A Holiday and a Birthday

Bet you thought I'd been and gone and emigrated and not told you. LOL No such luck... we've been on our annual holiday (vacation), spending two weeks in the fabulous Lake District, followed by a mammoth laundry and cleaning catch up. All the usual boring things that keep you from getting back to the fun stuff.

Am glad to say that the weather, though it had its moments, was waaay better than last year... thought we were going to grow webbed feet then. LOL Here's a pic of the back view of the cottage we stayed in:

It's a truly lovely home-from-home... but I'll not go boring you rigid by posting too many holiday pics, especially as I haven't gotten round to uploading them all to the computer yet. If I ever do get them sorted I'll post a slideshow into another post.... that way you can have a nosey or leave well alone, your choice. I can hear the collective sigh of relief as you thank your stars for that lucky escape. ROFL

It was my birthday whilst we were on holiday. That hasn't happened before and it felt a bid odd... though it was lovely to have the cards on display whilst in the cottage and then come home to find more goodies waiting for me to open. I felt like Queen Lizzy, having two birthdays! LOL As there were some lovely goodies and this post was going to be picture heavy I decided to share these via a slideshow:

As you can see, I received lots of lovely gifts and cards and felt truly spoilt. Thank you again my friends for your kindness and generosity - I loved all of my gifts and cards. :0)

So what else did we get up to whilst we were away? Well we did some walking and had quite a few trips out and about, ate some tasty meals at some lovely pubs, had a friend of DS join us for the middle weekend and they both walked the Langdale Pikes, DH and DS had a trip to Rookin House for a quad biking session, then the three of us went back the following day for archery and air rifle shooting sessions (great fun), trips to Keswick, Grasmere, Hawkshead, Coniston and Kirkby Stephen, a couple of visits to the Rhegged centre, a walk on the shore of the much depleted Thirlmere (some of the old building foundations were uncovered) and, as a birthday treat........ a trip to Fobbles.

Yes, after reading all about Fobbles on Su's blog and not getting the chance to visit last year, it was definitely on the cards for a visit this time round.... especially with some birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket LOL. It was a bit of a trek from the Langdale Valley but well worth the travelling: the lady who owns it was lovely and the place, though small, was jam-packed full of tempting goodies - so if you're ever up that way it is definitely worth a visit. If only I'd won the lottery and been able to buy all of the fabulous charts I picked out! Unfortunately I hadn't, so had to whittle down the haul from all of the ones I would like to the absolute must-haves. It was really tough going, was that, but I got there in the end. Here's the haul that made it home with me:

As you can probably guess, that wasn't all that came home... they had a nice selection of fabrics too.

Oh yes, and some lovely scissors. The stitching fabrics are a couple of 32ct and a 36ct and you can never have too much backing fabric, now can you?! ;0)

I got a few non-stitchy goodies too. As you have all probably realised by now I do have a bit of a thing about books (as well as stash LOL) and there were a few opportunities to indulge this passion too, at Rhegged, Grasmere, in a discount bookshop in Hawkshead and in the 2 Ravens in Kirkby Stephen. Here's that haul:

The bookshop in Hawkshead also had some other interesting goodies I couldn't resist, especially at the prices:

I don't really need any more Oracle cards but those Grail Code ones screamed "Buy Me". I absolutely love Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the cards are based on them. They are visually stunning, give accurate readings and also have lovely meditations to do in the enclosed guide book. It was also the only set they had... reckon it was waiting for me. :0)

One of the trips to Rhegged had DS buying me a belated Mother's Day gift and DH an anniversary gift (it was a holiday of celebrations: it was also our 26th wedding anniversary whilst we were there). These were the lovelies they gave me:

The one on the left is from DS and connects nicely with the garden and the one on the right is from DH and has a dove with the word Peace on it and also a tiny little elephant with a little flower on its flank.... a nice way of linking in with my Power Animal. :0)

The trip to 2 Ravens had DS and I indulging in our passion for crystals and gems. DS got a lovely haul of all kinds but I was restrained and just bought the one.....

