Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday wishes to my lovely sister Ruth.  Hope you have a great day.  Love from all up North xxx

Right Now

My sister Ruth, over at Everyday life of a SAHM asked "what are you doing Right Now".

Here's what I'm up to.

I'm hoping to book my park tickets for Florida any day soon.
I'm hoping to have enough spending money to go with the park tickets in Florida.
I have decided that if John gets a job away from home, Samuel & I would stay here whilst he finishes school (unless it's to Australia)
I'm still horrified by the death of a soldier in Woolich.
I'm thinking that the last few pounds I have to lose are never going to come off.
I feel it's been winter too long.
I'm enjoying seeing new flowers in the garden.

I an enjoying my Kindle Fire HD.  I've managed to do quite a bit of reading this year.
I should learn more about what my Kindle Fire has to offer.  It seems there's quite a lot.
I'm thinking about what jobs need doing in the house next year.  There's a lot so far.
I am humming along to Les Miserables, "Can you hear the people sing?"
I am trying to keep up with my crafting and failing miserably.
I am so looking forward to my holiday in Orlando
I am enjoying having a greenhouse even if I don't have green fingers.
I'm making bunting for the garden so that John doesn't keep hitting his head on the greenhouse guy rope.
I'm liking "Breaking Amish" on TV just now.

What are you doing, thinking, worrying about, stressing over or loving right now?

It does exist

Look what came out today.  In case you're wondering what it is.....................it's the sun.   You would think that we'd be seeing quite a lot of this seeing as how it's almost June.  But no, we've had rain, sleet and hail this week and parts of Scotland have had more snow.
Time for winter to go and summer to come and STAY  :0)

What are you Reading?

I polished off The One You Love and followed that with Watch Over Me by Daniela Sacerdoti.  Now I've just started My Temporary Life by Martin Crosbie.  (It's part 1 of a Trilogy).

What are you reading?

Heroes are not born. They're made.Malcolm Wilson's strength was forged during harsh childhood days--ugly days when he faced down schoolyard bullies and endured the neglect of a promiscuous mother. It is a strength that he has wielded to defend himself and his friends.
Yet those years and traumas have taken their toll. Somewhere along the way, Malcolm Wilson lost his love of life.
That changes the day when beautiful, tempestuous Heather enters his world. He feels the stirrings of something long dormant. And when he learns of Heather's own abusive childhood--and the daughter that she was forced to leave behind--Malcolm knows one thing: 
He must help Heather get her little girl back.
Their harrowing quest takes them from Scotland to a remote corner of Canada. There, Malcolm faces more than he bargained for--from being accused of kidnapping, to being targeted by an enraged psycho. And he discovers that Heather's story is more tragic than he could ever have imagined. 
Yet his love for this woman with the flaming red hair--and for a little girl he has yet to meet--gives Malcolm Wilson the one thing he desperately needs: A chance to be reborn.
A chance to become the hero he never dreamed he could be

A nine hour trip

Yesterday's trip to the orthodontist lasted nine hours (and a bit).  We left at 7.50am in the morning and got back at 5.10pm.  We would have been quicker but we had 3 hours to kill in between appointments.

What to do in that time?  We would have gone to see the new Star Trek film but it didn't finish in time for the second appointment so I decide that we (or should I say I) needed a look around the shops.

First we had to visit Pizza Hut as we were so hungry. So hungry I had to eat half before taking the picture.  It's not as bad as it looks.  One small pizza and a lot of salad.  The Teenager on the other hand polished off a 14" double pepperoni to himself.  That boy has hollow legs.

Next I had to visit Kath Kidston.  I was like a kid in a sweet shop.  Sooooo much to see.

There were others in the shop but I cunningly managed to take this when no one was in shot.  I love that the shop has original objects from the 40s & 50s on display.  Old hairdryers and sewing machines and a whole section of old embroideries.

