WOYWW 25th July '12

Salaam and Good evening, my friends. (LOL. Why do I sound like the narrator from Disney's 'Alladin'?) My apologies for being late with my entry for this week's WOYWW. It's been a gorgeous day here for once, Mr Mojo finally made an appearance and I have been trying to make the most of both situations!! So this morning I was entertaining Mr Mojo and this afternoon I took the kids out to a local park. It was mobbed!  But the kids had fun anyway.

Yes, it's a little bit messy-ish. Mostly the papercrafting stuff is where it should be though. I don't know what happened to me but Mr Mojo was in the mood for sewing! First time in absolute years that the poor sewing machine has seen action. In fact, Mr Mojo has been working on me for about 5 days now and I have spent 4 of those days cutting out various pieces. Today was the first day that the sewing actually happened. Yay!

This photo is a bit more 'wide-angle' than usual just to show you the presence of the ironing board. Now, I hate and loathe ironing with a passion. In fact, in this household it's my better half (aka Himself) that does that ironing. However, I am not averse to Pressing. Now, you must understand that Pressing is completely different beast to ironing. Ironing = drudgery = boredom = something I DON'T DO. Pressing on the other hand = an activity integral to the sewing process to make things look properly finished. That, I can most certainly do!! Especially since I've discovered that I can set the ironing board at the right height for sitting down in my craft chair while I'm pressing the seams. Yay! I don't even have to move, I can simply swivel the chair and press. (Remember my previous post where I confessed my laziness? Yes, classic example here!)

Anyway, so today I have been ruching and gathering and hopefully it will all be finished later tonight or tomorrow morning. Pictures will follow as soon as it is all finished!

Now, excuse me but the sewing machine is calling and I have another seam that needs pressing. Hop over to Julia's blog to check out what all the other WOYWW'ers have been up to. Thankfully, due to my late posting, there will be plenty of others to browse through!

See you soon!


PS. I've just realised that I never finished showing you holiday snaps! More will follow soon. Perhaps even tomorrow... if my sewing project is finished by then!

Simple Woman's Daybook

Good morning. I'm sorry for neglecting my little bloggy thing. I have no excuses other than, school holidays. Enough said, I think!

I have, however, still been hopping around blog land and came across this meme through fellow blogger, Neesie. I think I shall try taking part regularly so I can get back into the swing of blogging regularly on here. I must admit that I have been blogging regularly over on my SU blog, but it's mostly crafty rather than personal. So, I'm thinking I'd like to take part in this Simple Woman's Daybook each Monday and see how often I can keep it going!

FOR TODAY  - 23rd July 2012

Outside my window... It's grey and horrible... and 'dribbling' as my beautiful 3-year-old told me this morning. Other than being able to laugh at the cute factor, I can't find anything positive to say about the weather at the moment. I thought we were supposed to be in Summer now? It feels more like winter to me.

I am thinking... all about goals at the moment. The aforementioned 3-year-old will be starting school in August next year and I'm starting to think about what I'm going to do once she's in full-time education. I've been considering going back to education myself, or getting a job or building up my Stampin' Up business more. 

I am thankful... for my wonderful hubby who does so much around the house! Seriously, I don't know many women who have a hubby that cooks, washes the dishes and does his own ironing! And I don't have to nag one bit.

In the kitchen... isn't much happening there today. I'd like to do some baking but the cupboards are bare! Time for some grocery shopping I think!

I am wearing... my usual, Jeans and a shirt with flat shoes. It's a Mummy's uniform and I'm comfortable in it.

I am creating... I have dragged out my sewing machine!! It's a miracle! I'm currently trying to sew a canvas bag/tote and adding extra bits as I go along. It might be a success, or a complete disaster. Watch this space for further details.

I am going... to the bank later. It seems hubby's car isn't going to last much longer, so a loan is needed. Not what either of us wanted since we're supposed to be getting rid of the debt not taking more on! However, the man needs a car to do his job, to earn the money that keeps food on the table. Speaking of food, I'm going to have to go to the supermarket today too as the cupboards are bare. We'll need another loan for that too!