A gorgeous Sheen Obsidian crystal ball.... which was an absolute bugger to photograph because of its reflective qualities (as you can see). It isn't as plain as it looks, as it has areas that have a beautiful golden sheen to them. I didn't go with the intention of buying a crystal ball but DH had a particular drawer out, I saw this and as soon as I picked it up it called to me. I tried putting it back but it wouldn't have it, so it came home. The wonderful chaoroite crystal ball was still there and the owner kindly let me hold it again. It gutted me to leave it last time and it did again... but this time I have left her my details and asked that if they sell up (the shop is on the market) before our next visit to please phone me so I can have first refusal. I am now saving my pennies. :0)

In all the time we were away I seemed to be in reading mode, as I read two books and started a third, and only once managed to pick up a needle and stitch. The mojo obviously decided it deserved a longer holiday! LOL Here's the small progress I made on the tiger:

In case you were wondering: more of his throat area has appeared and a start made on the fancy border. Unfortunately the mojo is still intermittent and I've only picked up a needle once since, putting in some stitches on Mother Earth for the JA/S&S UFO Night, infilling more of the tree background:

So now I'm all caught up with the laundry etc and another weeding session had to be done on the border... those weeds decided it was a free-for-all party while we were away and tried to reclaim the bed. I was having none of that and gave them short shrift. Since then Garden Pete has kindly brought the sacks of well rotted horse manure for me and I spent a morning this week spreading two and a quarter sack fulls of it on that bed this week:

Thankfully the well rotted manure is nowhere near as stinky as the fresh stuff, so it made the job less of a trial than it might have been. LOL The greenhouse was ordered last weekend and that has a four to five week delivery date, so we need to get the soil properly levelled and compacted and some slabs laid... we had a rethink on the base and have decided that laying a square of slabs will give more leeway for errors on squareness than bricks and we can then fill the middle with more soil (allowing water run off inside) and around the edges, to stop any tripping hazard. There's enough excess soil in other areas to do this. DH is busy at work, working late and over the coming weekend, so isn't able to do much towards getting it sorted at the moment so I am now making like a chjain gang member and breaking up the hoarded concrete and broken bricks whenever the mood takes me, to give a solid layer under the slabs. It's very good for those "wings".... and for letting off a little steam. LOL

DH and DS did have a bit of a sort through some more of the metal cabinets DH has down the side of the house last weekend, ready for more to go. DS and I spent last night sorting through all of the stuff in the cupboards, moving some of it up by the shed, binning some and bagging up other bits, ready for an amenities site trip this weekend. After all that we moved the scrap into the front garden:

One of the local registered scrap places has come and taken it away today (Friday), so that's even more of the heap gone. Yay! We need a new water pipe laying and that can't be done until the drive between the two houses is clear.... we've made a good start. :0)

I also had a small cardmaking session last weekend, ready for Julie's birthday. A cute card for a special lady:

Not too obvious from the scan but it's a decoupage card, so has several layers. Hope you're having a lovely day Julie. :0)

I had so much fun making Julie's card I followed it up by making a card for my niece:

Then made another, for my "just in case" stash, whilst still in the mood:

Unfortunately I have to end on some sad news: my FIL has been diagnosed with cancer and, because it's well established, he hasn't had any symptoms or pain, and due to his age (86, going on 87), they feel it wouldn't be in his best interests to put him through the hell of chemo. They haven't done any further investigations either, as they feel these could trigger the cancer into faster growth/spread. He's had another stay in hospital, due to the fluid building up again, but is now back home. We visited him in hospital last weekend and we'll be going over there as often as we can manage, to help out and spend time with him and MIL. We hope he will continue to be symptomless and pain free for as long as possible. Make sure you give all your loved ones lots of hugs and tell them how much you love them... because you never know what's around the corner.

Thank you for visiting - may you all be Blessed with good health and good fortune. Take care and have a good weekend. :0)

Cards Galore and Stitching Progress

Before the festivities I managed to have a bit of a cardmaking fest, spread over a few days as the stamina was only up for so much standing around. I made four Christmas Cards, some of which were sent out to Forum/Blogging friends. This one I sent to Lynn:

This one to Barb: 

This one to Sally:

This one to Karen, I think (sorry, brain fart moments are coming thick and fast, thanks to the menopause!):

Then there were a couple of birthday's too. Our friend Alex's birthday was on Christmas Eve, so I made a card for her and had great fun using one of my Celtic style stamps, embossing powder and peel-offs:

I made this card a while ago and the colours immediately made me think of Karen, so that's where it went off to earlier this month:

Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of the birthday card I sent to Sally but you can see a pic here (scroll down a little).

