Art Challenge - A bit Late!

This weeks Challenge was to make a card using a photo that means something special, I have used a photo of our front door, I think my front door is special and symbolises home and family, Three is important as well, We live at number 3, we have three children and I was one of three children, its a number that keeps cropping up.

So that is it, my door and three!

A few more photos.

Shaken not Stirred! (Looks like the next James Bond!)

There were a few other young men, Black Shirts are very 'in'


Nicholas Breakspear Prom 2007!!


Fares Please!!

Well he arrived back last night just about 1am, he had a great time, although he said the food wasn't that good. He enjoyed the company of his friends. He came home with an official Prom photo that he had taken with his friends Lucy and Luke. He also bought home his year book, which is a very professional affair, a proper book with colour photos, lots of stories, a great reminder of his first five years at Nicky B!

Nicholas Breakspear Year 11 prom!!

Carl and Hannah.


Outside School.


We're all going on a summer holiday!!


All aboard!!

Tonight was Prom night for year 11 at Nicholas Breakspear school. Carl and some of his friends got together and decided to arrive at the event in a vintage 1966 red route master London Bus!!
They were so excited and they all looked so grown up, bought a tear to my eye!!

We are waiting for a call to collect him at the moment!!

Happy Anniversary to us!

The Auberge Du Lac, an 18th century hunting lodge in the grounds of Brocket Hall.


The Lodge from across the lake.


We finished with Coffee,tea and petit fours!


The 'Bride'


The 'Groom' !!

On Monday the 25th of June My dear husband and I celebrated our 24th wedding Anniversary, can't believe its been that long!

Back in January I won a meal for two at a fantastic exclusive restaurant, Auberge Du lac in the grounds of Brocket Hall. I decided to keep it for our anniversary. Unfortunately it was not open on the 25th so we went this lunchtime. It was beautiful, fantastic surroundings, gorgeous food, very attentive staff and best of all FREE!!

I had Goats cheese and spinach bread and butter pudding, with sun dried cherry tomatoes, which was to die for, for starters. For main course I had breast of chicken, with puree potatoes and chicken jus, full of flavour and very yummy. For dessert I had dark chocolate tart, with fresh raspberries and raspberry sorbet. The whole meal was delicious. We also had a glass of wine and then finished the meal in the lounge with tea,coffee and petit fours.

A few more.

Essential Scrapping equipment!!


Waiting for the big raffle draw!!


The other half of the crowd waiting for the big draw!!


The 'Twipletts' separated only by three decades!!

The tiaras were a great touch, Shirl suggested that we all did a swap I was very lucky to be the recipient of a stunning crown made by Jan, truly an extravaganza in ermine and glitter balls!! My understated affair, (pink fluff, rosebuds and glittery hearts was made for Muckyfingers!!)

I'm Back!!

The fabulous Ginger starring with me and Jaffers wearing her 'speshal' Hat


Holding up a tree, Me, Jaffers,Ginger and sweet Shirleen!!

Jenn Rigg (my Roomie!!) and Me!


Me and my 'speshal' embellishment sorting mate, Angela!

I am back from a 'crafting' weekend at Debden and a great time was had by all!! I had been looking forward to this weekend for a while and at one point I thought that it wasn't going to be possible. But I made it and it was well worth it!

I got to meet lots of new online friends plus a few old ones that I had met before. I even managed to do some scrapping. I was taught all sorts of things by some lovely ladies, how to use twinkling H2O's, Distress ink, learnt to crochet, new tricks for the craft Robo on the craft side. On the social side I shared a room with Jennrigg who was fabulous. I spent ages chatting with Shirleen, Jaffers and Ginger. Some folk even managed to go virtually two nights without sleep. I was in awe of them, I was knackered by 10pm on the first night (the driving did that!)

We had a secret parcel swap, (thanks Jaffers for the beautiful scrabble necklace, not such a secret after all eh?) Shirl gave me a house and Jaffers gave me a pair of great coasters, staring a mans bottom and kilt!!!

I even managed to win a prize in the raffle!

Its Here!!!

Today I am heading off for a girls weekend at Debden. I am meeting up with scrapping pals to have a whole weekend of scrapping and fun. Its been a long time coming!!
The plan is to head off to Stanstead Airport to collect Debbie and Jaffers and then head on down to Debden.

Just heard from Jaffers and she thinks that her plane is going to be delayed, so thats a great start!!

Photo Assignment.

I have been doing an online photography course and this
weeks assignment is portrait shots.

Beth did not want to pose at all, so I had to bribe her. It
cost me a bar of Galaxy to buy her co-operation!!

I love these three shots, although her eyes in the last shot
look sore from all the swimming she does at this time of year!

Its Over!!!!

