Jak's Blog Candy

Interested in a Scrapbooking program?  Jak is giving away, to some lucky person, a copy of Serif Craft Artist Platinum Edition.  You have to be in it to win it so pop over to her blog here and put your name down - only, not too many of you 'cos I want it - *LOL*



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I've not hibernated ...

... or emigrated *wink*  I've just been doing 'other' things.  Partly I've not felt like blogging (well, sometimes you just don't!) but mainly I've been working on a photo book of the Bali holiday.  

How difficult was that?  I wanted to make it a positive book after all the upset that happened and, I think well, I hope, I've succeeded.  It's now finished and printed and it arrived on my doorstep yesterday.  I'm pleased with it.  I think I achieved what I wanted.  I was a little disappointed with some of the photos that looked really good on screen but more than happy with some that looked pretty poor on screen.  I used some pretty 'suspect' photos but they turned out really well.  Wish I'd taken a chance on more of the 'suspect' ones now.  Overall though, I'm happy with the way it turned out.

As well as working on this I've also booked our (that's Jackie and mine) next jaunt and this time we're doing it all on our own and going to Mexico!  We're doing a tour of the historical places of interest (Chichen Itza and the like) and ending with 4 nights in a luxury Spa hotel in CanCun before heading home.  Will be busy methinks, well, the tour part anyway, but looking forward to a bit of the culture and seeing some of Mexico other than the beach *lol*  

Dad's started physio - shame the exercises don't get done when nobody is putting him through his paces. Can't seem to make him understand that he needs to do them if he wants any chance of being able to walk better and fall less.  Think he wants a miracle cure as he complains about them 'not being easy'.  No Dad, but nobody said they would be!  Mum said he had a lazy streak - seems she was right but he's just wasting everyone's time if he's not prepared to put some effort in on his own accord.

There's been a meet in Guildford,  arranged by Greta - and it was brilliant!  We used the shoebox principle again and this time, although not all projects were finished on the day, those I bought home untouched have been finished.  Now, that's a first *grin*  I have photographs but I need to go through them.  I have photographs taken of different things over the period I've not posted but need to go through them all.

Last weekend I spent with Jackie as her car 'died' and she needed to buy another.  It's not something she'd ever done on her own before so I went along to help and guide her.  Told her she would be doing all necessaries but I'd be on hand more as a confidence boost than anything.  Trip was successful and she's waiting delivery of the car of her choice - a Citroen C3 - following it's service, valet and everything else they do pre-delivery on a used car sale.  She didn't get quite all of her criteria for her money but then she was never going to but, she's happy with what she has bought and that's the main thing - and it's a lovely car :0)

The travel documents for our trip to Cyprus have arrived so in 19 days time OH and I will be flying off to sunnier climes and will be witnessing our eldest re-marry.  Hopefully there will be more photos of a wedding to share - and a bit of Cyprus for good measure.  I've not been before and I'm hoping to see some of the island.

Hey, a very brief run-down of the past few weeks (sure I've missed something) and photos will follow, when I get the time and/or can be bothered to sort them out *LOL*

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Seems as though ...

... there's not much going on in my life at the moment :0(  I've been having some bad nights of late and can't blame it all on the weather - which has been very hot and oppressive the past few days. The sleeplessness started last week before the heatwave hit. There's been a definite drop in temperature over the last couple of hours though so reckon it'll be back to more normal temperatures for this part of the world tomorrow.  Hoping so *grin*.

India is looking even more likely for mine and Jackie's next jaunt although but still got quotes to gather for other parts of the world.

Dad seems no worse for his fall on Friday. He had a visit from a physio yesterday morning. A really nice young guy. Did I say young? I think I'm getting old 'cos I opened the door to him and he certainly didn't look old enough to be a qualified physio but he obviously is. He had Dad grinning quite soon into the visit so that's a good thing. He had him doing a few simple exercises which Dad seemed to enjoy. He was left with a sheet to remind him what to do and the physio is coming back in 3 weeks to see how he's getting on. He has been warned not to hold his breath 'cos I can't see Dad doing the exercises when nobody is there. He's supposed to do them 3 to 5 times a day ...... ! Seems that the main problem, although it started with the osteoarthritis in his knees, is now really the tightness of his muscles. He's to work on stretching and softening them, especially behind his knees. That area feels rock hard! I've to go and buy him an adjustable foot stool so that he can put his feet up and allow gravity to help straighten his legs ... over time. He's supposed to help by pushing gently on his knees while his legs are stretched out but don't think that's gonna happen. The why's and wherefores have been explained to him so we're hoping, when he's had a chance to think about it, he will understand and remember to do the exercises.

