A Christmas update

Well a great Christmas was had by all, nice and quiet, lots of chilling. Have just managed a quick cache and dash today to drop off two travel bugs that have been staying with us over Christmas, now they are back on their travels, picked up 3 new ones from the Travel Bug hotel near Hurn. We also dropped a travel slug in to start it's travels. One of the travel bugs is from Christchurch in New Zealand so we took it to Christchurch Priory and took some photos to send back to the owner.

We tried to complete the multi-cache in Christchurch but there was one plaque missing, we think we've worked out the final co-ordinates, but will return when the rain isn't horizontal. It started tipping it down half-way through solving the puzzles, so we finished solving and then headed back to the car.

Hoping for great weather tomorrow so we can go caching again tomorrow.

Geocaching is fab

What a hectic few weeks! Clive's been away loads, so masses of curries, but he's doing brilliantly with his new job. Laura's had fun at rehearsals and has just been told she's going on pointe after Christmas, so great excitement there. I've had a stressy time at work, a 2 week observation window requiring a few trees being used for printouts that aren't necessary normally, staff not pulling their weight and then getting flak for doing what you haven't done, not praise for all the extra you have done. Not good. Now got a stinking cold. grrrrr

The highlight from the last month is "we've found geocaching", a new modern day form of treasure hunting.
As of yesterday, we have now found 7 caches ranging from micro caches to tupperware containers with treasure.

Here are the stats so far.

I thoroughly recommend it, you do need a GPS that's designed for outdoor pursuits, we have a Garmin Etrex (it's old and Clive is now thinking of upgrading).

When we normally go out for walks, we stick to the routes we know, geocaching has introduced us to some wonderful new walks with the fun of finding treasure at the end. I wonder how many times in the past we have walked past a hidden cache without realising it is there.

Part of the fun has been finding travel bugs and geocoins in with the treasure, these are trackables and you can watch them travel around the world. We found a geocoin the other week that started in Texas and has now travelled 4000 miles, it's amazing. So last week I ordered our own coins and bugs, so yesterday I released the first micro geocoin into the wild, we are now so excited about watching it travel.

We have also got our own cache boxes, we're working out where to place them now, a chance to revisit some areas we haven't been to for years. Clive took me on a walk when we were first courting and we haven't been back since, we are now going to go back and see if we can use it for a cache. It's really soppy and romantic.

It is brilliant finding new places, the Wishing Wimborne cache was brilliant, I had never realised there were the most brilliant carvings there or that walk existed, shame we didn't see the kingfisher, but a couple were just coming back along the path who had just seen it hovering over the river.

I've bought an A5 file for the clues and have printed them off (I use the special option for my printer to shrink 2 pages to an A4 page) then fold and punch. Clive then downloads the waypoints to the gps and they then get filed. When we are out, we can then use the GPS to find the nearest cache and I've got the file to get the clue.

We're going to keep the caching bag in the car, so that when we get a moment, we can cache.

I've managed to find a sneaky stats program that lists our achievements to date.

A good excuse to get fit and have loads of fun in the fresh air.

Not forgotten

Hello blog, yes I'm still here, time to put an update on.

Clive's got a stinking cold, bless him, he hasn't turned it into manflu but he's really rough. I'm therefore cooking loads of scrummy comfort food to give him the strength to get better quickly. He has been in Edinburgh for 2 days this week (that's when the cold developed) and he's off to Ireland for the whole of next week.

Menu last night - tiger prawns in garlic butter with fresh lemon and parsley (high in vit C and iron), followed by roast pheasant with dauphinois potatoes, organic sprouts and carrots. Phew, were we full, but it definitely made him start to feel better.

Cooking up a sin today, home made steak and kidney pudding. Also bought some lovely cooking apples, so making some small apple pies today too, loads of scrummy cinnamon in them to spice them up. I wonder if there's any vanilla icecream in the freezer, still doesn't matter, have some cream anyway. I know it's not good, but at this time of year you need to give your body fuel to fight the bugs.

I also need to get the ingredients to make the christmas pudding and christmas cake. We always have homemade.

Might make some cookies too, depends on how much energy I have.

I need to sort out my cupboards in the kitchen, do some more washing (where does it all come from).

If I get time, I want to do some crafting too. You can't say I'm not a busy person.

