A different kind ...

... of shopping spree! Went to the local garden centre yesterday and bought the first plants for my new little flower bed. Not sure I've bought enough but they all spread. Guess the thing to do is put them in and wait a while. I've done quite a lot of research into what plants would stand the best chance of surviving in the awful chalky soil in this area, before I considered which would stand the best chance of surviving under my care - LOL!! Thought I ought to give them some sort of chance. Anyway, didn't end up with quite what I'd planned but happy with what I chose in the end. Just hope they look good together, and survive, 'cos I ain't no gardener!!

I ended up with a selection of hebes for the front of the bed and a few taller plants that will hopefull give some privacy and shade (eventually) when we're sitting on the decking.

Escallonia v. Apple Blossom

Choisya ternata v. Mexican Orange Blossom

Rosmarinus officianallis (Rosemary, so smells lovely and useful for cooking as well - lol!)

Euphorbia martini

...Hebe variegata

Hebe pinguifolia sutherlandii

...Hebe Hobby

I got a couple of other hebes that I can't find pictures for but they're purple and deep pink - Gloriosa and Johny Day. Now all I need to do is to dig in the poo! (sorry, manure ... ground conditioner, whatever you want to call it - LOL!) and plant them up.

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Christmas ...

... came early today! Well, at least it felt like it. Postie bought me half of my order from last weekend's Create and Craft, Craft Extravaganza. Sorry Gary but it was cheaper for me to buy the La Pashe, Remember When Christmas series from C&C than from the eshop ...... They are scrummy so for anyone who hasn't bought them yet - do so. You won't be disappointed, although you may be if you were after sepia 'cos they're not being made in it :0( Personally, I would have loved a sepia version but hey-ho (there may be a way of getting one though - nudge, wink).

Postie also bought me an order I'd forgotten I'd made - from JillCraft who is having a stock clearance and there's 40% off all products on the site. I took advantage by buying a bit more that I don't need - LOL! I ordered some Flowersoft toppers amongst other things and I'm not sure if I've been sent a wrong item or a replacement for the item ordered but, whatever, I've done well out of it. I had ordered a pack of the Dovecote and Lamp post toppers but I got sent the dovecote stamp instead. It's lovely and worth more than 3 times the price of the pack of toppers but not sure I actually want it. Now, if it had been the lamp post stamp I'd have been well chuffed 'cos I want to buy that one anyway - lol!! I also ordered some of the WS Designs, K Card Templates. Am I glad I got the 40% off of them 'cos I think that they are a real con, even at the reduced price, and certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone. I've bought some WS Design stuff before and can't say as I've been happy with any of it. Lesson finally learnt - I won't be buying any again!!

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Spent out! ...

... well, nearly - lol!! Specs collected and road tax got so that's the last of the compulsory payouts made and I know I remain legal - or will be come Monday when new tax has to be displayed!! Had to spend a bit more, though. Well, you do don't you? Artbase of Hornchurch are clearing their discontinued Bazill stock with a 20% reduction. You just can't let an opportunity like that pass so I've put in a largish order - LOL! Have to say, I don't actually need it at all but hey, who knows when I won't be able to afford it so 'get it while you can' is my motto. Used to do the same when I was knitting and ended up selling most of my accumulated yarn stock on eBay (very cheaply) after I hadn't picked up any needles for around 5 years. Now I'm thinking of picking them up again and I haven't any yarn - sob!

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Uneventful...

... few days. Bank Holiday weekend - nothing planned and did nothing out of the ordinary. Weather wasn't brilliant so took the chance to do nothing for the weekend other than the normal calling into Dad and dropping, creaming, lotioning and cooking - lol!! Yesterday I just felt really tired so did ..... nothing, again!! Made up for it today though - I'm totally cream-crackered now.

