A few Christmas cards and tags

Hello from a very rainy Lancashire. I'm just taking a coffee break chance to do a quick catch up and share one or two more images of things I've been up to this week. On Saturday I'll be at Card-io in Wigan from 10am - 4pm where I'll be showcasing my Christmas range of stamps and various messy techniques - as well as some cleaner ones!

Here are some of the things I've been creating for Saturday's demonstration....

The first card was made using my "Little Festive Houses" set and I also added the tiny snowman from the "Cold Hands Warm Heart" set. The background was spritzed with Shimmer Goosebumpz before I blended various blue and purple Distress inks over it. 

Next up is a card featuring a Dylusions ink sprays background - with the white ink sprayed through a stencil over the other colours. I've used images from my "Moon Gazer" stamp set...I really like the whole moon gazing hares imagery and have a small hare in the garden that gazes upwards...not a real one of course! Though we do get hares in the fields behind the houses on my lane.

Now for a couple of tags....

.....both have snowmen from the "Cold Hands...." set. The trees in the left hand tag are from the "Little Festive Houses" set and the ones on the right hand tag are from "Peaceful Christmas" which I inked and then stamped onto scrap card before stamping onto the tag itself. Both backgrounds are made using Distress inks swept across the craft sheet, spritzed with water and then picked up on the tags. 

I added TH Christmas remnant rubs in white to the right hand tag before inking as the rub ons resist the inks to give a nice, soft finish.

Thank you for the great feedback I've had about the new stamps and especially these little chaps.....

 ....they are from the "Merry Christmas to Whoo" set. It's a shame that the camera doesn't pick up the amazing sparkle on this card - I used Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz, in Sparkle, over the whole front and it gives a very delicate sparkle to the picture that really does look like fairy dust! 

Here's one of the two Christmas Zendoodle word stamps used on a very simple card - great when you need to make plenty in a short space of time though!

This stamp is called, unsurprisingly, "Zendoodle Peace"! I took the photo using flash in the evening, hence the slightly creamy tinge. All I did was stamp, colour and add Crystal Stickles to the letters with some added dots of Stickles around the word - really easy and pretty quick!

A last tag to share using the "Doo Lally Pip Tree Fairy" stamp set.

This was a tag from my bag of unfinished bits and pieces - we all have those I think! I didn't really like the colours or how they had come together but I decided to go with it. I stamped the string of stars a few times across the surface and used a white gel pen to pick them out to brighten up the muddiness of the background a bit. More TH remnant rubs added very randomly to add more white highlights. Then I stamped, coloured and cut out little madam and added her before glittering her wings. Doesn't look quite so dreary now!

Talking of cards, I have added some Christmas cards for sale on my Etsy site and will be adding more items as and when I can....I have neglected my shop for quite a while so am determined to get cracking with it once more!

I've not been able to get into the garden this week what with work and the temperamental weather, but I've collected some more rocks for my latest project. Well, to be fair, I thought they were rocks but they turned out to be lumps of concrete! However, once they're half buried and have plants growing around them they will be fine and will do the job of keeping the soil in place.

I thought I'd end with a piece of music that I've been listening to a lot this week. It's sung by Enya and is from the Lord of the Rings trilogy which David and I absolutely loved....can't count how many times we watched the films. We always said we'd have a trilogy day where we'd watch the three films back to back in one go but we never quite found the time to do it!

Things are a bit rough here at the moment and, at times like this, I miss David more than ever, so this song pretty much sums up how I feel....

                                 

A wander in the garden

Another quick coffee break post this morning. Then I'll be packing my bags ready for my trip to Burnley in the morning for the demonstration event at The Craft Range. There will be lots of demonstrations to entertain and inspire, including my great friends Andy Skinner and Mark Gould. I don't get to see the guys that often and now it will be twice in a fortnight!

So, hope to see lots of you over in Burnley on Saturday...I'm sure it will be a fantastic day.

I don't have any photos of my latest creations to share this morning as I've been working on new stamp designs all week and they are obviously "top secret"! I'll take my camera tomorrow though so will share pictures of the day next week.

