ROYAL WEDDING DAY SCHEDULE

Clarence House has released an official schedule for the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton.

Between 8.15am and 9.45am: The general congregation will arrive at the Great North Door of Westminster Abbey.
From 9.50am: Governors-general and prime ministers of realm countries, the diplomatic corps and other distinguished guests arrive at the Abbey.
10.10am: The bridegroom and best man Prince Harry leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.15am – three quarters of an hour before the bride.
10.20am: Members of foreign royal families arrive at the Abbey from Buckingham Palace.
10.20am: Carole Middleton and son James leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.27am.
10.25am: Members of the Royal Family (except those listed below) leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.30am.
10.35am: The following members of the Royal Family leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.40am:
The Duke of York
Princess Beatrice of York
Princess Eugenie of York
The Earl and Countess of Wessex
The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence
10.38am: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.42am.
10.40am: The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.45am.
10.48am: The bridesmaids and pages leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey. They arrive at the Abbey at 10.55am.
10.51am: Kate Middleton, accompanied by her father, Michael, leaves the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.
11.00am: The marriage service begins. It will be relayed by loudspeakers along the route.
12.15pm: The carriage procession of the bride and groom with a captain’s escort of the Household Cavalry, followed by the Queen’s procession with a sovereign’s escort of the Household Cavalry, leaves Westminster Abbey for Buckingham Palace.
12.30pm: The bride’s carriage procession arrives at Buckingham Palace.
12.40pm: Members of the Royal Family and members of foreign royal families arrive at Buckingham Palace.
From 12.40pm: Other guests for the reception arrive at Buckingham Palace.
1.25pm: The Queen and the bride and groom, together with their families, appear on the balcony.
1.30pm: Fly past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain memorial flight.

KNITTING ROYALS

 That's right, you can knit your own royal wedding party! One more sleep. I plan on getting up very early and not missing anything. I would love to have been in London but will skip the chaos and watch it here in Bristol.  I took this picture at pod one of my favorite shops in Clifton for finding fun prezzies. Pod has the most imaginative gifts. It's the perfect place to shop for someone who has everything.

ROYAL MAIL CALLING

 Lovely little treats arrived in the post yesterday. Thank you L! I'm excited and inspired by the pictures.The Pashmina will be a perfect accessory for Friday's Royal Wedding.. xoxo

H's B-DAY

Today is Heather's birthday. 

Heather is ridiculously loyal, thoughtful and a whizz at anything she puts her mind to. 

I hope you have a wonderful birthday H see you in a few weeks... xoxox

I can't believe it's been a year since I wrote this Happy Birthday Hez !

ROYAL WEDDING

Steve came home from work today and gave me my first official royal wedding loot! I know what I'll be drinking my breakfast tea out of this Friday. I've been catching up on everything Will & Kate today. Only two more sleeps until the BIG day. Eeek!

WEEKEND FUN

I'm sure many of you spent your  Easter weekend enjoying family dinners, decorating eggs and taking part in Easter treat hunts.   Maybe you just relaxed on a much needed long weekend?

We enjoyed the extra few days with Steve after our vacation, and had some great family time with C all over Bristol. I took a few pictures of the hard boiled eggs Connor died for  Easter breakfast and also a few of him on his hunt in the back garden.

Spring is definitely in the air! We've spotted lambs frolicking in the fields , ducklings swimming behind their mums  and even came across a swan sitting on her eggs this weekend along the quay.

Here in England we are gearing up for another long weekend thanks to Will & Kate. We are booked to go to Cambridge on Saturday night for some Spring shopping at the US base. Steve's running low on Skippy peanut butter and I like picking up a few different flavors of  salad dressing that I can't find in the UK.

What are your plans for the royal wedding weekend?

 Connor wanted this villian Harry Potter wand so badly. He was shocked and spent the rest of the weekend casting spells on us. " freeze and eat slugs!" It was lovely! xoxo 

WW

FRIENDSHIP

HAPPY KEASTER!

Happy Easter! We've had endless fabulous weather here in Bristol. We spent the day in the sunshine and had a picnic down on the Quay and of course, our day included a few Easter treats. This weekend has been lovely and it's not over yet! I'm loving this quadruple bank holiday I wonder if I could write "Queenie" and ask her if we can bring it back to Canada with us?! 

I saw a lot of people taking advantage of the hot weather, setting  up BBQ's and drinking tea and champagne in the parks, lots of activities were in play, including a game of volleyball around the corner which you don't see often in England. 

My hairdresser told me she spent Good Friday at Victoria park with her best friend drinking pots of tea and eating proper cream cheese & cucumber sandwiches. They actually carried an entire tea set to the park including a cake stand, how fun!  With it being St. Georges weekend and the Royal Wedding coming up, our city is full of Union Jack bunting. I must admit I picked up some the other day and hung it in the garden this evening.

I wish this was my garden!

I hope everyone had an amazing Easter weekend and got up to plenty of fun. xoxo

PHOTOSHOP FUN

BACON AND EGG SAVORY CUPCAKES

found on tablespoon

• 16 slices bacon
• 1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury Grands! Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
• 8  eggs

Directions

1. 1Heat oven to 350 F. In 10-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium heat about 4 minutes or until cooked but not crisp, turning once. (It will continue to cook in the oven.) Set aside.
2. 2Spray 8 jumbo muffin cups or 8 (6-oz) glass custard cups with cooking spray. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Place 1 biscuit in each muffin cup, pressing dough three-fourths of the way up sides of cups. Place 2 bacon slices in each biscuit cup, and crack an egg over each. Season with salt and pepper.
3. 3Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until egg whites are set. Run a small knife around cups to loosen. Serve immediately.