Car went for its postponed MOT this morning. As Cally was at work - so couldn't visit her - I decided to sit and wait for it. Went prepared with newspapers, mag and a book to read 'cos I anticipated a wait of a couple of hours.....MOT about an hour and new tyre fitting, another one. Ended up waiting 3 hours 'cos they found that the 'slight blow' on my exhaust which they had warned me about on Friday was actually because of corrosion that split the pipe when it went through the MOT and I also had something wrong with one of the brakes that needed a bit of attention! Not content with the £150+ they had off of me on Friday I had to pay 'em another £185+ today - :0(( Now I've got to get the road tax - doh!! Just another £145 to find - lol! Think that could be the last of the payouts.... at least, I hope so. Reckon saying goodbye to nearly £1000 in less than a week is enough!

Finished today by doing the grocery shopping while I was out and decided to have something very rare for me - a bit of retail therapy in Marks & Sparks! Treated myself to a couple of pair of trousers and some new underwear.

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More expense ...

... but this time it's for something worthwhile - lol!! I sent my cheque off for the final payment of the Manchester Craft Weekend, this morning - :0)) That's just over £500 spent in 3 days so far and still more to go - :0( Not sure I was looking forward to the weekend this year but now it's got closer I am! It will be good to catch up and meet distant friends again and to meet new faces. It will also be good to have the break and spend it with people who share a common interest. Bring it on - lol!!

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MOT ...

... and service booked for car today. More pennies (I wish!) to spend but ended up not being quite so many as anticipated 'cos MOT didn't happen! Seems the garage's machines had 'gone down' and they couldn't do it so it was left for the service only. Another £150+ out of my purse with more to come next week for the delayed MOT and 2 new tyres. MOT has to be done 'cos car tax is also due and I can't get it without it as it runs out the day before the tax is due - doh!! Perhaps it'll pay me to lose a month on the MOT so I have it in plenty of time for the tax renewal next year.

The garage I use is just along the road from my friend Cally so we had a day of crafty play. We decided to get some stamps out and practice as neither of us are stampers. We never actually made any cards - the 2 in the piccie were made up after I got the images home. We really enjoyed it as we were doing something different for us. I think Cally would agree that we both still have a long way to go with stamping....

Today is also a bit of a milestone for youngest son and daughter-in-law as it's their 10th wedding anniversary. They were childhood sweethearts, having met in primary school and started 'going out' when they were 14. They're now 33. Unfortunately they're not up to celebrating it too much as DiL is 38 weeks pregnant with their 3rd child and she's felt ill throughout the whole pregnancy. She has really suffered with this one and can't wait to give birth now.

 

They were married in the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. The interior photo was taken in the Banqueting Room.

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The start ...

... of a costly few days!

Eye test was due today. I didn't think my sight had changed much but it's changed enough to warrant new specs. Choice has been made and they've been paid for so goodbye to a couple of hundred+!

GCSE result day today and, although not normally interested, this year we are interested because of grandson, Kieran. I have my own thoughts on the grades of these exams and his results will either confirm them or not - to a degree. Kieran has been badly failed by his school in that they have totally ignored all advice given them regarding his education once he'd been identified as a gifted child a few years ago. They failed to keep him stimulated, fully occupied and interested, to such a degree that, because he was bored he barely attended school after he reached 16 (attended regularly and normally until then). Didn't matter what his Mum & Dad did, or his Head of Year who was about the only teacher that seemed to care, he just wouldn't stay in school.

Results are in and he's covered the alphabet with his grades, from A's to a U (for a subject he didn't want to do but which was compulsory). He's got every grade available A, B, C, D, E, F & U!! Believes in spreading himself around - lol!! Strangely the A's (more than one), B & C are all in the Sciences and, according to his Dad, were always going to be his best grades because he found it interesting! Just goes to show is all I'll say but - how can you get the highest grade in a subject if you don't attend school? He's either got good information retention (which is how I passed my exams 'cos I certainly didn't revise for them) or he's confirmed my suspicions about these exam grades ..... :-(

I've rebooked my balloon flight but not giving the date out this time - hehe!!

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Déja vu ...

