Quarterly Newsletter!

Well! I am being sarcastic but it HAS been nearly 3 months since my last post. I am ashamed of myself!

So much has been happening and it's nice to be busy, but it has been a bit mental too!

Very, very sadly my dear uncle Michael passed away a couple of weeks ago, suddenly and unexpectedly. He had been in fine health and had just returned from a trip to Florence (at the age of 84, he was always globe trotting, camping rough in parts of Africa etc, signing up to all sorts of trips abroad). So it was a sudden and terrible shock when this happened and we are still trying to move on from the loss now. Michael's funeral was last Friday, the day of my birthday. Of course I bypassed all birthday thoughts because of the circumstances. It was terribly sad at the crematorium as Michael had requested 2 specific pieces of music to be played. One was a military march and the other was Moon River. Oh how I cried. I have played that song several times since and just weep!!! But Michael would say "oh for goodness sake!" at the thought of a weepy niece, so I'll move on. My cousins were just wonderful in looking after us all and for showing such courage and compassion, amidst their own grief. My cousins's wife was just fantastic cooking for us all and making us feel so at home when they must have so much on their plates.

I was really honoured to be asked to read something at the funeral. I found a lovely poem called 'The Journey Of My Life' and read some words on my mum's behalf too. You can read the poem here as I added it to Davo's blog to mark the one year anniversary since he passed on.
Floyd and I went off on hols to the USA in April and had an amazing time. Probably the best holiday we've ever had! We flew with my mum to LA and stayed with my sister Tamzin and her husband Tom up in their Hollywood hills home. I really did not expect to like LA so much but the Hollywood hills and canyons are spectacular (which if course WOULD make everything seem so nice!). It was like being in Tuscany! Hummingbirds, coyotes, all sorts of other birds etc etc all around, little quiet winding lanes, beautiful wild flowers and trees and of course the view over LA for miles and miles. Floyd and I hired a really cool convertible car and we took mum off up the Malibu coast one day and had a great time. Just miles of deserted white sands and sparkling blue sea! We met friends for lunches, shopping and drinks too. A great 5 days!!

We then drove to Las Vegas and saw the same friends there too for 2 nights partying! We saw the Cirque De Soleil show 'Love' which was set to the soundtrack of The Beatles. It was AMAZING. I cannot express how gobsmacked we were! The show was incredible from start to finish! Our friend had managed to get some of the best seats and we were really lucky. Such a great evening!!! The next night was the Def Leppard show at the Palms hotel which was brilliant....of course.

We drove on to Lake Powell after Vegas because I wanted to photograph a famous slot canyon called Antelope Canyon there. It was right up on the Utah/Arizona border and was a very long drive. Spectacular scenery though. We had to join a tour group to see the canyon though and that was a bit annoying. They are the only people authorised to drive tourists off to the canyon as it's across desert and inside a rock cluster. The other people didn't behave so well so that was frustrating but I got some great pics.

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After that, we drove down to Sedona and stayed a rather plush hotel for the rest of the week. We had a lovely little log cabin by a creek with a nice cracking fire each night, a fantastic award winning restaurant on the hotel grounds, great service etc etc. Lovely. We did a trip to the Grand Canyon by a small Cesna plane from Sedona, a helicopter ride to the bottom of the canyon, a boat ride on the Colorado River, helicopter back up, back in the plane and back to Sedona. Another day we hired a Harley and drove around. And I actually got Floyd to do a 3 hour trail ride on horses! Amazing!!

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I have just realised that I activated a setting on my Blog so that comments need to be authorised by me before being published (as have had some weird spammy ones, which I just delete anyway). So when I logged on today, I had some comments waiting to be published. Ooops. So sorry for those of you who left them!! I shall keep and eye on things more often.

Here is the latest addition to the Denny family, meet Ptolomy (pronounced 'Tolomy' - Tolly for short!!). He is a sweet, gorgeous little working cocker spaniel puppy!! We have been waiting a while now for him to come home and we were finally able to pick him on Sunday. He was so happy from the moment we picked him up and spent the rest of the galloping around the garden pouncing on golf balls, shaking dad's slipper like mad and washing us all several times over! So sweet! Mum said he was running around the garden with a flowerpot over his head yesterday! Here is Tolly:

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And my sister Tamzin has 2 new puppies in LA! One had just arrived when we were visiting! This is Cinnamon:

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Something really exciting and cool has happened, someone saw some of my photos at a friends house and is very interested in getting them 'out there'. I have been asked to put together a portfolio!!! Ooooooooooooooo!!! But am now in denial that any of the pics cut the cloth and can't get my act together in choosing the right pics for the portfolio. I have until the end of next week. I am working hard on it...but I am also my own worst critic. Will have to keep you all posted.

