Well, how proud are we??

Yes, A level results day finally came as I knew it would! We were all getting more and more tense as the days dragged on and I was beginning to feel that it would never end. Then the boys found out that they could check the UCAS tracker from about 6am on Thursday morning to see if their uni had updated their status and if they had been successful with their application. It wouldn't give them their results just whether they had got a place or not. Both were adamant that they would not be checking it and would wait to collect their results from college. I thought they were very brave and would not have been able to resist if it was me. Helen, my friend, agreed and said if it was her, she would be on there at 6am and pressing refresh every two minutes!

Anyway at 6.10am yesterday morning William crept into my room and whispered 'I'm in, I've done it!' I just screamed the house down and all that leaking from the eyes started again! I just knew he was too much like his mother not to look! He said he just logged onto UCAS and read:

"The current status of your Application is: Congratulations! Your place at University of Cambridge (C05) to study Mathematics (G100) has been confirmed."

There was a lot of hugging and sqeezing going on, as you can imagine. Thomas then woke up with the noise and decided he may as well check his then. Thankfully his was a 'Congratulations' as well.

We did lots and lots of shouting and even more hugging and eye leaking before we managed to calm down! I made them eggy bread and sausages for their breakfast and we waited on pins until it as a reasonable time to ring everyone! I must amit I rang Helen at 6.30am and she was round like a shot to congratulate then and do more eye leaking!

We went to college for 10am where they met all their friends and went into collect their results. William had not dissappointed and came out with AAAA (maths, further maths, chemistry and physics) and Grade 1 in both his STEP papers. Thomas, by working so hard, had achieved the equivalent of AAB and we are so pleased for him. Twelve months ago that would have been unthinkable so he has really turned it all round!

So William is off to Emmanuel at Cambridge to do even harder adding up (maths) and Thomas is off to Ambleside (old St Martin's) to do finger painting and sticking things (Primary Education) and we could not be any prouder if we tried.

Playing the waiting game.....

......but only 3 sleeps to go! Yes, results day is getting nearer, slowly but surely. It has been a long time coming and we are trying to keep as busy as possible at the moment. Both boys are now a little bit more tense as the days go by and I will just be glad when it is finally over and we know where we go next. I must admit I haven't felt like this for years...all butterfly-ey inside (that's not even a word, is it?) and twitchy. To be honest I don't care where they go, as they have both worked hard and couldn't have done any better, but I think it is that feeling of not wanting your children to be disappointed and to protect them from the nasties in life. That good old 'mothering instinct' is kicking in with knobs on. Anyway I will let you all know on Thursday what the outcome is.

Here is one of my recent layouts. Very plain and simple which is what I wanted really. Lennart is the eldest son of Claus and Gabriele who visited us recently from Germany. He was just so lovely I could quite easily have kept him here and added him to my own brood!
I spent ages thinking of a title but in the end just used his name!

Some really good news though. Thomas passed his driving test last week! Yeahhhhh. He is now eager to get a car of course. We are going to have a look at a couple of garages this morning to see what sort of ting is available. He needs something small and efficient. The cost of insurance is absolutely horrendous for newly qualified drivers and to be honest neither me or John thinks it is worth it but as is expected Thomas won't be talked out of it. He has some money saved for a car but would need to pay the insurance monthly which will obviously impact what he has left for socialising at Uni! Still I suppose he will have to learn from experience!

Wieder Zusammen?

Gosh, I hope that's right! With a bit of luck it means 'together again' which is just what this layout is all about.



After 19 years we met up again and what a fantastic night we had. Claus and Gabriele had just not changed one bit! (Well apart from Claus' beard!) Their boys are a total credit to them as they are well mannered, polite and great fun to be around. We all had a wonderful time and it was just a shame Kim and her family could not join us. Plenty of food, good wine and stimulating company as well as being in the presence of good friends make a perfect evening. And Tuesday evening was just that.

I hope it is not 19 years before we see them again!

What a lovely surprise.

We had a postcard drop through the letter box the other day. As I picked it up I was thinking to myself who it could have come from. I have a couple of friends away on holiday at the moment but would not expect a card from either of them. After further investigation I read that it was from some old, old friends of ours whi i have not heard from for a few years. We met Claus and Gabriele about 19 years ago when we were camping on Black Rock Sands in Wales. We got along really well right from the start. Gabriele was expecting their first child and they both spoken amazing English! It turned out that Gabriele was an English teacher in thier native Germany! Anyway we had a great week together and then went our separate ways. We kept in touch and exchanged news and photographs of our new arrivals as and when they happened. They had a son, Lennart, later that year and surprisingly (and totally unplanned) I gave birth to the twins the following June. They went on to have another son Theimo who is now 12. However over the past few years our communication has dwindled, I am sorry to say, and is now down to occasional Christmas cards now.

