Day 6 – Ok I missed a few

I’m a bit behind. Spent the weekend in Manchester and had a lovely time but unfortunately I have been feeling lousy. So today is the first module I’ve done since last Thursday. I’ve not followed it to the letter and this is very much my own slant – but I love it! Thanks for playing Ems.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Spell it out - Day 2

Started on today's assignment a little later than I did yesterday and as I appear to be coming down with some dreaded lurgy I felt lousy by the time I got going. I wasn’t that inspired by my first attempt so I have to admit to following up on an idea from another persons take and creating something I felt a little better about.

Am thoroughly enjoying this class and its making me use the camera again and remember loads of stuff I think I’d forgotten – Bring it on!!

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

 

CJ’s 12 Days of Christmas

A few days ago I signed up to do another of CJ’s photography classes. Its been quite a while since I last did one of these but they have always, always delivered. When I saw this (free) one posted on UKS I just went for it. Happy to say that I’ve now done two assignments and am thoroughly enjoying it. The pre-workshop assignment was to post a festive SP (self Portrait). Well I hate photos of myself but happily I managed to get something that I do quite like.

I don’t intend posting the details of the modules, CJ works really hard to produce all of the information she shares amongst her students, but I will try to post some of the shots for each days assignment. So today's assignment was the use of White Balance, here’s my pick:

I think they’re self explanatory. In other news, we’ve had a few visitors since the last time I posted. Steve and P stayed for the weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was lovely to see them both and they even managed a quick trip to the cottage to say hello to it. Barbara, of Barbara and Keith, came to visit Maisy and I last Friday and we had a lovely day of walking Maisy, coffee and ginger cake, IKEA lunch plus a very pleasant time shopping at both IKEA and TKMax. Our stove was meant to be installed at the cottage this week but as you may have noticed, the weather has put paid to a few things. Our stove is currently still stuck in Devon as the roads in Wales just aren’t up to it being delivered! I also managed to find a table for the conservatory at long last – that’s stuck up in Durham!! Oh well, all will work our in the end I’m sure.

Pete and I are off to Manchester to visit Ant and Chaz the weekend, so I am really, really looking forward to that – especially as its also a birthday treat for me – yippee.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Wintertime Walks

 

Oh my, I actually managed to scrap. It took me a wee while to find any inspiration and I don’t think it’s one of my best ever but I was really pleased ultimately with the creative process. I’ve used December 2009’s kit for this layout of a Lake District trip back in November 2008. There’s a long way to go and a large number of untouched kits to work through but you never know, this may be the beginning. Because I’ve recently moved my sewing machine onto the table alongside my craft table I was easily able to follow through a thought about adding detail to the ‘hills’ with some stitching. I really quite like the effect it created.

Ok, I needed to remind myself how the thread the damn thing and how to fill up a bobbin with my chosen colour but it all came flooding back quite quickly. Good thing too as I now have my precious rolls of Laura Ashley fabric back from the cottage to play with. Steve and P visited for the weekend and, with Pete at the wheel, managed to pop to the cottage for a flying visit on Saturday. We had a wonderful weekend, once again lots of eating, drinking and generally catching up. We really must do them more often.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Roundup

Where is the time going, all of a sudden we’re nearing the end of 2010 and that means Christmas can’t be far away!  We seem to have had lots going on and that’s the scene for the next few weeks and probably through to the end of the year.  We’re hopeful that we’ll have the wood burner installed at the cottage before Christmas and that I am really looking forward to.  We took Giselle and Mark to meet the cottage last weekend and had a wonderful time including a massive shop at the yearly Laura Ashley sale held at the old abandoned factory at Carno. We fully intend going next year too, this time armed with measurements! We managed a trip to the beach for Maisy and a fab evening of copious amounts of food, drink and Mexican train along with lots of laughs. I need to get cracking on Christmas presents and all that stuff. I must sort out a new tree for the cottage and now I feel we need to decorate the conservatory (above) as we spend so much time in there. Of course, Pete doesn’t quite agree but hey ho! on a sadder note, I decided to cancel my GoGo subscription. I haven’t done any real scrapping since June and I have about 6 kits that just haven’t been touched. I’m not giving up on scrapping but just don’t seem to have the space for it at the moment. And so I made the decision – now perhaps i can justify that new tree, hmmmmm.

