Sorry But You Will Have To Wait A Little Longer.....

..for pictures of my recent scrapping project; a instax guest book for my Brother's wedding 3 weeks ago.  He has come up this weekend and has forgot to bring it!  What is he like????

Well with a bit of luck I will be going down to his this week as we have some carpets to deliver, it is time they cluttered his house and not mine and he doesn't have a car big enough so we will have to take them down to South Wales.  I'll be taking my camera so will get a few pics for you.

But you don't have to wait any longer to see the new residents at our house.  Meet Mo, Tinkerbelle, Florence and Mrs Brown:

and in true scrapper style I have not let anyone have any eggs as I wanted to photograph our first weeks supply, all 9 of them. 

As they get older, they are 18 to 20 weeks old, we will get more eggs.  With a bit of luck one per hen each day

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.  Just sad its not Summer weather.....must be coming sometime soon.

Cake, Everybody Needs Cake

A traditional Lithuanian wedding cake.

Each cake on this stand was a different flavour - Poppy seed, vanilla, strawberry and the most amazing chocolate cake ever.  All sandwiched with a sweet cream cheese and iced with fluffy sweet meringue with white chocolate and pink fondant shavings.

  

Truly delish.

The Big Day Part 2

The evening festivities went on the just after 5am.  Now at this point I need to explain that in Lithuania a wedding lasts 2 days and at 8am we were all sat back in our seats at the reception being served cold beetroot soup (bright pink!) which all of us British, for some unknown reason declined.  Even with Lithuanian toasts none of us could be persuaded to have a little try.  

Fun, laughter and some very very strange games were enjoyed, then a bbq, rides in pedlo's on the lake and celebrations continued into the very wee hours of Monday morning.

But dear readers I must point out I did do some scrapping.  Yes, scrapping! I sat there on Saturday night, took photos of guests, got them to write message cards (very interesting when 75% of the guests didn't speak a word of English and the only Lithuanian I know is hello and thank you).  I glued and added embellishments and made an instax photo guest book.  The book was presented to the happy couple on Saturday night before I could get some photos of it.  I'm hoping to get some photos to show you some time soon.  What was so strange was that the Lithuanian guests obviously missed poloroid camera's the first time round some 20 years plus ago and were so aghast at my 'magic photos'.  I'm keeping that as my party trick if ever go back again.

And yes as a former part of Russia, the Lithuanian's do like their vodka, it's good for making toasts and my were there many toasts that fine weekend at ALL times of the day and night.  All these toasts may explain the lack of photos but quite frankly I can't remember.

If you ever have the chance to visit Lithuania, I highly recommend the Raspberry and the Cranberry varieties.  Apparently the coffee variety is an acquired taste.

The Big Day

After an 8 hour drive we found ourselves at the venue of the wedding.  The hotel, shall we say was basic and a flight of stairs with a broken leg was, interesting and certainly not dignified in any way shape or form.  That is the last time those stairs will ever be mentioned!

The celebrations began at 10am at a mere 27 degrees.

Me and my little Brother Martyn

With our Dad, Liam & Freya

We were driven to the Register Office 30 minutes away by un-air conditioned bus.  At 11.45 and a mere 30 degrees, the bride arrived:

The Bride and her Mother Lydia

Deimante with her Father Peter

Then they were man & wife:

The Page Boys and Flower Girls - My new Nephew Gvidas, Martyn's new SIL Monika, Freya & Liam

Back to the bus and we then went to the church for the religious blessing.  In Lithuania the Catholic Church wedding is not legally recognised which is why we went to the civil service first.  In total shock, I was allowed to snap away:

The Page Boys and Flower Girls undertaking their wedding duties

The Civil Service was all in Lithuanian apart from the parts whispered to Martyn for him to answer.  The Priest spoke perfect English and the Church Ceremony was in English with readings in Latin.

Back on the bus, now 36 degrees we went to the local National Park where official photos of the couple were taken and we had a picnic champagne lunch:

Then to a local religious site called the Hill of Crosses, stopping off on the way for ice cream as the temp had now hit 37:

Back on the bus with the temperature starting to fall, its now 36.5 degrees and 6pm we head for the evening reception.  We dropped off the happy couple half a mile from the venue, who then drove and arrived in true Lithuanian style:

Some little guests just had to have a go round the car park:

It was now just after 7pm and the evening festivities begin.  

Poland Part 1

After Prague we set off for Warsaw.  According to the RAC 469 miles and a mere 7 hours 40 minutes and 44 seconds away......oh how wrong they were.  The RAC obviously did not understand that Poland has received a grant from the European Union to upgrade some roads.  So there we were driving 30mph for 126 miles at this point in the dark and heavy rain.  What fun we had.  Fourteen hours later we reached our destination and thanks to everything having huge neon signs we found the hotel really easily.

When we woke the next morning we had this view from out window on the 21st floor:

A lovely view but very misty.  Off we set for what turned out to be another long drive to a lovely picturesque town on the Polish/Lithuanian boarder.

Surprisingly after so many hours/miles in the car the kids were still smiling:

 .....unlike me, who after 1,400 miles travelling in a car with a broken leg was desperately in need of pampering.  Well that is what we, well me, had that evening at the spa we stayed in on the side of a stunning lake.  Pictures just don't do it justice:

Once relaxed and rejuvenated we set off the next morning for Lithuania and the purpose of this trip, my Brothers wedding.