Monday, July 31, 2006

woohoo.

yeah look at that.. i did it.. my own banner.. ok, so it's not exactly stunning, but i made it! (with a little help from my friends of course!)

teaching an old dog new tricks

ok, well so i'm trying to create a banner for this blog.. hmm, which means i've got to learn how to use paint shop pro - so cue me going through tutorials and then playing in PSP.. . my next task is to try and get the code in the right place so that i end up with it as a banner, and not ruining the whole thing!!

Sunday, July 30, 2006

self portrait


well here it is, the LO i did yesterday - it's a MM class kit from this years Bonanza, but i haven't done it exactly as suggested.

oh and the photo was taken after inspiration from Anam's photos and the instructions on elsie flannagan's blog. so thanks to them, i managed to take a weird photo and transform it in paint shop pro and then do a layout.. hurrah for adventurousness!

DIY SOS - not us!

well, what an unusual day.. picked some apples whilst taking the dogs for a walk.. haven't tried them yet, but hopefully they will be nice cookers and i can pick some blackberries to go with them!
then spent the rest of the day clearing out the loft in preparation for next weekend. oh the crap i kept up there. i've filled countless boxes of rubbish. plenty of stuff for ebay and freecycle and the charity shop will be filled with our stuff as well!

then we went to b&q where i bought some beetroot seeds (on suzanne's authority that they are really easy to grow!) and we bought the chipboard for covering the loft. so between dh and i we actually managed to board the roof of the loft space in an afternoon. now we have to take up the old insulation ( which is absolutely hideous, i cannot describe it!) and put down new stuff and board the floor. it'll be so nice when it's done, but boy did we get sweaty and dirty up there! ( and not in a good way!)

must go scan my layout i did yesterday so the whole world can see:)

Saturday, July 29, 2006

good day/bad day

good day = a day full of scrapping with likeminded, funny women.

bad day = coming home, eating the most massive portion of chips ( where is my will power?) and then having an argument with DH about closing the fridge door of all things!

but concentrating on the good - did a page and finished off a mini album that i'm going to give as a present to DH's brother who's disappearing off to australia shortly. thought he could use it as a travel planner type thing. he probably won't 'get it' and it'll end up being lost somewhere, but hey.. the thought was there.

made a lovely chocolate cake - bargain cake mix from lidl or Aldi, can't remember which. but very yum:)

have been sorting out the loft ready for next week when FIL comes up to help board and insulate it. so lots of mess (again) but it needs doing, will help energy conservationand it's a good excuse to go through all the crap up there and get rid of a load of it.

so i now have a big pile of things for ebay, freecycle, the charity shop, recycling, and not much for simple binning. the dogs may even benefit as i may give them the old sleeping bags and get rid of some of their blankets. the sleeping bags are a whole lot easier to clean. but we;'ll see.

ok, off to try some of the framboise liquer i brought back from france and haven't opened yet.

night!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

cooler

well, it seems a bit cooler today, thank god! it's just been so crazy hot that i haven't had the brain capacity to post on here. it takes everything i've got simply to get through the work day!

talking of which, i do actually have work to do this week - amazing i know, don't know how long it will last as all the academics are on leave at the moment, and until resit period kicks in there wont be anything from that side of things. ah well.. i know some people would enjoy not having anything to do, but for me, it's more stressful. i hate having to eek things out to fill the day. I'd rather just go home and get on with stuff there.

last night i actually started a mini book as a birthday present for a friend. don't know how it's going to turn out, but it's fun playing with new stash.

keeping my fingers crossed for a bit of rain later.. not only to help me, but help the garden too:)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

back again

well, why is it that holidays always go really quickly?

we're back to the heat, although it was incredibly hot in France too.. just a shame we missed out on the rain over here.. i love a good thunderstorm.

the veggies i've got growing in the back garden seem to have survived. lost a few lettuces, but the courgettes, swedes, and leeks have all gone bonkers. We dug up my first ever lot of potatoes at the weekend.. lovely!! all they needed was a quick rinse with water, and ready to be cooked.
got a few more pots of those to come so that should keep us going!

been playing with the stash that arrived before we went away. i really did buy a lot..! but some of it is for presents.. honest!

been playing with some more photos again, and have printed some out to scrap. This week's pad's challenge - i've finally come up with something.. took a while to think about, but i know what i'm aiming for now, just got to choose papers and then get playing.

Last day of holidays today.. back to work tomorrow:( and it looks like the weather is going to continue to be hot - that's ok if you're at home, not having to do anything, but at work - urgh!

Monday, July 17, 2006

crazy day

well its the day before we go on hols.. and so of course all hell breaks loose:)

the car, which DH has said has been making funny noises, is taken to the garage, and it needs a new catalytic converter.. unfortunately i don;t really know what one of these does, and if it's vital to the running of the car.. turns out it is, and the garage will have to order one in specially. it'll arrive at 4pm! ok, so the fact that we have to get up v early ( say 4am) we're pushing this!

i try not to panic, but look up train times, car hire things etc.. whilst also trying to get things finished off at work.. i've had nothing to do for days, and then all of a sudden loads of crap lands on my desk.. hurrah! - NOT

so eventually, after, i peel myself away from the sauna of an office, i start to walk home. phone DH, who says he's about to go check on the car.. a few minutes later, he's driving right next to me!
But, wait, not good news, but LUCKY news... the company sent the wrong make of part (duh!) but the nice mechanic stripped it all downand did some fancy welding, so we can still go on hols!

fingers crossed the welding lasts till we get to the airport!!

Stash News: big box of goodies just arrived from the states... mmm, looks like i've turned into a Heidi swapp junkie.. bit late on the uptake, but loving the bargains i got:)
so, might dig out some stuff to take with me to show Mum on hols, but otherwise they'll hav eto wait till i get back. then i've got some major scrapping to get done.
Another 2 challenge layouts from the pad - one based on St Elmos Fire or the Breakfast Club, and another on Wham! - how very retro!
no idea what i'll do for them yet, but hoping to plan them whilst away.

Just given the plants in the garden a good soaking, and moved some of my lettuces inside. I bet most of them will just be baked alive, but I've got some just germinating, so if not, it wont be long until i get some more. courgettes are looking MASSIVE.. not to mention the swedes (first time growing them) must remember to get some winter cabbage in, otherwise i'll have nothing growing in winter.
Fingers crossed i come back to a bumper crop of veg, and not a load of crispy leaves etc:)

Sunday, July 16, 2006


ok, here's one of the pics i took earlier, now i've been playing around with it.. still don't look like a supermodel but hey....

it's a bit arty:)

no idea what the speckles are, but that's life...

learnt something new

well, thanks to a link from a friend's blog, i've now learnt how to play with layers etc in Paintshop pro! i know, it doesn't sound very exciting, but it means i can enhance my photos - and when you're not great at taking photos in the first place, this is great stuff!

So, i feel quite chuffed with myself. - ok, so i should be packing for my hols, tidying up, and doing one of my pre-crop challenges (deadline is midnight!) but i've just had so much fun playing with photos:)

ok, so off to do a quick layout, and then perhaps print out some new photos....

Saturday, July 15, 2006

ok, here we go

Well, i think i've finally lost it, for some reason i've started this blog.. why? I've honestly no idea.. they made it far too simple, 3 buttons to click on and here's the end result!

Don't be expecting too much, but hopefully, this will be a nice way to keep a record of the very boring events and thoughts that make up my life!! Who knows i might even learn something!!