November is quite a little speed freak. She’s also excited to be seeing Auntie Erin in a couple of hours.
Patience little one, we’re almost there!
…than be stuck in Paris because of a fire in the Eurotunnel *sigh*
After five happy days in the French Capital we were due to return to England on Friday but obviously that didn’t happen and we ended up having to extend our trip. Damn shame, eh? I mean of all the places to be stuck 
Anyway, we’re safely back now and actually managed to return on the first Eurostar out of Gare du Nord this morning. All praise to Eurostar at the French end- the whole operation was super efficient, we were extremely well informed throughout and we even got a free breakfast before we boarded. And we had absolutely no trouble getting refunds on the emergency train tickets to Calais and the Sea France ferry to Dover that we’d booked the day before (and making those alternative arrangements was super easy too). Even getting the new Eurostar tickets was a cinch- we turned up at the station this morning and within minutes had new boarding cards in our hands for a train that was due to depart 20 minutes after that. That’s even faster than a regular day!
The journey back took a little longer than scheduled- there was a 30 minute wait on the tracks to enter the tunnel at Calais and the train went through it at half speed through- and there was a smell of burning and chemicals when we entered the tunnel, but that was kind of to be expected and made the journey all the more interesting. Apart from that it was business as usual.
So what did we do with ourselves on our extra day? Well, we got to see the Pope which doesn’t happen every day. Like I said, there were a lot worse things that could have happened….
And Amélie Chocolat got to see him too 
On Monday it was our one year wedding anniversary
My day began with presents…
Two presents!
TWINS! SQUEEEEE!!!
A Blythe Prima Dolly 2 Aubrey (on the left), and a Blythe Prima Dolly 2 Aubrey encore (on the right).
And then I got some flowers…
A dozen red roses, more squeee!
Later in the day I went out and bought myself some special treats…after all it was my wedding anniversary
Vegetable curry and mushroom pilau rice (microwavable which was naughty, but it saved washing up), a mini bottle of champagne, pretty little cupcakes, the new Hello! magazine featuring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with their twins (woot!! and they look exhausted in the pics, btw), and a cheesy chick flick DVD.
Then I put my flowers on the table in the garden, and had my curry dinner…
All alone…
All by myself on my one year wedding anniversary..
But of course I had my new twins to keep me company. Please meet Felicity and Penny Gigi
It’s hard to think that 365 days have passed, but they have.
Once again this past weekend it was my favourite part of the month, charity sale saturday! This time I picked up a prim and proper teadress and a flouncy petticoat, all for the princely sum of practically nothing. Marvellous. I love this sale. Because it’s now summer, they’ve opened up the gardening stall which is always one of the best bits as it has to be one of the prettiest market stalls there ever was, in a tumbled down old brick potting shed, all overgrown with climbing plants and as rustically perfect as can be. It even smells how I want it to. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t that pretty, but it didn’t deter the shoppers.
But the weather *IS* deterring my girls…
They don’t really like the rain. Poor Cecily spent most of the weekend peering out of the window at the outside world. She especially isn’t allowed to go out in the damp, not with her weak chest, I dread to think…. So far this summer she seems to have been ok- I’ve kept her in a thermal vest throughout and it’s done a stirling job.
They were also a bit bored as what with all my business of late, I haven’t spent an awful lot of time entertaining them. I’m awful. But THE OFFICIAL PACKING HAS BEGUN!! This weekend I purchased two giant vacuum trunks (rather clever things, I must remember to tell you more about them) into which many of my soft, compressible worldly possessions are being compacted. This includes my precious yarn stash, and my precious fabric store (EEEPS!) but I’m making sure to leave out a couple of projects that will see me through to the end of the year when the ship will finally sail into port and I can get it all back. I even got special packing supplies for all the girls’ clothes and I suppose I could have kept them busy by getting them to pack their things too, but I’m waiting for all our visas to come through before I break the big news (to be on the safe side).
On the subject of girls… my poor orange haired Duna Moof still has no name and it’s been weeks now. Some girls are far more difficult than others, and she’s one of them. I shall have to think of one soon though, especially as I have to get her passport sorted out. Any ideas?
I’ve thought of a couple of names for her, but none of them seem to stick. My poor sweet girl, she has to have a name soon… Natalie or Phoebe, perhaps? What do you think?
Born to wear pretty dresses and Barbour jackets and skip through muddy English fields in a pair of Hunter wellies, Nin is now a 30-something British Ex-Pat living in the urban wilds of the San Francisco Bay Area. She likes cake and chocolate and is on a quest to find the perfect Stateside cream tea. 
