Dolly's Dreamings

Seems to be a Jubilee time again

Having posted yesterday about a Jubilee related event, I find myself doing it again today, but rather more retrospectively.

This is a page I have wanted to scrap for almost the whole month but have only managed it today and that was largely inspired by one of the challenges at ATDML.

The challenge - well actually two challenges - was to use a lot of journalling and the other to use bunting.

Sometimes it is the small things that mean so much, isn't it? The small moments that are memorable for a specific reason. And this was about one of those relatively small moments that really had an impact. And this page is also a page that i think encapsulates scrapping. It is not a great work of art. It is simple (though it took ages to find the right pictures) and basic and it is all about the text. It is about that which we as scrappers hold most dear - memories. And memories are often about the little things in life. The trivia that colours our world and often marks our hearts forever. Scrapping often records the things that we might otherwise forget and the things we never should!

The page was sparked because of a few moments on TV that were the culmination of several days of observation and celebration. Those few moments were when Gary Barlow led the Queen onto the stage at the end of the Diamond Jubilee Concert and I was incredibly moved by it. I have never seen anyone look so proud, so humble, so smart, so solicitous, so caring and it really touched me. Having watched the documentary about how the Jubilee song 'Sing' was created, having watched the concert and having grown over recent years to really like and respect gary Barlow, those few moments of tenderness summed up so much about how I felt about the entire Jubilee celebrations. It was a moment ... but one I wanted to record and keep. I am a great believer in that if something is special to YOU, you should cherish it and remember it. I LOVE that I scrap!

Anyway - here is the page (and a 12 x 12 for me which is more unusual these days)

 
Under the main picture  which is stitched on to make a pocket- and yes these are all photos snaffled from the internet after a fair bit of trawling - there is a pull out card with the album cover and some more text. Yes even more text!

This is a close up of the text for those who want to see it, though much reflects what I have already written in this post.

and there is even a little bit of bunting sprinkled around ... after all, it WAS the Jubilee.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a little time to scrap and record a memory

and of course I must post this here too

 No photo of the day yet - I plan on taking it later.

My page a day calendar today is

I rolled down the window of my ’58 Plymouth, hoping the cool early-morning air would help me stay awake. I was driving back to the Hutchinson Naval Air base, where I was stationed, about 70 miles from my hometown. I’d just spent an off-duty weekend with my mom and girlfriend. I had to be back on base by 6:00 A.M.

Usually, I’d drive back early Sunday evening so that I’d get to the base with time to spare. But last night, I’d stayed later than usual, not wanting the weekend to end. “You look so sleepy,” Mom said, convincing me to take a nap before heading back. She woke me at 4:00 A.M. I quickly hugged her good-bye and drove off. But I couldn’t stop yawning.

About halfway back to the base, I dozed off.

“Everett!” A voice shouting my name jolted me awake. A hand gripped my left shoulder and shook me. Hard.

Groggy, I opened my eyes. I was heading straight for a ditch on the other side of the highway! I jerked the steering wheel, got back on the road, and pulled over.

I got out of the car, rubbing my shoulder. Someone had grabbed me. I could still feel it. But that was impossible. I peered through the window to the backseat just to make sure no one was there. It was just me on this dark stretch of highway. Shaken, I climbed back into the car and drove on to the base.

I called Mom right away. “You’ll never believe what happened,” I said, telling her of the mysterious force that woke me just in time.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, honey,” she said. “About a half hour after you left, I felt an urgency to pray for you. I prayed you’d stay awake.”

A half hour after I’d left. Just when I’d needed waking. I knew then someone had been in my car, someone who made sure my mom’s prayers were answered.

I’ve felt that urgency to pray, God. Help me to never ignore it.

—EVERETT JOHNSO

Jubilee Jamboree

No - you have read that right. It is the Jubilee again.

Well just for today.

It was our Jubilee garden party and fair today and was a great success. The weather stayed dry - well pretty much - and it was a very successful event with everyone happy. There were great stalls, and hopefully lots of money raised.

