The Whole of the Moon

Shoes!

2010-09-01T17:49:00.001+01:00

Why is it that buying new school shoes for a teenage girl is so stressful? I don't think I am old fashioned. I am happy to pay up for good quality. But they just don't seem to have designed the shoe that Grace wants.
If someone can come up with these.........

and these.........

and this pair......

why does no shoe shop in Oxfordshire have what she wants?

She goes back to school on Friday. It is now up to her to find them. I resign! She also needs a new school bag but I want no part of that shopping trip.

I am taking part in Shimelle's new class, which you can find out about here

I hope to be blogging about it as much as possible.

Love Your Pictures

2010-06-27T19:13:00.000+01:00

I have decided to give myself a little summer treat and signed up for Shimelle's latest online class Love Your Pictures We are not away during the summer holidays so I thought the daily prompts would give me a challenge each day.

On Shimelle's blog this weekend she asked us to do something with a photograph that we hadn't scrapped or displayed yet. Well I finally purchased a mount and a frame for this picture. I have had it enlarged to 8x12 and it looks great. It was taken in a coffee shop at Borough Market. I just loved the colour against the rainy sky. I think I am going to hang it in the bedroom. It look boudoirish!

Hope you have had a good weekend and enjoyed the tennis and the golf.

Joy xxxx

Cupcake Passion

2010-06-07T22:53:00.000+01:00

Duncan and I had a little trip over to Swindon to a lovely shop called Cupcake Passion.

These are our creations. We had to drive home quickly with them as it was really hot. The car temperature guage said 31'C. We put the air conditioner on full blast!

We also called into Sparkle Dreams Duncan spent some of his pocket money on a kit to do some layouts of our Brighton trip. He is just getting into scrapbooking and he has been taking lots of great photographs.

We have been on an elephant hunt!

2010-06-05T20:13:00.001+01:00

The London Elephant Parade 2010 http://www.elephantparadelondon.org/

These are all the elephants that we saw yesterday, including the elusive Cloudia. I will add in all the names when I work out which is which!

We will need to go back to London to hunt some more!

Brighton

2010-06-03T23:17:00.000+01:00

We had a little trip to Brighton for half term. We had a real mix of weather but did see some brilliant sunshine on Wednesday.

My big boy and my small boy chilling on a deckchair.

I wonder what goes on in that complex mind. He is probably planning some naughtiness!

I love old fashioned deckchairs.

Duncan showing off on the trampoline.

I did take pictures of the other three but they were all trying to look cool and actually they just looked grumpy!

New York, New York

2010-05-24T21:58:00.001+01:00

Sorry, just a few more for you to view!

Central Station was like a cathedral. It knocked the socks off King's Cross!

This ball originally stood between the Twin Towers. After they cleared Ground Zero it was found in the rubble. Parts of the metal are ripped open and some of it is bashed in. They decided to put it in Battery Park as a memorial. An eternal flame burns at it's base.

Tmes Square was bright with lights. The new Sex & The City movie was opening just after we left.

Another view from the top of The Empire State Building.

A view from the Staten Island ferry.

A few more......

2010-05-23T15:23:00.001+01:00

The editing continues.........

Times Square at sunset.

Miss Liberty!

I loved this view from the top of the Empire State Building. Taxis everywhere!

New York's finest. I couldn't resist!

All that is missing is King Kong.

More tomorrow.

More NY pics

2010-05-22T23:18:00.000+01:00

Here are a few more from my vast collection...........

A lovely Spring morning in downtown NY.

The John Lennon Memorial in Central Park.

Brooklyn Bridge - I took lots here.

I did a little shopping here.......

More to come!

Check out IACW blog this week http://itsacreativeworld.typepad.com/its_a_creative_world/2010/05/lots-of-pictures.html

Fritillary Sunday

2010-04-18T22:48:00.000+01:00

I was reminded this morning that it was Fritillary Sunday. This is a celebration in the village of Ducklington, Oxfordshire. Next to the church there is a field of Snakehead Fritillaries. This was the only field that was not ploughed up to plant vegetables during WW2. It is a lovely sight to see
their purple heads bobbing in the breeze.

There is nothing more English than the village green.

New York, New York!

2010-04-17T14:32:00.001+01:00

New York was fantastic. We went for my friend Carol's 40th birthday and also to celebrate her loss of 10 stone!!!!!! We have returned with aching feet from all the walking and aching jaws from all the laughing. I will gradually put up my photographs over the next few days. I took 600 pictures - a lot of editing required.

We stayed at the Carlton Hotel on Madison Avenue. It was just round the corner from The Flat Iron building. There was a fabulous square with a Shake Shack and we were surrounded by the Anthony Gormley exhibition of people standing on the top of high buildings.

The Empire State building is a must. On a clear day you can see for miles. It was quite quiet when we went up and we were able to spend ages taking photos. I was able to test out my new zoom lens.

My favourite building is the Chrysler Building. I think I have a picture of it from every angle possible.

The shape at the top is just so gorgeous. I love the way it glints in the sunlight.

Close up from below. I came back with a stiff neck from all the looking up. I will add more each day.

Joy

The kitchen arrives

2010-04-06T22:04:00.000+01:00

It has been a busy day in the extension. The kitchen arrived - all 193 items and the tiles started to go down. They will be grouting tomorrow. Duncan has been watching very carefully. The tiler drives an BMW sports convertible, so Duncan thinks this is the job for him!

