Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Could my grandkids get any more gorgeous??

Sorry to brag about them....but these children are just so beautiful.... I can't wait to get scrapping all the yummy pictures I get from my girlies featuring our cutie pies. All I need now is some time....

This is the latest on our littlest babe, sweet Matty - or as Great-Grandma would say, Matilda Jae. She has the sweetest smile and has a nature to match. Such a darling sunny baby!

Canarian day....

Look at this little man.... It's Canarian day tomorrow (wednesday) but as the children get a day off school for the fiesta, Ruben's Nursery had all the children dress up today instead in traditional Canarian style, and I couldn't resist sharing these cute pics with you all - so, here's our boy (2and a half) and wearing his outfit with obvious pride! lol!

Got himself a little girlfriend too! And all the kiddies dressed up - it's ok - their Mum's are fine about photographs - one of the Mother's even filmed them all enjoying her child's birthday, and made copies for the other families a couple of weeks ago... remember those days when we could do stuff like that too?

Just look at the wee rascal doffing his hat to his mama before he set off....

A bit like the rest of the family, Ruben needs no excuse to dress up and enjoy the party - as you can see!

I think they all look so cute, and love that they get the chance to do this, and remember the traditional ways.

Obviously most of the children are Canarian, or Spanish, and I feel it's right that they should celebrate their customs and heritage in this way. And the kids get a day off and have a load of fun too! Rubie get's the best of all possible worlds being born Spanglish... he celebrates all Spain's holidays and traditions - and all England's too. Oh, and actually all Turkey's as well, as his dad's family are originally Turkish Cypriot!

Don't he look fantastic??

Friday, May 25, 2007

Kits.



I love kits... sigh.
Don't you?



I love that you get bits and bobs that go with stuff. And I love all the papers and pretties and opening the door and seeing the postie with the package and rippin open that box and diving in. Oh, I do love kits.

Right now I love Colleen's cupcake kit, (which is starting subscription from june btw, and I happen to know there aren't many May kits left so grab em fast before they're gone ) and I love Abby's at SLD, I love my Scraproom kit as it's four mini kits in one, and I love the various embellie kits on offer too, coz I do love me little fripperies.... cannot do a page without those.

How do people get through the month without a kit or two.... eh? eh?

PL looking for new DT member

The girls over at pencillines are looking for a DT member and have a comp going on right now to pick their new teamie. Having worked with them lots, I can tell you it's a great team and mega fun.

Get your butts over to the blog and check it out now :-)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Scissor Sisters May challenges

I was supposed to be more involved in this than I actually have been... why on earth they put up with me I do not know. Lol! A lot has happened this month though, so I have reasons... well, the last two months - but I'm getting back up there now, so hopefully it will all iron out.

Anyway - the challenges:

Scrap in Lilac and green

This is for my 12 x 6" holiday album.

And scrap in pink and yellow

This one was not so easy as I wouldn 't naturally put these colours together.... however it was a challenge!

So here it it.
The photo of Matilda scoffing her first choccie biccy is of course.... Pricless! :-)

One more cookie monster coming up....

Music to my ears


Spoke to the guitar shop today and the new one has been despatched already - thank goodness!

I know there are already a LOT of guitars in this house... but actually, it seems there are not enough.Vin has 2 electrics and a small spanish acoustic. Carl has a really nice fender acoustic (and a mandolin, and that's another story) but Vin has no acoustic of his own since he gave up on the half size he started out with. This causes all sorts of arguments between my men - both wanting to play the same instrument at the same time.

I'd intended to get Vin one for his birthday in July anyway... but after more cross words between them last night I could take no more and went online and ordered one from a shop we spied in Dean St last week. It is winging it's way to us by courier even as I write.

Putting up with the noise from all these guitars is far preferable to listening to them killing each other for possession of just one, any day!
Ok... that was last night, and we were sad to see Liverpool lose. But ok today. It's only a game isn't it? Just have to go to work now and face all the ribbing.... ho hum. Here we go.