We are now fully double glazed and I must say I am thrilled with it!! It was a worry having to move all the furniture, but now its done its beautiful, so beautiful that I may even dust it, regularly. (I am sure that will wear off soon) I am most pleased with the front door, because I wasn't going to have a new one, But I am so pleased that we did !!

Remember When ????

When I saw this prompt I knew immediately what I wanted to do.

There are a lot of memories and a lot of changes over the years.

I can remember visiting my Nan and Grandad every Sunday morning. Nan would buy us a bag of sweets to share. They were both gardeners and had a huge green house where they grew all sorts of things. My main memory of these early years is the smell of warm tomatoes when you pick them fresh off the vine, that 'tomato' smell on your fingers!! I was always allowed to fill a paper bag with the very tiny teeny baby tomatoes. Even now when I smell them it takes me back to nan and Grandads greenhouse all those years ago!!

Half way there.

Well what an awful day, its poured on and off, more on, all day. The whole place is in uproar because of the windows. Half of them are in now and look great. the other half will hopefully be finished tomorrow. All the bedrooms are done. To celebrate we have swapped the room around and I have put up new curtains and changed the bedding to match, its like being on holiday!!

Beth has cleared under her bed and has cleared a shelf off, a little each day. Carl's room is fabulous, totally clear and tidy. He got paid from his lifesaving job today and when I asked if he could give me hand , he said " in a minute, I'm counting my money" !!! Brilliant, you have to get your priorities right!

Double Glazing!!

Of course its pouring with rain, I mean its June!! We are having double glazing fitted, Spent yesterday trying to get enough space to get to the windows and today we are underway. The guy that is doing it is a friend of my brother Keith, so we are several cups of tea and a bacon sandwich into the fitting!!

Oh the mess, can I bare it???

Busy Day.

Tomorrow we are being 'Double Glazed' Its been a long time coming, I have been putting off having it done because of all the mess involved. Not that they actually make too much mess, but we have had a busy morning moving stuff away from the windows. Every single bed room the beds are under the windows. We have had to move ours and Beth's, but Carl's is impossible to move without taking it apart and taking all the 'stuff' out of the place.

We now have a car filled with rubbish bags (for the dump tomorrow, only LOSERS go to the dump on a Sunday!!) We have also put a load of toys on Freecycle and are hoping they will be collected this afternoon. - Lots of interest, hope they turn up!

Clearing out bedrooms seems to generate washing as well, so I am now on my second load, I feel there may be more. On the plus side I do now feel virtuous now that its done.

Yesterday I went with Wendy, Hannah and Beth to Lakeside Shopping. Its huge and the whole of the South of England was there. We did manage to get Beth a couple of bits for the summer, and shock horror I bought myself a PINK dress for my holidays! I was also given a free bottle of head and shoulders by this nice looking guy with a sack load of them, shame I didn't listen to what he had to say, because if I had I would have known it was a bottle of conditioner and not shampoo!! (found that out in the shower this morning!!)

I have just finished a secret scrapping assignment and i must say I am very pleased with it. Perhaps more scrapping later today.

Prom Time!

This morning we took a ride over to St Albans to kit Carl out for his High School Prom (If anyone starts humming ANY songs from High School Musical, there will be trouble!!) Anyway he found this lovely charcoal grey pinstripe suit, which he has teamed up with black shoes and Shirt and a silver grey silk tie. He really looks great and every inch a grown up man.

Watch our Nicholas Breakspear, Carl is dressed up and ready to go.

Just before we left this morning his drama teacher called and said that he wanted Carl to audition for a role in the school summer musical production of Oliver. The audition time is Monday 3pm to 5pm. I explained that he was working at the pool, so he said tell him to see me anytime and I'll sort it !! So that sounds very hopeful, that and the fact they have only called two from his year.

Feeling Thankful.

Yesterday afternoon I saw my consultant for the result of my recent CT scan. It has been a nerve wracking week or two waiting for that. He told me that they con not find any evidence of any spread of the cancer. He also thinks that it is unlikely that I will need radio Therapy, but he has to check that out with another specialist. So I feel that I have been very very lucky. If it had not been for the diligence of my GP who referred me to the hospital on what I thought was the scantest of reasons I might never have know about the cancer until it was too late.

So this morning I am thanking my lucky stars and all of those who have prayed for me for such a positive outcome.

Thank you.

Scrapbooking the secret.

This weeks prompt is the 'Secret Shifter' A place that you go that always lifts your mood and helps you to reflect .

I only have a small garden but I am lucky enough to have an incredible Jacobs fir tree.If anyone has one of these they will know how wonderful they are. They have wispy branches and needles and are pretty to look at BUT the very best thing about them is that they 'whisper' in the breeze. The whispering of the wind through the branches and needles is very relaxing and it seems to blot out the rest of the world. Pure Bliss!

