365/321-2 Fence-books

Well I thought it was going to be a random fence picture which I took today, a day late and then the evening happened and I got some great 'real' shots.


It's been a whistle stop time the last day or two. Zac was due home yesterday teatime and I really enjoyed making sure the fridges were full! It was not so much about spoiling him, but knowing that we would all be about and that there should be lots of niceness in the food stakes!



I get a lot of ribbing about having everyone round when Zac is home, he takes it better than me!  Tom was teasing us that there is some big event going on, maybe some celebrities are being helicoptered in...so I teased him back that he is so humble he doesn't realise the party is for him.. hahah, Tom said 'humble' is never a term he has been called.. he is very humorous, a sarcastic cynical humour but always amusing! 

Mind you it's not as much ribbing as Ross got when he was holding Lyla.. and April had the bottle of cider..

I think Ross is a little broody!

Col's dad got home this evening from his two weeks trip to see friends and relatives in Liverpool (they hail from there originally, planned to retire to Cornwall when the boys left home and Col said 'Don't wait, I'll come too..' The rest as they say is (our family) history! )

Sooo.. yesterday.. shopping, office work (and there is plenty of that, everyone wants to order before Christmas.. why? It's handling equipment for goodness sake, hardly on anyone's Santa list!) .. and I fetched Lilly from PreSchool. She came home and we had some nice time making people out of fruit and veg, then Lisa and Ross were both here when Zac arrived. Quite unusual to have my three big kids home together, kinda nice.

Yesterday evening Col was loving it, watching TV with the boys and catching up, suddenly for once the male/ female balance was in his favour!  Today I have hung out with Kate this morning, all things girlie, nails and hair for her and shopping for me!  I picked up some stuff for the little 'uns for Christmas, wow they are so easy to buy for... Magic painting and stickers! Last year Lilly said her best thing was 'bath bombs'!! I have to consult Zac for the techi stuff everyone grown up wants!

This evening we finally .. and when I say finally, I mean Finally set fire the a bonfire which has been growing in Pops' field since Christmas 2009! It had pallets, trees and shelving on it, it took a while to get going but it was nice to have the family around and make a small evening of it. Veg curry went down well and everyone had time together.  Now it's blog time and F1 in the 'boys / sitting room'!

Here's Lilly and the girls outside.. good job there was a fence there for Col to be more relaxed from a H&S point of view!

Brazier to keep us warm

Fence!!

Books!

And for other news : Lyla showed us how she can peel a satsuma ... and poor Jb had trouble getting Lemon to set for her trial run of Lemon Meringue Pie.. oh well, there's always tomorrow!

Ahhh, and some of the books above my kitchen PC.. an odd mix!

365/320 Uplifting.

Difficult word to pick a photo for instantly.. well, not true.. the first one I thought of was my rocks layout but I have posted that before and waxed lyrical about the great feelings of 'topping up' I get when we go there, especially on the seaward side..

A kind of different slant today.. Music!

Uplifting :To raise to spiritual or emotional heights; exalt: music that uplifts the spirit.

well we love a good music session. the other day Col was playing Pink or Robbie or maybe the Undertones 'Teenage Kicks' I expect and Jordan whispered to me that she thinks he may be getting a little deaf... wll that's rich coming from the teenagers huh!
i explained that despite our increasing years, we had always had children in the house and had never really had much opportunity to play loud music and please ourselves..

..but the odd evening when they do.. listen out.. lots of Robbie, the Jam, Pink and Charlotte Church (no, not the voice of an angel phase!)

oh and this is a big favourite..

Maybe turning back time is what we are trying to do, but a good session with YouTibe is our way of doing it!  Lats New Year and for our 'Zac's going away' party we got loads of music videos and had them on screens in two rooms.. us oldies were the last standing and the teens were laying in bed at 2.30am!!

365/319 Nostalgic

So this is what most people think should be my middle name ... (and to be fair is much preferable to the middle name I do have!!) I stop well short of being one of those people who has a 40's styled house, or one who wears a certain style of clothing relating to a period.. but I do fit the definition perfectly..

