Dolly's Dreamings

Mothering Sunday

I always find this day a hard one ... I have no Mom any more and and I am not a real Mom ... but its been a nice day 

The cats bought me mother's day cards (OK so I am crazy cat lady but that is NOT new information!) and a box of my favourite Bendicks Mints  and then I sat and relaxed int eh garden.

We took Nigel's mom out for a drive round the New Forest including a very pleasant amble round Burley in the sunshine and then a meal out.

I found it quite hard to eat out - terrifying is a better word actually - but I did it.

 

I have a new page to share today - one made yesterday ... my first paper page ina  long time.

Itw as made for the UKS Challenge this week.

 

 

It is another for the UK tour album and shows the two scrapping friends I met up with. Clare I have met before and Heather I have always wanted to meet. They are both padder friends and also both fellow Design Collective members.

 

 

I used really really old papers, because I promised myself I would. Some old HOTP and Karen Foster papers and then some book page butterflies

 

 

I also did heaps of edge stamping.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a successful mother's day
• Sunday sunshine
• getting back on my horse - figuratively speaking.

 

 

 

Ouch

Struggling with really bad back pains that seem very odd. They are not muscular but were so bad int he night we thought something serious was wrong.

They come and go and are intense - doctors tomorrow then!

I haven't scrapped today, obviously, but did do some at the weekend and this is one of the pages I made = again for a UKS challenge.

Every so often I make a page I really like - largely because it just seems to 'work' tob=gether.

This was a page I tinkered with for a long time and I am pleased how it finally came out. It had the feel I was after but couldn't get at first.

It is another for the 2013 UK tour alum - this time of Whitby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful

• that there were times today - albeit brief - when I was not in pain

 

 

 

Challenges challenges challenges

I am loving the challenges running at the moment on UKS and am trying to do as many as possible at the weekends.

This was one I did last weekend and is another paper page for our 2013 tour album

 

 

The photo was one of our favourites fromt he trip - taken on the canal at the top of the Falkirk Wheel. You can see the top of the wheel - the arch - int he background.

The barge that had just gone through was just so pretty and the perfect splash of colour.

 

 

I cut the circle using the Martha Stewart punch system which I think is very clever.

 

 

It isn't often I do a page and am pleased with it - but I was really pleased with this one.

 

There was no thankfulness yesterday as I posted in advance as I was away on a course for the day. The course was brilliant but it is always nice to be home and back in work as normal.

Today I am thankful for

• a safe trip yesterday
• time well spent
• a jolly good laugh and people with a sense of humour
• Nigel massaging my back which has eased the pain a little. No idea what I have done but I am in agony! Right under my shoulder blade. I am sure it is a pulled muscle or something

 

 

 

 

A new year a new challenge

So do you like winning prizes?

I am assuming the answer is yes.

Over at Scrapology there is a new challenge every single month - with prizes!

As it is a new month - and of course a new year too - there is a new challenge and so you need to pop over to Scrapology to check out what everyone has made.

I tell you, the team rocks. I am in awe of those girls and what they create.

This is my page

 

The challenge was to use some badges/button we were sent and they were so cute. I couldn't do this challenge digitally and not use them

One of them is below - the little 'note to self'

 

 

 

 

and you can see the other above - 'genuine article'

 

It is a very different page for me - quite bright - not like my usual muted styles.

But go see what everyone else came up with too.

Today I am thankful for

• Nigel fetching his Mom safel;y - the weather has alternated between quite pleasant and 'so bad I was just waiting for the locusts'
• Finishing up some work stuff
• completing a very fiddly complex album - gonna take me weeks to fill it though - 56 pages!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 2013 review

As I sit typing this the sun has just set on the final day of 2013 and I feel prompted to recollect on the past year and what it has brought for us.

Firstly it has been a good year. We have both been relatively healthy (a much much better year than 2012) with only 1 significant scare when Nigel had to undergo more tests, which came out clear. I tore a ligament in my ankle and was on crutches for too long and also had a series of falls that damaged my knee, but in the scheme of things they were minor and we have been grateful to enjoy good health.

Work has been hard … very hard .., but we are mindful of the fact that it is good to HAVE work. Too many people who would like to have a job don’t have one or are forced into jobs they hate. Whilst mine is stressful and long hours, I do love my job. Working with children, and such wonderful children, is truly the best job in the world and as I need to work, I would rather be doing this than anything else. Nigel has steadily built up his clients and his business and whilst his salary is vastly different to when he was employed full time, the quality of his life, and indeed our lives, is so very much better that a financial sacrifice seems no sacrifice in reality.

