getting a cold..........

It's that time of year, when the weather changes on a daily basis and people start to sniffle and snuffle with colds, and it feels like I am getting one! Just when I don't need it either: I've got several workshops this week and then it is the Kreadoe at the weekend which I am expecting to be fantastic. It won't be good at all for my purse, but I will be able to fully justify everything I spend of course...........and we have a meeting at school tomorrow, and so many things to do, and my head is splitting, and my throat hurts and I am hot and bothered.........the symptons of the good old-fashioned Common Cold in other words!!!! But it is 'best foot forward' and 'up and at 'em' and all those other sayings we use to randomly cheer people up and hopefully it won't get any worse in the next 3 days................after Saturday I can feel as ill as I like but not before!!!!! Today I actually caught up with the housework apart from the ironing which is a mountain too high to climb right now, but the bathroom sparkles again! I was awake so early as Peter went off to Maastricht at the crack of dawn so after trying to fall back to sleep in vain, I decided to get up and start on the cleaning. It has been a very long day, but I have got a lot done in that time so I feel ok about it. Once Peter clears away his clutter upstairs I will face the ironing. Deal?.... Anyway, I have finished my scrapped book for Christmas and will take photos tomorrow or Friday depending on time and mood. Can't say I am looking forward to the meeting tomorrow afternoon at all, but I can't forecast what will happen so I can't mope about it yet! Thanks Ineke for the cheery e-mail; I appreciate it! And Dublin does sound fantastic!!! Must go there one day too..before it gets too expensive! Edinburgh is also superb as is Dundee for shopping, if you fancy a change?!!! Or good old England of course???!!!!

disasters all round this week!!!!

I'll begin with the least emotional content of this post and end with the tearing out of my hair part if that's ok with you?! Well, Ann and I are flabbergasted by the events this weekend in Strictly. To our dismay, one of the top pairs is now out of the contest and the judges are up in arms, and it is beginning to be rather too much of a farce for it to retain its credibility for much longer. There are 2 couples who are obviously not great dancers: Kate and Kenny. They had the lowest scores this week and were miles beneath the level of the others without any doubt at all. Kate should have gone before now and cetainly this week her number should have been up! But NO!!!!! The viewers voted Gabby and James and Penny and Ian into the dance-off which left the judges NO CHOICE but to vote one of them out. And that was Gabby. Total nonsense! And I really feel for her and James as they were expected to make the final three. In Take Two last night Len was furious and Bruno was defiant and Craig was angry.................how much longer will this type of series where professionals and the famous 'perform' in competitions continue, if we the viewers don't do it justice by voting responsibly???? Not long. Ok, that was the easy part. Our son is causing us so many problems at school right now that I think he is coming to the end of the line with what the teachers can offer him and he will end up being asked to go to the school for children that need "something else". It is that serious, but he seems oblivious to this and continues to defy them and do nothing whilst he is there. I know that at 14 there are the puberty factors to consider and there are personality traits involved and desire to learn etc, but in spite of all this, he is destroying every chance he might have had with them and for what end? If only someone could answer the 'why?' for me. I just don't understand him right now, and I cannot believe that there is not a problem we have yet to uncover and deal with that would HELP HIM. We have got a meeting this Thursday and having read the e-mails from his mentor over the past week, I see a downward trend that scares the hell out of me! And I feel so helpless, and tired and destraught all the time. I know that maybe if he has to face the consequences of his behaviour he will finally realise that he has to change..................but what if he doesn't? Which direction will he go in? Where will he end up? A mother thinks about all these possibilities and in this day and age it is a nightmare worse than anything one sees in a film, because it is reality. I cannot talk about it to anyone because if I do, I cry and get very upset and I have my own responsibilities and work to try to do in spite of all this going on. Loes came and 'rescued' me the other day and took me out for the day as I think I would have otherwise taken to my bed and spent the whole day sobbing! I thank her from the bottom of my heart for her kindness and friendship. And now I have to stop as it is breaking my heart yet again, and I have to do other things today which require me to 'perform'..............and for my own sanity this is important. Somebody come along and wrap me up in cottonwool and protect me from all this please!!!!! I need to be strong and allow this to unfold in its tragedy in the hope that it ultimately the best is for our son. I don't know what else to do.