There were also lots of wonderful cakes and I couldn't resist these both as the picture of the day and to nibble on. Yum!

Gosh they were way better than our attempts at cupcakes.

I'd really like to go on a cupcake decorating course and learn how to make them properly. I am OK with the cake bit - I can do that. But I'd love to learn how to decorate them, make them look pretty and do all of the fancy bits. I am sure I'd be rubbish at it, but it would be fun to try.

I also have my photo of the day from yesterday which I couldn't take until later. It was the CFH at the vets for their boosters. They were actually reasonably well behaved - for them - and the vet is fab with them. He thinks they are the nicest Bengals he has at the surgery - we KNOW they are!

There was a bit of a worry as Kira has a few allergic spots on her ears which is not a good sign and Fiki's kidneys felt large. He wants to see Fiki again in a month and possibly scan him if they still seem large. He said it may be nothing to worry about - it could be simply that he had a very full tummy etc - but we will have him checked in a month.

So the photo of the day is Fiki in his sister's pink carrier (he is such a girl!)

 

I have a new page to share which is especially for Nigel. He is not a huge sports fan. No football on the TV here (thankfully) but he does like his motorsport and his Baseball.

He has followed the Angels for 30 years through thick and thin (largely thin actually as they haven't been the most successful team)and was in 7th heaven when they won the World Series in 2002. He felt vindicated. Recently he has been watching the Angels v Dodgers games which have been on British TV.

He was so thrilled when, for the first time in 2007, he went to Angels Stadium to see them play. He had never seen them play live before. And it was an amazing game. They were at home playing the Yankees (like playing Manchester United) and they beat them good and proper in what was a truly amazing and record breaking game.

Anyway - I digress.

This page is for Nigel. It is made with a brand new kit released today byLindsay Jane at Pickleberrypop called Baseball Star

 

This was from our visit in 2010 when it was a late afternoon game and the remarkable thing is that I am wearing an Angel's hat - Nigel's dream come true. He never thought he would see the day. It was very hot and the sun was beating down so I was forced to buy a hat (he already had one - of course)

 I haven't worn it since though! I'm a Dodgers girl!

Today I am thankful for

• fairs and fetes
• meeting old friends
• FRIDAY!

And Jen yes I did watch it and yes it brought tears to my eyes too.

Have a great weekend everyone and here is my page a day calendar page

 

This morning, I was working, racing to beat the clock of a self-imposed deadline. I had just poured a cup of hot tea when the telephone rang. Knowing my tea would grow cold and my concentration would be broken by the interruption, I impatiently grabbed the receiver and barked a gruff hello. Stifling a groan, I recognized who was calling me: a long-winded and cranky old widow, living alone, desperate to talk to someone.

At first, I did not listen to her due to my own irritation. Professional courtesy kept me in line, but my heart was not in the conversation. Slowly, however, I got beyond the words of idle talk—mostly about flowers and the need for rain—and started listening to her voice. It told a different story: a tale of loneliness and isolation and grief.

God’s Spirit began to nudge me. Listening for a few minutes is more important than your own agenda, the Spirit urged. You can brew another pot of tea, and your work can wait. It was true. What was most important was a narrow window of time when a soul was exposed and a tongue held captive by grief was ready to talk.

Dear God, I am not a patient person. Give me Your gentle compassion this day.

—SCOTT WALKER

A little louder

I love the song Big Yellow Taxi. I loved the original version and I quite like the updated version.

We have a very funny story about it - but one best kept just between us really as it shows me for a complete idiot, as if you didn't already know that.

Anyway - one of the lines I love - and it is so true - is

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got til its gone

and how true is that. How many times in life do you experience that. And what a sad feeling it is.

Thankfully what has gone at the moment is returning ... my voice. But do you know, until it goes you don't realise how much you use it and, as a teacher, you don't realise how much you project your voice until you can't. It's a sobering thought.

