Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Tuesday

It was Billy's committal service today at 9.00am, so early start for us all as we were not sure what the traffic would be like, what with it being rush hour and road works, but the journey wasn't too bad. I still can't believe he is gone and will not be walking in next Thursday.

I came home and have stayed in, the road have been cleared but the pavements haven't and it was very slippery underfoot.

A while back Helen sent me this photo of Andy and Ben at Rannerdale Knotts in the Lake District. It has been used on a calendar Dads and their slings (probably not the right name)
DSCF0029

and this is the layout I did today using it.

Special Moment Special Place

The page was done for a challenge on UKScrappers.
Criteria
1)to use a given sketch
2)To use paint
3)stitching on the page
4)to use a line from a poem
I had fun finding a poem to fit the photo, good old Google came up trumps with an obscure one by Mary C. Landon "We shall climb a windy hill where clouds roam" seemed perfect.

I have another page to share, one I did over the weekend

Winter on the Canal

It was for another sketch challenge, one that I set, so the sketch is my own.
For GB pre fun night
Thought as I had set the challenge I had better do it. These photos were taken in Skipton at the beginning of December, so I've added it to my Christmas Season album.

Today I am grateful that I didn't fall on the ice
That the funeral went smoothly
And that I have a nice warm bungalow.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Snow, Snow Snow

SATURDAY
Snow lies deep and crisp and even.

Children and grown up out with their sleighs




My bones are too old, I'm fearful of trying

but I can still be a child and make a snowman or snowwoman


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She is very tiny but great fun to do

Her hair's in a bun, she's a scarf on her head

A blue ribbon round her neck tied in a bow under her ear


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with a cane for a walking stick and a phone pouch for a bag

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she's my little Snow Granny

She's worth a layout


Meet my little Snow Granny

Friday, January 18, 2013

White stuff

Woo hoo we have snow, we have quite a lot of snow, I think there may be enough to make a snowman. I will be out there later to see if I can. In the meantime here is my garden at 7.42 this morning as you can see one of my cats there and a few moments later both the girls were out chasing one another around

now look at the garden just a couple of hours later
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you wouldn't think they had been there at all

Well I wrote that this morning, then forgot to post it. So I'll add to it now

I've been out in the snow but not very far, no buses into town so I came back home. I've spent the day between photographing the cats in the snow and trying to make some sort of order out of the chaos that is my craftroom.

BEFORE


AFTER




It's not been that clear for months, but still not found my star punch.

Today I am grateful for lots of snow photo
fun in the snow even if I couldn't get to town
managing to clear most of my table even if I don't know where half the stuff I've put away is now.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Monday Monday

The start of a new week's culling and I've hardly done any, oops I did try and cull my food cupboard, but there wasn't much to cull. I did go through my oddments drawer in the kitchen but again not much to cull. I did manage to get rid of a few utensils mainly repeat ones that still remain from when we had a caravan. I do need to sort our my snack boxes (mainly biscuits) but don't think there will be much culling there as I love my biscuits.

I do have some scrapping to share. One I did today for the weekly challenge on UKScrappers. The criteria was to use some new stash, this sketch


and 5 of something.

here is the layout I did using new cork alpha letters 5 of them.

Rufus's First day

Over the weekend I did a little lean mean minibook that Jimjams taught us
Mine is from my day out on new year's eve 2012 to Bristol

front
pages 1&2pages 3&4Pages 5&6 plus insertPages 7&8

Today I am grateful for being able to scrap when I want to
for being warm and dry indoors (it's been raining most of the day)
for a little bit of culling even if it wasn't a bag full

Friday, January 11, 2013

New Camera

Yesterday after the sale Ann asked me if I would go with her to choose a camera for her daughter, a good one (Ann hasn't a clue about camera) Jessops are closing down and we thought they may have some nice reduced prices.
We didn't get as far as Jessops, because the camera shop near the bus stop had a sale on too and we ended up buying two camera, A DSLR for Ann's daughter and a Bridge camera for me.
I fully intended to change my camera this year but not really so early in the year, but this camera was too good to let go. A Sony DSC-HX200V

and I am having such success with it.
It will go from 33x Zoom to macro without having to press buttons it focuses automatically but can be focused manually. The reds as well as every other colour seem spot on. (my fuji doesn't like reds at all always makes them pink)
Just a few examples of the photos I took today





We had a funeral in our church today, a member of our church family, Ted he was 89, he had lived a full life, he was a true example of a servant heart, he was well loved and will be missed but we know that he is in a far better place now. the church was full to overflowing well over 100 people there. A lovely service and the family gave such moving and happy words of him.