Thanks to those who asked how I'd got on at the dentist on Tuesday. I'd been scheduled to have another root canal treatment (!) but, having discussed it with the dentist, we decided that it would be better to just whip the tooth out - it's quite far back and not that noticeable. Anything to avoid the complications of the last experience! I was in and out in no time...as was the tooth! No after effects either. I still look like a pirate though as I'm still waiting for the new crown - then I'll be all done and dusted. I also got my hospital appointment to see the neurologist about my numb face so that was much quicker than expected - hoorah!

Well, I don't like to do a post with no photos so here are some of the jungle that I'm surrounded by at the moment! The first of the courgettes is just about ready for the roasting dish now - yum!

A strawberry! I've decided that I probably won't bother with these again...no wonder they are so expensive when the yield is three or four berries per plant!

The sugar snap peas are just outside the conservatory door so I just pick them as I go by and eat them straight off the plant!

 One of the three tomato plants that are outside is coming along very nicely and I've got another five inside!

Unfortunately, although I adore Nasturtiums, and they are so easy to grow, I may have to restrict my love of them next year as they do attract these little monsters....

...Cabbage White caterpillars! I really love having the butterflies in the garden, but the caterpillars just make short work of my plants. Bless them! Thankfully this patch has escaped the munching beasties and are providing a lovely splash of hot colour.

My micro pond is in there somewhere.....

...everything has burgeoned and even one of the pond plants has flowered. Guess I'm doing something right! The fairies are almost completely hidden now. Sadly I've had no visiting frogs or anything larger than hover flies and wolf spiders - maybe they will still come. The only residents in there are....mosquito larvae...oh joy! I'd better stock up on citronella candles for when they emerge!

I'm thrilled with the fogloves.These three are by the pond and there are more around the garden. I grew them all from seed that my late brother in law, Graham, gave to me. That's one of the very special things about gardens isn't it...they can hold so many memories and as things grow they keep those memories alive. Every time Iook at the foxgloves I think of Graham.

By the way, the lawn was in need of a haircut when I took this (still is!) but I just haven't had time to get it done this week. There are also masses of that darned Mare's Tail weed everywhere too which I get courtesy of the fields that you can see in the background...a small price to pay for the views and the wildlife though.

All the roses are blooming now and I'm planning to plant more every year - as I've said before, David thought a garden should be filled with them, so that's what I'm doing. These are "Little Rambler" and are so dainty. They shade from palest pink right through to a deep rosy colour and the blooms just spring forth in masses - gorgeous.

The last picture is one of the flowers on the "Moment in Time" rose bush that I got in David's memory. It would have been his favourite as he loved red roses best of all. For some reason I find that my camera doesn't really like photographing reds and the details are always slightly lost (any ideas folks?), but you can still see what a lovely rose it is.

Well, I must away now to continue filling those bags for tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone!

And here you are...

Today marks two years since I lost my wonderful David. Hard to believe that so much time has gone by when, in many ways, it feels only moments ago. I have got on with life and I do strive to think of all the happy memories but, of course, when anniversaries fall, it's impossible not to relive those hard times. 

I took a while deciding which piece of music to mark the day with, and I shed a few tears listening to some of our favourites this morning, but I finally picked one. It had to be a Mario Lanza song because David adored him and because his own voice sounded a lot like Mario's. So many to choose from though, but I finally picked "And Here You Are" because I have wonderful memories of David singing it to me and there are moments in this where it sounds just like him. If you've ever been lucky enough to be held in a tenor's arms while they sing at full throttle then you'll know it's an experience that you never forget! 

I hope you enjoy listening to Mario's tender, yet passionate, rendition of this beautiful song....it's best listened to on high volume....

 Shame I couldn't find a video with a nicer picture of Mario.

Thank you for the lovely messages I've had this week and I must apologise to those who rang me...my voice was so far gone that I wasn't even picking up the phone. The root canal treatment had complications that led to a major infection which then also caused flu like symptoms, and part of my face is still numb - I don't do things by half! I was at the point of wondering if I'd have to cancel my trip to Sir Stampalot this weekend but I will be there on Saturday come what may.

