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And so we get to a whole new section of our album this week - one we will be looking at, sort of, for the next few weeks.
I hope you enjoyed the sections on family and role models. I have to say i am loving my album and it is really giving me something to focus on. That and preparingt he prompts for each week.
Anyway, on to this week's prompt which is all about friendship.
I have had a lovely day with my Nij today. We have sat and watched TV, been for a walk, played band, both enjoyed our own hobbies together and just had a nice time.
And do you know what ..... that really matters. He is not really very well at the moment, and not just his ears. And it all makes you stop and think how much you mean to each other and how much someone else makes your life complete.
This is a page I made of him the other day using Dawn's new Rainy days kit and it just seemed the right page to share today.
The photo was taken at The Holes Bay (gosh how I miss eating out there!!!) the day after he was told his job was finishing and three days before he finally finished work.
My quote for today is
I have found my treasure in Nigel.
Today I am thankful for
There is so much to do and so much of it involves jobs I can't finish and finalise at the moment so I feel I am getting nowhere.
If any of you feel teachers work 9 - 4 and only in term time five days a week, let me tell you that is NOT the case and apart from holiday work - and there is a LOT of that - 13 and 14 hour days are the norm!
It didn't help that this morning, having been at work since 7 am, at 8 am I knocked over a full bottle of water on allt he paperwork across my desk. I know it was my own fault. I know I should not have had the top off the bottle. I KNOW!!!! But knowing didn't help adding yet more problems to my ever growing pile.
At least it is the weekend and although i have masses of work to do I am looking forward to a little off time too.
This is another page I made with Dawn's new kit Rainy days and Mondays which I do think is one of my favourites.
The picture was taken last weekend on our walk and reminds me to remember that I was so thrilled to be in size 16 jeans.
Dawn has just sent us new goodies which everyone is so going to love. I am very lucky to get to create with such fabulous stuff.
If you have a little spare time, prayer and sympathy perhaps you could think of my poor Nij. he is quite down about the fact he has almost lost his hearing. he had a cold last week and on Thursday his hearing was 'odd'. It got worse over the weekend and he finally went to the doctors as he has a constant ringing and buzzing in his ears. The doctor put him on anti-biotics and said he thinks he may have performated both ear drums. we are so hoping it is that and that it will heal. Worryingly it sounds rather like tinnitis and we are hoping it is not. It is worse than ever today and I hate him struggling.
My quote for today is
I generally try hard not to count days but i confess I was counting the minutes until the end of this school week!
Today i am thankful for
I hope that, whatever you are doing, you have a good weekend.
I was very sad when I woke to the news from Seaworld this morning.
I know that readers of this blog will have mixed views about the incident. Some of you will think it is wrong to keep the killer whales in captivity anyway and some of you won't. I guess everyone has very very strong views about things like that. I am very anti any sort of animal cruelty - very very anti - but I have never really had a problem with SeaWorld. I felt they did an awful lot of conservation work, looked after the animals in their care well and that many of them enjoyed what they were doing. OK that might be a stupid thing to have thought as they didn't have the most important thing of all - their freedom. However, it didn't stop me loving seeing them and learning about them. Many of you might already know that I have always said my dream job would have been to work with killer whales - be that in the wild or as a trainer.
With the tragic news of the death of Dawn Brancheau today I guess so many things need to be considered by many many people. Me included. I think anyone who works with animals of any sort has to accept first and foremost that animals are wild. Any animal. Even our domestic cats and dogs can turn. At any time. People who interact witht hem must appreciate those risks. That said, however, it does bring into question the ethics of what is happening and I am doing some serious thinking about my views too.
That said, my thoughts and prayers go with Dawn's family for their awful loss. At the centre of this news story is a human .... and an animal .... tragedy.
I debated wether or not to post this page today of all days, but decided I would.