Unfortunately my budget didn't stretch to everything I'd like so I settled for a cover for my "new to me" i-Phone.  A bargain at the moment as it was reduced.  I Love it.  The Teenager on the other hand wasn't impressed.  Still it should stop him having to use mine if his phone is flat.

After wandering around a few more shops we headed back to the dentist.  But not before buying a new Jaguar XK.  A snip at only £50K. (I wish)

The Teenager seems to have turned a corner on ' being seen with Mum' and was really good company yesterday.  We had a laugh about really silly things and I told him funny stories from when he was little. He told me what music he was listening to and showed me how to use my phone.  I in turn coughed up for the new t-shirts he liked.  Funny that :0)

What are you reading?

Emma Holden's nightmare has just begun. Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move. And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again.

I'm about half way through this and so far it's going ok. .  Not exactly your Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes but not bad for a freebie on Amazon Kindle.  I don't usually read detective/thriller type novels but as most of the freebies have been more your Mills & Boon/Fifty Shades books recently I thought I'd give this a go.

What are you reading?

The braces are off

After only 16 months the Teenager has had his braces taken off.
The reason he needed them in the first place was because he had an extra piece of tooth growing in the roof of his mouth that made his adult teeth stop growing properly.

He had that removed in hospital in 2005 and when they did come through they were all over the place.  In 2008 they looked like this...

He then had to wait 4 years for all his baby teeth to fall out before he could get these in January 2012.

Then over the next 12 months we had coloured wires

and coloured elastics

until today we ended up with this

He now has to wear a clear plastic retainer, top & bottom, for the next few months and then he should just have to wear it at night for a while and then he's done.

I have to say that the NHS orthodontics in Aberdeen have done a fantastic job and saved me lots of ££££££££.  I hate to think how much it would have cost had we had to pay for it.

He's really pleased with the result and is now realising that all Mum's nagging reminders to "Do his teeth" have paid off :0)

Apologies to anyone who doesn't like looking at other peoples teeth (and that includes me).

Hello Monday

Nothing too exciting this week I'm afraid.

Hello to a four day week.
Hello to In-Service days at school.  No kids means I get caught up on all my jobs :0)
Hello to taking part in a Charity Zumba class.  A few lovely ladies at work are doing the Moonwalk in Edinburgh to raise money for Breast Cancer so we're having a zumba class to raise some extra pennies for them.

Hello to the Teenager getting his braces off and a retainer fitted.
Hello to a day in Aberdeen for the above.
Hello to getting my nails done this weekend.  Last week's appointment was cancelled as the poor lass that does them is still off sick.
Hello to booking our park tickets for Florida.


How's your week looking?

Bank Holiday Sunday

Sunday started off really well with John and I popping along to our local Garden Centre to stock up on a few bedding plants, tomato plants and compost.

John decided that whilst we were there we might as well grab breakfast.  This coming for a man who won't even stop for coffee if we go out anywhere was completely unexpected and who was I to say no?
He had the full Breakfast and I had scrambled egg with salmon.  And very delicious it was too.

When we got home with our haul we set to getting the bedding plants in

I finally bought myself a Flaming Bush plant but she's going in a pot for a while as Moss keeps killing off anything that's planted in the ground.  We have three tomato plants in our small greenhouse along with some chilli plants and some peas.  I thought that was enough to be going on with as I don't really have green fingers and probably couldn't cope with any more.

John cleaned the top of the porch whist I hung the washing out and then made coffee and ate brownies  :0)

 Moss got a bath and lay out in the sunshine to dry off.

and when the sun went in, I went in too and made a cover for my "new to me" I Phone.  It started off as John's then the Teenager had it and as soon as my new sim arrives it will be mine.

John made home made chicken kiev and salad for supper and afterwards we went for a walk around the pond with Moss before vegging out in front of the TV and watching Peter Kay till bedtime.

It was a really good day.

How was your weekend?

Hello Monday

I almost forgot this today as I have a day off due to the May Day weekend and I forgot it was Monday.

