Down in the jungle.....
Yesterday I went down to Elizabeths to see her and Emma and baby lewen! Was a great day, I only had one shaky moment at the train station but the kids were with me so 1. I had to hide it and 2. as they were with me I got over it very quickly.
I love how expressive baby's faces get at this age, he's 11 weeks old now, he loves playing with his baby gym!
Liz had taken baby to get weighed yesterday and he has gained a whole lb this week... big difference from the 1/2oz last week but she doesnt seem to realise that's quite normal with breastfeeding. She stresses so much about it, its a shame!
He's a happy contented baby!
Came down with a major headache though soon after we got home, and went to bed at 8pm - didnt wake up until 9am this morning! Wow, what a sleep!
Beads, beads everywhere...
I've spent the entire evening making jewellery... its been great fun! 2 more necklaces to share!
I might have to learn more than the basics here.... I have great ideas in my head but just dont know how to translate them into jewellery..... what have i let myself in for????
Air show washout
Well, its a bank holiday in england and its raining... no surprise there then! We were thinking of going to the air show in southend but its too wet and the pier is shut cos it got burned... again... and I only like watching it from the pier, gets too busy on the sea front... so we are not going!
Elizabeth is going out for lunch so cant go down there, maybe later, i dont know how long she is out for!
I made my first bit of jewellery last night... not too bad for a first attempt, i think i could maybe get into this :)
The necklace is just beads on wire with a screw clasp at the back and the earrings are dangly.
BBQ season...
Just back from a family BBQ to celebrate Stewart's niece's 1st birthday, how time has flown! Was a fun day, i can't believe how many little ones there are around now after my 3 were practically on their own at that age......
They've gone from having 1 cousin as they were growing up to having 6 (the other 5 were born in the last 2 years!)
I love this pic... Mmmmm chocolate!
Well, my Auntie Christine caught me on the hop yesterday... I got a phone call saying she and her friend would be over in
10 minutes.... total panic stations! I wasnt even dressed, and my craft table was a mess as I'd been playing with AI's all morning, that'll teach me!
Anyways, she came over and it was lovely, they both looked through all my cards, bought a few, looked at all my bits and I made a couple of cards there and then for them... was fun! They were also very impressed with my vase and couldnt tell what it was made from :) We didnt manage to get down to Elizabeths to see the baby as Stewart was knackered from working away and she doesnt know if she can do another day, which is a shame as I dont know when Elizabeth can get up to Glasgow next. But we can cross fingers that auntie christine will manage to get down there while shes here!
Emma arrived at Elizabeths safe and sound yesterday... still seems very strange to have her down and not staying with me but I suppose I cant be greedy!
On the Alcohol Ink front, here are the pictures of the pc cables, these cables come from inside the computer but they inked up a treat.... the scans dont really show the details very well on some of them... This is one that I cut up to just try but it would work on longer ones too!
I'm awake..... so am I!
I've woken up in two minds this morning, which is a very interesting experience
(would be even more interesting if I could be 100% sure it wasnt a prelude to a psychotic episode).I've always found it fascinating that humans can believe in 2 contradictory ideas at the same time but this is the first time that I have consciously been aware of doing it! My thoughts as I awoke went something like this:
Yay, stewarts not working away any more
OMG stewarts not working away any moreWhoo hooo my aunt and sister are down
OMG my aunt and sister are down... i need to weed the gardenHooray its the school holidays
OMG its the school holidaysBoth thoughts were going at the same time, but slighty out of synch iykwim... was very weird!
In fact,
is very weird, as its still happening.... I'm having 2 trains of thought simultaneously as well as the song "what shall we do with a drunken sailor" going through my mind.... I wonder if I'm possibly still asleep.. that would explain a lot!
I also awoke with lots of inspiration as to what I can use my alcohol inks on next.... I'm still tempted to give stewarts car an AI tatoo - its a white ford focus estate and is just crying out for a dash of colour on the bonnet - but I know he'd kill me! I would be the first AI martyr in history.... I have been doing some experimentation with peel-offs and have had some good results, still need tweaking but i'm very pleased so far.
As you can see, there is slight bleeding, but still a very interesting effect!
It works with shapes too.
I will have to try it with a coloured background and the great thing is that you can re-use the peel-offs afterwards
and they are
lovely colours instead of just plain gold or silver!
I also AI'd some old computer cables, very nice effects, would make lovely belts. I will post pics of them later!
