Thank you. It's been hard, but we've become a stronger family.

Lunamione, my sincerest apologies for being so awfully late. You all know the reason, but it's no excuse. Everything is treasured, and my entire family enjoyed opening the packge. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.


See that?! I recived not one, but two packages, exactly timed to arrive on the date. Ah! Awesome. And such a nice surprise.


This was inside the biggest (mmm, not sure) box. Wonderfully wrapped presents, and Mali, my dear elephant pet. Woohoo!


Six (!) presents, all for me. I loved the wrappings, it was so thoughful!


Present 1! The presents went together with the picture book, but I just made pictures of the gifts only. This is from the Fairy Park. I love it so much!


Present 2! Mali and Luna visited the zoo, where they had a panda, named Wang Wang. Now I have my personal ang Wang. He is so cute, especially with that little coat!


Present 3. Could it be any more appropriate? Yes, Mali was renamed after a new elephant in the zoo. And this is so cool, I'll cherish it, for sure.


Present 4, a candle that Luna made herself, in a parc where her mum works. I love the colours! Now I just have to find a decent spot to let it burn in memory of Luna and her family.


Present 5. I don't know how Luna did it, but this is more than spot on. I have a VERY soft spot for pens, ink and paper. Such shops always bring me such joy and they relax me. Strange, I know, but this gift is so me. Awesome job, girl!


Presnt 6. Is this an actual towel? This is so cool! And her mum works there, imagine that! I'd love to do that, and embroider or crochet away .


This is the swap journal (huge, right?) with extra information about Sovereign Hill. Wish I could visit it there, it looks amazing.


Pictures from the swap journal. This is the Fairy Park. I must say that Luna did an awesome job on the journal, just wow. Exactly the kind of journal that I wanted to receive. Lots of pictures and stories. Yay!


Yes, that's Wang Wang! Oh, he is just adorable!


Second love that Luna discovered. My weak spot for sunsets... *drools*


And this is in Sovereign Hill, where Luna made my candle. <3

Thank you, you made me so happy!

Esme-Alice has left the building!

And I feel so empty now! What to do?


This is the amount of stickers after all my hard *ahum* work. It was a drama, halfway. All of a sudden my stickers were gone. I asked dad to buy me new ones, but the shop was closed. So I had to order them online. Knowing full well that somewhere in my room (that is, let's face it, a pig sty) I had one box left.
And, guess what? My extra stickers arrived and a day later I found that spare box. *sigh*

And, a spoiler picture!

I'm sitting here, wanting to show one or two pics to you, and something very strange has happened. I cannot see my own pictures on my Photobucket page... How, why and when did this happen? I can see some pictures, and others show a grey, empty, frame, and that white thing with some symbols in it. This cannot be right... I uploaded these pics, so?
Oh, and when I click to eagerly, he disconnects me from the server. *tries again!*

Okay, now I can see the thumbnails, but when I click to get a bigger picture, no go. Wth? Anyone who can help?

I'm going to try and use the thumbnails, to show some last pics. These are from the end of July, when we performed in De Panne, a Belgian coast town. I wasn't looking forward to it, but it was a great evening. Rapalje performed as well, and they loved us so much (our dancing or the girls, not sure) that I have a bunch of pictures with the guys.


This is in the tour bus, where they wanted to annoy their driver, because he had told the guys NOT to take girls on the bus. We actually did this when the driver was fast asleep.


But they were nice .

Okay, time for a next round of pictures from England. We're still in Averbury, but outside the house is a beautiful stone circle. Bigger than Stonehenge (not in height though), but sadly enough people have rummaged with it, to an extend where archeologists don't know what the old circle really would have looked like. To top it of, the main road to and from Averbury goes straight through the circle as well...


A last view in the Victorian kitchen garden.


And so we dive straight into the circle (after some shopping with Esme-Alice *ahum*).


Love this picture...


Here you get a glimpse of the vastness of the circle, with a view on the road.


