Thursday 31 December 2009

bitten


I've been bitten by a vicious little chihuahua. I apologise if anyone actually likes these little tykes but I never have liked small lap dogs that yap a lot. I like them even less now. We were sitting in our living room when we spotted a small dog running around the round. I went out and tried to coax it to come to me but it wasn't interested. It had a collar on. So I grabbed my coat and a dog treat and went after it. It still wouldnt come to me, perhaps the treat I had was not to its taste, but it did get close enough to me for me to attempt to pick it up and the little bugger bit me. Naturally I dropped it straight away but a few minutes later managed to corral it into a walled garden. I asked the owner of the garden to call the police. The police called the Animal Warden from the council and someone came along pretty quickly which was good because the dog was trying to get out but I had it cornered. I was worried it would try to nip me if it did get past me. Thankfully the Animal Warden managed to get it very easily. So that was that. Now I have a very sore finger for my troubles. I defintely don't like chihuahuas now.


Wednesday 30 December 2009

It's Christmas time

It is the lull between Christmas and New Year and time to reflect on the year gone and to think of New Year's resolutions. Here are a few photos of our Christmas celebrations.

Sarah, Sev and Alice, despie being 19,18 and 16 stil wanted Christmas stockings. Did anyone order a toy boy! LOL. My four year old nephew had fun with a box on Boxing Day.
A few photos of us all at Christmas. This last one is of all Andy's parent's grandchildren.

Thursday 24 December 2009

Christmas Eve

Well the snow has all gone and it is much easier to get around now. I took Milie for a walk over he woods and she still managed to have a roll in what was left of the snow/ice. She was so filthy we had to wash her AGAIN when we got home. She met up with a 9month old labradoodle and the two of them had a great run around.

I have finished cutting up all the jeans squares for my jeans quilt. At some point over the holidays I will sew some red hearts on some of squares and then start to sew them altogether.

Well it is Christmas Eve and everything is done. The shopping - between us Andy and I have been to Tescos EIGHT times in the past two days! LOL. But we have everything now, finally. All the presents too. Off to church in a few minutes as I dont think I can stay awake until midnight.

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone.

Sunday 20 December 2009

snowy weekend

We have had a great time this weekend taking Millie for walks in the snow. Millie has thoroughly enjoyed rolling around in the white stuff. The snow is still here as the temperature has not gone above 0 degrees. We haven't gone anywhere though because the roads are still very icy. I am not looking forward to going to work tomorrow morning when it will be very cold and icy.

Without having realised it at the time, I have managed to knock off another of my 101 things to do in 1001 days - number 85 go to a quiz night. Andy and I went to one at the church hall with Andy's parents and his brother Simon a few weeks ago. I thought we were doomed when I saw a chap who I was in the same team with some years ago. He is so clever and knows almost everything. I went up to him and said hello and asked if he remembered me from all those years ago and said I might as well go home now that he is here! He laughed and said he did remember me and my ex-husband who knew an answer that he did not. He even remembered the question and answer in great detail!! He was glad my ex was not there that night! In the end we came third out of seven teams. Unfortunately two teams had a bust up and one of them walked out! We thought it quite hilarious that people would get so wound up over a church quiz night.

Not doing too good with the numbers 18 and 19 of my 101, i.e. quilts. I have started to make another one. How hopeless am I? I am quite looking forward to this one though as it is quite different. I am making a jeans quilt out of old jeans. I have been cutting up old jeans into 5 1/2 squares and have about 86; I need about 140 altogether. I think to get away with the three that I have not completed is to give them to my mum and ask her to back them for me.

Friday 18 December 2009

SNOW DAY

The first photo is the view from the green to my house. The second one is of the green with snow in the trees. It looks really pretty.

It snowed heavily last night. We don't get snow very often here so it is quite an event when it does snow "proper" snow which actually stays on the ground for more than 10 minutes. It is actually about 6 inches deep which is pretty cool. I got up early to listen to the radio to see how bad the roads were. Everyone kept saying stay at home unless your journey is essential. I live close to the main road though, so I thought if I cant get out to the main road it will be alright. There was nothing on the radio about any problems on the roads I was intending to use to get to work this morning. So I went out at about 7.30am this morning. It took forever to wipe the 6" snow off the car and then when I went to try and turn the car round it keep sliding and got stuck.
So as I can't even more the car at the moment I am not going in to work. I took Millie over the green for a quick run in the snow. At least you can see her in the dark! LOL.

Saturday 12 December 2009

Decorations

Well the Christmas decorations are finally up, after Andy has pestered me for the past three weeks! I have always put them up 10-15 days before Christmas and not before! They do look lovely, Andy did most of the work this year; he was very excited to be putting them up. I will load a few pictures up a bit later on this evening. We are going to an outdoor carol concert in Old Leigh at 6pm and will take some more photos then. So I will load them all up later tonight. We bought a new outdoor set of lights in the shape of two reindeers and a sleigh. When our neighbours saw them they said they were thinking of buying the same thing! We are going to look a bit odd both having the same thing, but never mind. I love driving around looking at all the decorations. We will probably have a little drive around this evening as I want to take some photos for a photo swap that I am doing on www.swap-bot.com

Sunday 29 November 2009

laptop

I've not had a good week with my laptop. The screen cracked and this made it unusable. So I have been struggling all week and cursing. So Andy got fed up listening to me and went out and bought a new one today! OMG. We really shouldn't have, but I do use the laptop a lot. Now of course i don't have Photoshop on the new one and somehow I need to transfer my photos and digital scrapbbooking kits to this one which could be tricky cos the old laptop is very difficult to use with a broken screen. But I am very happy with the new one.

I've also started dieting AGAIN. Not sure how many days I will last. I am pretty crap at sticking to diets. I am just doing a basic diet - slimming world. I find it the easiest one to follow because you dont have to weigh everything. So let's see how we go. I am just getting fed up lugging this body around and want to be able to go for walks without it being so difficult. That will have to be my incentive.

