Wednesday 31 March 2010

Push the Button(s)….

OK, so prompt #8 from Shimelle’s ‘Something From {Almost} Nothing’ was to use up some buttons. Do I have any buttons? Well let me see…buttons1 buttons2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep! I’d say I have a few!! I do use buttons quite often on my LO’s, but then again, I’m also tempted to buy quite a few too!! Something about buttons!…they take me back to childhood when I used to be allowed to play with my Mums tin of buttons!

Anyhow, what to do to be able to use lots on a LO? 31March2010 007
Well I chose this photo…taken in August 2002. We visited a Maize Maze in Hertfordshire & spent over an hour getting more & more lost! We were given long bamboo poles with red flags on so that if we needed help, we could wave them & staff would come & lead us out!! We kept going until Alex started to panic & then we called in the cavalry…only to find we were actually only two rows from the exit anyway!!! It was ice creams all round when we finally emerged!!

We still have another 48 hours of Shimelle’s class left…two more prompts to go & she says she has some surprises too!! 

So, this is my last posting for March …we’re now a quarter way through 2010…How scary is that?!!!  Tomorrow is April fools day, so be careful out there…don’t get caught out!!!!

Thanks for dropping by!!

Monday 29 March 2010

British Summer Time?…Are they joking?!!…

Well, the clocks ‘sprang’ forward an hour yesterday & the day itself did in fact show promise, but today we are once again plunged into rain & low temperatures…I believe they even had snow, north of the border this morning!! I am definitely a 'fair-weather’ person at the best of times, but this year I feel  really really in need of some constant sunshine to recharge my batteries!! Hopefully it’s not too far away now!!

As we count down to Easter I am making a list of all the things I want to achieve during the two week school holiday! We will have a family day or two out, but generally the boys are just happy to chill & I find that without the school runs to fit in, I can squeeze so much more into each day. If the weather is dry, I will be out in the garden…some serious work needed out back!!! If not, I will be indoors with paint brush & pasting table in action!! Or, I may get a little of each done!!

I am looking forward to my first bit of chocolate in over a month on Easter Day, & not having to go into work as the store is closed!! Supplies are in for the boys Egg hunt & only last night Alex asked me if I’d try & get a photo of the Easter bunny, like I did with Santa!! Oh the innocence…long may it continue!!

bloomsresizeI haven’t been out & about with my camera for far too long, so that is on my agenda too…all I’m using it for lately is photographing LO’s for various challenges…..which brings me nicely to this… Shimelle’s prompt #7…Flowers. I do like flowers, especially the Prima paper ones, but I do tend to buy them to stroke & drool over, so this prompt was a good one to get them out of storage & onto a page!!29March2010 001 This photo isn’t of great quality as it’s been scanned & upsized, but I love Alex’s smile in it. He was seven months old for his first Easter & loved his ‘Milky Bar’ Egg boxes. At this point he’d never tasted chocolate, so to him, they were just new toys!! After lunch on Easter Sunday, we introduced him to the joy of white chocolate & he’s never looked back!!!! He IS his Mothers son!!

I used quite a few Prima’s on this LO & included a few die cut egg shapes too. This class really has been a stash buster, as I also used up a whole sheet of adhesive pearls & gems, along with all those flowers!! Not to mention the ‘Core-dinations’ cardstock, of which I have a whole stack & always seem to overlook!..this one was black with an emerald green core.29March2010 007 I now have my button stash at the ready for prompt #8…I will be quite sad when the class comes to an end!  I’m planning on going back over it all & doing the ‘Celebrate Life’ album…I’m loving everyone’s 12”x6” LO’s in the forum.

So…thanks for dropping by & I hope you’re all adjusting to that lost hour!!

Saturday 27 March 2010

My Favourite Drink…..

It seems an absolute age since I sat down to work on a LO for ‘These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things’.  The last three weeks seem to have been scrap filled, what with Shimelle’s class, the ‘BIA 101’ course & the Crafty Stash crop…then, today, I suddenly realised that the cut-off date for the latest TAAFOMFT challenge (My Favourite Drink) is tomorrow evening…aaaargh!!!!

So, this afternoon, I have put together a LO about my recently acquired taste for Green Tea. I was advised by Nick, my personal trainer, to reduce my coffee intake & he suggested I try Green Tea.  While I didn’t think much to plain old Green Tea, with added lemon & a spoonful of honey, it’s quite addictive!!

