Sew busy

Whilst mulling over whatever my next challenge might be (still no idea really!), I have been playing with my new sewing machine. My old faithful Jones, purchased at a car boot sale 18 years ago, for £20, finally gave up the ghost a few weeks back, just as I decided that I wanted to use it. This had all been prompted by one of my daughters wanting to buy a dress from a shop in Weymouth, which I considered to be extremely poor value for money......'you could make it for less than a quarter of that price' I think were the words that started it. So, a few projects in, and I am remembering that, actually, I can sew. A bit of a revelation from someone whose teenage efforts never managed to pass muster as far as the mother was concerned.

Anyway, I had a particularly productive day yesterday, a top for me, and a dress for the 'not so little' smaller one (12 last week) in the most adorable fabric that we found on Friday. Here we are, modelling the results.

Note the wet hair on littly; she was fresh from the swimming pool and hadn't realised just how quickly the dress would be finished!

Next up, another top from the same pattern for me, and possibly some skirts; those black trousers are WAY too big and held up only by the belt!

Sore feet...

...well, if you're going to attempt a marathon, it's always best to draft in a few friends to come and encourage you....but I may just have gone one better this time, in that a few of my friends also happen to play in a rather fabulous Samba band called Samba Doc. They were there, and thanks to a bit of 'inside information' just happened to time their performance to coincide with me crossing the finish line! I knew I was close (darn it I wish they had mile markers on that course) when I heard them start playing... and crossed the line to a rather loud and enthusiastic drum roll, with whistles and whoops thrown in for good measure. Lots of hugs, then they carried on playing whilst I stretched and had some food. The picture is me at the end, and yes, it is purple (growing old disgracefully). If you want to see exactly how good they are, go to You Tube and type in Samba Doc, would recommend 'parading through Tenby' as a good place to start.

So, that marathon. Hard. Very challenging course; BOY was I glad I put in so much hill training, particularly the 'twice round Lly-y-Fran reservoir' session. I overtook a lot of people on the hills (can't do them slowly, just have to go for it). Massive sense of achievement at finishing, and grateful thanks to those who supported me both by sponsoring me, but also with so much encouragement. Also thanks (I think) to the local radio station who managed to edit my 05.30 interview to make me sound almost human (although I could have done without them repeating said interview three times that week, eek).

Trouble is with these challenges, training is never quite the same again.... having a specific goal is so much easier. I am back in the gym, at classes, but sort of 'wandering' without a destination in mind. I may just have to set myself a new, different sort of challenge. Not sure exactly what yet...

...waiting.....

Well, I have got to the 'odd' bit really, my marathon is a week today, so all the high-mileage training is done. I am only really doing gentle stuff, eating, and trying to get some rest. To be honest it feels quite weird after having spent the last three months traing so hard! I did a short session in the gym this morning, mainly to avoid the high pollen count outdoors, but the rest of the day is mine. I might venture up to the scrap room in a while, once the next of the never-ending loads of washing has been sorted. In the meantime, 'here's one I made earlier'..... it's my 12x12 training plan. Last time I did a marathon I made a mini-book, but I thought for this one I would keep it all on one page. I also need to fill it in, as I haven't updated it for a few weeks!

see you on the other end of 26.2 miles!

Scrapping time

Well, our first Scrapaholix crop turned out to be a lovely day, very relaxed (as I had hoped it would be), and everyone left having completed a page, with ideas to make more at home.

I think the cookies might have helped, but they all said they enjoyed themselves! Anyway, they're all coming back for more, and bringing friends, so hopefully we will now have a regular little group.

This month we will be talking and learning about journalling (bit of a hobbyhorse for me!), and using templates.

...and at the request of a couple of my ladies, we will be adding a bit of stitching (but just a bit, not too difficult).

Other than scrapping, the rest of my time is now spent training, as the marathon is only eight weeks away. It has been great to be able to spend more time outside, and yesterday and today I have been training in a t-shirt instead of a fleece; spring is finally on it's way!

Going for it....

So, living in the back of beyond has it's aadvantages, and lots of them; but I miss my old cropping buddies. I have made contact with a few people in Wales who run crops, but they are all over an hour's drive away, and with one car between us, it's not very practical to go gadding about like that for a whole day; it means the rest of the family are stranded.
So, the obvious answer....start my own crop! Hmm, sounds a bit scary to be honest, except I do have a little previous experience ;)
I know of a few people locally who want to scrap, but lack the confidence, so I am going to start a Scrapaholix club; that way we have stash provided, they get to learn, I get to play. Happiness all round. All I have to do is design a class each month! Okay, no pressure there then, eek!
But even that should be okay; Scrapaholix issue guidelines with each kit as to the technique to teach. The picture is my first class, and a cracking place to start, learning how to use sketches to design a LO. I almost always use sketches, and Anam Stubbington has very kindly let Scrapaholix use this one, together with offering a prize to club members who upload pages to the club site in February.
So, we are starting here at home, so there's no pressure on me to fill a hall, the countdown has started.....19 days to go....

