***HAPPY NEW YEAR***

Just wanted to wish everyone a ***HAPPY NEW YEAR***...


and hope 2011 brings you and your love ones, good health and happiness...xxx

Enchanting

Well as the busy days of visitors were over, yesterday we thought we would venture out for some fresh air and exercise, so waited for the rain to subside, then drove to Heath Pond in Petersfield. It was very quiet walking round, we only saw a few couples/families, who were all friendly in answering Steven as he said hallo or goodbye to them as they walked past us.

The pond itself was mostly still frozen over and the weather was cold, damp and foggy, but the walk was sort of 'enchanting', very relaxing and it felt really good to be out, away from the stuffiness of the house and the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks.

I took the camera, but as I was holding onto Steven as the ground was still very icy, Clive managed to capture some good shots, which I've posted a few of them below.









and the last 2 to remind me it was Christmas, lol...

Saying of the week...

'Never make the same mistake twice, there are so many new ones, try a different one each day'

Happy Christmas

Just wanted to wish you all a lovely Christmas, hope you are all fit and healthy and stay warm...xxx

Saying of the week...

'You don't have to stop having fun because you grow old;
you grow old because you stop having fun'

Lovely weekend...

Well not only did I finished my Christmas present buying on Friday but hubby also made it home which was great and he cooked us a very hot chilli to celebrate on the Friday evening.

AND as Steven was at Russets on the Saturday I managed to do some crafting, so YIPPEE I've actually started my Countdown to Christmas. I've finished 2 pages, the 3rd and 4th, OK we are on the 12th of December, so still a long way behind, but I have also planned my 1st and 2nd pages but need some white stazon ink to stamp onto acetate, so cannot complete them until I buy some.







Then Saturday evening I went out with some other mum's for our Annual Christmas meal, which was at the Harvester. The meal was nothing to write home about, but it was lovely catching up with the other mum's in a relaxed atmosphere (with no son's to worry about), OK that might have been helped along by the couple of glasses of wine, lol.

Today we had a lovely roast, that turned into a family affair as Sam and Matt popped round too, which was nice and to make it extra nice, hubby cooked it, so a break for me or maybe not, at the state he leaves the kitchen in ;-(

Tonight is the weeks ironing, menus and shopping list, so not so good, but it has to be done as it won't do itself. But in all a lovely weekend.

Saying of the week...

'Age is a question of mind over matter, if you don't have a mind, it doesn't matter'

Christmas catch up

YEAH.... I actually finished my Christmas cards at the weekend, all 85 of them and 16 children's cards, all with envelopes and inserts in them...




OK they took me nearly a year to make, lol... as earlier in the year I stamped some images, then throughout the year, when I had the odd half an hour and wanted to chill, I coloured them in. Then matted and layered them with mirror card to actually start making them into cards just the last few weeks. I'm pleased with them, but hopefully now having my Arty Attic, I'm hoping I'll be able to make them up a lot quicker next year, OK you have that in writing, that I plan on having all my Christmas cards made by the end of November next year, lol...
Oh yes, I still have my special ones for my hubby, daughter, son and mum to make AND to write and address the 103 cards, arhhhhh...


So what next on my Christmas 'to do' list?.... I think that will be my December ATC in which I think I need to make 8, yikes, so will have to get my thinking cap on for them before I get a telling off for being late. Oh yes also need to make some gift tags so I can start wrapping the presents up.



As for my Count down to Christmas journal, I'm jotting down notes and taking photos, but as yet not had chance to actually start a page, unlike Carole, Alma and Sue who are all steaming along quite nicely.


But watch this space, I do plan on getting it finished this year, unlike last year, as did all the taking notes and photos and saving memorabilia, but ended up throwing them all away a few weeks back as it never got done, but this year I WILL...

Saying of the week...

'Cleaning the house while the children are growing,
is like shovelling snow while it's still snowing'

What Steven thought of the snow....

Well as you can see I managed to get Steven out in the garden, I did try to get him to throw some snow but it was very powdery, so dropped it before I could get the camera sorted. But as you can see by his face he was all that impressed for being out in it, lol....


...and within seconds of taking the first photo Steven was heading back indoors, as fast as his little legs could carry him, lol...


As you can now see, Steven prefers to be looking out on the snow, lol...

We've got snow...

This was yesterday morning, I took the photo to include in my Count Down to Christmas journal...



Then this morning I woke up to this...







So Steven and I are tucked up in doors, I might and get him out in the garden later to see what he thinks of it, if I do will try and get some photo's...