A stone, a church, bliss!


Another view. I do have a postcard for Lunamoine, so she can see the circle from above, but I was unable to show the entire circle. I can only show you some small parts. Quarters, actually...


But they are huuuuge, those stones.


And yes, more stones .


As a witch and (deep-down) gothic girl, I love graveyards.


With my favourite bird.


And the burial hill, which we did not visit, but it was a sight to behold.


And, when we drove back, we decided to stop by the horse again, and make some decent pictures.

Shall I update? I think so, because I have been too quite, and that won't improve. This month is hectic, because we all have a lot of last minute work for the exams. This year is my first time as a full-time teacher, with the oral exams in June. Stress! But then, oh bliss, Germany and possibly Ireland. Yup, Ireland. Wish I could tell you more, but I'm not allowed yet. Hopefully soon!

Monday was Averbury day. I was an avid watcher of the 'Manor Reborn' show on BBC. Heck, I even bought the DVD in Averbury. Being so close to the house was a blessing, and luckily my friends agreed to visit it. Averbury is amazing. It has a huge stone circle, one that is still ver accessible. Ahum, the main road runs right through it .
Averbury Manor was a stately house, that the BBC, together with the National Trust (of course) renovated. They turned it into a musuem, but quite a different one. Every room has a different theme (a different era). Everything in the room is either real or an exact replica and can be touched or sat upon. Literally everything. In every room  their is a person who can tell you so much more about everything inside. They even encourage you to look around (even open drawers) and touch. Great fun and if you're ever close, please visit!


Averbury is situated in that part of England where you'll find whire horses, carved into the hills. We had such fun trying to spot them, and I was the first one to see one. I have a bunch of pictures from this one, all taken from the car .


Yes, my ticket! Esme-Alice got very excited .


In front of the house...


Oh yeah, lounging!


And with some new friends. I checked, but no, no Steiff teddies .


In the magnificent kitchen. I loved it there. Food to touch and smell, dirty plates and these beautiful plates.


In the study, or, should I say, the boys' room. Complete with snooker table, books, books, books and lots of drinks and smokes. And yes, our guys played a bit of snooker, and I listened to an old gramophone, a copy of the one we have here.


In the most expensive room of the house. See that wallpaper? That is handpainted Chinese wallpaper. The only thing we weren't allowed to touch. It was gorgeous, let me tell you. (close up: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/ideliesje/Esme-Alice/Duitsland111.jpg)


In the Tudor dining room, WITH hats.


Goooold!


In a Tudor bed, all alone...


And with company! Yes, we were allowed to lie on the bed, if we would be so kind to take our shoes off. No problem! The gowns were provided as well. Great fun! And comfortable!


In the Queen Ann bedroom, with *ahum* a lot more fluff .


A small sideroom, something like a dressing room, with, again, handpainted walls. Insane!


Everyone assembled around the embroidery hoop, sat on Queen Ann's daybed.


And yes, you're thinking the correct thing...


P&S (Purl & Stitch, the name of our group of friends) was here!


Last but not least, the garden. That's Ilse, being a fool and having lots of fun with Esme-Alice. That's the beautiful garden house in the back.

Next stop, the stone circle!

I am going to update slowly on my two holidays, because otherwise it'll be overkill. For the weeks to come, I've got nothing special on my list, so what better than to fill the gap? I am going to dance at a big festival tomorrow. Taradance has been asked to do a one hour show to open the festival weekend. The theme of the night? Ireland... With fireworks... Guess who's coming with me ?


And so we left Europe (we boarded in Calais, France) for the UK. The sun was just up, it was a glorious morning. I wish I felt better back then... I don't want to to dwell on it, not can I really explain it, but my trip to the UK was not always fun.


Those are the white cliffs of Dover! With, very tiny and not very visible, Dover castle on top of it all.