Monday 23 November 2009

Money free weekend

I LOVE the Internet and I LOVE googling to find out new and interesting topics. I am a member of swap bot (http://www.swap-bot.com/) and there is the opportunity to swap almost anything - ATCs, knitted items, mostly hand made items, sometimes swap things like ribbons, make matchbox and sometimes there are some email swaps as well as sending post cards. There is a huge variety. Today I joined a swap which is an email one - so it is free. The challenge is to make a list of 100 things to do that are free on a weekend. Ideas available from another website - http://www.thesimpledollar.com/
I had a little look on this and there are some great ideas. I quickly came up with a list nearly four pages long. Some ideas are fun, some are a bit boring but they are all free.
Here is my list:
.Phone a family member or friend for a long chat (phone deals usually include free weekend and evening calls)
.Deep clean a room in the house - wash curtains, carpets, clean out cupboards, hoover under the furniture etc
. Have a long chat with a partner about life ambitions and goals
. Make a romantic dinner with a loved one and light some candles, make it special with tablecloth, knapkin, wine etc
. Go to the library. You can read a magazine or a newspaper there; have a wander around and see what facilities they offer, borrow a book, DVD or magazine
. Read a good book.
. Meditate
. Watch a local community game - cricket netball, football
. Put your finances in order, check out what unncessary extras you are paying, see if you can get a better car/house insurance
. Put your paperwork/bills in order - file and throw out old stuff
. Shred all your papers for recycling
. Alphabetise your CD/DVD collection - I know this sounds very sad, but it is very fulfilling.
. Play a board game
. Do a jigsaw puzzle
. Watch your children put on a little show
. Make a den and play a make believe game with the children
. Make an indoor assault course for young children
. Walk along the seafront, on your own, with your loved one, with the children or the dog(s)
. Make a sandcastle. The beaches in Devon have amazing sand for this.

. Wash the dog (usually after a muddy walk is a good time)



. Take a nice walk in the woods or local nature reserve/country park
. Visit a castle ruin, gardens that are open to the public
. Cook up some meals in advance
. Bake some bread
. Bake some biscuits with the children
. I used to fill the sink with water and lots of bubbles and let the children play with the cups etc
. Paint some still life indoors, or go out and paint some scenery. If not paints available then colouring pencils would be just fine too
. Have a good clear out of the kitchen cupboard,s throwing out all those out of date goods
. Make a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days - still working on mine!
. Start a blog (perhaps detailing your success of above)
. Digital scrapbooking. There are some freebie kits and embellishments available that can get you started. One site that I use, which is very friendly and supportive is http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/
. Make ATCs. These are Artist Trading Cards - check out this site. www.atcsforall.com/
. Make some Christmas/Birthday cards by hand
. Make decisions and write out your will
. Walk through the house and make a maintenance to do list
. Actually do some of that maintenance around the house - fix that leaking tap, broken curtain rail etc
. Do some basic car maintenance, or teach yourself how to (good old Google will show you) Check the oil, water and air in the tyres
. Clean the car, inside and out
. Clean out the garage
. Have a boot sale. Although you do technically have to spend out to do this initially, you would actually get more than your money back as long as you don't pick a day when it rains and no-one wants to buy anything like I did earlier this year.
. Sort through your books, CDs and DVDs. Either sell your unwanted items on ebay or Amazon or swap them on websites such as PaperBackSwap, SwapTree adn SwapADVD.
. Teach yourself how to knit
. Take some digital photos
. Share your photos online
. Visit a free museum
. Play on the x-box
. Play on the Wii - Wii fit is a good one
. Play games online
. Chat on facebook
. Get together with some friends and have a nice chat
. Go geocaching - check out their site for a cache near you - http://www.geocaching.com/

. Stay in bed and watch TV
. Practice origami
. Make a video for You tube. this can be a "how to" video or whatever takes your fancy. I spend ages just looking at the videos
. Go for a swim in the sea
. Play a game of football/boules/tennis/badminton etc
. Scan your old photos
. Make a scrapbook using your photos
. Write a snail mail letter to an elderly relative. You could pick their brains for some family history and/or tell them all about your family's activities.
. Investigate your family tree - there is a lot you can find out online
. Watch films - a series of films like all the Star Wars movies (we watched all six one day!)
. Make a zine
. Cut the grass
. Tidy up the garden/greenhouse
. Trim the hedge or tree
. Do a crossword puzzle or soduku
. Do some volunteer work
. Watch the sunset/sunrise from a hill or on the seafront
. Do an exercise DVD
. Start a journal
. Learn or play a musical instruments. This can be on your own or with friends
. Sharpen your knives, scissors and lawnmower blades
. Plan your next year's holiday
. Give your partner a massage and if you are lucky receive one in return. Last year I learnt how to do Indian head massage and reguarly give my family members a head massage when they are tired or have a headache
. play a card game
. take a child to the playground and spend a great time pushing them on the swing and on the seesaw
. Google anything - I spend hours surfing the net. I usually start reading someone's blog which often leads to a link to another web site and then go on from there.
. Take a long hot bubble bath
. Manicure yours or your loved one's toes and finger nails
. Take some unwanted items to a charity shop
. Go fishing - on the beach or if it is free to get on a local pier, off the pier
. Go cycling
. Go running
. Do some amateur stargazing. Or you can go along to a local astronomy's open evening. We have a local one that often have a number of telescopes set up and let the general public have a look through and have a chat about astronomy.
. Write a book or some poetry
. Put up the Christmas decorations
. Wrap your Christmas presents, bought last weekend
. Write your Christmas cards
. Find letters of the alphabet on Google maps in YOUR area. I know of two people who have done this, one in UK and one in the Netherlands. I think I might see what I can find in London and Essex. Check this out. http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1250975&page=all
. Take part in Earth Hour and turn off all the lights and if possible what electricity you can.

Well that is 90+, not quite a hundred, but I am sure you can think of a few more. When my children were young we didn't have a great deal of money, so we often had money free weekends. In fact, I think I have probably done almost everything on this list at one point or another. When I asked the kids, now aged 16 and 18, what they would do on a money free weekend they could only come up with chatting with friends and playing ont the x-box. All my efforts were in vain!

Sunday 15 November 2009

This weekend's adventures

I have had a busy weekend, mostly geocaching. Andy must be thinking I am getting obsessed! But I just want to make the most of the opportunities available. Yesterday there was a World Wide Flash Mob event in London which I wanted to do as well as a few London caches and today the weather was georgous so I wanted to make the most of it.

Unfortunately yesterday's weather was not so good. It rained and was very windy all day. The rain did not stop until 4pm so i was not too happy about that. I walked miles and only got to do four caches in the end. But it was nice to meet up with other caches for the event at 6pm. It was dark by then so everyone came ready "to flash" their lights and torches. The organiser had put lights all over her wheelchair and assistance dog and someone else had put little flashing lights all over their bike. They looked pretty cool. I signed my name and swapped a trackable so a successful day in the end. Unfortunately the promised fireworks for the Lord Mayor's Show which was also going on that day, had to be cancelled due to high winds which was a shame. Came home absolutely exhausted but happy.

