Dolly's Dreamings

Perfect

I have such a great photo of the day today - I really and truly do. Today is a once in every 4 years sort of day. I don't really want to have the past three weeks ever again in my lifetime let alone in 4 years time.

But today is a good good day and the photo of the day is great.

Not great because I am in it but because of what it says and what I can celebrate.

I finally finally got my results today. After not hearing and then ringing constantly and being told there was a hold up in histology etc etc and meeting with a rather unhelpful secretary I finally got them and they are all clear.

The dreaded result didn't happen and I can't begin to explain how I feel.

Thank you to my many many friends who read here daily who have sent so many message of support and encouragement whilst I was going through the tests and the wait.

And it really has changed me. The whole thing. I really am trying to savour each and every day. I really am trying to live rather than plan. And I really am truly grateful for this life. So many people have such truly awful things to deal with, such awful tragedies to face and I am very very lucky and extremely blessed. I have always tried to see the positives in life but I can tell you what, having a wake up call really does put things into perspective.

I have to go out to a meeting shortly but even that feels absolutely fine!

The page I am sharing today is another art journal page which, this time, was all about layers.

I was aiming for a look a poster on top of layers so I made the poster first then put it down on lots of layered things. Sort of worked, but not completely. I still feel I haven't got the hang of this art journal stuff.

 
Today I am thankful for

• the all clear!

My one minute inspirational page today is

The windshield wipers scraped aside the morning sleet. Miles of red glowing taillights lined Route 50 leading into Washington, D.C. This was part of my daily routine: Each day I woke up, inched through traffic, worked eight hours, sat in more traffic, walked my German shepherd, Kai, and went to bed. I was single and 22 years old. The year before, I’d dropped out of college. God, I prayed, isn’t there more to life than this?

I’d grown up in a small Minnesota town. But I had fled from the miles of cornfields by transferring to a college in the D.C. area. After a year in the city, I didn’t know what to do with my life or where to live.

That weekend, Kai and I walked along a leaf-littered trail. The breeze caressed my cheeks and the sun warmed my back. Kai bounded ahead and splashed into the creek. All he wanted was to be with me, playing outdoors. I ached for my life to be that simple. I sat on a boulder and Kai paddled over with a gift, a rock. I tossed it into the water. He dove after it, expecting adventure. Adventure—that’s what I need, I thought. So why am I living here?

My dream had always been to work outside, preferably on horseback. I thought of my brother Chuck, who lived in Montana. Peace overwhelmed me when I remembered horses grazing under ponderosa pines on Rocky Mountain slopes. It was almost as if God’s still, small voice was urging me to plunge into a new adventure.

That evening I phoned Chuck. “I’ll be moving to Montana April first,” I told him. “Can I crash on your floor until I get a job?”

Life is what we make of it.

New toys to play with

I got home to find an order I placed at the weekend waiting for me. It is a lush set of Hero Arts Sizzix stamps and die cuts and I am already in love.

I haven't really played, just stamped a couple of the images, cut them out - so easy - and had a quick colour.

The detail on the stamps is lush and I am loving the dies.

I can feel another addiction coming but I intend to resist.

I don't make enough cards to warrant this, but I can justify this set as I will use them on pages.

I also had another gift which Nij wasn't sure I would want. You may remember he has been doing some work and training with Bourjois Cosmetics (lots of lovely free samples) well he had a sample of a big bottle of Soire du Paris perfume and it's very nice. Yes please ... thenk you.

As I feel I don't make enough cards to justify more of the Hero Arts sets I figured today I would share a card I made at the weekend.

It was for the daughter of a friend of mine who has just secured a great job. She is a huge animal lover and so it was, in every way, a very appropriate card.

 

Today I am thankful for

• the fact there are so many wonderful crafty things out there - new ideas all the time.

and this is my one minute devotional calendar page today

It had been six years since I’d lost my left leg to cancer, and I had finally found a sport I could compete in: ski racing. I’d been skiing for years, but this was my first race. I was nervous. An official wearing a radio headset was counting down: “Five … four … three … two … one … go, racer!”

