Simple pleasures :)

A great book and a brew :)

I got this book this week (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson) and started reading it last night. Absolutely fantastic, I can see this becoming one of my favourite books :) I'd heard good things about it but hadn't expected it to be so funny and you can't help really liking the characters. Miss Pettigrew is the sort of friend that every woman should have. She's so unflappable and always knows what to do. I wish I knew a Guinevere Pettigrew! I'd had a bit of a dull and boring day yesterday and this was like reading a sort of fairy tale for grown ups, if that makes sense? It's one of those books that is so sweet and charming, you can't help feeling warm and fuzzy. The perfect antidote to the credit crunch blues :)

We're being a bit naughty here tonight as we are having takeout pizza :) yum yum! We were supposed to be having a relatively healthy homemade pizza but someone (naming no names but for once this culinary disaster wasn't down to your's truly...) forgot to put the kneading paddle in the breadmaker so after 1 1/2 hours there was still no pizza dough! For a one off it's not going to hurt but we are going to be eating a lot more healthier after Christmas :)

Oh and before I forget, thank you all for your lovely comments about my Christmas cards :) It's something I've been doing for a while but it's something I've been a bit self-conscious about because my sister has been less than complimentary about it in the past. She thinks by making my cards I am being "cheap" and "tight", not realising it costs me more in materials and time and effort than it would do to buy a handmade card in the shops. Oh well, you can't win 'em all :)

See you all tomorrow

x

Catching Up

Well, I managed to do 2 days of JYC on time but then my internet was off so I am a little bit behind! I finally got back onto the internet today and have read all my JYC emails and have an idea what I'm going to do for them so hopefully I'll be able to catch up quickly :)

Today I have been Christmas shopping and have almost done all my shopping but I have had a row with my sister about presents. I much prefer to have a surprise to open on Christmas day but my sister says "you either tell me exactly what you want or I'm not getting you anything", which I think misses the point of giving gifts! I'd rather she gave me something she has really thought about, even if it didn't cost very much. On Friday she made me write a list of exactly what I wanted for Christmas (she's getting me books) but said there was "nothing in particular" she wanted. So today I have been shopping and bought her a lovely (expensive) present which I spent a long time choosing. She then rang me up and said she had decided she wanted a very specific perfume and when I told her I'd already bought her present she told me to take it back. I'm so angry with her. She doesn't know what I got her and I spent ages choosing it. Next time I'm not going to bother. She will get money in a (shop-bought) card. I'm tired of being the only person in our family who actually bothers thinking about what people want so I have decided that from now on I will do the same as my sister and my mam and just give people money in a card. Grrrrrrr. She makes me so mad!

Ok, rant over. JYC Day 3 coming up....

Every year I always make my all my own Christmas cards. I think the last time I bought cards from a shop was about 7 years ago and (for me) part of the fun in Christmas preparations is making all my cards, knowing that each one will be individual and the people I send them to won't get another one exactly the same!

I normally start making my cards pretty early (one year I started them in July!) so that it isn't all a mad panic before Christmas. This year I got a Cricut for my birthday and so I have been using this to help me a lot this year :)

Here is a selection of some of this year's cards:

Hope you like them :) See you all tomorrow

x

Let it snow!

Ok, cheesy title but this was the scene that greeted me this morning when I opened my front door :

We hadn't expected it to snow so it was a great surprise. Even though it has been getting colder these last few days (and we had some snow that didn't stick yesterday), this is the first "proper" snow we've has this winter and I was so excited! I was supposed to be in work today so I got in my car to attempt to drive to work. I didn't even make to the end of my street as the roads hadn't been gritted and my car was slip-sliding everywhere. Luckily I could take the day off work so me and Mr P wrapped up warm and donned our wellies to go for a walk in the snow.

We decided to go along the canal. It was so pretty with all the snow...

A lot of the canal was frozen over completely but there were one or two bits where the ice had started to melt and all the ducks were huddled there. I'm really glad I'm not a duck because they looked freeeeeeezing!

