Lovely Day - Happy April Fool's Day

I felt a bit mischievous this morning so hid the remotes, taped pictures over mouse sensors, turned the calendar upsidedown, switched the kettle off by the plug all before going out!

I'd arranged to give the border of the preschool garden the once-over so I can sew seeds and plant bedding plants with the children when we go back after the holidays.

Here are the before and after photos:-

I got back to THIS!

Did I laugh!

















Would have made for an interesting WOYWW desk! Yep Lovely Day.

WOYWW #356 - Bird Die

Gosh second week in a row.

I spurred on another lapsed desker last week, who in turn has spurred me on this week.

Thanks Cindy.

From last week's freebie peacock die I made some more peacock cards.



I made some Anniversary cards too, I used toppers I had bought yonks ago.

They are all ready to post.



Also made a few Easter cards for next year so I can breath a sigh of relief like I did this year when I found some already made in my card box!

Then I got out my new number dies and made a couple of little girl's cards as well.




All set up for the next few months in the card department now.

To join in the WOYWW desk hopping go to Julia's Page.

WOYWW #355 - The Return!

Desk in a mess - unusual

Bought mag due to freebie - usual

Followed instructions on the tin

"Make This Card Tonight"

So I did!

Thought I'd join in again on WOYWW

Number Dies

So what to get with my birthday money. Well I splashed out and got some big Number Dies. Each digit is 4" high and they range from 1 1/4" to 4" wide.

I had enough room on my Sizzix Bigz shelf so it would have been rude not to get them!














I made my SWAP group card this month using them. We've been doing SWAPs for 10 years this month so a bit of a celebration for me.

Also I guess a lot of Birthdays to come will feature them heavily. Not to mention my birthday scrap page - got the photos printed and am working my way there via Christmas.

Got some ideas for preschool too.... I made some number cards for the children to clip pegs on.







And whilst I was at it I cut some eggs and flowers out for another Easter craft.

Autumn Layouts

We applied for our son's provisional driving licence back in September and had to take quite a few shots of him to get the right one. Scrapped a few of the others too.

Then hubby went off on yet another business trip, this time to Toulouse in France.

Hubby and I did some geocaching down in Reigate which showed us around the little town, its Castle Park and Caves. We need to go back in late Spring or Summer to be able to see into the caves though.


My latest page shows our garden with the Winter snows. First on 21st November last year and nothing until 17th January this year. Neither time did it last for very long.

In between some Parakeets came to visit too! I blogged them on my old blog HERE.

Cycling Squash Monster Roof

Interesting title! Just my next scrapbook pages.

First my husband doing the Palace to Palace cycling challenge. Buckingham Palace  to Windsor Castle in aid of The Prince's Trust back in September last year.

I used an alphabet which was gifted to me for my birthday along with a squash book.


Secondly my son's monster slippers.

They had somewhat given up the ghost with lots of holes in the soles.

So we photoed them before they found their way to the bin!







Finally my husband repairing the roof of his workshop. It had started to leak so he gave it a thorough overhaul.

After removing all the vegetation which had taken root on it he vacuumed all the bits up, so funny!

Glad to report that despite an incredibly wet Winter it has stayed waterproof, excellent!

Not so shiny now though.

Where Did February Go?

Been knocked sideways by illness this month so far. Came down with Flu on 1st which ended up as Bronchitis which is slowly dissipating but is not all gone yet.

I have managed a few scrap book pages.

Here's when my son met his girlfriend for the first time up in Cumbria last Summer.


My Grow Wild seeds flowering, and a few of my hubbies exploits.







Some Fairground shots and my son's first day at 6th Form College last September inspired by some mirror embellishments.













An 80th Birthday card for my Aunt and Valentine for my Hubby.

Oh and a little game for preschoolers. Not that I have been well enough to work for a few weeks, hoping to be back at it all soon though.

Fires at Midnight

I have had my "big" harp for a year now and am learning some tunes from the old "Scottish Music Graded Exams for Harp" book - still grade one though!

I say "old" as the Scottish exam board have changed their syllabus so my harp teacher got lots of the books for a good price. I'm not really intending to take an exam at my age, especially as my son says I don't really need it for my CV now, but it is a good structure to work through all the same.

So my latest favourite tune is "Fires at Midnight". It is recent gentle waltz composition by Wendy Stewart.

I started with a Wendy Stewart tune, "The Streams of Abernethy" back in March 2014. It was my first tune after I started lessons. I made this journal page back then.

Anyway I have tried to record "Fires at Midnight". This is my 9th attempt and I still haven't mastered it but I am working on it.

My previous recording was in April 2015 of a piece called "Charlotte in Spring"

Pink

There was a day back in August 2015 where pink was the thing! I guess I just happened to be wearing pink that day but I just knew my son would buy a pink umbrella as he had gone to town with some mates without a coat and it had started to rain!

Meanwhile my husband took me to see Inside Out at the cinema and I saw this lorry on our way back to the car, couldn't resist a photo opportunity.

The third photo was for my Scavenger Hunt finale. Someone holding an umbrella was also on the list of photos to get too!

Oh and I managed to blog this entirely on my tablet! Don't know how to move the photo so it is within the text though????

11th Scrapbook Album Full!

I have been scrapbooking all our day to day photos since 2005 although the photos go back to December 2003 when I first got my digital camera. All previous photos are in the ordinary sticky back albums and go back to my teens when I first unscrambled the cardboard box of my parent's photos and put some order into things.

My albums are 12"x12" and I add refills so there are 30 pockets therefore 60 pages in each. I have just filled my 11th Album! So 660 pages in all! I do have various other albums on the go too but that's another story.

Here are the final 3 pages for this album.

First a double layout of my husband's momentous 100 mile (apparently 180km in total including getting from the car park to the start and vice versa) Ride London bike ride in a work place team with 4 other riders who did, 75 miles or 50 miles or 25 miles each.


Lastly to close my album some knitting I did this year. I made the plane for a friend's son and the cake for my husband as it is his favourite, "Daddy Cake" I hate it!







I had started the album back in October 2014 with the crochet lessons I gave, so a fitting end.

Driving Lessons

Yep - my son turned 17yrs a few days ago and the custom in this family is to get behind the wheel and grow your driving legs.

It was a Sunday when I turned 17yrs myself and, was the custom in those days, there were no lessons on a Sunday, let alone any shops open.

How the world has changed.


Well he had his first "proper" lesson in a Ford Fiesta. His instructor said it was OK for me to take a photo of him next to the car as it was free advertising for him, indeed!


I have taken him out for half an hour or so each day since his first lesson. I took him to the road his instructor had started him on the first day, a few stalls but not bad.


Day two we took full advantage of our local supermarket being closed on Christmas Day so we went there despite the rain. It was nearly empty, save a few people recycling, practicing handbrake turns in the wet and a motorcyclist with cones to practice his maneuvering.

He's getting better each day, although he doesn't see it himself, excellent!


Obviously you had to wear your Santa hat for driving on Christmas Day didn't you?

And we've got all the books too. I did an advanced driving course back in the 90's hence the Police driver's manual!!