2014

It went fast as I'm sure 2015 will too or is that just because every year seems to fly by when we get older?

So how was it for you?

For me it was mostly a good one. 

The main events in our year happened in August and September. 

My brother got married at long last and my daughter and youngest son were bridesmaid and pageboy.  The other boys chose not to do the whole penguin suit thing.

me with 3 out of the 4 of them. I think the earth would implode if we actually ever got a photo with all of us looking at the camera properly.

 

 

Following that was exam results - both GCSE and A Level. My boys did well. The  younger of them has faced a lot of medical obstacles in his life and his achievement of all grade C or above in every single subject is something we couldn't have expected when he was younger.  My elder son also excelled and put his mind to getting the right grades to get into the university of his choice to study maths. We visited a lot of universities last year and again this year. The grade requirements varied so much and he could have done badly and still got in at some places.  He made the decision that that wasn't the sort of place he wanted to be studying and pushed himself to get into one with high requirements and succeeded. 

September brought his journey away from home and the learning curve that is university. Lots of tears (by us not him) later, a couple of visits up to see him, a broken phone and things a mum doesn't need to know about and his first term was over and he was home for Christmas. 

His younger brother started college and AS Levels. It hasn't been plain sailing and courses have been changed but I think he is now on track. He does make me laugh though. He's doing Law and his autistic brain has now stored so many laws that he keeps repeating.

I couldn't be prouder of my daughter. She graduates next month for her post graduate teaching degree. Teaching courses finish too late in the summer at the university she attended  for students to graduate in July so they do it in January.  She  got a teaching job quite soon after finishing uni and started in September as an NQT in a secondary school. She made her classroom her own over the summer holidays ready for lessons to begin. She even has her own form group. Very proud mum. 

We celebrated a big wedding anniversary in May with a holiday at Center Parcs Whinfell Forest.

 

 

The youngest decided he was ready to join a rugby team. He's trained for a couple of years but was lacking the confidence he needed. He joined in June and hasn't looked back. Our last few months have tripled the training sessions he attends and there is also match day. He really struggles with personal space so it has been interesting to see how he copes. He still has issues with people in his face but overall he says he can block it out and focus on what he's doing. I wish he could apply that focus to the rest of his life but it's all baby steps

 

 

The husband ran his first marathon and other races he did included the great north run. Proud wife time but oh my god we had some arguments about his training schedule. He had to do it before work so got up at stupid o'clock. The dogs barked like mad as soon as he left the house and I ended up being up at stupid o'clock too. Didn't go down well day after day after day I'll tell you. 

My crafty life went down the route of tons of knitting and crochet - more crochet than anything if truth be known. I haven't done a scrapbook layout for months and gave my place up at punky scraps. Unfortunately it is no more anyway. I have had the urge a little bit lately so may get back into it in 2015.

A huge part of our lives for the last six months has of course been Percival. He has made sure that everybody loves him in record time. 

 

 

 

 

The allotment - not much to say about that to be honest.  It wasn't a particularly productive year. The slugs ate just about everything I planted. I wanted to be good and use anything other than slug pellets but in the end they were the only thing that worked and it was too late for most things.  We had our first lot of apples from the tree we planted as soon as we got the plot, a sunflower grew, we got parsnips for the Christmas dinner and lots of flowers bloomed to brighten the place up.  It is definitely a work in progress which will hopefully produce more in 2015.

I've also had some crap thrown my way (even this past week) in the form of online piss taking by people I know in real life which made me realise once and for all they are not and have never been nice people to be around. I've been party to real life conversations in the past that I found uncomfortable and raised my suspicions.  Taking the piss out of somebody online in plain sight is no different to talking about them behind their back in the playground. Bullying plain and simple by people who think they are clever but actually have made themselves look like the nasty low lives they are.  I don't even know why I am giving this blog space to be honest but it happened and needs saying so I can draw a line under it put it to bed once and for all.  I'm well and truly over any kind of friendship with people like that. Karma will play out in the end.

 

Lots of other good things happened in 2014 and there is probably something big I have forgotten but as the saying goes - that's all folks.

 

Hope you had a good 2014 and that 2015 brings you health, wealth and happiness.

 

And There It Went

We shopped, we opened presents, we cooked, we ate, the sprouts caused a lot of wind and then it went, over, done for another year. Bye bye day of sparkle until next year. 

