Just coz I can

Here are the last two lots of ATCs I have done, one for NPLH and one for the Pad.

EVERYTHING ORIENTAL

BE MINE

Tough Day

I had to go for a CT scan this morning. I really hate them, not for the actual scan, which is no problem, but for the barium gloop. Nasty stuff. Everyone hates it, but they don't seem to be able to make it any more palatable. The girl doing the needles was having a bad day - she was having to have several goes at finding a vein -in one case FIVE!! Four people in a row were told they had "bad veins", and she had to have two goes at mine, and I'm not normally difficult. Think she might just have been having an off day.

I certainly was. This is the 17th anniversary of Abigail's death, and, no, I haven't got used to it yet!! I've been talking about Giz lately, so here is a photo from July 1989 of kitten Giz with his Mum, shortly after she was diagnosed.
It's really weird that the kitten lived longer than the daughter; she was 16 and he is now over 17.

Out tonight to our local crop. there were five of us there - we really need six, but i had a good evening and I have now finished my ATC marathon for a few weeks. The next lot aren't due out until April!! I'll scan and post them tomorrow, but right now I'm away to my bed! It's been a looooong and quite emotional day.

Insect days,Moggies and ATCs

Dom had an "Insect day" from school on Tuesday. I asked him what he thought the teachers did on insect day. He reckons they all dress up as insects and rush about the place while there are no kids. Then he thought it would be good if they all turned into REAL insects and got eaten so there wouldn't be any more school. Nothing wrong with his imagination!

Little mog has been ill again. He had a serious op last July when large amounts of his liver were removed, but he recovered well at first. Lately the weight has just fallen off him, and he is now just fur and bones. He eats, though. BOY does he eat!! The vet reckons he isn't able to metabolise his food properly, so he eats for England and gets thinner. Hands up who thinks that might be a good disease to have for a while?? Anyway, last week he got much worse. He had a fit, which isn't unusual, but just didn't pick up after it and by Monday we were thinking he was on his way out. He wasn't eating, and his purr had disappeared. I spent most of Monday night in tears, but got him to the vet, who diagnosed a tummy upset, prescribed steroids, enzyme additives and a fat-free diet. Cat has scoffed VAST amounts of chicken and is lying on Alan's lap purring like a jack-hammer!! Maybe he WILL get to be 18!

I've been on an ATC kick this month. mostly because I committed myself to several swaps with the same deadline, and they all caught up with me at once. Anyway I now have only one more set to do this month, and I know what they will be. The last lot were hard for me because I can't draw, and they were a set on God and Godesses. I had intended them to be very abstract, but the ideas just would NOT gel, so I ended up with Gods of the Discworld. Given how awful my drawing is, they are OK. Took a long time to work out how to draw a crocodile full-face!! What do you think? I know FATE, whose eyes are supposed to be pools of utter blackness with the stars and constellations whirling in their depths, just looks as though he is wearing shades, but hey, that's cool for FATE!

Crafting at last!

FINALLY getting my act back together. I have made these ATCs for a swap on a US forum. My first swap, and most of them seem to be "artists" - in that they draw and paint - rather than papercrafters, so I hope they are alright. The theme is "Children's Literature" and I'm playing it safe with Winnie-the-Pooh. Used the original EH Shepard illustrations, rather than the Disney ones coz Pooh is a better shape - and no T-shirt!

Memories

It's not a new year's resolution, more an obsession, but my theme for this year is going to be creating memories. I MUST do more scrapping, but I also want to organise more family events and write down more of my personal memories. Part of this is obviously because I am aware that I can't go on being lucky with my condition forever; but I am also 60 this year, so the end is nigher than it ever was anyway!!
I'm not altogether sure why I think my family will want loads of information about me and my life when I am gone, but I know how much I'd LOVE to read my mother's or grandmother's diaries - so I intend to give my descendants the option - in spades.

I've made myself a Memory Jar - AND taken a photo of it, but blogger won't let me upload it (not even through photobucket!! :( - I'll try again tomorrow!
Here it is!!


Every day I am going to put one nice memory into the jar, and once a month I am going to scrap them. A combination Diary and memorybook and an incredibly lazy way to document my year. I've even cut up all the slips of paper in advance and put them in a tictac container stuck to the side of the jar - no excuses!!

Two little boys

Dominic came to spend the day here on Saturday. Well, that's the theory!! In fact he now comes here so he can play with Ben from next door. Ben is a few weeks younger that Dom and they are the best of mates. All through the Christmas holidays we have had visits from Ben asking if Dom was here, and I just couldn't stand the little sad face any more, so I arranged with Beth that Dom should come here after the panto on Friday. In the event Dom stayed til Sunday lunchtime to give them more time together. On Saturday evening when Ben's dad came to collect him they were sellotaping themselves together so he didn't have to go home. All they did was play Game-Boy, Playstation and online computer games, but then they ARE 7 and it was raining all weekend!

The panto was quite good. Phoebe was splendid, of course, but the principals were OK and the costumes and sets were certainly VERY swish. Lisa Riley was a fun fairy godmother and the comic was excellent (tho Phoebe said he had got bored and cut out a lot of his material, so the show ended earlier than it had at the start of the run!!) Auditions loom for "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang" Touring shows use local kids in their productions, and this is on in Southampton for the summer season. Watch this space!

I am starting to craft again after a long dry spell. Only a couple of ATCs so far, but I have 2 swaps on the go, so I MUST get my act together. Got a couple of CJ pages outstanding, too and have promised them for the weekend. . .

Bl**dy January again!!

Please note the above is the title of a Flanders and Swann song , although it does sum up my feelings at the moment.
We had a successful trip north with no real problems in either direction. A very quiet and relaxing time with Nick and Dena and Dena's parents. We didn't really even rouse ourselves to watch the fireworks across the river at Drayton Manor Park - how lazy is that?
We stopped off at our usual pub for lunch on the way home. We have yet to have a poor meal there and would recommend it to anyone. The New Inn, Heckfield, Hampshire. Good food, great atmosphere, excellent service.

Spent Wednesday quietly, mostly catching up on my sleep, but also having a bit of "me-time" for what would have been Abigail's 33rd birthday. That just does NOT seem possible. She's caught in crystal in 1990 for me, and I find it hard to imagine what she might have become. There is a high probability that she would have stuck to her intention of being a nanny in America and marrying an American. If so I guess by now she'd have had several children of her own, and I wouldn't have seen her on her birthday anyway!

Abigail Rachel
3rd January 1974 - 29th January 1990
Love you - always and forever

Tomorrow we are going to the theatre to watch Phoebe in her Panto. Alan is taking me out for a fortifying lunch first AND a trip to the craft centre. HOORAY!