Shimelle's sketch of the week

All dressed up !

One of quite a few photos of the day -may be a bit weird to take this - but you know what us scrappers are like- preserve every bit of the memory! Even the shoes..

Friends and Blogland

I had a lovely suprise in the post the other day -

this had come all the way from Arizona USA.

I happened to mention when we last had a bar-b-que that the men/lads here all love Paul Newman's ranch style dressing.

Deb Turtle did no more that pack me up a pack of this yummy stuff - and I can report back that 'they all loved it' Deb! ..himself even had it all over his hot pasta the other night!

Thank you so much Deb - it warms my heart to have such lovely friends - especially as you have such a busy time at the moment ♥

Speaking of friends, I had a lovely time out yesterday catching up with another Deb,

We caught up on all the latest news, discussed scrapping projects and generally had a nice time. She had some lovely cupcakes for us - and did we think to take a photo of them? nope.

At last I've done some scrapping -yay! - here's my take on Shimelle's latest Starting Point challenge....

A day in the life ....

of me....
I booked two days holiday for today and tomorrow a couple of weeks back- thinking stupidly that the weather would be nice as it's August but hey ho that was not to be !
Today started with rain - and more rain....and also youngest son has been suffering with a bad back for about a month now.Despite several visits to have it manipulated etc it is still not good and he has been complaining of a pain in his chest recently so it was off to the doctors this morning....

This probably sounds a bit daft - but when you work full time - it's so nice to just do 'boring normal' things -those things that you always have to fit in at lunch time in a rush- like doctor's and dentist's appointments.
Also- imagine my delight when I switched the tv on and guess what was on ...(like it wasn't planned !)

Nothing like a bit of Anna Griffin to cheer a miserable day up

It was off to the soggy town to drop son off to the doctors - even the bunting couldn't brighten up the high street..

                                                     Our little museum was deserted -

So I sat and waited for him in the car - doing a bit more of my 'Christmas' blanket while I waited.

Luckily he wasn't too long and came back armed with painkillers and antibiotics - so it was home for lunch -
 then before we knew it - other son had arrived as it is himself's birthday today and they are all off to North London tonight to watch Spurs together.

It was so lovely to have them all here at the same time as it won't be long before youngest son is back at Uni and then middle son is moving down to the same area with his girlfriend (the boys were at the same Uni )

So I did the 'Mum' thing and made them all stand together for a group shot before they went off .
Deb Turtle - if you are reading this - you will laugh at one of himself's birthday cards .....it had to happen one day......

So that was my day today - and now Anna Griffin is on again so I'm home alone and curling up on the sofa for a bit of crafting-does anyone else out there still like Anna's stuff?

Just because Ruth and Liz did it ...

... the dreaded self portrait - I just read Liz's  blog and thought I'd do one too...hmmmm my eye still looks a bit small - no make up - this is me after cooking dinner and finishing up tonight !

and a card I made at the weekend for an anniversary

Where did that week and weekend go ?

Last Friday was spent travelling 'Up North' to near Durham to a wedding.Our middle son used to play football with the groom and we have stayed friends with his parents over the years.

We were so pleased when he asked us to his wedding although it was a long journey. The venue was a beautiful hotel- almost like a castle to look at.




We had decided to make a few days  of it as it was such a long way and were going to leave at about 11 o'clock Friday morning.
True to form I woke up with a cracking headache on Friday and you know how it is- I was stressed because I felt lousy and the more stressed I got the worse my head got.Anyway,in the end I decided  I couldn't travel like that and put myself back to bed.
Eventually it started to wear off and we left at about 2.30 in the afternoon.
The hotel was lovely, a bit mediaeval inside.

We spent the evening catching up with friends and meeting new ones in the hotel - and I caught a glimpse of the reception room being prepared..It was a beautiful wedding - the main colour was a rich blue (one of my favourites)

This was in the morning when the flower decorations  had been placed on the tables

The cake was beautiful in blue and white and had lovely delicate butterflies all over .The church was a dear little one and really lovely inside

Luckily the weather held out and a good day was had by all ...

 

A kind man offered to take a photo but it turned out a tad fuzzy!

and when it was time to go home the groom's Dad gave me one of the table decorations - its still looking resplendent on my sideboard at home!