With all the antioxidants in the tea & the healing properties of Manuka Honey, I should be looking at least 10 years younger any day soon!!!!

Anyhow, here is said LO…
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Right…I’m off to set about my stash of flowers for Shimelles prompt 7…& if there’s time, to punch & bind my 6”x6” mini book project for the ‘BIA 101’ course, lesson 4!!!  It never rains but it pours!!!!

Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!! Thanks for dropping by!

Thursday 25 March 2010

Stickers & More Stickers!…

Prompt number 6 from Shimelle for the ‘Something From {Almost} Nothing’ class was to use stickers. Now I have a box full of stickers of every variety…words, quotes, shapes, ribbon, bling & of course alpha’s! I must confess to an addiction to American Craft Thickers… vinyl, Chipboard, felt…it makes no difference, I love ‘em all, but, as I’m sure you will all have experienced, inevitably I end up with an assortment of consonants with insufficient vowels!! So, this was the prompt that really struck home!!

My first LO is so unlike me!! I’m not a ‘pink’ person..nor am I a girly girl, so quite how I have as many pink & pretty, girly stickers in my stash is a mystery!! I guess they’ve snuck in via kits & bulk buy bargains!!!
GirlsFunStill…this LO used up leftovers from FOUR different Thicker fonts & innumerable pink & lilac gem sticker flowers!!…& it’s a photo I love of a girls night out!

The second LO was inspired by Shimelle’s example in the prompt & used up almost a whole sheet of leftover Thickers alpha’s…
DirtyBoys   …along with another archive photo of the boys, taken in 2004. They were looking particularly grubby after ‘rescuing’ the rock that Nathan is holding from a ditch!!! As I remember, it came home with us & is still in one of the flower borders in our back garden!!!

So, I wonder what tomorrows prompt will bring?  There have been some absolutely amazing projects uploaded into the forum for each of the prompts so far…if you have never taken one of Shimelle’s classes…I would highly recommend you look out for the next one!!!

My boys are on a countdown to Easter now…or more particularly the school holiday, which is a week today. I do hope the weather will be good for the two weeks plus that they’re off…tonight it’s raining cats & dogs & very squelchy underfoot…it would be nice to be able to plan to get out & about with them.

I have just opened an email with this amazing photo…
image001  


It’s sunset at the North Pole, when the moon is at it’s closest position to Earth…can you imagine how awesome that would be to witness first hand?!!



I’m going to put my feet up now & catch up with a couple of episodes of ‘Fringe’ on Sky+…Lee has just made the coffee & there’s a ‘Snack-a-Jack’ with my name on it waiting patiently!  He’s having a sugar glazed ring doughnut & offered me one, telling me that it would be OK as they have non-fattening centres!!! Ha Ha!!

Thanks for dropping by….wishing you a great weekend, whatever you may have planned!

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Blink & You’ll Miss It!!…

Just popping in very briefly to post Prompt 5’s LO for Shimelles’ ‘Something From {Almost} Nothing’…this was a tough one for me…I could think of no novel way of using a page protector on a LO…I decided on pockets & trimmed & stitched, but at the end of it all, it doesn’t look much different to if I’d just stuck the photo’s to the page! disney2 I guess I could use hidden journaling behind each photo as the pockets are all open topped…but I’m leaving it for now…at least my sewing machine has had an airing!!

Another challenge awaits…this time to use up stickers, of which I have a veritable mountain!!!   Add to that this weeks ‘lesson 4’ on the ‘BIA 101’ course & that’s another two mini books to construct…& as my good friend Karen will tell you, I don’t ‘do’ mini books!!!!!

Hope you’re all having a fabulous week with lots of sunshine!!

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Where did the weekend go?

I seem to have blinked & missed the weekend…& Monday really did just pass me by!!

Saturday was designated a day to work on the first three classes of the BIA101 class. I now feel much more confident in punching & binding with my V 2.0…these three classes put together came up with a ‘guide’ mini book, which I managed to complete before teatime!!

BIAguideresizedAfter tea, I settled down to work on Shimelles Friday Challenge for Something from {Almost} Nothing…to use all of the required elements featured so far…Metal, Cardstock, Patterned Paper & ribbon, all on one LO. This is what I came up with..dreamer1I love that Nathan still likes his ‘cuddlies’ at bedtime…for all that he’s a cool dude during the day!!!

