Bits and bobs.....

So, Christmas is over barr the decorations coming down and how did it go?

As usual I enjoyed the preparations, gift buying, wrapping decorating and joining with the girls on Christmas eve to prepare the food and decorate the table for the day. Of course the best part was when Father Christmas turned up at Rachaels, just for a quick visit to say Happy Christmas. I kid you not!

I even had a little giggle when I was at the checkout in Tescos (Thursday before Christmas.) Along the conveyor belt in order came a bottle of wine, paracetamol and Zirtek (anti-allergy pills). The chap on the till looked up with a grin and said " Mmm , In Laws coming to stay?" I had to chuckle as indeed they were. Sorry , Sylvia and Ken if you should ever read this but I did think it was a clever quip.

The day itself was fairly quiet, although there were 11 of us. Delicious dinner and lots of lovely pressies. Poor Rachael was not feeling so good and had to have a lay down for an hour or so but otherwise battled on.

Boxing day was quite too. Rachael, Gary and Ethan came up for lunch but Rachael was still feeling ill so they went off early. Lindsay and Ed had gone down to visits his parents near Bath.

Bev and I had a pleasant walk with Bonnie and in the evening enjoyed watching 'Ballet shoes' which was one of my favourite stories when I was a little girl.

Thursday and Friday we finished decorating the bedroom, ordered a new bed and bought new bed linen and curtains for one of the other bedrooms .Today I have ordered new linens for our room from Next. Just carpet, lighting and a picture or two to sort out now.

Saturday was a busy day. 13 for lunch (16 if you include the dogs!) More pressies . Quizzes and banter. Ethan and Kaila loved playing together and they were so good, a credit to their parents.

Ethan slept the night and UncleEd (that's how he says it) was conned into reading rather alot of bedtime stories.

So just New Year to come now. I'm not sure if we are going out and I shan't be bothered if we don't.

Anyway, Happy New Year to anyone who might be reading, I belive there are one or two who visit.

So, the bedroom is now prepared for our new wardrobes which are to be delivered next week and installed on the 17/18th. I shall be very pleased to get all our clothes back in one place instead of spread around the other bedrooms.

Today was the Dickens Fair in Olney. Sadly it was very wet but there still seemed to be alot of people around. I hate using an umbrella but I also hate getting my hair wet. I did get this photo' of Lindsay and I think she looks pretty good with hers.

Here are the pics. of the canvases I made earlier in the week, the red one is going off as a Christmas card to Michaels parents.

Tomorrow Beverly and I are off to the Cotswolds, it is her birthday on Tuesday and she has two days off work.We shall have a wander around the villages and the gift shops, a nice lunch and hopefully take a few nice photos', I hope they will be wintery ones not soggy ones!

Ouch!

Yesterday afternoon I mopped the floor in the dining room . Ten minutes later , forgetting the floor was damp I slipped over and ended up under the table! I now ache down one side particularly my shoulder and hip. Good job I'm well padded.

I managed one LO at the crop on Sunday, here it is and yes , I am that old. Also a picture of two little snowmen, who I have named Iggy and Oggy just because I wanted to.

I have a whole day at home today,other than taking the dog out for a walk. I am hoping to get a lot done. Some cooking to put in the freezer for Christmas. Some wrapping of presents and lists of things still to do. Tomorrow is Swap a craft day so I have to finish two sample canvases ( pic. next time). I also have some fabric crackers to finish and put little gifts in for a couple of friends at my Thursday evening sewing group.

So, I'd better get cracking.

Cards.

Have enjoyed getting these cards ready for the ladies at our craft club to make on Wednesday.Sorry the photo's are a bit wonky! They are not originals by me, the snowman comes from a lovely book of christmas ideas and the gingerbread one was in a supplement with Papercraft Inspirations.

I have made another set of coasters and have been making fabric yo-yos for hair and beard of a Santa, photo' when finished.

Ethan had a sleep-over here last night and was thrilled this morning to help Grandad take down some of the wardrobe doors in our bedroom in preparation for the new ones. We have a lot of work to do before the 16th Dec. The old built in wardrobe has to be covered up, the carpet removed, all clothes relocated and paper taken off the walls and repapering and painting to do.