Whilst I was walking around London I went past Westminster Cathedral and the remembrance crosses and poppies were still in place. It brought a lump to my throat to see so many little crosses, each representing one person who has given their life in war. This is a small sample of the display.

Then today when I got up the sky was blue! HOORAY. So wonderful to see blue skies again. So I thought I really must go and take some more photos of cemeteries for the upcoming swap that I am in and surprise surprise there are some caches nearby. LOL. So I thought I would go and spend a few hours wandering around the countryside. Went to two local cemeteries and got a some photos. Need to get those prepared and posted later this week. Then on to the caches. Had a very successful day finding all the planned caches easily. I was down a path with bushes either side where the cache was hidden. I was hiding in the bushes when two girls riding on their horses came by. How embarrasing. What to say to explain why I am in the bushes and not on the path. So I just blurted out "Oh I am just getting right out of the way because I don't like horses at all" Oh dear. I DO like horses really, but just couldn't think of anything else to explain my prescence there. The things we do/say to avoid detection.

Last night I swapped the sheep trackable,that I had picked up on Junction 15 on the MI last weekend on my journey back from Sheffield, for Jake from the Tweenies. Jake's "mission" is to visit football grounds, so I took him for a photo shoot at our local football ground this morning.


Anyway, I have had a very good weekend. I have had a nice dinner and a lovely hot bath and am chilling with a glass of red wine and soon will be on the DSP chat tonight. Life is good.

Today's Dishing the Week
OUTSIDE MY WINDOW - it is dark and the curtains are drawn
I AM HEARING - Andy dishing up dinner
I AM WEARING - my black jogging trousers and pink T-shirt
I AM THINKING - how tired I am
I AM THANKFUL FOR - sunny Autumn days
I AM CREATING - a matchbox book to be sent off tomorrow
I AM GOING - to have a nice hot bath after dinner
I AM READING - nothing at the moment
I AM HOPING - for another sunny day next weekend. LOL
FROM THE KITCHEN - we have a nice roast chicken dinner coming up
ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS - walking in the countryside enjoying a beautiful day
A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK - Apart from work finishing and posting the book matchbox for a swap and printing and preparing cemetry photos to be sent off later this week. Andy has a dietician appointment at the hospital in London.

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Elf yourself

Check out this fun link of me and my family dressed as elves dancing to a christmas tune. http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/mYLqbjvP7WIrqK0m

Monday 9 November 2009

Whilst checking out my partners for swap bot cemetry photo swap I came across Maureen's blog which I found really interesting. She had included a nice little blog info that I wanted to add here at least for today, but if i remember weekly too, as Maureen has in her blog.
Dishing the Week
OUTSIDE MY WINDOW - it is dark and the curtains are drawn
I AM HEARING - Andy watching the television
I AM WEARING - my work clothes of black trousers and black and white top
I AM THINKING - how sore my eyes are and does Barney need a wee or just want some fuss or his post dinner walk?
I AM THANKFUL FOR - mine and my family's health
I AM CREATING - nothing right now, but have a matchbox book to make this week
I AM GOING - to bed at 10pm after Flash Forward
I AM READING - places to visit in London in preparation for my visit to London on Saturday
I AM HOPING - my allergic reaction of face swelling and sore eyes will go down by tomorrow morning and if not if I can figure out what has caused it
FROM THE KITCHEN - we had beef stew and dumplings, yummy
ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS - driving out of the car park at work at the end of a long day and breathing a huge sigh of relief
A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK - work, work, work. Apart from that making the book matchbox for a swap and getting cemetry photos uploaded and printed.

Saturday 7 November 2009

Shattered in Sheffield

I am absolutely shattered. Have come to visit Sarah for a few days in Sheffield. Today we went geoaching in the Peak District. We went up Winn Tor which is about 400m high. I look a little windswept here! It was raining and a little bit cold and we were tired from walking up and up and up. You can just about see the view behind Sarah; she has the cache in her hands.



There was a series of caches along the way, so plenty of opportunities for a rest. We got to as far as we were going to, height wise and unfortunately it was raining. But we had had some fabulous views. I couldn't believe how many people were trekking, and cycling, up and down here. We got back to a place called Hope where we had the car parked and had a nice hot cup of tea that I had put into a flask. Boy did that taste good. So we are home now and showered and I am going through some red wine whilst chilling out. My knees are agony but I am pleased that we did it.

Yesterday we went round a cemetry looking for clues and a cache. Sadly we didn't find the cache, though I am pretty sure we got the clues right and were looking in the right area. I think the cache itself was quite small and difficult to find with all the leaves on the ground. Will have to try this one another time of the year. The cemetry was really old though, 1800 - 1850 mostly and was really creepy and overgrown. This is a picture which gives you an idea of just how unkempt and overgrown it is right now. It is a real shame as there are some noteworthy people interred here. This website gives a more in depth description about the cemetry. http://www.gencem.org/


It was on a hill and there were some very interesting headstones. I took some photos for a cemetry photo swap on swap bot that I am doing. I think there might be a few good photos in there. It was raining when we went round so was suitably atmospheric.













Sarah tells me it always rains here, and I think I am inclined to believe her as it has hardly stopped raining the whole time I have been here. Be glad to be home back down south, have a hot bath and hopefully not have too much rain!

Tuesday 3 November 2009

101 in 1001

Have been ticking off more things on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. For the past couple of days I have been tidying my work room up, after a recent change of rooms. I have also cleared out the filing cabinet and sorted out all the household paperwork. The result is a nice tidy room and three bin bags full of recycling and rubbish. Feel exhausted now, but really pleased to have got it done. It was difficult to sort stuff out in the room because it is quite small and I still can't kneel down after the op, which is annoying, but I got there in the end.

Halloween

Andy's parents decorated their house and did some halloween games for the four youngest grandchildren ranging in ages from 1yr to 7yrs. They all got dressed up and did a treasure hunt in the garden as they are a bit too young to go out trick or treating. Little Sophie was soooo cute in her witches dress; poor Abbie's dress was a little too tight in the arms but I think the boys were quite comfy in their outfits. They certainly enjoyed finding all the hidden treats in the house and garden.I am glad I went geocaching yesterday as it is raining heavily today. I got my 100th cache so was very pleased. Also I got one that I have been trying to find for ages, having gone down to the location several times. I was absolutely determined to get it this time and with a pictoral spoiler from the cache owner, I managed to retrieve it. I was pretty excited to find out that there was a cat trackable in there too. I like cats and cat ornaments. I shall take some photos and take it up to Sheffield with me on Thursday.

