WOYWW 134 - or.... WWUYCT

Welcome to the Betwixtmas WOYWW - and on this occasion, I'm also calling it WWUYCT, or What Was Under Your Christmas Tree?

For newbies who don't have a clue what I'm on about, the deets can be found HERE at Dunnit Dimensions.

I had a bit of a fail this week.  I had every intention of visiting everyone who visited me on last week's WOYWW, and didn't.  I simply didn't get on the computer.  I also intended to post on Christmas day, but we went for a Xmas Geocache, and were out for 4 hours, finding 18 Geocaches on a six mile walk.  It was an epic success, and made our Xmas, I have to say. 

Yes we're sad, but how many of you managed to get an 11 year old to walk 6 miles on Christmas Day without complaining, and more to the point, having only opened TWO presents???  An equal success, because it wore out some of her bounce, made Christmas last all day, and then into the bargain, the originator of the Cache ring watched us do part of it from his home, and came out halfway through to ply us with Mince Pies!  Yay!  Can I just add that Lil Miss B is as "into" Geocaching as we are, so it was no hardship for her, she enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Well, onto the main point of my blathering.

My desk this week, as you can see, is clean and pretty tidy.  All ready for the next bout of creativity. 

My fingers are itching.  Amongst my lovely presents was a signed book from Spellbound Beads on beaded baubles, and a kit of the Emperor Bauble (this will be my third bauble from SB themselves).  Having not actually done the last one I bought (The Romanov), I feel I should complete it before starting the new one.  And I feel confident to start it because I actually finished the Charmed Stocking on Boxing Day, and it now hangs on our tree after its photo shoot (see below).

As for WWUYCT - here are the gratuitous present shots:

Yes, that's a lot of presents, mostly for Lil Miss B!

I had lots of lovely craft stuff in addition to the bits mentioned above - Distress Inks, TH's scissors, 12 x 12 papers, peeloffs in attractive borders, Shapeabilities fleur de lis accents..... I could go on....

 So, I hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas, coupled with good cheer, laughter, plenty of love, light and happiness, and generally a joyous time.

I'll leave you with one last chuckle though - on his wish list, Mr B had asked for a new memory stick, a 4GB "peg".  Lil Miss B gave him this - a fridge magnet to clip his notes to.....

Catch you on the hop!



WOYWW 133 - Merry Christmas to All!

So here it is.  The Christmas edition of WOYWW.  In honour of the occasion, here is a slightly blurred, but very sparkly looking photo of my Christmas tree.  I would have shown you a picture taken with flash, but that just ruined the festive look.  So you'll have to go with the mellow yellow version.  LOL.

So what is on my workdesk this Wednesday?  For those who are new to the phenomenon created by the ebullient Ms Budd, go to The Stamping Ground for all the deets and the funky roadmap that is the great and wonderful Mr Linky.  And I can honestly say, having sampled the delights last evening, that the sheet cake was truly yummy.  Thanks Julia!

My desk. Oh ROFL.  What do we have here?  Well, yes, this isn't Wednesday's photo, but Tuesday night's, and it appears I have another squatter.  This time Mr B is at it, making a pop out Christmas card for his parents, to deliver tomorrow. 

  

 

My desk this week has been a  lap tray in the lounge because that has been the most comfy place to work.  I've still not finished my charmed stocking but I have, er herm, managed to bead two other baubles for ladies who I am honoured to call my friends.  Said baubles have been safely delivered, but I didn't managed to finish them in time for a photo opportunity.  You'll just have to take my word for it that they sparkled elegantly, and hanging on the recipients' trees look like...er... baubles.  Fab!

Thank you all for your warm wishes regarding my op.  I've been poked, prodded, stitched and bruised, and am due to make my second attempt to return to work tomorrow (the first being a bit of a fail because I wasn't really well enough, naivety and optimism leading me to think I was...LOL).  The surgeon has found and dealt with one issue on my insides, we just have to wait three months to see if it's worked, and if not, try a different tack.  Joy joy.

Here's to wishing you all a very merry Christmas and see you at Betwixtmas if not before - I will endeavour to do a WUYCT (What's Under Your Christmas Tree) for Christmas Day!

