Goodbye to all that
Well after a truly devasting year, 2007 is one I would like to forget, since April this year, life has been well, how can I put it ? Bloody awful! Losing both parents and having hubby working away all week, has just been bad bad bad.
All I can say is that roll on 2008! We'll be moving to Edinburgh, very soon I hope and there will be a new school for Alex, working from home for me, and lots of new friends and faces to meet. I will be getting cracking with my Stampin' Up! business and continuing to submit projects to the mags.
For those of you who have left messages of support or simply drop by to read my blog, I would like to send a huge thank you and lots of love. It means a great deal to me and I sincerely hope you all have a very, very happy 2008 !!
Sam xxxxx
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
I Lick My Cheese...............
Actually I don't because I really HATE cheese, I actually tell everyone that I am allergic to it, for fear that they may cook it for me. I am almost scared of cheese I hate it that much. Anyway "I Lick My Cheese" is the title of a book my hubby got me for Christmas and it is hysterically funny. It's a compilation of notes that flatmates leave for each other and each note has a brief narrative, commenting on or explaining the background of the note. It's one of those books which really mean something if you have shared a flat or house with others.
When I first met my hubby he had a lodger, a perfectly lovely Irish girl. One day I was round at his house and just before we left to go out for the evening he said "oh hang on I just need to write a note" he had a chalkboard in the kitchen and he wrote "BIG tidy up required tomorrow"................. I looked at him , he said "too much?" I snorted , then nodded and he meekly rubbed it out. Now this is the man I have to tidy up after. He didn't share at house at Uni but I bet he would have been a total "note Nazi".
The book got me thinking about the weird and nutty people you get to share living accomodation/bathrooms and kitchens with when you are in Uni halls of residence. There was one girl (who shall remain nameless) who I will never forget. She is now either a genius ( I must google her) or a drug addict.
Once she flooded the corridor when she decided to do her weeks washing in her hand basin in her room. She also dyed some clothes black in the kitchen sink turning most other things in the kitchen, my wooden spoon included, black! Hey ho, those were the days................I am off to google!
Actually I don't because I really HATE cheese, I actually tell everyone that I am allergic to it, for fear that they may cook it for me. I am almost scared of cheese I hate it that much. Anyway "I Lick My Cheese" is the title of a book my hubby got me for Christmas and it is hysterically funny. It's a compilation of notes that flatmates leave for each other and each note has a brief narrative, commenting on or explaining the background of the note. It's one of those books which really mean something if you have shared a flat or house with others.
When I first met my hubby he had a lodger, a perfectly lovely Irish girl. One day I was round at his house and just before we left to go out for the evening he said "oh hang on I just need to write a note" he had a chalkboard in the kitchen and he wrote "BIG tidy up required tomorrow"................. I looked at him , he said "too much?" I snorted , then nodded and he meekly rubbed it out. Now this is the man I have to tidy up after. He didn't share at house at Uni but I bet he would have been a total "note Nazi".
The book got me thinking about the weird and nutty people you get to share living accomodation/bathrooms and kitchens with when you are in Uni halls of residence. There was one girl (who shall remain nameless) who I will never forget. She is now either a genius ( I must google her) or a drug addict.
Once she flooded the corridor when she decided to do her weeks washing in her hand basin in her room. She also dyed some clothes black in the kitchen sink turning most other things in the kitchen, my wooden spoon included, black! Hey ho, those were the days................I am off to google!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Love Actually.....
Gosh I haven't posted in aages, so Happy Christmas
So what have I been up to? Panic Panic Panic, shout shout shout, bought too many presents and waaaaaay too much food. Lost half a stone, somehow in the run up to Christmas, I, complete piggo, lose interest in food, running round like a blue arsed fly ( I love that phrase), and seem to feel like throwing up most of the time, so I don't eat. What gives? I have no idea....! Anyway now I look like Kate Moss, ha flippin' ha I wish!
So just Alan, Alex and I plus Alan's Dad for Christmas day this year, you all konw why ..........................Alex got lots of pressies, and I got Jo Malone (not the person herself ha ha) and Harvey Nicks vouchers and Sing Star for the Playstation, and just for the record I CAN SING OK! and the damn thing keeps rating me BAD and AWFUL and I am so going to sue Sony- wish me luck.
Also Alan got me the most hysterical book for Christmas, called "I lick my Cheese", it's all about the notes flat mates leave it other, and I nearly wet my (smaller) pants reading it today.
Anyway I am now watching the most perfect film, "Love Actually"......................Colin Firth?? YUMMO times 1 million, so I have to go.
Gosh I haven't posted in aages, so Happy Christmas
So what have I been up to? Panic Panic Panic, shout shout shout, bought too many presents and waaaaaay too much food. Lost half a stone, somehow in the run up to Christmas, I, complete piggo, lose interest in food, running round like a blue arsed fly ( I love that phrase), and seem to feel like throwing up most of the time, so I don't eat. What gives? I have no idea....! Anyway now I look like Kate Moss, ha flippin' ha I wish!
So just Alan, Alex and I plus Alan's Dad for Christmas day this year, you all konw why ..........................Alex got lots of pressies, and I got Jo Malone (not the person herself ha ha) and Harvey Nicks vouchers and Sing Star for the Playstation, and just for the record I CAN SING OK! and the damn thing keeps rating me BAD and AWFUL and I am so going to sue Sony- wish me luck.
Also Alan got me the most hysterical book for Christmas, called "I lick my Cheese", it's all about the notes flat mates leave it other, and I nearly wet my (smaller) pants reading it today.
Anyway I am now watching the most perfect film, "Love Actually"......................Colin Firth?? YUMMO times 1 million, so I have to go.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Cor Blimey
I am up to my eyes in Christmas preparations. This year I have left it waaaayy too late to make my cards, I am ashamed of myself but stuff it, I am not gonna beat myself up about it I don't have time. I managed to order our turkey and goose in the nick of time and so all I have to look forward to is my annual Christmas morning nervous breakdown over which bird goes in which oven - hey ho.
Made good progress today, did most of my shopping at the Trafford Centre today. I have had a good and rather pickled weekend, 2 Christmas "dos" and a rather daft spending spree on a big new telly , a PS 3 and Sky TV. This is nothing short of a miracle since Alan does NOT approve of lots of TV, so I think my Alan has been abducted and replaced with an alien. I am damned if I can work out the bloody playstation. I pride myself on my own geekiness with all things techno, but I stared at the instructions like an 80 year old trying to programme a video yesterday and then gave up. At one point I ejected a game without going through the "correct" procedure, Alan was REALLY mad at me, and he hates "games" - he deffo has been adbucted by aliens....
3 more days of work to go then I am off till the 8th Jan - yay and double yay!
I am up to my eyes in Christmas preparations. This year I have left it waaaayy too late to make my cards, I am ashamed of myself but stuff it, I am not gonna beat myself up about it I don't have time. I managed to order our turkey and goose in the nick of time and so all I have to look forward to is my annual Christmas morning nervous breakdown over which bird goes in which oven - hey ho.
Made good progress today, did most of my shopping at the Trafford Centre today. I have had a good and rather pickled weekend, 2 Christmas "dos" and a rather daft spending spree on a big new telly , a PS 3 and Sky TV. This is nothing short of a miracle since Alan does NOT approve of lots of TV, so I think my Alan has been abducted and replaced with an alien. I am damned if I can work out the bloody playstation. I pride myself on my own geekiness with all things techno, but I stared at the instructions like an 80 year old trying to programme a video yesterday and then gave up. At one point I ejected a game without going through the "correct" procedure, Alan was REALLY mad at me, and he hates "games" - he deffo has been adbucted by aliens....
3 more days of work to go then I am off till the 8th Jan - yay and double yay!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Christmas Cards
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH last night I went to see Take That in Manchester. What a FABBO night, I still can't believe how good those boys are now. I thought they were OK first time round, but didn't go and see them. Last year I went to see them twice and they are back again and now they are just so damn good, their latest stuff is so brilliant, I had a great time and sang my heart out!
Back to crafting - I thought it was time to spread a little cheer, here are some cards I made for Quick and Crafty Mag last month - hope you like...
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH last night I went to see Take That in Manchester. What a FABBO night, I still can't believe how good those boys are now. I thought they were OK first time round, but didn't go and see them. Last year I went to see them twice and they are back again and now they are just so damn good, their latest stuff is so brilliant, I had a great time and sang my heart out!
Back to crafting - I thought it was time to spread a little cheer, here are some cards I made for Quick and Crafty Mag last month - hope you like...
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Bleeeuuurggghh!
Well I now have a full blown cold/chest thing, feeling very sorry for myself, and quite honestly I have been a complete cow all weekend. Given the events of this year, I am very much not looking forward to Christmas and I am feeling quite bitter and twisted about the whole thing. Alan and Alex have borne the brunt of my self pity/evil temper, so I am feeling rather ashamed of myself.................
Anyway, I am about to watch Cranford, God knows who will kick the bucket this week, but I have tissues at the ready. Hopefully I will feel slightly less rubbish after a good nights sleep.
Well I now have a full blown cold/chest thing, feeling very sorry for myself, and quite honestly I have been a complete cow all weekend. Given the events of this year, I am very much not looking forward to Christmas and I am feeling quite bitter and twisted about the whole thing. Alan and Alex have borne the brunt of my self pity/evil temper, so I am feeling rather ashamed of myself.................
Anyway, I am about to watch Cranford, God knows who will kick the bucket this week, but I have tissues at the ready. Hopefully I will feel slightly less rubbish after a good nights sleep.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Weird Night.......
Well I made it out last night and it was a weird night. We went to a social club and the place was full of women, there were 2 men in the whole room and they must have been 70 if they were a day!!
We arrived at 7:30 and the food was served at 9:00, and there was no disco prior to that, mind you judging by the age of the old dears in there they would't have like it LOL! We were all moaning about how rubbish it was and then a young chap (hark at me "young chap") came on singing some cover versions with a backing tape and a guitar. I ended up getting up and singing "Valerie" with him. Yes I am a frustrated performer! I really enjoyed it, all the gals were whooping and cheering, we all started to have a great time and 20 mins later we had to go cos our cab arrived !
Anyway I am glad I went, still full of a cold and cough but hey it's the weekend!
Well I made it out last night and it was a weird night. We went to a social club and the place was full of women, there were 2 men in the whole room and they must have been 70 if they were a day!!
We arrived at 7:30 and the food was served at 9:00, and there was no disco prior to that, mind you judging by the age of the old dears in there they would't have like it LOL! We were all moaning about how rubbish it was and then a young chap (hark at me "young chap") came on singing some cover versions with a backing tape and a guitar. I ended up getting up and singing "Valerie" with him. Yes I am a frustrated performer! I really enjoyed it, all the gals were whooping and cheering, we all started to have a great time and 20 mins later we had to go cos our cab arrived !
Anyway I am glad I went, still full of a cold and cough but hey it's the weekend!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Not Well
I am feeling rotten, Alex had a raging temperature/cold/virus thing earlier this week and was up for 2 hours for 3 nights zzzzzzzzzzzzz............Alan came home late on Tuesday night en route to Paris with a hacking cough/cold, and now (thanks Guys!) I have some lurgy. It's my school Mum's night out tonight and I am going by hook or by crook because I have a new dress and killer red satin high heeled shoes. The shoes will be cleverly accessorised with my red nose !
On a more positive note, I have completed my first Stampin Up project for a mag, and I have placed my first order for more stamping goodies. Don't forget if you want to order a catalogue or other stuff I am very much open for business.
I have also done some cards for Sarahscards new cardmaking kit with some scrummy Paper Salon papers and her gorgeous Aunty Sarah's Bloomers, check the kit out here.
Added to that I have almost finished another project for Quick and Crafty mag, so I have been quite a busy bee this week.
Well I am writing this from my sickbed, Alan is home getting Alex ready for school so I am having a lie in (bliss!).
I am feeling rotten, Alex had a raging temperature/cold/virus thing earlier this week and was up for 2 hours for 3 nights zzzzzzzzzzzzz............Alan came home late on Tuesday night en route to Paris with a hacking cough/cold, and now (thanks Guys!) I have some lurgy. It's my school Mum's night out tonight and I am going by hook or by crook because I have a new dress and killer red satin high heeled shoes. The shoes will be cleverly accessorised with my red nose !
On a more positive note, I have completed my first Stampin Up project for a mag, and I have placed my first order for more stamping goodies. Don't forget if you want to order a catalogue or other stuff I am very much open for business.
I have also done some cards for Sarahscards new cardmaking kit with some scrummy Paper Salon papers and her gorgeous Aunty Sarah's Bloomers, check the kit out here.
Added to that I have almost finished another project for Quick and Crafty mag, so I have been quite a busy bee this week.
Well I am writing this from my sickbed, Alan is home getting Alex ready for school so I am having a lie in (bliss!).
Sunday, December 02, 2007
TV Perfection
Oh isn't Cranford just TV perfection, I love it. It is supposed to be set in Knutsford, which is just up the road from me.
I wish they'd all stop dying though, last week that poor little boy died of "the croup" and Eileen Atkins character dropped like a fly. Then this week, just as Judi Dench's character was about to get "jiggy" with Michael Gambon, he up and gets pneumonia and dies, as if Dame Judy hadn't been through the mill last week. I have been in floods of tears the last two weeks, but my goodness it's just brilliant. Top Gear and Cranford on one night, who needs to go out eh?
Oh isn't Cranford just TV perfection, I love it. It is supposed to be set in Knutsford, which is just up the road from me.
I wish they'd all stop dying though, last week that poor little boy died of "the croup" and Eileen Atkins character dropped like a fly. Then this week, just as Judi Dench's character was about to get "jiggy" with Michael Gambon, he up and gets pneumonia and dies, as if Dame Judy hadn't been through the mill last week. I have been in floods of tears the last two weeks, but my goodness it's just brilliant. Top Gear and Cranford on one night, who needs to go out eh?
Trafford Centre.......................
OH gosh what a dimwit I was yesterday. I went to the Trafford Centre and it was PACKED! Apparently it was the busiest Saturday of the year. Alan and Alex came along to meet me to see a film and he had to park on Costco's car park as there was no room anywhere.
I got 2 dresses for my Xmas do's, 2 Xmas pressies and got my eyebrows "threaded". This is where they pluck your eyebrows with cotton thread. Heaven knows how they do it, and it HURT - a LOT! But now I look human again.
