Recent pictures

Here are a few pictures taken over the past few weeks.

We have been to the zoo and Alfie has enjoyed finger painting and eating at his new table.

Sunny days

We have been lucky enough to have a week or so of good weather and have been out and about when possible.

Of course this often tires Alfie out, so he likes a good stetch out on the sofa when he gets home.

Alfie uses quite a lot words now, still a big fan of "ball", "juice" and "car" but does enjoy "chair", "eyes" and "button".

bank holiday pics

We went off to North Wales this weekend, I forgot my passport but fortunately the border authorities let me in, becaue my last name is Welch which sounds a bit like Welsh.

I had a lot of fun playing with my cousins Henry and Edie. Henry is big boned compared to me.

Granny helped me feed the donkeys and I let Grandpa have a go on the tractor.

relaxing

I have a hard life working, so when I get the chance I like to relax. If I can, I get to the beach. The white sand and turquoise blue waters of Burnham-on-sea are perfect. If I am at home I like to read the paper, get on the internet or do a bit of gardening.

Tulipomania at Dyrham Park

Bert and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary back in January and marked the occasion by joining the National Trust. This past weekend, one of our closest National Trust sites, Dyrham Park, held their annual Tulipomania.

We've had a rough 10 days with Alfie, between colds and viral infections, resulting in allergic reactions, three trips to the GP's office and 2 kinds of antibiotics. I had been very geared up for a few days off of work when Alfie would go in to nursery, but it simply wasn't meant to be. The weather was horrible last Saturday but not raining on Sunday so we knew we had to go and check out Tulipomania and stave off our own mania from being indoors with a poorly child for so long. So, in the car and on to Bath.

Now, I don't mean to sound rude and I know that there is a very limited budget for operating the National Trust sites, hence the considerable annual membership fee, but Tulipomania left a bit to be desired as far as we were concerned. It doesn't help that I worked for three years at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, the largest private residence in North America and a working estate with over 8,000 acres, 20 of which are for azaleas. Every spring, the Biltmore holds the Festival of Flowers with over 90,000 blooming tulips! So, I admit my expectations might have been a bit high. Regardless, Tulipomania as a title seems a bit excessive. It was good to get out of the house and we got some great pictures of Alfie checking out a tree, muddy puddle and tulips outside and some pictures of Bert looking silly but every inch the doting Dad that he is.

We think Alfie might be a bit of a Michael Jordan as he is constantly sticking out his tongue these days. (Michael Jordan is known for sticking out his tongue when playing basketball.)Fine with me if he wants to become a superstar!