More wedding pics

Oops, I was meant to share/add some more photos from my sister's wedding. The camera gets more and more shaky the more wine I've had during the meal! Here are a few of them:

Yawn, yawn, yawn!

Is anyone else fed up to the 'partially erupting' back teeth (!) with stories about Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Amy Winehouse and all the rest who are in the press for pathetically embarrassing behaviour?

We have had Paris Hilton in and out of jail and then stating her love for God and wanting to be a good role model, we have Britney Spears running around town with and without knickers, jumping in and out of the sea, shaving her head and then and reports this week that she was loony tunes at an OK magazine photo shoot (vomiting down her Gucci dress and eyes rolling around in her head), Lindsey Lohan being arrested again and being sent to rehab, Amy Winehouse looking dangerously thin and rambling away on stage before spitting on fans and being made to leave the stage....

Pathetic. What are they in the news for again? Why do they command helicopters hovering over their houses and paparazzi following their every move? Or relatives speaking on or to CNN/Oprah/Jay Leno etc etc. Is this what defines a celebrity status these days? And people seem to gobble it all up and enjoy reading about the latest popstar behaving badly.

Do we enjoy watching them fall from their pedestals or do we actually want to know all the details so we can shout "Paris! We love you!" or "Britney forever!" from the sidelines!

I caught a bit of the MTV show called 'Cribs' yesterday where 'celebs' let the camera crews in to their mansions or deluxe houses. There were teenagers I had never heard of walking around their $8 million mansions, showing off their fleet of luxury cars and home cinemas etc.

It's sad. There are so many talentless idiots that are embraced as celebrities/supermodels/society girls/pop stars etc. I hope the 'bubble' bursts sooner or later and people get wise. If this is what is happening now, what will all the teenagers who worship these losers grow up to be like?

'Ee by gum! 'taint like t' old days!

Where is the wisdom in that?

Owwwwww.....

Over the weekend my lower right wisdom tooth decided it was missing out on this thing we call daylight and wanted to come and join us! Except there was a the small matter of my gums and other teeth being the way... ouch.

I have been on painkillers all weekend and am off to see the dentist for an emergency appointment any minute now. There is a small chance that it is infected because my face is swollen (no sniggering!!). Pants!!! It's so expensive and painful to get a wisdom tooth extracted these days! I was quoted £450-500 to get them taken out a few years ago! Outrageous.

I really hate going to the dentist. Ever since my dental surgeon accidentally injected anaesthetic into my bloodstream instead of my nerve! Gah!

Anyway, what is the point of wisdom teeth?

Almighty DVD in aid of Leukaemia Research

So for anyone new reading this blog, if you don't already know the background, my husband Floyd was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in September 2004. He was 3 weeks away from popping his clogs apparently and the docs gave him a 50/50 chance of surviving his 4 aggressive courses of chemo. He pulled through 7 months of hell where we declined a bone marrow transplant and also where I nearly lost him to a deadly fungal infection - but made it he did.

Floyd is the bass player in The Almighty. They were a very successful punk rock band hailing from Glasgow. They formed as school friends in 1988 and Floyd left the band for good in 2000. The band parted company 2 years later.

As Floyd's treatment was ending and our wedding was drawing nearer and after much nagging and a bit of double crossing each band member, I got them all talking about a reunion in aid of Leukaemia Research. I practised my new found nagging skills on newspaper editors, rock mag editors, photographers and old music biz acquaintances and the result was 2 huge sell out shows in January 2006. One in the band's hometown of Glasgow and one in London. We raised £25,000 for leukaemia research and launched the 'WELCOME TO DEFIANCE' red wristband for the charity. This is the name of one of the band's hits and it was also Floyd's motto during treatment. The band loved the shows so much and the reception and praise they received from the fans and the media have had them reform for more shows. Last Demcember was a tour of the UK and there is talk of a new tour in 2008. The shows were so great! We honoured Floyd and had the times of our lives! The buzz from the audience was just electric!

I got a film crew in for the Glasgow show but it has taken all this time to get the thing produced and edited. It's been a long time but the band are incredibly proud to release the offical live DVD, completely in in aid of Leukaemia Research!

More info on the release is here and it can be bought online from Leukaemia Research here.

We are so determined to keep fighting against leukaemia and to see it's demise in our lifetimes. Leukaemia Research is the only national charity in the UK dedicated to leukaemia and other blood cancers and they are NOT funded by the government, even though 25,000 people a year are disagnosed in the UK. They rely soley on charitable donations but still managed to invest millions each year in to vital research. I have met many of the scientists who have received grants for the LRF and am astounded at some of the research that has just come to light. Next year will see 2 human clinical trials funded by LRF. The future does indeed look bright!

So if you are keen to support The Almighty Fund at Leukaemia Research and add to our £25,000 (I believe this is closer to £28,000 after the first week of DVD sales, please buy a wristband or a live DVD).

