* 48 *

I can't believe it's the end of March already can you ?

Here are this months entries for the Scavenger Hunt. I am enjoying this little monthly challenge even if I did find some of these a little hard.

A Lion.... this is Wallace a stuffed lion in our local museum . It is said that he was part of a victorian beast show called Manders Menagerie . In 1868 in Sunderland he mauled his trainer but they both survived and just in case you are interested the white car behind him was the first car to come off the line when Nissan first opened here.

A Rainbow........... no proper rainbows this month or any that I saw anyway. I thought this was going to be the first photo I missed out on but managed to see this at school this morning. I had looked for a rainbow trout too but none in my supermarket.

Something Green .... some moss growing in an outside shed.

An Empty Chair ...... this is where Hub normally sits but he was at work . Do you think his new friend is missing him?

Something Sentimental.......... now this one was really really hard . I am so sentimental about everything it borders on patheticness ( if that is even a word) . So I went with 3 things given to me by Hub. The necklace he bought me when we were on honeymoon in Hawaii . I opened the oyster shell and got a black pearl which we had put into this setting.

Peeling Paint .... I was going to use another photo but decided I liked this one better even though I have used it in a previous post.

A Collection ....... a few bits of treasure found on our beach walks . We always find lots of sea glass of all different colours - beautiful.

A Ring ... well several rings but I think it still counts.

A Fancy Gate .......

A Shadow......... these are the hagstones which I also collected from the beach and they hang just beside my back door.

Something As Old As you ......... well sort of, this is my parents wedding album that was given to my fraternal grandmother. I was born 10 months after they got married. This was the closest I could get. I do have a baby rattle but that is somewhere in my parents attic.

A Lamb ..... this one is a bit of a cheat as it was taken last year . I was going to show the lamb in my fridge but thought this photo was just a bit cuter.

* 47 *

I'm not sure what type of tree this is but the sun shining on the red bark was just gorgeous.

edit ; thanks Louise I do think it is a Chinese Red Birch .

* 46 *

Just thought you might like to see some flowers that I took some photographs of on Sunday . The day we had brilliant sunshine and was the complete opposite of Saturday.

This is where all the crocuses were just a few weeks ago.

Quite a few bumble bees about and some of them were a fair size too.

Not quite flowers but you could really smell the wild garlic.

Don't think I've ever seen such a frilly daffodil.

From the huge conker tree.

* 45 *

Today was one of those days when I really wanted the sun to be out and shining like it has been all week , but was it, oh no , was it freezing , overcast and drizzly , oh yes !!

Typical. Today my brother was coming down from Scotland to pick up his new car with his family . I'm being nice here I'm not overly fond of his wife and that's putting it politely. They have to young children N who is 6 months younger than Gabe and M who is 18 months. I've seen N twice and have never seen M.

We met up with my parents who were looking after N and M whilst my brother was picking up the car and my nephew Callum at the metro station and then we walked along the river and down to the seafront. It's not the beach we normally go to , this is the one where the airshows are every year.

One of the places we stopped at along the way is called the Red House. I didn't manage to take a full photo of it so I borrowed this one so you could see.

It's made to look like a house that was bombed during the war. Can you see the coat hanging up behind the door and the books on the table?

We don't get family photos very often even if it does look like there is an alien spaceship hovering above Callums head.

We continued on and went passed the marina and I'm ashamed to say I've never actually been here before and it's so close to where we live I have no idea why.

After the marina we hit the beach but like I said , not exactly the day to go swimming!

By now we had been joined by my brother and the SIL so we headed off across the beach to get a warm cuppa from that red building in the distance.

After filling up on sausage sandwiches ( the kiddies not me ) we headed back to the bus stop . No car seats in the new car yet so not safe for the children. I think if the weather had been nicer we would have just walked back to town but it really was bitterly cold.

In the summer this place is absolutely teaming with people and there are ice cream vans everywhere. I do hope your Saturday was a bit warmer than ours.

* 44 *

Ok so are you ready for my big surprise .......... you are ? Good.

Hands up if you remember this post from last year?

Or even this post from earlier this year?

Yep you've guessed it - haven't you?

Introducing Kali an 8 week old long haired german shepherd who we brought home last night.

At the minute she is very vocal , is trying to chew my slippers and has just grabbed the wire and pulled my mouse on the floor!

I think you'll be seeing a lot more of this young lady and hearing about her exploits of which I'm sure there will be many..........

* 43 *

It was a glorious spring day on Saturday so we just had to go out, it would have been a shame not to.

We did start off together but I think the boys got a bit bored of hanging around waiting for me taking photos !!

Can you see them in the distance?

I stopped to take photo's of some paper cranes dangling on a random tree.

Fungi .... my soft spot

and lots of pussy willow. I like it at this stage with all the yellow bits.

Oh and my little surprise is going to be a day sooner that I thought .... the boys ( all of them , big one included ) are just a tad excited .!!

* 42 *

A good friend of mine saw one of my previous posts with the little Easter bunnies and asked if I would make her a couple for her children. I was happy to oblige.

But then I got a bit carried away .......

and made some little mice too.

I think I have a new addiction.

The pattern is by Barbara Prime otherwise known as Fuzzy Mitten and they are so quick and easy to do . Each little one only takes approx one hour to make and the limbs are little bobbles so there are no fiddly bits to sew on - a brilliant idea in my opinion and a brilliant pattern.