Stig Logic

Firstly, I'm happy to report that Bobs is on the mend. No sickness or anything else (if you know what I mean) since yesterday. He's started to eat small bits of food and drinking, though he is insisting that water tastes 'sour' unless it's refridgerated. He's lost a lot of weight, and he didn't have much to spare, but hopefully he'll start putting it back on soon.

Now on to the strange workings of my brain (yes, it works, but in mysterious ways!). I used to subscribe to a monthly scrapbooking kit. It was always lovely and very exciting to receive it every month from the postie. After a while though I started to feel a bit guilty about the amount of money going on stash, so I stopped the kit and persuaded myself that I could get my own stuff and be a bit more prudent (oh who was I kidding). Of course I kept looking at the kit, just to see what it was like and this months, after days of trying to tell myself it wasn't, was lush. Never mind, I thought I'll just get some of the papers, which I did and here they are in the picture. Just my sort of thing, and I threw in a few Halloween extras for good measure. Job done- I was sorted- wasn't I? No, no, no. The papers were so much nicer in real life that I just had to have the kit! Now, when the shopping bug takes hold of me, it takes hold in a very bad way. I typed in the web address of the site and......NO..... the site was down. Panic took hold, exhaserbated by my worry for Bobs and the up coming exams, I was nearly beside myself. Why had I thought it would be so easy to quit my kit habit? Hours went by (OK half an hour) until finally the site was up again. Yes there were some kits left- I was happy again!

But what about the guilt about all the money spent on kits? Well as my lovely friend Percy says, we don't drink (well I do) or smoke, so it's OK. Anyway, as I keep telling Mr. Stig, if we hadn't moved to this house, of his choosing, I would still be working. It's the price you pay for being married to me Mr. Stig :-) and I know you just love it!

(The papers, stickers and chipboard letters are from Daisy D's Autumn range.)

Still Poorly

My poor little man is still ill. He was doing well yesterday until we had to go and collect Fifi from school and he was sick again. That at least was the only time and he's been drinking water to keep him hydrated. I relented yesterday and bought him his favourite luminouse blue sports drink. He needs some kind of carbs and electrolytes and he absolutely refuses to drink the usual electrolyte replacements. Anyway, it's staying down, so for now I'm happy. (OK, spoke too soon again!!!)

My revision has been non-existant because of Bobs being ill, but I am really going to have to work out a way of filtering out the sound of Cartoon Network and get on with it. It's just over two weeks to the exam so time is running out! If only the exam was on children's TV, then I'd be fine.

This picture was taken this morning. I have loads like this as I often get up to the site of plane exhausts streaking across the sky and they fascinate me. I wonder where everyone is going or coming back from, and what they will or have been doing whilst they're there.

Spoke Too Soon

Poor Bobs is still not well. He's been sick twice today so we have just been to the doctors. There's no stomach tenderness, headaches, disturbed vision or neck stiffness so some of my meningitis/appendicitis fears are allayed somewhat. I know I shouldn't be so paranoid, but after working on a children's ward, it's hard not to. Meningitis was rife in my first year as a trained nurse and some of the cases were heartbreaking. I suppose it's only natural for those cases to come back to me in their full horror in circumstances like this, but it makes for very sleepness nights.

Luckily, my wool came today so I can do some knitting to take my mind off worrying for a bit. Here is Wilhelmina in her unmade state. I will have to revise sometime, so she may take a while in the making. As long as she's ready for her Debut at Halloween.

Normal Service (Almost) Resumed

So much for daily blogging. Well, I've had a good excuse, my sister has been down with her Husband and baby. I don't think I've ever met such a gorgeous, placid baby. Now, my babies were of course gorgeous but I could never have described them as being placid! My nephew is only 13 weeks old and sleeping for 12 hours through the night. My sister and I think it may be due to the osteopathy he had just after he was born. He was quite collicky then and he had the treatment for that. It treated that and more! Going to suggest it to Percy for her new babe.

Poor Bobs has been sick too. I hate it when the children are ill, it brings out the paranoid, uptight parent in me. He seems to be on the mend, but not 100% yet.

The wool for my Witch hasn't come yet either and with my sewing machine breaking (again) any craft plans I had have been put on hold.

The picture is of Bobs checking out a Dalek at the Dr. Who exhibition in Cardiff

My Other Obsession

I've been making cards for a few years, have been scrapbooking for nearly one, but my long term obsession is knitting. My Mam and Nana used to be mad knitters and I suppose it just rubbed off. Ever since I knitted my first dishcloth at school, I've been hooked.

Knitting isn't just about the end product, as with so much else it's the whole process that makes it so satisfying. It starts with the shopping- of course. Going to a yarn shop is the best. Being able to squish all the different yarns and seeing the colours in real life, but with not so many yarn shops round here, I have to make do with online shopping. But, it's not just yarn. There's needles made from plastic, metal, birch, bamboo, ebony, glass and numerous others. there's stitch markers, stitch counters, row counters, yarn cutters... the list is endless. Obviously, you need a bag to put all this stash in, so there's a variety of those too. In fact just the shopping for knitting stash could be a full time job!