Shimelle also set two more challenges for Saturday & Sunday, but with work & the cinema, there was no way I could complete them by the deadline of Midnight on Sunday…but I will get around to them sometime soon…there were so many great LO’s submitted & my good friend Karen won the Saturday challenge with a fabulous LO that you simply must pop over to her blog & check out. (just don’t drool too much over her gorgeous new en-suite bathroom!!!)  She has kindly offered to share her prize (two passes for any Shimelle class) with me & we’re hoping there will be a photographic one coming up soon!!

I had a great day at work on Sunday…although it was such a gorgeous day outside I would love to have been working in the garden instead!! After work I met Amanda & we went to see ‘The Lovely Bones’…lovelybones_poster_thumb …it was a book I read a couple of years ago & thoroughly enjoyed, so I wondered how it would translate onto the big screen. It was done very well…such a horrid subject, very sensitively presented & I couldn’t help but think that to families who do go through the horror of a murdered child, the viewpoint of this film could offer a morsel of comfort.

19March2010 009I spent yesterday asleep mostly!! I woke up feeling OK, but once I’d done the school run & eaten breakfast I started to feel really nauseous, so I filled a hot water bottle & returned to my bed!! Today I’m feeling a bit less shivery & even managed a bowl of homemade Leek & Potato soup for lunch…along with copious amounts of water, I’m hoping to flush anything out of my system..there are so many bugs around at the moment & I really don’t have time to be ill!!!

So…I’m working through Shimelles Prompt 5 at the moment…using a page protector within a LO…either whole or in pieces…it’s really got me thinking!!!
No prizes for guessing what I will be doing this evening!!image010 But don’t worry Karen, the house isn’t in too much of a mess…& I don’t even have to cook tonight as Alex had a food tech lesson today & chose to cook Chilli-con-Carne, so I only have to boil some rice & warm up some tortilla’s & we’re done!!

Tomorrow will bring Promt 6 from Shimelle & Lesson 4 from the ‘BIA 101’ classroom, so I’ll be busy creating…& I need to fit my swim & sauna in somewhere too!!

Thanks for dropping by & have a great week!

Friday 19 March 2010

Oh My Good Golly Gosh!!!!!

I logged on at lunchtime today, to check my emails etc & found I had two from friends sending congratulations on my ‘being famous’!!! I was a puzzled…had I missed something? Was I on the front page of the ‘Sun’ in a compromising position?!!!

Then I noticed I had TWO emails from Shimelle…one the expected ‘Something From {Almost} Nothing’ prompt for Friday…& the second telling me she had chosen me, along with two other class participants to feature in today’s prompt!!!  How about that!!!  I can’t post a link to it here, because the prompts are for members only, but I was blown away by the kind words she had to say!

I am sooo enjoying this class & am managing to keep up…without the household chores backing up!!!  We have a challenge for the weekend, to use all four of the elements covered so far on one LO…meanwhile, here’s what I did for Wednesday’s prompt 4…Cardstock…CameraresizeI twitched a bit…wanting to reach for some PP, but decided…’NO’ Just Cardstock!!!…OK so a couple of gems, an embellie or two & a bit of doodling snuck in…but that’s OK!!!  I love this photo, taken by Hilary on our recent trip to Bennington Lordship Gardens…it’s Karen & I taking a photo of Hilary, taking a photo of us!!!

So…apart from being famous!!! What have I been up to since my last post on Wednesday? Well…I had to go into work for my quarterly performance appraisal on Thursday morning…no nasty surprises there thank goodness, but on the way home I called into my favourite garden centre & spent a very enjoyable hour borderchoosing plants.

It’s amazing how much energy a bit of sunshine can generate! I mentioned earlier that I had been digging & planting ‘out front’...we have a strip of grass & a border that marks our boundary & I have gravelled it & planted it with ‘ground cover’ Alpines & a few daffodil clumps. I’m hoping that as time goes by they’ll spread a bit & it won’t look so bare…although I have to admit I do like the neatness of it!! The plants that were there before had got too ‘leggy’ & untidy, so I was ruthless & dug them up!!!

19March2010 003


So, with my purchases yesterday, I have replanted the two pots that sit either side of our front door.  The pansies were still in flower, but after such a hard winter looked so scruffy, so had to go!  This time I chose some dwarf perennials along with some Daffs & a white Primula. This should all see the year through, although once the daffs have gone over I’ll fill the gap with a Petunia..or maybe a Nicotina…we’ll see! For now they look so much better!!