I pushed through the starting wand and accelerated out of the gate. On the first turn, I almost lost my balance as my ski scraped across the ice. I continued to flail through the course until the third turn, when my ski slid out from under me and I crashed. I looked down to see if my ski was still attached to my boot. It was, so I was allowed to get back up.

Three turns later, I fell again. I got back up. Then I fell again. In total, I fell five times before I finally crossed the finish line. At this rate, I was sure I’d never make the Paralympics, the quadrennial competition for athletes with physical disabilities. Then I remembered something my coach had said: “It’s not the falling that matters for you right now as much as the getting back up.”

That’s just the path my ski racing career has followed—a lot of falling, a lot of praying, a lot of getting back up. Five years later, when I did make the Paralympics, I managed to fall a lot less, but I never forgot the lesson I learned from that first race: Persistence, not perfection, is what counts.

Finally - another couple of those amazing photos (nearly done with those now!)

Airport in the Maldives is located on an artificial island in the middle of the Indian Ocean

Lighthouse guard in Mare , France must be one of the most courageous people on the planet! Not everyone will have a smoke in such weather, and in such a place!

Photo of storm in Montana , USA , 2010

 

Skyscraper-Crescent Crescent Moon Tower ( Dubai )

Heavy fog in Sydney , which enveloped the whole city

Speed Scrap

Well - talk about speed scrap eh!

I started this page yesterday but just had bits and pieces. I needed to scrap when I came home - I just did. I checked out the challenge on UKS, threw out some of the ideas I had been working on, adapted them to work with the sketch and wow - pictures taken yesterday and scrapped today.

 

That's quick even by my standards LOL  The butterflies were no challenge, the stitching was no challenge - let's face it I stitch on every page anyway.

The letters were what I made to use anyway and are Banana Frog Pharmacy stamped with white ink and outlined.

The homemade flowers had to be made for the challenge specifically  and I just added strips from my scraps box. I needed to stitch them more crookedly. They were meant to be slightly anhled but they are not angled enough really.

 

 I used lots of die cuts from a couple of sets I love.

 

 

My photo of the day today is a little project Nij has been working on. When we replaced the fridge we kept a lot of the inside bits of the old fridge and one thing we did miss was the drawer where we used to keep meat. The new fridge didn't have one.

The new fridge is fractionally wider inside, of course, so it dodn't fit the new fridge. Undaunted Nigel cut bits off various peces, welded them together and voila, we now have a drawer that fits the new fridge and he has made an amazing job of it.

Today I am thankful for

• a very enterprising husband
• a friend's cat making a good recovery - so pleased Heather x

A Glorious Day for a Leisurely Stroll

It has been an absolutely beautiful day today. The sun has shone all day long and it has been mild, not a breath of wind and feeling very very springlike. It has felt more like April than February.

Too nice a day to stay in by far.

I suggested - perhaps a little rashly for one whose ankle has been collapsing on an all too regular basis, that we headed out to Lulworth cove for a walk.

And so we did. Ok the walk was a little stressful on the ankle (and the knees too actually) but the weather was glorious and the views superb.

Cue a lot of photos I am afraid, but then the purpose of this blog is to give me a record of what we have been up to and these are nice pictures.

 

 Looks quite easy doesn't it, but those of you who know the area know it is a reasonably steep incline to the top, then down again and up again to Durdle Door.

 The shot above isn't from the top but you can see how far down the carpark and the cove is

 The light was much better the other way as we were not shooting into the sun

 Mmmm - made that look like I was posing for a photo rather than gasping for breath!

 

 These are then the other way as we walked back and over to Stair Hole and the Cove itself

 

 The light was totally wrong to get good photos of stair hole

 Over towards the cover where the light was much better

 

 

 Time to stop and have our picnic

 Re-fuelled and ready to carry on

and finally the photo of the day

I haven't scrapped yet today other than a digi page with lush new stuff that I can't share yet.

But this is another Austria page and the companion page to the one with the theatre.

 

The stitched and stamped pocket holds a tag full of journalling plus my ticket from the Passion Play.  The cross - which was beautifully carved - was in the village. The village is noted for its wood carving as well as for the Passion Play and we bought a beautiful little carving home with us too.