But the good news is they are back in England doing a bit of touring. They have brought along their sons and wondered if we fancied meeting up. I could not get in touch soon enough, I was so excited. :) Anyway they are travelling up to Wales in the next couple of days so we are hoping to meet up next week sometime and I just can't wait. It will be soooo good to see them again. The twins have heard me talk aboyt them over the years so are looking forward to finally meeting them and I have arranged for the elder children who of course know them to come round and see them whatever night we get together. What a fantastic thing to look forward to!

Anyway, not that Claus and Gabriele will notice as they have never seen it before, but we have decorated our utility room and it has made such a difference. It is so much brighter! There are just one or two jobs for John to finish off and then it will be complete. I had a trip to our local Range last week and picked up a few bits and pieces for it and I also made myself this really scrummy canvas.


It is just chocolate and more chocolate and is quite enormous! It is about 2' x 2' and I have managed to find a big enough wall to hang it on. I can go in and stare at it when every I get a chocolate urge. It may not be the same as eating chocolate but comes a close second and is much lower in calories! It has been admired by every one who has seen it up to now and I have already had orders to make up 3 for other people. Great news and a bit extra towards the Christmas kitty!

Anyway I will try and find time to upload some layouts I have managed to make up later this week. There are a couple of the boys when they were toddlers which have turned out quite well. So bye for now!

Tents, tents and more tents!

Yes, we have been off on the hunt again. I knew John wouldn't wait much longer before he would be itching to buy a new tent. He never keeps the same one more than two seasons...though to be honest I am just as bad! We have been round a couple of local camping places and a couple of tents have caught our eye. Yesterday we went to a place near Blackpool, Kool Kamping, and although they didn't have a vast range of tents on show they did have couple we had never looked at before. One range was a new one from Kampa called the Lulworth.


We went inside the 6 berth and I was really impressed with it. Everything we wanted seemed to be included along with a large lounge area. John thought the 6 might be too big and we should go for the 4 but I will need to actually see one up before I can decide. I do so like my space. One great thing about Kool Kamping was that the lads who run it were really helpful and knew their stuff. If we do go for the Lulworth I will certainly go back and buy it from them. Great customer service!

For some reason Tom seems to be the subject of my scrapping inspiration at the moment. Probably the only bit of scrapping I have done for a couple of weeks is this layout of him.

At the last minute he decided to go to the inter store bowling competition and came out with a medal and a trophy. The store team managed to beat everyone else there and everyone had a great evening.

One bit of exciting news is the fact that I have a new great nephew! My neice Sarah had her second baby last week. She was over a week late and was feeling dreadful with all the heat. As all babies usually do, he made his grand entrance when he was good and ready. Edward Huey Evans weighed in at 7lb 11oz at 3.27am on Friday morning. Mother and baby were both fine! It gave me chance to make a couple of cards instead of scrapping which made a nice change.

Anyway I am off to do some cleaning and hopefully a bit of scrapping as well today if I get chance. I am taking William into Preston tonight to meet up with some friends so I am going to bob along to Dunelm mills while I have the chance and see what I can be tempted with! I have no doubt something will catch my eye.

Be for now.

Long hot days!

Yes, it looks, and feels like summer is here at last! Another long hot sunny day today with it predicted to get hotter and hotter as the week goes on. I think I will be staying inside and doing some scrapping in my free time as I'm afraid I don't 'do' heat well. I like the weather to be hot but just as long as I am not outside in it! I really feel for my niece Sarah at the moment. She is 40+ weeks pregnant with her second child, lives down south where it is even hotter and is really getting fed up now. My sister has gone down to keep her company and try to help out where ever she can but unfortunately even she can't make this baby come any sooner! Hopefully we will not have to wait much longer before the action starts!

I've managed to find some time to do a bit of scrapping and have started on some of the holiday photos. Here are a couple of the Jacobite Steam train which does a return trip most days between Fort William and Mallaig. It's a very impressive sight as it pulls into the station and stops with a real huff and puff and a release of steam!