One man went to mow …..

…. went to mow a meadow. Well he did after we’d spent an extortionate amount of money on a wicked strimmer with vicious metal blades. But I have to say it did the job wonderfully on it’s little test run the weekend. Hopefully this will mean that we don’t need to endure the sheep poo which is the obvious by-product of allowing the sheep in to keep the grass down and, apart from which, they don’t actually eat the really tough stuff which borders the streams and surrounding area anyway. The weekend was lovely, although we were originally meant to have been joined by Steve and P which would have made it even better but, Steve came down with a really bad cold and chest infection preventing them from travelling. Not to be deterred we came alone. I met up with a stove man Friday afternoon (just awaiting the written quote now – fingers crossed) and Pete travelled from Bournville on the train for the first time. It worked quite well, the train was pretty much on time and we even sampled the local pub on the way home. As the months march on the cottage is feeling colder though – hence the quote from stove man – and for the first time in my life I used an electric blanket on the bed. I used two singles that we inherited with the cottage and I have to say I climbed into the most warm and snugly bed ever. Guess who will be ordering a new double one as soon as we get home!

We also lit a real fire for the first time, it was lovely to see the glow - made it feel like a real cottage at last and prompted another first for the weekend. Bellows, not used any before and I have to say what a damn good idea they are, worked wonderfully on our little fire they did. I think a good pair of bellows are most definitely NOT to be underestimated. It’s going to be a few weeks before stove man can fit us in (if we like his quote) so I think we’ll be using those bellows a few more times over the coming weeks.

Thanks for dropping by.
  Wendy x

A ‘moving’ weekend – bit like ‘war & peace’ I’m afraid!

Gosh, the weekend felt like moving house all over again – I have aches in muscles I didn’t know existed! But we did it, we moved everything as planned into the cottage. It wasn’t without it’s dramas though to be fair and we need another weekend right now to get over it.

We started as planned last Friday. I’d hoped to get the car loaded early afternoon but I ended up spending hours at the opticians trying out a contact lens for the first time, (I’ll have to explain that one in another post). Pete collected the van and set off on his ‘collections’. First stop was the British Heart Foundation for the two seater and two armchairs, meanwhile I was taking my sister and niece to the train station as they were setting off for a weekend in Devon. First step successful, even though Pete had to persuade someone to help him load the van (and that was after I’d checked at the time I paid for the items that there would be someone available to assist!) Pete then collected the Fridge/Freezer before meeting me at Moms to get the desk loaded. By now the van was looking surprisingly full and we still had lots of stuff to load. Back home Pete did a spot of rearranging and managed to get the rest of our stuff in, including the new bed.

We didn’t set off until after 19:00 and so, after a quick stop at Morrison's in Newtown for Pete to get petrol, we didn’t arrive at the track to the cottage until after 21:00 – in the pitch black!. I went through the gates in the Focus first and left them open for Pete to follow. I made my way up the track, cursing myself ever so slightly for opting for the estate rather than the 4x4 as I slid a little. At the point on the track where we head off for the corner post of our land I just couldn’t get the car to go more than a few feet it just slithered and slid on the very soggy grass. I gave up after a few attempts and looked back down the track for Pete, I could see the lights from the van but not the van itself so I walked back down. Pete was stuck in a ditch, well the back passenger side was to be precise. It took us a while but eventually we got the van out of the ditch but there was no way it was going up the track, we could get it to a certain point and it would go no further. So we abandoned it for the night.

