Dolly's Dreamings

Testing out the new camera

It has been an absolutely glorious day here today and so we headed out to test my new camera. I am not great with it yet but I will get there.

 

The reason for the new camera - mine suffered a fatal accident on holiday. I have loved my little Panasonic Lumix. It has a mega zoom and takes great shots. I rarely take it off automatic and it copes with most things. So I was really sad when it suffered a broken LCD screen when we were away. Thankfully it was at Disney where I have already got the odd photo or two. You could still use it - you just couldn't see what you were taking, which was kind of fun. We figured it would cost almost as much as a replacement to have the screen fixed so I went for the same again just the updated model which has a few more bells and whistles which I probably won't use.

We tried it out today int he New Forest as it was a gorgeous day

 

 

 

 

 

Wery busy on the roads as you can see, with some very slow moving 'traffic'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this is the view from my garden ... not bad eh!

 

 

I also have some scrapping to share - and lots of fab digi stuff coming during the week too.

 

I am thrilled to be on the DT for ATDML and had the most gorgeous box of goodies to welcome me home. This is made with Simple Stories Simple Vintage Halloween which they have in store.

 

 

 

 

I will catch up with the holiday journal tomorrow. I am a little behind as I have been off enjoying myself! Normal service will be resumed next week.

 

Today I am thankful for

• living in England - all too easy to forget. I love love love America but actually, England is pretty cool too.
• my new camera - I think
• quiet days at home

 

 

 

Tropical Travelogue Part Two

It's been a lovely day here today - just a nice chilled relaxed day with a long walk and nothing much happening. Not every day needs to be amazing. Truly! But every day can be lovely. It's just that some days you have to look a little harder ... today I didn't have to look far.

 

I shared some of the Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue work the other day so this is the remainder of the things I got to create

 

This was different again - very much a water theme with the aquarium at Seaworld

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this was another 'wild page using lots of the leaves. One thing I will say about this collection was that I used a LOT of fussy cutting ... but I do like fussy cutting.

 

 

 

 

A tropical Travelogue set had to have pictures of the Caribbean Beach - our tropical paradise ... well, it used to be. They have ruined it now. It is no longer just tropical with gondola monstrosities and huge towers and it certainly isn't our idea of paradise, but it WAS

 

 

 

 

 

And I couldn't resist using it for a Pismo page - still my favourite ever sunset. Sandbanks and evening hill is close, but this was perfection 

 

 

 

 

This is my favourite page made with the collection and I confess this one is framed in the hall. I have a lovely frame - I think it is a Ribba from Ikea which is about 16" square with a 12" x 12" opening inside the mount - where I change the pages regularly. This is in the frame at the moment.

 

 

 

and finally three more cards I made with the left overs

 

 

 

Do check out the collection HERE

 

Barb you asked if I always do pages quickly. I never leave an unfinished page... I generally spend between an hour and two hours in a page ... any longer than that and I lose interest... I also have to clear my desk and put away everything after each layout even if I am doing another page that day. I am terribly OCD 

Today I am thankful for

• being married to someone who gets the simple things of life too
• nice days - not just special days. Although it is true what they say, every day you are alive is special

 

 

Finally - some people made things a little more special by painting the ordinary and making it extra-ordinary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still Disney-ing

I have no idea how someone - me - can go to Disney multiple times, take multiple photos... often of the self-same things ... and scrap those pictures and ever ever finish.

 

I have so many Disney albums but I keep finding things I want to scrap from various Disney trips. 

 

I am more to be pitied than anything really!!!

 

Anyway, I have been Disney scrapping again and am about to embark upon a major reorganisation of my Disney albums. I have year albums that document our annual trips and tell specific stories from that trip/day/event/experience etc but I also have ride albums and I am going to also split some of the more generic things up so I create restaurant albums (that will be important on our next trip as we are doing the table service dining plan for the first time so will go to a lot of restaurants we have not been to before), a parade album, a character album, a resorts album as well as retaining the integrity of the yearly albums. I think I might be gone some time.