This is the dining room end.

The cats have been chasing spacers all over the floor.

There are a lot of boxes. I am looking forward to seeing it built.

Good old IKEA.

Taking Pictures

2010-04-04T17:52:00.000+01:00

I have been very busy working hard to hone my photography skills. I have now done 2 terms of the class and I am happy to report that I have switched from the auto setting to the manual setting. Here are a few examples of the photographs I showed at my end of term exhibitions.

A natural still life on Porthgwidden beach, St. Ives, Cornwall.

My gorgeous daughter, Rosie.

A fantastic chandelier in a cafe at Borough Market.

Some lovely pencils at school.

Jake's size 11 army boot. He wasn't best pleased when I showed him what I had done with it!

Another portrait of Rosie with her rock chick look.

I love this one.

My gorgeous nieces.

My baby boy - Duncan.

A little bit of nature.

I can't wait to turn my camera on the sights of New York. I fly out on Friday and I can't wait.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-04T17:33:00.000+01:00

Happy Easter to all of you. I have decided that I need to get my blog up and going again. So I will be posting photographs, scrapbooking layouts and other craft projects that I have been working on. I hope that you will enjoy looking at it.

On a roll........

2010-01-10T22:06:00.000Z

I got on a bit of a roll and did some of September as well.

Sept. 10th Mummy Tins for Halloween. I have been getting them ready for posting on the IACW blog.

Sept. 9th Paul Klee style posters at school. Each child had to do their name. They came out really well the children were delighted with them.

Sept. 8th Boo Tins for the IACW blog. These will sit on my window ledge on Halloween.

Sept. 7th A page of my card designs in Quick Cards made Easy.

Sept. 6th Wolverhampton Marathon. My lovely friend Mark did his first marathon today. He raised money for Prostrate Cancer Research in memry of his Dad. We were very proud of him.

Sept. 5th Charlbury Street Fair. Rosie got this great design painted on her face.

Sept. 4th The cloakroom at school full of coats once more after a long summer holiday.

Sept. 3rd My new Year 2 class and their lovely new teacher Miss Grantham.

Sept. 2nd Duncan is back to school. I can't believe he is in Year 5. It only seemed like 5 minutes ago that he started school.

Sept. 1st Grace is off to Secondary School. She was up early and very excited. I am sure she is going to have a fantastic year.

Mega Huge Catch-up! August

2010-01-10T18:58:00.000Z

Before I start Project 365 2010 I thought I had better finish off 2009. Be patient with me I have got August sorted out today. Scroll down to the bottom and work your way up.

Aug 31 Getting ready to go back to school.

Aug. 30 A Sunday walk to Minster Lovell

Aug 29th Robet Muchamore signing his latest book from the Cherub series.

Aug. 28th Bailey's Bombe for IACW blog .

Aug. 27th Our day out to see the Banksy exhibition. We queued for 4.5 hours and it was worth every minute. They stamped your hand at the door. We were so excited.

Aug. 26th A trip to Moo Moo for milkshakes and smoothies.

Aug. 25th Scrapbooking with friends. This is of a holiday in Teneriffe in 2005!

Aug. 24th Sorting out the holiday photographs.

Aug. 23rd A blue sky and a big kiss in the sky cheers me up on the first day back from holiday.

Aug. 22nd Saying goodbye to Grampa and the end of our holiday in Scotland.

Aug. 21st It was a rainy day so the children went to the climbing centre.

Aug. 20th A chilly trip to the top of Cairn Gorm.

Aug. 19th Duncan catches a glimpse of the Loch Ness Monster!

Aug. 18th Catching the train at Boat of Garten after a long walk in the rain.

Aug. 17th The old fashioned sweetie shop at The Higland Folk Museum.

Aug. 16th A walk in the pine woods trying to see Red Squirrels but they were too quick!

Aug. 15th We arrive in Scotland for a week in Aviemore.

Aug. 14th The Poison Gardens at Alnwick Gardens.

Aug. 13th A day trip to the Farne Islands. It was rather wet but very interesting.

Aug. 12th A day on the beach at Alnmouth. The kids had great fun in the sea. Too cold for me!

Aug. 11th Alnwick Castle was fantastic. We all had a ball and Duncan got his head chopped off!

Aug. 10th It was raining so we went for a bit of an explore in Alnwick. We fell in love with this bookshop - Barter Books. We all got a book or two and they did brilliant bacon sandwiches.

Aug. 9th We met up with M, J & E on Bamburgh beach. The sun did come out eventually.

Aug. 8th The Angel of the North. We spotted this on our way to Northumberland and made a quick detour to take some photos.

The sun has got his hat on........

2009-08-07T20:08:00.001+01:00

Aug 07 - Sunny Day @ Last

I feel so much better today. A bit of sunshine and blue sky does wonders for everyone. Let's hope it lasts. A busy day cleaning the house and packing for the holidays.

Aug 06 - Sock Monkey

I made my first sock monkey today. I was so pleased with how it turned out. I am going to try a few more. As I host the European single sock mountain I will not be short on supplies!

Aug 05 - Ra-Ra

Grace started cheerleading classes today. She had great fun. They are going to put on a show on Friday.

Retail Therapy

2009-08-04T17:47:00.000+01:00

Aug 04 - Great Britain

I love Emma Bridgewater designs. I couldn't resist this tray. I had already sent Rosie with one to Germany, with the matching biscuit tin, for her exchange partner's Mum.