So we took Alex to see Ratatouille and he hated it and we left before the end. Don't you love those family days out when you organise something for your kids and they ruin it?? Ha Ha Ha!
OH gosh what a dimwit I was yesterday. I went to the Trafford Centre and it was PACKED! Apparently it was the busiest Saturday of the year. Alan and Alex came along to meet me to see a film and he had to park on Costco's car park as there was no room anywhere.
I got 2 dresses for my Xmas do's, 2 Xmas pressies and got my eyebrows "threaded". This is where they pluck your eyebrows with cotton thread. Heaven knows how they do it, and it HURT - a LOT! But now I look human again.
So we took Alex to see Ratatouille and he hated it and we left before the end. Don't you love those family days out when you organise something for your kids and they ruin it?? Ha Ha Ha!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
SALE TIME
I am a long time user of Craftwork Cards products, the yummo stuff they sell really got me started on card making, and of course the fab Julie Hickey works for them and creates luvverly stuff. Anyway they have a mega sale starting tomorrow, read on.....
Sale starts 4pm Friday 30th November with over 500 items in the SALE area, loads of them 75% off!
There is also FREE P&P from Friday 30th November, 4pm through to Monday 3rd December at 4pm
find them at www.craftworkcards.co.uk
I am a long time user of Craftwork Cards products, the yummo stuff they sell really got me started on card making, and of course the fab Julie Hickey works for them and creates luvverly stuff. Anyway they have a mega sale starting tomorrow, read on.....
Sale starts 4pm Friday 30th November with over 500 items in the SALE area, loads of them 75% off!
There is also FREE P&P from Friday 30th November, 4pm through to Monday 3rd December at 4pm
find them at www.craftworkcards.co.uk
Busy Week
Lordy, I have had a busy day. Work has gone bonkeroonie, it's all exciting stuff but it has this nasty habit of interfering with my crafting - the nerve!
AND if anyone else tells me they have bought all their Christmas presents, wrapped 'em and written all their Christmas cards, I'll strangle them with tinsel! They've probably already got their sprouts on too.
I am heading off to the temple of retail therapy - The Trafford Centre on Monday to buy a frock for a Christmas "do" and I have decided I want fab smoky eyeshadow like the Spice Girls in their latest video. Every time I have tried "smokey" I have ended up looking like "I've been in a scrap" so we'll see. I'll have a mooch along to the MAC counter in Selfridges, that can be a right laugh cos they have boys who look like girls on that counter sometimes (yikes!!!).
I'll see if I can buy some pressies too. I am faced with the annual conundrum of getting presents for my "I want suprises but all the ones you get me are going back to the shops cos I hate them" husband. He is my major cause of Christmas stress I can tell you.
I met a lovely lady today called Tara. She lives really nearby and makes cards, really lovely cards they are too. She has a bloggy too here go check it out.
Right I am teeing myself up for I'm a Celeb, I wonder who will win tomorrow , OH MAAAAN! I hope it ain't Janice but since I missed it last night she may have been kicked out already!
Lordy, I have had a busy day. Work has gone bonkeroonie, it's all exciting stuff but it has this nasty habit of interfering with my crafting - the nerve!
AND if anyone else tells me they have bought all their Christmas presents, wrapped 'em and written all their Christmas cards, I'll strangle them with tinsel! They've probably already got their sprouts on too.
I am heading off to the temple of retail therapy - The Trafford Centre on Monday to buy a frock for a Christmas "do" and I have decided I want fab smoky eyeshadow like the Spice Girls in their latest video. Every time I have tried "smokey" I have ended up looking like "I've been in a scrap" so we'll see. I'll have a mooch along to the MAC counter in Selfridges, that can be a right laugh cos they have boys who look like girls on that counter sometimes (yikes!!!).
I'll see if I can buy some pressies too. I am faced with the annual conundrum of getting presents for my "I want suprises but all the ones you get me are going back to the shops cos I hate them" husband. He is my major cause of Christmas stress I can tell you.
I met a lovely lady today called Tara. She lives really nearby and makes cards, really lovely cards they are too. She has a bloggy too here go check it out.
Right I am teeing myself up for I'm a Celeb, I wonder who will win tomorrow , OH MAAAAN! I hope it ain't Janice but since I missed it last night she may have been kicked out already!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Ohhhh my head hurts......
Yesterday I had a very productive day using all of my new SU goodies for a mag project. Nearly done and in record time!
Last night I went to a "candle party", gosh I remember the days when my Friday nights were spent at the Hacienda club in Manchester, now I am just an old saddo! The candles were great and when the candle lady left I showed everyone my SU catalogue and told them all about it. They were very enthusiastic yey!
I drank lots of wine and now I feel soooooooo yucky, Alan has taken Alex out for a few hours so I am watching an old movie and surfing the web, perfect!
Yesterday I had a very productive day using all of my new SU goodies for a mag project. Nearly done and in record time!
Last night I went to a "candle party", gosh I remember the days when my Friday nights were spent at the Hacienda club in Manchester, now I am just an old saddo! The candles were great and when the candle lady left I showed everyone my SU catalogue and told them all about it. They were very enthusiastic yey!
I drank lots of wine and now I feel soooooooo yucky, Alan has taken Alex out for a few hours so I am watching an old movie and surfing the web, perfect!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Stash City!!
Gosh I have been the "queen of parcels" this week. First I got a big box from Stampin' Up! containing my demo kit, then a pizza box from Artbase and another from my gorge friend Sarah Davies from Sarahscards! This girl has twin babies and is still running her shop!!!
Also I got 2 mags from the States, I am expecting some more mags from my cousin and a yummo treat from Ebay - where the heck I am gonna put that lot?
Gosh I have been the "queen of parcels" this week. First I got a big box from Stampin' Up! containing my demo kit, then a pizza box from Artbase and another from my gorge friend Sarah Davies from Sarahscards! This girl has twin babies and is still running her shop!!!
Also I got 2 mags from the States, I am expecting some more mags from my cousin and a yummo treat from Ebay - where the heck I am gonna put that lot?
Thursday, November 22, 2007
High Chair
Awwww I sold Alex's high chair today, well being 5 he doesn't have much need for one now hee hee! I must admit to feeling a bit emotional about it when I thought about all that pureed gunk I lovingly made for him when he was tiny.
As for the rest of the day I am boring everyone stupid with Stampin' Up and I sold my first catalogue to a girl at work.
I am all up and running and it doesn't matter if you don't have a demo in your area, I can send catalogues to you and you can order from me no probs! Don't all rush at once eh???
Awwww I sold Alex's high chair today, well being 5 he doesn't have much need for one now hee hee! I must admit to feeling a bit emotional about it when I thought about all that pureed gunk I lovingly made for him when he was tiny.
As for the rest of the day I am boring everyone stupid with Stampin' Up and I sold my first catalogue to a girl at work.
I am all up and running and it doesn't matter if you don't have a demo in your area, I can send catalogues to you and you can order from me no probs! Don't all rush at once eh???
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
What I am Thinking?
OK it's like TV heroin and I am hooked, I knew if I watched it I would be hooked -arrrrrggggghhh. I am a bit of a snob TV wise and I do not hold with this Reality TV malarky , quite frankly it's a waste of life just watching it (don't even get me started with Big Brother)
I am Celeb.........you know what I am saying! Can you believe that Mark has been voted out?? I reckon the voters have thought "ohhh he is going to get it when he gets out, so let's not vote to keep him in and watch the fireworks" Boy did I squirm when he was being interviewed, he was looking as sick as a parrot. Not a good situation bit of a tricky one all round isn't it?
I don't tend to watch much TV but it's been a bit of a coach potato night for me today. I LOVE "How to look good naked", I want Kwok as my best friend right NOW!! He is such a sweetie he rocks! I look rubbish naked I am signing up right now for that programme!
OK it's like TV heroin and I am hooked, I knew if I watched it I would be hooked -arrrrrggggghhh. I am a bit of a snob TV wise and I do not hold with this Reality TV malarky , quite frankly it's a waste of life just watching it (don't even get me started with Big Brother)
I am Celeb.........you know what I am saying! Can you believe that Mark has been voted out?? I reckon the voters have thought "ohhh he is going to get it when he gets out, so let's not vote to keep him in and watch the fireworks" Boy did I squirm when he was being interviewed, he was looking as sick as a parrot. Not a good situation bit of a tricky one all round isn't it?
I don't tend to watch much TV but it's been a bit of a coach potato night for me today. I LOVE "How to look good naked", I want Kwok as my best friend right NOW!! He is such a sweetie he rocks! I look rubbish naked I am signing up right now for that programme!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Nice Weekend
Well Alan got home nice and early on Friday night which was great. We had a bottle of Champagne (hic!) I have bored the pants off him with my Stampin' Up! news.
We had friends round for dinner last night which was lovely, and today we took Alex to a party. After that we had a very lazy afternoon watching the new Harry Potter DVD - isn't J.K Rowling just a genius, she is like the modern day Enid Blyton, a total phenomenon! Enid isn't popular anymore but I just loved "The Famous Five" and all the St Claire's and Mallory Towers books. I so wished I could got to boarding school, play lacrosse and have midnight feasts from my "tuck box". Ha ha talk about ideas above my station.
Got my hair cut in Knutsford yesterday in the most amazing Aveda salon with chairs that give you a massage when you get your hair washed!!! The reason I mention this is that I am watching Cranford on BBC which was based on Knutsford, that is where Elizabeth Gaskell lived! If you ever visit Cheshire , pop along to Knutsford, it is soooo lovely.
Well Alan got home nice and early on Friday night which was great. We had a bottle of Champagne (hic!) I have bored the pants off him with my Stampin' Up! news.
We had friends round for dinner last night which was lovely, and today we took Alex to a party. After that we had a very lazy afternoon watching the new Harry Potter DVD - isn't J.K Rowling just a genius, she is like the modern day Enid Blyton, a total phenomenon! Enid isn't popular anymore but I just loved "The Famous Five" and all the St Claire's and Mallory Towers books. I so wished I could got to boarding school, play lacrosse and have midnight feasts from my "tuck box". Ha ha talk about ideas above my station.
Got my hair cut in Knutsford yesterday in the most amazing Aveda salon with chairs that give you a massage when you get your hair washed!!! The reason I mention this is that I am watching Cranford on BBC which was based on Knutsford, that is where Elizabeth Gaskell lived! If you ever visit Cheshire , pop along to Knutsford, it is soooo lovely.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Stampin' Up! Day
Well today was the day - the new UK Stampin' Up! catalogue is on the web - weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! V Excited. Been tidying my craft room again tonight and ripping up the hall stairs and landing carpet in readiness for our new carpet on Monday. We have lived with a HIDEOUS red patterned carpet for 6 years but to sell the house we need to "go neutral" great! We'll get to enjoy it for like 2-3 months and then have to move.
Right I am pooped with all the excitement of today, I am off for a glass of wine.
Well today was the day - the new UK Stampin' Up! catalogue is on the web - weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! V Excited. Been tidying my craft room again tonight and ripping up the hall stairs and landing carpet in readiness for our new carpet on Monday. We have lived with a HIDEOUS red patterned carpet for 6 years but to sell the house we need to "go neutral" great! We'll get to enjoy it for like 2-3 months and then have to move.
Right I am pooped with all the excitement of today, I am off for a glass of wine.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Stash Stress
OMG I wanted to show someone at work pics of my craft room today and so I showed him (yes a him) my blog (he's a computer geek just like me gawd love him) I have pics on here from Feb this year when my room was completed. I was so shocked to see how much more stuff I have acquired, it's awful. Of course I have all my Mum's craft stuff as well plus boxes of photos, it's a nightmare. I do have a friend who is just about to start crafting so she is getting a goodie box from me. I must NOT buy any more stash arrrgggghh!!!!
Well Stampin' Up! launches in the UK tomorrow I'll be checking the online catalogue tomorrow first thing - 1 more sleep to go!!!
OMG I wanted to show someone at work pics of my craft room today and so I showed him (yes a him) my blog (he's a computer geek just like me gawd love him) I have pics on here from Feb this year when my room was completed. I was so shocked to see how much more stuff I have acquired, it's awful. Of course I have all my Mum's craft stuff as well plus boxes of photos, it's a nightmare. I do have a friend who is just about to start crafting so she is getting a goodie box from me. I must NOT buy any more stash arrrgggghh!!!!
Well Stampin' Up! launches in the UK tomorrow I'll be checking the online catalogue tomorrow first thing - 1 more sleep to go!!!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Stampin' Up!
I have a new blog which will be devoted to all my Stampin' Up! activities check it out Stampin' Up! With Sam. Not much on here just yet but there will be soon I hope.
Stampin' Up ! launches this Thursday (2 more sleeps to go) and I have signed up to be a demonstrator , so soon I will be able to sell yummy stuff to anyone who is interested. Can't wait!!!
I have a new blog which will be devoted to all my Stampin' Up! activities check it out Stampin' Up! With Sam. Not much on here just yet but there will be soon I hope.
Stampin' Up ! launches this Thursday (2 more sleeps to go) and I have signed up to be a demonstrator , so soon I will be able to sell yummy stuff to anyone who is interested. Can't wait!!!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Waste of a day
OK our house is in serious need of a "de-clutter", the cellar is ram-jam full of books and other paraphernalia. We also have what we call "the baby mountain" which is a HUGE pile of Alex's stuff from 5 years ago.
I also have boxes of stuff from Mum and Dad's house and since we are going to put our house on the market very soon we sooooo need to de-clutter. Lots has gone to the charity shop but a neighbour mentioned that there was a "table top" sale today near where I live.
She had booked a table so I thought I would do the same to get rid of some of the junk. Well my neighbour is a total HOOT, I only met her on Monday, she lives down the road, she is a textile and design lecturer and she ROCKS, trust me to find someone arty to "play with" just as we are about to move (doh!)
ANy-hoo, I spent a couple of hours yesterday dragging stuff out of the cellar and boxing it up, god help my back tomorrow. I then dragged it all to the British Legion in Hartford eagerly awaiting lots of pounds and pennies for my packed table.
YEAH RIGHT, wise up Sam, most of my "stash" was books and I don't want to be a snob but most of the people that shuffled by my stall didn't look like they were culture vultures (if you know what I mean). The upshot was I took £10 and the flipping table was £6 . I had to drag all the stuff back to my car then haul it all back into the house arrrrrrrrrrrrghhh! I am off to the charity shop on Monday I can tell you.
Hubby is just back from a week long trip to China with work. Nice to have him (and his washing) home.