I received some lovely handmade festive cards from family and friends too:

The large blue one was made by my DSis, the fairy card by my PenPal Maggie, Let it Snow card by Helen, the stitched card by Jayne (no blog) and the snow wording card at the front by our friend Alex. Aren't they all fab? BTW, you are getting a sneak peek of my new computer table in that pic. LOL

Next up is the promised update of the progress made on Mother Earth. This pic is where I got up to by last Sunday (3rd), ready for posting on the 2010 Weekly SAL Blog:

I've been stitching on her again since, so there's even more progress and, as I've already posted the update on the SAL Blog, I'll post another pic here too:

When I'm stitching this it can seem like there's not been much progress made..... then I look at the pics together like this and see the noticeable difference. As the Most Haunted Live 7-Night Special started last night (Saturday) it means I shall be parked in my armchair from 9pm every night to watch it..... which guarantees plenty of time to stitch some more on this and my other SAL pieces. :0) The timing of this Special is perfect, as DH and DS are going to be out most nights, as they are involved with the Pantomime production that starts at the theatre this week. Normally I'd have to listen to DS moaning about it being on...... now I won't. LOL

I made a start on the Bouquet for Cheryl SAL earlier in the week but I can't post an update yet, as the first posting date for that isn't until next month.... plenty of time to get a bit more done. In case you haven't had a mosey over there and seen a pic of  my choices for this already, I thought I'd post one here too:

Initially I was just going to use the top thread for this but once I got the chart printed out I changed my mind (it's allowed - I'm a woman! LOL). I've broken some stitching rules with this piece, as the top thread is a Thai silk and the lower one is a Carrie's cotton but the design immediately made me think of contrasts and I wanted the thread to reflect this. I'm doing this 1 over 1 on a 28ct fabric - unfortunately I'm not sure what fabric it is, as the label has disappeared. I'm really pleased with how it's stitching up so far.

I have yet to make a start on the Just Nan SAL piece but will get around to that soon. The Sew and So order I was waiting for (Floss-Away bags and some DMC) has arrived, so I can carry on with my thread sorting and make a start on the JA/S&S Challenge piece...... or at least I can if I can suss out the colour only chart enough to work out which thread I'm supposed to use for which bit, as my printer has made some of the colours much too similar!

I've had my trip to see my Herbalist and now have some new tablets and potion, though the diet is staying much the same. There's a more detailed post on that on my other blog, if you're interested. I was pleased to find that, despite my thinking otherwise, I hadn't put any weight on since my op, despite not being able to move around as much as usual, but had stayed the same. :0) Once this cold snap ends I shall start making a better effort towards getting to my next goal. Fingers and everything else crossed! :0)

If I haven't visited your blog recently I will be doing, as I'm slowly catching up. Some of you have been very chatty, as there were over 400 posts in my Bloglines! I've got down to around 300... but you can see there's a ways to go yet. LOL

Many thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave your lovely comments. Hope you are all staying safe and warm and getting lots of stitching done. :0)

Slowly, Slowly.....

No, not catchee monkey....... slowly, slowly getting back to my usual self as things heal, the pain recedes and the painkillers are dropped, thus helping my befuddled brain gain some semblance of normality. Well....... what passes for normality for me, anyways. LMAO I am getting really fed up of seeing the same four walls now, so I guess that's another good sign of improvement too. :0)

I have to show you the fab decoupaged card that Julie kindly sent to me last week:

Unfortunately the scan makes it look all flat and lifeless and it's not like that at all IRL: the nurse and teddy are 3-D and the whole is very beautifully made. Thank you again Julie, I love it. :0)

I have also been slowly, slowly trying to catch up with some of those things that went on the back burner whilst my mojo took quite a long holiday without me. When I checked I got a bit of a shock....... I haven't actually completed any ornies for the JA/S&S Forum's Monthly Christmas SAL since May! Ooooooppps! As it so happens I had a bit of a stitchfest after my first hospital stay and completed two small designs suitable for ornies....... it just took me a little longer to get round to the finishing..... as you do. ;0)

So, for your delectation, here is June's Ornie:

Design: Blackwork Partridge, kit
Designer: Carol Leather, for X-Calibre Designs
Fabric: 14ct white aida, as provided
Thread: black and gold metallic, as provided
Finish: pillow style ornie with ruched ribbon edging.