Someone who is bound to be in GOOD voice is Kira. She is off to the vets for routine jabs today and she is a screamer. Even the vet and the nurses who must have all sorts passing through every day comment on her voice. They laugh, knowing we have arrived when we pull up in the car park as they hear her screaming from there.

When she has to stay at the vets, which she has done several times, she loses her voice. When she goes intot he cattery she loses her voice. It's over-use that causes it to go. I have never heard a cat like it. It is painful.

 I have a new page made at the weekend to share today. Dawn Inskip has another fab new collection out today. It is called Outdoors and is so versatile. If you camp, it's for you, if you fish, it's for you. if you just like being outside, it's for you. It is a fab kit.

Many years ago, when we went to Israel, we met a wonderful lady called Kath, who we still keep in touch with. Together we formed something called the Intrepid Club as we did a few things that were very intrepid that trip (in truth far more intrepid than we really were prepared for) We have joked ever since about being in the intrepid club. I guess you could say 'stupid club' at times.

Going to Death Valley in the hottest part of summer was 'intrepid'. Even the immigration officer at LAX (and they normally never crack a smile) bantered with us about it.

But our view was if you are going somewhere noted for the outrageous temperatures you may as well go when it's hot! And it was.

Anyway, another page for the 50th tour album.

 
Today I am thankful for

• feeling so much better than I did yesterday
• cats who have been healthy this year and haven't been to the vets too often.

I think today's LOL cat was chosen by Kira. Fiki doesn't mind the vet. He knows he is so outrageously handsome everyone just admires him there.

and my page a day calendar page today is

My grandmother was dying of cancer. She looked so tiny, so frail as she lay in the hospital bed, so unlike the strong, self-reliant woman I’d seen on so many mornings, sitting at the kitchen table with a steamy cup of coffee.

I spent a few minutes talking with my mother and sister, then offered to stay in the room while they went downstairs for a break. Grandmother had had a restless night, and I knew that they were both exhausted from tending to her.

I pulled a chair close to the bed. Grandmother opened her eyes wide and looked at me, unable to speak. Does she know who I am? I wondered. I spoke to her quietly, but my words only seemed to upset her. Lord, I prayed, give me words to calm her.

I took Grandmother’s hand and began to pray out loud the first words that came to me: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want….”

By the end of the Psalm, Grandmother was completely relaxed. Her breathing was quiet and even. I gently placed her hand back down on the bed. When my mother and sister returned, they were relieved to find her resting.

“What did you do?” Mom asked.

“Well, I didn’t know what to do, so I recited the Twenty-third Psalm,” I replied.

My mother looked surprised. “Did you know that the Twenty-third Psalm has always been her favorite Scripture?”

I didn’t, but the Lord did.

Lord, when I have no words to speak, thank You for giving me Yours.

—MELODY BONNETTE

 

We all loose things

I guess we all lose things from time to time. I am a terrible one for losing things ...  but it has been a while since I have lost this much time.

Pretty much 24 hours actually.

I came home yesterday feeling on my last legs. I had almost no voice but it was the pain in my chest and throat and ears and jaw that was so awful. I got in and just clambered into bed and stayed there for pretty much 24 hours.

For one who never sleeps in the day I have slept most of today away and the pain in the ears and jaw is less and there is more of a voice now (NIj is sad about that bit!) Not quite sure what sort of bug this is but its a nasty one! However, the pain killers and antibiotics are doing there stuff and so it is onwards and upwards.

Firstly thank you to the many people who contacted me to see if I was OK as I hadn't posted. Bless you all. That was so nice. And I am pleased it is nothing serious just a tedious bug which we all get from time to time.

I have a couple of photos of the day - taken by Nigel as I didn't have the will or the energy.

The one he took yesterday he was very proud of! You will have seen our own version of Hello Kitty before - out blackboard cat that makes us giggle as we leave daft messages for each other.

 

 
Funny Nij!

