My day so far

It has been a gorgeous 15 degrees here today and the sun is out. Lets hope it stays like this for the rest of the Easter hols.
I seem to have picked up the sore throat lurgy that was going around work last week and have been up since 5.45am. I must have been mad not to go back to bed but by the time John had gone to work I was wide awake. Still I've been very good and ironed all John's shirts (for him to take away next week) before I go away tomorrow.

I've also have had time to sit in the sun and finish my cushion, start a new project and finish the one I'm giving to my Mum. So maybe it was worth getting up so early!!

I love these funky colours. The lovely lady in the wool shop in Elgin is to thank for those as she opened new packets just for me. I'll have to go back now and buy some more. That's a shame!!
A little sneak peek at the project I'm giving to Mum tomorrow.
and the finished cushion. It's actually lime green, cream and brown but the green doesn't show up very well. Stripes on one side, granny squares on the other.
It's now time to finish packing the cases and making sure I have the tickets etc. as we're off early in the morning.

Chicken in a basket!

Hooray it was the last day of term today and I'm now off work for 2 weeks. I can't wait. Just as we were packing up this afternoon a pupil came to the office with this little fellow. She wished us Happy Easter but said she couldn't tell us who had sent the basket full of creme eggs.

Detective work needed..........Narrow down the teachers that give the office chocolate when we really need it(not too many of them).........find out which class they are teaching........check photos of all young ladies in that class till you find a match and hey presto you have your mystery benefactor. We all got 3 eggs each which made our afternoon. That and the slice of chocolate cake we had a tea time :)

A good start to the holidays.

Not a very good photo but I had to use my phone as my camera was at home!! Spy my boys in the background :)

A WIP

After having to ask my friend Val what A WIP (Work in Progress) was I thought I'd share mine with you. I'm using up all my oddments of wool (so I can buy more!!) and making a little something for my Mum. Can't say what yet as I won't give it to her until next week. It's really bright and funky and growing really quickly. Those who read Lucy's blog at Attic 24 will know what it is!!

School Report

The BBC had a day of special school reports yesterday where the pupils did all the work. Cameras, reporting, directing etc. M****** Primary had their own special report done by the Primary 7s. Samuel's job was to report the weather and he had to draw a picture of the British Isles. We found the trusty school atlas (which is one I used at school) and found a map.
He made a fantastic job of his map but unfortunately by the time he'd sketched it onto A3 paper he'd only drawn Scotland!!! Is he trying to tell us something? He also very kindly put a big sun right over Moray. Shame the weather here yesterday didn't take note!!

SLYMI wk 12

I loved doing this weeks challenge as it involved a sketch. Basically I didn't really need to think!!! I thought I'd do the picture of RND this year as it's such a good one. I kept the LO simple as the photo is busy enough. I finally got around to cutting up my Pinkpaislee, Spring Fling papers I bought at last years GoGo weekend.
SCRAP FROM THE SKETCH!
This is one of my recent favourite sketches because it's so versatile...
*you've got two big boxes of paper to work with -- solid or patterned.
*or let that middle box with the rounded corners be two different colours/patterns!
*the line down the middle can be ribbon, paper, tape, etc...
*keep the line in the middle or make it off-centred
*use one photo or a group of pictures
*there's room for a nice big title or you can have a smaller title and have room for something stamped or rubbed-on to that side of the dividing line
*you can leave it without extra embellishment or you can add it wherever you want
*you can use pop dots or foam tape to make the entire centre of the layout stand out
*you could punch fancy edges on the middle box or the line down the middle
*you could make this a two page layout with the line representing the middle of your two page spread OR carry the middle box across both pages but add the line back in on one side

Mother's Day

I got a treat today and got to have a day of 'Me Time'. It doesn't happen very often, in fact never, so I made the most of it. Samuel brought me a cup of tea in bed and then called me when breakfast was ready. He and John had made a 'Mother's Day Breakfast' from an Aldi leaflet that came through the door last week. Poached eggs, Salmon and yogurt on rye bread. It was delicious. I then got to go back to bed and read my book. I have to admit to doing the ironing later while the boys went for another driving lesson and took the dog out!! Then this afternoon I've snuggled up and finished my book (which by the way is a fantastic read) and now I'm all set to do some more of my crocheting while John makes tea. I'm making the most of every minute as tomorrow it's back to the norm!!

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day :)

A spot of gardening

Today was the day the ivy got it............... There was about 20 years worth of the stuff hanging over the garden wall so out came the hedge trimmers and off came the ivy. It has grown so much in the last 3 years that it was hanging over the bird table which is a foot away from the wall!! It had to go.

