Dolly's Dreamings

Just a quickie but a sunny one

Isn't it funny how life gets in the way of living really. there are so many things I want to do but life is making them impossible at the moment. It will be better this time next week when school is almost done, but for now, life is hectic so this is a brief post.

However it's a sunny one.

The page was made witht he lush new kit called bazinga by Shimelle and available at her store at Two peas.

Today I am thankful for

• wonderful children to share time with

I made this page with Shimelle's bazinga kit again. Summer just makes me think of Florida and our home from home at the caribbean beach. This kit was perfect for it.

My quote today is

Bazinga!

OK - so hands up who else doesn't know what the word bazinga means?

I didn't for sure. But i think that might be because I am old and not trendy.

Bazinga - is a word you shout when you have pulled off something funny - or wild..

If you watch -The Big Bang Theory- comedy show - it is Sheldon Coopers catch phrase!

However, it is also the name of a brand new kit by Shimelle which is available from today at Two peas. It is bright and zingy but soft and delicate too - if that makes sense.

There are the cutest lacy butterflies in it - and so I couldn't resist creating this page.

The floral element at the bottom wasn't from the kit but was K Pertiet and the border is by dawn Inskip but everything else is by Shimelle in this kit or a couple of her other kits.

Today has been an interesting day, all said and done. Isn't it funny how support comes from areas where you least expect it and how, after years of biting your tongue you suddenly feel motivated to say how you have been feeling and someone actually listens. Interesting and kind of cathartic actually.

I also came home to lovely lush goodies I had ordered from Bubbly Funk and I will be able to play with them soon.

My quote for today is

and I prepare these ages in advance .... funny how appropriate ones crop up isn't it.

Today I am thankful for

• Support from some unexpected quarters and from some expected ones too
• chipboard!

Out and about

It's been really hot and humid today - and quite draining.

It was also our Junior School birthday today and so we had fun activities this afternoon. The theme for this afternoon was 'The Ugly Bug Ball' and I spent the afternoon outside with groups of children in turn devising their own group dances to the old song 'The Ugly Bug Ball'. Believe me, when you have heard this somewhere in the region of a hundred times (I kid you not) you are fit to scream! Anyway - the children had fun.

School birthday also meant chocolate cake for break - YUM!

I have a page to share here today which I made for my 5210 prompt this week.

We live in a fabulous area and there are lots of places to visit close by. It is a real tourist area and we sometimes forget how lucky we are to live on top of so many attractions.

It is a double page as I couldn't fit on everything i wanted to on a single. I managed to record quite a few places we love. They are - from the top left corner going round,

• MonkeyWorld
• Stourhead
• Longleat
• The heath
• Marwell
• Bucklers Hard
• Southampton
• Exbury
• The New Forest
• Milford
• Christchurch
• Corfe
• Studland
• Kingston Lacey
• Ringstead bay
• Durdle Door
• Swanage
• The Purbecks
• Wareham
• Pamphill

Just a few of the places we love. If you have never visited the area - do!!! It is fabulous.

My quote for today is

Today I am thankful for

• School birthdays
• a breeze right now - the first all day

Family Time

Nigel's brother and sister-in-law are over on holiday from the US at the moment and last night we went for a family meal.

Nij has two brothers - one lives in Coventry and one near Boston in the US  - and they are all lucky that they still have their Mom, Elfin who is an incredibly active 84 year old!

Last night we all went for a meal at our favourite family restaurant Vesuvio. It is right on the beach in Bournemouth and has special memories for me. The restaurant is built right where our beach hut used to be. I spent all of my adolescence there - I lived at the beach every day in the summer and so whilst the hut isn't there any longer it does have special meanings. Plus the food is wonderful and the ambience fabulous.

Anyway - we took some special pictures last night because it was the first time in over 24 years we have all been together. We all go over to the US to visit Jima nd Diane but obviously not all together, so they will have Nij and I or Elfin or Sean and Viv. Jim comes over here every years or two years but Diane does not like flying and has not been here for 24 years. the last time she came over with Jim was for our wedding. So it was really special to have us all together.

Hence the pictures, which are not fabulous but do mark a special event which is unlikely to happen again to be honest.

 

Jim and Diane (Jim is the middle brother and so is in the middle) are the couple from the US. Diane is American and Jim has lived there for 30 years.

Sean and Viv (sean is the oldest brother) are on the left of the photo and then there is Nij and I (Nij is the baby!) And aren't we all colour coordinated.

Mom with the three boys (they all look so alike)

and I can't believe I went out in leggins! Seriously! And they looked mostly OK

Shimelle had a challenge on her blog and I couldn't resist doing it so I scrapped the photo from last night.

 

 

Now onto 5210

I never did share my page from last week. I shared the second page about Lake Las Vegas and why we would like to live there, but this is the page telling the story of how a girl from Wolverhampton came to live in Bournemouth after a brief flirtation with Australia!

Now you all know the way I work - those ever widening ripples in the pond of life - and so this should come as no surprise this week.

You know the deal about commenting so please do

and have fun with the prompt. Let me know what you think.

Basting nicely thank you

Well today has been everything I hoped it would be. Well, eventually.

had a bit of a bad night as I felt awfully ill and lay awake suffering terrible tummy ache and waves of nausea from 1 am till about 4 am.

