365/244 Through a window

 I was going to take something special just for this prompt as I like the chance to not be too specific with a word. I think phrases or favorite song lines or something like that would be fun prompts, maybe if we all had longer or just a weekly prompt and longer to think about it.. but then maybe it would be Friday and we'd forget altogether, like most of us on the Happy Scrappers monthly scrap challenge... who knows!

My favourite 'window' pictures are Jordan's altered images I featured a long while back...you can see them here!

.. but browsing on my house pc I found more of her pics and thought it would be nice to show these oldies.. I reckon it was about 3 and half years ago, we had a day in London on Kate's birthday on the way home from holiday.. we were shattered but did the 'Eye' and had some time out.. In the top picture you can see the Thames Barrier, I used to hear a lot about it as it was a high profile and dangerous job for commercial divers way back in the day!  

 The second pic is Col and Zac, amidst some engineering discussion no doubt!  Zac is on his last few days away now, a three day cruise, lots of goodbyes, some sad I guess as he has made some good friends and one in particular.. (shhh.. we shall see, I will wait the appropriate amount of time before asking.. or maybe she will call first and I will know!  ;-) and I know he will read this.. stalking mums and sons eh! )

So he will leave the ship Monday,. maybe even on Sunday and set off on the long trip home from Sydney, arriving in London 5am on Tuesday. We were both going to fetch him but I decided to leave it to Col, let him enjoy the chat with Zac and then I can be here all tidied and with a meal ready... I feel more organised with him coming back this time, have even sorted some car insurance for him on our car so he can get out if he needs to whilst he's here (and maybe he can fetch Kate and save me a trip or too.. and then I can have a glass or two!)

It is Zac's 20th birthday Wednesday so it will be good to have him here, maybe lazy lunch (though I have the dentist first thing.. eeek, hate it but then get brave once it's done!)

I really like remembering his birthday and stuff as we had him the same year we got married and it's like a soppy little revisit to the times.. twenty years seems so long but in another sense it has gone in a flash..

Loving writing on the house pc, I have been blogging on my tablet mostly and the keys and stuff are quite awkward for blogging as apparently the software isn't fully synchable (?) with tabs , hence my prolific rambling when all I meant to do was bung up the pics!  Better go, everyone will be looking for a meal!

365/243 Thriving.

 Yesterday evening I had a couple of hours productive scrapping. 

Zac is home next week and I am hoping to get up to date on his midi sized album for when he gets back.. I also wanted to enter a 'sports' challenge on Happy Scrappers' but sadly had trouble transferring images and ended up missing the chance to enter.. ah well, it was only just 'sporty' anyways.. a few nice shots of him during his time off in May, paddle boarding and sailing.

Must try harder with the Happy Scrappers challenge, it is no pressure, one layout a month and an easy prompt.. maybe it's the pressure which is lacking.. you know the cameraderie we seem to feel on the 365 challenge which makes us all want to do it for the team!

I was laughing at myself for not having all the letters I wanted.. I used the surround instead of the letters as there were more of these to suit!

Mmm, busy day today, more customers here but it all went well and I thought Col and I should get out for an hour after work.... we headed to a local pub but it was real busy so we ordered Indian take-away .... and waited the same hour we expected to wait at the pub.. oh well..home to eat it and then get some blogging updated..

and here we are.. have just been upstairs trying to view the back of my back tooth which feels like a piece has fallen off it.. urghh, hate anything to do with teeth. or to the point dentists!  So imagine me, a small, say 2inch circular mirror in mouth trying to view very back back tooth in larger mirror.. and get the light to shine.. and watch it all with glasses perched on nose.. a sure sign I am not too far from ... well being old!!

Yeah, everyone keeps telling me that I keep stopping mid-flow on a story or sentence .. and then never finish it.. but I say it's not my age it's just.........

....... oh, I forget now!  ;-)

365/242 Slow.

Writing after the event there wasn't much 'slow' about this day but sure have few fun photos with a tenuos link or two!  I worked the morning and then had Lilly for the afternoon, did a few errands ... well I got ourselves a spare booster seat so we can do pick-ups at the drop of a hta.. then we went to have a look at cookers.. ours is dying slowly and I think I'll have to replace it before we replace the kitchen itself... Lilly had fun pushing all the buttons and before that she was riding a little bike around Halfords!! She left a pen behind and we had to go back and find it.. secreted in a shopper bag on the front of the bike.. she had really settled in!!

Then we went to Pets at Home, bought some live crickets for Kate's b/f's lizard! ... yes, live crickets.. the lady on the checkout said she used to cringe about them but now she feels sorry watching them have a drink or bathe in the water just to be eaten the next moment by a lizard!