Dad, on my visit last Tuesday, with head in his daily - *lol*

 Dad, on Friday, after his fall and the paramedic visit, waiting for the paramedic practitioner to come and deal with his head wounds.  Love the hat Dad - bless!  Fortunately it was discarded once the pp had been but was replaced with the stitches on the lip (his top left) after the hospital visit.

I've done a bit of sorting of some crafty stuff and I've found bits I no longer want, or need. I've decided to have an 'Items for Sale' page on here but separate to the main blog so, if anyone's interested then look for the tab at the top of the blog, under the header, and go see what goodies I'm offloading - *LOL* As and when I add new stuff I'll post to say I've done so 'cos I don't think page updates feed through like blog posts do to Reader or any other subscription.

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Very uninteresting ...

... week, of sorts. Did the Dad visit on Tuesday and got OH's hair cut before the shopping arrived. Since then seem to have done a lot of nothing, although I did manage to get to spend some time in my crafty corner sometime through the week but what day it was I've no idea, except it wasn't today or yesterday - *lol*.  Had a few bad nights so things have blurred but ...... not yesterday!

Got a phone call around 2:30pm to tell me Dad had had another fall and that paramedics were on site. He'd cut his head - again - but they weren't sure whether he needed to go to hospital or not. 15 minutes later another phone call. They weren't taking him to hospital but he wanted me there. Paramedics still there when I arrived.  To save taking him to hospital (he was refusing, point blank, to go) they were trying to get hold of somebody who could come a deal with his injuries, properly, at home.  Until they'd found somebody they couldn't 'stand down'. Finally managed to contact somebody and off they went. Paramedic practitioner arrived, dealt with Dad's head then looked at his lip.  Badly cut and needed stitching.  She couldn't do that, not qualified.  After an hour of trying to find somebody who could come do it we gave up and told Dad he had no choice.  He had to go to hospital so, some 4 hours after the event, off he went and then we spent 3 hours sitting in A&E waiting for a facial specialist to stitch his lip - which took 5 stitches and all of 10 minutes!  If he'd gone in the first inst, he'd have been back in his flat in time for his tea.  As it was he had no tea and I got no dinner.  He kept a paramedic crew off the road for a couple of hours, used a paramedic practitioner's time that could have been used by somebody else and spent nearly all the time between the fall and getting the final treatment moaning about all the waiting and 'fuss'. He also stopped me being able to see youngest son whose birthday it was yesterday and I'd planned on visiting. Dad's now been told that, in future, if it's deemed that he really should go to hospital then he's going!

Think it must have all played on my mind last night as I had the worst night's sleep of the week and ended up being up for half the night. Tired today but did get to see Wayne - and the littlies. A day late but guess better late than never and at least he understands.  He's done the hospital shift with Dad before when I've not been well :0)

Now I'm planning mine and Jackie's next adventure. It could be India, it could be Egypt (Nile cruise) but - and she doesn't know this yet - I'm getting prices for Thailand and Mexico so we'll have a choice ... hopefully. We wanted warmth and culture. Reckon they've all got both in spades *big grin*

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Admin ...

... check! Hair cut ... check! Freezer defrosted and cleaned ... check! Hubby's hair cut ... ooops!  Guess that'll be tomorrow then, after my visit to Dad and before the shopping's delivered  :0)

Managed to get some new photos of all my grandchildren, bar one, this past week.  Eldest is still not too keen but is more accepting that it's a grandmother's prerogative, especially since he's learnt he's to become a Dad himself.

Eldest, Kieran, at Pizza Hut after we'd seen Harry Potter.  20 this year ... can't believe where those years have gone.

Youngest, Zac, 3 this year, and his big sister Emma who's 10 next birthday - on Great Grandad's 90th.

Amy, sister of the above, who has hair to match her personality .... mad!  She's 6 next birthday.

Playing 'camp' with dolly and anything else available - *LOL*

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I'm annoyed ...

... so, Amy Winehouse has died. Is it really any surprise? I feel sorry for her family, of course I do, but I doubt that they are really that surprised either. She was, after all, on the path of self-destruction and her death was probably the inevitable conclusion. What has annoyed me is that her death seems to have over shadowed those poor victims in Norway. Yes, Amy was only 27 years old but the victims in Norway, who had no idea of what was going to happen, were mainly still in their teens and enjoying life. It's those victims and their families that I feel most sympathy for. They didn't court their deaths and they hadn't been out shopping for the instrument of their own demise. Hard? Perhaps, but with all the chances Amy had to get 'clean' and blew them away every time, it's hard to feel much sympathy for her.

