Dolly's Dreamings

Well it's that Indian summer again

I have to laugh - we always seem to have lovely weather in September and the weathermen always behave like it is a real surprise and the news and papers are full of the fact we are having an Indian Summer. I have no idea what they don't just accept it is always nice in September!

 

Anyway - it has been glorious and we have had a lovely few days. We got to catch up with our wonderful next-door neighbours -we are truly blessed with them - and we have had lots of relaxing time outdoors reading and chilling out.

We also went for a lovely walk to Canford SANG - never heard of it before but it was a lovely walk by the river with a nice picnic thrown in for good measure.

 

My harvest decor with some lovely sunflowers I couldn't resist

 

and the beautiful roses my neighbours bought

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There has been a little scrapping too - but most of it I cannot share yet as it is for releases tomorrow and for ATDML classes.

 

I can share this though

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely weekend
• warm sunshine
• relaxing - I am getting so much better at it

 

 

 

Making the most of a day

Goodness me - not like us at all.

By 11 am this morning we had taken my car in for a service (boy that is an expensive game these days) collected it back three hours later washed and done, been to the hospital for blood tests for Nigel, changed the bed, done the housework, been and dropped charity goods off, been for a Starbucks and made a scrapbook page and all before I am usually up and about. 

So THAT's what early days are like.

 

I do have new scrapping to share but I have also a lot of new scrapping I cannot share - new classes for ATDML and they are lovely papers and goodies to work with. If you are thinking of buying a kit - they are lovely.

 

I had great fun with this one - a lovely cut file from Paige Evans and a cut file I recoloured with inks and watercolours. 

 

 

 

I loved scrapping these photos of the family as we were all looking at what to have for lunch. The photos just made me laugh.

 

 

 

and this was a rather failed attempt at mixed media - I knew what I was aiming at but didn't quite pull it off.

 

Today - and it is only half way through I am thankful for

• a productive morning
• jobs completed and leisure time ahead
• sunshine - it is a glorious day

I loved these ...

 

 

 and I just have to share these

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A special day

It was my best friend's daughter's 30th birthday this weekend and there was an amazing party yesterday.

She loves Glastonbury - well any festival really - and so it was a festival style party in her parents garden with bunting and lights and pinatas and live music and even festival bands for our wrists.

It was really lovely and so nice to see everyone. I think she had a wonderful da and although we didn't stay until the end we had a fab time and were thrilled to wish her a happy birthday. Proud to have spent all of her significant birthdays with her and her lovely family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I can now share the book I made for her to fill with pictures from her birthday thanks to a great tutorial from Cal Summers

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and I made this this morning

 

I also did a craft fair - not a great day. It is a fair that has been running for years and years as an antique and bric a bracfair and so people were NOT in the mood to look for crafts. Still - you have to be in it to win it even if you do lose! 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely party
• special people
• laughing until I almost disgraced myself at the craft fair with Nigel - we do laugh A LOT
• almost coming to terms with the mess that is state of our parliament - almost. I am so sick of it and so sick of the country being held to ransome by self grandising MPs on all sides of the house. Children behave better. 

 

 

Days out - and all that jazz

We had a super day out today over at Highcliffe Castle watching two amazing bands play in such beautiful surroundings with vintage and classic cars thrown in for good measure.

 

Our reason for going was to support the ever lovely Alice - the beautiful young lady who features in so many of my scrapbook pages - as she plays in one of the bands 

 

The organisation was superb with a free shuttle bus. The venue was beautiful, the weather perfect, the cars amazing, the picnic lovely and the music just terrific.

 

Views fromt he cliff top to the Isle of Wight

 

 

and the needles

 

 

and over to Bournemouth - Hengistbury head looking like an island - and through past to Swanage, the Isle of Purbeck and beyond

 

 

The classic cars were beautiful -t his is just a smalls election. they were all so beautifully restored and maintained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this was the most special of all - a Ford Zodiac the same as my parents had when I was born and the same colour too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a beautiful day out
• sunshine and smiles
• fabulous music
• together time

 

 

 

Cooling a little

It is finally cooling down a little and I am happy about that.