I am wondering... why it is that kids can weeble to themselves happily playing with a plastic bottle-top lid and a cardboard box for hours, but if you give them a room full of toys they suddenly complain they're bored and can't find anything to do!

I am reading... Magician's Apprentice by Trudy Canavan. Yes, I love fantasy books!

I am hoping... that I can stick to the goals that I'm setting for myself right now. 

I am looking forward to... being thinner, being settled and being gainfully employed!

I am learning... that I have to stop using my health, my (supposed) lack of time and my kids as an excuse to do nothing. I am also learning that I am incredibly lazy and a good procrastinator.

Around the house... well, I'd rather you didn't look around the house at the moment. It's a tip. 

I am pondering... how to finish off the canvas bag without it becoming an complete mess!

A favorite quote for today... "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana" Groucho Marx.... because who doesn't like a bit of random from Groucho?

One of my favorite things... is hearing my youngest 'reading' herself a story. Usually a Julia Donaldson book because she can memorise the rhyme and rhythm and make up words to match if she can't quite remember it.

A few plans for the rest of the week: This week the kids are still on holiday, so I shall be ferrying the eldest to holiday club and trying to keep the youngest one entertained. I am planning to get back on the Weight Watchers wagon properly again. I want to go swimming... and, of course, lots of crafting to be done too!!

A peek into my day... Lunch next, then off to the bank to talk to the manager (eek!), then back home in time to pick the eldest one up from holiday club, then grocery shopping, then home to start cooking tea, then maybe I'll get some more sewing done this evening.

Here's where my project is at right now....

I'm cutting one final piece and my sewing machine is standing by! Next stop for me, is lunch. For you? Hop over to Peggy's Simple Womans Daybook blog to see what some other daybookers are pondering.

See you soon!

What I did on my holidays - Part 2

I decided to break the holiday snaps into smaller posts for the sake of bandwidth and download times! So here's some more of what we did... you'll definitely notice a recurring theme!

Tuesday: Leeds Castle

Have you ever been to Leeds Castle? It's somewhere I've always wanted to go, but the ticket prices are extortionate!! £19.75 per adult and £12.50 per child?? You must be joking! Even if the ticket lasts all year, who on earth would pay those prices?! Luckily for us, our next door neighbour at the holiday cottages does! Her tickets were still valid so she lent them to us. Whoohoo!! There are still some good people on this planet!! We spent the whole day there, despite the on/off showers and had a great time!

Definitely worth the price of OUR tickets, but I'm still not sure I'd pay the whopping prices they ask for! But, hey, not bad for a FREE day trip!

What I did on my holidays - Part 1

Did you ever have to write one of those essays on your first day of term? What I did on my holidays. It normally consisted of... nothing much. But I had to write something so I kind of made up stuff. LOL. I think the teacher knew! This time, however, I have photographic evidence to prove it.

Pre-Script. This post will be photo heavy! If you get easily bored looking at other people's holiday snaps then look away now! Also, this is a very very small selection of the nearly 800 photo's I took this week!

Sunday: Upnor Castle, Rochester

Monday: Dover Castle

Monday: Walmer Castle

Monday: Deal Castle

Can you tell that we love visiting old buildings? Luckily the girls enjoy them too, especially the bit where you can charge around at full pelt pretending to be an invader!

WOYWW 13th June '12

Good afternoon everyone! Yes, as usual I'm late. So here's a quick tour of the desk where I was making a 'Get Well' card for one of Weeself's nursery teachers.

Yes, the usual mess! Now, if you want to see the card close up and read about why I was making it then quickly hop over to my 'business' blog.... but make sure you come back here after! Also, there's a giveaway going on there too if you'd like to join in. Just scroll up the home page to the top for the details.

