Dolly's Dreamings

What great memories

It was such a lovely day yesterday and our street party was a great success.

It isn't a very big street at all but it was surprising that none of us really knew each other well apart from our immediate neighbours. I am so please Nij and I decided to try and get people together because there was a real sense of community and we all enjoyed it so much we are planning other events.

 

 

Our short little road lends itself beautifully to it as we have a turning head surrounded by heath where we can set up and not bother the road at all, though we did put a traffic cone someone 'happened to have lying around' a little way down the road LOL .

 

 

No-one in the road has young children - the youngest are in their twenties - so it was an all adult affair and very nice too. The man opposite had two proper flagpoles and flags which he put up, we added a lot of bunting and a big banner style flag and everyone just brought their own tables, chair and food ... oh and drink. Nij took his PA system out so we had music, a bit of a dance and lots of fun. And we all had such a nice time getting to know each other.

We had bbqs going

 

And we even had our own flypast!

 

 

 
 
 

And the great news was it was just a couple of steps home at the end of the night.

Can't wait till the next one now.

We took botht he CFH to the vets this morning. We were really worried about Kira as the small coloured flecks she had in her eyes have become huge and joined up and whilst it could just be iris pigmentation the internet had some horrid stories of cancer and that as an indicator so we took her to be checked. Our vet is sure it is OK but has referred us to an eye specialist for a second opinion to put his and our minds at rest. We so don't want her to loose her eys. We also had Fiki checked over as he still can't jump, but his spine is a lot freer and he was doing well (and he was such a good boy at the vets, just sitting so nicely on my knee all snuggled in)

I have a new page to share today made with Dawn Inskips new Snakes and Ladders collection kit.

 
Today I am thankful for

• being part of a community

 

Congratulations William and Kate

Congratulations William and Kate - what a beautiful wedding. I loved watching every single minute of it - and watch every single minute I did. I was up early and sat in front of the TV all day until 1.30 when I finally managed to get showered and dressed and went to the first of our two street parties.

We live in a very small street - a cul-de-sac, which has an even smaller spur going off it. We decided to organise a street party and we invited everyone in the street.  Just an informal. Bring your own food, let's get together type deal. Unbeknown to us the people int he little spur had organised soemthing just for them (aparently they always do and all know each other really well). Anyway they came and explained but as theirs was lunch time they invited us to theirs - where we have been imbibing for a couple of hours and they are all coming to ours later. We hope we may have about 40 people. I know it is not huge but it is a very short street and most houses only have couples so 40 would be amazing.

I loved the wedding. I am a huge royalist and love all sorts of ceremonials. I thought the bride looked the personification of elegance and a true princess. They looked terribly happy and I am so pleased it stayed dry for them.

If you have noticed the new blog banner - it is courtesy of Dawn Inskip kits and elements - a lot from her new kit Fever Pitch

Now off to finish my preparations. The flags are up - huge proper flags on proper flagpoles courtesy of the man opposite. the buntinga nd flags are all up(courtesy of us) and we are ready to party soon.

I hope everyone reading has had a great day and enjoys whatever they are doingt his evening.

Final Paris page and the photos of the finished book and, if anyone cares to look, there is a new photo album in the side bar witht he whole thing in. Thank youf or bearingw ith me through the album.

 

  
 
 

Today I am thankful for

• weddings and street parties and feel good events and community and friendship and - I am guessing later - wine!

 

 

Final Day

The last day of the holidays is always one where I feel galvanised into action. I suddenly become aware that time is limited and get my act together to do stuff.

So today I have done two DT pages (can't share them yet but they are great fun) and I have tidied up, sorted my work stuff out, written another set of reports, completed the next module for my counselling diploma (boy will I be glad when that is done) and also been to town to get a Starbucks and met with a builder re a possible house extension. The idea of the extension makes me quake with fear and dread about the upheaval, but if it happens and it works it will double the size of the study (yey more room for scrapping) and will also add a huge sun room onto the dining room. We'll see eh! But if it happens be prepared for a LOT of angst on here! I don't do upheaval.

Anyway - I have more Paris pages I can share today.

 The one above is of our boat trip. We were planning on Bateaux Mouche at night but thought better of it. We didn't think we would get great photos at night as we had no tripod with us, plus the weather was a little chilly in the evenings and, when push came to shove we were tired and the boats happened to be right there LOL. I am really pleased we did what we did. The boat was smaller and not very full so we could move around. The guide was very good and it was an altogether good experience.

The page below was a bit of fun and a great way to use my 'stuff' I brought back. I used the metro map we relied on so heavily, someof the train tickets, the receipt fromt he Hard Rock meal and also snuck int he little flag that pinned Nij's dinner together LOL. OK so it is not a work of art, it is not acid free, but i love it.

