Monday 16 March 2015

Mother's Day Blessings

Good morning, I hope you had a good weekend and, if you were celebrating, enjoyed Mothers Day.

I was very blessed, and had some lovely gifts from my "crew" -

I hadn't seen this book before, it is absolutely gorgeous, will be making some things from it soon I hope...


A super new oven glove, mine had become unbearably tatty and threadbare after many years of hard grafting...


And look what sneaks in at the bottom of the photo...

 
 
Darling Daughter had been baking up a storm, a lemon Swiss roll...
 


Her cakes are always wonderful, but this one has to be up there with the best she has ever made...




DH bought me a lovely bunch of flowers, still tightly in bud at the moment...

but some of the cherry blossom buds are emerging...


I spent the latter part of the morning visiting my Darling Mum, who is feeling much better again after another recent bout of illness.  Her strength and optimism is an inspiration.  She and my brother then came round for dinner, cooked as always in stylish fashion by DH.  We all enjoyed it immensely, home cooked meals shared with family really is a wonderful thing I think.

All in all a day full of blessings and happy times, thanks to my crew! I feel very thankful.

Hope you have a lovely start to the week, Helenxx

Saturday 14 March 2015

Catching up with happy days

Good morning everyone - I hope you have had a good week.  The boys and I were up very early this morning (5.45 am) to watch the live qualifying for the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season - we were pleased to see our favourite driver qualify 5th, with seemingly a much improved car.  We will be up at 4.30am tomorrow to watch the race live from Australia - quite an early start for Mothers Day isn't it?!

Anyway, as usual work has been hectic, but lots of lovely things have been happening since our trip over to Spain.

First of all I was blessed to receive gifts from two of my lovely blogging friends from the USA, first of all is this beautiful snowflake hand made by Gracie...


so pretty, it really sparkles in the light.  Love it!

Then, this little beauty arrived from Teresa...


Isn't it lovely?  To me this has a real Scandinavian feel, and you know how I love all things Nordic!

Here are both gifts together, side by side...


Gracie and Teresa, thank you so very much for these lovely gifts - I am very lucky to count you amongst my friends.

And, this morning, the postie has been very early and delivered an exciting looking parcel from Sue in New Zealand - I have shown great restraint however in opening it as my darling daughter isn't awake yet and she is my "helper" when opening swap goodies - thank you very much indeed Sue, hopefully I will be writing a post soon all about it! 

Back in the Moonstruck household, it has been a time for celebration...


second eldest son turned 21!  DD was back in her pinny baking up a storm...


this was a chocolate orange cake, with no less than 3 chocolate oranges used!! Baked in a bundt tin it was so delicious and moist, long gone now of course!

As part of the gifts I gave him, I commissioned this cushion from a colleague at work...


These are logos associated with our favourite Formula 1 driver, Kimi Raikkonen.  The symbol is based on a flying bird, and Iceman is his nick name, based on his cool, calm manner of dealing with things.  It is in Ferrari red as that is the team he drives for.  I think it is probably fair to say that it is a very unique cushion!  He spends many long hours sat at the dining room table on his computer completing his university course work, and often complains of the hard seating arrangements, so hopefully this will solve the problem.

Well, must away, I am feeling quite smug as the washing machine and dishwasher are both humming away, I  have tidied around and found time to write a blog post, but other errands are now calling.

Have a lovely weekend, Helenxx

Friday 6 March 2015

Plaza Espana

On our last full day in Seville we visited the lovely Plaza Espana, a surprisingly modern construction, built in the 1920s as an exhibition space - you can read more about it here.

It was lovely weather, 25 degrees Celsius, and such a beautiful place to wander around.








All around the edge of the Plaza buildings are beautifully tiled booths, each representing a city or area of Spain...





The pomegranate is the symbol of Granada...


Even the balustrades are beautifully decorated, I love how the blue of the paint matches the blue of the water...


The horse and carriages stop off here to admire the view...


All too soon it was time to get on the plane and fly home...


Hoping we can return again one day, if you ever get the chance to visit Seville grab it with both hands!

Just to round up my week of posts on Seville, I hope you enjoy this video below made by the Sevilla Tourist Board, watching this convinced me that the city was well worth a visit - and how right I was!

Helenxx

Thursday 5 March 2015

Walking through the streets of Seville

Seville is a very pedestrian friendly place to visit, no big hills to negotiate, and wonderful things to see around every corner.  The old town district is known as Santa Cruz, we were fortunate enough to stay in the centre of this area.  Here are few of the things DH and I came across on our many walks...

We had a lovely cup of Moroccan mint tea, with pastries in this charming little square...



I love these narrow streets, so typical of the region...






Lively cafes lined the larger squares, this one was right outside our hotel...


These lovely fellows could take you on a tour of the city...


Seville is known for skilful use of tiling to create stunning images...




Seville is a very religious, Catholic city, religious imagery is everywhere...


Many shops sell religious artefacts, including these rather scary looking costumes worn by the penitents on Easter parades...



There were some lovely shops selling yarn...


and flamenco dresses...


In the evening the streets come alive with people going shopping and having a great time with family and friends...



Everything is beautifully lit...




How we loved wandering these streets - and our walks provided some super exercise too!

Helenxx