We have seen 2013 through with all three cats still with us. It was touch and go whether or not Boo would see Christmas. We feared we would lose her in the summer but she rallied. Now she is fading fast. She is of indeterminate age, but we think she is about 16, and whilst she seems very content and in no pain she is painfully thin, has an inoperable tumour, severe cataracts and is totally deaf. However, she still purrs with contentment and her eye-sight is not so bad that she can’t still be the thief she has always been. We know that 2014 will see us say a last farewell to our little tabby who came for Christmas in 2001 and stayed. We promised the poor little stray we would be her forever family, and we will be.

 

 

Kira and Fiki are an amazing 11 years old – seems impossible to believe, and whilst Fiki is still naughty even he has slowed down. In 2012 we feared we would lose him quickly to PKD but he is still healthy, though we know it is like living with a ticking time bomb. All three of the cats bring us daily joy.

 

2013 was also a great year for the birds in our garden – safe from cats who live indoors. We have enjoyed seeing so many visitors every single day ranging from the numerous robins, blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, dunnocks, blackbirds, green and spotted woodpeckers and so on to the more rarely seen greenfinches, gold finches and even a kestrel, the heron and a goshawk who took down a pigeon. They cost us a fortune but it is worth every penny to see these visitors enjoying our wildlife preserve!

2013 saw visits from family from oversees. Jim came in June and July and it was great to share family time, and Sandra and Derek came from Australia in September.

 

 

 

We enjoyed several trips away from home and enjoyed a stay-cation. In February we went to Cornwall for a few days and really enjoyed it and in April we went to Berkshire for our anniversary, enjoying seeing Nigel’s childhood favourite of Bekenscot.

 

 

 

 

We took a day trip to Venice - but should have known that as it was on 1st April it was likely to be an event. The two days - yes, long story, were really superb.

 

 

 

 

Our summer holiday involved a tour of some of the north of England and Scotland taking in Harrogate, York, Scarborough, Whitby, the angel of the north, Alnwick, Bamborough, Lindisfarne, the Falkirk Wheel and the Trossachs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fabulous summer meant some great days out at home too. Though the year began in January with snow, and has certainly ended with some shocking gale force winds, the summer was beautiful. We enjoyed two trips out on David’s boat, we visited Brownsea and saw a play in London, we went on day trips all round and enjoyed a half term break in October in the Cotswolds and the Black Country.

 

 

 

 

 

Nigel’s speedway continues to bring him great joy and he is so good at all he does and is much valued by people. I continue to scrap, both paper and digital, and our hobbies enrich our lives.

It has, indeed, been a good year and we have so much to be thankful for.Not everything noteworthy - mostly just normal day to day stuff.

 

I end my review with gratitude for a wonderful year, for the friends and family who visit here daily, and I wish everyone a truly blessed 2014, one that I hope is filled with health and happiness, love and laughter for all of us.

 

No clue what day it is

One of the nicest things about a holiday is losing all track of the days. I love it.

I live by the bell - well you do ina  school don't you - and not do I always know what day it is but I also know what time, what lesson, what topic etc.

So holidays where I have no clue are fabulous.

And lazy - thought I do need to start doing some work too.

A lazy mornng, a bit of reading, a bit of scrapping, a frap, a trip to Hobby craft, a bit of playing band (gotta love that drumming) and that's pretty much it. It amazes me I usually get so much done to be honest.

I do have new scrapping to share today though

 

 

apologies for the poor quality of the white background card which is really white not stained. I MUST clean my scanner.

 

It is another for the UK tour album

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• lazy days
• the lack of knowledge about the date, date and time. Heavenly
• bargains - love the new album for just £5 and the selection of flowers at just 50p a packet

 

And I would like to share this with you - sent from cousin Joyce

Miracles do still happen, every day.  Thank you for being my friend!

 

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.

 

She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even.. The total had to be exactly perfect.. No chance here for mistakes.

 

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

 

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

 

'And what do you want?' the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.. I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages,' he said without waiting for a reply to his question.

 

'Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,' Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. 'He's really, really sick....and I want to buy a miracle.'

 

'I beg your pardon?' said the pharmacist.

 

'His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?'

 

'We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you,' the pharmacist said, softening a little.

 

'Listen, I have the money to pay for it.. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.'

 

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, 'What kind of a miracle does your brother need?'

 

' I don't know,' Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money..'

 

'How much do you have?' asked the man from Chicago.

 

'One dollar and eleven cents,' Tess answered barely audible.

