Frustrated Beyond Belief.

Its been one of those weeks where we have had closer interactions with the medical services than we would really have liked. Back in February Beth hurt her knee in a trampolining 'incident' at school, she hurt her knee and we ended up in hospital. It has taken from February until May for that to eventually heal itself enough for her to be able to walk normally again, when bang on Tuesday her leg gave away and she is back to square one, excruciating pain and very limited mobility. It got worse so we called NHS who helpfully said take her to the Hospital. So we did, they Xrayed her said it was likely to be the same ligament damage aggravated again. They did however refer her back to the fracture clinic for them to look at again. So this morning we arrived at 9.45 for our 10am appointment only to find the clinic was already 90 minutes behind, just how they had managed that when it had only started at 9am is beyond me. In the end we got to see the 'Doctor' at 12pm, a whole two hours late.

He then glibly said well what do you expect me to do???  I said that as he was supposed to be the qualified person here, perhaps we should start by looking at what he could do rather than asking us to guess. He said the result of the MRI scan was OK, showing that the ligament had been stretched and the only way to deal with that was to strengthen the knee. He also said that she needed to make sure that the knee did not give way again, by this point he was really beginning to tick me off, so I asked how she was supposed to do that as it had given way while she was simply walking, not doing anything strenuous. He said she would need to be careful, it was clear at this point his medical qualification must have been in stating the completely obvious. Beth was upset as this has really had a huge impact on her life, stopped her from doing her work experience,  stopped her from working at the pool and has generally interfered with her school life, this arse of a 'Doctor' was not in anyway helpful. The most useful suggestion he made was for more physio, which he told us was out of his control as it was not in his department anymore. I hope that the snotty snivelling cough and cold he has turns into pneumonia and some helpful Doctor asks he what he thinks they could do about it. 

Hunny was feeling left out so she developed a sore on her cheek, so we took her to the vet, who didn't once ask Hunny what she expected the Vet to do. The vet examined her and decided it was likely an infected insect bite, plus her ear was a bit sore, so we ended up with antibiotics, ear drops, and injection and £100 less in my purse. She now seems to be on the mend.

And Chill......... 

Yesterday was beautiful and I managed a couple of hours in the garden, even nodded off at one point, listening to some music that Beth had on the TV. I have been really tired so I must have needed it. Today however I could get really wet sitting in the garden !!! I was hoping to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Olympic Torch as it passes through the town, the weather will have to get a whole lot better before I risk that!!!!

The Life of a Jet Setter.

At last at the weekend we had some nice weather, breezy but best of all sunny and warm. 

I took a bit of time to potter around the garden and noticed that we had a few gaps in our flower beds, so we popped to the garden centre and stocked up on some plants to cheer things up. I am trying to have a garden that comes every year without having to rely on too many annuals, so it was nice to go and look for all those little plants that fit the bill. While looking I thought it would be nice to get some lily of the Valley, but they are not so easy to find, so I may have to do some online research for them. Tom planted them all and watered them in, this morning mother nature has done her bit by supplying some extra water 

to bed them in!!!

Carl has been away for the past few weeks, he has been on a road trip in the USA. He flew to the west coast with his Kilimanjaro buddy Grant, since their arrival they have driven around in a hired RV taking in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hollywood, Palm Beach, Yosemite and all places in between. He organised a surprise for Grants Birthday, a parachute jump!! He said it was a fantastic experience and a 

huge surprise for Grant!!!

 He is very well organised and has left me a very detailed breakdown of his daily activities. Yesterday they flew to Orlando for 8 days there doing the parks before moving on to their final destination of New York. He has been able to keep in contact with me via Whats App, thank goodness for MacDonalds and their free Wi Fi!! The only problem is trying to keep up with the time differences, I have to constantly refer to my phone to work out what time he is in, I expect they are suffering from jet lag this morning!!

Beth is also embarking on a new experience, she is working at Hardings Pre School for her work experience  week, so this morning she has taken herself off, walking to work. She is so excited about doing this as its something she would like to do when she leaves school. I think she would be very good at it!!