Thomas is not happy that he has yet to be asked for proof of age. He has been carrying his card around with him in the hope someone would query his age now he is actually 18. Even the pub he is always turned away from just let him walk in the other night. Perhaps living in a small rural town where most peole know everyone else....and their age....could have something to do with it! Here he is ready to take on the 'grown up' part of life!


All exams are out of the way now and all course work handed in, finance in place and accomodation sorted as much as possible, so now it is time to play the waiting game. They are both happy bunnies at the moment but I can see all that changing as August 20th draws near. Confidence will hit rock bottom in both of them and they will be replanning their futures....just in case! I will just be exactly the same as always. Calm on the outside and all jingly jangly on the inside until the night of the 19th when I will just fall apart with worry.

So until then I had better just get on with some scrapping to take my mind off things! :)

And we are back!

Yes, it's surprising how soon holidays are over with, isn't it? So long looking forward to them and planning everything and then before you know it they are gone! Once again we have spent a lovely relaxing time in the Scottish highlands. The scenary is so stunning up there, it is worth the journey just for that. We spent some time on the isle of Skye, gorgeous (as well as being hot and sunny!) and also cruising Muck, Eigg, Canna and Rhum.




Another excellent holiday only spoilt by the 'bastard' midges! Gosh, I really hate those beasties! Unfortunately this feeling is not reciprocated as they LOVE me! They love me for breakfast, dinner, tea, supper and any other time when they might be feeling peckish. They love me sooo much that they tell all their friends about me and invite them along for a picnic as well!! As you can imagine this does terrible things to my body and I now have so many spots and welts I am begining to feel that I should be outcast as one of the 'unclean' from the olden days. I wouldn't mind as much if they didn't itch constantly...but they do...all the time! Even the tried and tested repellants do noting to prevent them attacking me. However I will just carry on and keep slapping the creams on!

The day before we went on holiday it was the boy's 18th birthday and as they didn't want a party we arranged for family and close friends to join us for a meal. John and Karen, some friends of ours, opened their restaurant for us and provided one of the best evenings ever! We didn't do any singing or dancing just ate, drank and chatted away. The feedback is that everyone enjoyed themselves and it was rated a 'great success' on our family event scoreboard! I must admit I had a great time too!




William is on with the last of his exams this coming week and I am sure he will be glad when they are over. I know I certainly will. Then it is just a case of sitting back and waiting for the results! Most of the stuff for their unis is sorted / applied for and all finance is now in place so we are ready for the call, so to speak!

Hot, hot, hot !

Yes, finally a bit of good weather at last but as usual it has to go from one extreme to the other. From pouring rain and cold winds we go to desert like conditions with the sun beating down constantly! Bit of an exaggeration there but it is blinking hot! I must admit I can't do with this heat as I get very hot and burn easily so I am more than happy to stay inside and potter round doing a bit of scrapping. John is toasting himself outside which is a bit of a sickner as he goes brown at the first sign of the sun! Both him and Tom have such dark skin to start with it doesn't take much sun to turn them even darker.

I am hoping to get the boy's birthday meal sorted this weekend. It is drawing ever closer and I can't believe they will soon be 18. We have booked a friend's restaurant for the evening for family and close friends. Three courses, a bottle or two of wine and great company....what more could you want? I asked the boy's if they wanted us to pay for a party for them but they were not that interested really and to be honest it would be a pretty mixed up do with their totally different friends! So roll on the 12th!

William has his first exam on Monday with another one later in the week and Thomas is in college all week to complete the last bits of his course work. It is going to be a very tense summer waiting for their results!

Although we only live about an hour from Liverpool it is not somewhere that we ever go to but as we were even nearer last weekend we decided to pay it a visit. Although we only managed to stroll along the dock areas there was so much to see. We never even got near the shops! I will be making sure that I have another trip out there soon!

This layout, above, shows some of the sights we enjoyed that day. The other layout, below, introduces an old friend to you all. Doctor Ted was bought for John when he was born and this magical bear has been drying tears and taking away hurts for many, many years! I was inspired to do this layout by a quote I read in Scrapbook Trends. As soon as I read it I thought of Doctor Ted. He is very battered and bruised now and is certainly balder than John but he is still called on in times of need.

Everyone who has seen this layout up to now has had a kind word to say for Doctor Ted. I will go and put him back in our bedroom where he will wait on guard ready for when he is next needed.

Well, the tablets seem to be working!

