The handmade pledge

As you can see I have tried to add the handmade pledge badge to the sidebar but I can't get rid of the text around it! I am not very handy with the old PC!!!! Any tips?! But I have joined the campaign to support all handmade industries including trying to make more of the gifts I give to people from now on. As a scrapper that shouldn't be too difficult should it?...or are you all like me, and once you have made something and feel pleased with it, you want to keep it yourself so you have to go off and make another one?!!!!! It is hard getting down to tidying up all the christmas papers etc ready to start a brand new scrapyear. I have to really throw out so much old stuff that I have no intention of using..........have gone off...............style has changed...........need to replace as it is too dated......................don't like it anymore....................all those excuses in order to justify buying NEW!!! I am dying to see what the new paper lines are going to be for 2008, and I am definitely wanting to get my hands on the grunge stuff asap. But I digress. Alesha won Strictly which she deserved to do but I felt more than a little sorry for Matt and Flavia who had to stand there with nothing. There should be a second place prize!!!! And a third for Gethin!!!! But it was a good show, and despite feeling very tired when it was all over, Ann and I managed to see it through to the bitter end, wondering what we are going to do with our saturday nights from now on!! There is hopefully a new season of MASTERCHEF coming up??? Tim and I love that one! And there is the search for an Oliver and a Nancy for a new production of Oliver Twist to look forward to ...but I am still a huge fan of the version starring Ron Moody and Oliver Reed ( fabulous) so am not too tempted to see this show at the moment. Could all change though! BUT! What I wanted to do now was wish you ALL a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

tonight's the FINAL!!!

So this is it! The nail-biting final of Strictly Come Dancing. Here are the two final couples from last weeks semi-final, looking gorgeous....but who is going to win? I really can't decide which pair will get my vote when it comes down to it. I love Alesha and Matthew but I am dying to see what Matt and Flavia can produce on the night. If they prove to be amazing, they could win. When it is down to a matter of votes, there is a real chance that it can go either way, so I think for the first time it is a real unknown outcome. Ann has already mailed me to see whether I am getting nervous! But it is only now that I have done all the chores for today, and am sitting here with little else to occupy my thoughts, that I am thinking about it all. So like possibly the whole of the UK, we will take our places shortly to watch a most incredible competition come to a dramatic close, and await the announcement of the winner later on tonight with apprehension and maybe, by then, an idea of whom we think did enough to win the glitterball trophy. Place your bets here!!!!!

West Friesland in the grip of frost!

I took these photos this morning before the lovely frost disappeared. The first one is of our church here in Westwoud, then the other two were taken as I was walking around the villages. The temperature was -2C at the time but by this afternoon it was above freezing and everything was returning to green...aah! Anyway, these will be great to scrap, and I hope my friend Ineke will take on the challenge to digitally scrap one of them for me!!!! She enjoys all the challenges she takes on via internet sites etc for digiscrappers and usually does very well with her layouts, so I think she will create something lovely with these. I will have to do the same and we can see what both of us come up with!! How about it Ineke?!

ITS SNOWING!!

At 10.36am the first snow started to fall here!! Not much, but it is here! I love it!!! Camera at the ready then today, as it might be the only chance I get to photograph the snow.

Shortest day of the year!!

What a strange feeling it is not to be rushing around getting the last minute christmas shopping etc! I feel wonderfully calm and unstressed....but I am missing all that SOoooo much!!! I have done Christmas for our family for so many years ( can't even remember how many) that NOT having to cook this time is kinda odd. Usually I am knee-deep in my Delia cookbook and old magazines which I dig out every year just for the recipes, re-making lists and adding new ones, polishing the silverwear, getting the table decorations ready..........playing the carols, drinking the sherry............its not normal!!!! It will be really nice being with other people this Christmas and we are all really looking forward to it a lot,so I am gritting my teeth and letting someone else have all that stress!! It is a white, cold world out there this morning. I was up at 6.30am adding the icing to Tim's traybake for school today, and it was dark then. Now it is around ten am and it is gorgeous! No snow yet, but it is getting closer. The sharp frost is the reason all is white. Lovely spiders webs out there which I have photographed of course, but am now in need of coffee to warm me up before I do anything with them! It is also sad to think that really I can start (thinking about) putting the christmas scrapstuff away for another year........ which is so sad! On the other hand it WILL mean that I need to visit the scrap shops for NEW STUFF!! Which I am going to do in January. First of all I am going to buy the wool for my 2 patterns which I am desperate to start knitting. Having looked here I have decided I need to buy that in England as I cannot find what I want for it here. Maybe in Hoorn there is the chance of finding it, but who knows....where is the shop?!! Oh no, the worst christmas song has come on the radio and I refuse to listen to it!

