Life is soooo busy!

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!!
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!!
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!!!

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

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

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......

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!! 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!

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!!!

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.
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.

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!!

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!

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