Anyway, I digress. This is my latest Disney page - animal kingdom again ... I am a sucker for the safari.

 

I enjoyed using a stencil for the texture

 

 

I printed out and cut out a whole mess of embellishments

 

 And another - I needed that paper and glue therapy

 

OK - back to sorting albums. And trying to stop cats walking all over them whilst I am sorting them! 

Today I am thankful for

• Disney trips - I have been very lucky
• new albums - all shiny and empty
• Nigel - for staging a distraction to remove said cats from the album area.

 

 I am also thankful for Autumn and have re-done my fireplace 

 

and just some amazing - and at times scary - photos (yes I have too much time on my hands and have been trawling Bored Panda again

 

 

 

tiny underwater plants that look like little hands

 

Nature eh! Growing through an animal skull

 

an unbelievably scary wrap around spider. Never going in a wood again!

 

 

reticulated cobra skeleton

 

This plant is nicknamed dead man's fingers. No idea why

 

 

Oh MY!!!!

This lizard ate his own tail. OK I guess if you know you will grow another one

 

 

seat anyone?

 

 

scariest bat ever

 

 

 

From good to bad to good ... fingers crossed

It's been a heck of a roller coaster here ... and a ride I don't care to take again I can assure you.

 

Nigel's mom coped well with the hip surgery - not bad at all for a 93-year-old with dementia to have a general anaesthetic and a hip replacement. She was groggy the first day but then in better spirits and although they hadn't really been able to get her up and moving she was doing OK.

We hoped that on discharge they would send her to rehab as clearly she wasn't going to be able to return home until she was more mobile.

We hit an all-time low yesterday. Elfin was not in a good state when we visited. She was withdrawn and uncooperative and very unhappy. We found that the root of the issue with her mood was that she had had a bed bath and felt it stripped her of her dignity - fair enough - it's not a pleasant experience. But it put her in a low and she obviously has fluctuating cognition because of her dementia. But it made her uncooperative with the physio team and she had refused to get up in the morning and when we were they attempted to get her up and out of bed but oh my goodness, with three people (Nigel doing the praise and encouragement and the two physios doing the 'work) they barely got her to stand up and she was resisting it the entire time. Consequently we were given the worst news possible. We were told she was not a candidate for rehab - the rehab places won't take dementia patients anyway. We asked what would happen then and they said she would be discharged home with a care package. Incredulous doesn't even begin to cover it. A 93-year-old with almost zero mobility at the moment and dementia so she doesn't understand she's even had an operation,  was to be sent home to her flat with a care package of 4 visits a day. They would assess the home and if need be put in a hospital bed and a hoist but that was their recommendation. They said perhaps where she was now with fitness was the new baseline for her. This is a lady who, though frail, was walking unaided up until her fall. And when she fell, at 11 pm at night, she had walked almost 1 1/2 miles in the dark alone without aids. We were so upset - both in a tearful way (I cried) and an angry way that the system could treat someone like this. She worked all her life well into her 70s and always paid into the system. We were trying to sell her flat to fund her care but they felt it appropriate to pretty much wash their hands of her and send her home. Poor Nigel was utterly devastated and I felt unable to do anything to help him. well except contact some wonderful people - Elly who is a specialist dementia nurse and Zahra who was just awesomely wonderful. 

Armed with information nd questions we went back in this morning with a view to meeting with the social worker and the therapy team and finding a workable alternative.

 

And my goodness what a difference a day made. Elfin was up, sat in her chair, cheerful, chatty and wanting to get up and walk to the loo (beyond her level of competence yet but the fact was she wanted to have a go) It was like seeing a  different woman. And yes, of course, we know that tomorrow we could have the withdrawn disengaged stubborn lady, but today's lady was wonderful. And so was the social worker. She took time to listen, to understand the situation, to consider and we think - we hope - the agreement is now in place for her to go to temporary residential care for a period of 4 - 6 weeks where there will be qualified staff on hand 24/7 to help her recover and keep her safe. With the best will in the world, we could not give the level of nursing care needed until she becomes more mobile. We'd be terrified of hurting her if we lifted her etc. When it was agreed my wonderful strong rock of a man, who I lean on all the time, who never gets outwardly bothered by anything, who is one of life's fixers and copers, burst into tears of relief. It broke my heart to see him like that and know how terrified he had been.

