On the day of the wedding the weather was so perfect that some uninvited guests emerged from the pool area. The tiny intruders invaded layers of the brides dress and had to be removed for the photographs. Later in the day when the wedding guests had gathered on the terrace before the evening reception the tiny intruders enjoyed a pre evening meal feast…

I noticed one when I felt a felt a tickling sensation on my leg, then I had a stinging sensation on my other leg and noticed a bit of blood… I thought nothing more of it until 24 hours later when my leg was itching and I gave it a casual scratch. I experienced excruciating pain causing me to look to see what the problem was. I was quite shocked at what I saw on my leg. There were a few other lesser bites adorning my lower body too.

This led me to do a Google search to find out what the insects actually are. I found that they are Black Fly and in the UK they have been named the Blandford Fly. Check the link for a photo on the damage they can do.

Black Fly

My leg didn’t swell up, but it had a vicious red rash which was hot to the touch and as I walked I had searing pain if I wasn’t careful. Thankfully the pain, heat and extended rash have calmed down.

This weekend my brother got married to his lovely lady. Their wedding day was perfect and beautiful. The sun came out to bless them and there was much love, laughter and happy tears along the way…  The happy couple surprised everyone with a choreographed dance story about the two of them. A part of the wedding they had kept secret from everyone. I had no idea my brother could dance like that

The celebrations carried on the next day at breakfast where we all lingered to enjoy each other’s company before it was time to leave and go on our separate journeys.

At the last minute my brother asked Mr C, Myself and my Mum to join him for his birthday celebration last Saturday. This put me in a quandary because I had a hair appointment scheduled in the afternoon which I felt was unfair on my hairdresser to rearrange at such short notice. I decided to keep the appointment and travel to Nottingham afterwards which would allow us to book into a nearby hotel and get to the meal on time.

My brother said he would text me details of the arrangements and the restaurant. By the time we were setting off to Nottingham I heard nothing so as we set off I sent him a text “we are just setting off, do you know the arrangements yet”… An hour later we received a phone call advising that three taxis had been booked and that my eldest nephew would come to meet us at the hotel in one of them. My brother said he was currently in Derby and about to set off home to Nottingham. By this stage we were past Derby and I was wondering if the would make it home in time for the Taxi pickup…

We arrived in the Hotel and checked in with half an hour to spare and made our way down to the hotel reception  for that allotted time for the Taxi pick up at 7pm. No Taxi was to be seen… Twenty minutes later the Taxi arrived and my nephew came into the hotel reception area to find us. He related the tale of being home alone, having a shower then opening the curtains to see three Taxis outside his house. Shortly afterwards he received a phone call from my brother asking if there were three Taxis outside the house and if so please keep them there…

We climbed into the Taxi and went merrily on the way towards the restaurant. Along the way there was a bit of a saga! My brother (despite me asking on more than one occasion) had not said what restaurant we were going to. It transpired that he hadn’t told my nephew either and the Taxi driver had misheard the destination my brother had told him… After a slightly annoyed phone call from son to father we got to the restaurant destination in the end!!!

The company was good and the food was lovely but the service was a bit chaotic and slow and not all dishes came as ordered. In addition to this the dry white wine was served warm, always a disappointment. At the end of the meal the bill was slow to come meaning the Taxi drivers were kept waiting yet again… City life…

After the meal we retired back to the hotel for a night cap and a chat with my brother, his lady and his son. A lovely time was had by all.

I won’t go into the incident of a bottle of water shattering as it hit the the reception floor as we were making our way back to the hotel room for the night…

Although Christmas this year has been an especially busy one for me, I have found a few moments to get my photo collections in order.  I have been working on sorting out my flickr collections so that they are up to date and the photos can be viewed by various collections.  It is only the 2012/13 photos that need work on them, prior to that my photos are very orderly  I have made good progress but I am not quite finished yet…

I am also working on my ‘Cherry on Her Travels’ blogs.  The latest update as I journey back through time is my mini break to Nottingham in March last year:

• Nottingham, March 2013
• Nottingham, March 2013 – Gallery

Nottingham May 2013:

• Cherry on Her Travels – Nottingham
• Cherry on Her Travels – Nottingham Gallery