Looking forward to a long weekend, though I have stacks to do.

Ordered Vin a new acoustic/electric last night and he's driving me mad already... "when's it going to come Mum? Yeah, but when do you think it'll get here....?" Quickly I hope!

Lovely sunny day again - bet it blinkin rains at the weekend tho!

more later xx

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

gutted...

So, my team lost tonight, and I'm sad.

Come on here to commiserate if you want to, but please - not to gloat.... it actually means nothing to you...But it's a whole lot to me. And to my boy. Just save it for somoeone who thinks it's funny, eh?

Monday, May 21, 2007

The folk doon on the Kee....

.... are wonderful. They really are.

We met some lovely people on our visit to Newcastle, and thoroughly enjoyed being entertained by the locals with their stories of the 'folk doon on the Kee', the old characters of the past - who lived, worked, fought, and struggled daily just to stay alive in the area around Sandhill and the notorious Quayside - the now fantastically re-generated Tyneside wharfs where we were staying.

Ok...I'm sad to admit it now, but I have to tell you that a couple of recent personal experiences had lately blighted my image of Geordies in general. But I can honestly say I found out this weekend - that just like anywhere else - you cannot tar all people with the same brush. Putting my past disappointments aside, I found the people of this great city to be some of the nicest folk you might ever meet anywhere. Friendly, warm and kind, they were as one delighted to help us, and so proud of their home town they were just bursting to relate amusing local tales to a pair of rapturously willing listeners such as ourselves. I loved them all to bits. Loved their character and their sense of humour, and I think we both left a little bit of our hearts behind when we headed Southwards towards home yesterday. I guess that might sound silly to some people after only a couple of days up there... but I know it's not somewhere we're going to forget in a hurry.

The city itself we discovered, is a beautiful, fun, and elegant place with soaring old buildings, odd nooks and crannies where you least expect them, and steps, steps and more steps....!! Ornately decorated shopping centres, quaint old pubs steeped in history, stained glass, castle ruins and old town walls.... a fascinating blend of every kind of stuff in one place - with a new excitement round every corner... and believe me - we turned a few.

I've never walked so many miles in one weekend in my life! And we still never saw half that we'd like to have done...
So...Nothing else for it I guess - we'll just have to go back :-) And have a bit more fun...
ho hum ;-)

Beamish Museum was a dream come true for us, also. We've wanted to go there for the longest time, and were not disappointed. We had the most brilliant day - and they were celebrating Empire day on Saturday, so that made it a little more special too as there were flags flying and treats laid on for visitors.


We bought and scoffed old fashioned sweets in the Sweetie Shoppe, had our lunch sitting outside the Old Pub watching the Brass Band in the Park, and the hurdy gurdy man playing up the road. We chatted to everyone in costume and learned so much... Petted a real (retired) Pit Pony... oh, and I totally ruined my new white trousers down the mine.....! ( i know... i know... what kind of a prat would wear white linen kecks down a coal mine....? **rolling eyes here** Answers on a postcard please....) Hint: This one....

...and then wearily told the BBC Radio folk who attempted to interview us when we left that we were just TOO tired to talk to them... Sorry. The truth is, we were terrified of missing the bus home and having to fork out another £25 quid in taxi fares back to the city! Lol!

There was one thing about the weekend that wasn't so great - but even that has had us in pleats thinking about it since..... On the Friday morning, we were up at 4.30 am, to get picked up just after 5am for the transfer to Stanstead Airport. After a few sherberts round the town... ahem....(!!) and plenty of fun and adventures throughout the day.... we were knackerd by late evening. We staggered off home and didn't even have a nightcap to round the evening off... thank goodness. Having only been asleep for a couple of hours we were very rudely awakened by the shrieking clamour of the hotel fire alarm going off at 2.40 am!!