19March2010 004
I also replaced the hanging basket that hangs above the Study window…I had a discount voucher which meant it only cost £5…the plants themselves would cost more…so the front of the house is looking quite pretty!

Long may the sunshine continue…but I think I’ll be disappointed..we have rain forecast for later today & over the weekend too…{Sigh}  Although…if that is the case I will be quite happy to be indoors scrapping…I have to get to work on the ‘BIA 101’ course, so that I’m ready for the next lesson on Monday…it never rains, but it pours!!!

19March2010 012

Also at the garden centre I picked up a bird nesting box…another discount voucher meant it cost me just £2.99…I am hoping to encourage the Robin that visits our garden so regularly to take up residence! Now all I have to do is get Lee to put it up for me…I know just where it needs to go but am not confident using power tools, or I’d put it up myself!

I love to see wild birds in the garden…our feeding station is in front of my kitchen window & over the years we have seen an increased number of different breeds visiting. I put out seed & fat balls all through the winter, along with bread crusts from the boys breakfast toast (they’ll never have curly hair…the boys that is, not the birds!!) & I keep the bird bath topped up & ice free.

The RSPB has it’s HQ just down the road from us & I had read recently that following the harsh winter, our garden birds still need feeding, as the bugs & insects that normally make up their diet at this time of year are not yet plentiful. So with that in mind, I set to melting down some lard & suet & mixing19March2010 018 in seed to stuff half a dozen coconut
shells. After a couple of hours in the fridge they were ready to be put out & are now in situ, ready for the hoards to feed!!!coconuts    




So that’s been my busy & productive 48 hours! I am still grinning like a Cheshire Cat at my lovely surprise this morning & I’m looking forward to a scrappy evening & a scrappy Saturday too…as long as I can get the washing done & dry throughout the day tomorrow, it’ll be guilt free too!!


Thanks so much for dropping by…I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, whatever your plans & I’ll see some of you in the forum on Monday morning. I can’t wait to see what creations will be there for Shimelle’s Friday Challenge!!

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Ribbons & Boots!…

Well…I have had a very productive start to the week! As you know, I’m taking part in Shimelles ‘Something from {almost} nothing’ & Monday’s prompt 3 was to use ribbon…now do I have any ribbon?ribbons

I should say so!! I have some still wound on card, some wound around lollipop sticks (I find Magnum sticks the best…but then you do have to find someone to eat the Magnum!!) & secured with glass headed pins, & then loads of lengths just loose in the box!! There are spots, stripes, lacy, bobbly, sheer, velvet, satin, crinkly & just plain old plain ones!!

So, I decided to use the photo I took of Lee about to blow out his birthday candles & was amazed at how many of the ribbons in my box suited a masculine theme! So, much patience & yards of double sided adhesive tape later, this is what I put together…sweetcakesresize I am so enjoying Shimelles prompts…It’s actually quite amazing what turns up in your stash when you stop reaching for all the old favourites & have a good rummage…& I’m very organised when it comes to my stash, so I should already know what’s there!!!! It just goes to show!!

Today I have also started the ‘Bind-It-All 101’ class….I need to sit down & work through the video classes with my V2 at the ready!! I had the pink V2 as my Christmas gift in 2008 & since then have used it TWICE!!!…& not for months! So I am looking forward to gaining in confidence & of course, sharing the projects here with you!

wellies!

Yesterday I bought a new pair of very funky Welly Boots!! I have been on the look out for a pair to take my fancy for a while now…I was even prepared to pay the outrageous price for a designer pair if I liked them enough & if they were comfortable!

As someone with what can only be described as ‘Regal’ calves (in the style of Henry VIII) long boots are always an issue for me…my faithful green ‘Hunters’ are 25 years old & now fit Alex perfectly, so I thought I’d invest in a pair of short Welly’s that would solve the ‘calf’ problem!!  I fancied some Joules spotty ones, but they weren’t available in the short style…I saw some ‘crazy daisy’ ones but, again…too narrow in the leg!  So when I spotted these I thought yes…butterflies will do!!  They were in Tesco’s kids section & were just £9 so I’m happy!

They’ve already had two outings…last night I dug & planted & gravelled the small strip that divides our drive from next doors & they functioned very well….& today I mucked out the Guinea Pig hutch & they did a very good job there too!!

17March2010 006I have also got around to planting up some Ivy in pots for the en-suite window  ledge…I do like plants in the house & this is a job I’ve had on my ‘To Do’ list for too long!!