When we walk along here in the summer we often like to stop at this bench and watch the barges go past, but the bench was thick with snow this afternoon so unless we wanted a wet bum we had to keep going!

Although it looks very peaceful in these pictures, we actually met quite a lot of people along the way and stopped to have a chat with them. That's one of the things I love so much about living here - everyone's so friendly. There was an elderly man with his little dog, who was wearing a cute little red jacket to keep her warm, and one man who was clearly a lot braver than us because he was wearing shorts! It was below freezing! They must make 'em tough up here...

We walked along this road to the next village because I wanted to go to the scrapbook store there to get supplies for my Journal My Christmas album. We were talking to the owner there who lives a few streets away from us. She said her road hadn't been gritted this morning (and it's one of the main roads in the area too!) and so all the cars were crashing into the parked cars. Apparently a few drivers just abandoned their cars and walked to wherever they were going. The local newspaper said that one of the other nearby villages was completely cut off and there had been a lot of accidents because of the weather.

So pretty - it's like a scene from a Christmas card. I hope it's like this on Christmas Day but more often it's just cold and rainy!

The clouds were so thick you couldn't even see the tops of the hills!

We stopped at one of the local pubs for lunch and had a Cointreau coffee to help us warm up - yum!

Coming back from the village we saw a snowman that someone had built. All the schools around here are closed because of the weather so the children have all been sledging and playing in the snow. Being the big kids that we are, me and Mr P had a snowball fight before we set off and I'm proud to say I gave Mr P a good whupping :)

When we got back we decided to let the kitties go out at the back to see the snow. This was the first time they've been outside so we put little ribbons on their collars so they didn't get frightened and run off on their own. We are going to let them out when they are a little bit older but they haven't been done yet so we didn't want to take any chances!

Missy was a bit unsure of the snow and didn't really go far from the back door, surprising as she is usually quite adventurous.

Mollie seemed to really enjoy it and even went in the snow. She was funny because every time she took a step she shook the snow off her paws :)

They're both curled up in front of the fire now after their little adventure, snoozing and stretching.

Strangely enough, today's Journal Your Christmas was about the weather, so I am going to use my blog entry for today along with a couple of my favourite photographs from the ones above.

What's the weather like where you are today?

x

Journal Your Christmas

Over the last few months I have really started getting into scrapbooking a lot more. I have made my own cards for years and really enjoy doing it and I think scrapbooking was a natural progression for me (and I get to keep some of my creations - selfish I know but I rarely keep a lot of the things I make!) One of my friends won a scrapbooking kit and she gave it to me so I have been having great fun playing around with layouts. My lovely boyfriend bought me a cricut for my birthday recently so I have been having a lot of fun with that too!

This year I have signed up for the Journal Your Christmas class at www.shimelle.com. The aim of this is document my Christmas by completing a scrapbook layout each day. It was a bit of a last minute thing deciding to do this so I don't have a lot of the supplies I'll need. Also, I know full well I am never going to be able to complete a layout every day so what I plan to do is to follow the journal prompts every day and try to write up on here my responses to the prompts so that I capture my immediate feelings and emotions as the month progresses. I have some time off work booked over the next couple of weeks and I'll be off all over Christmas and New Year (lucky me :) I love my job!) so I'll catch up with my layouts then. See, I've thought this through!

So today's prompt....to write a manifesto about why I have decided to do this project, so here goes...

I love Christmas. It is definitely my favourite time of the year and I love all the traditions and fun associated with December 25th. My aim this December is to capture my thoughts and feelings about Christmas in a creative way. The run up to Christmas can be pretty hectic so I'm looking forward to having some "time out" each day to focus on this project.

At the moment me and Mr P live in a little house in a beautiful little town and it's just the two of us and our crazy kitties. We're hoping to start a family next year so hopefully this will be our last Christmas without children. In years to come our Christmas's will be very different to how they are now so I want to be able to look back at this time and remember how things were.

I have been learning a lot about my family tree this year and one of the things I have found frustrating is that there's no-one round to tell me the little details about what their lives were like. In years to come hopefully my great-grandchildren will be able to look at this album and see what it was that Great-Granny loved about this time of year (as well as the things she wasn't so fond of...)