 

 

 
Today I am thankful

• for having an amzing relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable break fromt he stress of work. I hadn't realised how exhausted I was and how much I needed a break.

 

and finally I have to share these pictures from an e mail Nij had. They are just too cute and bizarre not to share.

These little beasties are street legal. They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and co-opt vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we've seen in too long. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


There are seven of these little monsters floating around California , and they're all the creation of one man, Tom Wright, a builder in the outskirts of San Diego who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap. They were originally

 powered by two cylinder Harley Davidson Motorcycle engines but they rattled like heck because of the two cylinder vibration and Tom replaces them with four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750's and a couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase. 

By the way, they are almost indestructible in accidents! 

Arne Nature Reserve

I can't remember a spell of weather this good this early in the year ever. Plus it has been Bank Holidays .... aren't they usually wet!

Anyway today we headed off to Artne Nature reserve. We bought a new walks book and a walk was listed in there so we had to try it out. I can't believe we have never been there before. We will be going back again.

It was a lovely walk that took in woodland, heath and coast. And also deer. I was so thrilled to see the deer. We sometime have deer at home and we have a family of sika deer who live on our school campus, who are awfully cute. But I never loose the thrill of seeing wild deer. There were signs saying there were deer on the reserve but we kind of assumed we wouldn't see them.

Just ten minutes into the walk we saw some int he distance. Nij took this picture of me (when did my hair go red!!!!) with teeny deer in the distance (you have to look closely under the tree to the right)

 

We walked down some lovely wooded paths, coming out at Shipstal Point.

 

The sun was in the wrong direction but it is Poole harbour with Long Island nearest to us, Brownsea off to the left, Green and Furzey further out.

We then took a wrong turn but ended up seeing these deer grazing. It is Hamworthy across the harbour off behind them.

 

Just another few pictures of the walk.

 
 
and on the way back we happened upon this little chap and his friend. His friend was a little shy but this deer was so tame. We tried to tiptoe past so we didn't disturb him as he was quite close to the path - he couldn't have cared less.

 

We went back to the main area and enjoyed our picnic. they had lots of guides there and they were showing some of the local creatures too. I wasn't at all keen on the raft spider (huge and very scary) but they had caught and were showing the rarest reptile in the country - the smooth snake. She was wonderful and they are only found in a few locations in Dorset and Hampshire and so we are lucky to have them. he was explaining you have to have a special licence to catch and show them and he has to return it to within one foot of where it was found. They catch and show them so people realise how precious a resource the heath is and why it is vital to protect these special habitats. It is something we feel strongly about as we live literally on the heath. The building of our home - obviously before we bought it - destroyed that very habitat and we want to work to preserve it so no more goes. They also showed slow worms and - more importantly - another of the rarest  reptiles, also unique to our area, the big sand lizard. They are much bigger than the common lizard and it is because we have sand lizards and smooth snakes that the heath adjacent to our home is now SSSI land and so carefully protected. And yes - we get both in our garden.

We also did something I have wanted to do for a while. We joined the RSPB which no longer deals with just birds but all wildlife. Regular readers will know how much we love our wildlife so it was a good thing for us to do - our little part of helping.

 On the way home we bought the fur kids a belated Easter present we have wanted to get for them - a Water fountain. Boo is getting old and needs to drink a lot, Fiki is a boy and needs to drink a lot (they are more prone to urinary infections and stones) and Kira seems to drink very rarely. We weren't sure how they would take to it, but within two seconds of filling it and switiching it on, this was my boy.

 

 

 It is now plugged in on the floor of the utility room by their food bowls and it has elicited a LOT of interest. If it encourages them all to drink more then that is a real bnefit.

Two more Paris pages to share (I bet you will be relieved when the album sharing is over LOL)

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the incredible bio diversity in the world and the chance to enjoy it and to help a little.

 

 

Happy Easter and Bluebell directions

 

Firstly I want to wish everyone the blessings of Easter. Those of you who read regularly know that my faith is important to me and today, as always, is a special day for celebration and renewal. I wish you all every blessing that comes with this special day x

Secondly several people wanted to know where the bluebell woods are. They are at Pamphill near Wimborne. If you follow the road out of Wimborne as if you are going to Kingston Lacy there is a sign to the left saying Pamphill. Turn down there and just a short way down the road on the right is the dairy (Fab place for a browse as they have a great farm shop and a little tea room etc) Just a little further on is St Stephen's church on the right (a gorgeous church and well worth a visit) and you need to park anywhere around there. It is busy busy busy this time of year but persevere. From the car it is a short walk down the country lane between the parking and the church (follow the people - there will be plenty) across a field and into the woods. It is a short but pleasant walk.