Floyd's story is highlighted in a clip below. I hope it works, I am a bit shaky on embedding movies in Blogger.

Proud Little Sister

I am very proud to hear that my elder sister Clare has been given the 'Charity Blogger Award' from www.writersreviews.com.

My sister Clare lives in South West France with her husband Rex and daughter Alex (my beloved niece!). Clare has a passion for quilting and shares this with a great online community.

After my husband Floyd fought for his life by battling a rare and aggressive form of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, Clare decided she wanted to do something to help. To help the charities, to help raise awareness but most importantly, to reach out to people also fighting this dreadful blood cancer - by quite literally wrapping them in love!

The Quilts 4 Leukaemia blogging community grew and grew and grew and quite unexpectedly, Clare was soon receiving the most beautiful, handmade blocks from all around the world - from kind, generous people who also wanted to help. The colours are always red and white as these are the colours of the Leukaemia Research Fund (which Floyd and I are ambassadors for).

Clare would receive the blocks from around the world and then make them in to quilts to send to people fighting leukaemia (mostly young adults and children). My darling friend Davo was the first recipient and he absolutely adored his quilt as it was filled with so much devotion and love.

These fabulous ladies are very hardworking, caring and are doing such a wonderful thing. I am so proud of them all!

Last weekend, Clare presented me with a very special block that I had seen at Christmas time. I had told Clare that I loved it so much and it was so pretty and I was envious of who might receive it! So Clare kindly gave it to me to have framed. It was made by Hideko in Japan and
I shall treasure it.

So a big thank you to everyone who has made a block for the Quilts For Leukaemia scheme!!! (massive applause!).

Love Sophie xxx

Mr Motorbike Man

We had a break from the norm this morning when Floyd had to leave the house before me. Usually I am up very early and out of the door just as he is stirring in bed but he needed to be in work early for one reason or another.

Anyway, I was keeping busy getting ready to leave when I noticed a sheet of paper has been slipped under the door. It was a prunish message to 'Mr Motorbike Man' and was complaining that he shouldn't slam the door but put the key in it and gently close it.

We live in an old converted hospital (www.royalherbert.co.uk) and we are in a building with about 6 other apartments. We have lived there 4 1/2 years and the neighbours are all really nice actually. There are some new people on our landing so I guess it must be them.

I think in the Summer, doors seem to grow slightly as the wood swells a bit. Our door is much stiffer now.

Everyone likes to think of themselves as the perfect neightbour and I seem to have had lots of feuds with neighbours way back in the past. Floyd and I used to live in a small flat below a very noisy girl who had the TV on at full volume at 4am and used to stamp around. We are usually very well behaved so it was a bit of an awakening to get this note!

It only annoyed me because it was 'anonymous' and was very sarcastic to poor Floyd! Floyd hasn't seen the note yet. But I wrote a reply on it saying to pop round and just talk, Mr Motorbike Man doesn't bite and neither do I! I pinned the note up in the communal area by the main front door where we all share a message board.

Hope we don't get a 'neighbours from hell' situation!!!!

Wedding Belles

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. It's been a bit chaotic because I have been in France and Italy on vacation for a little while and immediately before that I had my friend come to stay with me. Then I got back last week and it was my elder sister Tamzin's wedding!

What a great day that was. Really loved it. The wedding was in the same church Floyd and I married in. It is a very pretty tiny church up in the Kentish Downs, about 300 yards down the lane from mum and dad's house.

I read a Shakespeare sonnet (the same one my sister read at my wedding).

It's so picturesque up there. My parents have a very old cottage perched on the edge of the valley and have panoramic views all around. It's my favourite place in the world. No other houses around and no traffic or noise. You could be living in any century.

My parents roof was covered in splattered eggs as apparently if you put an egg on the bride's roof, you will have good weather on your wedding day. Hmmm... My mother gently rolled an egg out of the dormer window in the roof and it sat in the gutter. But Tamzin and Tom thought they would throw them at the roof instead! It worked! The weather was great. It really makes it or breaks it up there. The location is so high up (480 feet above sea level) with no protection from the winds. So when it is sunny, it is heaven on earth. When it is raining or windy, it's awful. You need to huddle around the woodstove and go to bed with all your clothes on!

But it was great. Quite a smart wedding. I had bought a nice Max Mara dress in Florence in a sale - 75 Euros. Amazing! And we were done.

My elder sister Clare, plus hubby Rex and my dear niece Alex came over from France. Alex was a bridesmaid and looked lovely, as always. She took charge very well of the other more wriggly and younger flower girls!! :-) I will add more pics as I finally download them all!

I hate being back at work in London though. Back to the tubes, the commuting, the broken down buses. The terror threats that are meant to have us in a state of panic. Yuk.