Sneak previews!!!!

These are little snatches of the Christmas cards I am making with Loes. It is fun dreaming ( quite literally) up designs and trying new techniques etc. There are some super embellishments to be found in Xenos and other local shops for example - and nice quality 'cos I prefer something that looks attractive and solid to anything less. My workshop yesterday went off really well, but the ladies were so impressed with the lettering I gave them that they ordered 100's of them for today!!! So I was up until after midnight cricutting them out and packaging them for 9.30am today. I will be doing some more once I finish the blog! Phew!!! It was a good job I had not aimed the projects too high as there were ladies here who had not made cards before etc. and no-one had used stamps, so it was ok. They enjoyed it and I have 2 more to go!

These cards are not what they did however..........but if someone comes for a Christmas card workshop they do make some of these. I like to vary the techniques and allow people to try different styles. My next one is next Thursday morning with Amienke and Annemarie. Hello ladies!!! I 'had' to make an emergency run to Den Helder in the afternoon as all my black cardstock was used up! And what did I see there.......................the most wonderful My Minds Eye paper!!!! It is beautiful and I had to have it!!! Just one packet but it is irresistable. And there were delightful rub-ons I needed to have..........................and so much more but I held back for the offers at the Kreadoe which I am told will be there. I'm going to be of those women who takes her craft trolley with her for all the anticipated purchases! I think it will have to be a matter of 'may I have some money for my christmas present (now) darling?' I have already used it once, but I think as he missed our anniversary this week I can ask once more! And with the stress that I am experiencing this week with our teenage son and school I need something to scrap to take my mind off the worrying I am doing!!! That is getting to a stage that I cannot deal with any more so I am very miserable at the moment - especially after yesterday. And exhausted and sad and frustrated and a whole lot more!!!! Best to leave me alone on that subject though; talking about it leads to tears and I cannot afford to get all emotional right now. Too much to do and I need to remain focused and strong. Very difficult with PMT happening as well I can tell you..................................grrrr!!!!

Anyway, I'd love to continue here for MUCH longer but there is work to be done upstairs and in a very short time the ladies will arrive for this morning. Maybe I can take out my frustrations at the gym this afternoon!!!! And then Ann is here this evening so we can have a good gossip together and swop teen traumas all evening!!!! Hope all of you have a great day. "Hello Becci, sweetheart!"

Size matters?.......

I don't believe it does but there are things we are more suited for because of our size, age or ability. Or then again just because more people vote for you in a competition!!!! Last night Willie and Erin were voted out of Strictly and I think it was too soon for them. In my opinion, there are a lot of ladies out there who adore Anton du Bec, and take pity on him for always getting the 'lame duck' as his partner! He is a proper gentleman and is really lovely towards his partners, never shouting at them like Brendan, so he gets the more mature stars who need nurturing and cosseting, and then they fall at the first hurdle! And Anton goes with them!!! So to have voted Kate in last night, kept Anton in as well, ergo.....Willie and Erin were in the dance-off with John and Nicole. An unfair fight really as John is better than Willie and it was won fairly. BUT! If they had been against Kate.............Willie would have lived to fight another day!!!!! And so say all of us!!! GO WILLIE! GO WILLIE! GO WILLIE! And then I switched over to Nederland 1 to watch the final of "Evita?" I am delighted to say that the girl I thought best suited to the role won: Brigitte. I think she is superb and perfect for this role. If it was a contest to find someone for the role of Edith Piaf, Suzan would have won hands down. Not essentially because of her size, but because I can visualize her singing the part. She has a very powerful voice and stage prescence which Edith Piaf also had, and I think with her accent she would deliver the famous ' non, je ne regret rien' fabulously!!! Suzan will play the understudy for Brigitte which is great since they now know each other so well, and it will help them with all the media attention that is heading their way. So congratulations to them BOTH! And I hope to go and see the show as I think it will be amazing.