He also took today's for me

Needless to say no new scrapping but I do have a 'new' page made ages ago that I have just never posted.

It is another of the weekly pages. I am very behind in posting them and must get on to that.

Today I am thankful for

• The healing power of sleep and rest
• feeling so much better

 

and my page a day calendar page

 

 I loved comic books when I was a young boy. I loved my younger brother, too, but I would have traded him for a good comic book any day. Not just any comic book, of course—only my favorite, Superman, and it had to be in mint condition.

My father decided to give me an allowance when I was ten years old. “A dime a week,” he announced. “It’s never too early to start saving.” His admonition was completely lost on my ten-year-old mind. What I did know was that a comic book cost a dime, so I bought one every week until my dad discovered that I was squandering my money instead of saving it. My argument—that I was buying only Superman comic books, or an occasional Batman to be traded for a classic Superman at a later date—was completely lost on his 40-year-old mind. He revoked my allowance.

Years later, my father developed heart disease. I called him every morning for the last three years of his life to check up on him. We had a lot of great conversations, but we never discussed finances. When he died, I wondered how his eight children would pay all the bills I figured he owed.

Well, I was wrong about Dad. He had saved a lot of dimes in his lifetime. I bought my wife a safer car with my inherited share of those dimes. And I was also able to set something aside for my own sons. Now I know that my father never asked me to do anything with my money that he wasn’t already doing with his. It’s a lesson not found in a comic book, and a lesson not lost on my 50-year-old mind.

Dear Father, help me to teach my sons, just as my father taught me.

—TIM WILLIAMS

We're keeping the chemists in business

I think Nigel and I are keeping the economy afloat - well the chemists at least.

I can't remember the last time Nigel took antibiotics before this year and I hadn't had them for a few years until this year either.

Nigel has had two lots back to back to try and clear his chest infection and I have joined the chest infection club too and have just started mine. So with the antibiotics for the infected tooth we are, between us, on course 5. Yikes!

Felt really rough today and as I really haven't the time to be ill I made a doctors appointment to try and get it sorted quickly and I am glad I did. Hopefully they will kick in quickly and I'll make a speedy recovery. This point in the year is not a good time to be poorly!

I have my photos of the day from yesterday and today and they are remarkably similar.

 This was snapped at tea time yesterday. They always come at tea time - they must know!

We have two and we cannot work out if it is a male and a female or a female and a baby. The one who we always see a couple of times each day is a female and she is the one who feeds. But then she goes, with her beak full of suet or nuts - and feeds the other, shyer and much larger bird. This one has a very distinctive red head and so is either a male or a juvenille. If it is juvenille it is very big - much bigger than she is. This is the first time I have snapped him on the arch in the garden.

 

We have seen her feeding him often but never caught it until this morning at 6.30 am as I was leaving. It's not a great photo - you really have to want to see it. But it is the first time I have caught this odd behaviour.

 

I wish I had been able to capture a better photo today. As I was leaving school one of the deer (oh yes - we have deer) ran right in front of the car. Literally. Thank goodness I was doing the regulation 10 mph. He was beautiful and in full sun and it would have made a superb photo. I guess there are some pictures you snap with your heart rather than through the lens.

 I have a page to share that I made for the a now for soemthing completely different challenge at UKS.

It is a very different format than I usually scrap - to begin with it is 12 x 12 so that is different.

 

Now I hope this works. I have been meaning to do this for a while. Regular readers may remember 'I LOVE MY PHONE' but I also love my network. I use giff gaff which is on the O2 network and it is such good value. Coverage is superb and I pay £10 a month for 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet which is amazing value and it is not a contract. They send out sims (stuffed with £5 free) if you want to try it out. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

If you would like to order a free sim - no catch, no charge, nothing fishy, then click on this banner.