Now, I shall hand you back to Julia because it's all a bit chaotic here today! For those who drop by and comment I shall pop by your blog today/tomorrow for a peek at your desks. As soon as calm returns!!

Sorry to post and run, but that's life in this household at the moment!

Jubilee Jollies

Good evening! I should know better than to promise to post, because that is when all sorts of last minute and unexpected things happen and a really quiet day, with nothing planned, turns into a headlong dash from one thing to the next in a futile effort just to keep up! So here I am, out of breath and dishevelled BUT I am here. I hope that counts!

So, the Jubilee weekend seemed to pass most of Scotland by. I read a news report online that said only 60 street parties had been booked, of which 20 were organised by the Orange order. Obviously, those don't count due to the Orangemen being ridiculously royalist (according to the news website!). So, that means only 40 parties were booked by individuals/communities. A very low number, especially when you compare it to the nearly 10,000 parties booked for England and Wales!! 

This was what our street looked like over the weekend. NOTHING happening at all!...

... except for our 'crazy' house. It got quite a few looks! 

As my parents were travelling back from their holiday late on Friday, we decided to get together for a mini celebration on Monday to give them some time to recuperate. So, Sunday I spent pretty much all day infront of the telly watching the flotilla on the Thames! Except for the bit where I help Himself on a little garden project. More on that later!

Himself, Herself and Weeself made some rather yummy goodies on Monday for our party and Herself insisted on putting a party dress on. Any excuse to dress up!!

The girls kept a vigilant watch out the front window for our guests

And Himself and Myself set the table, with some lovely Union Jack touches for the special event.

Once eating, drinking, laughing and chatting had all been done and family members had been seen off the premises, there was only just enough time to clear up before we all got to snuggle down under hand crocheted blankets...

... to watch the fabulous concert on the telly. (Although, as a musical person I will admit that I had several cringe-making off-key songs and sound problems! Surely these professionals should sound BETTER than us, mere mortals?)

All in all, it was a good weekend. Far too much eaten, far too much telly watched and far too much rain! BUT definitely a good weekend. Here's to another jubilee for Her Majesty, would that be 70 or 75 years?

Speak soon!

WOYWW 6th June '12

Good morning WOYWWers! Have you all had a fabulous Jubilee weekend?? We did!! Although, being in Scotland, we were somewhat outnumbered. NOBODY else in our street put out bunting or had a party, so come the revolution I expect we'll be the first to be dragged from our beds and shot. Oh well, we will die happy. LOL.  I am, of course, assuming that you - my dear reader - are actually in the UK? If you're not from the UK, tell me what have you been celebrating in your area this weekend? There must be a celebration somewhere!! Answers on a post card please... or even better, in the comments box. (The dreaded Word Verification should be switched off now.)

Now, you came here to see my desk right?? Here it is....

Ah yes, not as messy as usual but that is only because I had to interrupt one project (and do a mini tidy) to do something else. So my (now belated) Jubilee wreath got interrupted to make a birthday card; and since I already had red, white and blue out on the desk I've been using it to make the card too!

I know my wreath is now too late for the Jubilee but I have decided to finish it off as I can think of a few upcoming occasions that I could use it for. I'm thinking maybe Olympics? or, if I put some poppies on it, Armistice Day? I'll have to see. Also, I have set myself a goal that I hope to achieve in the next year or two and when I get there I want to throw a big Union Jack party so it will definitely do for that!

Perhaps, oneday, when I've achieved the first stage of my goal and am a bit more confident of achieving it I'll actually pluck up the courage to share it with you. For now, I'm just in the first stage of having decided I want to go for it and still feeling a little bit nervous. I promise I'll let you into the secret soon! All I can say, for now, is that I'm going to have to study hard for a bit. Not my favourite thing to do, but needs must!

Now, that's my tale for the day. If you want to come back tomorrow I shall be putting up pics of our (very small) Jubilee celebrations from this weekend. For now though, head over to Julia's blog for more WOYWW desks and possibly more tales of Jubilee celebrations!