Tonight there's an Ascension day service at Church so it will be good to be in my spiritual home at the end of today. 

I'll post again after the weekend and will try to get back to normal service, reply to everyone and catch up on blogs etc.

Birthday skies

Today would have been David's birthday and the second that I've spent without him beside me. This morning the sky looked amazing so I immortalised the moment.....

.....breathtaking. Then I recalled that I took a photo of the sky exactly a year ago and that it was a very similar gorgeous view.....

.....I've no doubt that David would have said it was quite right that his special day should be accompanied by such beautiful sights!

Needless to say that he has been in my thoughts all day (even more than usual) and I bought some red carnations....David loved red flowers.

This time last year Heather and I went out for the day, visiting mum and taking a trip to the garden centre, but, today being Sunday, I was at church this morning. Part of the service involved our puppets, so I was Camille the camel again...talking to my friend Clyde (another camel) about the star that the three kings followed. It was well received, though the downside of performing behind a screen is that you don't get to see the audience reaction.

This afternoon I took down all my Christmas decorations which is a job that I hate....everywhere looks so dull and cheerless now. However, Heather gave me her lovely Tiffany style lamp when she was changing a few things around at home, so I have now put that where the tree was to brighten up the place.

Well, the wind and rain are swirling around outside and my two furry pals and I are snuggled up for the evening now. I'll be having a rare glass of wine tonight so I can raise it to my lovely David and remember happy birthdays past.

Juggling balls

It's been a really mixed up kind of a day one way and another. Lots of interruptions of various kinds, as well as Wimbledon to keep distracting me!

For the second day running I didn't wake until 8am which is really late for me. I tend to wake at around six or six thirty so I never set the alarm unless I have a train to catch of course! If I do sleep any longer, a certain pair of moggies generally let me know that breakfast is overdue but not today. So, I felt I was playing catch up all day really.

At about 9am my neighbour called round at the back of the house for a quick chat and, whilst we were standing by the conservatory door I noticed something appear by my gates that had obviously come from the field or the lane. It was a deer! I bolted inside for my camera, which, typically was on charge, but I was too late to get a picture. So, I shall keep an eye open, camera nearby, and will try to photograph it next time. It was quite small and a darkish brown, so I'm not sure if it was a youngster or just one of the smaller breeds of UK deer. Exciting to see though, and my neighbour and I were both saying how lucky we are to have so much wildlife on our doorstep.

The juggling part of my post refers to a canvas that I made today and which I have added to my Etsy shop. It's called "Life is a Juggling Act" and it features Gwendoline, one of my Doo Lally characters. I used some calico on this one, dying it with inks and fraying the edges to create a sort of grass effect.

 I really had fun creating this canvas and I'll be using the calico idea again too. I'm part way through some other items and this was the state of my table when I finally caved in and sat down to watch the rest of the tennis instead!

As I missed just about the whole of the first week of the championship I don't feel too guilty about spending a lot of today goggle boxing....hence the balls part of tonight's blog post title! I'll be completing the above project tomorrow with a bit of luck, so I'll share that with you once it's ready. As you can see, I remain as untidy a worker as ever!

Because of the men's semi finals being back to back and the first one lasting five and a half hours (which I only watched intermittently) I found myself trying to get things done between points, games and sets this evening! As I've been having one of those weeks where I just can't seem to get to sleep at night, I decided to change the bedding and then I picked some lavender and put some in a vase on the bedside table as well as sprinkling some of the flower heads into my pillow case. I've also had an oil burner giving off soothing aromas in the bedroom all evening, so I'm hoping that, along with my shower and fresh PJ's I might have a chance of some sleep tonight. Hopefully too, that will mean I'll be awake nice and early instead of missing half of the morning!