Strictly report

GORGEOUS GETHIN JONES from Blue Peter!!!

Last night we watched the first male versus female show and it was very interesting. The competitive nature of some of the celebrities is phenomenal!!! Now I know why they all succeed at their jobs - true grit and nothing less! I felt really sorry for Penny though when the judges slated her performance in the jive. She did really well I thought despite her height but it wasn't great so she did deserve not to score as high as last week, but Craig was cruel. BOO!!!!!!

So far my guesses are ok - I thought Maat would raise his game and be a good little dancer, and Gethin is just divine, and Welsh so gets my vote, and then Alesha and Kelly are GORGEOUS! What a competition between those two! BUT!!!!! I think that it is down to Brendan not to muck it up for his partner with his temper tantrums and boorish behaviour which he doesn' t seem able to keep under control for long. He could easily blow it with Kelly and it would be a disaster. Mark my words.................

Willie did an ok job of it too and I hope he stays in. Becci says he is really a lovely man and was always really nice when she used to stay at his house with Natalie. Used to let them see his trophies and Gotcha's etc!!!! So tonight is the results show ( thought the old format much better) and we will see what happens. Who do I think will go?? If we vote fairly, then it has to be Anton and Kate. She cannot dance at the same standard as the others, full stop. I don't see enough potential there to warrant someone better leaving this week because she gets a sympathy vote. Can I be a judge please?!!!!!

Santa's little helpers!!!!

What fun Loes and I had yesterday!! We were in her shed wearing theatre gowns and plastic gloves, sanding and painting our stars.......we were missing the hats though, so next time I will take a photo of us plus Santa hats!! Loes' step-son had kindly cut out the stars from MDF for us, just using off-cuts so we are very eco-friendly ( and purse-conscious!) from the design I had seen in the shop. Those are 5 euros each so we are saving a lot of pennies and ours are even lovelier! We have done 5 with white and gold and will do another 5 with white and silver and then we are turning them into pretty christmas presents 'scrap-style'! And while we were busy we were dreaming .....it's great being two Pisceans together as our fantasies just explode and we go along dreaming our futures away quite merrily. We came up with the idea of having a christmas shop next year, in the little summer house Loes has in her garden, with special openings times, and lots of delicious 'nibbly bits' and punch, and candles etc and then all our home-made items for sale!!! Carols playing and lights all around the garden, mince pies, stollen, hot sausage rolls, mulled wine..................aren't you just wanting to come too???!!!!! It's super getting carried away with the moment I think - that rose-coloured world is so tempting for a fish!!!!!! oh, thank you to everyone that is visiting my blog; I love seeing where you are all from!

and finally......

YES! We have finally bought a wardrobe for our bedroom after 18 months of waiting.............and Peter is busy putting it together right now! We went to Ikea and with help from the guy there we had it designed and costed within about 10 mintues. This has taken us hours, days and weeks to do via their site so what a relief it was to have help. It worked out less expensive than we had thought too so even better. I think we will have to re-arrange the whole bedroom to get everything in we want to, but who cares; I have somewhere to store our clothes!!!!! This layout is the third in my series for the shop. I am really pleased with it too. I took this photo of the tree in Enkhuizen a week ago on my way to work. The whole street alongside the water was like it but I wanted to focus on the tree's colours and not the boats so I have cropped it to one. The flowers and the basic grey paper combine so well with the black and white and the colour of the tree, it was just meant to be! Since it has rained all day today and the leaves are falling off so rapidly now, it was great to capture this scene when I did. Always have a camera in your handbag!!! And take the photo when you see it, because it never comes round another time! Loes came round this afternoon and we were scrapping and chatting together for a few hours. Tomorrow we are doing something sporty and then we are going into her shed to sand paper our 'hearts'!!!! Gerard has made some wooden hearts to save us having to buy them in the shops, and we are going to sand them down, paint them and then scrap them together for Christmas! Today we were experimenting with Christmas card designs and we used her lovely wreath stamp to great effect. I think this year we are making the best ever, and I am really happy with them so far. Every one is different from ones I have made before, so that adds to our creative inspiration of course! And I am excited about going to the Creadoe fair on 1st November with Ann. The rail fare is so cheap if you have bought a ticket to the fair so we are not taking the car and risking getting stuck in all the traffic queues ( or lost!). Anyway, as the old train slogan from 'years ago' said " let the train take the strain" so we will!!!!!