Billy's memorial which will be next Thursday after the sale, probably will not have any family present, he leaves a father and two sister behind. Somewhere in the past there was a wife, I'm not sure if there were/are any children. But he will have a whole host of friends from Thursdays that will give him a good send off. He is the one I shall miss most because he has gone before his time he was only 55.

On a much more cheerful note Hilary my friend for when we all lived in Cricklade, came and had lunch with me, we had a good old natter catching up with each other. A really nice afternoon.

No culling today I'm afraid, I just haven't really had the time. So I may have to do extra tomorrow

Today I am grateful for having known Ted
for Hilary's friendship which has spanned 34 years
for a new camera to enhance my photography skills

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Wednesday

I haven't really done much culling today, just a few books now ready to go up to the church tomorrow. But I did get two of the charity bags full up there today. I had to strap them to my shopping trolley but it worked and I did manage the hill without stopping so pleased about that as I have had a bit of good exercise.

This afternoon I scrapped a page for the monthly challenge on UKScrapper. We have a sketch to follow

I chose to expand the sketch and do it with a grid effect
Essentials of a Scrapbooker
for once there is no journalling somehow it just didn't seem necessary.

I've also got the page from yesterday that I promised to share today

New Year New Hair Colour

this also was for a challenge on UKScrapper, challenge criteria use one large photo, scraps and a quote.

The flowers were fussy cut from a sheet of patterned paper I did that while watching the television a nice relaxing way to sit and not feel idle.

Today I am thankful for managing to get the two bags up to church
for a lovely sunny afternoon even though it means that it is very cold now because of the clear sky.

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Purple in my Life

Well today I really have gone purple, I should have been purple for Christmas but too much of the red still showed through, I rather like the colour I was at Christmas so decided to have the same dye put in today. Today is it Purple, deep dark purple

Purple Hair collage

I do like it but think I will gradually get it turned back to red, a colour I feel safer with. So next month perhaps some highlights may do the trick.

While in the hairdresser waiting for the colour to take, I was thumbing through Good Homes magazine and found this

it made me smile, a must have accessory to anyone's kitchen.

Today's culling was my three large drawers in my dressing table, one charity sack load and a good number of the handbags from one of my wardrobes, charity bag No. 2. I did go through my silk/nylon scarves but only put two or three of those in the charity as I do like them so much even though I don't wear them all that often.
So far I have managed to fill 3 charity bags with things that can go to the sale we hold on a Thursday, if I can get them up there.



I have sat and done a layout this evening while watching the TV but I'll photograph that tomorrow in daylight.

Today I am thankful for still cracking on with the culling/sorting/tidying
and for a layout page that came together so easily.

Monday, January 07, 2013

Monday muddles

Monday and another room sorted, I tackled the bathroom cabinet and also the under wash hand basin area. I have a sort of cage around the pedestal and to hide that I've hung a towel over it. A good idea but it also hides the fact that a lot of what was on the shelves was never going to be used and was harbouring dust. So a good sort out was needed. Goodness knows were half the stuff I had in the cabinet dates back too but one of the items a tub of Alum had an address in Harringay, we move from there in 1969, how come it didn't get thrown out in one of the many moves since then?



Is that 9d I see as the price and is 1970 on the bottom the expiry date, or was that before expiry dates were added?

I now have a very full dustbin and it won't be emptied till Thursday. So at least I will have a little respite before I need to tackle my craft rooms. I'm really not looking forward to doing them at all as I have so much stuff and no where to put them as I'm sorting.

I still have to cull some of the ornaments in the lounge, get rid of a show case and maybe a corner unit.

