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

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.