So there we go, one down, loads more to go! I'm really looking forward to my next prompt :)
x

Christmas Chaos

Ok, Ok, I know I'm a bit early but last night we started to put the Christmas decorations up as both me and my OH are in work all next week. We got the tree up but there are still lots of other bits and bobs to do. Matters are not helped by my two little "helpers" who are driving me nuts! It's their first Christmas and they seem to think that I have put the tree up as an extra-special toy for them to play with. I've already had to fish Missy out of the tree twice this morning and Mollie is showing an alarming interest in chewing the (fake) branches. What can I do to stop them doing this?!?!?


How can you get cross with them though when they are so adorable? (Ignore the bits on the carpet, there were bits everywhere by the time we'd put the tree up!)

We got Missy and Mollie a new bed a few weeks ago because the landing where they sleep is a bit drafty. Don't they look cosy?

Missy (on the left) is doing her "I've done something silly and you don't know about it yet" face on the picture below:




















Mollie is the smallest of the two, but she doesn't stand for any messing! She's giving Missy a cuff round the ear in this picture...
























So cute!

























One thing I am a bit worried about is Missy has decided she likes climbing on top of doors:


















I'm scared she will fall off, especially when she starts chasing her tail!

























Last two piccies now before you all think I'm some kind of demented cat-lady (actually there could be some truth in that....)

Mollie loves to sleep on people, she's so elegant and lady-like:

Missy on the other hand is a bit more independent and likes to bask in the sun (not that we see a lot of it round here!)

I will be back again hopefully tomorrow with lots of Christmas goodies to show you all, I might have been away from this blog for a while but I have been very busy! x

EDIT Can anyone help me with putting pictures on my posts? It took me ages to get it laid out how I wanted it in Blogger and then when I published my post there were lots of gaps between pictures and writing that weren't there before and some of the writing moved to the side of the pictures?!?

New additions to the household...

.....this is why I haven't been around here very much!

Can you believe someone wanted to drown these two gorgeous bundles of fluff?















Meet Missy:














And Mollie:














They like to play fight but always ended up curled up sleeping together....














I will be back soon when I'm not fighting for space on the keyboard with two kittens!!! x

Wasting time!

Messing about on the internet I came across this site: Blogthings which is full of silly quizzes. One of them is "What is Your Name's Hidden Meaning?" and although I thought it would come up with a load of rubbish, it was actually spookily accurate in my case (although I'm not sure about the agression bit!)

What Gemma Means

You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life. You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone. Often times, you are grumpy with other people. You don't appreciate them trying to interfere in your affairs. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Time flies....

....especially when you are mad busy with work!!! Things have been very busy over the last few weeks but hopefully it should all settle down very soon :)

In the meantime, when I've not been in work I have been very busy and there has been lots and lots of crocheting going on here - I think I've well and truly got the bug! I will be back tomorrow with piccies :) x

Lovely weekend :)

Well, thank goodness it's the weekend! Work has been rather hectic this week so I'm relieved it is Saturday :) I have a very busy weekend planned but it is all fun things so I can't wait!

First up I have a concert with band this afternoon and then this evening Mr P and me are going on a date :) The local council near us is putting on a couple of big concerts in the park and so tonight we're going to "Proms in the Park" which looks like it could be pretty cool.

Tomorrow the local farmer's market is on so we're going to get up early (oh yes we are!) and head off to stock up on goodies before going to the second concert in the park which is going to be local bands and Alexander O'Neal. There's also going to be a craft fair and a funfair so it looks like it could be a pretty fun day. Keep your fingers crossed for the weather for us!

I'll leave you with a video of Alexander O'Neal - this song always reminds me of family parties when I was younger so it brings back good memories :)

I saw this over at Sweet Jessie's site and thought it seemed like fun. You have to answer these questions in just one word which I think will be a challenge for me as I'm a bit of a Little Miss Chatterbox!