See you on the hop!

WOYWW 132 - Success!

Welcome to WOYWW once more.  For all the deets on this desk-hopping extravanganza, go HERE.

So, just a quickie from me tonight - we have success!  I finally managed to get my star card completed, and here it is.  I apologise for the state of the photos, I've taken them in rather a hurry tonight after spending a couple of hours unsuccessfully trying to resolve an email issue.  Darned BT!

Yes, an awful lot of work went into those, and I won't know for a couple of days whether or not it's worth it, but it was fun!

I've just realised I didn't take a decent picture of the section of the card with the 5 pointed star pop out.  Oh well!

Not much else has happened here at Morti Mansions - unfortunately, Lil Miss B's Christmas trip to Granny in France has been cancelled at the eleventh hour because the Wicked Real-Mother failed to check the passport (we didn't have it, so didn't know) until last night and discovered it had expired.  Neither she nor we have the funds to replace it this close to Christmas, even if she managed to get an appointment to do so.  I wouldn't mind, but her other daughter's had expired earlier this year and it didn't occur to her to check it at the time.... I have to say that Lil Miss B has mixed feelings about the trip being cancelled - the silver lining is that she doesn't have to spend Christmas with Granny.  The sad part is that it's just re-inforced in her young mind what a waste of space her real mother is.  Such a shame.

Anyway, I digress...

Other than the card, my desk is pretty clear.  Lil Miss B had a marathon session on Monday night and made a fridge magnet for her Guide Leader for Christmas, but that's all the excitement my desk has seen this week.  If you can see my two new jesters lurking, I might offer a prize for the two best names you guys can come up with!

Catch you on the hop!

WOYWW 131 - Epic fail, comme normale...

Well, hello my WOYWWing friends.  If you don't WOYWW, why not?  All the deets are here.

Well, this week has been, as the title suggests, an epic fail.  Shoshi brilliantly managed to prod my memory that I do actually have a Silhouette SD but it hasn't actually helped.  The amount of detail involved in this particular cut means that it takes a lot of time to cut, and the blade on the machine doesn't always cut all the way through.  Which I think is the machine's way of telling me I need a new blade.  That and the fact that I haven't quite mastered converting a Jpeg to a GSD file for the machine.  Ho hum.  Before someone points out that I ought to do a double cut etc, I know all that, but it's struggling with the fine detail and doing double tracks etc.  I need a decent tute. I've spent far too much time on this already - but have invested more time than makes me want to back out of the comp!  ROFL.  Anyone mention the word masochist?

So here is my desk, with one partially cut out PCB design.  We're having a stay-at-home weekend this weekend, and I'm hoping to spend most of Saturday in the craft room.  Some hope... We managed to put the tree up, put lights on it, and a star at the top.  But Mr B didn't take too kindly to my suggestion that we leave it like that!  Oh well.

Don't look too closely at my desk - you might notice two tealight holders at the back that I was supposed to work some magic on.  Shhh - don't tell Tracy.....

I will try to get round as many as I can this week!  Hope you're all not too stressed out with Christmas!

WOYWW 130 - the OMG it's nearly December! one...

Yooohallloooo!  WOW!  November 30th!  Advent starts tomorrow and I've not found my candle for it yet.  That sucks...

Well, I'm pleased that you've decided to swing by my place on your wander through WOYWW-land.  If you've landed here by accimedent (new word, LOL) then try popping off to HERE where our Tour Guide, Julia, will hand you a pamphlet and a packet of polos for the journey.  Enjoy!

Meantime, I really wish I had something more interesting, more...er...finished... to show you.  Sadly, the stocking has got no further and currently is still lurking on the laptray in the lounge.  Life gets in the way, y'know?

What I CAN show you is my current state of play desk-wise.

Suffice it to say that work, as usual, has had a brain-fart, and this month they're running a design-a-Christmas-card competition.  Oh ROFL.  Like I'm not going to have a go at that!  However, it's pretty open as to what medium we use etc etc, so I'm going for a star card in white and I'm using a printout of PCB tracking (for we is a PCB manufacturer, no less) to create a stencil for embossing and stencilling through...  Hehehehe.  It's going to take a while though - all those lines and dots will need cutting out!