... or what? Too windy again so, for the 4th time, my balloon flight has been cancelled :o( The blurb says that it is rare that peeps don't get their first choice of date - hmmmmmm! I know we've not had brilliant weather this summer but we have had some days where the balloons have flown 'cos eldest has seen them. I've obviously chosen the wrong dates for some reason, which only fate can say. Oh well, have to select another date now but the flying season must soon be coming to an end.

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... and it continues

- the clean up on the home front that is! Now I've got Dad sorted out (although there's still, even at this late stage, the odd things keep popping up on the financial side) I've had to really take a long hard look at my own home and I don't like what I see! Hubby has been really good over the last few months and has been keeping the housework down (as well as taking over the cooking) but he can't really clean properly, being in a wheelchair and, I have to admit, I haven't helped as I haven't always put stuff away when I should have done - LOL! I've finished sorting the bedroom out and my wardrobe is now tidy and a lot emptier. I even have an empty cupboard (hubby doesn't - hehe!!) I'm going to be busy with other things this week, including rescheduled balloon flight on Tuesday but .... I'm not holding breath on that one. I've an eye test on Thursday - can't believe it's 2 years since the last one - so I may have new glasses for the Manchester craft weekend. Hoping to fit in more clearing out. Cupboards in lounge this time and then the 'spring clean' in there as well. The plan is to get decorators in some time soon. Mind you, that was the plan last year as well .... derrrr!!

My brother (well, that's who he said he was), sister-in-law and nephew arrived to visit Dad on Thursday. First time since mid-May! They followed this visit with a few photo's so here's a photo of my nephews (25 & 13) ...

... and my great-nephews (5 & 2)

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More clean up ....

.... and it's all down to not 'what you know' but 'who you know' or, in this case, who've you've got the cheek to contact and ask the question - LOL!! As well as adding the tabs at the top of the blog I wanted a way of reducing the length of the Label part on the sidebar. I didn't want to banish it forever as it can be useful but I wanted the size of it reduced. Found instructions for expanding/collapsing but brain didn't compute - or at least wouldn't (will look again at some point). Instructions I found for a scroll bar wouldn't work 'cos there was nowhere to put the code in the page element box so I decided it had to be a drop down. Problem - I couldn't find instructions, anywhere, for a drop down! Took bull by horns and emailed the really, really nice lady at BlogU (link on my Blog Links tab or find logo on sidebar) and ............ she did instructions 'specially 'pour moi' but - they are on her blog now for anyone's use. Thank you so much Annie and - I now have a drop down for my Label list on the sidebar!!

On the home front - following wardrobe clear out I was left with far too many hangers, bearing in mind that I had too many before the wardrobe clear out, LOL! Not really wanting to waste them and take them to the tip I put a notice on my local FreeCycle site, not for one minute thinking anyone would be interested in over 100 hangers. Admittedly it was a mixture of plastic and wooden, skirt, trouser, dress, jacket and bar hangers but waaaaayyyyyy too many for any normal person, although I was happy for them to be split. Oddly, but very happily, somebody has just collected the lot! A very pleasant young lady who just happens to be a freelance designer so reckon they've gone to a good home and have saved me a trip to the tip tomorrow. I've been amazed at what some people will take. I've got rid of offcuts of carpet & underlay through FreeCycle, not big enough to carpet a room but obviously big enough for some people .......

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From one ...

... disaster to another! Or so it seems - lol!!

Saturday morning, food shopping - fine, until I get to Dad's. Just got one foot inside door to be greeted with Dad upset and in panic! Ollie had whoopsied all over the lounge carpet overnight - luvvverly ....... not! I mean, all over, from one end of the 20 foot lounge to the other in a very pretty zig-zag pattern - lol! Dad had done his best with the clearing up, bless, but the stains were horrendous. I spent the next 1½ hours on hands and knees treating each individual stain with carpet stain remover. Got through 4 bowls of water in the process - :o(( Had to do it again on Sunday morning but looks as though most have gone, although a couple of the worst ones will need a bit more treatment but at least there's no professional cleaner needed or new carpet for that matter - phew! Another 'phew' - Dad's pressure sore is healing nicely as is his hand, so reckon DN will be more than happy when she calls on Wednesday and I'm hoping that finally his Pension Credit is sorted but it's another of those 'time will tell' things. I thought it had been sorted out and finalised weeks ago but they had other ideas last week!