August 03 New Pens
I love new stationery & pens. An inexpensive treat on a rainy day.

Summer?

2009-08-02T16:57:00.000+01:00

I know, I know! Yes, it has been a long time but the end of term was so busy and then we were straight into the holidays. Excuses, excuses. However, here we go. I would scroll down to the bottom and work your way up.

Aug. o2 It's a Creative World submission

This is the first of my projects for the month of August on http://itsacreativeworld.typepad.com/ I am going to make a few others in patterned fabric. I have a yummy stash of Cath Kidson lovliness.

Aug. 01 New Shoes

I treated myself to some new Crocs for my holidays. I know they are the world's ugliest shoes but, they are so comfortable. I also got a light purple pair.

July 31 A spot of shopping

I got Grace's new school trousers. I did not want to wait any longer in case the shops ran out of uniform stuff. Her legs have got so long. I think we only need a new satchel now. One that is trendy enough has not been found yet!

July3o Dusting down the sewing machine

I got out the sewing machine ready for my IACW submission. It needed a bit of dusting!

July 29 Stash shopping

These papers are such great summer colours. Can't wait to use them.

July 28 A Delivery from Amazon

I ordered these books at 4.30pm one day and they were with us by 8.00am the next day. How do they do that?

July 28 Road Trip

It is a round journey of 124 miles to visit my sister and her family - and she is our closest relative. We had great fun watching old video clips of the girls when they were babies. However, I couldn't help crying when I saw video of my Mum and know what she has missed in seeing her 6 grandchildren grow up. She would have been so proud of what they have all achieved in their own ways.

July 26 New Car - well new to us!

Mark chose an Audi. It seems strange seeing it on the driveway.

July 25 Washing

It seems to be never ending. I am sure there are neighbours sneaking in and adding to the pile. You don't want to know what the ironing pile looks like!

July 24 Brighton Beach

Brighton beach is the epitomy of the British beach. It wasn't even sunny, but I bravely sat on my deckchair and enjoyed the view.

July 23 Wedding Anniversary #15

How did those 15 years go by so quickly? It seems a lifetime yet, only moments ago.

July 22 Ears

Grace got her ears pierced today. She said it stung a bit but she was very brave. Six weeks of care now until she can take them out.

July 21 Harry Potter

A trip to the movies today to see "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince." It was very long and I did nod off in the first half! I had just had a late night, it was warm, it was dark.........

July 20 Invested

Grace is now officially a Scout. She got invested at the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall. It was a lovely spot. She looked very smart.

July 19 The Big Lunch

We braved the rain and got together with the neighbours for lunch on the field. It was great fun and it didn't really matter that it rained!

July 18 A Night Out

We had a night out in oxford with J & M. We started at Jamie's Italian - very yummy. Then we went to see Brief Encounter. It was amazing. It combined theatre and film very cleverly. A great night was had by all.

July 17 End of Term

The end of term at last. I will miss all the class as they move on to their next school. I had some very generous presents, including my mug above from my fav. coffee stop! Thank you Lily D.

July 16 A New Era

It was a sad day for us all. Pauline's retirement party. There were a lot of tears from us all. We are going to miss having her in school. What a fantastic cake. It was almost too good to cut.

July 15 Y6 Leaver's Party

It was Grace's leaver's party today. I could not believe how grown up they all looked. It seems like only seconds since they were all starting in Early Years. I took loads of pictures.

July 14 Reading Group

Primo Levi was the author this month. I couldn't really get into it. So I had not got very far. I will try and finish it. We all swapped books for summer reading.

July 13 Swine Flu

Yes it is here! We got letters home from school. It seems it is in every school in the town. We are not panicing. If we get it we are ready.

July 12 Cheese Scones & Pink Milk

There is no better way to celebrate a great report. All the kids got fabby reports. I am so proud of them.

July 11 Wadham Garden Party

I took advantage of the beautiful garden to take a few pics of the kids. When did 11 start looking so grown up?

July 10 Judgement Day!

The judges have been to see our Jungle Garden. They seemed to like it. They took lots of pictures, particularily of the crocodile. Everyone worked so hard to make it look fantastic. We look forward to knowing the results.

July 09 Carnival Craft Day

We spent the day making lots of stuff for our carnival float. These cats are going to be on dowelling for them to carry. We are doing "Puss in Boots".

July 08 " I am just waiting for a fire engine........."

Not the words you want to hear on the phone from your husband at 8.00am. On the way to work his car caught fire. Thank God he is fine and the stuff which got burned was just stuff. I gave him an extra big hug when I saw him. The car is a write off.

July 07 The Wizard of Blake

We went to the school production tonight. It was based on The Wizard of Oz and every child in the school, plus a few teachers, took part. It was fantastic and I did cry when Katie, my DD's friend, sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". Grace was Mr Toad and Dunx was a panther.

July 06 I can read

My reading quest is going well. My pupil is making very good progress. These are all the words we have been working on.

July 05 Happy Birthday

Mark loved his birthday pressie. The other one was worn out. I look forward to it taking us lots of places.

July 04 Scrapbooking with my friends

This was my fav. layout of the day. I managed to do six!

July 03 - Stencilling

I have been very busy with the class stencilling a jungle on the canteen wall. We are getting there.