OK our house is in serious need of a "de-clutter", the cellar is ram-jam full of books and other paraphernalia. We also have what we call "the baby mountain" which is a HUGE pile of Alex's stuff from 5 years ago.
I also have boxes of stuff from Mum and Dad's house and since we are going to put our house on the market very soon we sooooo need to de-clutter. Lots has gone to the charity shop but a neighbour mentioned that there was a "table top" sale today near where I live.
She had booked a table so I thought I would do the same to get rid of some of the junk. Well my neighbour is a total HOOT, I only met her on Monday, she lives down the road, she is a textile and design lecturer and she ROCKS, trust me to find someone arty to "play with" just as we are about to move (doh!)
ANy-hoo, I spent a couple of hours yesterday dragging stuff out of the cellar and boxing it up, god help my back tomorrow. I then dragged it all to the British Legion in Hartford eagerly awaiting lots of pounds and pennies for my packed table.
YEAH RIGHT, wise up Sam, most of my "stash" was books and I don't want to be a snob but most of the people that shuffled by my stall didn't look like they were culture vultures (if you know what I mean). The upshot was I took £10 and the flipping table was £6 . I had to drag all the stuff back to my car then haul it all back into the house arrrrrrrrrrrrghhh! I am off to the charity shop on Monday I can tell you.
Hubby is just back from a week long trip to China with work. Nice to have him (and his washing) home.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Back Home
Well Alex and I went up to Edinburgh for the weekend to be with Alan, what a great time we had. Poor Alan had to get up at the crack of dawn to go to Shanghai today. Alex stood at the gate at 8am wearing his little PJ's and waving, I think Alan was a bit choked up. He didn't want to go, but he was in business class, you know, I am very jealous!
This morning, Alex and I went to the most amazing "tourist attraction" in Edinburgh called Mary Kings Close. This is a place I heard about several years ago, the "story" was that there were lots of houses full of people with the plague, these houses were all "bricked up" and the people were left to die. Horrible eh?
Well the real story is that the "closes" or streets, were full of 8 storey tenement houses from the middle ages. New buildings were built in the 19th century and earlier on the same site, basically they "chopped" off the top storeys of these buildings, and so what remained became the foundations of the new buildings.
It was fab, Alex was a bit scared, of all the darks rooms we went into, but overall he loved it, check it out at http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/. It has to be seen to be believed.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH And!!!!! I got home tonight and found the latest issue of Quick and Crafty and my Xmas cards have made the front cover, I am very chuffed - thanks Lynn xx
Well Alex and I went up to Edinburgh for the weekend to be with Alan, what a great time we had. Poor Alan had to get up at the crack of dawn to go to Shanghai today. Alex stood at the gate at 8am wearing his little PJ's and waving, I think Alan was a bit choked up. He didn't want to go, but he was in business class, you know, I am very jealous!
This morning, Alex and I went to the most amazing "tourist attraction" in Edinburgh called Mary Kings Close. This is a place I heard about several years ago, the "story" was that there were lots of houses full of people with the plague, these houses were all "bricked up" and the people were left to die. Horrible eh?
Well the real story is that the "closes" or streets, were full of 8 storey tenement houses from the middle ages. New buildings were built in the 19th century and earlier on the same site, basically they "chopped" off the top storeys of these buildings, and so what remained became the foundations of the new buildings.
It was fab, Alex was a bit scared, of all the darks rooms we went into, but overall he loved it, check it out at http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/. It has to be seen to be believed.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH And!!!!! I got home tonight and found the latest issue of Quick and Crafty and my Xmas cards have made the front cover, I am very chuffed - thanks Lynn xx
Friday, November 02, 2007
I Made a Card!
Ohh blimey - I actually made a card!!! Here it is!
I cut the card out- the scalloped bit using my wishblade. The card base is made from "Kraft" card from Stampin' Up! Alan's cousin lives in the States and has a Stampin' Up! demo near hear, last year she was kind enough to buy me some yummy stuff and ship it over to me. I love the colour of this card and I am hoping to use it in some of my future mag projects. The chipboard letters are naked (ooohhhhhh!!!!) and embellished with green gems. Of course the patterned paper is Basic Grey all grunged up with a distress ink pad.
I am back up in Edinburgh with Alan and Alex, another 4 hour drive which I do NOT like. I am finally sitting in front of the TV with a glass of wine on the sofa which is FAB. Our lounge is being decorated which means I haven't been able to do this for the last week. I've been sitting at the table in the kitchen watching TV, not very comfy.
It's all finished as of today so I'll be moving furniture back in when I get home yey!!!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
I LOVE JEREMY CLARKSON
OK OK I know - 2 posts in one evening is not "normal" but I have watched a little bit of TV tonight, The TV awards. Jeremy Clarkson won a special award tonight and I just LOVE him. He is clever, VERY funny and I never miss Top Gear. I love his non-pc way and the way he speaks. His column in the Sunday Times never fails to make Alan and I laugh our socks off !
He was so good, and of course I also love the Hamster (with his new gorgeous haircut - yum!) and James May!!!
Although Jezzer is known for his TV work with cars, I also really loved the documentary he did on the Victoria Cross.
He went through nearly an hour telling the story of the bravery shown by a guy in the second world war, it was one of those stories which ol' Jezza is so good at telling. He was saying "and then he did this" and "despite all that he still carried on", and "then, this happened" and "unbelievably faced with such adversity having lost most of his men he still carried on", and "in the face of all this he still managed to..." so you were hanging on every word he said.
And the upshot, the "punchline", the whole story about the most amazingly brave man...........................was his own father in - law. A man so modest that Jeremy did not know of his bravery , a man he knew as an executive in the oil industry was in fact a war hero, who never spoke of his medal. Great story eh??
OK OK I know - 2 posts in one evening is not "normal" but I have watched a little bit of TV tonight, The TV awards. Jeremy Clarkson won a special award tonight and I just LOVE him. He is clever, VERY funny and I never miss Top Gear. I love his non-pc way and the way he speaks. His column in the Sunday Times never fails to make Alan and I laugh our socks off !
He was so good, and of course I also love the Hamster (with his new gorgeous haircut - yum!) and James May!!!
Although Jezzer is known for his TV work with cars, I also really loved the documentary he did on the Victoria Cross.
He went through nearly an hour telling the story of the bravery shown by a guy in the second world war, it was one of those stories which ol' Jezza is so good at telling. He was saying "and then he did this" and "despite all that he still carried on", and "then, this happened" and "unbelievably faced with such adversity having lost most of his men he still carried on", and "in the face of all this he still managed to..." so you were hanging on every word he said.
And the upshot, the "punchline", the whole story about the most amazingly brave man...........................was his own father in - law. A man so modest that Jeremy did not know of his bravery , a man he knew as an executive in the oil industry was in fact a war hero, who never spoke of his medal. Great story eh??
Stampin' Up!
Well I have decided to take the plunge and become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. This fabbo company are coming to Europe including good old Blighty on the 15th November and I am a huge fan of their stuff. Although I won't have time just yet to actually do demos and partys I will be able to supply stamps and accessories to anyone who wants to buy. I will post pics of what I manage to create so you can see the sort of products they produce. Check out the online catalogue at www.stampinup.com LUSH. There are lots of papercrafting gals just gagging for SU to launch here!
I am based in Cheshire at the moment - relocating to Edinburgh sometime in the next 3-4 months so I will be able to take orders for both places at the moment since I spend every other weekend in Edinburgh - yey!!!
Anyway enough of that - suffice to say I will still be using other products in my mag projects, which reminds me , I must add more pics of my more recent stuff to my Flicker account. I have just had some cards published in another mag "Complete Cardmaking" with the fabbo "Build a Bloom" set from Banana Frog. This set seems to have been a real fave with a lot of designers.
I popped over to see Sarah of Sarah's Cards on Monday,ohhhhhhhhhhhh she has just had a BIG delivery of the most GORGE stuff, I can't divulge what it all was since some of them are for here fabbo kits - she now does cardmaking kits as well as scrapbook kits. All I can say is keep your eye on her site for the new goodies to be uploaded. This kid has twins and is still doing the business!! She and Rebecca had made the most fabulous acetate mini book kit for the UK Scrappers cyber crop.
Right I am off - our road is teeming with trick or treaters
Well I have decided to take the plunge and become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. This fabbo company are coming to Europe including good old Blighty on the 15th November and I am a huge fan of their stuff. Although I won't have time just yet to actually do demos and partys I will be able to supply stamps and accessories to anyone who wants to buy. I will post pics of what I manage to create so you can see the sort of products they produce. Check out the online catalogue at www.stampinup.com LUSH. There are lots of papercrafting gals just gagging for SU to launch here!
I am based in Cheshire at the moment - relocating to Edinburgh sometime in the next 3-4 months so I will be able to take orders for both places at the moment since I spend every other weekend in Edinburgh - yey!!!
Anyway enough of that - suffice to say I will still be using other products in my mag projects, which reminds me , I must add more pics of my more recent stuff to my Flicker account. I have just had some cards published in another mag "Complete Cardmaking" with the fabbo "Build a Bloom" set from Banana Frog. This set seems to have been a real fave with a lot of designers.
I popped over to see Sarah of Sarah's Cards on Monday,ohhhhhhhhhhhh she has just had a BIG delivery of the most GORGE stuff, I can't divulge what it all was since some of them are for here fabbo kits - she now does cardmaking kits as well as scrapbook kits. All I can say is keep your eye on her site for the new goodies to be uploaded. This kid has twins and is still doing the business!! She and Rebecca had made the most fabulous acetate mini book kit for the UK Scrappers cyber crop.
Right I am off - our road is teeming with trick or treaters
Saturday, October 27, 2007
SECC ............grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Well I was fortunate to be North of the border this weekend, as I could go to the Hobby Crafts show at the SECC.
Craftwork Cards, Art from the Heart and Hobby Horse Crafts were all there, which was great and that was where I said hi and got big hugs from Julie Hickey but to be honest the rest of the show was very disappointing. The booths were tiny and it was very crowded. The organisers must have made a lot of money but I was not impressed! The crafters North of the Border are not well served with this show at all. I don't want to go to a show to see stands selling gold chains or nail varnish - come on ICHF make it easier for the "real" born and bred craft shops to have a real go at selling their wares in Scotland. OK so the NEC is more central and it is expensive to exhibit but it would be nice to see more shops at the SECC next year, there was a lot of cut price tat there this year and as member of the public I do begrudge paying £6.50 for that!
OK this post may not make me popular but I am mad!!!!
Well I was fortunate to be North of the border this weekend, as I could go to the Hobby Crafts show at the SECC.
Craftwork Cards, Art from the Heart and Hobby Horse Crafts were all there, which was great and that was where I said hi and got big hugs from Julie Hickey but to be honest the rest of the show was very disappointing. The booths were tiny and it was very crowded. The organisers must have made a lot of money but I was not impressed! The crafters North of the Border are not well served with this show at all. I don't want to go to a show to see stands selling gold chains or nail varnish - come on ICHF make it easier for the "real" born and bred craft shops to have a real go at selling their wares in Scotland. OK so the NEC is more central and it is expensive to exhibit but it would be nice to see more shops at the SECC next year, there was a lot of cut price tat there this year and as member of the public I do begrudge paying £6.50 for that!
OK this post may not make me popular but I am mad!!!!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Brrrrrrr................
Well we are back (thank god you all say, no more pics of flippin South Africa!!)
We got home and the house was like a freezer, hubbie (Scottish - ahem!) likes to turn down the heating whilst we are away and this time the boiler had conked out. It was FREEEEEZIN'
I was so glad to get home after the overnight flight. I am such a pain when I fly, I am pretty high maintenance most of the time anyway (poor Alan) but I am a complete nightmare on a plane. First off on a 12 hour overnight flight I see no reason why I shouldn't be in first class, I actually feel extremely hard done by when I am not. OK so we can't afford it, it's ridiculoulsy expensive but I seethe with resentment at those who can. Silly but true. I couldn't sleep and as Alex was sleeping on me I couldn't move either. Eventually when I thought I couldn't hold on any longer for the loo I managed to wriggle out over a sleeping Alex and Alan. At one point I was stuck astride Alan facing the back of the plane, nearly dislocated my ankle getting out of that position!!
I consoled myself with 2 movies, "Knocked up" and "Vanity Fair" talk about from one extreme to another! "knocked up" is hilarious (lot's of use of the "f" word though).
So we got home, unpacked then packed again and driven up to Edinburgh for the rest of the half term hols. I have been thinking about all my new craft stuff that I got at Harrogate and so I have packed up my new Cricut and my 2 new carts that arrived when I was away "Zooballoo" and "mini monograms" so I am going to play with those later. I may be posting some pics of my efforts with some luck.I am also off to the SECC on Saturday for the HobbyCraft fair, looking forward to seeing some familiar faces there!
Well we are back (thank god you all say, no more pics of flippin South Africa!!)
We got home and the house was like a freezer, hubbie (Scottish - ahem!) likes to turn down the heating whilst we are away and this time the boiler had conked out. It was FREEEEEZIN'
I was so glad to get home after the overnight flight. I am such a pain when I fly, I am pretty high maintenance most of the time anyway (poor Alan) but I am a complete nightmare on a plane. First off on a 12 hour overnight flight I see no reason why I shouldn't be in first class, I actually feel extremely hard done by when I am not. OK so we can't afford it, it's ridiculoulsy expensive but I seethe with resentment at those who can. Silly but true. I couldn't sleep and as Alex was sleeping on me I couldn't move either. Eventually when I thought I couldn't hold on any longer for the loo I managed to wriggle out over a sleeping Alex and Alan. At one point I was stuck astride Alan facing the back of the plane, nearly dislocated my ankle getting out of that position!!
I consoled myself with 2 movies, "Knocked up" and "Vanity Fair" talk about from one extreme to another! "knocked up" is hilarious (lot's of use of the "f" word though).
So we got home, unpacked then packed again and driven up to Edinburgh for the rest of the half term hols. I have been thinking about all my new craft stuff that I got at Harrogate and so I have packed up my new Cricut and my 2 new carts that arrived when I was away "Zooballoo" and "mini monograms" so I am going to play with those later. I may be posting some pics of my efforts with some luck.I am also off to the SECC on Saturday for the HobbyCraft fair, looking forward to seeing some familiar faces there!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Last Day in Cape Town
Well today is our last full day in Cape Town, we leave at teatime tomorrow, we've had a wonderful time, the weather has been great.