Layouts of Sara

Here are the LO's I've created for display, hopefully! The papers I was given to use would not have been my first choice, but then it is always interesting to try something new. The colours of the deckchair are reflected in the bling blue cardstock whihc works well I think, and the papers are from the Love Elsie Jack & Abby collection. The black and white one is with the Imaginesce series and then a bright pink cardstock to pick up the colour in her jacket. I am toying with adding the words 'photo shoot' but not sure yet.............I liked the idea of using the repeat photo in different sizes as it is a really great photo of Sara. I think the juxatoposition of the papers and photos works superbly. Anyway, this was it for now, got people coming and I slept in later than usual 'cos I am going Line Dancing this evening and it is then 2 late nights in a row!!!!!

Strictly Up-date!

This is a photo of Willie and Erin from the Strictly site gallery. The girls were on this weekend, so this Saturday Willie will take to the floor once more!!!! It will be the Latin dance this time and it will not be his best I think....but then Erin is a great teacher and he will do his best. Watch out for glimpses of Jill and Natalie again!!! So who are the front runners as far as I am concerned? Out of the girls I think that.......... KELLY, PENNY and ALEESHA are the best dancers, and they had the nicest routines too. Gabby is too competitive for my taste and I can't take to her, same as when Denise was on a couple of years ago and I didn't support her either. Then out of the guys there is GETHIN and MATT whom I think are capable of producing the goods. The rest are there to improve and surprise us I think but it was right that Stephanie went out in the first round. Sad for Vincent but the right choice. She was a real DIVA but I think she wasn't really 'in it to win it' and that showed. So Brian and Stephanie are out and then there were just 12 left................... After watching the show yesterday I did tune into the Dutch "Evita" contest, as it is the final next weekend. Very interesting actually, though I think the choice is between two of the three in reality. Either Suzan or Brigitte will win, and I prefer Brigitte. She looked better with her co-star playing Peron, and there was more spark between them than with Suzan. But then Lily is rooting for Suzan and I think she is the favourite to win with many people, so who knows. It makes for nice television in place of all the horrid programmes that make the world a far worse place. So, GO WILLIE, GO WILLIE!!!! and good luck to the 3 final contestants for Evita too.

brain working overtime!!!

it's like this; there is never a bus when you want it and then three come along after one another!!! It has been so quiet over the summer with little scrapping happening, and now it is go, go go! I am delighted of course, but at the same time it is causing me sleepless nights as I go over everything I want to do! I woke up this morning with an idea for a LO using the back and white papers I was given to use for the shop, and after a few days of non-inspirational efforts, I finally knew what to do...and you are thinking 'let's see then', but when I took the photo it was too dark so I need to do that tomorrow morning, ok?! The phone rang this morning and a lady who called about a crop evening last Friday asked to call tomorrow morning with her colleague to see the space etc, and make a decision whether to come or not ( I guess), so I am happy I had already tidied up the workshop places at the weekend! And I was also asked if I could work twice this week but I decided not to as we are at home together for the week and there is too much to do here. I tried to call the lady regarding the 3 mornings next week, for the club, but she was not home, and it is starting to annoy me because I want to know how many are coming etc so I can make up their kits. amd maybe no-one wants to come.. wouldn't that be funny after all my anxieties etc?!!!!! I have now done 2 LO's for the shop and need to find some more photos to use. I think I will have to re-use some old ones that fit this time of year or wait until the weekend..........or take some new ones...................we'll see. We are expecting the family for the weekend, well Peter's sister and her husband and I have a workshop as well, so busy me! Thank goodness it is telly night and Lily will add highlights into my hair to brighten me up a bit! Oh, and I might be going to the Creadoe in Utrecht after all!!!!! Ann has suggested we go together and I think that would be great. I posted my albums off to Chantal today as they are going on show there folks! And I got very brave and sent in my work to Creatief Met Fotos just in case they are interested........got an e-mail back that they get MILLIONS of people sending in their scraps so I guess there is a huge chance I won't get selected, but I tried!!!!!!!