Also on my desk you can see two tealight holders and some mulberry paper that I really MUST get sorted this week for a commission.  I also have the delightful prize sent to me all the way from Australia by Sandra de for correctly guessing the object on her desk a fortnight ago (how's THAT for a postal service, eh?) and what a delightful prize too.  A card, an ATC, ribbon, India ink, microbeads in festive colours, pink bling, page pebbles AND a print of the stamp I guessed.  I'm definitely using that in something!  Thanks Sandra!

Well, the witching hour approaches, and I can get this out onto t'internet tonight (as my desk will be no different in the morn) ready for linking up at ohmygodo'clock tomorrow.

Catch you all on the 'op!

ETA - Here's a funny thing.  Shoshi, in her comment, has mentioned that I would be better converting the pic to a cutting file, and cutting out that circuit diagram on a cutting machine.  How stoopid do I feel right now?  I have a Craft Robo/Silhouette... doh!.....  so, today (2nd Dec) I have been to work and got them to convert the image to a jpeg so I can convert it to a gsd file and get the machine to do the hard work!  I don't know why it didn't occur to me to do that in the first place.  Guess I've not used the machine enough.  In my defence, I will also add that the circuit diagram was also a pdf originally....not compatible with a CR.  Thanks for the prod though, Shoshi!

Blog Candy.....x 2

Elaine has this on offer:

You have until the 3rd December to join in!  Gorgeous papers, eh?  There's a little something else there too, so go have a look!

and Louise has this on offer!  Also until the 3rd December....

You've got to be in it to win it!

WOYWW 129 - the slightly different one....

Ok, it's late on Tuesday night (technically, now early Wednesday morning) so I'll keep this brief.  Makes a change, says the reader....

Welcome once more to WOYWW, the wonder of desk hopping and blog surfing as created by the magnificent Mrs D.

This week I kind of have two desks for you.  One is my upstairs desk....... ta dah!

As you can see, not a lot on it.  We have a broken pair of earrings courtesy of Lil Miss B.  A stack of cutting mats, at the bottom of which is a nice, shiny (literally - I haven't taken the cellophane off it yet!) A2 cutting mat.  And we have exhibit A - one set of the new limited edition Tim Holtz inks which plopped through my letterbox today.  Huzzah!  There's not a lot else on my desk because I've not been here to do any crafting.  On Monday, Mr B's school got the call all schools dread these days - Ofsted are showing up today (Weds) to do their Inspection, so it's been a frantic couple of days of catching up  on the marking and targets and paperwork and.....and....  He's been putting in 20 hours days, and I feel like I have too...

The other "desk" is my downstairs desk, aka a lap tray.  On it is the remains of the Mill Hill Charmed Stocking I'm working on.  The main part of the stocking is now done; I'm working on the cuff and stocking "stuffers" to finish it.  I WILL have it done soon, then I can go back to the Hardanger I was working on earlier in the year....sigh.....

Other entertainng news - Lil Miss B and I went to the Wave 105 Live gig on Sunday (I won a pair of tickets back in September), and saw: The Reason 4, The Feeling, Erasure, Matt Cardle, Darren Hayes, The Pierces and The Overtones.  We had a fab time, though Lil Miss flagged a lot sooner than I did - we had standing tickets!  I do have a couple of pics but they're on my phone and it requires more energy than I have right now to get them off it.  I have managed to pull this photo they took of us off the Wave 105 website, though!  How cool is that?!

Less than entertaining news, but far more important (and I know I should be happy but it's hard to) is that I finally have a date for my investigative laparascopy.  And guess what?  It's the 15th December.  Nothing says Happy Christmas quite like having your abdomen pumped full of air and a camera shoved through your belly button.  My workplace aren't too impressed as by then my boss will be in Australia with his family, and they're worrying in case the hospital decide to keep me in as there's only the two of us in the department.  Tough!  My health comes first.... I'm sure someone there will keep on top of the cash!

However, for now we are plodding along quite happily, so see you around on the blop!

Ha!  Just realised...... I was going to keep this brief....  Oh well!

WOYWW 128 - Oooops......

Welcome to the worldwide wonder that is WOYWW - for deets go to Dunnit Dimensions! 