The age of 27 seems to haunt me every so often. My one and only uncle, my Mum's younger brother, died at that age. He fought tuberculosis, leukaemia and Hodgkin's Disease (now known as Hodgkin's Lymphoma) but lost the fight in 1959 when I was just 8 years old. Year's later my ex-hubby and I lost a long-standing friend from a brain tumour .... aged 27 (and he'd been to and fro his doc's complaining of severe headaches, diagnosed as migraine!)  Year's later still - just 10 years ago - and my ex daughter-in-law lost her brother, at his own hands, at the age of 27. All tragic, all a waste of young life.

All that can be hoped for Amy now is that she's at peace in the next world, if there is one, 'cos she sure wasn't  at peace in this one.

Following on from yesterday's post there's another on-line magazine that I subscribe to that may be of interest. Can't post as I did yesterday but can post a link.  It's up to you then, how it's read :0)  Find it here ... Stampavie

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Nothing ...

... interesting today :0(  Boring 'h' word again but at least we've a sparkly kitchen again :0)  So wish I could do it all in one day, as I used to, but I can't so it has to be spread over several days. Problems arise when I have to miss some for a while - when I'm off enjoying myself *grin* - then it's play catch up again.  My life seems to be a roundabout of 'catch up' *rofl* Still, if I didn't have catch up to do I wouldn't be doing anything else now, would I?

Doing the rounds of the blogs I follow, I did find a link to something interesting on Toni's blog - well interesting if you're into card-making *LOL*  I've subscribed *wink*

Open publication - Free publishing - More card tips

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The afternoon session ...

... at the Summer Crafting workshop produced the following 2 cards.

Card complete, with insert and wrap all in place. 

I think this would make a lovely card for a wedding or a very special occasions and could easily be made into a gift card to hold vouchers as well.

 Close up detail of embellishment on the wrap - and another button using the button maker.

To show insert in card. The crossbar was a pocket, except I didn't seal the bottom of it (deliberately) so my insert was able to slip right through.

The following card was my favourite of the day :0)

Today, busy with that nasty 'h' word again :0( but the sun is shining and it's dry so it's not all bleh *lol*  I'm hoping to make a start on a photo book of the Indonesian holiday over the weekend. Can't somehow get the mojo together to do it but I've bought a 'deal' so it needs to be done. I've got to record the good bits of it, at least. The bad bits are still, unfortunately, having a knock-on effect. Sometimes things happen that are really difficult to understand, or believe, and it's sad.

Gonna chill this evening and rest my aching muscles - *lol*

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Lovely day ...

... today. Late getting going, having been woken by the postie ringing the bell with a recorded delivery.  There was me thinking it was around 8am and it turned out it was 10 ... oooooops! Must have worn myself out yesterday with that rude word beginning with an 'h' - *lol* Met Kieran, eldest grandson, from college and off we went to see Harry Potter. Loved that series of films. Finished off with a pizza afterwards.  It was really good spending a bit of quality time with him on his own. Doesn't happen often nowadays so really appreciate those times when we have them now. Came home and I've done a bit of crafty shopping *grin*. Just got to wait for postie to deliver again.

Thought I ought to post a couple of the cards we made at the Summer Crafting workshop, in Doncaster, on Friday. These are the ones we made in the morning. Everything used was all supplied and all backing papers used on all projects were from the giant 12x12 pad we were given.

This was my least favourite of the day and was also the first of the day. There are bits I like and bits I don't. Not sure as I'd use the idea again but may do .... 

This one I did like.  Quite labour intensive but effective.  Don't know as I'd put all the elements together in one go again but I'd certainly use elements of it again.  This one had a button made from the backing paper with the button maker that formed part of our goodie bag.

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Summer Crafting ...

... the show!

Saturday 16th July - 

Cally and I had decided, after the manic Saturday morning at this show last year, that we weren't going to go early but have a leisurely morning and go for early afternoon, when the crowds were starting to thin out ... hopefully! Instead we had a late breakfast and then went to have a look round the Lakeside Village Shopping Outlet which was just down the road from our hotel. Cally literally 'bagged' herself a real bargain as she found a lovely blue leather handbag which had been reduced to £25 from £80.  I tried on a dress I saw but it stayed in shop and other shops .... Next Outlet and Clarks, didn't get our custom. We walked in their doors and straight out again in both shops. Can't be doing with shops that look like a jumble sale. I don't do rummaging - *LOL* I bought some slippers in M&S Outlet and some cute brads in The Works but other than that there had nothing that attracted us so we stopped for a coffee and made our way to the show having spent quite a pleasant hour or so strolling through the shopping centre, if not the shops *hehe* Neither of us are 'shoppers', unless it's craft related, of course :0)

Works purchases

We got to the show around 1pm and it was still busy.  We bumped into Susan, who we last saw at the House Party and Sue and her friend who had been at the workshops the day before. We then found Toni, who was demonstrating for imag-e-nation.com, and rescued her for a break as we'd promised we would. 