Our friend who has been having treatment for cancer is not doing too well. He has just started another course of chemo. Sadly it will only be holding back the problem not curing it.

Sometimes it seems that all news you hear is bad news. Lots of little things have been happening lately and after a while it begins to get one down a bit. I am well aware there are people with far worse problems that us but in the end your problems are your problems . I did however read another blog and here is a small extract that took my eye.

' Your heart can break when you loose a loved one or a good friend, a special pet or when a child suffers. But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken or bruised is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.'

Got to keep busy.

Today will not be a good one for Rachael and Lindsay. No matter what age your children are you just want to make everything better for them. Most often you can't. You just have to be there and feel it all with them. I am very proud of the mature decision they have made for Squirral and it seems he is going to a very loving home .



Any way I have been keeping myself busy this morning. I have tidied and hoovered, walked the dog, cleaned the loos!The christmas cake is in the oven and puddings are steaming on the top. I will be seeing Rachael and Lindsay this afternoon.



Michael had another 2 small bits of skin cancer removed yesterday. I actually managed to persuade him to come home afterwards. He normally goes straight back to work, in nearly 20 years with the same company he has had only a handful of days off sick.



I did have a good 5 days at Knuston Hall and here are some of things I made.The matching set of tree skirt, mantel runner and table runner are for Lindsay and Ed. The set of coasters are a small gift for a friend. I have to make some more crackers to put gifts in and the two little trees joined together will have ribbon attached to hang cards on. I have some more things to finish and lots more ideas, just hope I have enough time!

Nice things.

Another week gone, but what beautiful weather. Beverly and I took Bonnie for a walk along the river this afternoon and enjoyed a short rest on a bench whilst Bonnie had a paddle! We are so lucky to have such lovely places so close to home.



Last night we watched the fireworks down on the Charity field, brilliant display well worth the £3 each that it cost. Afterwards we had a delicious meal at Rachael and Garys'. Celery soup( made by me), Chilli and jacket potatoes(made by Rachael) and Bread and Butter pudding or jam steamed sponge made by Rose.) Ooooh those calories!!!



I have enjoyed making these little felt snow people this weekend. They have a little backpacks that small gifts can be put in.

On Wednesday I am off to Knuston Hall for 5 days of christmas crafts and I have plenty of projects lined up. I have been sewing more than scrapping for the last couple of weeks but after Christmas there will be plenty of time to catch up with that and hopefully some new photos'.

Good, bad and ugly

Let's start with the Good. We had a lovely day with our friends on Wednesday. Alex and Ethan had great fun in the forest and Claire and Sheena were impressed with the tree top walk.


My sewing day on Monday went well and I finished of this table centre for Chrismas in the evening.





The bad, so sad for Rachael and Lindsay about having to sell Squirral





The ugly, don't want to talk about it.





I've cut the grass, back and front this morning (hopefully the last cut this year), and tidied up the flower beds. I am now having a really good sort out in my craft room and I can't belive how much stuff there is! I have enough fabric to keep me going for a fair while so I am going to challenge myself. NO fabric buying for the next year and no' scrap' buying apart from essentials.

Sunday dinner with Rachael, Gary and Ethan tomorrow, that will be nice and I'm looking forward to seeing the photo's of them dressed up for the haloween party they are off to tonight.

All's well

Bonnie has the all clear from the Vet. Nothing nasty found after her op' on Monday and she is back to her old self.

Mind you, she is a little put out at the moment as we have Lindsays two dogs staying for the weekend and she is not their best friend! Still, she did enjoy a good walk with them today and will join them again tomorrow. They need far more exercise that Bonnie and my legs will be 2" shorter by the time the weekend is over!

While we were out walking I met two children that I used to teach. Conversation went like this
" Hello Mrs Pearce, why aren't you doing the cooking any more?"

" I needed to do some other things ".

"We don't like it so much now, the new one is really stressy, you didn't get stressy even when I spilt the flour".

"Well, your new teacher has to get used to doing a different job and that can be difficult".

" Couldn't you come back when you have done the other things?"

I excused myself and went off with a grin. It's nice to know someone appriciated you isn't it?

