That was the day that was...

...and if the allusion to TWTWTW means nothing to you, then you're younger than me! Up here in the North West we have a level 3 heatwave alert and it's been truly unbearable today. I have little digital thermometers in various rooms in the house, and even in the shadiest rooms they were registering 27 degrees. As for the ones in the conservatory and kitchen, it was so hot that the displays had completely packed up! 

I woke really early today so I got up and opened all the doors to get some air flowing and let my two terrors out, although, being animals they are sensible about the heat and tend to spend most of their time asleep in shady spots. 
It being my birthday, once I'd brewed some fruit tea, I listened to Mario Lanza. David and I always began both our birthdays this way, starting with our song, "Because". David would always join in and serenade me with his beautiful tenor voice whilst I snuggled into his arms...hearing a tenor voice is one thing, but to feel it right next to you is something else.
Needless to say it was bitter sweet to listen to Mario on my own this morning and I did shed more than a few tears. "Serenade" was another favourite song, this one from the film The Student Prince, which featured Mario Lanza's voice although the part was acted on screen by Edmund Perdom. I found this You Tube video to share here - some of the pictures are an odd choice, but the song and the singing are out of this world....

.....despite the tears, this was a beautiful way to start the day.
It was always going to be a rather unusual birthday as I had to perform Verger duties at a funeral at lunchtime which rather split the day down the middle. Heather had been thinking we might take a trip to the zoo, but we've shelved that till the weather cools down a bit. She came round this morning instead and gave me some scrumptious gifts including some Inktense sets. I've been wanting to use their pencils or blocks for ages now, so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into using them. I think the blocks will be great for making backgrounds especially...and there are two layers of gorgeous colours in the tin!
Heather had also created something special for me, although she was convinced it was "rubbish"! I think that my reaction convinced her otherwise...it's a beautiful canvas....

.....the words "Wherever there are birds there is hope" are written along the birds' bodies. Isn't it lovely?
So, along with some gift vouchers, I've had some very special gifts today, as well as lovely cards.
Heather dropped me off at church in time for me to set everything up for the funeral...I have to set out candles, service sheets etc and I'm in charge of the CD's if there is any special music to be played ....which can be a little nerve wracking! Poor Heather had to wait around for over two hours in the blazing sun whilst I did my duties and, by then, we both decided it was too late and way too hot to do anything really, so we just came back here to cool off again!
I've just had a quiet evening, finishing a small plaque, deadheading some flowers and making a very simple supper that was both delicious and healthy! I just sliced some freshly picked courgettes lengthways and laid them in a baking dish, threw some home grown cherry tomatoes, stalks intact, on top of them, drizzled with olive oil and a few grinds of course salt and popped the dish into the oven. Absolutely delicious! I don't know about you, but this weather makes me less hungry, so this was all I needed...no meat, no carbs!
The little plaque I finished uses the deer from my Winter Silhouettes set and the words are from our Tinchies range of stamps.

The trees are a Sizzix "on the edge" die that I'm very fond of. I've used Distress Paints over the corrugated backing, with Deco Art Silver Sparkle metal lustre stroked across. I used white Gesso for the snow. The deer was stamped onto acetate but I wanted it to be much blacker and stronger so I used black enamel accents to carefully pipe over the stamped image, then sprinkled a little Distress Rock Candy glitter over it. A few dabs of silicone glue lifted it from the background and I added more Gesso over the feet to secure it more fully.

I had been looking through my old blog posts and came across a plaque that I'd made a couple of years ago so I decided I'd make this one the same way but with a totally different look. It's good to look back at what you made and surprising how you can forget about techniques or ideas, so it's nice to use them again! Here's the one I posted a picture of back in 2009 - crikey!

It was a much larger piece and I think I cut all the trees by hand! The one I made today is a much simpler affair, but I'm sure I'll be making another more full on version again.
Well, I guess I really should sign off and get to bed. Hopefully it will feel a little cooler tonight as there's a bit of a breeze out there now. I have my spritzer bottle of chilled water on my bedside table just in case though!
Oh, just to leave you with an image that might make you laugh...I'm still without a lawnmower and the grass has been getting longer and longer again. Yesterday morning I was so fed up with it that I cut the entire lawn with....a pair of scissors! I was on my hands and knees for over an hour. It doesn't look great, but it does look shorter!