Lilly was oblivious, just loved playing 'house' in the chicken and dog sheds!

Needless to say it was slow progress around the shops, but it was cool and what my kids used to enjoy with Col's mum ..

365/241 Textured.

I like textured things for my scrapbook pages. I am going to Newlyn for Just Scrapbooking on Saturday and we are revisiting different embossing techniques, all that lovely melted metal effect and everything.  For this picture I only had to nip upstairs and look in a few little boxes for 'some of my favourite things!'

...embossed Ten Second Studio metal, glitter cardstock (I try to sneak it into every layout!). Cuttlebugged cored'ination papers, feathers, enamelled dominos and some weathered acrylic painted letters.. oh and a snippet of glittery acetate which I never seem to use but always want to!

365/240 Free choice..

... well what else would you wish for on a wet Bank Holiday!  I had a nice day!  I did stay in bed a little too long, then I got up with a headache but only til I got going (!), even though I had been up to chat with JB before she left for work at 8am, poor honey.. but she is back to college soon so it's not for much longer these 12 hour kitchen shifts.. she's loving it though, except of course when she hates it!!!!

Col and I worked Ikea magic and finally took a couple of hours to put the wardrobe doors together, so that's nice.. and especially when you look outside and it's not nice enough to be out.  Then, interspersed with making food and drinks I did the finishing touches to a layout which has been developing the past week or so.  

It began with some small pics of Zac being accosted on the grass by the girls, on a rare sunny day in May... I had some gorgeous K&Co papers for my birthday last year and a scrap of it alongside the pictures just begged to be scrapped.. I picked out some pink and orange as well and my old faithful border punch and some other scraps of metal, chipboard and flowers from my every growing scrap pile and there we have it..

365/239 Edible.

...at first I was unsure where I would go with this, but our friendly neighbourhood wild rabbit is sticking it out in our front garden and he came to mind... all those edible dandelions and other juicy treats for him..

We are waiting on some new belts for the mower so the grass is up to his ears, probably just how he likes it!  We still haven't worked out whether the cat is just tolerating his presence in the front garden, or whether he is toobig for Joey to consider eating him... you see, all things in the food chain are edible to something or other!!!

365/238 Purple.

Somewhat belated but yesterday all got sucked up and before I knew it was bedtime!  

Grim weather until about 4pm and it seemed that everyone was heading for a wedding... lots of cars en route to town and the peel of bells from the village nearby when we nipped to get some bits at Tesco.

Ben from our office maried Kerry this afternoon and luckily they married at the hotel so no worries about dresses in muddy puddles! We went along in the evning and they all looked gorgeous... she won £1000 off her dress in a Wedding Fair competition and the one she chose was gorgeous, Ben looked dapper in his brocade waistcoat and burgundy was the accent they used.. even on the cupcake wedding cake... just lovely!

 

I only took a few pics on my phone and none really good enough to share, so here's my purple offering,.. still flowering, an orchid from March 2011 which a frind gave me when Lyla was born.. it lay dormant over Christmas but is flowering big style for the summer... !

...but I couldn't resist this snippet from last night, Col (head cut off!) with Sam from our office and Martin in what was not actually a pink / purple shirt!  You can tell this was a camera phone shot in the dark!

365/237 Footwear.

I love shoes! In recent years I have bought more, but more often than not I end up wearing the old faithfuls.... boots or flipflops and nothing in between. I seem to wear trousers or maxi dresses and part of it is because I never know which shoes to wear with a skirt.. I seem to buy them on a whim but they are not quite right..I can remember buying them all, like when I scrap a picture I can remember where and when and how I felt when I bought them!

These tiger print pumps are so fun, my flip flops broke outside Next and these were the only shoes I liked to tide me over.. they are a bit small but work for dashing outside when bare foot.. everyone thinks they belong to the girls or a girlfreind of one of the boys... their way of saying they are too young for me!!

Do you remember the wardrobe saga.. well I always wanted a shoe rack and now I have one it is still not full as lots of shoes end up living in the porch! My 'best-rarely-worn-because-they-are-too-high' shoes live here in my bedroom... mmm, maybe we will put the doors on the wardrobe this weekend, I don't mind really as it has been so nice to have open shelves and drawers,!

So, finally, these are my favourite shoe this month, Reef flipflops but with wedges so I don't feel quite so 'flat'  and a sparkley edge to them too... mind you we walked miles in Lille and I wore these and almost strained my foot, just too far in slaps!

