not actually come up with any money yet! One of my aunts is 60 this year and I may well give her the info for a gift, but as for everyone else, a big part of me wants to say sod it, I'll keep it all to myself, if you were that interested you could have offered to pay a portion of the cost between you all!!<br> We've had some flurries of snow again today, unusual for our bit of dorset, it was just as Steven was about to start his driving lesson too, good practice for him I suppose.<br> I had a job logging in here again, i'd cleared my cookies and forgotten how to log in, so this time I've made a note of them, it ISN'T my email as I kept thinking, oh dear.... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/23/still_researching~586542/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>ancestorstreeresearchfamilyhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/23/still_researching~586542/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/14/researching_family_is_addictive~561864/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-02-14:/2006/02/14/researching_family_is_addictive~561864/Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:31:29 +0100 <p>Wow, my 2 weeks ended yesterday actually they end on Thursday but I got the chop yesterday! Oh well, the stuff I found was absolutely amazing, I saw all these different census' from various years, I found my nan's dad's family in Foleshill Union Workhouse in 1861 I think it was! That was amazing to see, the other members were listed as inmates but not my family members! I managed to find my mum's maternal side right back to 1803 which was fascinating and with the help of Genes Reunited someone contacted me and gave me the surname of the first lady on it as I just had a first name for her! I've come against a brick wall with my dad's side as there seems no more info about his great grandad, so have decided to save up and buy their marriag certificate which would at least give me his dad's name (my great-great-great grandad's name!!) I did trace my great-great grandma's family a bit and again, through Genes Reunited someone contacted me but so far no more information, other than Annie's sister Mary, is in her tree, so we could be related somewhere down the line! Here was me saying there is no way I will pay out for certificates etc... now I'm considering it! Trust me, if you start looking into it you will get very addicted to it and want to keep going on! I'm off to have another nosey now to see who else has the same family members and will them to contact me lol!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/14/researching_family_is_addictive~561864/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>ancestryfamilyresearchtreeshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/02/14/researching_family_is_addictive~561864/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/31/another_interest~522047/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-01-31:/2006/01/31/another_interest~522047/Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:37:42 +0100 <p>I had an email from ancestry.co.uk the other week saying that for the first time the Births, marriages and deaths index was available free!! So I started with myself, something easy that I knew the information about lol. Then started going back, I found my nan's births on there and their mother's maiden names, both of which nobody knew, so that was quite good!! Unfortunately, as interested as I am, I'm not paying the money out to keep getting birth certificates!!<br> Kelly and Alex have settled in well in their flat and enjoying living together, they have adjusted well but then they did spend a lot of time together the last 12 months!<br> Steven's booked his driving test for the end of March and will have a 2 hour lesson each week until then. I've worked out a money plan for him and I'm putting it into little bags in a safe, so he can't get at it lol!!<br> I've decided to become area co-ordinator for Moose, so will get a letter out to the circles I'm looking after and go along once a quarter to see how they all are. The others never used to visit much but I will try and go now and then!! I like visiting anyway!!<br> Going with Kelly tomorrow as she's trying on a wedding dress, it's one that she had ordered in her size as she wants a champagne coloured dress, so they ordered it in and now she's going to try it on, we'll see what happens with it!<br> Had an invitation today from an old friend, she's getting married on 25th February, so we're going to go to that as she was a very good friend, we all lived in the Midlands as teenagers but coincidentally ended up in the South, I've not seen her for years though!!<br> So as you can see life is still busy!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/31/another_interest~522047/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/31/another_interest~522047/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/22/all_change~494486/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-01-22:/2006/01/22/all_change~494486/Sun, 22 Jan 2006 10:02:02 +0100 <p>Well last Sunday they moved into their flat. It was hard work moving stuff out of here and then up to the flat which is up a couple of flights of stairs! Luckily it didn't rain and we managed to get it all done by about lunch time. We met their landlord who lives in the main part of the manor house, he's really friendly and nice. We left about 4 pm so we could come back and do dinner as mum came and looked after the dog for us (after she'd helped move some stuff in and make some tea and coffee) The kids came back for dinner as they were so tired, then they went back home. It's very strange not having them here so much, even though she'd been spending more time at his mum's