Dinner tonight was also made in a rush between tennis matches. No slipping of standards though, it was still freshly cooked! David would find it hilarious that I'm actually posting my "recipes" here as he was the chef and I very rarely cooked anything. So, tonight's delicacy was unplanned and not thought through as I didn't have much in the fridge really. I made a sort of (!) Biryani and it only took about seven or eight minutes in total! I chopped and fried an onion in a touch of olive oil with a pinch of salt, then added the remaining half of a yellow pepper, also chopped. I stirred in a couple of spoonfuls of Madras curry paste (I prefer it to powdered spices as it's more unctuous and there's no worry about having to fry off any bitterness) and added some vegetable stock. I put a pack of  Basmati rice in the microwave for two minutes.....I don't boil rice anymore as the microwave ones are foolproof as well as being quick and mess free. Then it was into the garden to cut some Rainbow Chard leaves and some French beans, both of which got chopped and added to the pan. I then stirred the rice through the mix, added some halved cherry tomatoes and a dash of soy sauce and dinner was served! It was really tasty and no meat required!

I thought you might like to see a couple more photos taken in the garden today as well. These are the blooms on David's rose which is called "Moment in Time"....

....he'd have loved these flowers which are a much deeper red than they look here. The climbing rose that I planted a couple of months ago is flowering now too. These little blooms are only about an inch across and so delicate.....

 .....aren't they lovely. The rose is called "Little Rambler" and there are oodles of buds on it, so it's going to be covered with little flowers all Summer I think.

Well, it's pretty late, and that lovely fresh bed is calling me, so I'm going to try and get some sleep now. Oh, before I go though, this was the sight that met me this morning when I walked into the lounge....

 ....one little pest, and I suspect it was Tara, had found the bag of catnip leaves, dragged it onto the floor, chewed through the bag and scattered them everywhere. What a mess! I didn't have the heart to hoover it up as they have both been rolling around in it off and on all day...with rather dreamy looks in their eyes! So, with the hope of dreamy looks in my eyes, I shall away to my bed!

Painting progress

Thanks everyone, for the lovely emails that I received over the last couple of days. They were filled with warm wishes and I just want to assure you that I'm doing okay in general, getting on with everything and becoming involved with new things. The love that David and I shared runs through me like the words in a stick of rock, so, that will never change or wane. It's as much a part of me as the blood in my veins.

Yesterday was my time for contemplation and today was a fresh page of course. No gardening - it was cold and rainy here, although now the sun is blazing down again! I've been doing some more work on the painting that I showed you the start of a few posts ago....

....still a long way to go on this, but she is beginning to take shape now. I know exactly where this image is going, so it's just a case of getting the pictures in my head onto the canvas. One tricky aspect of working on a boxy canvas is working on the areas near the edges, so I find it helps to put something of a similar thickness on my table to rest my hand on. I've never liked working with an easel, even with large paintings. I prefer to work at a table, hunched over and close up!

Once this canvas is completed it will be going onto my Etsy site and I hope to have a few more items listed on there over the next few days.

Tomorrow I'll be spending the day with Heather and Graham and will pass on everyone's good wishes to them.

Memories...

Thank you for all the good wishes that have been sent my way as I commemorate the first anniversary of losing David. It's so uplifting to know that people have been thinking about me today. Thank you also for the kind wishes that have been sent to us as a family and to Heather and Graham in particular.

I spent yesterday evening painting a small memorial slate which I placed beside David's rose in the garden this morning. I spent a few hours in the garden as it was beautifully sunny here. Planting and watching things growing has become a very precious thing to me, so it was a lovely way to spend the morning.

 This afternoon I opened my memory box with lots of special mementos inside as well as all the cards that we received when David was ill and after he passed away. I spent quite some time going through everything and remembering all the events that unfolded last year and this evening I lit candles in the garden and sat beside his resting place for a while.

 I've been remembering lots of wonderful things from our life together....funny things that made me smile, moments when we battled through things together, times when my "Superdave" came to my rescue on more than one occasion.....lots of memories.

I've also been considering all the ups and downs of the last twelve months, the roller coaster ride that has made me a much stronger, wiser person. I've discovered hidden strengths, taken on new roles, made new, supportive friends and also become much healthier and fitter. I think (I know) that David would approve of everything...and I also know that he is still with me, guiding me through it all - helping me to know when to follow a particular path or when to cut off something negative that would drag me down.

I've been listening to lots of music today, as well as "singing" some songs that were, are relevent to us. I thought I'd share this hymn which is one that we played at David's funeral as we were leaving the church. Then it was a choral piece, but I found this version today, by a singer I've never heard of, which I like because the beautiful words are really clear.