There has been some good stuff though. Take a look at the top of the blog - TABS!! I've managed to add tabs so should be able to keep sidebar less cluttered now. Will just be filling top of blog instead of side - LOLOL!! Got more plans for the sidebar as well, if I can find the relevant info for what I want to do ....

Grandson has been accepted into College on the full-time course he wanted - subject to certain conditions but, as he's been doing 1 day a week at College, on a sort of foundation course for the last 2 years, I can't see that they would have offered him a place if he wasn't likely to fulfill them and .......... I received a heavy box from the US today - yesssssssssssssss!! A box of punches for my Floral Punch Craft. Scrappily Ever After had one of their 30% off days so I took advantage and ordered a fair few, plus a book with which I am extremely impressed.

It's a Susan Tierney Cockburn one and soooo much more professional than the other FPC books I own. Reckon I will be using this one much, much more. I've also now got a Punch Bunch catologue so I should be able to record the punches I own and reduce the chances of duplicating (which I'm pretty sure I've just done with one received today - lol!) Just as well there was the 30% discount 'cos it pretty much paid the shipping cost which ended up being $38.95 and not the $25 charged at checkout - oooooooooooooops! Still a bargain though as 4 of the punches cost over £12 each here - if you can find 'em - and I got 'em ½ that price :o))....

Perfection will come when I can find some time to play with them.

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Mixed few days ....

Think Mum's passing is just starting to make it's mark on Dad. He seems quite 'down' at the moment and it's not been helped over the last couple of days and also that it's 4 months today since we lost her. Wednesday night we had a very bad storm - amazing to watch and I was out driving in it for a while so had brilliant views of the lightening shooting out over the sea and all around. Poor Ollie doesn't like storms and tries to get into the tightest corner he can. This alone worries Dad but this time he managed to get his collar caught somehow and, according to Dad, started to strangle himself. Poor Dad, I guess in panic, didn't think to undo the collar (quick release one) and cut the collar instead but, with a knife and scissors, while trying to hold Ollie's head to stop him being strangled. He was in such a state yesterday morning. I managed to calm him and said that he should be proud as he'd managed a dangerous situation (for Ollie) and they were both fine. Ollie was running around like a 2 year old again so there was obviously no harm done there- lol!!

When I did the afternoon visit I was greeted with a bloodied handkerchief being waved in my face. He'd fallen getting out of the bath! I have no idea what he'd landed on other than he'd cut the pad on his hand at the base of his thumb quite badly. I wanted to take him to A&E 'cos it looked as though it needed a stitch to me but he refused point-blank to go. That left me running round trying to find a dressing that I could use to cover it, after I'd cleaned it, and that would stay in place. He's now got a big plaster covering it and one of my old thin archery gloves on to hold it all in place. Fortunately District Nurse called this morning so I asked her advice. Looks as though I didn't do too bad a job so I'm now dropping eyes, creaming bums, lotioning feet and dressing wounds!! Just call me Nurse Pam - LOLOL ......... NOT!!!

Intermingled with all this I actually did some crafting - 3 days running I've done some crafting - wooooooooohoooooooooooooo!! That has got to be some kind of record for me!

Firstly, Wednesday evening was spent at a Stamping Up demo/make & take, hosted by Joanne (Mainly Flowers). Small group and the time flew. It wasn't until we were on our way home (we being my mate Cally & me) that I realised how late it was - lol! Joanne was an excellent hostess. We made 2 cards and a little gift box, all using SU products - obviously - and have to say I was most impressed. Small purchase made but reckon there will be more in the future ..... Here's what we made. I didn't like my finished version of the Unfrogettable (I showed it a paintbrush and ruined it - lol) but grand-daughter liked it so I reckon it does have a market ..... Thank you soooo much Joanne, for a very enjoyable and informative evening.

