Monday 23 January 2012

A Daily Round-Up!

This week was one of those that had something on the calendar every day! The only clear day was Monday until my good friend Amanda asked if I could lend a hand die-cutting some shapes for her sons Art homework! So my housework was put on hold while we searched for the right kind of images & Amanda had a ‘quick’ tutorial on how to reassemble the cut pieces!!

Cat in a basket On Tuesday I worked all day reorganising my scrap space…Lee had moved my tall bookshelf into Alex’s bedroom in preparation for the arrival of an additional ‘Expedit’ bookcase from Ikea  (they really must have been designed by a scrapper, they’re so perfect for a scrap room!) & moved an unused computer desk from his study into my scrap room too.  The cat supervised as I rearranged books, boxes, gadgets, tools & stash!  But he waited until my waste baskets were back in place before claiming the ‘Rubbish’ one as his chosen place to settle!

18 Jan 2012 001 Wednesday was a bit of a worry! Alex had a dental appointment & was to have ‘Happy Gas’ (basically good old gas & air) for the first time. Because of his Diabetes & ADHD he’s always had work done with a General Anaesthetic, but his excellent dentist suggested we try this method to administer a local anaesthetic, as the work needed was just a couple of fillings!

He always gets so anxious about anything new, but settled quite happily once he was in the chair & although he was fully awake & kept saying he still felt the same, it was easy to see that his body was getting more & more relaxed!  Before long Helen was able to administer the local anaesthetic & Alex was totally oblivious that any needle had been near him!!!

18 Jan 2012 003

She managed to get most of the drilling done, but once she started using the vibrating drill…I’m sure you know the one I mean!…Alex began to protest! So the job was completed as best she could & it was decided that he will be needing a ‘G.A.’ for the rest of the work after all! :(


21 Jan 2012 002 On Thursday I set off to meet a friend for coffee. We have been texting one another for almost twelve months saying ‘let’s get together soon!’ & at last we did!Robynne looked so well & it was so lovely to hear how well her kids are getting on & just to generally catch up on each others news!


21 Jan 2012 001 I’d even done my homework so that I wouldn’t be tempted ‘off track’ by all the goodies Starbucks have to offer! I chose the ‘Light’ Lemon & poppy seed muffin with my black Americano!!!  Delicious & very ‘affordable’ in Weight Watchers Pro-Points value!!!


On Friday my car had to be left at the garage for a new hose to be fitted to the radiator, so I dropped it off after the school run  & walked home! It took me half an hour & it’s mostly up hill, so I was glowing nicely when I got through the front door!!  One thing I’m enjoying on my daily 30 minute walks is seeing more closely those things seen fleetingly while driving!

21 Jan 2012 005 Late last summer, a cottage in the village was re-thatched & the Thatcher left his trademark pheasants on the roof.

I’ve admired them ever since, but as it’s a busy stretch of road, never stopped to photograph them. Well, I snapped one on Friday! 

21 Jan 2012 011 Saturday was blissful!  Off I went to the ‘Merly Impressions’ crop at Renhold from 10am –5pm!

This was my first real crafty day this year & it felt so good! I caught up with the lovely Dawn & Sharon, & although I declined the kit, I managed to complete my LO for the Soul Scrappers ‘Sound of Summer’ challenge!  I went armed with a sketch from ‘Creative Scrappers’ & a pile of stash & just went with the flow!  The criteria to include were… 1. paint… 2. sewing… 3. distressing…4. fussy cutting… 5. tree(s)…6. cloud(s)… 7. strip journaling & 8. Rub-ons! 

I managed to tick all the boxes & here’s my end result…

Busy Buzzy Bee

I went with that lovely sound of honey bee’s buzzing on a lazy, hazy, sunny summer afternoon!! Strange to think that the sound of those little guys working so hard to collect nectar can be so relaxing!!!

we-movie-poster-01-550x814 Finally I’ll leave you with this weeks cinema visit! We chose to see ‘W.E.’ which is the film co-written & directed by Madonna, about Edward Vii & Wallis Simpson. I had my reservations about it, not sure how Madonna’s style would come through, but all I can say is ‘Way to go Madge!!’

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the story unfold alongside a modern day relationship drama! It cut easily back & forth between the 1930’s & the present day, wasn’t sugar coated in any way & really gave a different perspective on what is often thought of as a fairytale romance. Think again!!

Thanks for stopping by, do check out my ‘365+1in 2012’ collage for the week via the tab at the top, or go to Suzie’s blog via the link above to see everyone’s!  I’m really enjoying my daily prompts & checking out how everyone interprets them so variedly!

Hope you can pop back again soon! :)

Monday 16 January 2012

Friday the 13th?…Who’d have thought!!

If I’m honest I am a tad on the superstitious side & given the option, don’t arrange to do stuff on Friday the 13th….well there’s no reason to tempt fate is there?!! But last Friday, I had been given an appointment with my Consultant, to discuss my frozen shoulder.