So that is what I've been doing today, shopping for new knitting stash. Not so easy online, especially if you need a selection of colours, like I did. Eventually though, I found all the neccessary stash for my next project.

So, what am I making? A nice warm jumper for the winter months? A few cushion covers to go in my new living room? Hat and gloves, again, to keep me warm? No, of course not. That would be far too sensible! I'm knitting a witch for Halloween. Well, it keeps me out of mischeif ;-)

Been Offline

For goodness sake, do BT know what they're doing when they mess up my phone lines! I've been offline for a day and it scares me to think how much I use the internet. Well, not just me. Fifi couldn't search for homework help or go on MSN, Bobs couldn't watch Ronaldo goals over and over again on youtube, Mr. Stig had to stay late at work whereas he normally comes home and accesses work stuff from here and I couldn't talk to any of my pals, (or shop- but that's a good thing)!!!
The house is close to being finished. I'm in the process of washing all the chair covers so that I can move them into the new living room soon, but that also means hoovering down the sides of the chairs so goodness knows what I'll find. I don't mind finding money but I'm worried that knowing my children I'm likely to find bits of food and other stuff I'd rather not mention!

Weird Weather

OK, so today we've had wind, rain, sun and then after the children got home we had hail and thunder (both of which H didn't have half a mile away!). I suppose it keeps things interesting. Nothing exciting happened today, apart from the weather. We had some carpets laid, I did some revising- all very boring. So a boring picture to go with it- well I don't want to be the only one bored do I? Here's my revising- enjoy

Bowling

Bobs' party today, so we took him and four friends bowling. We had to take two cars, so Mr. Stig came too, and Fifi of course. The car journey was noisy and I did get a bit worried when the boys in my car decided they wanted to play a game to pass the time. Nothing wrong with that- no, not until they said they wanted to play hide and seek!

Most of us had never been bowling before, but we all had a great time and the game flew by. There was only one falling out and that was between Bobs and Fi, so nothing new there. Fifi had apparently put Bobs off his game by being in his eyeline! In reality, as I've said before, he hates to lose.

Then, off for some food at a Brewer's Fayre. I felt so sorry for the diners that were already there when we walked in- two adults and six rowdy children! Luckily there was a play area so the only time the children spent at the table was when they were eating- at which time they were very quiet :-)

Here's a picture of Bobs bowling- notice no sign of Fifi, who was keeping well out of the way- poor thing.

The Revision Begins

Yep, it's time to start revising. I've got 4 weeks to revise 9 months work. Oh well, I managed to revise for my O'Levels in a couple of weeks! The trouble is that it's so boring- so boring in fact that I did the ironing as an excuse not to revise!!!

Another birthday- they're coming thick and fast at the moment. Good job I've got the stash to make all these cards :-) Can you see a theme with the recent cards? Yes, they're all from the Scrapagogo kit.

My Bella stamps came today- less than 24hrs after ordering them- fabulous service from Funky Kits.

Tired.

Gosh I'm tired today. I always come down with a bump after an essay. Sometimes I wish I'd done my degree when I was 18, but I don't think I'd have taken it quite so seriously as I do now, so maybe it's best I waited. Anyway, if I'd have gone to university then I'd never have gone to nursing college- and that was an experience and a half!

Did a bit of crafting this morning, then broke my 18 hour old stash diet by buying some Bella stamps. I'm too weak for any type of diet.

Today's picture is from Bobs' birthday yesterday. They're laughing because the candle played 'Happy Birthday'

P.S. Please ignore messy kitchen, I've been busy ;-)

My Baby's 11 Today!

No! How did that happen? It was only yesterday that I bought a little bundle of baby and copious amounts of black hair home with me. I've watched him grow from a placid little baby, who had to put up with his big sister shoving crisps into his mouth, through being a cheeky little monster who loved dirt and football, to a non-stop football gabbing, gorgeous boy. He thinks it's most unfair that he has school today, believing that birthdays should be days off, and this is compounded by the fact that he has football try outs at school and football practice for the town juniors tonight.

He measured himself against me this morning and he is now up to my nose, which he thinks is very funny! It won't be long 'till I'm the shortest person in the house.

My last (hopefully) essay has finally been shot through cyber space and now I only have the exam to go (only!!!). As this is the last year of my degree, I'm hoping for good results, so lots of revising to be done between now and then.

The picture is Bobs' card, made with Junkitz 'Extreme Boy' papers and a little bit of Doodlebug Sugarcoated Cardstock.

Fifi's First LO and Fish

This picture is a LO that Fifi did of her and Bobs when they were little. It reminded me of today because of the Eiffel Tower stamp she used. It's there for no good reason apart from the fact that she is fascinated with Paris. Anyway on to today, well yesterday to begin with.

Yesterday Fifi and Bobs' Nain (grandmother) gave Bobs a goldfish, which he's named Oscar. Well of course this didn't go down too well with Fifi who wanted a goldfish of her own.

