Hurrah!

Well, that's it! We've sold the van (and been paid for it), got two people interested in our car as well, arranged to buy a new right-hand drive vehicle AND found a house in the UK, and I've booked my flight to go over on Sunday coming! Woo Hoo! It's all go now! We should be picking up a lorry on the 12th December, and we will be moved in and settled by the 20th December, just in time for Christmas. Then comes the hard work of finding a job.

On the crafting front, I've just finished my Chinese Whisper challenge from CUTW forum, so here's a pic of it....



It was Ok - and it looks better in reality than in the photo - but I found it so very restricting and a bit of an odd layout.... Puzzling! However, I've done my bit, and I've passed the Whisper along. It'll be interesting to see all of them from start to finish.

Busy day....

Well, today's weather has been lovely - averaging about 14-15 degrees C in the shade, and about 25 in the sun, clear blue skies, and very little wind. And we decide to work indoors for a change!

We've got loads of books sorted out to take to the local library. We were going to sell them, but the dealer only offered us 50c per book, and we know they sell them at ten times that amount. Nick came up with the bright idea of donating them to the local library to boost their English language section, and "give something back to the community". Fab idea - we get rid of a load of books we don't want and generate some good karma for ourselves at the same time. I wonder if it will help sell the van????

I thought I'd share some pics of a pop out card I made. The template is from WS Designs, and it was an order for a friend of mine to give to his wife. Shame Nick doesn't buy me cards like it!





I've received the Whisper for the CUTW Chinese Whispers Scrapping Challenge - so I can hopefully do that while Nick is at work tomorrow, along with finish off a folder card and make my Oriental ATCs. All to do with CUTW....

I also really need to print off my Christmas Card list, and start writing them. AND I need to do all of Nick's business paperwork before we leave here so we can close down the business and hand all the documents over to the accountant for the end of year return. Deep joy. Don't even get me started on Christmas Shopping! As far as I'm concerned, Christmas is cancelled this year!

Now I'm off to go and mend socks, trousers (how in the heck does he manage to put his bum through them?) and a watch which has a strap that needs stitching back together. Tsk...like I don't have enough to do!

Another day.....another rainstorm

Talk about miserable weather. When I got up this morning it was bright, but not fine - there being lots of clouds and wind - but by 4 o'clock this afternoon it was hammering down again. Typical November Rain. It's making it a little difficult to get the main stairs inside the house varnished, as I then have to use the outside staircase (which I don't want to do when it's chucking it down) to go to the toilet on the first floor. It's a bit complicated here!

Big shout of thanks goes to Clare (Fairy on UKStampers) for her help in getting the Garou clip on the bottom of this blog. Just lurve that bloke! Garou, I mean - Clare's not a bloke! At least....I don't think she is! LOL.

Everyone back in the UK keeps asking me when we're going to be back in the UK. If I knew that, I'd be putting money on it. Why can't someone be nice and just buy the Sprinter? We've had a couple of queries from UK buyers, but I just want someone to go "Here you are, here's the money.". Then we can really kick things into gear. Mind you, I'm not looking forward to trying to find a house to rent for the moment - it's bad enough trying to find one that will take just one pet, let alone three large dogs, the biggest of which weighs almost as much as I do. And isn't afraid to climb on the sofa with me (not funny after a heavy meal) despite being told to get down.

My mum sent me a couple of photos today of my ex-best friend's two kids. It's another complicated situation, but Angela and I don't speak anymore. DH has a lot to do with that - mainly because he doesn't see why I should put in all the effort and her none. She didn't want me (or anyone else for that matter) at her wedding, didn't want me to come and visit her before we moved to France, so I ended up telling her we were emmigrating on the phone, and then didn't bother to let me know that her daughter's (my God-daughter) present had arrived until 3 months later. And then it was a hastily scribbled note included in with my birthday card - not even a thank you. On top of that, she's never written to us here, or picked up the phone, stating to my Mum that I didn't give her the number, and also that she knew we'd moved and she didn't know the new address. Where did she think we were living - Outer Mongolia? We had mail forwarding for a year.

Back to the point - according to my Mum, Angela is "missing" me. Big deal. I've missed her so much, but she withdrew herself from my life. I know it's not very charitable of me, but I don't want to put myself through that heartache again. Trouble is, it's not a new friendship. We've been friends for 25 years, and that includes the 13 years that she lived in South Africa after being taken there by her parents as a child. I don't know what to do, although I know that Nick is very disapproving of me picking up the phone and calling her. Regardless of what has happened, I love my best mate to bits, and miss her.

Phew. Don't know where all that came from! I guess it needed to be expressed though. However, how does one pick up threads that were severed three years previously? With humility and good grace I suppose. The one person who has suffered most out of this is my God-daughter Stephanie, who will be 10 next year. For her sake alone, it is worth swallowing my pride and calling Angela. I'm so angry with her though, it's a tough pill to swallow at the moment...

I'm knackered....and frustrated

We've been so busy lately - painting the house, varnishing the house, sanding the house. Well, not literally - what I mean is that we've done all sorts of stuff. Yes painting, varnishing and sanding, but if I listed it specifically I'd run out of room! And it'd be boring to read. Not that anything I type is of much interest but heigh ho.

So. Where are we now?

The house has been listed with 5 estate agents, and we're trying to sell the Sprinter to get the funds together to rent a place in the UK. It's proving a tougher challenge than we'd thought - there doesn't seem to be very many places to sell vehicles over here. But we'll get sell it - eventually. So much for my big hopes of being back in the UK before the Wolfshead AGM and the release of Eragon in the cinemas. We'll be lucky to get back in time for Christmas at this rate!