I've been busy cutting fabric for the projects I hope to do at Knuston and am also at a sewing day on Monday. Will post a picture next week. I have lots of christmas projects in mind and must really set to and get on with them.

Tagged..

My DD has tagged me and I'm happy to give 7 facts but I think everyone I could tag has been tagged so this may be the end of the line.
1. I actually consider being a Mother and housewife the best career ever. (Controversial hey?)

2. I have appeared on TV four times and in the Wembley Ice show once.

3. I hate wearing anything on my feet.

4. I am T-total simply because I don't like the taste of any alcholic drink. ( Bad enough without it.)

5. I love to travel, UK and abroad, but I am always happy to come home.

6. I want to see whales in their natural habitat.

7. I hate shopping apart from craft shopping of course!


Bonnie seems to be recovering well from her op. Today she is eating and drinking quite well and looking less sorry for herself. She has to go Friday morning for a check up. How does a dog who weighed 20 kgs in the car suddenly weigh 200 kgs when you try to get her into the Vets?

Appreciation and apprehension

Michael and I have just returned from Yorkshire where we very much appriciated the scenery and the friendliness of the local people. Of course I had to visit a few 'scrapping' shops ,it would be rude not to. We used our National Trust membership and visited, Fountains Abbey, the Treasurers House in York and East Riddlesden Hall. In Howarth we enjoyed the Bronte Cottage museum and wandered around Hawes, Grassington (shop called Chocolace is well worth a visit), clambered up some of the Brimham rocks . Our campsite was in Strid woods where there are some beautiful walks, the river Ouse and Bolton Abbey.

The only down part of the week was thinking of poor Bonnie having her investigationn on Wednesday. Still, she coped well but has to go back in on Monday to have a 'mass' removed. The vet. tells us that it shouldn't be anything nasty as the size it is would probably mean she wouldn't be here if it was. She also has an ear problem and does not like having the drops put in! Here's hoping all goes well.

Murphys' Law.

The last place you look should have been the first! I met Lindsay in MK today to help her find a hat for the wedding she is going to in a couple of weeks. We walked the whole length of the centre... too big, too small, too wintery, right shape- wrong colour..TOO expensive. Ended up in House of Fraser and found just the right one. Very light and young looking and a bargain price. It was nice to spend some time with Lindsay on her own, I don't often get the chance.

Michael and I have a few days away booked next week and yesterday we were told by the vet. that Bonnie needs to go in for an exploratory op. and maybe some surgery ,depending on what they find. She will be going in on Wednesday, I won't go into details here but it is to do with her rear end! Anyway, we have decided to still go away, Michael really needs a break ,we really can't do much and she is fine in herself. She will be well looked after by the girls and Dad and we will try not to worry too much.

MK Scrappers crop tomorrow, I have loads of projects in mind so must try to get down to some of them. Maybe I should sit in a different room so I don't chat so much!

Hope to have some good Autumn photo's when we get back. Watch this space.

I've succumbed..

to turning the heating on this morning. Just on low but it really was cold indoors especially at the back of the house which faces north.

Last night I went to the cinema with Beverly to see Atonement, good film. You really do have to watch and keep track as just when you think you know the truth of what happened, you realise that you don't.

Michael parents were here to stay last weekend. We didn't really do a lot but we spent time talking about other generations of our families and I am gradually putting together more facts and gathering photographs. This is the first photo' I have ever seen of Michael as a small boy, probably about 7 years old.

Poor Squirral has been a bit poorly for a week or two. He seems to be on the mend now and it seems to be a problem with his back. Hope he will soon be back to his old self. Here he is concentrating hard on a jump in his first one day event.

I have just booked a few days away in Yorkshire next month. Better get the winter woolies out!!

No Mojo...

Isn't is strange that sometimes you can have so much to say but you can't seem to be able to write it down.. I don't mean that anything bad has happened, on the contary, nice things have been taking place. Maybe I've just lost my blogging mojo for a while.

The MK scrappers retreat last weekend was great. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, with many requests for a re-run next year. It was nice to get to know some of the girls that I hadn't had a chance to talk to much at the crops. Don't some people suprise you by being quite different from the impression you have of them? One in particular thatI had down as very nice but rather shy and quiet turned out to be, yes, very nice, but also very cheeky and had me laughing out loud!