First stop, on our way ot Bath, Windsor Castle. We had to wait a while before we got in, having to pay a significant amount of money and walk through metal detectors and all that. Windsor Castle, after all, is the Queen's favourite place...


Finally, inside! Can you spot my little friend? Oh, and you cannot see it on this picture, but the flag is out. Indicating that, yes, the Queen was at the castle when we were there. So close!


Resting...


Esme-Alice didn't like this, being locked out from that nice juicy lawn, but I told her that we are not significant enough to visit the Queen. Alas!


And this was strange... Look close, look very close. See that figure in bright pink, with the hat, wandering along the houses? And that man next to her, in an official uniform? Could it be the Queen? It will remain a mystery forever, but let's say, we DID see the Queen .


Resting on the grass, alongside Windsor Castle. Beautiful day! Esme-Alice was too thrilled to sleep, so my nap was, well, pretty much non-existant.

So much for our first day, Sunday. Of course, we saw muuuuuch more. We want inside Windsor Castle (no pictures allowed ) and visitid Queen Ann's doll house (also no photgraphing allowed). Amaaaaazing stuff! I never saw a doll house that big and so obviously built for adults. Loved it!

Next update, Averbury!

I received my last pieces from Tracey87. I hope everything is okay with her, as she hasn't communicated in any other way...

She did two pieces for my Irish puzzle, and I really love them. They are really different from the other, and that's what I really like.




I mean, how pretty is this? I love this!


And a beautiful castle.

Thank you, I love them. And I'm curious to know what you used to make them so pretty smooth and a bit shiny.

I received two beautiful pieces from Gini in a personal swap. Check them out, I love them!




I love the background, and the little purple ribbon.


Mmm, I didn't realise the flash messed this one up. I love it though, especially the blingbling .

Thank you!

Time for some awesomeness! Sylwa spoiled me rotten, and I am so glad I sent her a huge box as well. What a great lady she is! And that whilst being pregnant .


This is what I brought home. HEAVY stuff! The lady at the PO was quite curious as to what was in the box because of it's weight. But it was my secret .


If this box had been any fuller, it might have exploded. Just look at how it's crammed in there <3! Oh, and yay! Crisps!


*drool* Yes, that is chocolate on the loose. I have eaten some of that already. I must say that it an interesting combination, chocolate with salted peanut butter.


And when I took everything out, this is what came up. I was (and still am) amazed. Yikes, so pretty! I think it was Pin-inspired, but either way, I really really love it!


I opened it... More sweets and chocolate! I am very curious as to what those cookies are in the left upper square. Sylwa? .


Without all the snacks. Look at this beauty. I got a beautiful and very personal jewellery box. I'm thrilled! Much better than my jewellery doll (ever noticed how hanging your necklaces in the open makes them really dirty and ugly?).


Be impressed people, be very impressed. Look at my haul! I think it's an understatement, to say I was spoiled. There is so so much! Thank you so much Sylwa, I'm so happy and thankful. Because it's so much I think I'll share some stuff with my pupils the coming weeks. They'll love it.


One favourite.


And the second one. I really really wanted to try this! Thank you for reading my mind . Now, what's the best way to eat them?

Sylwa, once again, thank you, a thousand times. This has been such an awesome swap and you made it even better. I love the box, it's so me, and the candy is jummy! My offer still stands for the Kinder eggs. Just PM me, and we'll see what we can arrange. Sorry too, for not sending salty snacks. I was too afraid to send crisps, as everyone told me that those bags explode in airplanes. Yours arrived just fine, so next time...

I did a personal swap with KriSmith, for 3 puzzle pieces. She has given me the three most beautiful pieces ever. My puzzle had become a true work of art, and I'm loving it!


Look at those beauties! The colours are awesome.


Most definitely my favourite!

You thought that was it? No way, I got a beautiful and adorable extra!


This almost made me cry. It's such a nice gesture, and I love it so so so so much.

Thank you KriSmith, you are amazing!