Auntie Knows Best

Today has been a really high tide which means a weather warning was issued as the sea has a tendency to come right over the wall, bringing with it a variety of stones and other debris. I took a quick trip to Cobo before work with my camera to get a photo, although at one point I managed to get soaked by a wave that caught me unaware.

A very high tide also means a very low tide, which at this time of year means an Omering Tide. Ormers are a type of shell-fish that can only be gathered at a very low tide and there are strict rules about the size of ormers that are collected. I think they are rather revolting but Dad loves them and he was given a couple as a present the other day. The Mister and I were lying in bed when we heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen, it would seem that Dad was battering the poor ormers into submission before plunging them into the deep freeze. Poor little dead sea creatures.

When we sit down for dinner we are often joined by the cats who are little for a little share of food (not that we would ever feed them from the table, would we Dad? hmmm) In particular Justin appears as soon as the yoghurt pots come out and he is especially partial to licking out the empty pots. Very cute, especially as he always ends up with little dots of yoghurt all over his nose!

I arrived home from work today to be greeted by this….

Mum’s words were “Can you tell the grandchildren have been to visit?”

Er… yes! The dead giveaway are the toys thrown all over the floor and Mum’s resigned and vacant look!

One of the advantages of living on the West Coast is we get some truly lovely sunsets. I raced down to the sea to take a photo and I thought it wasn’t such a great sky, but the picture seems to highlight how beautiful the clouds are this evening – they look almost like a painting. Lovely.

After a big Sunday lunch Mum and The Mister and I managed to drag ourselves out for a walk. The light was starting to go so this picture doesn’t have quite the same brightness I would have hoped for.

This is St Matthew’s Church which was completed in November 1854. It has quite an interesting history as a young girl, Marianne Carey felt sorry for all the local fishermen who had to travel all of two miles to their local church raised the money to build the church. She raised £1600 for the building and continued to raise money for the Vicar’s stipend.

I love this church, and in particular I love this view of the circular back wall, in the sunlight the beautiful Guernsey granite seems to glow. It can be seen right from the beach which would seem particularly appropriate as it is the fisherman’s church.

I also love this little church as my Grandpa and Gran Nora and Auntie Doris and Auntie Reta as well as my great-grand-parents are all buried in the graveyard here. You could say that this is truly my family church!

I have spent nearly all day shopping for food and then cooking. I am trying to eat healthily and I am doing Slimming World.

I managed to cook 6 meals and put them in the freezer. So, not the most exciting day but at least we will have some nice food to eat over the next week or two.

Every Friday my Mum looks after my nephew Barnabas and my niece Eden.

Every Friday Barnabas sits down with my dad, his Grandpa and a huge bowl of cereal and he proceeds to have his second breakfast of the day. We have graduated from him simply picking all the sultanas out of the cereal, to having a spoon of his own and helping himself.

It always makes me laugh, and I think this is Grandpa’s special time with Barnabas

Today has felt like a grey day. It has been drizzling on and off all day and my mood is grey to match.

On my way back from a meeting I stopped and took a couple of photos of the sea. This was taken at the far end of Grandes Roques, one of my favourite spots on the island. It is on a corner, and there is a castle and German bunkers, but more importantly there are often beautiful, impressive waves. I was surprised there weren’t better waves today, but the gorgeous redness of the Guernsey granite, against the grey, mizzley sky cheered me up a little.

This just about sums up my evening tonight. A nice fire, the telly and the cat. Perfect!

This is a quilt that I finished in 2008. I love it, and this picture definitely shows it off better (possibly because it fits this bed better as it is a king sized bed) I have blogged about this quilt before here.

Here are the facts about it…

1600 patchwork pieces.
10 different colour blocks.
Over 160 different fabrics.
Just over 2.50 metres square.
Edging and backing fabric ‘liberated’ from my Mum’s fabric chest.

It took years to make because I kept going back to it and many of the fabrics have been rescued from clothes that belonged to Gran Nora or other family members. It truly is my history all sewn together and that is one of the things that makes it so special!