I am looking forward to seeing Sarah for a few days, but I sure do hope the weather improves as I don't fancy wandering around the Peak District in the rain. She seems to have the whole weekend planned so I guess I had better just relax and let her have control! mmm, a bit difficult for a control freak like me!

Wednesday 28 October 2009

sev

Sev went 'up North' for some aptitude tests to join the Navy and had to wear his suit. He looks really smart in it so I couldn't resist taking a photo and of course making a layout of it.

Sophie and Charlie came to visit us today, along with Barbara, Trevor and Simon. They are quite cute. It is a shame we don't get to see them that often. Charlie is 4yrs old and Sophie is about 15months old. She is just such a sweetie. Her little face lights up and she smiles her goofy one toothed smile when you call her name. That smile hides a little terror though, she climbs all over the place and she got the shiner that she has in the photo when she was climbing out of the bath at home last weekend.

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Millie

Here is a layout I have just done of Millie. Well actually it is a plopper with her photo "plopped" in. I upoloaded it to the DSP site just now. She really is a pickle. When she wants some fuss she knows she has to sit still and not fidget so she sits gazing up at you adoringly with such a soppy face it just makes you laugh out loud. But she has been a horror too. She has dug up the new turf twice now and the garden is a mess. She also keeps getting into the rubbish bags. She just doesn't get enough mental and physical stimulation during the day. This picture is one I took about a month ago when I was out geocaching with Sarah and her friend Hannah. The light was good and fortunately after a few misses managed to get a half decent picture of her. She is very hard to photograph. She doesn't keep still long enough usually and as she is so dark the lighting has to be pretty good. Bless her!

Monday 26 October 2009

Andy was bemoaning that, in his opinion we were well off and would always have to watch the pennies, especially that we are unable to afford a second car, one of his own choosing. In his mind having a company car is a sign of his achievement in life/work. He knows he is materialistic and has come a long way, having lived with me for the past 6/7 years, but still craves material things.

It is of course a human trait to want more for ourselves, but at the same time we should always be grateful for what we do have. I am reminded of the story of "The Village of 100 people" I have highlighted below how fortunate I am. Having heard recently of some people I know who have lost a parent or loved one, it certainly is a time for reflection and appreciation of that which we do have.

IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100 PEOPLE
In the world today, more than 6 billion people live.If this world were shrunk to the size of a village of 100 people, what would it look like?
59 would be Asian14 would be American (North, Central and South)14 would be African
12 would be European 1 would be from the South Pacific
50 would be women, 50 would be men
30 would be children, 70 would be adults.
70 would be nonwhite, 30 would be white
90 would be heterosexual, 10 would be homosexual
33 would be Christians 21 would be Moslems15 would be Hindus6 would be Buddhists5 would be Animists6 would believe in other religions14 would be without any religion or atheist.
15 would speak Chinese, Mandarin 7 English 6 Hindi6 Spanish5 Russian4 Arabic3 Bengali3 PortugueseThe other would speak Indonesian, Japanese,German, French, or some other language.
In such a village with so many sorts of folks, it would be very important to learn to understand people different from yourself and to accept others as they are.
Of the 100 people in this village:20 are underonurished1 is dying of starvation, while 15 are overweight.
Of the wealth in this village, 6 people own 59% (all of them from the United States), 74 people own 39%, and 20 people share the remaining 2%.
Of the energy of this village, 20 people consume 80%, and 80 people share the remaining 20%.20 have no clean, safe water to drink.56 have access to sanitation15 adults are illiterate.1 has an university degree.7 have computers.
In one year, 1 person in the village will die, but in the same year, 2 babies will be born, so that at the year's end the number of villagers will be 101.
If you do not live in fear of death by bombardment, armed attack, landmines, or of rape or kidnapping by armed groups, then you are more fortunate than 20, who do.
If you can speak and act according to your faith and your conscience without harassment, imprisonment, torture or death, then you are more fortunate than 48, who can not.
If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet and spare change somewhere around the house, then you are among the richest 8.
If you can read this message, that means you are probably lucky!
(The statistics were derived from Donella Meadows "State of the Village Report" first published
in 1990)

I consider myself lucky and very rich. I have three wonderful, healthy and intelligent children. Money may be tight, but I do have money in the bank, my wallet and change around the house. I feel safe in my own home and have plenty of free time. Perhaps I should consider some form of volunteering again, something I haven't done for a long time.

How lucky are you if you lived in this vilage of 100people?

Sunday 25 October 2009

Dotee dolls



I have made three dotee dolls this week. These are tiny little material dolls with a hanger and tail and decorated anyway you like. I have done a button one for a swap - the dark green one. She is supposed to be a chinese one and has a chinese bun with a large red hair pin through (a button). The blue one is the first one I made. I started this at the ArtFest in June. I now have plenty of beads and a few interesting buttons so plan on making a few more. I might make some for stocking presents for Christmas! Here are my first three dotee dolls.

Below are pictures of a matchbox that I made for a swap on swap bot. It was a halloween theme. I had lots of leaves and autumn colours so that is what I used.


Saturday 24 October 2009

not quite as productive as I had hoped this week

Well at least my knees are getting much better. Mobilisation has improved tremendously and I can get about in the house without any need for support, although my left knee keeps clicking and wont work quite as well as the right. We went to Tesco's yesterday, I had hoped to walk round using the sticks but ended up opting for a motorised wheelchair. To be honest I was glad that I did cos I think it would have been a bit too much walking around. Although I ended up crashing into a display when I was trying to reverse park the thing.

But I haven't been as productive with my crafts as I had hoped. To be honest I spent the WHOLE of yesterday! (what a waste) looking at geocaching and working out all the caches I could nab along the route to Sheffield, along the M1. As it is such a main road, there are loads of caches at junctions and service stations. Not sure I will end up doing them all as there are nearly 20. It would take me all day to drive up there. That is of course if my knees are up to by that time.

Had some bad news last night. Paul's (my ex-husband) dad is dying, they say he doesnt have more than a day or so to live. He is such a character, he is in his 80s now, but that doesn't make it easier. I think it was quite hard on Paul because his girlfriend was away for the weekend and not available by phone so he had to deal with this sad news on his own. The trouble is I really would be okay to go to his dad's funeral as I really liked the guy but it is a good 5-6 hour trip there and another 5-6 hour trip back. So will have to think about that, not sure when the funeral will be. Brian (Paul's dad) split with Paul's mum when Paul was 14 and his sister, Pam, was 4. So he practically brought Pam up and she has lived in the same town as her dad her whole life. This will be particularly hard on her I feel. Brian has certainly had a full life, with two wives and several serious girlfriends. He has travelled a lot and has battled alcoholism for most of his life, like his father and his son. He was full of stories and a real ladies man. It is a great shame, I hope the end is not too difficult for him. Glod bless you Brian.