Ethan will be 5 years old on Friday and seems to have a few celebrations lined up. Friday evening is the Pearce family celebration. As well as his Mummy and Daddy, he will have 3 great grandparents , Micheal and I and his aunties to share a birthday tea with him. My job is to make a cake. (No suprises there.)

I have been reading a book by Richard Dawkins, ' The God Delusion'. It is heavy reading in parts but it is very interesting and thought provoking. It has certainly confirmed to me what I have been thinking for quite some time but, as it says in the first part 'didn't realise I could say'. You will have to read it yourself to see what I mean.



Made this LO at the weekend. Beverly and I got lost in Lucca (Italy) we had a silly 5 mins asking this lady the way!

I certainly haven't missed going to work so far and with so many thing planned to do I can't imagine I will.

Oh, forgot to say, Rachael and I were held up by a tortoise crossing the road the other day!!!
We managed to find the owner and return the 60 year old . Rachael said the tortoise gave me a really dirty look. After all it had taken him all morning to make his escape from the garden!!!

Do you think my mojo is returning?

You never know...

what will happen next!

It's strange how you can be pretty sure of the way particular person will react in certain circumstances and then they floor you by reacting in a totally different way. Not going into details but I've know Michael for 37 years and I think he is mellowing in his 'old age'.

Second suprise this week is that I have handed in my resignation at work. Head Teacher wanted to change the hours I worked to 5 afternoons (1p.m.-3 p.m.). Hmm , no thanks, everyday messed up for the sake of 2 hours work. So, this finally decided me to do what I had been thinking of doing for some while. As the room I worked in is being decorated at the moment and won't be ready for at least 2 weeks, I am now on gardening leave 'till the end of this month and then I shall be a 'Lady of Leisure'. I'm sure I shall find plenty to fill my time.

Sad news today that a sweet lady ,called Gwen who loved to come to our Olney craft group, died on Monday. Gwen was 90 years old and loved to come just for the company and chat. Her hands didn't work too well but someone would always make one of whatever we were doing for her to take home. She had quite a twinkle in her eye and a lovely sense of humour. We will miss her at our meetings.

Will have to stop typing now as I have a rather swollen and sore little finger. I was playing with Ethan earlier today and he landed on it!!

So, here I am home again from a very sunny and hot Italy. We had a great week with lots of sightseeing, relaxing, pizza and ice cream eating and my poor old legs managed to cope with all the walking. We admired the arcitecture of big cities and enjoyed the narrow streets of villages. We sat in cafes and people watched in the piazzas and tried to learn some of the history of the wonderful places we saw and managed to converse, just a little, in Italian. Add in a few silly , giggly moments and a paddle in the sea. What more could one ask of a holiday.

We almost got lost in Lucca, Beverly tried asking directions of this lady but was met by stony faced silence!

Time again to sort the washing and try to get back into some sort of routine. First job though is to take in the waist of Ethans school trousers, he needs the length but is a real 'slim Jim'. I just can't believe our little fella is off to BIG school . It seems even more odd that he will be at the same school his Mummy first went to 24 years ago.

Here I go again..

Off to Italy on Sunday morning. We shall be in Tuscany this time. Hope to visit, Florence, Pisa, Lucca and a few other places. Hopefully lots of photo' opportunities.

I am going with Bev.She called this afternoon to ask if I would take some shampoo as she only had a very large bottle of 'the one that is supposed to make you go OOOH , Aaahhh in the shower'.Hmmm maybe I'd rather use that one!!

Bye for now.

Little things...

make me smile. Lindsay came for dinner on Sunday evening. Yesterday whilst sitting in my craft room I glanced up and saw this message on my white board. Ahaaa! (sorry about the flash but I cant take the board off the wall).

Still tidying..

This week we have had a good clear out in the garage. All the 'stuff' left by the girls has now gone and now Michael just has to clear his work top and tidy the cupboards . We can actually walk through it now without risking life and limb!