Yesterday we went over to the V&A Waterfront for retail therapy and lunch. After that we stopped off at Clifton beach, well there are 4 beaches in Clifton, and they are all what you could call "the perfect beach". They are ringed by the most GORGEOUS beach houses, check out the ones behind Alan and Alex in the photo. How the other half live eh? Alan noticed that most of them had 20 year old blondes on their balconies (grrrr!) and wondered if they were included in the house price "ha flippin ha!".
Here's a pic of Alex writing his name in the sand.
Later on we went for dinner and Alex has been kept amused by a colouring book for most of the holiday (he likes to colour everything black and we keep remembering the sketch in the The Fast Show where Charlie Higson is an artist and says "black black everything is black!" and then tips his easel over). Anyway he has also been very taken with some teeny motorbikes which I bought a pack of for £1.50 . They come as something looking like a square credit card, you pop out the (microscopic) pieces and assemble them. Best £1.50 I have ever spent and I will be stocking up again on my return to Blighty. Check out the concentration!
Well today is our last full day in Cape Town, we leave at teatime tomorrow, we've had a wonderful time, the weather has been great.
Yesterday we went over to the V&A Waterfront for retail therapy and lunch. After that we stopped off at Clifton beach, well there are 4 beaches in Clifton, and they are all what you could call "the perfect beach". They are ringed by the most GORGEOUS beach houses, check out the ones behind Alan and Alex in the photo. How the other half live eh? Alan noticed that most of them had 20 year old blondes on their balconies (grrrr!) and wondered if they were included in the house price "ha flippin ha!".
Here's a pic of Alex writing his name in the sand.
Later on we went for dinner and Alex has been kept amused by a colouring book for most of the holiday (he likes to colour everything black and we keep remembering the sketch in the The Fast Show where Charlie Higson is an artist and says "black black everything is black!" and then tips his easel over). Anyway he has also been very taken with some teeny motorbikes which I bought a pack of for £1.50 . They come as something looking like a square credit card, you pop out the (microscopic) pieces and assemble them. Best £1.50 I have ever spent and I will be stocking up again on my return to Blighty. Check out the concentration!
Today I am off for a facial and some "me time" at the 12 Apostles Hotel and Spa (hark at me!) Apparently it was voted one of the worlds top 100 hotels so I hope it's good. Mind you having read a review on trip advisor one person said it smelled of "burger king" , however they were from Switzerland and probably have higher standards than a gal from Warrington.
I am hoping they don't "exfoliate" my tan off my face. The big joke at work is that I never have a tan - I'll be smothering my fizzog with "fake tan" if they do hee hee!
I am looking forward to getting home and doing some crafting, I saw copies of Crafts Beautiful and Simply Cards and Papercraft in the mall yesterday. I am awaiting delivery of 2 cricut cartridges and something EXTRA exciting from the US. I have also been given use of a Xyron Wishblade and will be creating some projects using that, it's great fun.
As soon as we land we'll be packing up and heading up to Edinburgh to spend the last few days of half term and look again at houses. Not looking forward to the flight home, it's an overnighter and I just can't sleep on planes at all. Well it's a small price to pay for such a wonderful holiday.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Penguin City
Well here is a pic of Alan, getting close to a penguin in Boulder Bay, it's a lovely place, a beautiful little swimming cove with penguins dotted here and there, I was paddling and one penguin shot past me underwater like a little bullet, it was brilliant.
They are such pleasant little chaps and just sit about quite tame , under the rocks, bless em!
We've been out for some lovely meals, here are the three of us, full of good wine and food (apart from Alex of course)
South Africa is currently gripped by Rugby World Cup Fever, as I type this, we are a couple of hours before kick off, there have been people driving up and down the sea front at Camps Bay all afternoon, posing, waving flags and beeping horns. There is a LOT of money here, lots of BMW's Mercs and other covertibles full of gorgeous young things!
Well here is a pic of Alan, getting close to a penguin in Boulder Bay, it's a lovely place, a beautiful little swimming cove with penguins dotted here and there, I was paddling and one penguin shot past me underwater like a little bullet, it was brilliant.
They are such pleasant little chaps and just sit about quite tame , under the rocks, bless em!
We've been out for some lovely meals, here are the three of us, full of good wine and food (apart from Alex of course)
South Africa is currently gripped by Rugby World Cup Fever, as I type this, we are a couple of hours before kick off, there have been people driving up and down the sea front at Camps Bay all afternoon, posing, waving flags and beeping horns. There is a LOT of money here, lots of BMW's Mercs and other covertibles full of gorgeous young things!Anyway we are having a Brai ( i think that's how you spell it) tonight, which is SA for Bar-be-que.
OH OH almost forgot, we were whale watching from our balcony this morning - what a sight!
So I am off to prepare for the rugby - may the best team win!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Lions and Tigers and Bears............Oh My!
On Monday, we decided to take a tour of the Winelands with a guy in a private tour bus, we asked him if he would take us through one of the townships. We were expecting a 90 mile an hour trip through but it wasn't like that at all. We'd seen the townships on the way in from the airport and were shocked, there are huge areas of run down housing and, well, what I can only describe as shacks. You would think that these are just lawless awful places to be, but although there is poverty things aren't quite what you might think. I have no photos, I felt it would not be the right thing to do, I am also not politician so I am not going to make a comment, but it was worth seeing and we did it in a very respectful way.
OK well, not quite but here is a list of animals we have seen this week
Whales
Cheetahs
Penguins
More whales
And these things.................??
Lord only knows what these dudes are, but one of 'em was eating - yep EATING a straw, so they get my vote for being the most whacked out animals I have seen this week. I am thinking they are definitely related to guinea pigs or rats.
So apologies about there being no Whale pics, but believe me, my camera is not good enough to take pics of whales and I had a pair of binoculars welded to my face for quite a long time, in fact an almost headache inducing amount of time. There are no words to describe how flipping cool it is to see a REAL LIVE WHALE – we were in Hermanus today, which is just the Whale watching capital of the world. The weather was gorgeous, the place was gorgeous and we went to the most wonderful seafood restaurant right on the rocks. Basically we had wine, food and whales errrrrr perfection methinks.
We have been up to all sorts this week, we've been to the V&A Waterfront, check out the view...the clouds were tipping over the edge of Table Mountain like a witches cauldron,
After that we went to the Aquarium and saw the most fab stuff including this chap, I love Rockhoppers
On Monday, we decided to take a tour of the Winelands with a guy in a private tour bus, we asked him if he would take us through one of the townships. We were expecting a 90 mile an hour trip through but it wasn't like that at all. We'd seen the townships on the way in from the airport and were shocked, there are huge areas of run down housing and, well, what I can only describe as shacks. You would think that these are just lawless awful places to be, but although there is poverty things aren't quite what you might think. I have no photos, I felt it would not be the right thing to do, I am also not politician so I am not going to make a comment, but it was worth seeing and we did it in a very respectful way.We went on to the Winelands from there and tasted lots of wine, we didn't spit any out (hic). We visited Stellenbosch for 4 Wine tastings, here we all are
Check out the skirt, a la Sienna Miller about 2 years ago with her trend setting gypsy skirt and vest combo – OK so I look more like I ate Sienna Miller here!!!
Cheetahs do not like BIG skirts,we visited the Cheetah outreach centre and saw the most beautiful animals, but one hissed at me when I crouched down near to it on the other side of the fence. I was quickly told by the keeper to stand up! Here though is one of the baby Cheetahs.... very cute and just lying chilled out right up against the fence.
Phew – a mammoth post, thanks for sticking around.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Taking it easy
Well we are still having a wonderful time here in Camps Bay, I thought I would share a few picures taken from the balcony of our apartment. We have been taking it easy so far with some lovely meals and just enjoying the sunshine
Last night we went to a lovely seafood restaurant which does Tepanyaki and Sushi, we decided to go for the tepanyaki option which came with Miso soup, Alex loved the soup -that kid amazes me, I for one think Miso tastes a bit yukky but he did very well and we had some giant prawns which he loved too!
I am totally blown away by what we have seen so far here, we are planning a couple of trips out in the coming days including a trip to the Winelands and Boulder Bay where there are loads of penguins. Apparently there were dolphins in the bay visible from our apartment yesterday morning, but we were pretty tired after our travelling and weren't up early enough to see them. Fingers crossed they come along again soon.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Heaven
Words cannot describe the beauty of where we are right now. We arrived in Cape town just before 8am this morning, picked up our hire car and drove to Camps bay. We had to wait until 2pm to get into our apartment, so went for a drive about 5 mins away and we saw the most amazing sight 2 whales in the sea, probably about 200 yards off shore. Apparently it's quite unusual to see them here and we were so excited! We just saw lots of people with camera and binoculars and stopped to gawp with them.
We then arrived at our apartment and it is soooooooooo gorgeous, just above the beach with the most amazing wrap round balcony we love it - pics to arrive very soon. The sea is just awesome with HUGE mountains behind, and the weather is HOT HOT HOT - yey!!!!
Words cannot describe the beauty of where we are right now. We arrived in Cape town just before 8am this morning, picked up our hire car and drove to Camps bay. We had to wait until 2pm to get into our apartment, so went for a drive about 5 mins away and we saw the most amazing sight 2 whales in the sea, probably about 200 yards off shore. Apparently it's quite unusual to see them here and we were so excited! We just saw lots of people with camera and binoculars and stopped to gawp with them.
We then arrived at our apartment and it is soooooooooo gorgeous, just above the beach with the most amazing wrap round balcony we love it - pics to arrive very soon. The sea is just awesome with HUGE mountains behind, and the weather is HOT HOT HOT - yey!!!!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
We're on our Way
Yep we are en- route to Cape Town, yey!!!
The fact that my hubby does a lot of travelling is a BIG drag most of the time - however, when it comes to holiday time we do get the chance to go into the BA Exec lounge. Yey and double yey, I am sitting drinking a loverly Chardonnay (hic!) and smurfing the t'interweb.
We've now got a 10 hour night flight ahead of us (not tooo keen on that idea but it should be fab when we get there.
I am a TOTAL gadget head but it isn't till you get into an airport and you see everyone on mobile phones, laptops and Blackberrys that I realise how gripped we all are with technology.
OH MY GOODNESS, I wish I could share this with you via a photo, but a completely whacky elderley lady just walked by in a crocheted jump suit - yes A CROCHETED JUMP SUIT, in orange , brown and cream....................... how cool/mad is that, I am totally impressed. Even Alan's eyes popped out ha ha!!
Well I'll soon be packed into a seat like a battery hen, sharing a loo with 300 other people so wish me luck and good weather at the other end!!! And hey OH MY LORD JUMPSUIT WOMAN JUST WALKED PAST AGAIN
Aaaaaand relax, if Heidi Swapp can travel from the US to Bejing with 5 kids then Alan and I can manage it with one ( I hope)
I'll keep you posted on our trip!
Yep we are en- route to Cape Town, yey!!!
The fact that my hubby does a lot of travelling is a BIG drag most of the time - however, when it comes to holiday time we do get the chance to go into the BA Exec lounge. Yey and double yey, I am sitting drinking a loverly Chardonnay (hic!) and smurfing the t'interweb.
We've now got a 10 hour night flight ahead of us (not tooo keen on that idea but it should be fab when we get there.
I am a TOTAL gadget head but it isn't till you get into an airport and you see everyone on mobile phones, laptops and Blackberrys that I realise how gripped we all are with technology.
OH MY GOODNESS, I wish I could share this with you via a photo, but a completely whacky elderley lady just walked by in a crocheted jump suit - yes A CROCHETED JUMP SUIT, in orange , brown and cream....................... how cool/mad is that, I am totally impressed. Even Alan's eyes popped out ha ha!!
Well I'll soon be packed into a seat like a battery hen, sharing a loo with 300 other people so wish me luck and good weather at the other end!!! And hey OH MY LORD JUMPSUIT WOMAN JUST WALKED PAST AGAIN
Aaaaaand relax, if Heidi Swapp can travel from the US to Bejing with 5 kids then Alan and I can manage it with one ( I hope)
I'll keep you posted on our trip!
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Great Idea - Not!
Trust me, like an idiot I decided to apply "St Tropez Tan" today so that I don't blind everyone in Cape Town with my pale legs. I was kinda hoping to lose a stone in weight and look tanned before I get there, but it's not easy to achieve such results in a week!
Anyway last time I applied St Tropez, I looked like I had been "tangoed", it looked like Stevie Wonder had put in on and I spent a week trying to scrub the damn stuff off, I was red raw for days. So after this disaster, I chucked the stuff in the back of the cupboard vowing not to touch in again.
As Julia Roberts says to the shop assistants in "Pretty Woman"- "BIG mistake, HUGE....." yep I should have chucked it out, but the dumb optimist in me decided to give it another go.
Well it has been lurking in that cupboard for a couple of years (oops!) and I think it might have "gone off" , I followed the instructions to the letter, but my legs are GREY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arrggggghhh!
Will I ever learn................erm Nope!!!
Trust me, like an idiot I decided to apply "St Tropez Tan" today so that I don't blind everyone in Cape Town with my pale legs. I was kinda hoping to lose a stone in weight and look tanned before I get there, but it's not easy to achieve such results in a week!
Anyway last time I applied St Tropez, I looked like I had been "tangoed", it looked like Stevie Wonder had put in on and I spent a week trying to scrub the damn stuff off, I was red raw for days. So after this disaster, I chucked the stuff in the back of the cupboard vowing not to touch in again.
As Julia Roberts says to the shop assistants in "Pretty Woman"- "BIG mistake, HUGE....." yep I should have chucked it out, but the dumb optimist in me decided to give it another go.
Well it has been lurking in that cupboard for a couple of years (oops!) and I think it might have "gone off" , I followed the instructions to the letter, but my legs are GREY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arrggggghhh!
Will I ever learn................erm Nope!!!
Friday, October 05, 2007
I'm Back
OK well I am still totally "cheesed off" about the house thing, but hey ho, that's life, gotta just get on with it and keep looking.
I have had a couple of bits of good news this week, first off I was idly flicking through my latest copy of Quick and Crafty and I am one of the designers listed as a contender for best general designer in Q&C. Aceville hold annual awards for designer, products and shops. OK I know I am not going to win as anyone voting can add a person of their choice but I am still chuffed about it. The lovely Paula Pascual is also nominated in the same category.
The other bit of news I can't really share, but I am being sent something very exciting to play with and I am very happy.
