Deb's World

Just one sketch - the circular one

2012-02-15T16:18:00.003Z

So for this prompt we had to soften all our edges and 'go round in circles'.

I think I ticked most of the boxes with this one! I can't believe that this is prompt nine and that I've got so many layouts from 'Just One Sketch'.

It's quite handy that this is half term and so I don't have to go to work this week as prompt ten went live this morning and I have plenty of time to work on it. On Monday I decided to 'tidy' up my papers; putting whole sheets of cardstock and patterned paper together and sorting the off cuts and not quite whole sheets into some semblance of order. All my alphabets in a box and stickers and rub ons in another. An hour in and my enthusiasm was on the wane and the husband was looking on with a look of horror on his face. However, whilst it is by no means perfect, I do see some order amongst the chaos now.

So what else have I been up to? Well, yesterday I popped round to a friend's house for coffee and she had been busy baking cupcakes ...

Aren't the beauties? Needless to say I was unable to resist!

Just one sketch 8

2012-02-12T10:59:00.002Z

Time to minimise our sketch this time and about time I included the Grand-puppy in my layouts! I had a photo of her which was not centralised well in the 6x4 print so it was a great opportunity to square off the photo and work around a smaller image.

I even did some stamping on this one ... straight onto the cardstock ... and on the luggage label, now there's something you don't see every day!

Frozen

2012-02-11T15:39:00.003Z

Look what the weather app on my phone said this morning

MINUS fifteen degrees Centigrade! I've never known it this cold before. It was very hard to bring myself to leave the warmth of the bed this morning. I'm not sure this snow is ever going to melt.
So, I've done the shopping, popped over and taken Coco for a walk, {took longer than expected as that puppy certainly does love running in the snow!} had lunch and settled down to finish making my butterfly for Deb over at Paper Turtle. Have you seen her post on the Butterfly Project? I loved the ideas of all those butterflies, each and every one completely individual and set to work with felt and embroidery thread. Here's the finished butterfly which will be winging it's way out of frozen Britain and across to sunny Arizona very soon.

Kind of wish I could hand deliver it!

Just one sketch #6 including penguins

2012-02-07T17:05:00.001Z

I feel so lucky to have 'met' so many lovely people via the Blogosphere and today's post is brought to you via the kind of actions of two lovely ladies who I have never met in real life but know that if I did, we would become firm friends.

Firstly to Alison over at Life in the Slow Lane. I have just realised that she lives in a village about 20 mins drive from where one of my husband's relatives has a holiday home so you never know, we could maybe meet in real life sometime! She read my post about worrying about the forthcoming trip to Africa that my son is planning and sent me a lovely note and fridge magnet with a beautiful sentiment.

Then onto Deb at Paper Turtle who saw a beautiful jewelled penguin embellishment and remembered that I have a soft spot for penguins. I've been holding onto it, just waiting for the right layout and yesterday that layout appeared as part of Just One Sketch. This prompt was to fill your page, and I printed out two pictures from the snowy conditions on Sunday and what do you associate with snow and freezing temperatures? Penguins! And so the next layout was born ...

Storytelling Sunday - Toasted cheese

2012-02-05T09:38:00.001Z

It's Storytelling Sunday again, as hosted by Sian over at High in the Sky. It's the perfect kind of day to snuggle up next to the computer screen with a mug of hot chocolate and enjoy the stories that people are sharing. Well, that's if you live in the UK; for those of you in warmer climes, maybe a glass of iced tea in the shade!
I had two stories relating to my primary school days but as we have woken up to 6" of snow this morning, I shall choose one that is set in winter time. This is the school I went to between 1963 and 1969. It was part of the church buildings and after it closed to relocate in a new building in 1970, it was converted into housing. It was a really old building and every class room had two huge water pipes that ran around about 3' from the floor. One was hot water and one was cold. So to set the scene, it is a cold day in the 1960s. The only heating in the classroom is from the hot water pipe and that pipe was scalding hot. (Today's Health & Safety would have had a fit!)

Mrs Bishop: Michael Cheeseman! Stop balancing on the back legs of your chair, you will overbalance and fall.
{Sound of crashing}
Boy sitting next to Michael Cheeseman: Miss. Michael's fallen off his chair and his face is awfully red.

The rest of the class immediately turn to look at Michael, whose chair has slid from under him and in his fall, his elbow has wedged between the very hot water pipe and the very cold one. Michael is well and truly stuck. The fire brigade is called. Mrs Bishop has the not so good idea to grease Michael's arm with butter from the school kitchen to try and make it slippery enough to be pulled out. This was not one of Mrs Bishop's better ideas. Michael is now cooking between the pipes.
Fire brigade arrives, class is sent out to play in the playground and Michael is finally removed from the pipes and taken to hospital to have his burns dressed.
It happened over 40 years ago, but I can still remember it as clear today as it was then. And I still shudder when I see kids balancing on the back legs of their chairs!

365+1 Week 5

2012-02-04T16:07:00.000Z

Another week of pictures for 365+1 complete.

Today the temperature has not risen above freezing and the forecast is for up to 4" of snow to fall in this area overnight. Wasn't hard to think of something to use for the 'liquid' prompt today, that bottle of de-icer has been well used by the whole family!

We are going to a 40th birthday party this evening and I must admit that at the moment, I don't feel too enthusiastic to get out of my warm sweater and jeans and into a dress, and the thought of braving the elements isn't too appealing either. Not to mention the fact that I have been wearing a woollen headband/hat for a fair part of the day and that hasn't enhanced my hair style I can tell you! I'm sure I'll be fine once I get there but at this moment in time, staying in front of the fire, having a nice bottle of wine with dinner and watching the tv is higher on my wish list. This is the price you pay for having friends much younger than yourself!

Hopefully I will be home again safely and not stuck in a snow drift in time to join in Storytelling Sunday with Sian tomorrow. See you there ...

Just one sketch # 6

2012-02-02T17:18:00.001Z

Keeping it plain and simple this time around, but I'm a bit of a plain and simple scrapbooker anyway when left to my own devices so it wasn't easy to cut much out.

But I also got to use up a bit more paper I wouldn't normally use as I realised that I needed to pick up on the yellow of the flowers in the foreground.

So we've done plain and simple, I think I know where this is going and I think I'm going to be well and truly out of my comfort zone sometime very soon!

Passing inspection

2012-02-01T15:44:00.001Z

Today is my day off from work and I had arranged to join some friends to become 'Ladies who lunch'. It was also the day that the 365+1 word prompt was Accessory and I chose to photograph the scarf that I was wearing as at this time of year, my first choice of accessory is a woven scarf. I eventually chose the close up picture for the project but also experimented with a self portrait. This will illustrate my story.

Turns out I was early for lunch (that was a first for me, I'm normally running late) and so I sat at a window table and ordered a nice glass of Montepulciano to drink while I waited for my friends and browsed the menu. I looked out of the window and saw my daughter walking down the street. As I was feeling a bit like 'Billy no mates' or someone whose date has stood them up, I waved to her and she came over to step into the restaurant to say hello. I stood up and she immediately took a step back to evaluate how I looked. Mothers of older daughters will know what I mean by that statement! Approval of how you look is not necessarily guaranteed. 'Oh, I see you've taken trouble to blow dry your hair properly' was her first comment as she fluffed up one side and turned me to check on the back. Followed by 'Oh, that dress looks really nice on you'. The dress was her Christmas present to me so I knew it would be approved. 'I like the way you've added that scarf' she said. 'And it looks great with opaque tights. Well done Mum'. By now, the other people in the restaurant had noticed my appraisal and as we both looked round, everyone immediately put their heads down to concentrate on their meals! Satisfied that I was dressed appropriately she went on her way. Anybody else out there whose kids feel it is their job to check that they are not getting 'frumpy'? Or is it just me?!

Just one sketch # 5

2012-01-31T16:45:00.000Z

Oh dear, we were really taken out of our comfort zone for the next prompt on Just One Sketch. Doing everything we wouldn't normally do. So I used a photo I wouldn't normally use (I'm more a people kind of girl rather than a 'flora and fauna' type) and used colours I wouldn't normally pick. So I chose orange. Not only orange, but orange and yellow.

It was a good experiment, and I quite like the finished result, but it hasn't convinced me that I need to go out and stock up on orange papers!

We have had an awful couple of days at work and our school has ended up on national TV for all the wrong reasons. One of our Year 10 girls was killed whilst crossing a railway track at the weekend and it has really hit the whole school community. Such a lovely girl, full of potential and with her life ahead of her. Not the type of girl to go out and get into trouble or be messing about and getting into trouble. Just a girl who chanced her luck to cross a line she crossed on a daily basis even though the red lights were showing and the gate was closed. So for those of you with teenage or younger children, take them to one side, give them a big hug and tell them that Aunty Debs says for them to be super careful crossing roads or tracks and that red lights mean 'stop' and they are there for a good reason. If you could see the notes that the girls are hanging from the tree of remembrance in our courtyard, your heart would break.

365+1 Week 4

2012-01-29T12:00:00.001Z

Well, another week of the 365+1 photo challenge has passed and I have this to share

Strangely enough, the one I found most difficult this week was the 'Free Choice' one. Having become accustomed to being given a word to inspire we were suddenly left to our own devices and allowed to choose something of our own. I guess the word that summed up my Free Choice day was 'obsessed'. My daughter has lent me her box sets of Lost and it is compulsive viewing. I need to have a daily episode (at least!).
Having a somewhat stressful morning in the kitchen today. 7 for Sunday lunch and one of them is my daughter's boyfriend who's a Head Chef in a 2* Michelin restaurant. It's just like being on Masterchef. Cooking doesn't get any tougher than this! Needless to say there are more dishes being served today than on a normal Sunday ;-)

Just one sketch #4

2012-01-28T14:37:00.000Z

I just want to say how much I am enjoying the class 'Just One Sketch'. Wednesday's prompt was to go minimalist with the colours on the page. She referred us to a website called Design Seeds that would help put colours together. Now, I have to warn you now, going onto this website will seriously affect the amount of time you spend on the Internet - but I know you won't be put off by that will you?
So I started with this picture

And I liked the look of this combination

But it was a bit too pink and purple rather than red and blue, so I looked again and found this

And with that for inspiration, I made this

I wonder what's in store next?

Happy Mail Day

2012-01-26T21:05:00.001Z

Today was a day that it really felt as if life was trying to give me a sign. A sign that even on bad days there are nice things out there, and nice people too.

I'd had a rotten day. A morning of Excel spreadsheets and questionnaire analysis and number crunching. Then the newsletter I was involved in producing had some of its articles removed and left me with large spaces to fill. The day before publication. And the person proof reading it got very pernickity about things being in bold and things being in italic and things being underlined and wanting to change the style of things just as I thought it was ready to go to print... 18 pages of Publisher needing re-formatting.

Not to mention the fact that I had had a 'run in' with my son in the morning over his possible forthcoming month of volunteering in Tanzania. I knew that by doing a Masters degree in African Politics, the chance of him wanting to go out there was pretty high, but I was trying hard to push it to the back of my mind. It's tough to encourage your child to follow their dreams and to take every opportunity offered when in your heart they are still your baby (OK so he's almost 22) and you want to keep them safe and within sight.

So I arrived home to find a package waiting for me and guess what was inside

A package of goodies from Ruth - Such lovely cards and a gorgeous lilac notebook. Suddenly the world was a nicer place and I swapped my frown to a smile!

But how typical is this? I am naturally concerned about my boy travelling off to Tanzania on his own, and all manner of worries are crossing my mind. So, before dinner, I sat down to watch the six o'clock news and one of the stories there was about a man who died in Tanzania after being stung by a swarm of bees. My husband turned to me and said 'That could have happened anywhere you know.' How did he guess what I was thinking?!

Just One Sketch 3

2012-01-23T14:57:00.002Z

It wasn't until I was taking the photo of this layout that I realise my ~~not so~~ deliberate mistake

This was supposed to be a mirror image of our first layout but then I noticed that I had put the bottom embellishment on the wrong side of the page. I tried to remove it but, too late, it was stuck fast! So here is a page dedicated to my nephew's son who is growing up to be such a lovely young man.
The husband is now back from his travels so I suspect I will not be so 'quick off the mark' with the next prompt for this project. He took one look at the coffee table in the lounge, another at the dining table (still strewn with papers and glues) and said 'You've been having a nice time scrapping then.' How did he guess?!

365+1 Week 3

2012-01-22T07:59:00.000Z

Another week of 365+1 photos. In which I have shared the embarrassment of the overflowing ironing basket and the unhealthy contents of my cupboard. Not to mention the cute little bundle of fluff that accompanies my daughter when she comes to visit!

My week of solitude comes to an end today as my husband returns from his week in Portugal with my brother in law. I am hoping that the change of routine and glorious sunshine will bring him home a more more relaxed person. Sounds like they had a good week of long walks, lunchtime beers overlooking the sea and a couple of rounds of golf. Now I just need to break it to him that while he was away our son was offered the opportunity to do volunteer work in Tanzania in the summer ... I have made it absolutely clear to him that this is something he will have to self-finance so it is by no means a done deal yet! I don't think he realises how expensive flights to Africa are, but he is enjoying looking into the possibility of going, even if it doesn't happen.

