Ian & Immelda's wedding

Yes, I know I'm really slow at putting blog posts up nowadays!
But nonetheless, here are photos of Ian and Immelda's wedding in April, which was a winner, and voted by the registrar as the best wedding she has ever done out of 1500!

Note, these are not my photos, but the professional photos from www.stephencaseyphotography.co.uk

Dorney Court, a really stunning and quaint venue.

Helping Immelda get dressed in her leather armour - hand-made for her, based on her character in the compter game, Final Fantasy.

Ian would fit right into the US civil war!

Waiting around for guests to arrive.

Ka-zam!!

Immelda's best man does an excellent bouncer impression.

Swords were given to all the guests, but Immelda had a real sword made just for her, in order to keep Ian in check!

I do 

Family

All the guests got lovely wood carved names, and a custom meeple!

It is Japanese tradition for a newly wed couple to receive 2 ducks, who face each other on the mantlepiece once married. If one of the partners is unhappy about something, they turn the duck away, and the partner then knows to be good or had a chat to resolve any issues.

A delicious massive banquet!

Speeches - Immeldas dad below.

Ian and Immelda are not big fans of dancing, so instead there were boardgames . . . .

  . . . . Just Dance on the Wii . . . . 

. . . . . sword fighting . . . . . 

 . . . . .and video games!

Vicky gives Ian a rare farewell hug - Rob looks extremely concerned!

To the happy couple :)

You can put that sword away now Immelda!

Kew Gardens

This weekend Lexy treated me to a day at Kew Gardens to say goodbye, and I also got to meet her daughter, Darcy.
Nearly 10 years in London, and I have never been to Kew Gardens, so I was really pleased with the idea!

The famous Kew greenhouse. It was really hot and humid in there, especially when one walked up to the top level, so it was lovely to get out into the fresh air. Most interesting new plant award goes to a Mimosa (the sensitive plant). Rubbing along the stem causes all the leaves on that branch to fold up, and a sharp tap at the joint of the hand shaped stalk causes all the leaves on that section to fold up - very funky!

 This is my first day out testing my new camera. Taking some pics of Darcy here with my fancy new 60 times zoom - seems to come out nicely :)

 Darcy loves strawberries!

 And cartwheels . . she pretty much cartwheeled her way all around Kew Gardens! She has so much energy, here she hops up and down as her way of posing for photos, because the floor is made of lava!

Heading into the spooky room, which had great acoustics, and everyone was treated to my magnificent version of New York, including some startled passers-by.

 Treetop walkway -  a bit too scary for poor Darcy when it started to wobble!

 The hive, and interesting interactive sculpture. There are some info points (poles with slots in, into which you put the end of an ice-cream stick, and then bite the stick. If you then block your ears, you can hear the sounds of the bees (and the information guide) through the vibrations of the stick, which is apparently how bees communicate - very interesting!

 It was really wonderful to meet Darcy - while she surely can tire one out with all her energy, she is a lot of fun and so delightful, and it was really sad for both of us to have to say good bye to each other :(