Another week nearer Christmas!

Yes, the days are rushing by quicker than ever! I have managed to buy some presents so am not totally behind with everything but I do need to get my finger out and get a bit more organised. I have so many things to do, and so many events coming up in the next few weeks I have had to draw up a couple of planners and stick them to the fridge and then everyone can write on what is happening when! That may go some way to helping me out a bit!

Parents night was great, you will be pleased to know! Both the boys got glowing reports and it was a pleasure to be parents for once. Between the five of them we have had some disastrous parent's evenings through the years. A couple have even left traumatic scars in my subconscious! Thomas is working hard and should get the grades he needs to get into Uni and William is continuing to baffle everyone with his abilities and thought processes. He baffled me years ago so I just nod with a (hopefully) understanding look on my face when he talks about anything college related. Thomas was overjoyed to get an interview at Marjon in Plymouth (his first choice) on Dec 10th. Hopefully this will not clash with Cambridge or John and I will have to toss a coin to see who takes who where!!

On the scrapping front I have been managing to keep going with the 'old' photos. This is one of my Dad with Daniel.


He was so pleased to have another grandson and was more than happy to spend ages, when he had time, just sitting and cuddling him. I love scrapping photos of my Dad as it seems to bring him a bit closer to me every time. Unfortunately I haven't many more of him left to do......so I may just do them all again! :)

We didn't get any Hallowe'en photos of the family this year but I managed to find these two photos from long, long ago. That was when I had legs which I didn't mind showing occasionally!

A few of the girl's from the road decided to have a bit of a 'witches night in' and felt we should dress appropriately. As we didn't have any outfits we had to make use of the odd bin liner or two!! Still, from what I remember we had a good time, though the clothes weren't up to much by the end of the night!

A layout with a new photograph, which I scrapped yesterday, is this one of our Adam. The photo was taken by Laura, one of his friends, and I absolutely love it.

We can rarely get Adam to have his picture taken, except when he is 'with drink', so it is lovely to see one of him looking so handsome. I sometimes have to pinch myself to realise that these gorgeous grown up people, I am scrapping photos of, are my babies! God, I must be old!!!

Anyway thanks for reading and I will be back soon.

Grandad Charlie.

I may not have posted for a couple of weeks but don't worry, I have not been idle! I'm still making good headway with scrapping old photographs and managed to get 10 double layouts done and quite a few single ones. One of my favourites this month is one of my paternal grandfather. My sister had this very old photograph and you could hardly see anything of the actual detail so I sent it off to Giselle at www.fixyourphotos.co.uk and she waved her magic wand and here he is in all his glory!


He really was a bit of a dapper young man on that day but we can only think it must have been for his wedding or something equally important as they were not the richest of people at all. So it is a bit intriguing what the occasion was! Unfortunately he is no longer around to ask. I have gone for a bit of a vintage look with the layout, leaving my edges rough and tearing and rolling the paper. I have used one of MM metal alphabets for the word CHARLIE. I must admit I really love this photograph and am pleased that I have achieved everything I wanted in the layout.

Everyday life is rushing along at it's usual speed. On the university front William has had offers from Leeds and Lancaster but he is still waiting to hear if he is going to get an interview at Cambridge. (We are still living with fingers crossed.) Thomas has an interview next Wednesday at Cumbria so we are off up there for the day. I am hoping to get to Lakeland to get some bits but may not have time. We also have parents evening coming up next week so that will give us a chance to chat to Thomas' teachers and get the low down on whether or not he is likely to get the entry requirements needed. He certainly has been doing a bit more work but maybe it's me but I think he is capable of more.

With Christmas coming up the calendar is getting rather full with one thing and another. We have a couple of festive outings planned in already and more to book. I am starting a new role within the company in the New Year. It is a full time joba bit of a promotion, so will mean a bit of a shake up in family life! I'm looking forward to it though as it seems to be something I can really get my teeth in to. I have just about closed the shop now as I don't have a great deal of stock left and it was becoming a bit of a bind with everything else going on. However if there is anything you want just give me a shout and I will sort out a good price for you.

To keep me crafting during the run up to Christmas I have signed up for Shimelle's 'Journal Your Christmas'. Prompts sent each day will hopefully make me look at my time in more depth and get it down on paper. I love Christmas and the whole run up to it but it always goes so fast. I'm hoping to savour it, and everyone around, a bit more this year.