Nostalgia : a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time
I read Anne's definition and blog and understand that slant and how it can be a painted negative emotion but mine is more 'wistful' and 'sentimental' purely I think because I had a lovely childhood and as I moved home at 13 it compounded the fact that I was leaving not only a place but also a time.

The place has hardly changed since then and some of the same people live there still and I can go back and reminisce about things so it's a nice feeling all round... my family refer to a return visit (it is only about 15 miles away) as Mum's Nostalgia Tour and they tease me about taking new family members there so I can recount the tales to a new audience!

But I know it is them teasing me and one day, in fact already, they have tales of their own about Penberth.. Ross' first paddle, seing a snake and going there with Will & Michele in the bitter cold and with Uncle Bill taking river photos.

this is a double layout I did when one of Ross' friends got the Nostalgia Tour treatment out west a few years ago....

... and Nostalgic feelings can be conjured up even about quite recent things.. our Zac had hours of fun with Squawky the parrot when he was young. It just says everything you say back to it and seems to be a favourite with toddlers forever...he was featured with vintage model cars in a nauticalia magazing I saw in the office today, of all days!

.. we have one still and I think it is the third or fourth we have owned since Zac's! Lilly likes to make him wear a Pirate's hat too!

One for Linda!

 

(I am blogging early tonight, planning to watch Erin Brockovich with Ross & April..(I love that film.. @*$%! ugly shoes! ).... oh and off to find a fatted calf.. Zac is home for the weekend!!)

365/317-8 Refreshing-thoughtful

Monday was crazy as usual at Lisa's so I collected Lilly from school.  i just adore picking her up and seeing her so pleased to see me.  We bought some goodies and came back home here and she had boiled egg and soldiers, here with Jordan (who rather untrue to form said she would have one too!)

When I dropped her back and came home Jordan had started tea, lovely stir-fry and salmon.. good girl!  We had been good, on salad and stuff all day so I had a refreshing guilt free wine and soda! 

(We won't mention at this point the two, or almost three of JB's baking I have 'tested' today..she baked fab banana muffins which would double as puddings and some with sultanas which were F-A-B.. also some gingernread cupcake which I adore..!!)  My excuse is hormones and since I didn't have a rush for chocs at the weekend I must be due for some treats of the sugary kind today!  ;-)

Today I have had Kate's pals back for tea.. not very thoughtful of me to take their photos .. but maybe I made up for it by giving Lowena this copy of Dawn French's book.. she is a huge fan and is going to a book signing on Saturday,.. she smiles for England and I think she has a look of Goldie Hawn about her.. all Private Benjamin and that.. such fun too! 

A lot of thinking and pondering will go on here in the next couple of weeks as Kate has the finals of a Teen Model competition coming up at the end of the month.. how to get there (Watford!), what to wear, what to say (and not to say) at the interviews and what if.. what if.. she gets to the last three and goes to the Clothes Show on 7 December where they choose an overall winner. 

She is nervous but excited, as am I I guess, we haven't really dabbled in this much and the opportunity would be to then use the 'being in the finals' to add to her experience when applying for model jobs next year.  It is so hard to decide which way to go with it, she is young yet we need to move it forward to see if it is feasible.

I am not big on promotion of the kids, I just want them all to be happy and doing something they enjoy, but she loves this and does take a gorgeous photo... and she is very tall and lean..so, maybe it will happen.. and hey, I can maybe spend the day Christmas shopping in watford.. yay!

PS do you like my new look blog.. well slightly modified, a little redder (as is my want) and a little wider (as is my need), but it feels more bouyant and positive for a new challenge next year, or it may change again......

365/314-6 Ponder..warm..memories.

Hi.. me again! Just playing a minor catch up. I could post three times and pretend they are daily entries but hey.. I even think the three words work well together as a phrase which fits well to today and this special time of year when we remember all those we have lost, not only the soldiers in the wars.

So, to recap.. Friday.. poor Col, a tough few days driving and spending time with customers, then a day in the office fighting proverbial fires on the technical front as is the case when you make bespoke units from concept to delivery in about 16 weeks!.. he was quite worn out by the end of the day and was in need of a gin or two!  We have been dieting a bit (well eating a lot less bread, very few cakes and loads less wine and chocolates..yes, eating normally!) the last few weeks with some decent results, and me playing teen taxi also helps us drink less of an evening.. but on Fridays we usually do start the evening with something relaxing!

