Down by The water.

On our Sunday walk the girls agreed to pose for me, this shot was their idea, posing on the side of the lake !! Today I have as always been busy, Carl has got his sore throat back again and I couldn't get an appointment at the Doctors for him, so I ended up talking to the Doctor on the phone and he has given him more anti-biotics. I hope that it clears up before the holiday. Its been pretty miserable for him.

I am in a Christmas Card swap on the pad, organised by Mad Ginger Claire, so this evening I made my cards, I have packaged them up and will post them tomorrow. I can't believe that I'm so organised!!

Emilys Art Challenge - Someone Special!

This weeks prompt is someone special, I have a special friend who I have known since we were both in infant school. We don't talk everyday or sometimes every week, but I know her, she knows me. I know what she likes, she knows what I like, we don't have to ask each other !!
So this is my best friend Madeline my mate forever!!
(I have made this card using Adobe, I have printed it out and added it to my ever growing pile!!)

Been collecting a few conkers!!

This afternoon we went out for a walk around the lakes followed by a conker collecting hunt in Ayot Green. Megan came with us and the girls had a great time, running around and playing. We were very disappointed with the playground at the lakes, it was fine if you were under 5, but over 5's are not catered for at all. I might have to write to the council, it used to be so much better than that!!

So now we have a mega carrier bag full of conkers which will end up sweating in the bag and festering until they stink and rot away!!

I wonder.....

This weeks prompt is 'I wonder' Well after yet another weekend of asking the kids to clear up for themselves and stop arguing, I am wondering if they will EVER grow up and behave!!

Beth's room is still messy but she assures me its tidy, She left her dinner plate on the floor and went to bed!! It drives me nuts!!

Time is flying!!

I can hardly believe that its only 19 days until we go to Florida!! The next couple of weeks are packed with so much stuff its quite worrying. I have a conference in Plymouth to go to, Carl turns 17 and has decided that he wants a get together for his friends, so we have booked Quazar in Hemel Hempstead. So that's another evening written off.
All we are doing at the moment is running from one place to another ferrying the kids around. I feel exhausted and will really need the break, I think the ways things are going I will turn up with a tooth brush and change of underwear can't see me having too much time to pack any more!!!
Tonight I have printed out everything to do with the holiday and put it in a folder for Wendy and Laura, I think that having three copies should be safe enough!!

Art Challenge - Catch up.

I have managed to get behind with the art challenge, so have caught up today. This prompt is beautiful. Beth loves all sorts of shoes and seems to have far more than she really needs, this pair of baseball boots were a bargain, and according to her trendy(at the time this photo was taken!!) She loves them!!

This one was a hard one, to do a card with some drawing , something I am absolutely useless at. I have had to fall back to the old standby of doodling flowers, I seem to be OK with that. In the end I was pleased with how this card turned out!!

Beth does Amy Winehouse - Without the drugs!!

Today Beth decided to become 'Amy Winehouse' I drew the line at letting her do the drugs, but she tried out the heavy eye make up and bright red lippy, no boyfriend either, but we have had a bit of fun with it!!

This weekend I am really going to get some crafting done.I am in a few swaps and need to restock my cards. I have to take Beth to the library to receive her Big wild read challenge medal in the morning, to get the award she had to read 6 books from the library over the summer holiday and do book reports on them all, she easily managed that and enjoyed giving verbal reports to the librarian!!

I am happy!!

Today my layout starring our sponsored child Betewush appeared in Scrapbooking Inspirations, I know because my mum phoned and told me so !!! I haven't got my copy yet! I have read the article and I am pleased with it , although I am not sure about being described as a veteran scrapper!!! (I am knocking on a bit!!)
I have had a busy day at work, I have driven a fair few miles and sat on the M25 for longer that I needed to. I now have a few days off, so I hope to catch up with a few photos, with just over three weeks to my holiday I need to be clear for my holiday pics!!

Been Away.....

I seem to have been too busy to keep up with my blog, doing my arty card should keep me on track but I haven't even done those for the past couple of weeks!!!
Being at work is seriously interfering with my social life, and my time available at home has been limited.

