Happy Birthday Cake!!

Over the past few weeks I have been making a new birthday cake. The difference with this cake is that its not edible! At Beth's school at the assembly on Friday they sing happy birthday to all the children who have had birthdays that week. The cake that they have been using has come to the end of its life, the candles were allowed to burn right down and they melted into the cake.

I have made a new one, not as easy as it seems as it has to be strong, light,fireproof,pretty and suitable for boys and girls.

I think I have finally cracked it. It is made out of an empty biscuit tin from Ikea, covered in papier mache, painted white, I made the swirls on the top with poly filler. The candle holes were drilled into the tin. Finished with a big bow !!

What do you think? Good enough to eat??

Went swimming and guess who I met??

Well last night I went swimming again, the problem now is I meet so many people that I know that it interferes with the amount of swimming I can do!!
Last night I bumped into Sue D. That slowed me down considerably!! We chatted for a bit and then I got stuck in. I was late getting there but the bonus was that by the last 10 lengths I was the only one left in the pool. That meant I could do back stroke, which is a bit dodgy when the pool is busier!!
So the not so grand total for the night was 30 lengths.

Pencil Lines Sketch 25.

I love this photo of my daughter and had it printed as an enlargement intending to do something arty with it ages ago (well since her birthday last October!!) BUT I had stupidly had it printed with a glossy finish which I really don't like. so its been sitting in a box daring me to use it since way back then. I saw the latest sketch on Pencil Lines and decided to have a go. Its a complete change of style for me, I find paper this patterned very hard to work with. That said I am pleased with the results!

Photo Manipulation!!

My brother married Nicky last year in Las Vegas. They had around a dozen 'official' photographs taken, plus some more informal ones taken by a friend. Unfortunately they were not good photos, with the photographer not taking into account the effect of the bright Nevada sun would have on the subjects. A bit of fill in flash would have worked wonders.

Nicky was particularly disappointed not to have got one decent photo with her mum, they were all far too dark and in shadow.

I decided to see if I could tinker with them, and I have managed to alter them, some better than others, Nicky is thrilled with the results and has ordered them all!!




Original Dark Version


Altered enhanced version. (not 100% happy with the colour!)


This looks better in black and white.


My Favourite, Cropped, I think a huge
improvement on the original.

Whoopee!!

Weighed in tonight and lost 6 lbs!! I feel brilliant, I am now 1/2 lb off of 3 stone.
Its a loss over two weeks as I wasn't able to weigh in last week.
I'm still happy!!

Another Pencil Lines Sketch

I am not really into sketches but I have actually found a couple of late that I like and as I have been inspired to give them a go. My main problem is that I like to scrap present day photos the older photos (I mean those from the 70's and 80's) are not good enough quality to scrap. I have run out of present day photos, I am fully up to date!! I need to get out more I suspect!!

I really missed not weighing in last week, I hope that this week I have a good loss!!

Belated Mothers Day Pictures!!

This year my own mother decided to gallivant off on Mothers day to spend a cosy weekend by the sea, So I don't have any pictures of her celebrating!! My own children came over and we posed for the family shot, at least I look happy!!I had a nice day.

Putting my feet up.

Well today I was supposed to be putting my feet up, but in the end I did the weekly food shop, Hoovered and dusted the whole house, bought and fixed up a new shower hose and shower head. Made lunch and then sat chatting with my friend Madeline for an hour. I needed the rest as my back is still a bit achy.
I have intended to scrap for the past couple of days but have not go around to it. So tonight I am going to scrap my friendship with Shirl, I am going to use her handmade personal card as a basis for the page. I am thrilled to share it with you .

I'm Back.

I have had to take a couple of days out to go into hospital for some tests, I got back this morning and although I feel really tired, I am OK in myself and just a bit achy.

I am lucky that it is the weekend coming up so I can take a few days to get over things.

I had an epidural which was strange, I was able to talk to the surgeon, which I believe bothered him more than it did me !!

Carl,Beth and Tom came into see me last night and bought me a great Winnie the Pooh balloon and some much needed turkey and tomato sarnies!

I now want to do a bit of scrapping I have a couple of layouts started and I want to move them to a finished state!!

Happy Mothers day!!

For a change a layout starring ME !!
In honour of Mothers day and using Pencil Lines sketch number 22!
So today I have had a very nice day. Got up early and received gifts from the two kids at home. Beth gave me some smellies and a candle in a display box. The box will be very alterable as well as an added bonus! Carl gave me a helium balloon and a 1 inch mothers day cake. (taking notice of the eating plan!) He also gave me a best mum award.(blub,blub)
Tom gave me a bowl of flowers.
Laura and Scott gave me a great present of a box of assorted card from The Paper Mill, a box of 100 purple embelishments, two sheets of stickers, a box of brads and two reels of ribbon, I am very impressed!!
I have received home made cards from Beth, a funny card from Carl and a 'Happy Godmothers Day' card from Emma !
Carl went to Church parade with Stuart and the Cubs. Beth and I went to Children's Mass and she was roped into doing the offertory, which she said was OK as long as she didn't have to speak! At the end of a very nice mass all the mums were given a bunch of daffs, a really nice touch that must have taken some organising.

