Project Life: Week 4

Easter weekend fell in this week.  There was an incredible thunderstorm on the Saturday and Easter Day saw DS enjoying his first ever egg hunt at my SIL's house.  The 'Happy Spring' was a free download from Ali Edwards. 

Tuesday saw me recording our day in photos for Shimelle's Beyond Blogging For Scrapbookers class.  There's a map of a shopping centre with a receipt (early birthday present for me), some bumpf from the bank about cash withdrawals over the counter and a photo of my beautiful Alliums.  The blank card is for another story that isn't for sharing.



52 In Black & White: Week 17

A Magical Day

Some 2 billion people around the world shared with the British people this morning the magic that was the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.

 (source: AFP)

Truly a wonderful, romantic and emotional occasion.  We chose to celebrate by having tea and cake at home.  DS was more than a little baffled as to why the TV was on so early in the morning and that there was cake at 10.30am!

I thought our new teapot and mugs were entirely appropriate, don't you? 

Our family is a great supporter of the Monarchy and all that they do for Brand UK.  We are a family who have all sworn allegiance to Her Majesty and are proud of the service we have given to our country.

I realise that not everyone thinks or believes as we do, but that's what democracy is all about.  The right to disagree, without fear or prejudice.  And as for the wider Commonwealth, I think that each country must decide their own future and that that is a discussion for another day.  Although I did smile when I saw the staunchly Republican Prime Minister of a Commonwealth country arrive at the Abbey this morning ...

Scrapbook On The Road: MiniBook

Just over a month ago, I mentioned making a minibook for my Auntie to have as a reminder of our Family History Research weekend away.  That weekend is now a little over a mere three weeks away.  Thing is, I've altered a minibook (a ready made one from 7Gyspies) and I love it so much, I'm going to have to do another one for myself.  Doh!
I wouldn't normally cover a front cover with stickyback plastic, but I've a feeling that this book, when complete, will be handled by family members a lot.  The destination is blocked out because it is the city where Sian lives and she prefers that not to be common knowledge.  Absolutely fine by me.

The paper is from the 12x12 pack that came with my Project Life kit.  I love the colours and design of it.  I made pockets for journaling cards (available from Ali Edwards) ...

and a Fiskars punch (Waterfall, maybe?) to jazz up pages ...

and I made a whole page pocket for postcards, leaflets, receipts and the like to go in.  The result giving me non-standard size pages, which I rather like  ...

The smallest pages are just over 2" and I thought they would be ideal for journaling quotations.  The very first page will have "Connecting the Past to the Present and the Future..."

The idea is one borrowed from Ali Edwards, again, and her Scrapbook on the Road suggestion.  Scrapbooking at its most simplest ~ love it.

A Life In The Day

 Nursery school run

 Queueing at the Post Office

 Food shopping

 Elevenses

 Laundry

 Local colour

 Lunch time walk

 Afternoon adventures

 Supper

 Bath time for DS

Almost there ~ time for a cuppa and a sit down

This post was brought to you in association with Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers: prompt 6. You can take a look at the daily lives of other bloggers by going here.
Day recorded: Tuesday, 26 April.
DH missing from photos due to not being at home.  Pooch missing from photos due to his refusal to stand still long enough.

Wit Or Wisdom: #15

Project Life: Week 3

Week 3 saw the end of  our trip to Scotland and a stop-off at my mum's house.  There's proof that I completed the Times crossword ~ general knowledge, not cryptic.  And a reminder that the car tax was due for renewal. 

More adventures on public transport, a large Internet food shop delivered the 1st day back home and something that isn't for sharing.

** With reference to this post, the last few posts have been scheduled ones.  I am not at my PC and you may have noticed that I have not been popping over to your blog.  I'll be back soon, I promise. **

52 In Black & White: Week 16

Thankful Thought: No. 4

~ Thankful that three makes a family ~

Thanks as always to Ali Edwards: see her post here.

A Short Break In Transmission

Just to let you know that I will probably not be posting on a daily basis for a while.  I need to step away from the virtual world and be fully engaged with the real world.
Be assured that DH, DS and I are all okay.

And There They Were, Gone

Before going away last week, the flowers on a bush in our garden looked like this ...

Today that bush looks like this ...

This is what we missed (scrapped by me in 2009 as part of Shimelle's Scrap Like You Mean It year-long project) ...