 

Further down the road you initially drove down you can go all the way to the river and it is gorgeous to walk along the river there too.

 

I have been busy busy busy. Nigel had to go to Speedway this afternoon and I set myself a target to finish the Paris album before he came back. Well - I have done it. Well almost. I still have to face the most dreaded tool I own ... the Bind-it-all. The album is extremelyt hick and I am not sure I have big enough wires. It is not a work of art, but i think I am pleased with it as it has all the souveniers I wanted inside it, plus photos, plus journalling. It isn't completely acid free but good enough to see me out I think.

I will take some pictures of it when I have bound it, but for now here are two more pages ... this time of the gardens and the Petit Triarnon at Versailles.

 
The map of the gardens and fountains pulls out of this one. I tell you - this album is pockets and pockets and pockets. It is stuffed.

 

I found it really hard to decide which pictures to use of Versailles, but it is OK. I am going to do a special Versailled mini book anyway. One day!

Have a great Easter everyone and I pray the Lord blesses you all and your loved ones too. xxx

It's been a 'blue'day

Now by a blue day I don't mean it has been a sad day. Not do I mean I have been wearing blue - though I am actually - blue striped crops and a blue top but that is neither here nor there. No I mean a blue as in bluebell day.

After a relaxing morning we went for a walk int he local bluebell woods. They are always spectacular but are a little early this year and the day was just perefect. Hot ... no not warm, hot ... not a cloud in the sky and just wonderful for wandering in the woods amidst thousands and thousands of bluebells. The smell always amazes me. It is intense and gorgeous.

Some pictures to share.

 

 

 

 

So beautiful when there are thousands of them and yet if you look at a single bluebell it is a pretty plain sort of little chap. Yet when joined with all of its friends - how fabulous it is.

 

 

There was also some lovely blossom around

 
I have two more Paris pages to share.

They are of the hotel - firstly a general page and then our duplex suite. Well come on now - that HAD to be scrapped didn't it.

 

 
Today I am thankful for

• The chance to enjoy the beauty of nature around us

 

 

I received a lovely e mail from my cousin Lynne in America today and want to share it. We all need to take note of this.

Lisa Beamer on Good Morning America - If you remember,
she's the wife of Todd Beamer who said 'Let's Roll!' and
helped take down the plane over Pennnsylvania that was
heading for Washington, DC back on 9/11.




She said it's the little things that she misses most about
Todd, such as hearing the garage door open as he came
home, and her children running to meet him. She's now
the Mom of a beautiful little girl, Mary.

Lisa recalled this story:

"I had a very special teacher in high school many years
ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack.
About a week after his death, she shared some of her
insight with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom
windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few
things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there.

With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused
and said, ' Class is over, I would like to share with all of
you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel
is very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn,
share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of
us knows when this fantastic experience will end.
It can be taken away at any moment.

Perhaps this is the power's way of telling us that we
must make the most out of every single day. Her eyes,
beginning to water, she went on, 'So I would like you all
to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school,
or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice.

It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a
scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of
someone's house, or it could be the sound of the
breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the
way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it
falls gently to the ground. Please look for these things,
and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to
some, these things are the "stuff" of life.
The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy.
The things we often take for granted.

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our
books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon,
I noticed more things on my way home from school than
I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think
of that teacher and remember what an impression she
made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those
things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch
hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset.
Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice
cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we
did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

 

 

Still sunny, stil scrapping

Wishing everyone a very happy Good Friday and I hope the long weekend is everything you all want it to be, whatever that may be.

The sun finally came back out here and so more sitting in the sun seemed appropriate. We also took a walk round Poole and then posted all of our invites through the doors of the houses in our road. We are having a street party but not a terribly organised one. We are just suggesting everyone brings their own picnic and we all just congregate together at our end of the road. It is a cul de sac so shouldn't present any problems and will be nice to get to know a few more of the neighbours. Not sure how many will come, but the four houses close to us are all up for it and so at least we will have fun even if noone else turns up. We have bought bunting and flags and it will be good fun - weather permitting.

 

I have two more Paris pages to share - these are the first two on Versailles.

  

The guide map is in the pocket I made ont he page and pulls out. I wanted this book to keep all the souveniers together as well, and the size of the guide maps actually determined the size of the album as they were over 9" tall.

The border was cut with another new spellbinder die I bought for the album and you have to imagine the page as a double really so the border is alongt he two outside edges.

The gorgeous flower is from Graphic 45 and there is also a little envelope to match which will be bound intot he book and it includes all of the tickets from the day - the entry tickets, the shuttle, the train etc.

 

 

The patterned paper I used was old paper I had had for years that was just right for the page.

This is the right hand side of the double.

