My grotty weekend

We bit the bullet & went to Lakeside yesterday to get the Bridesmaid's dresses. We got all sorted but 2 are on order for right sizes. Burgundy & Gold. Elizabeth looked absolutely beautiful, it brought a lump to my throat. My daughter, Jenny - the bride-to-be - came (of course) and she kept talking on her mobile all the time & saying where we were in a whisper voice. Then it dawned on me that she was talking to her partner & he & the boys were also there & had followed us up. She told us he was taking them swimming for the day. Pants on fire! She did what she wanted to do & then b******ed off after she'd wiped out our Visa limit. It was all planned, it was so obvious.
The girl at the bridal store said the dresses should be hung up inside duvet covers & not plastic dry-cleaners covers, which I had to do yesterday evening, a real struggle.

The better part of Saturday was that I bought my posh camera - a Nikon. I really wanted a Canon 400D but it was to expensive. It's got all I need - it's light & easy to handle,has a large screen & you can add lenses to it. I'm going to see if the lenses from my manual SLR will fit. I had a little 'tinker' last night ( ) but the battery needs charging. Then Jen rang today & said she was coming up with Carl (partner) to show him the dresses. I explained about the covers, effort, blah, blah, but she had to be abusive to me. I've done everything for this wedding, organising things like flowers (friend), cars (my brother), Cake (a friend of my mum), paying for her dress & all the rest of the dresses, that's what I can remember at the moment. She's so unappreciative. She's also a blinding liar -- and a not very good one at that. I was so upset that I had to go to bed this afternoon with the door shut.

After about half an hour rest, there was this awful screeming from Elizabeth -- the dog had bitten her. There is a half-Cm cut just above her lip. I steristripped it & I can see that, as the swelling has gone down a bit,the cut is closing. Alice was upset & guilty. They'd been playing with Rosie but Elizabeth went too far & Rosie just lashed out. Alice said Elizabeth was aggrivating her & hurting her. Rosie only lashes out when she gets cross, but she's never bitten the kids - she's been brought up not to. She knows she's hurt Elizabeth as she keeps looking at her with this woeful expression. Don't blame Rosie, Geoff threatened to get rid of her (if she goes so do I); she can't defend herself so the facts need to be taken into consideration.

What with the weather as well, I had a cr***y weekend. My plans for today -- to try & get to grips with a) beading work, & b) my new camera. I felt so down this morning that I didn't go to church (a bad move as far as Geoff's concerned), I needed to be warm & resting. Geoff doesn't understand it. I'm really struggling.
All I get is people criticising me; how I bring up my kids, the state of my house tidiness-wise, that I spend all the time resting, and the rest of it. Jenny turned round yesterday and said that I was interfering when I put a bridesmaid's tiara on Elizabeth's head. I was only demonstrating for goodness' sake. Interfering??????? If we didn't do what we have done she'd have nothing done except buying the invitations that I'd said I would make for her... She said that I didn't look after the girls properly, that their hair was full of lice (not true) and when I said I did my best considering I was so poorly she said "You're not ill when it suits you".... What??!! I've struggled to bring up all my 4 children in some form or another, health or behaviour wise, people must'nt criticise me.....:( :(

Friday. Should be doing church noticesheet

My friend Paul had the audacity to mock me for my adoration of Donny.. He's a fan of *The Archers* lol lol lol no, he's not an old man but he is a SFBB, so I guess it's down to that. :) Poor one!

I have managed to upload the photos of the layouts from this past weekend retreat, and the 2 layouts for March's Scrapaholics evening. It's a layout including blank jigsaws (I think I said yesterday). I'm going to demonstrate a few techniques on using them such as painting, inking, alcohol inking & 1 other. I'm so chuffed with the results.

I'm a bit quieter today. I must get on with the noticesheet. I'm getting bored with it now. People don't let you know what they want put in & then moan when things don't go in. **Don't yell at me - I'm a volunteer** (remember that Paul?) Oh, *sighs* those were the days.....

