Ten On The Tenth: Lighting Up

It's getting very festive around here and I was procrastinating browsing on Google & Pinterest when I spotted how many different sorts of Christmas lights there are out there:

Yummy Lights - with tutorials

Source: cupcakes-plain-and-fancy.com

Source: a-sparkley-silver-lining.blogspot.co.uk

Source: hungryhappenings.com

Crafty Lights - with tutorials

Source: kimberlychapman.com

Source: annemarieshaakblog.blogspot.co.uk

Source: realsimple.com

Source: lacefairy1 at flickr.com

Lights To Wear

Source: youreverydaydose.blogspot.co.uk

Source: desmoinespubcrawl.com via Jemma on Pinterest

and finally

Lights To Make You Smile

Have a look over at Shimelle's for more tens on the tenth :o)

Ten * Eleven * Twelve

Isn't today's date wonderful?!  It looks great (at least here in Europe ... probably less so to my American readers)!

Regular blog readers will know that I love numbers - I like them better than letters.  Can you count the reasons?

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• there are fewer of them - 10 as opposed to 26
• they can be strung together any old  how to make newer, bigger (or smaller) numbers
• unlike a random string of letters I can still read & pronounce 34218642556021756346906314580!
• the everyday rules for manipulating numbers are pretty simple and very powerful - no past participles, no imperfect subjunctives, nothing irregular to trip you up - just adding and subtracting with some multiplying and dividing for speed!
• two digits, not two letters are at the heart of the industrialised world: 0 and 1 are the binary representations of Boolean algebra that helped drive early mechanisation
• you can count letters but you don't need to spell numbers
• numbers are internationally recognised: I can write down my credit card number for a Norwegian, a Ukranian or a Mexican and they will all be happy
• marking maths problems is quicker than marking English essays
• numbers are lucky - have you ever heard of anyone having a lucky letter?
• people understand you when you dictate a number - no confusion between 6 and 3 like there is between M & N or B & D; no need to behave like police dispatchers and spell out Oscar Uniform Tango

Unfortunately, in the hands of certain people numbers can be made into tools to trick and deceive the unwary.  My children are pretty fed up with me shouting at the TV adverts whenever a sale is announced with "up to 70% off" or a beauty product guarantees "up to 50%" of your wrinkles will be visibly reduced or your teeth will be "up to 4 shades lighter" after using a particular paste!  The adverts sound convincing, but those all important letters in the words "up to" render those poor numbers completely meaningless!

Do you like numbers?  How about Tens?  There are lots of them over at Shimelle's place - why not share your own?

Ten on the Tenth: Not Quite Self Sufficent!

Last year we received a vegetable plot as a Silver Wedding present.  It took so long to prepare the soil that it was really a bit late to plant it, but we tried.  And a few things grew.  Their growth featured in my October Ten and I blogged about the harvest in November.  This year we had a little more help with the digging {thank you Vilius} and we planted a lot earlier.  It was still late according to the seed packets and the summer has been typically unpredictable with gallons of rain and intermittent sunshine.  There have been some successes:

Our runaway champions were the St George runner beans: we have several bags of them in the freezer, have given loads away to friends & family and got fed up with eating them every other day!  The peas were tasty but I under-estimated the number of plants we should sow and we only managed to harvest enough peas at any one time to sprinkle on salads rather than serve with a meal. The Lollo Rosso & Little Gem lettuces were a great addition to our salads too, along with the carrots which were actually finger-sized this year!

Unfortunately there were also some failures: not a single apple on the tree as all the blossom dropped in June and the Romanesco cabbages were initially food for the birds and then the caterpillars!

Luckily there were some surprises too:

Our stripey courgettes were cute and tasty (once I worked out that the flowers had to be removed to prevent them rotting).  However, I discovered that FIVE squash plants and ONE courgette plant were rather too much for the space I had allocated them - the photo shows them at half their eventual spread!  And I didn't realise that onions grew above ground - I thought perhaps I'd planted them too shallowly!