The picture was taken at Discovery Cove, one of the SeaWorld family, where there are dolphin interactions. The same ethical issues apply as they are in captivity and whilst their areas are huge they are clearly not free. The interactions don't happen if the dolphins are not in the mood to play and they make that very clear. However, as it is reward driven I guess they have to be in a very bad mood not to join in. Again i will be evaluating my views on this one too.
however, when the photo was taken it was one of the happiest moments of my life. For as long as I can remember I have had a love of and a fascination for dolphins and it really was a special experience for me - though maybe not for Natalie the dolphin.
The page was made using a new kit by Dawn Inskip called Rainy Days and Mondays and is on sale at her stores at PBP and catscraps.
My quote for today is
Somehow today doesn't feel like one much filled with laughter.
Today I am thankful for
having had the chance to see some truly beautiful creatures and having the conscience to stop and re-evaluate how I feel about it.
Now I often leave special things like videoa and e mails tillt he end of a post, but i am afraid I can't today. i just can't.
My good friend Sara sent me this link today and I think it is incredible. Here is a little background first
A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite..
This is only a 1 minute, 44 second video and it is brilliant. Make sure you read as well as listen…forward and backward. This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.
Enjoy the video - I certainly did.
I have a page to share today that I forgot to upload and it is my little boy again I'm afraid. It was made using the new About A Boy kit by Dawn Inskip available at her stores at PBP and catscrap.
My quote today is
Oh how true.
Today I am thankful for
Do you know - this is such an appropriate question for today.
He has been a bad bad boy.
I am rarely the one who flips and throws him out of the room to 'think about what he has done' - it is usally Nigel. But he has been shut in the utility room for 20 minutes as a punishment. (It's actually OK - hthe food, water and litter tray are all out there plus 2 cat beds so it's not too awful!) He hates being shut in - he will quite happily sit in there but if we put him in there he hates it.
Why was he shut out? Boushka worrying! He will worry and attack her and once he starts he won't stop.
So - an apt time for me to post this page.
I made the page as a member of Shimelle's design team - the Baker's dozen. The papers, frame, top 10 list, hearts etc are all Shimelle's.
. So no new scrapping.
My quote today is
These quotes are just so tru.e
Today I am thankful for
This is a page I made at the weekend for Shimelle's design team (Oh how I love being part of a baker's dozen! It's a great team to be on)
Shimelle has a range of great kits and also a lot of printables that work really well for paper and hybrid work as well as digi work.
This page uses several of her kits - all from two peas - including Can't buy me love, pretty labels, love labels and top ten lists. It's all pretty and pink for my little Kira girl. expect to see the companion page for Fiki in the next day or so!
The only thing not Shimelles are the doodled swirls and the flowers (Amy Wolff)
We had a fab day yesterday in oxford. It was one of Nigel's cousins 60th birthday and we went for a suprise birthday party for him and it was great to catch up with everyone, although I ate far too much.
My quote for today is
Today I am thankful for
How can we possibly be at week 8?
Where has the time gone - almost the end of february and it doesn't seem a moment since Christmas.
I am loving what everyone has been creating. i do try and comment on as many things as possible, but I have to say I think i fail miserably.
I do go look, but can't always comment on all of them.
Prompt 8 is a very dear one to my heart and I hope that you enjoy it too.
There are a whole host of different ways that you could tackle this prompt but I went for a very serious way and I want to share the story.
When I was at school I had a particular teacher who infludenced my life - and is still an influence now. Her name was Mrs Dickinson (Edna) and the impact she had on my life was considerable.
I was part of a particularly naughty class. It was a very 'nice' all girls grammar school and we were the rebels. We were the class of 15 year olds that were hell to teach and we played up every teacher except her. She never shouted, she never got cross, we just respected her. When I went into the 6th form she was my form tutor for those 2 years and I calmed down and knuckled down to work. I remember the day the careers advisor refused to give me an UCCA form saying that as I would never get my A levels it was a waste of paper and a waste of her time and mine. I was refused the forms. I remember Mrs. Dickinson sending for me later that same day. She told me she had spoken to the careers advisor and I was mortified. I had called her some pretty choice words that nice young ladies shouldn't know and whilst I had no regrets about using them I was so ashamed that Mrs. Dickinson, who I respected so much, knew what I had done. Anyway, she hadn't sent for me to shout at me - she wanted to help.