Oh Flip

The sparkly season kind of crept up a bit too soon. Yes I know it never changes date and there is plenty of time to prepare so why am I never as organised as everybody else seems to be? Story of my life lately lol

The ideas are there in my head but why oh why do they come in the wee small hours? First thing I did this morning was a list of stuff still to buy and *fingers crossed* it's all on there now and finally I can be at least a bit more organised. 

Next year my goal is that I WILL be more organised and not leave it so late. Haha yeah yeah and pigs might fly

Mixed Up Seasons

We went to the allotment for a quick visit this morning. The main aim was dropping some stuff off on the compost heap and getting out of the house for a walk. 

I was very surprised to see my cherry trees are budding. 

I didn't look at the apples but I'm guessing they are doing the same. Seasons all mixed up. I hope the frosts don't do too much damage to them. 

Facebook

I've always had a love hate relationship with the book of face.  It certainly highlights the needy of attention amongst the human race, those who have a keyboard which spouts so much verbal diarrhoea that they really should think of giving it some medication and those who just want us to know every single part of their credit card maxed out luxurious lives.

This last few months I've taken a massive step away and going back just highlights it all the more.  There are some parts of it I do like such as the lovely people on there.  They aren't all needy whores. So what I'm doing now as and when annoying status updates from people I don't really know or spam from the various pages I've liked over the years is clicking the delete or hide button depending on who they are.  Operation Declutter is well under way.

There are some things that maybe once upon a time I would have put myself before I got a grip and thought why the hell would anybody need to know that.  Today for instance I could have put how embarrassing the dog was when she came with us on the school run - two poops  the second of which was very messy and in the most embarrassing of places for a year 6 boy on his way to school apparently when I was already holding a bag of poop.  Or the fact that she was a disgusting muddy mess by the time we got home and she rolled on my new rug or I could have said what I had for my dinner or even whether I had opened my bowels this morning.  NOBODY could give a monkeys about any of that so why the hell do people feel the need to tell everybody on facebook?

Yes I'm on a rant!

Noooooooo

I can't quite believe that the last ever Dallas aired last night. Yes I know it's rubbish tv to some people but flipping eck! Lighthearted telly for me. What's not to like about a programme with John Henderson and Jesse Metcalfe?

They left it with so many loose ends - was Christopher really in that car when it blew up,  will she keep the baby, will Sue Ellen stay sober and will John Ross have met his match with Judith?  I'm left wanting more and surely that's a sign of a successful show amongst the rubbish that is around at the moment? 

Don't Ask!

We now have Internet, we have Virgin instead of sky  and we have a phone line plus we have a tv box in the bedroom now.  To get to that stage though it took a lot of furniture moving, bed disassembling, stress and doing it all again in reverse. They came out last week to see if putting the TV box in the loft bedroom was feasible and the route through which rooms they needed to cable it. Turns out the engineer decided it was better to run it the other side to which we were told and he was right. When you're faced with a room that is only a few feet wide anyway, a heavy wooden bunk bed and a mountain of crap (erm toys) underneath to move at a moments notice it's huge fun especially when you are the only one in the house but hey ho it got done and the cable passed through the wall to the stairs eventually. Thankfully my other half moved everything and disassembled our bed this morning so the cabling could go the only route possible in the loft.  3 hours after the engineer arrived he was done.  Took a long while to get everything back in place/reassembled once the other half got home from work. Hopefully the switch will be worth it financially at least for the promotional period. 

December Daily (ish)

Erm yes ok so sometimes weekends and Mondays are excluded from my kind of December daily or in other words I forgot. 

Tomorrow Mr Virgin is hopefully going to show Mr Sky where to shove his stupidly priced package so I may or may not have  any internet for most of the day.  I'm hoping yes because I haven't done a yarny Wednesday post in a long time and I've got a ton of projects for show and tell. 

It's a bit chilly

I don't usually bother too much about the cold weather. I prefer autumn to summer but it is flipping cold out there tonight. There is a winter nip in the air. Definitely going to be wearing more layers than a jumper and coat next week spectating at rugby training. An extra pair of socks for definite - couldn't feel my feet stood on that field tonight. 

Percival At 6 Months

or thereabouts because we don't know exactly how old he is. The vet estimated he was born mid May when we first took him for jabs etc so that makes him 6 and a bit months. 

He loves cuddles and being warm. If you get up it takes all of two or three seconds for him to pinch your seat. He doesn't seem to care who he sits with as long as they are warm. He is currently sat on my daughter's knee while she is attempting to mark work. 