lately. They both had the Monday off work and did some shopping and sorted things out. We went up there on Wednesday and it looks lovely, they've got it nice and tidy and it really does look good. We saw Kelly yesterday in town as she was on lunch. On Tuesday we started moving things around. We put the desks and computers upstairs in what was Kelly's room, then we moved the bed in, the kitchen is back to how it should be, with just the dining table at the one end now so we can move around a bit easier! We emptied our old room and then started stripping it as Steven had bought some new paper for it. On Wednesday Steven and Hannah finished off the stripping and painted some woodwork in there. On Thursday Barry and Steven decorated, Barry did most of the work while Steven pasted the paper, he was hoping to learn how to paper it but when he tried he was saying it was too hard lol!! By 6 pm the room was done! It looks amazing, they moved the bed in and then started sorting through all the rubbish that he'd hidden under the bed! They moved the rest of the stuff in on Friday and did some tidying up, we moved Kelly's big wardrobe and our old one into the spare room and put the mattress on the floor. Steven finished his room off yesterday, he'd bought a new desk and his old one, which didn't really look much like a desk, is now in the spare room with a lamp on and a little basket that has samples of showergel, shampoo etc... for any guests we have!! We just have the lounge to rearrange now but will wait so Barry can have a rest as he's really aching! We called Mandy yesterday and are working out hwo we can get up to see her this year, at the moment it looks like it will be April, just after Katie's birthday! I've enquired about a caravan nearby and we'll split the cost with Steven and Hannah as they want to come too. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/22/all_change~494486/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/22/all_change~494486/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/07/my_daughter_s_moving_out~447990/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-01-07:/2006/01/07/my_daughter_s_moving_out~447990/Sat, 07 Jan 2006 10:55:37 +0100 <p>Just before Christmas Kelly and Alex looked at a flat in an old manor house, they filled the forms in and waited, and waited, with Christmas it took longer than expected but finally this Tuesday (3rd Jan) they found out they have got it! They get the keys on 14th Jan and move in on the 15th! They have been getting things together for the last 12 months so don't have too much to get. They are both very excited. I have mixed feelings, after all, she's my little girl and I'm going to miss her, on the other hand, I remember clearly how I felt getting my first home and so I feel excited for her too! She'll be about half an hour away from us and will have to drive in to work every day so will have to move quicker in the mornings lol!! <a href="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/cdsmall_480_Front-Coker-print.jpg" title="the manor house"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/cdsmall_480_Front-Coker-print_small.jpg" border="0" alt="the manor house"></a> is this impressive or what?? Of course they only have one flat in this house, not the whole lot (shame eh?) But it is a very big flat. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/07/my_daughter_s_moving_out~447990/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>movinghttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/07/my_daughter_s_moving_out~447990/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/01/happy_new_year~431379/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2006-01-01:/2006/01/01/happy_new_year~431379/Sun, 01 Jan 2006 15:55:13 +0100 <p>We had a New year's eve party last night, we invited the usual 3 couples to join us and we did a murder mystery party, only this time we just had a buffet, not a dinner. Everyone dressed up as they were suggested to in their invites and we had such a laugh!! This Murder at the Panto is definitely one for over 18's.....we had a karaoke at the end and were in stitches trying to sing as the words were just so funny!!! It was completely different to the ones we usually do so was a little confusing at first, but we really did enjoy it. <a href="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/pantogirls2.jpg" title="girls ready for pantomime"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/pantogirls2_small.jpg" border="0" alt="girls ready for pantomime"></a><br> I won't say who the murderer was but nobody in the group guessed!! We watched the new year being brought in on TV in London and had a toast to the new year and then sang auld lang's syne! <a href="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/pantoguys.jpg" title="the guys ready"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/pantoguys_small.jpg" border="0" alt="the guys ready"></a><br> The kids weren't with us last night, well from about 10 pm, it's the first new year we've not had one or other of them here so was strange, but it was a good one anyway!!! I hope the new year will be a good one for you all. x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/01/happy_new_year~431379/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>murdernew-year-s-evepantomysteryhttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/01/happy_new_year~431379/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/28/it_s_all_over~421689/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2005-12-28:/2005/12/28/it_s_all_over~421689/Wed, 28 Dec 2005 13:08:25 +0100 <p>well here we are, in between Christmas and New Year. Kelly and Alex came back with a real Christmas tree on Christmas eve, they were giving them away at the shop