SUNNY DAYS

We have had amazing weather in Bristol this week. I have been spending it with my step-son Connor, which is why I've not taken the time to post my Switzerland pictures, but I will tease you with a few at the end of this post and fill some trip comments later.

Connor and I spent  the evening side-walk chalking and playing frisbee at the Clifton Downs. We coloured the entire side-walk full of pictures and words like RUN FASTER and STOP. People running by loved it! 

I love summer, oops I mean spring! ;) We stopped at the grocery store to pick up everything we need for a sunny Easter BBQ weekend. All I need now are some eggs to put around the garden for the great hunt. We have been gearing up for Easter since going to see HOP last week. It seems like everyone else is as well. In Switzerland we ate coloured hard boiled eggs with ham and cheese for breakfast in the morning.

 I'm not sure why, but Easter has always been a big thing in my family. I remember my Mom painting ceramics jars and filling them with jelly beans, big chocolate hunts & new spring clothes. I guess when I was young the only time you would get gifts were holidays. It seems now kids get gifts for sneezing.

If you've been reading my blog you will know how much I love holidays and Easter will be no different! I think Santa Claus left the Easter Bunny some PJ's for me and I'm ready to wear them. Bring on the Easter weekend! xoxo

Here are a few pictures I promised of Switzerland: 

W for WELLIES

GREAT ADVICE

'Whenever you get into a jam, whenever you get into a crisis or an emergency…become the calmest person in the room and you'll be able to figure your way out of it.'"
– Rudolph Giuliani

MONDAY QUOTE

Laughter is an instant vacation- Milton Berle

We are just back from vacation and I can't wait to write about it.

Today is catch up day for me, laundry, groceries and getting out with Connor to enjoy this fabulous weather.  I will get my pictures downloaded asap and share all the things we loved about Switzerland. xoxo

BE HAPPY

Travel.... 

We are leaving for Switzerland this morning. My skis are packed and I'm ready to take on the Matterhorn. 

This will be my second time seeing this beautiful mountain, the first was in Disneyland! 

See you in a few. xoxo 

HUSBANDS ARE THE BEST TRAVEL ACCESSORY

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money.  Then take half the clothes and twice the money.  ~Susan Heller


Steve, Connor & I are packing for Geneva today. This quote is perfect, I always pack too much and inevitably, forget something important, either sleepwear or underwear. I get a little better each time. 


In 2005, Candace and I dragged the biggest suitcases all over Europe. We definitely were not backpack girls then and probably never thought we would be. I remember meeting my friends in Italy and their suitcases being packed with 5 different handbags/clutches/shoes for a 3 day trip... I have come a long way since then, not necessarily packing less, just lighter. ;)


My husband is a great packer and has taught me a lot. He usually helps me make the need/want decisions. Bringing Husband on vacation is the best accessory. Not only does he pack the electronics, toiletries & the itinerary, he always has space left in his suitcase for shopping (my shopping!)  

WW- BE HAPPY

Be Happy: Find People you love.

WATCH LIST

I read a review on HBO's Temple Grandin in the Sunday Times and decided it was a must see. 

"It was nominated for 15 Emmys and is the kind of movie that will make you stop and reflect on how you see other people" Clair Danes amazes in this true based-story of an autistic child who sees life in pictures and because of her amazing bravery, family and teachers she went on to complete a doctorate in animal science and has become a heroine in the American cattle industry; developing a humane way of handling livestock. This film addressed autism with adoration and courage. If you missed it on television you can rent or buy it from Amazon.

ROYAL WEDDING LOOT

 I know I'm not the only one excited about William & Kate tying the knot. I had ideas of friends coming round. Men in suits, ladies in their wedding gowns. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone to share in my enthusiasm. It just needed the right group to pull it off. 

I was in a few stores the other day including John Lewis and saw some fun items to commemorate the royal wedding. In one of the Clifton shops they are selling a dress up paper dolly book! 

Canadians would be so excited to have all this memorabilia. Steve's Nanna mentioned she had been watching the nightly royal wedding coverage on CBC news. 

I hope William and Catherine have a beautiful day, it really goes by so fast. Hopefully, they take time for the special private moments that they will always remember. I may not be wearing my dress but I'll be wearing my red wedding shoes and watching with an ear to ear smile!   

HOLY SPRING

We have had beautiful 20 degree weather this past weekend. On Saturday I got the chance to discover Gloucester road and all it's little surprises. After checking out almost every thrift shop along Gloucester and getting Steve's hair cut at Franco's we stopped for lunch at The Olive Shed Shop, everything looked so good it was hard to choose. I decided on spanakopia with butter-bean salad and a selection of olives, my favourite! We made our Grand National bets and stopped at one of our local pubs to watch the race.  I don't think I could have had a more perfect Saturday, we ended the day with a BBQ in the garden. 

Sunday we joined the Ramblers for an 11 mile hike in Thornbury. We walked through fields of rape seed & I saw plenty of sheep, cows, horses and I gushed over all the new lambs. Joining the Ramblers has been one of my favourite things about living in England. I've met some wonderful new people and walked all over one of the most beautiful places in the country. Connor joined us last night for the start of his Easter break. We are leaving for Geneva in a few days for some snow filled fun!