Well, mine is short but not exactly sweet this week.

You ever have one of those moments that is soundtracked by a sharp intake of breath?  You know the one I mean, where you can actually HEAR the horror that you've just experienced?  Yeah, that one.

Well, I did one of those on Monday.  Our Group Personnel Manager was stood at my desk distracting me.  On my desk were two piles of paperwork.  One for shredding, the other for filing.  Fairly important filing too, because it was personnel stuff.

Still talking to her, I picked up the shredding, walked to the shredded, selected the first batch of 7 sheets, and put them in the shredder.

The pages get three-quarters of the way through - and cue horrified sharp intake of breath as I realise I had picked up the wrong pile.

So, my WOYWW for this week is this......

To quote Lil Miss B - "It's a good job you like jigsaw puzzles!"....

Catch you on the hop!

Dictionary of Mort strikes again!

Today we have had....

INKIBU.... pronounced in-key-boo

In the dictionary of Mort, this is what it's called when one of your crafting friends pops up with an unexpected random act of kindness.

An alternative definition could be that this is a way to frighten the life out of Tim Holtz....

WOYWW 127 - ARRRRRRRRRRRR...... again.

Wahey!  That was the week that was, that was!  And here we are again, with another round of WOYWW desk-hopping hosted by our beloved MC Mrs Dunnit.  For all the deets go here but don't forget to take a picnic and a compass because you might be a while once you start. 

As you can see, we still have a Charmed Stocking in progress on the desk.  I've discovered that needlework now needs to be done in small bursts because gripping a needle sets my carpal tunnel off.  That and pumpkin carving.  Doh.

On Saturday I attended another of the Big Crops and had a bit of an epic fail.  It didn't help that I didn't get there until 1pm (Lil Miss B had urgent need of a Guide uniform - £32 for t-shirt and hoodie, if you please!!) but the grand turnout on this occasion wasn't even quite a whole layout (compared to the four I did at the previous crop).  I fiddled, I tweaked, I cut, stamped and glued.... and then had to wait till I got home to add the flourish and the lettering.  Not being able to finish it, and the brewing headache I had, meant that I lost the mojo to do more.  I will have to look at that and rectify it this month. Mr B said it was down to the 3 p's - Piss Poor Preparation.  I just said "what preparation?"  To be fair, I hadn't even emptied my scraptotes from the last time, so hadn't really prepped properly.  I had prepped, it was just a month earlier.  LOL

So here is a close up of the finished LO for your delight and delectation.  Once again, Lil Miss B is a tad niggled that it's yet another photo of her (I quote "and why did you have to take a close-up??") but I think that secretly she's pleased.  I like how it turned out, no matter what she thinks!

If you've got this far, well done! 

Other major news in the B household is that we finally got the results of the auditions we took part in on the 30th October for Treasure Island.  Well, we actually got a phone call from the Director rather than just the email that everyone else got because he had a rather special request.  I've been asked if I think I can manage to take a small principal role AND be the society's Stage Manager for the show.  The role in question is the Spirit of the Sea, with appearances at the beginning and end of both acts.  I get to recite some rhyming couplets, not sure if there's a song involved (probably) and do the walk-down at the end, but as that's the role I was hoping for, I naturally said yes!  Being Stage Manager doesn't faze me - I've done Production Management in theatre since I was 14, so I've pretty much grown up with the backstage influence.  It's only since I've been with Mr B that I've had the confidence to step into the limelight again.

The others?  Lil Miss B has got a place in the chorus - kudos to her because 20 kids tried out for chorus and only 10 were chosen - and Mr B is......

wait for it......

Long John Silver!

So he gets to reprise a similar role to last year, just swapping a hook for a wooden leg.... ROFL.

The weird bit is that last year the Dame was played by a fella called Steve.  This year....the Dame is played by a fella called Steve.  Different Panto societies, different Steves - but how funny!

This is going to be fun!

And if you've read this far, well done to you!   Catch you on the blop!

The Dictionary of Mort...

... has come up with another treasure on the word verification thingy today...

FAKERSIC

which in the dictionary of Mort must surely mean pretending to be ill or swinging the lead....