Today I am thankful for

• Living in a truly beautiful part of the world with natural wonders like the Jurassic Coast to enjoy and wonder at
• Legs that struggle but work

A Scrappy Day

It's been a really nice day today in every sense of the word. After a leisurely breakfast we headed out for our daily frap and and ended up at Macro. We hadn't been there for ages and we saw just what we have been looking for for a while - a large outside storage 'shed come box' for our garden furniture. It was just what we wanted but we had no idea how the price compared or whether it would fit and we had no tape measure.

Cue i phone wonder!

I used the ap that scans the little square box type bar codes (no idea what they are called but the ap is a QR reader) and it bought up the product on the web site and I e mailed that home.

Did I mention I love my i phone LOL

 

anyway - very boring photo of the day

Anyway we picked up a few bits and pieces and then I have had a scrappy day which has been very theraputic. When we got home the woodpecker (not the green ones we see daily but the proper spotted one!) was hammering away close by but we couldn't see him. Our bird feeder is very active though and it is lovely to see them all.

I have a new page made with yet more of Dawn's new products today.  Featuring those two adorable CFH of course.

 

Today I am thankful for

• all sorts of technology
• the new fuse box and power supply so that when the toaster went badly wrong at lunchtime it simply tripped the fuse and the new independent power supply meant my computer didn't go off.

 My one minute devotional today is

I was married at 17, and my children—one boy and four girls—were born close together. The doctor said if I had another baby, I would die. But before long I was expecting again. The doctor said the pregnancy must be terminated. I pondered and prayed. Reluctantly, I decided to comply, and wearied from this decision, I lay down to rest.

After a brief nap I awoke to see—as clearly as I’ve ever seen anyone—a sailor boy. He was smiling and his sailor cap rested jauntily on the back of his head. On his forehead were short, shiny curls. I don’t know why, but as I looked at this apparition, it came to me that I must cancel the impending surgery. I went on to bear a son named Robert.

Years later, in World War II, we received word that our elder son, Jack, had been killed. One day as I sat crying, young Robert touched my arm and said, “Mama, look at me. You’ve still got me.” With that intense statement from the heart of my little boy, my numbness began to recede.

Robert grew and then he, too, joined the service. He was stationed in Pearl Harbor and we didn’t see him for a long time. Then we got a wire that he was coming home. The day before he was to arrive, I was in the kitchen, mixing a cake, when I heard the door open. I turned around, and standing there was the same sailor boy I’d seen years before. He was smiling and his sailor cap rested jauntily on the back of his head. On his forehead were short, shiny curls.

It took a moment for me to realize that this was my son Robert, surprising us by coming home a day early. It was Robert, the son I almost didn’t have.

and finally some more of those amazing photos.

 Favelas of Brazil . The shocking boundary between wealth and poverty.

 

 

 Lost paradise in the Indian Ocean . Isle of Lamu.

In northwestern Montana , USA . The water is so transparent that it seems that this is a quite shallow lake. In fact, its very deep.

 Banpo Bridge in Seoul , South Korea

 Balcony of floor 103 in Chicago .

 From the outside it looks like

 
View of the sunset from inside the wave.

 

Power Crazy

Oh my

We live in an electronic age don't we!

I have already posted this week about how I love the instancy of the Kindle. You KNOW I love my i phone. Well we have so many gadgets that the drawer where we keep the power cables has gone a teeny bit crazy. There are so many. We have several digital cameras and each has its own charger plus there is the charger for the rechargable batteries.

There is the charger for the DS Lite, the charger for the i pod, the charger for the i phone (no they are not interchanegable as the one for the i touch won't charge the i phone) the charger for the Kindle and then don't even get me started ont he chargers for the gazzilion other phones we have or appear to ever have had. Plus they have car chargers too!

Oh my

It's a technological conundrum.

We have just spent a very fraught time trying to match leads to devices and then bring out the trusty dymo labeller to make sure we never get in this pickle again!

 

I have a new page to share today which is another made with the new templates that Dawn has on sale at her Scrapbookgraphics store.