Here's a pic of the back view, so you can see the gorgeous gold on black fabric that I got from Thread Bear:

The chiffon ribbon was a 5m reel of Anita's Ribbon that I got from The Range for 99p - bargain! There's plenty left of both the fabric and ribbon for finishing more blackwork ornies, which I plan on doing at some point as I really like the combination. :0)

For July's ornie it was a reasonably quick little DMC design - I bought the kit from a shop in my local High Street that sells some cross stitch goodies, back when I had my first venture down that way earlier in the year. It was designed to be finished as a card but I had other ideas as soon as I saw it:

Design: Snowflake, from the Mini Kit Christmas Range
Designer: DMC
Fabric: good old white 14ct aida, as supplied
Thread: DMC 825; 932; 3752; 3756
Finish: Prairie Schooler style ornie

I added some glass bicone beads (another eBay bargain) and Mill Hill seed beads to the corners to give it a little festive sparkle. And yes, that is some actual, genuine sunshine you can see in that pic........ but, despite it being sunny out, it is also decidedly chilly, as the deep frost we had last night is still on the ground in the sheltered places, like my garden. Ise a stopping in today, where it's nice and warm! LOL

I've also picked up a needle again and have been making headways into the JA/S&S Challenge piece that was supposed to be done in October (I think), then there's November and December's pieces to do...... they are all lovely festive designs, so they will double up as pieces for the Christmas ornie SAL............ and that will take me up to October for ornie's. So that leaves two more to complete to make it a full year of ornies. Reckon I'll manage it? Nah, not too sure either but will give it my best shot. :0)

In the meantime I had a think (yes, it did hurt - my poor brain wondered what was happening! LOL) and decided that my HAED Mother Earth piece has been very sadly neglected of late and is in real danger of becoming a UFO....... to rectify that I asked to join Gaynor's Weekly SAL Blog for 2010 and she very kindly let me sign up and nominate Mother Earth as my SAL piece. Now I have to make progress on it. Yay! That leaves the JA/S&S Tuesday UFO Night and I reckon Sea Stars should put in an appearance for that......... plus there are a couple of other pieces that have been waiting to have beads added for some time, so they would be good candidates for then too. Slowly, slowly the stitchy bug is returning. :0)

As for other news: DH is in the middle of the big Outage thing at work so he's been working late all week, though has been compensating by going in a little later in the morning's so he can make sure I am up and safely downstairs and has chance to do any bits of shopping or jobs for me. Thankfully he still has a job: he has essential knowledge on the Instrumentation side (please don't ask what that means - I don't know!) that the steelworks can't afford to lose, as he's one of only a few remaining chaps that have it, so they aren't letting him go..... yet. DH prefers it that way - it should be a better package when he's 55 years old..... he's got another 2 years to go. Hopefully there'll still be a steelworks here for that long.

DS is busy with rehearsals for the Pantomime, as well as seeing his DGF and friends. I am getting lots of quiet evenings and you know what that means folks.......... yes, I am in charge of the TV remote! Mmmmmwwwwwaaaaahhhhhaaaaaahhhhhaaa! (evil laugh, in case you were wondering). Unfortunately there hasn't been an awful lot on in the evenings worth watching lately and the plans to watch all those DVD's just hasn't happened...... it's either been reading (finished a couple more books - see side bar), a minor trawl of eBay or sleep that has won out. Hopefully, now the stitchy bug seems to be returning, I shall be sitting and stitching a bit more instead, so I may well get to see those DVD's after all. LOL

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to visit and for all the lovely comments. I will be stopping by to visit blogs in the coming days, as I have a catch up with all your news. :0)

Get Well Wishes

A big thank you to everyone for the lovely Get Well messages you've left, I can't tell you how much they've been appreciated....... especially as I seem to have gone into a minor low at the moment, mostly brought on by the frustration of not being able to do everything I want to. You know, those ordinary things you take for granted, like being able to stand long enough to prepare a meal or whatever (card making is a definite no-no at the minute) or walking down the street to the Clinic and back without feeling like I've just run a flippin' marathon! As for meditating...... it just turns into an instant snooze fest, with my head falling towards my knees every time. LOL To try and counteract some of this I've been eating baby spinach leaves with my dinner every day (instead of salad leaves), on top of my usual healthy eating regime, to try and boost my blood iron levels after all those blood thinning jabs and am now off all the drugs and back on all my herbal meds, so feeling a bit better for that too....... am also desperately trying to cultivate some of that much needed patience. I bet you can guess how that bit is going. ;0)

Especial thanks go to several online friends who have very kindly sent some lovely cards and gifts - I just had to share, as they really did give me a boost. Julie sent me this fun Get Well card and a fab little Healing Angel card that I love:

In case the pic isn't clear enough, it reads: Your guardian angel walks with you ~ they've been sent from above ~ their loving wings are open ~ to enfold you with love. And if you see a snow white feather ~ resting on the ground ~ it's from your angel's wing to show ~ health lost, will soon be found. Thank you again for your kind thoughts Julie: I certainly called on the Angels whilst I was in hospital and actually felt them around me on one particular night - and have had a white feather appear since coming home. The card is propped against one of my Angel ornaments in the living room, where I can see it every day. :0)

Before going into hospital Karen had agreed to make a couple of crystal bracelets for me. Imagine my surprise when, just a few days after getting home, a box was delivered to my house. First thoughts: flippin' heck - that's a big box for three small bracelets! Here's what I saw when I opened it:


Inside the green tissue paper were the lovely bracelets:



The one on the left is howlite, top right is lapis lazuli and clear quartz and bottom right is malachite and clear quartz. They all have a wonderful feel to them and I shall enjoy wearing them. But the voyage of discovery wasn't over........ there were all the other wonderful goodies to look at too:


The two magazines helped to pass an hour or so. That wasn't all though, as there was all of this:


Plus all of these goodies as well:



Boy, did I feel spoilt rotten! Thank you again Karen for your kindness and generosity - everything will come in very useful and I shall have lots of fun using them........ once I've got my standing stamina back. :0)

I was already thinking that I was extremely lucky to be the recipient of so much kindness when another package arrived. This one was from Clare and had these lovelies inside:


There were originally two Lush bath fizzers but one got used before I took the pic. LOL That was my first ever Lush bath and it was wonderful..... am looking forward to another such treat shortly. :0) Thank you again Clare for your kindness.

There were also Get Well cards from Barb (no blog) and family. When I put them all out in the living room they certainly brightened the place up:


I am very grateful for all the kindness and generosity that has been shown to me - all by wonderful people I have never met in person (yet!). I feel honoured and truly blessed to have their friendship. Thank you. :0)

What A Week!

Well what a week that was! There was: a day at my DSis's on Monday; my first ever Development Circle meeting on Tuesday night; then appointments at the Clinic on Wednesday to have the Food Intolerance Testing done and a follow on session with Jan and everything that came with it (please see my other blog for more about those); Thursday was DH's appointment with the Diabetic Nurse where he had the good news that his bloods are OK and everything is well under control again; another enjoyable card making session on Friday, along with an interesting Oracle Card reading in the evening and a Reiki treatment on Saturday morning that proved to be the strangest one yet (will write more about those on my other blog another time) and finally getting the JA/S&S Monthly Challenge piece completed today, Sunday. Most of it was certainly different to the norm, I can tell you, though enjoyable. LOL

As I can't yet show you the pics for the Challenge pieces I thought I'd share the results of Friday's card making session. First up was a male card that was very loosely based on an idea from the same Let's Make Cards! pack and magazine I used to make the last batch of cards:

Only the tie, Cheers! banner and paper came from the kit, the other bits were from my stash.

This next card is copied from the mag and uses things from the pack but I liked it so much it had to be an as is must make.


Then I remembered my DS is going to a wedding in the next couple of months, so decided to up my wedding card stash just in case he was invited to any more. This one used card and paper from the kit but was my own make:


This next one used flowers and the cake from the same kit but everything else was from my stash - one of mine again:

The next one is mine too and I had real fun with it when I found the cute die cuts in my stash.

I just used the butterfly and flowers from the kit. I'll add a funky foam number when the next child's birthday comes up, as who gets it hasn't been decided on yet. My emergency cards stash is looking quite respectable once again, so if DS requests a card at short notice there'll be one there for him....... and I'll have a few in-hand for those times when the block descends. :0)

Saturday's Reiki treatment took up the morning. When I'd done I rang DH to come and meet me in Il Sorriso so we could have a drink before going to do some shopping. I quite like their peppermint tea - DH, on the other hand, had an Espresso! We decided not to eat in there as I have a few extra dietary restrictions and a change in meds that need to be gotten used to first. Next on the agenda was a stop off at the sewing shop as I wanted some more of the braid I used on the little reindeer ornie....... and managed to find a few more bits that will come in useful as well:

Next was another trip to Ethel Austin for some boring but essential items - socks and undies - and a stop off at Tesco Express on the way back home for some dinner. In the afternoon DH pottered doing a few jobs and I started the making up of the Challenge piece.