And finally there are still some things to come:

There are five small cobs of sweetcorn waiting to be harvested - but how do I know when they are ready????

I'm linking up with Shimelle's Ten on the Tenth today - if you have a 10 to share why not join me?!

Ten on the Tenth: Warwick Weekend

I was hoping that another weekend away would get me a few more things crossed off my list for Rinda's Scavenger Hunt and Warwick did not disappoint!

First off there was Warwick Castle itself.

 #6 - Historical Landmark

The beautiful Peacock Gardens within the grounds had something else I was looking for:

 #9 - A Fountain

While we tried to take decent photos of the very tame peacocks strutting about the garden we noticed that two photographers were taking lots and lots and lots of photos of a romantic couple ... "A real life bride!!!" I thought, even though she was dressed in a rather un-typical turquoise evening dress ...

... but it turned out that she was actually a Bride-to-be and they were doing a pre-shoot in advance of November's wedding {Yes, I did ask!!}  We kept seeing them around the grounds in several different ensembles and poses and eventually spotted them twirling for the cameras:

 #15 - Someone Dancing

That photo was taken from high above the happy couple because we'd climbed up and up and up the mound where the original castle was constructed using several of these:

#19 - Outdoor Staircase

We also climbed the tallest tower of the castle to enjoy the views and we spotted something unusual in the distance ...

Could it be?  Once we returned home I studied Google maps and did my research  to confirm that this was indeed Gurdwara Sahib which is a Royal Leamington Spa's enormous Sikh temple.

# 17 - A Temple {and that's a Church spire on the left!}

Warwick is pretty compact and I counted six churches on our wanderings - it seemed like there was one on every corner - so I did have a backup if the white pavilion had turned out to be the spa at Leamington or a themed amusement park!

Inside the castle there were several interesting exhibitions with a great cast of wax, animatronic and real live figures.  We learned how to rip people's tongues out with red-hot implements, admired the destructive powers of various arrow heads, gasped at the cost of a military horse (think Porsche in today's prices), and learned all about the Duchess of Devonshire's famous entertaining, some of which took place here:

#8 - A Library

There were lots of activities laid on for families as it was the last weekend of the school summer holidays.  This gave me a chance to snap another one for the hunt - unfortunately the crowds were too big, the queues were too long and our feet were too tired for the juggler to be either me or mine!

#14 - Someone Playing With A Ball

We had a super time in Warwick; I wish we'd made it there when the children were smaller, they'd have had a lot of fun too. Child No. 3 also thought it was great but gave the biggest thumbs up, not to the demonstrations of the enormous trebuchet (my original hope for #14), but to the splendid jousting show which featured ... several more horses!

An extra go at #9 - More horses

Mel managed her entire Scavenger Hunt within a week.  I'm pretty chuffed that I managed to get a third of my items (and it could have been several more) within a weekend. The astute amongst you will notice that there are ten photos here too ... so that'll be why I've hooked up with Shimelle's Ten on the Tenth as well!

Ten on the Tenth: Reasons Why I ♥ 2 Scrapbook

Welcome to August's Ten.  Ten is a big number.  I quite often start off with a great idea for a theme for a Ten and then realise that I have just an Eight, or a Seven or even a Three.  That's what happened when I was thinking about "Why I Scrapbook", prompted by a challenge at Merly Impressions:

1. It's my hobby - everyone needs a hobby, right?  This is my indoor one.
2. To relive the moment.  Scrapping the photos brings back the sights, smells and sounds of holiday adventures, first day of school nerves, choked back tears of pride at concerts and prize-givings, heartstring tugs at long-ago milestones ...
3. It's creative and lets my inner artist see the light of day.
4. My memory needs help.  I'm in my 50s and already the dates and details are jumbling up.  When did we visit that theme park?  Who was it that dressed up as a devil for Halloween?  Where was our first beach holiday?  I see my albums as insurance against old age!
5. Stories are important.  My story.  My children's stories.  Our traditions.  Our family histories.
6. Scrapbooking is for keeps - the pages are for my albums, my legacy of memories, preserving my photos
7. Scrapbooking is for sharing - the pages are for looking at together, hand-made with love, passing on the moments to friends and family and anyone else who is willing to be pinned down to the sofa under a stack of 12x12 albums!