Just one sketch #2

2012-01-20T14:37:00.000Z

The 2nd prompt suggested that we turn our sketch round and use the same idea but sideways or upside down. Mine ended up like this

I think I prefer this one to the first one. What a simple idea but how useful to know!

I had a bit of an 'incident' at work this morning and am nursing a badly bruised and grazed foot. Our exams office is tiny. Small enough for one person. Cramped with two people. And overcrowded with three. I work in exams 6 hours a week so it's not normally an issue but when the exams are actually taking place, another member of 'Team Exams' comes in to help out and an extra temporary desk and plastic chair has to be drafted in. So things are a bit tight to say the least. It's Year 11 mocks and Year 12 and 13 Public Exams January modules at the moment so three of us in there. Today while I was standing by the printer, my colleague pulled out her chair (not a normal office chair, but the temporary one that is typical of those found in schools with thin metal legs) and sat down. Not realising that when she pulled out the chair, one of the legs went on the top of my foot, and before either of us realised - she sat down ... and she's not a small lady by any means. Ouch! It hurt so much but she was so devastated by what had happened I didn't have the heart to tell her how bad it was. I was wearing opaque tights so we couldn't see the damage but I just got home and looked. It's not a pretty sight I can tell you!

Many a true word ...

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000Z

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.”

― Charles M. Schulz

photo source Google images

Just One Sketch

2012-01-15T14:59:00.001Z

Day one of Just One Sketch has arrived! Although it arrived with a panic when I couldn't remember how to access the blog that the prompts were going to be on. Thankfully a quick email rectified that - although I can almost see my report card now 'Deborah needs to pay more attention in class. Must try harder.' This class has coincided with my husband being away for the week and so that means I can be as messy as I like and no one is going to moan about wanting to use the desk but they can't because all my craft stuff is on it. Happy days! He had the opportunity to go out to Portugal with my brother in law and has gone to rest, relax and recharge his batteries for a week. Lucky thing.

I digress. Here's my layout for the first day of Just One Sketch

I've been longing to use this photo that was taken on Christmas Day. My daughter had brought over her puppy's cage with the thought that if she was overwhelmed by all the people and attention or if she got over excited, she could go into her bed and have some quiet time on her own. However, the children thought the cage was wonderful and ignored all their new presents so they could take it in turns to lock themselves into the dog cage! Coco couldn't get a look in!

Re yesterday's post and the cheese baker - it's basically a ceramic dish that you can cooked baked brie or baked camembert in. You take your round of cheese, slice off the top skin, drizzle olive oil over it and insert a few fine slices of garlic in the top. Sprinkle with herbs if you like and then place in the dish, cover with a lid and put in the oven for about 15 mins. The cheese inside softens, the flavours of the garlic and herbs get into it and you serve it with crusty bread or bread sticks and it makes like a mini fondue. Delicious!

365+1 Week 2

2012-01-14T15:23:00.003Z

Week two of 365+1 had a couple of interesting challenges.

Cosy - My son's hat fitted the bill for this one

Water - Our 'grandpuppy' has her own water and food bowl which she leaves at our house. She came to visit on Tuesday and gave me inspiration for this prompt

Metallic - what self respecting scrapper wouldn't have a silver dabber in her stash?

Clothing - went into town and found a lovely top in White Stuff knocked down from £39 to £12 - result!

Translucent - view from the window in the Exams office at work (similar to how I imagine prison to look!) For security purposes we have to have obscured glass in the eye level window panes and security blinds which lock when the office is empty. No chance of the integrity of exams papers being compromised on our watch!

What's in your fridge - we had friends over for drinks in the evening so wine and beer chilling and a camembert ready for baking in my new cheese baker.

Guilty pleasure - come on, admit it. I bet I'm not the only one who enjoys licking the left over mixture off the whisk when the cake is ready for the oven.

I love the way Picasa makes it so easy to make collages out of a selection of pictures, one click and it's done. Perfect for keeping these pictures together at the end of the project.

A few words for a Tuesday

2012-01-10T13:00:00.000Z

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. "I just wanted to be sure of you.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Luscious lemon loveliness

2012-01-09T15:56:00.002Z

I did say that if the lemon dessert that I made yesterday was as lovely as I remembered it being, I would share the recipe so I will be doing just that. Click on the recipes tag and it should be there! If you are looking for something light and refreshing and simple to make, this is the dessert. I find that recipes that I get from other people are entered with the name of the person who gave them to me so this is 'Linda's Lemon Pudding'. Try it and let me know what you think!

Weekly round up

2012-01-08T12:44:00.001Z

I've noticed that a few other people doing the 365+1 project have made glorious collages of their photos and I just had to scraplift that idea! I'm already envisioning an album of the year (which also assumes that I will stay the course on this one - I know I can, I'm sure I can, I can, I can, I can ...)

I think this is a better way than posting a random picture on my blog each day so if someone could remind me next week that I need to get the next seven together, that would be greatly appreciated!

Is everyone having a nice relaxing Sunday? I've got a very gorgeous looking roast shoulder of lamb in the oven, with crispy roast potatoes, parmesan parsnips, carrots and broccoli. So if you're in the area, do pop in and I'll set an extra place at the table. I'm also revisiting an old faithful recipe for a lemon sponge dessert that separates out as it cooks and leaves a sponge topping with a zingy lemon sauce beneath. If it works as well as it used to, I'll share the recipe tomorrow! Haven't updated the recipe page of the blog in a long time so this would be a perfect reason to share it.

Project completed

2012-01-07T16:48:00.001Z

Whilst at the Eclectic Keepsakes crop today I finally did the last layout for the 4x6 Photo Love project that Shimelle ran over 2011. 12 photos on one layout - done and dusted!

Excuse the quality of the photos, but it's that time of day and that time of year! Only mid afternoon but already having to put the lights on in the house.

I was so pleased to go to the crop today even though I couldn't stay long as I was still feeling poorly. Whatever this bug is, it's horrible and I'm fed up with it! From what I hear from others, it's a two weekly thing so hopefully I am now half way through.

As for those cups I showed in yesterday's post, I am happy to say that I am not the one who has to polish them (there are over 40 prizes awarded and that's a lot of polishing!) At our school we have a policy of year 8 girls being given one day a year off of timetable to be our 'student receptionist'. They sit at a desk in the main reception area and sign in visitors, sign for deliveries, get messages to students and generally help out wherever possible. The day before Senior Presentation Evening is the day that the student receptionists are given the cups to polish. For some reason, give a 12 year old an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get dirty and they are happy as a pig in ... clover. So when I gave them the cups, dusters, rubber gloves and a tin of 'Silvo' their eyes lit up!

Hello Spring Term 2012

2012-01-06T16:30:00.001Z

Back to work yesterday after over two weeks off - oh it's painful! Quite apart from the fact I was still feeling poorly, it was our Senior Presentation Evening where our ex Year 13 and ex Year 11 are invited back to collect their A level/GCSE certificates and we also award special prizes. My colleague and I are responsible for the organisation of this and my responsibility lies with putting the right certificates in the right envelopes (oh the stress! 270 students get an envelope each with at least 3 certificates in them ...) and also getting the nominations in for the winners of the prizes.

It's a pretty important evening in the life of the school and a real celebration of our students' achievements. So when I saw that the 365+1 theme for the photo of the day was excitement, how could I resist taking a photo of the silver cups and glass trophies that were waiting on my desk to be taken through to the stage?

365+1

2012-01-04T11:40:00.001Z

I am enjoying being up to date with the 365+1 Challenge - although as we are only at day four, things could easily go downhill once I go back to work! So I will share my first few days

If you fancy joining in, details are over here on Suzie's Blog

I've realised that my take on the words has been pretty literal so far so I need to start thinking 'outside of the box' - I mean, you'd hate me to be predictable wouldn't you?

Back to school tomorrow, and believe me, us staff dread it as much as the students do! I've kind of got into a nice routine here at home, it seems a shame to mess it all up by having to sit in an office all day. Trying to convince myself that my laryngitis will be bad enough to be sent home but I don't think it will happen. Also trying to convince myself that it is an excuse to cancel the dentist appointment on Friday but I'm not sure about that either.

Looking forward to going to the Eclectic Keepsakes crop on Saturday and already wondering what the cupcake flavour for January will be... There's no guest class this month so I'm planning to work on my 4x6 Photo Love for December which will mean that the whole project is finished. I have REALLY enjoyed this project and am sad that it has come to an end, but am guessing that Shimelle will have something else to take its place in 2012.

Just a thought

2012-01-03T11:11:00.001Z

source Google images

Empty nest syndrome

2012-01-02T12:57:00.001Z

That could refer to me having both children grown up now but it actually refers to the tiniest bird nest I have ever seen that has suddenly been revealed in the tree in our front garden.

It's been hidden behind the last few leaves but this morning when I pulled up the blinds, I could see this little nest, no more than a few inches tall right in the top branch. It must either have been built and used by a tiny bird like a wren or something or a bird started to build it and changed it's mind. Maybe when it was half built, it's partner came along to see how it was getting on and said 'That won't be big enough - good grief, go and find somewhere better for us to bring up our family.' The tree is covered in little white berries which are disappearing daily as the local birds come and stock up for Winter, won't belong until every branch is bare and that poor little nest is the only thing left on it.

In addition to the two classes I've signed up for this year, I've also joined in the 365+1 challenge over at 365 photos that Sian (From High in the Sky) mentioned a little while back. It's only day two but I am already still up to date {ask me again on day 366}. I'm not going to post my pictures on a daily basis but will make a little collection of them once a week, maybe on a Friday. I like the idea of being given a word and having to think of something to photograph to go with it.

So the first week of 2012 is not going as well as I would have hoped: Not only do I have a sore throat and ominous pain in one ear, but I am back to work on Thursday and I have to work from 8.30am - 10pm as it is Senior Presentation Evening and not only that but on Friday I have to have a half hour dentist appointment to make a proper repair to the tooth I broke just before Christmas. So if you are listening, 2012, please try a little bit harder to bring me good things, you're not doing awfully well at the moment!

Storytelling Sunday A Fishy Tale

2012-01-01T09:00:00.000Z

This will have been the first year for ages that we haven't done anything on New Year's Eve. We used to celebrate lots when we were first married, then the children came along and it was an effort to stay awake up until midnight let alone go out partying. But then when they were school age we made a group of friends who became our close social circle. First the mums befriended each other in the school playground while waiting to pick up the children at the end of the day, then our children became friends, then we introduced the husbands to one another and we just all gelled. We hosted Murder Mystery parties, summer barbecues, went away on holiday together and always, always celebrated New Year, taking it in turns to be the venue. Adults downstairs, kids running amok and playing together upstairs, no babysitters required! Then one year we decided to ring the changes and ask grandparents to have the children to stay overnight and we went to a hotel for a New Year Dinner and staying there until the next day.

It had gone well past midnight, we were all slightly merry, not to mention tired and we moved from disco floor to the hotel reception to chat. Somehow or the other the conversation turned to bodily scars. I know, weird! My husband's scarred knee from where he had got gravel in it in a childhood bike related incident started the ball rolling. I countered that with a not very neatly sewn appendix scar (don't worry, I didn't reveal it to all, they had to use their imagination), someone else had a shoulder scar following an op to fix a dislocated shoulder and so on and so on. Some random guy walked past and happened to pick up on the conversation and asked if he could join in. Of course - sit down, show us what you have to share. At which point he lifted up the leg of his trousers, detached a prosthetic part of his calf and showed us where he had been bitten by a shark whilst scuba diving.

That lumpy bumpy knee and unattractive appendix didn't seem so ugly after all! What's the weirdest conversation you have overheard?

4x6 Photo Love November (belated)

2011-12-31T14:24:00.001Z

Dear Shimelle,

When you are designing your very clever multi-photo layouts please bear in mind the challenges you are giving us not only to follow them, but to take photos of them afterwards!

It wasn't until I received the prompt for December that I remembered that I had never actually got round to doing last months. I distinctly remember thinking 'I don't have eleven photos of the same theme' but obviously that was as far as I got. Now this is one project that I am absolutely 100% determined that I am going to finish and so I could not let November pass by in a blur of 2 empty page protectors. So I figured that it was in November 2010 that I went to the Cologne Christmas Markets therefore I am completely entitled to bore you with photos from that which I have shared before.

Here comes the photography problem. It is a double page layout with a slim divided page protector sandwiched between the pages. On a dull and murky day, how do you photograph that.

You start with the double pages on their own, out of the album.

You then put the divider alongside the first page

You then take about ten photos that you discard before putting the layout in the album and taking a photo of the back of the divider next to the second page. Does any of this make sense?

Now I need to have a look at how the project will end with the 12 photo December edition. Has anyone out there managed to complete the whole album before the end of the year?

