Wales U.K.

 After a few days I was off to Port Talbot in the south of Wales to see these two lovely ladies. My niece Margaret and my great niece Chantelle.

And to meet this lovely little one, Sophia who made a grand entrance just a few weeks before..she is my great great niece, and so far that is true she is great.

Did you know that in south Wales there are palm trees? Me either..was so weird to see. I had to get my niece to stop the car so I could take a pic.

 They live in a small community on a hill right beside the water..Baglan..
This is her street and the church rings it's bells every 15 min..I loved listening for them.

 Here is the beach 2 min down the road. The tide was out and the sea shells where plentiful..grabbed me a handful.

I saw many house's with the thatched roofs and wish now I had taken some pictures...too busy havning fun instead. Here is one that is in Wales I got off the internet. They are something to see especially close up.

This is Chantelles's neighbours yard..I just thought the post's with the rope looked cute. The block fence between the two properties are pretty much all over the place.  That and brick work. Bricks must be cheaper in the U.K. as they are everywhere.

Visit to Mark's and Spencer's

As you well know this is the Queens Jubilee Year...and also London is hosting the Summer Olympics.

This is a big deal for Britain. So I stopped  into Mark's to see what they have in store.

It's usually just in America you see all this Patriotic stuff in such abundance, was kind of weird..having said that I could of bought the lot. All of it was top quality and just lovely.

These Bulldog doorstops where awesome I would of got one too if I hadn't already bought 50lbs of chocolate.

I would love to have the love seat

This would be awesome on my bed

The Jubilee celebration is june 5th. Probably won't be any street parties here in Canada but I am going to join the celebration anyway...are you with me?


Till next time..Cheers Frances

Ayr, Scotland

Went to the beach at Ayr and had some Fish and Chips...

 Ayr is on the Firth of Clyde just southwest of Glasgow...The weather was very good while I was there.  Not the norm for sure.

 Here I am at the beach.

 Mandy chasing Lenny into the water haha...He seemed to like it.

Row houses in Ayr..The houses are so different to ours..
Row upon row of the same house just using different stone or paint...
But beautiful just the same.
Till next time..cheers Frances

Day two the west end of Glasgow

First off ....these bird...magpies...they are huge and I don't remember ever seeing them anywhere else. They are everywhere. And so beautiful too

This is the University  of Glasgow

I was going to go in to the art gallery but there was a fire alarm and I could not go.

Here is the Sally Anne store where my niece works..It is a famous location and Colin and Justin come here often. I find the British esthetic  does not translate to my style...but the clothing was just amazing..and I usually never like the clothing at a charity shop. There was a set of dishes I would of loved but how do you bring that back on the plane.. I already had 50lbs of chocolate to bring back haha..

Here is Mandy working at her desk...She put me to work hanging up the clothes on the racks...that is how I got so see the clothing..I don't really have much patience for looking...even at Winners or TJ Max.

 Mandy is a fun loving girl.  Haha I wont tell you the pose she did before this one but it included her hand near someones derrier..haha wish I had snapped the camera sooner.

Well that was my day in the west end...Had an awesome full english..wish now I had taken more pictures..
oh well
Till next time, Cheers Frances

My Trip Home

I just got back from my trip to Scotland yesterday. Except for the killer jet lag I am glad to be home....although I will admit that I did not miss home when I was away. Being able to text my kids when I wanted to really helped me not feel anxious about being away.

Here is a pic of the lounge at Toronto Pearson...everyone looked bored . It is an overnight flight and some times those red eyes can be killer.

I luckly managed to sleep a lot of the 7 hours it took to arrive in Glasgow.

 This is the reason I came ....my niece Mandy who I havn't seen in 8 1/2 years..I didnt realize it had been that long...that is what I like about Facebook..you can keep up with family that is so far away.

Mandy and her youngest son Dean...Martin I might add..no relation to the famous one..haha

I had to add this pic...this price transaltes to$ 2.22 a liter for gas...that is just outrageous if you ask me. I dont know how they can afford to drive in the U.K.

One of the things on my list to do was the mussel shop.  I have been going to it since I was a kid and love mussels.