We found out at his first proper examination that he has a heart murmur. Not a very serious one but it is under observation. He hasn't been neutered yet. Two reasons - one because he doesn't go out as such so doesn't get sexy time with the ladies. He sneaks out occasionally  but our yard is enclosed by a high fence so he stays within it. The other reason is we need to talk through and accept the increased risks of him having an op with the vet before they will do it. With the others they were booked in and done as soon as they were old enough but because of his condition we can't just do that. 

He is definitely more mischievous than the other cats ever were at this age. I now need a new cover for my sewing machine after he decided to destroy it by sitting inside it and don't get me started on the Christmas tree. 

As he has got older his crazy markings have become more prominent. That black strip is like a mohican. 

Leave a bag anywhere and he is in it. He very nearly went to university with my son. Can you see him peeping?

We put the fire on a few weeks ago. It goes without saying that he was under supervision whilst it was on. He sat watching it for a long time and then just curled up and went to sleep. 

Even if one of the other cats is sat on your knee he sneaks in. This photo is one of my favourites. It took Olly a very long time to even walk past him without hissing so they have come a long way. 

His tail - well that deserves a post of its own. 

December Daily - Advent Candle

This is the advent candle we bought from  John Lewis

December Daily - Advent Calendars

The first day of December is all about the advent calendar in our house or should I say calendars in plural. The kids always get one with that awful chocolate in it that just doesn't taste like chocolate. 

I bought this calendar from Avon many many years ago. There is a stick for every day up to Christmas and santa gradually drops down the chimney until he reaches the bottom on Christmas Eve. 

Then there is the advent candle. I left it too late to find one last year so I was determined this year that I would be organised. John Lewis to the rescue. We won't mention that it was bought while we were visiting son number 1 at university in Newcastle for his birthday and we eventually found them on the top floor. I think the husband and son number 1 now hate John Lewis. Shopping is not their favourite thing. Number 3 son was made to sit and have his photo taken with a model penguin from the John Lewis Christmas advert. At that time he hadn't seen the advert and most probably thought I was bonkers. 

December Daily - Day 1

Not the December daily as in scrapping every day up to Christmas I've become used to hearing about but rather my attempt at no longer neglecting this little space in the cybersphere by attempting to blog every day in December. 

Hotch Potch

Flipping eck that last post was a bit pathetic wasn't it? Pity party for one indeed.  That party is well and truly finished I can assure you.

A bit of a hotch potch post today.

Truth be known I haven't blogged since that post because I've been trying to get up to date with craft fair bits and pieces and lots of changes in our house.

The biggest change which has affected each and every one of us is baby number 2, our eldest son, going away to university.  He is a couple of hours from home and it was so hard leaving him.  I thought it would be easier than leaving our daughter four years ago but it wasn't when it came to it.  I was fine until the moment the littlest son started crying his heart out.  My head had been too busy being full of lists of stuff he needed to take, getting him packed up and making sure he was going to be ok living away from home to think how hard it would be on the little one. That is really bad parenting.  Littlest is gradually getting used to it and is looking forward to half term when we can make the drive to visit him. I have the odd moment when I really miss him for little things like he is the one I can rely on to keep the cats still while I do their flea treatment and I need to do that today or the times in the last week and a half that I have cooked way too much food.  Then there are the big moments when I just plainly and simply miss him but I guess I wouldn't be normal if that didn't happen.

Oldest came back from four years at university in the summer and is now a fully qualified geography teacher.  She got a job from her second interview which was a referral from her first interview to another school in their academy chain.  She had impressed the first school but they had gone for an experienced teacher and they knew the school she is now teaching at were looking for newly qualified teachers.  Very proud of her.  It does take some getting used to having her home again even if she is working very long hours and commuting quite a distance each day. 