Farewell to 2011 and all that

2011-12-30T20:51:00.000Z

Well not long now until we say goodbye to 2011 and welcome in 2012. My main feeling about the year is that I will be pleased to see the back of it, for it has not been a good year for us here. My husband lost his job around Easter time, and my father in law died in August. My husband has struggled with both situations and it's been tough all round. But it's easy to focus on the bad and I intend to redress the balance here and concentrate on the good bits. Highlights of the year include:

My daughter met her boyfriend and within the year has bought a lovely new house with him
She 'adopted' the cutest little puppy
My son graduated with a 2:1 degree in Politics in the summer and we so enjoyed his graduation ceremony
He's now embarked on a Masters degree in African Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies which is part of the University of London
He started a weekend job at Stansted Airport so is now financially solvent again!
I became Godmother to my niece's daughter
My sister and brother in law celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary
My niece discovered she is expecting another baby in February
We've already booked our flights to spend a week at my sister's house in Portugal in July
We had a wonderful Christmas with all our family together, no stress, no arguments, good food, good wine and lots of laughter

So just one day to go ... we're not socialising this NYE. The first year in absolute ages that we haven't gone out somewhere. Our daughter and her boyfriend are hosting a fancy dress party at their house and so we have the puppy coming to sleep over - she would be mightily confused to see her 'dad' dressed up as Buzz Lightyear and her 'mum' as the Queen of Hearts, not to mention the 20 others taking over her house in various disguises, I think she is better having a quiet night in with us!

Back to the classroom

2011-12-29T09:25:00.001Z

Not literally, of course, schools don't go back until next Thursday and when we do return, we hit the ground running. First day back we have Year 11 GCSE mock exams starting and Senior Presentation Evening later on. You'd have thought they would let us have a day's grace before making us work wouldn't you?

No, the classroom I am referring to is the one in my study with the computer and all my crafty bits. I've been awful at doing the last couple of Shimelle classes that have been daily prompts over the course of the month and I hate signing up for something that I don't manage to complete. So I have gone 'off piste' and signed up for a couple of classes that other people have mentioned.

One that Mel mentioned over at Curiouser and Curiouser and one that Rinda mentioned which is Creative Jump Start . The first one, called 'Just one sketch' sounds like it will be fun and not only that, it's to raise funds for a good cause so I'm looking forward to that. Two prompts a week for six weeks, that's doable - right? And for a bargain price of £5. The second one had me when I read the title. A Creative Jump Start is just what I need to start the new year off properly. And just to make it perfect - it doesn't cost a penny! Yay!
Can I tempt anyone else into joining in too?

They both sound good and I'm looking forward to them both starting.
New Year's Resolution? Done!!!

Christmas roundup

2011-12-27T12:14:00.001Z

Once again I had to struggle to get everyone agreeable to the annual family photo. It's so much easier when children are younger and more happy to pose for the camera! And this year we had to factor in a time-delay shutter with an energetic puppy who just wanted to escape and play ...

We have had a lovely couple of days here, Christmas day at our home and Boxing Day at my sisters. I feel truly blessed to have such a great family and as people have grown up and found husbands/wives/partners everyone has joined into the extended family so well.

This is just a quick post for the moment to wish everyone a happy and healthy post-Christmas - I'm enjoying blog hopping around to see what you have all been up to, not too much time to leave a message on every blog at the moment, but I will be back!

The great sprout debate

2011-12-24T11:32:00.000Z

Love 'em? or hate 'em?

Sprouts seem to be a bit like Marmite, you either really like them or you really don't. And I fall into the 'really don't' category. Over the years I've tried to disguise them in many ways, cooked with pancetta, cooked with chestnuts, stir fried or boiled. Still don't like them. Husband and daughter love them, can't understand why I don't. So when I charged the husband with the job of picking the sprouts off their stalks, he asked how many I needed. He figured most people would want at least six. SIX? I don't think so. One is more than enough for me! When you buy them on the stalk it is very deceiving how many there are, I had bought two stalks. Turns out you get about 50 sprouts on each stalk. I think we have more than enough.

Do you have a favourite vegetable that Christmas dinner HAS to have? For me it's parsnips, parboiled, dipped in flour and coated in parmesan cheese. Back in the oven for the cheese to crisp up. Yum. But it's also the roast potatoes. Crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle. Mind you, I'm quite partial to carrots cooked in the microwave with a few cubes of butter and some demerara sugar to make a glaze. And peas. Can't have roast turkey without peas. But I think I'll pass on the sprouts.

Altered agenda

2011-12-23T14:48:00.001Z

Well one thing I did not factor into my Christmas preparation schedule was a hastily arranged trip to the dentist, but that's what I ended up doing yesterday. Although I drag myself to the surgery for a check up every six months I have a bit of a fear about going and get myself into a bit of a nervous state whilst waiting for my name to be called. So when I brushed my teeth on Wednesday night and a corner of one of my teeth crumbled away, taking a slither of the back of the tooth with it - I knew it was not good news. I'd had x-rays taken a year ago and had been for a check up six months ago so I convinced myself it couldn't be anything serious right up until the point at which I sat in the waiting room and imagined crowns, caps, root canals, extractions ..... Fortunately he had a quick look, decided that all that was needed was a white filling to make good the missing bits and he was able to make a temporary repair there and then. Of course I need to go back in the New Year to have a permanent filling done but hey, I'll worry about that in January! And it's only going to cost £40 for both appointments, both treatments and the six monthly examination. Phew.

So here we are, the day before Christmas Eve and I seem remarkably cool, calm and collected. There must be something I've forgotten! Life has changed a great deal for us in the last 12 months and I have to say that I will be pleased to see the end of 2011. But then I think that there have been good things too and I should be concentrating on them. Daughter has a lovely man in her life and they are happy in their new home with their little puppy. Son is graduated and embarking on his Masters degree. We have our health and will be spending time with all those we love over the next weekend. The cupboards are full and the fridge and freezer overflowing with goodies, there are gifts wrapped and waiting to be opened. OK Christmas, I think I'm ready for you.

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you have a lovely weekend and a peaceful Christmas.

Busy busy busy

2011-12-21T15:57:00.001Z

Yesterday afternoon we had my goddaughter come to visit while her mummy went to have her hair done. Sophie is now 19 months old and there is a brother or sister arriving at the end of February so her Mummy is going to be very busy in 2012! Christmas preparation had to take a back seat while she was here, as we had far more important things to do.

Like ... a bit of internet shopping

and making a hat for teddy

So the making of the mince pies had to wait until she had gone home

Another thing to tick of the list!

A Tuesday smile

2011-12-20T13:41:00.002Z

On the BBC news this morning they showed this Youtube clip which is one of the most viewed at the moment and it made me smile so thought I would share

I've got a million and one other things I ought to be doing but it just made me smile so much I had to pass it on!

Can I ask your opinion?

2011-12-19T14:31:00.000Z

Having been into town this morning and having a beautiful Shellac manicure, should I be using my pampered hands to do this

or this

And remember, the continuation of our friendship may depend on the answer you give ;-)

Have you ever had a Shellac manicure? They are amazing. Practically guaranteed to last at least 2 weeks, and I have found that mine last about a month. They are so durable. I'm not one for spending much time in beauty salons but this is my one luxury.

So as it would appear that Christmas really is less than a week away, I have been busy in the kitchen this morning. Now have mince pies and sausage rolls all cooked and in the freezer and there is a Victoria Sandwich cake cooking at the moment that will be joining them very soon. I've been into town and stocked up on some amazing bread that they bake in our branch of M&S. It is a 'cob' loaf, that nice crusty circular shape and has red Leicester cheese in it. I bought three; two to freeze and one to have with some homemade butternut squash soup that I made this morning too. Yes, I have been busy!

Tomorrow I intend to make my cake. We're not into traditional Christmas cake here, it's only my husband that likes it, and that's a lot of cake for one person to eat! So I will be making a whisky cake and putting a bit of icing at it on Christmas eve. Although it's still a fruit cake it's nowhere near as 'heavy' as the traditional recipe and doesn't need to be made well in advance. Plus I need to make my sticky toffee pudding as the alternative dessert for Christmas day. There's a fair few of us that aren't really lovers of dense fruity food and sticky toffee pudding is a perfect lighter option.

How is everyone else getting on with their preparations?

Led astray

2011-12-18T11:56:00.003Z

"I'll tell you what, you go and visit your mum and while you're gone I'll cook dinner, hoover, unload the dishwasher and generally tidy up the house."
You'd think after 31 years of marriage he would know better than to believe such houseworky comments. I busied myself in the kitchen while he de-iced the car, brought the vacuum cleaner into the lounge while he thawed out frozen fingers and hunted for his gloves. But once I had waved him off and seen his car drive off into the distance I rushed upstairs and turned on the computer. While waiting for it to fire up,
I wrapped a few presents

Unwrapped a few chocolates

Got excited about the snow

and then checked out Sian's blog. It never ceases to amaze me how she manages to find such quirky, interesting websites on the internet. I imagine that while she sits 'High in the Sky', she has chefs cooking magnificent dinners in her kitchen, little gnomes landscaping her garden, housework fairies doing her dusting and ironing elfs doing the worst housework job in the world. While this hive of activity is going on, Sian is sitting serenely in her craft room, creating masterpieces and browsing the internet while Johnny Depp feeds her peeled grapes. How else would she find time to pass on the fab websites she finds? A blog post or two down I came across the link for Tagxedo. Next thing I know is that it's half past 11, the roast pork is still a raw joint of meat in the fridge, the oven isn't even switched on and don't even think about vegetable preparation. But I have created this

which is the words to Santa Claus is coming to town in the shape of a Christmas tree.
She's such a bad influence ;-)

Mixed emotions

2011-12-17T18:09:00.000Z

This part of December always feels bittersweet to me. There's the general hustle and bustle of being busy and preparing for the big day in a week's time. School broke up yesterday which is always a nice feeling, no more office work for me until January 5 2012. Doesn't that sound good! Last day of term is always relaxed, the kids are off timetable and there's carol concerts and final assemblies. The Sixth Form always lay on entertainment for the rest of the school and it always seems to involve them impersonating the teachers and sketches based on whatever reality show is popular at the time. The younger girls love it although they always come out of the hall somewhat overexcited and really noisy! Now I need to crack on with all those jobs I was putting off for when I had a week to myself. And the list of things 'to do' is somewhat longer than I would like!

Christmas was always magical when I was growing up, my parents went totally out of their way to ensure it was a wonderful time even when we were grown up. My mum would be baking for weeks in advance, everyone's favourite foods would be prepared and the kitchen cupboards would be groaning with the amount of food she had cooked. So many happy memories, and so many family traditions that both me and my sister try to keep going even though we now have grown up children of our own (and in her case, grandchildren!). Christmas really was my mum's time of year. Which makes it all the sadder that she lost her fight with cancer just one week before Christmas in 1997. So in memory of my dear Mum, I'm just going to share a Christmas Candle with you this weekend.

Dear diet ...

2011-12-15T17:36:00.002Z

... it wasn't my fault. The ladies in the kitchen brought in some cakes for the school secretaries. The ladies from the uniform shop brought in some chocolate biscuits for us too. The English faculty gave us Lindt chocolates. The science department gave us chocolate mints. The Senior Leadership Team gave us a tin of biscuits too. We're doing our best but there are only six of us .....

Calendar Girl

2011-12-09T20:04:00.001Z

There were three classes at the crop last weekend and the final one was by the very talented Anne Freeman who had designed a calendar that fitted into a cd case. Such a clever idea and just what I needed for the new year. Here is the cover:

And here is what it looks like when open:

Here are the 'odd' months:

And here are the 'even' ones:

It was made out of squares of Basic Grey 'Out of print' paper and I absolutely loved making it. It is so nice to have a personalised calendar to have on my desk.
The circle on the cover page was stamped onto one of the sheets, and I believe that the date grids are simply downloaded as a Word document. Simple but oh so effective.

Cards

2011-12-08T17:34:00.001Z

It's that time of year. Time to get the address book out, queue at the post office for overseas mail to be weighed and the writing of cards. It used to be my job. Just mine. Then I realised that at least half the people on the list were actually from the husband's side of the family and roped him into helping. He started with good intentions. Each card had a little individual message written inside and the handwriting was beautiful. 'I don't know why you say this takes forever' he said. By the end of his pile of cards, it was a different story. There was no 'To ....' above the printed sentiment and the from part just said 'Paul, Deb & Family'. No message. I gave him a knowing look. I know that some people include a family newsletter in their cards; I find this interesting, but for some reason the husband thinks it is wrong to boast about everything you've been doing in the year. So there is no annual catch up from this household. I don't make many cards. I'm not really a card maker, but at the class on Saturday Denise taught us how to make a lovely folded envelope

(Camouflaged among the branches of the Christmas Tree)

and how to stamp a design on a rather pretty shaped and embossed card

Hands up all those people who noticed that I was somewhat heavy handed with the stamping of the shapes around the edge. Not so much 'O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree' more like an Enchanted Forest. Denise's looked fantastic, that girl is a dab hand with a blending tool and an ink pad. I thoroughly enjoyed the class but still think that I'm not really cut out for intricate card making. Must remember: Less is more ....