Another week over...

Well last week has been another busy one, but not because of Steven, (I know, shock and horror, lol)

Last Monday I first did my weeks shopping at Asda, then went shopping with Sam to Southampton, for our annual Christmas shopping trip... She was not 100%, had a migraine, I did suggest us going home, but she knew it was the only day she could do it, (for getting any more time off work)... So she sat down for the first few hours and I was going in and out the shops for her, but she perked up later and even managed a little bit of lunch before coming home.

Then in the evening Sam and I went with my sister to see the new Harry Potter film. It was fab, loved it, brilliant, I think it was one of the best, if not the best, it played on all my emotions, sad, happy and anxious... I would highly recommend it.

On Tuesday I nipped to the gym first thing, then went to Chichester as it was the only place that had a chair that Sam and I wanted to get Matt for Christmas, this time taking mum with me. Also managed to get a couple of things, but also didn't managed to get some things, so came home and ordered them off the Internet.

Wednesday morning was catching up with the book work that didn't get done on the Monday and Tuesday and in the afternoon I had the second part of the PECs course (OK something for Steven)...

Thursday was a visit to the dentist as when I was at Chichester I had to get some chocolate marzipan, so while in there I treated myself to some Thortons toffee, for one of my fillings to come out while eating it on the Tuesday.
Yikes this time he had to inject me as there was some decay where the filling had been (that's why it came out so easily). In fact the dentist actually said 'it was a blessing as would have been worse if the filling was left in'. That was the first time I've ever been praised by a dentist for eating toffee and loosing a filling, lol. Then it was a quick run through with the hoover before Steven came home for lunch. Then in the afternoon was boardgames and PECs homework with Steven.

Friday was the gym first thing, followed by the hairdressers (this time treating myself to foils, copper coloured) and then a little shopping and paying bills, before coming home and doing some paperwork before littlen and Clive got home for the weekend...

Saturday was a photo shoot that I was given as a present last Christmas but not had time to use, so did an informal family one with Clive, Steven Sam and Matt. Then it was PECs homework again, as Clive was home to help out). Then in the evening, I went to a candle party round my daughter's house and came away with a coconut reed refuser, (smelt like malibu, lol) and an Aroma Melts Warmer (for the left over yankee candle bits, quick tip... if you have any wax left in the glasses, place in the freezer for a few hours, then they just fall out, the glasses then can be cleaned and used and the left over wax pieces can be put in a Aroma Melts Warmer)

Sunday was the visit to Moors Valley Country Park to meet up with Clive's family again, this time Matt came too, which was nice and we got to meet hubbies cousins children too. We had a lovely time going for a few walks, having lunch there and going for a ride on the train, oh and also 2 stops into the barn for their 'yummy' hot chocolate, lol.

Which bring us back to today, Monday and the start of another weeks chores, but also catching up on all the things that didn't get done last week because I was out gallivanting, lol...
Oh well, life is too short to worry about the extra layer of dust (till the community nurse comes on Thursday, yikes)...

Saying of the week...

'Housework is something you do that no-one else notices, unless you don't do it'

Saying of the week...

'A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks'

A small world...

A few weeks back, hubby got an email from Gene's reunited to say they might have a match to his family tree, but he noticed some dates and names did not match up. But he looked into it and it seems it was his cousin on his dad's side of the family, now that was a bit of a shock, as he did not remember them, as his dad died when he was just 2.

Well we then found out not only does hubbies auntie live near Southampton, but she lives just two minutes drive away from Steven's Out of Town Day Centre he attends 3 times a week, talk about it being a small world...

Well last weekend we met up with hubbies sister at The Lapstone pub where we had a lovely lunch before dropping Steven off at his Out of Town Centre (first of all showing hubbies sister and our daughter Steven's centre) Steven was quite happy to wave us goodbye... We then went round to meet hubbies aunt and uncle and 3 of their 4 children. It was a bit of an emotional meeting for hubbies sister as the last time she had seen them was at her dads funeral some 48 years ago...

We had a lovely few hours talking about all the families and of course some more of the family tree which had bought us all back together, then I went and picked Steven up so they could meet him and we stayed another hour or so, before we all went our separate ways...

We are hoping to meet up again at the Moors Valley Country Park next month and maybe meet some more of the family members...

Saying of the week...

'If God had meant us to talk more than we listen, he'd have given us two mouths and one ear'

ATC

Sorry was again behind with them, but am happy to say have caught up...

