ME ON MONDAY

Today you find me with Teal Toes .......it's Ovarian Cancer Awareness month and there are a group of us in Blogland who have our toes painted in honour of MARTI, our friend DEB TURTLE'S late mum :she fought brave and hard, like so many others who suffer from this awful disease.

The weekend?....it was a wet one...as in VERY wet, which allowed me to get an item for the SCAVENGER HUNT....it's one of the 'alternatives', as I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get that Ticket Booth 

my friends Rosita and Margaret...taking shelter under an umbrella whilst waiting to go into Mass for the dedication of our village's Patron Saint....followed of course by the  usual loud, frenetic get together in the local Civic Centre

.

Before that, there had been Afternoon Tea at our Drop-in Centre and Saturday had seen me getting the house ready for THE GIRLS arriving this week......which meant clearing all my craft things away- I'm sure you can imagine how long THAT took me! - but  there was time for a bit of reading in there too and making final travel plans for a Blogger's weekend which is fast approaching!

Waving especially to SIAN and the 'Monday Wave' team

Thanks for dropping by!

take care of you

Alison xx

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5 IN 5...ROUND THE POOL

 Joining in with SANDIE over at ITCHIFINGERS, with her new monthly photographic meme '5 IN 5'.......the idea being that on the 5th of the month (yes, I know I'm late...no surprise there!) you take a bunch of photographs in 5 minutes, then post your 5 favourites.

I remembered about it as I was about to cool my feet off in the pool, and decided to take my photographs from there.

said feet, sporting TEAL TOES FOR MARTI

abandoned flip-flops!

my little fishing net, which I use to scoop dead flies, wasps etc. from the pool

the pool itself (plus fabulous view!)

the temperature!

I've said it before and I'll say it again:I feel so blessed to have ended up in this beautiful part of the world..it's by no means perfect, but then where is?......

Hope the sun shines at least a little bit for you this weekend,

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

A HAPPY BUNNY.....

...that's me!.....and all because of the arrival of this:

If you've read my last few posts, you will know that I was in London recently...meeting up with a group of blogfriends.

The meetings over the weekend were all instigated by the arrival of our blogfriend DEB and her daughter CARRIE, who were coming to England for a bit of a whirlwind tour!

If you follow Deb's blog, you will know that her lovely mom, Marti, died of Ovarian Cancer last year. During MARTI'S illness, TEAM TEAL came into being...basically a group of family and friends (many of them from Blogland) who supported Marti and Deb, by sending positive thoughts, prayers, letters and cards to them.

When she knew the trip was definately on, Deb tried to arrange to see as many of UK Team Teal as was possible...and, Deb being Deb, she wanted to bring gifts-handmade gifts (again, Deb being Deb....she's a very creative lady!) which would remind us of her mom......THE STRAWBERRY PROJECT was born!

On the Sunday, when most of us met for lunch (we missed you DEB14!), Deb  gave each of us a strawberry in memory of Marti...she also made a rather emotional speech, which touched us all.

If any of you actually remember the beginning of this post, you may recall me mentioning that my strawberry just arrived today! The explanation.....by the time I got to my hotel that night I discovered that not only had I lost my reading glasses (a fact of which I had become aware when I tried to read the menu at lunch!) but, even sadder, Deb's strawberry! I was going to wait for her to return home, and ask her prettily if she had a spare one..... but there was an email waiting when I got home, from BECKY, who had picked it up and was looking for it's owner! She very kindly posted it to me...THANK YOU Becky!....and it arrived today!!

Here's hoping something makes you happy this week!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

IT DOESN'T END HERE

Two days after posting THIS, we had word from DEB that her mum, Marti, had lost her battle with cancer. We realised that Marti's earthly part of the story was coming to an end, but my Faith tells me that her story continues...and I know that Deb's Faith allows for that also.

I was given this poem by a friend, after Stuart's death..it has been a great source of comfort for me...I hope it will  be for Deb and for all of Marti's family.