An Eclectic Mix

2011-12-04T10:01:00.001Z

It’s the first Sunday in December so it must be time for Storytelling Sunday. As it’s the pre-Christmas season, let’s go get ourselves a glass of warmed mulled wine while I get myself organised. Can I interest you in a mince pie too? Freshly baked and still warm, that’ll get us in the mood!

It’s also the day after the Eclectic Keepsakes crop and boy what a fun filled action packed day we had. Not one – not two – but three fab classes, festive cupcakes, and boxes with little chocolate surprises inside. So while I think of a story to tell I’ll show you what we did in the first class. Now this would be an excellent way of doing an abridged version of Journal Your Christmas. A double paged layout by Debbie Jewell – a countdown to Christmas.

Each number had a little acetate pocket attached so you can either slip a small photo from each day inside it or add a few words of journaling – brilliant! As the background was on gridlined paper, the instructions read a little bit like a crossword puzzle – 1 across and 2 down …

So the story then. Well. It’s about this time of year that we start thinking about putting up the Christmas tree. And I have a trio of clear memories about that from when I was younger. Mum loved to decorate the tree and was very particular about the size and shape. Had to almost touch the ceiling once the fairy was on the top and had to be a proper triangular tree shape. She would pick out the tree from the local greengrocers and then me and my dad would walk into town at the weekend, collect it and carry it home. It was about a mile which is long enough when carrying a spiky, unwieldy tree. One year it seemed to become particularly heavy; I was in front carrying the top end and Dad was behind me in charge of the root end. Only when I turned round to see if he was walking as fast as me as it seemed to be dragging from his end, I saw that he had let go and was eating a pear from the bag of shopping we had also picked up from the green grocers. I was not amused!

Then there was the year that we brought the tree home, put it into it’s bucket of earth and left it in the lounge for the branches to settle while we went into the dining room to have dinner. Only when we opened the lounge door later, the room was full of little flying insects that must have been in the branches and had come to life in the warmth of the house. Mum was not amused. The lounge had to be sprayed within an inch of it’s life with fly killer and you needed a safety mask and goggles to go in there.

There were set rules to the decorations, after Christmas each decoration was taken down and wrapped in tissue paper, the tinsel had to go in special paper to stop it tarnishing and the unwrapping of them the next year was part of the magic of putting up the tree. Little chocolates wrapped in coloured foil would be hung from the branches so that one could be unwrapped each day leading up to Christmas day and even the dog was catered for with little sugar mice tied onto the branches here and there. There was one year that we spent ages decorating the tree, admired it from inside the lounge, went outside to see how it looked through the window and once we were satisfied that everything was just so, we went into the other room to watch tv. Probably the Generation Game. Which was disturbed by a large crash. We ran into the lounge to be met by a rather guilty looking dog, covered in pine needles and tinsel with a sheepish expression on her face and a sugar mouse hanging out of her mouth. Temptation had been too great and we must have tied one slightly too low and within her reach. A slight doggy strength tug and the whole tree came down.

Does anyone else have any tree related memories?

JYC 2 Dec

2011-12-02T17:12:00.001Z

Shimelle's prompt for JYC today spoke about the weather and what we associate with Christmas. It reminded me of a nonsense poem my dad taught me when I was little:

Whether the weather be good
Or whether the weather be not
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not

Whilst we love to think of a white Christmas, they are few and far between in this part of the UK. More often than not Christmas day is a bit like today has been. Frost on the ground when you wake up, temperature rising slowly but never making it into double figures and a bit of dampness or rain. But tradition dictates that we go for a walk after Christmas dinner, so no matter what the weather is like, we wrap up warm and head for the fresh air. This photo is of the lane at the back of my house:

it would be lovely if it looked like that on December 25th but this photo was taken the year that we had snow at Easter time!

1.12.11

2011-12-01T17:25:00.001Z

I'm sure the mathematicians among us will love the sequence of numbers in today's date! And so December begins, dark and drizzly in my part of the world but the countdown to Christmas officially starts now.

Advent calendars already have their first door open and when I walked past the Heads of Years office this afternoon, there was an eerie glow coming through the glass of the door. The door was slightly ajar and I peeked in and saw the equivalent of Santa's grotto in there. Each of the 5 desks had sparkly lights around them, a Christmas tree was resplendent in the centre of the room and I think I spied an open selection box of chocolates!

So with Journal Your Christmas in mind

Passing the book

2011-11-26T16:20:00.001Z

Well today is the day that I Pass the Book. Painted Pages is about to find a new owner ... drum roll please ...I had five people asking to be included in the draw and I have numbered them in the order in which they left their comment

Cheri
Rinda
Mel
Jo.C
Jennifer

I have found a dice throwing website where you can choose the number of sides on the dice so without further ado ...

Number three - Congratulations Mel - drop me an email and I'll get it in the post to you. I think you will really enjoy it. Thanks again to Sian for organising this project - it's been great!

Two things

2011-11-23T15:43:00.001Z

Firstly, I am going to draw the name for the Pass the Book on Saturday so if you are interested let me know. Only three names in the mix so even to someone with my poor maths skills, it would appear pretty good odds to being lucky! If you want to add your name, please make sure you do by Friday night. And please don't be put off by the painty sound of the book, I found it really interesting to see how I could transfer what I was learning about really looking at a photo and the colours within it for choosing colours and patterns and embellishments for paper page layouts too.
Secondly, do any of you live within easy reach of Colchester in Essex? If so, do you fancy joining us on the first Saturday in December for a lovely crop day organised by Eclectic Keepsakes? Full details are on my dear friend Denise's blog. She's doing a pretty card and envelope class I believe. It's all a bit top secret so I can't tell you any more as I don't know myself but I am sure it will be lovely as she is one very talented lady. One of the other classes is being taken by Ann Freeman who comes up with some rather clever layouts and projects. A CD Calendar is how it is described on her blog, but knowing Ann, this is probably just an excuse to make something using twelve photos of her heart-throb Matt Cardle!
Please try and join us, contact details are available at eclectickeepsakes@btinternet.com otherwise known as the Queen of the Cupcake, Mrs Karen Moss!
I - for one - am counting the days .....

Out of my comfort zone

2011-11-20T11:32:00.001Z

I've really enjoyed browsing through the book that I received via Pass the Book last month. Painted Pages by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare. I am the first to admit that I'm not a keen painter. Well actually, I'm not a painter at all, so I relished the opportunity to look at what someone with that kind of talent can do. Now in the spirit of Pass the Book, I chose a page in the book and used it for inspiration to make a page of my own.

The thing that attracted me to this page was the image of beach huts that it put into my mind. I do love beach huts. Fortunately for me, I can get to coast line that has beach huts by the dozen within an hour and a half drive from home. So there was no problem in finding a photo for my layout. There was no way I could just have painting on my page - far too scary - so I've incorporated a bit of mixed media here! I added some texture to the photo by uploading the photo to my phone and using an app that does special effects and I like the way it has altered the look of the beach huts.

I wanted to get a bit of texture there too, so the quote is on card with the edges distressed, and the clouds are from some patterned tissue paper. The quote is from a rub on that Rinda included in her package of goodies to me earlier this week. I loved the sentiment behind it and decided that in keeping with doing something out of the ordinary for me, I would - write it out in my own scruffy handwriting.

So there we have it. Something totally different for me, and something that I am reasonably pleased with. It doesn't show too well, but the top half of the page has been sprayed with glimmer mist, and I painted round the edge with the same liquid too. Rather heavy handed as you will see from how the paper got so wet it no longer lies flat!

Now, we all know what comes next don't we? I have to find a new owner for the book. So, without making a fuss like I did last time, I'm putting out the call for people who would like to read the book for themselves. If you are interested - let me know by leaving a comment.

Butter wouldn't melt ...

2011-11-19T15:05:00.001Z

Look at the sweet innocent Puppy

Look at the happy little penguin showing off a gorgeous crystal embellishment that Deb Turtle saw in a shop and thoughtfully decided to buy and send it off to me {thanks Deb!}

And while I put the gorgeous crystal penguin somewhere safe .....

GULP! .........

Back in blogland

2011-11-17T16:32:00.001Z

I've been a bad blogger recently, haven't posted anything and haven't really been in a crafty frame of mind. It's a combination of things really, and I seem to have slipped into feeling a bit miserable. It's been a whole combination of things, six months down the line my husband still hasn't found another job and it's affecting both of us. He's not sleeping well and I'm just plain worried about him I guess. Our daughter was pretty poorly at the beginning of the month with food poisoning, the weather's turned miserable, a close friend of the family died aged just 64 and work is just full on at the moment for me. So I've been feeling a bit 'down in the mouth' but yesterday I received something in the post that brought a smile to my lips

A package of rather lovely craftiness all the way from sunny California! I won a giveaway from Rinda over at Gallo Organico a little while ago and this is packed full of new papers and stamps and all manner of lovely things. Just what I need to get my scrapping mojo back on track.

Hopefully this will help me turn the corner and back to regular blogging !

October 4x6 Photo Love

2011-11-09T08:59:00.001Z

I am really enjoying this project that is organised by Shimelle where every month you increase the number of photos on a layout and this month we had to use 10. Eeek! One of the main problems that I am having is finding a large amount of photos all linking to the same theme - clearly I need to go on that round the world trip to rectify the situation! So for this month I used some photos that my husband took when he went on a trip to Florence and the surrounding area in Italy last year. Instead of doing a normal layout, we had to use a divided page protector. (Which I didn't have so the trusty sewing machine came out and I made a do it yourself version - seems to have worked just as well though!)

The background to him going on this trip always makes me smile. Friends of ours went to this area a couple of years ago and my husband had said how much he would like to go there too during the very early summer before it got too hot and crowded with tourists. Now, I work in a school and am not allowed time off during term time. Just because we have 12 weeks off at various times of year, they don't seem keen on letting us have other time off in addition or in place of that time. It's a very inflexible place to work! So I said to my husband that as it was a place he really wanted to see, and June was the ideal time to go, why didn't he have a few days away with his friend?

So one evening we went to our friend's home and the husbands went upstairs to their study to book their trip while we shared a glass or two of wine downstairs. After a while they returned downstairs, smiling and already planning the places they would be visiting. 'All booked?' we enquired. 'Yes' they happily replied. 'When are you going?' asked my friend to her husband. He told her the dates. All went quiet. Apparently he had chosen the weekend that coincided with their 30th wedding anniversary. Ooops!

Storytelling Sunday - Vertically Challenged

2011-11-06T08:03:00.000Z

Can you guess what Lulu, Kylie Mynogue and I have in common? Natural youthful looks? An ability to look good in gold hot pants? or not being very tall? I'll leave it to you to decide while telling you a tale from my childhood.

My sister is 8 years older than me. This means that by the time she was a teenager, I was at quite an annoying age. So every now and again, she would try and get me into trouble. At least that's how it seemed to me. Our home had a brick built storage shed attached to the back of it and we kept things like bikes, lawn mowers and dad's diy tools out there. It wasn't very big, and it had a small window on one side. To try and make it blend in with the garden, mum and dad had planted a forsythia hedge around it and by the time of this story taking place, the forsythia had grown the height of the shed and dad had cut a square out of it so that the window could be opened and closed. We hardly ever locked the shed up and the key was kept in the coal bunker out of harms way.

So one day, Gill told me that she wanted to see what it was like to be locked inside the shed. Honestly! That is what she said. Being a gullible child - I didn't question her. We went outside, got the key, she went in the shed and closed the door and I was left outside to put the key in the lock and turn it. Now it hadn't been used much and over the years the lock mechanism had become very stiff but eventually the key turned and she was locked in. I went off to play in the garden and after a very little while, she decided she'd had enough. She called me over and told me to unlock the door. Well I was only about 7, and the key was very stiff in the lock and I just couldn't do it. She did not seem keen for me to go and tell mum what had happened so I suspect that she wasn't really supposed to be in there!

Then she had the bright idea of opening the window and for me to hand the key over to her so she could unlock it from the inside. Brilliant! Only I couldn't reach. The ground must have sloped slightly on the outside and the forsythia hedge was too tall and prickly for me to reach over and hand the key over. I was only little remember. I suspect she started to get annoyed with her little sister and get cross with me. I can still see her reaching out through the window as far as she could, and little old me on tippy toes leaning into the hedge as far as I could, and the key dangling from my fingers and oh so very nearly reaching hers ... and then I dropped it. Our eyes met across the hedge, hers in horror and mine in 'oh no, she's going to be very mad at me'. The key fell through the hedge and the more I shook the hedge to find it, the further into the foliage it fell until neither of us could see it any more.

At this point I obviously decided that I'd done all I could and it was time to go indoors. And as Gill had banned me from telling mum what we were doing, obviously I couldn't tell her what had happened. I think I may have been sitting in the dining room with a glass of warm milk watching Blue Peter when mum noticed that Gill hadn't been seen for quite some time. Gill may have been trying to get our attention but the walls of the shed were thick and I may have had the tv on loud ;-) I mumbled something about 'she might be locked in the shed' at which point dad arrived home from work and the two of them had to go out there and root around in the hedge to find the key and release her.

I can't remember who was in the most trouble. Her for leading me into doing something I shouldn't or me for not telling anyone what had happened. But I'm pretty sure that dropping that key was an accident.