The next morning we were hopeful that as it hadn’t rained overnight it would be easier to get the van further up the track. Not wishing to dwell on this I’ll cut it short. Pete tried a few times to no avail and so I went down to try too. Woohoo for girl power, I did it. Bit of welly later the van was as close as we were ever going to get it the gate for the cottage and then the grind began. It took us all morning to unload everything off the van and place it in the cottage. As we were moving stuff around it became clear that it would make more sense to put another double bed in the second bedroom rather than the two singles we’d  planned on. After a spot of lunch we drove into Newtown calling first at the dump to drop off the two oldest single beds and then onto Focus where we bought a new double and mattress. Back again at the cottage (no trouble this time getting the van up) we unloaded again and then put the other two old single beds back into the van to take home as a charity donation. We were knackered but we still needed to put at least one bed together to sleep on. Our new bed is one hell of a solid piece of meccano is all I can say, it took an age to put together but it was well worth it. It’s lovely and, as I say, solid. Pete cooked us a lovely chilli whilst I made the bed up. After we’d eaten we collapsed on the sofa for five before hitting the sack. Within minutes we were out like a light, end of day 1.

Day 2 dawned wet and miserable – well we were in Wales after all lol. We had plenty to do inside so it was no great shakes. Pete made us a cuppa and came back to bed with it at which point Maisy joined us on the bed – just this once! Once breakfasted we put together the second double and adjusted the furniture in the room to accommodate it. Again it looked just right and yesterday’s decision proved to be the right one. For the next couple of hours we pottered around righting stuff, Pete chopped up some old bits and pieces for firewood and we had a wander around our little estate (it did stop raining). We have two or three streams that run across our land and due to all the recent rain we could really hear the water flowing, something we haven’t heard before. It did highlight to us though just how much work will be involved in clearing the areas around them but it definitely needs doing. Suddenly it was time to go, Pete wanted to stop off at the tip again with the old fridge and they closed at 16:00. As I left a few minutes later than Pete I met our nearest neighbour, they had post for us and so I had a quick chat with them before heading home. We love our time at the cottage and it breaks my heart to come home after so short a visit. Already our next trip is in the planning with Steve and P joining us for the weekend. Before then though I have curtains and blinds to make, no rest for the wicked.

Thanks for dropping by.
  Wendy x

Wet Wednesday

Yuck, I hate wet days, I’d rather it be cold than wet. It feels so dismal and dreary when its like this. Had a bit of an hiccup earlier with the car we’re supposed to be picking up later today. Pete’s hire car is due back today and so we can’t start messing about but the dealers called to say that we couldn’t have the car today because Pete’s signature was different on a couple of documents! Err, why didn’t they tell us last week when we had time to sort it. Anyhow, I ranted and fingers crossed with the help of a photocopier and fax machine we should still be on for later today. Also today I’ve tried raiding the British Heart Foundation shop again, this time for a wardrobe that I can use as a linen cabinet – I was out of luck this time. There was one that might be suitable but the old wood is just too gorgeous to paint over and as I want the furniture in the bedroom to be cream I won’t have much choice. I did pick up a set of slate coasters for the princely sum of one pound, just the right material for the cottage I think. I’m still looking for a couple of nice plates to make into a cake stand but so far these are eluding me too.

My baby girl had a bit of a time of it yesterday bless her, but after it was all done she didn’t complain once – quite the opposite to her big sister lol. Still no scrapping getting done, I am managing to get through some of the ever growing piles of novels I have so I guess that’s where my spare time is going at the moment. The only slightly crafty thing I have done is to prep some of this months photos (a couple have already been posted) and today’s picture is one of those. All along Amsterdam’s waterways, as well as bikes, you see houseboats – how I would love one of those.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Views of Amsterdam

This is one of my favourite photos of Amsterdam, well along with the fruit I posted last week, it sums up Amsterdam wonderfully I think. Boats, water and bikes. All that’s missing are the sex shops and the magic mushrooms! Now why didn’t I take any photos of the plethora of shops of this nature – I guess I was just too scared too lol.