At the moment I am having a sort out in my craft room. Lots of 'stuff' has been just put down in there and it was getting a bit crowded. It wasn't encouraging me to scrap or sew. I have two lots of curtains to alter so that was the impetus to make some room.

I finished this LO last night at MKScrappers and the clock at the last Sunday one,it is up on the wall and working although it took me a while to get the hands moving properly and not snagging on each other or the sparkly gems.

Just had a new chest of drawers delivered for the back bedroom so I'm off now to arrange that and then the room is almost finished.

Comparisons.

Well, here I am home again. We had a lovely week in West sussex, so lucky with the weather, sun every day. We enjoyed a visit to Brighton , wandering the 'Lanes' and then a promenade along the pier. Arundel is a very nice little town with some lovely shops ,one of which benefitted extremely well by our two visits. The castle there is beautifully kept but a little too clean and tidy to be able to picture it as it was 900 years ago. We spent Wednesday at a super Farm Park where there were pony , tractor and combine harvester rides, carousels, big slides and bouncy castles, paddling pool as well as all the animals.The beach at West Wittering is beautiful and we had a picnic there on Thursday, a real English seaside day. Friday was our second visit to Arundel and then a walk along the sea front at Littlehampton.

As I mentioned in my last entry I spent quite a lot of time in Littlehampton as a child and we came across some photo's of me on the sea front green there, probably around ( dare I say it ) 1956 ! We decided to try to find the same spot by using the buildings in the background as a guide. We found them but it all looks very different nowThen cars could park all along the green ,now there is a car park and although the buildings are still there there are newer ones slotted in between. Here are some now and then photo's for comparison.

Off again

on my travels. This time just a week down near Littlehampton in our caravan. Rachael, Ethan and Beverly are coming too. Michael and I are going down Friday afternoon and will be joined by the others on Saturday plus Gary. The caravan and awning will be a little crowded but only for one night as Michael and Gary will be leaving Sunday morning and have to work all week, poor things.

As a small girl I remember a whole gang of us, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins often
setting off for a day at the seaside.One day that sticks in my mind was when we children found a whole hoard of pennies and half-pennies at the top of the beach. We took them to a police man ( yes, they did just happen to be around in those days) and he told us to keep them. Wow, riches indeed, kept us all in penny chews for weeks!

Thinking about this has made me determined to do a book of random memories, I may not have photo's of many of my memories so will have to journal more, this will be a challenge for me.

Here's hoping the better weather holds...

Life laundry.

One of the jobs I have set myself for this summer is to have a good sort out of STUFF. So, I started this morning with the cupboard under the stairs. How did I fit soooo much STUFF in there!! We can now walk right into it and the ironing board looks quite lonely ( pity I couldn't get rid of that). When I've had a sandwich, banana and a cup of tea I'm off to the local dump. The rest of the STUFF will go to a charity shop and I have a little gift for the local Lace circle. During the week I hope to make a start on the garage and tonight I will begin an overhaul on my scrapping supplies.



Getting ahead, we have booked next years summer holiday, we are off to Egypt, can't wait to see the pyramids in real life. Michaels' Grandma was born in Egypt so we are particularly pleased to be going.



My 'baby' will be 23 years old tomorrow. Here she is with one of her lovely black labs.. She celebrated with friends yesterday evening so a family meal is planned for tomorrow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'FLUFFY'.!

Oven to Freezer!

Well, it seems like we have moved from the oven to to freezer. Two beautiful sunny weeks in Turkey then back to DULL and WET and CHILLY.

We all had a great time, mostly being very lazy around the pool but also took some super excursions. A 'Gullet' cruise saw us in pretty coves, swimming in the warm sea water with lunch on board. The mud baths and thermal pool were an experience and the Ecoventure was such fun and an excuse to act like a 10 year old for the day!

The resort was brilliant, everything very clean , good food and entertainment. I wish I could have put that lovely hot holiday feeling in a box to be opened when needed, which would be all the time at the moment!!

We're off!

Yes, we are off to Turkey , just finishing our packing. Can't wait to see some real sunshine.

My aforementioned mission has gone well and will be carried on whilst I am away.

See you in a couple of weeks.

