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...