Monday again....

Another week rolls around and the rain is lashing down today.

Megan had a photo-shoot at the weekend and came away with this lovely photo, she wanted more but they were just too stupidly expensive!!

I've also done a couple of LO's that I'm quite pleased with, the first is this week's UKS team challenge which I've done using mainly the new Quirky Kit Lite from Crafty Templates which I received last Friday.  











Also made this one for the Simple Recipes challenge again on UKS....

Tuesday Twitterings.....

In the news this week....lovely meal out with Mum and Auntie Bridie at the Weighbridge last Friday.  I had Beef Bouginon followed by a delicious dessert of sorbet with a shot of Apple Sourz......lush!

Went to see  special screening of Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks.  It was a very good watch and makes a great change from some of the rubbish that's about at the moment.

Here are a couple of LO's that I have produced in the last couple of days.....

House challenge on UKS  - Dr Seuss quote





Lo using non-traditional Autumn colours on an Autumnal LO......

uh oh ........

I am bad!!!  It's been ages since I last posted (sounds like a confession, bless be father for I have sinned...), anyway please forgive me those few of you who find yourself in this little corner on the interweb!!!

To make up for it, here are two recently completed layouts for you....







The first being my take on the great challenge for this month over on Mood Board....it's challenge no. 10 and it's greens/black/white space this month.  Go on over and take a look-see, lots of great inspiration to be found there.



The next one is this week's UKS weekly challenge, the criteria being a sketch, paint/mist, Autumn colours  and book title!!!

Photo is of Mum and Dad, both in their 80's now and the lovely paper is Glitz Design,  Laced with Grace Rose.





Next on my list to do is the UKS House challenge, which I hope to get done this weekend.  I'm enjoying my scrapbooking at the moment...probably something to do with all my new goodies that I won.

My social life has taken an unusual up-turn this week......theatre last night meal tonight with work colleagues and lunch on Friday with my Mum and Auntie who is visiting from London!

Mood Board Challenge - No..9

http://jotmagazine.com/now-running-mood-board-9/

This is my take on this lovely challenge, have only just got it done in time!!

Off on holidays.....

Where does the time go??  I can’t believe it’s a week since I posted and with so much to tell you as well!

Firstly lulu has had her hair cut and I must admit I did ask for it to be cut fairly short but now I feel so guilty and want to knit her a jumper!!  She looks soooo skinny, the poor love.

Then I had my nails (both toes and fingers) painted in readiness for my hols.  They are now a lovely glittery red but very short I’m afraid as they keep splitting, so I’m hoping the Shellac will enable them to grow a bit.

Now I can’t say “I never win anything” cos I do sometimes, but can you imagine my surprise when I browsed my favourite website, UKS, on Tuesday morning only to find I won the Blog Hop!!  I’ve won so many lovely prizes and was so excited I actually wanted  to go into work that morning (to tell everyone!)  Everyone says I should do the lottery this weekend as my stars must be in alignment!!

And finally, Megan and I are off to sunny (I hope) Tunisia on Sunday for an all exclusive holiday in the resort of Port El Kantaoui.  Now, I’ve been to Tunisia before (about 30+ years ago) and although a lot of people don’t like Tunisia I loved it and thought the beaches were fabulous and the people friendly, ok a bit too friendly sometimes!  Anyway, we’re only going for a week and intend to chillax big time and not spend much money (but it has got a great Spa apparently).  Hope it doesn’t rain here too much (tee hee!!).

Well, I’ll blog all about it when I get back.......so farewell for now peeps.

First soup of the season.....

The trouble with trying to be a ‘Domestic Goddess’ is the aftermath!!  I’ve been making a fairly simple Butternut Squash and Chilli soup this morning and it seems to have been fairly successful BUT the washing up!!!  I don’t put my pots and pans in the dishwasher so had to tackle the washing up by hand.

In other news....my poor, old mother had a bit of a shock yesterday when she discovered she didn’t have one cataract but TWO, one on each eye.  She will have the first one removed on 2^nd October and then second one a few weeks later.  This will cause no end of problems for her because she is a carer for my poor, old dad who has dementia and heart problems.

Monday meanderings....