Finally after two weeks of pain and coughing I seem to be improving. I managed to get some sleep last night which was an absolute 'dream'! (sorry for the pun) Hopefully things will continue to get better and then we can start to work out which treatment is working. I 'm just relieved to feel human again instead of a coughing machine!

Anyway on an up side I have managed to get some scrapping done. I've had loads of inspiration from the new Scrapbook Trends magazine which I have managed to sub to. This is a US publication and it is so much better than the UK monthlies. I have been able to get it on a sporadic basis from the US but finally it is being printed over here and is so much easier to purchase. They do a 6/12/24 issue subscription and these are at great prices. The 6 issue subscription is only £30 and that includes postage. I just couldn't resist a bargain like that.

With it being a US magazine there is such a massive source of talent available. My big bug bear with the UK ones is that it is the same old faces each month who are published and they are so 'samey' and, to be honest, boring. I wouldn't mind but they think they are so great. I have to say there are a couple of UK girls who I think are good but that is about it. I know I have been scrapping for a lot of years now so have seen most of what is going round but the US girls still seem to come up with something new and a bit different. There was some mention on UKS of them asking for UK submissions and this really put me off as I want it purely for the US content. Anyway I emailed the publisher and he has replied and assured me that they will be having a maximum of three or four UK scrappers and that was all. I felt much better after reading that and will continue to sub. If it changes however I will stop my sub and go for the US download one which does not give you an actual book to hold and stroke but at least I will get the full flavoured US one and not a diluted UK publication. Anyway end of today's rant! Gosh, I feel better for that! :)

So what about my scrapping? Well here are a couple of Samhara from out weekend away.

She tried so very hard to get her kite to fly. She ran up and down the camping field for ages until her little legs would run no more but finally she managed it. Maybe it would not have won any competitions for height or duration but at least it flew!

For embellishment I cut out some kite shapes and added ribbon as the tails. I thought it added a bit more interest and dimension to leave them floating a bit rather than being stuck down flat. It certainly seemed to work quite well.

I took some inspiration from the 'Using fabric' section in Scrapbook Trends for this layout. I had some felt left over from another project so added it here as the colour matched well. A bit of stictching and some buttons seemed to give the effect I wanted quite well.


Samhara was always on the go when we were away. She makes friends very easily and this time was no different. She certainly did not have time to sit down and eat! Life is far too busy!

Weekend away.

Yes, we've just got back from a lovely weekend away! We only went about 45 minutes away but it was great. The site at Ormsirk was well kept and spotlessly clean. Our pitch was flat and only a short walk to all the amenities. We went with Kim, Ian and the girls as this was the first time they had been camping as a family. (Ian was a true novice.) They have just bought a tent and are slowly getting together all the things they need. We said we would all go together for their first time so if there were any problems they wouldn't be on their own. Luckily there were a couple of occasions where the 'old timers' were needed but it was great to see that Kim had been paying attention all those years ago when we all went camping!

The weather was gorgeous and we had a trip out to Liverpool and the Albert Dock and another day out to the beach. I am just starting to scrap some of the photos so I will post them later. The girls had a whale of a time and Samhara was busy making new friends with Pheobe and Alfie! They had three late nights so were shattered when they got home yesterday. Hopefully they all managed a good nights sleep......I know John and I did.

Thomas and Adam have been to Wembley this weekend to see the Super Clarets finally get back into the Premiership. What a tense afternoon! John was worn out by the end of the match and he was just watching it on tv. It has been such a long time........ many years....... of ups and downs so I don't think he could really believe it in the end! Thomas was crying down the phone to me and I could hear all the noise from the fans in the background. It was amazing. I remember about 22 years ago going to the wedding of a couple of close friends of ours. Burnley were playing that day and they had to win to stay in the football league. Many of the guests at the wedding were Clarets so the whole day was held up while 22 men kicked a ball round a pitch. Finally they managed to hold on and the wedding could continue. That's all history now and they are back in the top flight. It doesn't matter which division they play in though I just know that I will spend all next season supporting husband and three sons whilst they cheer, shout, swear and cry their way through another 38 games!

That's life!

A cuddle book!

I never thought of it like that before but I suppose it is true. As you may know I am a fan of making mini books of all descriptions and love to give them to relatives and friends. I have made a couple recently for two friends who were just feeling a bit down. One of them just burst into tears and said it was the best present she had ever had (I think emotion was getting the better of her at the time!) and the other who was just as grateful for the gift said 'Thank you so much. Every time I open the book and read it I feel like you are there giving me a cuddle.' How cool is that! I took that as one of the best compliments ever. So I have now decided to call them all 'Cuddle Books'! So here is one of my latest cuddle books:

I bought these papers ages ago and have just never got round to using them but they just seemed to be perfect for a fairly new, but very special, friend. Just a plain cover with a ribboned buckle was all I needed for the front.