The page is of me at Versailles but the story is how I waited for so many years to actually visit. I had read a great deal about Versailles and Marie Antoinette when I was a teenager. I was fascinated by it. I ALMOST visited in 1986 when we went to Paris on our Honeymoon and whilst we did go there were were too broke to buy a ticket and go in!

So it was just last year when we finally got to visit. And it was amazing. Sometimes, when you look forward to something so much and anticipate it, when it actually happens it is a disappointment.

This wasn't at all - it was everything I hoped and more.

 
Today I am thankful for

• a super organised hubby!
• electricity .... seriously

 

My one minte devotional page today is lovely and something that over the past few weeks we have really tried to live by.

Years ago, a good friend lost his wife in an automobile accident. Stunned, my wife, Beth, and I went to be with him in his time of grief. As we stood in his doorway and embraced one another, his first words to me were, “Jill and I had so many plans together. And now she’s gone. Scott, whatever you do, don’t put off your plans till tomorrow.”

Like most folks, I had heard those urgent words many times before. And, like most, I soon forgot them. Until last week, when I found myself in a doctor’s office, sitting anxiously by my wife. In a matter of only days, Beth had developed symptoms of cancer, and now we were waiting to hear the test results. But this time the words stuck. Beth means everything to me. Jack was right, I thought, stunned. I cannot take tomorrow for granted. And I must live each day of my life with joy, intensity, and appreciation.

Fortunately, Beth’s test results were negative. Over the last few days, though, I have resolved to be not as concerned with preparing for retirement as with making the present day all that it can be. Beth and I have dreamed for years of a restful cruise to Bermuda. My widowed mother is getting on in years, and I need to tell her again what a wonderful mom she has been—and I need to bring the kids around to visit her more regularly. I’m an avid genealogist, and if I do not write our family history, nobody else will. And the only time that I am promised is now.

Let there be light

This is always an exciting time of year as I get to see my home and the garden and the heath in daylight.

It is just about light when I leave home at 6.40 a.m. and just light when I have been getting home at 6.00 p.m. Tonight I was a little earlier and I snapped this as I arrived just after 5.30 pm so it could be my picture of the day.

It has been a long week with long hours and no scrapping at all, but I did scrap loads of pages over half term so still have new things to share.

This was made with a whole host of new things that dawn has bought out today with templates (and really really cool templates) and pockets and some gorgeous stitched papers. I also used a kit called Pony Club and the photos are the ever beautiful Alice.

 

 

 

I know several of you have asked about results of my biopsies and I rangt he hospital today as, to be perfectly honest, it has been a bit tough waitingt hese past two weeks to find the results out.

They told me the results are not back from histology yet and to be honest they were a bit sniffy about it, making me feel like I ought not to have phoned to check.

However, being told that one of the possibilities is cancer, being  told that speed is important and being told you have to wait up to two weeks for the result and then not having any results isn't the most comfortable thing in the world and I confess to being a tad on edge. I just want to know. I feel confident it is all going to be OK, but I'd just like to have it confirmed to be honest.

Today I am thankful for

• productive days
• Talking Tom - he is such a pointless but cute ap!
• Getting home whilst it is still light.

 

My one minute devotional calendar today was

“Okay, everybody, outta those nice warm beds! You’ve got square tires this morning!” It was a jovial disc jockey’s way of warning commuters that the weather was extremely cold, traffic would be slow, and they had better allow themselves a few extra minutes for defrosting windshields before slowly rumbling along frozen streets on their way to work.

Those of us who live on the Canadian prairie know all about “square tires.” At temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees below zero, tires become so stiff after a car has been sitting outside overnight that it initially makes for a bumpy ride in the morning. After driving a few hundred yards, the rubber becomes flexible again and the ride smoothes out.

I know what it is to get up in the morning and experience a bumpy ride—and not only in a car. This morning was one of those days. I just didn’t want to climb out of my warm, cozy bed. Negative thoughts had drifted in that obscured the vision through my spiritual windshield. My tough resistance to a new project made it difficult to shift gears and get going. My rigid insistence of wanting things to go my way made for a square-tire start to my day.

