Crashed!!!!

Having problems with my computer..Internet intermittent. Hopefully will be back with you very soon.
Take care

A miserable day

What a wet miserable day it's been...the rain, although only light, has not stopped all day. I'm really tired today...not much sleep and painful joints again don't help. I didn't get out of bed until lunch time....haven't stayed in bed that late for a few weeks now. I thought I'd broken that cycle of missing the favourite part of the day... I used to love taking the dog for a walk at 6 o'clock.
I got to thinking a bit more about the condition management course today, trying to think more positively about it...and I realized that I haven't made any cards for about 3 weeks!! So I've set myself a little goal. I browse a few craft challenge blogs but I never actually join in with them. My challenge to myself is to try and loosely follow a couple of these challenges.....not particularly to actually take part....but more for inspirational purposes. If I do manage to actually make a card that fits the requirements of a challenge, then I might post on here.

An apology...

I think I have the condition management course sussed. One of the workers tried to motivate me to set a goal for myself....either long term.... or short term for next week. This was because after reading the "homework" set last week I didn't do it. I didn't think that any of the exercises related to me. After today's session I realized that all the others that were on the course are there because they have been taken off incapacity benefit, and are now on job seekers and looking for employment. The way I see it..and I could be wrong here...is that I don't need any motivation to find work. I want to go back to work. My former employer told me that they would be only too happy to take me back when I was fit enough. I am not fit enough to work. My GP says I am not fit enough....the DWP says I'm not fit enough. I would love nothing better than to be out there earning a wage rather than relying on the pittance of benefits.

On a different subject I have an apology to make to the local cat population. As most gardeners will know...when you dig over a new flower bed, chances are that a cat will try and use it as a litter tray. I dug over one such border and planted a few leftover seeds that my son had given me. The next day I cursed the local cats for digging in it. Today I caught the real culprit.....a blackbird. There he was furiously pecking and digging away with his claws. I think he was after ants...but he may have eaten my newly planted seeds. Sorry cats.

The postie brought me 2 more ATC's. This time from the Crafts Beautiful monthly swap. The theme was black and white. They are really beautiful...and I must say that the scanned picture in no way does them justice. Thanks go to Christine(Cambiel) and Tracy(m10tjm) and of course maggie50 for hosting the swap.

Well I wish...

.........the weather would make up it's mind. Yesterday was quite chilly with some sunshine and showers..more like April than June. Today has been another glorious day with light winds...but has quickly turned dark with heavy rain showers towards the evening. It feels as if there may be a storm brewing. I know I've overdone it again today. Got a bit of housework done....did my weekly washing and went out into the garden and cut the lawns. Well you just can't waste a beautiful sunny day...and more rain has been forecast.
It's the second week of the condition management course tomorrow and I'm not really as excited about it as I was last week. We did have some homework to do but after reading through it several times I don't feel at all inspired by it all. Some of the questions it asks answers for just don't seem to apply to me.....or perhaps I'm missing something?
My neighbours have really p****d me off today. I went to the shop this morning and as I was going down the shared path I noticed a young dead starling. I made a mental note to myself to remove it on my return. It was still there when I got home...so after putting away the bit of shopping I had done I gathered a plastic bag and my small garden shovel. The bird had gone though, so I thought that my neighbour must have moved it. When I went to cut the lawn I noticed that the bird was in amongst one of the plants. I can only assume that the neighbour had kicked it aside when he went out to his car.....during the time that I arrived back home and going out to remove the bird. If I hadn't been out to do the garden, that bird could have been there, unnoticed by me, and with the warm weather it would not have been long before it would be riddled with maggots. Not nice. I don't want to fall out with my neighbours but that is just not on!!

Martine's blog candy...

Some more blog candy to win...so to be in with a chance pop over to Martine's blog.

Got the hedges cut

Ive spent the last 2 days cutting my hedges. The fine weather has held for 2 days allowing me to get them done. It's been a long job. This has been the first cut of the year and I'm usually on the 3rd or even 4th cut by now. As you might be able to imagine the clearing up was the longest and hardest job. I know I'm going to suffer for the next few days, but it is worth it in a way, 'cus I do like my hedges nice and tidy!

I received 2 more beautiful ATC's in the post this morning from the Foggy Friends forum.

The ATC's are from Vikfish (Vicky) and Dragonlady (Dawn). Thank you ladies. Again the theme was butterflies for this swap.

Unfortunately the forum is down at the moment due to updates to the site.

A lovely day out

Saturday started cloudy but brightened up considerably by the time I went to see my grand kids. We did have the odd shower but not enough to spoil our day. A lovely day spent in a park then on to a museum....lots of interesting things to see and do. Too much really...we need another visit. Of course they just had to go into the attached shop......how do kids always know where to find the most expensive of items without really trying? My grand daughter, nearly 12, is growing so fast that she is almost as tall as me....well that isn't hard seeing as I'm only 5 ft tall. She takes after her mum, fortunately, height wise. No problem with buying clothes that are the right length...unlike me or her dad.

