Sunday 18 November 2012

What a rip off

After dithering about it for absolutely ages i finally made my mind up last night to go and see eddie izzard at the metro radio arena. And since i had spent the evening laughing my socks off at jason manford on the telly i decided i'd go and see him too at the city hall in newcastle. So i heads upstairs to book the tickets and to see where my seat was. Not to bad a seat for jason manford, but cos i've left it so long i'm up in the gods to see eddie izzard LOL. Mind you the booking fees and handling fees etc are a complete rip off, £35 to go and see eddie but by the time you add all the fees (including £2 to print your tickets off at home !!!!!! I went for the £2 and have them posted to me LOL) it has cost me £42.50! Jason wan't too bad but still an extra £3.75 on top of the ticket price for booking and handling! Just have to wait until may for eddie and ocober for jason now! Still it'll give me something to look forward to :-)

And on the plus side i lost two pounds this week to take me to over seven stone gone, 99.5lbs to be exact :-)

Thursday 8 November 2012

What a week!

Hard to believe this time last week i was all ready to head off to manchester to spend the weekend with dawn and mandy down in manchester. I had a fab time and the scrapping mojo has well and truly returned, so much so that i rejoined uks and when mandy said her team had a vacancy if i fancied joining i took the plunge and dived straight back into the fun of uks :-)  so i am now a member of the scrap apples team :-)

Had a hell of a week at work so will be glad when 5o'clock comes tomorrow night and i can relax for a couple of days, planning on doing a wee bit of xmas shopping and then lots of crafting, have lots of xmas cards to finish and some more scrapping, might even do the weekly and house challenge LOL

Friday 2 November 2012

Away for the weekend

Having a weekend away in manchester this weekend, am meeting up with some of the ladies i talk to over on uks for a crop on saturday and sunday but decided to have tonight in the hotel as well so it wasn't too far a drive on the saturday. Have been all over the place cos i decided to head into skipton to visit the craft shop there, then came down to the hotel but too early to check in so went off to the runway viewing park at manchester airport and watched the planes take off and land for a bit before heading back to the hotel. Very impressed with my £19 a night room with it's huge kingsize bed and lots of windows and huge bathroom too :-) will probably just eat in the hotel tonight and have a drink in the bar before heading off to scrap all day saturday and sunday :-) let's just hope the mojo has returned LOL

Saturday 27 October 2012

Another loss

Two pounds this week, taking me to 96lbs and just two pounds away from my seven stone mark!

Woke up to snow this morning which was a bit of a shocker but it didn't stop me being in asda for half seven LOL Really like the getting up early on a saturday cos i get to do lots on the saturday and am raring to go. Went and had my eyes tested today, they were fine but it took a while for the drops to wear off so i'm sitting in the local cafe where dad treat me to breakfast, with my sunglasses on pretending i'm not a diva LOL Once the eye drops wore off it was upstairs tomake some more xmas cards but it's too cold so i'm back in front of the fire trying to warm up LOL

Sunday 21 October 2012

Crafting time

Went over to the creative crafts show at gateshead stadium this morning. I was only there an hour but i'd got exactly what i wanted so it wasn't worth staying. I havent done any form of papercrafting since june when my mojo went on a long holiday and didn't come back ....................until today :-) After lunch i decided to head upstairs and have a play with the flitterglue and mega flakes i had bought. What fun, especially when i sneezed over the pot LOL I think the flakes are still dancing around in the breeze up there LOL But it was exactly what i needed and i decided to make some xmas cards. Six are completely made and i have another 30 images stamped and flaked all ready to be made up.  It's been a long time since june but i hope this is the start of me getting back to my crafting fun!

Thursday 18 October 2012

oh i do love the internet

tonight i've spent a happy hour or so looking at restaurants in edinburgh and booking us tables at my favourite ones all ready for our xmas break. let's just say the credit card will be getting a bir of a hammering LOL have fianlly chosen- elliots bar which is the restaurant of the hotel we are staying in, the next night it's the witchery where i had my 40th birthday lunch, the next night it's the north bridge brasserie of the scotsman hotel and the final night, well and truly pushing the boat out, it's off to the restaurant on the forth floor at harvey nicks :-) the diet will be well and truly going out of the window for those few days LOL

Sunday 14 October 2012

back from another great holiday

the feathery alarm clock at brawliemuir cottages, half six every morning for at least 20 minutes, glad i had my ear plugs

our lovely cottage, stable cottage at brawliemuir farm near johnshaven in scotland

the grampian wheel at the funfair near the beach at aberdeen, it might have been october but it was a glorious day and the entire city of aberdeen had decamped to the beach to enjoy the sunshine, chips and icecream were the order of the day as well as crazy golf and the shooting gallery LOL

stonehaven harbour, we sat and watched the world go by and laughed at a little boy who went further and further into the water until he was completely soaked LOL five days after this photo stonehaven was underwater after flooding hit the area

we had a lot of fun at the grampian transport museum, dad on the penny farthing

the walled garden at crathes castle.