Ups and downs

Yes, a very up and down week. At Olney crop on Sunday, I made an altered clipboard for our Deputy Head who is leaving at the end of term and also completed a LO. Good company and our new venue along with lots of ideas put forward for future kits and classes made for a really good day. Will post piccies later.

The events on Sunday in Glasgow made me feel a little uneasy about travelling next weekend. Having said that I do truly believe we must not let these lunatics win by not carrying on as normal with our lives.

Michael was away last night and not expected home until late tonight but his plans were changed. He actually got home far earlier than usual and so, took me out for dinner at our favourite Chinese resturant as it is our 31st wedding anniversary.

I had some very sad news today. My cousin died this morning at the age of 52. She was 10 weeks younger than me and although we haven't had alot of contact over the past few years, we did spend alot of time together during our childhood and teenage years. I will remember her for her happy and loud laugh. We always knew where she was just by listening for that. She leaves her husband and two teenage sons , two sisters and her Mum. They are in my thoughts tonight and in the difficult days to come.

Finished it.

Some of you saw me struggling with a LO at the crop on Monday. I had a headache and just fiddled around with the papers, getting nowhere. Anyway I got myself and it together on Tuesday and finished it as you can see. Not a good colour representation, the letters are a willow green with glitter glaze on them . They look sort of gold on here. Not sure about the writing, I wish it was a more flowing style but having had to write in italics in my formative years, my writing is still sort of 'square'.

Well, I have now finished work until September so that sun had better shine! I've got so much planned for the next 10 weeks it will go too quickly no doubt.

This next week sees two wedding anniversaries. Rachael and Gary will have been married 7 years on the 1st and Michael and I will have clocked up 31 years on the 3rd. Michael will be away on the 2nd and not home until late on the 3rd... any ideas for his penalty!

Poor Beverly has had a leak in the hallway of her flat. it has taken some time to locate but we a now pretty sure it is coming from outside (probably something to do with another flats balcony) so, hoping that will be sorted soon. Squirral has had a bad leg this week and Lindsay has had a bad brain (Ha Ha Lins, serves you right. Forgetting that book)

I am doing a workshop tonight, making a beer mat book, hope it goes well. MK scrappers crop on Sunday, first one in Olney so more room to move about and not far to travel for a change.

Only just over a week 'till we are off to Turkey so will update before we take off.

Oh bother!

Last Sunday Beverly and I took Ethan to Salcey Forest again. I asked Rachael to dress him in old clothes and wellies and pack in another set of clothes. We started off with lunch at the little cafe and a quick turn in the playground. Then came the fun bit. As you know we have had rather alot of rain and so there were some wonderful puddles. We told Ethan
that he could run and jump in as many puddles as he wanted so off he went. Oh, what fun...big puddles little ones, deep ones and best of all VERY muddy ones and he found them all and frequently ended up on his bottom in them and guess what...........I FORGOT THE CAMERA!!! I will have to figure out a way to do a pictureless Lay out to remember a great afternoon by.

Last weekend was busy. Liz, was here and onFriday we made a visit to Bramble Patch for their exhibition and had a lovely lunch of bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon whilst sitting in the car in the pouring rain. Saturday, we went off to a work shop at Poppy Patch to learn a new technique called 'A slant on Cathederal windows'. We really enjoyed it and are both going to carry on and make some more blocks.

Saturday evening, at Lindsays' with Rachael and Beverly along with a few more of her friends. Good fun, but driving through a flooded road on the way home at 1.30 a.m. was not.

Any other news? Oh, went to see 'Notes on a scandal' at Wellingborough on Tuesday and on WednesdayI met Beverly to help her choose a hat for Ladies Day at Ascot.

Going to a B-B-Q tomorrow night...HaHaHa.
Previously mentioned mission is going well so far.

It's my money!!

Just having a rant.
I went into our local Woolwich branch today, it is to be combined with Barclays next week.
I wanted a cheque drawn on my savings account. The cashier informed me that it would cost £10!! It is MY money that that they have been using to make a Profit and how can they justify that sort of charge? Also mentioned that I would be sorry to see the pass books go and the cashier said" Yes, alot of customers have said the same". Do they listen? Customer service? What customer service? Guess who will be moving her money?