Advent Calendar completed!!!!

I have finally finished the calendar and am really happy with the result. I have to back it and hang it with ribbon or something so that it can go on a wall, but the actual scrapping is over! I have sent some photos of it to a scrap magazine to see whether they want to use it....you never know! That would be super! But I have decided that I will probably give it to my aunty Sally at Christmas as she always sent us one every year and we always looked forward to it arriving in the post. Idon't think I would dare send it in the mail................. I have also got some other christmas projects nearly finished so they will appear soon on this blog. I don't know where the time disappears really - I looked at our diary the other day and practically every weekend between here and the end of the year is spoken for!!!!! Quite nice really though; I enjoy it so much! Lots of great scrapping plans too....there is a Scrapfever crop in Rotterdam on 10 November that I am going to, then there is the Scrap-a- Ganza on 17 November that Loes and I are going to for one day only, and then the chance is good that I will start with the demonstrations and workshops in Hoorn soon too.....better get back to tidying up my scrap room as I originally intended to do today!!!! Happy scrapping!!!! ps. products I used are mainly from Cosmo Cricket, but if anyone wants a more detailed list I will happily provide one!! Size is 30x70cms by the way, on thick chipboard.

Xander is "in recovery"!!

Here are the photos of Xander taken before and after his operation yesterday! The first one is of him on the chair when he came in on Thursday evening, sitting on his hot water bottle ( which he adores at the best of times), and then the other two were this afternoon in his 'kennel" in the living room. We were extremely lucky that our vets had a visiting surgeon there yesterday who was able to do the operation so quickly. Xander was 'under the knife' for about 2 hours but he seems remarkably ok and in better health than last time. He has to remain in his kennel ( hate to say cage) for 6 weeks, but after 3 he can have a cuddle and walk gently around the living room with us, but not unsupervised of course. He is bored, and miaows a lot, but he is also getting some sleep too, and seems resigned to his lot!!! The scar is neat and looks fine and he is leaving it alone at the moment which is great. Genghis is not impressed and occasionally grumbles at the kennel as he passes. I guess he wonders whether he has to go in there too!!!! So this is it for Xander for the timebeing, at least he has now got two legs sorted; only two to go!!! The vet told us that he needed practically the same operation as last time so we think it is just something we have to get used to with Xander, as it can always happen again, and again.........

what a turnaround!!!

Yesterday we were feeling things were looking up for us and then just before bedtime.....Xander came indoors, limping, holding his RIGHT back leg up and bleeding a little. Since his LEFT back leg is already 'bionic' with plastic cruciate ligaments etc, we are already suspicious about what he has done this time! Poor thing was bleeding from a front paw, but I think that was not so bad as the back leg, which he cannot put to the ground etc. He has spent the night with a hot water bottle on the armchair, and when the clock strikes 8.30am I will call our vet. He hasn't eaten or drunk any water and only wants to sleep. His leg doesn't seem to be swollen from what we can make out, but he won't move it or let us really look too closely of course. Peter thinks he has got night blindness, as we think he cannot see what he is doing out there.....if that is something cats can suffer from? He must have got caught and jumped maybe...we never knew the cause last year and I don't suppose we will know this time either.................it is ironic that since we have been in this situation already, the panic is less: we have a great vet, we know roughly what to expect when we go there this morning, and we have faith that it will be ok. Last time, it was sheer terror, worrying about what he had done, who would help us, where should we go etc, would he be ok with an operation etc. It doesn't necessarily mean a thing; we have no idea what is wrong, but I do feel ok about going to the vet and finding out. I cannot beaar the thought of anything awful happening to Xander so I am focussing on the fact that we need to take action and get answers first and foremost. Wish him luck!!!!