And yes, if you do it through this banner I get incentive points too. But I wouldn't be pushing it if I didn't use it myself and think it was really really good.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• antibiotics and quick appointments
• the wildlife that I enjoy every day

and my page a day calendar page today

For several years, I’ve participated in a monthly writers’ group. I critique their work, answer questions, and offer advice on getting published. I try to encourage the members as much as I can. They’re quite prolific, often sending their work to magazine and book editors and entering contests. Some have seen their prose in print, and others have finished ambitious memoirs they’re trying to get published.

Why is this group so special? Every member is over the age of 80. Their founder is still writing poetry at 95. They inspire me because they all have dreams—of writing a good story, seeing it published, and sharing it with others. And aside from the occasional jokes about fading memory and bifocals, they don’t see their age as an obstacle to achieving their dreams. In fact, as each day passes, they continue to use the gifts God has given them. Age is never an issue.

Thanks to these friends, I’m filled with hope when I try to picture myself twice the age I am now. I don’t fear growing older because I’ve seen that enthusiasm and good humor can help keep my spirit young. Also, I know that God will still have work for me. I think of others God put to work in their later years: biblical heroes like Noah and Moses, and more recent heroes like Mother Teresa and the Reverend Billy Graham. As my own parents continue to work and volunteer, I see firsthand that God will have plenty for me to do as long as I’m healthy and my spirit is willing to follow where He leads me.

Lord, as my body grows older, keep me young in heart, mind, and spirit.

—GINA BRIDGEMAN

 

 

A bit of a non-day

I am trying very hard to focus on the fact it is good that I have been ill at the weekend rather than during the week.

I am not terribly convincing.

Weekends are always such treasured times, a bit of a chance to relax, to re-group and, for me, to scrap.

Mmmmm

Not been a fab weekend on any of those scores.

My voice is hysterical and ranges from an almost silent whisper to a high pitched squak and I guess really I should try and avoid talking altogether, but it is so funny I keep 'trying it out!' Little things eh!

I am hoping by avoiding going to bed even though I ache I might be so exhausted that I sleep tonight instead of spending the entire night coughing. We live in hope.

I haven't downloaded my photo of the day yet, but I have a page to share which is from the cyber crop at ATDML.

There were some amazing classes but I have saved them for another day.

This was a sketch challenge and a chance to scrap another Harry Potter page. This time from the Great Hall. I know I have said it before, but the tour was amazing. The attention to detail everywhere was fabulous and the fact they were 'real' sets and not things created for a theme park made it so special. The Great Hall has to be one of the most stunning sets of all. It was incredible.

 

I had fun adding heads digitally before printing the photos.

Today I am thankful for

• Covonia - sort of works
• Fisherman's Friends - sort of works
• Frapuccinos - doesn't work at all but tastes so good

And finally the page a day calendar

It brought tears to my eyes - in a good way.

It talks of a loss those of us who love our furry friends know only too well.

 

Many springs ago, we added a new member to our family—a black Labrador puppy. My girls named her Abby. I just hope she won’t be too much trouble, I thought.

Little did I know. Shortly after we brought Abby home, the girls came running. “Mom!” they cried. “Abby was digging in your flower garden!” I hurried outside to find several holes in my neatly tended bed. Gone were the delicate pink bleeding hearts I’d spent so much time caring for.

Abby grew up and settled down a bit, and though a few shoes were chewed, I fell in love with her. She was always in the middle of a birthday celebration, enthusiastically wearing a party hat or a bow on her head. And she made a great pillow on the floor in the living room for family video night. Abby completed us.

Then I began noticing the gray hairs and how she no longer leapt at the balls we’d toss. I knew her health was failing, but I wasn’t prepared when a few months after her 15th birthday, Abby passed away.

I cried until I ran out of tears. Did pets go to heaven? I just wanted to know Abby was at peace.

Somehow, I dragged myself into work the next day. I was trying to keep my mind off my sorrow when I looked up to see a new coworker standing there.

“I heard about your dog, and I felt I needed to bring you these,” she said. “I know this is how your heart probably feels right now.” She handed me a small bouquet of flowers. I couldn’t help myself. I broke out into laughter.