Yesterday was Glitterpot day and Cuttlebug for Kids class. Not adults making cards for kids but kids making cards - it was a kids workshop accompanied by adults. It was eldest grand-daughter's first 'proper' craft class and she thoroughly enjoyed it. I think she was a little nervous to start with but she soon found her feet. We didn't put lettering on the cards in the class, as we were supposed to, but finished the cards this morning. Here she is - OK, her name is Chloe - with her finished cards, followed by mine. Reckon she actually made a better job!

(as ever, click on images to enlarge)

This morning Chloe and me played with my Creative Expressions ~ Monique stamp (yes, I said stamp - lol!), very pretty paper/card (not sure if you'd call it thick paper or thin card) and Fantasy Film - or fusible film, depending where you buy it from. She took all the elements to make 2 cards home with her so I have no idea how hers have ended up but here's one of mine - the dress is made from the pretty paper mentioned. I haven't done the second one, with fusible film, yet. More detail will be posted at some point.

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Some good, some not ...

... so good!

Good - I didn't have to contact garden centre as they contacted me before I got the chance. They'd managed to get replacement chairs, from their Crawley branch, so they delivered them late morning. All sealed in box and banded, just as they should have been and like the other 4. At least I know I don't have ex-display now.

The not so good (although that depends how you look at it - lol!!) - Dad hasn't had cream on his bum yet! Called into chemist this morning to pick up the prescription but, although the cream had arrived the 'script hadn't been filled. Did I want to wait or call back? Told them I'd call back early afternoon. Went back to pick up and no sign! After a 10 minute search they discovered the cream had been put on van to be delivered 'sometime up to 5pm'. Great!! Dad was coming with me to the Dogs Trust for the ride so, for once, there was going to be nobody in for an hour or so. When I left him just after 4pm, having cooked his dinner etc there was still no sign of the cream so another day with this sore untreated! Why don't peeps do what they should - listen being one of them, especially as they asked! I always pick up Dad's 'scripts so have no idea why they decided to stick this one on the van. Should have waited this morning ........... Still, toes have had 2 treatments today - lol!

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... and another

Got Dad to the chiropodist today and his toes have been sorted out! Apparently they weren't the worst the chiropodist had ever seen - just the worst that I'd ever seen - lol!! They will not be allowed to get into that state again though - his next appointment is already booked! They are, however, badly infected (under nail so doc couldn't see it) so it's another twice a day treatment. I've now got, not only got his eye-drops twice a day but also his bum sore to put cream on and now his feet to put lotion on! What joy .......... not!

Garden centre haven't rung. Guess who'll be hearing from me in the morning - :0))

I've been madly sorting out my wardrobe, cupboards and drawers and I've now got 6 binbags of clothes to go to the ................... errrmmmm .......... DOGS TRUST!!. Well, I was starting to suffer withdrawal symptoms (mmmm, not!). It's a few weeks now since I last went with Mum's offerings. As I'm going through my place now, I know there will be more to go as there's plenty squirreled away that hasn't seen the light of day in years - and I'm not talking just clothes - lol! I have held some stuff back as there were a few things still with labels on, totally unworn and never will be now, so I'm going to try those on eBay - just once. If they don't sell on the first go I might do a car boot, otherwise they'll be going to the Dogs Trust as well.

Looking forward to the next couple of days. I'm going to an SU demo and Make & Take tomorrow evening - hosted by Joanne (of Mainly Flowers blog) and Thursday morning I'm back at the Glitterpot for the Cuttlebug for Kids class. I'm taking eldest grand-daughter so that should be fun.

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Ex-cell-ant - or not??