Not a heat girl and certainly not a humid girl.

 

I have been feeling much better - not right but so much better so I am very happy about that.

 

We have had a couple of quiet days - been too hot to do much to be honest - but I have been scrapping... of course.

We went to the cinema to see Angel has Fallen which was really a very good film for that genre. We went largely because it was cool in the cinema!

On to new pages

I was really quite pleased with this one. I used a cut file from Paige Evans - her files are just awesome - and I used a Bo Bunny set of embellishments I bought for $1 last trip and haven't even opened yet.

 

 

 

 

And in complete contrast, I am NOT pleased by this one as the sun burst and clouds were not as I wanted them to be. Ah well - you live and learn.

 

It is also new release day at Pickleberrypop and this was such a fun collection by Jen Yurko

 

 

I had been messing about again with Snapchat filters so it was a kind of silly fun page to make.

 

 

 

And this collection has me written all over it  Wild Life by Dita B designs

 

 

This is the gorgeous Artur we were able to take such lovely photos of at a photography day.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• cooler weather
• fans
• the fact I am feeling much better

 

 

Busy week and art of all sorts

It's been a lovely week with lots of art of all sorts. Working at our art exhibition, creating my own art and helping children create art for themselves.

And in that vein, I have to share a post someone made on facebook today which made me cry. It is SO important to allow children to be creative in their own way and so easy to destroy that creativity. I hope you enjoy this

 

I have been busy scrapping mixed media pages and I don't DO mixed media. I don't like the paper warping, I don't like the mess, and it is not me. I paint on my paintings not on my pages. But it was the challenge this week and so I have embraced it

 

This is another Graphic 45 Bloom page and our beautiful Boo, our rescue cat we gave a forever home too and she did indeed bloom where she was planted and grew with love.

 

 

 

 

Nigel and his outrageous toy tiger.

 

 

and me as a little girl.

 

Lots of cut files and mixed media and now I think I am going to just use paper.

 

We had a lovely picnic in the park today - amazing when I look out of my window now as it is bleak and cold and very very wet.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely arty week
• picnics in the park
• feeling healthier and less terrified

 

 

 

The worry about GPs

We have always been very lucky at our GPs - and we have the most wonderful GP too - as it is a large practice and so you can usually get to see someone. 

 

We have heard the horror stories from friends even in a close-by area of month-long waits but, until this week, had never experienced it. That was until I phoned on Thursday 8th August and was told that to see my own GP would mean a wait until at least the 20th September and to see any GP would mean a wait until the end of August. I was staggered. But I guess I ought not to be surprised. When we last went to the GP he told us they had been recruiting for a GP for 3 months and we are in a  really nice part of the country where the weather is always good, it is pretty, affluent, relatively trouble-free, a great place to locate to etc,  and in 3 months they had had no applicants. I was staggered. Anyway, I digress. I was advised to phone the next day - no idea why - and I have an appointment for next week. The sad thing is that I think our NHS is collapsing before our eyes. The people who work in it are all wonderful. They do an amazing job and we are still so lucky that we get treated for free (well not for free if we work and pay tax as we have paid for it all of our lives) but it is stretched to breaking point and yes, we are victims of health tourists too. There are simply too many people for it to cope with, with people living longer, numbers in the country rising due to immigration, longevity, fewer people dying of disease etc and it is at capacity and it worries me what will happen in the future. It worries me that conditions are often so bad and stressful for people working in the NHS that they cannot continue. It worries me that when we need it I think it will be gone. I genuinely think the doctors, the nurses, the phlebotomists, the radiographers, the physios, the ... every specialism and aspect you can think of ... are all wonderful, but they are trying to shore up a broken system and the government need to do something to help. No governmental party in particular but the government, all of them. Stop focussing on only Brexit and get on with fixing our NHS please. Rant over! 

 

I haven't been just grouchy - I have been scrapping too, in between bad bouts with my IBS which is starting to become a little wearing and is now stopping me doing things on occasions. 

At least scrapping takes place at home where toilets are plentiful and private! TMI!

