Sarah's Blog

A bit like Dr Who

Edited: Have new general blog ... elsewhere. I decided to keep it completely separate from my new shop and the homeschool site - nicer that way I thought! So, it's on Blogger and you can find it here. Hope you'll visit :)

On a slightly different note, this entire website MAY go a bit wobbly in the next week. Nik-the-web-guy is moving me to a new server. This is, in some ways, a good thing because I'm rebuilding it into the shop. However, it also means this blog could disappear ANY day (and won't be resurrected - although I'll have the archived version for my own memories) so grab any link addresses you want quick!

This will be my final post on this blog as I've finally decided what to do with the website (after much uuming and aahing!) This blog will be being deleted at some point, it will be left here for now just to let everyone know what's going on.

I'm regenerating - same website name but a totally different look .... and a different use - go see the front page if you want to find out what :)

Luckily, because all the basic page coding is in place, it shouldn't take too long to get everything set up so check back in a week or two.

So, I guess this is goodbye ... in a sense. There won't be any more blog anymore but I'll still be here :) I've enjoyed blogging this blog but, to be honest, it had become a little tedious and repetitive. You can still catch me over at my homeschool site (at least if you're interested in that!) and I hope that some of you may hang around and enjoy the shop when it's done :)

Take care everyone ..... be happy :)

Got bloodshot eyes I have

I've been working on my new website. At last. After ONLY a year of actually owning the site - just a YEAR mind you! *rolls eyes*.

The coding for the actual page layouts has been there for ages, I just haven't got round to adding any text or pictures or ...erm.. anything really. That, however, is being rectified! Hooray! I now have a front page, an "about" page and my freebie stuff has been put on it's own page (soon to be deleted from this website altogether). Next stop is the shop page ... *groans* ... this is going to be the most time-consuming bit because I have to do all new pictures for the materials and upload all the "Buy Now" buttons from Lulu. I'm having the buttons link to the Lulu site so that purchasers can finish their order there because it's just SO much easier as they'll get their order straight away rather than having to wait for me to email it. Also, I don't want to do away with the Lulu shop as it's actually doing pretty well at the moment.

I'm reckoning on it "going live" by this coming Friday and I'm hoping I can get Tim to sort out my new homeschool blog on it by then - setting up Thingamablog looks waaay too confusing for my liking.

Mad week

Been a rather manic few days. We've had to have a new shower fitted because ours died. The landlord decided to splash out and get us a rather expensive, flashy one but when the electrician came to fit it last week he discovered the wiring was a bit knackered. Worse than that it was, apparently, dangerous! This surprised us because the other shower had only been fitted (by someone else), 2 years ago when they re-did the bathroom. I said to him that, surely, the other people had obviously thought it was ok. He said, "it's not ok ... it's really not ok". Um... righto. By all accounts we're extremely lucky not to have had a housefire. Heavens! Go and have a shower and BURN the house down! Fantastic. So, he came back this Monday and put in all new wiring which took FOREVER and resulted in us having the electric turned off for most of the day. He left and Tim went to have a shower ... he was in there less than 5 minutes when the thing stopped working and fused the rest of the house. Perfect.

We phoned Richard, the landlord, who was INCREDIBLY apologetic (almost beside himself by the sounds of it) and arranged for someone to come round first thing this morning to sort it out. Anyway, long story short ... it now works and is utterly blissful! :)

What was also utterly blissful was the weather today. Sunshine, blue sky! Ahhh! more of that please! Even the birdies outside seemed positively ecstatic and making much noise!

Floyd has now settled in nicely and has stopped hiding in the shower. In fact, he's doing a pretty good line in taking over the place ... witness....

"my floor"

"my sofa"

"my bed"

"actually, Floyd, I think you'll find that's April's bed"

"no, it's mine"

"oh, ok then, she'll have to sleep on the floor I guess"

"no because that's mine as well, REMEMBER?!"

"oh yeah, silly me"

"idiot human"

Work woes

Two things happened yesterday. Firstly, Tim came home from work and said that he had to go in extra early today because his boss has decided to start selling fruit and veg (along with all the other food things he sells). Apparently, it was going to involve some alterations to delivery times and whatnot so they all had to go in early. Secondly, I was flicking through my scrapbook from last year and found the page with the bits and pieces from the show (Seussical the Musical) Tim did.