Speak soon!

Word Verification

Hi all!

Just a quick note on the dreaded Word Verification. I have had a couple of people complain about it and TBH I hadn't realised that it was turned on. I know I used to have it turned OFF in the old Blogger but it seems that all settings reverted to default when Blogger changed.

I have now turned the Word Verification option off.... three times. And yet, I'm still getting comments or emails from people saying it's still ON. Arrrrgh!! I'm not sure why Blogger keeps reverting to the 'on' setting? Any ideas from those techie peeps floating about in t'interwebs land?

So, I apologise again for the WV. If it asks you for it AGAIN please let me know so I can switch it off AGAIN!

Speak soon... and enjoy the Jubilee weekend!



PS. I love technology, really.... when it works the way it should!!

WOYWW 30th May '12

Good morning... oh, er, afternoon. Wow, time is flying today! I had intended to post first thing this morning but after getting the kids to school, having breakfast, tidying up, picking Weeself up from nursery, going to the bank, having lunch, popping into a couple of shops etc. there's not much left of today! Hopefully later today/tonight I'll get back to my craft desk cause I've got a lovely project on the go at the moment. Have a look...

My usual sort of mess, or organised chaos might be the better term since I know exactly where everything is!! I'm working on a paperbag mini album which I actually started ages ago but the demands of family life, being a SU demo and lots of last minute emergency cards that hubby always seems to need means that scrapbooking for the pure pleasure of it rarely happens any more. However, I've decided I need to *make* time for it because I miss it so much!

Here's a little peek of the page that's on my desk at the moment. I'm using a kit called 'Newport Bay' from Scrapagogo which I used to subscribe to. I think this particular kit must be 2 or 3 years old now and I'm horrified to say that I'm only just using it now!! The little charms are added extras from my stash.

Before you and I head our seperate directions I'd like to say a BIG Thank You to Julia for coming up with the idea and providing a place to meet up for WOYWW. It's been fun joining in for the past few months, even sporadically! Today is WOYWW's 3rd birthday and I wish Julia and all my fellow WOYWWers a Happy Birthday and many more years of checking out each others desks. If you'd like to see what I'm talking about head over to Julia's blog now.

I'm heading off to pick up Herself from the bus stop now and then off to the supermarket and swimming lessons. It never stops, does it?! Fingers crossed for some scrapping time tonight then. I think I'll need it!

WOYWW 9th May '12

Good afternoon! I'm back with another WOYWW again, and this time I've managed to post a little bit earlier! Wonders will never cease!!

Here's my workdesk this week....

On my desk this week you can see that I haven't done a lot of tidying. Mostly I've just shoved stuff to one side while I get on with some craftiness. I think I might just have to give in and give it a clean up this afternoon! Those papers you can see are some lovely new ones that arrived yesterday from Stampin' Up! They're in the new Summer Mini catalogue and are gorgeous! I'm looking forward to doing some scrapbooking again as it seems like all my crafting lately has been card-related. I'm taking part in Shimelle's new class 'Cover to Cover'... which seems to be about getting your albums and layouts organised. I will admit that my albums are just shoved together and nothing is in any coherent or sensible order. Also, I've realised that it's been aaages since I did any serious scrapbooking so I've got loads of photo's to catch up on. So on my 'to-do list' this week is to get some layouts done and sort my albums out.

Also, on the 'to-do list' this week is making some curtains! That window is in desperate need of some window treatments and I really just need to give myself a kick up the rear-end and get them done! Especially as the fabric is waiting and the sewing machine is now accessible.

Right, I'm off to go spend some time with the kiddos and tidy up a bit. I'm hoping for a bit of crafting this evening once they've gone to bed! If you want to hop to another desk head over to Julia's blog for a full list!



PS. I'm not sure if you can spot it in the picture, but I got a little something from Julia in the post yesterday. Thanks Julia!!