After the debacle of the cortisone injection pre Christmas, I was expecting to be told that it was just a matter of tweaking my pain relief….BUT…joy of joys, he sent me off for an X-ray & declared that he will be performing keyhole surgery to release the joint & ‘needle’ the calcification on February 3rd!!!  I am so pleased I cannot tell you…to think that I may be fully mobile & pain free in time for summer is just amazing!!  So not what I expected on Friday 13th….I left the hospital with a spring in my step & a smile on my face!!!

…& it doesn’t end there!!

great-wall-of-china-tour

When I got home, Lee showed me a text he had received, informing him that he had won a trip to China!! Ever the sceptic, I asked if it was one of those holiday Timeshare scams, but no! It is a bonafide prize
from a draw at University & he HAS won a place on an organised trip to China!! I am so thrilled for him! I’m beginning to like Friday 13th!!!

Me by Karen Jan 2012 Magic-ed The rest of the week was pretty good too! On Tuesday I set off to the hairdressers. Because my shoulder & arm has become so painful I’d been finding it impossible to blow-dry or style my hair properly, so off it came!!

I haven’t worn it this short since the boys were babies & I must say I’m loving the fact I can be showered & dried in less than half an hour (yes Karen, you read that right!!). A quick blast with the drier & a bit of spray wax & I’m done….anyone ‘blessed’ with thick hair will understand!!!

On Wednesday I had a lunch date with three lovely ladies…Hilary, Ann & the aforementioned Karen. In the spirit of ‘Move More Eat Well’ I had arranged to meet up with Karen at 11am & we set off on a pre-lunch walk. The weather was glorious & we followed a lovely route into almost open countryside. We walked briskly (to keep up with the energetic Teddy, mostly!) but still managed to chat the whole way, for about an hour! Then we set off to ‘Yuva’ to meet the others!

11 Jan 2012 012 While we waited we had an impromptu photo shoot & the photo above of my ‘new do’ is one of Karen's works of magic!!

Lunch was such a treat, we all laughed & caught up on each others news. The food was delicious, as always. I chose a sizzling Chicken Tikka with steamed basmati rice & salad…so tasty & quite innocent without the marsala sauce!! LOL!!

Xmas Gift from Karen 2011
As Alex had been in hospital, I had missed the pre-Christmas lunch we had arranged, so I took along the girls Christmas gifts & Karen gave me the most amazing personalised hardback notebook from ‘Paper Coterie’! I am thrilled with it & now have to decide exactly what I will use it for…maybe I’ll just sit & stroke it for a little while longer!!!

 

 
The cold snap we’re having at the moment has put a smile on my face too! Am I mad? I hear you ask!! No…I just love the combination of frost & sunshine…wrapping up warm to walk is the cold is such a pleasure & then coming back into the warm for tea & crumpets!! (BTW crumpets are very low fat if you skip the butter & just have a smidge of jam, so I’m not cheating!!) I took my camera out with me this morning…

14 Jan 2012 01914 Jan 2012 018

 

 

 



14 Jan 2012 021

The frost looked just like fur on the wooden surfaces & every blade of grass stood out! The ice in the water butt was at least 1/2” thick & hasn’t melted all day!! As long as I don’t have to drive far I’m happy…oh & as long as the sun keeps shining!!!


I’ll leave you with my latest movie experience! Last night we saw ‘Sherlock Holmes –A game of Shadows’…just fabulous!!  Anyone who follows me on Pinterest will know I have a soft spot for Robert Downey Junior & he did not disappoint!!!

sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows-20111130110717284_640w


As full of action as the first film & featuring some very clever special effects, I was immersed in the plot from start to finish. Of course RD Jr made it all the more enjoyable…gotta love a bit of ‘bad boy’ in my old age!!!

 
Thanks for stopping by, stay warm, & I do hope you’ll come back soon! :)

Monday 9 January 2012

…& Normal Service Is Resumed!

Never has the ‘same-old same-old’ felt so good!

I cannot believe how good it felt to do the school run, come home to make beds & generally tidy up the place & do laundry, after a week of feeling like a limp lettuce!! How sad am I?!!

The weekend was good too…a leisurely day on Saturday, topped off with a visit to the pantomime at the ‘Gordon Craig’ theatre in Stevenage. This is such a lovely intimate theatre…wherever you sit you can see & feel part of everything. The ‘Dame’ is Paul Laidlaw & he has played that part for the past 25 years in this theatre! He is a true master of timing & the ‘ad-lib’, so had the whole place in total uproar!

beauty-a-beast-stevenage-2011-lrg This years story was ‘Beauty & The Beast’ & starred Bernie Nolan, but every member of the cast from the headliners down to the smallest chorus girl were on top form & I laughed till I cried, sang along to ‘Wiggly Worm’, shouted ‘Behind You’ & ‘Oh no it isn’t’ ( & Oh yes it is!!), booed & hissed & cheered along with the best of them!!  I even had a tear in my eye when Beauty & the Beast had their romantic dance scene & actually flew!!! (yes I know they were on wires…but it was impressive all the same!).