So that got me to a Seven.  But I needed a Ten.  Then I remembered a particular photo taken last summer: My children and No.1 Son's girlfriend ex, relaxing in the garden, looking through some scrapbooks, chatting about the photos, remembering the holidays, teasing each other over the hairstyles or the clothes or the forgotten stories revealed.  And thus I had my remaining Three.

No full sheets of patterned paper were harmed during the making of this layout - scraps only!

Why do you scrapbook?  Do you have Ten reasons?  Or different Ten to share?  Why not link up with Shimelle and her readers here (providing she has managed to escape the Olympics)

Ten on the Tenth: The Boys Are Back In Town

Welcome to another Ten from me - on the eleventh as I was working yesterday and forgot to pre-schedule the post!

This month I want to share some of the signs that we are back to having a house full ... of large male offspring!  Both of them had to move out of their university accommodation and have FILLED our house with much more "stuff" than they ever took away from it when they left!

It's not that there isn't space for some of their belongings (they each have a decent sized bedroom); it's more that their "stuff" is larger than we can store.  Like the shoes that don't fit into the shoe cabinets:

Or the weights that we've had to stash behind the sofa to save people's toes!  Then there's the boxes of cooking ingredients and pans and storage containers - my kitchen already has plenty of these!!!

Our spare bedroom (you can't even reach the bed for the suitcases littering the floor) and garage have been taken over with "stuff" that has yet to find a home in their bedrooms (or the attic).

Their tastes have changed while they've been living away and we now have to have different tea and milk for them as well as LOTS of extra food!

And to top it all - the mess that should be restricted to their bedrooms is spreading elsewhere in the house!

I can close the door on the mess - unless it's all over my kitchen worktop!

In the interests of fairness I have to come clean and say that these photos are ALL from No.1 Son's "stuff" as No.2 Son has now managed to squeeze all of his things (apart from his shoes) into his bedroom - but then he has been home an extra couple of weeks already!

I'm off to take my mind off things with (hopefully less messy) tens over at Shimelle's place - do you want to close the door on all of this and join me?

Ten on the Tenth: Toes

Child No.3 was given a nail art kit for Christmas and had some fun trying out lots of different effects for a previous Ten On The Tenth.  The kit gets taken to sleepovers and she has fun with her friends' nails as well.  This morning she proudly showed me the latest art work:

Various national flags on her toes!  Of course they only look right when seen from her perspective, but I amazed that she attempted anything other than stripes!!

1.Seychelles
2.Turkey
3.France
4.Scotland
5.Germany

6.Great Britain
7.England
8.Wales
9.Ireland
10.Sweden

And on Child No.3's hands?

Well that's ten different toes and ten different fingers - if you want ten of anything else you'd better pop over to Shimelle's place right here.

Accounting For April

I will keep up.  I will keep up.  I will keep up!   Following hard on the heels of March's Month In Numbers which was very, very late, here are my only slightly late figures for April!

27 = the number of plastic eggs I hid in the back garden for my 3 not-so-little kids to find.  The eggs contained clues towards some giant luxury chocolate slabs along with tons of brightly coloured jelly eggs I brought back from Las Vegas.

6 = people at home for an Easter roast dinner which was all eaten up despite the copious quantities of sweets and chocolate that had been scoffed!

24 = World Book Night Books I gave away, including a few to readers of this blog

3 = books read this month: "The Last Testament" by Sam Bourne, a tale of intrigue in Jerusalem which left me cold.  I much preferred my Reading Group's book: "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier, a very interesting account of early fossil hunting in Lyme Bay, highlighting the inequalities that the fairer sex suffered, especially if they were from the working class.  It was also educational to read about the struggle to reconcile religious beliefs regarding creation in relation to the newly discovered fossils from unknown creatures.  I was also almost unable to put down the first book in "The Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins as the story was gripping from start to finish.  I wonder if the film will be as good?