Samuel decided that he'd like a go of the trimmers so with a helping hand from John he got to go behind the shed. It all looks a bit bare at the minute but once I get my plants in it will be fine.

One sad note from today, was while we were trimming, a birds nest fell out of the ivy. We thought it was an old one as we haven't seen Mrs Blackbird around this year. Anyway it wasn't!! I found two, possibly three eggs in the leaves when I was tidying up. I felt so sorry for Mrs B as she sat in our conifer all afternoon waiting to go back and see if her nest was there. I felt so guilty and I'm just hoping that as she hadn't already had chicks (that would have been worse) she will go and make another nest and lay more eggs. Fingers crossed.

As it was such a gorgeous day it was nice to see the washing out on the line. More tomorrow hopefully.

Scrapagogo - Getting to Know Me

The first challenge for the Gogo weekend this year was "Getting to Know Me" - 5 things about you to tell your team mates. It could be a LO, a project, an ATC etc. I was going to do a LO but then decided that I could do with a blackboard in the kitchen.
One trip to Decora later and we have a piece of MDF, cut to size for 50p and the wooden edging for £1.45. John very kindly painted the MDF with some blackboard paint we still had left over from making Samuel's blackboard about 8 years ago. It was still OK!!! A few nails and some glue later we had one blackboard.
I cut the flowers, leaves and birds on my Cricut, crocheted the birds legs and added buttons (from this months Gogo kit).

Da Dah!! one completed project. All that is left to do is my 5 things about me.

Paper Scissors Death

In the post today I got this new book from Ruth. Well actually it's from Harry for Harry's Auntie's Day, which just so happens to fall on the same days as Mother's day. I know it's not Mother's Day till Sunday so you're not really seeinng this till then!!

I have just finished my last book so this came at just the right time.

Thank you Harry (and his Mum) :)

Eggberts

I have finally finished the Eggberts I am giving the girls at work, next week, for Easter. I know I'm a bit early but we finish next Friday for two weeks. They are all made from left over wool I had from making scarves and some 'Googly' eyes I got from the haberdashery accross the road. I think after making six I'm glad they're finished. They are a bit fiddly to sew together. Just have to bag them up now and they're all ready for the off. Will I be sorry to see them go?????

Bargain of the day

:: My Begonia is flowering well this week and I just love the yellow and orange flowers. My Hyacinth is flowering too so i'll get a picture of that tomorrow.

:: The bargain for today has to be these candles and tealight holders. They were all 10p each in ASDA. John just had to buy them even though candle and holders are not something we are ever short of. The red ones will look nice in my bathroom with my new funky red towels.
:: Trying to get them to balance without falling over!!

Finished at Last

I've finally finished my first ever crocheted cushion. The front is crochet and the back is made from a £2.00 cream coloured fleecy throw I bought in ASDA and cut up. Ever thrifty :)

I love it and it has pride of place on my bed. Now I need to start one for the living room. Green this time I think.

Quarrelwood

We didn't venture too far today when we took Mossy out as we had Samuel's friend with us while his Mum was at the hospital. He came over last night for a sleep over and has stayed all day. He's no trouble and apart from a yell when the X-box isn't doing what it should you wouldn't know he was here. We decided to take a trip back up to Quarrelwood as it's ages since we've been there too!! Here are few piccies of our walk.................

:: We found these prints on a stone slab that showed the way to the car park. I wonder who they belong too?

:: The "Arty Farty" shot of the day!!

:: I thought I'd get a picture of this path as it it now and then compare it again in a few months time once the trees are green.

:: By the look on Samuel's face, there's menace in there somewhere. He looks all together too happy to shoot me. Lucky me!!

RND 09

Red Nose Day.......who doesn't like a good laugh whilst wearing a silly red nose? Elaine and Sharon in the school office, where I work, decided to wear curly red wigs too. They were very hot and very itchy but they wore them anyway. As it wasn't a come as you please day or a fancy dress day we (the office ladies) decided to wear school uniform along with the kids. Dig the funky red ties we have.
The noses this year were softer but made talking very difficult. Everyone sounded like they had a really bad cold.
Samuel (who still looks half a sleep in this photo) went to school in his pjs as it was one big sleepover today. I have a feeling it might be the last time he does this as next year will be High school and they don't do things like that!!!!!! He didn't know which nose to pick so he picked all three and then picked mine!!!!!!!!
Looking slightly more awake and sporting what he calls his "Mad Professor" hair he went off to schol to help out at the disco for the little ones in Primary 1 -3 before staying to cause mayhem at his own disco later. I have to say he looks more awake in this photo.