Still loving my Cricut made a card with it the other night but forgot to take a piccie - DOH!!
I am doing some creating today once the little fella is packed off to school and I have dropped the ironing off (la-di-flippin'-da) Wish me some inspiration xx
OK well I am still totally "cheesed off" about the house thing, but hey ho, that's life, gotta just get on with it and keep looking.
I have had a couple of bits of good news this week, first off I was idly flicking through my latest copy of Quick and Crafty and I am one of the designers listed as a contender for best general designer in Q&C. Aceville hold annual awards for designer, products and shops. OK I know I am not going to win as anyone voting can add a person of their choice but I am still chuffed about it. The lovely Paula Pascual is also nominated in the same category.
The other bit of news I can't really share, but I am being sent something very exciting to play with and I am very happy.
Still loving my Cricut made a card with it the other night but forgot to take a piccie - DOH!!
I am doing some creating today once the little fella is packed off to school and I have dropped the ironing off (la-di-flippin'-da) Wish me some inspiration xx
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Monday, October 01, 2007
The Suspense is Killing Me
I think I might take a knock out pill which will make me sleep till Wednesday morning. Alex would have to walk to school and back and sort out his own food etc, but it would save me the stress of tomorrow. Tomorrow is where we find out if we have "won" the wretched house. OK so the house isn't wretched at all, but if I don't convince myself that it is a dump then I'll be heartbroken when we don't get it ("when" - do you notice even more self preservation?). Every time the phone rings tomorrow I am sure I will have a heart attack arrrrrgghhhh!!!!!
PLEASE let's hope it goes in our favour.
Hey ho, as Doris Day once sang "que sera sera" - there'll be others..............
Anyway if you could just keep everything crossed for me that would be super fab and groovy - ta very much xxxx
I think I might take a knock out pill which will make me sleep till Wednesday morning. Alex would have to walk to school and back and sort out his own food etc, but it would save me the stress of tomorrow. Tomorrow is where we find out if we have "won" the wretched house. OK so the house isn't wretched at all, but if I don't convince myself that it is a dump then I'll be heartbroken when we don't get it ("when" - do you notice even more self preservation?). Every time the phone rings tomorrow I am sure I will have a heart attack arrrrrgghhhh!!!!!
PLEASE let's hope it goes in our favour.
Hey ho, as Doris Day once sang "que sera sera" - there'll be others..............
Anyway if you could just keep everything crossed for me that would be super fab and groovy - ta very much xxxx
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Send Me Your Karma
ohhhh exciting times ahead, or very likely, potential heartache............
Let me explain, we have found THE house, THE one, THE most gorgeous house in Edinburgh and I am trying my best not to get hysterical.Why? , well because the house buying system in Scotland seems to have been invented by a sadistic lunatic on crack cocaine. Imagine the scenario, you find a house you really, no like REALLY love and you say "oh Mr House Seller, we are loving your house and would really like to buy it, how much do we owe you" Mr House Seller replies "oh well, we have come up with a totally random number of pounds we think it is worth, but we thought it would be good fun to play a game called "offers over", this is where you have to guess how much will be the highest bid for our house and if you offer us the largest amount you have won the contest!!!!!!!!" Isn't that fun???? ERRRR Nope, it means (possibly) BIG upset and dismay and right now our little family could do with some serious luck (queue the WOE is me speech). Any how, we are entering this game of madness this week and in the next 5 days or so will know if we are going to get to live in a place which ticks all of our boxes or.............Not. Please wish us the biggest amount of luck...........................................
Anyway, enough drama. We have had a wonderful weekend. We had lunch in the most eclectic pub in Edinburgh called the Canny Mans, it's the strangest place I have ever seen, with memorabilia, all over the place and the most incredible range of champagne on sale (yey! -not that I had any!!) AND the longest sandwich menu possibly on the planet. We followed this up with a trip to the National Museum of Scotland and it was great, however we only saw a fraction of it. It's free (you gotta love those Scots!) so we'll be back very soon.
We tracked down a wee (get me with the Scottish lingo) Scotland strip for Alex and he also took a fancy to a Fancy Dress shop (no pun intended) where Alan bought some "bubba teeth". These things are HILARIOUS. They just look awful, think Austin Powers teeth but worse. Alan has perfect teeth and he put these in his mouth and I just about wet my pants laughing at him. When we got back to the flat, I secretly put them in so I could suprise him, but I sat there sniggering and gave the game away. They should be prescribed to all people who are feeling "blue" I defy anyone not to laugh like a drain!
Well a 4 hour drive and I am back home. I love coming home to see what mail I have, sad but true, I am addicted to mail, I have been waiting for some mags to arrive from Papercrafts mag in the USA and they did but someone has opened the package and nicked one them (the most expensive one I might add) I am LIVID, OK it's only a mag, but I love mags and it's still stealing. So if any of you know where I can get the latest edition of "Card Creations " in the UK, give me a shout.
Phew long post!!
ohhhh exciting times ahead, or very likely, potential heartache............
Let me explain, we have found THE house, THE one, THE most gorgeous house in Edinburgh and I am trying my best not to get hysterical.Why? , well because the house buying system in Scotland seems to have been invented by a sadistic lunatic on crack cocaine. Imagine the scenario, you find a house you really, no like REALLY love and you say "oh Mr House Seller, we are loving your house and would really like to buy it, how much do we owe you" Mr House Seller replies "oh well, we have come up with a totally random number of pounds we think it is worth, but we thought it would be good fun to play a game called "offers over", this is where you have to guess how much will be the highest bid for our house and if you offer us the largest amount you have won the contest!!!!!!!!" Isn't that fun???? ERRRR Nope, it means (possibly) BIG upset and dismay and right now our little family could do with some serious luck (queue the WOE is me speech). Any how, we are entering this game of madness this week and in the next 5 days or so will know if we are going to get to live in a place which ticks all of our boxes or.............Not. Please wish us the biggest amount of luck...........................................
Anyway, enough drama. We have had a wonderful weekend. We had lunch in the most eclectic pub in Edinburgh called the Canny Mans, it's the strangest place I have ever seen, with memorabilia, all over the place and the most incredible range of champagne on sale (yey! -not that I had any!!) AND the longest sandwich menu possibly on the planet. We followed this up with a trip to the National Museum of Scotland and it was great, however we only saw a fraction of it. It's free (you gotta love those Scots!) so we'll be back very soon.
We tracked down a wee (get me with the Scottish lingo) Scotland strip for Alex and he also took a fancy to a Fancy Dress shop (no pun intended) where Alan bought some "bubba teeth". These things are HILARIOUS. They just look awful, think Austin Powers teeth but worse. Alan has perfect teeth and he put these in his mouth and I just about wet my pants laughing at him. When we got back to the flat, I secretly put them in so I could suprise him, but I sat there sniggering and gave the game away. They should be prescribed to all people who are feeling "blue" I defy anyone not to laugh like a drain!
Well a 4 hour drive and I am back home. I love coming home to see what mail I have, sad but true, I am addicted to mail, I have been waiting for some mags to arrive from Papercrafts mag in the USA and they did but someone has opened the package and nicked one them (the most expensive one I might add) I am LIVID, OK it's only a mag, but I love mags and it's still stealing. So if any of you know where I can get the latest edition of "Card Creations " in the UK, give me a shout.
Phew long post!!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Love Bug
I am in lurve - BIG LURVE with my Cricut Expression, it is just so flipping cool. I admit to knowing SFA about the way it worked before I bought it but my ebay auctions have helped me fund it .
Rachel from Hobby Horse Crafts did a demo at the Great Northern Papercrafts Extravaganza at Harrogate first thing on Sunday morning - Sarah and I watched with bated breath and Rachel said there was only one left and her Mum was bringing it up from Derbyshire from the shop. Her demo was so good I haven't even needed to open the manual to make it work.
Sarah was like "tell her you want it" since there was an eager lady behind us. So I did and was soooo glad. It is so clever. Alex loves it too!! I have even been telling people (non crafting ones) at work about it and even they like the sound of it!
Talking of ebay, I went to the PO to send about 15 parcels at 4.45 today, and had the slooooooooooooowest man at the teeny tiny post office in Chelford. Bless him - he told me at the end that Weds is when all the post offices upload their figures etc so it makes the system very slow - then I felt bad. I held up the queue behind me and felt the need to apologise profusely. The poor lady behind me had a teeny parcel to post but she was so sweet and didn't mind at all!
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - almost forgot, I went out to lunch today in Alderley Edge ( think Man Utd footballers, ladies who lunch etc) and when we were on our way back to the car park a rather nice Bentley Turbo drove in - so we all knew it could be a footballer and who steps out but Ronaldo and bobs into Somerfield - and gosh was he gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!
I am in lurve - BIG LURVE with my Cricut Expression, it is just so flipping cool. I admit to knowing SFA about the way it worked before I bought it but my ebay auctions have helped me fund it .
Rachel from Hobby Horse Crafts did a demo at the Great Northern Papercrafts Extravaganza at Harrogate first thing on Sunday morning - Sarah and I watched with bated breath and Rachel said there was only one left and her Mum was bringing it up from Derbyshire from the shop. Her demo was so good I haven't even needed to open the manual to make it work.
Sarah was like "tell her you want it" since there was an eager lady behind us. So I did and was soooo glad. It is so clever. Alex loves it too!! I have even been telling people (non crafting ones) at work about it and even they like the sound of it!
Talking of ebay, I went to the PO to send about 15 parcels at 4.45 today, and had the slooooooooooooowest man at the teeny tiny post office in Chelford. Bless him - he told me at the end that Weds is when all the post offices upload their figures etc so it makes the system very slow - then I felt bad. I held up the queue behind me and felt the need to apologise profusely. The poor lady behind me had a teeny parcel to post but she was so sweet and didn't mind at all!
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - almost forgot, I went out to lunch today in Alderley Edge ( think Man Utd footballers, ladies who lunch etc) and when we were on our way back to the car park a rather nice Bentley Turbo drove in - so we all knew it could be a footballer and who steps out but Ronaldo and bobs into Somerfield - and gosh was he gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Harrogate
Ohhhh Sazzles and I had a fab time at Harrogate today, it was so nice to see her and her baby twins, they are sooooo cute.
We arrived at Harrogate bright and early and I headed straight to Hobby Horse Crafts to see their Cricut demo.............oh dear a Cricut Expression just fell into my shopping basket, I am so naughty, but I really loved it, so I got it.
The best bit of the day was catching up with Sarah and also seeing all the lovely gals who have been so nice to me over the last few months. I got big hugs from Julie Hickey, Diane Grimshaw and of course Beverly Fletcher, it was so nice to see them all, such nice ladies. Bev's stand looked fab, lots of yummy stuff. Craftwork Cards had lots of scrummy stuff as always and the Practical Publishing team were alse there in force (that crew are mad and I love 'em!!!)
I was a little bit sad from time to time as Mum and I always used to go to this show so I missed her lots. But it was also a lovely day out, I can just imagine her saying "you can't buy that Cricut, you'll never use it!!" But I will Mum , I promise xxx
Ohhhh Sazzles and I had a fab time at Harrogate today, it was so nice to see her and her baby twins, they are sooooo cute.
We arrived at Harrogate bright and early and I headed straight to Hobby Horse Crafts to see their Cricut demo.............oh dear a Cricut Expression just fell into my shopping basket, I am so naughty, but I really loved it, so I got it.
The best bit of the day was catching up with Sarah and also seeing all the lovely gals who have been so nice to me over the last few months. I got big hugs from Julie Hickey, Diane Grimshaw and of course Beverly Fletcher, it was so nice to see them all, such nice ladies. Bev's stand looked fab, lots of yummy stuff. Craftwork Cards had lots of scrummy stuff as always and the Practical Publishing team were alse there in force (that crew are mad and I love 'em!!!)
I was a little bit sad from time to time as Mum and I always used to go to this show so I missed her lots. But it was also a lovely day out, I can just imagine her saying "you can't buy that Cricut, you'll never use it!!" But I will Mum , I promise xxx
Friday, September 21, 2007
Shopping
OK retail therapy is helping me through my sadness at the moment, bolstered by my ebay sales thank goodness!
Went to John Lewis today................I LOVE JL, but I live in Cheshire, and quite frankly in some areas (not where I live) there are people who have waaay too much money and not much sense. Ladies who lunch, who need a slap if you ask me are in plentiful supply. The car park was full of v expensive cars and most of them seem to park in those "pick up or drop off zones" It makes me so mad, these are people who are so full of themselves and so darned rich they don't care where they park their ridiculously expensive cars........................it makes my blood boil. An American friend of mine used to use the phrase "please hurry I'm very rich" which used to crack me up ,but it really applies to some of these self important gits!!!
AAAAAAANY way, I had a nice day despite my Victor Meldrew tendencies.
The best part of the day was coming home to find the latest edition of Simply Cards and Papercraft waiting for me, and my cards are featured on the front cover too! It was the last project I did before Mum died and I am so pleased to see it in print. I don't do a lot for this mag, but Diane the editor has been very nice to me............so big wave to Diane!!
I am off to Harrogate on Sunday with my pal Sazzzles (of Sarah's cards) and I haven't seen her for months so I am really looking forward to seeing her, having big chats and spending dosh on stash..................and of course seeing the gorgeous twins.
I'll let you know what I buy!
OK retail therapy is helping me through my sadness at the moment, bolstered by my ebay sales thank goodness!
Went to John Lewis today................I LOVE JL, but I live in Cheshire, and quite frankly in some areas (not where I live) there are people who have waaay too much money and not much sense. Ladies who lunch, who need a slap if you ask me are in plentiful supply. The car park was full of v expensive cars and most of them seem to park in those "pick up or drop off zones" It makes me so mad, these are people who are so full of themselves and so darned rich they don't care where they park their ridiculously expensive cars........................it makes my blood boil. An American friend of mine used to use the phrase "please hurry I'm very rich" which used to crack me up ,but it really applies to some of these self important gits!!!
AAAAAAANY way, I had a nice day despite my Victor Meldrew tendencies.
The best part of the day was coming home to find the latest edition of Simply Cards and Papercraft waiting for me, and my cards are featured on the front cover too! It was the last project I did before Mum died and I am so pleased to see it in print. I don't do a lot for this mag, but Diane the editor has been very nice to me............so big wave to Diane!!