All my own Work

Exciting New Project by Scrapdolly

Welcome to a whole new project

Thanks for this inspirational idea. With all the best intentions I would love to do this project, but knowing how my life falls to pieces in seconds, I'll do what I can.

10 weeks from 2nd July, so that's the whole of July and August, well for 5 weeks I will be on holiday from work, 3 in sunny (yes, that's debatable) Cornwall. The rest is tidying up from one academic year and planning the next one. It isn't easy being an FE lecturer, at least teachers at school know what they will be teaching before they leave in the summer, we have an idea, but it depends on recruitment, if we don't get the students we don't run the courses or number of groups.

We have noticed that those students that have already applied, been interviewed and given places are the ones who are interested. Those that we see during the summer are "last minute wonders" and are either marched in by parents to get them on a full time course to keep them busy and out of their hair or keep the benefits they are currently getting. It's horrid, but some simply have a pulse and are breathing, no urge to achieve. I get them and as a personal tutor have to inspire them to get off their backsides and do something positive. It's draining but lovely when you get smashing comments at the end of their time with us. I've just said goodbye to a lovely student who I've taught for 3 years, he's so sweet, gave me a huge hug at the end of term and was chatting on MSN with me last night (yes I'm a really sad bunny).

I have a reputation in the college for taking disaffected students, and turning them round into high achievers.

Home life isn't good - our neighbour from hell is getting worse, we've now had 2 consecutive horror families in the last 4 years and we are losing patience, and stress levels are very high.
Instead of getting through it, DD dissolves into floods of tears whenever they start their rows swearing at each other. Last weekend we spent and unexpected 4 consecutive nights at my parents, coming home inbetween hoping to be able to sleep in our own beds.
Shame my DD isn't having the same support at school though that I give my students, she could easily become disaffected as one teacher told her on Friday "oh no, why did you choose my subject, have I GOT to teach you again next year, how could you" great inspiration for a 13 year old, then her form teacher (personal tutor) again gave her hell for choosing the subject too, not DDs fault that she has to choose this subject to go with her favourite, no parental checking first either. Am I supposed to write a letter every week saying life is hell at home or shouldn't once be enough asking for support by ALL the teachers during this difficult time. Trouble is this teacher is a firework display waiting to happen, my DD also is easy to spark into sobs, so her classmates know that if they wind the teacher up about her whilst she's at her extra drama lesson, DD will walk back into a highly charged situation and the class sit back and watch the display. This teacher has also lost DDs work twice now, blaming DD each time, what do you do?

Off for another day in paradise.

Bebo skins

I've been so busy recently, I haven't had time to think. But I've been getting up-to-date with using Bebo, loads of my students use it and I've started to get "cool" by using it. I'm supposed to be developing a new unit for college on Graphic Design and I'm hoping that if I teach the students how to make their own skins for Bebo, they may do homework as they get interested in new techniques.

I'm apparently "sad" so my colleagues say as I relax by using the computer, they have "lives". Perhaps though I'm more in touch with the kids of today and understand what they do and how they think, that's why the students are still talking to me after leaving back on 14th June;)

Must get a good nights sleep.

Blog editing

Finally I've started to play with Laura's blog, I wanted to make it personal to her and be able to be used by her agent to give people an idea about her accomplishments.

I've also had a play with Dawn Inskip's new digital scrapbooking kit to create the new banner for the blog and also the buttons.

I'm pleased with the result, I really want to learn the ins and outs of blog templates.

Here's the original entry on the blog that set me off.

Quinoa - scrummy yummy

I have had a packet of quinoa (keen-wa) in my cupboard for a couple of months, I saw it mentioned on "You are what you eat" and saw that it was very healthy and full of nutrient, but never actually tried it.

Well I've just had the courage to cook some to go with my salad, well there was a southern fried chicken drumstick left over from last night, so I thought it would be great with some salad, but some carbohydrate would be good too. I cut up half an avocado, a tomato and some slices of red onion, salt & pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I simply cooked the quinoa according to the packet and wow, was it scrummy, a really tasty grain, that had texture and flavour. Will definitely try it on the rest of the family, I know Laura will love it, but not sure how adventurous Clive will be.

Here are a couple of links to the health benefits of quinoa.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=142

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21U1.html

1. How many food items have you bought and never used?
2. What are you going to try before it goes out of date?

Sunny Sunday

What a beautiful day today, the temperature reached 17 deg C in our back garden. Clive managed to prise open the back door, as it is south facing in the winter it warps and is so difficult to open, in the summer, it shrinks back and in heavy rain leaks, can't win whatever happens.

