Very tasty.

I took some photo's of Lindsays dogs today. They and Ethan were playing in the garden and when I uploaded look what I found when I clicked on the thumbnail of this pic! Two captions came to mind 'Oh you said fetch the ball not the boy' and 'I said I'd like a tasty morsel not a tasty mortal!' Well, it made me giggle anyway, it was a complete accident, not set up in any way. So this is Sasha, the new addition. Just like Jet she has settled in very quickly and already we can see that she adores Lindsay as much as Jet does.

I have enjoyed the sunny weather today, hope it continues through the w/e. Tomorrow Michael, Dad and Beverly are off to Hendon Air Museum. I shall stay home and have a nice day crafting,hopefully in the garden. Maybe we will visit a National Trust property over the w/e. We are members so need to make the most of it.

Reporting in..

Just got back from MK scrappers monthly crop. I finished off a mini book of seaside pictures of the girls when they were small and did a LO with a Photo' of Rachael when she was a few hours old. I don't have many photo's of any of them when they were really new. At the time I didn't scrap and probably couldn't afford the film and printing costs back then. It makes me a little sad now so I just have to do the best with what I have. The result is here using a kit from Jay (Crafywotnot), I think it is very pretty.

Lindsay and Ed have a new addition to the family. Another black Labrador, this time a girl dog( hate the word 'bitch') called Sasha. Photo to come soon.

I now have the Easter holiday off from school so have some jobs lined up. I really must get the little bedroom decorated for one. Hopefully there will be a few outings and picnics if the weather is kind. I have all sorts of ideas for craft work, cavases, sewing and scrapping. I will also try to update on here a little more often, so Lindsay won't complain any more.

Naughty, naughty..

I have been told off by youngest DD for not updating my blog often enough. I will try harder . Sorry Lindsay!

So, what news? Afraid, nothing earth shattering to tell.

I was very pleased with the way I turned up Rachaels' curtains last week and she was even more pleased with the cushion I made from the bit I cut off.

We had a 'skills day' in Olney last Saturday. Local people showing off their arts and crafts. I

(wo)manned a stall for our wednesday craft club and for Scrapping. Lots of interest but don't know if anyone will follow up.

Yesterday my dad had a op. on his eyes to correct the muscle tone of his lower

eyelids (Eeeeew!). Of course, he coped very well with it and today he has two very black eyes (dare I take a photo' ?) some discomfort but already you can see the difference it has made.

I have been busy sorting our project for craft club this afternoon. Have mad some easter Bunny cards and an Easter tree.

Lindsay, I still keep seeing the image of Jet and little Tess in your car on top of the trailer. It makes me smile!

Had such a good weekend.

Ethan stayed with us from Friday lunchtime until mid morning today as Rachael and Gary went of to a Golden wedding celebration. We spent an energetic couple of hours in the garden on Friday and then went to our local pizza house for dinner. Goodness can that boy put away the garlic dough balls!!! On Saturday Bev and I took him to 'Rookery Farm'. It is a lovely outing for little ones. Lots to play on and so many baby animals and plenty of opportunities to get close and touch them.

Today, I spent a fair bit of time crafting( Michael was busy putting in a kitchen for someone). The girls treated me to a tasty meal this evening to celebrate Mothers Day. Rachael cooked and there were flowers and a beautiful necklace. Beverly had laid the table with a theme of butterflies and roses and each place setting had a scrummy white chocolate rose. Just having all my girls together at one time is such a treat for me. Just for the record girls, I am one very lucky Mum, I love you all so much.

Visits.

Dave and Liz visited on Monday for the day along with their little Granddaughter, Kaila., (my great niece). We spent an hour or so at the park with them and Ethan. Kaila was happy to run around and didn't seem to notice my camera. Ethan on the other hand must get fed up with it. He very politely said"Nana, please leave me alone, I'm trying to concentrate." However I was rather pleased with the photo at the side here, taken from the steps of the slide. Must confess, I didn't intend to get the reflections , it was just a happy accident.

So, what else have I been up to apart from the mundane every day jobs and work?

Went to see 'Becoming Jane' at the cinema last night, not bad but a bit slow. I do love the manners and way of speaking from that era.

Patchwork People was good on Saturday, good company and a very interesting speaker in the afternoon.

Have been doing some stitching and made two fabric bowls and started another candlewick cushion.

The MK Scrappers retreat is almost arranged now, just have to send deposits to the hotel.