I covered chipboard covers and then used cardstock for the pages. I cut them in different sizes so it gave the book a bit more depth and interest.

By just adding appropriate quotes and other small embellishments it is easy to make a very special gift for someone.

Anyway another job well done and loved by it's recipient! I must admit to probably getting as much pleasure in making these books as my friends do in receiving them!

Another bit of news is that a new online craft shop has opened which has some amazing products at very low prices. This is because the lines carried will not be the recently released stuff but just older favourites which are classic and perfect for so many ideas. Called 'Scrapbook Outlet Online' it is well worth checking out for some great bargains! I think I may just have a browse myself later....again!

Happy scrapping!!

Yes, I finally did it........

I have been debating for ages whether or not to get one and I have finally given into temptation!
Go on ....can you tell what it is? Yes, it's my new WiiFit and I have to say up to now I am loving it! I have been on for at least 30 minutes every day since I bought it. William has set it up in the lounge but it is so neat it can be put away when not in use. I am well impressed.

There are lots of great 'games' and exercises to choose from and the more times you do them then the more new ones you unlock! My favourites at the moment are the Hula Hoop and the 'step' ones. It also measures your weight, BMI and also Wii age (which can be a shock at first!!) and then keeps a track of it over the days. I think it is better to do the 'body' test at about the same time each day and then you are consistant with your measurements. Whether this new form of excercise will last or not only time will tell but it is great to be able to just 'go to the gym' without even leaving the house!

Rhianna was 11 on Saturday! I just can't believe it. Where has the time gone? She had a party for lots of her friends at our local British Legion and all the girls were dressed up and looking far too old! It doesn't seem that long ago since their party dresses were all frilly and princess like...now the are 'cool' and 'slinky'. No matter though, they all seemed to have a great time and she was thrilled with all her presents. She accumulated quite a bit of money and like any trendy young lady is going to spend most of it on ....'shoes, of course!'


I couldn't resist getting a photo of her birthday cake! I thought it was amazing. No messing about cutting bits here and there for this party. Everyone had their own handmade cupcake. I love this idea and have seen it used a couple of times at different functions but it all looks so much better in reallife. Charlotte did a wonderful job making all the cupcakes and as expected Rhianna was suitably thrilled with it!
Well off for another 10 minutes on the Wii, I think. See you all later!

Happy Easter to every one!

Well this is the first year that the boys have not received any Easter eggs. Even I didn't buy them any! They have received plenty of money, though, to make up for the missing eggs! At least when we sit down to lunch they won't be too full to eat anything which is what usually happens! I've got the lamb in the oven and that is just beginning to give off a lovely aroma. Plenty of veg and then Hot Fudge cake and cream to finish with should leave us all nicely full. Easter and Christmas are to two times in the year when we have our main meal at about 2 o'clock. I can then put my feet up and relax for the rest of the day!

Yesterday was a bit of a scrapping day for me and I managed to get three layouts done. I find it a lot harder, these days to find time to scrap as much as I used to as I have so many other things going on. However a couple of hours of peace and quiet along with a bit of mojo produced these:


This layout is of Kim, Ian and the girls on a recent trip to Ingleton. The scenery is stunning around there and with the falls and the caves to explore it is a great day out. I even managed to do 'real' stitching on the layout as well!

Although the weather wasn't particularly hot and sunny they all still managed to have a great time on the beach at Cleveleys!


Those two little ones certainly need plenty of open spaces to run off all their energy! I can't believe that Rhianna is moving up to secondary school after the holidays. She will soon grow up once she gets there. At the moment she is as thin as a streak of lightening just like her uncle Adam. Whether she stays like that or not I have no idea. I can't imagine her filling out like the rest of us though!

We are still going through the 'student finance' process and like all similar situations it is a long and hard road. No one seems to have any idea what is going on and you never seem to get correct or even useful replies to your emails. It is a total nightmare. Anyway I am going to try and go with the flow and no get too stressed about it all............

Anyway, hope you all have a lovely day!

She is HOW old??????

Yes, that was the reaction of one of my son's when I told him how old Tina Turner was! And yes, it is pretty unbelievable!