So this Monday I am saying

Hello to a four day working week.
Hello to the Teenager having no exams this week.  I live in hope he'll do some revision whilst I'm at work but I'm not holding my breath.
Hello to going along to the fun day at the local Bowling Club.  More about that later.

Hello to a hair cut at the weekend.
Hello to getting my nails done again.

How's your week shaping up?

Fancy a cuppa?

Would you like a cuppa?  I've got coffee if you prefer.  So what have you been up too?

Sorry............. Don't go away but something has just come up and I need to pop out for a while.  I'll be a quick as I can :0)

So sorry about that but I forgot I had an appointment at the 'Wax shop' to get my eyebrows done.  Still I'm all done now so have a seat whilst I put the kettle on.

How have you been?  Not too bad?  That's good news.  How are we?  Oh were ticking along as usual.  The Teenager is in the middle of his Standard Grade exams and has done 4 with another 4 still to go.  I just wish he's do some revision.  Oh you have the same problem.  That makes me feel much better.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one talking to myself. Ha ha :0)
John is still looking for another job but is happy to plod along in Aberdeen until something turns up.  I keep asking him if there is anything going somewhere warmer like Australia or the US.  He says he'll keep looking. Me I'm still happy at the school.  I've been there 11 years now.  (Almost as long as I was in the Royal Air Force).  There always seems to be something going on and it's not too long now until the summer hols.

Have you got anything booked for your holidays yet?  Turkey, Rome, Spain?  Oh you're going to book last minute.  Very wise.  You get some good deals doing it that way.  We're off to Florida with my sister and her family.  I'm really looking forward to it although I worry my feet might complain about the amount of walking I'm doing after the first day or so.  I think it's going to be a busy two weeks.

Please have a brownie.  The Teenager made them this afternoon.  I thought it was about time he made some seeing as he's the one who eats them all.  Take two as they don't last long in this house.

Have you done much scrapping recently?  You have.  Oh you are good.  I'd love to see some layouts if you've got time.  I really should get back into doing some.  I've still got my France album to finish from 2011.  You've made me want to go and look out some pretty papers but as it's almost supper time I'll wait until tomorrow.

We're having homemade pizza for tea if you'd like to stay.  You would.  Oh good I'll get hubby to make up a few more.

I'm sharing my cuppa with Abi over at Creating Paper Dreams.  Pop over and say hi and maybe have a cuppa with a few more ladies.  The more the merrier.  Till next time.  Ta ta :0)

What are you reading?

I've just picked up "Honeymoon for One" by Beth Orsoff as it was 99p on Kindle.  I've never read anything by her before so thought I'd give it a go.

When Lizzie Mancini booked her honeymoon to the secluded Blue Bay Beach Resort on the small Caribbean island of Camus Caye she thought it would be relaxing to spend the week at an isolated couples-only retreat. But that was before she knew she’d be honeymooning sans groom. Touring alone, dining alone, and worst of all, having to explain to the resort’s thirty other guests why she was staying in the bridal suite alone—Lizzie was dreading it. But it still beat the alternative, eight more days hibernating in her empty apartment feeling sorry for herself because her fiancé dumped her at the altar.

Then Lizzie meets Michael, a gold-chained antiquities dealer who offers to play her husband for the week no strings (or sex) attached. The plan works perfectly until Lizzie spends the night with scuba instructor Jack, and Michael’s body washes up on Blue Bay’s pristine shore. Lizzie becomes Polizia Nationale’s number one suspect and the only way she can prove her innocence is to solve Michael’s murder herself.

Looking back - 1 May 2009

Does anyone ever wonder what they were doing this time a few years ago?  I thought I'd check back on the blog and see if I was doing anything exciting.  Turns out I'd had a busy day at work and came home and did some scrapping.  1 May 2009

April 2009

I'm now thinking that on our May day holiday next Monday we should go fishing again.

What were you doing on 1 May a few years ago?