A Formal Introduction

I realised that I have never properly introduced Skye on the blog. Shame on me. She's only been part of the family for a year and a half. Well, this is her. 

Looks like butter wouldn't melt, right? Wrong. She is a very sweet, loving, playful dog but she is sometimes a little too smart for her own good and has to have her nose in everything... and I mean everything. She has to know exactly what is going on. Our lives would be very boring without her.

She is generally very chilled until someone comes to visit or she is hungry. She is ruled by her stomach and feeding time is the highlight of her day. She loves to play, particularly with squeaky tennis balls and a (now devoid of stuffing) lime green stuffed dog that says 'Cats are not my friends' on it. This was originally a Hattie toy purchased in NY and chosen by Julianna and Michella. Hattie never played with it too much so it has been nice to see Skye get so much entertainment from it. 

She is very vocal (apparently this is something that is a trait of German Shepherds which is the only breed that we know she definitely has) and lets us know what is going on. 

I'm back home now for the summer. It was a bit of a mission having to pack up my tiny little room in the Prince of Guinea but I am pleased to be home and getting to love on this (not so) little face.

Eastbourne Tennis 2012

I stayed in Eastbourne this weekend. What had not crossed my mind when I found out that my placement would be in Eastbourne that there is a pre-Wimbledon tennis tournament held there every year. Bonus. I decided that I would get a ticket for the final day and then I learned that it wasn't only a women's tournament but a men's one too. Double bonus.

I have to say, it was an absolutely brilliant day. I saw three finals for the price of one ticket - it ended up being six hours of tennis (it would have been longer but more about that later). Not bad. Not bad.
It ended up being a beautiful day, although a little windy. I was glad that I was quite sheltered where I was sitting. Some of the people high up in the opposite stand looked like they were going on an arctic expedition. I felt overdressed where I was sitting (again, more about that later).

Here was the order of play for the day:

So the first match was Tamira Paszek v Angelique Kerber. They were not names that I recognised. 

Tamira Paszek:

Angelique Kerber:

It was a really great match. The girls were fighting really hard to win so it made for great viewing and I really couldn't tell who would win. In the end it was Paszek who edged it out. The score was 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. The crowd was definitely behind her in the end and I think Kerber felt hard done by, especially by one particular call near the end that didn't go her way. As you can see her mood didn't improve.  She did not look impressed! She still won a shed load of money so I don't feel too sorry for her. 

Tamira with her trophy. She gave some lovely post match comments. She seems like a lovely girl so I'll definitely be following her progress in the future.

Next up was the Men's final which was between Andy Roddick and Andreas Seppi. Like really! Andy Roddick! I cannot tell you how excited I was about that. Really! Andy Roddick! Having watched him on TV and him being one of my favourite tennis players for more years than I care to remember I was more than a little over the moon that I would actually get to see him play. Andy Roddick!

The man himself:

Seppi:

This match was over much more quickly than the women's final but it was still enjoyable. I know (because the commentators tell you!) that the men can hit the ball really hard but on the TV it really doesn't come across. In reality, you can tell. They hit it really hard.

I would have loved the match to have lasted a little bit longer but Roddick won - 6-3, 6-2. Boom. I kind of had half an eye on his Mrs (Brooklyn Decker) for the match which was interesting. I suppose she is used to it, but she didn't really show a lot of excitement even though he played well.

Last up was the doubles. The first set was really entertaining. I think doubles is underrated. It is so fast and snappy and keeps you on your toes. Sadly we only got the first set of this match because Liezel Huber had to retire towards the beginning of the second set. Such a shame! 

So, I had a fantastic day at the tennis. I really hope that I can go back next year. The only downside to the day was the sunburn. Oh the sunburn! I really hadn't thought that it would be so sunny (I was totally prepared for rain!) and the wind definitely made the strength of the sun deceiving. I thought that I was being totally clever by not rolling up my sleeves to protect my arms and wearing a scarf to protect the back of my neck even though I was absolutely boiling. The sun outwitted me though. My nose, hairline and chest (despite the scarf) particularly burned... the worst though was my hands. 

I can't tell you how painful that was. I hate sunburn at the best of times but sunburn on your hands.... well, I don't recommend it. 

I think the only way that the day would have been better would have been if Sarah had been with me. We all know that she is the real tennis nut and has a particular love for Mr Roddick. I know that she would have loved it. So, Sarah, this is for you.