Another Monday rolls around all too quickly but on the plus side it’s now less than two weeks to my holiday to Tunisa with Meg.  I need to get my head around washing , ironing and packing, we’re hoping to get away with just one large suitcase and one carry on between us but we’ll see! 

Looking forward to the Autumn schedule for TV and hoping that there will be one two or good drama series to follow.  So far I’ve heard of Whitechapel (excellent), Doc Martin (very good) and, of course ‘Strictly’ (woohoo!)

Flower photo is from my Mum’s garden............

It’ll soon be Summer’s end....I shouldn’t be sad because we have had a brilliant one this year but I am a bit.  Never mind Autumn is around the corner and that’s a good season too.....I love the smells of Autumn, don't you?

Christmas comes early.....

I know, I know.....it’s only August but I just had to try my hand at these little gems which I have stolen from Susibee’s blog.  They are digital stamps from Pink Petticoat and although they are very quick and easy I love them but prefer Susibee’s because she could be bothered to get the sewing machine out on hers.

In other news, I had my annual (and very late) appraisal at work.  I do think they are such a waste of time, especially for someone in her 50’s who only works part-time as a Receptionist.  Stupid questions like “what are your goals and aspirations for the next three years”.  Doh!  To retire early???  Had to take Dad to hospital for his latest appointment to do with his 'prostrate' (as Mum calls it).....the tablets aren't working but he's a bit reluctant to operate on him as he's in such a fragile condition.  Looks like poor Mum will have to carry on mopping up and doing lots of washing I'm afraid!  :(  Hope I die before I get old (as the Rolling Stones once said!).

Mood Board Challenge No.7

Here is my take on this challenge............ 

Cheated a bit by the addition of just a hint of Green.........

Title actually reads 'Love This!' but you can't read the little 'love' bit.

I really enjoy these Mood Board Challenges and look forward to a new one every fortnight, keep them coming!

A little shopping trip

Spent a lovely day at Cabot Circus in Bristol with my DD, Megan.  The only trouble is that I find it very difficult to just go 'window shopping' and not spend any money and I was being very good up until we went in Harvey Nics.  We were just on our way out when I spotted the Jo Malone concession....I shouldn't have gone over to look.  It was fatal....I came away with 3 items and £178.00 poorer!!  I must say I was stunned and amazed at the different type of scents available and the different combinations that you can make.  I came away with Bay & Blackberry body creme and English Pear and Freesia Cologne.....fabulous combination.  I also treated Megan to some body creme as well (soft or what?).  And as for the packaging, well it was just way OTT but I loved it....it was a work of art.  


We stopped for a spot of lunch at a lovely oriental restaurant called Tampopo and a bottle of Tiger beer between us.  



And finally I picked up a lovely pair of earrings from a shop that Megan had recommended from her last visit....Oliver Bonas.  Lovely little shop with lots of  lovely 'different' bits and pieces.




In other news I've only managed to do one LO in the past few days as I've been busy with other things but hope to do a bit tomorrow (it being a bank holiday!!).

  This was quite a quick page and came together really well.  It's for yet another challenge on UKS  Old Stash New Stash.  Managed to get a couple of good shots of my DS, Rhys at long last.

Empty your cache.....

Well, after nearly a week of trying to post on this bloomin site I have finally got there....I emptied my cache, and hey presto!!  I sometimes wonder whether it's worth the hassle having this blog as not many people read it but hey it's for me anyway so I shall 'Keep Calm and Carry On' (God how sick to death i am of that phrase!)

Now I'm on here I can have a bit of a catch up....

I've done yet another LO this week........seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment.  Picture is of my eldest niece, Kayleigh, always was a bit of a tomboy and never one for dresses but she has changed a bit nowadays!!  

I've been to the cinema today to see Elysium staring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, which was directed by the same person who did District 9.  I was fully expecting another excellent sci-fi but was a bit disappointed with this one, the concept was good but I feel the story got lost among all the special effects.

I'm also very glad to see one of my fav progs back on tv......The Great British Bake Off.  I'm sat here watching Who Do You Think You Are now, which used to be another favorite of mine but I'm afraid I am not enjoying this series at all but will probably stick with it 'til the end just in case.  Well that's it for now, just glad I can get back to posting my witterings on Blogger.

