What are you reading?

I'm a few chapters into "The Hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared".  I'd seen it on Kindle for the bargain price of 20p and then one of the teachers at school said he'd just finished it so I thought I'd give it a go.

It's quite good so far.  I'll let you know how I get on.

It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not...Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan's earlier life in which - remarkably - he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events of the twentieth century. Already a huge bestseller across Europe, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fun, feel-good book for all ages.

Hello Monday

Hello to another week my Blogging friends.

This week I'm saying


Hello to seeing Les Miserables.  It's been on here for 2 weeks and I haven't seen it yet.

Hello to travelling to work on Public Transport.  I'm hoping to miss the bus with all the college kids on!!!

Hello to Parents' Evening.  It should be OK as his report was a good one.

Hello to going back to my normal working hours on Friday as my friend Carol should be back to work.

Hello to getting my hair cut and coloured.

Hello to my local Crop.  It will be the first one I've been to in about 2 years!!

Hope you're all saying Hello to a good week :0)

Creative Sunday

Not a lot of creativity going on with me this weekend.

All I've managed is.....

Two very basic journalling cards.

and a Dundee cake.  I'm really hoping that the cherries haven't sunk this time!!

Jobs you hate..........

One of the jobs I hate is tidying the loft.  For some unknown reason there always seems to be a pile of clutter up there.  Some of which, I have to say, went up there in 2006 when we moved into this house and hasn't been looked at since!!

Still the job is now done and will hopefully stay that way for a wee while longer.

Who else has jobs they put off until the absolute last minute?

Hello Monday (Wednesday)

I bit late I know :0)

This week it's................................

Hello to John's first full week back in the UK after working in France for the last 18 months.  Next week it's back to Aberdeen every day!!

Hello to him getting rid of the French lurgy he bought home with him!!

Hello to a quick visit to the vet for Moss.  More steroids needed and a quick MOT.

Hello to a visit to the Wax Shop.  Two eyebrows please!!  :0)

Hello to a night out with friends at the weekend.  We're off out to the local Indian..  Yum, yum

Hello to you all.  I hope you all have a good week.

Journalling Cards

Kirsty over at Curiouser & Curiouser did a tutorial last week on how to make up some journalling cards.

Here's what I came up with.

Sorry about the poor lighting.

All made with scraps of paper as I'm not sure where everything is.  I still need to sort out my craft room as it's that long since I've been in there I can't remember what went where!!

Crochet Owls

My sister saw these somewhere on Facebook so I thought I'd give them a go.

Facebook Owls

My version.

They're about 3  inches in size and I made two circles and crocheted them together otherwise you'd see all the stitching on the back and I don't like that.
I think I like the blue one best.

Today

Today after doing some housework...................

I took Moss for a walk. Walked past the frozen pond.  Looked out over the fields and the castle.  Crunched what little snow we had underfoot. Spoke to my sister on the phone.  Got really cold ears (even with my woolly hat on).  Walked home quickly.  Started a crochet project.  Made homemade pizza for tea and sat and watched a film with my boys.

All in all a quiet sort of day.  How was yours?

Telling Tales

Having seen this on my sister's blog I thought I would sign up and give it a go.  I haven't done any proper scrapping in over a year but hope to rectify that in 2013.

Kirsty over at Curiouser and Curiouser is starting a new class on 28 January called Telling Tales and in the hope of actually getting my butt into gear I've signed up to give it a go.  I've heard nothing but good things about her other class and this one is only £6.00 and all the proceeds are going towards her Guiding trip to Cambodia.

Pop on over and have a look it might be right up your street :0)

Happy Birthday to my boy

My boy turns 16 today and where the years have gone I do not know.

1997

2012

He's just had his exams and done really well and I'm very proud of him.  For his Birthday I've had a request to make a sausage & bacon pie for tea followed by chocolate brownies and who am I to say no?

What are you reading?

I picked up Thursdays in the Park by Hilary Boyd for 20p on Amazon and so far it's a very good read.  In fact it was well past midnight before I put my Kindle down last night!!

What are you reading?

