Birthday Boy

Gail and I went to a special 65th birthday party of a good friend of ours and fellow blogger. From the amusing cake decoration above and special knitted doll below; I wonder if you can guess who it is? Some regular bloggers and friends of ours may be able to deduce who it is from the clues in the two pictures.

Did you work it out? No? Well it's iMac, who writes a blog called 'Photos from the Minds Eye'. Here's the WEB-LINK to it.

We've known Stewart and his lovely wife Julie for about six years now. If fact we first met them at his 60th birthday celebration. In fact, I think he wore that very loud waistcoat then as well!

The party took place at the social club at Great Gonerby in Lincolnshire.

It was a good evening, and instead of wanting presents, he asked for donations to the Alzheimer's Association, as it's a cause that is close to his heart. At the end of the party it was announced that the grand sum had got to £750, which pleased Stewart a lot, as he was hoping to get £500.

Besides a very nice buffet, there was some entertainment in the form of a former member of the Searchers, Steve Carlisle, who sang and played through all sorts of classic pop tunes and a new band called Seabirds, who are made up from former members of the Red Shoe Diaries and one of the members just happens to be Stewart's son Rob.

Here's the Birthday boy with sweet Julie posing for my camera, while below he thanks his wife for putting up with him for the past few years.

Snapped!

This week marks Gail's first ever choice for the Headbanger Challenge, and she's gone for the really girly theme of 'BLING'.

So I've gone for the equally girly thing of shoes and handbags. Something that Gail has a lot of, and in about equal measures. Still she complains about my large book and video collection. So all's fair in love and storage space.

I got this photo whilst walking around the beauty show at the NEC in April. I was looking for interesting and unusual shots. Quirky ones that may come in handy for future headbanger challenges. Which this clearly has.

That is certainly a traffic stopping shoe. More crystals per square centimetre than the Swarovski factory. Any woman wearing them would be bound to get a lot of attention. Matched by the bag. A paparazzi's delight.

Do pop over to the rest of the teams' pages, including my DW's and enjoy this bit of music. Be warned, you may need sunglasses!

I've noticed that Stewart has posted a few photos of Gail and I whilst we were holidaying together in Woodhall Spa over the last couple of days. So today for a change, I thought I would get my own back and show you a shot of him.

When we returned to the town after visiting Tattershall Castle and seeing the Spitfire, we were astounded to see giant kangaroos leaping about in the middle of the road. Not real ones of course, but guys dressed in costumes and on stilts. As I was driving, I couldn't take any photos, but Stewart was snapping away. There was also a jazz band dressed as chefs and two comic policemen, also on stilts. They were also being very silly in the road and accosting pedestrians. Of which Stewart was one.

We're Off, We're Off, We're Off In A Motor Car

Gail and I are off on our jollies today. We're going to spend a long weekend in Woodhall Spa, a small town in deepest Lincolnshire.

We are going to be spending it with Stewart (iMac) and his DW Julie. It's Stewart's birthday tomorrow and it will be nice to share it with them both.

The journey down went OK. There is a new road that the Sat Nav didn't know about. So it was strange to see the little cartoon car driving on 'grass', with the road next to it.

Woodhall Spa is an old fashioned town, that hasn't seemed to have changed that much through the years. It has lots of small independent shops; your classic butcher, baker. Alas, no candlestick maker, but there is an amazing wedding and birthday cake creator there, called Dawn.

Her small shop called Sophisticake, had lots of unusual and clever designs on show, including this one of two rag dolls. They do not look like they are made from cake and icing at all. She and her assistant make everything themselves.

We watched her make a rose out of some small pieces of icing, which she moulded into petals. They were a deep red colour, which I believe is the same shade as someone's wedding dress.

Dawn of course has a website, where you can view some of her impressive and wonderful creations, and order one for your special occasion. Prince Charles did, when he married Camilla, a couple of years ago!