ROFL

WOYWW 126 - WHOOOOOO

Except it's not that scary, really.  Welcome to WOYWW, the global phenomenon started by our marvellous Mrs Dunnit.  The lady who has single-handedly brightened our "over-the-hump" day by giving us a glimpse into the chaos that our fellow crafters live in.  At least this way we don't feel alone, and we have our own little support group, eh?  Hehehehe.

Not that my space is chaos.  No siree.  I'm still basking in the glow of the "just moved in and got it tidy" feeling.  That, and a lack of time this week to do much other than lay out the remains of a Mill Hill Charmed Stocking that I'm trying to finish before Christmas this year (seeing as I started it before Christmas last year.  Whoops!) so it will make it onto the tree in time.  LOL.  We live in hope.  One bright note though is that I emailed Mill Hill when I discovered they'd not provided enough of one type of bead - and they duly supplied me with plenty along with a profuse apology.  Go Mill Hill!

There's also not a lot of point in doing anything else as we have another crop this weekend.  Yay!.

So, here's my desk....

Other highlights this week include being the prompt for a play our new AmDram/Panto society were doing, auditioning for the next panto (that was an experience and a half) and in amongst that attending a children's halloween party at Mr Hat's house as well as sending the brat Lil Miss B (she's not really a brat but I bet it made you smile) out trick-or-treating.  As you can see, she likes to stand out in a crowd.... I don't think I need to point out which one she is, eh?

Well, hopefully I'll get round a few more of you this week than last - this week we have no visitors, no rehearsals, no Halloween..... hang on, how many days did you say it was till Christmas...........................???????

WOYWW 125 - the lame, ironic one....

Oh irony of ironies.  The one week when something major has happened to my desk, I lose my WOYWW mojo AND I'm out every night for the rest of the week so know that I'm not going to get around as many desks as usual.

If I feel up to it, and have any time, I'll upload a picture later on.  Duly uploaded, just before midnight!

There are times when I have to smile though.  We're having a real week of "one-in-one-out" as a succession of teens and pre-teens (and even grandparents) troop through the house.  Friday night saw the unexpected arrival of the daughter of one of my BFFs.  Now, Debs is an amazing crafter, and her daughter is used to seeing all sorts.  First comment when she rang her Mum to let her know she'd arrived?  "Mum, you should see the drawers in the craft room...!!!"  ROFL.  Bless.  I'm glad she didn't mention the huge pile of junk that was on the desk at the time!

May see you on the hop, may not - all depends on how the show goes....  TTFN!

WOYWW 124

Just a brief-ish one from me today because I didn't actually gear this up last night.

Not that there's a lot of point in doing WOYWW this week (all the deets are here) - the old craft workdesk has not changed since last week.  Well, actually it has, but that's been down to Man-activity rather than my own.  He's been doing something DIYish.  I'd better start sorting it out now he's done.

No, instead I was at a Pampered Chef evening last night.  Didn't buy anything.  Did get to see someone turn Yorkshire Puddings into Choux Buns.  Interesting.... No, I didn't try one.  I'm mad, but not THAT mad....

So, for your delight and delectation - here is today's workdesk.  This is where I sit at work.  As you can see, there's not a lot on it - there never is at 8.00am.  But passsing across it today will be four cashbooks, some stationery supplies when they're delivered, invoices that require processing and a shed load of overseas payments that need to be made.  Yup.  My job is really interesting.....

Hopefully, normal service will resume shortly and I can get back to some crafting.  My fingers are starting to itch for something other than scrapbooking.

See you all on the hop!

Monday Monday....

It's been an interesting weekend.  It started Friday with getting home form work and then dragging my sorry arse over to the pub for "ladies night", which is generally like pulling teeth.  I'm sure it's not so bad, but I've never really done the "lets all go down the pub and whinge about our weight/husbands/children/jobs/home/money/lack of money etc etc and so on and so forth"  But I'd invited L out (Mrs to Mr Hat down below) cos she's fab, and so we went.

Another L - ironically, same name exactly, but not married to Mr Hat - decided to join us.  Turned out the only reason she came to the pub for a drink was because I was going!  Not bad, considering I've only lived in the village for 8 weeks...