Playing Catch-up

Okay, I am resigned to the fact that I can't keep this Blog up to date....when there's so much to do and so little time something has to give! It has been a busy few weeks for me, with lots of Christmas bead commissions, and of course the 'day job'.

I have however been making a little time to scrap, and have also been trying to use up some of my stash mountain (just in case anyone should feel like buying me more for Christmas!). When I'm a 'stuck' for ideas, a sketch is almost always the way to get me started, and for this one I used the sketch over at A Trip Down Memory Lane. Handy really, as it means I can also enter it into this month's challenge! This is of course a brave move for me, not having shared any of my scrapping publicly for such a long time...but spurred on by some very encouraging friends I thought I should give it a go!! You know who you are :) xxxxx

Life is a roller coaster

Oh bad blogger, even more random that usual! In my defence, the past year has been a roller coaster of a ride, but one that finally seems to be settling down.

Work is of course our main priority, but one that seems to be going pretty well to date. Not sure about my new Boss, but he seems pretty accommodating so far ;)

We moved here to improve our 'quality of life', and that goal has certainly been reached! We rarely work late, and spend loads of time walking on the beach or just hanging around with our friends. The girls one and two have taken up golf and sailing respectively, whilst the boys are simply happy that the beach is so close.

The best news of all is that the 'hole in the house' saga is finally over with, and my studio is both fully accessible, and fully 'up and running'. Bliss. My little shop on the web is ticking over nicely, and I still get the same thrill that someone likes my beadies enough to part with their hard earned cash for them!

Welsh Myths #1

....apparently it never snows in Pembrokeshire.

I beg to differ!

Well, the first Christmas in our new home has been and gone, the tree has come down, and the relatives have all gone home. We enjoyed a fantastic beach walk on New Year's Day (and Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, Tuesday,Thursday; you get the picture?!); New Year's Day in particular was gorgeous; bright blue skies and hardly a puff of wind!

What a difference a day makes....we had snow last night, and a wonderful wintery walk on the golf course this morning.

We are enjoying a few days of leisure before we go back to work on Monday; who knows, I may even get to do some scrapping! (Those of you who are Facebook friends will have seen the 'hole' in our house, and understand that there won;t be any glassy goings-on until the studio roof has been fixed :( )

I'm still waiting...

...but probably not for much longer!

It seems that there really is an end to this house moving 'saga to end all saga's'; and we may just do a sort of 'partial move' next week. More news as I get it.

In the meantime I have had some lovely feedback in my little shop, and some great reactions from people when they realise I actually make the beads from hot melty glass, rather than just making jewellery!

www.bearhousebeads.co.uk

I love to read comments ;)

Went to Christina's fab shop today, and managed to say a few goodbyes; I sure will miss all that stash under one roof!

Going Loco..

...seriously, there's only so much packing a girl can do!

I treated myself to some new glass the other day, and yesterday I actually managed to sit and have a play. I'm rather pleased with the results....I'm thinking maybe a bracelet. Hope you like them?

....we're moving on out.....

at last, the news we've been waiting for. The mortgage company have got their act together and approved our application!

Relief doesn't even begin to cover how we're feeling at this moment; there was a very real possibility that they were going to refuse to finance the purchase.

Mr Coffee is in a packing frenzy.

I am finally allowing myself to believe that it's real, and in just a few weeks we'll be living in our dream house.

Hopefully in the next few days we'll have a date to work towards and we'll know more.

Can't sit still, I'll be packed in a box!

Feeling hot hot hot!

well, can't complain that the weather has turned cooler after such a warm and sunny Half Term week, can we?

Not much to report from the house of random, except that the move is still ongoing, I think. 'C&G' and 'customer service' should never under any circumstances be used in the same sentence as far as I'm concerned. Their total lack of communication and ability to get anything done is worse than abysmal. Phone calls that are never returned, reports that get 'lost', and everyone telling us that 'someone else' is supposed to be doing something, mean that the original deadline set by the vendor of 'new house to be' is completely unattainable. Frankly we will be lucky if we actually end up buying the place. Or anywhere else.

I have been busy at the torch trying to distract myself....hope you like my efforts?

Moving on up..

...we're moving on out!

Yay, at last a Sold sign presides outside the House of Random, and an offer has been accepted on our 'favourite' house from recent viewings. Folks it really is happening now!