...here endeth the shoe lesson!!

365/236 Irregular.

Thanks for all your nice comments.. it is lovely to have children about and I do love small babies especially!  

It was an odd day, we didn't set an alarm as Col was so tired from the driving to Reading and back yesterday so we woke at 9.15am, wierd start to a work day. Then 4 of the guys were off and the phones were silent til 11am... oh the double joys of an impending Bank Holiday weekend...

So I snuck out to do some errands and Lilly hung out with me this afternoon, we went to town and had an ice cream, met Ross by chance and also got home in time to see JB decorating some lovely cupcakes for our design guy Ben and Kerry who get married this weekend..

JB had made some random irregular chocolate shapes to go on her very regular box of cupcakes, coffee and chocolate!  We ate from a bowl of irregularly arranged choc and yoghurt raisins... and how irregular does Lilly look with her 'I dressed myself' combination of skirt and top!

365/235 Star...no.3

Instantly I saw the prompt I smiled. We have a story in our family which makes us all think the same phrase.  Years ago when the three youngest were still at Primary School they did a Christmas play called The Christmas Star and every time the little star helped out they said (in unison) 'You're a Star you are..you're Special'  After about thirty renditions of this phrase it has stuck with us, so if we ever call someone a star you can hear the echo 'You're Special' somewhere in your mind!

I have so many stars in my household I don't know which one to choose..Col and I were only saying last thing yesterday what a joy the grand daughters are, Lilly so entertaining and Lyla really getting a bolder persnality and sense of humour.. it doesn't seem long ago we were getting used to the idea of a baby in the house.. and now Lilly is four! .. and Lyla almost 18 months.... perfect timing to announce that they will be adding to their numbers in January... awhh yes, we are so excited, even at number three, more so really as we had our three little 'uns in very similar time frame..

365/234 Straight.

Busy eventful day here, started early with a client visit to FAT Factory Acceptance Test a big drum lifting unit for a big offshore company in Not much for me to do but I could feel Colin wanting it all to be done and dusted.. done and dusted it was, all the boxes ticked and no issues. Like every other big job it is a big learning curve but we do learn loads and can use that again and again..

I snuck off after lunch and had the girls over to play..glueing, sticking, shape sorting, eating, all the things at the centre of toddlers world! ..Lyla's new phrase is 'oh dear' which I just love and Lilly, well she is just a barrage of words and questions, not all ones you want to answer either!! She calls the guys in my office 'Nannies workers' and she comes in and holds court, today she was swapping emotional facial expressions with Scott, and somehow she always gets them to play along... so bossy.. my Mum would have loved her.. and perhaps told me that she is just how I was..!!! ouch!

It was late when I started to settle for a picture, I had just draped a clean teatowel over some cooling buns when I saw these very 'straight' self-portraits of the children when they were at St Piran's School in 1996/7... Jordan's is a little more 'creative' but to be fair she was only 3 and a half!

365/233 Triangular.

mmmm, nothing jumped into my mind.. except that lovely old Toblerone song.. Triangular almonds on triangular trees, triangular honey from triangular bees....

.. but this mackeral has triangular fins galore...xx

365/232 Square

.. quickie tonight.. we have been out in the boat for a few hours and saved the weekend from being dull beyond compare!!  It was fine and sunny but a decent ground sea so when we came in with the inflatable it was a jump off the bow job!.. Col said Iwas almost athletic.. not a descriptive term I am used to, even with almost in front!!

And I cooked roast for seven of us.. first big meal for about two months, ahhh will have few more when Zac is back for three weeks from 4 Sept..

My world appears to be very circular and rectangular, couldn't find much square.. so here is the tile from around my fireplace..

I am just going to watch 'The Last Weekend' , hoping it's good as I have the title of the book on a small piece of paper in my purse as I read a review of it once and thought it may be worth a read.. strangely enough I looked it up last week and now it's on TV!

365/231 Circular

Well once again I refer to my library and a circular plate with a bunch of gorgeous circular butterfly cakes JB made a while ago.. funny really as ever since I prepped this entry I have encountered all things circular... melon, dishes, glasses, cups, plates, tomatoes, radishes... oh dear it was cicular sensory overload but still I stayed with this pic..

..having a lazy Saturday here, out early to help Kate pick up a bearded dragon for her b/f's birthday... off to the fish and reptile shop.. oooowwwhh.. reptiles.. all dark corners and humidity, not my cup of tea at all.   Then we bought crickets for it to eat, I kept guard on the dragon in its little tupperware box (with holes of course..) while she got a bag from Pets@Home .. we laughed as I asked if they were alive, she said yes, in a box.. and we imagined a plastic bag ofcrickets jumping about inside.. funny moments we wil remember.