But apart from feeling 'delicate' I am fine today and after a gentle morning of scrapping and surfing I lay in the garden for a couple of hours reading and generally basting. It was just what I needed after the week i have had.

Now I need to clarify something quite important .... when I said I went out topless yesterday i did mean the car - not me. That would NOT have made a pretty sight.

The page I am sharing today is one I made for the latest challenge on A True Friend. If you have furry - or scaley, feathered or hairy friends do go visit the site - link in the sidebar.

The theme was sporting activities and with my little mosters it would definitely be water sports

They love the water and love playing in the big sinks in the bathroom. I have an audience sticking his paws in every morning when i am getting ready.

 My quote of the day today is

We need to take heed of that advice.

Today I am thankful for

• not actually being sick in the night
• My wonderful sunlounger, a good straw hat and a beautiful garden

 

 

 

Phew what a scorcher

OK so I have wanted to use that for ages. It was one of my all time favourite headlines - so banal and obvious.

But it is very apt for today actually. It has been gorgeous and for once I have been outside in it for most of the day. It has been pre-Prep sports day for our 3 - 7 year olds so i have been on the playing fields all morning. Mind you, i was trying NOT to get too much sun as I was correctly dressed to be headmistressy and I didn't want to get sun tan lines. I have been very careful to make sure I have no marks that will be visible in my ball gown next week.

When I came home it was beautiful and so we took my car, topless, to a local pub and just sat in the sunshine and I had a drink (fizzy water ... my choice) and salad. It was lovely and felt like a little mini holiday.

I have a page to share today made with the Salon, the lush new Dawn Inskip kit.

It is another page for my Making of Me album and is a bit sad really. One of the side effects of the VLCD is hair loss and boy did I suffer. It is only now that I am coming out the other side that I can bear to write about how sad it all was and how distressed I became with it all.

I am planning a lazy weekend after what has been a manic week. I plan basting myself int he garden - I need to be tanned for my ball gown!

My quote today is

Oh how apt is that quote for today.

Today I am thankful for

• sunshine
• children who understand good sportsmanship
• a convertible car

Have you ever noticed how most of the naughty cats are bengals!!!

The Agony and the Esctasy

It's been an interesting day today. We had Victorian Day at school which was successful but not without its challenges. There were a few hiccups but we overcame them and the girls had a great day. They looked fabulous and I have some great photos which, of course, I can't really post on here.

I also had a couple of intriguing phone calls. There's none so queer as folk eh!

So I guess you are wondering about the title of this post.

It actually refers to a page I made using a smashing new fun filled kit by Dawn Inskip called The Salon.

 

I guess all little girls like to look pretty but I also guess most are like Emily and hate the detangle with the brush. Her hair looks gorgeous but the pictures of her squirming on Bossy Nanny's knee as she is having her hair done speak volumes.

My quote of the day today is

Today I am thankful for

• the fact I live in the 21st century not in Victorian times
• Cold vegetarian sausages and salad
• Hair dye

No LOL cats today but pictures from an amazing e mail showcasing an artist who created art on dirty cars. Much better than washing them! The final picture is the artist.

 

 

 
 

Home? Maybe

I did two pages for the most recent 5210 prompt - one was about how I came to live here and the other was about where int he world I would like to live.

OK so it is never going to happen - well maybe I should never say never but it is quite unlikely now we are old.

But we would love to love in Las Vegas. Not the glitzy Strip, but outside Las Vegas, perhaps in lake Las Vegas.

Why?

We love the climate - hot dry heat. We love the desert. We love the fact we would only be a few hours from family (and we couldn't afford california prices). We love the fact we would be near Utah, the canyons, the mountains, the parks we love. We love the area. We'd love to live there.

Yes we have house hunted.

Yes we will be house hunting again this summer and who knows .... one day!

The tag pulls out and explains all.

The photos are of houses we looked round.

It is good to have dreams - so long as you don't let them dominate the here and now.

My quote today is

Today I am thankful that

• I met my new boss and feel very encouraged about the future
• The sun is shining and it might still shine at the weekend.

Hastily written

Today's post if brief as I have been working all hours again and so need to just get this posted and finally think about food and sitting down.

I have my page made for IACW monthly challenge of simple words.

I am making my page digitally and using flowers for each word.

I struggled with this one at first - but in the end the idea came good.

I worked with a wonderful lady who told me a very wise thing.

The important thing you need to do is live your life with grace and graciousness.

She always did and these beautiful blossoms which were so gentle seemed appropriate to use with her

The photo is of the tree in my garden in the spring.

I am enjoying making the book of these words.

My quote for today is

Makes me old then!!!

Today I am thankful for

• Not having to do something I really didn't want to do at work. Phew
• Making my point!

Lovely lush goodies

I had quite forgotten that my brother-in-law was bringing over my Papertrey order. I had placed it ages ago and it was a lovely surprise.

He wanted to know what the things did and so i made a really hasty card to show him.

I used one of the dies - the eyelet lace die which is just so fabulous - to make a border.

I also used the new butterfly die and butterfly stamps

And I also used the label die and stamp.

It is very dimensional and I can't wait to place another order now.

My quote today is

And today I have been very brave.

Today I am thankful for

• difficult decisions made (in part)
• seeing the two baby deer at work (a bright moment in a stressful day)