Middle son finished high school in the summer and moved to college in September.  He has autism and a variety of co-ordination problems which have caused a fair few problems during his school life.  His year 2 national test results were not good.  At that time we knew about the co-ordination issues but not the autism although there was definitely something causing major problems to every part of his life.  During the years between then and his year 6 national tests we got the autism diagnosis and appliance help with the co-ordination issues to improve his ability to write.  There were still massive issues with other everyday things like buttons, fastening shoes, putting socks on.  The socks were a massive thing and I've had several things broken in the house when a shoe has flown across the room because the sock didn't feel right. Those are ongoing issues. Year 6 results were a big improvement.  College doesn't have a uniform so wearing his normal clothes is so much easier.  Anyway I'm waffling. What I was gearing up to was his GCSE results. He has never had an interest in anything like art or design so his options were all academic apart from music.  All the way through high school his target grades were C/D and knowing how much he struggled early on in his school life plus still having ongoing issues I was very nervous for him on that results day in August.  His interest has always been rocks. He used to come home from primary school with pockets full of stones and rocks from the playground.    The only subjects he was interested in doing at college were geology and geography but he knew to have a career in that field he needed to study a science too. College requirements are 4 subjects in the first year and the option to drop one of them in the second year.  It was very important to him that he got at least a C in science and geography from his GCSE results and as long as he got maths and English he didn't seem to care much about the rest but said he would try his best.  I think that is all any parent can wish for - for their child to try their best.  Super chuffed to find out he had passed all 10 with a grade C or above.  Yes there were some grades above C for those who thought he was thick and took pleasure in taking the mick out of him.  He doesn't care less what people think. That is the joy of autism and I am one very proud mum of him for being who he is and trying his best which just happened to be fantastic.

The little one went into year 6 in September. No change in school routine as such but there have been so many changes at home and some issues in the classroom that he has been struggling keeping things together at times.   God help the eldest son though if he doesn't message him back when he asks what he has had for his tea or what he has done during the day! Bombarded with question marks doesn't even begin to describe it.  Another autistic one and is struggling with what is appropriate at the moment. Can't wait for him to be old enough for a mobile phone - NOT!!!

Another change but one I've enforced upon myself is taking facebook off my phone.  I took it off a few weeks ago and to date haven't missed it.  I've been on facebook via the laptop or physically typing the address in on safari on my phone but only when I've had an email about somebody tagging me or a new notification in the group for the rugby team littlest plays for or when I've needed to look at something work related.  It wasn't a hard decision looking at some of the stuff on there.  An example is one person I know in real life who showed their true colours over the summer.  I knew they were a dick already but a status update of their own being plain and simple nasty after I'd put a proud status about middle son's results despite his issues confirmed just what a sad and pathetic egotistical mind they have.  Laughable if it wasn't so sad that they have a child of their own who will most likely end up exactly the same as the other parent is just as bad.  Anyway I haven't missed their 'witty' comments one bit.  Then there are those who just want to flaunt their lavish lifestyles with flash brand new expensive cars and tales of where they have partied the night away yet are fooling nobody with half a brain who realises they are in debt to the hilt.  Then there are the 'woe is me' needy people who just want attention.  Actually facebook is just an attention seeking tool full stop and it won't be going back on my phone any time soon.

Tis Autumn though - the most colourful of the seasons - be happy is the phrase of the month.

2 Days!

Only 2 days. How rubbish is that in a month long project? I'm officially ridiculously rubbish at keeping up with stuff. 

I do have a little excuse for learn something new everyday which has zapped any enthusiasm for it. An early prompt was to look around and see if your surroundings feel like home. My answer was to look a little too deeply at how depressing our house is. Everything is falling to bits, the lino is coming up in chunks in the kitchen because the dogs kept eating it when they were little. The whole downstairs is in desperate need of new flooring. The kitchen and bathroom are what we inherited when we bought the house more than 22 years ago and they were old then so are not good now. There is clutter everywhere. My living room is taken over by dog cages.

I WANT MY HOUSE BACK!

Yes I did just shout that.

I've had enough of dog hairs and poop and them constantly trying to get in the cat litter. Barking whenever anybody walks past the house and eating their own crap. 

I've had enough of tripping up over sharp bits of lino or frayed bits of carpet. 

I've had enough of being the only one who empties the bin or changes the cat litter or picks up the dog poop and swills the yard out. 

I've had enough of peeling paint and mouldy walls

and I've certainly had enough of waiting in for the washing machine engineer. That is really frustrating me. Why can't they give a proper time? I've been waiting all flipping day and I bet he turns up at the end of the all day time slot. 

BUT

I've not had enough of having all the kids living at home right now and the smile when they walk in the door or the banter they provide. We are all here so yes it does feel like HOME.  Home is where your heart is not how crap your surroundings are but they certainly help. 

#LSNED - Day 2

So on my second day of actively learning something new everyday I learnt a few things:

Listen to the advice of the vet when giving Percival a pill and I shouldn't try doing what I do with the dogs and hiding it in cheese. Open the mouth and pop it in. It really is that simple with him. I discovered this after 10 minutes of the cheese thing which he wasn't impressed with.