Or was it?

Happy post

2011-11-05T15:57:00.003Z

You remember how Sandie ~~stole that book~~ won the book that I so enjoyed about Mail Art? Well, it looks like either she's a fast learner, or she has a natural flair for such things, as look what dropped onto my doormat this morning:

and look what was inside it...

such a cute notepad! Thank you so much Sandie - I love it.
It's lucky I was quick out into the hallway to retrieve it as we have been puppy sitting my daughter's dog

and she was very quick off the mark to see what the noise was. I expected a bit of a tug of war if she got her paws on it before me! My daughter has been suffering this week with a bout of food poisoning. I've never seen her in so much pain or distress. So we had little Coco for her at the beginning of the week as she did not have the strength to look after her and then we had her later in the week too as once she was feeling better, her boyfriend had organised a night away in a posh hotel 'up north' somewhere and then a day visiting his brother. It was lovely to have the puppy, she's quite a character and it seems very quiet now they have come to collect her and take her back to her proper home.

How the other half live

2011-11-04T09:31:00.001Z

I was speaking to one of our board of Governors before we went for our celebration afternoon yesterday and she referred to where we were going as 'Downton Abbey'. It's not a programme I watch so it didn't mean much to me. However, when I drove through the gates and saw this

I could guess what she meant. This is just the main part of the house, to the right is another 'wing' with tennis courts behind it. When I tell you that about 150 members of staff went and more than 100 cars parked on the front lawn you can imagine the size. And yet although it was very grand, it was not pretentious inside. This house is quite obviously some one's home, and not just something for show. Yes, there were chandeliers in every room and oil paintings of the owners in the drawing room, but alongside that were framed photos of them dressed in silly costumes and pulling faces for the camera with grandchildren at Disney. The furniture was very regal and yet they obviously have fun in this home. There was a large dresser in the hallway, for coats and hats to hang from. The top of it was covered with all manner of hats, from knitted berets to panama hats, bowler hats and floppy sun hats - dozens of them.

It was a lovely gesture from a lady who has been on our board of Governors for over 20 years and who has taken a genuine interest in the school. I think we all appreciated being given a few hours off work to relax and enjoy a collective pat on the back.

Santa's little helper

2011-11-02T13:25:00.001Z

Well I have finally done all my labels

I've kept them really simple - just chose a fancy font and am adding glitter to make them festive. I start off enthusiastic and by number 18 I'm in a very 'Bah Humbug' kind of 'next year someone else can do this' mood! Which is why I've streamlined them this year! I seem to have acquired rather a lot of buff luggage labels and this has been a good project to use a few of them up. I do like the idea of using labels on layouts and had no idea you could get them in so many shapes and sizes ;-)

We had only two little trick or treaters this year which was very disappointing, and has left me with two bowls of sweets which I suppose I will have to eat myself. I am currently eating my way through a bag of candy shrimps and bananas. I don't even really like them, why am I eating them????

Trying desperately hard to think of a story for Sian's storytelling Sunday but am lacking inspiration ... still, I have a few days to go to come up with something. I have 53 years of memories, surely there must be something worth sharing!

Tomorrow will be a very different day at school. School closes at 1.20 and all staff have been invited to the home of the Chair of Governors for a celebration afternoon. Our exam results were simply outstanding this year, we are officially the 4th highest girls' school in the whole of the UK, and this is a thank you from the Board of Governors for all the hard work in getting such good results. By all accounts, it is a huge house. It is definitely a listed historic building and the word 'mansion' has been mentioned. I can hardly wait! Sure beats sitting at a desk all afternoon. If there are any photo opportunities I will be sure to share them!

New book causes drama in the high street

2011-10-27T18:01:00.000+01:00

Last year I offered to make the gift tags for the Secret Santa draw at work. And last year I said 'Never again'. So how come I currently have a messy dining room table and 22 labels in various stages of completion drying on my sideboard? Someone has been taking advantage of my ~~senior moments memory~~ good nature. You see in my office there are six of us and that would be easy peasy. But then Finance join in (another 4) and then the Head and her PA, and the lady in charge of reports and predicted grades, our Admissions Officer and a few of the Cover Supervisors, the lady in reprographics and not forgetting someone who transfered to become a Head of Year secretary in another office but still likes to be included with us, oh, and the exams officer that I work with ... Six would have been lovely, 22 is a whole other ball game! Memo to self. Don't make them so fancy this year and remember to say NO if they ask again this time next year!

I've been reading a few pages of my new Pass the Book book and I even have a few ideas of a sample page. Even printed off a photo that will be the inspiration for the page. And {get this} I went shopping and bought a special pencil that when you brush water over it, turns to paint! Yes. Me. Buying painting supplies. Never been known before! It was such a surprise that a man in the aisle next to me fainted. That was probably a coincidence - and caused uproar in the shop -"what do I do? I've never called 999 before" asks the shop assistant. "dial 999" says the gentleman's daughter. "Hello. Ambulance please. No, I'm sorry I don't know the post code of the shop. Does anyone know the postcode of the shop?" Our town is a one way street and WHSmith is the biggest shop in the middle of the street. The ambulance centre is half a mile outside of town. I really don't think they needed a postcode to find it. By the time I had paid for my painty bits the man had revived and was last heard saying "what did you call an ambulance for? I'm perfectly ok". I slunk off before he could say 'Was that really Deb buying something from the artist's department?'

A full bookshelf again

2011-10-26T08:48:00.000+01:00

I am happy to report that the gap in my bookcase is no longer there. When I got home on Monday there was a card from the postman on the door mat to say he had tried to deliver something that was too big for my letterbox and needed me to go to the post office to sign for it. 'Woohoo!' I thought, 'clearly they have realised that sending on that Good Mail Day book was a mistake and they have returned it to sender'. But it was actually another Pass The Book book that I had been drawn to receive from Alexa over at Trimming the Sails.

Now this is not my normal type of craftiness. Although I enjoy shuffling bits of paper and glittery, flowery things around on a page, I'm not one to normally pick up a paintbrush and create. So this will be something very new to me and I suspect that it may take me a few reads to get the courage up to do some proper art work. But I am always up for a challenge and even if it's a disaster I promise I will share. I've only had a quick look so far but it's half term here so I have plenty of time to sit down with a coffee and look at it properly.

I have to say that Sian has been very clever in her choices for Pass the Book subjects, they have been very varied and inspirational - it's been a lovely project to take part in and I've been lucky in the books I have 'adopted' over this past year.

No excuses

2011-10-23T17:43:00.002+01:00

Guess what? Sandie has sent me her address. I have finally run out of excuses not to pass on this book. She could at least have the decency to show some remorse at stealing it away from me. But no, she seems far too happy to be getting it. So I've had once last look through it, and put it in it's envelope and tomorrow I will be dragging my feet along to the post office to send it off. There may be a slight tug of war over the counter as the post mistress tries to prise it from my hands and put it in the postman's sack for collection. There may be some pouting and stomping and 'it's not fair' business going on.

The post office also has a sweet counter. I may need to stock up on chocolate as consolation to get me through the sadness of seeing the gap in my bookcase where the book used to be. If I put weight on this week, I hold Sandie personally responsible.

Just sayin'.

Decision time

2011-10-22T14:55:00.002+01:00

Well the day has finally come. Time to decide who will get the book. Time for me to 'man up' and agree to hand it over. So, the following people offered to take it off my hands {thanks a bunch}

furrypig
Mel
Heather
Sandie
Amy
boysmum2
Cheri
Kimberley
Scrappy Sandi
Jennifer

Alexa very kindly offered to have it again if no one else was interested despite having had it once already. I don't think so, but a very good try nonetheless! Hmmm - is it too late for me to enter into my own giveaway under an assumed name ......

I was going to roll a couple of dice but then it was pointed out that certain numbers may have an unfair advantage/disadvantage and I'd hate there to have to be a steward's enquiry. I do hate maths and all numeric issues involved in it so I will go back to the drawing board. Popped round to investigate the chance of using puppy for drawing the number. Turns out that if you lay 10 doggie treats on the floor, numbers 1-5 have gone before you get to lay the last one down. 10 doggy toys on the floor? Puppy takes flying leap across floor, skids to a halt across the ceramic tiles and tries to get at least four in her mouth at the same time.

It is clear that I am going to have to resort to technology ... and so - oh random one, which number will you choose ....

So, Sandie is the lucky lady! Congratulations Sandie {she says through gritted teeth} I think - no - I know, you will love it. Let me know your address and I will send it off as soon as I can. It's half term next week so I have no excuse for not getting to the post office!

The roll of the dice

2011-10-20T20:05:00.003+01:00

This is the final call for people to express their wish to be included in the draw for Good Mail Day. If no one new adds their name to the list I have a perfect number of names for me to be able to make the draw with the roll of two dice

I still can't believe there are so many people out there willing to take this away from me but hey ho ...

Distractions

2011-10-19T15:56:00.002+01:00

My daughter has had the builders back into her house today and as she didn't trust them not to leave a door open and let the puppy escape, Coco came to stay with me at my house. There's been very little housework done today as she likes to go to sleep nestled up beside you on the sofa, so once she's fallen asleep - you are stuck there next to her until she wakes up ...

And you know what they say about letting sleeping dogs lie ........

Thwarted

2011-10-18T17:04:00.002+01:00

Well it would seem that my cunning plan to keep the Good Mail Day book has been a failure as several people seem only too happy to take it off my hands - and there's still time to add your name to the list!
I was into Happy Mail from a very young age. Back in 1968 I was a huge fan of The Monkees. Davy Jones in particular. Loved their music and loved their tv programme. Even joined their fan club! In one edition of the Fan Newsletter was an article where you could be matched up with another fan and become Pen Pals. I immediately knew I wanted to join up. I asked for a pen pal in California as that was the only exotic place in the USA I could think of (well, I was only 10 at the time!) I had a letter back saying they had no members in California who wished to be pen pals but they had matched me with a girl in Chicago - guess they went through the country alphabetically and Chicago was next on the list from California. So I started writing to Cindy and we have continued to write to each other for the last 43 years. Well, more often than not it's an email now or message via Facebook but back in my teenage years, letters was the only way to go. I spent much pocket money on pretty notepads, Holly Hobby being a favourite and also Charlie Brown. I even used to seal them with pretty sealing wax, stickers, cartoons out of newspapers, you name it, I would stick it on the outside of my envelopes. And she would do the same back, only hers were better because hers had come from AMERICA!
We've met a few times now, she came over when in about 1978 and we met up when I went on holiday to Florida with my family in 1998, and then she came to visit when she was stopping off for 48 hours in the UK after going on a cruise around the Mediterranean. Which can only mean one thing ... it's time for me to go and visit her again!

Reminder one

2011-10-17T13:56:00.003+01:00

This is just a teensy weensy reminder that I will be drawing the name for the Pass the Book (as mentioned yesterday) on Saturday. But let's get this straight - you don't have to enter, I really don't mind holding onto it. Honest.
I'm trying to think of a way that I can involve my daughter's puppy in the drawing process but to be honest, she's a bit of a Madame Mad Paws and I can't see her standing still long enough to walk towards a numbered piece of paper and if I put slips of paper with names on it into a bowl, she would have eaten them all before you could say 'Good Mail Day'.

So if you want to add your name to the list of people who wish to steal this book away from me ... leave a comment here!

Pass the Book

2011-10-16T14:52:00.002+01:00

I can't believe it is a month since I received the book 'Good Mail Day' as part of Sian's Pass the Book. I think I've been trying to pretend that it isn't a month and that it isn't time to offer it onto the next person. In fact if no one asks to be included in the draw, I may get to keep it .... I mean, who really wants to pretty up their post?

Really? What's wrong with just plain white, or boring buff? Functional, does the job well and doesn't distract the postman. Come on, imagine the reaction of the postal workers if we all did this

Quite frankly I think it would just confuse them. Just because we are scrapbookers doesn't mean that we love cutting and sticking and glossing and glittering does it? I bet half of you wouldn't even have a fancy stamp or embellishment that would pretty up a parcel. So it won't surprise me at all, not one little bit, if no one wanted to have their name included in the draw for it. And if Sian asks me nicely I suppose I will just HAVE to hold onto it myself for ever and ever.

But in the spirit of Pass the Book, I guess I will have to say 'Does any one else out there fancy getting their hands on this ~~rather lovely, inspiring, fun, interesting, artistic~~ book?' If you do - although I will quite understand if you don't (I mean who needs to have a template to make original envelopes out of any pretty paper?) please leave me a comment and I'll enter you for the draw. I'll keep asking (reluctantly) until Friday, and will draw the name of the next winner on Saturday.
I do need to stress though, you really don't have to enter. It will be a shame if the book stays here with me but hey ho ...

Too good to use

2011-10-12T13:28:00.004+01:00

Every month I receive a subscription kit from Sarah's Cards. It's a great way for me to keep up to date with new products and themes going on in the scrapbooking world as we have no craft shop within a 10 mile radius. So no opportunity to browse. Sometimes the papers and embellisments are more to my liking than others but I've always used what I have been sent and pleased with the end result.