July 02 Bring Your Bear to School Day 2009

Ted got busy doing his spellings. I hope he does well on the test!

July 01 My Duty Day

I love ringing the bell at the end of breaktime. I know it is all a bit old-fashioned but I love tradtion.

June 30 Painting the Croc.

Doesn't he look good all painted up and varnished. Richard has been busy all day.

June 29 - The plants arrive

All the jungly plants have arrived. They look lush and smell divine. There is even a banana plant. The kids think we will be plucking fruit from it in Sept.

June 28 Garden Journal

I have been busy working on the journal that will go into the judging for the gardwn competition. I just need to add the photos of the finished garden.

Out & About

2009-06-27T22:18:00.000+01:00

June 27 The Oxfordshire Children's Food Festival - We had a lovely day out at the Food Festival. There was loads of hands on things for the kids to do. They have just eaten the pasta they made. It was very yummy! The picture shows Duncan's chef hat after he got Raymond Blanc to sign it. What a lovely man he is. Duncan and Raymond shared their love of moules. We also spoke to his Chef Patissier - Benoir Blin, who promised, that when Duncan has his own restaurant, to come and work for him! They also met Sophie Grigson & Stefan Gates (Gastronut).

June 26 What else could I put up for today? No matter what you think of the man you can't deny his music was fantastic. Who could forget the Thriller video? And we have all tried to moonwalk in our socks, unsuccessfully!

It's a Wrap

2009-06-25T23:29:00.000+01:00

June 25th Victorian Day at school. This is one of my fellow TAs dressed as a soldier from the Boer War. He was fantastic and had the children doing drill in the playground. He was full of tales of Dr Livingston, Brunel & Florence Nightingale. He was a star. The children & staff were all dressed in "Victorian" clothes. We had very strict lessons and the Inspector came to check on our school. I have taken loads of pics. which, unfortunately I can't share with you. But, I am looking forward to scrapping them all.

June 24th The sunflowers are sprouting. Grace's are taller than mine but she did choose the giant sunflowers! I chose some lovely orangy-brown ones. Duncan's chillis are teeny.

June 23 I know you have been waiting for an update on the crocodile. Here he is wrapped in mod-roc. He look great. The plant pots in his back will be filled when he is finished.

Books Galore!

2009-06-22T19:53:00.000+01:00

June 22 We are busy getting the new school library ready for it's grand opening. A group of us stayed back after school to add new tickets and stamp with the school name. We have some gorgeous new books. The illustrations are lovely. More to sort tomorrow.

My little girl has grown up!

2009-06-21T21:23:00.000+01:00

Another lovely weekend. It was Father's Day today. Mark did very well with pressies & his treat was to go and see "Looking for Eric" with a friend. We had a wander around Oxford and met up at Starbucks later.

June 21st My little girl is all grown up. We went to M&S for a bra fitting and bought four bras. They are a lot nicer than my first bra.

June 20th I finally manged to get Jake's haircut. He is quite happy with it and has been throwing a lot of product at it!

June 19th Mark finished his meeting in London early so we met him off the train in Oxford and went for ice-creams. I love that you can just see Mark & Gracie in the background.

June 18th We had badminton coaching at school today. The children had great fun. It was a lovely sunny day and it was a pleasure supervising.

Wet & Windy

2009-06-17T21:18:00.000+01:00

What a wild and windy day. The wind makes the children in class very restless so today was quite eventful and very tiring.

June 17th I was so ready for this coffee. I needed the extra caffeine boost to keep me going. The kids fancied a treat too.

June 16th A new phone at last. I am getting in a bit of a pickle with it though. It is quite different from my old one. I couldn't find the space when I was doing messages so I had+to+do+it+like+this! I needed to get instructions from an 11 year old.

June 15th How cool is this crocodile? One of the TAs and a Mum at school have made this framework ready for the kids to mod-roc. It is to go in our jungle garden that we are producing for a town/schools gardening competition. I will keep you updated.

June is not always flaming

2009-06-14T22:56:00.001+01:00

OK update two. Scroll down to the bottom again and struggle upwards. You will probably need another cup of coffee now......and a biscuit.

June 14th A pretty flower amongst the jungle which is our garden.

June 13th Duncan becomes a pirate for the school fair. He has gone to bed with the paint still on.

June 12th My second submission for http://itsacreativeworld.typepad.com/its_a_creative_world/

June 11th We planted sunflower seeds with BBC Radio 2's sow along. Duncan thought flowers were a bit girly so he did red hot chilli peppers.

June 10th I love Dandelions. I know they are weeds but they are so delicate.

June 9th A trip to Cogges Farm. They were a lot of pigs. We thought this one looked funny. A sort of punk pig.

June 8th My head still hurts!

June 7th Grace wins a gold trophy for a team judo competition.

June 6th A Day in A&E after tripping over in the dark and landing on my head. Broke my lovely new glasses. Luckily my head was not broken.

June 5th I noticed the price of petrol is sneaking back up again. Back over £1 per litre.

June 4th Council and Euro elections. It was not a good day for the labour party.

June 3rd New glasses for everyone. It cost me a small fortune. But everyone looks very smart. Jake and Grace had designer frames and took ages choosing.

June 2nd. Back to school. We had a clay day so it was rather messy. The theme was aliens.

Flaming June

2009-06-14T21:07:00.000+01:00

Part 1

Pour yourself a mug of coffee and make yourself comfy. Part 1 of Project 365 is loaded. Scroll all the way to the bottom and read upwards.