My coworker was confused. “What is it?” she asked.

I stared at the bouquet in my hands. Pink bleeding hearts. My coworker had brought them for me, but I knew who they were really from.

Father, thank You for turning my tears to laughter.

—SUE TAYLOR

 

 

A silent post

It's very quiet in our house right now. Nigel is still poorly and it is starting to really get to him and I have succumbed.

Hacking cought and temperature and no voice. Well that's not true - there is an odd squeak that comes out at times. Although Nigel is poorly I think he is enjoying the quiet!

We were out at a ball last night and it was lovely. A really super evening despite feeling under par and probably we ought not to have gone it is probably made my voice worse too. But heck - life is about fun.

I have some photos of the day to catch up on.

This is Thursday's which was a very misty morning and I do love the heath when misty.  Doesn't look much like the summer solstice though does it.

 

Yesterday's was us all poshed up before we left home. We did have photos taken at the ball which was a lovely idea and they were really nice. When I feel better I will scan them.

We had to pop out today to pick up something that has been delivered to a store and so we stopped off at Starbucks and had our usual frap (is it bad that we never place an order any more they just make it LOL)

 We shared a cheese and marmite panini and a fruit bread. It was very nice.

Other than that I have been in bed most of the day.

I do, however, have another Austrian page to share.

 We arrived in Oberammergau on my birthday - my 40th birthday - and we had no choice as to where to eat. The restaurants are all pre-dtermined and they all serve the same meals so no-one can quibble. It is a brilliant system.

However, even if we had chosen we probably couldn't have chosen a more magical restaurant. It was so pretty and the food was superb.

The picture opens and the journalling is inside.

Today I am thankful that

• I feel this rough at the weekend rather than a school day

 

Goodness me it is early

I know you are probably thinking - what does she mean .... early.

I know today is super busy and so I am writing this at 6 am scheduling it to go live much much later!

Had a very bad night feeling decidedly rough and aching and high temperature but such is life. There are far worse things to have.

I haven't of course, taken a photo of the day yet, but I will.

The page I ams haring today is another made for my Austria album. I am really pleased I decided to take all of the photos out of their very non acid free album and make a proper scrap album of them whilst they were still in good enough condition.

 
Oberammergau is known for its wood carving as well as its passion play and there are so many skilled crafstmen in the village. This was one of the wood carving stores and we bought a beautiful little carving that now sits in our lounge. It is very simple but the detail is incredible. It is the photo in the bottom right.

Today I am guessing I will be thankful for paracetamol!

My calendar page of the day is one I really really identify with - with that exact place and with others too.

“Name a place you’ve never been,” my stepfather, Herb, said one day as we were talking on the phone, “a place you’d really like to go.”

“Why, the Grand Canyon,” I answered without hesitation.

A few days later, my mother and Herb called again. “Guess where we’re taking you for your birthday?” my mother announced. “The Grand Canyon!”

On the flight to Arizona, I boned up on the history of the canyon. It was created over two billion years ago, I learned, by a massive land collision that drove enormous mountains six miles up into the sky. Then water erosion cut down deeper and deeper into the canyon, giving it its present appearance. Today, it is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and a mile deep.

When I stepped off the plane in Phoenix, I was ready. Equipped with lots of information and a good camera, the Grand Canyon was mine! We drove the last leg of our journey in a rented car. At last—quite suddenly—we were there. After miles and miles of desert landscapes, we were parked at the first lookout point. I rushed from the car to have my first look.

Once the canyon was in view, I stopped short. My first inclination was to throw away my camera. It seemed a sacrilege to think I might capture even an inch of the miracle that stretched out before me. What I saw could never be printed on paper. It was beyond any words I could hope to write.

Before me, plainly, simply, lay the majesty of God, bigger, more beautiful, and much more powerful than anything I could imagine. God’s thoughts, the Grand Canyon told me, are very, very deep and very, very wide. With the Psalmist, I could sing, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2).