Floyd had his usual set of blood screening tests at the hospital yesterday and all is well! They dont want to see us for 8 months now! Yippeeee!!!!

On May 27th, it was one year since my dear friend Davo passed on. I think about him every single day and especially so at this time of year. I have little conversations with him in my head which I am sure he enjoys and he had promised to sit on the sofa with us when we watched the new series of Lost! Well, we just got to the end of the current series last night! Wonder what Davo makes of it all!!! Hmmm....!

Floyd bought himself a second hand Harley Davidson and now spends all his time either outside drooling on it and wiping away imaginary dust or on eBay buying second hand bits and bobs to customise it. Sigh.

S'all for now.

Love Soph xxxx

Bringing out the worst in people

Sophie Foxley is a very brave 9 year old girl from Shropshire. She has been battling leukaemia since 2006 and has been charting her journey through treatment and the road to recovery via her blog Sophie's Diary. The blog became very well known around the world and tens of thousands of vistors each day were logging on to read Sophie's latest news. Fantastic!! The family have been able to raise much awareness and also money for the various causes they support. My own sister Clare's 'Quilts For Leukaemia' group made a beautiful quilt for Sophie.

Sadly, Sophie also attracted a vicious little 9 year old stalker who began posting death threats and evil messages in the comments sections of her diary blog. Such a senseless cause of emotional distress to Sophie and her family. The story was reported in the press over the weekend (eg. this story) and I am glad it has been resolved and police traced the nasty little culprit. I wish they could name and shame her. Of course they can't though. I am afraid I am not much in to forgiving and forgetting and have a real respect for people who are!

Fighting cancer (whatever age your are) and fighting to just 'live' and keep your world together is one of the toughest challenges for anyone to go through. It quite literally tests every single emotion you have. It breaks you down to smithereens and tries to destroy all that you have and all that you believe in....but of course we don't LET it!!! You keep your eye on that light at the end of tunnel and eventually you break back out in to the real world again and make it back to the arms of your friends and family! And life has never been better! So to imagine what horrors this nasty little bully inflicted on poor Sophie's family, I am left speechless. It's very sad indeed that someone so young could be so evil. I hope her family are working hard on correcting this child's serious humanity issues and are prising that little pitchfork from her hand! ;-)

As my friends from Miltchat will recall, we had something similar-ish a year ago on the Miltchat forum (a forum where most members have had or have leukaemia or other blood cancers). A girl joined and told us she had non-hodgkins lymphoma so we welcomed her in to the fold and offered her endless support and friendship. Long story short, she latched on to my good friend Davo who was fighting a ferocious battle with leukaemia himself and bombarded him with messages about how miserable she was - what was the point of living? everyone hates her, she is so scared of her illness etc. Davo was being so brave about his own illness. He had just lost the use of his legs and things were very bleak in his world, but he fought like a soldier with a very brave heart...he was getting quite worried about this girl Allison's messages and didnt know how to handle her. She would post on the forum that her fiance had left her when she was in a coma and her family disowned her. Then she came on the forum pretending to be her own sister to tell us all she had slipped in to another coma. I smelt a rat and eventually caught her out because she had a Myspace page too - she didn't know I would find that and I started contacted her friends. None of her friends there knew she had cancer, let alone a serious illness! The reason? Because she didn't. She had a history of lying. Anyway - long story short, we exposed her, she apologised and has never been seen again on our forums thanks goodness!

We were all patting each other on the back afterwards (that we had found her out) but I remember how terribly upset Davo had been. He had been so ill and emotionally weak at the time and this girl preyed on that. She had hounded him with messages about her fake terminal illness, while he was battling his own. I verbally kicked this girl's ass like you wouldn't believe for Davo and for Looch (another friend Allison had also taken advantage of with her lies) but it didn't help Davo feel any better. All this girl cared about was the fact that I found out who her friends were and contacted them all telling them what she had done. She couldn't care less about all the sick people she had hurt.