Took delivery of the garden furniture today. Everything boxed except 2 chairs and ... they have a couple of chips and some marks! Rang the garden centre and it seems they may have come off of display. Not happy! OK, the set was 1/2 price but it was sold as perfect, not as ex-display in part or in whole. They're trying to get a pair of chairs from somewhere else but say the company have possibly sold out completely and not sure they can replace. They've said they'll refund the chairs or the whole set but .... I want it! I've told them that if they can't replace I'm happy to keep these chairs (the damage is quite light but they're not perfect) if they'll consider doing a deal on them. They're ringing back in morning when they know whether they can replace or not .............. watch this space - lol!

District Nurse called into Dad today and - oh joy! - I've now to apply cream to his bum twice a day! The nurses will call in every so often to check the sore but they're not too worried about it and reckon it will heal quite quickly with this cream. The quicker the bloomin' better as far as I'm concerned.

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Floral Punch Craft - Orchids.

My class last Thursday at the Glitterpot and with Jane Gill - orchids! Another inspiring class and another where I learnt a lot. This one involved a lot of colouring with washes, as with the azaleas class, but moved on a stage because detail had to be added to the orchid's heads.

We made 2 orchids, the first being a cymbidian and the 2nd a moth orchid. Both of them were formed from shapes by punches specifically designed for these flowers, the 56mm Combination Punch - Cymbidium Orchid (FPC5-03) & the 56mm Combination Punch - Moth Orchid (FPC5-04). As with the azaleas it was just ordinary white 80gsm copier paper that was used. I anticipated that I would prefer the moth orchid in form but, as it turned out, I actually preferred the cymbidian.

Above left: Cymbidium orchid ...... Above right: Moth orchid

The punches are generally available from The Glitterpot and Centagraph as mentioned in previous posts but they are also available from The Art of Craft, as are most of the FPC tools, punches and books as this is another of the stores that Jane demo's and teaches at.

Jane gave a tip regarding colouring using oil pastels. She had samples coloured in that way and the colouring was much more subtle and more natural. It involved scribbling some colour onto thick acetate or a ceramic tile, picking it up with a stencil brush and, using a circular motion, transferring it gently onto the punched shape. Colour depth can be built up or other colours added and blended in this way. Don't have to buy any oil stencils or stencil brushes as I've got both in my stash. Now, don't that make a change - no shopping needed ........ LOLOL!! Just need a chance to try it out. The beauty of orchids - and they are beautiful - is that there are so many different types and different colours within each type that, you can make it up as you go along - lol!


Details of these orchids and other flowers can be found in Leone Em's Floral Punch Craft VI (Orchids & More) available from all the mentioned outlets ... and more!

Enjoy!!

Oooooo!

Another expensive-ish day! Rubbish weather so rather than waste the day hubby and me went off to the nearest DIY store and bought decking and fence treatment and patio cleaner. It ain't cheap!! Still, sheds (yep, both of them) are going to be having a makeover and the decking is going to be cleaned and treated. It'll all look nice and sparkly by the end of the week???? Getting earache now about the BBQ, which we didn't get 'cos we didn't find one we liked and ..... they hadn't been discounted yet so we're going to be looking elsewhere!

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Floral Punch Craft - Azaleas & Camellias.

I've been spoilt over the past couple of weeks. Firstly I had a full day of Floral Punch Craft classes, followed by a half day nearly 2 weeks later. All classes were held by Jane Gill at The Glitterpot - a more passionate lady about the art, and art it is, you couldn't wish to find.

The morning of the first day was taken up with azaleas. No card was made but we got to make 2 azaleas and a stem of leaves to go with. I've not yet put them together on a card but I am more than pleased with the end result. The azaleas were made by punching 10 large balloon shapes from 80gsm copier paper and then trimming to shape. The paper was coloured with a wash made from Marvy pens scribbled on a tile and mixed with water. Artistic licence can come into play here - lol!! The shapes were then stuck to a strip of the same, uncoloured paper and rolled up - voilá ... flower made! Quite fiddly and I had to do a rescue job on both of mine - Tip: it's best to allow the glue to dry thoroughly before rolling up ..... LOL!!