Everyone else is busy, I was dead tired and even left Col and his Dad to go check the boat and then slept on the sofa, I guess life is busy in a different kind of way to when the children were small.. and some weeks there is no let up..

Been chatting about Zac quite  a bit, looking forward to him being home and in our time zone til next may. The girls back to college and school, the status quo is resumed..

Oh I am the worst mother too.. forgot to tell you that JB got 2 A's in her AS Photography and Graphics, her two pet sublects and 2 D's in English and Business, her less pet like subjects!  She is on English for Yr2 and also doing Fine Art, but the latest word from the kitchen is her thoughts of a Patisserie Apprenticeship... mmm, creative bunny that she is, it's just so good the options are endless..xx

365/230 Curves.

A 'refer to library' day for me.. we have been out to eat this evening to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of one of our design guys, so it's a weary on now and barely keeping awake even though I am on taxi mode..

.. plenty of colourful curves and to be fair a few straights too on Lilly's Minnie Mouse bike she had for her 4thbirthday..

365/228-9 Unity / Teamwork

I suffer from martyr syndrome to some extent... I moan like hell about not getting help to do things but then I am often happier doing the job myself and absolutely hate watching someone else do chores while I don't.  

But a day or two ago I came in at lunchtime, the girls were both out, having had their shower and associated titivating, gone off for their day doing something they were looking forward to.. (mind you I guess that's what holidays are for aren't they..?!) Ross and his g/f had ironed clothes and headed off for a day out on their work day off..

(hope you are picturing the scene..)

..the iron was on the side, the sink had dishes in ... and sacriledge, the dishwasher from the night before was Full of Clean Dishes... it's not the first time.. and it IS a pet hate of mine.. so I wrote this...well my tongue was in cheek and I did smile at it, but all I was hoping for was some Unity & Teamwork about the place... ahah tenuous links or what!!

Needless to say I am not sure any of them have done dishes yet, but my chest feels lighter .. ;-)  Soft touch or what!... x

365/227 Bronze.

Happy Birthday to Colin's Dad for today.....we had the girls over to enjoy an early tea, barbecue outside, eaten indoors as it was raining...doh! Then the presents... plants, rhubarb to grow, fishing and gardening gear and a big parasol so he can eat outside on the balcony without too much sun.

Lisa's Tom has acquired a new tipple.. Brandy &Lovage, Pops introduced him to it a while back, so they bought him some.. and hey presto.. the Brandy is a perfect Bronze for today's prompt!

365/226 Silver.

One of my favourite necklaces.. a silver disc on a cord, present from Uncle Bill on one of his visits.. and wearing it today no less!

365/225 Exhausted

Sunday 12th August .. Dad is paintballing so the kids and Mum came by to hang out with Nan and Pops.. despite this interlude I am sure Mum goes to bed exhausted most nights after chasing the tiny pair of feet around all day!!

Lilly kept sticking her big toe in the air so perspective has made it look like she has a really big gap!!

365/224 Gold..

.. writing in restrospect, the most golden thing on the day around here is Kate's hair... another Boardmaster's pic.. all the things a girl needs to take to her mate's so she can be sure to look perfect.... straighteners, curling tongs, extensions, tights, leggings, shorts...tops to swap cardis to borrow or lend..

She was chatting with Col last evening and I commented on how alike they were looking.. she even allowed this picture.. awhh sometimes teenagers make you go all gooey inside.. and other times... !  ;-)

365/223 Higher.

Friday 10th August... Kate's off to Boardmaster's for the day.. at least this year she has realised the importance of wearing wellies... only trouble is the hemline of her shorts is getting higher!!

365/222 Determination

Wednesday evening I was driving through town and was determined to Snap a quick shot of the first Golden Post Box .. sited in Penzance just beside the harbour to commemorate the determination and success of our local girl Helen Glover who with her rowing partner won the first GB Gold Medal at London 2012.

365/221 Hope.

...that maybe we will have a few days of summer now, just long enough for Kate to enjoy Boardmasters Friday (oops, that's today now!) without the real need for wellies and waterproofs.. should be okay tomorrow, not like last year!

Hope also that we will get out on the boat and just have some catch up time, to regain some energy.

..and that we can do the same again in September when Zac comes home so we can all have some family chilled time together like in May.. he called today, sounds tired but perky talking about his plans for getting a car and accomodation sorted for his next nine months in Southampton.  It's always easy chatting to him, we just fall back into it like we've not been apart..