I guess the point I am making from all of this is how bullies can totally destroy the soul, given the chance. Just because they get caught and slapped on the wrist by the police or a parent, it doesn't undo the pain they have caused. The solution? I don't know. Be good parents to your children and install them with a decent set of morals! Perhaps that would help. I hope so.

Soph xx

When the chips are down!

Look what I found! These piccies are from Floyd's 40th (which was in November 2006!). We hired out a big room and a bar at a local hotel in Blackheath and had live music, a drinks luge (I had the Rolling Stones mouth and tongue done! Your poured in your schnapps or vodka in the back and it trickled down the tongue in to your cup! or mouth...or ear...for some people at the end of the night...who's names shall remain anonymous!).

We had bangers and mash, mulled wine, huge fireworks display and live music! We also had a fun casino brought in and I made some special money just for the night! The casino was meant to be entertainment for those not wanting to listen to live music but unfortunately everyone went mad over gambling and the band were left playing to an almost empty room! Which is shame as the band are our very, very good friends Live N Kickin! who are Kent's number one covers band! If you ever get the chance to see them, grab it by the horns!!!

These are the bank notes I 'Photoshopped'! Bank of Wully and Bank of Flatch! Both Floyd's nicknames from The Almighty. Wully = short for Walter - he can explain where that came from! and Flatch = short for Flatuence... my, those touring days on the bus must have been such fun with Floyd! I suffer now so God knows what the poor band and crew went through!

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People were getting deadly serious about the casino and winning!!! My mother had the biggest pile of chips the whole night!! People were siddling up to her asking her what her secret was! But the overall winner of the casino was my dad!!! Well done the oldies!!! ;-)

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The casino, remains of the drinks luge & Mum and dad on a winning streak!

So last Tuesday, some thieving little ******** broke in to our car at night and ripped out our groovy car radio, stole the satnav (which Floyd had forgotten he left in the glove box, typical as he usually always brings it in), took the cigarrette lighter (!??? WHY?) plus a whole array of other things including Floyd's designer sunglasses, digital tyre pump etc. ********'s.

Floyd took it very, very badly and it looks like neither the house insurance or the car insurance are worth claiming on because it costs £150 just to make a claim with either and even then, we don't have receipts. Grrrr. Horrible business thieving!!!! But I rest safe in the knowledge that what goes around comes around - these people will get theirs! mwhahahaha!!

Floyd is now considering buying himself a Harley Davidson to cheer himself up!! Hmmm....

New York, New York!

Elderly people are really not all that sweet and innocent you know! They just think they can get away with more but watch 'em!!! When you're back is turned!!!....

My sister Tamzin and her hubby Tom planned to be in New York on business this week (remember, they moved to LA permanently a little while back). My devious mother thought it would be great if my dad joined them out there as he deserves a break and has never been to the US. But the idea had to come from Tamzin. So a plot was formed and set in to action. Lo and behold...a hook, some line and a sinker later...they were off!! I actually found some really cheap flights with American Airlines. Shame the Manhattan hotel cost twice as much!

I am not sure if anyone else has ever attempted this but explaining to an OAP what online check in is, US visa waiver forms, customs forms for the US, baggage allowance, rules on carrying liquids in hand luggage, rules on taking a taxi outside JFK airport, when to tip at a hotel, how mobile phone roaming works etc etc etc - as well as all the little in's and out's such as 'no dad, you don't need to make your bed and vacate your hotel room every morning...it was all quite stressful really!

Floyd is starting a website of his own! Well....that's code for 'wife Sophie is creating a website for Floyd'!!! Keep an eye on www.floydlondon.com. It should be up and running soon. I am making him write his own content though!! Just be prepared for pictures of Floyd's socks or an in depth report on his favourite marmalde....perhaps!

Floyd and I are planning our trip to the US in April - part of which will be touring around Arizona on a Harley Davidson (but how much stuff can I take as a pillion rider? arggh!). I am also probably going for a week's hol later in the year with a friend - who I usually have a little holiday with each Summer. Last year was France and Italy - the year before was the Athens and the Greek Islands. We are just doing a short break this year - somewhere in Europe.