One Word Meme
1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your significant other? Mr P
3. Your hair? wild
4. Your daughter? future
5. Your son? ditto
6. Your favorite thing? books
7. Your dream last night? christmassy
8. Your favorite drink? dandelion and burdock
9. Your goal? happiness
10. The room you’re in? living room
11. Your church? friendly
12. Your fear? flying
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. Where were you last night? class
15. What you’re not? quiet
16. Muffins? rolls
17. One of your wish list items? house
18. Where you grew up? Manchester
19. The last thing you did? phone
20. What are you wearing? skirt
21. Your TV? on
22. Your pets? none
23. Your computer? lifeline
24. Your life? fabulous
25. Your mood? tired
26. Missing someone? yes
27. Your car? focus
28. Something you’re not wearing? socks
29. Favorite store? Borders
30. Your summer? rainy
31. Like(love) someone? absolutely
32. Your favorite color? pink
33. Last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? Sunday
35. Who will repost this? you?

As you can see, I didn't quite manage the whole one word thing but I tried! It'd be interesting for other people to play along so I can see if you're able to be more concise than I am!!!

A pleasant surprise at the supermarket :)

It's not often you'll hear me say that (especially the way my grocery bill keeps rising) but as me and Mr P were meandering around the aisles today he spotted something that somehow had escaped my notice...... Cath Kidston has designed some reuseable shopping bags for Tesco :)

I can't believe I didn't see these (must have been wandering around in my own little world) but as soon as I had regained my wits I snatched this one up quickly as there were only a couple of them left. Obviously the catalogues and magazines I keep shoving under Mr P's nose are having an effect :)

Apparently there is a spotty one too but they didn't have that one (I'll be keeping an eye out for it though!) Suddenly grocery shopping has taken on a whole new appeal...

Crochet and a bit of inspiration

I'm still not feeling very well so this is where I have spent a lot of my day...

....curled up on the sofa with comfy quilts and cushions while attempting to teach myself how to crochet properly. I bought this book a couple of years ago and saw a pattern for a bag in here which I really liked but try as I might, I couldn't get my head around the instuctions :( Fast forward a couple of years and everywhere I look in blogland, such as here, here and here, everyone is 'hooking' like mad and producing the most wonderful throws and blankets. After suffering from a serious case of crochet envy, I could feel my fingers itching to take up a hook and give it another go so I bought myself "The Happy Hooker" and oh my goodness that book is fabulous! I must admit, some of the projects are not quite my "thing" but the instructions are so clear and easy to understand (once I'd got my head around the different terminology - why do British and US terms have to be different?!?)

Anyway, over the last few weeks I have been coveting the blankets I have been seeing and have grand plans to make myself one of my own. However, before I rushed out and spent pots of money on lots of lovely, soft, snuggly yarns, I thought it would be prudent to hone my newfound skills on something smaller and, crucially, something I already had yarn for!!!

With this in mind, I went back to the bag pattern I had very first attempted to do more than 2 years ago and now I actually have more of an idea what I am doing, I have made good progress with it this afternoon :)

Shush, don't mention it to Mr P but I have just won an auction on Ebay for a mixed lot of 48 different balls of yarn - already my crocheting is turning into a bit of an obsession... However, as these haven't started winging their way to me, I've had to make do with itchy, scratchy, acrylic yarn. Please tell me that other yarns are nicer to crochet with because after a while this one hurt my fingers!

The pattern uses 18 of these squares and I have completed all my pink ones this afternoon and made a start on 3 more squares. I have to say, crochet is one of the most relaxing things in the world; I have spent a lovely afternoon snuggled under my quilt, hook in hand, listening to podcasts from CraftSanity: Alicia Paulson from Posy Gets Cozy and Amy Karol from Angry Chicken and very inspiring they were too! Mr P said that my crocheting was "very ratter-esque" but he was watching the golf at the time (quite possibly the most boring 'sport' in the world. Ever. Officially) so I am going to discount his opinion on this matter ;)

Just 9 and a bit more squares more to go and then I need to make the handles and crochet round the top. I'll try and do a bit more tonight but probably won't get chance to do much more during the week as I'll be in work.