To show what a good goldfish owner she would be, she went and got her garden fairy statue and put it in the tank for decoration. After this went in a few stones and some rose petals! I was unaware of all this as Mr. Stig had 'forgotten' to tell me we had said fish. Anyway, Mr. Stig luckily managed to remove the rose petals before the fish ate any and it survived Fifi's attempts to 'make it more comfy'.

Today then, found us at the pet shop buying another goldfish, filter, water treatment tablets and food. Then followed a tense journey home with Fifi, sat in the back of the car with the fish in a bag daring not to move. The children were so excited to introduce Celine (said in a French accent- remember, she loves Paris) to Oscar. Thankfully, they have made friends, though I worry about their future as I heard Bobs tell Fifi that he was going to practice fishing with them! When I told him that I didn't think this was a good idea, he told me he'd put them straight back after catching them. After graphic details of fish hooks through the side of mouths, I think I've deterred him- lets hope so!

Another Card

Another party for Bobs and so another card to make. This party was a daytime Disco- very brave parents!

We're spending the day watching Dr. Who re-runs. The children and I love to pick up on all the 'Bad Wolf' references we missed out on the first time lol.

It's Bobs' birthday next week and I still haven't bought him anything. He keeps changing his mind about what he wants. I think he's settled on a 'Pirates of the Carribean' boat with figures. Fifi has done him some great invitations for his party which is going to be a trip to the Bowling Alley with 5 friends. Oh well, I have a week to prepare.

We Have Lights- That Work!

Yes, Mr. Electrician has finally sorted our lights out. The problem was due to the extremely bizarre wiring that was done when the house was built. Anyway, one more thing out of the way. Of course there had to be a problem and that came in the form of a cracked glass shade!!! Oh, and a bit more damage to the wallpaper which I've decided to leave and maybe stamp and emboss over lol. Altered wallpaper sounds good to me.

So with an impending essay due, what did I do today? Made a card of course. Well it's my little cousins birthday soon so it had to be done. These papers are Doodlebug and came with the stamp in a Scrapagogo card kit. The letters and little bit of ribbon are from Little Silver Hat, (yes another kit). I'm a bit addicted to kits at the moment and must get some therapy for it soon :-)

Electrical and Decorating Disaster!

Well, finally Mr. Electrician came and sorted out our lights- well sort of, because now the wall lights won't turn off!!! Mr. Electrician had to go and tend his pigs so couldn't fix the problem today and so is coming back tomorrow. When Mr. Stig got home he decided to have a look- very bad idea. Not only has he not managed to fix the problem but now there are patches where the new wallpaper has been damaged! I don't think we were meant to have this wallpaper.

My picture is of an Hedwig cake I made for Fifi's birthday one year. Jemm and I were talking about Harry Potter cakes the other night and it reminded me of this one.

First Day Back

First day back at school for Fifi and Bobs. Bobs was uncharacteristically up at 6.30am, as bright and breezy as anything. He was really excited about going back to school. Fifi got up a little later and a little less enthusiastically. Everyone was ready early and no-one really wanted to wait around so off we went. Fifi gets dropped off first and luckily found some of her friends straight away, so she was happy. The car park at bobs' school however was empty, so we waited until his friends came before he bolted off with a quick goodbye blowing in the wind as he went!

The house is remarkably quiet without them, so I was glad to go off to the Charity Shop in town for a morning's work.

Here they are this morning raring to go lol.

(Yes, Bobs has toothpaste on his jumper. I have not yet succeeded in getting this boy to school 100% clean!)

Electrical Nightmare

It had to happen. Mr. Stig was confident that replacing the lights would be an easy job- I wasn't so confident. The wall lights went well and look lovely but then we came to the main light. On taking the cover off from the ceiling we were faced with a strange plate with wires connected into all sorts of places. "Oh just take that off", I said. "Can't be that important". Can't it? when released we counted 12 wires!!! Another job for the electrician then- never mind we thought. we taped the ends of the wires with insulating tape and went to turn the electrics back on- but nothing happened. No lights in the annexe. Then, the dawning realisation that all those wires actually did have a purpose lol. Luckily our Electrician is a patient man who lives just down the road and has promised to come tomorrow.

Decorating Nightmare

Yes, I've been decorating again! Just one wall, but what a nightmare. The wallpaper is really dark, as you can see, so if it rips slightly the whole length is ruined. Well after much faffing as usual I finished and very nice it looked too. Like the good girl that I am I started to pack everything away. Then a disaster occured! A very long ruler thingy (technical term) ripped a small part of one of the middle sections!!! Argh, I couldn't fix it and it looked awful. I had to rip that piece off. Of course it had started to dry and as it came off so did most of the underlying paint! By now it's dark and because Mr. Stig had turned the electricity to the lights off so that I could replace the wall lights, I couldn't see a thing. Anyway, I've replaced the piece and there is just a small bit that doesn't quite match, but I think it's just me that can notice it. If you can see the mismatch on this photo- keep quiet, if you value your life anyway!