We still have to work in our jobs for the time being, and cannot hand in letters of resignation just yet, but things are moving quickly, and we should be 'there' by the end of June.

Still can't tell all, but our new abode is, far from being the 'downsize' that we imagined, bigger and better, and much much older; built in 1866. There are four bedrooms, a stonkingly massive craft room, a long garden and a studio to set my torch up in, so no more excuses not to make beads!

It will be a relief to finally be able to 'spill the beans' on what we are doing, in not too many weeks from now!

I think I have a case of ......

...Facebook-induced Blog-neglect! I fought the whole FB thing initially, (until Chrissie wore me down ;)), and I have to agree that it is a great, if lazy, way to keep up to date with friends and family....BUT, as a result, I seem to have managed to stop blogging.

So, here I am.

Where do I start?

Actually, I think it's easier if I start just about now, rather than try to recap; it's far simpler.

Well,those of you who are 'in the know', also know that we are still here, waiting for the Big Move.

Frustrating though it is, there is, frankly, b****er all we can do about it, so we keep our house unbelievably tidy (my craft room no longer exists, Claire, you wouldn't recognise it!), and wait for the phone to ring. Encouragingly, we have had quite a lot of interest over the past few weeks, although I did lose my rag a bit today when the agent proposed to send someone who doesn't even have their own house on the market to look round. Tell them to call us when they are actually serious about buying a house please! We have been plagued by other agents wanting to sell the house, and we caved in this afternoon and invited one of them round for a chat later in the week.

Having had everything packed away for so long, I got fed up the other week, and started to think about scrapping again. Easier said than done; my Mojo is also packed away in the loft!! So, off to Christina's I went, and took a great card and LO class, which did quite a lot to oil the wheels. I have carried on, and several pages now fill the fab album that Mr Coffee bought me for Christmas.

But I have also reached a decision. I think. (I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure...), and that is; that my pages won't feature on my Blog. Claire et al, you know where to find my layouts; anyone else who wants to know, just give me a shout and I'll point you in the right direction. This way, I have some control over who sees what goes on in my life and who doesn't, and maybe I will feel more able to blog a bit about it all as I go.

Other than that, the foot is healing, which makes the boys in my life very very happy! The Consultant told me on Friday that I can't power walk for at least another month though, which rather puts a damper on my idea of doing the Sunwalk in Bristol on 5th July, but we'll see; if I'm careful I might still get there.

Work is; well, work. Still the same mix of emotions on a minute by minute basis, mixed with a lot of 'how different would my life have been if I had been in the Job by now?'. But it will pass (just about the time we sell our house!).

'Toodlepip', as I used to say. Bit passe that, especially now someone else is using it. Get your own catchphrase matey!

I'm not dead....just busy

Cannot seriously believe I haven't blogged since I was 39! Actually, I thought I had, just after the Moonwalk; but if I did, the post has disappeared :)

Well, the Moonwalk was fab, cold, tiring, emotional and brilliant. I finished, although slower than planned (very few opportunities for overtaking, which frankly I could have done with), and now have a shiny (and heavy) medal to show for it.

We had a great week away over the May Half Term, to celebrate my birthday; and spent lots of time reading, playing scrabble and generally chilling.

As the summer approached, it became more and more apparent that I was unlikely to remain with my Employer (fourth wave of redundancies in two years, and I was very much 'last in'; add to that the fact that I b****y hated working for them!!!), so I started looking for a new job to tide me over until I started the 'shiny new career'.

What I ended up with was an old job; my old job to be precise. So, now I am happily ensconced back in A&E, working my old shifts, and frankly rather glad to be back, even if there is still filing left from when I departed 2+ years ago. The downside is that I can't currently go and play at Christina's on Thursday evenings; but thay should change in a few weeks as we have more staff on board.

So, comfortable in job-much-missed, going to the gym, planning for the future....

...but sometimes Fate has other ideas.

Out of the blue, an alternative future has been offered; not quite on a plate, but very much a feasible option. The chance for us to escape the rat race of middle England, and live in the sticks. The chance for Mr Coffee to work for himself, a long-held dream, and for me to run the office for him. Actually, it wasn't exactly a difficult decision for us, despite the big 'sacrifice' being my 'shiny new career', and surprisingly, the girls are keen too, despite the prospect of leaving all their friends.

So, after weeks of negotiation, it has been agreed; we are going. I can't tell you where, yet, but I will. Our home is going on the market on Monday (is it just me, or do Estate Agents employ 12 year olds?), and I am in the process of packing up my clutter (which may take a good deal of time!!!).

You'll find me under a pile of boxes...

Moonwalk (and I don't mean the Michael Jackson dance!!)

Well, the time is nearly here for me to complete my 'I am 40 and fabulous(ish)' Challenge; the Playtex Moonwalk.