I hope you enjoy listening to it, it's a very contemplative and comforting hymn.

Thank you again for the good wishes that I've received - I'll pass on those for Heather and Graham of course.

Rallying round

Apologies to anyone who was booked onto my Masterclass at the Craft Barn Extravaganza event this coming weekend, or expected to see my demonstrations, but I have had to cancel my trip at the last minute. Thank you to Sandy for being so understanding.

My family has, once again, been struck by the awful disease of cancer, this time my brother in law Graham. Needless to say we are all feeling numb, especially given the fact that it's a year since we were going through the same thing with David, which makes it seem even more unreal. We feel we're being given more than our fair share of trials to be honest.

Of course, I need to be with my family, especially to give support to Heather. She was such a tower of strength to me throughout David's illness and now it's my turn to be strong for her

Tomorrow is, unbelievably, the first anniversary of David's death, and I'm just going to have a quiet day at home to contemplate and reflect on the life we shared and the last twelve months.

Keeping my mind occupied with a new venture

Hello folks, I know it's been another week gone (flown) by, so it's definitely time for a catch up.

Last Saturday I was at Card-io in Pemberton where a great deal of fun was had by all I think! I was wearing my new Doo Lally sweatshirt of course...

 ...which seemed to go down well with everyone! It's always good to be at Card-io as I get to see lots of friendly faces and this timwas no exception, catching up with some old friends that I haven't seen in a while. Jacqui kindly brought me a beautiful scarf and a handmade notebook from her trip to India - how spoiled am I? I do love a blank book, so am still deciding what to fill those inviting pages with. 

I'll be seeing quite a few of Saturday's ladies again next weekend as I'll be at the Happy Stampers show in Port Sunlight on 11th May. I do know that tickets have sold out for this show, so hope all of you that wanted to go have managed to get your hands on them. It's going to be a busy day there!

Yesterday my friend Paul came over to visit me which was a treat. We spent the day wandering, nattering and catching up. Sadly, the beautiful weather of the previous day didn't materialise, so my plans for us to sit out in the garden to eat our sandwiches had to be shelved - I was looking forward to some company to share my bench with too!

Today has been a rare Saturday at home but I've been busying myself with a few things. Apart from getting on with putting together my workshop samples (which I can't share yet of course!) I've finally got my act together and opened an Etsy shop. I will happily admit that Paul helped me over the last hurdles yesterday as he is a bit of a whizz with all this technical stuff (!), though it turned out not to be anywhere near as tricky as I'd thought. Anyway, you can take a look at my efforts if you click on the Etsy shop link in my left hand sidebar. 

I've only put a few things up so far, but I will be adding more things on a regular basis, so do let me know what you think! I'm aiming for an "eclectic mix" and you never know, I may even put some Doo Lally Tee shirts on there!

Some of you may know that I was a wildlife artist in a "previous life" so there are a few of my paintings in my shop too....which has the very original name of "Lindsay Mason Designs"! 

It's a pretty tough time at the moment, with the anniversary of so many sad and frightening moments to go through. Today's been particularly hard and I've had a knot in my stomach since I woke up - hence me keeping myself occupied with the Etsy shop. David was really keen for me to get it started so it felt right to make the effort and finally do it.

Well, after all this time in front of the lap top I think I had better get myself some sustenance. I haven't eaten a thing all day, so I really need to make the effort and raid the fridge. The kettle and coffee jar will be the first ports of call though!

Washed up

Hello folks, hope everyone has a great weekend planned. For me, it's the last weekend before Stitches, so the final push to get samples made and then I can have a free day to organise my clothes, bags and what have you. David always used to make sure I did as little as possible the day before going to the show, so he would launder and iron my clothes, go through my check list of things to take and generally take over so I could relax. That little bit of time off is great before such a busy few days, so I'll try to be as organised as I can. There's a lot more to take than when I do most of my demonstrations - I need more outfits for a start! - so it takes a bit of sorting especially as I'll be travelling by train of course. You'd be surprised what I can get into my old Tardis case though!