Hectic week.

Summer must be here because my front garden is brimming with roses and lavander, I love both and the pink roses in particular seem to be doing very well this year. You can't beat the fragrance wafting on a warm breeze!!

I also have beautiful deep red Dublin Bay rose that is coming into full bloom, my favourite roses are orange ones and in my back garden I have two orange ones, but they are not as far on as yet. 

So what has been happening the past week?? Well my friend Debbie and I decided to do a weekend silver course, We had to get up early on Saturday morning and drive into a small village in Berkshire, the journey was dead easy because we chatted the whole way and I don't remember actually much of the trip!!!

We arrived in plenty of time and chatted in the car park before our instructor Larissa arrived. We had a guided tour of the studio looking at all the work by the other resident artists, all very inspiring, there was some beautiful stuff there.

We go cracking on our course, it was great as there was just the two of us. We learned all about how to work silver clay. We made fingerprints which we transferred to the clay and then we made them into shaped jewellery. I was so impressed with the outcome and I will be looking at doing some more in the near future!!

On the second day of the course we learnt how to make prints from original pictures, reducing them on the computer, I am very happy with the outcome, solid silver and personal!!!

The rest of the week has been a blur of work and appointments, I am looking forward to doing some scrap-booking and jewellery making this weekend.

Missing In Action!!

This last week has passed in a whirl of work, conference and travelling! It started last Monday when I miscalculated the start day of the UNISON conference in Bournemouth. I went to work Monday with loads to do and suddenly realised mid afternoon that  was supposed to be in Bournemouth that night and not the following morning. That's what happens when you don't get time to read the paperwork and assume you know what is happening. So I finally headed off for Bournemouth at around 7pm after having my hair cut (which had been prearranged!!!) The journey down was great no hold ups even on the M25, so it was good luck that I accidentally forgot!!

When I found the hotel, I was impressed with the location which was two minutes from the Conference Centre and there was plenty of parking. I felt like this was going to be a good choice on those two things alone!!! So I checked in and that's when it started to go down hill. The reception area was dated and not in a nice way, the carpet was thread bare and despite boasting a lift, sadly it wasn't in my part of the building, so I lugged my bags up three flights of stairs. I got to my room and the first thing I noticed on entering it was a musty damp smell plus the obligatory two iron shaped burns on the thread bare carpet!! The bathroom was spacious with a spa bath with a shower over it. It was a lovely shade of 1970's green, that matched the green mould growing on the shower seal. The next morning I realised the only way I would be able to use that spa bath was if I has started to run it on my arrival Monday night.

Still my room was spacious, I had three beds to choose from, so after dinner I went back with the intention of watching a bit of telly, I had a free view box and a big ancient telly, but sadly the only way to switch it on was via the remote control, which didn't work, I checked and there were no batteries in it !!!

I asked the lady on reception and she said they hadn't go any spare ones, I'd have to wait until the next day. So I had an early night!!!!

My colleague Mark, had the room next door, it was certainly different. He had the Honeymoon suite, a luxurious four poster bed, complete with lacy curtains, he had a balcony and a sofa, a telly that worked but best of all a HUGE circular spa bath in the corner of the room!!!! It was massive, with steps up into it. There was also a shower over the top and on closer inspection it was the only shower, the tiny toilet had only a loo and hand basin. Poor Mark said it was quite an exposed way to shower and he suffered from the same water pressure that I had!!

So the good things to report - Sea view, comfortable bed and nice breakfast.

They eventually replaced the batteries in the changers, but then forgot to make up my room, so the one towel I had in the room was wet.  On the third night we had a bad storm, with rain lashing the windows, I could hear dripping and the next morning there was a puddle of water by the telly, narrowly missing my suitcase!! I mentioned it at reception (it was now obvious why there was a damp smell) and I received the best excuse ever, well madam it has been quite dry of late so the roof has shrunk and when it rains again it leaks!!! Brilliant excuse.