I've noticed how bereft of photos this blog is and when I get my camera back from Alice later today I will load some pictures up. I have made a few dotee dolls. There was a button dotee doll swap on swap bot that I have signed up for. That needs to be sent off before 7 Nov. But I am a bit wary about sending anything this week because of the postal strikes. Hopefully it will get there safe and sound when I post it in between the strikes. It has an oriental look to it as you will see when I load the photos up.

Tuesday 20 October 2009

op

It is the morning after the day of my op on my both of my knees. I had arthroscopies of my knees to clean them up - it is called wash out and debridement. This means that they went in with the long rods through small holes in either side of my knees to take a look and rinse out any little bits of debris with water and to trim off any bits hanging off which might get caught in the knee bones and cause pain. The op went smoothly and I was in and out in one day. Andy managed to tear himself away from a 24 hour stint at work to drop me off and pick me up from the hospital. Alice thankfully helped me upstairs and was very gentle in helping me get comfortable in bed. Slept well as I was pretty tired. Woke up in pain though. After waiting for someone to get some tea and toast for me so I could take some painkillers, gave up waiting and struggled downstairs on my own. It took 45 minutes to get downstairs, make some tea and toast and take my tablets and hobble back up stairs again. Have brought some biscuits upstairs so I don't have to wait next time!

The left knee hurts me, the doctor said that it was the worst one. I had said that my right knee was more symptomatic and they have washed it out, but I dont think it needed anything more than that. They have trimmed the left knee, which is why it probably hurts more.

I was looking at youtube videos of knee arthroscopies and came across an American study which said that they did some fake and real arthroscopies (double blind to avoid skewing the results) and it turns out that those who had had the fake arthroscopies felt much better and no longer in pain. The mind is an amazing thing. I think if I remain positive about the outcome and work very hard to mobilise properly again I should have a very good result from this op. I hope to be able to walk further and even go cycling again. And maybe next summer walk up Mount Snowdon again. That is my ultimate aim; to walk up the mountain without half killing myself doing it!!!

At least being home for three weeks will give me plenty of time to do my hobbies such as swap bot and digital scrapbooking, as usually I don't get a great deal of time to do these. It does mean though that I can't go geocaching for a while, but hopefully when I do, I can walk around without too much discomfort.

Saturday 17 October 2009

Thank God that's over!!

Phew. Have just had Sev's 18th birthday party in the hall with his friends. The lad, who was only 16 and was the DJ, was very good. He used his apple laptop for the music and had all the gear - lights and speakers. The music was a little loud but he was a good DJ. Some of Sev's 'mates' were bloody annoying though, very loud and would not shut the outside hall door behind them when they constantly went in and out. Thankfully it was over at 10.30 and we turned the lights on and started clearing up. Ended up washing the whole floor afterwards as it was quite sticky. Hopefully he had a good time. He's gone off to another party right now and we are collapsed at home. Too tired to get upstairs to bed just yet! LOL

During the day I went geocaching and took Millie for a walk. I went round a memorial park. It was nice to read the large plaques aboout those that died in WWI and WWII. There was a river along the edge of the park and a geoache along the river side. So we had a little walk along there. The river was very nice and Millie thoroughly enjoyed going in and out. One of the caches I could not find, but luckily I cam across a fellow geocacher and we went to look together. He found it after a few minutes which was great. So we sat and had a little chat and then went our separate ways.

Now I've seen it all. Andy is flicking through the TV channels as usual when he came across a programme called Celebrity Poker Challenge. Watching celebrities playing poker. My God. We will soon porgrammes about watching paint dry!!!! I don't believe it (in a Victor Meldrew voice) hee hee

Wednesday 14 October 2009

WTJ - Day 2

Wreck this journal - day two
Made great progress on the journal today. Went outside with Deb and Jill when they went out for their fag break and took the journal with me. I couldn't find the burn page so found one where it says I could throw it to the ground and stomp all over it, which I did on the wet grass. Then I gave Jill the book to wreck it however she wished without me looking. It was really hard not to watch what she was doing. I heard a ripping of a page and gasped with horror! Then she gave it back to me. I was relieved and pleased to see that she had threaded a dead leaf through the page. It was lovely. Then later I did some writings and screwed a page up. ONe page I have torn off and put in my trouser pocket to go through the wash. I hope I don't get paper lint all over it! I have taken some photos and will upload them later.


Here is the journal in the midst of being wrecked. Jill put a leaf through one page and one page I have stuck white things all over. The last one, on its side, is a page that I tore out and washed and taped back in.

CACHE
I laid a cache in some nearby woods on Sunday and last night it went live on the website. Already three people have found it today!! YAY. It is quite exciting. I might go and do some geocaching on Sunday as this is my last day for a few weeks. I have about 13 to do to reach my first 100.

Tuesday 13 October 2009

wreck this journal

I bought a journal from amazon called "wreck this journal" It is pretty cool cos you get to do all sorts of things to it like throw it off a bridge, take a shower with it, and burn one of the pages, colour, glue and all sorts. Sounds like fun. I will keep the blog updated with how we progress.

Sev is 18 tomorrow. He is off to a gig with his mates in London so I probably wont see him at all. I am sure he will have a good time. He has booked his first proper driving lesson for Monday and seems quite excited about it. Andy has taught him to drive off road, but this will be his first proper go "on" the road. Glad he is finally doing something productive even if it meant taking away the xbox controllers!!

I took Millie for a walk after work today in some woods that we dont usually go to. It was nice to have a change of scene. She loved it as always. take my camera with meI must remember to I went off to find two geocaches that I was not aware of before I became a member. I have found about 85 caches so far, I had hoped to get to 100 before my op on Monday.

I am pretty nervous about the op. Will probably get a cold and have it delayed!!! I have a sore throat so need to nip that in the bud. Everyone around me seems to be sneezing or coughing. Am trying to make sure I have lots of things to do when I am housebound next week. Not looking forward to not being able to get for a walk every day but hopefully the op will mean that can walk further and without pain later on.