June 1st My beautiful Evelyn rosebush has flowered. It was planted in memory of my Mum and was given to me by Jacqueline on my first Mother's Day without her.

May 31st The potatoes are growing madly in all this sunshine.

May 30th Duncan catches a wave at Tenby.

May 29th Breakfast by the beach in Mumbles.

May 28th Crossing the Severn Bridge.

May 27th My submission for http://itsacreativeworld.typepad.com/ I made lots of different flowers.

May 26th Time to let the butterflies go. They were beautiful Painted Ladies.

May 25th Pavlova at Big Duncan's Birthday BBQ.

May 24th Grace and I went for a lovely walk in the Bluebell Woods at North Leigh. They were a bit beyond their best but we found some nice ones.

May 23rd A trip to Stoke Mandeville hospital after a phonecall from Scout Camp. They took him to A&E with a suspected broken hand. Luckily it was just tendon damage and he was able to go back to camp.

May 22nd I dropped the boys off at Oxfordshire's Zodiac Camp in Thame. They are camping for the whole weekend. The weather is looking good.

May 21st All the caterpillars are in their cocoons and just about ready to emerge.

May 20th May Dancing on Church Green.

May 19th We finally get our Swine Flu leaflets!

May 18th I am busy using my magnetic letters with my Reading Quest pupil. She is loving all the games.

May 17th Dinner out with Dave, Clea and baby Sophie. The boys argued over who was going to push the pram. They both adore babies.

May 16th Banana Frog Day @ Paperarts. I will post my album when I finish it.

May 15th Guitar lessons tonight for Jake & Grace. Grace has just started and is already dreaming of her first band.

May 14th My bike is already for action now that the sun is out.

May 13th My first day on my Reading Quest course. It was lots of fun. I came away with lots of ideas.

A busy week ahead

2009-05-13T23:04:00.000+01:00

A very busy week ahead. Lots to do, places to be and people to see.........

May 12th - May Dancing is next week so it was out with the practice pole. We are making progress. The children love it and make up for lack of skill with their enthusiasm!

May 11th SATs - Gracie started her week of SATs with Science. She headed off with her various mascots, a bottle of water and a packet of polos. She said it wasn't too bad. I am sure she will do well.

I wish it was a bank holiday tomorrow!

2009-05-10T19:58:00.000+01:00

Sunday night again. Where does the weekend go? I am catching up with my blog while watching Heartbeat. I have recorded ER to watch later - the ones with George Clooney in them. I can't wait!

Sunday 10th May - Cardmaking I spent the afternoon making cards for Quick Cards Made Easy. Here is a sneaky peek. I had to do 15 invitations! Five for a child's birthday party, five for a picnic/BBQ and five for a drinks/dinner party. I used lots of Basic Grey - Lime Rickey.

May 9th -Noodle Boy Dad dropped in on his way back from Cornwall. He had walked 50 miles in in 6 days around the Cornish Coast. We went for dinner at Wagamama

May 8th - Super Speller Duncan is doing so well with his weekly spellings. His dyslexia means he doesn't always find it easy. He was delighted to bring home another certificate. His IEP review is next week. I am looking forward to hearing his progress.

May 7th - Salsa We did an extra long class today. I was pleased to report that I have been able to buy new jeans - a size smaller!

May 6th - Metamorphosis Our classroom caterpillars have started to cling to the top of the jar. The cocoon building is underway. It won't be long until we have to transfer them to the net.

Books and new shoes.

2009-05-05T22:47:00.001+01:00

May 5th - Reading group tonight at my house. I was naughty as I haven't finished the book yet. I had got caught up in two other ones! I will finish it in a couple of evenings though. It is very good but a bit bleak. We need to choose some happy books!

May 4th - New shoes for Jake. Actually he did get two pairs. We went to Bicester Village so that he could get them from the Vans shop. He managed to get an all black pair so that he could wear them for school and these ones for casual. It was our lucky day as they had an extra 20% off. He is now in 10 1/2 's . His shoe size may shortly pass his age!

May at last and up to date!

2009-05-04T19:46:00.001+01:00

Yes I am up to date. Well I will be once I have uploaded today's pic.

May 3rd - Duncan made pudding for us. Biscuit base, strawberry angel delight and choccy buttons on top. It was delicious. He wants to make a cake for my reading group coming round. He dreams of being a chef and would like to train with Jamie Oliver.

May 2nd - The church ran a free car wash with tea and cakes while you waited. Jake and Duncan had great fun. They were wetter than the cars. They did around 37 cars altogether. Not bad in 3 hours.

May 1st - The boy has had his haircut. We were starting to think we would have to take him to the poodle parlour. He had hot chocolate with cream, which you can see on his nose!

April - Project 365

2009-05-04T17:35:00.000+01:00

And now the next installment in the big catch up - April. Scroll down to the bottom to start from April 1st.

April 30th - Sorting out photographs. I must back them up tomorrow. I am trying to be good and remember once a month.

April 29th - I treated myself to some new toys. Fiskars border punch - apron lace. Although I think it should be called knicker trim! I also got the Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

April 28th - My new Good Food Magazine arrived. I must book up for the Good Food Show. Duncan is desperate to go.

April 27th - I finished off this page, which includes a flip album which sits in a pocket.