You are welcome. :) 

The Big News Here....

is that I got....

....a fringe!

I don't know about you, but I like it!

Another Birthday Come and Gone

Well, I had another birthday.

It was a great day and what is more, because my birthday fell when we were on camp at St John's in the Vale in Cumbria, I got to spend it in Keswick.....

with some people I kinda like....

Can't really beat that!

There'll Be Bluebirds Over...

A few weeks ago Alex and I went to visit Sarah in Dover where she lives. We were very excited to go and see Dover - I guess it is generally seen as a place that you pass through on the way to somewhere else and I doubt that if Sarah didn't live there then I probably would never have gone. Turns out, Dover is quite nice.... although it was definitely colder there than in Gillingham which we found out the hard way (Alex especially!).

Here is a white cliff - just behind Sarah's flat! I think she was tickled that we were so excited by this!

This is the view from her living room window.

These are her fish. From left to right: Harry, Cedric and Ron (I think!). Hermione and Draco, I'm afraid to say, have both passed on..... (Their tank was being cleaned by Sarah's husband, Joe. Hence the vase!)

We then went for tea and scones at a nearby seafront hotel and had a debate about whether it was scone as in gone or scone as in bone. Clearly it is the first but Alex thinks differently.

Sarah is on the left and Alex in the middle.

Then Sarah took us to a beautiful little park where we had a wander round.

We had a late lunch and then sampled the delights of Dover's Tesco and Homebase and then headed back to Gillingham on the train where Alex and I ate Cookie Dough Cheesecake without cutlery. It was a little challenging.

Such a fun day!

Wooden Spoons

Today marks the end of the 2012 Six Nations.

Let's just say it hasn't ended well. (It is technically still going - a few mins left of England v Ireland)

Here is what I didn't want to happen today:

1. Scotland to lose to Italy and therefore finish the competition without a win.
2. Wales to win the Grand Slam.
3. Dicko to not have a good game in the England shirt.

I'll give you three guesses about what happened.

Hmph.

I'll address them in reverse order.

It is weird to have someone you know playing for a team that you really don't like. It leaves you feeling very conflicted but I always hope that Dicko plays well despite playing for England (shudder.... And to think he could have played for Scotland!). Anyway, Lee didn't have the best game today which I don't like. He was trending on Twitter for a while for all the wrong reasons... but once he was subbed it became clear to me that there was even less love around for Ben Youngs who replaced him (that is until he scored the try just now probably). There is a lot of hate out there. So sad.

I did not want Wales to win the Grand Slam. Jonathan Davies (former player, now commentator, not the current player) is insufferable as it. I would have given just about anything to see the smile wiped off his face. I generally like Wales but that man puts me off the whole country. I would have loved to have seen France smash them hard.

Scotland 'won' the wooden spoon. I'm past understanding this. I know that we've got the makings of a fabulous team but it just doesn't seem to translate onto the pitch. But here's my thought, wooden spoons are useful pieces of equipment, especially for stirring things up. So, maybe things will get stirred up, shuffled up and broken down and maybe, just maybe, this will be the turning point and the start of great things to come. I know the boys have it in them.

Ever the optimist. :)

iPhoto Faces

I had many a moment of hilarity the other evening whilst I was procrastinating - procrastinating with moments of hilarity is the best kind. I was procrastinating, by the way, because I have two exams next week and I need to study.... but studying is..... studying.

Instead of burying my head deep into my Human Biology and Health notes I was confirming who faces belong to in my photos on iPhoto. This is quite a fun part of iPhoto which is another means of organising your photos so that you can find photos of specific people easily... a bit like tagging on the dreaded Facebook. Anyway, sometimes iPhoto tries to help you out by suggesting that faces in the photos belong to people. Sometimes this bit of technology is brilliant and gets it spot on....
(Please excuse the pictures in this post. I'm sure I could have done fancy screen shots and cropping but I have a camera on my phone and I will use it.)

Sometimes you can kind of see where it is coming from....
(Mairi is Caitriona's mum if you didn't know that.)

And sometimes.... sometimes it comes up with a blinder....
Um, what??! Not even remotely close. Not sure how it would even get to this conclusion.

Here I was trying to tag pictures of Michella. Yeah, none of these males are Michella. I don't know who should be more insulted.

I spent a few hours entertaining myself this way. Such fun!