They were a little late due to traffic so I decided to have a look at the craft stuff in a nearby shop while I was waiting.....as you do.....and ended up buying a couple of small punches. When I arrived home I had to try out the punches and was dismayed. They wouldn't punch. I was getting a little annoyed at the thought of having to go back to the shop with them..then I looked more closely. They had a little button on the top which locked them...they worked after all. Feeling a little ashamed that I should have read the packaging properly to start with, I read it again.....no mention of this little locking device. So it wasn't all my fault!

I went to son and DIL's for dinner again today....even though I was still tired from yesterday's day out. Brought the new hedging shears back with me as my hedges really do need cutting back now. My son has used them and is really pleased with their performance...better than he expected for cordless. No problem with trailing cables. As I sit here typing, what is the weather doing?....yeah....absolutely persisting it down! Just my luck for the weather to change when I really do need to get a job done. All I can do now is hope that it brightens up during the next few days.

I'm disappointed

The day started wet..then brightened up a little and then turned wet again. It's not been too bad a day. After a very restless night I managed to drag myself out of bed reasonably early and got myself ready for the condition management course. I was a little apprehensive at first but I soon relaxed into it. I didn't expect too much from the first day but I'm already thinking that this isn't for me. The others there were very hard work, they just seemed as if they they were there because they had to be....and it is a voluntary course. The 2 coordinators were struggling to get anyone motivated!! When it boils down it is cognitive behaviour therapy. When I was told about this course, and subsequently signed up for it, I was told that it definitely wasn't CBT. If my GP thought that I needed CBT I would have been referred for CBT. I'm not going to give up on it yet though....I shall see how things go for a while. I feel a bit disappointed now.

Didn't make it...

Did I make it to the CAB today.....? No. My son rang me last night and said that they were going shopping and did I want to go with them. At first I told them no as I wanted to get to the CAB, then I changed my mind.....I'm not able to go shopping on my own, and as my 2 at home have hollow legs and my freezer was sadly lacking in frozen food I decided to go with them. Will definitely have to get to the CAB next week!!! I'm still very tired and have the condition management course starting tomorrow...10 o'clock 'til 2. Another early start for me. Hopefully it wont be too taxing as it is only a short bus ride away, with lunch provided and bus fares refunded. It's not a compulsory course and I don't think I have anything to lose by attending. I will let you know how I get on.

I received 2 ATC's in the post yesterday from the Imag-e-nation forum. The theme was recycle and here they are. Thank you to Dawn and Las.

Dawn use ripped magazine pieces and a cut up tag for the fence.

Las used old buttons and a lace curtain. Both very ingenious.

I'd like a different header for my blog....not sure what yet....but if anyone has any ideas or knows how to do this in "non-techy" language please feel free to let me know.

Feeling the pain..

After yesterday's hospital visit I am really feeling the pain now...and I'm still so tired. The doctor prodded, stretched and twisted my joints and it didn't feel too bad at the time. Needless to say I didn't manage to get to the CAB this morning, it took a lot of energy just to get out of bed....I really must go tomorrow though. It's the one day when they open in the afternoon so I think I may manage that. Other than that I have nothing planned for the rest of the day or tomorrow.

Hospital..

I went to the hospital for my rheumatology appointment today..what a palaver! Firstly finding the entrance wasn't easy. I had a map but it is out of date as there is building work in progress so to get to the clinic I had to go to the entrance to another clinic and trek through corridors. I was early (I always give myself plenty of time at appointments) but didn't have to wait too long. I was then taken into a room and weighed. I have put on about a stone in the three years that I have not worked, but that is only to be expected as I'm not as active as I was. As long as I don't keep putting weight on I should be OK. Then in to see the consultant. A lot of questions and a thorough examination. He concluded that I am in the early stages of rheumatoid arthriris but didn't see the need to actually give me any treatments yet, and that having M.E. confuses the diagnosis somewhat. Then off to have blood taken....4 phials of it...why do they want that much every time ? Then to be x rayed....feet, hands and upper back. The strange thing (well I thought it was strange ) was that I had to remove my my gold chain and cross for the back x-ray..... which I very rarely take off... but not my rings when I had my hands x-rayed. The whole thing, with travelling, took about 4 hours, so now I am really tired. I have to try and be up early in the morning to get to the CAB. There is no appointment system so it's first come first served.....I really need to speak to someone this week regarding my appeal for DLA. (Disabled Living Allowance)

What's cooking......?