We went to see her last night at the MEN and she was just out of this world! Her energy was amazing and her legs really do 'go on for ever'!! I don't care if she has or has n't had a couple of things retouched, she must still look after herself to look so fantastic. There were eight of us went in our group and my brilliant brother-in-law David managed to get us a box for the evening so not only did we see the stunning Mrs Turner we also did it in style!

(Getting ready to rock with a few bottles of champagne)

(The view from our box showing the areana starting to fill up)

(Amazing staging brought the great lady out into the crowd for 'Nutbush City Limits!)

The food was quite scrummy and the champagne went down a treat, I have to say. As usual the company was just to my taste and we had our usual laughs and overall a great time was had by all. I don't think I embarrassed myself too much as no one could hear my crappy voice belting out the words to some of my favourite songs and loads of people were up dancing, waving and generally having a ball. Totally fantastic.

The atmosphere in the arena was electric and the theatrics and staging was often surprising and totally spectacular. The noise we all made nearly brought the house down when singing 'Simply the best'!

Totally fantastic night and one certainly to remember!

Looks like we are on track!

Just a quick message to keep everyone informed about William and his exams. He got his first set of A2 results today and as usual they were outstanding. I don't know why I get myself so stressed about them as he never does! I was waiting anxiously for the phone call this morning and it seemed to be forever. Anyway the final total was: Maths (core) 100/100, Maths (mech) 91 /100, Chemistry 87/90 and Physics (the paper he 'didn't like') 100/100! With his A2 course work in at Maths 100% and Physics 100% with just Chemistry to go I think I can try and ease off a bit with the worrying! We had a bit of a tea party tonight with a huge chocolate cake!

Chat soon!

Twice in one day!

Just like a bus, none around for ages and then two in one day! I tried to post the light hearted message earlier in the week but blogger must have been having an off day and wouldn't let me!

So what's new then? Well to be honest not that much. John has started at Sainsbury's and, now we have a new payroll person, I have been throwing myself into my new role with great vigour and enjoying it more and more. Still plenty more to learn though and I am off on a course in March which should give me loads and loads of info to digest and hopefully be of some use! Time will tell.

The big news topic at the moment is Jade Goody's wedding. I must admit I like Jade. What you see is what you get....a bit like me really! I can not understand how people can still be whinging on about her and the money she is raising. I really feel for that young lady and it doesn't matter what our opinions are of her I think any mother would do whatever she could to secure a safe future for her children. All the moaning just seems to smack of sheer jealousy to me. Go on Jade, you are hurting no one so do what you feel is right. And I wish you all the very best over the next few weeks, my thought will be with you.

On the scrapping front I have managed a couple of layouts both of the lovely Samhara.

This is one of her dressing up times when she was a model at one of our Helen's bridal fayres. She was so good and just loves the lime light. There were certainly lots of 'Awwwww's when she stepped out on the stage! The pictures haven't scanned very well, they are very sharp and clear on the actual layout so I'm not sure what went wrong there!


These are some of her on the new pink bike! She is definitely a 'pink' lady! Anyway I think I have done plenty of her for now and am going to move on to someone else! I have actually started on my Alcudia holiday album so I will show you that when it is completed. I'm in the middle of doing some canvases for our bedroon. (£12 for 4 at the Factory Shop and all sized at 24" x 24" so they are a real bargain.) I did three for our new bathroom and John was so impressed he said I should do some for the bedroom, so I am! I'll take a pic when they are in place.

Anyway, bye for now and happy crafting!

Warn your friends!

This has actually happened to me ....and is too 'important' not to pass on....

You've heard about people who have been abducted and had their kidneys removed by black-market organ thieves. Well my thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. I went to sleep and woke up with
someone else's thighs. It was just that quick. The worst thing about it was that these replacements had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine? I spent the entire summer looking for my thighs. Finally, hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans.

And then the thieves struck again. My bottom was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear-end to the thighs they had stuck me with earlier. But my new bottom was attached at least three inches lower than my original! I realized I'd have to give up my jeans in favour of long skirts.

Two years ago I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was fixing my hair and was horrified to see the flesh of my upper arm swing to and fro with the motion of the hairbrush. This was really getting scary - my body was being replaced one section at a time. What could they do to me next?

When my poor neck suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a turkey neck, I decided to tell my story in the hope that I could warn as many women as possible. Women of the world, wake up and smell the coffee! Those 'plastic' surgeons are using REAL replacement body parts -stolen from you and me! The next time someone you know has something 'lifted'..... look again - was it lifted from you?