Today has been a stay at home day. DH watched the Grand Prix while I pottered, then in the afternoon he did a few jobs while I completed the finishing on the Challenge piece. Whilst taking the pics of the cards I finally remembered to take one of Night Watchman too but I'll post that update another time - got to leave something to show you or it'll be really quiet here up until Reveal Days! LOL Plans for tonight, when finished here, are to make a start on this month's Christmas ornie - thread and fabric are ready to go, it's just a case of picking up a needle and putting some stitches in.

Thank you for stopping by and for the kind comments. Hope you've all been enjoying a very good weekend. :0)

Easter's Card Fest

Thought it was time I showed you the results of the cardmaking fest I had over the Easter break. On Thursday I made just two cards and the first of those was one that was made using a wombled pic from a lovely card that Barb (no blog) sent me:

Hope you don't mind Barb but it's such a nice pic it deserved to be used again. :0)

As I said in my last post, inspiration was then lacking so I got out a Let's Make Cards! pack and made a male card as shown in the magazine:

I don't actually know any golfers but it was such a different card I had to make it. It'll go in my emergency last minute card stash - am sure DH will have a golfing colleague it will come in for at some stage.

On Saturday I was on my own all day whilst DH and DS were at the Guild Room so started card making in earnest. The next card was shown made with a large Fimo flower but I don't have any of that stuff, so substituted a fabric flower instead and attached it with a sparkly brad:

This card was also shown with Fimo fancies but I substituted some buttons instead:

Next it was back to a male card. This one I changed slightly, swapping the side the image was placed and adding little star gems to the wording banner:

Then on to another male card, a Father's Day one this time:

Unfortunately I made the tablecloth area a little small, so ran out of room to put the embellishments.

This one I copied from the magazine but decided to ink the edges of the card layers for a slightly different look:

Then it was back to female cards again. I liked the look of the inked edging so used it again on this card:

This next one was adapted from a card shown in the magazine, rather than directly copied, but I used the inking technique again:

I also did a little stitching too but as that was on the Monthly Challenge piece it can't be shown.

DH and DS came home at tea time on Saturday and both were shattered. DH also came back a tad the worse for wear and with a definite limp and his opening words to me were: "You don't know how close I came to being no use to you at all". When asked what he meant he explained that he'd managed to step on an insecure piece of boarding and put his foot through the ceiling, then followed it up with: "I only just managed to get my hands down to stop my g**lies from hitting the joist". I did what any loving wife would do in the circumstances......... I laughed my socks off. I was a tad more sympathetic later on though, when I saw the bruises he'd got: there's a massive one on his right outer thigh with a definite line running across it (made by the edge of another joist), another 3-4 inch long one on the outside of his right calf and two small ones on his inner left thigh that attest to just how close he came to singing soprano! They had to fix the damage to the ceiling which was why they'd been so long finishing up.

Sunday was a quiet day at home: the hot shot DIY'ers could barely move and reaching for the remote to change channels was about as energetic as they got and I wasn't feeling great as my stomach has been playing up, making me feel really out of sorts with myself. It was a relief not to go anywhere, to be honest and gave me the perfect excuse to sit and do more stitching.

Monday we went to my DSis's for the day. We gave her our share of our May holiday money, so that's paid up now and it won't be that many weeks before we'll be going. Yay! We had planned on going to a kitchen showroom for a look round but none of us actually fancied venturing out - we'd passed the local B&Q on the way to hers and it was so busy the traffic was queuing to find parking spaces and was snarling up the roundabout! As the kitchen showroom was up near several electrical goods stores, The Range and a few other big places we didn't fancy going up there to find it equally as frantic, so we opted to stay away and did a couple of small jobs instead. DH felt the benefit: he snoozed in the armchair for a couple of hours - I fell asleep for an hour a little later, making up for the disturbed night I'd had.

Today DH and DS were back at work and I did some of my Monday jobs. Tonight was the first meeting of the Development Circle with Aureen....... will post about that on my other blog. Tomorrow I have two appointments at the Clinic: the first is to have the allergy testing done and the second is with Jan, to discuss the results of the testing, if the change in meds has helped any and a weigh-in. Again, I'll post on my other blog about that. :0)

Thank you for visiting and for all the kind comments, they are greatly appreciated. Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend and a gentle start to the rest of the week. :0)