Giant African Land Snails!

Right! So there are some members of the family you haven't been introdued to...my snails!!! I have three Giant African Land Snails and their names are; Herbet, Connie and Jac.
Whenever people find out that I have pet snails they always wonder how I came to have them in the first place. Well... I'm going to tell you!


I used to work in a playgroup in Hinckley, near Leicester. One day the manager, Susan came in with this big snail that someone had found on the road near where they live! It was decided that this snail, now named Brittany (because we were Britannia Fields) would become the playgroup pet. (above) A strange choice? Well, maybe, but think about it; no fur or hair to be allergic to, doesn't move fast, doesn't bite. Not a bad sort of animal to have around small children really! Besides the children loved her and would often be found looking at her and wanting to help look after her. Can't say the same for the parents though! (By the way, I say she but snails are in fact both male and female!) Then, in the summer she laid eggs and we then had about 100 snails! They needed homes so I decided to have three snails of my own!


Now, I know what you're thinking, yuk! snails! I thought the same to start of with, but after having watched Brittany and helped look after her for a while, I became more interested in them. They are facinating creatures, honest! They are also really easy to look after, keep them damp and warm and fed and they pretty much look after themselves. Andy doesn't like them very much and they have been banished to the spare room since we got married!
Here's some pictures of them getting bigger! From When I first had them in September 2007, up to December 2008.

Photos

I have recently discovered a love for photography. I don't claim to be any good at it, but I enjoy doing it! My camera isn't anything special either, just a canon point and shoot type type of thing but it's a good little camera and produces pretty good results sometimes! Unfortunatly it got dropped in October and I've only just got round to looking into getting it repaired. I'm missing not having a camera when I see those photo oppourtunities when I'm out and about! Hopefully it won't cost too much to get it fixed and I can get snapping away again soon! In the meantime here are some of my previous attempts at taking photos!

Our Wedding

Just a few photos and a bit about our wedding in case you're interested!
We got married on the 1st of November last year. The weather was a bit cold, but it was a really lovely day!

Not all of these are our official pictures, most are from friends and family (thanks guys!). Our official photographer was a friend of ours, Martin Broughton who does photography. (Broughton Photography) You can find more about him and more photos on; http://www.broughtonphoto.co.uk/

My very talented Mum did quite a lot including; making my dress and two bridesmaid dresses, sorting out and arranging flowers for the bouquets, button holes and corsages and one of the church arrangements! She also made the cake, although she was persuaded to have someone else decorate it!

We also had help from a lot of friends and family, to whom we owe a great deal of thanks for making our day so special. The church was decorated by friends and family and looked really beautiful! Thanks to everyone who was involved!

The day itself went really well! We got rid of the men (Dad, Will, Jo and Tim) in the morning and they went off and had a 'men's breakfast' at The Armoury, (Dad's work who had kindly loaned them the use of it for a couple of hours) There they met up with the other ushers and Best Men. Then went to a friends flat to get ready. From what I've been told they were kept busy running around sorting everything out! Thank you Beth for the use of your flat and for sorting all the men out and making sure they were dressed properly!

Us girls meanwhile had a very calm and relaxed morning! My friend Amy, who was one of my bridesmaids, came round and did our hair and then we got dressed. Andy was so sure I was going to be late (to be fair I often am!) but in fact I was ready half an hour before Dad was due to some and pick me up! After I was all ready in my dress I couldn't really do anything, I was so determined to prevent getting anything on my dress!

Dad was very emotional when he came to collect me! He had avoided seeing me in my dress before the day when I had fittings with mum, because he wanted to save it for the day, so that was the first time he had seen me in my wedding outfit!

Then it was off to the church. Although I was sure about getting married to Andy, I had butterflies in my stomach right up until the moment I walked down the aisle! I arrived at the church fifteen minutes early and had to wait outside in the cold until they were ready for me! We did have plenty of time for photographs though!

Inside the church Mike and Reuben Penny, some friends of ours, were creating a lovely atmosphere with their beautiful music on flute and piano. It was just the right sort of feel for a church like St Julian's. I walked down the aisle to 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring', which is the same music mum walked down the aisle on her wedding day!

The bridesmaids went down the aisle first and then when the were most of the way down I followed. Andy didn't want it that way, but I wanted to give the bridesmaids their chance to be admired! Besides, I've always though that they're a bit stuck once the bride has got to the front if they're behind her! It also helps the build up I think!

It is quite a long aisle and I tried not to look at anyone else, but just kept my eyes on Andy, who was watching me!

I managed to get a bit mixed up when we had to hold right hands during the vows! At least I was loud enough for people to hear me though, which was my main worry!

The service was lovely, again it was good to have friends and family involved, and Ian gave a really helpful and thought provoking sermon.

We had close family and wedding party photos on the steps outside the church whilst everyone else had teas and coffees inside. We even had someone there from the local paper! Ours was the first wedding at St Julian's for over 20 years and they wanted to write a bit about it for the paper and have a photo! It was the first time I had to give my new surname! The man who owns the church building, Andrew rang the bells for us. We were glad we were outside because as the tower has been coverted into a house, the bells have been lowered. They are very loud and I think the people in the church got a bit of shock!

