Here are the photo's from my Mothers day treat.

Sorry Claire....

still no photo' of Ethans quilt but I'm nearly done. Just one side of the binding to finish.





Rachael and I had a trip to the Hobbycrafts show last week. We enjoyed our day out but were a little dissapointed by the smaller than usual amount of stallholders. My favourite stand was Craftwork cards where I bought a couple of stencils and here is a card I made using one of them.



The following Sunday Beverly, Rachael and I went up to London to the Country Living exhibition. Such pretty stands, they made me want to completely redesign the house. Dream on!!

Rachael and I both won a prize on the Higgardy Pies stand . Rachael will be receiving a box of pies and I have an apron and a bag to come.



Mothers day arrived a day early for me as I was invited by my three girls to dinner at Rachaels. The table was beautifully laid with hand stamped table mats and place cards. there was a basket of hyachints, some smellies, three lovely cards and a voucher for a facial. Pride of place was given to a cake specially made by Rachael. Of course all of this was lovely ,as was the meal but the best gift was the time and effort that had gone into the whole evening. I certainly have the best three daughters in the world. I love you girls.

It seems that blogger won't let me load any more photo's at the moment so I'll be back soon.

little things mean alot...

Things like an unexpected visits and hugs from daughters and best of cuddles and Paddington sandwiches with the bestest Grandson in the world.

Feeling a bit better today x

Grumpy Old Woman.

Just one of those days when you feel fed up just because you do. I'm going to have a moan so sorry to my 2 readers, bear with me I'm sure I'll be my normal cheerful self tomorrow.

At what age do people stop looking aghast when I say I don't go out to (paid) work ? When we had our girls it was our decision that the home and family would be my job. We have never claimed any money for our family other than the Child benefit. I have never regretted that decision and have loved and still love every moment spent with the girls and as a family. I have so many precious memories especially of things I would have missed had I left them in anothers care for a large amount of time,I have until 18 months ago worked part time for the last 15 or so years.Anyway in conversation over the weekend I got 'the' reaction. You know the one... WHATEVER DO YOU DO ALL DAY ?

Well I happen to be a fairly interesting person. I have hobbies and a home to keep. A garden to look after. Dogs to walk.. I sort out all the little things that life throws up . I run a craft club and attend others ( sometimes as the teacher) which often involves a good few hours of work in preperation. I cook meals from scratch most days . I keep an eye on our accounts and arrange our social life. If we entertain it's me that does all the extra work. If someone wants an errand run, who do they ask? I keep an eye on my elderly Dad ( not sure if he would like that term) and help out with his housework. When the girls were small, who helped at school? Who collected children because Mums and Dads we caught at work? Who was needed when other kids were poorly or in the holiday when they were stuck without child care?

Just because work isn't paid in money at the end of the month doesn't make it less important. If I did all these things and got paid for them the tax man would love me! It also means my husband has only to worry about his job and can relax when he comes home.

O K I'll stop now, you must be getting bored. Just having a day feeling unappreciated after a few days of not feeling too good .

Back soon in a happier mood. x

another month...

Yes, it has been another month since I updated! We have been having trouble with the computer and are waiting for a new one so have to put up with this tempremental one until it arrives.



We have had our new front door fitted and it looks very smart ( will post a photo' soon). Now we have to paint the garage door to match but that will have to wait until the weather improves.



I have enjoyed the snow, it looks so pretty but now it has been around for a few days I'm getting a bit tired of it and hope it soon melts away. Still here are a couple of photo's taken on Thursday.






Yes Michael did have part of the day off work.
He couldn't get the car off the drive so Ethan was thrilled that Grandad could join in the fun!












I have been busy with some crafting this week. We made some of these items at our craft club and Ethans' quilt is progressing well. Just have to quilt it and sew on the binding.This is the weekend of the UKS Cyber crop and I have managed to have a go at a few of the classes two of which are pictured here.











The colours don't look very good here, they are better in real life. I hope to have a go at a few more classes and challenges tomorrow.












It is also Michaels' birthday tomorrow. Rachael , Gary and Ethan came to dinner this evening. Rachael had made a super Golf Bag cake which I'm sure there will be a photo' of on her blog and Ethan had made one that was decorated as a gift. Tomorrow Beverly andLindsay will be here.


Back soon. x

Two months!

I can't belive it is two months since I last wrote! The run up to Chrismas was of course busy. I managed to make a few cards ( forgot to take photos') also made some new decorations and one or two gifts. Actually my friend Rose and I managed to make 6 Princess and the pea beds with covers and rather large peas!

The dolls were bought and we added a copy of the book. They have been well recieved by all the little girls they were sent to.

Christmas itself was spent with family, 25th at Rachaels , 13 of us and Boxing day here at home ,15 of us. We had a good time and the TV was hardly in evidence at all. The men watched for about an hour or so and the rest of the time we played various games and chatted.

