Lucky Finds - Merit "Six Memory Games"

Whilst looking for this on ebay, I came across this Merit "Six Memory Games" box. I'm not entirely sure what the six different games are, but I was more interested in the retro illustrations. They look like they must be out of some childrens' books and have a Provensens feel about them ... but I can't be sure. I can't find any info about them anywhere ... anyone have any suggestions?

Lucky Finds - Piatnik Cards SNAP and Watch It

Another vintage card game. This time SNAP designed by the Austrian company of Piatnik but I guess manufactured by "Benno Products London". Ebay find ... haven't seen anything like it since!

Rest In Peace Dadu...

This morning, on my birthday, my beloved Dadu passed away. I have no surviving grandparents left, which makes me quite sad and contemplative. Still, I am so glad I got to see her in January. We will miss you SO much Dadu. I am sure you are in a better place now and rather than mourning your death we will celebrate your long and wonderful life...

Love you.

Acoustic alchemy

We've been really lucky recently to have been enjoying lots of live gigs. Its so nice to hear live music, especially acoustic folksy stuff in some of the most intimate venues too...

We've just spent this evening at our "local", the Tobacco Factory, listening to Bristol's own Phil King. Sunshine and I luuuuuurve him ... and we try and go see him whenever we can. We love him so much that I walked down the aisle on our wedding day to this wonderful song. Definitely one of Bristol's hidden talents. One day he is going to be HUGE :)

Last week when we drove up to Dorset, our first stop was at the Square and Compass Pub. Just our luck that they had some live music on that evening in a tiny room full of lots of locals. It was so tiny infact that I ended up sitting on the floor just in front of Gren Bartley. We had never heard of him before - but he was fantastic. He had a really good rapport with the audience and a real dry sence of humour. We were in stiches between songs ... Would definitely go and listen to him again.

Then earlier this week Sunshine found out that Martha Tilston was playing just down the road from us at the Louisiana. We'd never been to a gig at the Louisiana, and we'd never heard Martha live so it seemed the perfect opportunity to go. The very pregnant Martha did a fantastic set of lots of music we have listened to lots before on CD. It was really nice to hear the stories behind the songs ... suddenly I can listen to them with a completely different perspective. My first exposure to Martha was when she used to be in a duo called "Mouse". Sunshine introduced me to her music (he says he can't quite remember where he had heard of her from) and we both really like this song (sorry, couldn't find a video of it anywhere) from her Mouse days. We even tried to do the walk from St Ives in Corwall along the coast to Zennor Hill during our honeymoon. Unfortunately the coastal path was closed due to landslides .... but we've vowed to do the walk ... one day ...

And as luck would have it, Martha was supported by the excellent Jason Steel, who again we had never heard of before, but so glad to have been introduced to his music now. The music room at the Louisianna is again quite small, and as the gig was so gentle and folksy, a lot of us in the front were sitting on the floor ... so incredibly intimate that at one point Jason came out into the audience and sang accapella to us ... Wow! What an amazing voice! Going to be looking out for him again in the future ...

Anyway, so that has been our musical adventures in the last couple of weeks. I would highly recommend listening to each of these artists - you won't be dissapointed!

Appologies for the rubbish pictures - low light and taken with my phone ...

We love you our Little Wind...

A year ago today our world turned upside down. I went from being healthy-and-pregnant to grieving-mother in the matter of a few hours.

We heard your heartbeat for the last time at about 9am. A few hours later, you were born, our little angel, our Little Wind, at 2:48 pm - but you had already left us. Its been a whole year but we think about you everyday. We love you more than anyone can ever know. I am so sorry I couldn't keep you safe inside me ... I hope you are in a better place than we could ever provide for you.

At your funeral, the chaplain read this out ...

Farewell to Little Wind

Into the freedom of wind and sunshine
We let you go.

Into the dance of the stars and planets
We let you go.

Into the wind's breath and the hands of the creator
We let you go.

We love you, we miss you,
We want you to be happy and free.

Go safely, go dancing, go running home .

And we'll see you in our dreams ....



Love you
xxx
Mummy and Daddy

Dorset day 2

Today we were not so lucky with the weather, so we drove down to Studland and took the chain ferry to visit some friends in Poole. We sat in their living room; staring out at the fantastic view; drinking copius amounts of tea; and just catching up on life ...


The rain had died down a bit by the time we headed back to pick up Loz. I managed a few springy pictures - look, a robin collecting for its nest; and spring blossoms - before we packed up and headed home, stopping on the way to visit the symbol of fertility that is the Cerne Abbas Giant...


Back home now ... and that was definitly too short a trip. SO going back to Dorset soon ... it was beautiful! Thank you Loz and Marky (and Sunshine) for a smashing weekend ...

Dorset day 1

Weekend away in Dorset with our friend Loz ... we drove up last night to her boyfriend's (who lives in Dorset) and ended up in the most fantastic 'local' pub full of entertaining locals and great music - and its own museum! This morning we headed off to buy some fish for dinner ...

At Lulworth Cove ...

From Lulworth Cove we took the coastal path to Durdle Door ...

After which we walked all the way back and then stopped off for lunch in a pub overlooking Corfe Castle.
From there we headed off for another walk ...

Finding massive ammonites, on the way to some abandoned limestone quarries ...

In the evening Marky took us POND DIPPING! We fund a newt, some lesser and greater boatmen, and a whole bunch of other insect nymphs and larvae (sorry no photos - was too dark). Then we had our fish (grey mullet, yum yum ....) and sat round reading books and watching films ... aaaahhhhh ... just the kind of holiday we needed....