Perhaps the next thing to tackle is my wardrobes, can I be ruthless, I haven't managed to be so far as most of the clothes I have in them I look at and just want to keep. If I do that I can't buy any new and I really do like to buy new.
Think I'll take a before picture and then maybe I will be able to discard some items

Today I am thankful for a clean and tidy bathroom

Sunday, January 06, 2013

Story Telling Sunday

Good morning my blog friends. Today being the first Sunday in the month means it's story telling time. This is hosted by the lovely Sian and her suggestion for this year is Pick your Precious.
How did Sian know? That I had already started an album In July 2009 My Little Treasures.
This is what I wrote on the inside cover, the blurb if you like.

As I look around my bungalow I realise I have so many things I love, none of them of much monetary value, but they are all precious to me for one reason or other. So I decided to make a little album of layouts of them all. I want to record where they came from and why they mean a lot to me.
Each item will have a page of its own, decorated as befits anything that I love. A kind of catalogue of treasures belonging to a scrapbooker.


The first page is about probably my most treasured possession as it is something that John made. A very delicate cross stitch picture done on fine linen with just a single thread. Each stitch tenderly placed.
John would sit for hours stitching away, it was his way of relaxing, and although he did many many lovely pictures this is by far my favourite. The actual embroidery measures 14" x 17" mounted and framed it measures 21" x 23" and is hung in my hallway. 

The Cyclists

This is my Pick of the Precious for this month, why not head over to Sian place High in the sky to see what everyone else has picked.

Saturday, January 05, 2013

5 days

It's the 5th of January 2013, I have been absent since last year, I haven't blogged at all, I have at least got a new look for the month but that is as far as it goes. I have been feeling the post Christmas blues and life has been rather dull. But I must pick myself up, dust myself down and start all over again.

New Year's day
, I didn't go anywhere or do anything except watch TV and eat chocolate. (they are all gone now so diet must begin)

Wednesday
and I needed so much from ASDA I came back loaded, but I've stocked my freezer so do not need to get much more in the way of dinners. (I thought).
Trying to tidy up my craft rooms, not getting very far very fast but at least I found a photo to scrap. This one is from a New Year's eve party many many moons ago and records how we sing Old Lang Syne but still forget the people we were in company with back then.

Should Old Aquaintance

Thursday
the sale at the church, again very quiet but a few more people in than there was last week. I still felt extremely tired in the afternoon, and although I was determined not to sleep in my chair I'm afraid I did.

Friday I have decided that I really must do something about the muddle that is my home. I have made a list and going to try and cross one thing off the list each week day. Today's task is to take down and pack up all the Christmas decorations, but I will need help to get them back in the loft. I have such a lovely neighbour and he came in and did it for me. Thank you Tony I really do appreciate your help.
I've also made the lounge tidier though I still have to cull and de-clutter a lot of ornaments (not my cat ornaments though)
My reward for that work was to scrap another page, this time two photos of Ben running through the bus shelter

Ben and the Bus Shelter

It was a very cold but bright bright day and I just love the way the sunlight is throwing out shadows and Ben's bright red jacket adding just that bit of colour.

Saturday More shopping in ASDA, I had run out of potatoes, but then decided I needed this and that and before I knew it the trolley was full. Goodness I really must have enough food in now not to have to shop for a fortnight except for bread perhaps.
A bit more culling in the lounge and start on the bathroom. I have managed to clean all the dirt and grime off the window and frame. (the cat's entrance and exit)also the high shelf has been culled of all barring 4 vases, nothing else could be see anyway as the shelf is high above my head. It doesn't sound much but seems to have taken quite a time to do it all. But at least that is another think crossed off my list.

My thankfulness list today is
Thank you Jemma for suggesting the list
Thank you Tony for being such a good neighbour
Thank you Helen for phoning me this evening
Thank you Lord for my health and strength
Thank you Scrappy cats team for being there for each other
Thank you Cats for being there to greet me when I come in
Thank you my blog friends for all your comments I really do appreciate them.


A place for me to put the pictures of layouts I have done that I am pleased with, to put in the poems I write and to add snippets of things that have caught my eye