I took a couple of snaps in my workroom today. This one is of the shelf where I display some of my work, both old and new.

Bit of a blue theme going on here! No close ups of anything, but you can see the type of thing I've been up to. The disembodied head at the front is from a broken ornament and is waiting to go into a configurations box at some time in the future!

This was my table earlier when I was busy cutting out toadstools....

 .....ready to go onto the background panel that I made using Distress Stains including the metallic pewter which gives a lovely shimmer to the surface. My oil burner is simmering away on the table to keep me feeling relaxed and calm! Next to that is my favourite coffee mug...just a nice size and with a lovely bunny design. It was from M&S and I wanted to get the duckling one from the same series but they discontinued them before I got the chance...don't you hate it when that happens?!

You may wonder why I titled this post "washed up"...well, my washing is still trapped in the machine but help is at hand! I have a new machine coming tomorrow...the cheapest new one that I could find and nice and simple. They don't fit them though, so the plumber who fixed the kitchen floor is coming on Monday to set it up and to free my knickers! (He's promised not to look!) So, I'll be doing plenty of laundry after the weekend - hopefully!

The double trouble pair have been fed and gone out for a trot around the neighbourhood so it's time for me to sort out my own dinner now. Then it's an early night for me ahead of the delivery men possibly turning up at 7am! I dare say they won't arrive till much later, but I don't want another embarrassing wardrobe malfunction so I want to be ready!

Have a good weekend everyone, whatever you're doing.

Kaput!

The pesky washing machine that's been messing me about for so long has finally decided to give up completely and my washing is now lovely and clean but trapped inside for eternity unless I can force the door open! It finally gave up yesterday evening after I'd been trying all afternoon to unlock the door by restarting the cycle, spinning, draining, you name it. Now the lights are on but there's just a sinister low humming that says to me that the motor has gone. I figured I'd be able to prise the door open with a few "big tools" (after unplugging first of course) but it will not budge!

It's going to have to be a new washer, so I'm not worried about breaking it now....I just want to get my clothes out! Typical for it to happen the week before I'll be going to the Stitches trade show for a few days and need to get my outfits laundered! Oh well, it's a call to the plumber after all then. Oh I really do miss David all the more at times like this...he could fix anything and he'd certainly have been able to use his "Superdave" strength to break that door.

As promised, here is a picture of the new puppet that I was working on Sunday.....

 ....he's got rather grand facial hair! It was lovely to hear the children chuckling as he (and the female character) popped up above the screen. Thankfully, I got through it with no arm aches at all as I decided that I would risk standing on a rather wobbly hassock again, even though I had to move around more than last time. It did the trick and that extra few inches of height made all the difference.  By the way, you can see my twiggy lights in the background...they really have brightened the corner of the room after taking the Christmas tree down.

I did fluff one of my lines and I interrupted poor Lynne, halfway through one of her sentences by mistake, but nobody noticed, so I got away with it. The screen also decided to try and fall apart as we were lifting it to the the front of the church too but Martin, our vicar, came to the rescue so it didn't completely collapse! The perils of being a performer...LOL!

After the service it was the parish lunch which was very enjoyable and it was good to sit down and share it with friends. So I had a pretty full day one way and another. Yesterday I finished prepping the workshops for Stitches, so I can now concentrate on getting lots more samples made for my demonstration stand...well, it's not really "mine" as I'll be sharing it with the wonderful Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door and we'll be taking turns.....I must try and keep tidy!

No more pictures of my recent makes yet I'm afraid, but I'll try and share some tomorrow. As I said, I have to keep things back for the show. I'll have lots of piccies when I come back of course!

The demonstration at High Legh garden centre, near Knutsford, on 2nd March is now confirmed (see my demo list in the sidebar) so I'll add more details of what I'll be doing there tomorrow. 

Right, time to get some dinner made now...veggie stir fry with rice noodles.... and I will try to avert my eyes from the bloomin' washing machine whilst I'm in the kitchen!

Birthday memories

Today would have been David's birthday so I started the morning in the way that we always began either of our birthdays, by playing Mario Lanza singing "our song" - Because.