sunset over the farm

sunrise over the farm from my bedroom window

feeding laurel, nelly, togo and leif, the harbour seals at st andrews aquarium.

meerkat manor at st andrews aquarium

this log leads into the meerkats den and i waited ages for one of them to stick their head out for long enough for me to grab a photo

feeding the meerkats was amazing except for having to feed them LIVE wriggly meal worms LOL

is the food all gone????

overlooking the gardens at crathes castle in my favourite wooly pully LOL

Saturday 29 September 2012

what a few weeks

i've had! i'll be so glad when next friday comes and i get to have some time off, with hopefully a lot of sleeping taking place! so tired both physically and mentally so really need the break. waiting for our new sofas to be delivered, they were supposed to come last week so i got rid of our sofas and now they aren't coming until next thursday :-( so i've been sitting on the floor and dad has been in a deckchair, well i've now made myself a bit of a nest on the floor with lots of cushions, duvets and pillows so i'm a lot more comfortable. mind you it's a good job i've lost 95lbs cos i'd never be able to get up and down off the floor otherwise LOL lost another 2lbs this week which took me up to the 95lbs and 15lbs in three weeks with weigh watchers, it's coming off slower but it's still coming off. had ordered myself a lush new jacket which arrived today but there was so much fluff coming off it i'm sending it straight back. meant i had to order the more expensive coat i liked but hey ho LOL

Saturday 22 September 2012

a loss and a trip out

weigh in number two since my journey to the dark side and i lost three pounds this week taking me to 93 lbs altogether, still hoping for the 100lbs mark very soon :-) bought myself a satnav the other day as i have a couple of trips into city centres in the near future and wanted to be able to find my way there without any stress. decided i would head out for a trip in the car to somewhere i hadn't been before to test the thing out. after much research (well a quick perusal of the visit northumberland website!) i plumped for the garden station, near hexham, a little old train station that has been turned into a garden with a cafe attached. dad decided he fancied joining me too so after weigh in off we went :-) satnav got us there no bother at all so we sat in the sunshine having tea/coffee and a couple of bacon sarnies before having a wander around the garden. we then headed back into corbridge for a wander around the shops. it was a really lovely trip out rounded off by watching two newfoundlands playing around in the river and having a fantastic time :-)

then to round the day off i decided to stick our sofas on gumtree to get rid of them before the new ones arrive, eight minutes after the advert went up i'd had a phone call from paul who is coming to pick them up on moday :-) have also had two emails and another call so went straight back onto gumtree and removed the advert :-) know for a fact that he'll be selling them on later but as long as they are gone from my house and i'm not paying the council £40 each to get rid of them, then i'm a happy bunny :-)

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Will be glad

When this weeks over! But at least i haven't resorted to my usual trick of stuffing myself silly when i'm stressed. Want to get to that 100lbs lost before i go on my jollies.

Saturday 15 September 2012

And i lost......

Ten pounds taking me up to ninety pounds in total :-) having a wee treat today, probably some wine then back on the wagon tomorrow ready for next weeks weigh in :-)

Friday 14 September 2012

First ww weigh in

In the morning, have really enjoyed the first week so i'm very interested in seeing how i've done. Can't see me losing the ten pounds i lost my first week at sw as i was a heck of a lot bigger then but i'll be quite happy with 5 or 6 pounds :-)

Sunday 9 September 2012

It's all over

The flame is out, coldplay have sung their little hearts out and the amazing firework display has made me come over all teary! That was an absolutely amazing closing ceremony! Considering i wasn't that bothered by it all at the beginning i have watched as much of it as i could, i've sobbed my heart out and cheered until i was hoarse. Well done to everyone involved with the olympics and the paralympics. I just hope the spirit and feeling there is in the country at the minute continues for a long time to come.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Well, I've gone and done it.....

...... I've jumped ship and gone to the dark side LOL i've been to join weight watchers this morning!  I had found i was getting very bored of the food i was eating doing the slimming world plan and i can go on no longer craving bread the way i have been, so after a bit of research online i have decided to give weight watchers ago. Found the class very different as there was no reading out of the weights and the ensuing happy clapping. Instead there was a talk about hot spots in your kitchen and how to  change your kitchen around to help with your weight loss. I've made myself a shopping list and i'll get that ordered tomorrow, then after that i'm heading off to jarrow to take photos of the golden postbox thats there after 15year old josef craig won the gold and broke the world record in the swimming the other day

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Knew this would happen

I was at the hospital this afternoon to get the results of my scans and to find out what they are going to do regarding the pain i am in all the time from the cyst. Well as it turns out they plan on doing sweet bugger all! It's not "typical" cyst pain according to doctor, yet surgeon who saw me in hospital the other night said it was. I have to go back in three months time for yet another scan to make sure the pain isn't from the cyst! So i have three months of pain and no sleep due to the pain to look forward to. Gee thanks nhs! The next time i'm on morphine and screaming with the pain i'll just think, it's okay, it's not typical cyst pain, i'm fine, it's all in my head!