I wrapped up warm and sat on the patio sunning myself. Made a lovely home made strawberry milkshake with organic strawberries (yes I know they aren't in season, but I fancied some when I did the Tesco online shop). It was lovely, gave me a boost.

Laura started digging. We have a mature garden that is now too mature and creating too much shade over the beds or swamping the ground, so a complete reworking is needed. Laura dug up a huge cyclamen, which is now in a pot and dug up campanula and put that in the compost bin. Now I don't want you worrying about destroying campanula, if you see how invasive it gets, you'd understand. I bought a pot for 50p from the Women's Institute just after we moved in and it is extremely rampant and is everywhere.

I did a little bit too, still not a lot of energy with this nasty bug, but did feel as though we made a difference. I dug up a chive and split and replanted at the front of the fresh bed Laura's made. Then planted the shallots and garlic I'd got, I don't know if it will work, but over the top I've planted 2 rows of radishes, 1 of rocket and another of lettuce, hoping that they will be a catch crop before the shallots and garlic need the space. I can always transplant the lettuce, I've planted Webbs Wonder as it has always been my favourite and it's years since I grew any. I suppose I ought to pop some in a small pot on the windowsill anyway, just incase the slugs have a feast. Tip I've just got from UKS, there's a new thread on veg growing, is to put out loads of porridge oats, apparently slugs gorge on them, then die. Keeping fingers crossed.

We need to sort out the garden, get rid of the large shrubs, dig up all the strawberry plants that aren't very productive and make some raised beds if we can. We are also going to dig up an area just outside the back door and fill it with jerusalem artichokes. Ha Ha, they grow over 10 feet tall and will make a fantastic barrier between us and our neighbour from hell, plus vegetables throughout the winter.

Clive has also started working on the front garden, we are again going to get rid of all the large shrubs and replace with bedding plants/annuals.

Yes we are planning on moving this year, so hope that we can have a very pretty garden in the front and productive at the back. We are taking loads of cuttings to enable us to move our favourites with us, but making the gardens look more manageable. It doesn't matter if we leave behind a garden full of veg, perhaps the new owners will appreciate picking their own and we may convert them.

I think I need to draw some designs, I just need the accurate measurements. I still find it easier to draw on paper rather than use design software, perhaps I should get the overall shape in the computer, then I can keep printing new versions out.

Change of plan - sad outcome

Oh dear, Laura's just called me to say that they've had a special assembly this morning and her English teacher has died, it is so sad and they are all so upset, I could hear them all crying in the background whilst she was on her mobile telling me. The school have provided a chaplain for the girls if they need to talk, the teachers are very upset too as it is such a close community within the school.

I am very proud of Laura, she is currently a form leader and remembered my words to her "be strong" and she has been comforting others and getting them to come together at this sad time. It is also hard when others don't seem so sad, but this could be due to how bereavement is handled by other faiths and cultures. A hard lesson to learn, but she has shown how mature she now is.

You never know what tomorrow brings.

Exploding Box

Well I've finally got scrapping again with "real" stash. As a present for the teacher not returning, Laura has decided to make something herself, she saw the pictures of an exploding box, so we had a lovely afternoon crafting, it was a joint effort and have now made the box with all the layers, just need to decorate it now.

We need to find lots of suitable quotes and poems for an English and Drama teacher.

It was good to start to sort through my stash, I'd forgotten how much I love Wild Asparagus papers, we used these to make the box, they co-ordinated so well.

Saturday dilemma

Oh why do they do that, schedule 2 programmes so that you can't watch. As Laura is so into both singing and dancing, we are trying to watch Comic Relief Fame Academy and Dancing on Ice.

Have had a productive day, started to customise my blogs so that they have my personality, know that I need to learn a lot more.

Laura had some bad news at school, one of their teachers won't be returning, it sounds as though she has a life threatening condition. Trying to come up with a nice idea for the class to make to give the teacher some fond things to keep her smiling and give her pleasure.

I'm thinking that they could make a 6x6 hand made album, asking each girl in her class (all girls school) to either make a page themselves or provide photo and journalling for those in the class that are crafty to make into a mini album.

Need some ideas of the kind of things to give the girls some inspiration.