We all promised ourselves we'd only go for an hour or so.  Five hours later I crept back across the road and into the cottage, managing to get into bed without waking Mr B.  Not that it would have been a problem if I had, but he looked so sweet, out sparko, snoring gently.  Me n' the L's had a fab time.  A real hoot.  We were just gassing, but we managed to avoid whinging about our weight/husbands/children/jobs/home/money/lack of money and instead opted for lengthy discussions on weight loss, boob reductions, methods of hair removal, the delights of curry, Halloween parties and spreadsheets.  Yes, spreadsheets.  It appears Mr HAt and L#1 need some assistance in the merchandising department, and I agreed to help L#1 learn the art of Microsoft Excel.

Next day I get two almost identical texts from the two L's, each one bemoaning their hangover.  I managed to avoid one, though how I'm not sure...

Saturday Me and the B's went into Salisbury to do some shopping etc.  When we got home, before launching into a frenzy of cleaning and tidying, we found ourselves having to sit Lil Miss down and have a long chat on the delights of make-up and what she should or shouldn't be wearing at the tender age of 11.  And, more importantly, why she shouldn't be lying to us about wearing it  - she's taken to sneaking make-up on after we've left the house in the morning.  Mr B and I appreciate that if we lay down the law and demand that she doesn't do it, this is the result, so I've managed to talk him down from changing her school bus to one that goes from his school, and chaining her to her bed out of school hours (LOL) and we've agreed that she can wear some but she has to abide by what we think is appropriate.  Neutral, barely there.  Not Avril Lavigne smoke-eyes.  And only wearing decent quality makeup, not cheap pound-shop/market rubbish.  And she's buying it out of her pocket money.  Sheesh.  It's hard being a Mum. 

Hopefully, we've succeeded.

Saturday night was spent having a wine and cheese evening with a work colleague of Mr B and her husband.  Much merriment.  Except this time I had wine and if I'd finished my third glass, I'd have had a hangover to rival that of the two L's!

Sunday - quiet day.  We went to the tip, located a geocache en route, and then made ourselves known to PVADS, the local AmDram group.  As soon as we had, we were dragged into the current production, with Mr B working as a stage hand and yours truly standing in as prompt.  Nice to be wanted....

So today we are....

• listening -  to nothing - lunchtime silence in the office!

• eating – ryvita and reduced fat hoummous - mmmmmmm.
• drinking - a leukwarm coffee.
• wearing - charcoal grey trousers and blue jumper.  Having to be normal at work sucks.
• feeling - tired, but fairly chilled considering I'm at work.  Oh no, wait, that's cos the heating is off.
• weather - cloudy and a bit inclined to rain.
• wanting - the next three hours to pass at high speed so I'm not bored.
• needing - more sleep.
• thinking - I should be getting back to work.
• enjoying - rediscovering my goth/metal roots.
• wondering - if I can score any tickets to the gig at the Brixton Academy at the weekend.....

TTFN!!!!

WOYWW 123

Wooo!  It's after midnight so I'll be an early poster for a change!  For the newbies out there - I'm talking about WOYWW, all the info can be found HERE where you can hop on the magical mystery tour....

I'll keep it brief cos, as I said, it's after midnight and I've just turned into a pumpkin.  Or at least, I feel like one!

Not much change to the ol' desk this week.  I've shuffled a couple of boxes and taken a couple of things out of one of them, but other than that, not a lot of change.  Although I would point out that wobbly man seems to be doing his impersonation of C-3PO at the moment!  LOL.  Well, had to make a bit of an obvious change, otherwise the desk would look exactly the same as last week.

Crafting wise, there has been zero activity.  However, we DID go and see Blackmore's Night play at Salisbury City Hall on Saturday - absolutely ACE gig, and we hung around after and chatted to the keyboard guy (Dave) and the woodwind guy (Albert), and Lil Miss B got her photo taken with Albert.  Didn't get to chat to Ritchie Blackmore, but we figured we'd hung around long enough and Lil Miss B was ready for bed!  I would have taken more photos (they're on my phone at the mo) but I've never seen such high security at an event.  The bouncers were on the hot lookout for anyone using a camera or phone and confiscating them if they caught someone.  I got a couple of pics of the empty stage, and one of Albert opening the show, but that was it. 