A background story…those three ceramic pots were the holders for the three loo brushes I bought when we first moved in six years ago! When I couldn’t find replacement brushes that fit into them I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away & they’ve been in the under-stair cupboard for ages!  I’m really glad to be able to recycle them!

Right…I must go & cook…nothing complicated…Toad-in-the-hole for Lee & the boys & a huge salad for me!!  I swam 30 lengths of the gym pool this morning & that, combined with all this activity has given me quite an appetite…I might just add a jacket potato to that salad!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Monday 15 March 2010

The Bad News & The Good!…

Well…the bad news is I still haven’t had any joy in reinstating my missing blog photo’s :(  But the good news is that I did find my Blurb ‘work in progress’ file :) Although I still haven’t decided whether to continue with it as is or to start again with a different format...hmmm?!!! This may turn out to be a more complex process than it at first appeared!!

MumsdaySo…did everyone have a good weekend?   Were all you Mums out there spoiled for Mothers day? I had said that I didn’t want any fuss, after the recent ructions about keeping home & hearth tidy!! But…I was spoiled in that my boys gave me a very apt card & TWO jars of Manuka Honey!! I had to go to into work on Sunday but I came straight home after & Lee cooked a scrumptious evening meal!!

On Saturday it was Crafty Stash crop time… This months class kit  was designed by Michelle Jackson-Mogford & after a few months of very girly kits was refreshingly grungy & masculine!!!Wish1For the first one I used Nathan’s recent birthday photo’s which I think worked well with the colours. This class kit called for a lot of distressing & some of the ladies there were amazed at distressing the actual photo edges..I think it works really well!! perfectpretzel For the second LO, I used another photo of Nathan, this time taken in 2008 on a visit to London. We had a snack break at St Pancras station & he thought this was the most perfect pretzel he’d ever tasted!!

How are you all getting on with Shimelles prompts…those of you taking part in ‘Something from {almost} Nothing’ that is?  I’ve found that I’m pre-empting the prompts…I used scraps in the first one, along with all the metal bits, only to find the second prompt was about using up your scraps!!!  So I put together another LO where, apart from one sheet of CS, it all came from my scraps box!!teddy2 This time a photo of Alex at 3 months old! I used strips of scrap PP to weave the block & cut the circles, heart & ribbon strips from scraps too. I just added some blooms, a few brads & some glittery alpha’s…all of which have been in my stash for ages….so this class is really doing what it’s supposed too!!

I have prompt three all set & ready to go…ribbon…yes I have a few…dozen!!! I may get it done tomorrow…if my conscience will allow!! I did promise myself that I’d complete my catch-up of the household chores this week!  But then again…image002

Friday 12 March 2010

The trials & tribulations of a technophobe!…

Well, that’s not strictly true…the past twelve months have seen me became far more confident dealing with all the tech’ necessary to navigate the net & shop online!  I am amazed at how much blogging has increased my understanding of all things ‘puter.

BUT….they say that pride comes before a fall…well…I mentioned in an earlier post that I planned to make a book from my first years posts, so I downloaded the necessary programme & set about ‘slurping’ all my blog posts into ‘BookSmart’, all ready for editing! 

I got as far as page 33…getting to grips with how to rearrange page layouts & change font size etc etc.  Then my eyelids began to droop, so I ‘saved’ my work so far & logged off. But…yesterday, when I logged back on…it was gone!  No record of it anywhere in Blurb/BookSmart at all!!!!!  AND…to add insult to injury…all of my blog photo’s from 23 November ‘09 (When I started using Live Writer to post to my blog) to 8 March this year have disappeared!!!! They are all still visible in my post history on Live Writer…just not in my actual blog!! Aaaaargh!!!

I have left a question for the help panel, but if anyone out there has any advice on how I can restore them…I would be very grateful!!!!