There is a pretty little public garden around the other side of church where we had all the group shots. The word wasn't 'cheese' but 'freezing', and it was! My fingers had all but frozen around my bouquet! everyone else could retreat to the warmth of the church but we had to be in every picture!

We hadn't hired a car because our reception venue, The Adam Ballroom at the Lion Hotel, was just a short walk from the church so it seemed a bit pointless! We did get some funny looks from the shoppers on the street when they saw us!

It was nice to get into the warmth of the hotel and to be greeted a warm fruit drink with pretty sugar frosting around the rim of the glasses. The ballroom is a really beautiful room, which is why we fell in love with it the first time we saw it.

After posing for cutting the cake photos and a phone call from the paper asking me about the day, how it was going, whether I was enjoying the day etc. Well, what was I going to say, really?! The day is horrible, I wish I wasn't here??? Well really! It was my wedding day! The best day of my life so far! I'd just married the man I love and shared it with friends and family! The day could hardly be bad after that now could it?!

When I finally managed to get off the phone, we could greet our guests!

We didn't have favours as such at the reception. Instead we had blue and ivory paper cups, which we had attached ribbon handles to and had a table with bowls of sweets on. People went had helped themselves to the sweets they liked the look of! The lady at the hotel who organised wedding there had said to us that she didn't think anyone would get up to get sweets, but the table was buzzing as soon as there were people there! We had a buffet meal and so it complimented the style.

It was a good meal, complimented by more music from Mike and Reuben, this time on piano and vibraphone. They played a selection of tunes, including some Disney ones, which I was pleased about! It was perfect for the day, everyone loved it and said it made a great atmosphere!


Of course after we'd all finished eating and they handed round the cake and tea and coffee it was time for the speeches! There was of course the customary embarrassing stories but also some really touching words from my dad and best man Gareth. There were also surprises in an extra speech from Andy's other best man Jon and then from a song by my Grandad! He wrote it himself to the tune of 'I did it my way'. It was a bit embarassing, but funny too, in all the perfect way to end that part of the day! In fact it's the thing about the day that most people have mentioned to me since!

We managed to talk to a few people before we had to leave in a suspiciously un decorated car! It was quite and emotional moment saying goodbye to friends and family.

We went back to mum and dads where we were joined by close family, one of the best men and his wife, and everyone who was staying at mum and dads house! There we had cakes and puddings and had a chance to catch up on what everyones experiences of the day. Andy had surprised me with fireworks in the garden, and giant paper lanterns out the front of the house! It was really nice having that time together before left for honeymooon.

It was then that we dicovered why the car wasn't decorated when we left the hotel, they had been saving it for now! Andy had stayed at the place we were staying in the night before so his bags were already there. Unfortunately mine weren't so they were filled with confetti! We only went down the road before stopping to sort the car out! I don't know who tied the string with the cans, but we had a terrible trouble getting it off! In the end I had to cut it off with a pair of scissors! But it's all part of the fun isn't it!

Altoghther it was a really wonderful day and a lovely start to the rest of our lives together!

Well! That was more than I intended to write! Oh well! Hope you enjoyed hearing about my wedding and it hasn't put you to sleep!

My Family

Right! I've told you a bit about why I'm writing it so now I'm going to tell you a bit more about me and introduce you to my family.

If you've read my profile then you will already know that I'm 22years old and live with my husband, Andy in Hemel Hempstead.

This is a picture of my side of the family at our wedding, the most recent picture and one with both mum and dads side together! Besides, everyone is dressed up and looking nice!!

I am the oldest of, well I was going to say four, but my mum has just told us she is pregnant again! So I guess I'm the oldest of five really!

The next oldest is Emma. She will be 20 tomorrow! This is a picture of her with her boyfriend Josef. She works in Goldsmiths and Illuminate, thier local Christain book shop.

Then there's Will, who will be 18 in December this year. This is Will with his girlfriend Kirsty. Will is intrested in stop frame animation, you know, like Wallace and Gromit type animation. I think he's very good at it!

Lastly, (for now!), theres Timothy! (Tim) He is 7 years old and full of life! This is him trying on his outfit for the wedding! He was an usher (sort of!) and insisted on having a waistcoat, jacket and tie, just like the men! His current craze is GoGos, little plastic figures that you do battle with or something! I don't really understand, but he still inststs on showing me them all and telling me thier names and special powers! Which doesn't sound so bad, but when there are about 60 of them....!

They all live with my mum and dad in Shrewsbury, which is where I grew up and lived until about two years ago. Shrewsbury is a really beautiful place, if you haven't been there I would definatly recommend a visit!

The baby is due at the end of July and, even though it was a shock we are all very excited about the new arrival!

This is Andy's mum with her thankyou flowers at the wedding. She lives in Hemel, not too far from us.

Then there is Andy's brother James who lives with his wife Jasmine and their two children.

That, basically is my family! I won't go on about all of them, it would send you to sleep! Just a bit of background so you know who I'm talking about when I mention them!