So if you are looking for a place not to stay in Bournemouth, avoid The Bournemouth International Hotel!!!!

Dancing the night away!!

When on board the ship we went out in the evening to The Caruso lounge, the on board entertainment team were there and before the show they went into the audience and got people up to dance. Well that wasn't to everyones taste and we understood that, but Beth enjoyed it and she was itching to get up and have a go. She spotted a member of the team who seemed rather nice and was very pleased when he came over and asked her to dance!!! The next night another one of them had her up as well!!

This is the one that she though quite cute!! His name is Brendan!

Here they are in action burning up the dance floor!!

Beth wasn't the only one in the dancing groove this holiday......

Tom and Rod had a jolly good time as well!!!!

The Mountains above Flam.

We took a trip into the mountains above Flam, we drove to a Hotel where we had a danish pastry,or should that have been a Norwegian pastry?? The view from the garden of the hotel was breathtaking. A look right down the valley, we headed off there after stopping to take some photos. 

Its hard to take in the scale of these mountains,they are massive!

I have come to the conclusion that I am fast becoming the shortest member of the family, in fact only Hunny is shorter than me!!!

Once we came down the hairpin bends from the hotel we caught a ferry back to the ship, its a great way of getting up close and personal with the scenery. Its amazing to think that the people who live on the shore can only get out via the ferry, its very remote.

We were being harassed by another boat who kept over taking us, I really wanted to get the water still so that you could see the reflections, but the other boat kept ruining that!!

Never one to miss a photo opportunity Beth managed to get herself in on this shot while we were waiting to get on the ferry. Very lovely!!!!

At the end of the afternoon we spotted our ship right at the end of the Fjord it is dwarfed by the surrounding mountains.

Just look at how huge the ship is once we got up close to it!!!

Dressed to kill!

One of the fun things about a cruise holiday is the chance to get dressed up for the formal evenings. This year we managed to find a couple of dresses for Beth she looked fantastic!!

They like to take photos on cruises so we were spoilt for choice when it came to choosing which ones to buy, at the end of the week we had around 30 to look at!!!

I liked the magazine mock up, Beth takes a lovely photo and looks so grow up now.

The second day on board was a sea day which gave us plenty of time to get ready for the evening. Tom and John on the other hand weren't too keen on wearing shirt and tie, so they dressed for dinner and then scuttled back to their cabins to change into something more casual!!

Our third port of call was Bergen. We were taken by coach into the town centre and from there we walked to the harbour where there were some market stalls and a row of colourful houses which are listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. 

The houses are now the home of lots of little pretty shops, pretty little expensive shops I should add!!!

The last time we were in Bergen we needed to withdraw some money, so we found a bank with a great name  - The Fanny Spare Bank!!!!  Brilliant.

Bergen is very pretty sparkling clear water, lots of fresh fish stalls and of course a stall selling traditional Norwegian knitted goods. Beth replaced her wolf hat with a penguin version.

The tiger and Penguin get together!!!

At Sea - Aurora Spotting????

Day two we spent at sea, travelling to our next port of call, the beautiful Flam. The first time we visited it was beautiful although the weather was not brilliant and there was lots of low cloud obscuring the views, this time it was clear and we got to see a whole lot more!!

During the day on the ship there were some demonstrations, a chef carving fruit and vegetables, plus beauty and massage demonstrations. We were also very fortunate to have a sunny day so we sat at the rear of the ship on our special deck absorbing the rays!! We had the deck to ourselves which was even better, like a private balcony without the added cost!!!

On the evening of that sea day we approached the start of the Fjords, the sun didn't set until around 11.45pm, we watched it go down from the disco bar on the 12th deck. It was so odd being so light that time of night.

The moon was out and it was still light AND it was nearly midnight, it was weird!!!

We went back to our cabin to go to bed, Beth was really tired and went to bed and fell asleep straight away . We put on the TV and watched the ships web cam. (its very useful when you have an inside cabin as it gives you an idea of where you are going!!) We noticed a strange yellow glow on the horizon, it was not where the sun had just gone down, it was in the complete opposite direction, we were heading north. So we left a note for Beth in case she woke up and went to investigate.