Emily's card Challenge.

This weeks prompt is - On my Mind.

This is how I feel at the moment !!

This is a first for me, I have stitched on a card.

Strike a Pose!

I am lucky that Beth likes to pose, last weeks photography class was about changing the angle of your photo. I managed to get her to pose at the back of the house and I was very pleased with these tow photos. She is a natural!

The Haircut!

While we were away on Holiday, we had some pretty awful weather so I finally gave in and let Beth have her hair cut. We found a salon on one of the back streets of Skegness. The lady cut her hair beautifully, did a complete restyle for the grand sum of £15.

Beth is thrilled with it and even I have to admit it looks pretty good! All we have to do now is wait for the little short bit on the front to grow out (all her own work!!)

So Happy!!!

I have just found out that I have won a competition to celebrate our female friends on this blog -http://scrappingtonight.blogspot.com/ I am blown away and doing the happy dance. Thanks Anna for making my week!!

Pleasant Surprise.

Last night at weigh in I lost 1/2 lb. Not much but the previous week we had been on holiday and when I got back I was at least 6 lbs over when I left for my holiday. I had eaten everything, toast, loads of butter, jam, cooked breakfasts, cream cakes, four course evening meals with mint chocs. So I knuckled down from last Saturday and it paid off.
Just have to keep it up for next week now. My weight loss for the past 8 weeks has not been stunning 7 lbs in 8 weeks is not going to change the world, but I feel ready to hit it again and get back on the wagon.

Beth had a traumatic day yesterday with her tooth extraction under sedation. It was horrifying to think that if we had waited for the NHS we would have been at least two weeks with her in agony, but as soon as we offered to pay they made a gap less than 24 hours later. So now we are £210 poorer but Beth is pain free and much happier. The tooth has prooved to be far too big for the tooth fairy, it is just over 2.5 cms long, I think we need to drill a hole in it and hang it around her neck!

Scrapbooking the Secret!

I have decided to join in with another challenge blog, this time Scrapping the Secret. This weeks prompt is 'Grateful' I am grateful for my family and friends who have been very supportive, caring and loving though out the recent couple of months !!

These are photos of just a few of my beautiful flowers that I received when I came home from hospital!!

This weeks card challenge.

This weeks prompt is ' Something I want to learn' Well this is my own unique version, I have changed it to 'Something I want to do'!!! There are so many things I want to learn I could not limit to one thing, BUT I have always wanted to go to Lapland and meet Santa. Madeline and I have always said that one day when we are rich (yeah ha ha !!) We will make that trip, dress up in those furry clothes and meet the great man himself.

I'm going for Coffee!!

I am about to hit the town and meet up with Caz and Sue. Can't wait to chat in person, its so much easier. My PC is playing up and keeps hanging, making it hard to get emails, today it has been so frustrating as we have sold some bits on eBay and I couldn't get in to find the addresses of the winners. Anyway eventually I was able to get them and they have been sent off. I have decided that its just not worth selling the big stuff anymore, costs too much in postage which means people take that into account and the price stays low.Its not worth the effort.

I am looking forward to getting a bit of craft time to myself, today has been a write off and I feel like I have been working and getting nowhere!

Twist and Turn

I have tried to 'twist and turn' my camera angle and I am quite pleased with the results!!

I will be doing a few more today.

While we were away, Beth had her hair cut, my baby now has short hair and very nice it looks too! The hairdresser was great and at least it was warm and dry in the salon!! She was happy for me to take a great big lock of hair and understood that you need to scrap this sort of event!!

Home sweet home!

We are fresh back from our break in Skegness. We stayed at the County Hotel on North Parade. The hotel was built in the 1930's and is a very nice Art Deco building. Our room was huge with high ceilings and a very airy feel to it.Mum and dad had a twin room which was a lot smaller and had two steps in it, which was odd as both of them have problems walking!!
We were bed breakfast and evening meal. The food was fabulous, with loads to eat which has not helped my weight loss in any shape or form!! Today i am back on the fruit and sticking like glue to slimming world .

The first few days were very wet. It was very miserable. We weren't able to do anything really, so we ended up in the penny arcades and shopping. Most evenings there was an entertainer on, so we had something to do after dinner. We also played cards in the first floor ball room, very swish.

We did finally get onto the beach and I took some shots of Beth, my willing model, for this weeks photographic lesson. I correctly guessed that Twist and Turn referred to the camera angle so I had a go, not sure if i am totally happy with the angles, as i am a square/right angle sort of girl. Buts its different!!

Good news, I made it into the top five with my picture of my pegs, I think I win a small prize so I have to send my address off to Cheryl along with the original photo. Its very exciting!!