 

I have been doing my Design Team work for ATDML and they always send the most wonderful goodies to work with. This month I was sent the Graphic 45 collection Bloom

 

This was a page which also worked for the summer scrapping challenges I am playing along with.

 

 

The photo was taken at Portland Bill last month

 

 

This picture was taken at Holmsley Tea rooms also last month. I had fun cutting out the little summer house and the fence.

 

 

 

 

I loved this picture of Fiona and her bridesmaids and really wanted to scrap it. The colours in the bloom collection worked perfectly for the colour theme of her wedding.

 

 

and finally - a fussy cutting marathon for a photo of us with our niece - the very beautiful bride.

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• our NHS - we are very lucky and I hope we continue to be very lucky
• Wonderful things to work with from A Trip Down Memory Lane

 

 

 

 

A bit of a square moment

It's been a busy few days just catching up on the everyday things of life but, of course, I have managed to slot in some scrapping too and have a couple of pages to share.

This is one I made this morning. I am taking part in a summer holidays challenge and this week one of the aspects is using square photos, which I am loving. However, this page was a bit of a square frenzy.

 

 

I used some much loved Lily Kate Basic grey but - and this was a good but - I used the supply sheet which has small blocks of all of the papers and just cut out squares from that (so I didn't have to use the actual Basic Grey - I can keep it and continue to stroke it!)

It took ages to glue them all on and then faux stitch but I was quite pleased with it in the end. 

I also uploaded this which was another page made for the challenges at ATDML

 

My little boy - studying!

 

Today I am thankful for

• catching up on things I needed to do
• Quiet times
• Kindle Unlimited - enjoying the extra reading.

 

I shared some beautiful embroidery style tattoos the other day - these are not so pretty but my goodness you can appreciate the artistic talent that has gone into them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little cooler

Thankfully it is a little cooler than it was - but I could stand it a heck of a lot colder to be honest.

 

I planned a scrappy weekend but didn't quite manage it as I was too flollopy and so spent more time reading than scrapping. Oh, and making t-shirts with lots of logos. That was fun! The iron was at full pelt and it was like a veritable sweat shop. 

We also found time to watch Horrible Histories the Romans, which was good, to have a meal at Frankie and Benny's (well they gave me a voucher for my birthday so it would have been rude not to) and to meet up with an old school friend for an evening of chatter and laughter.

But some scrapping did happen.

This was for a challenge at ATDML - and it shows the duo Aphrodite at Poole Vintage Fair - they are amazing singers.

 

 

 

 

Gotts love me a bit of Minnie.

 

 

A page about my birthday boat trip

Another ATDML challenge page - this time a he said she said page. Nigel and I both journalled about things we remembered from our wedding day.

 

 

and we had the girls page so only right to have the boys

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• just relaxing and not stressing
• finally putting away a whole mess of pages into albums

 

 

 

Messing about on the river

Funny isn't it. I have gone for years and not been on a river and now twice in a week.

When I was a little girl my parents owned a hotel and so I could never have a birthday party as the summer was the busiest time of the year. So on Sunday closest to my birthday, I would be allowed to pick one friend and we would go on a 'birthday treat'. I would almost always pick the same thing. Go to Tucton and go for a small boat ride where you could hire the boats down the Tucton river and to Christchurch and then have dinner at the Copper Skillet in Christchurch.

Nigel took me back to my childhood for my birthday this year. It has been unbroken sunshine and almost 30 degrees today so we were pleased of the breeze on the water. We hired a little motorboat and pootled around on the river and it was lovely.

 

 

 

 

 our little number 6

 

Unlike the last time Nigel took me on a boat - this went well. The last time was in the '80s when he took me out on a rowing boat at Blenheim Palace and we got stuck. Turned out he was not a rower! This one had a motor so we were fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Copper Skillet has long gone so he took me to Prezzo instead which was lovely and we enjoyed a walk int he sunshine. Glad my car has cooled seats though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such a lovely day and I am glad to be a year older as I dreaded last year, putting me at the same age as my Mom when she died suddenly. I had a real phobia about it so, for once, I am happy to be a year older.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• being very spoilt
• a lovely day out
• the fan currently blowing on my face.