Good Friday

 

We were blessed with glorious weather on Good Friday, so Mark packed us up a lovely picnic and we set off to find somewhere to enjoy it. We had originally planned to head into North Wales, but our car radiator sprang a leak, so we settled on somewhere a little nearer to home. We enjoyed our picnic in the sunshine and the Podlings had a great time running around with their daddy. I was feeling exceptionally pregnant and somewhat fragile that day, so was content to just sit and watch my favourite people.

 

With it being Good Friday, Mark thought it would be appropriate to stop off and see the Sandbach Crosses on the way home from our picnic. The two huge stone crosses are thought to date from the 9th century and depict scenes from the bible, including the nativity and the Crucifixion. Originally painted as well as carved, they now dominate the market square in Sandbach.

 

 

 

 

Love this photo!

36 Weeks pregnant (and not feeling my best here)

The Anglo-Saxon stone crosses in Sandbach, Cheshire

This carving on one of the crosses depicts the Crucifixion

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16/52

"A portrait of my children once a week, every week in 2014"

 

 

Pretty as a Picture

 

All dressed up ready for her best friend's birthday party. She was particularly pleased with her hair that day. Lily has very long, very thick hair which means we can have a lot of fun playing with it. For her friend's party, she requested that we plait her hair and then twist it into a bun. We finished it off with a flower and she looked as pretty as a picture.

Room for Two

After much anticipation and a great deal of hard work by the Podlings' uncles, the girls are finally sharing a room! They are so thrilled! Mark's brothers came round one Saturday morning and worked tirelessly to move all the big furniture around so the girls' wish to share a room could be fulfilled. Mark's Mum and Dad had been helping me for days to organise the play room and move things out of cupboards and the whole move was very much a family affair. I am so grateful to everyone for their help, since I am finding things all rather difficult in my somewhat enlarged state!

I had a lot of fun making it a proper little girls room. We were on a tight budget, so there are still a few things I would like to do to finish it off. I am really pleased with how it has come together so far. The girls both have matching floral duvets and flower sprigged bed canopies. Lily already had her canopy and I had a bit of trouble getting hold of a matching one for Emma as they have been discontinued (they were made by Gisela Graham if you are interested). I finally managed to track down an online store that had one left in stock. A few other little details and the room is acquiring a bit of a fairy garden theme. It is so pretty!

So far so good, we haven't had any major fuss at bedtime (though there is a great deal of talking!) and Emma is actually spending  more time in her own bed and less time in ours, which is definitely a good thing! I look forward to being able to put the finishing touches to their room in due course, but for now we are all very pleased with how it has turned out. Now to sort out the nursery...

I made the rose wreath for Lily's room a few years ago. The exquisite hand-knitted dress was made for Lily by a friend of the Podlings' Great Auntie Mary. Both girls have worn it as babies and it is just too pretty to hide away in a drawer, so it hangs on display in their room.

Sister dolls! The little wooden nightlight was made for Emma by her Great Uncle Keith. Each of the Podlings have one.

Emma's dress up clothes hang on hooks behind the door for easy access. The tall bookcase holds various of the girls' sundries, as well as a selection of our vast collection of children's books.

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