We had a great evening on Saturday at my brothers 60th birthday party. I can't belive I have a brother of that age but of course I am a fair bit younger than him! Here he is as he arrived. Yes, it was a suprise party and he certainly was.

It's is quite nice though to get back into some sort of routine and make plans for the year. First job is to get the new front door installed. It is ordered so shouldn't be too long. We need new inside doors throughout the house so hopefully will get those changed this year. The garage door needs painting and the garage MUST be sorted properly.

Yesterday we booked a holiday to ' New England in the Fall '. A 10 day tour which will take us to Boston, Plymouth, Cape Cod and the White mountains. Looking forward to this so much.

Happy New Year to you all. Let's hop we all keep smiling.

Hello...

Well ,it's been awhile again so, what have I been up to?

We had good weather for our break in Yorkshire and did a fair bit of walking. We also discovered the fun of geocaching. The best bit is that you tend to find locations that you would never normally come across. Can't wait to do some more.

First photo' is Michael and I looking very pleased after our first find. You have to be careful not to let the Muggles see what you are doing though!

Second photo' is a lovely little valley walk where we found our third cache.

We had a boat trip and fish and chips in Whitby after we had spent the morning at Robin Hoods bay. . We visited the brilliant Eden Camp and spent another day on the North Yorkshire Moors railway.

I have been doing some crafting and patchwork but haven't taken any pictures yet, will do so soon.

We spent a lovely day at Mead Farm with Claire , Sheena and the children. It was quite cold and we just made it back to the car as the rain started but a good time was had by all.

Life is quite busy here at the moment. We have two extra dogs living with us so there is plenty of walking going on. Bonnie is not too impressed!!!!

I suppose I must begin to think about Christmas. So, this afternoon I shall be making the cake shortly followed by the puds.

14 days later...

PHEW! That was a long walk.

Our computer has been changed and it has taken a while to get myself sorted plus my brain was just not in blogging mode.

I've been busy crafting in one way or another over the last couple of weeks. It's very satisfying to see some of my projects being finished off. I took a few things to a club I attend and some woman had the cheek to say"gosh, How do you find time, I bet your house doesn't get cleaned too much". Well Missus, who watches all the soaps, quizzes, magazine programmes and more on TV, I have watched just about 2 hours of TV over the last 2/3 weeks maybe there is some connection.

So, while I am having a rant here are a couple of others. When someone follows you into a car park, why oh why do they attach their car to your back bumper when it is obvious that you will have to stop fairly quickly when you see a space to park in . Why can't I collect a prescription from the chemist when the pharmacist is at lunch ? When I make another journey later in the day to collect it, he is not consulted nor does he shoot round the counter to check what I have or who I am.

OK, enough moaning. We had our Srappbooking retreat this weekend. Great weekend. 20 of us scrapping away to our hearts content. Lots of laughs and banter but we did get a lot of work (not sure if that's the right word) done too. I reckon we produce at least 120 pages a fair few mini books a few dozen cards between us.

One day I will get the hang of putting these photo's in the right place!

Looking forward to a few days in Yorkshire next week, hope the weather will be kind to us.

I didn't realise..

it had been so long since I updated.

Michael has gone off with some friends for a weekend sailing on the Solent. The weather forecast is good and there should be a fair breeze. I am hoping to get some various types of crafting done today and tomorrow. On Sunday Beverly and I are visiting a National Trust property although we haven't yet decided which one.

Last weekend we all celebrated Ethans 6th birthday. It was good to have all the family together and for once to be able to sit out in the garden. Here he is with his Spiderman cake.

My mind has gone blank now and this is rather a boring entry, perhaps I'll tale the dog for a walk and come back later !!!!

I'm so lucky....

Really I am and I do appriciate the fact. With Beverly I have just spent another ten days in beautiful sunny Italy. The Puglia region is very Italian and far less touristy than many other parts of Italy. We visited many small towns with wonderful architecture and history. We saw some incredible scenery. We still had time to relax around the pool and also swam in the sea.

One of our favourite outings was a boat trip along the very pretty coast to look at the grottos. Some of the openings seemed far too small for the boat to get in, but, in we went and the rock formations inside were incredible. We pulled in to a small cove where we swam and enjoyed a b-b-q on the beach before returning at full pelt to the harbour at Vieste.

Another favourite place was the 'Trulli' town of Arberobello. The round white houses with their good luck emblems painted on are so pretty.

So, home again and quickly and as usual there is always so much to do. The garden needs some TLC but it is difficult when it has been so wet. I had to dry all my holiday washing indoors.
Tomorrow I am visiting a local place of interest'The Menagerie'. I don't know if any of you have heard of it and I have no idea what it is all about but it's not anything to do with animals asfar as I know. Watch this space and I'll tell you what I discover.