Saturday 10 October 2009

Off to Scotland next year

WOOOOHOOOO We are off to Scotland next year. And not just once. We are going to a family friend's wedding in Doune on 14 August. Andy and I are going to hire a Mercedes and drive up, a life long dream of Andy's. We have booked thehotel for Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th. It is in Callendar and is just 6 miles from Doune Castle, where the wedding is going to be held. I love castles and the idea of going to a wedding in one is really exciting. Not only is it a castle but it is the same castle where Monty Python team made the Holy Grail film. I really am excited about going. Also...... I get to do some geocaching up there as well. hee hee. Andy and Si have always wanted to drive up to Scotland in a nice car and play a round of golf. So if we get up there Thursday night then they have the Friday to go and play golf, whilst I go geocaching, and then we have the wedding on the Saturday. Scotland is just so beautiful, it is going to be a great weekend.

ALSO I am going to Perth, Scotland for week for the Mega Geocaching Event which culminates on 31 July. There are going to be various 'satellite' events throughout the week before, and I think afterwards but at the weekend everyone will meet up and there will be lots going on.
Check the site out for more information. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0609bb26-13a2-42ae-8dfd-30d4259e34fe
They do say that you can take dogs and it would be brilliant to take Millie with me as I know she will love walking around Scotland. We can't take her to the wedding in August, so it would be good to take her on this trip. However she can't go into the main building on the weekend. They do say that you can keep dogs in the car underground so she wont overheat, but I really don't like that idea. I wonder if they can arrange dog sitters! I wont be able to relax and enjoy the event if I was worrying about her. I also asked Sarah if she would be interested in coming with me to the mega event. She is the only in the family who likes the idea of geocaching. It would be great if the two of us could spend some time going round Scotland. And if Ash wants to come to that would be great cos I could watch them climbing. I wont be doing anything quite so physical!!:S
So we'll see what happens. But YAY I am going to Scotland next year, not once but twice. :D
Oh yes this is one of my 101 things to do in 1001 days. Another one to tick off the list. It gets better!

more geocaching

I just love geocaching. I get to go out into the country side, often with Millie and have a great walk enjoying nature. I am making the most of the good weather and getting out and about as much as possible. On Sunday 27th Sept I drove for an hour to Castle Hedingham and met up with a whole bunch, about 40, of other geocachers. Some of them have found 1000's of caches. There were two series already in the area so I went round those two in the morning as we were meeting up in a quaint pub at 2pm. I found these really easily and Millie was brilliant. So it was a great morning's caching. I stopped and had lunch at about 12 in the pub garden. Millie was still being very good, thank goodness. I could see there were small groups of people in the pub who were probably fellow geocachers but as we were not openly saying who we were at the time I just kept quiet!! Just as it was approaching 2pm everyone started to head for a room/bar that had been put aside for us to meet. One woman and organised the meet and one chap had laid a trail of caches. A mum, son and his fiance had set another trail as a group. Mum, Hilary was "keeper of the caches" and she laid them all. Her son put the information on the internet. So it was a real group effort. It was nice to chat to people. The fiance, Natalie, was really nice. They are geting married in the castle next year which sounds really wonderful. The pub was really nice, very quaint and obviously quite old. There were three pubs within sight of each other. I certainly miss having a "local". There are no pubs near where I live and the pubs that are around are really spread out so a pub crawl is pretty difficult. Anyways we were given the information of the two trails and went out into the pub garden for a group photo. Then whilst I was chatting to people loading some of the co-ordinates into my gps and working out how to best utilise my time doing the caches, most people went rushing off to do some caching. I think some were keen to get a first to find (FTF). So Millie and I wandered off once I knew where I was heading. It was a lovely afternoon and I nabbed quite a few more caches. I managed to get all the caches from Andy_UK's trail but the Bartlett clan's caches were much harder to find and I only found half of them. It was a long walk, I didn't finish until 6pm. I actually managed to wear Millie out today. I can't believe. She does have a limit to that seemingly boundless energy. LOL. She jumped into the boot and collapsed and was asleep in minutes. It was a quiet journey home.

Photos below:
I picked up a trackable doggy toy from one of the caches and took a photo of Millie with it.
Millie helping me to look for another one of the caches. It turns out it was not anywhere near here!


Here is a map from the geocache website showing the caches that I did and did not find on this day. It is not very clear but you can see this a bit clearer and even have a look at some geocaches in your own area on this website.
http://www.geocaching.com/map/default.aspx?lat=51.98978&lng=0.59927

Wednesday 23 September 2009

badger

I was popping into the library and there is a park nearby with a geocache so thought I would pop in to quickly nab it before going on to the library. Well!! I never got to the library after all. As I was walking into the park there was a lad in his 20's with a dog standing looking at a young badger. I was amazed that a badger would be out and about during the day in a busy area. It turns out that the badger was really poorly. It couldn't walk far and had difficulty breathing. The lad and his girlfriend had called the RSPCA and had waited for nearly an hour. They needed to get into town so I said I would hang around until the RSPCA, the man to lock up the park or the couple turned up. So off they went. I waited 45 minutes before the RSPCA man turned up. By then the badger had crawled along the path and found a hole to crawl into. The RSPCA man said there was little he could do. I explained the symptoms of the badger and he said he might have concussion. Anyway when I got home Andy mentioned TB. It might be that that is what was wrong with it. So there wasnt much that could be done. I will give the council a call and let the parks section know that there is a poorly badger there so they can perhaps keep an eye out. It will either die or recover! So I didn't get to the library nor did I get the geocache.

Friday 18 September 2009

hobbies

Having fun with two of my fav hobbies - geocaching and swapping on swapbot. Just sent off two CDs that I burnt myself with songs that reflect my life's journey. It was enjoyable going through old memories. Had a spot of bother trying to make the CD covers though. I couldn't get them to the right size. Have had to send them out with the back sleeve being too small but they needed to get out in the post today. Never mind.

With the geocaching I have two events planned over the next couple of months, one next weekend and one in November. Tomorrow I plan to mope up a few geocaches that are in the area.

Saturday 12 September 2009

photos

Alice has started college and has homework already. She is going to make a small music magazine for her media studies. The first thing to do is to take a photo of a musician. Alice adn I went to the woods and did an impromptu photo shoot. This is the result. Luckily Sev was a willing party!!

geocaching



I took Sarah and her friend Hannah geocaching over Great Wakering one lovely hot evening. We were gone for three hours. A bit longer than planned but it was all good. We went round a church, found a micro and then searched for clues for the cache. We managed to find eight of the nine that we were looking for. It was on the 8th Sept that we went - so that was pretty cool. The one that we couldnt find was really tricky. Apparently quite a few others have found it difficult too. It was a lovely walk and I think the girls enjoyed it.

Millie enjoyed the walk too!

