Lauren Update - Bless! How cute is she now?? 

"And you're taking a photo of me with sand all over my face because...?" 

What a beautiful little darling my niece is! (Absolutely no bias from me whatsoever) 

Sunset over the terrace from the back door... 

Some of my herb garden! Chives, oregano, lemon thyme, common thmye, golden thyme, tricolour sage, purple sage, italian parsley and french parsley! We now also have a capsicum and a chilli plant :) Oh, and three strawberry plants! 

This is the view across the terrace into the gardens below - note the rosemary, three pots of tomato and coriander plants, two types of mint and newly planted sweetpeas! 

Cardiff Castle. Cardiff. Wales. It's a castle on a mound. It's big and castle-looking. Not much else to say about it really! 

FA Cup Semi-final, Cardiff, Millennium Stadium. Arsenal V Blackburn. And a long coach trip there and back all in one day! 

The Millennium Stadium slowly filling up... 

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. FA Cup Semi final Arsenal V Blackburn. Final score - Arsenal 3, Losers 0.  

Aww, look at the goal cuddle after Van Persie scored the second goal! 

Hey Bobby, what's French for 'you look hot with no shirt on?' (please excuse obscure reference to TV ad starring Theirry Henry) (Please excuse football/soccer reference for those of you who have no idea who Thierry Henry is)(Just in case you were wondering he is a striker for Arsenal)! 

John Digweed... 

An arty shot of John Digweed on the decks at the launch of his new 'Choice' CD at the bar next to The End... Stu got us exclusive tix to the launch through the Bedrock.co.uk discussion forum he's a member of! 

Busy busy busy! News flash – I gave 4 weeks notice at my job last Friday. It wasn’t working out for a variety of reasons I can email to you if you’re really bored! I begin on May 30th as the new E-learning Developer for the Royal Veterinary College. Working hours 9-5 (currently 8.30 – 6), 1 hour for lunch (currently no official lunch break!), 25 days leave a year (currently 20) and MORE MONEY!! Oh, and it’s closer to home and based in Camden. Works for me!

P.S. Celebrity Sighting - We went to see Bloody Sunday at our local theatre The Tricycle with Cath and Bill on Tuesday night. Who should walk past me but Colin Firth (A la Darcy in Pride and Preujudice, and Bridget Jones' love interest in both movies)!! I can happily verify he is every bit drop dead gorgeous in real life as he is on screen!

P.S.2 - We're off to see Patrick Stewart and the guy who played Pacey in Dawson's Creek in a play called Life in Theatre on Friday next week. Always up for a bit of kulcha! (And eye candy!)

This is our lovely home - we are on the ground floor to the right - as we are on a steep hill the back of the house is actually the first floor as there is a flat underneath ours! 

This is our bedroom and balcony... 

We had a wonderful few days with Carmel who stayed the weekend before Easter (love the NY Gap jeans Carmel!). It's always wonderful to see friends from home :) 

Yes, that is a tarantula on my hand! during my NLP training course last week there was a 'Phobia Afternoon' - I have now conquered my fear of spiders once and for all!! I am even thinking about getting a tarantula as a pet - their fur is as soft as a cat, and their little feet are sticky just like a gecko! This little lovely in my hand is a Chile Rose variety of tarantula. They move soooo slowly, and see the foam under my hand? That's because they are so fragile - if they fell they would splat and die. I know most of you are feeling ill at the moment thinking about holding a tarantula but don't worry, I can now cure your phobia...the shrink is in!! 

Who wants to cuddle the cute fuzzy widdle tarantula?