Thank You, God, for sending me to the Grand Canyon, where I could know this for myself.

—PAM KIDD

and for fun

1.   The Full Situp
To achieve the full situp, you must begin with the genuine intention of exercising your abs and promptly fall asleep midway through the task.

This position is extremely advanced and not recommended for amateur sleepers.






2.   The Awkward Spoon
The goal here is not so much intimacy as it is the socially uncomfortable sharing of a physical space with someone.

Bonus points if your arm falls asleep but you're too embarrassed to move it.








3. The Semicircle
Tuck your tail between your legs and imagine that you are an omelette.






4. The Sunbather
The trick is to look like someone who is acting comfortable whilst also appearing extremely uncomfortable. Let's take this excellent opportunity to coin the term "meta-comfortable."






5. The Double Bed
You will need a partner for this one. The goal is not so much comfort as an expression of sheer, unadulterated greed.






6. The Half-Box
Any old box will do, but two of your feet - preferably on opposite sides of your body - must remain outside the container at all times.






7. The Backstroker
Do not even attempt unless you have tiny, tiny, precious little legs.






8. The Sleeping Baby
Find a baby. Imitate the baby.






9. The Fur Pile
For this, you will need at least three friends who are not averse to your sleeping on them.








10. The Full-Box
Just get your whole damn body in there no matter what it takes. Be the box.








11. The Drunken Radiator
Just because you are obviously some kind of gin-addled hobo doesn't mean you can't be nice and warm.






12.. The Sleeping Dog
Find a dog. Imitate the dog.






13.. The Librarian
Bury your furry little head in your paws and try to look as contemplative and bookish as possible before drifting off.








14. The Ruler
Measure the floor with every inch of your tiny body.






15.. The Windowsill
The whole world is your hammock.






16.. The Clothes Dryer
Imagine that you are a wet T-shirt, fresh from the washing machine. Drape yourself accordingly.






17.. The Pot Luck
Think of yourself as a last-minute fruit salad that everyone will be very polite about but probably not enjoy all that much.






18.. The Head-Rush
Head to the ground, paws in the air - let gravity do the rest.






19. The Odd One Out
For this one you will need first to find two willing conformists.






20. The Mid-Sentence
Only recommended for individuals with extreme forms of narcolepsy.






21. The Bag Of Limbs (Box Edition)
Have a friend or loved one take you apart and put you back together haphazardly inside a box..






22. The Bag Of Limbs (Couch Edition)
Same as above, except (obviously) without the box.






23. The Dog Bed
Not a bed for dogs, but a bed that is made of dogs. I.e., the most comfortable bed you will ever sleep on that also smells kind of funky.








24. The Office Worker
Fall asleep on the job. LOL.






25. The Married Couple
Don't be afraid to snore.

 

 

 

The inevitable happened

So I guess it was inevitable.

Nigel has been poorly on and off for weeks now. Persistent cough, chills and so on.

Two Doctor's visits, two lots of antibiotics and two of us sharing a house and home .

Yup - pounding headache, sore throat, shivers and cough. GREAT!

I don't have time to be poorly - I really don't. But it looks kind of like it is coming anyway.

I haven't downloaded my photo of the day but at least I have taken it.

Dawn Inskip has a brand new collection out today called Fun Fair and it is brilliant. Yet again it is stuffed full of so much stuff - amazing.

I couldn't resist scrapping one of our all time favourite rides - The Hulk in Islands of Adventure in Florida.

It's fast and furious but Oh so smooth - really great coaster. The exact opposite to the old wooden coasters, the biggest of which, called Collosus in Magic Mountain, was so bumpy and rattling it shook every single bone in your body.

 
Aren't Dawn's illustrations just way too cute. I love them.