Exciting prospects!

despite feeling a little under the weather at the moment - along with the rest of the cold/flu sufferers - I have had nice news this week. First of all I have won a second place prize in a photography competition for web-regio.nl which is utterly amazing! I get a free magazine called Zoom.nl for one year so that is cool. I won with the holiday photo of the stone wall in Yorkshire which is on this blog as well. Since I entered with no thought of winning anything this is a real surprise! Nice, eh? And the second piece of news is that I have been approached to do demonstrations and workshops in a hobby shop in Hoorn as the owner is going more towards scrapping etc. and wants some help and advice etc from me!! I went there yesterday to look at the space for workshops etc and discuss what her plans are, and she gave me some paper to do some LO's for the shop display etc. so that is my current focus. Probably by the end of this month we will be starting so that is quite soon. It is really exciting so I hope it all happens as I would like it to......................I won't say any names etc before things are definite but watch this space for more updates!!! Yesterday Lily celebrated her birthday but unfortunately I felt very groggy and went to bed early again, although I didn't sleep at all well. Peter stayed until after 11pm which is when he came up to bed and removed our two cats who were apparently wrapped around me all snuggled up to my over-heated body!!!! So congratulations Lily - sorry I wasn't up to the evening. So now I am off to the chemists for some pills and potions and to do unavoidable chores before I fall asleep again this afternoon!!! And the sun is shining and looking lovely and autumnal......and probably cold though I am boiling!!! Tim is going canoeing this afternoon with his sports class at school which he is looking forward to - go Tim!!!! Roll on half-term next week!!!!

3 posts all before 9.30am???!!!!!

Aren't they just gorgeous?! Xander and genghis were posing in the sunshine yesterday whilst we were in the garden with them. Xander is so regal...nicely posed, feet together, every inch the Siamese king, whilst Genghis is just closing his eyes with happiness, feeling the sun on his fur and enjoying every second. Going to scrap these two photos this week anyway, so you will see what I make with them soon!! Off to the gym now, and then Loes and I have got a whole day to scrap together - super!!! Hang the housework....it will still be there when I have time to get around to it, right?...................

STRICTLY has started!!!!!!

...and with a great prospect of terrific dancing to come. The gents made their first entrance on the dance floor, and guess who impressed????? Yes, WILLIE!!! He was 'light on his feet' according to the judges and he danced a respectable waltz I thought. He has got through to the second round anyway, and I think he is more amazed than anyone else! It was great to see his wife Jill, and Natalie last night. Jill was interviewed and Nat stood next to her so we got a great chance to see her again. Still looks the same although obviously more grown-up. It is nice that she and Becci still keep in touch, they were such great friends at primary school and up until we moved here. So we are supporting WILLIE - hope you do too! And this week the ladies line up and I am expecting great things. They all look like they can dance so I think it will be very competitive between them all. My guess is that a lady will win this year.............but I will have to 'study the form' and make a real choice later on in the series before I see Linda in December and we tell each other who we want to win!!! I have a 4 out of 4 record for picking the winner so there is a lot at stake!!!!!!!

I saw, she saw, sitting on the seashore...

Peter and I took advantage of rising early on Sunday morning, and went to the beach at Egmond-aan-zee. It was a little misty to begin with but it soon cleared and even at 10am the beach was crowded with eager cyclists; horse-riders; fishermen; children; walkers; shrimpers - you name it, they were there! In the first photo these guys came towards us and when we pointed the camera the leader raised his arms in true Tour de France yellow jersey style!!! The second one is of an old wooden fishers boat that was being made ready for launch. And I just liked the fact( in the third) that the boat was between the two lines....and it would appear that the latest generation still gets a kick out of making sandcastles!!!! Happy days. It was super just gently walking along the sand, surrounded by many other people but still able to feel isolated and in our own space. Then it was back to work and Peter started painting the woodwork at the back of the house. Perhaps this will have been the last lovely sunday for the year, so we took full advantage and did the garden and painting and all the jobs that were demanding attention before autumn ends..........felt good.