Anyhow..Onwards & Upwards…I had a thoroughly enjoyable morning on Wednesday, when I met my two very good friends, Karen & Robynne, for coffee & MUCH chat!! We all used to work together & hadn’t all got together so far this year, so there was a lot to catch up on! Karen got this shot, using the timer on her camera…

IMG_8560-1[1]

I also had a fun time yesterday putting together a LO for Shimelle’s first prompt…to use metal!  Within my stash I must have a zillion brads, a billion eyelets & quite an assortment of bookplates, charms, clips, turns & bottle tops! So I sorted out some charms that I’d had for eons…very shiny silver but flat & boring…got out my Tim Holtz texturizing hammer (you see Karen, I knew I’d use it one day!!) & bashed away happily…very therapeutic!! Here is what I put together…

CropBuddies 
I used a sketch that I saved to my favourites yonks ago, but have no recollection of where it was from!! The photo is of Karen, Hilary & myself at one of the Crafty Stash crops in Tempsford last Summer. I loved that, apart from one sheet of Kraft cardstock, everything else, paper wise, came out of my scraps box!

Right!…I’m off to sort out the photo’s I need for tomorrows crop…then maybe I can do a bit of work on Shimelle’s second prompt!!

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend….& for all you UK Mums…Happy Mothers Day for Sunday!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Something From {Almost} Nothing….

At last…the day is here!!! Today is the start of Shimelles new on-line class…classimageI am so looking forward to being inspired to get out & USE the ever increasing amount of stash that I have. Most of it is neatly stored in RUB’s, but that just disguises how much there is!! I took a few photo’s in response to Shimelles challenge to show our stash…stash!!…as you can see…a veritable plethora of buttons, blooms, brads, beads & boxes full of embellishments, ribbons, rub-ons, gems, alpha’s & chipboard….Add to that all the paint, ink, glue, glitter, PP’s, CS’s, transparencies, overlays, vellums, lace & fabric swatches…as well as all the gadgets, tools, stamps & punches & you get some idea of the enormity of the potential of this class!!!!

I must admit that I took some reassurance in seeing some of the stash pictures, which make mine pale into insignificance!!!!

I look forward to sharing something inspired with you very soon!!! If you’re taking part to, do leave me a comment with a link, so that I can check out your stash/blog/creations too!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Monday 8 March 2010

Candles, Cupcakes & Fabulous Films…

OK…so it’s Monday once again…apart from my gripe about bad housekeeping on Saturday it was quite a festive weekend! On Friday, the Lower School in the village, where Lee works, had it’s ‘World Book Day’ dress up day. Even the staff dress up & Lee decided to go as James Bond…he looked very dapper in his DJ & black tie as he set off! However, as the day wore on,  the kids were unanimous that he was in fact, meant to be Alfred the Butler from Batman!!! I think he was quite gutted to think he looked more Michael Caine than Daniel Craig!! Me…I’m saying nothing!!!!

It was also Lee’s birthday on Friday & although I had intended to bake a traditional birthday cake, I ended up opting for a batch of Cupcakes…not chocolate of course, as I’m still resisting chocolate for Lent, & that would have meant I couldn’t have one…hmmm…chocolate might have been the better idea actually, as I ended up eating TWO!!!
 
I used a recipe for carrot cake (so at least there were vegetables involved, which must make them healthier!!!), topped off with cream cheese frosting & I managed to find some edible gold stars & gold candles to make them look really festive.  As it was Lee’s Fumptiphumpond birthday I decided against a full count of candles & opted for a token nine instead!!

We decided to celebrate with an overdue visit to the cinema…more on that to follow later…& then we went to ‘The Barn’ restaurant, which is a Beefeater & has something on the menu for all of us!  Lee had his usual steak…I had grilled chicken…Nathan chose a half rack of ribs & Alex, who is always a challenge, tucked into fries & garlic bread!!!!

Nathan insisted on drinking his sparkling apple juice from a wine glass…very sophisticated!! None of us had dessert as we knew the cupcakes were waiting at home for us!

Once home Lee opened his cards & presents & we settled down with coffee & cupcakes to rehash the movie we had just seen…you may remember we had planned to see it on Nathan’s birthday, but Alex was ill…so it was great to finally see it & so well worth the wait!…

It was, of course…Avatar!!  What an AMAZING movie!! We saw it in 3D & that was fabulous…the effects are stunning & the story absolutely gripping. I know it’s the usual good versus evil, but it was so well executed.


There was enough action to keep the boys interested, a bit of romance for me & a great ending for all of us!!! It is so easy to see how it has picked up so many awards!!
The best accolade came from my boys… “when do you think they’ll bring out ‘Avatar 2?”!!
Alex has been playing the game on X-Box ever since!!
I think Lee enjoyed his birthday!!
Saturday you know about…& NO I did not even so much as touch either bedroom! I have cleaned today & have the laundry all sorted & ready for ironing tomorrow, but I have simply closed the doors on the offending areas!!…For now at least!!!