Around 3pm the thick crowds had disappeared and it became pleasant to walk around, which we did and spent a little - and yes, that is a little, very little!  In fact, so little we were totally ashamed of ourselves! We have never spent such a small amount at a craft show and what's even worse ... we've not been to a craft show since this one last year *scary!*  We left the show just after it closed, back to hotel for a rest and analyse our purchases *lol* then it was off to collect Toni from her hotel for dinner. Lovely evening.

My show purchases

Cally's show purchases

Sunday 17th July - 

Late-ish breakfast, check out of hotel and homeward bound. Well, not quite! Cally had been thinking of things she should have bought the day before so we decided to go home via the show's car park to check out how busy it was before we decided whether to go in or not.  OK, so car park was in the opposite direction to home and Boris kept telling me to make a U-turn - *oops!* Anyway, once there it would have been rude not to visit again so visit we did! 10:15am we entered the show and it wasn't busy. Cally got the things she wanted, I bought another stamp set I'd thought :about, we went and said hello/goodbye to Toni and the imag-e-nation.com guys (it had been good to meet Gary in the flesh after all the years we'd known him because of the, now defunct, forum) and we were out of there again at 10:45am and the crowds were starting to build again. Think we escaped at the right time *LOL*

Gary, owner of imag-e-nation.com

11am and we were keeping Boris happy by travelling in the right direction - homeward! Stopped a couple of times for coffee and lunch and arrived home around 5:30pm.

A really good weekend with great company ... roll on next year - *LOL!

Today it's been all back down to earth. Well, it has been since Monday morning really what with clearing up, housework and Dad visit but today .... hands and knees in bathroom! I hate cleaning the bathroom. Still tomorrow I'm picking up eldest grandson from college and we're off to see Harry Potter. We've seen every HP film that's been made, together.  He's grown up with them as the stars have grown up on screen. We're going for a pizza after :0)

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Summer Crafting ...

... Doncaster - and 2nd post of the day :0)

Thursday 14th July - 

Cally and I drove the 255 miles to Doncaster on Thursday in my 'new' car! What a difference to my old one.  Not that the old one was uncomfy but this one is just that bit better. Amazing how things improve over 7 years. Anyways, we left Cally's around 9:15am and arrived at our hotel around 2:30pm, having stopped for brunch on the way up. Chose to take an unconventional route for our journey and it paid off. Lovely hotel and extremely reasonable *result!* Dinner taken at pub across the car park from the hotel, the Woodfield Farm, and what a blow out that was! Superb meal with a bottle of rosé between us and then a relaxing evening back at hotel.

Friday 15th July - 

Workshop day. What - a - blast! Arrived just before 9:15am in plenty of time for the start and took our places. Not allocated so it was go find a seat and sit *LOL* There were 22 tables with 10 people to a table. Rather 'squished' but Cally and I managed to get places with space behind and near the windows, so we didn't feel closed in. There were goodies on the table, in a bag on our chair and a pinny over the back of it.  Over £100 worth of goodies all told and how much did the day cost? £55! Each table had a table helper and ours was Zoe, Stephanie's sister. Stephanie and Nancy set the ball rolling for a day of fun by making their entrance to Eye of the Tiger .... Rocky theme tune ... dressed in pink headband, wristbands and legwarmers - ooops!

Goodies.  A mag is missing as I already had it so I gave it away.  On top of this we had free entry to the show for the weekend - free tea and coffee all day - lunch - box of chocs on each table, topped up as needed throughout the day *grin* 

 Cally in her pinny :0)

Tidy-ish  table before the work began - *LOL*

Close up of note in middle of table. Did we take note? Yep, and ignored mainly *grin*

 Nancy in forefront, Stephanie behind ... hidden.

 Introducing the helpers.

 Not such a tidy table .... midway through card #2!

 Taken at lunchtime, hence empty seats.

Zoe, our table helper, Stephanie's sister

Great day with a good few laughs. 8 projects translated into 4 embellishments and then 4 cards made using the embellishments.

Finished this day with a meal at a Beefeater restaurant just down the road from the hotel. Another good deal ... £6.99 before 6:30pm *grin*

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PS. to Anne Marie - a Stamp-a-ma-jig is a stamp positioner that Stampin' Up sells.  There are cheaper versions around though.  It can be very useful :0)