However, one came recently and as soon as I opened it, I knew I loved it. Pretty papers, lovely colours, exactly what I would have chosen if left to my own devices. But then the dilemma. Did I have any photos worthy of it? And so I've been holding onto it. Looking at it, and sometimes stroking it as one of the papers has little birds that are slightly raised and glossed. I knew that if I didn't use it soon, it would become one of those things that I loved too much to cut up.

So browsing around Facebook, I saw a photo of my niece and her daughter and knew that this was the one.

And now I have finally cut up a couple of the papers, I know I'm going to use every last scrap!

10 things I learnt today

2011-10-10T17:33:00.000+01:00

It takes longer than you think to fold up 92 letters, put 92 stamps on 92 stamped addressed post cards, and put one of each in 92 envelopes
I really ought to have started working on my Performance Management report earlier as my meeting is tomorrow and I have done nothing towards it
Going out to lunch on a Monday with good friends is such a good way to start the week
Quatro Formaggio Pizza Express pizza is absolutely delicious, why haven't I tried it before?
Eating a heavily loaded cheese pizza is possibly not the best idea on the day I have my Rosemary Conley 'weigh in' in the evening - pah! It's too late now, I've eaten it!
When I am feeling guilty about having eaten said pizza, it is easy to convince me that signing up for a new Zumba class on Wednesday evening is a very good idea
The minute I agree to do a new Zumba class on a Wednesday evening, I regret it but having said yes, my friend Lynda will not let me go back on the deal.
Two slightly aching but much improved hips are not sufficient reason for staying home and watching 'Doc Martin' rather than going to an exercise class
It really is time to put the summer clothes away for another year
The more I turn up the thermostat on the central heating, the more my husband will go out to the hallway and turn it down five minutes later

The US of A layout

2011-10-09T11:40:00.001+01:00

For his 21st birthday present, my son's girlfriend arranged for them to go to New York for a few days in September. As his birthday was in March, this gave them plenty of time to save up for the trip and decide what they wanted to do while they were there. One thing on their list was to go to a baseball game and they booked tickets to go and see the Yankees. The leftover Echo Park stickers I had from last week's crop seemed to be calling out to be used on an American themed page ...

Thank you for your concern about my leg; I obviously over-compensated and put more weight than normal on the other one yesterday as guess what ... I woke up this morning and my right hip hurts. Or maybe I am just one big pain in the ......!

Stay at home cropper

2011-10-08T14:28:00.000+01:00

At the moment I really ought to be at the Eclectic Keepsakes crop but for a couple of reasons, I haven't been able to get there. One of which is one which will make me sound like an old crock - following an hour of sitting on a stage in an uncomfortable, hard school chair, unable to get comfortable due to 200 parents watching my every move, I seem to have trapped or pinched a nerve in my left leg. This is what happens when you offer moral support to a work colleague!

One of the jobs I do at school is to arrange work experience for 160 girls in year 10. My colleague has recently taken over main responsibility for this following the retirement of the previous ~~reluctant~~ enthusiastic workmate who ~~got lumbered with it~~ offered to do it. Now, us ladies in the office do not seek attention. We are happy to quietly and secretly run the school without venturing into the world of parents and particularly information evenings for parents. So, the night of the Work Experience Info Eve approached, and Mrs A was up burning the midnight oil preparing powerpoint presentations, demonstration videos and speeches. Standing up on stage in front of a hall full of parents and students was never part of a secretary's job description and I could sense anxiety creeping in. Now, we work as a team, and I am there to support her, just like Laurel had Hardy and Ant has Dec, she has me as her trusty assistant. I tried calling myself her glamourous assistant but that just made me sound like Debbie McGee and she objected to being likened to Paul Daniels! So we're up on stage, with laptops and presentations prepared, whiteboards in place, microphones on and spotlights positioned. After about 15 mins on my hard chair, I started to get uncomfortable. Shifted weight from one side to the other. Sat with ankles crossed. Sat with knees together and ankles together. Crossed one leg over the other. Remembered that was bad for the circulation and sat neatly again. The longest hour of my life. It's very disconcerting to just sit on a stage and look out on a sea of faces. I found myself longing for the 'any other questions' part where we could get off the stage and mingle. The next day I woke with a really weird sensation in my left leg and I can only thing it was caused by bad posture for 60 very long minutes the night before. It got worse as the day went on and I woke with it again this morning. Sadly, EK crop is about 45 mins drive from me and the thought of being in a car that long followed by a day of sitting down again did not seem sensible. So I've been home, and as I had prepared this month's 4x6 Photo Love to take with me and complete, I've been working on that in the lounge. Kneeling at the coffee table, not sure that was such a good idea either!

I'm pleased I've got something to show for my morning, but I've really missed Karen's cupcakes ...

Drought conditions

2011-10-04T19:41:00.001+01:00

Nothing to do with the weather, although it has been particularly unseasonably gorgeous just recently around here. No, the drought I have is a photographic one. When I decided to do the 4x6 Photo Love project I didn't really give much thought to exactly how many photos I would be needing by the end of the year. This month I'm needing nine and I'm running out of inspiration! Plus at last weekend's crop I needed 10 photos and I'm going to the Eclectic Keepsakes crop on Saturday and I will be needing at least two for that .... I clearly need to get out more - if only to take a few more photos! It's hard to find a variety of pictures all in the same place or theme.

On a totally different subject, I found myself in the staff room at lunchtime and there had been a delivery of books from a book club that delivers to school. I found myself irresistably drawn to one simply entitled 'Chocolate'. In it I found a delicious sounding Chocolate Swirl Brownie with Fudge Topping. Chocolate Brownie and Fudge - a marriage made in heaven! So I have scribbled down the recipe with the thought of having my own Great British Bake Off tomorrow afternoon. The swirl in the brownie is a bit of a cheesecakey mixture in amongst the chocolatey gooey sponge. Did I mention the chocolate fudge topping? If it is a success, I will share the recipe but will need to do a reasonable amount of consumer testing before I share. Followed by an unreasonable amount of exercise to burn off all those naughty calories!

Storytelling Sunday - Great Grandma's Headline News

2011-10-02T10:19:00.000+01:00

1958 was an eventful year for my mum. With good news and bad, new arrivals and sad departures. When going through a box of old photos recently I came across the Parish Magazine for August 1958. Price 4d. I found it so interesting to read and see adverts for some shops that I remember from my childhood and even some that are still in business today. There's a page of handy hints entitled 'Weekday Pages for Women with Homes'. How to get the creases out of hair ribbons by holding them over the steam of a kettle, and how it is best to buy towels with patterns in squares not lines, much easier and cleaner when washed and boiled apparently!

Under the Parish Register we see a 'welcome' to a certain little 4 month old, ginger haired baby who was baptised on July 13th (that would be me) and a 'farewell' to my great grandmother in the sympathy section registering her death at the age of 95 on July 23rd. My mum was born at a time when families were quite a bit larger than the average family nowadays. So sometimes one or two children would be sent off to live with grandparents and this was the case with my mum and her younger sister. They were brought up by their grandmother in the countryside and didn't really see too much of their real mother. When Granny was too old to look after herself, she came to live with my parents where she lived her final days. It must have been so tough for my mum to have an eight year old daughter, new baby and 95 year old grandmother all needing her care and attention. Granny was quite the celebrity in the village and I will share the paragraph in the Parish Magazine with you:

'We cannot let the passing of Mrs Butcher go unrecorded in the Parish Magazine, for she was the oldest woman in Harlow, and the much loved mother of a large family well known in the town (for they never got far away), with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Only recently she had been on a visit to Chelmsford, but her last public appearance was on Remembrance Sunday in Coronation year, when she planted a tree on Mulberry Green. To her numerous relatives we offer our sympathies, especially to those of them who tended her so faithfully for the last years of her long life.'

'Her last public appearance ...' makes her sound like royalty doesn't it?

This story is shared as part of Sian's Storytelling Sunday, why not pop over there and see what other tales there are to be told this weekend?

Normal service is resumed

2011-10-01T17:17:00.001+01:00

Turns out my mojo hadn't left home completely, it was waiting for me in Cambridge! Went to a fab new crop today and had a lovely, crafty time with new friends and old.

We were using papers from Echo Park Happy Days and what fab layouts Ifa had designed for us. This was the first one, and what you can't see is that there is embossing on the paper too. This was new for me, I'd heard tales of embossing powder and heat guns but had never dabbled before. I was so impressed! I suspect this may be going on my Christmas list.
The second one was just as good

and gave me the excuse to use some photos of my daughter's puppy. The little stripey part next to the yellow tag is an envelope with tickets inside. Again, I've never made an envelope before - I know, who'd have thought I'd led such a sheltered life? The last part of the day was good fun. Everyone was asked to make up a page kit which Ifa collected in and then handed out randomly. So you then got to make a page using papers from someone else's stash. I was tremendously lucky and received a bag of goodies that had been compiled by Mel over at ATrip Down Memory Lane. She could not have chosen better papers for me and I loved everything in the bag, but then of course the dilemma, how best to use such lovely papers and embellishments ....

How beautiful is that metalwork flower? And a bit of bling to work with too - I was one very happy scrapper!
I've got an evening to myself tonight, daughter no longer living at home, son out with girlfriend, husband in the New Forest on a walking weekend with a group of friends. So it will be just me, a glass or two of wine and Strictly Come Dancing ... what more could a girl want?

Blogging badly

2011-09-29T20:11:00.001+01:00

I've been a bit of an absent blogger recently, and haven't even had much time for reading many other blogs. I had a day where Blogger refused to let me leave comments on other people's blogs and that annoyed me - so to teach it a lesson I didn't even try the next day. I think this is where the expression 'cutting off one's nose to spite one's face' comes from. I don't think Blogger minded, or even noticed, that I was missing in action.

I haven't even been looking at the LSNED prompts that are languishing in my inbox - if anyone sees my scrapping mojo please turn it round and send it back home pronto!

I think a part of it is that it is absolutely manic at work at the moment, the first half term after the long holidays always is, it takes time to get over a six week absence! I've taken on a few new roles which involve a lot of work on Publisher and whilst it is fun to design and work on newsletters and Open Evening prospectuses, it's a lot of concentration. By the time I get home I just don't feel in a creative frame of mind after spending the previous 7 hours slaving over a hot computer.

But I need to give myself a cold shower and wake myself up ready for the new crop on Saturday. I have 10 photos printed out ready for the two layouts and I've made up my kit for swapping with a fellow scrapper once we get there. I've got my bag of supplies ready and my google map printed off so I don't get lost!

And just to end the week on a high note, there is a charity fund raising event at school tomorrow and the Sixth Form are selling Krispy Kreme donuts to raise funds. So it looks like it will be compulsory donut eating for me tomorrow {well it is for charity after all} - hopefully the sugar rush will boost my energy levels and get the scrapping juices flowing again!

How time flies

2011-09-26T07:47:00.000+01:00

… when you have fallen behind with LSNED! I didn’t get anything done this week so I found myself in a panic today as I know that falling behind is a slippery slope. So I have actually got 3 pages done in between various chores:

19 I spend a lot of time trying to find embellishments to go on my pages, and often end up putting things on layouts just because I think I have to. Sometimes though, a plain layout with a limited colour scheme works just as well

20 Teal or Duck Egg Blue. How I love that colour. Come in my house, you will find it in my lounge and dining room. Open my wardrobe, you will ~~be amazed how untidy it is~~ see how many clothes I have in that colour. Look in my scrapbook supplies boxes, you will ~~be amazed how untidy it is~~ notice a predominance of papers in those tones. It’s time to move on. Time to embrace another colour.

21 I’m not a very confident scrapper. I’m ok at copying instructions or scraplifting ideas, but when left to my own devices I’m not often happy with what I end up with. Denise is always telling me about new crops, weekends away, scrapping retreats etc and inviting me along. I’m always a bit hesitant and worried about being out of my depth with these very talented ladies, but I’ve been so pleased that I’ve let her talk me into going to some of them. I’ve agreed to go to the Cambridge Croppers with her on Saturday – wish me luck!

The one about Audrey

2011-09-25T11:03:00.000+01:00

Are you good with names? When introduced to several new people do you immediately remember which name is right for which person? or do you mishear the name and then spend far too long calling people by the wrong name? I am absolutely rubbish at remembering the names of new people and my LSNED layout for the 18th refers to this unfortunate personality trait.

This all relates to an unfortunate incident during a holiday in Barbados where we made friends with another British couple. We would often sit and have a drink with them after dinner or chat with them around the pool. David and Audrey were a really nice couple and we got on really well with them. Audrey was a very keen swimmer, but like me, David preferred to just paddle in the warm Caribbean shallows. One day, towards the end of our 10 days there, my husband was off snorkeling with our son, and Audrey was swimming further out from the hotel's pontoon. David and I were strolling along the beach chatting. The conversation went something along the lines of 'the nice thing about Glynis and I both working in a school is the long holidays ...' and I immediately wondered who Glynis was. As the conversation went on, he spoke more of the mysterious Glynis, until I realised that the lady who I had been calling Audrey for over a week was in fact called Glynis! Oh the shame. It wasn't the sunshine that turned my cheeks pink that morning - it was the embarrassment of getting her name totally wrong.