I am off to Harrogate on Sunday with my pal Sazzzles (of Sarah's cards) and I haven't seen her for months so I am really looking forward to seeing her, having big chats and spending dosh on stash..................and of course seeing the gorgeous twins.
I'll let you know what I buy!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Ebay Geek
OK so I have about 40 items for sale on ebay at the moment (check me out, my ID is Samantha725 ........ohhhh Sunday name)
I LOVE ebay and have sold bits and bobs over the last year or two, but in light of our move in the next few months I am seriously in a de-clutter mood. I log onto ebay every 2 seconds to check out who is bidding on my stuff I am like a big kid. I have so much more to sell, I am quite obsessed with it, plus I can't bear the thought of a car boot sale with people touching stuff and offering me 5p for treasured crafting bits!!!!!
It's a bit of a pain doing the photos, weighing stuff for postage and writing it all up on ebay but I still like it.
Anyway I must go check on my stuff ......
OK so I have about 40 items for sale on ebay at the moment (check me out, my ID is Samantha725 ........ohhhh Sunday name)
I LOVE ebay and have sold bits and bobs over the last year or two, but in light of our move in the next few months I am seriously in a de-clutter mood. I log onto ebay every 2 seconds to check out who is bidding on my stuff I am like a big kid. I have so much more to sell, I am quite obsessed with it, plus I can't bear the thought of a car boot sale with people touching stuff and offering me 5p for treasured crafting bits!!!!!
It's a bit of a pain doing the photos, weighing stuff for postage and writing it all up on ebay but I still like it.
Anyway I must go check on my stuff ......
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
First Day Back at Work
Well I went back to work today after 6 weeks off!! Yikes! It's been a mighty long time. But my chums at work are just fabbo and nice and groovy and have let me ease my way back into the team. There are lots of exciting things going on at work and it's great to be back.
I had an envelope on my desk sent via internal mail, now I NEVER get fab mail at work. This mail came from the US of A from a fellow IT Trainer from Delaware, I once mentioned I was into papercrafting. Anyway inside the envelope was the Aug/Sep issue of Scrapbooks ETC magazine - how cool is that? She'd sent it via internal mail for lil' ol' me - I was sooooo chuffed.
I have emabarked on a pseudo stint back at Weightwatchers, I have eaten so much healthy food in the last 2 days that I think I am developing an anti social ahem! "wind" problem if you get my drift- ewwwww!
I'll keep you posted on my progress!
I am currently watching "ghost hunting with the Dingles" on TV.............I can't believe the depths to which I have stooped. I don't watch Emmerdale but the tall lanky one (please tell me his character name) doesn't look as dopey as he does on TV - in fact he reminds me of an ex. Now I know I am losing it.
OH OH have you seen the new Cadburys Dairy Milk advert with the gorilla on the drums? Hysterical, I love it!
Well I went back to work today after 6 weeks off!! Yikes! It's been a mighty long time. But my chums at work are just fabbo and nice and groovy and have let me ease my way back into the team. There are lots of exciting things going on at work and it's great to be back.
I had an envelope on my desk sent via internal mail, now I NEVER get fab mail at work. This mail came from the US of A from a fellow IT Trainer from Delaware, I once mentioned I was into papercrafting. Anyway inside the envelope was the Aug/Sep issue of Scrapbooks ETC magazine - how cool is that? She'd sent it via internal mail for lil' ol' me - I was sooooo chuffed.
I have emabarked on a pseudo stint back at Weightwatchers, I have eaten so much healthy food in the last 2 days that I think I am developing an anti social ahem! "wind" problem if you get my drift- ewwwww!
I'll keep you posted on my progress!
I am currently watching "ghost hunting with the Dingles" on TV.............I can't believe the depths to which I have stooped. I don't watch Emmerdale but the tall lanky one (please tell me his character name) doesn't look as dopey as he does on TV - in fact he reminds me of an ex. Now I know I am losing it.
OH OH have you seen the new Cadburys Dairy Milk advert with the gorilla on the drums? Hysterical, I love it!
Monday, September 17, 2007
GRRRRRRR Injustice
Well what a great day - not! I went to Manchester this morning to deal with my Mum's affairs, was feeling a bit choked up about it all really, and especially since today would have been my Dad's birthday. Co-incidences run in this family, the day Mum was due to have an appointment for Dad's affairs turned out to be the day of her funeral, it's unbelievable!
Anyway, I parked just around the corner from where I was supposed to be going and since I hate breaking rules and I am naturally cautious, I paid for almost 2 hours on a parking bay for an appointment that was to take less than half an hour.
I get back to the car and I had a bloody parking ticket. Turns out I got one cos the ticket was face down instead of up, the damn thing must have flipped over when I slammed the car door. THE AIR WAS BLUE!! Can't believe it!!!! I get fined £30 for the privilege of parking for half an hour and the ticket flipping over I am so mad.
I am even more mad because a while back Alan (in a hurry) left his debit card in an off-licence, found out the next morning that it was missing and £50 had been obtained on his card. It was the guy who worked there! Caught red-handed on CCTV, he was sacked and then spent a couple of weeks walking past the shop taunting the manager.
Well Alan gave evidence, he was arrested (not Alan, the robbing toerag in the shop!) and guess what?? The filthy theiving toerag gets......................yep you guessed it, a caution. OH well that's got him shaking in his boots, he won't be stealing off anyone else sometime soon will he???
I give up........................!
Sorry for spitting such venom but I will probably be £30 worse off for a simple mistake today, just what I need. I have written a letter to the parking ticket people and quite frankly if they make me pay I am going to chain myself to the railings ..........not sure where yet (hee ! hee!)
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnd RELAX.............
Well what a great day - not! I went to Manchester this morning to deal with my Mum's affairs, was feeling a bit choked up about it all really, and especially since today would have been my Dad's birthday. Co-incidences run in this family, the day Mum was due to have an appointment for Dad's affairs turned out to be the day of her funeral, it's unbelievable!
Anyway, I parked just around the corner from where I was supposed to be going and since I hate breaking rules and I am naturally cautious, I paid for almost 2 hours on a parking bay for an appointment that was to take less than half an hour.
I get back to the car and I had a bloody parking ticket. Turns out I got one cos the ticket was face down instead of up, the damn thing must have flipped over when I slammed the car door. THE AIR WAS BLUE!! Can't believe it!!!! I get fined £30 for the privilege of parking for half an hour and the ticket flipping over I am so mad.
I am even more mad because a while back Alan (in a hurry) left his debit card in an off-licence, found out the next morning that it was missing and £50 had been obtained on his card. It was the guy who worked there! Caught red-handed on CCTV, he was sacked and then spent a couple of weeks walking past the shop taunting the manager.
Well Alan gave evidence, he was arrested (not Alan, the robbing toerag in the shop!) and guess what?? The filthy theiving toerag gets......................yep you guessed it, a caution. OH well that's got him shaking in his boots, he won't be stealing off anyone else sometime soon will he???
I give up........................!
Sorry for spitting such venom but I will probably be £30 worse off for a simple mistake today, just what I need. I have written a letter to the parking ticket people and quite frankly if they make me pay I am going to chain myself to the railings ..........not sure where yet (hee ! hee!)
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnd RELAX.............
Saturday, September 15, 2007
All Partied Out............
I used a Blonde Moments stamp and a cuttlebug embossing folder, I just love the Cuttlebug stuff.
Well I had Alex's Birthday tea last night - it was lovely but my God the house was trashed afterwards and I was pooped out too.
This is the scene before the carnage............
I am not showing the "after" but suffice to say my lovely fellow Mummies helped me tidy up. Here is birthday boy!
I was totally shot by the end of it all and fell asleep at 8:30!
Oh here is the card I made for hubby.......it won't win any prizes but I have to prove that I do something every once in a while...
I used a Blonde Moments stamp and a cuttlebug embossing folder, I just love the Cuttlebug stuff.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Movies and Cheese
Well I am very chuffed with myself, I have managed to do a project for Quick and Crafty mag (almost) on time.........I am soooo chuffed with it, it's all about Christmas and I think I found my groove again.
I have watched a couple of movies in the last couple of days, last night I watched "Frankie and Johnny" with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. Now Al is cool and he was very cute, andthis film was made before he developed his mad bouffant hairsprayed hair-do. You know he reminds me a bit of Paul McCartney (weird huh?) but he looked good, although his character was a teeny bit OTT with the love thing. Nevertheless it was a great film. Tonight I watched "Night at The Museum" with Alex, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this film, great cast. If you haven't seen it, get it for your kids.
So that's enough of the Barry Norman................
Had a "Mum moment" today. Was looking in the fridge and found a pack of cheese my Mum had brought to the house. She used to bring food over to our house when she visited . So I have this tall fridge with shelves I don't use much................and I found this old bit of cheese and it reminded me of her visits ...........and I stood there crying my eyes out.......................and I hate bloody cheese.
Well I am very chuffed with myself, I have managed to do a project for Quick and Crafty mag (almost) on time.........I am soooo chuffed with it, it's all about Christmas and I think I found my groove again.
I have watched a couple of movies in the last couple of days, last night I watched "Frankie and Johnny" with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. Now Al is cool and he was very cute, andthis film was made before he developed his mad bouffant hairsprayed hair-do. You know he reminds me a bit of Paul McCartney (weird huh?) but he looked good, although his character was a teeny bit OTT with the love thing. Nevertheless it was a great film. Tonight I watched "Night at The Museum" with Alex, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this film, great cast. If you haven't seen it, get it for your kids.
So that's enough of the Barry Norman................
Had a "Mum moment" today. Was looking in the fridge and found a pack of cheese my Mum had brought to the house. She used to bring food over to our house when she visited . So I have this tall fridge with shelves I don't use much................and I found this old bit of cheese and it reminded me of her visits ...........and I stood there crying my eyes out.......................and I hate bloody cheese.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Knackered.............
Gosh I am really pooped, I have made a card for hubby, it's our 9th Wedding Anniversary tomorrow. With the luck I have is it any wonder I got married on the 11th Sep??
Not showing the card since he might read this drivel (although he swears he doesn't). I am not knackered from card making, just everything has caught up with me. So this morning I dumped my ironing at an ironing place, and called a cleaning company to blitz our house for 3 hours on Friday morning (now I really hope hubby ain't reading this ha ha ha!). I am having a little tea party for Alex on Friday after school , as he didn't have a birthday party. I have ordered some fabbo Pirate themed stuff from t'interweb today for him. I am having a mad idea of dressing up like a pirate to make him laugh!
I am having major cravings to buy a Cricut or Cricut Expression, no idea why , I just LOVE gadgets. I am selling a Craft Robo or offering as a swap for a Cricut if anyone is interested????
Gosh I am really pooped, I have made a card for hubby, it's our 9th Wedding Anniversary tomorrow. With the luck I have is it any wonder I got married on the 11th Sep??
Not showing the card since he might read this drivel (although he swears he doesn't). I am not knackered from card making, just everything has caught up with me. So this morning I dumped my ironing at an ironing place, and called a cleaning company to blitz our house for 3 hours on Friday morning (now I really hope hubby ain't reading this ha ha ha!). I am having a little tea party for Alex on Friday after school , as he didn't have a birthday party. I have ordered some fabbo Pirate themed stuff from t'interweb today for him. I am having a mad idea of dressing up like a pirate to make him laugh!
I am having major cravings to buy a Cricut or Cricut Expression, no idea why , I just LOVE gadgets. I am selling a Craft Robo or offering as a swap for a Cricut if anyone is interested????
Thursday, September 06, 2007
I ain't no Dawn Meehan
Dawn Meehan, you may have heard of , she was the lady who had the Pokemon cards on ebay that one of her six kids sneaked into her shopping trolley. Her blog is hysterical read it here
Anyway I have only one child but he sometimes cracks me up - this morning we left for school at stupid o'clock because the road near us is closed, we were outside the school gates in the car at like 8:25am and school starts at 8:50am !!! So I found a few mags in the car to kill some time, and whilst I was reading about Jade Goody and her £1000 champagne party nights whilst trying to get over "cheating Jack", Alex starts coughing his head off. He croaked that he wanted water and I gave him some , he turned a funny colour , his eyes were watering and I said "are you OK sweetie" to which he replied "no mummy I think I swallowed some sick juice" ewwwwwwwwwww. I have a new car and I got him out PRONTO, he was OK, no puke thank god.......
Dawn Meehan, you may have heard of , she was the lady who had the Pokemon cards on ebay that one of her six kids sneaked into her shopping trolley. Her blog is hysterical read it here
Anyway I have only one child but he sometimes cracks me up - this morning we left for school at stupid o'clock because the road near us is closed, we were outside the school gates in the car at like 8:25am and school starts at 8:50am !!! So I found a few mags in the car to kill some time, and whilst I was reading about Jade Goody and her £1000 champagne party nights whilst trying to get over "cheating Jack", Alex starts coughing his head off. He croaked that he wanted water and I gave him some , he turned a funny colour , his eyes were watering and I said "are you OK sweetie" to which he replied "no mummy I think I swallowed some sick juice" ewwwwwwwwwww. I have a new car and I got him out PRONTO, he was OK, no puke thank god.......
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
The Average Contents of a Loft
hmmmm lots of stuff still to be cleared out of Mum and Dad's loft, the clearing continues and now I am dealing with estate agents (joy!)
Also, two rants
1. on the first day back at school some pencil pushing ee-jet decides to close a road on the school run. We were HALF an hour late and escorted to the classroom by the headmistress (eeek) I had to write "I must get my arse in gear faster each morning" 50 times on the blackboard. Not really, she was lovely, I almost hugged her!
2. Why is it that people are so damn incompetent. Despite asking the morons at the local Spar to "CANCEL THE PAPERS AND MAGAZINES as my Mum has died" ", they still continue to send them. A family friend has seen them right. Also a woman we went to see about my Mum's accounts at the building society, sent a letter offering her a new account which I opened this morning. I rang the branch and said verrry slowly " PLEASE .........................TAKE .........................HER .......................OFF............ YOUR ..............................MAILING.............................. LIST" How difficult is it to do a job this easy???
OH and .........
3. Apple have just announced a complete revamp of the iPod...........Cheers Mr Jobs, now my coolio iPod is out of date..........
Annnnnd Relax..........rant over, sorry bout that xx
- 30 odd Beano, Dandy, My Guy Annuals
- LOTS of dust
- Cut glass bowls (loads of the damn things)
- Almost all the Christmas cards sent to my Grandparents.....(huh?)
