Birthday book

Another kit I found in my big tidy up in November was this Birthday book from www.cocoadaisy.com.  Luckily it had just enough pages to do 1 page for every birthday for the two kids!  I had great fun sorting out the photos!  Although I had them all in one box, it was not so easy trying to remember which year was which!  In pre-digital days we didn’t take many pictures.  But they are mostly good!  Nowadays we take loads and they are mostly rubbish!  the trouble is their birthdays are both in December when the days are short and it is dark!  I was a little tempted to look at some of the old video films to see what they did each day.

I kept each page simple, just 1 photo and a piece of patterned paper.  I love this tape that came with the kit and used it between the photo and paper.  Then I put their ages in circles.  We are all really pleased with it!

Nicholas’s birthday is just after Christmas so we used to take him and a friend up to London to the science natural history museum.  Lucy had a magician party when she was 7.  He was great!

 

Here they are last year, 21 and 18 in the same December!

 

Clearing the loft

Maurice has had 4 days off work this week, so we decided to clear the loft!  OMG!!!  What a job!

Here are some treasures we found:

 

A pair of dolls I had when I was little.  I am afraid they look like something out of a horror film now!  They got tossed.

These two dolls went as well.  I didn’t really play with dolls when I was young.  Goodness knows why I kept these for so long!

I decided not to throw Teddy out!  He is a pyjama case – his tummy is filled with old tights!  He is very dirty so I really ought to try and clean him.  I have vacuumed him, but he is still dusty.

Here’s my collection of button badges.  These got chucked too!

This pile of boxes (ther’s more behind the polythene!) is all my old school books, notes from old jobs, and loads of university notes!  I was inspired to sort these last year when I did the Paper Clutter course on www.simplify101.com  It’s taken me 18  months to get round to it!  Maurice got the boxes down on Monday and we piled them high in Nicholas’s room.  I am pleased to say that there are only 2 left to sort.  Most of it will be thrown out, but I have kept a selection, eg essays I wrote at university, and a small selection of old work notes.  Now I need to sort what I am going to keep and file it somewhere safe, not back in the loft!

We have managed to get rid of most of the stuff we don’t want any longer, either free to collector (toys farm and castle, a single bed, an ottoman and bedroom chair) or for money (rug, pine chest, and other pine furniture.  Plus we have dumped 4 car loads so far!  Our loft will be empty except for suitcases and Christmas decorations!! YAY!

 

Christmas preparations

I love all the preparations for Christmas!  I have already baked my Christmas cake and made 2 puddings.  

I like to have a Christmas craft project too!  This year I have made table mats.  Burnice and I went to a workshop at Sleeping Bear Crafts.  We had a great time with these Moda Basic Grey fabrics, and I spent last Friday making the rest of them and a table runner.  Just need to back them and quilt them now.

 

I have also just about finished my cards.  This year I ticked my list as to who would get a handmade card, and reckoned on about 30.  I think I have made a few more than that.  Just need to add a few more embellishments and sentiments, then they are done!

 

Just the presents, entertaining and food to think about now!

5 things….

1 I am loving walking the dog a bit further at the moment, even in the wind and rain!  I love getting all dressed up and feeling dry and warm inside!  What I do hate is all the wet gear hanging around when you get home!

2 I am starting preparations for Christmas.  I have doen a little shopping for gifts, and have bought the ingredidents for my baking.  Just got to find the time to do it now!

3 I am sewing and knitting!  I am quilting my big quilt which is slowly but surely getting finished.  I am spending today having a ‘sewing day’, finishing off some table mats I started at a workshop a couple of weeks ago.

4 I am worrying about DN who is in hospital and my cousin who has terminal cancer.

5 I am enjoying not working and am wondering where all the time goes!

Cold and bright

It has been awful weather just lately, wet and windy and cold!  My last 2 morning dog walks have been miserable!!  (And I am trying to walk more so stayed out for 1.5 hours!!)  This morning is bright and sunny, still cold from the North wind, but much more cheerful.  So I decided to take my camera with me this morning.  I am in danger of not having any photos for November!

If….

I am taking Shimelle’s new online class ‘True Stories’.  I didn’t write very much last week, but was inspired to write straight away today.

Here's what I wrote in my notebook:

If I take the dog for a long walk I will feel fitter and healthier
If I check my email inbox, I will delete 90% of them
If I take my camera out with me I could take a beautiful photo of the autumn colours (which are just fantastic this year!)
If I follow Shimelle's True Stories class I will be taking a baby step forward to my dream career as a writer
If I get my sewing machine out I could finish the Christmas table mats I started at a quilting class on saturday
If I go to the airport today I could fly to the West Coast of USA to meet some of my forum friends
If I plan my menus for the week I will eat healthier and save money on my grocery shopping
If I could own my dream car it would be a brand new white Porsche 911 carrera cabriolet.
If we had a day off work we would eat breakfast at a seafront cafe and go for a long dog walk along the beach
If I could be bothered to travel up to London I would see all the shows in the West End and go to Ronnie Scott's jazz club.