It made me feel sad and he's not overwhelmingly happy either. Y'see - his job. Don't get me wrong, he's grateful to have it but a) he's not a morning person, frequently doesn't sleep well and gets quite run-down on the days he's at work because of getting up at 4.00 a.m b) he's not doing what he'd really LOVE to do ie something musical and c) his boss is clearly trying to take over the world one food product at a time and is losing touch with the people that actually DO the dirty work along the way.

Tim says the company isn't the same any more - that when he started there it was smaller and more family-ish and, as such, had a friendlier atmosphere and the boss-people were more approachable. Mr Big Boss Man wasn't content with that though and has been rapidly expanding (very rapidly - one hopes it doesn't all implode on him....). As such, says Tim, the company has become "us and them" ... the gap between the people at the top and the people at the bottom (i.e the ones that actually go out in all weathers, get mucky, cold, shouted at by miserable chefs ... i.e the drivers) is getting wider and wider. This was demonstrated quite clearly when the powers that be organised the Christmas dinner. By all accounts the only people that turned up where Mr Boss and and a couple other office staff and only ONE driver. Why is this?! Why wouldn't these poor, overworked drivers want to take advantage of a nice, free dinner? Tim reckons that it's because no-one can think of anything worse than sitting there, awkwardly, with a load of "higher up" people trying to make polite chit-chat. That, says Tim, is how it's become over recent times. Lines have been drawn.

It was made even worse (for him, certainly, but definately for other people who are there full time) when no Christmas "pressies" were given out this (last!) year. Every year since he started, SOMETHING has been given out in December - I suppose, just a little "thank you" gift for the workers. Sometimes just some drink or choccies (ooo! I remember a huge tin of Quality Street one year!) but sometimes actually money (Tim got £100 bonus last year). This Christmas gone - nothing. Zilch. Now before anyone says "but these are hard times, cut backs you know!" .... I don't buy that with Tim's company. Mr Boss has been spending money (on new vans and warehouses and whatnot) like it's been going out of fashion. If he can afford to do that then he can certainly afford to "reward" his hard working staff in some way (even if just a bottle of something each).

"Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes it obstructs your vision."

~ Hsi-Tang ~

No, from where I'm sitting, he's turned into the same as every other businessman in the world - money grabbing, greedy and power-hungry. A mean-spirited grinch who doesn't want to even shell out a little to thank his workers.

So, Tim went back to work this week after the Christmas break feeling more than a little demoralised. The only thing that keeps him going, he says, is the fact that he's only there part time. He says he cannot IMAGINE how the full time drivers stick it out. Actually, a lot of them don't. Since Tim started at that company MANY drivers have come and gone .... he's kept going and going and going (like that little pink Duracell bunny). He doesn't get paid a lot, goes out in all kinds of crap weather, gets up at the crack of dawn, works MENTAL amounts of hours sometimes (in the summer particularly) and is, because of mild insomnia, almost permanently sleepy.

Last year, when he did Seussical he came alive. I watched him doing something he loved and is SO good at and I was proud and happy for him. I said at the time that it was a little heart-breaking when it all finished and he went back to his "normal" work life - out in rubbish weather, humping boxes (MANY boxes) around all over the place, having to be polite to grumpy, rude chefs (when, in actual fact, what he really want to do was tell them to piss off).

As a job, he's grateful to have it. As a life, it sucks. Crap conditions, very low pay and not even a "thanks" of any kind at Christmas.

Oh, and a boss who's clearly set on world domination of the food delivery business at ANY cost. We do laugh though, thinking that perhaps Mr Boss is sat up in his office, stroking a fluffy white cat .... "Noooo Mr Sellers, I expect you to work for nothing!!" BWA-HA-HA!

Poor darling (Tim that is!) - he's a musician (and a fine one at that) .... so wish he could do something that he loved and was good at ......... makes me sad to see him sad.

Ah well, onwards as they say......

I really must be getting old!