We had a lovely weekend with Anthony’s brief visit, although he did spend most of the time out either catching up with old friends or at the Wolves match on Sunday. Pete spent Sunday taking the awning down, emptying the caravan of everything and moving it onto Alan’s forecourt to see if he can get us a sale. Pete doesn’t think that’s likely to happen where it is and that he’ll be back down in a few weeks to move it to Telford Caravans. We haven’t advertised it though so perhaps we ought to give that one go at least.

Most things are set for the coming weekend. The van has been hired, fridge/freezer purchased, a 2 seater sofa and 2 armchairs wait to be collected and finally, a scrummy bed and mattress due to be delivered here on Friday. I’m really looking forward to getting there and getting stuck in to making it feel homely. Before then though, Bex’ orthodontic treatment starts today with two extractions later this afternoon. There’s a long way to go and unfortunately Bex treatment isn’t as straightforward as Emily’s so I have to admit to being a tad concerned. Fingers crossed though that it’s not too bad for her. On a less stressful note (for now anyway) Ems and her friends have started the hunt for Prom dresses – Oh dear! We’ve not been to the shop yet but two of her friends have and the one has already chosen her dress! The Prom isn’t until May!! Interesting times ahead me thinks :-)

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Going Home

This post is a shameless cut and paste of something my son posted yesterday. Last night he arrived home for a brief visit and I love how he has summed up what ‘going home’ means to him.

 

Going Home - There’s something especially nice about visiting home for a short while. All the family are there, you can relax and slip back into the role you played before moving away. To be clear; by home I mean the place you grew up before moving out.

I presume this is most applicable to those who moved completely away from the home area, so when you visit it’s more likely that it’s completely relaxed, and purely to just be home and see everyone.

Me personally slips effortlessly into the childhood position he occupied for 18 years, complete with being a general menace to be around. It’s not clear whether or not this is appropriate, but if it’s only for a few days, the family tend to view it as nostalgia in a ‘glad to see you’ kind of way. Any longer and I’m pretty sure it starts to grate

Anyone who looks forward to ‘just being at home’ and being around their family should feel privileged, it’s not something everybody feels, many people have no desire to do so once they’ve been out in the big wide world for a couple of years, and it’s a real shame. There’s nothing quite like being able to leave responsibility behind and act like the child you once were, or always will be, in a situation where it’s perfectly acceptable to do so….if only for a couple of days.

Me for one feels extremely lucky to have a family that allow him to do so, or one that allows him to maintain an illusion that it’s acceptable

 

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

the GIRL who KICKED the HORNETS’ NEST

As ever the library worked wonders. I had reserved a copy but when I arrived Wednesday morning I saw a copy on the shelf and so I grabbed it on my way to the desk. It was one of the bestseller editions which meant that I could only take it out for 7 days – 7 days, no worries. And so they cancelled my original reservation and I took this copy instead. Of course whilst I was there I couldn’t resist having a nosy see what other books they had and so I left the building with a further two novels, a little book for Emily and a couple of home decor books to boot. I do wish I could find a way to get the girls to read more by choice. As I walked back to the car I was almost skipping, I absolutely LOVE having new books to devour but reading during the day feels like a guilty pleasure. I wish I could get paid to do it, that would solve that issue. On the topic of guilty pleasures, I haven’t scrapped in an age. As I type and look around me I know why – my desk is a tip. At some point I must make that a priority. Right now though, I think I’ll read lol x

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Beautiful Bouquet

Every so often something extraordinary  happens that you were just not expecting and the lift to your  your spirits can be tremendous. This happened to me yesterday. The main man from the kitchen company called to ask if he could pop round and fit the last piece of the glass up stand. As I have mentioned previously we have had a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with the glass but at no stage as it been the fault of this company. John duly arrived and after sanding and polishing the wooden worktops he duly fitted the last piece of glass.  He was tidying away and proceeded to produce a box that he pronounced was a little freebie and then came a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. These, he said, were to thank me. Thank me for what – for being so good about all of the delays and problems, he told me. I was astonished, the flowers were beautiful and I wouldn’t have expected them in a million years. I don’t consider my tolerance to be out of the ordinary, I behaved how I would expect others the behave when presented with a situation that was unavoidable, when the company involved made sure that I knew exactly where we stood and were completely open and honest with me. I don’t understand why there is a need to behave any differently. But it was so very nice to have my actions appreciated in such a way. Oh and the box, that turned out to be a brand new Tassimo coffee machine – yummy!