 

The film strip meant I could use lots of small detail shots and the two journalling blocks were cut witht he same set of spellbinders.

 

 

When I bind the book I will be adding in postcards as well as I did for the Rome book. I liked the irregular sizes and the mix of pages and postcards.

Freda, thank youf or your kinmd comments. I use a very simple camera - but I love it. It is a Fuji9100 which I have almost always set on automatic - so it really is a point and press. It has a nice heavy weight though, takes his res images and is a bridge camera - so I am told - which is between an auto and a digital SLR. You can manually set it to do a lot of the things an SLR will do. I love it because it looks like an SLR, but is easier, and it has a great zoom.

Today I am thankful for

• the fun of arranging something for others

 

I guess it had to happen

I love school holidays but you know what they say about all play and no work .... it makes Karen a bad teacher LOL. Today I have been catching up on school work. I have written a few sets of reports and I have also completed assignment one of my counselling course. I am studying for a counselling diploma as I feel it will help with work as, more and more, I seem to spend my time counselling ... pupils, parents and staff. I figured it can only be helpful and, all being well, I get a diploma at the end of it. However, I haven't studied for many years - not since I did my masters degree about 10 years ago. (and I did that whilst working full time as a Head ... boy was that hard)

Anyway, assignment 1 is now off for marking. I know how the kids feel now when they wait for teacher to get back to them.

Before I share work today I have to answer a question. Sandi asked what an airing cupboard is so I will try and explain. It is a cupbaord, or in my case a very very small room, where the tank for the hot water is housed. It is warm and dry and usually used for storing spare linens, towels etc. In my case it is large enough for me to stand several clothes airers and hang clothes to try. They dry very quickly in there. It is also where the iron and ironing board and the hoover live. And, given half the chance, even in weather this hot, it is where Fiki would choose to live. I think my little boy feels the cold and he loves to snuggle up in there. Even on hot sunny days like today.

 I haven't done any scrapping yet today - though I plan to start soon - but I do have a new page to share which is one I have made for my digital French album using a brand new kit out today by Dawn Inskip.

It is the Apollo Fountain at Versailles and I used Dawn's new Pony Club kit and also her new stitches - both released at her store today.

 

and I thought I ought to share this news as well. If you are a lover of Dawn's work (and clearly I am) then you will want to check out her sale and stock up on goodies.  See her store HERE

 

 

I am not back to my Paris paper album which I fear is going to be awfully 'chunky' as I have already done 13 pages and I am only at the end of the first day! Yikes!

I will have more to share tomorrow. In the meantime enjoy the sunshine and, for those of you who I won't see over the Easter holiday I wish you a happy easter.

Today I am thankful for

• getting caught up on work

 

Too much time to be active

Isn't it funny - when I at work I get so much done ach and every day. I work, jolly hard, I scrap, I sort, I organise, I exercise, all in a day. On holiday - forget it. I seem to go into some sort of bizarre slow motion where I get so little done. No idea why - I seem to be doing 'stuff' all day, just not very well obviously.

Today I have, true, sat in the sun, but I have achieved little else. I tidied the airing cupboard (why does it get so bad. I think because it is a huge airing cupboard I am inclined to leave things in there and then more and more and more) I spent over an hour deciding which Versailles pictures to use, cropping them and then the program crashed and I had to start again, by which point I had lost the oomph I needed.

I have half heartedly tidied the dining room and spare room and done a little cleaning and ironing, but in all honesty it is little to show for a day! But heck - I've enjoyed achieving nothing. And tomorrow is a work day when I plan to crack on with things for school.

Anyway, yesterday was more productive and here are the pages I made on the tower itself - one of which used a ridiculously expensive piece of paper from Hobbycraft (but it was lush) nThe tower is all glittered and very lovely in real life.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• time to do nothing

 

August in April

It has been utterly glorious here today - the sort of day you expect in August and often don't get. It is hard to believe it is April ... but it is.

We sat and enjoyed the sun for a couple of hours, before tackling the garden and adding the new plants we bought yesterday. We had to hack a lot of dead stuff out first - we really are terrible gardeners really. In fairness I don't think it is all our fault. Some of the blame lies in the fact that our soil is very poor. But I guess quite a bit lies with the fact we have not a green finger between us.

 The new plants, now they are in, look great. I wonder how long they will live? We'll see.

I also cracked on with the Paris album and have two more pages to share. They look wonky but they aren't - I promise.

The title is an epoxy sticker I bought last year in America knowing I would be going to Paris.

 

The banner at the bottom is one of my new spellbinder dies that I think I am going to really love.  And I love when I have space on a photo to add the journalling right on the picture itself.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• sunbathing and a spruced up garden (well for now at least!)