Vase
Well, here is my Vase in all it's glory! Fabric conditioner bottle with the top cut off, covered in alcohol inks and decorated with 3 old buttons. I'm quite pleased with it even if I do say so myself! and the great thing is it's waterproof!
Ugh!
Ugh my throat hurts, my head hurts, my nose is running for britain... my legs ache and I almost fainted on the stairs and twisted my ankle stopping myself falling down them...
I
can't get ill! My aunt comes down today and my sister comes down tomorrow - still dont know what day they are coming here on but I need to tidy up and I need to weed the front garden and its raining and i dont feel well and the house is a tip...
ugh ugh ugh! Pass the Kleenex!
On the bright side, I finished a vase last night, made out of an old Fabric Softener bottle and ALCOHOL INKS - oh I love alcohol inks! Will post pics later, the batteries have disappeared out of my camera... b****y fairies!
ugh ugh ugh! Pass the Kleenex again!
Box anyone?
Today just got better as it went on... Went out with Lythan to Artbase, gotta love craft shopping and I bought my first Quickutz dies (mosaic tiles) have already cut some out, some more alcohol inks (cabin cupboard - great browns) and some other bits. I made up some backgrounds using the new inks then cut them into tiles with the quickutz, havent made any cards yet though....
Then I spoke to my sister and we made up, she wasnt very happy but she realised that I hadnt meant to upset her so we are talking again... phew thats a relief! I dont mind confrontations but I hate misunderstandings hanging over my head, I much prefer to sort them out right away rather than let them fester...
I finished decorating my persil box... dont know if i like it or not, I'm not really into vintage antiquey style which is what this has turned into but the technique worked so I can try with other styles :D
This is a closeup of the top of the box. I used some vintage images that I had printed out for a friend - She makes some
stunning cards using these!
This is a side view of the back :D
Bear in mind that this is what it looked like before I attacked it with my alcohol inks! These boxes are difficult to cover as most paints dont completely mask the writing/pictures/colours of the original packaging. So I think it worked quite well!
foot+mouth=me
Why oh why do I speak without thinking? I would say 99% of the time I think very carefully about what I say and who I'm saying it to but the 1% where I just open my mouth and say what I'm thinking is the 1% when I really can't afford to...
Yesterday I really upset my sister, I didnt mean to upset her - in my clumsy way I was just trying to reassure her but I didnt think about what I was saying and how I was phrasing it and now she's not speaking to me... Basically, she is quite stressed about breastfeeding and doesnt think baby is gaining enough weight, so she gave him a bottle of formula milk and she was saying that she is going to give him one bottle a day... then she started saying that maybe he wouldnt gain more weight that way and I said "yes he will gain more weight, of course he will, bottle fed babies do gain more weight than breast fed babies cos the milk is full of s**t" - what I meant was that because the milk contains more fat and sugar (cos its easier to regulate what goes into formula milk than breast milk) he will be bound to gain more weight - i wasnt saying this is a bad thing although the expression i used makes it sound like that - it was just an expression, not a very nice expression but still just an expression - it wasnt meant as a critisism. But she took it as a critisism and hung the phone up on me, when i tried to ring back she wouldnt answer and when i tried again later she still wouldnt answer, so I left a message trying to explain and to apologise but she hasnt rung me yet.
usually I would rationalise things to myself and phrase things to sound positive whilst still getting the message across but she caught me at a really bad time and I'm having a bad week anyway so I didnt think and just phrased it as it occured to me.
She didnt give me a chance to explain that although formula milk is full of s**t, so is breast milk, it
has to be - babies
need fat, sugar, salt, carbs, protein etc it's what makes them grow, so it wasnt a critisism! The reason babies gain more weight on formula milk is because all these things are measured, whereas in breast milk they are sporadic depending on what the mother eats - so its quite common in breastfeeding for a baby to gain 1/2oz one week and 12oz the following week - they still get all the nutrients they need but in a different way. I've never been a follower of weekly weighings for babies anyway, especially for breast fed babies - once a fortnight or once a month is enough - you can tell in between these times yourself if the baby is happy and growing.
I really really didnt mean to upset her and I just wish she would phone me so I could explain that and tell her how sorry I am that I did upset her!
Ho Hum
Connor got up this morning looking like he had swallowed 2 cadbury's cream eggs -
whole! So he's off school today, I cant wait for him to have this op, then hopefully all these days off school will stop!