Sunday 6 September 2009

geocaching

Had a great day out yesterday. First I went to Hanningfield Reservoir and met up with some other geocachers, some of the names I recognised from the caches. Kev had planned 14 caches altogether, 8 of them with lego pieces which made a little man next to a tree. Very clever idea. Here is a picture of all of us.

About eight teams did a race round the reservoir collecting the lego pieces. I didn't do it though, although I did get one cache near the meet. It was nice to meet people with the same hobby. I think some of them are going to Castle Hedingham at the end of the month so it will be cool to see them again.

I then went home and picked up Millie and took her to the Orsett Show. It was packed, there were loads and loads of people there. There were sheep and cows in pens and a little practice agility course set up that Millie and I bumbled our way around. She didn't understand the concept of going through the tunnels! Then we went on to watch some horses doing jumps - it was the novice round and they were very good. It was very enjoyable to watch. I wandered all around the outside of the display rings in the middle and had a good afternoon there. I bought some cheeses with strange additions like chocolate! One was cheese with chilli - which is very hot.

Then I took Millie home and went round to parents in law to pick up Andy. He had been there to help his brother spready out some topsoil and lay out some turf. We had fish and chips there before coming home late at night. So all in all a pretty full day.

It is now Sunday evening and Sarah is here for a few days. Always nice to have her home, I think she has a busy few days planned meeting up with friends.

I am having an MRI scan of my lumbar spine tomorrow to check out my back, in case I have hurt it really bad. Just to check if there is any cord compression. I think it will be alright, but just want to make sure really. I will get my boss to check it out as the is the expert. Then we are going to parents in law again as Sarah has not been to their new home yet. Hopefully Sarah and I will get a chance to do a little spot of geocaching. I am supposed to be giving blood tomorrow, but not sure if I will have time.

Sunday 30 August 2009

geocaching

Had a lovely day yesterday going out geocaching. Found four caches in a country park nearby. The views from the hill were amazing - right across the estuary. We went through some woods as well. Millie had a great time running around, even on sucha lovely dry day she managed to find a mud hole! So she needed a shower when we got home. She was covered in mud and grass seeds. Then we spent the evening watching films.

Today we went to see Richard for a birthday drink before he went back home to Australia. i didnt get up until 12.30 so we didnt have lunch at the pub as planned, just some nibbles. Just watching "The day the earth stood still" before going to bed. Got tomorrow off work as it is Bank Holiday. I plan to sort the fish tank out. I need to get a new light and some more fish and clean the tank out. Then I really MUST finish my assignment. It is the last one and is due in Friday next week.

Wednesday 26 August 2009

physio

I saw the Consultant today about my knees. He says I have some arthritis and probable cartilage problems so I am going to have bilateral arthroscopies. After that i went to see the physio about my back. Yep, busy morning. He prodded and pocked and asked me loads of questions. He tells me I have facet neural irritation. He prodded my back and it helped a little. He has given me some exercises to do.

Went swimming again this afternoon with Alice. Already we are starting to improve. I did 25 lengths in 30 mins and Alice did 31 lengths.

She has her GCSE exam results tomorrow and is a little worried. I am sure she has done well. She is brainier than she gives herself credit.

I have thre ATCs that I really must get done tomorrow and in the post for facebook ATC group swap. I have had all month to do them. Typical of me to leave it to the last minute.

I also have the last assignment to do from the ILM 5 course that I am doing. Hopefully it will get a better result than my last couple of assignments. Cant believe it is nearly finished after all this time.

Tuesday 25 August 2009

swimming classes

I phoned up my local swimming pool to see about classes to improve my swimming stroke. I was told that there was a class tonight for anyone aged 11+ for free. So I thought great. I will take Alice along with me as well. We were told it started at 6pm but after swimming for half an hour were told it actually started at 6.30pm and was in the baby pool. So I said to Alice "No way am I going in the baby pool" I spoke to the teacher and she offered me the 60+ non swimmers class! Cheek. I know she was being considerate but I CAN swim and I am NOT 60+ thank you very much.

So the only choice I have left is to pay £65 for a term of classes for improvers. Mmmmm, maybe not. Apparently there is a national initiate to get 16 and under and 60+ swimming so they are offering swimming lessons for free.

Ah well, we got to swim for half an hour for free.

Monday 24 August 2009

101 in 1001

Just been reviewing my 101 in 1001 list of things to do. Not doing terribly well, considering 226 days have gone already. I have done 18 on my list with 4 in progress. Oh dear, need to step things up a bit. I actually only started with 68 on my list in January as I couldnt think of any more. But I have now had another think about and will be adding some more.

I see some people have finished their 1001 days and have made a new list of 101 things but have included those that they didn't get to do in the first list! LOL. That sounds like my lists. I am always carrying over unfunished items on my lists.

My family are all over the world on three different continents and over the next 750 days there will be some travelling going on. Hopefully we can get involved with some of it though of course finances will limit what we can do.

June 2010 – Andy and me and Alice ( and poss Sev) go to Scotland
June 2010 – Mum and dad travelling Europe for one month
September 2010 – Alyson visiting from US
Christmas 2010 – Stuart and Suzanne coming over from Australia for 3/5 weeks
- Mum is thinking of all of us staying in one place again for a weekend or so in early Jan
April/May 2011 – Kayleigh, Rebekkah and mum (and dad?) going to Australia

Definetly doing Scotland. Would love to go to Australia, but that will be a big expense but then we do have a few years to save. Save HUH, don't make me laugh. Will definetly be up for a get together when Stu and Suz come over. Lots of exciting things to look forward to over the next few years.

swimming

Went swimming with Alice today. Was very pleasant, I managed 20 lengths and she did 24. Will need to get another pair of goggles as we had to keep on sharing. The plan is to do the direct debit thing which is just £20 a month and I can swim whenever I want. So I plan to do do 5 days a week after work and at weekends go for a walk with Millie.
My knees really hurt when I was swimming though, so when I see the consultant on Wednesday i will check that it will be okay to continue swimming.
I think if I do do this I will need to get a swimming hat so I dont have to wash my hair everyday and I want a float as well so i can do the leg strengthening lengths that kill!

Sunday 23 August 2009

nice summer's day

Had a nice summer's day today. Got up late and pottered about the house. Got my purple matchbox ready to be posted tomorrow. Just waiting for the address so I can post my ten pages from ten different books on. In the afternoon we went to the in laws for dinner. Had a roast dinner out in the garden. I took my niece and nephew geocaching just before dinner. It was great fun walking through the woods with them, something I think they are not familiar with doing. We found the cache, well my niece did, so that was good fortune.
Just finished watching "Catch me if you can". I love Leonardo di Caprio. Have decided to add to my 101 in 1001 things to watch all his films. I have a few more things to add to my 101 as I only ended up with about 60+ things to do.
One of the the things to add is to try and donate as much grains of rice as I can. Apparently 19,200 to feed one person for one day. I have done 1,000 so far!! Got a long way to go yet. Try it - http://www.freerice.com/ You get to donate and help the poor without having to spend any money yourself. Do check it out - it is really easy.