Finally Friday....

Thank Crunchie it's Friday!!  Not that i've got anything planned but it's still nice to chillax and not worry about the alarm!

Spur of the moment haircut this afternoon 'cos my fringe was driving me mad!!  Quick visit to my lovely friend Sue who as moved into a new bungalow and is busy unpacking and trying to find a new home for everything so I didn't stay long.  Then home to do a bit of scrappin' (again!)

Seen this layout in this issue of Scrap 365 and just had to give it a try myself..





   So here's my version, which I'm quite pleased with.

Hi fellow bloggers....

Just a quickie today about my latest crafting exploits.  August Week 2 challenge on UKS was ...

At least 50% white space; machine, hand or faux stitching; punched or die-cut elements and at least 2 different papers and so here is my take on it....

I tortured my little niece, Eve to do some posing for me at the weekend and came up with one or two nice photos which will undoubtedly end up on future LO's.

I like the way this one turned out, although not sure about the doodled border but thought it was lacking something without it.




 Also did the same to her 'big brother' Jack, who was not best pleased but put up with me for a short time.  lol  Teenage kids do not like having their photos taken, especially the male of the species.





This months's Simple Recipe challenge took my fancy too, an interesting concept of very soft, washed out colours and lots of white and again a photo of my niece, Eve but this time a black & white one.  Here is a 'kit' I put together but I didn't use some of it but it gave me a good starting point.













And here is the finished layout.....






Hope you have fun looking at my crafty efforts and please leave a comment as it would give me a bit of encouragement with my blogging. 

Sunday sunshine....

Well, problem seems to be something to do with Chrome, which of course, is Google, which of course, is Blogger!!  Anyhoo I've ditched IE and have decided to go with Chrome for now and see what happens....at least I can upload photos again.

Yesterday I was busy doing a bit of the dreaded h/w but did manage to get a bit of 'licking and sticking' (as my friend calls it) done too and here are the results.....

A layout for the UKS House challenge for August, which was to scraplift a LO that you really liked from the We Challenge You that ran for June & July.

I chose this lovely one from DaisyChain888....

Then my Mum had asked me to make a Christmas card for her Grandaughter, Sarah as she is going away to Malawi for 2 years teaching.  Grandma wanted to pack up her Christmas things for her to take with her when she leaves in a couple of weeks.

Testing, testing........can you see this photo???

Frustrating IT issues.....

Is it me, is it the laptop, is it Google or is it just the WWW in general????  At times I am fit to kill someone or throw something (usually said laptop) all the way across the room!!!

I seems I can no longer add photos to my blog and have spent the past 2 hours trying everything I know and looking on the internet for answers but all to no avail.  If I can't get past this irksome issue I will just stop blogging.....again!!!!

As weekends go this one was really good!  We had a mini family reunion with my Auntie Win and her daughter Una and her husband Martin all coming over from Ireland for a long weekend.  My Mum was sooo excited to be seeing her sister again as it has been years since they have seen each other.  My Dad being unable to travel anymore and Mum being his full time career now and then my poor Auntie having one or two health scares herself. 

Anyway, Martin and Una volunteered to do the cooking on Sunday so I took them over to the supermarket to shop Saturday evening and then decided to stay at my Mum & Dad’s too (so as not to miss out on any of the fun!)  Sunday was a lazy start then my brother, Nick & his wife, Gill turned up too and they stayed to dinner…..so we made it stretch as best we could.  It was a great weekend full of joy and happiness with quite a few photos taken too!  I hope there can be a repeat performance in the not too distant future.

In other news….I received my ‘pizza box’ from Papermaze today with one or two nice bits and pieces to add to the stash (‘cos I really need more stash!)  Started the countdown to our holidays in earnest by buying my travel insurance…..less than SIX weeks to go now.

Haven't done anything 'arty farty' all weekend.......feeling a bit twitchy, maybe tomorrow morning before work?  There are several challenges on UKS I would like to tackle.

 

Blue skies.....