Spent most of last night playing with my alcohol inks - I just love 'em! I'm trying out new techniques covering a Persil box so that the writing is completely covered, looking good so far! I wish they would hurry up and sort out the packaging so I can get more colours.... even though I have 2 sets, which is 6 colours - I feel very limited... need more now!
Stye it!
I've woken up this morning with a hugely swollen eye... and I cant blame hubs for elbowing me in his sleep cos he was working away last night! What a bummer! My eyes have been pretty good lately, minimum redness and hardly any scratching of them and now I get this... not sure what it is though, I cant see any lumps or spots or styes though I cant see very much really its almost swollen shut. Its the bottom lid right beside the tear duct on my right eye, maybe that has got blocked somehow.... it is really hurting! Maybe if I feel sorry enough for myself I will start crying and then it will unblock :)
Had a very easy time this morning getting the kids off to school... very worrying! Nobody lost a shoe or a schoolbook or a tie or a bag or even a hairband, fairies must have had a night off last night - either that or they targeted my craft table which means I won't be able to find
anything when I go to make stuff! The fairies still haven't returned my bone folder (
which is ok as I bought one at Birmingham on sat) and my small paper trimmer and the base of my bow maker - I wonder what they do with all this stuff?
Birmingham Bash....
Yesterday I went up to Birmingham with Lythan, Susan and Adele to meet lots and lots and lots of other crafters from Carolyns... What a brilliant day!
I was dreading it so much, even though I knew i was going to be with other people so wasnt going out on my own as such, but I can't remember the last time I seen that many people in one place so it was a bit nerve-wracking! I coped fine until it was time for the demo's, they had to be set up right beside the door so all the chairs were set out and everyone starting sitting down and I could feel my breathing rate go up so I had to get out quick... think I barged right past a few people to get out before it got blocked completely... I spent that time in the kitchen and in the smoking room, which was nice cos I got to chat quietly to a few others who were popping in and out and once everyone had started moving again I was able to go back into the hall.
Have to admit, it was a day full of highlights - Meeting Nicki from switzerland was brilliant, she is an amazing person - full of vitatlity and a personality that hits you as soon as you see her. Meeting Nicola from canada again was brilliant, I never thought I'd meet her once and now I've seen her twice! I'd love the chance to just sit down and have a proper talk and get to know her better though.... In fact, I could probably say that about everyone there though... there just wasnt time to have more than a quick natter which was annoying in a way!
My ticket was first one out on the raffle which was amazing... to reach the age of 36 never having won anything that involves a draw and to then get picked first was beyond my powers of description.. I think a few people noticed my excitement though.. I was sooooo thrilled. The fact that I came home with a Quickutz was a bonus, I'd have been just as happy with a pen!
Lisa was a gem and totally knocked me speechless by giving me a hair pin that she had made for me, it was stunning and I love it but what I love even more is the fact that someone who doesnt know me went to the trouble to design and make something for me - I dont think she will
ever realise how much it has affected me, I felt like crying when I got home and showed it to Stewart... Its not great big assaults from therapists and doctors which pierce emotional armour, its little sniper shots like being given a present by a stranger who cared enough to make it that will bring it down and I think thats probably the most profound thought I will ever have! And now that I've thought it, I realise that it's not the first time a gesture like that has affected me emotionally, there have been quite a few... which is worrying because how many more would it take to render the armour useless? Perhaps when I reach that stage, I won't need it any more which is a comforting thought!
All in all, for me, Birmingham was a complete success and even though I had a few shaky moments I got through it without a single panic attack and I really enjoyed myself. I'm so glad I was stubborn enough to make myself go even though I was dying to drop out!
NHS Success!
Took Connor to see the specialist today, had to get Stewart to take the day off work as I dont think i would have got there on my own.... but i'm glad that I did cos he really pushed the doctor and got a firm decision made!
They are going to take out Connor's tonsils, his adenoids and put in gromets! Finally, something is being done. There is a 5 month waiting list but even if it takes the full 5 months then he will be all finished at the beginning of yr 6, so he will have that year to catch up as much as he can in his final year at Primary school before going up to seniors!
He seems really pleased about it too, bless him, he's quite looking forward to spending a night in hospital, especially as I'm allowed to stay with him. His previous 3 ops were all day cases so he hasnt spent a night in a ward since he was born! He thinks its quite exciting and he's an old now at general anasthetics so he's not concerned about that at all!