School uniform - sort it out before the last day of the holidays! I'd bought it all but the trousers needed ironing and the shirts needed taking out of the bags and ironing. My youngest son has aspergers and clothes sensitivity is a massive thing. If it doesn't feel right then he will have a meltdown. The shirts were too baggy after wearing tighter tshirts over the summer and didn't feel right. Cue the washer and dryer to try and shrink them a touch. Nope still not right. Lesson learnt to just sort it out sooner. One not too happy clothes sensitive child with a mum who should know better this morning.

My picture accompanying this post is a lesson I learnt when I took the dog to the park this morning - the grass is covered in dew even at mid morning this time of year. I stupidly wore leather boots that ended up soaked through by the time he was done with his walk.

Learn Something New Everyday

Well despite my best intentions August didn't happen as I wanted on here but hey ho that's the way it goes.

As in previous Septembers I'm going to do learn something new everyday. Most likely not in any form of scrapping but I am going to try and record it in picture form on my blog. 

I have always found that things happen when you least expect them whilst doing this project. My learning today was going to be something completely different until we went to a local country park. There was only a handful of cars in the car park. I was just starting to put the coins in the car park machine when a man pulled up and asked did I want his ticket as it still had an hour left. Only something small but it has been a long time since a stranger has done that and it was very much appreciated. 

Lesson learnt - kindness and thoughtfulness can happen when you least expect it.

It's Wednesday

and that can only mean one thing....yarn

This week I'm working on a baby dress for the shop and I'm reading The Cornish House by Liz Fenwick. It's an easy read so far and one worth recommending if you like chick lit. 

Linking in with Tami and Ginny 

Oops

I did it again. Just when I was starting to get back into the daily blogging I stopped 👎. Ah well never mind. It's yarn tomorrow so hopefully that will be a kick up the bum again.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yarn On A Wednesday

Still working on the mystery crochet along. This is clue 5. The final clue is out today. I'm intrigued what is going to happen as out of the 52 little circles made in clue 1 only 12 of them have been included in the gorgeous little flower motifs so that leaves a lot to work on in the final part.

Reading - I finally gave up on The Book Thief. It was just too hard to get into even after well over 100 pages. I started Rubbernecker a couple of days ago and have already done two thirds.

It's one of those easy reads that you can't put down. A murder mystery but the detective is a boy of 18 with aspergers who is studying anatomy at college. Without saying too much it also has narratives from a patient waking from a coma who is frustrated because he is locked in his body unable to communicate. This is a very unique viewpoint and adds to the ease of reading. I'm loving this book and having two kids with a diagnosis of autism and aspergers respectively there are so many things the character does that I can relate to.

Linking in with Tamis Amis and Yarnalong

Trip To The Seaside

I love our nearest coastline - our town in West Yorkshire is around 70 miles from the east coast so not exactly near but closer than the west coast. 

Scarborough and Bridlington have lovely sandy beaches and whilst they are commercialised there are also spots where you can step away from all that. We had a day trip to Bridlington last Thursday. 

Our day took the usual route when we go there - use the park and ride at south beach which in reality is so close to everything you'd only need to use the ride bit if you had either mobility issues or were very lazy 

It leads down to this beach but we usually walk towards the commercialised end and get some chips and icecream at the harbour

Then it is on to the amusements and let the kids loose with a pot of 2p coins to feed the machines

Yikes that chin shot isn't very flattering!

Then it's a walk through town and back to the car to collect the beach gear. The bag has all kinds of stuff in it and we've used the same one for several years since the youngest was tiny. These days he doesn't get much more than his rugby ball out of it. It's a permanent fixture to his hand most of the time lately. A kite and bucket and spade made a brief appearance last week but they soon went away in favour of skimming stones in the sea. I guess he's getting older.  Personally I was selfish and let the husband do all the kid stuff and sit in a chair with my knitting. 

Then we took a drive a few miles down the coast to a place called Barmston where we stayed in 2012 for a few days. This section of the coastline suffers badly from coastal erosion and is living on borrowed time.  These are some pictures of the current state it is in. 

See the pipe coming out of the cliff? That wasn't there last time we were here so must have been exposed when more land disappeared to the sea.

Footpath has almost gone. 

Very sad state of affairs that Mother Nature has brought to this area and continues to take from. 

