Today marks a year since we got engaged! It does and doesn't feel like it was that long ago since we took the train from Edinburgh up to Blair Atholl to visit the beautiful Blair Castle. I remember being a bit grumpy at having to get up so early to catch the train and I did sleep most of the way and missed all the lovely countryside but made up for it later in the day by taking over 400 photographs! David actually proposed to me whilst we were sitting by a little stream next to the bridge you can see in the pictures below.
I would love to say it was a complete surprise but getting married was something we had been talking about quite a bit, I just wasn't sure when he would ask me but he picked a beautiful spot to do it. My overwhelming memory of the day was the heat, the entire week we were in Scotland last year I hadn't experienced temperatures like it for a while, it was hot constantly, a stark contrast to our first visit in the snow. The train journey back to Edinburgh from Blair Atholl was one of the worst trains I've ever been on as the air conditioning didn't work despite the best efforts of the train staff but it really didn't matter because I was getting married! We did look at how much it would have cost to get married at Blair and as much as we would have loved it the price was a little beyond our means.
I always seem to time my holidays wrong and my Crafty Creatives box arrives when I'm away! The theme this month is Glamour, a perfect box for Gatsby fans looking forward to the new film. Like the Steampunk box, this one is right up my street and the contents are an absolute treat for someone like me who loves anything shiny. The kit has everything you need to make a lovely beaded hair clasp, something I will be having a go at very soon. Contents of Box 11 are -
- Art card by Lianne Williams
- CC kit to make the beaded hair clasp
- Beaded fluffy trim, mine is black and I will have to keep it away from my mother-in-law as she would absolutely love it
- Swarovski Crystal beads, mine were light rose and very pretty
- Photo glue
- Stardust beads, nice and sparkly
- Lace stamp
- Ink pad, I had a pinky-purple one
- Bag of metallic stardust, bigger than glitter and really lovely
- Fat Quarter of Black Velvet
- Red Rose Pendant, love this
- Pair of Silver plated Rhinestone faceted teardrops, perfect for making earrings and also included were a set of findings and some jump rings, another project I'd love to give a go.
With the sun on our side last Thursday afternoon we ventured down the M4 to St Fagans National History Museum which is one of my favourite places as I may have previously mentioned. Usually we visit during June or the early part of July when all the roses are out but it was lovely to see all the spring blossoms and bluebells this year. The doves were also being quite friendly as a couple had just fed them and clearly they wanted more food from our little picnic. As you can see from the pictures below we only had a little walk around the castle grounds as time wasn't on our side but I can't wait to go back again soon. Apologies for being photo heavy but I found it hard to choose and with the new style Flickr a bit much to get my head around I thought I'd show some here.
We really enjoyed our week away, hopefully it won't be too much longer and we won't have to come back anymore as we are planning to move later this summer. We may even have a house lined up even though it isn't built yet! I think our time here is coming to a natural end, we never planned on being here forever but that post is for another time. Last week the weather was on and off so we didn't do a great deal, especially as David was having his driving lessons too but we managed a little St Fagans trip and saw lots of lovely bluebells and blossom which I'll be sharing tomorrow. We also spent some time pottering in the garden and over at the allotment, I love seeing the progress every time we go back. It was also amazing to see how much had changed in the garden since we'd been down just a few weeks ago.
I'm happy the past couple of weeks have gone by in a blur as we now have a week off! David is going to be cracking on getting his driving licence and I'm going to be making a few things with my recently acquired fabric stash. During our afternoon out to Fishguard on Tuesday we discussed the possibility of moving again as they are building a new store on the way into Cardiff, by Friday our applications were winging their way up north. I think an opportunity like this is something we have been waiting for, just for it to be in the right place or at the right time and with the way we've been feeling it was time. Don't get me wrong, I would have happily waited longer, what I really wanted was a date on when it might happen as I feel the past couple of years we've been stuck in limbo not deciding what we want to do or where to go. Now we have an opportunity that might not come again for a while I've had the most positive feelings I've had in months. Obviously at the moment all we've done is apply and now we wait to see what will happen. We've given it our best shot so far but aren't packing up just yet.
In other news I'm finally going to get my first Minolta roll developed! I'm not going to attempt to remember how long ago I shot it hmm. Having a quick look at the weather for the week ahead and with uncertain plans I don't think I'll take any film cameras away with me, having said that it will probably be glorious now but will take my D3100 with me, I'm currently toying with the idea of upgrading and really fancy the D5200. I might set myself the challenge to buy it but only from selling other stuff. Right, time for me to get going to see the family...
