Life in the Pit Lane!

Hello everyone!

Well, Thursday arrived, and with it our chance to revisit the pitlane at Spa-Francorchamps.  We had such a great time there last year.

We queued for nearly three hours, then a mad rush to get a position outside favourite team garages.  The boys raced off to Ferrari, which is always a madly crowded affair, but DD, me and DH headed for the Williams garage as DD is a great fan of Felipe Massa, and I was also quite interested to meet the rising Finnish star, Valteri Bottas.  I love the driving style of the Finnish F1 drivers, Mika Hakkinen, and of course Kimi Raikkonen.  And on the way to the track we found out that Ferrari have signed him to drive for them again in 2016 - such jubilation!!

And the bonus, the Williams garage was next door to Ferrari, so we had a clear view there too.

Fascinating watching the mechanics prepare the cars...

Taking the cars for scrutineering...

Ferrari...

Williams...

Force India...

Torro Rosso...

More final preparations...

And then, DD let out a squeak - Mr Felipe Massa emerged from his garage...

He graciously signed autographs, DD still hasn't descended from cloud 9, thanks Mr Massa for making her day!

Valteri Bottas, a rising F1 star...I was able to use my entire Finnish vocabulary when thanking him (i.e. Thank you very much!) I think he was quite surprised, but understood me and thanked me in English!

Such excitement! 
Then a huge cheer went up from the Ferrai fans - Mr Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 F1 World Champion, and our family favourite, had arrived!

DH shouted "KIMI!!" rather loudly so I got a great shot of the Iceman (his nickname) looking straight into my camera lense...

One of his mechanics shared a joke and we were treated to a rare smile, Kimi is known for his cool, calm demeanour and it is said, by some, that he doesn't smile often, but he did on this day...

Sons managed to get autographs but we were not near enough.  But it made our day watching him chatting with the fans and his mechanics and team mates.

Then the Ferrari Team Principal came out of the garage too and spoke to some of the Ferrari fans in front of their garage.  I had my Ferrari cap and cheekily called to him to come over to where we were... and being a very nice chap he did just that!

He kindly signed my Ferrari hat - I was very pleased! And of course I thanked him for signing Kimi again, he was very gracious and friendly.

Then - another world champion was spotted - Jacques Villeneuve , soon to be a Formula E driver next season, being interviewed by a TV crew...

What an afternoon!

After all the excitement with the drivers we allowed to walk onto the track itself...

The pit straight....

Exit of La Source...

All of this set us up very nicely for the race weekend!

Back soon hopefully with Friday practice!!

Helenxx

Deep in the forest a monster sleeps...

Hello again everyone - well, I left the last post with a bit of a cliffhanger: what were we seeking, deep in the forest of the Ardennes?

Can you make out what it is?

 



Yes, we had returned to this amazing place....

For the fabulous Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix!!!!!

We had been planning the trip since before last Christmas, with race tickets and accommodation booked the day before my birthday on 12th January.

The track was locked to the general public as this was the weekend before the race, but the real reason for our country walk was to follow a woodland trail that runs parallel to the track giving tempting, fleeting, evocative views of what many F1 fans count to be the best race track in the world...

Looking across to the legendary Eau Rouge section of the track...the
G force exerted onto the drivers at this point is greater than that experienced by astronauts at take-off - the cars are travelling at around 200 mph...

The pit straight...

Lorries with equipment and the cars themselves had already arrived...

FIA vital equipment, this lorry, we discovered later, was carrying the safety cars...

Team Lotus and Team Torro Rosso...

Love the Torro Rosso logo of the charging bull...

A HUGE cheer erupted from us all when we spotted the Ferrari lorries as the driver we support, Kimi Raikkonen, drives for this team...

We then walked into the village of Francorchamps which offers one of the entrances to the track...

Big hotel, this houses a lot of fans come race weekend...

Impressive new house...wonder who lives there...

Hotel de la Source, named after the first bend on the track...this is a place for VIP visitors...

Number 1 son had planned this walk for us, and all were in agreement that it was the ideal start to our European Motorsport Road Trip!

Walking back to the car, we excitedly discussed who we thought would be the winners and losers, who could cause an upset, the latest Formula 1 gossip - yes, our support of this sport is a real family affair. 

The hillside was just starting to show pink/purple hues from the emerging heather....

Beautiful view over to Stavelot and beyond...

Tired, but excited for what awaited us the following weekend we returned back to our chalet for a lovely dinner, cooked by DH.

Back soon hopefully with our visit to the castle of La Roche en Ardenne! Complete with condor!!

Helenxx

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

Feeling Thankful

Thank Goodness its the Weekend!!!!!!!!!!  Wow, what a week.

Hello everyone, hope you are well and looking forward to a lovely weekend.  My feet haven't touched the ground this week, it has been very hectic again.  But now it is Saturday and I can have a little scrap of time to sit down, have a coffee, and reflect on things I have been thankful about lately.

First of all, a few weeks ago I received a lovely message from Susan to say that I had won the monthly apron giveaway she organises.  She makes the most amazing aprons, and very generously gives away one each month.  She is also an amazing cook and posts super recipes. 

The apron I had won had an October theme in the colours of the fabric, and to say that Susan is a talented seamstress is a vast understatement.  Susan, thank you so, so much, and I must apologise for the poor quality of the photos - it has not properly got light here for over a week.  Please go over to Susan's blog to see the apron in all it's true glory, but here are my efforts at trying to show how lovely it is...

Don't you just love the pocket design - so neat...

Trying to give an idea of the true colours of the fabric...

 

 

She also included a sweet card with a lovely message inside...

Susan, you are amazing, thank you again so much.

Last Sunday saw the last Formula 1 motor race of the season, if you read this blog regularly you will know that this household is an F1 fanatic household.  Darling Daughter made Red Velvet cupcakes to celebrate our favourite driver Mr. Kimi Raikkonen... the 2007 World Champion...

Number 7 is the number of his car...

 

watching the race munching cakes...

 

 Bless him, he has not had the best of years but we are hoping for better things next year.

This morning I have had time to sit and actually enjoy a cuppa without having to rush around...

And last night DH bought these home with him, didn't take long before they all disappeared...

Finally I thought I would share some batik and quilting work my Darling Daughter has been working on for her A level Textiles project.  She, like me, loves Autumn and has been using autumn leaves as inspiration.  I am so delighted with the quality of her work, she has really started to show a real skill and maturity in what she produces.  And her machine embroidery puts mine to absolute shame!

Well, I am going to treat myself to another cuppa (steady on there!!) before getting organised to go out on errands.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.  And of course, to all my friends out there in the US, belated Thanksgiving greetings.

Helenxx