Friday 21 August 2009

swimming

Now that I can't walk far, nor cycle or do gardening I am left with swimming. So as of pay day next Wednesday the plan is to pay £20 a month by direct debit so I can go swimming as often as I want, every day if I wish. I will aim between 3-7 times a week and see how it goes. Occupational Health at work have referred me for physiotherapy so between the two I hope to get my back stronger so I can go back to walking the dogs at least.

Rope Runners






We took the kids and my brother and his four kids to a place called Rope Runners in Kelvedon Hatch. It is a series of poles with rope obstacles to move across at three different levels. They all had a great time, even my brother. I really wanted to have a go but my back is still not good. Very disappointed as it looked great fun. Certainly an incentive to strengthen my core muscles.

results day (yesterday)

The A level results came out yesterday. Sev got D, E, E, E, and U. Not as good as he had hoped! In fact his hands were shaking he was so shocked. So that means he wont be trying to get in the Navy as an officer. But I think he is okay with going in as a rating being an Aircraft Operator. He has to have a medical and a final assessment before finally joining up. It just takes months and months. His mate applied to join the RAF last December and is finally joining this September. Sev started his application in February this year.

I spoke to my niece about her AS levels and amazingly she got exactly the same grades as Sev! She was pleased though as it means she can continue into the next year for her A2 exams.

Friday 14 August 2009

My back has been unbearable these past few days. Fortunately today it seems a bit better. At least I can sit and stand without pain for a while. Going to go to Occupational Health on Monday afternoon and have finally filled in the incident form from when I hurt my back two months ago. Not sure what Health and Safety team will think of it! LOL. Oh well, my manager told me to fill it in.

Went to see Time Traveller's wife yesterday. It was pretty good. I certainly enjoyed it and didnt remember the ending until near the end. I didnt remember the daughter at all, so that was nice to watch that bit. Bless Alice, she loves these love stories so we had an enjoyable evening together at the cinema. Told her all about my first love, she reckons that is the first time she has heard me tell her about it. I guess I don't really talk a great deal to her about stuff. She has absolutely no idea what sort of person I was as a teenager. Hopefully when things get back into a routine we can spend more time together and get to chat more.

It feels like we are in limbo at home at the moment. With Sarah gone, the house is most definetly quieter. Sev is always out and Alice is either sleeping or on the computer. It seems like we are kind of waiting for Sev to go off to the Navy and Alice to go back to college. It has been a very long summer. Shame it hasn't been lovely Portugal type weather so we can enjoy it more.

Sev's Navy thing is really dragging on. First he wanted to go in as a rating, then cos he did so well in the aptitude test they felt he should try for officer. He went for one interview, it was for ratings so they said come back another day. He went for the officer interview and they felt he hadn't had enough experience as he has not worked, is not a captain of a team or anything at all. So he decided to give up on that and go back to being a rating. He has an interview for rating on Wednesday. However, in the meantime the outcome of the officer interview is that they put him forward for a leadership course in mid September. Now does he still get to do that course if he is going down the rating route? Hopefully they will be able to tell us on Wednesday. Not sure whether to call them up first and explain what has happened or wait until then. I just want him to join up so he has some structure to his life. It looks like he wont make the September intake now. So that is another four months that he will be hanging around doing nothing. No work, no driving lessons. ARGHHH, how annoying. But time passes and I am sure it will all work out eventually.

Thursday 13 August 2009

new kitchen





My list of 101 things to do in 1001 days is starting to look good, getting loads of crossed off items now. The ones I am most pleased about are the kitchen related ones. We finally have a new fitted kitchen. I have never had one, so am very very excited and so pleased to have such a lovely kitchen. Just today we have had the vinyl flooring laid through the dining room and kitchen so now it is completed. YAY.








I think I may need to add some more things to my list because I don't actually have 101 things as yet! LOL.








Favourite things at the moment are geocaching and facebook farm and zoo. And typing maniac on facebook. I checked my typing speed yesterday on the internet and it is 80wpm. WOW. I am really loving geocaching though. I am going to go to a "meet" in London where the founder of the geocaching website is visiting from America. It will be a great chance to meet up with others who like the challenge and fun of geocaching. Needless to say Andy wont be coming as he really isnt in to it at all.





Sarah and I went to visit mum with Alice in Clacton and left Alice with my mum to go shopping. They had fun, Alice got some fancy welly boots, wish they were my size! Sarah and I went off geocaching. There are only four in the area, three easy ones and one with a tricky puzzle to work out. We thought we had got the puzzle finally. Sarah and I spent ages trying to break the code, only to find out it was dead easy once you were on site. We did actually get the right co-ordinates and were searching in the right area, but because we couldn't find it we started searching elsewhere. Two hours later, bladders bursting and tummies empty we went back to mum's for a break. Afterwards we brought my baby brother James and Alice with us to go find the tricky cache and the two easy ones. We found one quick easy one on the way back earlier. It still took quite a while, but we were surer of our co-ordinates this time and looked harder. It took all four of us a good 30-60 minutes to find. The cache, a small tupperware box with some goodies, was very well hidden, so we were delighted when we found it. I found this one, Sarah had found the easy one earlier and then we went on to find the other two easy ones. James found one and Alice found one. So everyone was happy. Now I have two trackable geocoins to take with me to London to pass on to others. One of the geocoins wants to go east, so I will need to find someone going on holiday abroad.












Next week is a big week for Sev. He has yet another Navy interview on Wednesday followed by his AS level results on Thursday. I don't think he is too bothered about the results as it wont affect him going in to the Navy. Alice gets her results the week after. Sarah is in Devon with Ashly and his mum and dad. I think they hope to go hiking and climbing a lot. I have no idea WHERE in Devon she is! LOL I hope she has a great time before coming back to the drudgery of work, work and more work.








Sarah has decided to change from Chemistry to Maths and will be starting from Year One again in September. I just hope she enjoys this more. Missing her loads, always wish we had more time for cuddles and getting close, but just never seem to manage it. I don't think she had a good time at home this time round with her friends giving her grief and it being a bit boring for her. At least we did one day's worth of geocaching. She is the only one that actually enjoys the challenge as much as me.