David adored Mario Lanza and, before he was taken ill, he had a beautiful tenor voice himself, so I have lots of memories of being serenaded whilst in a bear hug. "Because" was the most special song of all though.
No matter what else was going on, we always made a point of spending our birthdays together and David's always marked the last day of my Christmas break before getting back into work. 

The sky was beautiful this morning....

.....so I grabbed my camera and immortalised the moment.

I have so many wonderful memories of how we'd spend this day. We usually went out for a drive and visited a peaceful spot or just spent a quiet evening in together watching whatever big film we'd treated ourselves to at Christmas. I always made a point of saying that I'd cook David a lovely meal and he'd go along with the idea before telling me to get out of the kitchen and preparing the food himself! No matter how I tried I would never be able to cook anything as well as David could.

This morning Heather came round and we called at the garden centre for something that her hubby is creating. We had just stepped inside when the song "You'll never walk alone" started up. It was a song that David loved as well as being one that we chose for our dad's funeral, so it was very poignant.

I've just spent the rest of the day quietly, and placed a single rose and a candle in the garden.

Happy birthday David and thank you for all the precious memories. 

New Year good wishes

Just a quick post to wish everyone all the best for the new year.

I know that many of you, like myself, have, for one reason or another, had a really bad year. I just hope that this coming one will be kinder to all of us.

I'm not looking forward to the bringing in of 2013 itself, as it will be so sad to stand and watch the fireworks from the back of the house without David wrapping me up inside his big coat and wishing the best for each other with a hug and a kiss. I'll still watch them though and I'll raise a glass to my lovely man.

I hope you all enjoy tonight in whatever way you're spending new year's eve.

God bless.

Memories and wishes

Today would have been dad's 90th birthday as well as Christmas Eve. He just loved the whole birthday/Christmas experience and would have a big smile on his face that would put a nine year old to shame. This is dad with mum last year.

Heather and I will be going to spend time with mum today at her care home and open some of her presents with her. She will be full of smiles as always, especially when she opens any of the "eats"! There are some pink and white marshmallows, Thorntons cakes and fruit jellies so she will enjoy those.

We're then going back to Heather's and will be having a Chinese takeaway just as we always did for dad's birthday. I'll be coming home and then going to the midnight service at church which is something I've not done before but am looking forward to. I'm going with my neighbour so it will be a late night for us both.

I've decided to have Christmas day itself on my own so I can just spend a quiet time. I'm going to cook a proper dinner with (most of) the trimmings which will keep me occupied for a while. Heather wanted me to spend the day with them, but I think this first Christmas without David is one that I need to be on my own for. 

Well, I just want to wish everybody a very happy and peaceful Christmas. I'll sign off with a picture of my tree with one the two new Bambi decorations that I got last week....they are flocked and I added ribbon bows and bells as well as some white spots to their rumps - ever so cute. There are also some vintage baubles that I picked up for a snip in a charity shop. Hopefully they will survive Tara's growing interest in the sparkly, shiny ornaments that are tantalizing her!

Happy Christmas everybody.
PS I tried scheduling this post to come on yesterday whilst I was out but it didn't work! Oh well, happy Christmas again!

Six months

Today marks six months since my darling David died - it feels more like six weeks ago but time just rolls on relentlessly. It's like doing the world's biggest bungee jump without even knowing if the rope's attached to anything. Some days are better than others and I do try to keep positive knowing that's what David would have wanted me to do.

This is a picture from a very happy time that David and I spent in Dundee when I was working up in Scotland a couple of years ago. We had a wonderful few days up there with lots of laughter and lovely memories.

I just wanted to say thank you for everyone's kind messages, thoughtful cards and emails over the last few months and apologies to anyone that I didn't get back to personally.

11:11:11

Today has great significance for me and my sister Heather. Not only is it Remembrance day, but it is the first anniversary of the death of our dad. 

This morning I went to the usual Sunday Church service where I placed a flower from David's memorial rose on the case which contains the memorial book. Each day the pages of the book are turned to show the names of those who died on that date and so dad's name was there in beautiful calligraphy.