One last close up of the crochet and then I'm off to break the news to Mr P about the deliveries (did I mention I won more than 1 auction? Ooops!) from Ebay we will be having in the next few days...

Oh before I go,can anyone give me any tips on uploading pictures to blogger? It's taken me almost as long to upload these 3 pictures as it did to crochet my squares!

Mr P avert your eyes now!

I'm trying to persuade Mr P to let me get a cat. I think I've almost succeeded - just hoping he doesn't see this.....



more cat pictures

Escapism

I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself today as I'm feeling a bit poorly - I've had a tummy bug for most of the week and am still not feeling good :(

My lovely OH, Mr P, has been looking after me and bringing me cups of tea whilst I have been snuggled up on the sofa blof surfing and watching one of my all-time favourite films:



I love everything about this movie; it's beautifully shot and the colours are so vibrant. It makes me want to go to Paris right now!

Cards and flowers

I know, I know, not the most imaginative title for a post but I'm not feeling terribly inspired this evening! Just a very quick post as I'm about to jump in the shower and get ready to go out. One of my best mates graduated today and she's having a little party to celebrate :)

I've just been uploading some pictures to the computer and have a few that I want to post on here over the next few days. Here is the first, which is a card I made for a friend recently:

We went to the QVC Crafting Experience in London last week and she was such great company and even was kind enough to give me the prize she won in the raffle there! How fab is she?!? I've got loads of pictures from that event but they're on my mobile phone and I'm not sure how to get them off there and onto here! We had a great day and learnt lots of new techniques. I also got her a big bunch of flowers to say thank you :)

Speaking of flowers, my OH's mam gave me a massive bunch of flowers at the weekend and they are cheering up our front room as I type this :)

You'll have to excuse my terrible flower arranging skills - they look better in real life (honest!) In fact, there's so many of them that we have 3 (!) vases full!

I looooooooove having fresh flowers in the house; they really make me smile :)

If there's anyone reading this, hope you have a fantastic weekend and that the weather is better than it is here. I can't believe it's mid July and I'm wearing a thick wooly cardi! It's pouring with rain here and it's cold, wet and miserable. What's happened to Summer? I feel cheated!

Book to Movie Challenge

I'm too late to 'officially' take part in this challenge (it actually took place last year) but I thought "what the heck" and have decided I'm going to do it anyway just for the fun of it :)
The idea with this challenge is that you pick (and read!) at least 3 books that have been made into a movie. This sort of thing is right up my street :)
I first saw this on SMS Reviews blog, which can be found here and is well worth a visit if you're a bit of a bookworm (like me!)
I think a little bit of a background might be in order here... when I was 18 and at 6th form, for some reason best known to the college, they decided that all 6th formers had to take an A-Level in General Studies. This caused uproar amongst the students as we all thought it was a huge waste of time as there was no syllabus and it was just pot luck as to which questions came up in the exam. Luckily for me, one of the essay questions was a discussion about books that had been turned into films and which was better, the book or the film? Being an English and Media student, this question was perfect for me. I am sure it was the reason I got my one and only 'A' grade A-level in General Studies and has sparked a long time interest in books that have been adapted into films.
Ok, enough rambling. Down to business. Here is my list:

1. Anywhere But Here - Mona Simpson
2. Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman
3. Da Vinvi Code - Dan Brown
4. How to Make an American Quilt - Whitney Otto
5. Mermaids - Patty Dann
6. Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
7. The River King - Alice Hoffman (this is actually a re-read but I love this book and I just found out they made it into a film, so let me off with this one!)
8. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares
9. A Slipping Down Life - Anne Tyler
10. Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbit
11. White Oleander - Janet Fitch
12. Where the Heart is - Billie Letts
    

Looking at my list in black and white, I can see that a lot of my books / film choices are girly chick flicks but I like chick flicks!!! I'm not sure if I'll get to read all of these by December 31st so if I don't finish by that date I think I might just carry on!
I've also decided that wherever possible I'm going to try and watch the film (after I've read the book) so I can compare the two. There are a couple of books on this list where I've already seen the film (Mermaids and Practical Magic) so I think I might find it strange reading the books as I'll be imaging Winona Ryder and Nicole Kidman as the characters!