Hopes..like dreams ... 'are nothing more than wishes..and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true..'

(if you get that excerpt of a golden oldie, answers in comments please!)xx

365/220 Relief

Working almost in reverse this week, kind of lost my photo mojo whilst Col has been out visiting customers but it was a relief to have him home this evening and just enjoy his company, sitting out in the sun and having snacky tea and of course a glass of nice stuff!

365/219 Frustration.

..I know that when I feel frustrated by something I really know it, but soon afterwards, when asked what does this to me I can't quite think of something so maybe underneath I am a fairly contented bunny, though i ca moan for England.. mmm, do they do a Olympic medal for it!

Some days I feel frustrated because I am not sure what to cook for tea or who and when people will appear... of late it has been me, Col and his Dad so I have taken to quickie meals so we can all rest or get on afterwards.. but then some days the girls will be home and have friends over and suddenly I need to cater for ten! Thank God for frozen stuff eh. Tonight with Col out I was able to make lasagne, he's not too keen, but this way Kate will eat some tomorrow for breakfast.. yeah, you read it right!

While the oven was on I made a rhubarb cake I saw on Janice's blog here! . As I made it I realised it is very similar to a Dutch Apple Cake I make from the Crank's Cookbook.

It derives from the River Cottage site here which I think looks really nice site....it does suggest pink rhubarb may look better than green but hey, it was reduced and beggars can't be chosers or whatever the old saying is..

.. ..so tonight I fed four, plus Ross and his g/f later plus Kate for breakfast, was cooking a good while but enjoyed it, time in the kitchen with everyone from Cat Stevens to Charlotte Church giving it large.. lovely!

Oh yeah, but the dishes (clean or dirty waiting to be 'done')and household jobs which create more work than you started with, they frustrate me!

365/218 Happiness.

....is looking back several times today on the scrapbooking day I had yesterday.  Linda made a spectacular pop-up layout but I was a little short on a project which is heavy on the photos, so I went for catch up and just enjoyed playing with papers and catching up on the chat.


Funny really, the layout is of some pictures taken by JB with her super fast camera at Ross' birthday last year.. except he's not in them!  I loved the series with Lilly telling some convoluted story or other (mmm, wonder where she gets that from..I even noticed my brother does the same.. and my auntie used to as well..!) and her Mum looking on so proud, then big cuddles.  And just to prove Lyla existed too, at that point very much in awe of and in the shadow of her big sis, a lovely shot with Auntie Kate.  Amazing how they all grow in personality and style in a year!

I found some fairytale themed adhesive ribbon at Crafty Corner in Penzance and it suited lovely.
I felt I was being a little lazy so I stamped my Queen of Hearts e-bay buy (I thought it was going to be huge.. Read the blurb Kathi!!), added some music, nice Tim Holtz paper cuttings and some Prima flowers I had stowed away. I showed Lilly and she was dead set on having the blingy bits for herself last night but I won!

PS. and as for today.. lunch out with my man no tea to cook, some blogging, a doze on the sofa and Andy Murray's triumph.. what more could we ask for?

365/217 Anger.

Well it's not an easy one, certainly not to photograph..and relate to today specifically, especially as I have had a really nice day!  So I guess it will be back to the library or the soapbox?


A little late for the soapbox and so many things to choose from.. parking tickets, education, health & safety... so here's a picture from the other day...

' Don't tease the cat Lyla, he is getting old and get's angry pretty easily!'

365/216 Joy.

Well I am running a day late as Friday was busy and we went out for a bite to eat and just some time-out as cabin fever sets in being here for work and play all week..we went to see 'Ted' .. the trailers were good and it was funny, naughty but funny and nice to just do something different.  Not a film you must see on the big screen but a good take .. but my legs were so tired that I could hardly sit still.. sad old lady!

Today has been a joy from begining to end.. scrapbooking with six good friends, I have missed a few months and it was lovely to catch up, swap news and even play with some paper!  This evening we're on babysitting duties.. Lyla is really liking being here now, so much less shy and remembers some of the stuff we did when she was here for the weekend! 

Lilly and I conspire to get her off to bed good time so we can play with glue and paper.. for a 4 year old she has great dexterity and even let me take a picture of her tweezering some tiny flowers.. we have a small battle as she likes to overglue and I am trying to keep her neat.. darned control freak Nannies eh!

We joined some papers together and gemmd the flowers and generally blinged it all up.. oh and cut out sweet pictures and stuck them on.. now we can be sure what little girl are made of!



Lilly loves Bling! Oh Joy!