Aaaah! Sunday! At one point my most hated day of the week (school on Monday!) now .... I'm starting to feel a strange contentment when Sunday rolls round. We've got the radio on (Nicholas Parsons doing "Just a Minute"), the gentle hum of the washing machine, April quietly playing Starfox Adventures on the Gamecube (a game I love as much for it's atmospheric music as much as anything), slightly steamed up windows because it's a cold day and the smell of Sunday lunch cooking (roast beef and yorkshire puddings). It's all "nice" and reassuring and gentle and homely and ..... right.

I need reassuring and gentle at this moment in time. Had to make an excruciatingly difficult decision about a member of my family (my brother) today that filled me with sadness. Not a decision I really wanted to make but one I felt I HAD to make based on circumstances and what is best for me and Tim and the kids. I found out something yesterday that made me feel like I was being sucked back into a whirlpool that, a few years ago, I climbed out of and felt relief. Yesterday I felt panicky and stressed again ....... the decision had to be made, however painful.

Tim and I are a lot different from pretty much everyone else in my family (although, thankfully, not HIS family). We're terribly old fashioned really - keeping to "traditional" routines, joining in with our kids and getting madly excited at Christmas and birthdays, bringing them up on a diet of "family traditions" (like me going out at the crack of dawn EVERY Easter to hide eggs for them to look for!) We try (go out of our way) to bring up our kids in a way which is peaceful ..... childhood is short, fleeting, it shouldn't be anything less than idyllic (or at least as much as we can make it) - the kids deserve nothing less. More than that though, LIFE is fleeting - I want MY life and Tim's life and the kids life to be HAPPY and relaxed. It can't be that way if things are stressing us and, so, hard decisions have to be made.

We've got our "way" of doing things and we're happy with that ... Nicholas Parsons and steamed up windows on a cold day and roast beef and all that ............. today is a little sad but that shall pass ....

I can't be bothered to blog

That's not meant to be a negative thing actually .... just we're deep into fun stuff at the moment but I can't be arsed to write it all down! Lots of Christmas gift making, buying and wrapping .... Christmas cake "feeding" (and YUM it smells too!) .... Birthday's coming up (April's on the 3rd and Tim's on the 9th) .... Christmas crafting ......... house sorting ..... just LOTS of stuff!

Oh and brilliant news! Tim's mum came home yesterday! Yay! She's having carers round to help with things a bit but she's home and mending and it's all fantastic :)

PS - was reading one of my favourite blogs earlier of a lady who lives in Australia - there was she galivanting about in a summer dress and me? I couldn't put more layers on if I tried .... temperatures are hovering around freezing (quite often below) at the moment. Flipping shivery.

We had weather in our house

Oh my god what a couple of days! Never, if you can possibly help it, have your windows ripped out and replaced in November. It's been positively freezing over the last 2 days and, today, windy and pouring with rain as well and THIS is what our living room looked like earlier:

*shudders*

The wind howled through the place, the rain made the carpet wet and, basically, we froze. We are, however, SO pleased with the end result:

Quite WHY there is a need for obscured glass in the bottom of the lounge window we'll probably never know .......

Compared with the rotten old mouldy things that went before these are gorgeous. Every window in the house has been replaced ... no more tatty, damp wooden window frames .... no more draughts! Yay! I keep walking round the house looking at them and sighing with happiness *laughs*.

Anyway, one very good thing that came out of the window malarkey was that we went out (due to not wanting to be here!) and Christmas shopped. We've pretty much got all the kids stuff, (and came out of it about £200 poorer eeek!), apart from stocking fillers. Tim's got one of mine and I've got one of his (or it might be for his birthday which is on the 9th, haven't decided yet).

Now we're going to chill out for the evening (or rather be warm and toasty thanks to NO DRAUGHTS - did I mention that? heehee!) and, tomorrow, I'm going to start pre-Christmas mega-cleaning/sorting .... I find that very fun :) Oh, and we have to go to a Pudsey Party at April's Rainbows group tomorrow - get this, we have to take cakes which they will then SELL back to us! Rotten cheek *laughs* ... I jest, obviously, happy to help them raise some money :)

Quick!