I hope they get an appt out soon!
Scottish Windows
This is a really old one but I love it.
It illustrates some of the finer points of the Scots language...
Windows Recall
It has come to our attention that a few copies of the Scotland version of Windows 98 may have accidentally been shipped outside Scotland. If you have one of the Scotland editions you may need some help understanding the commands. The Scotland edition may be recognized by looking at the opening screen. It reads WINDAES 98, Ye Ken, with a background picture of William Wallace superimposed on a St. Andrews Cross. It is shipped with a Mel Gibson screen saver. Also note the Recycle Bin is called 'The Bucket.' My Computer is called 'Thon Computer Thingie.' Dialup Networking is called 'Phone the Bhoys.' Control Panel is known as 'the Dashboard.' Hard Drive is referred to as 'the tractor.' Floppies are referred to as 'thae wee plastic disc things.'
Other features:
- Instead of an error message you get a windae covered with a picture of a neep.
- OK = 'ats fine'
- cancel = na na ma loon
- reset = Och ye'd be as weel startin again
- yes = Och aye
- no = nae chunce mon
- find = if ye'd bothered to pit it past in a safe place, ye widnae need to look for it noo
- go to = go'n ower 'ere
- back = back the wye
- help = geese a haun'
- stop = pack it in
- start = com on 'en
- settings = sittins
- programs = stuff whit daes stuff
- documents = stuff I hive done afore
Also note that Windaes 98 does not recognise capital letters or punctuation marks.
Some programs that are exclusive to Windaes 98:
- Pincil an paper...........A word processor
- Colourin book.......a Graphics program
- Addin machine......calculator
- Andrex......notepad
- Jukebox............CD player
- Photies.............A graphics viewer
- Tax records.........usually an empty file
We regret any inconvenience it may have caused if you received a copy of the Scotland edition. You may return it to Microsoft for a replacement version.
I understood all of this!!
After a weeks hard cleaning and housework, i looked round my house with pride .....and noticed that it looked like a tornado had hit it.
5 days cleaning + 5 mins of a non-school day = utter chaos
Now there's an equation that's on a par with anything Einstein discovered. If they ever write a manual for parents (and imho it is badly needed by some people: I name no names) that should be on the first page!
Actually, it should have a chapter all to itself. Another chapter could be dedicated to "Fairy's". Now all parents know what I mean here but non-parents probably don't, so I will explain. Nobody EVER is responsible for anything. Drink spilt on carpet? "wasn't me" "wasn't me" "wasn't me". Of course not, the fairy's did it. Every bit of money you have in the house poked down the toilet? "wasn't me" "wasn't me" "wasn't me". Of course not, the fairy's did it. Have bad PMT and need chocolate worse than an addict needs their fix?? Guess what? the fairy's have eaten the last of the chocolate, and the biscuits, and the sweets, and the crisps.... in fact the Fairy's can go through an entire "treat box" 5 minutes after you have unpacked the shopping, and of course NO-ONE in the entire house has eaten ANY! Fairy's did it!! These are your 'general' fairy's... you also get 'specific' ones... the most prolific being the "Sock Fairy". This is the one who lives in the washing machine and steals one of every pair of socks you put in there. From hearsay and experience I have to say that this one also targets households where there are no children. Then there is the "Shoe Fairy", "Shoelace Fairy", "Key Fairy", "Pen Fairy", "Scissor Fairy"... I could go on and on. If anyone is reading this you will be nodding, you know what I'm talking about here. We have an especially nasty fairy in our house at the moment who waits until the children have picked up and put away ALL their toys (because of course they are good children and do that every time they finish playing) the she pounces and empties out the entire toy box, she even gets out toys that they weren't playing with, just to get them into trouble. How nasty is that? I think she had friends over today, there was evidence of the "dirty clothes under the bed" fairy, "sticky marks on the wall" fairy, "cut bits of paper into teensy weensy little bits and scatter over carpet" fairy, thankfully they didnt bring the "scribble felt-tip pens over wall" fairy - last time she turned up I told her I would stamp on her if she ever came back. I think she got the message!! Oh, I just remembered another 'resident' fairy, the "use every cup for one drink" fairy... she was around a lot today, I know that because not one single person in this house today even had a drink! Not only did that fairy use every cup immediately after I washed them but she also worked her way through six 2lt bottles of juice. Wow, she must have been peeing all day, looking on the bright side she must have stopped the "replace full toilet-rolls with cardboard tubes on the holder" fairy from getting in, as I havent seen her around today yet, probably tomorrow. I think I will set up some spy cameras and catch these 'fairies' in action, then I could sell the pictures and get some recompsense from them abusing my hospitality all these years, or I could invent a "fairy catcher" .... hmmm yeah that might work!!