Sad to see her leave............

If everything went ok with the train journey Becci should now be in Schiphol checking in!! I took her to the train at 4pm and although I think she would have preferred me to drive her there I am so glad I didn't as the traffic jams were huge! Her flight is at 6.40pm so she has just enough time to eat her sandwich and wait for the call to board. She is excited to be seeing Roy again this evening as he will be home for Christmas as well. I took this photo of my children whilst she was home. Tim is 14 and very tall and Becci is 20 and very small!!! They enjoyed seeing one another again although Tim was at school all week and not really able to spend much time with her. Hopefully Becci and Roy will visit us in the spring...........

Brr, it is SO cold here at the moment! It hasn't got above -1.5C all day! We have discovered that our two bedrooms over the garage are NOT insulated at all and they are freezing cold!! I think we will wait until we want to remove the existing laminate flooring to re-insulate them though...we are lovely and snug up on the second floor even though we have no radiator etc.

I am about to make the dinner which will be left-overs from yesterday and then I will make the traybake for Tim to take to school tomorrow, watch Strictly and probbly make it an early night. I am waking and getting up around 5.30am at the moment which is not through choice but I am awake so it is difficult to just lie there listening to Peter snoring!!!! Isn't it sad about Gethin going out?! I can hardly bear to talk about it as if Kelly had been able to stay in the show he would have probably made the last 3 for the final, and now it is only two!! I feel he and Camilla deserved to be in the final over Matt. I stand by the fact that it is a dance competition and he is better than Matt. I wonder how Matt will fare in the final with 5 dances to perform including the show dance.................it is tough! Ann and I will be watching with bated breath but I now hope that if Alesha and Matthew really dance their socks off, that THEY WIN! That would be the right result don't you think/agree?..roll on Saturday!

Almost Christmas!

Listening to the radio playing a christmas song almost every other tune is quite nice really. Takes one back to ones youth thinking about the discos and parties etc we used to love! And of course I am from the era when we had SLADE; MUD; WIZARD etc ( even lived in the same village as Roy Wood once....) so they bring back vivid memories from the '70's...aah! Happy Days!!! Last night we had our christmas dinner with Ann and Arjan which was great. Felt really English!!!! The boys were excited about the fireworks for New Year and Peter found our stash from last year in the garage so it was 'share-out' on the floor time after the meal. Can't see it myself as I am not a lover of fireworks apart from fantastic professional displays (naturally). Since getting sick, I cannot go outside because of the smoke etc, so I only look at them from the window these days. Yesterday morning Jeanette was here for a workshop. She and Becci made beautiful stars for Christmas and I think it was a really nice morning. Jeanette is getting married on 28 December so she is going to come and make her album in January. Then it was cooking and preparing for the evening in the afternoon. It always goes so fast when Becci is here..............and she is going home today. Roy finishes university today so she is looking forward to being with him this evening. We are going to make a photo frame for him this morning after dyeing our hair!!!!! So I will go and wake her up now: me, I have done the washing up from yesterday, made a birthday card for Jackie, got Tim off to school, fed the cats, written my blog, put everything away, turned the dish washer on, tidied my room, and all before eight thirty am!!!! Time for a well deserved coffee!!!

fantastic blog!!!!

http://www.timholtz.typepad.com/ Just been looking at Tims blog and his 12 tags of christmas!! Wow! They are extraordinary. I love the distressing which is something I have yet to get in to really; looks like a lot of work and a lot of NEW tools etc!!!! (cue, ideas for presents Santa!!!) and that hammer is groovy!! I am not good at getting messy and dirty when I work but I know Loes is also keen to distress herself (ha!ha!) so I guess we are going to have to try it in 2008. Maybe that is what we should start the year off with: a list of what we plan to make and what we need to make it....and when we are going to do it!!! I am absolutely broke right now, and need to start doing more work in January but until then I can look, right?! It was great seeing all those different techniques all in one place so I recommend that you all take a moment to check Tim's tags out. And a goodnight to all.