I have a right bloody nightmare to sort out now with a company called Xile Clothing. I was hunting high and low for some UGG boots to take to Switzerland with me. I couldn't find my size anywhere. Eventually traced a pair to this shop called in Edinburgh. Called them and asked if they really, really, really had my size in stock and how soon could they send them? They said yes, they do have them and would post them overnight! Hurrah! They were £175.00 (I know, I know...but it was my treat to myself!).

There was a mess up with the delivery and I had to pay my own courier to go and fetch them from the company's courier company in London (who couldn't find my address for some reason) and I got them!! Great! The day before I left for the mountains!

I wore them one day and got blisters, which is silly as they are sheep skin lined. I took them off and looked inside at the label which was a size too big!!! Noooooooooooooooo!!!!! When I got back to London, I checked the confirmation email I received at the time of the order, the receipt and the box they came in - all 3 said they were the size I had wanted - except the label inside the boots said they were a size bigger - and they were obviously bigger. I called Xile and was told to send them back as per their returns policy on the website. I did - along with all the receipts etc and the box they had come in. I thought it would be obvious that it was the shop's mistake as they have confirmed verbally and in writing that they were sending me my size - yet didn't.

I heard nothing and called them yesterday and got really shouted at by the manager! The most ignorant and rude man I have ever dealt with! And that really is saying something! Apparently I am liar (yep - he called me that several times) saying I had worn the boots for one day when it was obvious I've been wearing them for weeks (?) and it's my own fault for not checking they were the right size and I am trying to swindle them etc etc. He was really nasty and just shouted and shouted over the top of everything I said and then hung up on me. When I called back, his side kick said he must have accidentally cut me off - and he is now refusing to talk to me. Then the side kick joined in said I was a liar. It was really odd!!!! They were not interested in any shape or form in the fact that they had sent me the wrong size - even though the company's paperwork accompanying the boots didn't match the order. If I even mentioned that, I got called a liar for pretending to wear the boots for one day. Weird.

So I have to take this to the small claims court and it's a letter writing process at first apparently. I have to give them 10 days to sort the matter out - then a further 7 days and then I can go to court....apparently.

How frustrating and uncessary. Why does this sort of thing have to happen at all!!!! GAH!!!!

Grumble grumble.

Whew!! Glad that's over! What a mentally busy January! Got back from our event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (I was there just 2 days but have been preparing for it for weeks and weeks, ugh!). The drive from Zurich airport to Davos is spectacular!!! It takes 2 1/2 hours and usually requires a 4 wheel drivel and a gifted chaufffeur with 9 lives!!! The the scenery is breathtaking as you go up and up and up the mountain roads and see little trains travelling along ridges right below you! I regretted not bringing my camera equipment (goes without saying) but used my little pocket camera for some snaps. I was there working anyway so there wasn't much spare time!

These are some pics from the World Economic Forum in 2007...
(Note the machine gunner standing on the roof of the Belvedere, above my room!! eek!)



And these are some pics from 2008!

Floyd's been away for nearly 3 weeks with The Almighty who had a few days of rehearsals and then toured the UK. 12 shows in total and the occasional day off here and there. I had suggested the band doing meet and greets after each show and was planning to go on the road too for part of the tour but I couldn't stay on the bus (grumble grumble) and as I don't drive, I ended up only going to the London show this year. It would have been a logistical nightmare otherwise!!!!! What with the Switzerland trip too, I am glad it worked out like that really.

I was horribly drunk at the London show as everyone and anyone wanted to buy me a drink. I was putting them on the floor and leaving them in the end!!!! Lovely to meet fans and mates and get to chat to everyone!!! Bloody brilliant effort Brucebruce for flying back from Australia especially!!! \m/

The first weekend Floyd was away on tour, I went to Dublin to stay with our friends and then the second weekend I was in Davos so all in all it went by quite quickly. Floyd and I have rarely spent any time apart at all over the past 7-8 years (annoying aren't we!) - apart from when he was ill of course but even then, I was at his side 20 hours a day!!! But it was great on this tour....I actually got to use the remote control(s)...all 6 of them! And made a big pile of stuff to sell on eBay (lets see of Floyd notices anything's missing!!!!).