Triple 8 Reading Challenge

Here is another of the old posts....

Triple 8 Challenge

This is a reading challenge and I think it looks really interesting. I've always been a voracious reader and usually I tend to read whatever takes my fancy at that particular moment. This challenge could inspire me to try other genres or authors that I wouldn't normally read so I think I'm going to give it a go!
I need to do a lot of thinking about which 64 books I'm going to choose (if I'm committing myself so publically to reading something I want to be sure it's something I'll enjoy!) but here are my categories....

1. Crafts (hey, I might as well feed my craft book addiction at the same time!)
2. Books I really should have read by the age of 29 (this would be all the classics etc that always appear on top 100 lists)
3. Childrens / young adult
4. Historical fiction
5. Fantasy
6. 8 authors I've not read before
7. Non-fiction - I love non-fiction books!
8. Ordinary fiction books! Bit of a cop out I know, but I still want to be able to read the type of books that I've always enjoyed!

I have already started on this challenge and these are the books I have read so far for each category:

Crafts

1. Lotta Jansdotter - Simple Sewing
2. Diana Rupp - Sew Everything Workshop (love this book!)
3. Jan Eaton - 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets and Afghans
4. Jane Brocket - The Gentle Art of Domesticity (this have turner into one of my very favourite books!)

Books I really should have read by the age of 29....

Children's / young adult

Historical Fiction

Fantasy

8 authors I haven't read before

Non-fiction

1. Melvyn Bragg - The Adventure of English

Fiction

And that's as far as I've got. As you can see, I need to get myself into gear! Any ideas for books would be greatly appreciated!

101 things in 1001 days

I first heard about this on Meshell's blog and thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. I have previously posted this on my (now defunct) old blog but plan on importing a few of the old posts over to here over the next couple of days.

The idea is to create a list of 101 things you would like to accomplish in 1001 days. This really appeals to me because I loooooove lists and also because it will make me focus on the things that I keep saying I'm going to do but never actually get around to doing (I'm a bit rubbish like that!)
The idea first originated on this site. I actually started my list on January 23rd 2008 so my 1001 days will be up on WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20th 2010 which spookily enough is my 32nd birthday. I like the synchronicity of that :) Anyway, without further ado, here is The List:

Key: Projects in bold are completed, italics mean the project is in progress

1. Learn to knit (properly!) and complete at least 1 project (maybe from irresistible knits book?)


2. Learn to crochet and complete the following projects: ripple blanket, granny square (or similar) throw, hexagon throw, a project where I need to learn 5 new stitches


3. Complete 3 quilts


4. Make at least 3 scrapbooks of the following: Me and my OH, Family, Good Times


5. Make an advent calendar


6. Make all my own Christmas cards in 2008 and 2009


7. Make at least 1 item from every craft book that I own


8. Make at least 3 bags (1/3)


9. Create my own Christmas decorations each year


10. Complete my list of cross stitch projects that I have planned to do (and already bought the materials for!)


11. Take photographs of all the things I have made and post on this blog


12. Take part in at least 5 swaps (2/5)


13. Make at least 1 thing using a craft that I have never tried before


14. Make new cushions for the front room


15. Make my OH a mix CD


16. Make at least 1 handmade present for the following people: my OH, my mam, my dad, my sister, my brother-in-law, my nanna, my grandad, OH's mam and her partner


17. Make a purse organiser that I can easily switch between my bags


18. Learn how to make jewellery. Make at least 10 pairs of earrings (not just all ‘drop‘ ones), 2 bracelets and a necklace (7/13)