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me,

I want no rites in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free!

Miss me a little, but not for long,

And not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love we once shared,

Miss me, but let me go!

For this a journey we all must take,

And each must go alone;

It's all a part of the master's plan

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart

Go to the friends we know,

And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds,

Miss me, but let me go.

                                            Robyn Rancman

Thanks for dropping by!

take care of you

Alison xx

SIAN'S STORYTELLING SUNDAY

It's the first Sunday in October (though I have NO  idea how that can possibly be so!), and as on the first Sunday of every month  Bloggers from hither and thither get together and tell stories, encouraged by the lovely SIAN over at FROM HIGH IN THE SKY ...happy stories, funny stories, sad stories, long stories, short stories, stories with or without pictures- anything goes- even pictures with very few words, and EVERYONE is made very welcome..

Having had little time over the last week or so to think of a story, I started looking through my photo files...and discovered that just about this time last year I received this

The story is one of  courage, tenacity and grace....  we have seen them all from Marti, Deb and Carrie in that year...loving thoughts and prayers are with them and the rest of the family.

 To read a variety of stories why not pop over HERE ......I shouldn't imagine you'll be sorry!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

TEAL TOES

After reading THIS post  by our good friend DEB TURTLE, I knew I wanted to make a TEAM TEAL  stand (excuse the pun, especially as I'm actually sitting down in the photograph!)....

.... and change my marbled toenails to teal.....unfortunately I left it till after I stupidly broke my little toe at the weekend, so you get to see my attractive self-dressed toe too!!!

Love, hugs and prayers winging their way to Marti and the rest of Deb's family...

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

GOOD MAIL DAY!

The days when you get one piece of HAPPY MAIL are pretty exciting, I'm sure you'll all agree...but the days when you get not one, not two, but THREE pieces are very exciting!


When I went to the postbox yesterday, there were not only two envelopes containing two 'Thank You' cards

but also the slip of paper to inform me that a package was waiting for me at our village Post Office, which some of you may remember is open for all of one hour a day! Off I trotted at the allotted time..well, actually I drove, as it was 100 degrees at the time!....knowing I hadn't ordered anything..well, anything that might be here already! What a lovely surprise to discover a parcel from our very own DEB TURTLE.....it had totally slipped my mind that I was the lucky recipient of her 'Kind-of-a-Chick-Flick Pass-the-DVD' idea!

Now, Deb, being Deb, didn't just send the DVD.... she sent as much of the experience as she could!

All she didn't send was  the daughter to  watch it with...and fortunately I happen to have one of these returning to the nest in a few weeks! (for a little while anyway). I have decided to keep my movie goodies till then, but then the DVD will be up for grabs again, so watch this space!

Also in the package was a new version of the TEAM TEAL  band...modelled here by my good self!...do you know how difficult it is to try to get a picture of a particular bit of the back of your head?!

Thank you Deb, for taking the time to put together such a great package while you have so much going on around you!

As I said very recently- Bloggers and Scrappers are a great bunch of people!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

A Teal Day!

I know I've missed out a few prompts...though hope to go back to them.....but  decided to go for Prompt 9 today- using one colour plus Kraft.

I had chosen my pic (YAY! back to my comfort zone!) and reckoned that I wanted to use teal/turquoise shades...this is what I came up with

I used a sketch from SCRAP FRIENDZY, which was by Valerie Salmon, and apart from  the Bo Bunny 'dot' everything else was from my scrap box.....another YAY!

After getting the LO finished, I decided to take Boo for a walk as it looked as if we would get rain later. I checked the mail box as I passed, and was delighted to find this:

It had come all the way from Arizona, from my lovely bloggy friend DEB, who has been sending these out as a way to show support  to TEAM TEAL, who in turn are supporting Deb's mum, Marti, who has ovarian cancer. I am honoured to  be part of this team now, and send my love, hugs and prayers to Marti and the entire family today! 

Now I'm off to make some teal Happy Mail! 

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx