Thursday 21 March 2013

Can You Tell I’m British?

I’m developing a bit of an obsession with the weather!! I know…very British!! But it seems like we never know what we’re going to wake up to these days!

13 a.m. sunshine

For example…

Last Wednesday morning I enjoyed a sunshine stroll along the Embankment…

 

 

14 p.m. snow

   …& then on Thursday
   morning we opened the
   blinds to snow!!

   This morning, although
   cold, it was a beautiful
   sunny start to the day
   …but by lunchtime the

local radio station was warning of snowfalls in the early hours of tomorrow & to listen out for school closures on the breakfast show!! And it’s only ten days till Easter!!!

Well, enough of that! I’ve not been online often of late, just keeping up to date with emails but not much else! I’ve been busy around the house & I am at last up to date with the ironing (BIG YAY! Open-mouthed smile), the loft is coming along nicely & I’m working through all those jobs that tend to get neglected…washing down paintwork, moving out kitchen appliances to clean behind (ugh!) & sorting out the black hole that is the cupboard under the stairs!!

15 Online ClassNot much paper crafting going on but I am managing to keep up to date with Project Life, I’m working through a couple of online classes I downloaded before Christmas from the Jessica Sprague website & I’m

16 Knit project    finishing off a knitting
    project! Oh…& the soft
    toy I posted about
    earlier should be done
    soon too….I just have
    to come up with a way
    to add a convincing
    mane & tail!!!


17 Mothers DayI do hope all my ‘Mum’ visitors were spoiled for Mothers Day… 

I had a totally relaxing day & enjoyed my first Mothers Sunday in eleven years when I wasn’t at work! The boys spoiled me with vouchers for a facial & I didn’t have to cook or clear up all day!!

I’m looking forward to my weekend…snow or no snow! I have a ticket to see Marti Pellow in concert on Sunday night at Milton Keynes! I’m going on my own as Lee wasn’t interested!! I shall hang on every note…I think he has an amazing voice & I’m hoping he includes a couple of ‘Wet Wet Wet’ numbers!

So, that’s about all to report for now! Same old same old otherwise! Thanks for stopping by & be sure to come back soon! Open-mouthed smile

Wednesday 6 March 2013

A Tempting Glimpse Of Spring?

Yesterday, here in Darkest Bedfordshire, we had a taste of sunshine! It was warm enough by mid afternoon to venture out without a coat!! My feet even felt too warm in my Uggs!

It was bliss! I threw open the windows in every room & pottered away in the kitchen with the back door wide open too, wishing all the while that I hadn’t been so prompt with the laundry on Monday as it would have been wonderful to have pegged out a full wash!!

But…today we’re back to wintry cold, coats scarves & gloves back on! It even drizzled with rain on my morning walk along the Embankment…ugh!

So, while Mother Nature makes up her mind what season to throw at us tomorrow, I’m going to share one or two highlights of our week so far!

IMG_9339Sunday saw me once more ensconced between the beams in our attic! When we moved in nine years ago we vowed that we would NOT do what we did in our previous home & cram it full of stuff we didn’t really need to keep! A vow made with good intentions but it hasn’t really worked out that way!

So far I have liberated one end of the roof space of THREE car loads (& I drive an estate car!!) of cardboard & packing materials! Hubby insists on keeping the boxes of new electrical appliances “just in case”…but there was a box there for an iron I threw out years ago!!

IMG_9343

  It’s actually very cathartic
  to just hurl drop what’s
  for the tip through the loft
  hatch & watch it pile up in
  readiness for hubby to get
  it down the stairs & then
  loaded into the car! He
  leaves me very much
  alone to the sorting, but I’m accumulating quite a stack of boxes which seem to contain paperwork going back decades…those he can do himself!! He does pop his head up through the hatch from time to time to marvel at the expanse of floor space opening up!

It’ll be a long project & I’m hoping for some more of that lovely Spring weather so that I can get out on as many Sundays as possible to our local car boot fair & turn some of these hoarded treasures into cash!! Meanwhile I’m sure there’ll be many more visits to the tip, along with bags to the charity shop before we’re I’m done!! Winking smile

IMG_9364It was Lee’s birthday yesterday & we celebrated at home with a roast pork dinner followed by cake & candles….just a token six as I didn’t want scorched retinas all round from lighting 55!!  He came home from school with a selection of handmade cards from pupils in his class…so sweet!  He opened all his cards & gifts in the evening too & although I find it harder & harder to buy ‘surprises’ for him, he seemed very pleased with everything!

I had to laugh on Monday when I opened the cookie tin to fill it with a new pack…

IMG_9355  …Lee had at some point
  obviously fancied a choc
  chip cookie or two & then
  discovered he’d been
  beaten to it by our
  resident cookie monster…
  …Alex!