I can't believe that it's really a year ago. The service was very moving especially as one of the hymns was "Be still my soul" which was one of the pieces of music that I chose for David's funeral.

After the service I went outside and met up with Heather for the Remembrance service in the village square. There were hundreds of people crowded around the Cenotaph, quite a sight in our little village, but a sign of the great community spirit. The two minutes silence was very moving...thoughts of David, dad and also our uncle David, who we never met, but who was killed in WWII. You can watch some of the service here: http://youtu.be/jUtI4ELW8RM. The two minutes silence was very moving...thoughts of David, dad and also our uncle David, who we never met, but who was killed in WWII.

So, it's been a thoughtful day. One to reflect on love and loss and bringing people together in peace.

Feel like a giggle? Read on....

I had one of my rather sleepless nights last night, dropping off quite easily then suddenly waking up at 3am and tossing and turning for hours before finally drifting off again. I never set my alarm if I don't have to be anywhere as I almost always wake very early anyway, and, if not, my Tara and Thomas soon let me know it's time to get up!

However, today they must have decided that their mum needed a lie in, so I was suddenly woken by the sound of the doorbell ringing several times at 7.40am. I hopped out of bed and realised my PJ bottoms were on the floor...I must have been too hot and kicked them off in the night! So, more hopping ensued as I tried to coordinate my legs with the legs of the PJ's! I stumbled to the front door, hair everywhere and eyes still bleary, and could see the postman through the small glass panel.

I opened the door a little and peered round, saying "Sorry, I'd overslept, so thanks for that". He smiled and proffered a package. I opened the door fully and he thrust the little computery gadget for me to sign. I was mumbling apologies and thanks again and he just sputtered something before dashing off down the drive. He didn't close the gate which is pretty unusual for the posties around here.

I shut the door and wandered back through the house. As I put the package on the sofa I glanced down and......my left boob had escaped from my pyjama top!!!!!! I was mortified. I shrieked "Oh my god!" and then started laughing! I mean, I haven't exactly been short changed in that department and the poor man must have a right eyeful....or should I say a left eyeful! 

Doubtless the story will have gone round the sorting office now, so I'll either get no post for weeks, or a queue of posties ringing the bell depending on his description! I'm just glad it was one of the postmen I don't really know, if it had been my "nice little man" who always has a chat with me, then I really would have been embarrassed!

Anyway, I thought you might like a laugh at my expense! I know that David would have absolutely laughed his socks off at that one and I even have a sneaky suspicion that he caused it to happen to make me giggle as I had one of my down days yesterday and this certainly set the day off with a hilarious tone. Was the package worth the embarrassment I hear you ask. Well, here are the main items that were inside....

Some tapes, labels, notes and a date stamper to use with my Smash book...I already had the book, but I've included it in the picture anyway. The notepad has pages with lists that you can fill in.....top ten this or that. I think many of us who were brought up on Enid Blyton books have a "thing" about lists.....picnic descriptions were a long list of sandwiches, cakes, bicuits and, of course, lashings of ginger beer! (If that means nothing to you then just be grateful you're still very young!)

The other new products were these sparkly lovelies.....

 They are the Stickles dry glitters from Ranger. The big jar on the left is the larger grained clear rock candy glitter which has a rather more vintage effect. I'm just missing the Eucalyptus green to make up the full set but I'm sure there are enough shades there to keep me happy. They are incredibly fine so I can see I'm going to be leaving sparkly trails wherever I go. 

Thought you might like to see what happens when I put the laptop down.......

.....a certain mister Thomas lets me know that he thinks I've been paying far too much attention to it rather than him! He is a comic.

The third and final part of my stint as guest designer for Darkroom Door is on their blog now if you want to take a look at the last of the projects I made. They were great fun to make and hope you like them.

Well, lunch break is over now so I must get back to the drawing board. It's been so cold here today that I've had to keep stopping to warm up my frozen fingers! And, by the way, you can stop laughing now thank you!

PS I nearly forgot to say that I'll be at Samuel Taylor's at Kershaws Garden centre, Brighouse, West Yorkshire all day tomorrow. So do do pop by if it's in your vicinity...I promise to do a full wardrobe check so as not to scare anyone away!