This one was for the September 'Things that make you smile' theme which was set by Donna and I was to send to Val... the reason I chose the snowdrop was because when I see them it brings back memories of my sister and I always trying the first one to give our mum a bunch of snowdrops. But not sure how and why it started, but if I see them today I always buy my mum, sister and myself a bunch. The photo was of the one and only snowdrop that I had in my garden this year, lol...


This one was for the October 'Autumn' theme which was set by Val and I was to send to Alma. The idea came when reading a post on Do-crafts about how Alma loved to go for walks and kick the fallen Autumn leaves as a child. So I cut a load of leaves out using sizzix and spellbinder dies, then just dropped them onto the card and glued them where they laid...


The last one was for November 'Nature in Winter' theme that was set by Fiona and I was to send to Carole. It was NOT allowed to be Christmas related as we have that to look forward next month. while thinking of winter, thought of the bare trees and snow, then remembered the stamp set I had...

Count Down to Christmas

Well last year I started a couple of Count Down to Christmas advent calenders, but they never got finished and also was doing the Count Down to Christmas album, again sorry to say, didn't get done...

BUT in my defence, I was helping Sam and Matt with their house buying, while they were both working, I was the one running around the estate agents, solicitors, financial advisers and banks. (well it was the only way I could count on her moving out and me getting my Arty Attic, lol)....

Well I have now finished the advent calenders, but you're have to wait to see them, as they are drying after having a coating of mod podge...

But have also finished the front cover of the 'Count Down to Christmas' album and seeing I've added the year now, will have to start to fill it on 1st December.



It is made from the Brenda Pinnick pocket page album kit, which has got enough sides and pockets for the 25 days, but if I decide to extend it till the 6th January which a lot of people do, (till the 13th day after Christmas) I can add more pages as it's suppose to have ribbon holding it together, but I will be using 2" rings, in case I decide to add more.

A few of my crafty friends are also doing it this year and by knowing that, it will be the kick up the backside I need to actually start and finish it. You can check out their books on their blogs Carole, Alma, Sue and Gill...

A little tied up...

with appointments/meeting at the moment and cannot see it letting up, lol....

I thought life was suppose to get a little easier when Steven left school in July, but so far have had 47 appointments/meetings either with or about Steven and lost count of the phone calls I've made or received in that time for him too. Got another 5 appointments/meetings this week and so far got 2 phone calls to make...

Also last week I made the decision to let the lad on Thursday go, it wasn't an easy decision to make, but I felt Steven was not getting anything out of it... The first couple of times he took Steven out was fine, he was using public transport, (trains, buses and even a boat ride), so doing social skills I asked him to do, then the last 4 times, all his done is taken Steven for walks. He also said he couldn't do some weeks, so was looking at the dates he gave me, and it seemed he could only do every other week from now till Christmas, so also no continuity, so poor Steven won't know if he was coming or going.
Another thing I noticed was Steven never seem to get excited when Jonny turned up, but then would you, knowing you were about to walk solid for 4 hours with no stopping for a cake or drink in that time, I too would not be pleased and there was no social skills required with walking across fields and bridges.

I don't seemed to have had a lot of luck with the Thursday person, the first one handed her notice in before starting, so then got a girl for a few weeks before she went off to uni, then I get Jonny...

I didn't realise it would be so hard finding someone to give my son some 1:1 for social skills, for going on buses, trains, going across on the ferries, stopping for a drink, choosing a cake, handing over the money...

am I asking too much?

Saying of the week...

'A hug is a great gift; it costs nothing and one size fits all'

Happy Halloween...

Thought I would share a photo of my little devil, he was off to a Halloween party at Russets (his respite centre).

As he doesn't like me staying with him there, (he classes it as mum free zone, lol). I paid one of his carers he has through the week to take him, he thoroughly enjoyed himself.



It was his first Halloween party, hopefully the first of many.

Saying of the week...

'Sometimes I wake up Grumpy...
Sometimes I let him sleep in'...

Few cards...

I've had a few birthday this week, so thought as the cards have now been received, I would share them you...







I have quite a few men's birthday next month, so that WILL be a challenge, lol...

I hope you've all had a good week and have a good weekend, don't forget to pop in for my 'saying of the week' at tomorrow teatime...

Steven's Prom...

Steven had he's prom back in July, but thought I had posted the photos, but looking through my drafts I had not so here they are...