 

It all still needs to be finalised but we feel she is in a much better position to be kept safe than a mere 24 hours ago.

 

Needless to say, life has not been conducive to scrapping but after ploughing through that you deserve something pretty to look at so these are three pages completed a little while ago that have not been on my blog. And yes - there are always Disney pages to make!

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• our NHS - there were some incredibly kind and lovely people today helping her - and us

social services - I know they can be difficult sometimes but they have budgets and targets and a lack of funding but they do try to help and the lady today was wonderful

 

So - we are now going to sit doen after an awful few days and I strongly suspect there may be wine!

 

Great news and busy days

I want to start with some really great news.

My cousin in America - well second cousin but heck - who is counting those generations - has had her new baby. I was worried as they had to evacuate for Hurricane Flornece and evacuation is awful let alone when you are 8 1/2 months pregnant. However they were safe, their home was safe and she has had her new baby and mother and baby are doing well. It is their third child and the other two, a boy and a girl, often feature in my scrapping and they are both drop dead gorgeous and so I am sure their new little brother will be gorgeous too. 

 

The most exciting news is that he has been named for my grandfather, his great great grandfather. How utterly cool is that!

This is the man he had been named for

 

 

 

Nigel had the all clear from his blood tests which was good and I had my flu jab which was OK - they have it off pat and it is a speedy conveyor belt butt he staff still manage to be lovely.  It's a bit sore but nothing you wouldn't expect from having a sharp needle pushed in and a vaccination pushed through. Better than flu though.

The weather is still glorious and lunch was on the balcony again. I love that we are still doingt hat and it is almost October. All good then.

 

This page was a quickly made one for a challenge on UKS. Buzz and Woody - what's not to like.

 

 

 and there were sales at both Hobbycraft and the Silhouette Store so life is lookin very pretty at the moment!

 

Today I am thankful for

• lovely days: weather, life, love, news

and these just made me laugh .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop with the crops!

There has been so much inspiration in the scrapping world recently. Seriously!

I have more challenges than I can get my head round and it is awesome.

 

The scrapping community is a very genererous one and the cyber crops and crop days and challenges are fabulous for getting you scrapping.

This weekend I have been playing along with the GoGo Getaway cyber crop. My goodness they have had some fab fab challenges this weekend and I have managed about 5 of the 12 so far.

Here are a couple to share

 

I still bear the marks of this one - even though I have had a shower my fingers are still blue ... the challenge was stamping. Well, that was all I used - stamps and inks. No other embellishments at all.

 

The picture is a fake picture but as it was printed I figured I would use it. It is a composite picture I made for an art class (that's why it was printed so I could pint it). The view does not exist in reality.

 

 

 

This challenge was hand stitching so I made some die cut flowers which I handstitched in various ways and even added beads to

 

 

 

and it wouldn't be complete without digital challenges too. The mojo challenges on PBB are fabulous this month - and not just the one I am hosting. The challenge I am hosting is a title challenge to use an Elton Jognsong and this is what I made 

 

 

and the template challenge even gives you a totally free template to play with and you can find it here and the challenge forum here

 

I made this page using Sweet September by one of our new designers PavlinkaDesigns 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the generosity of the scrapping community sharing ideas and inspiration with all
• scrapping time
• fun

 

A very pleasant busy few days

I was thrilled to have been asked to do some design team work for Charmed Cards and Crafts and was sent the most gorgeous package of goodies. No I cannot say what I was sent until it goes live but it was lush.

I managed to make 9 pages and 6 cards and it was a bit of a scrapping marathon.