Over the past week have been to a crop with Dougie and Sue in Stevenage, which was a great experience. I took Laura and she made her first ever scrapbook page. The people there were very nice and Dougie's mum kept us supplied with lots of tea, coffee, cake and biscuits.
I hope they do another one soon.
Waves to Dougie and Bubz :)

Tonight is 'visit the secondary school' night for Beth, I really don't need yet another trip over to St Albans, as that's all I seem to be doing at the moment, still she is looking forward to it and whats another trip between friends!!

I've been tagged!!

Thanks Sue for this tag, it made me laugh!!!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)Smokey Zafira
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)Honeycomb choc chip
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)Edav
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)Green Dog
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)Anne Hemel
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)Davel
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The")Orange the diet coke
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Leslie Charles
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy)
Deisel Minstrels
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names )Anne patrick

Made me laugh!!

New Computer!!

Hurrah, I have a new computer, its all fast and shiny and runs Windows Vista! Its gong to take a little while to get used to it, but I am liking it already!
I have been having problems with typing on the old machine, it seems that I may have had a trojan horse virus, which was making the processor work overtime, typing was interfering with the junk it was processing!! Anyway I managed to save my address book and favorites to a disk and tonight I have them all back up and running. Its great having a new toy!!!

Great Photos!

I just want to say a big thank you to Anna for taking these great photos (just a small selection of them!!) I am thrilled with them, I love the one of Sue and I checking out our camera settings!! look at that cheeky look on Beth's face!! Brilliant!

Good News!!

Carl has finished working at the school pool, the season has come to an end, he has earned a load of money and his only extravagance is buying himself a Nintendo Wii. He started back at school last week without finding another job. W had been submitting his CV all over the place, finally on Wednesday he was interviewed for a job at a private health and fitness club, he was pleased to be offered the job!! Today is his first shift so I hope he likes it.
I am hoping to actually get some scrapping done today, I have done the supermarket shopping and Beth is spending the day with Laura, peace at last !!!

Emilys Challenge - Strong- Strength

This weeks prompt is strength. I have struggled a bit with the prompts for the past few weeks and this week was no different !! Anyway I decided to try something different and convert a photo. I am quite pleased with the results. I think hands represent strength, hands holding babies hands are so cute!!

Been a Busy Bee!

Now I am back at work I have again run out of time!! Its not been too bad easing back in, people have been so kind and its nice to catch up on the gossip. Today I am off and I intend to catch up on some scrapping, I am miles behind.
Yesterday our 'Anthony Worrell Thompson' Healthy grill packed up, how exciting I can hear you all shout!!But what is exciting is the fact that I have found the receipt so that I can take it back to Argos, that is worth shouting about, there is a first time for everything!!!

Emily's Art Challenge - Funny- Laugh

Well I had no idea how to capture the prompt this week of funny ha ha, what makes you laugh? It was a hard one, lots of things make me laugh, I love watching 'you've been framed' I love the cheesiness of it, there is always something in that makes me laugh out loud! I often get the giggles at inappropriate times and have to work really hard at keeping it in, generally I'm a very happy person. In the end I decided that these people are the ones that are most likely to make me laugh and smile, they are also the ones most likely to make me frown and cry in frustration and anger as well!! This is a shot from several years ago when Laura was living at home. I have used an inked background a couple of leaf stickers from Sonnets range, Red heart was a freebie from Scrapbook Inspirations, and a staple from EK Success Facinator. (I have a million of them to use, I must use them more!!) I am happy with this card :)

Just noticed a new button.......

It seems I can now upload mini Videos to Blogger, It may well have been there for ages but I have only just noticed it, so here is Beth doing a mini flip!!

On a Roll

I have been playing with my buttons!! I was having a fiddle around this afternoon with my vast collection of buttons when an idea from the back of my brain formed ( can't say that this is an original idea !!) I decided to turn some of my collection into button flowers! I'll use them to decorate my scrapping table!!

Finally been 'crafting'

Its been ages since I have actually managed to get down to doing any crafting, just can't seem to get started, got all the 'stuff' no inspiration!! Anyway this afternoon I started fiddling with the fruit and veg I played with the camera settings to to photograph some home grown tomatoes.

The 'Classic' Three BIG toms in row!!

The Gathering - Big Toms and their Babies!!

The ArtyFarty Shot !! I like this one so much I might have it made into a nice print for my kitchen!!