Have just booked a weeks holiday for August with Beverly. Off to Tuscany, visiting Pisa and Lucca and staying by the sea.

Looking forward now to our long weekend in Holland next month, can't wait to see all those flowers in bloom.

Trying very hard to loose weight at the moment, with all the flights I am doing this year, I need to be able to do up my seatbelt!!

Mad Cows.

Well, what a crop we had today . A whole herd of MK Scrappers, many resplendent in our cow aprons, thanks Linz. Some great paintcans thanks to instructions by Caz and love Rachaels accordian book of the Pudding Party that she managed to fit in between making sure everyone was having a good time. Quite some excitement about our retreat coming up later in the year, if Jay doesn't calm down we will have to have her inoculated.

Jay also bought along some great stash to tempt us andI caved in and bought a cartridge for my Cricut and some yummy 7 gypsies goodies.

I saw part of the lunar eclipse last night but didn't get any photo's so will be pinching some off the web to scrap and record the event.

I managed one LO today using a photo' of Michael whilst in France last year. I didn't want to make it particularly masculine but wanted to go with the quiet mood. Actually , maybe he was just wondering where his other sandal was!!!

Quick catch up .

1. Been to see two films 'Dreamgirls' and 'The devil wears Prada' enjoyed both and the music in dreamgirls was great.

2. Ethan tells me he HATES KISSING GIRLS!!

3. Child faints in my cookery class and I remembered my First Aid course. Poor little soul really went down with a bang.

4. Got paid for organising a workshop at my Thursday evening group.

5. Photo' of my brother in his uniform having realised life long ambition to work for the police.

6.. If you are wondering why I have used such a strange format, I did type it all out properly and then pressed the wrong ****** button and lost it all!!!!!

Good week.

I've had a good half term week. Done a bit of pottering and sorted a few jobs that needed to be done. My last post deals with Monday and Tuesday.

Spent a very pleasant afternoon on Wednesday on our Swap a craft outing with tea and home made cakes included and at Mothers and Wives club in the evening when we had a talk and demo about encaustic Wax art work.

My SIL came to stay for two nights ( Thursday and Friday). We spent Thursday evening making a paper bag book and another mini book. On Friday we were joined by our friend Claire and passed a very nice day at The Bramble Patch quilt shop and then a very filling but mainly healthy lunch out.
In the evening we were invited to a suprise 60th birthday party for a friend of ours. Sadly, he has been ill with cancer for the last 5 months but now his radiation and chemo. are finished and he is soon to face an operation. He has coped so well and it was good to be in on his celebration which by the look on his face when he arrived at the party venue , certainly was a BIG suprise.

Another crafty day on Saturday. This time at the Poppy Patch learning a new way to make a Wedding Ring Quilt and then the evening making some lovely little needle cases, very quick and simple.

Scrapping was on the menu on Sunday, which was spent with Naomi, Laura, Rachael and Beverly. Lunch provided by Naomi was delicious. A couple of very simple LOs shown here.

We had Take-away for dinner with Lindsay and Ed in their new home. It is a fairly large old Victorian house . The ceilings are hig and the rooms light and airy. Once they have it all straight and decorated it will be beautifull.

Next project for me is to decorate our small 4th bedroom and of course there is plenty of patchwork and scrapping in the pipeline.

Valentine

Michael and I have never really made much of valentines day. Just the odd bunch of flowers or a chocolate heart. This year won't be much different but I have made him a little box of love. Picture to follow in next blog entry. This morning he told me to order a Cricut cutting machine so I'll count that as my gift.

Ethan came here today for a few hours whilst Rachael went to the stables and we made a gift for her. He painted a little box and then affixed a gold heart and sprinkled beads on top. His favourite part was punching out paper hearts to go inside.When it was dry I explained to him that it was for tomorrow. Needless to say he was so excited about it that as soon as Mummy arrived to collect him he just had to give it to her. Bless!

Old fashioned?

Well , call me old fashioned but I couldn't help thinking back a good few years yesterday. How lovely it was to see so many children actually out playing. Even in the summer when I take the dog for a walkI rarely see many on the field just up the road. Yesterday there were hordes of them. Some with Mum and Dad others in groups. All were having so much fun, sledging, building snowmen, sliding and just chasing around. Laughter and shouts of joy filled the air and it took me back to my childhood when being outside was the norm. What's more, all that fun and it didn't cost a penny!

Off for a little outing to Borders this afternoon to buy a couple of books and of course the fact that PaperChase and Starbucks are there too adds to the appeal!