Lunch nearly ready!

Warning! Yucky female stuff - skip if you want!

Thanks for well-wishes :) Went to hospital yesterday - have endometrial clot in right fallopian tube which is spewing blood back up into the ovary and causing cysts. Otherwise I'm very healthy (good to know!) Doctor wants to try me on "The Pill" for 4 months to see if that clears it up (I HATE THE PILL!!!) If not the only option will be surgery to remove all the bits and pieces on that side. We'll see. Feeling a little better anyway.

Right off to lunch and then Christmas shopping. We're escaping the house because the window people are here and the thought of sitting in a freezing cold house with gaping great holes in the walls doesn't appeal!

Byeee!

Couldn't live without the countryside!

The National Trust is setting up a campaign to try and find out if society in the UK is "losing touch" with the countryside. They say that those living in cities are actually becoming "scared" of the countryside and refuse to venture into it because they are frightened of getting lost or scared of the dark or wild animals or something. I don't know if this is true but if it is, how terrible! I cannot imagine living my whole life in an inner city and never setting foot in the open countryside!

I'm lucky in that I live right on the edge of the New Forest and, frankly, I wouldn't be anywhere else! The peace and quiet of the forest is an escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I love to bird spot and kick leaves and stroll by little babbling streams and I'm trying to make sure my kids grow up loving these things too. I think that might be a lot of the problem - parents are just (to put it bluntly) too damn lazy to get off their backsides and take their kids to these open spaces! They, personally, "can't be bothered" and think it's "boring" so they are not giving the children the chance to enjoy it - THAT'S why we're growing a generation who are "scared" of the countryside - they're not scared - they have NO idea what it's like because they've never been! A lot of it is down to lazy parenting I'm sure! I know people from homeschooling circles who live some distance from the country yet make the effort to get there either by car, train or whatever JUST so their kids can get fresh air, exercise and exposure to nature. Clearly though, there are many, many who don't :(

I read an article in the Guardian about this and was particularly shocked by some of the comments left. This really sprung out:

"AND once you've walked somewhere, you've only got to walk back... Actually I kind of hate the countryside. I've changed my mind. Viva Cities in their congested, polluted Glory! I love cities! I love them!!!"

What a sad reflection on modern life :(

Why?

Been a funny old day .... been feeling a bit like gloomy old Eeyore! Ok really, just everyone round here has had colds and, although I haven't caught it (yet!), I feel a bit yuk. It's odd, but on days like this I always find myself doing weird stuff that I wouldn't normally do - I'll visit websites or blogs of people I don't even especially like, even though they make me feel glummer (is that a word?!) than ever! I remember talking to a friend once who said she did exactly the same thing! You avoid doing these things like the plague until you have an "off" day and then suddenly, there you are being all weird again!

Anyway, I HAVE been making myself better by watching old bits of Blackadder on You Tube - oh how I loved Blackadder! There are SO many bits that just have me roaring with laughter that it's really hard to just pick one or two .... so I picked three!

First up, Blackadder is in court charged with shooting General Melchett's pigeon:

Next up, Dr Johnson and his dictionary ....

*laughing* Ploppy, Son of Ploppy .... hahaha!

Aaaaah! I feel better now!

Life

Well, it's been a bit of a couple of days really. Firstly, the news we got yesterday is about my mum in law - she is in hospital after having a stroke and is quite unwell but, at least, mentally "all there". She is having problems with her left side not working properly and not being able to talk properly but is, hopefully, going to be ok (although is going to need a lot of physio). Her stroke was caused by a clot rather than a bleed and she needs drugs to try and break it down which, in itself could cause a bleed so there is still worry but she is, at least, in an environment (hospital!) where they can monitor her continuously and treat anything that crops up. Still, deeply worrying last night and today :(

Still medical related - I had my hospital check up this morning. I was told when I went in there that they wanted to do a laparoscopy to check on the remaining couple of cysts I have/had on my ovary. However, when I told the doctor that I had been completely pain free and well since my hospital visit a couple of months back, the decision was made to not go ahead with that and, instead, scan me again in a few weeks. Doctor said they didn't want to "rock the boat" and starting cutting me open and prodding about unneccessarily if I was feeling perfectly ok. The largest of those cysts was only about 2cm anyway (as opposed to the one which burst which they estimated had been about 11-12cm!) So anyway, I'm relieved at that and hope I continue to stay well!