Heelys - The quiet Revolution !!

The new 'must have' item of the moment is HEELYS!!
Beth has been seriously begging for these since the end of last year and we have resisted as she has roller blades, and quad skates and we couldn't see why she would need another pair of roller skates. Finally we gave in , Jessica and Megan who she plays outside with have them, so we put some money to her pocket money and bought some for her. Like everything else it takes some practice to be able to master them, but with the help of her mates she has cracked it.

Looking at these photos has made me think, just what is average when it comes to child sizes??
All three girls are in year 5, Megan (in pink) is 1 month older than Beth and Jess (in black) is 1 month younger than Beth, just look at the size difference!!! They all started out fairly close in size, Megan was the biggest baby at just over 10 lbs and Beth the smallest at 7lbs 13 1/3, Jess was in the middle. You would never guess that they are all the same age by looking at them !!

Red Nose day !!

Well I hope you all had a happy red nose day !! Beth dressed up for school, the were 'Doing it Big' so Beth wore her RND07 tee shirt and sprayed her hair with the vivid red spray from the box she had, and off she went to school. The dressing up cost £1. Then we all donated cakes and biscuits and then bought them back. There was also a book sale, so a rough guess is around £400 raised. A good amount for Red Nose Day 07.

Valerie Gooden.

I can hardly believe that eight years ago today my little sister passed away. The same little sister standing next to me on the beach on my blog banner. Its strange how it seems like ages since we last saw her on the one hand, and only a short time since that terrible day when she went away. RIP Val, always in our thoughts.

Been a bit busy!!

I forgot to blog that I did manage a 1 lb weight loss on Wednesday it was a surprise and a relief but another pound is another pound!!
That pound meant that I have finally cracked the 2 1/2 stone barrier!! Hurrah. Aiming for three now. Its funny how we work well using small targets along the way, each 1/2 stone is closer to the target.

Last night I went swimming with Laura, I did 30 lengths. I was knackered and the water was cooler than usual. They also had some girls in there diving and they were fabulous, I spent a lot of my lengths on my side watching them do some pretty spectacular dives!

Tonight is the night

That I think I will not lose any weight. I have been out to eat twice and I don't feel as if I have lost anything, a quick check on the scales makes it look like a close squeak, so I am feeling fed up and not looking forward to the results!!
I will go and face the music, but it all seems like a waste of a week at the moment. I can't say that I am surprised, I think I need to get back on track. I am desperate not to put on and 1/2 lb would see me shifting 2 1/2 stones!!!
Lets see, but I won't be too surprised.

Lazy Sunday afternoon.......... NOT!!!

The following photographs come with a government health warning - do not view if you are of a nervous disposition!!!

Today we went swimming again, another 44 lengths, another mile all part of the fitness routine!!


Afterwards I had a go on the trampoline, not just a sit on it for a rest or to soak up the sun, but a full blown bounce on it!! Now I can tell you it was not a pretty site, and here are the photos to prove it!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

While not the best photo in the world, this is dad, Beth and Carl on dads birthday !! This year we did not have a cake as we are all on 'eating plans' Between Mum, Dad and brother Keith we have lost over 5 stone since beginning of January!

We bought dad 4 CD's of stars from the 50's - Elvis, Johny Cash, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. He will be able to listen to those in the car.We also bought him a trolley to move things around the garden, it was like an episode of the Kypton Factor trying to put it together!!

While chatting on line with my friend Shirleen (who I have never met and intend to do so in the summer) We discovered a very strange and disturbing fact. I mentioned it was dads birthday today and as it turns out its her dads birthday today as well!! It went on to become stranger, as we talked about mums birthdays and discovered that both of our mums share the 21st of July. What are the chances of that happening ???

Yesterday.....

Beth came home from school to tell us she was player of the match!! She was thrilled and we were pleased for her. Her netball playing is coming along so well. We forget that she has been playing since year 4, when most of the other girls in the school teams are year 6. So she has had the benefit of playing competitively for longer.

I spent virtually the whole day at school yesterday, first of all doing interviews followed by helping them set up the jumble sale. Beth managed to get herself a skateboard and I picked up a couple of books and a puzzle for mum.

This morning is Dads birthday and then we have a trip into town for eye tests. I know how to live !!

My Troll and Dolly Beads!!

On my birthday I was lucky enough to be given some lovely beads for my bracelet, BUT when I put them on the bracelet they looked a bit lost with gaps between them, it just didn't look right. So I decided to buy some cheap beads to pad it out, plus some silver spacer beads to fill the bracelet while slowly acquiring some more of the real thing!

So I will try and identify the real beads!