On another subject ,I am on a mission at the moment. Results will not be obvious for a while.

Call out.

Thank goodness for breakdown insurance. Had just left Cosco today and suddenly my car sounded as if it was going to fall apart, terrible clunking sounds from under the bonnet. Oh, did it sound expensive!! Anyway, luckily the break down man came along( very nice) and discovered it was the drive belt that had shredded and was flailing around, hence the noise. He did a temporary repair and home we went. In fact I dropped the car at the local garage to have the proper belt fitted and left it there as it was booked in for its MOT tomorrow morning. I was a bit disappointed though, I was hoping for a ride in his cab!


Have done a couple of canvasses this week including this one , which is for my Dad on Fathers Day. The ladies at our craft club did some on Wednesday too and really enjoyed themselves.


I have been busy in the garden this week, putting in some bedding plants and sorting out the wall pots and hanging baskets. A pair of pidgeons have been driving me mad, flapping about in the trees. Their wings make soooo much noise. I suspect Mr Pidgeon is rather amorous and Mrs Pidgeon is none to keen!


Tomorrow is our quarterly 'Patchwork people' meeting and we have our Posse meal in the evening . I am doing two main courses, tarraggon chicken with puff pastry rounds and pork fillets with apricot stuffing.

Just eaten a WW toffe apple yogurt... mmm quite nice.

Bed or bake?

As I said Ethan stayed over last night. After his bath I wasn't sure if I should put him to bed or pop him in the oven. Apparently Grandad had sprinkled him with 'Baking powder'!! Well, he is good enough to eat.

Here are acouple more piccies from last week..

Sorry about the weather!

Well, it seems that when we left for Southern France last week we took the sunny weather with us,but at least we bought it back for you all today. We had a very restful holiday and found new places to visit ( this was our 4th time ). We discovered some different villages and had a super sunny day exploring the Gorges du Verdon, WOW, stunning scenery.

I have lots planned for the next week or so before I go back to work. The small bedroom is still not finished being decorated but, we now have a carpet for it and a bed. So, that must be finished. I must catch up with housework and get some plants in the garden.

Sunday is MK scrappers , so cakes to make. Next Saturday sees the 3p's dinner, my turn for main course.

Tomorrow , Beverly is taking part in the 'Run for Life' so good luck to her and Lindsay has a jumping comp with Squirral, Michael and Rachael are going to watch. I feel bad not going, but I find it too worrying and I feel I might transfer my anxiety to her and the horse. I think she understands.

Off now to check on Ethan who is staying over. I missed that little fellow whilst I was away and I like to think he felt the same about me as he told me he "HAD to stay tonight".

Catching up?

Am I catching up with myself? Well , not really, still very busy but enjoyably (sp?) so.

Rachael is much better now after another visit to the Doctor for some stronger anti-biotics. It's just a case of her not doing too much too soon but she is looking more herself now.

On Tuesday I spent the evening showing a small group how to make a mini book,and they left clutching their own version having thoroughly enjoyed the process.

On Wednesday I did a few extra hours at work to make up for the hours I missed last week and in the evening enjoyed a meal with Beverly and Lindsay.

Thursday saw the arrival of Liz, (my sister-in-law) ready for our weekend at Knuston Hall. Friday morning we had coffee with Rachael , stowed our kit in the car and set of for lunch in Earls Barton and a look in 'Poppy Patch'. We enjoyed our time at Knuston, ate too much as usual but were productive. I made the front of a wall hanging and a cushion. I'm really pleased with the results. We arrived home about 5 p.m. tired out. We popped around to Rachaels' to the see the new decking in the garden, very nice.

Tomorrow I must go shopping for some holiday stuff as Michael, Dad and I are off to South of France on Wednesday . Oh, and Mk Scrappers in the evening.

Am I here or there?

Some of you will know that Rachael has been very poorly this week with a kidney problem. Must have been bad , she allowed the hospital to give her medication and pain killers by injection. Normally she would have to be tied down to agree to this! She is improving and today has managed to walk around a little, albeit gingerly.