 

Today I am thankful for  (struggled a bit today)

• an early night which is spider free .... I hope

and as I feel a bit poorly this seemed apt

Finally my page of the day calendar is

Remember that fidgety flier who sat next to you on your last airplane trip? You know, the guy in the aisle seat who, while waiting for takeoff, checked his watch every 90 seconds, folded and refolded and re-refolded his newspaper, muttering to no one in particular, “Why can’t this airline get this plane off the ground?”

That used to be me, until one gray, drizzly afternoon, as I sat impatiently in seat 16-D on a 757, waiting to take off from LaGuardia Airport. “I don’t mean to interfere,” said the fellow in 16-E, “but perhaps you’d be more comfortable if you focused on something you can control.”

That was the beginning of a New York City to Detroit conversation on prayer—and the beginning of new airline behavior for me. Here’s what I do now: Instead of feeling controlled by what I can’t control—the weather, air traffic controllers, missing connecting flights—I focus on what I can control. That means from the moment the plane leaves the gate to the moment its wheels lift off the ground, I pray—for myself, for others, for the world. During the rest of the flight, I can do what I want—read, write, sleep, even worry. But I find I don’t worry nearly as much when I focus on God rather than on my wristwatch.

God, when life comes to a standstill, there You are in the midst of it. Help me to look for You.

Short sharp and to the point

Oh my

I am so tired. So absolutely exhausted. And yet I have so much to do.

You know when you get to the point where you just don't know where to start as the huge mountain ahead is so high.

I know, deep down, the only way to scale it is to start in the foothills and just plough on through. But it's a bit daunting.

So a quick post today.

Photo of the day was cvery very early. I know I have used him a lot but I am loving little Squiggle the squirrel. I know he is a tree rat. I know they steal. I know. But heck he is cute and he is so agile. I don't mind feeding him as well as the birds. He is way cute.

This was him at 6 am this morning.

 
Now I feel he deserves every mouthful after that huge stretch .... that is pure determination.

and I never posted Monday's so here it is - chicken sizzling on the George (what ever did we do pre-George!)

The page today is one made for my Austria album a little while ago and never posted.

The Austria album is actually looking much better than I thought it would. The trip was in 2000 so pre digital and pre scrapping and so there was not a lot to work with.

The top picture is our allocated restaurant for lunch in Oberammergau. I love that everyone was allocated a restuarant and they all served the same food so no-one could complain.

The bottom picture was the house we stayed in. You could select to stay in a hotel or a family home. Because the whole village is involved in the play and there is such a tradition, we decided we wanted to stay in a family home and I am so pleased we did. The lady was lovely though we didn't communicate well. We had a superb room, all en suite, and it really added to the event.

Today I am thankful for

• sunshine when it counted
• slippers (my feet are killing me!)

My calendar page today is

The chest pains started around noon. What’s this? I wondered. Indigestion before I even eat lunch? The discomfort persisted all day and into the night. Next morning, it had settled into a dull, deep ache, a pressure that made it hard to breathe. By midmorning, with no letup in the pain, I did the only sensible thing: I went to the Internet and typed “heart attack symptoms.” Turns out I had several of them.

Which is how—via the emergency room—I came to be lying in a hospital bed. Lots of tests were scheduled for the morning. I had already had an EKG … and three nitro pills. I was on oxygen. My purse and jewelry had been sent home with my husband. I had no makeup, no hair dryer, no cell phone, no briefcase. Everything that was me had been stripped away. I was just the patient in Room 3303. I stared at the blank TV, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn it on.

“I wish I had a Bible,” I said aloud to the white walls. On impulse, I pulled out the top drawer of my nightstand and found one waiting. I opened to Psalms and began reading. Then I turned to John 14. And by the time they brought my lunch tray, I knew that the essential part of me was still intact. My faith. My optimism. My belief in God’s abiding presence.

P.S. My heart turned out to be perfect. A viral infection in my lungs had been the cause of my pain.

Thank You, Father, for Your Word and Your abiding presence—whether I’m in a church, a boardroom, or a hospital room. You are what matters most!