The family thought this was really funny, and it has become a standing joke that any new person I meet is probably called Audrey. When I started going to my Rosemary Conley classes a few years ago it took them a long time to believe that the lady who took the class REALLY was called Audrey. So if you ever meet me, and I call you Audrey, please, please don't take it personally - and correct me before it is too late!

Finished Scavenging!

2011-09-24T13:20:00.001+01:00

Well, I have ticked off as many items on Rinda's list as I can and have the following pics to submit :

Number 18 was a tough one to find, but my husband and I spent a while in Southwold yesterday and today and when we arrived at the hotel, the handyman was outside painting the trellis work on the patio area, I couldn't believe my luck! I didn't manage to get all 21 unfortunately, the unicycle eluded me completely, even though friends offered to help me cheat! I have a friend whose nephew owns a unicycle and she offered to email me a photo of him with it, but I wasn't comfortable in adding that one, I feel that it was MY scavenger hunt and I was the only one who could find the items. The other one I am missing is the roadside memorial. Fortunately there are not many of these around where I am and the only one I know of is in memory of a boy that my son knew and I really didn't feel comfortable in deliberately driving up to that place just to photograph something that is still so painful for his parents.
So there it is - Scavenger Hunt completed! It's been such fun and I'm really pleased that Rinda organised it for us all!

playing catch up

2011-09-18T18:02:00.001+01:00

I knew that I had to spend today catching up on my Shimelle pages as once I fall too far behind there is always the possibility that I will fall by the wayside, never to finish the project.
So without further ado:

The title says it all!

I need to remember that I don't have to agree to do extra work - especially when I already have an overflowing in-tray at work

Just booked a couple of days away to Southwold. Coincidentally, last time I did LSNED was in 2008 and we went to Southwold for the first time on exactly the same weekend - spooky! However, back in 2008 my dear husband tore his calf muscle playing badminton 3 days before we went and ended up on crutches - hopefully history will not repeat itself. Maybe I ought to hide his racquet this week .....

Easily distracted

2011-09-17T16:09:00.001+01:00

On waking this morning the plan was:

Go into town to do big weekly shop
Come home, have coffee and watch Saturday Kitchen
Make homemade soup for lunch
Blitz daughter's bedroom (even though she moved out months ago, she left enough 'stuff' behind to make it look as if she's still here)
Help clear out one half of the garage so we can park two cars in there again
Upload latest 4x6 photo love on Shimelle

So I started with 1 and also went to the post office to collect this:

I was the lucky winner of Pass the Book (a fantastically good idea organised by Sian) and this beautifully wrapped package came from Spain with Good Mail Day inside (plus the oh so pretty card I've shown on top of the packing) - thank you Alison!
Onto 2. Whilst watching Saturday Kitchen the postman came and delivered this month's kit from Sarah' Cards

Oh how pretty, there was much oohing and ahhing and planning going on. Whilst busy doing 3 I was trying to visualise what beautiful things I could make with it.

From here on in, things have not gone to plan. After lunch I sat in the sunshine in the conservatory reading the book, had a little doze, woke up to find husband singlehandedly sorting out garage. Quickly busied myself in the kitchen and made a batch of chocolate chip muffins whilst shouting out 'fancy a cup of tea before we get started out there?' in order to make it seem that I had been busy and not asleep, dreaming of fantastically wrapped and decorated letters and parcels.

So before things go further to pot, I've come upstairs on the pretext of starting 4 and avoiding 5 at all costs and finally getting round to doing 6. I loved this way of displaying 8 photos in one and a half layouts and although R's graduation was some years ago, as I'd used J's graduation last month I thought it would be nice to include hers in this project. My only problem as this Photo Love project is progressing is finding enough photos of the same subject to use each month! Next month it's NINE so I had better get snapping ... I kind of think it could be puppy related next time!

Food for thought

2011-09-16T14:49:00.001+01:00

Strange how my missing LSNED page and the one for the 14th were both cooking related.

On Sunday the 11th we had my daughter round for lunch - along with puppy and boyfriend. Not to mention our son and his girlfriend too. Daughter's boyfriend is head chef at a Michelin starred restaurant - can you imagine how worrying it is to have him over for dinner?! I decided to play it safe and do a traditional Roast Pork dinner, but rather daringly attempted a new recipe I had never tried before for dessert. Fortunately all turned out well, and we had a lovely family lunch together.
Which kind of leads onto my page for the 14th

The kitchen always looks like a disaster area after I've been cooking in there, I really am the messiest cook ever. I think it may be too late the change the habits of a lifetime though!
Have a good weekend everyone!

The good, the bad and the 'I've got to re do this one'

2011-09-15T17:43:00.001+01:00

On the whole I've been fairly content with the pages I've done for LSNED, some I've liked more than others but yesterday evening I did two pages, one I liked

and one I didn't (and which will be re-done)

In my imagination, Tim Holtz tape with calendar blocks on it, combined with stickers with days of the week on them were going to look good on a simple cream background. The prompt was about how different days of the week feel, ie weekends v week-days. I guess I should have been wary of the fact that it was day 13 and seen that unlucky number as an omen. I know that this page will never sit happily in the project and I will have to revisit it! I tried pleating some of the tape to see if a bit of texture improved it. It didn't.

The bad page is the one I haven't done. Can't get 'badder' than that can you? Day 11. I'm struggling with an idea for this prompt but may have the tiniest glimmer of a thought for what to do.

On a totally different matter, those of you in the UK may have noticed the name of the town in which I live being headline news at the moment. The lady who has been kidnapped in Kenya and whose husband has been murdered actually live just the other side of town from me. Although I don't know them personally, they have a son who is the same age as my daughter and every time I turn on the news I try and imagine how awful it must be for him to be going through this nightmare. May she have a swift release and be returned to her family in good health.

Playing catch up

2011-09-14T19:02:00.002+01:00

Oh dear, one minute I was up to date with Shimelle's LSNED pages and the next I was 4 days behind! We had a particularly busy few days in between and I am determined to catch up and do another page this evening. For day 10 I produced this

It makes it look as if she has a really long tongue but actually she arrived with a nice pink fleece blanket and that is what she is chewing on!
She really is adorable and now she (and my daughter) has moved to her proper home, it seems very strange without her.
I'm trying to keep to the themes of the days that Shimelle is showing in her prompts but some are easier to find things to fit with than others. How is everyone else doing? Are you sticking to the prompts or just doing your own thing?

A busy day for little people

2011-09-11T12:40:00.000+01:00

And by little people I mean those of us under 5' 2" tall or of the penguin variety. Last time Penguin accompanied me to the Eclectic Keepsakes crop, there was drama, tears and tantrums. Despite that, he insisted that he wanted to come with me this month on the understanding that a) there would be cupcakes and b) a 'wanted' poster was displayed so that people kept an eye out for the troublemaker. Karen brilliantly arranged for both demands to be met

Karen really was a star and managed to track down the evil Eileen:

Who tried hard to look sweet and innocent, but we all know better. However, under the watchful eye of Karen, Eileen and Penguin shook hands and made up:

Which meant that Penguin could relax, eat cake

and help me with my layouts

The layouts were absolutely lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed making them, loving the colour combinations of both

By the end of the afternoon, both me and Penguin went home tired but happy little scrappers.

A new addition

2011-09-09T17:32:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, it didn't take much to make me fall behind with LSNED. A little bundle of fur arrived to stay for a few days today

My daughter has waited a long time for her puppy, but I think she was well worth the wait. I think it's fair to say you will be seeing this little lady in one or two layouts from now on!
But I have also done day 7

A lesson that I did already know, but needed reminding of!
Must go, there is a puppy to be played with ......

LSNED 5 and 6

2011-09-06T21:15:00.004+01:00

It's my 31st wedding anniversary today! Where did all those years go? Today has been cold, wet and miserable here, but back in 1980 it was a gloriously hot summer day.

Anyhow, for the 5th prompt for LSNED I searched through some old photos and found a little photo of me with my mum taken in about 1961. I am proudly showing off my box of smarties. It would appear that my love of chocolate goes back to a very young age!

Today's prompt referred to first day of term at school, which is very appropriate for me as I work as a school secretary! When we broke up for the summer holidays back in July I scribbled a load of notes in my diary of things that needed to be done as soon as we returned for the Autumn term. Now I'm sure that they made sense at the time, but some of them seem very obscure today and I can't remember what on earth I meant by them. I've learnt that I need to take more time and trouble when making 'reminders' that won't be read again for several weeks!

The colours are a bit odd in this photo as by the time I had finished the layout, it was dark and the camera has cast an orangey glow over the picture.

LSNED weekend pages

2011-09-05T07:16:00.001+01:00

Well I am still managing to keep up to date with my LSNED pages, but that's for two reasons.

I've kept the pages really simple
I work in a school and it's been the summer holidays so I've been home to do pages as soon as I get the prompts. However, it's first day back for the Autumn term today so that may not last!

Day three's prompt was all about feet. Quite appropriate really as I had not realised how far we would be walking when we went for our riverside stroll on Friday and had gone out wearing 'Fitflops' and not trainers. Woke up Saturday and every muscle in my thighs were aching. Maybe the advertising hype is right and they do give you a workout just by walking ...

For the day four prompt I decided to concentrate on the thoughts of friendship. There is a group of us that became friends in the late 70s and over the last year we have all celebrated 30 years of marriage. We were invited to the most recent anniversary celebration yesterday so seemed appropriate to use as a thought for the day's prompt. We don't see each other as much as we used to as we all live in different places now but even so, when we get back together it's as if we pick up from where we left off.

Storytelling Sunday - A Tropical Tale

2011-09-04T08:55:00.000+01:00

This post is brought to you as part of Sian's Storytelling Sundays! Last weekend our news was full of Hurricane Irene as it lashed the East Coast of America and so I thought that this month I would share my very minor experience of a Tropical Storm!

In 2004 we went on a family holiday to Barbados. It was a truly amazing trip and a real holiday of a lifetime. We stayed at the Discovery Bay Hotel in Holetown; a lovely location and superb hotel. We visited in August and the weather was typical for that time of year, the majority of the time was gloriously hot sunshine and then every afternoon, about half an hour of warm, tropical rain.

I need to point out at this part of the story that I am not a confident swimmer. I only learnt to swim when I was 26 and am a founder member of the 'heads up brigade'. I only do breast stroke, I don't like to go out of my depth and I keep my head out of the water at all times. The rest of the family had been out on jet skis and whizzing up and down the coast on power boats but I had stayed on terra firma, bravely volunteering to look after beach towels, cameras etc while they went out to sea. They kept going on about how lovely the coast line was when you saw it from out at sea and how you could see Cliff Richard's villa and the place where Tony Blair was staying and I knew I would have no peace until I had been out on a boat. So I left it to the penultimate day and agreed to go 'tomorrow'. When we woke that morning, the sky was a little more grey than normal, and there were clouds where previously the sky had been clear and blue. As the time for the boat ride grew nearer, the sky grew darker, the sea got choppier and I was confident that the owner of the boat would say that it was unsuitable to go out. As we paddled out to the jetty he welcomed us aboard and I did mention that the sky looked very grey and wasn't that a nasty breeze that was picking up? But as is the manner of the population of Barbados, he gave a broad smile, a shrug of the shoulders and a confident 'Don't you worry Ma'am, everything will be fine'.

And it was. All the way to the south of Holetown, and all the way back to Holetown, and then he said we would be going north of the resort - towards the darkening sky. I wasn't ever so happy, but everyone else was chilled and relaxed and - then suddenly the wind picked up and the first big blobs of rain started to fall on the boat. 'No worries, we'll just sail out to sea a bit further to escape it, it will soon blow over' and so with the coast line of Holetown behind us, we set sail towards the horizon - which was not where I wanted to be at all. He then decided that we could not outrun the storm, and the best thing to do was to cut the engines and let it pass over us. He reached beneath his seat and put on his life jacket. I reached beneath my seat - and discovered that there was only one life jacket on the boat and he was wearing it! I think that my face must have betrayed how I was feeling - bobbing around in the ocean, a long way from shore and in the middle of a storm - as he offered the life jacket to me. And while this offered some reassurance, I then wondered whether or not it was a good idea for the only person on the boat who knew how to drive the thing wasn't wearing a flotation device.

I don't know how long we were out there before the rains stopped and the wind died down, probably not as long as I imagined it had, but boy was I relieved when he saw a window of opportunity to dodge through the cloudbursts, started the engine and set sail for the shore. There is a photo of me taken just before we got off the boat - my daughter had stuck it into an album and there is no digital copy on the computer so excuse the poor scanned quality - I may look like I am smiling but if you look carefully, my knuckles are white from where I am gripping on to the boat for dear life!

LSED Day two

2011-09-03T14:20:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a glorious day and so my husband and I went for a walk along the river Stort. We started at Twyford Lock and walked about two miles along it to Spellbrook. There are a series of locks along this stretch of the river and I was surprised how many houseboats there were moored along the riverside.