August blogging - Day 11

Steph's prompt today is what have you been wearing this week.

I've only really got 2 pictures.

This one from Thursday which is a tshirt from the Next sale for £3 which I like because it is quite long. Being tall I struggle with tshirt length a lot. Next relaxed skinny fit jeans in black. Primark £1 sunglasses and my trusty Cath Kidston messenger bag.

and Friday. We were at a wedding so I actually wore a dress. Doesn't happen often. This one was by Samya from Simply Be only a month ago but it isn't on the website anymore so must have sold out.

August Blogging - Day 9

Yes I know I missed some but I do have a good excuse.

 It involves a bit of this

and a lot of this

I'll get to that tomorrow.

Today's prompt from Emma is 15 things that make you happy.

It goes without saying that my family make me happy so I'm going to go with 15 more superficial things:

1. That first cup of coffee on a morning

2. Watching the transformation of a seed into a plant knowing that I've made that happen

3. Knitting

4. The pets but only when they are being good. The dogs are a nightmare for barking at anything going past the window and in this warmer weather the window being open makes noise carry so they do it even more. Very frustrating but good at the same time because it deters the cold calling sales people. Flaming cats have pooped on the kitchen floor once or twice recently too which is frustrating. All is forgiven though when the dogs come for a cuddle or a cat sits on your knee purring.

5. White chocolate

6. The feeling when you wake up and there is still an hour before the alarm goes off and you can nod back off.

7. Laying in bed listening to the rain. Our room has a velux window and the pitter patter is strangely soothing.

8. Freshly washed bed covers

9. Pizza from dominos

10. My allotment

11. A freshly bleached and hosed back yard. Two big stinky dogs provide a lot of mess!

12. White washing blowing in the wind

13. New pretty stationery (usually at the beginning of the tax year but sometimes just because)

14. A pair of comfy shoes

15. Looking at pretty things on Pinterest.


Steph's prompt today is about your skin care routine

I'm a bit lazy if I'm honest and *shock horror* go to bed with my make up on sometimes and then waking up with panda eyes the next morning. I should know better. I do make myself get into a routine and it works for 2-3 weeks but then I end up tired and just wanting my bed and can't be bothered again. Yes I know....no hope!

When I'm on a routine I generally use whatever has come in a recent birchbox but sometimes I will buy products from the same range sometimes I'll mix and match. I really like the All Bright Botanics range from Boots but I did read on one of the products that it contains an ingredient that makes your skin more sensitive to the sun and to use extra sunscreen or words to that effect. I figured I'd save that for the dull days of a uk autumn/winter. I'm rambling now so I'll just say what I'm using at the moment - Balance Me cleanser, I'm using L'Oreal CC cream during the day so haven't been bothering with a day cream. I've got Avon Genics Dark Circle stuff for my eyes. I've no idea if it works to reduce the dark circles but it certainly moisturises the area. On a night time I use Oil of Olay instant hydration cream. Mainly because it was reduced to £2.50 in Boots recently. I'm assuming it is a discontinued item now which is a shame because it's really nice.

Bit of a mix today. I'll be back with the seaside and wedding stories tomorrow and of course the prompts for day 10.

I really need to get back into the routine again instead of a quick wipe of the panda eyes with a baby wipe on a morning.

August Blogging - Day 6

So today Steph is asking about the last restaurant we visited.

I suppose as far as restaurants go it depends if fast food in a zoo is counted. Yesterday we had hot dogs at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The day before we had a bacon sandwich at a cafe at the side of Leeds Bradford airport. The last proper meal in a restaurant was when we stayed in Eastbourne the weekend before last. Evening meal and breakfast. The evening meal wasn't anything to write home about. It was quiche and salad and the quiche was very dry and tasteless. Breakfast however was an all you can eat buffet with a cooked order taken for as many sausages/bacon/eggs etc as you wanted. Can't beat it.





I do like Wetherspoons meal deals too. Usually a meal and a drink for around £6-7.

Yarn On A Wednesday

I've been working on an MCAL (mystery crochet along) this week. The pattern was gifted when I signed up for the MCAL and can be found here

My progress to clue 2 is this





and these are for clue 3





Lots and lots of little motifs which further clues will hopefully provide more rows making them into flowers or squares and I would imagine the latter clues will be how to join them together to make a scarf/shawl/blanket depending on how many motifs are made. I'm aiming for the scarf but you never know....