Apart from that, nothing has happened!

Shopping fail

Went off to Castlepoint today, partly so that Rosie could spend some Birthday money and partly to do some clothing shopping. Clothing shopping for everyone (we have a list of items that we all need). Guess what happened? I found lovely stuff for the kids (as usual!) but nothing for me. Pah!

I much prefer shopping for the kids - they do such cute kids clothes - honestly, my kids are better dressed than me!

Oh well, better luck next time!

We also found out that we are getting new double glazing all round (fantastic! No more leaky windows!) but that they are going to take until mid-November to actually make. Brilliant, nothing like having your windows ripped out in the middle of November! I shall look forward to that. Not.

........................

had to stop in the middle of this post ........ phone just gone ... had some rather worrying family-related news ..... keeping everything crossed for someone ..... :(

Sun rain sun

The weather people - they got it right! Hurrah! For once! It did rain - this morning - LOTS. However, by lunch time it had cleared up and was sunny again. Nice :)

Tim took April out on her own because she wanted to spend some pocket money - she brought herself a dinosaur toy. When he got back, we all went out to Hobbycraft (I could, easily, spend ALL DAY in that shop) and I got some felt and toy stuffing. Getting through vast amounts of toy stuffing lately what with all the teddy making. Then Tesco's to get stuff to make veggie soup and granary bread for dinner (Tim does the soup, I do the bread). Then home again before April went off out to Rainbow's.

Not the MOST exciting day in the work but fairly busy - I need to be busy as I draw ever nearer to my hospital appointment for my check up. Deeply fearful that, due to the endometriosis and ovarian cysts, Mr Pampiglione (gyno surgeon) is going to suggest .... hacking bits of me out :( I think it's a real fear .... I'm 40, not planning any more kids and with messed up insides :( Problem is, I don't want to go through with that - it's a big op with a pretty long recovery time. I've always been one of these people that says no ops unless it's a life saving thing. Anyway, what will be will be ..... just very nervous. Actually, scared half to death :(

To take my mind off this impending (or imagined!) doom, I've been sorting out Rosie's special birthday surprises (with a little help from my friends - thank you, thank you, thank you Natalie!!!) ... aaah! 5 days until she's a teenager! Sometimes I have to catch myself when I realise that, when I first started blogging, she was 7 and April was just about to be born! Unbelievable, time sure does fly....

Tim on holiday

Tim has started a 2 week holiday which is very nice (particularly after the amount of overtime he did during August!) Hoping we can make up for not doing much that month and go out some places and get some things done in the garden. The only real gripe I have is that I get absolutely NOTHING done (housework wise) when he's about the place and the sheer amount of mess he seems to generate is quite unbelievable!

There are a few "goings-on" over the next couple of weeks - some nice, some not so nice. Rosie has an orthodentist appointment, I have a check up at the hospital (after the ruptured ovarian cyst episode a couple of months back) and ... taa-daaa! it's Rosie's 13th Birthday on the 28th! We already have her present sorted out - she keeps asking me what it is and I say "a colouring book and felt pens" which is complete rubbish *laughs*

I'm currently in the middle of sewing a lilac spotty bear for my mum-in-law - she collects bears so I thought I would make her one as part of her Christmas presents. I'm starting early because I've got a few bits and pieces I need to make this year.

Right, only a quicky today - Tim's gone to church this evening and I've got to tidy up and get April in bed soon. Byeeee!

PS - In case you haven't noticed, I did add a few social network buttons to the sidebar (cute aren't they?!) I know lots of people who use many of these sites (me included) and it's handy to be able to just go from one place (ie my blog) to the next place (your social network site) in one hop. Assuming that's where you're going next obviously! There were LOADS I could have put but I just did some of the most common namely, Facebook, Flickr, Linkedin, My Space, Skype, Twitter and You Tube.

