First Day Covers...

When Tom was born, some friends of my parents gave me £50 for him. Being the first baby to come along in a long time, he already had an impressive wardrobe and so I wondered what I could do with this money. I decided to open an account with British Philatelic Bureau (later to become part of the Royal Mail) and start a collection of first day covers.

The collection is still going strong and has now been transferred over to No2's name on the envelope (I found it really hard receiving things through the post with Tom's name still on it). Every month a new set of stamps is issued and I still get excited about it! Looking through the collection this morning to photograph some for this post, I realised that we have a little bit of history in our albums. Stamps are issued for significant events and celebrations, so we have a our own timeline for the boys' lifetime.

1996 Olympics & Paralympics

One of the first set of stamps produced after Tom was born, in 1993, marked the centenary of the letter that was to become one of the most famous of children's books, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. 1993 was also the 50th year of Beatrix Potter's death on 22nd December 1943. I always like to think that I named Tom after Tom Kitten as I am a huge Beatrix Potter fan. He was often called Tom Kitten by friends and family, so this was an unexpected surprise.

Today sees the issue of a set of 1st class stamps depicting UK plant species in recovery together with the 250th Anniversary of Kew Gardens.

We always like the postmarks. They are carefully chosen for each set of stamps to associate with the subject. Some of them are obvious but others are fun. I'd love to have the job of finding all the quirky places to go with each set. Did you notice that the Olympic ones were posted in Much Wenlock, home of the first modern Olympic games?

Here's a few of our favourites...

:: posted in Morecombe ::

:: posted in Freezywater, Enfield ::

:: posted in Mousehole, Penzance ::

The Christmas ones are always posted in Bethlehem, Wales, which I was thrilled to discover was just a couple of miles up the road from Bantwen.

Blogger has just about driven me nuts doing this post, with its mind of its own when it comes to positioning and layout. And my photos aren't great... the battery was dying on my camera and it's SO grey here at the moment!

Spiritual Retreat...

Last Friday I was lucky enough to be invited to another spiritual retreat with Helen House.

The gardens at the house provide a wonderful space for reflection and memories.

Again, we were blessed with the weather and wandering around the garden was such a delight.

The generosity of the owners was, once again, amazing.

After lunch, we did a little workshop on memory stones. I was not really familiar with the idea of them, but I now have my own set.

The smooth stone represents everyday things - day-to-day life, routines, muddling along...

The jagged stone represents more difficult times. Times when things didn't run quite so smoothly, perhaps...

The little stone has some tiny sparkly bits in it. It represents special times. Times that stand out...

They feel good to hold. Strangely, the special one fits snugly onto the jagged one in one place. It's good to have a 'real' thing to hold for a specific purpose.

Party time...

There were peonies...

...birthday balloons...

...cupcakes...

...sparklers...

...the perfect ingredients for a party.

Sixteen...

Happy Birthday my darling boy. Sixteen today.

Center Parcs 2001

Party coming up!

Bluebell Heaven...

Yesterday I found a little bit of heaven.

A sea of blue - almost floating between the beech trees.

Beautiful.

Photo opportunities at every turn!

Over the stile, across a couple of fields and the air is filled with the scent of wild garlic.

The best the month of May has to offer.

Pattern and texture...

Our day at the zoo last week was wonderful. The sun shone all day and we strolled from one species to another. I have hundreds of photos of all the animals we've seen at the zoo over the years. Armed with my camera, this year, I thought I would look in more detail at what we were seeing.

I loved the mosaics I made last year, so I've made some more using the patterns and textures we spotted.

There is a new Animal Adventure area (you can tunnel under into the meerkat pen and pop your head up in a perspex dome in the middle of the pen - how cool is that?) and texture plays a big part in the design. It was all very tactile: I wanted to get down and touch this floor.

And these willow sculptures were so organic - I'd love some in my garden.

OK, just one animal shot - here's a gorilla with a shared interest!

Laughter...

Just so as you know, it's like being on a rollercoaster. Although my previous post was mostly down, I do have other moments punctuating my days with up.

On Sunday, I received this text from my sister...

...I duly replied (ok, an hour later, but I was busy-ish).

Her reply had me in stitches. For quite a long time. No2 wondered what all the noise was.

I'm still giggling at it now...

Laughter is the best medicine. Especially when it is unexpected.