Gethin to Win!!!!

Ok, I am finally naming my winner...........since it is the semi-final this coming Saturday there is no going back; Gethin and Camilla get my vote!!!! He has had the most incredible 'journey' in the series and is now stunning on the floor. Just goes to show what a little extra determination and a great acting coach can do for you!! So, GO GETHIN this weekend, Ann and I will be watching with bated breath! So, I have got a lot of cards made today and I have added the little bell circle to the ivy in the hall - looks sweet. I saw the idea in a shop recently but have taken it a step further and scrapped it in a funny sort of way...will take a photo, maybe. I wanted to make it myself so that I could remember it again when we want to make items for our Christmas shop next year! I still need to refine it and add the other sort of wire etc. and then it will be perfect. Just been browsing some other scrap blogs and there are SO many talented scrappers out there. Wonderful creations, but I want to say that I feel it is so important to stay true to ones own imagination and style and not to be tempted to copy (too closely) what one sees on the net. The ideas are there to be looked at and learnt from, if it is about a new technique etc. but the stuff that is in ones own head is always the best. Have the courage of your own skill, ideas, talents and colours and CREATE!!!!!!!!! Whatever you make will be a one-off unique creation made by you!

Christmas wreath and EUSTACE!!

This is the Christmas Wreath that I have made for the hall. I was going to hang it on the door outside but I think it is safer indoors...I have used the buttons and ribbons from my scrapstash and the large and tiny rusty bells come from CALICO CRAFTS, as does the wreath. They do cool stuff! Try this site: http://www.calicocrafts.co.uk/ I am supposed to be doing my cards but instead I have hung some decorations downstairs - weird not having a tree to do this year - and cleaned teh floor etc. The ironing is still waiting but I have time!!!!! And here is EUSTACE. He is delightful, and so sweet. His beak is just right for stroking!!! Ah well, must go on...my tummy is rumbling actually. I am trying the GI diet principles seeing that Lindsey has lost 2 stone on it in 2 months!!! Well, she has a specially designed diet for her, but the idea is the same. As Christmas is just around the corner I feel the need to prepare, not quite 'fast' but sort of!!!! I know how good a cook my aunt is!!! I didn't put any weight on this time in England which is amazing as we ate out a lot, but the rest of the time we did Lindseys eating plan so hey, must be something to it!!!! Baked beans on toast tonight folks!!!

the ups and downs in a day!

What can I say, some times nice things happen and other times things go horribly wrong! First the disappointment: I have taken part in a Christmas RAK (random act of kindness) and have already posted my parcel on time, read that everyone else has received theirs etc...but I have had nothing!!! It is the first time I have joined in a RAK from the forum and it is quite sad that I have not yet had mine in the post. I have made some enquiries but not yet heard anything back so I have to try and be patient and not worry, but it is hard!!! Then this morning I had supervision at my work and it was really good. I cannot say more but it was very beneficial and I feel that it is a good session to have to look forward to every 6 weeks. Then I went to Loes' for lunch and a good long chat!! She even gave me my christmas presents! A wonderful ceramic chicken ( I collect them) whom I have called EUSTACE. He is great and Loes told me why she had made him as he is and what he represents for me. I will take a photo tomorrow! He is sitting on the windowsill in our bedroom right now. She also gave me a perfect bead for my trollbead bracelet/necklace which I plan to wear in Friday night at Peter's christmas 'do'. So that sort of made up or the RAK being missing/not posted ( who knows?) and for my tiredness after the weekend. I need to get on with the rest of my cards now, the housework, the ironing, the shopping......but for now I am going to SLEEP!!!!! Zzzzzzz.....................