- Great grandmothers death certificate
- Books about Hollywood stars in the 1950's (very cool)
- Love letters sent to me (a whole 2 of 'em)
- Photos taken by me of Charles and Diana when I was 19 and I met em (very spesh)
hmmmm lots of stuff still to be cleared out of Mum and Dad's loft, the clearing continues and now I am dealing with estate agents (joy!)
Also, two rants
1. on the first day back at school some pencil pushing ee-jet decides to close a road on the school run. We were HALF an hour late and escorted to the classroom by the headmistress (eeek) I had to write "I must get my arse in gear faster each morning" 50 times on the blackboard. Not really, she was lovely, I almost hugged her!
2. Why is it that people are so damn incompetent. Despite asking the morons at the local Spar to "CANCEL THE PAPERS AND MAGAZINES as my Mum has died" ", they still continue to send them. A family friend has seen them right. Also a woman we went to see about my Mum's accounts at the building society, sent a letter offering her a new account which I opened this morning. I rang the branch and said verrry slowly " PLEASE .........................TAKE .........................HER .......................OFF............ YOUR ..............................MAILING.............................. LIST" How difficult is it to do a job this easy???
OH and .........
3. Apple have just announced a complete revamp of the iPod...........Cheers Mr Jobs, now my coolio iPod is out of date..........
Annnnnd Relax..........rant over, sorry bout that xx
Monday, September 03, 2007
House Hunting
Oh woe is me, this house hunting is hard going. Yesterday we went to see 2 houses, one was a definite no-no, run down and loads of work required. Having spent 6 years doing up our current house there is NO WAY I am going down that road. The second one was what they call a "double upper" flat, in a lovely district of Edinburgh. OH MY GOD I loved it, so much so I had tears in my eyes walking round , it was just full on antiques and gorgeous things and soooooooooo classy. Downside is, although it had it's own garden you have to go down 2 flights of stairs to get to it, and it is facing the wrong way to catch those "I need a beer after work" evening sun rays..........so it's a no go for us.
I am so excited about moving up here, it totally seems the right thing to do and I just love it so much.
I foresee weeks of nail biting and tension for us to get the right place...........hey ho.
Oh woe is me, this house hunting is hard going. Yesterday we went to see 2 houses, one was a definite no-no, run down and loads of work required. Having spent 6 years doing up our current house there is NO WAY I am going down that road. The second one was what they call a "double upper" flat, in a lovely district of Edinburgh. OH MY GOD I loved it, so much so I had tears in my eyes walking round , it was just full on antiques and gorgeous things and soooooooooo classy. Downside is, although it had it's own garden you have to go down 2 flights of stairs to get to it, and it is facing the wrong way to catch those "I need a beer after work" evening sun rays..........so it's a no go for us.
I am so excited about moving up here, it totally seems the right thing to do and I just love it so much.
I foresee weeks of nail biting and tension for us to get the right place...........hey ho.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
On the Beach
Yesterday we took a drive over to Fife to St Andrews. Alan spent most of his hols as a child in St Andrews and we have visited it often.
The weather was glorious and we had a picnic on the beach. Mind you by the time we got there I was starving and had low blood sugar grumpiness. It was warm but windy and every 5 mins I was getting a face full of sand which was flying all over the food. We retreated into the sand dunes where I took this pic
I soon cheered up though , we went shopping, a place with a Fat Face and a White Stuff can't be all bad eh? Especially since they both had sales on.
We topped off our day with a trip to the Fish and Chip shop at Pittenween, and ate them by the harbour.
When we got home the old grief kicked in I had the urge to call my Mum to tell her all about our day, of course I couldn't. Then it dawned on me, the horrible, horrible realisation that there is no-one is at home wondering what we are up to, whether we got home safe and how we are. I can't tell you what an awful empty feeling that is.
Hey ho, it'll happen from time to time I just have to accept it.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Ten Years On......
Aww I do miss Diana, I remember I was in bed on a Sunday morning and Alan had to go into work, he called me as he heard the news on the radio. I promptly burst into tears. I loved to see her on TV and in magazines. I was very lucky to have met her when I was 19 - she was beautiful. I also got to meet Paul Burrell in June this year. I know many people thought he was a toerag for writing his books I did and I told him so (oops!) I did tell him that when I read his book I changed my opinion. Talking to him I was so struck by how very devoted he was and still is.
I thought the service today hit all the right notes. By the way if you haven't seen "The Queen" with Helen Mirren in it, you should, it really sheds so much light on the whole story and why the Royal Family chose to stay at Balmoral. At the time I was livid that the family didn't return to London, but it was the best thing for the Princes at the time, and it was awful how the Queen was criticised then.
5 years ago this very day my little boy Alex was born, so we have celebrated today.
Aww I do miss Diana, I remember I was in bed on a Sunday morning and Alan had to go into work, he called me as he heard the news on the radio. I promptly burst into tears. I loved to see her on TV and in magazines. I was very lucky to have met her when I was 19 - she was beautiful. I also got to meet Paul Burrell in June this year. I know many people thought he was a toerag for writing his books I did and I told him so (oops!) I did tell him that when I read his book I changed my opinion. Talking to him I was so struck by how very devoted he was and still is.
I thought the service today hit all the right notes. By the way if you haven't seen "The Queen" with Helen Mirren in it, you should, it really sheds so much light on the whole story and why the Royal Family chose to stay at Balmoral. At the time I was livid that the family didn't return to London, but it was the best thing for the Princes at the time, and it was awful how the Queen was criticised then.
5 years ago this very day my little boy Alex was born, so we have celebrated today.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
"They Tried to Make me Go to rehab - I said no no no.........."
OK I am feeling a little like Amy WINEhouse - me and Mr Chardonnay are more than just good friends right now - hey ho, if it dulls the pain/stress/etc then I think it is OK. Besides a stay in the Priory might just be fun eh?
ANY -HOO , we officially started house hunting in Edinburgh today - OH MY GOD
OK this is how it works. People selling houses up here pick some totally random figure of a price they would like you pay - you then have to make them an offer over that figure, and we are not talking maybe 2 or 3 grand more................we are talking maybe 2 or 3 HUNDRED grand more. They are "sealed bids" so you have no idea whether your bid will be accepted. To me it sounds like a recipe for total heartache and stress and frankly I DO NOT need any more of that right now thanks very much.
So tonight we went to see the most heart breakingly beautiful house which has a guide price we could afford but not offers over. Edinburgh is probably now on a par with London prices, we currently live in a 6 bedroom house in Cheshire and there is NO WAY we can afford that here. OH and just in case you think I am a posh tart............I am not - 2 of the 6 bedrooms are used as offices and most of the rooms still need to be "done up". We were just very lucky to find a house at a very reasonable price which needed a lot of TLC.
Anyway apart from all that I am fine and dandy and Alex is 5 tomorrow so that will be a nice day.
OK I am feeling a little like Amy WINEhouse - me and Mr Chardonnay are more than just good friends right now - hey ho, if it dulls the pain/stress/etc then I think it is OK. Besides a stay in the Priory might just be fun eh?
ANY -HOO , we officially started house hunting in Edinburgh today - OH MY GOD
OK this is how it works. People selling houses up here pick some totally random figure of a price they would like you pay - you then have to make them an offer over that figure, and we are not talking maybe 2 or 3 grand more................we are talking maybe 2 or 3 HUNDRED grand more. They are "sealed bids" so you have no idea whether your bid will be accepted. To me it sounds like a recipe for total heartache and stress and frankly I DO NOT need any more of that right now thanks very much.
So tonight we went to see the most heart breakingly beautiful house which has a guide price we could afford but not offers over. Edinburgh is probably now on a par with London prices, we currently live in a 6 bedroom house in Cheshire and there is NO WAY we can afford that here. OH and just in case you think I am a posh tart............I am not - 2 of the 6 bedrooms are used as offices and most of the rooms still need to be "done up". We were just very lucky to find a house at a very reasonable price which needed a lot of TLC.
Anyway apart from all that I am fine and dandy and Alex is 5 tomorrow so that will be a nice day.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Taking a Break
Well we 3 are in Edinburgh for a few days, we have spent so much time arranging a funeral and clearing the house that we decided we have to get away and just chill. It is Alex's 5th birthday on Friday so high time we did some fun stuff together.
I have shed a few tears tonight, the last few days of mum's life were spent in this flat in Edinburgh, we waved her off on the train from here, so it was emotional to come back. I miss her so much
Well we 3 are in Edinburgh for a few days, we have spent so much time arranging a funeral and clearing the house that we decided we have to get away and just chill. It is Alex's 5th birthday on Friday so high time we did some fun stuff together.
I have shed a few tears tonight, the last few days of mum's life were spent in this flat in Edinburgh, we waved her off on the train from here, so it was emotional to come back. I miss her so much
Sunday, August 26, 2007
My Back Hurts...........
OK bit of a grueller of a day, we headed over to Mum and Dads house to do some more clearing out. Crikey over 40 years of accumulated possessions yikes!! Well today I decided to tackle the loft. Have you ever spent 3 hours bent double in a loft? Put it this way I feel like a twisted old hobgoblin (by the way what is the difference between a goblin and a hobgoblin??) My back is killing me.
The loft is filled with some sort of insulation, hopefully it's not harmful, if it is then I am "scoobed" it's shredded paper by the looks of it, makes you sneeze and there are years of accumulated dust up there.
I found loads of cool stuff, including all the pics and stuff I had when I was a camp counsellor in the USA when I was 21 (possibly the coooolest 3 months of my life)
About 300 love letters sent from Mum to Dad when he was in the army..........shall I read them??
My very first ball gown from Uni days, fuchsia pink from Laura Ashley - I sense it could be vintage and worth millions heee heeee.
The weirdest victorian doo-dah, it's a glass dome which covers a "basket" of wax fruit, most of which looks melted and yukky, it belonged to my Grandma , I remember it when I was little. It was in a sorry state then, but I LOVE it- Alan called it a "shed pixie" (tune in tomorrow for a shed pixie definition)
Lots of cheesy 1970's Annuals, Jackie, Look-In, Dr Who etc, retro heaven!!!!
And much much more. I guess it all stems from the fact that Ma and Pa lived in the same house all their married life.
OHH OHHH also, totally changing the subject..........I had a comment today from a real life US writer - hey Candace!! Lord knows how she arrived at my blog, but I am chuffed to pieces (i.e very excited)
ALSO last but not least, those of you who are kind enough to read my stuff know all about what has been happening in the last few months and I am extremely touched and grateful for your lovely comments. It means so much, so I thank you for taking the time to post such nice words xxxxx
OK bit of a grueller of a day, we headed over to Mum and Dads house to do some more clearing out. Crikey over 40 years of accumulated possessions yikes!! Well today I decided to tackle the loft. Have you ever spent 3 hours bent double in a loft? Put it this way I feel like a twisted old hobgoblin (by the way what is the difference between a goblin and a hobgoblin??) My back is killing me.
The loft is filled with some sort of insulation, hopefully it's not harmful, if it is then I am "scoobed" it's shredded paper by the looks of it, makes you sneeze and there are years of accumulated dust up there.
I found loads of cool stuff, including all the pics and stuff I had when I was a camp counsellor in the USA when I was 21 (possibly the coooolest 3 months of my life)
About 300 love letters sent from Mum to Dad when he was in the army..........shall I read them??
My very first ball gown from Uni days, fuchsia pink from Laura Ashley - I sense it could be vintage and worth millions heee heeee.
The weirdest victorian doo-dah, it's a glass dome which covers a "basket" of wax fruit, most of which looks melted and yukky, it belonged to my Grandma , I remember it when I was little. It was in a sorry state then, but I LOVE it- Alan called it a "shed pixie" (tune in tomorrow for a shed pixie definition)
Lots of cheesy 1970's Annuals, Jackie, Look-In, Dr Who etc, retro heaven!!!!
And much much more. I guess it all stems from the fact that Ma and Pa lived in the same house all their married life.
OHH OHHH also, totally changing the subject..........I had a comment today from a real life US writer - hey Candace!! Lord knows how she arrived at my blog, but I am chuffed to pieces (i.e very excited)
ALSO last but not least, those of you who are kind enough to read my stuff know all about what has been happening in the last few months and I am extremely touched and grateful for your lovely comments. It means so much, so I thank you for taking the time to post such nice words xxxxx
Saturday, August 25, 2007
I am so uncool
http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/
The Mac went back.............I am soooo uncool. I feel like Andy out of Little Britain "don't like it"
I tried to be cool, I WANTED to love it, but it just didn't float my boat. I am not a graphic designer, web designer young hip trendy thing, I am 40, I like making cards and dabbling in digi scrapping. OK so I ain't been doing much of either lately but I really didn't need a MacBook pro. So ,my love affair with Macs was short lived.But there was no real acrimony, Mac I thought you were cool , but I guess you were just too cool for me. The people at the Apple Mac store were gutted, I thought the guy was gonna cry, he loved macs and begged me to reconsider, I nearly caved in but didn't.
So they refunded my money and I am blogging on a new HP laptop, it's lovely and it feels like home..........
I was on UKS this morning and read a thread about a lady who has posted a listing on ebay for Pokeman cards that one of her 6 kids had sneaked into her trolley whilst shopping. The listing is hilarious, but her blog is even funnier. This is probably appearing on blogs all over the place but here is the link - absolutely worth a read
http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/
Friday, August 24, 2007
What Have I Done?
Oh no, I REALLY don't like my MacBook, I have wanted one for so long and I just don't like it. It's not as much fun as I thought it was going to be, I suppose the thrill is in the chase ha ha!
ALSO , although I finally got wirless to work, the "A" on the keyboard is very dodgy. I am dragging my sad self to the Trafford Centre today to see if I can get a refund..............what a berk!
I'll keep you posted. If you see a blonde 40 year old in the Apple Shop shouting.....it'll be me.
The lovely Paula Pascual sent me a card yesterday, I was so chuffed, she is so kind.
I have also had about 3 cards from the fabby Julie Hickey. Julie is such a sweetie, it's weird, when I first started card making she was a great inspiration to me (still is) and now here I am getting handmade cards from her, how cool is that!
Oh no, I REALLY don't like my MacBook, I have wanted one for so long and I just don't like it. It's not as much fun as I thought it was going to be, I suppose the thrill is in the chase ha ha!
ALSO , although I finally got wirless to work, the "A" on the keyboard is very dodgy. I am dragging my sad self to the Trafford Centre today to see if I can get a refund..............what a berk!