Since Rinda over at Gallo Organico started her scavenger hunt this summer, my husband has become used to me pointing out random things and then running off to photograph them, and I must admit that participating in this challenge has made me more aware of things. One thing on the list is 'Your country's flag' and if you had asked me earlier this year how often you see our flag flying, I would have said 'rarely'. However, it seems that wherever I go nowadays, I see flags flying! And yesterday was no exception:

So that was my lesson learnt yesterday, the journalling reads 'It wasn't until I started the scavenger hunt that I realised how many flags there were flying!'

LSED Day One

2011-09-02T12:11:00.000+01:00

There's no going back now - I'm committed to 7x5 pages, but think I'm going to be happy with my choice.

My son flew out to New York yesterday, his girlfriend had booked the tickets for his 21st birthday present and they've been so excited about it {birthday in March, plenty of time to think about all they want to do and see} although the Hurricane Irene last weekend did make them wonder if their flights would be disrupted and they anxiously watched every news bulletin until the airports reopened on Tuesday! It's his second trip to New York, having been there on a school trip when he was in the 6th form, but even though his girlfriend is half American, she's never visited any of the United States.

I checked on the Heathrow website to see if they took off on time and 'casually' checked the JFK website when I knew they were due to land and so I knew the plane had got there safely, but I still didn't really relax until I received a text from him a little later. My lesson learnt that day? That I still worry about him far too much even though he is officially a grown up!

It's a woman's prerogative

2011-08-30T14:38:00.000+01:00

... to change her mind and the more I think about that LSNED class the more I can't decide what to do! Today I went into town and there was a sale in WHSmith and I picked up a 7x5 album, I mean, I've never done that size before and a 6 x4 photo would fit on and it's not too big, and not too small ..... watch this space.

Also in town I saw a bottle of beer that was worthy of a scavenger photo

Yes, that is indeed a beehive drawn on the label - does that count do you think? There are so many places around here that sell local honey I can't believe that I can't find a photo of the real thing, although my husband did mention that I may not be so keen to get up close to a fully working beehive given my flap-ability around buzzing insects!

Learning something new {again}

2011-08-28T17:53:00.000+01:00

One of the first classes I took with Shimelle was Learn Something New Every Day, and that was back in 2008. Every year since, I have seen the email notifying me that the class is due to start in September but have decided not to do it again. I really enjoyed it first time round and this year for some reason, I feel the time is right to re-visit the class. So I am counting down the days to September starting so that I can get going again.

Once again I find myself with the dilemma of which size album to use, what papers etc etc and I know that the minute I make a decision and start, I will look at the forum and see what other people are doing and wish I'd done something different. But for the time being (and I still have a few days to change my mind) I'm going to go for 8 x 8. In theory it will work well if I am using a 6 x 4 photo and won't be too big to fill if I go for just journalling and embellishments. Last time I did 6 x 6 but sometimes felt it was just a bit too small if I was including a photo. However, I still have a few days to change my mind so watch this space ... I'm also going to try and be organised and have my base papers all cut to size so I can just add things on a daily basis easily.

Are any of you signed up for the class? If so, what size album are you using?

Suggestions please

2011-08-27T08:39:00.001+01:00

What’s a girl to do with a bag full of diamonds? Well, not exactly diamonds but Swarovski crystals. Let me explain – we bought our daughter a lovely Swarovski crystal necklace for her birthday last week. I ordered it online and they said they would be including a ‘thank you gift’. So when it arrived in the post, I found that the little extra gift was a small organza bag filled with coloured crystals.

Now you can well imagine that the sight of all this sparkly gorgeousness was a little overwhelming for a scrapper like me and I immediately imagined adding a little Swarovski ‘bling’ to each and every one of my scrapbook pages, past, present and future.

But if you look carefully, you will see that the crystals have a pointed bottom to them and so won’t sit flat on a page at all.

So my friends – do you have any suggestions as to what I can do with these gorgeous sparkles? I can’t wait to use them in some way but need inspiration!

Day trip

2011-08-26T08:27:00.000+01:00

We had planned to have a day out yesterday. For one reason or another, it was the only day of the week we both had free and so come rain or shine, we were going out for the day! And trust me, the weather report did show 'rain and shine' in disproportionate quantities. So despite a cloudy sky and the promise of rain, we headed in an easterly direction for the Essex coast. Over the years we have visited many of the local coastal places so we decided to try somewhere different. We started out at Leigh on Sea, where the sky was grey and the roads deserted (most sane people had listened to the weather forecast and had not headed for the coast) but the inner scavenger in me was very happy to find some Graffiti Art

After exploring all that Leigh had to offer, we headed back to the car and drove on to Maldon. By now the sun was shining, the sky was blue, my Country's Flag was flying outside a little pub that also had a Hand Lettered Sign

We walked along the front and had a nice pub lunch. After a glass of speciality beer, the husband ~~reluctantly agreed to~~ was happy to pose for a Scavenger Team Photo

I have referred to my lack of height in various blogposts, and those that know me know that I am 'vertically challenged' but it wasn't until we came across the local Fair that I realised that I am officially short enough to still go on children's rides.

Garden sculptures

2011-08-23T11:57:00.000+01:00

Here in the UK we don't have mailboxes to decorate so Rinda has allowed us to photograph garden sculpture instead. First of all I thought I would show our little stone birdbath

Then I considered {briefly} my garden duck

The family all thought I was mad when I brought this little fellow home from the garden centre but I think he's really sweet. Yes, I do have to admit he does look as if his head is on back to front but when he's hidden by foliage you'd never notice and I think it just makes him all the more charming.

But my photo of choice for this category is of the stone angel I have on the wall

4x6 Photo Love - July

2011-08-22T11:11:00.002+01:00

7 photos on one page? Bit of a challenge - but Shimelle came up with a brilliant idea for making a concertina element to the layout so you could have photos front and back of the piece you pull out. A perfect project for using the photos we took at our son's graduation in July!

The one with the 'aaaahhhh' factor

2011-08-21T12:39:00.000+01:00

When our kids were young, I tried my hardest to be the best mum that I could. Overall I don't think I did a bad job, but there was one area where I failed dismally. I wouldn't let them have a dog. We had a variety of goldfish, two hamsters, two guinea pigs and two rabbits (not all at the same time) but it wasn't quite the same. It's not that I don't like dogs, in fact we always had a dog at home when I was growing up. My stock phrase was always 'Once you leave home and have a place of your own, you can have as many dogs as you wish.'

Well. Darling Daughter has left home. She is in the process of buying her first house with her boyfriend. She has a birthday this week. Guess what the boyfriend is buying her for her present:

If you go down to the woods today ...

2011-08-20T14:22:00.000+01:00

... you may see a determined scrapbooker on her mission to tick as many scavenger hunt photos as she can. It was a beautiful morning here in my corner of the UK and so I ~~dragged my husband ,~~suggested to my husband that it might be nice to take a trip out to Hatfield Forest. We are so lucky to have such a beautiful and historic place right on our doorstep - well, 10 minutes down the road! My husband ~~couldn't believe we were seeking another photo ,~~ enthusiastically encouraged me to find a worthy photo for the category 'A forest'.

When you think of how many people visit Hatfield Forest daily, these must be the best fed ducks in Britain!

Whilst strolling in the sunshine, the husband said 'Look, you can tick two boxes in one go if you take a photo of that '

A 'wooden bridge' in 'a forest'. Are there extra points for combining categories I wonder?

and then he got all educational on me and started pointing out the different types of tree (once a boy scout, always a boy scout) and insisted I take a photo of an oak tree as historically that is typical of a British forest.

So there we go, 'A Forest' - officially found!
PS Good job we went this morning, as it is now 2pm and it's pouring down with rain. Gotta love British weather eh?!

Drum roll please ....

2011-08-17T14:27:00.000+01:00

The snapping of this photo caused much shaking of head and sighing from my husband, along with comments like 'I can't believe how much that is making you smile' and 'did anybody see you taking that photo?'.

We had gone to our local Tesco supermarket and I remembered that there was a fancy dress shop on the corner of the little shopping development there. With a 'You go and get the trolley while I pop in here', I sneaked in the door, around the helium balloons, past all the hen party fairy wings and feather boas and down to the depths of the childrens' parties area. Mission accomplished ......

Getting closer ...

2011-08-16T11:02:00.001+01:00

My husband had an appointment in Hertford this morning and I tagged along for the ride. While he was busy I had a little wander around the town in the hope that I may get another picture for the scavenger hunt.

As we left the car park we walked past a small toy shop and I immediately noticed this in the window

Then as I was trying to explain to the husband why I was so excited by it, he commented that there was a real castle in the town

See the trouble with England is that we are inundated with castles, but they are all so old that there isn't much left of them to give you a clue that they really are castles! This one was built around 1066 apparently, hardly surprising that a lot of the walls are missing.
There were a lot of cafes opening up for early morning coffees and teas and I saw this really pretty hand drawn sign

And I almost hyperventilated when I saw this

But then remembered that it has to be a person dressed as a pirate! Oh well, maybe tomorrow .....

Number 4

2011-08-15T16:19:00.001+01:00

4. A protest, town hall meeting or other political activity

Desperate times call for desperate measures! I ought to explain ...

My son has just graduated from university with a degree in Politics. He is totally fascinated with the subject and wants to study in more depth, concentrating on African Politics. He's been accepted to study for a Masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies which is part of the University of London.

So, here is an example of what kind of books he has in the book case in his bedroom

and this is the desk on which he will be doing his studies.

A site of 'political activity'?

Scavenger hunt additions

2011-08-13T08:26:00.000+01:00

I'm very aware that I am falling behind in the scavenger hunt quest and need to get my thinking cap on - not to mention remember to take my camera out with me all the time! There have been a couple of occasions recently where I saw something that would have been perfect, only to find my camera was at home.

So let me share a few more that I have managed to tick off ...

Rain! Never a problem finding the opportunity to photograph rain in this country! I love the colour and texture of hosta leaves even when they are covered in raindrops.

A castle! Yes, totally thinking outside the box with this one I am ashamed to say. The town in which I live does have a castle of it's own. But as you can see from this link , it's very, very old and all that is left is a slight hill with a few bricks on the top, I don't think anyone would be impressed with a photo of that.

Finally, my little Portuguese rooster. I've shared his story before and if you go to Portugal you will see him, or variations of him, in every town.

So, what items should I aim for next? A pirate on a unicycle ......

10 on the 10th

2011-08-10T10:00:00.007+01:00

When you have a young family you wonder what it will be like to go on holidays just as a couple again once the children are grown up. It's very different, not least because of the fact that you wonder what will be going on in your absence! While you are chilling on the beach with a good book and covered in factor 15, what is happening at home? It's bad enough worrying about the grown up children, but when you add a slightly wayward penguin to the mix - well, anything could be happening.

So - here's my take on 10 things a penguin might get up to when left 'home alone'

Storytelling Sunday - Masters of Disguise

2011-08-07T08:42:00.000+01:00

Given the circumstances that we find ourselves in on this first Sunday of August, I thought that this month I would share a story of my parents-in-law.

They both lived and grew up in the East End of London at a time when families all lived close and were very involved in one another's lives. Monther in Law is as close to her cousins as she is her brothers and sisters as holiday times and Christmasses were all spent together. She sometimes bemoans the fact that everyone has scattered now and that our generation don't have the family get togethers that they used to have.

When she married my father in law they started to spend a lot of time with 2 particular cousins and their 'other halves' (J&B and R&J). The six of them spent many holidays together, and if not whole weeks of holidays, then hosting long weekends together. There was one year when my in laws were celebrating a special anniversary. May have been their 40th wedding anniversary, I can't remember. But they had planned a week on the Channel Island Jersey, just the two of them even though it was going to seem strange going away on their own.

Unbeknown to them, R&J thought it might be fun to spring a surprise on them. As R's son worked at Gatwick, they arranged flights to fly out and 'accidently' meet up with them. But, decided to add a little bit of fun to the surprise. They decided to go in disguise. R changed the way he wore his hair and put on a false moustache and J coloured her hair, put on a pair of big sunglasses and bought a dress which was not to her style of dressing.

On the first night at the hotel, they saw my in-laws in the bar before dinner and stood beside them but with their backs to them to test their reactions. Not a hint that they recognised them. They went into the dining room and chose a table near enough to be in sight but not too close for them to recognise their voices when then spoke. After dinner they went into the bar again. My in laws sat down and then father in law went to the bar to order drinks. R&J decided the time was right to spring their surprise. R stood next to him at the bar and in an assumed voice asked him to pass a bowl of peanuts. A quizical look but no recognition. R&J sat themselves at the next table to them and then after a short while when they were relaxed and sipping their drinks R removed his fake moustache, and J took off her glasses and spoke in her normal voice. The penny dropped! Can you begin to imagine how surprised they were? What a lovely surprise and so typical of R&J to have some fun with them. Apparently my in laws had noticed this couple in the dining room but obviously not expecting to see anyone they knew and with them both talking in a very posh disguised accent they merely commented to each other how much that couple over there reminded them of R&J. Little did they know!