From the black and white bead and heading right, the beads up until the bright turquoise bead are all cheap filler beads. The turquoise bead was a gift from Laura and Scott.

The next bead was a gift from Carl.

The blue spotty bead is a filler bead.

The dark blue is a troll bead from Dad.

The turquoise glass troll bead is a gift from Laura and Scott.

The Yellow Troll bead is a gift from Mum.

The pink and green bead is a Dolly , a gift from Shirleen,

The green bead was a gift to myself from me, called apple, a dolly bead.

The pink bead is another filler bead.

As I get more of the real thing I will replace the beads. I want to use the beads for the basis of another bracelet!

Day off!

Today I have had a day off of work, and it was very nice. This morning Tom and I went over to Stevenage, he needed some new trousers for work, so we hit Primark and spent £27 which got us two pairs of trousers, two swim suits for Beth, two pairs of girls boxers for Beth, two pairs of Boxers for Carl and a pair of long stripey socks, again for Beth. This shop is stacked with bargains!!

After school tonight Beth played Netball and again they outstripped the opposition winning the match 7 - 3. That means this season they have not lost a single match !

I couldn't resist buying a cute little pink velour hoody for Phoebe. Beth and I went around for a cup of tea and gave her mummy the hoody!! Beth was so pleased to be able to give Phoebe a great big snuggly cuddle!!

Tonight I went out with Heather and swam 44 lengths of Hatfield pool, that equals one whole mile of swimming, I feel so virtuous having done that !!

Interesting facts about Hatfield Swimming pool (or things to look at when plodding up and down the lanes)
1.There are sixteen windows above the upstairs cafe.
2. There are 12 flood lights illuminating the ceiling of the main pool area.
3. There is a semi inflated helium balloon stuck in the eaves almost in the centre of the pool.

Watch out for more exciting facts next week!

Well what can I say ???

I was surprised to find that I had lost 4 lbs tonight!! I was certain my chocolate slip from yesterday would have done some damage, but perhaps the syn free days at the beginning of the week helped me over the binge yesterday.
Tonight I am eating something I have invented 'sweet and sour pasta' I love sweet and sour and those nice pastas in sauce don't do that variety, so I have used a tomato based one of those, added a spoon of vinegar a couple of spoons of sweetener, chopped pineapple, sweetcorn ,quorn pieces, Its absolutely delish !!

Not having a good week.

This week I feel a bit fed up and this has had an impact on my 'eating plan' in fact the plan seems to be eat chocolate. I have got to get that under control or I'll be on the slippery slope into stuffing my face with all the wrong stuff.

I am going to try and get back on the wagon.

Not anticipating any loss this week!

A couple more photos from yesterday.

I have landed back on earth!!

After all the excitement of yesterday I have landed back on the earth!! I have been out this morning with Mum and Karen, we went to the stamping and scrapping show at Stevenage. It was packed as usual, very hot and by the end I was fed up with all the pushing and shoving.

I didn't spend too much, but I did get some nice things, mainly tools (replacement hammer as mine has a loose head again) Some jewelry pliers, some more paper (not like I don't have enough)and a storage box for my beads.

I also bought a present for a very dear friend.

I met up with Melinbeds, Anna and SueD, Caz was engaged in getting herself a new passport so was unable to be there! We realised that we were all going to Ali Pally next month so will meet up again.

This afternoon Beth has gone to Roller City with Emma, all morning she has had aching legs from yesterdays work out!!

We are the Champions !!

Panshanger School Netball Champions!!

Today at 8.30am We arrived at Stanborough School in WGC ready to take part in the Mid Herts School Netball Competition. As usual it was freezing cold and blowing a gale, within half an hour of arriving it started to rain, so it was all a bit depressing.

We had two teams playing.Beth was in the A team with her mates, Sasha,Robyn,Chloe,Charlotte, Khadeja,Fahima and Immi. The first match was against the team that we had played during the week at school, Sherrardswood school. We had beaten them 8 - 7. So we felt as if we were in with a chance.

The first match started fast and with aggression from their side, we were left wanting and lost 3 - 1. Our team was a bit surprised. This was the first game they had lost since the start of the season.

We went on to win the next three matches and progressed to the quarter finals. In the quarter finals we met Peartree School and managed to beat them 7 - 2. That meant that we went into the final up against Sherrardswood again!

We started the match off well and by the end of the first half we were 3 nil up and cruising, we had settled into the game and were all over them. Then disaster happened, Sasha fell and twisted her ankle, she was not able to continue. We had to use our Sub Fahima. This meant a bit of quick swapping around of positions. It also gave the opposition a chance to come back and by the end of full time they had equalised.

We played extra time and we were still locked at 3 all. Everyone was exhausted as it was now nearing 2pm, so the organisers decided to call it a draw and split the winning honours!!

Our Coach Lyn was thrilled and we were all hoarse from all the cheering!!

Sasha and Beth

Khadeja and Beth