That's Nature for you; she waits for no-one.

Project Life: Week 2

Week 2 was the trip North to visit my sister and her family.  The LHS shows a little of what we did and where we went.

I added 6 extra photos, using up the remaining 12x12 page protector I'd cut up for week 1.  The top photo is a view of a very busy motorway, which I felt needed to be included ~ it's still part of the story, isn't it? 

The LHS shows me at the "diesel shop", so called by DS, and the accompanying receipt.  We bought the baklava from a market stall in town ~ it was delicious (and it turned out that the 2 guys running the stall come from my bit of West London).

I also recorded the evening meals we ate.  That's going to be a continuous theme, I think.  The Venison Wellington served up by my BIL was delicious!

Do You Blurk?

Are you a blurker?  Do you even know what a blurker is?  A blurker is someone who reads a blog this blog, maybe smiles at a photo of my son, nods in agreement at something I've written, perhaps even admires a scrapbook page I've shared ... but never, ever leaves a comment to say they stopped by. 

Is that you?

If so, then please break that habit and leave a comment to say why you read about the daily doings of my life.  I'm not looking for compliments, although feel free to chuck in the odd one or two, I'm interested to know what makes my blog readable and perhaps how I can improve it. 

And because I like a post to be illustrated by a photo, here's my son amusing himself with the in-car entertainment system ...

** This post was brought to you by Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers: Prompt 1 **

Cousins

Note: 14-year-old nephew appears in photo under duress.

A Rarity

52 In Black & White: Week 15

There's Nothing Better ...

... when you are 4-years-old and you can see this ...

... across the road from this ...

 

 ... and you can do this ...

 

BTW, does anyone know how to add a slideshow to blogger?  The footage of DS running down the slope with Daddy and Auntie L is brilliant and I wanted to share it with you.

Pancake Law

It's compulsory when visiting my sister in NE Scotland to visit Baxters for a pancake.  In fact, it's the law ...

Love My Boys

~ DS and DN ~

Wit Or Wisdom: Week 14

Project Life: Week 1

It turned out to be a good week to begin documenting our lives.

~ The opening page ~

The LHS shows a flower made by DS for me, an invite to give blood, part of packaging, a bit about Speech Therapy and what we ate.

Here you can see the month marker, an extra page protector (I cut a 12x12 one in half), with the RHS page underneath.  The extra page hold photos showing us enjoying the good weather and DS's parcel from Deb on the reverse. I used my blog posts for the journaling.

The RHS part of an email to my book group, stuff from the Lambing Event and receipts from food shopping.  The bottom left journaling block is left blank because that bit isn't for sharing. 

I also added a letter from the Council about where DS will go to school in September and the letter Deb sent in the book parcel.

52 In Black & White: Week 14

As responsible dog owners, I scoop the dog's poop and DS puts in an approved bin.

4x6 Photo Love: Three

Shimelle is running a year-long project scrapping with just 4x6 photos.  She began January with 1 photo on her LO and is increasing the number of photos on her LOs as the months go by.
March means three 6x4 photos and is very easy to accomplish.

I really like the look of having the photos right across the page.  I've used this technique before and it will be one that I return to fairly frequently, I should think.

Celebrating All That Is Good In The World Of Blog

Yesterday's prompt from Shimelle in Blogging For Scrapbookers was all about "playing nicely".  I looked back at what I wrote in November 2009 (and you can see that post here); in the 18 months since I wrote that post, I can truly say that I have only encountered the good from fellow bloggers.
The following names were randomly selected, so please don't feel hard done by if you haven't had a shout out.  Each and every one of you is appreciated.
There's Mel, who is lovely and funny and smart and everything you would want in a friend.  I was so pleased to be able to meet her back in February and she now even has her own scrap page.

There are Deb & Carrie, who are loving, generous, big-hearted and talented.  How can I manage a trip to Arizona?
There's Sian who is witty, knows how to tell a story, an awesome scrapbooker and, to my delight, meeting me in May.
There are Robyn and Amy, who are generous with their support, encouragement and advice.  And scrap like me, if I may be so bold as to compare myself to them.
There are the ladies I chatted with recently thanks to Deb and Skype.
And there are all of my readers.  Some openly follow my blog, some don't, some never comment, some comment frequently.  You have all encouraged the way this blog has grown in style (I hope) and substance.
Thank you, one and all.