Did I mention that Tomatoes are my favourite food of all time even better than chocolate???

I don't think there has been a day that I haven't eaten at least one and in the summer a whole load more!!!

Long Day.

Today Wendy moved, we went over to see if we could help her. The removal men had loaded the van and had fully unloaded at the other end by 11am!!
We helped her unload about a dozen boxes, we got lee room sorted and Hannah's bed up. They had a guy around to measure for double glazing after lunch, so we had a break and went for a drink at the pub.
Laura was looking after Lola, so Beth stayed with Wendy and they all collected the cat on the way home.
Although I only did a tenth of what Wendy did I am still exhausted!!

GCSE Result Day!!!

We are pleased to say that Carl has managed to gain all his GCSE'S!!!

1 at A

6 at B

4 at C

So he can do his chosen courses at A level.

We are so pleased and proud of him !!!!

Art Challenge - Take 10

This weeks prompt is Take Ten (minutes) and see what you can create.

I used what was hanging around on my table, A card that my friend Ginger had demonstrated a paint technique on, a tag, a few brads, ink, the name of a 12 by 12 paper (sugar plum) and some letter and number stickers. I also slapped on some rubber stamped words that I used last night for some birthday cards!! Well its different!!

I did it and so did Shirl!!!!

Today I made it back to work, it really wasn't too bad, it felt as if I had ever been away. I just wanted to say a huge WELL DONE to Shirl for passing her driving test today, You go Girl!!

Fairy Cakes in Action!

Going.....

Going......

Gone!!!!

A few more photos from the other day, the sad thing is I didn't make these myself! Good old Simmons Bakers, cake makers for the whole of my part of Hertfordshire!!

Doesn't matter they tasted great and the photos will be scrapable!

Last Day of Freedom!

Got up to pouring rain and really miserable weather. I want to get the cards for the card swap finished and then mentally prepare myself for work. Its all a bit daunting but I'll get there.Just have to hope they will be gentle with me this week!
My friend Wendy has finally exchanged contracts on her house and completed yesterday. They spent the day yesterday trying to get the place cleaned and some way inhabitable. The problem is that they need to repair some pretty major things, like broken windows, stuck front door and no sink in the bathroom. They have given themselves a week to try and get the place right, they are moving next Saturday. It seems like everyone is moving at the moment!
Carl has been saving his money from swimming all summer and he decided to treat himself to a Nintendo Wii, have had a couple of goes and it really is good fun, last night he did the boxing and the sweat was dripping off of him. Beth had a go, got carried away and hit the stair banister, hurt her hand, its easy to lose yourself with it!!

Art Challenge - Quiet.

This weeks prompt is quiet, I am so lucky to be able to see the sun set from my back garden, I have seen some simply stunning sunsets and I love that time before night arrives, when the world quietens down. Peace at last!!

The End, The Start.......

Well this weekend is the last one before I return to work on Monday, I am happy that I have got over the operation and all that went with it, but its going to be a hard slog getting back into the swing of things and working again. In some ways I am really looking forward to it, its sometimes hard with the kids arguing, its school holidays and that's what they do best!! The bonus is it may well be less stressful than being at home.

This week I have been so busy, been all over the place so no time for crafting. Yesterday on a whim I decided that I had had enough of the bathroom window sill, it was painted white, but was looking battered and it doesn't seem to matter how many times you paint it, it soon goes down hill. So yesterday I went to the tile shop and bought half a dozen sheets of mosaic tiles, I originally bought green tiles, but when I got home they were just too GREEN so we went back and exchanged them for a far more sedate white collection. So last night I stuck the tiles on and this morning I grouted them, I only have to wait for the grout to dry to clean them off properly, but already the look better than the previous paint. So although its not my traditional choice of craft, it is craft of sorts!!

Took a trip up the A1.

Sue and I took the girls to see Anna and her daughters. They seemed to get on straight away. I had asked Anna to do a few photos of Beth, so we went out on a photo shoot. The weather was not kind and we had to dodge the showers. Anna has got some shots, but these two above were taken by Sue on my camera, I must say I am very pleased with them, I don't take a good photo usually,so I am thrilled with these!!

Thanks Sue and Anna for a great day!

