Progress report

Well McSherrif's diagnosis is that I have suffered severe trauma to the hand which may or may not heal quickly. I'm not sure I liked the way he sighed and shook his head as he turned to walk/wheel out the door. I'm to be put on a diet of sugar lumps and carrots and be on total sofa rest while searching the 'catch up' channels to get up to speed on 'Ice Road Truckers'. Once a new episode is found I'm to summon him immediately, he will cancel all operations and consultations while he sits with me to ensure that I concentrate fully. I think I may need to check his credentials out on www.ishereallyadoctor.com .
Anyway - to take my mind off the pain and distress and immobility of hand, I am going to concentrate on my list of requirements for the May 1st crop with SHIMELLE . Houston, I think we may have a problem. 22 photos. TWENTY TWO? I have problems finding 2 per crop, how am I going to find 22? Looks like we are doing 9 pages including title and closing pages so it will be a busy day. I shall need to stay well away from sharp instruments! So that is 22 photos (did I mention that already?) all in the theme of sprigtime, love or family. 22 photos all in the same theme? Oh I feel faint ....
The papers we will be using are from the Dear Lizzy range. Go check them out, aren't they gorgeous?!!!
Twenty two photos ... pass me the sugar lumps Doc .....

New doc on the block

I love Grey's Anatomy. It feeds the hypochondriac in me. It gives me whole new medical issues to worry about. It constantly reminds me that even when something awful happens there is someone gorgeous to scrub in and say 'Good morning people, it's a lovely day for saving lives'. It reminds me that hospitals can be happy places as well as places of sadness and anxiety. That even when tired and exhausted after a 12 hour shift, doctors and nurses can still find time to play 'Doctors and Nurses' in the on call room. And of course - there's also the eye candy ;-)

First we had McDreamy

Then we had McSteamy

And then today I had an email from Sian which made me laugh so much I could hardly type a reply. Seems there is a new character chomping at the bit to get on the series.

McSherrif.

Hazardous Pursuits

Equipment needed to be put in tote for next crop day:

Glues, scissors, cutters, cutting boards, pens, glitter

Plasters, antiseptic wipes, sutures, bandages and sling

(Well, maybe not all of the above) I left the Crafty Stash crop a little early today following an incident involving a filigree button that need to have the shank removed, a pair of sharp titanium scissors and the fleshy part of the thumb part of the palm of my hand. Cue blood, a general feeling of nausea and a hunt for a first aid kit in the village hall which was eventually found to contain 3 sticking plasters, a crepe bandage, and some round nosed scissors. Maybe I've been watching too much Grey's Anatomy but after I'd been patched up I wondered if I needed to get Dr Shepherd in for some neurosurgery and Dr Sloan for a bit of plastic surgery. So anyway, my advice to all you scrappers out there - be careful, craft equipment and human flesh can be a lethal combination. So tell me, what's the worst crafting injury you have had?

But anyway, here's the two pages I did manage to do - a little extra bits and bobs will be added very soon to finish them off. But I feel the need to rest and lay down and be fed peeled grapes ...

Volcanic Dust Shuts Britain

How can a volcanic eruption in Iceland possibly close down the British Isles? That was my first thought yesterday, but since then the nice scientists on the news channels have explained about wind flows and mineral particles and what volcanic dust can do if it is sucked up into a plane's engine. A friend of mine is stranded on the Greek Island of Crete, her family were on a cruise around Greece and Egypt and they got off their ship yesterday to the news that England was a 'no fly' zone. She text me to see if it were a joke or really happening. It does sound a bit far fetched if you don't have the opportunity to see it on TV or Internet!
This kind of thing makes you realise how dependant we have all become on aircraft. I have another friend who is moving overseas who had gone on ahead of his wife to get their new home sorted - she was due to join him yesterday - no chance. As an island nation we have few other options - although the channel tunnel has made a huge difference to getting over to Europe now, but I suspect that Eurostar quickly became oversubscribed yesterday.
When my husband went to go to work this morning, the car had a very fine layer of some kind of dust over it but that is the only sign that there is anything untoward going on. We have blue skies and bright sunshine, how can we possibly be surrounded by volcanic dust?!
So this is an unusual subject for a post but it's such an exceptional situation I thought I should blog it for future reference.
Meanwhile, Rinda has posted her tutorial for the altered house, no prizes for guessing how I will be spending my day today ;-)

Special delivery

Well look at what arrived on my doormat this morning.

No, not the new cheque book.

No, not the polling card so I can vote in the General Election next month.

The orange air mail package from Rinda in the USA! My pieces for the House Party she is hosting ...

There's a little part of me that wants to sweep everything off the desk and clear a space, get glues and paints out and get creating. But the big grown up part of me knows that I should wait until I've seen the tutorial! There's some lovely stuff inside though, I hope I can do it justice when the time comes! Thanks Rinda!

Geography lesson

When we took my son back to uni at the weekend I realised that even though we have been doing that journey since 2004 (his elder sister went to uni in Sheffield too!) I have never taken a photo of the place! It's not the most attractive city in the country and with it having 2 universities in the area, a vast majority of the housing is student accommodation ... say no more!

But the landscape around there and the views as you drive through the Yorkshire countryside are lovely.

The only thing I knew about Sheffield before we started going up there 3 times a year for drop off/pick ups was that it was where the movie 'The Full Monty' was filmed. There's a lot of new development going on there and we have seen a lot of changes in the last 6 years. My son is living in a village called Walkley which is on the outskirts of Sheffield and must be one of the highest points in the vicinity. You certainly need a good handbrake on your car to park in the side streets! The area couldn't be more different than where we live, some 150 miles south, so I thought I would take a picture of the views from the back garden of the house where he is living this year. He, of course, was mortified that not only was I in his back garden, (and I use that term very loosely, there is not a blade of grass to be seen!) but taking a photo as well? Mothers! How embarrassing can they be?!

Sons

It seems absolutely no time at all since I was introducing my daughter to her new born baby brother. She wasn't too impressed with him, and was more interested in if it was OK to eat the Milky Way someone had given her in the hospital waiting room.
A blink of an eye and I was dropping him off at playschool, taking him to swimming lessons and running around like a mad woman trying to keep up with him when he took part in Mini Movers (a toddler gym activity).
He was an amazing escapologist and when we used to pick my daughter up from school I was always the mother charging the length of the school field because their toddler son had released himself from his buggy straps and refused to wait nicely for the final bell to ring.
He loved moving up to primary school where his big sister was, although she once told me that I had to have a word with him and he was standing with his nose pressed up against the window waiting for her to finish her school lunch and expecting her to play with him in the playground. It really isn't cool to play with your 5 year old brother when you are 8.
He looked so grown up in his black suit when he moved up to the Boys High School when he was 11 and he started to exert his independence.
Suddenly he is a young man, in his 2nd year of studying politics at Sheffield and loving every minute of university life. But underneath that grown man who now towers over me and whose unshaved chin grazes my cheek when he gives me a hug, he'll always be my little boy. So when he told me with excitement of his plans to travel via Interrail throughout Europe for a month this summer, starting off the tour in Croatia and ending in Berlin - I was thrilled for him but a little part of me felt a pang of 'Oh my goodness .....'