Where did the month go?

A catch up, possibly with pictures.. I write from Husband's new computer on a wireless link, 'my' computer is yet to be plugged in never mind connected to the wireless thingy. Yes, I know, I should just sort it out for myself, but a) I've no techy skills whatever, and b) I would be in very deep trouble if it went wrong and messed up this one! I'm sure he'll get there, not least because he doesn't want us "clogging up this computer like we did the old one".
Youngest's Just William Guide Camp went very well judging by the exhaustion of the participants - not to mention their general grubbiness. She even held an award ceremony at the end and presented certificates for such feats as 'Most interesting table manners' and 'Best den builder'. The planned mid-night camp-fire sing-song was moved to around 8pm because they were all a little bit afraid of the dark.

The weather in Spain was not quite as good as it was at home, but the welcome from Firstcousinonceremoved was enthusiastic and we packed in a great deal of sightseeing: Segovia, Madrid, San Lorenzo El Escorial, Picasso's Guernica, tapas, Easter parades (a sort of Live and Let Die style funeral march dressed in Klu Klux Klan outfits!) and a Palm Sunday service.

Home to some hasty planning for an Easter weekend visited by both sets of Grandparents and a stray Brotherinlaw. Youngest made place settings and Eldest a cake. (Pictures will have to follow as I can't find them anywhere on here!)
A couple of days of school and they were all off again for The Wedding. Youngest and I were pretty much glued to the telly - I needed to see all those frocks! Loved The Dress but threw abuse at the commentator who described it badly and failed to talk about where and by whom the fabrics were made; I've had to buy a paper to find out! The coverage was followed by a street party at our end of the village that was well supported and a bit of fun.
Yesterday we took my in-laws to Camden Town for a (younger) Brotherinlaw's 50th birthday lunch. A real treat in a private dining-room at the York and Albany.
That's it, life ought to be back to normal now.

What's in a name?

There were oodles of children at my cousin’s wedding, around 200 guests. The groom has a sister and the bride 3 siblings: all are married with children. So the exclusion of the cousins’ children was simply about numbers. No offence taken!

Noisy church service with lots of guitars and songs; Mother, Favourite Aunt and I enjoyed a good sing; our husbands were resigned to silent horror or surreptitious eye-rolling. The service was a great deal shorter than the previous wedding ceremony in this part of the family (I’m afraid they were taking bets).
My cousin is training for the church (following his father and our mutual grandfather and great grandfather), so every other person we met seemed to be church of some sort.
We were given tea and tiny sandwiches while the photographs were taken outside church which we all thought was a great idea - and Pimms while we stood waiting to meet the bridal party at the bride’s home. The garden had been cut down over the previous year to allow the erection of a marquee for the occasion, so there were (small) fruit trees inside it and a considerable slope to the ‘room’. It was imaginatively decorated with bunting and place settings made from a mismatched collection of tea cups and saucers, a sale style label with our names and a little muslin bag of sweeties. The bride and her mother had made the chocolate coloured bridesmaid dresses with royal blue sashes, co-ordinated male accessories and the similarly co-ordinating bunting. The dress was an off the shoulder scoop-necked, drop-waisted and trained fitted frock in lovely cream lace: very pretty!
Supper was extremely good, and generously wined. The speeches were generally good with plenty of laughter in amongst the obligatory thank-yous. We were clearly too old for the disco’s music and decided to call it a day at around ten.

My Church Uncle and Aunt are unhappy with the groom and bride’s decision to opt for a hyphenated combination of their surnames. We are a largely female line of the family and there are only two ‘boys’ with the necessary surname left. One is so far unmarried and nearly didn’t attend for fear that everyone would say “Your turn next”, and the other has this weekend ‘abandoned’ the name. My Family-Historian Uncle was understanding, but provided a list of example family names where this had happened before (some with hyphens, some with as many as 4 names strung together). It may be conventional to take your husbands name, and it is certainly the simplest solution, but it is definitely not the fashion… I expect, as I type, a spray of spluttering about female identity, independence and general disagreement!

In business-ish..

Have got no further with a business plan and rather think I won't bother for the moment. I guess if I was going to go into a major life changing type living off my earnings project I would need to be professional and do the work, but it is more about finding a useful and interesting way to spend my time. I realise that makes me lucky, but since I'm still the chief cook and bottle washer, not to mention decorator, cleaner and taxi driver extraordinaire I don't think I need to feel too guilty.

I've been having a very stitchy summer - and if I was cleverer I'd be adding lovely photos - but you will have to imagine for the moment! I made a pair of curtains for Youngest from an old short pair trimmed with a duvet cover and am now engaged playing with matching scraps to make cushions for her bed. Then I created a curtain to cover a shelf of shoes, cushions, laundry bag and heart for H to go in her new student room in Cardiff in a beautiful grey/blue spotty classic cotton. Next I produced yet more curtains and cushions (baby blue with white spots) for the girls' 'playroom' which I have newly painted in a classic cream in a successful attempt to lighten their north facing room with dark blue carpet. Decorating with hearts and squares from co-ordinating scraps so very little money spent.

Have also done some mending for a friend for which I was paid actual money- not going to make my fortune, but enough to more than cover the cost of the girls' fabric. Two pairs of suit trousers shortened for her husband, and two skirts shortened for her so she might actually wear them!

My lovely hairdresser came yesterday and brought my hair under control. Turns out she has decided to marry her partner and father of her impending offspring, so I dropped in the fact that I might be able to help. She got all excited and insisted on seeing my wedding dress and then went through my scrap book of makes... She's on a tight budget, but that wouldn't necessarily be a problem if it got me some business would it?!