Yesterday I had a visit from the very lovely MAD GINGER CLAIRE , she was passing by on the way back to either Manchester or Nottingham (depending on which meeting had been cancelled!!) She stopped for lunch and we had a great chat, afater she left Beth asked how old she was, she was 'really funny' I asked her guess and she thought that she was around 17 !! Don't know how much Ginger had to pay her for that one!!

I have been visited!!

Beth and her new 'Buddy' Sam!

Yesterday my dear Scrapping Friend Shirley came up from Southampton with her Handsome son Sam. We met in London and visited the science museum. (the museum has lots of floors and few lifts) It was a very humid day and after doing the stairs loads of times we gave up and headed home. We had dinner at my house and afterwards went out to a sports club with Sue D. The kids came with us and were very well behaved. Poor Beth had another one of her nosebleeds and to top it all managed to throw her new boomerang onto the roof of the club!!

One day.............

We went for a walk on the beach and guess who we found???

Well we were so pleased to meet up with Netts and Rosie for a walk along the beach and an ice cream. It was a beautiful blustery sunny morning , Rosie and Beth collected stones, I paddled. (I couldn't believe that Beth didn't want to) Rosie followed Beth onto the rocks and wanted to climb, but it was all a bit scary, I was worried she would fall. Netts was very relaxed! (good front you put up there Annette!!!) After Netts played the take the shoes off and put the shoes on game, we headed off to find a warming cuppa. The kids of course had a nice ice cream!

It was lovely to see you Miss Muckyfingers, must do it again soon!!!!

Down at the Pleasure Beach.

Due to me being Mrs Organised this year, I actually managed to keep a half price voucher that we had been given earlier in the year from a previous visit to the Pleasure beach, so we took Beth down for the evening I took some action shots and one of her with her annoying frog prize! It was a good evening and as always she got her moneys worth !!

Emilys Art Challenge, week?? Who knows!!!

This weeks prompt is no regrets. This one has turned out to be similar to Emily's. I have no regrets having my children, BUT I do often wonder what I would be doing now. I know that people who became Police Officers at the same time I did, are now retiring on a full pension. While I on the other hand am still employed by the Police force as a member of support staff with the prospect of working for another 20 years!! Still those are the choices and I wouldn't change a thing!!

In The Mood.

Yesterday we took a trip up to Luton Airport. It had been a hot and sticky day so we waited until the evening to drive u there and watch a few planes. We went to the rear emergency entrance and found that it was directly under the flight path. We stood and watched the arrival of some planes, they were so close that it felt as if we could reach up and touch them. It was really exciting to watch them and dream of our holiday coming up in Florida!!

You just have to smile!!

Every Year we try and grow some Sunflowers, I really love the way they start as a small seed and end up HUGE. This year dad started them off and we both planted some, mine have remained smallish at just over 7ft tall, while his have taken off and are at least 13 foot tall!! In my defence all I have done is water them, he on the other hand has lovingly tended his and fattened them up with miracle grow!
Thinking about it, I wanted mine to stay small so that I could photograph them without having to resort to a step ladder. (That's my excuse and i am sticking to it) although there is something about sunflowers that makes you want to have the tallest! I do have one very unusual one, this one has 5 different heads. Not easy to photograph as its in the thick of them.
So beautiful sunflowers remind me of fields of them blowing gently in the breeze in France, pure summer bliss!

Done!!

Well we have finally got the tiles off of the floor and I hope that its smooth enough for the tiler. My friend 'did' her floor a couple of years ago and her tiler has looked at ours and said its fine, so fingers crossed.
I have not been able to do any crafting as everything is thick with dust. So I have not done my deck of cards for two whole weeks and that is getting me down, might just go and DO IT this afternoon.
Carl is due back from camp around 1pm, so I have my washing machine on standby and the shower ready. I have a nice joint of pork with crackling to roast for a late lunch. Just need to get started now!!

Banging Away!!

The saga of the kitchen floor goes on and on. Its been a terrible long job and so messy. Now Carl is away at camp, it has come to a stop. We have decided to hire a machine to lift the remaining tiles and the cement underneath it. We are going to finish the job on Friday come hell or high water.

I have not be able to do anything else, my craft table is covered in dust and its driving me mad.

The replacement tiles and the grout has arrived this morning, so I am anxious to get it all ready so the tiler can get cracking next Wednesday.