It was held at the Marriot Hotel and was quite emotional. I bought him a Tuxedo for it, we were going to get the limousine like Sam had, but we had been in one for a wedding a few years ago and to be honest Steven had trouble getting out of it, (as did I, lol)...

This photo was taken while we were waiting outside, it was a bit of a long chilly wait (his sister Sam and her fiancé Matt are behind me)...

So we sneaked into the hotel and managed to find a comfy seat for us and his nana to sit down on....

The next two were at the pre meal drinks, (notice Steven is not drinking, as he had downed his wine within seconds of getting it, OK before you say it, he gets more like his mum more everyday, lol)...



Then it was the sitting down to the 3 course meal..

Then after the presentation and meal, Steven danced the night away, with his sister...

his mum...

and dad...


If you look at all the pictures of him dancing with his family, you will see Steven is looking elsewhere, why you may ask...

cos he's a right flirt (that's what his sister called him, lol)

he had been dancing with the young ladies all evening, in fact he was one of the last ones off the dance floor... but I don't like to put pictures on my blog of people unless I ask them first, so sorry your stuck with our ugly mugs, lol...

Sayings....

Well not much to show crafting wise at the moment, as Steven has not been sleeping too good, (which means neither am I) so when he goes to bed, I'm not far behind. But I did manage a bit last Thursday evening while Steven was out for dinner with his friends, I started my children's Christmas cards, but as they're not finished yet, cannot show you them, lol

Anyway a few weeks back I started going through my old magazines and found some old cross stitch ones. I had great fun looking through them and keeping the pattens I liked, (well you never know when I might get time to do some), but also found the quotes and saying page, where people sent in the ones they liked. So have been reading them too and decided to keep the ones I personally liked.

Well, I thought once a week I would share one of the sayings I liked with you, so here is the first...

Saying of the week....

'Age doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese or wine'

Blood and spiders

Well this week has been interesting on Saturday Clive and I ended up at Bognor Regis buying another micra to replace Clive's one he has had over 5 years (Sam is having the old car). We started here in Portsmouth at 10.30am looking at cars and got back home at 4.45pm, lol... The only reason we could do this was because Steven was a Russets, hence travelling around all day till we saw something we liked.

Then in the evening we went down to our local theatre 'The Kings' to see Magic of Motown as we were lucky enough to have been given free tickets, we were also invited to 'Hi tea' before the show, but we got back from buying the car to late for that.

Then yesterday I quickly nipped up into the attic to finish off a birthday card as I needed to get it in the post for today, and while I was up there thought I would pinch one of my secret stash sweets (fox glacier fruits) to crunch it and break a tooth, lol....


So phoned the dentist up, they offered me an appointment for this morning, but as I was due to donate blood this afternoon, I've left the tooth to get sorted till Monday. (it doesn't hurt and to be honest, I'm not in any hurry in getting to the dentist as don't like them very much, they make my eyes water, lol)....

Anyway this afternoon I managed to give my 41st pint of blood OK, I know people might think I'm mad leaving my tooth, but I use to give blood with my dad, and I want to carry on giving it, silly I know, but I want to do it as long as they will take it, in his memory.
OK, I'll never reach his 109 pints that he gave before he died at the age of 68, but I will give it my best shot.

Also this week I saw a very unusual spider in my garden, it's body was the colour and size of a medium mushroom...



Hubby said it was just another garden spider, he did call it something, but all I know it's bloody big and better stay put in the garden...

Oh and lastly thought I would show you that my poorly cut fingers are healing nicely now...



PS... have also started my Christmas shopping this evening, as found some new DVD's for Steven and another couple are due out before Christmas, so at least he will have something to open over Christmas :-)

Petition

Below is a link for a petition to save a children's Respite unit in Portsmouth.

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/39345.html

People think is easy for parents to put their children into respite, but it's not, it's finding a place that you feel comfortable with, a place you feel your child will like, a place you know they will be safe in and as a parent of a special needs child, places like that are hard to find. That is why Beechside has to be saved, it is all those things and more, not only to me but a lot of family's over the South.

It was a place where my son could meet up with friends for tea, sleepovers, BBQ to name a few, things that other children take for granted, it's a place that they can socialize with children their own age, a place they can have a break from parents, brothers and sisters, they don't want to be with their mum 24/7 when they are 13-18 etc, what teenager does.

It's a place where the parents know they are safe, so they then can chill and have time with their other children, do normal things like sleep and eat at the right time.

I know I've emailed a lot of my friends and fellow bloggers with the link and some have already signed and I want to say a BIG THANK YOU from Steven, his friends and their parents and carers, it really is appreciated.

blog award...