Yep... some drongo's on a stag do had set it off... for um... a laugh. So out we trooped, along with all our fellow guests... down the metal fire escape... me in my spotty jimjams shivering in the street..... Gangs of Stags and Hens everywhere...I was not amused then I can tell you... but of course, as soon as we got back to bed in the warm the giggles started as we realised it could only happen to us!! 40 odd hotels in the area... but of course they had to be staying in ours! Honestly!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

disembodied voices

so who amongst us enjoys chatting to an automated telephone response.....?

"Oh me!! I just love it" I hear you cry.... but what do we do about it????

Well....Nothing.

We have slowly allowed 'them' to bring these voices into our lives... so much so, that today when I rang a company and it was answered by an actual 'person' I nearly dropped the phone in happiness! This feeling soon waned when I worked my way down my 'must call list' and attempted to speak to someone about our hotel reservatiion for this weekend....

"hello, this is Lisa, I'm the voice of travelodge!"

(she sounded so young for so much responsibility!) I quickly reminded myself that now I'm old everyone sounds young, and ploughed on... "Lisa, can you help me out here, I need some info...."

Lisa asked me to key my preferences...or talk to her by repeating her choices... and I pretty soon realised me and ole Lise-baby were not speaking the same language...

I mean 'Lisa,' - what the hell's that all about.....?? (FFS! when did they start giving these voices names???) clearly she wasn't listening... she just wanted to talk...

Listen girl, after a life working in bars... I know your sort... I'd had enough... I hung up.

I want to talk to Lisa's boss... I want to talk to someone I can explian things to... God Almighty! I just want to talk to someone!

But how often does this happen in a day... how do old people cope? how do hearing impaired people cope? foreigners? kids? ( hello, this is childline.. please key button 1 for...) I mean honestly! Why can't we speak to our own species anymore???

Anyone with me on this??

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

My kit's here!

Fantastic, the Postie brought me goodies - the scraproom fom kit's here, including a lovely lil set of doodling templates called Scribbles from Sweetwater. Might have to have a play with those later if I find time :-)


Still waiting for a book from Amazon I ordered forever ago.... can hardly remember it's name, 'Paper and Pixels' I think... bet any money they end up saying they can't get it... and I wanted it too......all about combining digi and paper scrapping. Ah well, they haven't said no yet... just keep putting me off and that's never a good sign, is it?


Monday, May 14, 2007


So, I never posted any pics of my actual birthday did I...? Of me turning older. Reaching that middle age milestone... (of course people live to be 100, everyone knows that!) It was possibly the shock of finally accepting my age that set me back.. or just the very fact of my age that made it slip my mind... but whatever... ;-) here's a few now as the kids abroad haven't seen them yet.

This year, I was given two cakes - one made by Grandma - which was beautiful and clever, and ooghed and aghed over by everyone,

and one brought up by my sister Sanna, from the bakery in Truro, which produce the 'lightest, softest, moistest' cakes in the world... we know this, because we buy our celebration cakes from there at every opportunity. This one had a picture of me on it when I was 8 or 9, wearing a dress with cowboys and indians on it, made for me by my sister for a school project, and of which I was very, very proud.

It was a shift, with lace all down the front and was quite the thing, until I rushed next door to show my neighbour (a lovely old Welsh lady called Mrs B, who I loved) and her dog (my surrogate dog) Mitch. Mitch, obviously overcome with the excitement of my new hand made frock leapt up ( the fat oaf!) and got his claws stuck in the lace trim... and rip. There went my new posh dress. Thanks Mitch. I've never forgotten it.

(Nobody could get over how like ME when I was little, Vinnie looks!! Which was actually quite funny cos prior to this we all thought he was the image of his dad lol!)

Anyway, we had a lovely time. The kids flew in from Lanza, Sanna and Daave came up from Cornwall, a few dear friends came, and we had the perfect family birthday I wanted. I wouldn't have changed a thing. I begged the kids not to do big. I don't do big. I begged for no fuss, and for once, they did just as I asked and kept it low key, and all based round our own little group, which is exactly as I had hoped it would be.