The Almighty website finally came to an end over the weekend. Wow...can't believe it's been 7 years! It was a long battle getting it off Sanctuary Records at the time as once they stopped representing the band, they weren't interested in doing anything for them. So it took forever and lots of angry emails to get them to give me the domain etc. It was funny because when Ricky and Stumpy had asked to meet me, with regards to me running the site for them, they didn't realise I was Floyd's girlfriend back then....I told them after the meeting!!!!! How's that for conincidence!! Back then, Nick and Gav were in the band as Floyd and Pete had decided not to rejoin. A few months after I started doing the website, Sanctuary and the band parted ways. So I started paying the bills and even when the band cancelled a tour due to poor ticket sales and Ricky's getting an offer to tour solo in the USA, I decided to keep the site going anyway - mainly because by then, we had such a brilliant online community on the forum and the fans were so decent and really devoted, I wanted to keep it all going. And I did...for the next 6 1/2 years!!!!

It's got to the point where I just can't keep paying the bills and doing so much work for free - even though Floyd has been playing with them for the past 2 years, I still can't keep paying the bills myself and doing all this work for nothing. I guess it had to end at some point, but it was so, so, so sad to see the forum go. The band will keep a page on Myspace and I think Ricky has his own plans for www.thealmighty.co.uk.

Floyd stayed up until 3am reading all the old messages of support which people had posted on the forum when he was ill. He said he wanted to read them again before they went. So it was then that I managed to persuade him to keep a blog and maybe even have his own mini-website. I could import the 'get well' messages from the old Almighty forum and we could keep the community going. Soooooo....any moment now floydlondon.com will be launched!!! Hurray!!!!

Here is the only photo I managed to take on Friday night, at The Almighty's show!! Floyd dived in to the crowd at the very end (I swear I am not feeding him anything to make him crazy!) and got carried offstage by Stumpy!!!

Soph xx

Narnia

Well....not quite but the Lime Walk again!!

I watched the Chronicles of Narnia over the holidays - loved it!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my big sis Clare (Dordogne Quilter bloggy woman!)

Have a lovely birthday and hope you get spoilt rotten!!!

Lots of love,

xxxx

Green Tuesday

Wow, everyone's getting this winter vomitting bug 'Norovirus'. People are literally dropping like flies. Poor Floyd had it especially bad before, during and after Christmas. I have somehow managed to not get it so far (have probably just jinxed myself! whoops!).

Love Skype by the way! Have been having videocalls with my sister in LA and it's been great! We put mum infront of one the other day! Love the way older people shout in to mobiles or computers!! "CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME. REPEAT. CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME?" hee hee!!

I finally managed to get my dad on to his Skype last night - so we had a webchat and I was giving him a guided tour and showing him how his webcame worked! It was hilarious!! We couldn't hear each other at first so were using the telephones to talk - but were waving at each other on camera!!!! But then the phone got cut off and I couldn't get him back - so had to resort to writing notes like "PUT THE PHONE DOWN" and holding that up infront of my camera!!!! He was writing back "THE TELEPHONE?" etc....arrgggh!!!! hilarious! but then he realise his speakers were turned off and all was fine!!! Still....great fun!!!!

Very busy today preparing for the World Economic Forum in a couple of weeks. So here is a random picture of a tree!!!

Lovely mossy tree in Galway!

New Year, New Resolutions....

Remember me? I'm the one that started this blog and then didn't post for months! Ahem! Well it all turned hectic and so many things were happening at the same time, I didn't know what to write and didn't feel all that creative to be honest!

A summary of the past 4 months or so....

My family thought my father had cancer of the upper esophagus. Dad is much against doctors unfortunately and for the past 3 years has had a swallowing condition which has steadily been getting worse. We have struggled to watch him try to eat and have been gently nagging him to see a specialist. He has been flatly refusing our pleas for years and it's been tough for all of us to watch his condition get steadily worse.

Dad's views is that why be told the devastating news 'Mr Denny, we're afraid you only have 6 months left - when you can just keep going and then one day drop dead' (those of us who have been through cancer or have seen it first hand know this just isn't how the story goes).

Because the symtoms were getting so serious last Summer, we finally got through (well done Tam!) and got him to a doctor. He was sent for further tests and upper esophagus cancer was indicated. We had weeks of extremely sad discussions and it was just awful.