I can tell you what smoothed out the ride, though. It was committing my plans and attitude and direction to God before I ever left the driveway. In reading portions of His Word and remembering His promises, I felt my reluctance thawing out and my spirit warming to whatever He had in store down the road.

Devotionals go digital

It is the first day of lent today and I was so cross with myself. I meant to buy a new Lent readings book and I forgot to do it over half term and I have not had time to get to the local Christian bookstore. I so wanted to have a daily reading book but then it hit me ... and yes, I am slow.

I went to Amazon, browsed, found just what I wanted, bought it, downloaded it and voila. Daily readings sorted in an instant and I didn't ever have to leave the house.

And as I hadn't taken a photo of the day - again - I snapped my Kindle.

 
and yes - you probably spotted I downloaded two lent books. But I guess you are NOT surprised!

I have another Austria page to share today - this time of the reason why we went to Austria in the first place and today seemed a good day to share it.

Oberammergau stages the passion play every ten years to mark the vow that they made in 1633 that if God spared their village from any more people dying of the plague, they would stage a play depicting Christ's passion. The play is amazing and takes place in the most wonderful open air theatre. Almost everyone int he village is involved in some way or another as 4700 new people descend on the village every 4 days during the season. Parts pass down from generation to generation and it is the most amazing production. The play lasts over 5 hours, with a break for lunch. It is in German and the first scene has 600 people on stage from old men to babes in arms and it is so moving.

It takes place every ten years and I was going to go with Mommy in 1990 for my 20th birthday. Sadly that was the year Mommy died very suddenly and so of course that never happened. However Nigel and I decided to go for my 40th in 2000. 2000 was a very special year for the Passion Play as they celebrated their 40th season (how uncanny was that) with a new production to coincide with the millennium. So, the reason we went to Austria at all was to see the Passion Play and the easiest way to do that was to go on an organised tour and it included a trip round Austria.

So this page is kind of integral to the entire trip.

I wanted it to be all about the journalling and so there are two tags with a serious amount of writing on both.

I wanted it to be simple but reasonably dramatic. The cross is a little silver cross charm.

Today I am thankful for

• the wonders of technology and how instant it is

My one minute devotional today is lovely and very thought provoking.

My aunt, at one hundred years old, doesn’t string her present moments together as she used to. She says her memory’s getting “thin.” That’s hard for her to accept when her reasoning still works fine.

Each experience is a first-of-its-kind for Aunt Betty, a “fresh first.” Whether it’s a tree she’s seen dozens of times, a neighbor she’s greeted often, or a gift she was given weeks ago, she extends her full delight as if it’s entirely new. Watching her is like riding a Ferris wheel and rediscovering the same exhilarating sights every time it goes around.

One of my favorite “fresh firsts” is the pie that her daughter Margy gives her. Every morning, Aunt Betty is surprised to find pie on her kitchen counter. “Where’d this come from?” she asks. When she learns it’s from Margy, she gets another surprise. “How dear of her,” she responds.

Why do I allow my daily life to become dull with familiarity? Why can’t I catch a ride on the Ferris wheel and see the same things with new enthusiasm? How long since I’ve felt stirred by God’s gifts of sight and sound and movement, of sun and rain and sky, of friends and faith and purpose?

Aunt Betty’s wheel of “fresh firsts” is a sweet spin of gratitude and joy, eagerness and surprise. It’s the best ride going, whether you’re one or one hundred.

Wouldn't it be a good thing to focus on to see the world that fresh every day. To rekindle that joy and enthusiasm for everything. If we work hard at it we can!

Absolutely no will power

Ok yesterday I resolved to cut out all of the unnecessary goodies I may or may not snack on.

I did really well and managed a whole day. But I had a stressy day today and had biscuits.

Bad bad bad girl.

I will do better tomorrow.

Maybe

This is my guilty pleasure though - I have a lot of regular yoghurt - plain low fat not at all exciting but I like it yoghurt.

THIS however, is gorgeous. And we use the Gene Hunt .... 'I'm 'aving 'oops' which a lot of you probably won't get but those of you who are Gene Hunt fans .... and I am certainly one of those .... will understand. Though he meant a totally different sort of hoops.