We also tookt ime to go to the cinema and see The Spy Who Dumped Me which was actually very good. We both enjoyed it.

Today I have been playing along with the cyber crop at ATDML (and I am also going to do some work for them in the future - yey!)

And finally I finished a photo book - my scrapbook pages from this year that I am getting rpinted. This is the cover

 

and these are the pages I made for the ATDML challenges so far - and I have a class page on my desk part completed

 

This was a challenge to use black and white photos and I had these in my photo box. I had scrapped them before in 2003 back when I very first started scrapping and the pages were awful. I took those pages apart a while ago and was rescrapping the photos which were all originals.

 

 

This was a challenge to use circles

I used a mess of them

 

and this was a challenge to use one piece of cardstock and one piece of patterned paper. I struggled but managed to resist ysingboth sides of the patterned paper.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely productive few days

and I just HAVE to start sharing these great pun billboards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's hope that was the one

Having been on high alert for heath fires all summer due to the extreme heat and lack of any rain, we had a small heath fire near us last night. Thankfully it was spotted quickly and two fire engines and a tender were there in record time and it was soo dealt with. Let's hope that is it and there are no more.

 

I am again so grateful for the firemen who work so tirelessly and that means the firemen all over the world, dealing with awful wildfires in California, Portugal and so many other placed, dealing with things like the collapsed bridge in Italy. They are remarkable, brave men and women. All respect to them.

 

I had a wonderful catch up with a good friend and past colleague today. It was lovely to see her but it did remind me why I am so glad I have left there. But we had a super time and it is so good to still be in touch with so many people I used to work with.

It was art this afternoon and my Tiger is nearly finished. I need to do his paws and body at one side yet, but he is almost there

 

 

I have a couple of pages to share today made for various challenges

 

This is one with a new collection called FureverFriends by Kathryn Estry that I absolutely adore

 

 

This was made for a challenge at both PBP and FTLOPP and it was to show what I do and what I dream of. It's a bit naughty really because truth be told I don't do a great deal of ironing these days and I dream of Disney rather than specifically the Caribbean Beach these days, but it made for a better page to use that resort.  The collection was called Orange Cream and Cabanas by Jumpstart Designs

 

 

and this was a sketch challenge at FTLOPP and I found it a very challenging sketch to use but I was quite pleased with the finished outcome

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• support from Social services yesterday. I cannot tell you how much work Nigel has done recently, endless hours of meetings and paperwork and sorting things out. It takes up hours and hours and hours sadly not everyone appreciates quite what he does. Sadly. But thanks to his tireless efforts we are slowly getting there with resolving issues with his mum
• Firemen and women - not all heroes wear capes. Quite a lot of them wear yellow helmets! 

 

 

 

Largely positive

I had a lovely day yesterday. No pain relief needed at all and a lovely friend I used to work with came to visit.

It was so lovely to see Simon. When he left that was one of the final things that made me determined I was going to leave. Simon was such an integral part of what the school used to mean that his leaving had a huge impact on me. I am thrilled he left for the best of reasons and now has his own school and is loving it. But goodness I missed him every day and it is always so good when we get to catch up. Lovely day. However, go figure, bad night. No pain really all day, horrid pain, even with pain relief, all night. No idea why. I think maybe it is the intercostal tendons that are sore now and at times they just go into spasm.

 

I also finally found a couple of decent bras. You would think that wasn't hard wouldn't you! I always buy my bras from M and S and I always buy them on line. The never have the full range of styles and sizes in store so it is just easier. I have a style I like and stick with it. Well, I figured I did. I ordered the wrong style in three colours first off. Just slightly different but actually bore no resemblance to the bras I love. I think bras are such a key thing to wear. They are not the comfiest thing int he world (hence why they tend to come off as soon as possible when we are slumming at home ladies!) and just the slighest thing I find can turn it from OK to 'Oh my goodness I am in an instrument of torture, get me out get me out get me out!' 