THIS IS NOT A HOAX. This is happening to women everywhere every night. WARN YOUR FRIENDS! These same thieves come into my closet and shrink my clothes! How do they do it????

P.S. Last year I thought some one had stolen my Boobs. I was lying in bed and they were gone! But when I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep
them hidden in my waistband.

Bringing back the hurt.

A friend has just lost her father unexpectedly. I went round to see her with some flowers to bring a slight point of brightness to her days and a bottle of wine to get blasted with. As you can imagine she is heart broken and the pain was so raw in her eyes. How I remember that feeling! My own dad died 7 years ago now and I can still remember the overwhelming pain of it all. I was totally unaware of how much it was going to hurt and his death was expected. It must be so much worse for her as they had no idea this was going to happen.

It's a physical hurt, deep inside and even now I still think about my dad at some point every day. The pain does ease, I don't cry for him now, but it never goes completely. Like me, my friend has family around so they can help each other travel this dark road. And me? Well I shall remember her in my prayers and also thank God that I have been there, done that and because of this knowledge I can offer her a shoulder to cry on or an arm to lean on when or if she wants them.

Anyway on a lighter note, John has been offered a job at Sainsbury's. It is only a few hours a week but it is a start and there is usually plenty of overtime going. He starts the weekend after next so that will be another change in our lives. There seem to have been so many lately. Never mind, it would be boring if everything always stayed the same! I start training someone to do my payroll job on Monday so that will be great. I can finally concentrate on learning more about my new role. I'm surprised how much I have actually picked up in the past few weeks even just doing a bit here and there. I must still have some functioning brain cells!

I managed to get a cracking photo of Samhara and Thomas last week. She looks so innocent and angelic but I don't know what she has done to him to cause that amount of pain.....or should I just guess!!!!


Anyway I'm off to do a bit more painting in the bathroom. John has been working really hard on it over the past couple of weeks and it is now nearly finished. It looks amazing and I am really pleased with it all. I've even managed to paint three canvases for the wall to match the wall paper. They aren't on the wall yet so may end up in the bin if they don't look right!

Bye for now and happy crafting!

Another one to make you smile......

Just read this and thought it was worth letting you all see!

This is a specially formulated diet designed to help WOMEN cope with the stress that builds up during the day. I have found that it REALLY works!!


BREAKFAST:

* 1 Grapefruit
* 1 Slice Whole-wheat toast
* 1 Cup Skimmed Milk

LUNCH

* 1 Small Portion Lean Steamed Chicken with Cup of Spinach
* 1 Cup Herbal Tea
* 1 Penguin Biscuit

AFTERNOON TEA

* The Rest of the Penguins from the packet
* 1 Tub Gino Ginelli Ice Cream with chocolate topping

DINNER

* 4 Bottles of Wine (Red or White)
* 2 Loaves of Garlic Bread
* 1 Family size supreme pizza
* 3 Snickers Bars


LATE NIGHT SNACK

* 1 Whole Cheesecake (Eaten directly from the freezer)

REMEMBER:'Stressed' spelt backwards is 'desserts.'

Here's some advice for you:

Doctors proclaim the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things that you have started. I've looked around my house to find all the things that I've started and hadn't finished. I've just finished off a bottle of vodka, a bottle of chardonnay and bottle of Baileys, a butle of Kehuha, a pockage of Pingeuns, tha 'mainder of botl Prozic an Valum prscriptins, the res of the chesescke, an a bax a cholates. Yu haf no idr who gud I fel!!

I just love Borders......

I mean the bookshop of course. I don't know if they are a national company or not but we have a few in our area and I can spend hours there! They are such comfy and welcoming places and so many surprises on every shelf. Can't you tell I am a bookaholic? Not as bad as my sister but it is certainly one trait we have in common. I had a trip over to the Preston store with John and William as they both had vouchers to spend. William finally found the maths section (of course) and seemed to find plenty to amuse him there. Too many delights for his vouchers to cope with so he had to add money too as well. John managed to browse the whole place and find nothing he fancied. How on earth can that be??? Hundreds of books about every subject on earth and he can't find something to interest him. Now me on the other hand........! As soon as I walked in the door I could see lots of books waving at me and trying to entice me over. They are just all so tempting! Anyway I came out with these....