FRIENDS

The first photo is of Lindsey and Jackie in the Winter Gardens in Sheffield. Then of Jackie with her daughter Amie, and then Amie alone. I've known Jackie since Becci was a toddler and Amie a new baby, so it was lovely to see her now she is 18 and all grown up!! Amie and Becci were good friends and we shared a lot when we lived near one another. It was nice trundling around Sheffield despite being windy and cold. There was a 'lookalike' German Market in the square and the first stall I saw said 'The Dutch Cookie Man'!!!! Real Dutch guys so we had a little chat, rather amusing actually. Don't think they were expecting to meet someone from Holland in South Yorkshire!!!! We went to see the flat that Amie shares with her friend Becky, and it was delightful. Very swish and a great investment for Jackie and Trevor. So this is it for now as I have to go to work soon. I have taken Peter to the station earlier so he is now at the airport on his way to Copenhagen. I will join him on Friday for the Works 'do' so time to myself to get things sorted before Becci arrives on Monday. This 13 days to go is getting me worried; too much still to organise!!!! But hey, so long as I have sent the cards and posted the presents all will be well. right?!....

Otley Christmas Fair

Lindsey standing under the lamp post in Otley market square last friday night. Jerry had scathingly called it 'Grotley'.....but it was quite a disappointment for us in the end. We thought that there were lots of people supporting the fair, and the atmosphere was great, but the stalls were not very inspiring or original and too many of them were cheap products going for a song instead of it being an opportunity to find unusual presents for Christmas. The most popular stall was selling the hot pork and crackling baps!!! That was doing a roaring trade! Lindsey bought a nice Bonsei plant for Sophie which was the best there was re. stands. Anyway, the Salvation Army were playing carols which I feel is an integral part of Christmas for me. When we lived in Granville Road in Walmer, Kent, we used to watch from our parents bedroom window as they played 'Away in a Manger' for us. Sometimes it would snow which only added to the magic. I loved it! So that is a favourite Christmas memory of mine that I wanted to share with you. Only 13 more days!!!!

Young Love

Here are Becci and Roy, my daughter and her boyfriend. I took these photos in Leeds on Saturday, but Roy hadn't been awake so long, hence the rather sleepy look!! Becci is starting to resemble her fathers side of the family more and more. They are all petite and dark haired and usually wear glasses etc and she is looking more and more like her aunty Cheryl! She has lost a lot of weight over the past year and is really slim now, despite a very healthy appetite I can assure you! Roy is studying at Leeds Metropolitan University so is a proper poor student.......aaah! He is a lovely lad and they are very sweet together. Becci is in her last year of study so 2008 will see her looking for a real job possibly away from Stafford where she currently is studying. I love her to bits!!!

I'm back!!!!

It went so quickly but here I am safely back home again, and lots to tell!!! The first thing to say, briefly, is that I had a great time. But I'll come back to that later....first, the horrors of flying out of England!!! Since all the terrorist attacks etc. the airports in Britain are understandably nervous. What I didn't realise is just HOW nervous they are until this week! We were in HEBDEN BRIDGE ( lovely little village) on Friday and it was absolutely pouring it down - we had some sleet too! - so we were ducking into every shop we came across to dry out! We were in a super little pot shop and had bought some small gifts and got talking to the lady there etc. (you know how it goes...)! She told us that I would only be allowed ONE cabin bag and not a handbag AND a cabin bag as the rule was now one only. Ok, so Becci bought me a bigger bag so that was my present sorted, and I could put my pot safely into it etc. no worries. Then we were out in the evening seeing Althea and she had got my present with her too. Was it small and light and easy to fit into the suitcase???? NO! It was light enough but too large to fit in my suitcase or my hand luggage! What to do..... I asked her about whether it had any wires in it as I have experienced that last year when I was asked to tip my luggage out as Jackie had given me a present that could have been a bomb!!!! Yes, there were wires apparently (the mind boggled). So it would have to go into the suitcase. Ok, could go that. Then Althea told us that no-one is able to drop passengers off outside the terminal door since the fiasco in Dundee. Everyone has got anxious about crazy drivers ramming the entrances so one has to be dropped off outside the terminal gates at the roundabout!!!!! Lindsey and I had a few anxious moments imagining dropping me off in the middle of the night at a roundabout and letting me get on with it!!! It was worth a few laughs anyway, and gave us food for thought. It was actually ok in the end. Lindsey was able to draw into the car park and chuck me out in a hurry before driving quickly to the exit and not having to pay for the pleasure! I got frisked of course but it was not a problem and I was in the plane and heading home without any more incidents!!!! Poor Peter was gallant enough to want to pick me up but he had to sit in 3 hours of traffic and we were not home before 11.00am and I had landed at nine!!!! Sorry, Becci, looks like the train for you after all!!! So I am tired but happy and no doubt back into the swing of things this week before you know it!!!

am I ready to go?....what have I forgotten?....