And no - I don't get them fitted. I went once and the contraption they put me in which they said was the right size, unlike the size I had been wearing, was an absolute no. I think wearing and all metal bra would have been more comfortable.

Anyway - they had to go back and I finally figured what I had done wrong (they look the same but one style had a bow and one style had an elongated bow but they look identical, same price etc.)

They came and I ordered three colourways and they might as well have sent three different sizes. I did double check they hadn't. They hadn't. One was perfect in every single sense. One was way-way too big and one was - well just off. Very off. Monoboob off. I actually put the three together, thinking maybe my boobs had suddenly changed dramatically between bra one and two and three. They were sooo different. So the perfect one was kept, I reordered the gorgeous magenta one I loved that was way too huge and when the replacement came - the same size - it was perfect. So, long process but new bras and 5 to return! HOW can things vary so much.  Hopefully, the issue of finding the right bra has resonated with some of you ... or maybe it is just me!

 

Went for a lovely walk today and also called into the library to get a few books on watercolours. I figured now I have been painting for a year it might be an idea to learn how to do it properly. I have a very tight and detailed style and I would love to be able to paint more loosely and abstractly. We will see.

I also have new scrapping to share.

 

This page is not the most artistic I have ever made - though it took an age - but I felt very strongly about it.

I saw the new pictures of the Caribbean Beach resort and how awful the new gondola stanchions look - so close to the buildings, not camouflaged etc. They have ruined our home resort. It was so very very beautiful and tropical and peaceful and they have destroyed it.

 

 

I stitched the flap on as I wanted to hide the photos of what it looks like now. The one on the front is the view we knew and loved. It now has a huge pole int he way and what on earth it will be like when the gondola is whizzing overhead I dread to think.

 

 

 

This is a cut file I have had for ages and never used so it was fun to use that yesterday too

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely visit from a good friend
• a pain-free day
• a fitting bra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A busy day and I'm back

First of all I'd like to say hello to you all.

I gather I vanished intot he ether for a while a couple of days ago.

 

Thank you to the really kind people who contacted me via facebook to let me know my blog had vanished. Apparently a plug in I used had been compromised. Loads of people had the same problem. I have to say Typepad are brilliant. Their help desk is super and they talked me through the fix.

I was a bit worried that I had lost my blog. I have been keeping my blog for 11 years - I almost cannot believe it. It goes back to 2007 and there have been times when this blog has saved my sanity. I have met some lovely people through my blog, I have had such lovely comments about it that have made me very happy. I LOVE that there are people who read my blog - some read every single post and that is lovely. It serves several purposes for me. It is my diary - my daily or every other day brain dump that just enables me to record what I have done, primarily for Nigel and I but I am glad other enoyit too. It is a place to share my photos and all the weird stuff I accumulate from the world like crazy pictures, funny images, amazing art works etc. It is also a place I can showcase my craft, both my paper craftingt hat is just for me and my digital work for the designers I am blessed to create for. 

Thank youthiose of you who are avid readers and those of you who pop in for the occasional visit. Thank you those of you who stop and leave a comment, and those of you who enjoy it silently. I am pleased normal service has beenr resumed. 

 

Yesterday was the final day of art week. I sold quite a few frames and plaques and did quite well onthe picture voting. There were 140 pictures displayed and I was proud to have one well in the top 10.  I did too much though and paid the price for it. My ribs have been bad and I have had  TMJ flare up so today has been quiet - well apart from the washing, cleaning and weekly shop!

 

I have new scrapping to share

This was made for a challenge at FTLOPP (I am love love loving their summer fiesta and the daily challenges

 

The Gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian

 

 

This was another challenge and is a bit of a pretty paper overload

 

 

and this is a mojo challenge at Pickleberrypop and I am very grateful to Claire for letting me scrap her holiday photos.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a wonderful art week
• a clean house and finished laundry
• my blog - it has brought me great joy over the past 11 years
• the smell of coq au vin wafting up to me. I am jolly hungry 

Look away now if, like me, you have OCD as this is going to be truly shocking