As you know Jen, Anne and I have been pondering the details of the challenge for next year and we know one of the weekly photos will be a view, so we can see how it grows and changes over the seasons.  I plan to use a view across the field at the bottom of our yard, Col has plans to build a new workshop / shed there so he says the view may not be improved, so i hope to include ths ite and some vegetation to help show the seasons..

BUT my main picture will be of my view across Porthcurno bay.  I have often taken the shot from the top of the hill (just by the place where we had outr wedding meal, the hotel is now holiday lets and one of those flats is on my personal 'Iwantoneofthose' lists!

I chatted to the rest of the family about it (the image I should choose, sadly not about buying a holiday let!) and we agreed that we do get up there, about ten miles away, every month or so and the view will change with sea state and tide, as well as the light quality..and what better excuse to get out there for a walk every few weeks. (It is close to where my M&D are buried so it is a cause for visiting most months in any case, what with special days to remember for them throughout the year)



My view for 2013



So, today I went with Ross & April and another of their pals and we did an extended walk there, not very long, but more than the usual trip.. across the top of the beach, up the steps to the Minack, refreshment break and then onwards along to Porthchapel and up to church and back along the road.  It was fab.. great weather, huge waves, sunshine and a great topping of the usual nostalgia..and they all indulged me so kindly! Crazy old lady!

We decided a view from the top of the beach would give us vegetation in the picture to show the seasons too.. I can't see me using only one of these views!  This is the view over the next headland as you walk from the Minack towards PorthChapel, the seas were huge and as it was almost high tide we didn't get down on the beach..



Porthchapel beach

Yesterday I went to town, got my nails done, a vain attempt to make my scuffed up hands tidy for the Christmas season, and did some bits & bobs for stockings.. yes, they still have all those fillers even at 15 to 26 years old!  But it is great having the young ones to buy for, all those Dot to Dot books and stuff..

Later the girls came over so JB could babysit as we went to Truro with M&D to see Greg Davies (the headmaster form the Inbetweeners) do his stand-up show.  We ate first and the show was really good, a full house and he clearly enjoys and is amused by the whole thing he does..xx 

Lilly was very happy with her new jumper and this duck which Dom helped her make a shiny foil helmet for.. but she made me promise to 'fix the red-eye' before I posted this.. Lilly in her warm new fleece.

I just love those fleece jamas too, she loves them because they are more boyish and have dinosaurs!

Memories always feature heavily whenever we drive to the west of Penzance, especially so when we get close to the sea. It's amazing how replenished I feel being there, it's as if the sea is a link to the life we had as kids, as if the same sea touched my family all those years ago..

.. I also loved this shot of the sky as we drove away, towards Sennen, I always love when the sun peeks through the sky, like someone somewhere is saying Hi..

.. it was Mum's birthday last week, she would have been 87. Every day I hear myself say something or I feel something which makes me understand better the way she was..

This is an old layout I did of the Minack which kind of says it all really...

365/313 Domestic

Ahhh I wondered if something would happen which would fit this prompt.... and as I was starting to make some tea with Ross (JB had lit the fire, so we were on real division of labour here!).... April started to do the ironing.. what a star!   The other day she was doing some and I was showing her how my mum had taught me (and then Ross when he went to ATC for a while) how to iron a nice shirt.. it was painful for me, I just wanted to get in there and do every one..

.. but today I was busy making tea and now I am blogging and I have beaten one of my main control-freakery things.. and handed on the ironing!   She has just told me she thinks it is quite therapeutic so I'm happy to help her with that!!

I have a domestic!!

Anyway, it's no big deal, everything is worn again and in two or three days it's in the wash again!

365/312 Creature.

Well this isn't a word I use very much but I notice that Lilly likes to use it, I think because her Dad refers to her as his little creature and also to the living things you find in gardens and stuff as creatures. Funny how some people use a word a lot while others don't, I think the things you find in the garden are what my Mum would call creepy crawlies; my favourite was the wonderfully but locally called 'Grammer-sow'. 