I'm very lucky to have the following blog award given to me from Val...



Thanks Val..xx

One of those months...

Well you might remember I moaned about having such a boring week a few weeks back, well I take it all back as I've had a few weeks of fun and games, as not only our boiler broke down, but the business computer went bust too...

I was annoyed with the boiler as it was just over 4 years old, but when I looked into it, it only had a 3 year guarantee, we were not offered more and when phoning them up they wanted £268 plus VAT for looking at it, upfront.... So I got my local plumber to look at it free of charge, it was going to cost us £300 plus VAT, plus fitting, but also he noticed rust inside the boiler, but as it was not under guarantee, they still didn't want to know.


(took photo to show Clive)

So I had to make a decision, do I fight the boiler people as it should last longer than 4 years or do I put new parts into a rust bucket, anyway to cut a long story short we ended up with a new boiler being fitted (by our local plumber), as I could not do without hot water, showers, baths and heating especially with the winter coming thick and fast... But I think the icing on the cake that made my mind up, was that Steven was getting agitated with me having to put him in one room while I carried a kettle of water to the room that needed it, and with Clive being away, he was totally confused poor love......

Then when that was sorted, the business computer decided it would not start, I didn't panic as Clive was around this time as it was a Sunday, but it was a goner. So Clive had to go round Staples to get another one, we finished setting it up Monday morning at 2am and Steven was up at 4.30am...

Of course it meant poor Clive had to drive to Swindon half asleep and I had to try and work on the new computer while being half asleep, oh well it's all sent to try us and I keep saying to myself it's only money and not life threatening.

Then this week it seems one of our tortoise has parasites, (I only took them for their yearly check up), so I had to have them all treated and disinfect their sleeping quarters. They have to go back for another dose next week and then about 2 weeks later I have to take a sample of their p** all labelled who's is who's, lol. Then to top it all I sliced two of my fingers with the bread knife, so ended up having to have them dressed at the local drop-in surgery, (would show you a photo but the blood has seeped through the dressing again, lol) I have to go back tomorrow for a dressing change, so maybe take a photo of my finger then if they let me, lol...


So if I moan again about my week being boring, please give me a kick up the backside and tell me to shut up...

Like I said it's just money and it could be worse, I want to send some strong sparkles to a few friends who are having a really hard time of it at late, you know who you are, hugs...xxx

Am on a roll....

As I said in a previous post, sue and Alma set a challenge to see what and how much they could make out of some freebie papers from a magazine, well last night I finished using up the papers and this is what I ended up with...



So not only have I made my HOME book for Sam and Matt, but also 16 Christmas cards, 12 gift cards and 3 tags... not bad out of a few sheets of A4 paper...

Thanks Sue and Alma, I not only enjoyed this but managed to get my first Christmas present done, lol...

Check out Sue's and Alma's

Jelly bean's

I'm having fun in my 'Arty Attic' as you can see I've made another card. For this one I actually used my promarkers for the first time to colour in the stamped image that my friend Susan sent me...

I first saw it on her card blog and commented that it would be great for Matt (my daughter fiancé) as he loves jelly beans, then a few days later I got some stamped images through my letter box, (thanks Susan, had fun colouring them all in)...

...anyway this is the card I came up with, I backed the image onto red card, clipped the corners with a punch and laid it on the card over some tartan ribbon, the saying is a rub on, then to finish it off I put Anita's 3d gloss over the jar, to highlight it...


I know it's plain and simple but think that's my type of cards... Matt loved it and was very impressed with the 3d gloss especially the way I went round the mice paws, as he thought it looked like real glass, lol...

Freebie papers

Not sure if you saw on Sue and Alma blogs but they set a challenge to see how much they could make out of a mag's freebie papers, they both did brilliantly, both blogs are well worth a visit.
Me on the other hand have only finished one project so far, which I chuffed to bits as have had the book months, lol...


I bought the book (do-crafts make) for Sam and Matt to celebrate their first home together, but could find the right papers for it, till I saw the freebie ones...


Below is a photo of them just after they pulled the cracker for the keys to fall out, as they didn't know we had got the house a few days earlier (was very hard keeping quiet about it, lol) their dreams had come true.


Here shows their first house and their first Christmas tree in their garden


and all the hard work we had all done to get the lounge, kitchen, bathroom and main bedroom all fitted, painted and decorated before they moved in.


So to them Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, as they got their first home together...