Beautiful autumn

This photo was taken by the canal in Skipton, Yorkshire. Skipton is a lovely old town, which has a castle, the canal, a small steam railway nearby, and lots of character! I love it there. My memory as a child is of going to learn to swim in the baths in Skipton, every Tuesday night, by bus from Burley-in-Wharfedale where we lived. I guess I was only about 6 years old at the time. Of course in recent years I have just gone there for the day etc, or with friends, so it has a special place in my heart. And this photo is especially lovely with the wonderful autumn colours surrounding the canal and canal boats!

a little bit of everything

The week is drawing to a close and I am tired but happy. The best news is that I think....that's as far as I dare go....that Tim is maybe getting on better at school. There, I've said it!! Mixed reports from the mentors but this morning Iwan told me that Tim is participating in his maths class more readily, and is doing well in the higher maths book, and that he has been given the chance to prove he can do harder work in geography, maths, english and history. It would be fabulous if he does well and can continue this improvement, wouldn't it?!!! On the other hand Tim won't attend the extra study classes, so they are going to get him out of his class and lead him there by the hand; this is marvellous. Teachers who are really trying to help him at last!!!! I cannot praise them enough and we are so relieved that (maybe) there is a chance that Tim will have an enjoyable year and settle down to do some work. We all know he is capable of it!! But we are not counting our chickens too soon................. and I have been busy scrapping and getting some good stuff done ready to show the persons from the craft shop on Monday evening. And Peter is home again and the weather is great for the weekend so he will start painting the outside of the house which is his current priority. I have booked my trip to Leeds as well - 6-10 December.Can't wait! Just need to start looking for christmas presents that are plane-safe and not likely to upset the cabin staff!!!!!! so no crackers, shame. I've also been to Ann's for the evening and pursuaded her that she should join our Strictly Club on Saturday evening when the new series kicks off! and to the gym and to line dancing....and worked, wow, what a busy little bee I have become recently!!!!! So here's to a sunny weekend, and happy days!!

young love, basketball, line dancing and STRICTLY!!

So we had Tim's new girlfriend here yesterday. It's started, the interest in the opposite sex and all that that entails! Scary really, having read all the horror stories in the Margriet about what young teens get up to these days!! I told Tim that in 'my day' it was not allowed to be upstairs alone with my boyfriends ever, when I lived at home, and yet now they just race upstairs and sit in front of the computer telling all their friends that they are together!!!! So long as I could hear voices it was ok, but towards the end of the afternoon it got a bit quieter....................and there were flushed faces when they came down for pizza!!!!! Ah.....................Tim seems pretty keen but she isn't local so how long it will last I don't know. I do know that the phone bill will go up and that this lass is a chatter so there are long conversations and webcam sessions happening.......am I am happy bunny???? Don't think so!!!! But I'll keep that to myself and you!! On a lighter note he was playing a basketball match this Saturday and they won by 1 point! Tim was the top scorer and played a blinder, which was great to watch. He played the total match too so his knee problem is over thank goodness. I think Bart was impressed as he came to watch them play, so that is good too. Tim's new coach is rather 'excitable' on the sideline, but Maarten is great according to Tim and is now starting to get results from this new team. Nice parents too, and we all treated the team to patats afterwards which they enjoyed. Tim is happy that he didn't stop playing this year which we are delighted about as well. It is important to have a sport and play in teams etc as it has a value that goes beyond the winning etc. Even I am enjoying my sport once a week, but even more so, the line dancing!!!! Yes, I am really loving it! Must be getting fitter too, which is a bonus, but I love the music and the dancing and it is great. If only Peter was interested....................... This Saturday STRICTLY starts again!!!! yes, our favourite dance show is ready for the off and this year Willie Thorne is taking part so everyone look out for Becci's friend NATALIE in the audience as she was her best friend at primary school!!!! There are some strong female contestants this year so my guess, before the show starts, is that one of the ladies will win. I wonder who Linda will support? She is my friend in Leeds who is the only other serious supporter I can discuss it with! Every year( so far) I have chosen the winner correctly, so we have a little side-bet going on about who it will be. I need to see the first show to know who has the potential and who will fall at the first waltz!!!!! Watch this blog!!!