....which I think should keep me going for a while. I'm going to give Paul McKenna a chance to make me slim as nothing else has worked so I am hoping the CD has a bit of hypnosis on it....you will not eat chocolate...you will not eat chocolate, you will not......and on and on. I really enjoy Suzannah Dunn for her historical novels. The sixth wife was great so hopefully this one about Mary Tudor will be as well. Sophie Kinsella...well you just have to read her books for a bit of indepth chic lit. I adore her easy reading style. Nothing too taxing but just a well thought out story and a very satisfying read.

I have managed to get a bit of scrapping done over the week, although I have don't have anywhere near as much time now, with working full time. This is a layout I finished the other day. The photos are views around Ambleside Campus which is one of Thomas' choices for next year.

Now this is a little project of mine which I will show you when it's finished. It's all about part of my old Convent school which sadly is no more. It is now a housing estate which I think is just totally wrong as this was an amazing building which had been around for many, many years.


Anyway more of that later. Bye for now!

Another frosty morning!

Wow, we certainly had a heavy frost last night! Seems to have been worse than anything we have had so far over the winter though it was expected to drop to -9 overnight. We kept the heating on overnight, just in case it did get that low, though we are always warm enough in bed with the memory form mattress. John hates it in the summer as it always seems a lot warmer than a normal mattress but in the winter it is just great!

He is in the process of re-doing the bathroom at the moment....(well I can't have him slacking off just because he has no job) ...and I must admit it is coming along nicely. It still looks like a bomb site but at least it is an 'on track' bomb site! Funnily enough I am not in a major rush for it to be completed, I just want it to look good and be done properly so I will just have to be patient.

We are still waiting for the redundancy money to be paid into the bank as we have a couple of new higher interest accounts ready to put the money into. Normal savings accounts are paying such low interest rates it is not worth using them. As we have no real need (hopefully) to touch the majority of the funds we are happy to lock them away for a while as long as we are getting a decent comeback on them and they are safe.
Anyway I am off to brave the frost outside! I think it is definitely time to get the old peruvian style head gear on! It may not look good but it certainly keeps the cold at bay! Back later!

P.S I love you.

Have you seen the film yet? I've watched it tonight and it was sooo good. I read the book a couple of years ago when we were on holiday and thought that was great but the film was even better. I must admit to being a bit of a 'rom com' / 'chick lit' sort of person. I used to be able to read lots of 'deep and meaningful' books and articles but now the medication won't let me. My brain goes all sort of airy and I can't pin it down to one thing. And 'deep and meaningful' things always need your full concentration.

John and I have had quite a productive day all told. We managed to get a couple of chests of drawers from IKEA yesterday. They are a really close match to the bookcases, not perfect but good enough. Great price as well...only about £50 each. We put them both in our room and have given Thomas the one we had. So finally our bedroom is beginning to take shape again finally. It has been a real mess since before Christmas, what with parcels and boxes and 'things to go to Santa'. I was despairing of ever getting it straight again. However we are now all tidy apart from the new basin and taps for the bathroom.

Getting the bathroom done is the top of John's 'to do' list now he has no job. Hopefully he will be back in employment in a few weeks, probably part time ................and then he can still get the bathroom finished and decorated!

I managed to get a bit of scrapping done this afternoon. I do like my Sunday afternoon's with their relative peace and quiet. The first one shows the gifts we received at John's 25th anniversary dinner. He'd actually been working there 26 years but I don't think they have one every year. It was a smashing evening and we had a great time. It's just a shame he was made redundant a few weeks later!!

This gorgeous photograph was taken by my friend Lynne and I just had to do a layout with it. This tree is by the roadside and, with the freezing weather conditions we have been having recently, all the spray from passing traffic has turned this tree into a thing of stunning beauty! Gorgeous!

Anyway off to check the washer now. The boys are back at college tomorrow so we can hopefully get back in a routine!

Back soon.

Yes! We have an offer!

What a morning! William's letter from Cambridge arrived earlier than expected and caught us on the hop. He was very nonchalant about opening it and I was sure he hadn't been offered a place. He just looked round and said " Shall I read it to you?" I said no I didn't want to know but he read it to me anyway! When he got to the bit about "we are pleased to offer you a place..." I just screamed and burst into tears! He is now floating on cloud nine and our phone is hot with overuse!

Anyway that's another hurdle over with for him now he needs to just get the results needed!

Once we have calmed down we are off to IKEA to see if there are any bargains in their 'chest of drawers' department! Then a bit of a food shop at Asda should round the day off nicely.

Congratulations to anyone else hearing from Oxbridge today! I hope it's all good news!