down the road! So we put th parasol lights on it and it looked great!! We had a very good one this year, it was just the 4 of us for dinner but at 5 pm Hannah came, then we watched her open her gifts and we could open the ones with her name on, at about 6.45 Alex came, so more opening of gifts. Everyone did really well, we got lots of things for them as couples for their bottom drawers. Kelly went up to Alex's and had more gifts, she came back Boxing Day<a href="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/2005-12-24010.jpg" title="the real christmas tree"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/2005-12-24010_small.jpg" border="0" alt="the real christmas tree"></a><br> Kelly packed her bag Monday night and they went to my mum's. At 6 am on Tuesday they were up and caught the bus to London, this was a complete surprise to Kelly organised by her lovely fiance! They checked into a hotel (that he had booked) and walked round the city, met up with his parents who had been there for the Chelsea match the day before, had lunch with them and were taken on a tour of London. Last night they went to see the Lion King, the musical. Kelly called and said she cried when she found out, cried when it started and half way through! Barry keeps going on about wanting to see it so maybe I should organise something like this for him? I am busy washing now and getting the place ready for New Year's Eve as we are having a party here with a Murder at the Panto theme, the characters sound hilarious and I can't wait as we are ALL dressing up for it, we don't usually bother too much but have gone to town for this one and I think it's going to be a good laugh, will have a few drinks before playing it!! So, have a very happy new year everyone!! x </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/28/it_s_all_over~421689/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>pantomurdertreechristmasnew-years-evehttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/28/it_s_all_over~421689/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/23/nearly_christmas~410208/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2005-12-23:/2005/12/23/nearly_christmas~410208/Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0100 <p>I thought I would just add a quick one here before the Big Day arrives!! We're all ready for it here, the tree has been up almost a month now and is bulging with gifts and they're not all under it either!! This year it will just be the 4 of us as it may be our last chance of a family Christmas with just the kids. Kelly hopes to move out next month (still waiting to hear if they've got it)and will want to spend her first christmas with Alex. I know that they will all come and spend it with us at aome point but for this year I wanted it to be just us 4. We've been given strict instructions we can't open anything with their fiances names on, so this will make the day last a lot longer than usual lol!! I wonder what time I will wake up this year, I've nearly always been the first up, beaten once or twice by Steven!! Speaking of which, he handed in his notice at the cafe he's worked in for over 2 years, he has been offered some hours at the shop down the road, more pay, nearer etc.... he has his last day tomorrow and will feel quite sad leaving there, he's loved it! Well, I'm going now, so have a very happy Christmas, I will try and get on here before New year.... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/23/nearly_christmas~410208/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/23/nearly_christmas~410208/#commentshttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/15/happy_christmas~388188/tag:chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk,2005-12-15:/2005/12/15/happy_christmas~388188/Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:09:33 +0100 <p>Phew, what a hectic month this is! We went to Calais last weekend (9th December) with our good friends. We were delayed 2 hours getting on the tunnel so it put everything out for the time we had there, we rushed dinner in Flunches in the Auchan, then caught a bus into town and saw the amazing lights. We had heard so much about the Christmas lights in Calais and they really are worth seeing. Coming from a town that is struggling with it's lights each year,we really appreciated this! We stayed in the B&B as always, and at breakfast next day saw Alain, he quickly got a jug of milk (in May he had teased Barry about the milk) He is the most friendly, jolly person you could wish to meet and is constantly laughing! We went into town again on Saturday morning and looked at the market, did our shoppping in the Auchan after dinner and decided to try and get an earlier tunnel crossing, so Barry drove to the terminal 3 hours early and we got put on an earlier one. We don't go to Calais for the booze, we're not particularly big alcohol drinkers anyway, we go because we love France and it's the cheapest way we can get a quick fix before our main holiday in the summer lol!! We did buy a little wine, but mostly we bought orange juice, apple juice, lots of pork which is so much cheaper there, some bread, cheese etc..... Already saving for the next one now. Let's see which picture I can upload to give you a taster of the beautiful lights<a href="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/calais-lights015.jpg" title="one part of Calais"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/blog/c/chocolatemoose/img/calais-lights015_small.jpg" border="0" alt="one part of Calais"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/15/happy_christmas~388188/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>auchantunnellightsshoppingchristmascalaishttp://chocolatemoose.blog.co.uk/2005/12/15/happy_christmas~388188/#comments