Finally, there are still a few places available for our *Faith Scrappers* retreat on the 17 / 18th March at the Dartford Hilton. Day visitors are very welcome, Christian / Non Christian. Contact Babs on the Faith Scrappers website, or email me, for further details. Babs will have her shop there & she's offering a brilliant discount for the whole weekend.

Anyway, have a lovely weekend peeps. We might be shopping for Bridesmaids dresses. Sssshhhh..... don't tell the girls....

Donny's on 'Loose Women' ---- [swoons in a corner]

I can't believe it! My baby's on TV! My Donny has been the love of my life since I was 13 - just a year longer than my husband. He reminds me of a fine wine -- matures & gets more tasty with age! "Saddo" I hear you say, but we all have to have an outlet................ :O He's giving away all these horrid & unkind things he used to do to the fans outside his hotel. He's a bad boy... He's releasing his 55th album -- would you believe it? That'll be on my birthday list. Oh, now he's ruined it & has got a fan, the executive producer, up dancing to 'Why'. I got all teary would you believe it? get a grip woman!!!

Anyway, let's get back on level. For goodness' sake.
I spent a whole day (more or less) finishing off the finishing off (if you know what i mean) the layouts from the weekend. I cannot believe how many I actually did, considering I 'lost' Saturday afternoon. I also did my example of the 'Scrapaholics' layout for March. The papers are lovely & bright - ideal for kiddie photos. I'll post it up on here asap. The technique is using jigsaws as embellishments, alphabets, frames, you name it. I actually enjoyed doing this one.
I painted one of the jigsaws with Acrylic paint ( :O :O Mary......... as she's bound to want to do what 'Gill' has done) and then put alphabet dots on them for my title. I'm going to do a second layout with the remaining papers & card (yes, there is enough in the kit to do a double layout) and this time I'm going to ink the jigsaw pieces (ditto Mary) but scatter them this time. I'm also going to find a piece of one of my grandsons extra large puzzle pieces & make a frame for the photo. Sounds good on paper.

I'm part of the group leading the Faith Scrappers group. We have accessed the luxurious Dartford Hilton for a weekend retreat 17th & 18th March, starting at 9am on Saturday and ending at 5.30pm on Sunday. The cost includes dinner B&B and all classes. Babs will have her shop with lots of brilliant offers. Although Faith scrappers is Christian-based, the retreat is open to both Christian & non-Christian alike. See www.faithscrappersuk.com for the website where additional info is available, or you can contact me.

Right, I must go & finish that layout while I've still got my mojo!
Bye!!

Tuesday???? I must have slept thru Monday!!

The weekend retreat, hosted by Suzanne & held at the 'Ramada Jarvis', was, in my opinion, a roaring success --- well done Suz!!!!
It was a real sickener that my pain levels decided to scrape the ceiling :( :( Poor Hayley.... I woke her up with my moans. I had half a bottle of Oromorph.. :O The pain seems to target my right knee & ankle. I'm glad I had Hayley -- she had to help me get dressed on Saturday morning as I was so stiff. We got to know each other very well!!!!!!

Despite all the pain and interference, I still managed to get 6.5 layouts done. I missed one class as I had to go & rest for a couple of hours on Saturday PM; the CD class by Emma.
It was brilliant to meet up with some of the NBS crew. Thanks for the compliments, Patricia! I think the 'All Boy' layout I did of my grandson, Callum, was one of the best of my recent layouts, even my husband complimented on it.
I love these retreats. They give you 'private time' to scrap or to rest & chat. I think they help with my FMS as long as I pace & rest, which I did.

Faith Scrappers UK are holding a Saturday/Sunday retreat at the Dartford Hilton on the 17th & 18th of March. This retreat is open to Christians & non-Christians alike. The hotel looks magnificent. For extra info go to the website (click on above link). The more who join us, the merrier. I still have to break the news to my husband..............................