The leaf stem was made using punched shapes of medium, small and mini birch leaves from green paper, trimmed to remove the serrated edge, and then stuck to a strip of the same paper.

Here are my finished azaleas and what surprised me - they are different colours but both were coloured from the same Marvy pen. One is pink and one is more lilac, which was the colour of the pen. The only reason I can think of is that I used different quantities of water in my wash.

Camellias were made in the afternoon. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Well, I enjoy them all but I found this one really relaxing even though it involved shaping and sticking 128 individual daisy petals - lol! The camellia made was a 'Brushfields Yellow' although we made it out of cream paper - lol!! (Google the flower in Google Images and see the likeness!) It was made from 10 large balloons trimmed to shape, 16 daisy's (8x16=128!) with a large flower and medium circle for the base shapes. If you take a look at the flower you can see which shapes are which. I found it quite therapeutic sticking all 128 individual petals into a big pile of silicone glue .... LOL! The leaves were the super, giant birch leaf punch with the serrated edges trimmed away. To get the gloss they were painted with a brush on thick gloss glaze by DecoArt.

We were supposed to make a card using this flower but, although I cut and decorated the card, I'm not really too keen on oriental so I chose not to add the camellia to it. I'm sure I can use the card in another way and make a totally different card from the camellia. I can see me definitely making more of these flowers ....

I learnt a lot from these 2 classes. Firstly, I'd never coloured paper from scratch for my flowers before and I can ruin absolutely anything by just showing it a paint brush - usually!! As I coloured each petal for the azaleas my technique(?) improved and I was really pleased with the end result. In the camellia class we cut our own card from a template, distressed it and used a stamp positioner. A very, very productive day with beautiful flowers at the end of it.

Details of both flowers and many more, can be found in Leone Em's Floral Punch Craft VIII available from The Glitterpot and Centagraph

(Click on any image to enlarge for more detail)

Enjoy!!

I've had ...

... a very productive, if expensive, couple of days.

I was at the Glitterpot yesterday morning doing a class with Jane Gill. This was the orchid class I couldn't get in on back in April/May because it filled quickly. Anyway, I've done it now and glad I did! A very enjoyable morning and - my brush control is improving!! I'll be adding more detail about this class in another post, in due course. I'll probably do one post covering all my recent classes .......

Still on the crafty line - Postie bought me a nice surprise today - lol! Every so often Hobbycraft ask their mailing list members to complete online questionaires. I usually do them 'cos they don't take 5 minutes and they put you into a draw for a chance to win some vouchers. Well, I never win anything but today my post included a £10 voucher to spend at Hobbycraft. I'd been one of 50 picked out in the draw from the last questionaire - woohoo!!

Yesterday evening I went to see my 6 year old grand-daughter in her first show. She joined some dance classes locally a few months ago and they have been working towards this show for what seems like forever! I thought it was going to be put on locally (in the village) and just be the little ones showing parents & family members what they could do but, it turned out to be a full length production. They'd hired a little theatre (seats around 150 to 200 people I guess) and they're putting on 4 performances over 3 days and it's open to the general public. Opening night was last night. There was a performance tonight and they're doing a matinee and evening performance tomorrow. The show they've done is The Wiz and I have to say it was very good. The performers ranged in age from around 3 years old to late teens (virtually adult). The only thing that spoilt it was the sound system - the music drowned out the singing! Somebody had been rather lax in not checking that out properly, methinks - lol! Grand-daughter was a Munchkin and was on stage for 2 scenes, which lasted around 5 minutes altogether. The little ones looked so sweet! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photo's - :0(

Today I had even more fun! Went to garden centre and bought some garden furniture. Now that's exciting!! 6 chairs, table and parasol, although we already have an overhanging one of those, stored away, but this one comes with the set. It's being delivered Monday, along with manure for my shrub bed and loads of bark (weed control - haha!). Really pleased with the furniture though, especially as I got it half price. Just got to sort out the barbeque now. Hubby wants a gas one, not that I consider that to be a barbeque but, as I won't be using it .............. :0))

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