I like this picture, taken when walking Lulu.  I don't know why I like it....it's very 'urban' but I think maybe it's the mix of blue skies, fluffy clouds and hard metal that I find interesting.  The towers are like aliens striding across the fields.

On  totally different topic - I have been looking at lots of different blogs and trying to decide why I like the one that I do and how I can improve my own .....I fear it will take a while!!  At the moment I only have a simple template from blogger with very limited ways of changing things but eventually I hope to have the knowledge and confidence to 'upgrade' to more serious things with lots of add ons'!

I haven't done any crafting this week and am feeling a bit shaky......need to get a fix this afternoon if possible (sod the grass-cutting, it can wait!)  I also need to learn how to use my new Silhouette as it's not had much of a trial run yet.  I'm sure there's a thousand and one wonderful things it can do for me so I must crack on and give it a bit of a work out!   I've still got to use the $10 gift card it came with too!

Rock n Roll Bingo tonight......hope I win!!  Will let you know tomorrow!  lol

jewel of a find in blog land....

Just found this very interesting blog post/article on blogging itself from the wonderful Julie Kirk

http://notesonpaper.blogspot.co.uk/p/push-up-bra-blogging.html

I have started reading it but have run out of time this evening, will continue again tomorrow in the hope that it will make my blog more interesting and worth reading!

I have never seen the rain like I witnessed at lunchtime today.......it was coming down horizontally at one point and then it turned to hailstones.  There were plenty of flooded roads around Swindon this afternoon.  After walking Lulu this afternoon I had to take her for a quick shower after she came back like a drowned rat!! 

Sultry Saturday....

It's been a long, hot week and is just cooling down now at 4pm on Saturday, it's supposed to start raining soon!!

I've managed to do a couple of layouts this week for the challenges on UKS.  This one is all about Lulu's love of running of into the garden with my flip-flops.  She manages  to chew through the toe bar and make them totally useless.  I love wearing flip-flops during the summer but have given up this year as I think 3 pairs is enough for such a small doggy!!

The Moon's a Balloon is just a random photo I took one day whilst walking Lulu and couldn't believe how bright the moon was shining in broad daylight!!  The Challenge was a Simple Recipe on using the colours and a sketch.  I like how it turned out.

I'm loving a new challenge site/blog that I found recently, called Jot Magazine, they run a bi-weekly challenge, which are generally colour based too.  http://jotmagazine.com

I haven't been to the cinema in a couple of weeks and am not using my pass as much as I should so will have to try and get there this week.  There's not that much on I fancy seeing really but I might go and see Wolverine or Despicable Me 2.

On a more serious and sad note, it has been decided that Rhys must move out of the house and go his own way as I cannot cope with his antics any longer.  Megan says it won't be long before she wants to go her own way too.  So I am now looking for a very cheap 2 bed house to rent or the worst alternative is a 1 bed apartment but that would mean giving Lulu up and I'm not sure I can do that.  I have a lot of hard decisions to make in the coming weeks.

Samsung saved.....

My son has his own ringtone on my mobile (as does my daughter and my ex) so when I answered the call yesterday I said "hello son, what's up?"  As you would of course.  But it wasn't my son.  It was a taxi driver who had found Rhys' mobile in the back of his car and very kindly phoned 'Mum' to say that he'd found it!  You don't often get that these days, do you?  He even dropped it home for him on his way home.  I was very impressed and very grateful on Rhys behalf which is more than Rhys was, he just said "it's insured I could have just got another one".  Now that's what I call a throw away society!!  I sometimes (mostly) want to slap him upside the head and tell him to get real!!!

Second post in a day?!??

Just found this great blog  http://thebiskitbarrel.blogspot.co.uk and thought I'd try this out...