I returned to work yesterday, straight into the January Clearance Sale, & apart from sounding a little hoarse, it was business as usual!  So nice to catch up with all the Sunday girls & hear all their Christmas stories! Business was quite brisk too, so my sales target was easily achieved & then the lovely Karen called in for an impromptu visit!!  A good day all round!!

mission-impossible-ghost-protocol-movie-poster1Of course, after work it was off to the cinema…to see the new Mission Impossible film ‘Ghost Protocol’…a thoroughly enjoyable film from start to finish….Simon Pegg is totally awesome & I have to say that Tom Cruise is definitely improving with age! He was always too smooth for my liking in his ‘Top Gun’ days, but now he’s getting a bit craggy, I can see the attraction!!!

Fast moving & highly entertaining throughout I’d recommend you see this one…just leave logic & common sense at the door & you’ll really enjoy it!


My guys have all been enjoying their Christmas gadgetry this weekend too! The only sad thing is they all enjoy it in different rooms!

Alex tech 

Alex simultaneously playing on the X-Box & his laptop in the lounge…talk about multi-tasking!

 

Nat tech

 

 

Nathan, plugged in to X-Box Live & shouting strategic instructions to his on-line team mates…sometimes I think if he just opened the front door he wouldn’t need to be electronically connected…I’m sure he can be heard for miles!!

 

Lee tech

 

…& then there’s Lee at his desk in the study…surrounded by tech & gadgetry!  Funny how he goes in there to ‘do college work’ & yet when I pop in with a coffee the screen shows either Amazon or a game of some description!!!!

 

07 Jan 2012 011 And I had a new piece of gadgetry for Christmas too!  Lee bought me a Kindle & I’m absolutely thrilled with it!!

It’s already been loaded up with the next three books in the ‘Ice & Fire’ series by George R R Martin! Such a relief as they’re all such fat paperbacks with the most miniscule type ever! Now I can enjoy them all with the font as big as I need & turn over the page at the press of a button!! Perfect for my nightly bedtime reading!


To finish today, I will just mention that, although I am taking part in both the ‘365+1 in 2012’ and ‘Move More & Eat Well’ I won’t be posting too much about them here on the home page, instead my updates can be found HERE & HERE or by clicking the tabs at the top of this page!

Thanks for stopping by & I do hope you’ll pop back soon! :)

Friday 6 January 2012

A Little Delayed But….Bring It On 2012!!!

The new year saw fit to kick off pretty much as the old one left us…hence the delay in this, my first post of the year!

My  Christmas Eve post reported on how Alex had needed hospitalisation & how we were still trying to stabilise him…well that is still ongoing but he’s back at school & much more his usual ‘grouchy-teenager’ self!

Flowers 1What I didn’t mention in that post was that I had also had a trip to hospital, albeit for an appointment, not an admission! I had accepted a cancellation with the Consultant re my frozen shoulder.. BIG mistake!! He decided that the two Cortisone injections I’d had by my GP weren’t done in the right place & proceeded to try again in his chosen spot!  I’m ashamed to say that I actually screamed, it was SO painful….& it stayed painful…right through Christmas!! Oh Joy! One silver lining…Lee brought home these gorgeous flowers to try & cheer me up!!

I managed to get an emergency appointment the day after Boxing Day & the Consultant & his nurse were both very sympathetic & said that this wasn’t unheard of, sending me off with Tramadol for the pain & a return appointment. I managed two doses of Tramadol before taking to my bed with dizziness, nausea & a fearful itching all over!! Add to this the continuing pain in my shoulder & I was not a happy bunny!!

We cancelled our New Years Eve plans & spent a very quiet time, not even venturing out for our usual New Years Day ramble!  Then, because things always happen in three’s…I developed a cough which turned into a full blown chest infection & today is my first full day out of bed since Tuesday!!

So here I am, with sore midriff muscles from coughing & a very croaky voice BUT at least my shoulder pain is settling & I’m feeling in a much better place!!
00 MMEW I have been doing a bit of housekeeping today…just here in blogland, of course! I’ve set up some new pages where I’ll update my two, year long projects (& possibly a third to come?!!), hoping it will encourage me to blog more regularly…I’d become a very lazy blogger last month!!
0 365 1 2012 

To those of you also taking part in ‘Move More Eat Well’ & ‘365+1 in 2012’ I’m looking forward to checking out your posts too!

5 miracle on 34th street
I’ll leave you today with just a little scrappiness…this months challenge over at ‘From Screen To Scrap’ is the movie poster for ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ & the added criteria was  1- include a Santa on the page  2- use brown/orange/yellow hues & 3- use your house number in the title. This one took a bit of thought & with everything going on in the run up to Christmas, I’m afraid it maybe wasn’t as elaborate as it could have been, but this was my finished LO…

4 Miracle at #14
I used a photo I had ‘composed’ via the ‘Capture The Magic of Santa’ website a couple of years ago, where you can put Santa anywhere in your own home! This photo had actually freaked Alex totally, it looks so convincing!! It worked well with the required colour scheme as the walls on our landing were a warm ochre colour!!  I included a big chunk of verse from ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ as my journaling. I’m afraid I wasn’t very imaginative with the title though!!

Thank you so much for stopping by & I do hope that 2012 is getting off to a good start for all of you! Now that I’m up & about I mean to get caught up with everything as soon as I can, & that means stopping by to visit everyone’s blog too!

Come back soon! :)