Anyway bye for now....back soon.

A busy time.

Just a quick update from our busy lives at the moment. We have just got back home from a quick trip to Plymouth. Thomas wanted to go and have a look at Marjon Uni down there and I must admit it was just up his street. They specialise in teacher training along with sport. He will be able to do his course and also have plenty of sporting facilities to use. They have squash and badminton courts, swimming pool, fitness suite and lots of other indoor and out door facilities. They have a hockey team and club as well which will suit him down to the ground! he would not be far from the sea and the weather was really hot and sunny. So much better than the winter chills we have up here.

The accomodation was better than expected. There are 'halls', many of which are being refurbished and rebuilt, and 'the village' where four or five students share a house. The staff were very friendly and the uni itself has a great reputation for student support. We were all pleased with it and it was well worth the visit. Thomas now needs to get his UCAS form completed and then hopefully get an offer.

The shop has been really busy over the past week since I re-opened it. I have very little stock left, well compared to what I used to have, and once this next week is over I will be closing for good. I really can't wait as I really don't have the patience to be bothered anymore and there are so many other things taking over in my life at the moment. I especially can't be bothered with customers who send me irate emails when I don't immediately answer their first one. (The fact I am away or have a life does not seem to occur to them) Stock levels are not correct but I do my best to send out great value parcels. With 60% off they are getting a bargain to start with and then because of this they order more stuff so the parcel is heavier which in turn sends the postage up. So not only am I sending bargain parcels out I am also subsidising the postage charge. I must be a fool!!

I have to say though, I do have some fantastic customers. They are the ones who have bought from me over the years and my heart always lifts when I see their name on the site. New customers as well who appreciate what a fantastic deal they are getting. I do so enjoy their imput. Still it will soon be time to shut the doors for good. I am hoping to sell the rest of my stock in bulk. So if you are a craft club or similar who want a great deal just let me know. The weight of the stock will not be light as I have lots of papers left but I'm sure we can come to some arrangement.

Anyway I'm off to be a good housewife and do some cleaning today. I have a busy week ahead and Thomas has his driving theory test on Tuesday as well. We have been answering questions all weekend as we drove up and down the motorway! It certainly tested our knowledge as well.

So bye for now and I'll be back soon.

I can't believe I have missed a month!

Where does the time go? I am sure there are less than 24 hours in the day at the moment as I never seem to get everything done. So sorry for the lack of postings.....again!

So what happened in September? The boys went back to college and seem to have settled in ok. Thomas has decided he wants to go to uni now and has chosen to visit an open day at Plymouth! For someone who didn't want to move far from home it's a weird choice. Anyway as he is a bit of a 'surfer dude' he should fit right in. I can't see much work getting done though with him so near the waves. Still, he will be too far away for me to nag!

William's UCAS form has gone in with Emanuel College at Cambridge being his first choice. We now have to wait and hope he gets an interview. These are usually around the end of November / beginning of December so all our fingers and toes are crossed!

At last Adam has moved into an apartment in Manchester. He has been wanting this for sooo long and I am pleased he has finally done it. It's a lovely place as well, very near the centre and with wood floors, big windows and private secure parking. He actually told me not to ring after 7pm one evening as he and Joelle were having some friends round for dinner! How cool is that?? I knew he would grow up eventually.



John and I have just got back from a few days on our Andy's boat. He has it moored at the marina in Alcudia. There were 8 of us there together and we had the greatest time. I don't think we stopped laughing from the time we got on the plane at Manchester to getting off again 5 days later. And the food.....oh....and the drinking....ohhhhh, that seemed to be all we did. I could not do it for long but it was a fantastic break. We took the boat out every day and although the weather was not the best it certainly did not spoil a minute of it. Garth was our master barbecue 'er out at sea and did a cracking job. Everyone else helped out with the rest of the spread and then we all laid around eating and drinking. John has decided he could quite happily be a deck hand when he retires. Me?.......I am hoping that lottery win will come soon and then I can buy my own boat!

Anyway it is back to reality now and I was at the gym as soon as I could to get back on track. I could feel the excess bacardi seeping out of my pores as I pounded the treadmill.

Bye for now.