Snow!

Snow hit Southampton this morning at 6am, as forecasted, and it has not stopped snowing since!  Poppy was the first to set foot in it, at about 8am.

Following that trip out, Nanny and Poppy ventured out again to build the snowman!

And of course, i had to have a wander and take a few pictures too!

Me and my Gizmo

Poppy ready for school and posing with Gizmo. Poppy wanted the picture taken so that she could show her teacher.

I've not forgotten the blog ... it will be back, properly, soon ....

Time to open the presents ...

Time to open the presents ..., a photo by SlinkeySi on Flickr.

Our trip to see the queen ....

Last weekend we took a trip overseas to see the queen!

Ok, so maybe i should explain a little more!  Last Sunday we took a trip to the Isle of Wight.  For me it was my first trip to the island.  Our mission - to visits Queen Victoria's holiday home, and enjoy the Victorian Christmas celebrations.

So at 9am, we boarded the Red Funnel Ferry and headed off across the sea (well, the Solent) to the Isle of Wight.  And after having a full cooked breakfast on board we were ready for the day ahead.

Osborne House is the holiday home of Queen Victoria, and is now looked after by English Heritage.  We took the trip around the house before enjoying the grounds for a little bit.  As you might be able to tell from the pictures, we were very lucky with the weather.  It was a little chilly, but we had blue skies and sun all day.

Having walked the grounds and visited the house we went in search of the Queen and found her in the courtyard overseeing the Christmas Festivities!

It just happened that after finishing our visit to the house we had a few hours before our ferry was due, so what else was there to do but go in search of a lighthouse, and we found one of the most iconic lighthouses in the South, The Needles.

While the ladies rested,  i walked to the lighthouse (well, as close as i could get without having to go for a swim!) and happened to get the start of the sunset as well!

And that was our trip to the Isle of Wight - we really enjoyed our day, not a bad Sunday trip.  I suspect we will re-visit the island again soon.

School news ....

Each week, on a Friday, Poppy's school sends home a School Newsletter, which is a pretty good way of keeping everybody up to date as to what is going on at the school.  As well as getting a paper copy, there is an electronic copy on the school website.

You might wonder why i am telling you this .. well, go take a look at this week's edition:

16th November - St John the Baptist Primary School Newsletter

You may notice, under the 'Parent/Governor elections' heading, a name that your recognise!

Old and new ...

This weekend we have been celebrating Dad's birthday and it's been a busy weekend.

Nanny/Mum came down on Friday evening and we started the celebrations with a take-away and of course a few glasses of wine!

Saturday started with a swim and then a traditional 'nini' at Starbucks before coming back for a lazy afternoon and then we had to watch 'Strictly Come Dancing' !!

The picture above is the 'old' picture and is Dad in his flying days when he worked for 'Fairy Air Survey Limited'.

The plan for Sunday was a traditional roast out, however we slightly changed our criteria so we could head to Bournemouth as it was such a glorious day.  The Harvester at Durley Chimes was our destination of choice and after a lovely lunch we wandered along the beach to the town for an afternoon drink.  As you can see from the picture below, Nanny and Poppy took the opportunity to enjoy the good weather and the beach!

Remember remember the 5th Nov .....

As kids, one of the events i remember is the yearly fireworks display, always held at the recreation ground just behind Westview in Wargrave.  By chance we have been in Wargrave this weekend when the display was on, so i thought it was rude not to go and visit!

I did have to go on my own, as the girls - well Poppy, is not a great fan of the noise, and having survived a display the night before she was not keen to see, or hear, more!

Well i am pleased to say that not too much has changed - they still had a bonfire, the fireworks were in fact pretty good, and the scouts/cubs were still selling hotdogs and burgers.

In fact the only things that had changed were the exact location - its now held on the 'new' part of the rec, and they did not have any catherine wheels!

Happy Halloween!

With it being half term this week we have had plenty of time to prepare for Halloween, and below you will see our two creations for this year's Halloween:

Reach AGM 27th October 2012

Today we went the the Marriott Hotel in Portsmouth for the Reach AGM family weekend. There was a playroom for Poppy to go to so that the adults could listen to the speakers which were lined up.

The most exciting speaker was Claire Cashmore. She is a Paralympic silver medalist in swimming and she spoke of how when she was 9 years old a girl told her should could not win the gala race with one arm. She went on to beat that girl in that race! She then turned up in the playroom to see the kids and Poppy and I had a lovely chat with her. Here Claire is showing Poppy her medals. She describes them as big biscuits! This is a very proud moment for me. Then they both were squishing each others stumps! Loved it!

Home baking

I have been doing a little home baking over the last week or so and with a flu type bug doing the rounds in the Butler household soup and bread rolls seemed like a good idea.

The results are below!

My other few attempts have been making loaves, the results are again, below!

Oh and I guess I should not forget the attempt at pizza, made totally from scratch, including the dough.

Mac n' Tosh

Time to introduce you to two new members of the Butler Family, who came to stay with us a few weeks ago, however until now they have been a little camera shy!

This is Mac n' Tosh, our two new Guinea Pigs.  Mac is the white one, and Tosh is the brown one.  

For the record, i had nothing to do with the names, however i obviously approve.  For those that don't get it, think Apple !

First day at school

Poppy had her first proper day at school yesterday, and below are the pictures to prove it!

The last photo is actually a picture taken this morning, and the boy in the pictures is Joe, a friend that Poppy knows from pre-school.

Team Butler

We have a little catching up to do on the blog, however i thought i would post a few pictures in the meantime. The first set of pictures cover our trip to London to watch the Paralympics - which included a session at the Olympic Stadium and then watching Equestrian at Greenwich Park:

Gee up Tot !

Hello ... !  After a summer vacation its time to get the blog back up and running again, and we do have some catching up to do, however to start with, its Saturday morning and Poppy is out horse riding again!

This week she is riding 'Tot' and she is also sporting her new riding shoes and riding hat, i think she looks the part!

I say again, as Poppy was also out the week before last on 'Fudge':

Graduation Day

Another milestone for Poppy today, her graduation .. graduation day from pre-school!

Now first off, we know that it is not Poppy's last day, however, as we are off to Devon tomorrow morning the pre-school very kindly put on a special graduation ceremony for Poppy - as the main graduation for the rest of the children leaving is tomorrow.

It was also perfect timing, as uncle Nik, aunty Caoihme, and Nanny were on hand to make up the audience!

Painted faces