April 26th - A new CD. I heard Melody on Woman's Hour (BBC Radio 4). I fell in love with her voice. This is one for the car so that I can sing a long.

April 25th - I taught a class at North Leigh. We did two interactive pages. This page folded out and included 28 pictures.

April 24th - Gracie's flying fingers. I wish I could type as quickly as she does. I still use two fingers.

April 23rd - Y9 Parent's Evening. I was so proud of Rosie. She has had all her subject choices approved and she is predicted A* in eveything. Which she says is a bit daunting. But I am sure she will do well.

April 22nd - His haircut is booked for the weekend. The curls are going.

April 21st - Gracie gets a haircut. She was desperate for a fringe and she has now got one.

April 20th - Rosie goes wild on the drums. She is teaching herself and she is sounding good. I hope the neighbours agree!

April 18th - Fritillary Sunday at Ducklington. The annual viewing of the fields of fritillaries. There were more this year than ever before. It must be all this warm weather.

April 17th - Duncan donned his chef hat and cooked us butternut squash muffins - yummy. He put the last of the mini eggs on top.

April 17th - The kitchen planning continues. The units are going to be from IKEA.

April 16th - The sun came out so I thought I would get busy with the washing and hang it all on the line. Loving the new lavender wash tabs.

April 15th - That hair just gets bigger and bigger.

March 14th - Grace and Elizabeth pose in their new sunglasses. Cool.........

April 13th - The cousins come for the day. I managed to get them to pose for Grampa.

April 12th - Easter Sunday and a lovely choccy egg from Mark.

April 11th - Had a play with my new Cricut cartridge.

April 10th - Rosie decorated her new room with lots of posters from Kerrang.

April 9th - Off to salsa class. I get so hot, it is really energetic & need lots of water.

April 8th - Rosie's birthday present finally arrives. A digital drum kit. Unfortunately the headphones were missing.

April 7th - Grace did a judo course. She looks a bit fierce!

April 6th - A trip to Moo-Moos with the girls. We went to see "Marley & Me" and then had lunch at Wagamama. Then it was off to Primark for some serious shopping.

April 5th - Donna's "100 Eyelets or die" class. The coffee was from Donna!

April 4th - Me with Donna Downey. She is lovely, really down to earth and great fun.

April 3rd - First night at Scrapfever with Vicki and my new friend Lynne.

April 2nd - We had a leaving party at the Beadles for the German girls. The 10 days have gone so quickly.

April 1st - We have had an egg decorating competition at school.

Project 365 March

2009-05-03T23:03:00.000+01:00

The big catch up. This is March up to date. Scroll down to the bottom and work your way up.

March 31st Jake used his pocket money to get a custom built skateboard. He spends all day learning new tricks.

March 30th Duncan saying goodbye as he goes off on his first residential.

March 29th We took all the German girls bowling.

March 28th Rosie's birthday and a trip to Camden Market.

March 27th Guitar lessons tonight for Grace & Jake

March 26th Indie sunning herself on the dining table.

March 25th The vacumn cleaner. Lots of cleaning and tidying in readiness for Rosie's German exchange partner.

March 24th This little duck was wandering around outside school this morning.

March 23rd Spring is here. There is blossom everywhere.

March 22nd Mother's Day

March 21st All day crop at Paperarts. I bought a program so that I can have a go at digi-scrapping.

March 20th We won the reading corner prize. I am looking forward to choosing the new books.

March 19th Tulips look even better when they start to droop.

March 18th Ducks on the river on the walk over the meadows.

March 17th School trip to see Ian Beck - a book illustrator and writer.

March 16th Scouts tonight and I need to sew on Rosie's badges.

March 15th Daffodils at the church.

March 14th Cake and milkshake at The Pottery.

March 13th Red Nose Day.

March 12th Duncan did a sponsored bounce at trampoline. He dressed as a clown. His red nose would not stay on!

March 11th At cubs there was a Mother's Tea Party. Duncan's six had green as their theme. The cakes had fantastic green icing on them - yummy.

March 10th We are having a competition at school to make a reading corner. The best class gets £50 to spend on new books. We are doing an underwater theme.

March 9th Our new book for reading group.

March 8th A trip to the supermarket.

The missing weeks!

2009-03-12T21:12:00.000Z

March 7th - We spent the day scrapbooking and had a takeaway. Carol impressed us with her napkin folding.

March 6th - It has been a busy week and this little boy is tired.

March 5th - One of my favourite costumes from yesterday.

March 4th - My activities for World Book Day included making Lola biscuits.

March 3rd - How can you resist that kiss!

March 2nd - My BFF is Jacqueline

March 1st - A walk in the grounds of Blenheim Palace.

Feb. 28th - Paperarts 12 hour crop. I made a start on my St. Ives album.

Feb.27th - the source of my morning fix. If it is good enough for George Clooney.....

Feb.26th - Preparing for book day with my favourite books.

Feb. 25th Time Flies - but not when you are teaching time!

Feb. 24th Stash box - A lovely box of new stash arrives - yummy

Feb. 23rd Spring at last - snowdrops in the school garden

Feb. 22nd. Ironing the worst bit of returning from holiday-the laundry.

St Ives part 2

2009-03-01T22:17:00.001Z

The rest of the week. I did actually take 350 photographs, so narrowing them down took quite a while!

Feb. 21st - Every year we take a sunset picture of all the adults & children on our week away. This is the adults taken by the children.