A better day

Today at work has been a much better day than yesterday when everyone just seemed to moan about everything from the phone ringing to staff not telling the office vital information to the photocopier packing in and the printer jamming!! Not even the chocolate chip shortbread helped.
Today, to make up for it I treated myself to this little Hyacinth which was looking sad and lonely in the Co-op. It is now looking very much at home on my kitchen window sill. It should be pink when it opens but we'll have to wait and see.

I also took a "Time-Out" at lunch time and sat for an hour making my Granny Squares. It was great. No kids, no staff and no phones for a whole hour. Peace and quiet at last.

Hopefully the rest of the week won't be so manic, although Samuel has a busy Friday to look forward to with RND. He's off to school in his PJs and has a disco at night. The joy of being 12 :)

SLYMI wk 10

Scrap a Funny Face!

Either find an existing photo of someone who has made a silly face for the camera OR get out your camera and challenge family, friends or yourself to a silly-face-pulling contest! Either way, this week, we want to see happy, silly pages in the gallery!


Normally I can't get John anywhere near the camera without some kind of scowl or moody look on his face. This week I had no such problems. Pull a daft face says me........how many do you want? he replies. I think I'll just stick with one for now don't you?

While doing this LO I set myself a challenge to do something different with my old stash. I found some lovely Scenic Route papers that begged to be cut up and added a load of buttons and some swirls. After re-organising my stash a few weeks ago I was amazed at how many alphas I have. A good time to start using them I think.

The photo is brilliant because of the light but I wanted to get it on here!!!!

Findhorn

It's absolutely ages since we've been to Findhorn beach and today probably wasn't the best time to be going back. It was blowing a gale and the sand kept getting in our eyes but the sun was out and the pub was handy for Sunday lunch so all was well :) John kept laughing at me trying to get my "Arty Farty" pictures but not to be put off I did get few good ones, even if Samuel has a face full of sand!!!

We're going to go back when it's warmer and take the BBQ and make a day of it. Sand in your butties is not a nice prospect!!!

Driving Lesson

Samuel had his first go at driving this weekend. We're very lucky to have a friend who owns a farm and has said that the "boys" can practice driving any time they want. Samuel did very well, even with the seat as far forward as it would go and the sun in his eyes. He only stalled it a few times and I think even John was surprised at how easily he picked it up. Guess what they're doing every weekend from now till he's 17?

SLYMI - wk 9

SCRAP WITH A PUNCH!

Any layout, any theme, any punch, but punch something! Borders, shapes, corners...just one little punch or dozens and dozens. You decide!

I don't have too many punches, apart from flowers so I used my lace edge punch at the bottom of the photo. I love these Basic Grey Mellow papers and as I also have the chipboard shapes to go with them it all fitted well with this photo of the "Three" boys after our very chilly walk to Brodie in December 2008. I didn't have any paint to cover the chipboard tree so I just used 2 ink pads and waited patiently for it to dry!!!!!

Colourful Saturday

Colourful does not describe the weather today which is dull and wet but it does describe a few things in my house.

These lovely flowers that John and Samuel bought me while they were in Tesco. I love the colours together but the limes ones are my favourite. They certanily brighten up the living room. Hopefully they will last the 7 days they are supposed too!!



These are my first "Summer Granny Squares". The lovely Lucy over on Attic24 has a fantastic tutorial on her blog that makes making them so easy. I recently decided that even though I love my little house some rooms seemed to be lacking in colour. I have a cunning plan to change that and have started a crocheted cushion for our bedroom. It once had lime green accessories but now it's terracotta and yellow hence the choice of wool for my squares. If all goes to plan I will have a blanket too (not saying when that will be finished though!!)

And finally there are Samuel's cakes. I have to admit to being a bit heavy handed with the food colouring. It was supposed to be pale pink icing but as you can see.....it's not!! Still they are edible and probably won't last very long.

New Book

After putting Marley & Me to one side to read the Reader (which didn't take very long) I decided to have a look in Tesco for other books. I saw this one and thought I'd give it a go. It's one of those books as seen by 3 different people but it's OK so far.

Dino Cutters

Not a very exciting photo today but excitement in the Lee kitchen. Samuel bought these two dinosaur pastry cutters yesterday while we were at Baxters. Tonight in true Master Chef style he made Dino French Toast for his tea. There wasn't so much as a crumb left. Result :)