Still plodding on with The Book Thief since that photo of it with my knitting last week. Not enjoying it at all but trying to stick with it.

Linking in with Tami and Yarnalong once they are up this week. Yarnalong is dealing with an awful tragedy at the moment so understandably may not have a link this week.

August Blogging - Day 5 Make Up and Memories

Today Steph asked us what is in our make up bag and Emma asked about a vivid memory. I've decided to combine the two prompts.

So what's in my make up bag?

I do have a fair bit of make up and the majority of it I never use. I really need a clear out of the drawer I keep it all in. When we were away last weekend I put what I considered essentials in one of the drawstring bags that come in a Birchbox and was too lazy to empty it again when I got home so here it is:





A body oil sample size, Boots No7 lipstick, L'Occitaine day cream, L'Oreal CC cream (antidullness), Rimmel eye quad, Benefit mascara mini, L'Oreal illuminating powder, Max Factor long lasting lipstick and gloss, brown eye liner, party poof lipstick and various brushes and a set of tweezers. God knows why there are 3 lipsticks in there. The max factor one lasts all day but can be very drying. I like the No 7 one better even though it doesn't last as long. The CC cream is something I really like. I made a massive mistake though and bought it on a L'Oreal 3 for 2 in Boots with the illuminating powder and got one for anti fatigue too. That one was my mistake as it is that awful Oompa Loompa orange the youngsters seem to favour not realising how ridiculous it looks. I was under the impression it was just a neutral sort of shade that suits most people but obviously not. I felt a bit cheated out of the offer but hey ho nevermind. Love the anti dullness one though and the illuminating powder.

So on to my vivid make up memory. It's from when I was in my early teenage years. You need to bear in mind that this was the eighties. Electric blue mascara and eyeliner was all the rage. Pocket money and the Boots Seventeen range. Anyway I must have looked a state at that age with the blue stuff on my eyes. I know if it was my daughter I wouldn't have been impressed. My dad was in hospital recovering from a knee operation and we had been to visit him. I had sneaked some of my mum's foundation on thinking I looked the bees knees. My mum has quite dark colouring for a white lady (Romany gypsy throwback apparently from a few generations back) and I'm quite pale skinned so you can imagine what I looked like with the way too dark and badly applied foundation together with the electric blue eye products. I will never forget my dad beckoning me over to the bed before we went home and telling me it would be better if the next time I went I didn't wear the make up. I don't think I've ever worn coloured mascara again.

August Blogging - Day 4

Today Steph's prompt is which blog events have you been to and met up with people?

This one is easy - I haven't. I've met Kirsty Wiseman a couple of times at craft events but only because she was working there and I was a customer. She is one of the ladies who set up herspace MySpace back in the day.

I also stumbled upon another blog challenge yesterday by Emma at Outmumbered. I'm hoping to be able to combine both challenges starting today. Emma's prompt today is - where would you like to be in 10 years?

Hopefully with a lot less debt around our shoulders. The mortgage should be paid off as should a longstanding loan which has been a chain around our necks and has prevented us borrowing anything at all until it is gone.

I would like to be as proud of the kids as I am right now. Eldest continuing in her teaching career which she is starting in September, 18 year old to have gained the a level results he needs next week to get in the university of his choice, gain the maths degree he craves and have a good job. Our 16 year old to get good gcse results this month and for him to take the path he chooses which will allow him to continue to maturely deal with the demons living a life with autism brings. Our youngest to grow into an adult, again dealing with the demons of autism, and fulfilling his dreams. Most of all though for them all (and us) to be happy and healthy and if the path they currently choose isn't working to make the correct decision to enable them to be happy. Who knows they may even have produced children of their own by then.

I don't have any idea work wise what I want to be doing at 52. I'm not doing the same job I was doing 10 years ago nor was I doing 10 years ago what I was doing 10 years before that. 10 years ago I had a 6 month old baby.

Who knows what the future holds?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

August Blogging - Day 3

Day 3 of Steph's August blogging marathon is:

What was the last book you read?

Mine was Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse








I bought it as a pack from the Richard and Judy summer book club run by WH Smith when I was looking for some inspiration earlier in the year as I'd just finished the marathon that is the Jack Reacher series of books by Lee Child.

I'm rubbish at book reviews without giving away major plot lines. This one changes track a few times in rather an unpredictable way. I won't give the plot away so won't say any more other than that it is one of the best reads from the pack I bought and Richard and Judy made a good choice with this. Unputdownable if that's a word.