Feb. 20th - There are always lovely daffodils on sale in St. Ives. Mark always buys me a couple of bunches.

Feb. 19th - Playing in the surf. Duncan is very light and Jake is always carrying him off somewhere.

Feb. 18th - Don't leave your boys to make their own entertainment on the beach!

A week in St. Ives

2009-03-01T22:04:00.000Z

The first half of the week.
Feb. 17th - Sing-a-long Mama Mia night was a highlight of our holiday. We all had a good laugh singing loudly and, in my case, out of tune.

Feb. 16th - Grace playing in the surf. It was sunny but the water was COLD!

Feb. 15th - I could wake up every morning to that view. St. Ives harbour. Look how sunny it was.

Feb. 14th - I left Mark a little message in the sand. Luckily he saw it before the tide came in.

Feb. 9th onwards

2009-03-01T21:41:00.000Z

I got really far behind because I did not have access to the internet when I was away. I managed to use my time to knit socks instead! Not quite finished yet.

Feb. 13th - Another loo roll card. I love making these.

Feb. 12th - snowflake wall display at school.

Feb. 11th - It is still quite snowy & icy around town. Poor ducks they must be frozen.

Feb. 10th - Another card for someone at work. It is made from loo rolls again.

Feb. 9th - Coffee at Costa. They are getting ready for Valentine Day. I posterized the image on http://www.picnik.com/ because I took the photo on my camera and it was pants!

Feb. 8th - a little sign of love I left on my husband's car. It made my finger very cold!

Shimelle's doing another brilliant class

2009-02-11T18:55:00.000Z

Just a quick heads up for an online class that Shimelle Laine & the Garden Girls are doing is over at http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ There is lots of info on Shimelle's websitewww.shimelle.com and the sign up is http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/74400/

For anyone who hasn't done one of these courses before I can thoroughly recommend them. They are great fun and good to do if your mojo is running a bit light.

Snowy week

2009-02-08T21:40:00.000Z

This week we had snow off and on. The South has been at a standstill and children have had a lot of fun. There were many opportunities for photographs and I have been snapping madly. These are just a few to give you a taste of the week.

Feb. 7th The snow was still lying and was frozen hard. Note the bin men were unable to get down our street and we have had no mail for 4 days.

Feb. 6th Schools were all closed. The kids were delighted to have another day off. We walked into town but it was very slushy on the way back.

Feb. 5th Most schools were closed but we were at school. Pauline showed off her new wellies. We did snowball science, snow poetry, made sparkly snowflakes and build a snow scooby doo!

Feb 4th Church Green with a touch of frost.

Feb 3rd Just a little snow. Enough to make this little snowman for the Foundation class. They took him inside so he did not get cold!

Feb 2nd How did my gorgeous boy become 9! It seems like 5 mins ago that he was my baby.

The weekend

2009-02-01T18:56:00.000Z

32/365 1st Feb. I had a little photo session with Rosie & her friend down at the lakes. There is a really cool underpass with lots of graffiti, which makes a good background. You just have to make sure you don't stand next to anything rude!

31/365 31st Jan. I thought I would periodically record the price of petrol. It was so changeable last year. At least it is now down to under £1.00 a litre. I paid 88.9p per litre of unleaded. That should last me the week.

More project 365

2009-01-31T20:05:00.000Z

I will be working backwards again!

Day 30 Numeracy @ school. This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood as created by year 2. I love the wooly wolf! It has a grid on it because we used it to teach co-ordinates.

Day 29 A yellow rose from the bouquet Mark gave me for my birthday.

Day 28 My Birthday! I treated myself to a cupcake so only one candle. Any more and I would have had to make sure the fire brigade were on standby.

Day 27 There was a sale at the local gorgeous shoe shop. I ended up with a pair of shoes, a pair of boots & a pair of slippers!

A new week = new pictures

2009-01-26T17:11:00.000Z

Here are my next batch of photographs for Project 365. I am, yet again, behind!

Day 26 - Monday. The first job of the morning is to change all the reading books for my class and remove letters, homework and lunch money from their book bags.

Day 25 - Sunday I spent the afternoon teaching Grace to knit. She is making a scarf in basic knit stitch. We will progress on to purl. Not too many drop stitches!

Day 24 -Saturday This is my lovely cat Daisy. She is trying to hypnotise me into giving her more biscuits. Something she does every evening! Doesn't she look serious.

Day 23 Friday TGIF! This is a picture of our trays at work. Mine is usually full to the brim! I must tidy it out more.

Day 22 - Thursday Weigh in day at salsa. I lost 2lbs this week. I thought I would illustrate this with 2lbs of fat!

Day 21 - Wednesday Every morning it is the TA's job to lay up the trays with milk and juice ready for morning break.

Days 19 & 20

2009-01-20T21:20:00.001Z

Catching up again............

Day 20 - Obama's big day. The children and I sat and watched the inauguration of the 44th President of the USA. I took this picture as he was sworn in on the TV.

Day 19 - out with the knitting. I like to knit a scarf at this time of year. I have started with a twirly one. I will take another picture in another few days when it has grown.

Busy week

2009-01-18T22:17:00.000Z

Well here we are on Sunday night and I am trying to catch up with my project 365 pics. They are in reverse order I am afraid.

Day 18 Zoe's bump I took lots of photos of Zoe today. She is 32 weeks now.