Jeanie has been a loving wife to George for over thirty years, a devoted mother to their daughter and, recently, an adoring grandmother – all this despite the fact that several years ago, George withdrew from their marital bed with no reason given. At first Jeanie was determined to confront him, but days rolled into weeks, then years, and still she has no idea why it happened. Did she do something wrong? Is he in love with someone else? George won’t talk about it. Every Thursday, Jeanie takes her granddaughter to the park, and there she meets Ray, who performs the same weekly duty for his grandson. Ray seems to be everything George isn’t – a listener, easy to talk to, open-minded – and sexy. Suddenly Jeanie feels attractive again and, against her will, finds herself falling in love with him. She knows all too well that her new passion threatens everything she holds dear. She must make a choice.

Family ties, dramas, secrets and lies all weave their way though this beautiful and insightful first novel written by an author who has the perfect experience to write it.

Frothy Coffee

Samuel bought me an "Aerolatte" for Christmas so I could froth milk to make my own "Frothy Coffee".  It's a really nifty bit of kit and froths milk in seconds.

Yummy :0)

Hello Monday

Hello to my first "Hello Monday" of 2013.

Hello to eating less chocolate and losing more pounds this week.

Hello to meting my friend Carol for coffee (no cake)

Hello to the Samuel turning 16 on Thursday. I must have blinked and almost missed the last 16 years.

July 1999

Hello to making a Brownie Birthday cake with 16 candles.

How's your week shaping up?

A crafty weekend

I'm making the most of the last few weekends I have to myself before John comes home from France.  I have a lot of ideas for crafty things this year but so far can't seem to settle to start anything in particular.

I've had a go at a crochet heart but I'm not sure I like the decoration so may have to think of something else to go in it's place.  The pattern came via Attic24 and was quite easy to do.  It works up size wise to fit in the palm of your hand.

Then I made another Wee Hoosie.  I've cut out another 6 of these to sew up over the next few months.  They're a bit fiddly so one at a time is more than enough.  I think I'll outline the windows and door in a darker colour next time to make it stand out more.

Then finally I needed a cover for my new Kindle Fire HD.  I bought a cover for my Kindle last year but the new one is bigger so it needed a new one.

It had to be lime green of course as that's "So me" and I added a few embroidered circles which I turned into flowers.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and am now wondering what else I can rustle up in this style!!  If I think of anything I'll need to add it to my ever growing list of things to do.

All Change

A few years ago Samuel decided that he didn't want his computer desk in his room any more he wanted the old bureau we had so he could use it as a work space.   It was no problem for me as it meant that I had bigger space in my little craft room/space on which to spread my pretty papers (when I actually got them out of the box!!)

As you can see it has become somewhat of a dumping ground lately as a lot of my crafting is done on the kitchen table.
Imagine my surprise today to come home and find that "actually that computer desk would be better in his room as he gets a sore neck looking up at the computer monitor (it's only been like that forever!!) so could I help him move things around.  Oh and by the way I've already emptied the bureau."

So instead of making tea I spent an hour and a half moving, cleaning, replacing and tidying my craft room furniture. It does look better now and a lot of things are now out of sight, I just hope it gets me scrapping again.

I've still to de-clutter a lot of boxes etc but that can be done a little at a time.  There are things in there that haven't seen the light of day for years!!

We eventually had tea at 7.30pm.

Early Birthday Present

The teenage one is 16 next week but seeing as it's Monday and we're all back to normal with work/school I thought I'd let him have an early Birthday present.

And here it is..................

Ironing Lessons.

Soon to be followed by washing machine lessons!!  Who said kids nowadays aren't lucky???

2012 in Review

Happy New Year to you all.  A little late I know but it's here all the same.

2012 was an OK year as years go.  No major disasters or problems in the Lee household.

I only did 174 posts in 2012.  Let hope for more this year.
I've notched up 4636 comments all together since I started.
I have 87 followers and I thank every single one of them for reading my ramblings throughout the years.
I read 32 books thanks to my Kindle
and
I managed to get a bit of crafting done even if I didn't make it past March with the Monthly Makes on Flikr.

I made a felt house

 My mum and I made things for my Auntie to sell at a craft fair.

 I made Owls for the girls at work.

I raised money for the Royal British Legion by making poppies

I started at cushion cover (and will try and finish it this year)

I started a new blanket (which is a work in progress)

I finished my ripple blanket

and I made pumpkins and sent them to my Sister-in-Law for her to add to her collection.

I've already started on more crafting projects but haven't taken pictures of any of them yet.  I wonder how many things will get made this year?

I hope 2013 will be a great year for you all.