19. Make 3 pieces of wall art for my house


20. Learn how to make handmade journals and make at least 3 to use for ideas, etc


21. Create 26 mix Cds, 1 for each letter of the alphabet, see here and here to see what I mean


22. Learn Spanish well enough to be able to more than just “get by” on holiday


23. Take part in 5 different reading challenges, including the 888 reading challenge and the book to movie challenge


24. Listen to 3 audio books on CD (1/3)


25. Learn about 5 new topics (to be decided!) (Growing vegetables, embroidery, ?, ?, ?)


26. Learn to fold 10 different origami shapes


27. Take an evening class in something craft-related


28. Begin (and maybe even complete!!!) the post-grad diploma that I want to do for work


29. Read all of LM Montgomery’s books (as far as possible in story chronological order), including re-reading books I have already read (4/32: Anne of Green Gables; Anne of Avonlea; Anne of the Island; Anne of Windy Willows)


30. Complete the Race for Life


31. Reach my target weight


32. Buy a bike and go cycling regularly


33. Walk more! Use my fit bug to record how many steps I am taking each day and try and beat my personal best. Go for long walks in the summer on the canal, Daisy Nook, Dovestones etc


34. Cook a ‘fancy’ meal for my OH (starter, main course and pudding)


35. Plan our meals each week and only buy the things we need. Make a list when we go shopping!


36. Cut out all alcohol for 1 month


37. Join a gym and go at least 2 times a week


38. Learn how to bake a cake


39. Learn how to make a loaf of bread from scratch (I bought a breadmaker and have been making all our own bread but I still want to have a go at making bread without the breadmaker!)


40. Invite 3 sets of friends for dinner (cooked by me and my OH)


41. Take my lunch to work at least 2 times a week (I am office based 3 days a week and the other 2 days work at home)


42. Get my “five a day” every day for 3 months (can be non-consecutive!)


43. Go veggie for a week / a month


44. Sort out and organise my craft room so it is a comfy, cosy place for me to be


45. De-clutter the house. Find ‘homes’ for things. Get rid of things I no longer need or want


46. Get all my pictures framed and hung up


47. Try to recycle more


48. Grow some vegetables and herbs


49. Get an inspiration board for my desk


50. Buy at least 3 new board games and have a “games night” with friends and family


51. Buy a plant and keep it alive


52. Put laundry away after folding


53. Find a way of hanging all my necklaces and earrings up so they don’t become tangled


54. Sort out all my magazines. Put pictures I like into an ‘inspiration journal’ (or similar) and recycle / donate to charity the rest


55. See the sunrise from Hartshead Pike


56. Go on a ‘proper’ picnic (with blanket, wicker basket and eat-with-your-fingers food)


57. Go to a free summer concert


58. Go camping


59. Go and watch 5 plays at the theatre


60. Go to 3 gigs / concerts


61. Go to all the museums and galleries in Manchester, Liverpool, Llandudno and Conwy.


62. Go on at least 12 trips to places that I have not been to before that are reasonably close to where I live, e.g. Sheffield, Halifax, etc


63. Go ice-skating


64. Go to the zoo (went to the Welsh Mountain Zoo in June with my OH)


65. Plant a tree


66. Go to see a movie by myself


67. Fly a kite


68. See the Cirque du Soleil


69. Visit the following places: Paris, America, Brussels, Barcelona, 2 places I have not been to before (1/2 I went to Tenerife in April with my OH)


70. Get over my fear of flying!!! I'm still working on this - I was fine flying out to Tenerife but cried like a baby on the way back :(


71. Have a Hallowe’en party


72. Go to 10 different restaurants that I have never been to before (1/10 I went to Lords in Harrogate a few weeks ago and very nice it was too!)
73. Stop worrying about what other people think of me. Less negativity


74. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy or that I am grateful for. Add to it once (or more!) a week


75. Come up with a tradition of my own for Christmas


76. Create a journal of poetry and quotes that ‘speak to me’. Post some of these on my blog


77. Pay off everything that I owe


78. Save up for our wedding and deposit on a house
79. Create a work plan. Where do I see my self in 1, 3, 5, 10 years? What do I need to do to get there? Is what I’m doing now what I want to do for the rest of my life?