The picture is not very clear but this was the first shot I took, it was quite cloudy as well as being dark, the camera had trouble focusing. The light patch on the horizon just left of centre is an oil rig.

We watched and the sky gradually changed in colour to the below picture.

The sky seemed much brighter and the oil rig is more in focus, possibly due to the extra light, clouds are still quite heavy though. I wonder if we saw the Aurora Borealis??? Once we arrived in Flam the next morning I bought a post card and I now think that we did see a distant Aurora Borealis.

It certainly started off like the orange glow on the horizon, I think the clouds obscured any spectacular display of the green colours. When I got home and checked my email I found a mail from Aurora watch (I subscribe to their early warning emails) which advised that on the 2nd and 3rd of June there was a high chance of of spotting the Aurora from England, so I think that is what we spotted on that evening. I now want to go and see a real display!!!

Home Again.

We are just home from our lovely holiday, a cruise on the MSC Opera to the Norwegian Fjords.

We drove to Southampton and dropped off the luggage. Tom and Rod parked the cars and we went through to check in. That was painless, we were all photographed and issued with a card, which was our room key and also contained details of our muster station, lifeboat and dining room!!Once on board we unpacked. We managed to get three cabins fairly close together on the Rigoletto Deck. The cabins were fairly cheap because they were at the back but the huge advantage was that we were only a few steps from the rear deck, we made good use of that deck as it turned out to be sheltered and relatively warm.

Before we could leave we had to take part in am emergency muster practice. So when the alarm sounded we donned our life jackets and headed for the muster station.

We all listened to the instructions and hoped we would not need them!!! Our holiday had started and we were off to Ijmuiden in the Netherlands.

Our cabin was very comfortable and considering it was a strange bed I had a very good nights sleep. The next morning we went to the buffet restaurant for breakfast but much like last year it was far too busy and crowded, by the time we found a seat the food was cold. The following day we ate at the restaurant which was far nicer!!

We arrived in Ijmuiden around 10am and took a shuttle bus to the railway station. We then took a train into Amsterdam. It was a stress free journey, to start with we needed coins to buy a train ticket and we didn't have enough, so we got on the train and explained to the guard, he was very laid back about it and told me there were far worse things in the world than travelling without a ticket. He told me to buy one for the return journey!!!

Once in Amsterdam, I went shopping and the rest of the party took a canal cruise. It was a very good day for all of us, I managed to go to my favourite shops, Hema, Xenos and Blokker, they had a whirlwind tour of the city! Perfect. 

More tomorrow!!!

Today we are in Stavanger a nice port with lots of lovely little shops ! We have walked around the market and Beth has bought herself a new t shirt , we have been search of a wooden horse for mad but all we can find are moose lots and lots of moose!!!!
So now we are sitting on the back of the deck sipping a cold coke before heading off to Oslo later this afternoon!
We are still on our quest to try every cocktail on the menu we are on schedule to complete the task!!!!

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Sailing in the Fjords

Stunning views of the fjords!!! We are now se real nights into our cruise and have found that the views have been stunning!!! Loads of snow capped mountains so there is only one thing for it, a warming drink or two to help the cold settling in your bones!!!!
The clouds have stayed away and we have had good weather . We have visited amsterdam. Flaam and Bergen tomorrow it's Stavanger. For some reason we are all tired today and are having a lazy afternoon!!!

Sailing in the Fjords

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We're off!!!

We are finally about to leave for our holiday cruise to the Fjords I have been looking forward to this holiday for a while and can't wait to get underway!!! We seem to be super organised, I think it helps not having to worry about the weight limits associated with flying, so you can pack all you need. I think  we have packed what we want and a whole lot more!!!

In preparation Emma and Dan bought over a wet suit for Beth to borrow, the pool on board is not heated at least this way she will be able to go swimming without getting frostbite!!!

The funny thing was that the two of them turned up wearing their wet suits!! It was a very hot evening and they wet melting, I wonder what people would have thought if they had been stopped on the way home!!!