2 = how many kilograms I lost a week after re-starting healthy eating - 7 more to go to reach my initial target

1 = a weekend visitor from Lithuania who was fascinated by the local dry stone walls, our friends' sheep, geocaching and a 1000 year old hollow yew tree in a nearby churchyard

9 = pages made from my April Counterfeit Kit - my all-time record.

Are you joining in with Julie Kirk's "My Month In Numbers"?  It's a fun way of documenting your year - check it out why don't you?!  Go here for other Aprils in numbers.

Oh and while I'm at it, I guess this post will be just the ticket for Shimelle's Ten on the Tenth, being as it contains ten numbers!

Ten on the Tenth: Things I Did In Las Vegas

After last month's Ten on the Tenth about my plans for Las Vegas, Julie predicted that I'd be back this month with a partner post about what actually went on!  Well done Julie!!!  Despite everyone saying "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!" I have ten of our photos to share with you today: 

There was indeed plenty of neon and spectacle to enjoy every night:

New York New York Hotel

Bellagio Fountains

And Vegas was pretty amazing by day too:

Outside at The Venetian ...

... and inside Caesar's Palace

The food was interesting and tasty:

Blooming Onion at Outback Steakhouse
(actually this isn't my picture;
somehow all 4 scrapbookers failed
to take a single photo!)

Memphis Sliders at Caesar's Palace
along with the best fries I have ever eaten!

As were the drinks:

I don't always dress to match my cocktails!

There were several "firsts" during the week including a first helicopter ride over the strip at night-time followed by an early morning ride out to the Grand Canyon:

I managed to snaffle a few geocaches, both real and virtual:

And most importantly for a group of scrapbookers from the UK, there was a very successful trip to Michaels!

Can you tell we were excited?!

Want more tens? Got some of your own to share?  Pop over to Shimelle's blog and join in!

Ten on the Tenth: Things To Do In Las Vegas

If you came here looking for recommendations based on personal experience - my apologies!
You see I haven't actually been to Las Vegas - YET!
I'm about to go and have been reading my guide books and planning with my friends how we can fill our 7 nights (and 6 days) there.  So here are 10 things I am planning to see and do in Vegas:

First and foremost there is Michael's!
Yes, the hobby store was actually the reason given for flying 5000 miles around the world when we first started talking about the trip - 4 scrapbookers in search of a 40% off coupon!  I think it might have been cheaper to pay full price and delivery charges from 2Peas, but possibly not as much fun.

Secondly there will be the illuminations; I'm currently struggling to imagine daylight in Las Vegas - most of the TV and film images that I recall are of  the strip at night!  I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the Bellagio Fountains.

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Thirdly there will be a trip to see Cirque du Soleil - my third show, having already hugely enjoyed Alegría in Antwerp (1998) and Quidam in Manchester (2001) ... I am really looking forward to watching Mystère at the Treasure Island Hotel.

Then there is the hotel we'll be staying in - New York New York - the one with the built in roller coaster!

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In fact no.s 5, 6, 7 and 8 are also hotels - I can't wait to see the Luxor, Paris, Venetian and Caesar's Palace - around the world in 3 miles?!

I'm also going to look out for a Dairy Queen as I want to try a Choco-Cherry Love Blizzard as recommended by Susanne!

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And finally, even though I don't really gamble at home (the only time I bet on a horse in the Grand National it was cancelled) I will be chancing the odd $10 here and there - but as I don't know how to play poker, blackjack or craps, and slot machines are a mystery to me, I'm not sure where I'll be losing my money!

Have you got any tips or recommendations (or warnings) about Vegas for me?  Do please share before going off to Shimelle's place for more Tens on the Tenth.