Now my brother was just starting secondary school when I was born, the story goes that Mum had put his new Grammar School uniform out before she went off to hospital, that was a Wednesday, just after she had burnt her arm with an iron and everyone wondered if that would set the wheels in motion and the new baby would finally make an entrance...well I finally arrived on the Saturday, late in the evening after Dad had hung around every evening hoping something would happen.. they almost sent her home at one point, not like today when if they get you in they fiddle and interfere til the darned baby is here and you are on your way home pronto!

Anyways, as ever I digress, I grew up thinking that the 'Grammer-sows' were named after the kids at Ken's school, as that was what the kids used to call the children who went on to Grammar...little did I know, and even when I discovered it I didn't want to change my lovely nickname for them.. yes, they were 'woodlice'... somehow not half as romantic a name.. they were so cool, they lived in rotten wood, of which there was a lot in the hedgerows and even better, if you played with them they rolled into tight little balls..

More recently these are the Creatures that spring to mind, Zac used to love these characters..hope it plays okay..

.. and here for good measure is our lovely Harvest Mouse creature..I so love her!

365/311 Dotty!

Well, quickie tonight! I had take-away with Kate and April and we've had a lazy evening. JB is at her cooking class and has been home making gingerbread again today.. such cute little things she made.

I have been trying to be 'good' and eat less sweet and naughty stuff but the take-away, a glass of wine and some minstrels beat me! Oh well start again tomorrow!

I am making a few notes of ideas for next years challenge, just in case I lose my creative mojo one month! Looking forward to it!

Here's some of my primary coloured bowls with dotty accents!

365/310 Bright

Great prompt for a bright and chilly day. It has been so wet the last few nights, but today was good.  I was pretty tired though, what with teen taxi as I call it, fetching Kate after work the last three nights... luckilythe girls slept through on saturday evening so that helped.

This was my view as I approached the village about 9am today..I just love the sun in a blue sky.

Lisa was dead busy with work so she called and asked me to fetch Lilly. It really brightened my afternoon. We went to M&S on the way and bought her a few treats; she loves hiding her face when I take pictures.. it was well timed as I was begining to get one of those wearies on, you know, when you aren't too busy and the afternoon drags on..

Col is way up north tomorrow til Thursday, will pick up his Dad who mis up there visiting friends, sadly severel of them have been widowed recently but such is life in your late 70s.

Kate has her GCSE Maths this week, she is trying hard, really wants to get a decent grade so maybe she can settle with it but I guess they will want to try for improvement in June.. hey ho, English & Science in January, but as she says she isn't going to be a scientist.. and I tend to agree..;-)

365/309 Paper and A dark & stormy night...

..for Story Telling Sunday over at Sian's place! here!

My Mum used to tell us stories about a fictional character called Jan Stone, I am sure there was one in everyone's village folklore, but as a kid I was sure that someone really knew him.  

He wasn't blessed with being at the front of the queue when they were handing out the intelligence and poeple loved to tell stories about him.... the one I remember best was when Jan was round at his girlfriend's house, probably somewhere St. Buryan I believed, and in came some real bad weather.  

'Jan,' said his girlfriend's mother, 'the weather has come in bad and it won't be very good walking the three miles home on a night like this, so you had better stay here, we can make up a bed in the living room.'

'Proper job' said Jan  and settled down for the evening.  After supper about ten o'clock Jan got up and went and put on his coat.  'Where you off to Jan?' asked his girlfriend's mother...

'Well if I aren't goin' home I'd best nip and let Mother know as she will be expecting me'

It's kind of a nice story not so easily understood in today's age of mobile phones and the internet..

Paper: altered paper and added paper to be fair.. some images of the part finished altered book I worked on yesterday.  I plan to add images of underwater with the kids on holiday..but the plates and drawings are lovely themselves!

This first one has a backing paper from a Tim Holtz stamp and my favourite core papers added!
Yes, even the packaging of his stuff is good and the whole project would be dead but for Distressed Ink!

This right hand page was some layering I did but didn't like enough for the front cover.. thanks to Margaret for the hessian, Pat for the ribbon.. oh and my knicker drawer for the lace!

.. and I have caught up, two blogs below, but not very newsy.. promise to 'do better'!! xxxx

PS Looking forward to our challenge next year my bloggers!  xxxx