Strange Cravings...

Nope I'm definitely NOT pregnant, believe me I have tested and have proof. There is not going to be any new additions to our family any time soon.  So why am I craving?? Anyone out there with medical knowledge who can tell me, I would be most grateful!

So here it is.... I hate olives. Never have liked them and always avoid them like the plague.  I bought a 400g jar of them from Tesco's just before Christmas for the simple reason that my parents were coming for Christmas day and my parents love them. I figured it would be a nice little snack to have with a light tea in the evening.  As it turned out we were all so full from lunch that tea never happened, so I was left with some food, including a jar of olives. The rest of the food got eaten over the course of the week between Christmas and New Years but the olives got shoved to the back of a shelf and I was resigned to the fact that in a couple of years time I would discover the jar of out-of-date olives while I was desperately trying to find a tin of tomatoes. 

Then suddenly last week I started this craving for olives.... don't know why, it just happened. I remembered the poor un-loved jar of olives in the back of the cupboard and opened it thinking that I would probably have one little olive; decide I still hate them and end up throwing the rest of the jar away.  Well, it didn't happen like that. I ate the whole 400g in the space of 36 hours.... and I'm still craving olives.

This morning I decided to rummage through the larder cupboard again to see what I had and found a tin of anchovies. They're ok but have to be put with loads of other stuff to take the edge off the saltiness.... but I had them this morning on toast with melted cheese. It was rather nice actually, but surely not normal?

So there you have it. Why am I craving? I have no idea, but I'm rather enjoying the odd combinations!

Happy Birthday!... and moving along...

This weekend himself, myself and herself (Erin) went to an 80th Birthday 'do'. The whole extended family was there.  The birthday 'boy' was DH's grandma's hubby. Confused yet?  The whole thing was organised and hosted by his daughter and was really well done.  If I get chance I'll download the photo's off the camera later.

Herself decided not to have a nap in the car on the way and was really tired before we even got there. However, having her two cousins to run around with was so much fun that it kept her going until we went home.  It was rather lovely to watch as she and David (3) ran around like mad things giggling their heads off... Daniel (1) was in a pushchair at first and was desperate to get on the floor and join in the fun too. Once he'd been let out he crawled around at high speed to try keep up with the other two.  I have never seen any baby crawl that fast before!  Much giggling was done and, although there were some tears (mostly due to overtiredness), the kids really enjoyed themselves. I'm looking forward to Easter and Christmas this year as Daniel should be walking by then and then we'll have 3 kids tearing around after each other.... it should be fun, but I might have to invest in a good pair of earplugs!

Other news is that my parents might be moving house. My father has decided to go back into Methodist Ministry (it's a long story) and put an application in for a posting somewhere out of Sheffield. They all feel they need a break from Sheffield and Yorkshire and were mentally preparing for a move somewhere down south.  It came as a shock that when the phonecall came the invitation was to a church in ... Glasgow! Well, just outside of it.  My parents travelled up to have a look see and meet the folk this weekend and have come back with great reports.  I think they are really looking forward to this move (especially as they love Scotland!).  I think they need to get  confirmation of the invitation and then have to officially accept, but I don't think there is any doubt about how pleased they are with this move.  They will be waiting for a phonecall today to make it all official, so hopefully the church in Glasgow won't be changing their mind!

Confessions of a 30 year old!

So the lovely Shimelle.. scrapping goddess as she is, has graciously given us a freebie class! Normally you have to pay, but this one was free.  It's called "I have to confess" and was just about doing silly confessions, things that people might not necessarily expect I suppose.  So, earlier this week I printed out my photo's and got my cardstock, inks, stamps and some scraps of patterned paper out to do some serious confessing.  I really enjoyed this little class and although I used the same stamps (Scribbled Flowers from Banana Frog) my pages came out completely differently. I also got to experimenting with UTEE on inked chipboard brackets which was loads of fun and the result was very pleasing too!  So here's my Confessions:

I'm beginning to like Pink

I have to get out

I don't 'do' handbags

I'm arty but...