  So I left it where it was &
  put the packet in the
  cupboard….I’m still waiting
  for Alex to comment on
  the note…maybe his conscience has been pricked & that’s why he hasn’t mentioned it yet!! I’m sure he will once his craving for choc chip cookies kicks in!!

IMG_9409Finally, I noticed yesterday that the cactus in the lounge is breaking into bloom. It’s flowers are so delicate but they don’t last long. Mum-In-Law says it’s a Christmas cactus & my neighbour says it’s an Easter cactus!! Who’s right I wonder?…Can any of you tell me? Please!!

So that’s it from me for today. I do hope you’re all keeping well & those of you who were at one of the scrap retreats over the weekend had a wonderful time & will be sharing all the gossip at your earliest convenience!

Thanks for stopping by & come back soon! Open-mouthed smile

Sunday 3 March 2013

My Precious The Third…


4 Storytelling SundayIt’s that time again! The first Sunday of March & time to share a story about something precious! I did have an object all lined up but then had a rethink!

On Friday something prompted me to realise that there is something very precious that I should be acknowledging, so my object will wait till another day!!

Enduring Friendship

I left Hereford in 1983 to set up home with Lee in Hertfordshire. I left my family, friends & much loved job with Estee Lauder! I started work as Deputy Manager of a fashion shop in St Albans but after about a year I missed my roots in cosmetics & took a job with Elizabeth Arden in a local department store.

It was here I discovered a group of friends with whom I had so much in common & we were soon spending our days off & evenings together, as if 40 hours a week on the department wasn’t enough! Those of us who had ‘other halves’ were not surprised that they got along well too, which helped!!

We did silly things like having themed fancy dress nights out & would cause much hilarity arriving in pubs & clubs dressed as fairies, schoolgirls or in our pyjamas! We had frequent dinners & parties at one another's homes & anything was a good enough reason to get together! We spoiled each other on birthdays & played silly practical jokes on each other!

Over the years we supported each other through heartaches & crises, celebrated successes, went to each others weddings & welcomed each others children into the world. Then, as often happens when children arrive, life moves you off in different directions & you don’t see each other so often.

But that friendship never goes away, even when you all move away into different counties & you’ve not seen each other in eons! When you do get together you just pick up where you left off, as if it were just yesterday!

This Friday I was lucky enough to get together with three of these friends, two of which I hadn’t seen for five years & it really brought it home to me just how lucky we all were to have shared those wonderful years when our lives were so intertwined!

5 Carol & Marci

6 Polly & I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We caught up on all the news, what our kids are doing (now all in teens & twenties!), who’s heard from who, & then we got down to reminiscing about the 80’s & the 90’s…& laughed so much at memories of those happy, happy days!

I managed to dig out a photo of the four of us taken at another friends wedding in 1995, but I’m sure if I dug deep I could find some of us as fairies, schoolgirls….!!

7 the way we were 1995

So, my precious this month is ‘Friendship’…I am lucky enough to have many people I call friends & I value each & every one, but to have enduring friendship is a true blessing indeed.

So, what’s your precious? Do share your story over at ‘From High In The Sky’ where I know you’ll be very welcome…you’ll find lots of other stories there too!

Thanks for stopping by & come back soon! Open-mouthed smile

Friday 1 March 2013

Happy St David’s Day…

st_davids_day_greeting_card_welsh-p137253050776110845b26lp_400Born & bred in Hereford, right on the border between England & Wales, March 1st was always a day for daffodils & dragons!! School assembles were themed for St David & leeks were on the menu at lunch!! I consider myself English but you can’t live cheek-by-jowl with the very high Welsh population of my home city without enjoying the celebration of their patron saint! So, to all my Welsh friends, have a great day!

1 The Secret Garden movie poster   The first of the month also means
   it’s challenge time over at
   ‘From Screen 2 Scrap’ & this
   months movie poster for your
   interpretation is ‘The Secret
   Garden’. The added criteria to
   include are…

   1. A garden photo or photo’s
   2. A flower cluster
   3. A garden decoration (seat, arch,
       birdbath, swing, fountain etc)

…& here’s my interpretation…

2 Imagination 
It features a photo taken just a couple of months after we moved into our current home (hence the unfinished fence staining!), which is almost nine years ago!! The garden was just plain turf & the boys were happily occupied playing with the large cardboard boxes from ‘the move’!! It’s not a particularly good photo in the traditional sense, which made it all the more gratifying to scrap! It’s a happy memory!

So how will you interpret the poster? I’d love for you to play along with us this month…& remember the added criteria for extra points!! 

Thanks for stopping by & come back soon Open-mouthed smile