Egypt Trip - Day One

Collosei of Memnon, Valley of the Kings and Deir el-Bahri

The trip down from Edinburgh to Gatwick and then Gatwick to Luxor went smoothly and we arrived a bit earlier than scheduled. OMG Luxor Airport had changed a lot since my last visit - it now has a terminal and everything!!

Early start the first morning and a pretty full day. Started off with a quick visit to the Collosei of Memnon. These are 2 huge statues which have each been carved from one piece of stone. We didn't get long at them - about 20 mins or so as there is nothing else there apart from the 2 statues - we had a walk around them and took plenty of photos.

After that stop it was off to the Valley of the Kings. We visited 3 tombs; the first one was Tutmoses III, which had a LOT of steps - glad we did it first (see photo to right). After that we went to Ramses III (I think - neither Stewart nor I can quite remember), finishing off in Ramses IV. The only downside of the visit was that no photography is permitted inside the tombs, although we did buy a really nice set of photos. After the Valley of the Kings we went to an alabastor factory, but tbh it all seemed a bit false and most of the stuff they had for sale wasn't hand-made.

Then we moved onto Queen Hatshepsut's Temple at Deir el-Bahri and boy, was it getting warm by then. The temple was very different to the others we would be visiting on our trip, but very impressive. Another hefty step climb (we could certainly feel our legs for the next few days - even Stu who walks to work every day). The veiw from the top tier was fantastic and some of the statues and wall carvings were really lovely.

After the temple it was back to the boat for lunch then a free afternoon as we set sail for Edfu. Sunset is pretty early this time of year so we only managed about an hour and a half of relaxing in the sun in the afternoon. I've put a photo of some of the statues in Hetshepsut's Temple below:

I'm Back!!!!!

Yup, back from holidays with an extremely dodgy tummy (hence why I'm writing this during the day cos off work) and lots of good news.

Holiday was amazing. Visited lots of places and took loads of photos (well I took about 100 before my camera packed in, but Stewart took about 400 so I can share his). I'll post a day-by-day breakdown with photos when I'm feeling a bit better (luckily didn't start to feel ill until about 6 hrs after we landed at Gatwick so was only suffering on the flight back to Edinburgh, which only took 45 mins), as I don't want to post just a mishmash.

Good news time now - me and Stewart got engaged!!!!! Really happy and excited about it, although it's quite a lot to take in. We were going to go ring shopping at the weekend, but we've had to postpone it until next weekend, because of my dodgy tummy. We haven't set a date or anything yet - just going to chill until after crimbo then Stu will sell his flat and we'll start making plans then.

Also when I got home I discovered I had made it onto the Craft Fairies Design Team - my first ever DT, so all very exciting (and just a bit scary!!). Really looking forward to working with Lisa and the rest of the team to see what we all come up with :D:D

Ocean Colour Scene tix arrived when I was away as well - finally make up for not being able to get into the tent the last 2 times I've been at T in the Park.


...and finally I was thrilled to get this award from both Lynne and Rhi. I'd like to pass it on to Fee, Miss JP and Stu, who all make me smile every day.

See you all soon with holiday photos and stuff

Toodles xoxo

Beginning to return...

... to normal (or what passes as normal here!!) Mum got out of hospital today, and she's making good progress. G off work today and tomorrow to look after her, then I'll look after her at the weekend.

Ocean Colour Scene tix went on sale today - hope they have some left on Monday cos I'm too skint to get them until then :S

Not really got much else to report - have made nothing this past week, as I've been coming home from work, putting dishwasher/washing on then dashing out to the hosp.

Bedlam on the roads around here today apparently, as a lorry carrying chickens crashed at Haggs/Castlecary - chickens running around everywhere - I wonder if they'll ever head east and run into the recently elusive Mr Chicken on the road to the bridges (although I fear Mr Chicken may now be resting in someone's tummy.

On major countdown to the hols now. Only 3 working days to go!!!! Struggling to get someone to come back for us (cos we land at 08:00 on a working day) so booked a driver this morning - will probably work out cheaper than paying the extortionate Edinburgh Airport parking prices.

See you all soon bloggy-types xoxo

Card

The word at HS:MS for yesterday was...

Card
A Piece of thick, stiff paper. Find 'card' in your space today.

I did this card for a colleague to give to a little girl who has a brithday around Halloween (I actually did 2 the same with different names, as she wanted them for 2 girls who live 100s of miles apart).

Actually struggled with it a bit, as I felt everything just looked a bit plonked on, but the buyer really liked them and said the kids will love them.

Also got a card done for Fee and Lee but don't want to post it here until I've posted it through her door.

Only 2 weeks til the hols now - think I've got everything sorted apart from insurance and a pair of black trousers (and still plenty of time to sort those out).

Mum goes into hospital for her first knee replacement op - hope her recovery is ok, as her good knee is worse than her bad one atm - with any luck she'll get her other one done just after Christmas.

That's my update for today - must dash and put new tax disc on car as I've had it for a couple of weeks but keep forgetting to put it on!!!

Toodles xoxo