Art wise - I've not done an awful lot lately. A couple of cards here and there. I sat in on a cyber class on www.craftzunderthewillow.com where I made a folder album out of 3 sheets of A4 card. Fun, and educational. On www.ukstampers.co.uk there are plans afoot for an online anniversary party on the 24th February 2007. Definitely a date for the diary.


You know how I'm moving back to the UK (well, WE are, but HE doesn't count here), hopefully before the end of this year???? We live in a cultural no-man's land here. Nobody comes here. We don't get concerts, nothing really major, none of the huge craft shows like Scrapaganza or Creativa. The nearest venues for things like that are about 4 hours drive away. Except that at long last, Limoges is having a new "venue" built (called Zenith, but that's by the by) which will hold 6000 spectators. Kinda looks like a pill-bug curled up. And I says to DH "You watch, there'll be loads of really good gigs and stuff happening." Well, I picked up the freebie paper today, had a scan through in general, and came across a half-page ad for Zenith, with all the forthcoming attractions. Lo and behold, on the 18th March next year, my FAVE bloke is putting on a concert at Zenith. Not that any of you will know him, but his name is Garou, he's French Canadian, and drop dead gorgeous with a fantastic voice. I wouldn't kick him out of bed - he's a kind of French Robbie Williams. And he's a month younger than me - god that makes me feel old!!!!

I hate colds....

But at least I'm getting over this one!

I really need to get on with doing something sensible. Like packing all our stuff up ready to go back to the UK.

Or cleaning the house.

Or doing this blessed coffee filter circle journal that I just can't get the inspiration for.

Or some varnishing/painting that needs doing around the house.

Or just having a tidy up.

Or even doing some really important paperwork that has yet to be done, and is getting more urgent as each day passes.

Someone get me off this computer and away from www.ogame.org !!!!!!!

Goodbye Kitties...

I said goodbye to my cats today.

One of them, Tufty, we brought with us. She's nearly 15 years old, and I love her to bits. The other one, Elrond, we got here and he's only two. The trouble is, we let Tufty's passport lapse, and Elrond never had one. It also wouldn't be fair to take him back as he's not used to heavy traffic of any sort.

So one of my friends has taken them in. And so today is a very sad day for me - I shall miss them both heaps.

Now I have to get down to the serious task of packing!

Not quite so long!

So, at least I'm managing to post twice in the same month. There's a first!

So much has been going on lately, where do I start?

I'm on the design team for a great little internet shop - www.craftz4all.co.uk - and I've been surfing a couple of forums - www.craftzunderthewillow.com and www.ukstampers.co.uk

There's some great people on both those forums. And they're both reasonably small at the moment, so there isn't a lot of backbiting like there has been on one or two of the larger forums of late.

I had my first monthly kit challenge, too. After spending a couple of weeks scratching my head and pondering what on earth I was going to do, I finally took the plunge. The pictures below are the results of said challenge - I'm pleased with it!



The other big BIG news of the year is that Nick & I have decided to return to the UK. He's too tired and overworked and underpaid to put up with it any longer. France is great, we do love it, but we came here for a quality of life that is non-existent when you're having to work all the hours God sends in order to just exist. There are other reasons too, which I won't go into at the moment. All will be revealed in the fullness of time - and no, I'm NOT pregnant!

So much for good intentions.....

Where has the time gone since I last posted on here? I'm so crap at this. Not that anything exciting has happened - yet. Watch this space for details.

The only different thing in my life at the moment is that I've been accepted onto the design team for an online craft shop - find it here.... www.craftz4all.co.uk

Other moves are afoot, but shhhh, they're a secret.

Where is Spring?

So much for me doing a daily blog.

I'm just starting to get over this flu-ey cold that has had me grounded for the last week. Started with a sore throat, then grotty nose, then fever, dizziness, the shakes, and finally a rotten cough. One week after I start with it, my DH Nick has come down with it. Only he doesn't have the luxury of going back to bed in the mornings - he has to work so we can eat. And boy does he work!

I'm wondering if it's ever going to stop raining! We've had over 8 inches of rain in the Limousin during March, and it still hasn't stopped. Well, by that I mean that it's intermittent, but there's no sign of there being any long term let up in the weather. When the sun does come out, it baking hot, but it's not out for long enough to dry up the mud that surrounds our grounds. So I'm on a constant battle to keep our floors clean and mud free.

The plants are starting to wake up - the cherry tree is covered in buds and it's starting to blossom. However, if it doesn't stop raining, we won't get any fruit this year - the rain will wash all the pollen out of the flowers and the fruit won't set. There's plenty of daffs and pansies etc around and my "Coeur de Marie" or Broken Heart plant which I planted last year has done beautifully. I'm so glad! At least the rain should mean that a) my Arum lilies flower this year- last years drought meant we got nothing! and b) we should hopefully avoid a hosepipe ban. Last year the authorities even put a ban on the farmers from watering their crops.....

If you can't beat 'em....

....join 'em!

I wish I'd done this ages ago. It would have been nice to have somewhere to vent my spleen in times of stress, but heigh ho.

So, forgetting all that has gone before - I'm sure it will all come out in here eventually! - what's new? I have a cold, feel lousy, it's pouring with rain today and I have to go to the bank soon.

Life in France is just SO much fun sometimes.....