Equally, it's been an interesting week.  You know how it is, you've got chatty/friendly with someone who is the parent of XXXX, one of the kids in your partner's class at school.  And several months later you find out that said parent is actually someone rather famous in certain circles, and whose band you *cough* idolised in your teens.... 20+ years is a long time, gimme a break, I didn't recognise him straight away.... LOL..... Cue rummaging in your album collection and a music fest of gothic proportions..... No?  Must be just me then.....

Forgive me if I don't mention his name or his band, but he's pretty cagey about what he does (I don't think the locals around here are ready for that bombshell) and it would affect XXXX's relationship with her friends if they knew her dad was famous.  Likewise, I've not told Lil Miss B (and she never reads my blog, so not an issue) because she genuinely likes her; we'd prefer them to be friends because they get on well, not because of who XXXX's Dad is.... I'm sad to say it but Lil Miss B can be a tad shallow sometimes!

Back to WOYWW - I didn't manage everyone last week - BT Broadband had a hissy fit on me again on Sunday.  I hope you're all keeping well though!

Catch you on the hop....

WOYWW 122

Time for the weekly WOYWW - this one is a little hurried as I'm at work! 

Quick pics today to show that nothing has changed - the desk is still piled pretty high but that's normal around here for the moment.  It wasn't helped by having lots of visitors over the weekend (not all of them expected!) as well as going to a crop (more on that in a mo).

Anyway, the crop was successful - I managed to do these layouts (much to Lil Miss B's disgust!).  The Easter LO was a lucky hit - I'd had this TLC page kit for YONKS, never expecting to be able to use it and I'd forgotten about it.  Then came these pics and the colours match perfectly. 

Julia asked me when I last did a layout - I worked out it was 2007, and so far I've done 11 in total, including the 4 this weekend.  As Julia pointed out, any average is better than none!!!

WOYWW 121

I iz back.  And ready for another round of WOYWW courtesy of the Darling Mrs Dunnit - go visit if you haven't a clue what I'm on about....

LOL

Just a quickie from me cos I'm not supposed to spend too much time on the 'pooter, having successfully buggered up my wrist from cleaning too much in the house move.  Yup.  T'is true.

So here you have it - what THE new room currently looks like.  It's a work in progress, you know.

And just to prove to the Fabulous Ms D, see, there really is a bed in there.....  (Last time Madame Dunnit saw the room, it was a pile of boxes....)

The last three weeks have seen....

Me off work for two and a half of them.

19 of the 62 Chalet School stories read.

LLJ and I singing our hearts out with Marlborough Choral Society

The snake moving off of pinkies and onto fluffies.  Seriously.  And if you don't know what I mean, you don't want to be asking neither....

The cats slowly getting used to us, and gradually getting less scared of the dogs.  One of them will even tip toe past them to get to food now.  Provided they are asleep. 

Lil Miss B getting herself grounded.  Twice.  And at the tender age of 11... what joys may yet be to come...

My mother visited.  She gardened.  She's 80.

The big red beast we call our MPV has died.  We don't yet know if it's resurrectable.  Worst case scenario - new car.  Medium case scenario - new gear box.  Hopeful scenario - Mr B can fix it with a twiddle or two.

Me and BT nearly coming to blows - they cancelled the cancel and then nearly didn't give us broadband back and when they did it was with the wrong number....... I could go on but I won't.

War being waged with the Wolf spiders.  Urgh.  I can cope with spiders, but not en masse and brandishing weapons...

So there you have it.

I will try to visit you all this week.....

Monday's Musings....

So, here I am a week-plus on from having moved, and am back at work.  I've had a couple of days of crippling pain in my right arm/hand from too much cleaning, and am tired and emotional, but other than that it's all gone rather well.

Apart from Lil Miss B "losing" a jumper at school on only her second day.  We say "losing" because we think another child took it, but whether by accident or intent we can't say.  What we can say is that her art teacher instructed her and the rest of the class to leave their bags and coats outside the classroom for the duration of the lesson, and when she went outside at the end of it, her jumper had gone.  As you can imagine, impressed we are not.  Should it not turn up, the school will be requested to provide a replacement.  And lockers.  Irate Mum on the way....