I'll keep you posted. If you see a blonde 40 year old in the Apple Shop shouting.....it'll be me.
The lovely Paula Pascual sent me a card yesterday, I was so chuffed, she is so kind.
I have also had about 3 cards from the fabby Julie Hickey. Julie is such a sweetie, it's weird, when I first started card making she was a great inspiration to me (still is) and now here I am getting handmade cards from her, how cool is that!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
PC Versus Mac
In a vain attempt to cheer myself up I bought a MacBook Pro today. I have lusted after one of these for aaaaages. I actually bought a PC laptop 3 weeks ago, the battery konked out yesterday and so it went straight back to John Lewis for a refund. I bunged a bit (actually A LOT) more money to the refund and splashed out.
Well I was sooooo excited, they didn't have a bag big enough to fit the darned thing in so I had to carry it in it's gorgeous mac box, god they do know how to seduce suckers like me. I was terrified I was gonna get mugged getting back to the car, so I dragged poor Alex at break neck speed through the Trafford Centre and locked the doors as soon as we were in!!
So I get it home, open the box, all V stylish I can tell you, and then the heartache began. Seems the little critter is so posh it took a decided dislike to my common wireless router and refused to connect to the t'interweb, aaaarrrggggghhh! FINALLY after hours of trawling the net on my desktop I found an answer and I am able to connect. I have to admit though, it has taken the shine off the whole experience. I am loathe to load on any software in case I have a change of heart.
The other thing is, I have never really used a mac before, I think I will be buying MACs for DUMMIES as it is quite hilarios to watch..........wish me luck
In a vain attempt to cheer myself up I bought a MacBook Pro today. I have lusted after one of these for aaaaages. I actually bought a PC laptop 3 weeks ago, the battery konked out yesterday and so it went straight back to John Lewis for a refund. I bunged a bit (actually A LOT) more money to the refund and splashed out.
Well I was sooooo excited, they didn't have a bag big enough to fit the darned thing in so I had to carry it in it's gorgeous mac box, god they do know how to seduce suckers like me. I was terrified I was gonna get mugged getting back to the car, so I dragged poor Alex at break neck speed through the Trafford Centre and locked the doors as soon as we were in!!
So I get it home, open the box, all V stylish I can tell you, and then the heartache began. Seems the little critter is so posh it took a decided dislike to my common wireless router and refused to connect to the t'interweb, aaaarrrggggghhh! FINALLY after hours of trawling the net on my desktop I found an answer and I am able to connect. I have to admit though, it has taken the shine off the whole experience. I am loathe to load on any software in case I have a change of heart.
The other thing is, I have never really used a mac before, I think I will be buying MACs for DUMMIES as it is quite hilarios to watch..........wish me luck
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
I Feel Weird
Hmmm I feel weird, kind of a bit lost and unsettled. Life has changed so much in the last 4 months. I keep thinking "oh I must ring Mum and tell her about.................................ah right I remember now, I can't" (sigh)
I think I am doing OK, but really not sure how I feel at the moment. Alan is away and I really don't know what to do with myself.
I spent some time in my craft room today, tidying up and chucking rubbish out. Have brought home lots of Mum's craft stuff, so now I have 2 of everything hey ho!
I've been off work for about 3 weeks now - 3 weeks ago tomorrow, Mum, Alex and I drove up to Edinburgh to start our holiday. Strange, it all feels like I am living someone elses life at the moment ( I wish I bloody was too!)
Hmmm I feel weird, kind of a bit lost and unsettled. Life has changed so much in the last 4 months. I keep thinking "oh I must ring Mum and tell her about.................................ah right I remember now, I can't" (sigh)
I think I am doing OK, but really not sure how I feel at the moment. Alan is away and I really don't know what to do with myself.
I spent some time in my craft room today, tidying up and chucking rubbish out. Have brought home lots of Mum's craft stuff, so now I have 2 of everything hey ho!
I've been off work for about 3 weeks now - 3 weeks ago tomorrow, Mum, Alex and I drove up to Edinburgh to start our holiday. Strange, it all feels like I am living someone elses life at the moment ( I wish I bloody was too!)
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Doing OK (ish)
Yesterday we said a final goodbye to my mother, it was the funeral. Although there were of course some moments of great sadness, we also celebrated her life. I was surrounded by wonderful, loving friends and family, all with great stories and memories of her.
I managed to write a eulogy and got up to speak at the church, I was dreading making a fool of myself, but I got through it, and got an applause at the end which was just so supportive.
Lots of decisions and things to sort out over the coming weeks and months. I miss her very much, but at the same time I feel blessed to have had such a wonderful mother.
Yesterday we said a final goodbye to my mother, it was the funeral. Although there were of course some moments of great sadness, we also celebrated her life. I was surrounded by wonderful, loving friends and family, all with great stories and memories of her.
I managed to write a eulogy and got up to speak at the church, I was dreading making a fool of myself, but I got through it, and got an applause at the end which was just so supportive.
Lots of decisions and things to sort out over the coming weeks and months. I miss her very much, but at the same time I feel blessed to have had such a wonderful mother.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Not feeling Good
I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful little boy, but having lost my brother at 28 , 9 years ago and my Mum and Dad in the last two months, somehow, I feel very alone............on the surface I think I am doing OK., no hysterics and stuff but just shocked and empty. Gosh I miss my Mum.
I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful little boy, but having lost my brother at 28 , 9 years ago and my Mum and Dad in the last two months, somehow, I feel very alone............on the surface I think I am doing OK., no hysterics and stuff but just shocked and empty. Gosh I miss my Mum.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Thank You
I am so grateful for all your comments. It is a sad time and I am coping (how? I don't know)
This is a time when you know who your friends are and I seem to have lots and I am so blessed.
My Mum was my best friend and we shared lots - she was a card maker too. I sat reading Crafts Beautiful and Quick and Crafty last night, normally I would ring her and talk about the latest designs and stash , so it was quite sad. All I can say is hold your loved ones close and never take life for granted, it is a precious gift, so love one another as much as you can, make every day count. Don't save that outfit for best and never say "i'll do it next year" just go and do it..................
Sam xxx
I am so grateful for all your comments. It is a sad time and I am coping (how? I don't know)
This is a time when you know who your friends are and I seem to have lots and I am so blessed.
My Mum was my best friend and we shared lots - she was a card maker too. I sat reading Crafts Beautiful and Quick and Crafty last night, normally I would ring her and talk about the latest designs and stash , so it was quite sad. All I can say is hold your loved ones close and never take life for granted, it is a precious gift, so love one another as much as you can, make every day count. Don't save that outfit for best and never say "i'll do it next year" just go and do it..................
Sam xxx
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Ahoy there Shipmates!
Our hosts have a new boat, and every year we try to take a trip out, usually to Plockton, for dinner. For a land lubber like me it's a great thrill, the weather wasn't so good yesterday. We get to the boat by way of a little red motor boat , the Loch was VERY choppy and we were soaked by the time we got to the big boat even though it was only moored about 50 yds off shore, take a look - she is gorgeous......
Here is the youngest crew member.....
The views were amazing, here's the little boat from the port side ( I think)
Here I am with Alex.....
Returning to the boat, here is the view from Plockton shore..............just gorgeous.
Our hosts have a new boat, and every year we try to take a trip out, usually to Plockton, for dinner. For a land lubber like me it's a great thrill, the weather wasn't so good yesterday. We get to the boat by way of a little red motor boat , the Loch was VERY choppy and we were soaked by the time we got to the big boat even though it was only moored about 50 yds off shore, take a look - she is gorgeous......
Here is the youngest crew member.....
The views were amazing, here's the little boat from the port side ( I think)
Here I am with Alex.....
Returning to the boat, here is the view from Plockton shore..............just gorgeous.
Monday, August 06, 2007
A Rare Day
Yesterday, I did something I do very rarely, I basically did a whole lot of nothing. I stayed in the house, didn't race from place to another and really for once had nothing to do and nowhere I had to go. I found a new book to read " The Moon's a Balloon" which is David Niven's autobiography, which I am finding hard to put down.
I also played for hours on my laptop, I downloaded some digi kits, installed ACDSEE and generally blog surfed which was fab.
I am astounded and extremely grateful too see how many people are currently reading my blog. I have a view my stats link which lets me see where people are coming from on a map and from which site they found me. It's incredibly flattering to see that some VERY talented people who have their own blogs have seen fit to add mine as a link from their own. I just hope you all stay tuned.
The weather up here today is not brilliant, but as Billy Connolly says "there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes", so we will do what we can. Not sure yet what we will be doing FIL and his friend and my hubby are off to play golf in a while.
The midgies were out with a vengeance yesterday, chewing on Alex, he stayed outside for as long as he could flapping his arms about to ward them off, but I am afraid he is just too young and juicy for them to resist him. He eventually ran in the house whimpering and scratching his head madly, bless him. Judging by the weather today they'll be back..............
Yesterday, I did something I do very rarely, I basically did a whole lot of nothing. I stayed in the house, didn't race from place to another and really for once had nothing to do and nowhere I had to go. I found a new book to read " The Moon's a Balloon" which is David Niven's autobiography, which I am finding hard to put down.
I also played for hours on my laptop, I downloaded some digi kits, installed ACDSEE and generally blog surfed which was fab.
I am astounded and extremely grateful too see how many people are currently reading my blog. I have a view my stats link which lets me see where people are coming from on a map and from which site they found me. It's incredibly flattering to see that some VERY talented people who have their own blogs have seen fit to add mine as a link from their own. I just hope you all stay tuned.
The weather up here today is not brilliant, but as Billy Connolly says "there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes", so we will do what we can. Not sure yet what we will be doing FIL and his friend and my hubby are off to play golf in a while.
The midgies were out with a vengeance yesterday, chewing on Alex, he stayed outside for as long as he could flapping his arms about to ward them off, but I am afraid he is just too young and juicy for them to resist him. He eventually ran in the house whimpering and scratching his head madly, bless him. Judging by the weather today they'll be back..............
Sunday, August 05, 2007
On My Hols
Well here we are, safe and sound in Kishorn, almost a year now since I started this blog, so if you look at some of my very first posts you'll see a pic of where we are.
The Sun is shining and the midges aren't out for blood (yet!). It took us five and a half hours to get here from Edinburgh (groan!). It's usually a 4 hour straight run, but there was lots of traffic yesterday.
I have my new laptop with me and I purposely didn't bring any card making stuff, so I am hoping to crack on with some digi stuff and hopefully post some here - time and outings permitting.
Our hosts have a new boat, we haven't seen yet so I am looking forward to a trip out on that, and on Sunday, we are off to the Skye Highland Games, I might get to see some caber tossing and sword dancing, lots of pics to be taken then!
Ah well that's me for today, tune in tomorrow for more Highland News and the latest midgie count!
Well here we are, safe and sound in Kishorn, almost a year now since I started this blog, so if you look at some of my very first posts you'll see a pic of where we are.
The Sun is shining and the midges aren't out for blood (yet!). It took us five and a half hours to get here from Edinburgh (groan!). It's usually a 4 hour straight run, but there was lots of traffic yesterday.
I have my new laptop with me and I purposely didn't bring any card making stuff, so I am hoping to crack on with some digi stuff and hopefully post some here - time and outings permitting.
Our hosts have a new boat, we haven't seen yet so I am looking forward to a trip out on that, and on Sunday, we are off to the Skye Highland Games, I might get to see some caber tossing and sword dancing, lots of pics to be taken then!
Ah well that's me for today, tune in tomorrow for more Highland News and the latest midgie count!
Friday, August 03, 2007
Penguins
WOW I was really chuffed to see how many people visited my blog yesterday to read the bagelope instructions. There is lady in Canada with a great blog called http://stampinwhenican.blogspot.com/ check it out. I'll be adding this to my sidebar too.
I also got tagged by Paula Pascual, so I apparently have to add this doo-dah to my blog
I need to tag some other people too, so I am tagging some of the Banana Frog design team members . A very talented bunch of chicks they are too ! Shimelle, Ann, Audrey, Nat and Sam.
So after yesterdays post all I can offer you is Penguins. Yesterday, Mum , Alex and I went to Edinburgh Zoo, the highlight of the day was the Penguins walk. Every day at 2:15pm they open the gate to the penguin enclosure and those that feel like it, toddle out for a little walk, it is soooo cute. 12 of the little souls decided to go for a stroll yesterday so here is a pic.
Edinburgh Zoo is just brilliant, we were able to do a brass rubbing in the rhino house, they have a big pool and two of them were lying in it and it was fascinating to watch them, although a bit whiffy.
At the end of the day Mum and I walked round the corner, there is a papercraft shop 5 mins walk away, I spotted it last time I was here, how cool eh? So we were really excited, but when we got there they were CLOSED,arrrgh, the lady who owns the shop is getting married and so they are closed till next week, bad timing or what? So I stood there with my nose pressed against the glass spying at all the goodies................never mind I'll have to save it till next time.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Bagelopes
I made some bagelopes with my chum Sarah from Sarahs Cards last year as a make and take at the NEC, and I got them published in Simply Cards and Papercraft this year too. I can't claim them as my own idea, I read about them on t'interweb but I thought it might be something good to share. They are easy to make and it's something you can do with children. All you need is a humble envelope and then you can decorate them as you like. I like to do do rubber stamping on mine, if you are going to do the same, make sure you do it BEFORE you make the envelope into a bag! In the example above I used stamps from Banana Frog
Step 1
Take an envelope and either cut or tear off the top flap, you can use decorative scissors if you like.
Step 2
Fold up the bottom of the envelope about 1 inch, crease quite firmly, you can use a bone folder if you like, then open the fold up
Step 3
Fold in the sides of the envelope to the same width as the bottom fold, it's important that you make the folds the same size otherwise you will end up with a "wonkylope" ha ha ha !! Use a bone folder if you like. Then open the folds up.
Step 4
Put your hand in the envelope to "sit" the envelope flat on it's bottom
Step 5
Turn the "bag" upside down and maeke 2 points creasing them firmly.
Put glue on the underside of each flap and stick down, you can put your hand back in the bag and push down on a flat surface to help the sticking process.
Step 6
Hold the bag upright and sharply crease down the folds on either side of the bag to give the bag it's shape
Step 7
Fold down the top of the bag creasing firmly, then you can punch a hole in the top to thread a ribbon through. Ta-Da!! your bagelope is done!
If you make a bagelope I'd love to see your creations, post them on your own blogs and let me know and I'll link to them from here - have fun!!!
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