This holiday was booked last year and we are off with Madeline and John. Rod booked a little while after us and managed to keep it a secret from Tina right up until last week!!! We are all just a little excited now. 

So Pringles packed, lemonade packed, passports at the ready, see you all next week !!!

Finally....

I have finally got around to making things with my beads. Hurrah!!!

I felt inspired by my white spotty beads and made a necklace and a pair of ear rings.

I had trouble photographing them because no where seemed to show them as they are in real life.

In the end I took photos on a mirror, this seemed to be a good idea at the time, but it confused my camera and it refused to focus!! Looking at the top photo the reflections are blurred so I can see how my camera got confused!!

I am very pleased with how it has turned out, so pleased that I have made two more sets tonight using some of my less perfect beads. They don't look too bad if they are mixed in with some sparkly beads!!! 

I am going to attempt to photograph them tomorrow night, watch this space....

Feeling Hot Hot Hot!!!!!

At last we seem to have some summery weather, It is currently 27 degrees in my back garden and the sky is bright blue. There is a blackbird singing its soul out perched on a nearby tree. Today we have popped over to Madelines to drop off  her Birthday Present and we came back via Matalan and Argos in St Albans (we know how to live!!) I have also packed my clothes for holiday, cleaned out my wardrobe and made a list of things left to pack. Add to that three loads of washing and you can see just what a jet set life I lead. 

Earlier in the week Beth had her friend Chelsea over and although they are both 'mature' teenagers, the lure of freezing cold water and a paddling pool is hard to resist. This time we have the use of a deep birthing pool, so its even better for bigger children.....

This pool also has an inflatable lid, so hours of fun !! It wasn't until we had filled it up that my neighbour reminded me of the hose pipe ban!!!! I never gave it a second though! So now we have coiled the hose back up and hidden it in case the water board fly over and spot it!! Oh the guilt of it all. :0(

Carl is feeling better and is back at work earning some extra for his road trip to USA. I expect the pool will be unbearable hot and sweaty today. Glad I am not there!

Hurrah, we have water!!!

At last we have water, hot and in the right place!! Its been a long week without a shower and I am pleased its back and working. We had a false start, the gas fitter went yesterday but when we put the shower on it was red hot (good) but pulsating that meant there was an airlock so it couldn't be used. It was finally fixed this morning. We have all showered in a variety of places this week!!!

On Thursday night Carl went out with his mates for a leaving drink, the last thing I said to him jokingly was 'don't get into any fights' Well he took that advice BUT I still got a call from him in the early hours to say 'don't worry but I'm in the Lister, I had a fall and cut my eye' So I set off wishing that I had filled up the car the night before. When I got there the waiting room was empty, something I had never seen before!! Even the receptionist was missing. So I text Carl and Grant opened the door to the treatment room. There was my poor baby having his face looked at. It seems they had been walking home messing around when Carl jumped on Grants back and they both hit the floor. Carl hit his face and cut under his eye. They were cleaning that in preparation to glue it back together, he looked sorry for himself, but he was being brave, it was quite swollen and must have hurt a fair bit. Finally he was sorted out out and we headed for home. They had been up all night and were tired, I was just recovering from the shock of getting the call. It could have been so much worse,

So what is it with hospitals??? I have thought for a long time that real time doesn't exist once you walk into 

A and E. If the place is heaving or if the place is empty there seems to be an unwritten rule that says 'everyone must wait for the longest possible time so that they can fully appreciate the ambiance of the department'. I know that they do a brilliant job but why does everything take so long?? You are booked in, seen by the triage nurse, seen by a Doctor who orders an Xray. Wait two hours for Xray and result. Doctor confirms nothing broken, but stitches are required, wait another two hours while someone manufactures the things required for the procedure. Eventually start to fix the wound and discharge the patient. Its time gone mad!!!!

Mean while we are having a glorious spell of sunny weather, its perfect, bright sunshine and a lovely breeze, it reminds me of summer beach weather. I am looking forward to my cruise next week soooooo much!!!