80. Get married!


81. Find out all family birthdays, anniversaries and telephone numbers. Write on a calendar and make copies for my mam and sister


82. Trace my family tree (back to at least my great-great-great-grandparents)


83. Go on a date with my OH at least once a month (going to the pub doesn’t count!) (3/?)


84. Contact old friends and arrange to meet up (if possible!) Call / email / send card to 1 friend a month


85. Give blood


86. Attend as many band rehearsals as possible


87. Participate in a book club


88. Take more photographs! Take at least 1 photograph a day of something that interests me for a month and post on my blog


89. Get a cat (got 2!)


90. Watch 101 new films (I.e. ones I have not seen before), including at least 5 musicals


91. Organise all the files from my old computer and burn what I need onto discs etc before getting rid of the old computer


92. Make up 2 Christmas parcels (1 for a boy, 1 for a girl) to go to the Tameside Radio / Key 103 Christmas appeal


93. Stop using plastic bags. Take cloth bags with me when I go shopping


94. Get new glasses


95. Visit the farmer’s markets at least once a month


96. Put all my slummy into a jar and don’t touch it until it is full!!!
97. ?
98. ?
99. ?
100. ?
101. ?

Phew!!! If you're still reading WELL DONE!!! As you can see, I only have 98 actions on my list. I have 3 spare ones to add new ideas over the duration of this challenge :)

I will edit this page as I complete items on my list and am going to post regularly about my progress on this. I'm really excited about this project as I think it's going to be a lot of fun!

Saturday night sewing

Still no photos because I can't find the lead for the camera!

Tonight I have spent a lovely night sewing in my little room upstairs. I have been attempting to make a top using a pattern from this fab book. I'm using some jersey fabric I found in a local charity shop for £3 (for LOADS), but I've never ever sewn using jersey before so it has been a bit of a learning curve. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be though :)

I've never made clothes before either so I'm hoping it all turns out ok. It's looking good so far so I'm pretty chuffed. So far, I have cut out all the pieces and sewn the back pieces and front pieces together. I had a bit of a disaster when I cut the front piece out because I put the pattern piece on the fold (like I was supposed to) but for some stupid reason, I cut down the fold meaning my front piece ended up in two halves! Luckily the two back pieces were meant to be that size but with a little tab at the top, so I used the pieces which were originally destined for the front and added the two tabs separately. It turned out quite well because I had to top stitch round the back tabs to create a "v" shape for the fastener and the seam where I joined the tabs ended up being the seam for the "v" as well. I know that probably doesn't make a lot of sense reading it, but trust me, I'm pleased with it! lol

Tomorrow I'm hoping I'll get chance to finish this off but I have a parade with band (I had a concert in the park with them this afternoon too!) and I really need to get things sorted for work on Monday :(

I will leave you (my ficticious readers), with this youtube video of one of the songs I was listening to this evening...



Love it!

A fab find :)

Last week I went shopping to the bigger town near where I live. I've lived in this house for about a year and a half and go shopping to the town all the time but have never been to the outdoor market there as it's a bit out of the way. Well, this time I decided to walk up the hill to the market and I'm glad I did because there were LOADS of fabric stalls there :) Most of them sell materials for saris (lots of gorgeous colours and patterns) but they have plenty of cotton fabrics too and all sorts of trims and notions :) I spent about £6 and came home with a bag bulging with fabric to make some cushions for our front room. I would have bought more but my OH is whinging about the fabric stash I have already and I don't think he would have been too impressed!!!

This evening I started making some cushions for the front room; I have completed 2 so far and they were really easy to make, just like envelopes. When we first moved into the house, I spent a fortune buying cushions but I really want more and more so the sofa is really snuggly and cosy :) The cushions I've made so far don't really match the sofa but they're bright and cheery and I like them so they're staying! (well for the time being at least....)

I wanted to get get some pictures to show on here but my laptop is still being mended so I am on a different computer which won't let me upload pictures :( I have been assured that my computer is being delivered back to me tomorrow so hopefully then I'll be able to get some on here to brighten things up!