1. Where is your cell/mobile phone? Table
2. Your hair? Short
3. Your mother? stressed
4. Your father? Alzheimers
5. Your favourite food? steak
6. Your dream last night? strange
7. Your favourite drink? wine
8. Your dream/goal? peace
9. What room are you in? lounge
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? aging
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? seaside
13.Where were you last night? Home
14. Something that you aren’t? skinny
15. Muffins? yum
16. Wish list item? Tablet
17. Where did you grow up? Wiltshire
18. Last thing you did? Ate
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Your TV? Coronation St.
21. Your pet? dog
22. Friends? Few
23. Your life? OK
24. Your mood? blue
25. Missing someone? No
26. Vehicle? Car
27. Something you’re not wearing? tutu
28. Your favourite store? TK Maxx
29. Your favourite colour? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? Tuesday
31. Last time you cried? duno
32. Your best friend? Sue
33. One place that you go to over and over? work
34. One person who emails you regularly? ?
35. Favourite place to eat? Weighbridge
If you answer them and share them on your blog, let me know, the nosey side of me would like to, well, take a nose!

It was an eventful day yesterday but not in a good way!!  I don’t know what is wrong with my son but know that he is in serious need of help but only he can get that sorted out!!  In the meantime I am not prepared to put up with his destructive ways anymore and have taken the decision that he must go his own way soon and Megan and I will have to down-size to a 2 bed house probably in September after our holiday.

This is the second time he as wrecked his room and this time we have a hole in wall now to match the holes in the door.  The thing that set him off this time was his frustration with the rubbish internet service in our rented home!   He did eventually apologise again but I’m afraid apologises are no good anymore and things have to change now.

Hot, hot, hot.....

Never thought I'd say this but the heat is beginning to get to me!  It's supposed to be here to stay for a while too!

My new toy came yesterday and, as usual, I had to open it straight away and try it didn't I??  Don't know what happened but I ended up cutting into the carrier sheet instead of the cardstock!!  I was not best pleased with myself to say the least.  I have tried it a couple of times this afternoon and all seems to be working fine for basic cuts now.  There is a lot to learn about the machine and how it works so I've been trying to gain some knowledge on the internet and promise to go slowly and learn a bit at a time and not break the damn thing!

Flip Flops and BBQs

Hot, hot, hot again today so I kicked off my flip flops (like you do) and went bare foot around the house for a bit.  The next thing I know..........
Yes, the little monster has got one of them and is off out in the garden chewing happily on it!  Third pair in about 7 days!  OK I get the message Lulu, I shouldn't leave them lying around because you think they're a great chew toy, so no more flip flops for me, I shall go bare foot.


Danya, Jane and Hamish

In other news, it was AFL's annual bbq today and instead of going to Cotswold Water Park, we were in Lydiard Park this year.  Should I take Lulu or not?  In the end I did and on the whole it went fairly well after taking off across the field and not being able to find me again!  She made friends with Hamish and was soon sharing water bowls.


Came home early and had an afternoon siesta as I'm not sleeping very well at night at the moment (even with a fan going full blast).  Luckily it's a bit cloudier today and not quite as full on boiling hot as yesterday!

Looking forward to a nice cool shower and a quiet evening watching The White Queen and the prepare for work again tomorrow.

 

 

The War of the Roses.....

Tewkesbury, 10.30am very hot already and I'm one of the first visitors to the site!  The campsite was busy though preparing for the days trials and tribulations.  Who would win The Battle of Tewkesbury this time?  Lol

 I decided to go on the hour long trip on my own as if I don't do that I end up going nowhere and missing out on a lot.  So even though I'm a bit of a 'Billy no Mates' sometimes I'm not afraid to get out there by myself and do the things I enjoy from time to time. 

The proceedings were opened by Robert Hardy, famous actor and historian.  He used part of the famous speech from Henry V ......




'Once more unto the breach, dear friends' and 'Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'.













Lots and lots of things to buy at the market place for re-enactors, goths and Joe Public!!




Great music during the day by minstrals and a great medieval 'rock' group called Serpentyne in the beer tent.


The only major problem to the day was the heat.....it was the hottest day of the year so far and there was very little shade anywhere.  I couldn't believe the amount of people who had bought dogs with them, so unfair on the poor animals.

Anyway, I had a smashing day and am glad I went.

Starting again & again.....

What a larf, 1 post in 2012!?!!

I'm hoping I can do a better job this time, trouble is I never think I have anything interesting to post about!!

Well I'm going to start with this photo (of which I'm quite proud) taken just a little while ago.  They are my very expensive but very yummy cherries from M&S.  They are the best cherries you can get and well worth the spends.