Friday feelings

It's been one of those nights, neighbour was in one of his "moods" so therefore spent the evening turning up his "garage" music loud (I think he was masking his ranting and raving on his mobile) then back to normal, then booming. At 10 we decided we'd had enough and nipped to my Mum's for the night. He is totally unreasonable and has done porridge, he always hits the bottle when he does this, so not going to put our family in danger by knocking on his door. DH has done this before and received a torrent of verbal abuse. Hopefully we'll get to move this year so we don't want a record on our property.

I just hope I can shake off this dizziness, just start to feel a bit more normal, then I move and the room spins. Being signed off by the Dr does stop me feeling guilty though.

I suppose I should be scrapping, I'm getting ideas though, I've started thinking of my lists to do a mini book, talked it through with DH last night on the way to parents, he loves the idea and we both realised that these lists must change so much. It won't surprise you that most of my negatives at the moment are about where we live.

Saw Donny Osmond on Loose Woman yesterday, I haven't laughed so much in ages, I so wish they'd repeat the clip, the sight of grown women still fighting over his was hysterical.

Keeping my eyes on the developments on the notapushymum website, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the project has a positive outcome.

Cath's post about Scrapbooker's Bill of Rights.

Cath's blog

I haven't seen this before but it is inspirational, the Scrapbooker's Bill of Rights, it's perfect, I'd love to scraplift this and use it on a layout. I feel some inspiration, I can even photograph the ironing pile.

150 things to do in your lifetime

150 Things to do in your lifetime.
Thanks to Chrissie on UKScrappers who found this list on 2peas which is 150 things that you may or may not have done in your lifetime. The idea is to highlight the ones you have done.

I've highlighted the ones I've done in blue, quite a few are travel related so have given me places to think about going, as I have a passport that's still unused.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you’ and meant it

9. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (or…raising children)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (cumulatively, if you count pregnancy! lol!)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes ... yum!
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

I created a Slide Show of the Ballet Exams! Check it out!

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Today's the day

It's a beautiful day today, my ballet exam is looming at 12 noon. Even my hairs going to be in the proper ballet style, in double plaits across the back of my head.

We've all been invited to the BBC TV centre in Portsmouth on Children in Need night to present the cheque, but for 6 of us to perform live. Our names have been put in a hat, so goodness knows, it might be me. Daughter's pushing me on, which is quite a relief, at least she's not embarrassed.

Be back later with the result.

Ballet-esque

Children in Need - Grade 1 Ballet Exam

Does my bum look big in this?

Yes that's me in the tutu, practising for my Grade 1 ballet exam on 5th November. The things we do to raise money for Children in Need.

The Principal is going to be the examiner, so she hasn't seen any of the extra practise classes we've all been attending. We can't wait to try and make her laugh, she's supposed to be maintain her composure throughout. Hee hee.

We are a little concerned, the BBC TV cameras are coming to film the exams, but when will they arrive, well that's the problem, WE DON'T KNOW, it could be our group that get filmed. How did the Principal sell it to the BBC "Dawn French-esque dancers" um, well that's great, fat and frumpy, but I'm bonkers and don't care, if it raises money, then it's all worthwhile.

Top 50 Scrappers - Rankings - All Sites

Top 50 Scrappers - Rankings - All Sites

ScrapBook inspirations

ScrapBook inspirations

Great new blog from SI.

It's a start

"Who are the people you've met that you gained the most from?"
Both of my parents and especially Mum, she has always inspired me and encouraged me to try "whatever it is" and given me the confidence to ask "if you don't ask you don't get" and to be me and try and inspire others.

My weakness is saying "Yes" instead of "No", but I'm a natural doer and want to help wherever possible, taking on too much frequently, but I'm getting better at saying no. (Mum was the same)

I wish I could use the talents I have to make the family a fortune, I seem to spend a lot of my time working voluntarily for others without payment, but there again reward is more than money. Through Mum's encouragement I have been involved in some wonderful projects and met some great people. I've been fortunate to have been involved in many different adventures which have helped make me what I am.

Thanks Mum.

My Hubby is also inspirational, a kindred spirit and true partner. We seem to have the ability to read each other's mind, especially him reading mine. I'll never forget when we were first engaged and I was still living at home, I had felt awful all day at work and didn't contact him or my parents at all during the day, but came home to find a bouquet on my bed with a card saying "Hope you feel better soon". My soul mate.