Cute Minions....

.... and a fearsome Wolverine!

A shopping trip to Liverpool One and the cinema in the evening.

Spending a morning in school...

.... while mum works on her new classroom...

.... isn't so bad when you can watch cartoons on the Whiteboard!

First Weekend of the Holidays....

.... spent in Wales.

We arrived late on Friday night...

and on the Saturday did the usual Welsh weekend stuff

{swimming - RSPB Conwy - Waterstones - Llandudno Beach}

 

Summer Meet Up With Al Number One -

.... at Quarry Bank Mill

for afternoon tea and a stroll.

Midnight Tango

The last day of school - 

Megs, Gma and I went to see this amazing show at the Opera House in Manchester 

{Gma's birthday present!} 

The set, the music, and most of all dancing - just fabulous!

And....... at last school's out for summer

The term that felt like it would never end is over!

And Ben has finished his first year at High School!

The (Not So) Wetland Centre at Washington

We gave Jude a lift home from Newcastle -

on the way we stopped at the WWT Centre in  Washington -

for the usual mix of bird watching/playground time/walking in the woods/and a great lunch!

A long awaited wedding

The loveliest of days -

we were delighted to see Richard and Fiona married -

they look pretty delighted too!

Al all poshed up for his role as an usher

 

 We were also delighted to meet up with Cath, Dave, Christopher and Charlotte -

it's been far too long -

Megs and Charlotte had a great time dancing together!



North to Newcastle

Friday afternoon we picked Megs and Ben up from school,

and were on the road to Newcastle, ready for Richard and Fiona's wedding.

We were past the Angel of the North by 6pm

and at the church of St Michael and All Angels in time for the wedding rehersal. 

We sat outside in the evening sunshine - 

while Al found out about his role as an usher,

and thought about angles for video cameras.

We found our hotel (Premier Inn Millenium Bridge)

 in Newcastle and met up with Gma and Gpa -

the rooms were HOT so we went for a walk along the Tyne before bed.

It was all rather lovely -

 The BALTIC Art Centre, The Sage Gateshead, the Millenium Bridge and 

the fantastic view up the river of the other bridges.

 

Hot Stuff

Oh - it's been far too hot for yet another week. 

If we were on holiday it would be lovely -

but seeing as we are still in school-

and the children are still going to activities 

(eg judo practice)

we are basically melting!

Meeting Tom Hiddleston

So - we have collected our amazing front row tickets for Macbeth at MIF13.

 

We are waiting in a mill courtyard to be escorted round to the venue.

 

It's very hot, and I'm leaning against the wall by the entrance. A tall man walks right past me. I'm looking down and notice the rather fabulous watch he's wearing. I'm just thinking about this as Al nudges me with one of his "Do you know who that it?" remarks.

 

Yes - the tall man, with the fabulous watch is Tom Hiddleston.

Yes - Loki himself.

Yes - the star of the upcoming Coriolanus at the Donmar which I have completely failed to get tickets for.

 

What to do?

A man asks for autographs - but no one else approaches him.

I sneak a couple of photos and gram them - Kathie and Megs respond immediately.

Megs demands that I ask for an autograph - but I can't.

It doesn't seem fair to disturb him further -

and to be honest - I'm not sure that my legs would work as I brace myself against the wall.

Not only does he play a Norse god - but in real life he looks like one too.

 

His group is called right after ours. He sits only a couple of meters away for the performance. When I glance in his direction he is always watching intently - studying the performance.

 

Afterwards Megan says that I can't say I've  met a man who if I didn't dare approach him -

But here are my photos - and I'm sticking by my claim!