Family are like buses....
You go months without seeing any of them then 2 come at once!
My Auntie Christine is coming down to visit her friend who lives about 10 minutes from me on Friday 26th May, and my sister is coming down on the 27th May - now my auntie will be staying with her friend and my sis is staying with my other sis.... I remember the days when they all came and stayed with me! Not that I'm complaining, cos i'm not - they will still come and see me and I will go down to Elizabeths to see emma and then I will get to see my nephew too! I have a funny feeling though that they will both come out to mine on the same day, suppose it means i will only have to tidy up once :D I told auntie christine that I was looking forward to her coming down as it meant I could show her all my craft bits and my
paper and she was remarkably unimpressed! She'd better be more impressed by the time she gets here! My baby cousin has bought himself a brand new car! How is this possible? I'm sure he's only 4!
Still havent managed to make it outside very far... Its so frustrating, I can take the dog a walk and I can go out with stewart and/or the kids but I cant get by the end of the street on my own without panicking... I should be past all this by now - I
was past all this! I don't know whats brought it on and I don't know what to do about it.... I suppose I just have to go back to the beginning and start again, set myself little goals and just increase the amount every day!
Swings & Roundabouts
Well what a two days its been so far! Still havent managed to get to Romford looks like it will have to be tomorrow which is awful, i can think of much better things to do on a saturday than walk round a busy shopping centre especially if its as warm as it is today!
Took Connor to the hospital yesterday and they decided to suction out his ears and scrape his ear drum... poor wee man, he was very brave even though it hurt him, I felt really proud of him! They didnt like the look of the eardrum - it has receded and is crusted with infection - so we have to go back in 2 weeks for the Consultant to look at it and decide whether to operate or not. I think they will go for the op... which will be better for Connor but I do feel for him, this will be his third op on his ear - he's only 10! Anyways, his ear was really hurting him after that procedure so i just brought him straight home and it was still hurting him last night and today so he's off school today... again! Hopefully if they can get this sorted he wont need so much time off, he worked so hard to catch up after all the time off the last time his ears acted up and now he's falling behind again.... its such a shame!
Today i'm running round in circles and getting absolutely nowhere... house is a tip, i have outstanding orders, website needs updating and i have heaps of stuff needing photographed and I cant seem to get anything done! Everytime i start one thing i get called away to something else, its like a conspiracy! I wonder who's cursed me now... even just writing this entry, i've been called away from the computer 3 times... its just not right!
Better get back to work i suppose.. hubs is coming back tonight instead of tomorrow which is great but means i lose a working evening... what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts!
First entry in a new blog!
Well, I have decided today to start keeping a blog... I'm still not sure why but hopefully reasons will become apparant as time goes by! I get very uneasy when I dont know the 'whys & wherefores" of certain actions and I am afraid that every entry in this blog will start with "Why......" but we shall see and hopefully some answers to some of the "whys?" will show themselves.
I probably couldnt have picked a worse day for starting this as I am supposed to be in Romford shopping but I remembered that it's Market Day today and although I am much better at going out by myself, market day in Romford is designed to give anxiety even to someone who doesn't have Agrophobia and the fear of people/crowds that I have.... I may have to go tomorrow which will be complicated as schools are closed for Polling Day, although Daryll has to go in for one of his SAT exams and Connor has a hospital appointment but that will still be better than leaving it to Friday which is again a Market Day....
Time I went and explored all the options on this blog site... lots of links to click on and see what they do!
Yesterday I went down to Elizabeths to see her and Emma and baby lewen! Was a great day, I only had one shaky moment at the train station but the kids were with me so 1. I had to hide it and 2. as they were with me I got over it very quickly. 
Liz had taken baby to get weighed yesterday and he has gained a whole lb this week... big difference from the 1/2oz last week but she doesnt seem to realise that's quite normal with breastfeeding. She stresses so much about it, its a shame! 
He's a happy contented baby!