August Blogging - Day 2

Steph asked - Do You Join In With Any Linkys Or Blog Challenges?

My answer would be not regularly for a while.

I used to join in with Skywatch Friday (which actually goes live on a Thursday evening) every week and post things like these clouds which remind me of the fluffy ones kids draw on pictures.







I used to regularly link up to a knitting one called Tamis Amis where we can show our progress on whatever knitting or crochet project we are currently working on that particular Wednesday - WIP Wednesday (work in progress). On a Friday she does FO Friday (finished object Friday) where we can gush about our recently completed items. I have much much more work in progress than I ever finish. The ladies in my knitting group call it startitis (the art of starting projects). Last week I actually joined in for a change.








Then there is Rinda's Summer Photo Hunt. A list of required items is published and we have the summer to find the items to photograph. Rinda puts a linky up every so often for us to see how each other has interpreted the prompts. It can be challenging. Sometimes I know where I can find something such as I knew there would be a mascot race at the rugby BBQ but I don't have a clue where I will find a waterfall or a parade. That's where interpretation comes in.

Love this lamp post shot I got for the challenge





I think that's about it.

August Blogging - Day 1

I've been rather neglectful of my little bloggy place for some time now. I always mean to write things but then I get distracted and just never get around to it. I read a lot of blogs via feedly and saw that Steph was planning to do her own personal challenge for August so I thought I'd play along with her. I'm not too sure what some of the prompts mean and I may not do all of them as I'm not that into the fashion side of it but you never know.

So day 1 - About Me




I'm 42 and live in West Yorkshire with my husband, our 4 kids, 2 dogs and 3 cats. You have to breathe in a bit to fit us all in the house.

I started this blog in March 2008. I did have another one before that with Wordpress. I discovered blogger was a better set up and here I am. My Wordpress blog was where I took part in the photo challenges Steph mentions in her post linked above. I met some lovely people through there and am still in touch with most of them on Facebook.

I blog about a variety of different subjects - pets, knitting, crochet, family, sky photos amongst other things.

Until the last few months I used to do a fair bit of scrapbooking but I've lost my way a bit with that. Mr mojo is on an extended break.

I have an allotment which has been a massive learning curve in the almost two years we have had it. All that stuff goes in a separate blog.

Beauty box reviews have been a common feature on here but just lately I haven't even bothered to blog those. iPhone games have a lot to answer for in terms of time running away. Less games more blogging is in order I think.

I will just say from the outset that I've been less than complimentary about fashion bloggers in the past. I honestly don't think anybody cares what I'm wearing each and every day. It would get very boring as I don't have tons of clothes. Over time though from regularly reading one or two I've come round a little bit. My only bugbear is the fashion bloggers who are wearing clothes that so obviously don't fit yet blog that they fit perfectly. A bigger size sometimes works wonders for how something looks. Be honest with yourself.

That's a little insight into me.

Rinda's Summer Photo Hunt 2014 - Part 1

So far on the summer photo hunt I have found:

Lamp Post on Eastbourne Pier this Sunday just gone.  Three days before it set on fire so I feel very honoured to have been able to photograph this.

Group of Tourists and Postcards - again on Eastbourne Pier before it went up in flames. I very much doubt this old fashioned little shop is still there.

Bus with a painting on the side - Brighton sightseeing tour bus

Postcards - in a National Trust shop at Nostell Priory

Rural landscape - Nostell Priory again

Gnome - patriotic one on sale in B&Q

Photo Bomb - this was a photo I took of my husband coming to the end of a half marathon race at Nostell Priory.  Afterwards we were looking at the official photos and he was laughing that Ken an elderly gentlemen who runs the local parkrun every week was on lots of the photos from around the course and must have been transported from point to point to get on so many pics.  It was only when we looked at my photos that we noticed he had unknowingly photo bombed ours too. He is the gentleman in black between my husband in the orange and the lady in the blue tshirt.

Sunrise - I'll be honest and say I did not expect to be able to get this one at all during the time scale as I am usually in the land of nod during sunrise and even though we get to see really good sunsets from the loft window we don't have a good view of sunrises because of the chimney pots but one particular night I had got up to make a call of nature and was shocked to get a view of just that.

 

 


The last one I have managed to get is a mascot.  My son took part in a rugby league tournament at a charity event on Saturday and there was a mascot race.

 

Part 2 coming up once I've found some more things to photograph