On Thursday we shopped and lunched at a country pub. Had pizza and movies in the evening. Friday - the big day - Jazz decorated the house and I came down to a room full of balloons, and fetti, poppers and streamers, and the girls came round and we all had a huge breakfast with champers, bucks fizz, and crackers and lots of silliness.

We then set off for a nature ramble (just like when they were all small) but had to abandon it when Donna and I realised half of them had become townies and no longer appreciated the delights of frogspawn and lambs and cowslips and grass!
Lol! We went instead to Aldbury, and fed the ducks and coo'd over the ducklings... and retired to the pub for a drink in the garden.

Friday night the motley crew met up for cocktails and a chinese meal, where we more or less took over the restaurant...

This is some of us waiting outside while they totally rearranged the seating plan to accomodate us!


Ruben sang happy birthday to me in Spanish amid much applause and laughter.

And it was here the kids gave me my special gift - in the pink box - all the details of our weekend away, which Donna had coordinated, bought between them all.... and which made me cry - of course
Then on Saturday, it was a barbeque here, lots of fun again as Sanna and the kids decorated the garden and when it got cold we just lit the chimney and carried on until we'd completely decimated Carlo's woodpile... and then some. And believe me it was some wood pile! (Bunch of pyromaniac's....)
Sunday was beautiful little Matilda's Christening.. and she was such a princess!


And then Monday they all went home, and I cried.

But it was the best. And we still have our weekend in Newcastle and Beamish to look forward to! Oh, and I saved some champagne.... ;-) It's the elixir of life!
Thank you to my wonderful family for all my lovely presents and for a brilliant few days... and just for being mine. x x x

Saturday, May 12, 2007

And after a short break...

......she returns.

I've had no time for blogging, hence the huge gap between my last post, and this.

Actually, I've been scrapping! Yes... I really have! Fancy a scrapbooker having time to actually scrap.... wonders will never cease. But it's amazing what you can do when you apply yourself. I'd recommend it to anyone. :-)

I've been working on some layouts for my May GDT spot on Scrapbook Lovers Dream, and also some stuff for Scissor Sisters May Challenges.

The GDT kit was gorgeous, a really lovely selection of goodies - and so much of it! Abby's unveiled it at last so now I can share, and I must say after a period of not scrapping much at all, I was quite pleased with how much I got done with the kit.

I've also done a bit of work for a DT application too, but don't expect to get that, though it would be lovely if I did, as the kits are so me. Fingers crossed they'll like me above the other 110 who applied... Erm...yeah right....! I also have something else in the pipeline which I'm pretty excited about... but it's not for sharing just yet, so watch this space ;-)



Scrapbook Lovers Dream

(Truly Gorge kits, mb's and gallery, check them out)

Monday, May 07, 2007

Rough.

I've been rough.

Stricken with some vile stomach bug which has laid me low for the last few days.

At least I was off work, so could get some rest, but it's a bit of a bummer to lose your bank holiday weekend hanging round the house feeling groo..... Someone suggested stress... hmmm... Who knows. I just wish they'd stop sticking the pins in now tho... enough already! Lol!

:-D

I did manage a short trip to the car boot sale yesterday. Needed some air and a little walk after being cooped up all day Saturday, and we found a stall selling old videos for 30p each or four for a pound! What a bargain - so we had a movie fest here yesterday (my boys would never leave me when I was ill) and we spent the day chillin on the couches, and watching daft old comedies and just taking it easy.

Watched, Brigit Jones, Scary Movie, Something bout Mary, and Saving Grace, and i went to bed with square eyes, but a silly smile on me chops. Love that old stuff.

I have plenty to smile about actually, as my gorgeous kids have paid for an all expenses trip for me and my fandango to go to
Beamish for the weekend in a couple of weeks time, as my birthday treat!