However, after something called a Barium Swallow (which highlights every nook and cranny of the esophagus), the consultant advised this is NOT cancer - but something called esophageal diverticula. Not at all anything like cancer of the esophagus but will be bad news if left untreated. It is in his throat and by his stomach. Anway - the relief was so huge that we didn't care what it was to be honest, it wasn't CANCER. Oh my! I cried non-stop for about a day after dad told me the outcome. I just could not take any more, nursing my husband through leukaemia, losing Davo....I couldn't have coped with anyone else I love having the dreaded C. Really.

So that was that....what else has been happening? Well, Floyd's band The Almighty are out on the road again for a few weeks later this month. I am going to stop doing The Almighty website shortly. I have been the webmaster for 6 1/2 years now and simply cannot afford to keep running it year after year. I have met all the of the costs out of my own pocket and have been running it in my spare time. So I can't do it any more. The band will now have a Myspace page instead of taking over the site and buying it off me.

It will be sad to say goodbye. I have been very passionate about keeping it running for the fans all these years and creating a great little community on the forum. The band's fans are amongst the most loyal, devoted, salt of the earth type of people I have ever met. They have stood by the band through everything, through the years - even whent he band split up TWICE!!!! Floyd and I were humbled and left stunned and forever grateful from the support we both received from fans throughout his illness and treatment. We were pulled through the whole ordeal by this sort of love and kindness. You never forget that sort of commitment. If I ever had a tough experience ahead of me again, I wouldn't want for anything if I had the support from people like the Almighty's fans.

I haven't taken so many photos - as I said, not been feeling creative but I'll start to post what I have taken over the next few weeks. My camera needs it's sensor cleaned. Sigh. Another £150 to Canon for the priviledge! Here's an old pic of mine for the time being:

Galway Roadside, 2006

My sister Tamzin just moved to LA last week, to the Hollywood Hills no less!!! Wishing Tam and Tom every success in their new life out there! As long as neither come back with any implants!!! ;-)

We had a small family Christmas in Kent last week which was lovely. Floyd and I spent New Year in Dublin with our friends there. It was FANTASTIC as always!!! Had such a good time! My friends have a new kitten which had just discovered it's needle sharp claws and teeth! So glad my arm was of use for the sharpening and target practise!

Floyd had a check up with the oncologist back in December. All was well blood count wise (and he is now 3 years in remission!!!! flippin brilliant eh!!!!). But we had a sad talk about the future and the risks of a secondary cancer later down the line. Heart breaking. But what can you do? There is no choice other than to absorb that bit of information and keep on keeping on.

We went to the Led Zeppelin gig in London last month! Oh my god that was amazing!!!! Our very wonderful friends got us tickets and passes. The show was just incredible. They played for over 2 hours and it felt like 10 minutes. The sensation of the legendary event we were at, mixed with the brilliant video and graphics behind the stage, the atmosphere from the crowd and the great, great sound of the band made it simply SPECTACULAR!!!!!! I will never forget it as long as I live and we are so grateful for our friends for even considering us for the much sought after, last minute tickets and passes.

We all went to the show in style and got to meet/chat/oggle at from across the room some pretty flippin' cool people! Liam Gallagher, Chad from RHCP, Dave Grohl, Charlie Boorman, Jeremey Clarkson, Bob Geldof, Kate Moss, Lulu, Noel Gallagher, Michael J. Fox etc etc and at the very end of the night, we kidnapped Richard Hammond and dragged him back to our hotel for a nightcap and to be oggled at by Floyd! What a dude....he really is. A perfectly decent chap who has had so many incredible experiences, as well as being a presenter of Top Gear, the guy came through a horrifying high speed crash, brain damage and lived to tell the tale.


I am looking forward to a great year in 2008 and will be updating my blog lots more in the coming weeks! I might even start telling people about it! ;-) Thanks for the nag MHC!!!!

Lots of love Soph xxxxx

Random Thursday Pics

There is nothing particularly special about this and I have much better sunset photos somewhere, but I always liked it because the 2 trees in the middle remind me of a couple with their heads together, watching the sun go down. Aaaaah....


The 'Lime Walk' at my parent's house in Kent. I could never work out how to crop this photo to do it justice, so I never did. I am sure I could make it look a little better though.



Scottish frost!

Not telling you what this picture is.....you have to guess!