I could happily do Jam and Jerusalem

I really enjoyed doing this project, so a big "Thanks" to Shimelle!

Productive Day

I had a good day yesterday. Got Erin and I out the door fairly early and went with a friend and her two girls to a soft play centre. Erin had a whale of a time bringing Mummy the balls from the ball pool and climbing up the soft squishy stairs and then sliding down the curly slide.  I had a good chat with my friend and a lovely cup of hot chocolate, and best of all we sat inside in the warm while the world outside got blown to pieces by the terrible windy weather!

When I got home Erin was ready for her nap and went off to sleep very quickly. I decided to use the time to do some scrapping!  I used a class by Shimelle (for the UKScrappers Cyber Crop) as the basis for the layout so it went fairly quickly and by the time himself came home from work it was all done except for a few finishing touches.  The best part is that I finally got to use some of the yummy Basic Grey Fruitcake papers that I bought with my Christmas money, and it looks fabby!  Have a peek....

On a different note.... I'm just wondering how many people actually read this blog. Do you read it regularly or just occassionally?  Please let me know... post a comment!  The reason I ask is because my free trial here on TypePad is coming to an end and I'm wondering if its worth paying the money to continue posting. 

Beach Babe

Just wanted to share my latest Layout with you. The photo's are from our first family holiday in September, I have been looking for a way to scrap these for a while as I didn't want to wreck the photo's!  I am pleased with the result! Here's the LO...

Thanks for looking!

Back with a Bump

Well, the Christmas is officially Over, the after-effects of New Years has finally worn off. The Decorations are down and have been put in the loft for another year.  Life goes on... or maybe not.  My Dad phoned on the 2nd of January to tell me that his cousin in South Africa (who we all knew really well) had committed suicide on the 30th. A mutual relative had phoned him that morning to break the news to him and he was really upset. I don't blame him either, we knew things hadn't been going particularly well for Owen but didn't realise it had gotten that bad. Also my Dad being an only child Owen was more like a brother than a cousin and was really close to him even when we moved to the UK and Owen remained in SA.  It turns out that the company Owen was working for told him and several others that their contracts were not going to be renewed and that their final working week was the week before Christmas. They only told them this during their final week. What a stupid time to tell people they're losing their jobs!  Especially as a 50-odd year old white male has virtually no prospects of getting a job in SA at the moment due to "Affirmative Action" (aka Racism in Reverse).

Forgive my cynacism on this topic. It seems my former homeland has decided that all white people supported apartheid and must therefore be punished. They forget that there were people like my parents that stood up for them and their rights, that gave them decent salaries, housing, medical and other perks that were not usually allowed for black workers. My parents were followed and had their phone tapped regularly because they were known as "black sympathisers". At 13 years old, I myself stood up for black kids in my own school after integration was started, due to the simple bullying that was happening.  Yet we are all tarred with the same brush as the racist sector of the population is.  Why? We did so much for these people when they needed it and we are now being repayed for this kindness. 

My father often tells me a story of how my Grandfather nearly prevented apartheid from happening at all.  He was a big man: standing nearly 7ft tall and heavy set too. He was a real Boer farmer with a healthy respect for his black workers. He could give them hell sometimes but they all knew he was a fair man.  He was also the chairman of the local farmers co-op; during election season the farmers co-op used to invite politicians to speak to them about their political agenda's. One of these speakers was Hendrik Verwoed, who would later establish apartheid as law during his leadership of SA. During his speech Mr. Verwoed outlined his racist plans to segregate blacks and treat them as third-rate citizens. My grandfather was so enraged by his proposals that he rugby-tackled Mr. Verwoed on the stage infront of the whole audience, sat astride his chest and started throttling him with his bare hands. Apparently it took 5 men to restrain my grandfather and set him back on his chair!  I only wish that my grandfather had succeeded... it would have saved South Africa a lot of heartache and possibly his nephew's life.