Later that week she came round to my home to see my parents and I. She bought a load of prospectuses with her and together we picked the right university and the right course for me. she helped me apply and, of course, I was successful (and ..... so much for the careers teacher .... I got excellent A level results too!)
She was so right in the choice she helped me make for University. Towards the end of my degree course I decided I wanted to teach (no .... I was never one who knew she always wanted to teach) so I went on to do a PGCE. I modelled myself on Mrs. Dickinson (Edna) wanting to be the sort of inspirational teacher she had been. She came to my wedding, she was a referee for all three of my jobs (I am not sure if I am proud or ashamed that I have only had three and tend to stay in them for a long time!) and I still keep firmly in touch with her. I still hope that one day i can inspire pupils in the way she inspired me.
When I was making my page for this prompt I realised that, although I have told many people over the years about the effect she had on my life, I have never really told her. So i wrote it all down in a long letter and sent it off. We spoke a couple of days later ont he phone and I am so pleased I told her all I had thought over the past 35 years. And do you know what ..... if it hadn't have been for scrapping i guess I might never have told her how she shaped and influenced my life and the person i am today.
Well done for getting through all of that. I wanted to record it here but I guess you are all itching to get to the prompt.
My page is a photo of me sitting at the desk in my office. It seemed appropriate since i wouldn't be sat there if it were not for her.
I embossed the mount and distressed it with white chalk ink and the tag pulls out and gives the story i have outlined above.
This post is dedicated to my mentor ... a very special lady ..... Edna Dickinson
So - on to the prompt at last.
Please, can I remind everyone that the cost of the course is just a quick comment. I love knowing who is downloading and what you think.
Here is the file for prompt 8 - I hope you have fun
I realised today I never did post my prompt 7 page - I mean my own version of it.
I have seen so many lovely versions of the sketch/template around the digi world and yet didn't put my own up - so here it is.
I focused on the different traditions we brought to our new life together and a new one we started just for us.
I enjoyed making the template so much and have also learnt a few tiips on how to make the next one better.
I have only got 2 digi pages in this album but this one - when printed out as it is now - looks very dimensional.
I have been for a nice walk this morning and done some scrapping but i have to say i am now very firmly at the stage where being cold is boring. I seem to be permanently cold these days. I can't imagine ever being warm again!
I plan on a nice day of scrapping now - I am busy working on prompts 13 and 14 today - just trying to stay ahead LOL.
My quote for today is
and Oh my how true is that. I am sure that being in uncomfortable shoes is one of the worst things we put ourselves through at times. I do make a conscious effort not to do it any more. I used to tetter around in very high heels and I just don't do it now. I am afraid I have reached the stage where comfort matters .... and heels play havoc with my knee.
Today I am thankful for
Finally I thought I would share these two photos
Me in August and me in January ...... almost 5 stone less and I hope looking very different.
Last autumn we discovered a new path down across Studland heath to the Agglestone. We planned to walk to it but it was a bitterly cold day and it was blowing such a gale we almost couldn't stand up straight.
So we had to abandon the attempt.
Today we tried again. Gorgeous day - sunny but cold, exceptionally clear over Poole Harbour and the perfect day. except it wasn't.
There were too many places where the track was narrow and the thickest mud ever. It was waterlogged so badly that we got almost there but had to turn around. we simply didn't have suitable footwear for it.
One day we will actually get there - but today we just had a nice walk.
here are a couple of snaps from it.
I have also made another page for my 52 walks book and printed it out.
My quote for today is
Today I am thankful for