Day 17 Rosie & her FLIP

Day 16 I love You - my lovely boy tells me he loves me.

Day 15 Salsa Exercise Class - I have lost 2 1/2lbs

Day 14 - another rainy day

Day 13 - Jake makes another animation

I will try and post daily this week. I hopefully will not be quite as busy - we live in hope.

Day 12 A letter to the editor.....

2009-01-12T15:51:00.000Z

This letter was in our local paper and I am delighted to say it was us who brought Christmas to this lovely man. For three years now a group us - five families - go carol singing. This year we raised £150 for Christian Aid. I am so pleased that he enjoyed it so much.

Days 9, 10 & 11

2009-01-11T19:02:00.000Z

I have loaded these in reverse order. This is Day 11 - A Trebuchet. Jake had to make one for his history homework. It looks even better now as we have made the joints more secure with twine. They are having a competition to see how far he can project a ball across the room.

Day 10 was back to the diet. I will post my losses as I go. I am going to Salsa exercise. I am not the most co-ordinated but you certainly work up a sweat.

Day 9 was supposed to be a picture of Paperarts, however, the fog prevented me getting there. I did set off and got as far as Fossebridge but at this point the traffic slowed to 10mph. I have never driven in such thick fog. It was a bit scary. I returned home and lit my Christmas Yankee Candle - they last forever - and snuggled up on the sofa with Mark.

More tomorrow.

Days 6, 7 & 8

2009-01-08T18:22:00.000Z

Day 6 Back to school. Coats hanging up in the cloakroom on the first day back.

Day 7 Putting away the Christmas decorations. It is a long job wrapping up the hearts and the angels. We have 17 angels now - one for each year Mark and I have spent Christmas together.

Day 8 - Woolworths looking sad. I thought I had better take a picture before they come and take the sign down.

Day 5 - running late

2009-01-06T21:14:00.001Z

Due to technical problems I did not post last night. But we are all cabled up now and here is yesterday's pic. Back to work and a day spent planning and organising. I have to write everything down in my notebook or I forget. I have still to edit today's pic.
I have just got an early birthday present - a polaroid pogo printer. I am going to try and use it now and print off some little pics to put in a little mini album.

Day 4 A Cold & Frosty Morning

2009-01-04T10:46:00.001Z

It is a really cold morning. There is a thick frost covering the whole garden. I popped out in my PJs to grab a quick pic before it melts. Although it looks like it is here for the day. It is my last day before I go back to work. Two weeks has gone so fast! How many shopping days until Christmas?

Have a look at this link http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=249508 This is a link to the Ukscrappers Project 365 chat.

And if you are up to some more challenges have a look at this http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=249663

I am going to go and print out some pictures and if I am organised I will post my first pages later.

DAY 3

2009-01-03T22:33:00.000Z

A morning out with the kids to Aston Pottery http://www.astonpottery.co.uk/ Although it was cold outside the sun was shining through the window of the cafe. It was slices of cakes all round. I guess the title of this picture should be "the diet starts tomorrow". I love the pattern on the mug. I am thinking of using the colours for my new kitchen.

I found this website http://itsacreativeworld.typepad.com/its_a_creative_world/ that looks very interesting and will be posting challenges for 2009. It has some fun ideas.

I have been putting together my double page layout to show off my first week of project 365. I will take a pic of it tomorrow and post it for you.

DAY 2

2009-01-02T19:54:00.000Z

My photo of the day. I got out my Christmas books today and made a start on the Dawn French one. It is written from the heart and is very honest. It is a lovely idea to write letters to people you love. In this day of quick emails and texts the art of letter writing is dying. I can't remember the last time I got a letter in the post. Maybe I will have a go at writing some this year.

PROJECT 365

2009-01-01T18:35:00.000Z

Day 1 and I have two photos for you !!!!! Only 364 more days to remember.

Happy New Year and may 2009 bring everything you wish for.

This is my Day 1 . We went to the cinema to see Bedtime Story. It was great. Fun for all the family. I did however manage to empty an entire box of popcorn on Jacqueline, who was sitting on the seat in front of me.

365 challenge

2008-12-30T21:07:00.000Z

Well here it is, finally, the new blog. I will be doing some tinkering with it over the next few weeks to get the right look. This may cost me £££££ with the children who are a whole lot better than me at this!

I am starting off the year by joining in the 365 photo challenge which I have seen on various blogs, websites and in the January Creating Keepsakes magazine. With more information and ideas on their website. http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/content/view/17561/

Becky Higgins http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/ has produced a kit which will be on sale in the US on Jan. 1st. But with the change in exchange rate it will be prohibitively expensive and costly to ship. It looks lovely and I like the colours.

But, I have decided to make my own pages with the vast mountain of stash that I already have. I will use the basic layout that it is featured in the magazine article but adapt it to suit my own needs. I am going to use a 12x12 American Craft Ring-Binder album. I am going to try & start my pages tonight so that they are ready to deposit my photos straight on to. I think this will make it easier than doing it all in retrospect.

I will try to add in various links and ideas as I go to share the inspiration of others.

I love this picture most of all the pics I have taken in the last few days.....

I am really pleased with the pics I took of Gracie on Friday. We went for a bracing walk round the lake and in the underpass tunnel there is loads of grafitti. I couldn't resist getting her to pose. I think I will need to do another trip with Rosie and her friends and do a bit of a photo shoot.