More wedding photos

Here are some more wedding pictures, which I think are mine, though as I have been collecting other peoples as well one or two might have sneaked it

A few more photos

For those who don't see Facebook here are our photos.
Fantastic, lovely romantic day.

Mr & Mrs Graham

Here is the absolutely beautiful bride. Kate looked stunning as you can see from the above photo. We had a really great day. The weather wasn't wonderful, but was nothing like as bad as had been forecast and no one got drenched. The hotel came up trumps and everything worked smoothly and - although not following Kate's minute by minute itinerary to the minute - was pretty seamless and very easy as a guest.
Here is Kate and Carl on the stairs which were the main location for the photos as the weather pretty much precluded outdoor photos. It is an Edwardian country house so is really lovely, and you had the feeling that you were living in a country house, with the various lounges and the ballroom etc.
This is the cake of cheese. The bottom layer was Caerphilly, the next layer was a Spanish blue, the top was a really smooth, light creamy cheese, with heart shaped brie and little black wrapped Black bomber cheddars. it was fabulous. Before that we had curry - lamb and chicken and veg, veg lasagne, all of which was equally fabulous. It was a fantastic meal. We had seconds of the cheese plate, and we have the remnants at home now. Carl's brother's girlfriend had made marrow chutney which is delectably tasty and went brilliantly with the cheeses. As something sweet I had made 120 fairy cakes in 5 different sorts, which also went down very well, and there were no leftovers of those.
Here is the ringbearer, bride and bridesmaids coming down the stairs at the beginning. Saffy didn't really like being a ringbearer for most of the time, though the photographer was brilliant at getting her attention. She too was dressed up for the day as she had a beautiful diamante collar and a big bow, very fetching.

We had a casino playing roulette and pontoon after which was fun, though Boo won so much she had problems losing it and had to give it to her children, which as everyone knows that children are very good at getting rid of parental money, worked very well.

We had a really good time, though I had problems keeping awake at the end while we were waiting for the minibus to come and collect us.

I haven't had time to edit the photos yet, so I will put a link to a file on Picassa when I have done so later in the week probably.

Kate and Carl had a lovely day with lots of their friends and family there to wish them well, the readings were lovely and very appropriate, read by Emilie and Alyson. The Registrar was smiling, and very upbeat and created a happy atmosphere from the beginning, the speeches from Mike, Carl and Luke (best man) were funny and touching at the same time, and Carl's brother Paul kept everything under control as master of ceremonies. It was a wonderful day. I thought I might cry, but actually didn't, though Kate, Nicky and Mike all did. I just felt really really happy.

Cinema

I love films and I love seeing them in the cinema. Multiplex cinemas are awful as people seem to like to talk all the way through the film. However in Saffron Walden we are blessed with two lovely cinemas nearby. There is our local one, Saffron Screen, of which we are all very proud. It is in the local school and it is run almost entirely by volunteers. It has proper Dolby sound and it gets the films a little later than the big chains but before they come out on dvd, It has such a nice atmosphere as I think everyone really treasures it. On the whole people don't talk through films there although there are some posh people who clearly have to shout at each other to be heard in the echoing halls of their stately homes who don't seem to be able to whisper.
Our other cinema is Cambridge Arts Cinema. People are so quiet there that they barely talk through the adverts and quite often they sit through the credits too! That's how serious they are. All those brainboxes, I suppose.
Anyway with this wealth of lovely cinemas we go to the pictures quite often but I have excelled myself in the last week by going to 3 films! All brilliant in their different ways. An Education, District 9 and Mesrine, public enemy number 1. The last one I dragged Erin to as Trev was busy. It was the second of a 2 parter but it made sense on it's own. Erin was surprised that I wanted to go to a gangster film as they are not usually my cup of tea but it was subtitled. I love foreign films because I am so arsey. District 9 is a South African film with aliens a thinly veiled analogy for apartheid. I don't think you have to like Sci Fi to enjoy this. Really touching and the lead actor had never acted before (plus the Africaans for f**k makes them sound like they come from Manchester, which is quite amusing) and an education is set in early 60s London, a very touching coming of age drama. I recommend them all

Here are some pictures which I used to create a calendar for 2010. It is a very select, limited edition, so here are a few of the pictures to brighten the winter days. This heron was in Northumberland in the summer
This cat came and sat on the bird table at the cottage, clearly waiting for a bird to just come into his orbit. Hilarious
Brian and Helen deciding whether or not to get on going
These lambs were so funny, both looking at the ewe as if asking what we were doing looking over the fence.

Less than a week to go...

...we are very busy and very excited and also pretty flipping tired in the build up to the wedding. Everything is pretty much done, I just really wish I didn't have to work Monday and Tuesday this week. Carl has already been off for 10 days, a fact I'm extremely bitter about.

We've been spending money like water and I've panic bought a few last bits but in truth I think we are all sorted. It's been a lot of fun actually planning everything, despite the fact it's not that dissimilar to organising a conference (favours instead of delegate packs!) but I must admit I'm looking forward to getting my evenings back and not juggling the wedding and work!

Mostly though we're just excited and can't wait to see lots of you on Saturday and for those of you who can't make it, we will miss you very much and promise to post lots of pics and bore you rigid with a recap :)
Love Kate (and Carl) xxxx

Dry ice

I work at a Genetic research institute as I think most of you know. It is built in the grounds of an old stately pile and the grounds are very nicely maintained. Most Lunch breaks I go for a walk to give my back a stretch and my eyes a break from the computer. The other day I was walking on one of the paths past a laboratory where a lorry was filling up a nitrogen tank. However a lot of it was leaking so we had a strange mist escaping all over the place. It was like being in a musical with all the dry ice on the ground. I'm assuming it wasn't dangerous as the man controlling the tank didn't seem to have any protective clothing. However I'm sure that is the same stuff that chemistry teacher's used to dunk a banana in which then went brittle.