Indoor Water Feature....

Yesterday Beth said, 'I can hear dripping' so we stopped and listened and sure enough we could hear dripping, we were in the living room and there really shouldn't be the sound of dripping in there!!! So we looked around and finally tracked it down to the central heating system. More precisely the water heating part of it. There was a huge puddle in the bottom of the system and water was starting to run out onto the kitchen floor. So we called the man who services it and he came out and said we needed a new part. He switched off the gas but we still had a tank of hot water so he said he would leave the water on so we could use it . So last night we set up a bit of a Heath Robinson device to drain the water away, involving corrugated plastic and a bread bin!!!!

This morning the bin was full, I had a shower with the last of the hot water and now we are waiting for the bloke to come back and switch it off until the new part arrives.  More expense!!! 

I had a very productive weekend, finished scrapping all my photos of the bulb fields and I had a successful burn up with my beads. I made a set of beads and I am happy with how I am getting better, I can see me making something with them !!

I made a set of white beads with green blue and purple spots, nine in total I am pleased with the colour, shape and the speed with which I was able to make them. Its made such a difference having a graphite bead roller, it helps me keep everything roughly the same size!!! That has made me think that perhaps I could investigate some other shapes, I get on better with the roller than with the brass presses. 

Over the weekend we had a birthday party, the Twins were 28!! I can't believe they are that old, it makes me feel very old when I think back to looking after them as little tiny babies. Where does the time go????

Lots to look forward to, the removal of the internal water feature and our cruise. I can't wait until we are aboard the Opera heading for the Norwegian Fjords. We went last year and it was brilliant, this year we will be with our friends Madeline and John so it will be twice as good!! 

New Beads!!

I was able to get some time at my torch over the weekend, I was fresh from my tuition at Mango beads in Devon and raring to go. I had some lessons on controlling the heat and placing dots. Its a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy. Not too hot, not too big !! I think I have found that spot that allows me to make use of my new found skills. I am still drawn to bright colours so I love these orange and white spotty ones, I might just stick with making spotty ones for ever!!!

I have tried to practice dot layering. If you put on a dot melt it in, then put another on top the first dot spreads. Glass doesn't really mix together so there should be clear lines between the colours. The bead on the left (above) is quite reasonable and you can see the yellow dot has been turned into a heart. The next bead was fine until I used ivory in the middle, that tends to spread too much and the spots are not defined. The third bead has the base colour bleeding over the top of the heart. Last bead is better but the colour is not very inspiring.

The lot above are the ones that I made at the weekend. The one on the far right is a demo bead made by Manda at Mango beads, its what I aspire to make!!!!

A few Days Away

I have just come back from a few days in Devon on a Welfare Conference. We drove down on Wednesday  in the driving rain. I took Tom's car as the fuel consumption is much better. In the end the whole round trip was 570 miles.We stayed at Croyde bay holiday village. It was a great mix of vintage holiday chalets and brand spanking new hotel. I ended up in a modern chalet which was nice and comfortable. I loved the look of these old fashioned fifties chalets. Inside they had some photographs from the original holiday camp and you could see the chalets above in their original glory.

The premises backed onto the beach at Croyde bay, it was an easy five minute walk over the dunes to the beach. The down side was the weather, so I ended up just taking the one quick walk to take a look and calling it a day!!

The beach is quite spectacular, the water goes out a long way and comes in a long way quickly!!

We had been there quite a few years ago when I was expecting Beth once I got back in the area it all came flooding back to me. In the summer its just about impossible to drive down there as the congestion is so bad, we didn't have that to contend with this time. 

The conference kept us very busy with workshops and presentations. Each day started after breakfast at 9.30 and went on until 6 - 6.30pm. All meals were included and the catering was very good with a huge variety of food. Last night finished with a Gala dinner. It was nice to be able meet people from other areas and exchange ideas. We headed back today and were lucky not to hit any hold ups on the roads. Its still a long journey and took us over four hours to get back.

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