Babies, babies, babies!

We had some wannabe stowaways on Saturday when we left the local swimming pool after Pickle and Picklesister's swimming lessons!

Apologies

Apologies for the absence from blogging. I was going to do a big catch up with where we have been over the Easter break but now our computers are poorly and I am limited as to what I can do on it.
So instead I will just show you where we went yesterday, which was the blue bell woods at Haughley Park.

They are absolutely stunning but you have to be quick if you want to see them, the gardens are only open Sunday 3rd May from 2pm until 5.30pm but they are definitely worth a look and the tea and cakes on sale in the barn were delicious!

A long day....

For Pickle's 6th birthday we spent the day in Cambridge, mainly in Build a Bear in the lovely Grand Arcade (how a shopping Centre SHOULD be built) but we did find time to admire these beautiful flowers. We were supposed to be going to the Cinema there but due to an ever crashing sat-nav we were unable to find it, so we came back to Bury and watched Monsters Vs Aliens there instead. Afterwards we had dinner at Frankie and Benny's then decided to go for a walk into town to see The Cattle Market in the dark!

It has been a few (many) years since I have walked through Bury at night, but we were surprised at the amount of rubbish on the streets. I appreciate that it was after a market day but the rubbish we saw was not created directly from the market itself, it was mainly take away drink and food containers. Another shock for the time of night were the 'gangs' of young lads either riding skateboards at full pelt through the Cattle Market, swearing at the tops of their barely broken voices or speeding around the Buttermarket in their clapped out old fiesta, shouting at everyone from their windows. This used to be 'expected' at 11pm when the pubs were closing but at 8.30pm?
We were aware that there were absolutely no Police anywhere to be seen in the town centre during our time there and I am curious to know if this is normal or if they were all called upon to prepare for the Queens visit the next day. If it was the latter it is sad to think regular people have to suffer just because of an hour or so's visit to the town by an old lady.
I bet the Queen only saw the shiny sparkling Angel Hill area of Bury and was spared the shambles the rest of the town had become in preparation for her visit.

Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaarty Time!

With just 3 days to go until Pickle bursts with excitement, or her 6th birthday (who knows which will come first?) Picklesdad and I braved the heat of Playworld with 7 of Pickle's friends for 2 hours of FUN!
They all had a brilliant time, even if some of them did get a little hot. One boy was heard to say
" I am so sweaty, I will be sweaty FOREVER!"

"She was a skater cat...."

I fear Pickle has been inspired by Stuffonmycat.com. This is Sapphire our oldest lady cat, after Pickle has given her a make over.

Needless to say Sapphire was not amused!

The Rebirth of The Cattle Market

On Sunday the Pickles went to check out the new shopping centre in Bury St Edmunds. It has been a LONG time coming and we have not been feeling too positive about what the architects have done to this part of Bury. We approached the site from Waitrose car park, so didn't have the best view of it as the rear of Debenhams leaves you feeling like you are about to be abducted by a large alien spacecraft.

However once in the main square of the CATTLE MARKET I began to feel more positive, it actually didn't look as bad as I had imagined. The fronts of the shops look fine, it is the grey wood above them that is the problem.

After our visit we went to 'Old Bury' through a dingy walkway which looked far worse than it
used to after being in the shiny 'new' Bury.

After seeing a gentleman in costume we went to check out the museum in Moyses Hall which was having a free entry heritage day. Picklesister has wanted to go in here for ages, so she was happy. Pickle was considerably less happy, as upstairs there were 'models' or 'mannequins' of some soldiers which terrified her to the point of screaming hysterics and we had to make a hasty exit.


Moyses Hall Regiment Gallery

SURPRISE!

On Saturday night the Pickle family were amongst many guests sitting silently in the dark at the local community centre waiting for the guest of honour to arrive. It was my friend's 40th birthday and her husband had arranged a surprise party for her with people coming from as far as Europe and as close as the village to be there.
She was told she was going for a meal with her husband at a local pub (which doesn't even do food!) and they were stopping off at the community centre because a friend of their had blown all the electrical fuses and needed help.
The look of surprise/shock/horror on her face when she walked in was priceless and luckily for everyone she did not swear out loud and was REALLY happy to see everyone there.
I am still in shock as one of the guests was a teacher from my Upper School Days who hadn't changed a bit and said he remembered me, but I expect he says that to everyone!
The music was a bit on the heavy side for me but Pickle and the normally pink and princessy friend of Pickle LOVED it!

Headbanging Pickle style!


My friend's 40th birthday continued in style today with a Pudding Club lunch at the local pub (it's a hard life!)

We had a small pasta starter followed by 7 (yes SEVEN) puddings to choose from.
Rhubarb Crumble
Apple Pie
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Trifle
Chocolate Heaven
Chocolate Brownies
Lemon Cheesecake

Sadly I could only manage 3 but they were delicious.
Roll on the next 40th!