Going natural -vs- poisoning yourself

I've been having a great internal argument with myself over the last ...oooo... couple of years or so. I've been battling with whether to go more natural in terms of cosmetics, toiletries etc. I really don't like the amount of scarey sounding chemicals they put in shampoos, shower gels, face creams and whatnot and have been experimenting with alternatives. The problem is, the alternatives are, well, not great.

It's like this. I think shampoo is one of the worst offenders - I have a bottle in the shower which contains so much chemical crud that you'd think that you'd need to wear gloves to use the stuff. It does, however, make my hair utterly soft and shiney and gorgeous. Hmmmm. Anyway today I conducted the latest in a long line of experiments with natural toiletries and made some shampoo and some chamomile hair brightener. These were not my own recipes - I got them from a natural beauty book I've got. Anyhow, all I succeeded in doing is giving myself greasy, lank hair, messing up the bathroom and blocking the plug of the shower with bits of chamomile! Disaster.

The thing is, that is how it always is - the natural products always fail to please. Actually, that's not completely true - I have a specially blended aromatherapy oil that I use to help with the pain of endometriosis that does feel wonderful and relax me. Also, I have my own essential oil face cream (Palmers Cocoa Butter with added essential oil!) which works miracles. Apart from those, my experiments have just been one long catalogue of failures.

I've read so many articles about how you should use natural stuff and make your own things to avoid the nasties they put in more commerical products. There is no denying that they are almost certainly better for you HOWEVER, there's a reason L'Oreal and VO5 and Clinique etc are popular .... they work. They smell nice, work well and make you feel lovely and pampered. I've yet to find a homemade shower gel, soap, shampoo or anything that does all of those things. So, apart from my face cream, tummy massage oil and the Daniel Field Watercolour hair colour I use ... I'm sticking with the "nasties".

Yes, I could be slowly filling my bod with yucky stuff and gradually poisoning myself to death but, let's face it, we all know that we any of us could "go" anytime. You could get knocked down crossing the road, attacked by a lunatic in Tesco's .....

What I'm trying to say here is, heck, life is too damn short to worry about the crap they put in your shower gel. I KNOW I should keep trying but, really, I want to spend my life looking (and feeling!) as lovely as I can and not like a greasy traveller. I want to step out the bathroom feeling pampered and not like I've just wallowed in the compost heap for half and hour. I want to pour something gorgeous smelling out of a beautifully designed bottle and not use something that I've mixed up in an old cup. I know it's TOTALLY the wrong attitude to have but there you go ...

Rainy days

Does it matter if it's a little cooler than is ideal for this time of year or that it's raining steadily, continuously?

Nope, not when you've got funky wellies, a cute mac to wear and a bunch of old buckets and flowerpots to play with :) April spent as much time out there today as she would have done on a hot, sunny day. Look how brown and dry the grass is! Think we need the rain really.

Still here!

Sorry about the really lame posting lately - I'm just still so tired and lethargic (I just want to feel myself again instead of constantly being overwhelmed with feelings of weariness - I've lost my va-va-voom!) I'm also pretty busy getting stuff ready for Rosie's Guide camp in a couple of weeks and, this morning, she's off to a sleepover at grandma's (I expect she and Luke will be in the pool despite the weather being really rubbish at the moment!) Finally, I'm plodding through getting the school stuff ready for the start of September - lots of lapbooks (our favourite thing!) - Rosie's got a HUUUUUGGE physics one to complete which is going to take AGES .... she'll thank me for it later heehee! Actually, I say that, but she'll probably be the one enjoying it - it's me that isn't really into physics ... still, maybe I'll learn a few new things at the same time.

Right, got to drag myself off this chair and get on - not even dressed yet! Wish Tim was here - I think I'm struggling with him doing the overtime more than he is at the moment! I need him! He (and I!) are irritated because there's this guy at work who keeps sciving off with really dumb excuses (and they clearly are just excuses rather than real things!) Like the other day he phoned to say that he had, apparenly, broken down in CORNWALL! He then rolled in the next day just as Tim was finishing for the day! They should sack the bloke - he's clearly an ass and doesn't appreciate how lucky he is to have a job and is taking the mick out of the company. They should but ... still... what do I know?