I have another page from the developing Austria album to share. I made quite a few over half term.

This is the other half of a double page on Innsbruck and shows some of what was our first proper Austrian town.

It also details a very typically 'us' story. The tour guides were talking about the Hungerburgbahr which was so not what we thought it was.

We are both incredibly fussy about food and one of the things we dreaded about the trip was the food. It was bed, breakfast and evening meal that we were booked in for and we knew it would be a set meal and we might not like it. (as it happened I had a rare treat that evening as everyone sat down to some reasonably unrecognisable pork dish and I, as a vegetarian, had omlette and chips!!!)  As we were not sure what dinner would be like we found a Macdonalds in Innsbruck. We must be such a disappointment as tourists!

 
Today I am thankful for

• a bonus frap
• travelling companions

My one minute devotional calendar today is very fitting for a teacher

A man who was once the governer of a state told me that the thing that saved him when he was exhausted and filled with despair at the lies and machinations of man was kids.

“Whenever I got really dark and hopeless,” he said, “I would go visit a classroom. The kids would just pop with energy and questions and opinions. By the end of my term, I was canceling meetings left and right, scheduling three school visits a day, and stopping at every park and playground we passed.

“The very best times were when kids told me stories right out of their hearts. I’d be sitting in a tiny chair with my knees up, and they would tell me about their puppies or skateboards or grandmas, and it was like someone pouring hope into my head.

“I’ll miss that more than anything, being with all those kids. If we say we’ll take care of them and don’t, then we’re just sinning, and there’s no worse sin than ignoring or mistreating a child. You know that and I know that. I walked away from being governor more fired up about public service than before, but now I bend all my energies to fixing stuff for kids. Is there anything more crucial than that?”

 

and finally - a little LOL cat for you

Artist at work

I couldn't resist the blog post title today - on two different levels.

Firstly this scrapbook artist has returned to work. Artist? I hear you ask. Well I guess it is the closest to artist I will ever be. Half term was great but now it is back to the world of reality and hard work.

But the title also refers to this great little artist - Emily. The photos are a few years old, taken on a day when we all went out for dinner and bad Mommy forgot to take anything for Emily to play with and so teacher Auntie Karen found pens and paper in her bag. Emily was very happy just doodling away. When do we loose that uninhibited part of ourselves where we just 'go for it' and don't have to think and plan when confronted with a blank piece of paper?

The page was made using Dawn Inskip's latest collection Art Smart

 
Being back at work meant I forgot to take a proper picture of the day so this is a photo that links in with being back at work - my Newton's Cradle from my desk. It is one of those things that is a finger magnet. Everyone, adult or child, who comes in just has to have a play! It begs to be played with.

I titled the picture coveted as I always did covet it. It was Daddy's and I always used to playw ith it. I told him he didn't need it and I should have it. He bought me my own. But it wasn't like his so i offered to swap. No! I really really wanted it.

And the sad thing is, now I have it I wish I didn't - I wish with all my heart he was still here and refusing to let me have it. Be careful what you wish for!

 
Today I am thanklful for

• being good at paddling!!

And some more of those random but amazing photos

In the resort town of Skagen you can watch an amazing natural phenomenon. This city is the northernmost point of Denmark, where the Baltic and North Seas meet. The two opposing tides in this place can not merge because they have different densities.

In the Chinese province of Shandong is a bridge across the Gulf of Jiaozhou . The bridge length over 36 km is calculated for eight car lanes, and is the longest sea bridge in the world.

 

Paris computer games store. In fact, the floor is absolutely flat. 

 

An unusual tunnel in California 's Sequoia National Park .. and I have driven through that one
 

This statue, created by Bruno Catalano, is located in France

The longest traffic jam in the world recorded in China . Its length is 260 kilometers

 

 Marcus Levine - slaughtering an artist in the literal sense. He creates his paintings by nailing a white wooden panel.. At his latest series of paintings exhibited in a gallery in London , Marcus has spent more than 50 000 pieces of iron.

In the city of Buford (USA) lives just one person. He works as a janitor and as a mayor.