My camera has given up totally :( :( so I can't post any photos of the layouts I did during the weekend. Don't these things pack up just when you need them?????

Must close now as been in one position too long.
Bye!!

Thursday 22nd

My word am I knackered (but not so knackered as my friend Suzanne, she must be shredded) getting ready for the weekend retreat starting tomorrow. I know I won't use half the stuff but I'm always worried that I leave that one piece of stash behind that I know will make the layout.
I spent the best part of yesterday re-doing the 'layout within a Layout' example, as the original was done in a rush. I also started to get my stash together & tried to compact it down.
I've got to collect the books today at some point. I'm hoping that Geoff will come home a bit earlier seeing that he started early today, so we can collect then. I've got my nail appointment at 4pm which kinda ties me up a bit.
I've still got to pack my clothes yet! i'm going to leave that 'til the last minute as the suitcase turns the dog into a pathetic pooch that needs Prozac! Must remember my cozzie this time as there's a pool (warm, I'm told) and a Jaccuzi (sp?). Might help my poorly joints. :(

I've also been making up 'kits' for the free-scrapping time (although I seem to make up more than I need) and I've done all sorts of styles.

I need to make my flower hat ready for saturday evening. I've borrowed Mum's straw sun hat which I'm going to decorate with 'poundland' flowers that I've ripped to bits, and these will be attached with brads. Sounds good on paper...

I've still got the church newsletter to do yet... I'll do that first before I do anything else so I don't forget .... My brain's not what it used to be with FMS. That's so frustrating.

Anyway, I must get on!

Saturday 17th February

Crumbs! I've just looked at my time/date monitor (otherwise, a clock) and it's already the 17th :O So much to do & so little to do it in...
Suzanne has kindly offered to take me out tomorrow; a kind & friendly gesture which will is accepted as so. I value her friendship, as I value others, as it's better to care about people than to go against them. I could never have known that my illness could have affected my life as much as it has done. Idon't know where we'll end up.
My dog is having a 'funny 5 minutes' about a pigeon & evertything has shot everywhere....

I've had really bad knees since last night. My FMS affects my joints real bad. I have to take pain killers by the sackful.

I have been trying to sort out a bit ready for Suzanne's retreat. I've made up some kits to do in spare-cropping time. I find that's easier than trying to wade through masses of card/paper/photos and trying to match them up at the retreat. It's a good way of using up monthly kit stuff.
I've got 'Hello Dolly' on TV & this line came up [young, innocent lad to Dolly --"I've never touched a woman before", "you still haven't - that's my corset" !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi fellow scrapbookers! I can't believe that I'm keeping this blog up so well. I started it as one of my 'to do's in 2007' thinking that I would never keep it up. Here I am in the middle of February...

I had my class last night & it was a real hoot. We did more laughing than scrapbooking - it goes that way sometimes! I don't know what Geoff was putting in Suzanne's tea....

We are revving up for the scrapping weekend that Suzanne has organised, next weekend (23 - 25th Feb), I've still got to sort out for my class. I'm only leading one class this time but attending 5, there's a 'bleaching' class & a 'clipboard' class which I'm really looking forward to those.
Hayley & I decided to stay because you get more 'camaraderie' when you stay. We certainly had fun at Eastbourne!

I'm childfree! Jen had both the girls since Tuesday; Alice is still with her Elizabeth has a 'sleepover' at her friends tonight. I heard that one of Jen's friends has cut Alice's hair :O She didn't ask me for permission or anything. She bowled in yesterday evening, on her way to work, to bring something for Geoff, and announced how much this Leanne has cut off.. I wanted to grow out the layers so that she could have a french Plait, which Jen wants her to have when she's a bridesmaid. I just don't know what she's up to sometimes. I still love her though.

Gotta go and clear up after last night & get ready for the weekend. I've also got to do the Church newsletter, which will take all of 2 minutes as I've had no messages to go in this week.
See ya!!