The week has been busy for me as I have been looking after Ethan. He's a good little lad, he doesn't whine or moan and loves to help out when he can. Of course he is not perfect and will occasionally 'try it on' but accepts a "No" or a gentle rebuke with good grace. Gary has been geting home as early as possible and has been able to get Ethan to Pre-school in the mornings and I have collected him. It is lovely to spend so much time with him but not for the reason .

On Tuesday morning I rang into work and left a message on the answer phone to say I would not be in untill the afternoon. Unknown to me the machine was not working and my message hadn't been delivered. The teacher whose class I would have been taking had left me a note first thing in the morning to say that her class could not cook that day because of tests. So.. when I arrived about 12.45 p.m. nobody had even realised that I wasn't there!!! Talk about feeling valued still maybe I could use this to my advantage!!!

The piccie is from a couple of weeks ago when we went to Salcey Forest to try out the tree top walk. Always time for a cuddle up.

I wonder what games and puzzles I will be doing tomorrow and what characters I will have to play. Maybe the weather will improve and we can spent a while at the park to run off some energy, HIS... not mine!!

weekend

I have really enjoyed the Cyber crop on UKS this weekend. I got such alot done and didn't buy anything new so managed to use up a little bit of stash. I had photo's waiting to be scrapped that just fitted so well into the classes and I also had a go at some of the challenges.Here are some of my favourites .

We were invited by Lindsay and Ed to a BBQ last night wich was great, I think Lindsay had bought up the meat section of her local Tesco.

The sun was out in the afternoon yeserday and we spent an hour or so in the garden with friends. We made a few plans , over a cuop of tea, for next w/es caravan trip to Cambridge . Lets hope the sun shines on us then!

Tiptoe through the tulips.

Michael andI have just spent the a long w/e in the Netherlands. Apart from a rather long coach journey there and back we had a good time. We stayed in Valkenburg in a small cosy hotel with a staff of 2. They were so friendly and helpful. Saturday morning was spent in the town and we also had a trip down into the 45 miles of man made caves and then spent some time exploring the town.

In the afternoon we went into Germany ,to a village called Munchou. ( will have to check the spelling). Lots of quaint and very old buildings and a castle.

The highlight of the tour was on Sunday with our visit to the Kuchenhof gardens and the bulb fields. The gardens were beautiful, swathes of colour everywhere. So many varieties of tulips and other bulb flowers.A band was playing and the weather was perfect.

A stop off in Bruge on the way home completed the w/e with a lazy lunch sitting in the sun in the main square.

So a lovely w/e and a great welcome home from Ethan who gave me a big cuddle and shouted 'Nana, I have mis-ed you.'

What a racket!!

Yesterday was my Dads' 83rd birthday. There were 11 of us for dinner, plus 3 dogs. If Dad was hoping for a quiet birthday dinner, I'm afraid he didn't get it. Lots of chatter and banter made for a lively and noisy evening. I love it, hope he did too!.

Here he is blowing out his candles. Not the most flattering of photo's I'm afraid but it just wasn't possible to take my time.

Dad still works 2 days a week at the local car showroom and never complains although we know he has a lot of pain with his knee. Three weeks ago he had an operation on his eyes and was at work two days later. He looks after himself and his house and garden. Insists on doing our grass cutting and much of the tidying work in our garden. He is always eager to help in any way he can and is bereft if there is no washing up for him to do! Heres hoping for many more birthdays to come.

Easter and all that.

Well what lovely weather we have had for Easter this year, although a little chilly this afternoon when the sun went in. Beverly and I have been to Wimpole Hall, a National Trust property ,today. Quite a facinating place, lots of unexpected things to see in the house. We were especially pleased by the bath room and the basement servants quaters.

Yesterday morning, Ethan had his egg hunt in our garden. Typically, at first he had a job to locate the eggs as he was doing 'man looking', you girls will know what I mean by that! He soon got the idea and found them all and enjoyed opening the plastic eggs to see what was inside, mainly money, but a few choccie treats.

Lindsay and Ed have spent Easter with his parents along with the dogs. I have made her a mini book from ber mats with the photo's taken last week. I have some ideas for some more mini books, really enjoying making them at the moment.

Managed to get a few photo's of Rachael and Gary together on Sunday, still can't get used to Rachael having dark hair but I do like it.