Yesterday was work as usual…& afterwards Amanda & I went to see ‘Alice in Wonderland’…..another fabulous movie & so good to see it at launch!!Johnny Depp & Helena Bonham-Carter are just perfect as Mad Hatter & Red Queen…Matt Lucas fabulous as the Tweedles Dum & Dee… & Barbara Windsor surprised us as the Dormouse!! Disney have outdone themselves…great fun!!

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of my blogging adventure!! I’m planning to have my years worth of posts made into a book, for posterity!! I never knew how addictive it would become…nor how many hours I would spend blog hopping as a result!!! Thank you to all of you who take time to visit & leave such lovely, heart warming & highly entertaining comments!! Long may it continue!!!
After a day of housework, I leave you with a thought…


Now if only my menfolk would all get the message!!!!

Thanks for dropping by & have a great week all!!!

Saturday 6 March 2010

A Place For Everything & Everything In It’s Place?…

I am fast approaching my first anniversary of Blogging & those of you who visit regularly will know that there is a continuous theme that runs through my posts….namely that I find it hard to comprehend how the male of the species are just so UNTIDY!!!

Now, I will admit that I am borderline OCD when it comes to my home…I don’t like clutter, like everything to have it’s own place & not to have to panic should we get an unexpected visitor…Heaven forbid that anyone should ask to use the loo before I’ve had a chance to check it out first! Am I the only one who’s boys ‘forget’ to flush…leave lid AND seat up…& sometimes (well quite often actually!) miss the loo altogether?!!!

My Mum brought us up to make our beds, keep a tidy house & a shiny sink & to take a pride in ourselves!! Is that so out of date? I know that if my home is tidy & I’m clean & well presented I certainly feel better able to face the world!

I will admit to being a bit obsessive about some things…BUT overall I just like ‘clean & tidy’ & I become quite agitated when the house is messy…or as part of it is right now…an absolute bomb site!!!

Then why?  You may ask, am I blogging when I should be tidying? Well…I will tell you…I have reached saturation point…I have retreated to my scrap space & closed the door! When I’m done here, I may well gird my loins & try to make a dent in it..but then, in all probability, by the time I get in from work tomorrow, it will be just as bad again, so why bother?!!!

Anyhow…what has prompted me to whinge today? Well…since New Year, I have charged the boys with keeping their own rooms tidy…I agreed that I would make their beds each morning & run the vacuum through when I did the rest of the upstairs, but they needed to keep them tidy (there’s that word again!!) Nathan has the smallest bedroom…decorated to his choice not long ago & it looked something like this..2007_0112cakealex0045 2007_0112cakealex0044

 

 

 

 


underbed

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You see…a place for everything, a desk for homework (tucked out of sight between the bed &  window), plenty of shelves for toys & books, storage units with boxes for more toys & even a ‘den’ under the bed with a string of football fairy lights, more storage & a beanbag to crash in, to read or play DS games!! Before Christmas, I had a sort out & weeded out the ‘too young’ toys to make way for the new things that would inevitably arrive over the festive season…it was all….well…so tidy!!!

And this brings me to the horror that this room is today!
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Top right is that neat little ‘den’ stuffed to the gills with Heaven knows what!…bottom left is his desk..yes there is one under there somewhere!…top left is the floor in front of his desk…an bin stands empty, while there are sweet wrappers & pencil shavings on the carpet! Bottom right is what has become a dumping ground for just about anything…please note a DS game (these cost about £40) just left balanced on the edge of the unit…one day soon there’ll be tears & tantrums because he can’t find it!!!

I am in TURMOIL…part of me needs to have this mess GONE!!… part of me agrees that no lesson will be learned if I do as I have always done & just restore order to this chaos…BUT there is a part of me that thinks maybe I should just bag everything up & conceal it away leaving just the furniture & bed made up & let him believe that it’s all gone to the tip!!

Please let me know what you think!! One thing’s for sure, I am not spending this beautiful sunny Saturday in that pit….even if it would feel good to have it tidy at the end of it!!! Besides…it has an ‘almost as bad’ twin in the form of Alex’s bedroom next door!! Oh! The joy’s of Motherhood!!!!

So…I’m off now to peg out some washing, for the first time this year, & maybe have a little walk around the garden with my pruning shears!!  Whatever you’re up to this weekend…Have a good one…& thanks for dropping by!