So we'll be in Newcastle - fancy that! We fly up from Stanstead on the Friday morning, have the freedom of the city for the weekend, visit Beamish on the Saturday, and come home Sunday night. Not sure I'll have time to visit any old friends but you never know, it could happen. This is something we've wanted to do for ages, so really looking forward to it, and it's actually only the second holiday we've ever had in over 20 years without taking any kids with us. So that'll be an experience in istself.

Haven't done much scrapping, but managed a couple of bits for Scissor Sisters before I got ill.



A mini book and a thank you card, which is winging it's way to Liverpool to thank family for my gorgeous birthday flowers, of which I had loads. So many in fact that the last lot I got (from work) are sitting in my Pimms jug as I run out of vases! Lol! (I'm out of Pimm's too - so no worries there, eh?)

Anyway - hugs to all who love me - and flaming rasperries to those who don't!


be back when fully recovered xxxx

Friday, May 04, 2007

what a laugh.....

We've had such a laugh tonight!

Someone, ages ago - and I can't remember who - put me on to Freecycling.

We were chatting on SP one time, and someone mentioned it, so I signed up locally - basically purely as a way to avoid the TIP... (you know how I am with the TIP!) And thus far, I've used it mainly as a place to get rid of stuff I can't be bothered to haul to the charity (thrift) shop, or take to the local landfill.. But a couple of weeks ago, someone offered a pine bed base, which I need for my boy. We are about to start his room, and his furniture is all bought, and he has a double divan now, but I though, "yeah, a pine bed would match his new stuff, look nice...ll ask for it" So I did. and through my enquiry, met a lovely lady, and possibly a new friend!

She said we couldn't have it til the 26th... which was bad, coz my famile was here then, and it would have been impossible to collect it at that time without causing all sorts of disruption and hoo ha. So, I tentatively asked if there was any way she might hang on to it for us til after they'd gone home.. or if not, please t feel free to re-offer it out.

No problem, was the reply, and to prove I was genuine, we've been mailing back and forth ever since.

Tonight, I went with my eldest, who has a people carrier, to collect, and it was like meeting up with an old friend. She was so lovely and had us in pleats about how her dog, Rosie, a westie, has her hair cut locally, but she, Rita, insists her pooch not be given a 'Leighton Buzzard' cut! Coming from London, Rita refuses to allow her doggie to look 'local' or ... heaven forbid.....' rough!

We smiled all the way home! She'd showed us round her lovely house, pressed books on us when she found we read, and made us feel like friends.. and it was true. Rosie certainly didn't look like most westies i know. She was a trifle on the large side for a start, but clearly, in her owners eyes she was something a bit special. And she was a character - no doubt there.

I'd say Rita herself was a bit special... she certainly had an effect on me and my girlie, anyway! Bless her!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

And more kerfuffle...

Lol.... feathers ruffled once more... well, don't bother anyone looking this way. Anything I had to say has been said here. And I don't do anon.

Someone did mention something about Sybil tho..... And that would be no surprise to anyone :-D

Personally, I feel that if you don't like the company at the party you should leave... no sense hanging around hoping that someone who's offended you will be ejected.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Be back later with my birthday news and piccie's...

...but for now - how adorable is this little dot on her Christening day?





Matilda Jae - April 29th 2007

Oh....and again...:-)

They say what goes around, comes around, right...? And every so often someone gets a bite on the bum for something they've done/ been doing.....

Well, my guess is that if you tend to make everything sodding thing about yourself, then those nips are gonna come pretty regularly.... eh?
Stands to reason, don't it?

But it's ok!

Coz all you have to do is invite everyone to your own little pity party like you always do, and all will be well again...

Til the next time anyway.

Don't suppose there's any point someone like me mentioning that I told them so way back, is there? :-D

Nah...thought not ;-)

Visual Dna

So this is me.... and you thought you knew me, eh?


What do you think now? :-D

Thanks to Colleen - this is amazing hon. Never seen this before anywhere...
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