Janet's Easter table display

Times/Bradstone win a garden competition T&Cs - Times Online

Chris and I have entered this Times competition for a new garden which will be on display at the Chelsea Flower Show and installed once the flower show is over. Wish us luck! This was our photo entry. We also had to write 100 words to say why we deserved it!



Times/Bradstone win a garden competition T&Cs - Times Online

Megan Chooses What She Wants for Dinner

Do You Recognise This Place?

It took surprisingly little time to sort out the metal, the combustible and the skippable. Thanks to Joe's hard work and persuasion, we ended the session with a completely clear and swept Sports Barn.
The difficult decisions are yet to come!

Luss for a day

Samantha and I went to Luss yesterday but the weather didn't hold and we walked the banks of Loch Lomond in driving rain. The swans didn't seem to be much bothered by it though.

Kim, Brian and Quincy

I thought I'd share these pictures of Chris' sister, Kim and her husband Brian and their new baby Quincy. Quincy was born a day before his second(ish) cousin Rhys.

John Colin's first appearance in a school show

 

John "starred" as a Sleepy Dwarf in the Foundation Year's performance of Snow White today.

Family celebrates Joseph's Birthday

Another milestone celebrated in St John's Grove: a family tea-party to mark Joseph's 40th Birthday.

Happy 40th birthday, Joseph!

 

40 years ago today, Joseph was born in Madang Hospital, Papua New Guinea. After a month there (while Janet recuperated from her Caesarian operation), he returned by light plane to Karkar Island where he slept in a meat-safe in a paper house. The rest is history.

Bacon butty anyone?

Our new piglets arrived this afternoon.....sausages and bacon will be ready in September

The local army engineers receive the freedom of Beeston

The 170th Infrastructure Support Group, based at Chilwell Depot, was today given the freedom to parade through Beeston on their return from Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

General election count in Broxtowe

With the general election to be called in the next few weeks it seems that Broxtowe Borough Council is one of the few constituencies that has yet to decide whether its returning officers are to stay up late to oversee the count.

Staying up on election night is one of the few genuinely exciting political moments when we get to find out straight away who will form the next Government.

Come on Broxtowe, over 600 of the 650 constituencies have already made up their mind, why not you?

Here's what the Speaker, John Bercow had to say recently:

"For my own part, I am a passionate believer in instant, not slow motion, democracy. It seems to me that it is in the interests of the House and the country that the count should take place on the night, and there are two overwhelmingly compelling reasons why: first, I believe that there could be a threat to the security of the ballot if the count is delayed; and, secondly, it seems to me that on the day the election takes place, it should be possible for the count also to take place so that we get the result speedily.

"Frankly, it should not be beyond the wit and sagacity of humankind—or indeed of local authorities—to ensure that that happens. I politely suggest to the House that what is required is not a passive acceptance of the particular views of individual local authority chief executives, but rather an assertion of leadership nationally and politically, at a local level, to achieve what I sense the House is uniting in wishing to see."

Today we celebrate our patron saint

Nottingham town centre this afternoon was full of people in green costumes having a good time, especially in the bars! Not quite so flamboyant as elsewhere, perhaps.

Megans First Trip To Betws-y-Coed

We had a glorious journey over to Betws-y-Coed. Megan was a passenger, then later driver, on a train.

A Poem by Louisa

FOOD

Poverty, it is.
A word, a big cause
A big journey, but with no applause.

Food, dear food I love you so,
People say you’ve gone a bit big, but what do they know?
Food, dear food you make me grow,
You are the one that makes me glow.

Pizza and chips,
They are the ones that make me lick my lips,
Spaghetti and chicken wings,
Whenever I see you, my heart sings.

Africa, dear Africa,
Children suffer, and die.
It’s not fair, it's not fair.
Why don’t we care?

Now is the time to think about the poor,
Those who need the help, that aren’t even fit, and suffer from war.

A poem to think about, by
Louisa Patrick

John Patrick's 70th birthday celebration

Photo credit: Jonathan Patrick

Wybunbury Methodist Chapel for sale

Granddad Wainwright was brought up in the house next door (built by his father) and attended Sunday School here.

This is just the property for a Wainwright descendant to develop! A snip at £165,000, with planning permission for residential use.

Warren House, Willaston, for sale

My grandfather built this house in 1899, on a plot that had been owned by the Wainwright family for generations. The plaque on the wall reads FJW 1899.

We visited it in 2008 on the occasion of Mum's centenary. Highly recommended, with a view of Mow Cop (20 miles away) from a bedroom window.

Happy Birthday Dad

Patrick Family On Tour

We continue the celebration of Dad's 70th Birthday with a trip to Bala Lake. The sun shone and we had a smashing time.

John Patrick 70th Birthday

John Patrick 70th Birthday

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