 

'And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.'

 

'Well, what a coincidence,' smiled the man. 'A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.'

 

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said 'Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the miracle you need.'

 

That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

 

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.

 

'That surgery,' her Mom whispered. 'was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?'

 

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost....one dollar and eleven cents...plus the faith of a little child.

 

In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need.

 

A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law. I know you'll keep the ball moving!

 

Here it goes. Throw it back to someone who means something to you!

 

A ball is a circle, no beginning, no end. It keeps us together like our Circle of Friends. But the treasure inside for you to see is the treasure of friendship you've granted to me.

 

Today I pass the friendship ball to you.

 

The before page

I have a page I want to share today that I was really pleased with. I am actually still really pleased with it, but could do it better now.

It was based on something I saw on Pinterest (see there ARE good things on Pinterest) and so I ran with it, but if I had been able to make it again I could do it better simply as I now have my super duper, love it to bits, Silhouette Cameo and so could cut the whole sheet in one.

And I am just going to HAVE to have a go.

Anyway, here is the page - the title page for the UK road trip album.

 

Today I am thankful for

• not being so cold
• iburophen kind of working on my shockingly bad knee. (It is agony)

 

Too big for its own good

I never really make very lumpy pages. They may have lots of layers but they are still quite flat.

However, thanks to Pinterest (I HAVE to get off that site) I have been dablling with flowers - fat flowers.

There was the Vindolanda page that had hand made felt flowers that looked fine until I tried to add it to an album and then - well then there is this one.

 

 

The title was the perfect storm as it was perfect in that it was over before we arrived. We didn't get wet ... we were not caught in it, but it meant the flowers had gorgeous photogenic raindrops on them.

 

I loved the two photos - they were two of the best from our trip to Alnwick Gardens - one from eachof us.

 

 

How better to showcase two glorious roses than by usimg some lovely flowers.

Some thick fat lumpy flowers.

 

That mean not only will the page not scan but the page wont under any circumstances go in an album. Pretty pointless eh! I don't keep my pages anywhere other than in albums and so this one has got to be redone.

 

I guess you live and learn.

 

Today I am thankful for

• tollerance and patience
• the opportunity to meet colleagues from further afield
• new useful gadgets

 

and finally - some more of those fab food pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are so cool!

Losing it ....

OK so you know I love my crafting.

But recently CRAFT has a whole different meaning for me

 

CRAFT is an acronym and very very me at the moment.

Can'r Remember A Flipping Thing!

 

That's me.

 

Or actually, more to the point, can't FIND a flipping thing.

 

I keep putting things down in my craft room and they vanish.. I swear to goodness that the Bermuda Triangle has moved and is based here.

How can a whole set of stamps I have JUST USED vanish.

I mean seriously .... but they have.

 

Anyway, I did manage to scrap a page for the weekly challenge on UKS at the weekend.

 

 

 

It is another for the tour album and I love love love my new silhouette. One 12 x 12 sheet and I cut the circle, theflourishes, the title, the key. Fabulous.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• finding at least SOME of the things I lose.

 

It's not just the weather that's rubbbish

The weather is tubbish but things here have been pretty rubbish too.

Spent a large part of the day working and just feeling very down.

Have little motivation to scrap ... just as well as I have no time.

 

Nigel has spent the day trying to get his iphone to work. It won't work on bluetooth and he things he has blown the chip by putting a hight use graphic game on.

A new iPhone is more than we can afford so I think he is stuck with it. He has tried everything and he is quite techy. The other downside is one of the things he tried was finally doing the IOS 7 upgrade and it is horrible.

The only scrapping I have managed this weekend was the UKS weekly

 

The challenge was to use a book title and this one seemed apt as there is a teeny Nigel looking up at the angel.

 

 

You also had to use paint or misting (there was no rule that said you had to use it badly ... I just came up with that all on my own!)

 

 

 

And autumnal colours so I cut lots out and then used lots of distress inks.

 

 

The good news is that teh Cameo cut beautifully.

 

Today has been hard to find a thankfulness ... but I did .. and thinking about it did genuinely make me realise I may be very very down but I have so much to be thankful for. I have no right to be down.

 

The fact I worry about the amount of work I have reminds me of how lucky I am to have a job

The fact the i phone is broken reminds us of how lucky we are to have gadgets we too easily take for granted

The fact I have felt down reminds me of the fact I am actually healthy and usually very happy

The fact I am stressing about the door work that has to be done reminds me I am thankful I have a lovely safe home

 

So I do indeed have much to be thankful for.