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Stieg Larsson & The Cottage

Just before we left for Amsterdam last Friday, I started reading ‘The Girl With The Dragon tattoo’ and I loved it. I quickly devoured that one and started on the next ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’. This too was lapped up and finished off yesterday. My sister, to whom the books belong, hasn’t finished reading book three and so, despite my visible champing at the bit, I cannot borrow it yet. Plan B, apart from making some half decent music, was a definite requirement. And this is where the the good old library came up trumps again. I logged in at 11:15 last night and reserved the last available copy at my local branch. So, that’s where today’s journey must take me – yippee.

    

One of the things that struck in his books (Stieg Larsson) is that a lot of the characters have summer cabins – woohoo, so do we. I am itching to get back to the cottage. Our first stay after it became ours was lovely. The girls joined us and we had our first visitors for Sunday lunch in the form of Keith & Barbara. I had some ups and downs as I looked on some of the cracks etc that you don’t manage to spot before you buy, but overall all was well. I took flowers, we lit candles, Pete made scones and we had a truly magical weekend.

Our next trip will see us with a hired van, hopefully full of the larger items we need to get there. That does mean, however, that I need to get my act together and obtain said items. It will be the first weekend in October, which seems an age away, but I guess it’s actually only the weekend after next. I need to sort a small fridge freezer and a new bed, plus I need to decide what to do about settees. Do we take a couple from here and replace them with new or do we obtain some second-hand ones from somewhere for the cottage, and if so where from? The one thing we absolutely must do on our next visit is get the fire going. We have a massive inglenook and I am dying to see it in its full glory.

Thanks for dropping by.
  Wendy x

I need to change

Talking to my son yesterday it turns out that he feels the need to jot down random thoughts as he gets them, aiming for at least one per day. To this effect, last night, he created a new website for himself to do just that. He’s hoping to build up a following but currently I think it’s just me, and perhaps his girlfriend. He’s left it anonymous, thereby allowing him to say exactly what he wants – i wonder if he’ll regret giving his mum the url?

It has prompted me to turn to my own ramblings though and the acceptance that I have been very, very poor at keeping this up to date. So, here starts another try at being better organised and getting an update done. Actually organisation is needed throughout my life and I need to find my centre again. 

I toyed with posting a photo of the cottage (which is yummy by the way, but we’ve only managed to get there once so far) or our very recent trip to Amsterdam (one of the reasons we’ve only been the the cottage once). Apart from the very obvious sites of Amsterdam there were a couple of things that struck me – their shops had wonderful displays of both cakes and fruit. They almost look too good to eat!

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Wonderful Wednesday

Once again it has been an absolute age since I posted. Lots to update but not a lot of time to spend blogging so I’ll have to cut a few corners. The cottage is progressing well, it becomes ours next week. We do want to sell our caravan to finance new heating for the cottage, it can be seen here if anyone is interested. The majority of the kitchen is finished although we did experience some delays with the glass worktops – certainly worth the wait though, they look scrummy! Up-stands are being done tomorrow and the seating area is currently being made. The kitchen company have been brilliant and the delays have not been down to them.