If I haven't already bored you with the details elsewhere, I am Power Walking a full Marathon, at night, in my bra, to raise money for the Walk the Walk breast cancer charity. Yes, in my bra. (I know; it seemed like a good idea at the time!)

Seriously though, I am really looking forward to the night; and am sure that the atmosphere will be amazing. DD1 has been repeatedly reassured that amongst the 15,000 entrants, I won't be the only Mummy with a wobbly tummy, and that all the other people will be wearing oddly decorated bras as well. DD2 simply thinks I am the coolest Mummy ever to be doing it and frankly doesn't give two hoots what I will (or won't) be wearing!!

Training is going well so far; I completed 16 miles on Saturday, and have been spurred on by people generously sponsoring me (thanks Nattie!). Oh, and a few Mars bars have been consumed on the way, all in the name of training you understand!

So, positive thoughts please for the night of 17th May; and if it stays dry/ snow free, I will be an even happier bunny!!

Edited to add; my sponsorship page is
www.justgiving.com/tinasmith40 if you fancy reading more. You'll need to cut and paste, I can't get hyperlinks to work on Blogger today.

TTFN

Never assume...( a Cautionary Tale)

You know the saying; 'never assume, as it makes an ass/u/me'?

Sometimes I should remind myself of that fact.

If my mobile phone rings, and the caller ID tells me it is **probably** Coffee Boy, as he is the only person who usually shows up as 'Private Call', I should just stop and think for a moment.

It might not be him.

Had I done that when my phone rang this evening, whilst I was cooking the childrens tea, I might not have used a rather comic cheery 'let's cheer him up, he's had a rough couple of days' voice. Indeed, I might not have, in said cheery voice, said;

"Hello, Ratatouille Factory"

Only to discover that in fact it wasn't Coffee Boy at all, but the HR Department of 'New Employer to Be'.

Hmm, get out of that one!

Altered Images

Well, not much to report from the house of Random; I have taken up residence in the gym, and shall return in early March. Possibly.

We did find out this week that no.1 daughter won a competition! It was organised by the local Fire Brigade, and was all about Firework Safety (that gives a small clue as to how long ago exactly this competition was!!). First prize= £25 in Argos vouchers. She is home from school today with a horrible sore throat, and so is browsing the catalogue as I type.

I did finally manage to take a few pictures of some of my more recent scrapping layouts (roll on Spring and a bit of daylight, pwetty please!), and I remembered my Slide password. A bit much, I know. Anyway, scroll down if you fancy a look.

Oh, and yesterday's trip to the Hairdresser (the girls, not me: I'm going on a Saturday sans enfants thank you very much):
One 'rather reluctant drastic trim under duress' for smaller person. She will, I'm sure one day,come to understand that the cave-girl look is no longer desirable in an eight year old. Not round these parts, anyway.
Then, 'my first big-girl haircut' for no.1. Her decision, her discussion with stylist. Proper wash over the backwash basin. Result = no more long hair; but shoulder-length layers! It's gorgeous, makes her look very grown-up, and will be coming soon to a layout near you.

When will I, will I be Famous??

Actually, never (I hope)...but Phil was on the tv today! Following on from his entire episode of 'All in a Day's Work', with Mark Wogan, the Coffee Boy has been gracing the screens of British telly for a second time.

Three hours of filming last week, and three minutes of blurb on the Politics Show (BBC2) this afternoon. If you want to check it out, go to BBC.CO.UK, find 'I Player', and you can look at the Politics Show: he's about 16/18 minutes in.

But hurry, his particular 15 minutes (seconds, LOL) of fame, will only be available for viewing for another 6 days! Indeed exclusive stuff! Oh, and whatever you do, don't blink!

You spin me round...

Well, looking back through my Blog, it appears that although I claim to be a Scrapper, I don't actually show you very often (apart from that rather outdated slideshow at the bottom; if I can remember the password, I might even get around to putting some more recent stuff on there one of these days!).

So, in true Blue Peter style, 'here is one I made earlier'! It's a little book that I made for my MIL for Christmas; essentially a quarter-circle that opens out into a circle and can be tied open to sit on a coffee table. (Note to self: buy coffee table for MIL next birthday!).

I rather foolishly took it along to my crop, and am now charged with teaching it as a class in two weeks!

The basic idea is not mine, rather the shape of the book came from a class by a rather talented French lady called Prisca Jokovic; but I adapted it to make use of the rather fab K&Co papers (basically as they will coordinate with MIL's Living Room!). Having never actually taught a class before, this will be a huge learning curve for all concerned: but the instructions have been printed out, the 'ingredients' purchased; so all I can do now is wait!

Have a great weekend!