My suitcase just doesn't seem full enough!!! And I haven't even got a cabin bag...what is going on with me?!!!!! Have I finally sussed out that I don't need to take so much with me or have I forgotten my knickers?!!!!! And despite thinking I was going to make the christmas cards to take with me, what did I do? I sat and made a layout for someone's christmas present!!!! I was just 'in the zone' and I know exactly what Ineke means when she lets all the other stuff go in order to scrap....feels great really!! Jackie has just rung me to confirm our day out on Friday so that is organised. This year our planning hasn't gone as smoothly as usual. Can't see Linda as she is busy, which is a real shame as we love to discuss Strictly together! Barbara is staying in France as she is not able to get back to Yorkshire at this time due to finances. We must go and see her and Philip ourselves next year! And we will see Joan and hopefully Althea if she is now getting my e-mails ok, or else I will ring her tomorrow. Becci has arranged to meet us outside Morrisons on Saturday at 10am so that we can go to Holmfirth and Penistone etc. and re-trace our footsteps from years ago when she was little. Then maybe to see THE GOLDEN COMPASS in the evening with her and Roy and Jerry and his son....and uncle Tom Cobley an' all!!!! Nice Christmas Fair on Friday evening in Otley to go to...outside in the streets so nice and atmospherical (is that a word?!)..atmospheric maybe???? As you can tell, I am excited!!!!!

BELIEVE

This is the photo album/book that I have made for Loes. It is a christmas present for her niece in Spain and poor Loes has been poorly and unable to complete it herself. I just couldn't resist offering to make it for her!! ( any excuse to scrap something different!!!) Actually using the pre-cut BELIEVE chipboard pages is a doddle and SOoo easy. Loes wanted there to be plenty of room to add photos so on the flip side of most pages I have made somewhere for her to stick or slip her photos from Christmas into the book. Since I am off to England tomorrow I don't have time today to show you the whole book but I have taken photos so it will appear once I am back home again!!! It is a lovely project and I would recommend the other chipboard books too. Takes a while to complete etc but it is worth it I think you will agree??????! Here in Holland it is 5 December and Sinterklaas so I wish you all a very happy evening with lots of presents and fun with family and friends. We don't celebrate it ourselves since we do Christmas of course, but it is nice seeing everyone here getting the last minute shopping etc. in, despite the awful weather and poor forecast. I am not pleased since I will be flying early tomorrow morning and it is likely to still be rather stormy. I have checked in now - what a nerve making one pay for a seat on top of the baggage payment AND the cost of using a visa card!!!!! Peter was not a happy bunny!!!! On top of that my kerst rak is STILL not here....and everyone else is saying they have received theirs already, boo hoo. I saw that my swop was already received so that is nice anyway. I hope she likes it!!! but, I am getting lost in translation I think here!!! My mind is more on the fact that the cabin bag cannot be found still, and I have got to get some shopping done for the boys whilst I am away so going with Pete shortly I hope (if his phone ever stops ringing that is!). And then the last things into my bag and the train ticket etc.........................happy days!!!!

the complex inner world of the fish!!!!

It doesn't take much to set off my anxieties and insecurities, something most fish have in common apparently. Talking to my friend who is also a Pisces, and sharing a few worries, we found we are often using our intuition to sense when things aren't 'quite right'. And then blaming ourselves!!!! Internalising the fears and self doubts and making ourselves miserable! Oh what a complex creature the fish is!!!! We see them swimming around in that ocean or fishbowl, thinking they don't have a care in the world, and, more interestingly, that they have no long term memory and cannot even recall what they did a few seconds earlier!!!! But the human fish has a memory as large as an elephants, the sensitivity of a prickly pear, and emotions the depth of the most gigantic mass of water imagineable. We are the twelveth sign and are made up of all the others, so trying to fathom us out is impossible!!! And when we are hurt......we dive into that deep dark ocean and sculk around on the bottom feeding our bleeding hearts with more pain and worry and it takes a while to surface again. So my ocean this week is called England and I am escaping there to my friends and my home and just diving, diving, deep, deep down...............