Well they say that bad luck comes in three's so I'm waiting for the third. The first was on Friday..about to cook tea ....no gas. Phoned the gas people who said that it could be 4 hours before an engineer could come out. Luckily he was here within the hour. He said that my meter needed changing and did it there and then. Catastrophe diverted. Today has been another glorious day...(a little too hot for my liking).....so I thought I would make a start on cutting the hedges. After a couple of minutes I noticed that the shears were going a bit slow and could smell burning. I immediately turned them off. The motor has burned out...so the hedges haven't got cut. My son and I are now going halves to get some new hedge cutters....but it will be next weekend now before the hedges get cut. There is no way that I'm cutting them using the hand shears....been there..done that! So now I am a bit apprehensive of what else might go wrong. Don't you just hate it when things don't happen the way you want?....it's so frustrating!! I have my appointment at the rheumatology department tomorrow, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Gloriously sunny Sunday

Today has been a gloriously sunny day.....so much for the forecast rain. I have spent the day at son and DIL's. I ended up helping in a small way with their garden. My son is very proud of his little garden and rightly so.....a couple of years ago he wasn't interested in any type of gardening....he just kept the grass and hedges tidy. Now he has a garden to be proud of. OK it will never feature in homes and gardens but it is his little retreat...and spends many hours watching, and delighting in the newly discovered wildlife that visits. Hedgehogs that snuffle around his compost heap, a fox that is no longer wary of him, the many varieties of birds that he feeds and a cheeky squirrel. His grandad would have been proud of him. I've brought home the hedging shears which I hope will get used some time this week. Karl, my eldest at home, has said that he will do that task for me on his next day off from work..Wednesday. I'm not sure that I will be patient enough to wait that long, especially if the weather holds. When it comes to getting a job done I like to get on with it...especially gardening. Not always a good idea for me.....I really must learn to be more patient and pace my energy levels.

Where's the rain gone?

Just when I'd resigned myself to not being able to get out into the garden due to the weather forecast of rain for most of the week.....what happens?.....glorious sunshine! It has rained a little in the evening which has made it perfect gardening weather. The weeds pull out so much easier when the soil is damp. I haven't been able to cut the hedges as I borrow my son's hedge cutters, so decided not to fetch them over 'til the weekend. What's the betting on the weather turning against me? On a more positive note I did get the 3 Father's Day cards done. Had a struggle with one of them though. You know how it is......you get an idea in your head and it just doesn't turn out the way you had envisaged it. I just hope the recipients like them.....Update......Just this minute had a phone call from son....the lady who asked for the cards loves them!! Yay!..love it when I get positive feed back.

I'm having a real problem with my feet at the moment. They are so swollen that walking is painful even around the house. I didn't need to go out yesterday and it was a good job as I would not have got any shoes of any description on my feet. I'm starting to worry a little as I have a hospital appointment next Tuesday, the condition management course on Friday and a day with 3 of my grandkids on Saturday. What am I to do if my feet swell so much that I can't get out? (Any suggestions gratefully received....lol). It could also prevent me getting out into the garden as well.

It's raining...again.

I'm not happy. The weather is against me for cutting the hedges this week, and I doubt that I will be able to do them next week even if the weather is fine as I have rather a lot on. Finally got the details for the Father's Day cards. It is my son that has been asked to make them......6 of them for the same family... and wanted by Friday morning at the latest.....so he asked me to make a couple. No problem I said..that has now gone up to 3 and the trickiest ones..typical!! The trickiest is for a great-grandfather who is Scottish, plays the bagpipes and organ and has a sense of humour....oh and it is from a child. This one has really taxed my brain but I think I've sussed it now....just got to make it. My task has not been made easier due to the fact that my printer was out on the colour cartridge, so that meant me having to make a trip to buy a new one....and I hadn't budgeted for that expense this week. It never rains but it pours comes to mind here.

My mood hasn't been helped by the bad manners of some people. I won't go into too much detail.....suffice to say that if you join in a group craft swap it is only good manners, I think, to be acknowledged for your contribution. If it continues I will not be joining in with future swaps with that particular group. Rant over..nuff said!!

A quiet week ahead

The weather here is a little unsettled, but I'm not complaining. It's still quite warm with the odd rain shower...mostly in the evening. I have some Father's day cards to make but I'm waiting on information about the recipients. It's hard to make cards for men as it is...even harder if you don't have any relevant information.....eg....do they like/participate in a sport, gardening, music...or none of those..if so what are they into? Favourite colour?....football team they support?......some info would be appreciated. I have some ideas and I'm itching to get started. I treated myself to some download images from Charmed Cards and Crafts. It was a hard job choosing which to have.....but have gone for George in the hope that I can use the images for Father's Day cards......I want to play!!!!!

I have a fairly quiet week ahead of me so far, so hopefully I will get the hedges cut. It's not too taxing a job as my neighbour is very good to me.....she cuts the tops of the shared hedges so that makes it a lot easier for me...life is a lot easier when you have considerate neighbours. By the time I get them done you can bet that the grass will need cutting again....lawns just love warm weather and showers.

Free P&P!!

Glenda from Graphicus is giving you free P&P until the end of June...check out the details here.