I had the large plate and they are as awesome as I remember..You can get them in Canada too but it is not the same. One of the many happy memories of my childhood.
Come back for part two...
Till next time, Cheers Frances

Sutton House Tour

Now I know that for most people a subdivision is just a normal thing to see in their town..But I live in a very small town north of Toronto. I live here for many reasons...one being the lake and the other being that this is the country. Now admittedly I live in town now...if you can call Jackson's Point a town more like a hamlet. One block from Lake Simcoe with farmland all around.So when they said they where going to build a subdivision here like the ones in bigger urban centers..I kind of thought,,,ah yeah I don't think so. But since I have no say in matters such as this they went ahead...after many years of delay and started one not 5 min. from my house.

So today being saturday and them having the grand opening of their model homes...I conned,,ahem I  mean asked these 2 to come along as I had heard there was hot dogs...now what teenage boys could resist that.

 It kind of freaks me out that they are as built up as they are but no different than any other subdivision...Funny but when I lived in Toronto on my 16 foot wide lot I thought these lots where enormous..haha.

 At first the boy and his friend where only interested in their phones and hand held gadgets...typical.

 This is the first model...there are only 2.  I think this would be like an office or something like that as it was right at the front door.

 I quite liked the kitchen..that had an eat in area.

 And I absolutely love this backsplash..it was very impressive. love the stove too.

 In the basement there was a fully contained apartment...now this it where it got interesting.

 This is the boy telling me that he wants me to buy this house and he can live in the basement. haha fat chance.

 Yep they both had plans to live here..this is the small kitchen. I have to admit that I liked the basement like this too.

 This is the kitchen in the second house. I did not like it at all..I just dont like wood cupboards...I am a white girl all the way. The last 4 kitchens or so that I have put in have all been white.

 And except for these pictures above this bed I really didn't like any of this house..

They had a food station set up in the garage and after we where done we went to check it out.
I could not believe they had it catered.I wish I had got the name of the company or some pictures of the food. Hamburgers,,,that where awesome..sausage on a bun and chicken on a stick...all the salade you can eat and fresh fruit. It was truly awesome..
And even though I don't like the idea of this in my town..it is far enough away from my house and from the lake to not be a big problem for me.
Just as long as they don't build the whole town up like this...cause if they do I am outta here.
No worries for a while yet as two girls showed up at the Tim Hortons on friday nite on their horses...
It is after all just a small town by the lake.
Till next time, Frances

Random spots from the weekend

Well I finally made it to the holy grail of blogland.

Sorry to say I didn't take any pictures of the inside.   I must say for this girl it was a bit over whelming..anything I could imagine was here..everything I can imagine is here,,,,and then some.

It was just too much...would need a whole day to spend there...but amazing all the same.

Got this suitcase for my upcoming trip.  I just love the colour.

Took a weekend trip to Wilson NY to visit these folks...Betty and Chuck.

Took Betty's daughter Carolyn with me...kept calling her "Hop a long" as she tore a muscle in her calf...not sure she thought that was funny...haha but i did.

I have a strict  no pictures of me policy...someone wasn't listening..  See behind me they used oars as a room divider..was actually kind of neat.

Had dinner Fri. night at this restaurant in Olcott  Beach...The Lighthouse...We all had the fish being Friday and all. Wish I had taken a pic of it...the fish was bigger than the plate ...and so good. I can not believe how big the fish servings are in the states..its 4 times the size of the ones here in Canada and costs half the price.

This is down by Lake Ontario..it is very beautiful this side of the border...in Canada it is all built up with citys..not as nice a here where it is dotted with small towns.

This store was closed and I took this picture from the window ...will have to come back for sure.

Then it was off to the Sally Anne for some serious shopping.

Why oh why did I not get these dishes...3.00...again I say WHY?

Thought

 this would look good with a coat of paint.

I was shadowing betty taking random shots of her...haha

She bought these mugs for her hot chocolate...she only looks mad cause people in the store where looking wondering why I was taking pictures...You should of seen her face when I said I was putting them on my blog....haha

And here is what I bought for .59  Now why I would want American themed christmas ornaments is a mystery even to me....but I do love all things American ...even though I am Scottish born and living in Canada...go figure.

All in all a good time was had...in the good old U S of A.

Till next time, Frances