You know how it is

You get ill, go in hospital, come out of hospital, feel fine, race around doing all the stuff you'd normally do and then .... You realise you're not quite 100% yet and that, actually, you feel a bit ill still. :(

I've not been so good over the last couple of days - bit run-down and tired and icky. I'm doing housework at a snails pace and wishing Tim was here - normally he would be but he's having to do overtime because they approved some people holiday .... at the busiest time of the year .... *sigh*.

So, I'm amusing myself by organising Rosie's stuff for her Guide camp (she's going on the 18th!) and sewing fabric strawberries (you scent them with strawberry oil and hang them up for decorations) - will post piccies when I've got some.

Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me! 40 today ... wow!

Pressies from Tim and the kids - all things I wanted, all lovely and gorgeous :) Rosie got me a special box to keep all my scrap fabric in and a voucher for Hobbycraft (SOOO cannot wait to go spend that!) Tim brought me the natural beauty book - something I'm really into (since inventing my own AMAZINGLY effective aromatherapy anti wrinkle cream ... shh! it's a secret!) I've also come up with a brilliant recipe for soap for dry skin - will blog that soon. From April I received the Sew Pretty book - total eye candy, SUCH beautiful things to make. Hemmy and Jeff (yes, they apparently stole Tim's Mastercard and went to Amazon *laughs*), got me a box set of Keeping Up Appearances each (hilarious programme!) I've got series 1, 2, 3 and 4 and I think there's only a couple more to get so that will be on my Christmas list :)

Tim took the day off work specially, so I got breakfast in bed and he's making me one of my favourite dinners (cannelloni). Saturday evening we're going round his mums because she's cooking me a birthday dinner too and then Sunday evening, Tim and I are having Chinese takeaway food (yum, yum, duck pancakes!) as my "main" birthday dinner (so many birthday dinners!) We are waiting for then so he can have a drink and stuff and not have to worry about getting up for work the next day. So, my special day actually spreads out over several special days - nice :)

Oooo! and the Proms start tomorrow! Looking forward to that!

It rained!

It did! After a seemingly endless period of hot dryness, it finally rained .... and very welcome it was too :)

I've got to get on soon .... but here's a quick roundup of yesterday.

Tim went off out in the morning and did some "financial" related stuff then, later, he had to go and accompany someone for their grade 6 singing exam. Apparently, she can sing really well and wasn't nervous at all before she went in but then forgot the words to the song and went a bit "shaky". Oh dear :( Tim says he doesn't know how much of that will go against her but hopefully she did ok. Anyway, he went out first (I guess she still had some stuff to do in there) and spoke to her mum and singing teacher about what happened. Then, the singing teacher asked if he'd consider helping out her (gospel!) choir doing their singing practices once a week (and she'd pay him!) This, of course, is extremely tempting HOWEVER, once a month Tim plays for a church and that includes a Thursday evening practice. Thursday is also the day the gospel choir have their practice so I'm not sure what he's decided about it - I know he wouldn't want to let the church down, he's been playing for them for years.

How about my own tiny musical attempts? Well, still been practicing my recorder - coming on ok! The book I'm learning from is actually for kids (I should probably find something more grown up!) - I've got to the point where I'm playing proper little tunes and it says at the top of one page "ask an adult to accompany you on the piano". Ha! Ha! Ha! Tiiiim?! Anyway, he did and I think he thought it was quite sweet that we were making a little bit of music together for the first time :)

Yesterday evening we had to take Rosie to Branksome Dene Chine beach for her last Guides of the term. They were having a beach party (hot dogs, beach games etc). It was a lengthy trek from where we live so, as the meeting was only an hour and a half, we decided to hang around. Me and Tim took April for a play on the beach then got back in the car and went to Tesco and did a bit of shopping THEN went back to the beach for another play and by that time Rosie was done. Next time she sees some of the Guide people will be when she goes to camp in August for 4 days!

Right, I'm going to get on. We've borrowed Tim's mums carpet shampooing machine so we can do all the carpets in the house - they get very mucky with Hem and the kids tramping in and out all day!