An Anniversary and Weekend Cropping

I promise I won't do this too much but after Storytelling Sunday I thought I'd tell you that it is our 31st Wedding Anniversary today.......
                                                                yep- a classic !

.....

But then I did get these delivered at work today which was a real surprise

It was time for the monthly Eclectic Keepsakes crop on Saturday. I missed the last one because I was on holiday - so I was really looking forward to it.
There was a smaller class this time as lots of people were on holiday so we were all together in the middle of the hall.-which was nice as we all got to chat to each other.
Karen had made some lovely cakes,and as always very thoughtfully made a couple without chocolate on for me.Sorry about the photo but I was using my phone and it didn't come out very well.

We did our own thing in the morning as usual - then in the afternoon it was time to do the class Karen had designed using  Fancy Pants Beach Babe papers and chipboard and some Echo Park hybrid elements.
I was a bit unsure about photos as we don't 'do' beaches but I was really pleased with the photos I chose in the end.

The time absolutely flew by, before we knew it - it was 6 o'clock and time to get home for some bar-b-queuing ..a lovely end to a lovely day.

Storytelling Sunday - The Note

Let me start this little story by saying that the person who is 'featured' is very happy to be blogged and gave his full permission!!
Bear with it as it goes on a bit but I have to set the scene ......

If you want to read some more stories today - head on over to Sian's blog here

Now, any of those who know my other half and me know that he is -er very organised, very tidy, has to have things in neat rows and when we go shopping, the tins have to have the labels facing the front when put away in the cupboard- clustered together - beans with beans,sweetcorn separate,tinned toms with tinned toms - no mixing up ....If he hangs washing out on the line, the socks have to be hung up in pairs all facing the same way and when shirts are ironed - the 'proper long sleeved shirts' have to be hung on  metal tirangle hangers and tee shirts go on the wooden half circle hangers.........oh and the hangers must all hang over the rail the same way....with the hook away from you...You get the picture?

Now this is very handy at home obviously as he has to have the house tidy and things have to be in their place but sometimes it can get a bit wearing.
I would like to add that I am not a scruffy untidy person but I like home to be home and don't nag every second of the day for the boys to tidy up. I normally have a blitz maybe at the weekend etc etc...
When I go to work in the mornings I very often make them laugh by taking a note in that himself has left by the kettle for me - there is always a note left by the kettle from himself before he goes to work - nearly always for me but sometimes for the boys.......

'Denise ......Please pay cheque in....
'Denise......Please hang washing OUT- not indoors...
'Denise......Please get my tablets
'Denise......Please get sandwich fllings x 6 - NOT  egg mayonnaise, NOT tuna crunch and watch sell by date ......

This last one was one that particularly wound me up  me as I do the shopping and as I work right near Tescos am in there after work nearly every day buying stuff for dinner.I'm quite aware that the sell by dates can be better on the things at the back of the shlef rather than the front - I did take this note to work and the girls all really laughed !!

One friend of mine suggested keeping all the notes and making a scrapbook of them all - I actually might do that...

Anyway - Friday night for the first time in about a month I decided to get my crocheting  out and do a bit and made a couple of squares.....
.
Hope you're still with me !!

Picture the scene , it's yesterday morning (Saturday) - I got up and was really looking forward to a day scrapping at Eclectic Keepsakes monthly crop. I haven't done any scrapping since I got back from hols mainly because of my eye so was really looking forward to a crafty day.... got tote, got photos, got stuff ready, now for tea and toast and make a sandwich....

Over to the kettle .............

                                                                         Close up.....

Roughly translated  says 'Please tidy up your wool and throw away anything in fridge we don't need  TA.

So - after 31 years of marriage I kind of just take no notice of these notes really and don't let them wind me up BUT I would like to show you the mess of wool that he wanted tidying up that had only been there since the previous night ..............

                                                Did it need tidying??... I don't  think so !

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different story today - I thought it might make you smile - particularly Deb as she has often heard some of these stories - especially the one about Tescos not doing Banana Angel Delight - how can they possibly have three different types of Angel Delight in one flavour - Bird's,Tesco's Own, and Value - yet they don't do Banana ?? ...but that's another story!
                                                                       Bless him.....