We had a wonderful, wonderful holiday in Crete. I just fell in love with it and have decided that’s where I want to ‘retire’ to lol. Ems got her GCSE results. A bit of a mixed bag but then some of them are half results as she’s only just going in to year 11. She has completed her maths though and did do really well with an A so big congrats to Emily. I think that will do for now so I’ll sign off.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

New challenge blog

It’s been an age since I last posted, or indeed last scrapped. My desk (along with most of the house) is currently languishing under a fine layer of dust that it’s pointless removing just yet awhile. The conservatory was finished and the kitchen has been ripped out. I’ve had that many different workmen here over the last 6 weeks that I’ve completely lost count. I think though that we are finally on the last leg. Monday sees the start of the kitchen being fitted, ok perhaps I mean last leg bar one as I remember that we’ll still need to lay a floor and get the decorating done.  No news on cottage, couldn’t cope if there was i don’t think lol, we did the dastardly deal on the cars and that’s about it I think.

Just saw this new challenge blog over here that’s been set up by a few of the GoGo girls and some of their customers. It looks good so if I ever get to scrap again I think I’ll check it out. This is their first weeks sketch challenge.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Snapshots

The first half of the year is complete. Mainly because I’d decided to use a world cup related photo for this month and so I then also decided that it HAD to be done before kick-off at 15:00 lol I’m going for an emphatic 3-1 victory.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Les Chambres du Francais

Not sure I have the stamina for a full update so for now I’ll just post a piccie of my latest layout. Enjoyed doing this, I love the colour combo and the overall feel. Made with GoGo’s May kit, I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out.

ETA Ok, perhaps a super quick update on everything.  No news on the cottage but I suspect that’s all ok. The conservatory has today been plasterboarded and will be skimmed tomorrow. The first fix electrics and plumbing were done yesterday and we finalised the kitchen design and paid our deposit. We still need to finalise appliances and the colour for the glass worktops but it’s looking good so far.

We’ve sorted out what we’re doing with cars and it is with great reluctance that we’re trading in the MX5, along with the Mazda 5 for a new one of these:

We managed to get a better price by going to the lady who always services our cars for us and so the deal is set to be struck on Monday afternoon. Pete will be without a permanent car until September when he should have a spanking new, super low emissions Ford Focus Estate as a company car.

Now I just need to: organise a hire car for Pete, organise a hire car for Crete, decide on kitchen appliances, decide on lighting for the conservatory, choose and order the table, plan and order the built in seating, choose and buy a sofa, buy all the chrome light switches and sockets, choose outdoor lighting, choose our seats on the plane, chase the refund on the ash cloud Ibiza trip, bring the accounts up to date and worry how to pay for everything!! As is usual in our lives – we don’t do things by halves!

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Stressed

Life feels so extraordinarily hectic at the moment, and yes I know that in actual fact it is mostly self inflicted and I also know that we are far, far luckier than a good many people locally let around in the world as a whole – but still I am frazzled with everything that we have going on and everything that needs decisions on! As a consequence no crafty stuff seems to be happening at the moment and as I sit here on my tod with a little time to indulge, the big ‘mental’ list that’s sitting on my shoulder just won’t let me play lol.

Rather than bore you (or indeed myself) with any of the detail I’ll just leave you with the latest shot of where we’re at with the conservatory. This coming week should see work completed (plastering, electrics etc), we then have a few days respite before the kitchen is ripped out, the kitchen half of the room plastered, floor ripped up - all ready for work to start on the new kitchen on the 5th July. Still a way to go me thinks!

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Locked in the kitchen

Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhh – The kitchen door has now seized up on me and I cannot open it at all, poor Maisy desperately keeps trying to pull it open so she can get outside but it just won’t budge. I don’t suppose it’s that surprising really. The door and frame have sat in a temporary wall that’s been knocked about for 2 weeks now and we’ve had to really slam it to get it to close for most of that time. It was always going to give up the ghost at some point. But it is so frustrating to not be able to open up your back door and get outside.

Rant over, just posting a set of self portraits of Bex that I persuaded her to send to me so that I can scrap them. She’s really very good at setting up shots and creating montages and shorts videos (set to music) out of them. Rock on girl!.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

ETA 10:00 Ok I’m back in, or out rather in this case :-) All is well with the world again lol