Today, I am

• listening - to the sound of my work colleagues making zillions of calls.
• eating – leftover pasta for lunch - yum!

• drinking - Apple and blackcurrant squash, with a coffee chaser
• wearing - winter clothes - jumper, corduroy skirt, knee high brown boots!
• feeling - emotional and tired, it's been a hard 10 days.
• wanting - another week of holiday to get over last week, and maybe actually get the house square.
• needing - ditto above...
• thinking - that my lunchbreak must be nearly over and isn't it hometime yet??????
• enjoying - living in a village where we've been made so very, very welcome.
• wondering - if LLJ will forgive me for not having replied to her text on Friday!
• and the weather - is changeable with occasional scattered showers.
 
   
Hmmm, must do that more often!

WOYWW 117 - Oh DUDE - THERE's my craftroom!

Well we're in.  Just about.  Shoe-horned into a bigger house with no garage and almost no loft.  You can imagine it, can't you?

If you can't, here's a couple of pics to help!

My new craft room:

Rose Cottage:

The kitchen-diner:

The bee-you-tiful garden...

The master bedroom - more boxes!

Star of the Week award goes to familly LLJ, who were just amazing with their help and moral support on the box lugging front.  We have a lot of boxes.  As you can see.

The mad rambling above, for those not in the know, is part of an international blog hop known as WOYWW - for all the deets head here. 

Now, I'm not actually going to be blog-hopping much this week.  Maybe not even next.  I might not appear next week either.

This is on account of the fact that Dipstick of the Year award goes to BT, who having been told by the previous residents of this gorgeous abode that they were moving out as of the 26th Aug, decided not to disconnect their phoneline until today (which is why I'm a day early posting, in case I lose all telephone and internet access) and are choosing not to reconnect us until the 8th September!!!!   WTF is that all about?????  Surely some geek just has to unplug one wire and connect it somewhere else?  Or tap in a passcode?  In the meantime, BT lose 8 days of money from us, cos our old line is no longer in use.  STOOPID!

So, until we meet again, sayonara.  Or perhaps Au Revoir is more accurate.


Edited to add - here I am at 11pm and we still have internet.  Go figure.....

Too funny...

You should go and check out what Simon has been up to on Penni's blog.  He's got some rubbish candy (except it's not) up for grabs.

I'm glad Mr B knows better than to have a tidy up, per se, but who knows whether or not he might blog on my behalf in future!!!

WOYWW 116 - DUDE! Where's my Craft Room????

Well, it's happened.

THESE were the photos I took yesterday morning, meaning to use them for today's WOYWW.  Before you say it, I know the calendar still says April.

However, when I got in from work last night, THIS was what greeted me. 

The boxing fairy has been at work in my absence.  Yes, he does also do the ironing, and cooks, and no you can't have him.

I was half expecting it, having been warned that the room was being moved around to accommodate the contents of the attic (which haven't yet made it downstairs) but even so!  And as you can see, my desk has boxes on it.  Again.

For anyone new to the phenomenon that is WOYWW - visit Julia and find out more!  Be prepared for a delve into the murky world of the crafter's desk...... 

Oh, and as promised - the other baby Alpaca, the newest one.  The middle Alpaca of the three is the oldest baby born this year, and the one on the left is the littlest one's Mum....

 

Next week - new house!  Can't promise I'll get round any desks - the broadband isn't being connected until the 8th September!! ULP!!!!

Edited to add - RosA has asked what's in my drawer units, so I've replied to her with the following.... "The plastic drawer units house my everything!  About 13 of them hold my rubber stamps, categorised.  Then the others hold all sorts - Card blanks and envelopes/inserts, one drawer for adhesives, one each for dye and pigment ink, colouring mediums, theres a drawer for my sizzix dies, one for my stencils & templates, 3 or 4 are sheets of card, in colour groups, theres 3D decoupage, one for peeloffs.... you get the general idea!"

Darling Boxing Fairy (aka Mr B) has cling wrapped all 60 drawers so that they don't need to be boxed up - just lifted out of their units, the units put on the van, and the drawers transported separately.....