Friday 31 August 2012

The end

Of another year, the last of the littlies left today, lots of hugs and quite a few tears (from us and the parents, the kids weren't bothered in the slightest LOL) and off they all went into the wide world of big school. So next week brings even littler littlies who are now the big kids in the building and lots of repeating ourselves while we get them into shape LOL wish me luck on monday, i'm going to need it LOL

Friday 24 August 2012

What an eventful............

Evening, night, morning and afternoon that turned out to be. Had my nails done last night, leaves salon at 8:30 feeling perfectly fine, by 8:50 i had a bit of a pain where my ovarian cyst is,  by 9:15 i'm writhing in agony waiting for an ambulance and by 9:30 i'm on morphine :-( everyone at the hospital was fab, i kept being sick with the pain but once the morphine kicked in i was fine, had lots of tests to rule out kidney problems, x-rays and x-rays after having dye put into my bloodstream, then seen by surgical registar who says he thinks my cyst may have become twisted. As i was feeling lots better i was discharged in the early hours. Came home and tried to sleep but by 9am i was waiting for another ambulance to take me back down to a&e :-( still think it's the cyst so as i am seeing the consultant about it in two weeks time anyway i've been sent home with a pile of very strong painkillers with the instructions to return if the pain comes back or i start to vomit again and develop a fever!

Saturday 18 August 2012

back to the sort out

just having a quick break in the busy schedule of today which includes tidying up the cupboard under the stairs and having a sort out of the many shoes and handbags i possess. my mate Ch has already laid claim to many of the handbags, her face lit up when i mentioned i would be throwing them away LOL also have to iron and put up my new curtains then i want to cut and dye my hair again and have some messy fun as i want to get my birdcage finally finished :-) have tied a rope to my ankle so if i do get buried under the mountain of stuff in the cupboard search parties can just tug on that rope and haul me out LOL here i go.............

Thursday 16 August 2012

thank goodness

this week is nearly over, am going out with a few pals tomorrow night and i'm so looking forward to it. the only bit of good news i've had all week was another 3lbs off on the scales taking me to 87lbs :-) friends are really suffering at the moment and there's nothing i can do except be there, but i just wish i could hear some good news for a change.

Saturday 11 August 2012

busy! busy! busy!

yesterday was the childrens leaving party and graduation ceremony at nursery. for the first time ever the weather was lovely so we were able to have playing outside and a picnic tea before having the actual ceremony in the family room, by the time it was all over and it was time for home i was knackered, carting furniture around for most of the day doesn't really agree with me LOL then this morning it was more humping of stuff around as we got the bed base and mattress and various other bits of rubbish carted down to the tip :-) also had another sort out of the wardrobe getting rid of all the jeans and tops that are too big and i don't like any more :-) we then went along to the silverlink cos i decided it was time for a new set of sofa's. we've had these ones for years and they have done really well but the cushions are getting a bit flat. we ended up in harveys where there were three that i really liked, one was ruled out as the dark brown wasn't dark enough and the black was too dark LOL and the final descision came down to the fact the one i chose has a lovely contrast stitch to it, even more happily it was the cheapest one too :-) so only six weeks until delivery and i need to choose some nice cushions to go on it LOL of course dad is completely in love with it as both sofas have recliners on them, he'll never get out of the bloody things LOL

Thursday 9 August 2012

laughed until we cried

at work today! we had Otters olympics at work and the kids were fab, we had a parade of athletes to start with the torch being carried in by one of the littlies. we then had various events ranging from the 100m hurdles, show jumping (with hobby horses LOL), discus and shotput to artistic gymnastics cycle pursuit, long jump and the sprint. afterwards we had medal ceremonies for each event and we sang the national anthem while waving flags in the air !!!!! it was such fun, little miss t had a refusal at the first fence of the showjuming shouting i can't do it!!!! the fence was 5 inches high LOL, we had many false starts in the sprint leading to the disqualification of little master r and during artistic gymnastics little miss h belly flopped onto the mat as she didn't know how to do a forward roll LOL by tea time (of high jump ham sandwiches followed by gold medal grapes!) the kids were exhausted LOL and so were the staff. i can safely say it was the best day at nursery ever and i just wish i could share the photos i took :-)

Monday 6 August 2012

no red glow

in the sky this afternoon cos i didn't have to get my bits out at the gynaecologists this afternoon, they took some blood to see if there are any cancer markers in the blood then i have to go back for another couple of scans to make sure the cyst is still there than they are going to take a biopsy of the womb lining and see where we go from there, i have a prescription for painkillers and am waiting for the dates for more scans :-)

Saturday 4 August 2012

This weekends plans........

Include watching as much of the olympics as possible, going to find the gynae dept at rake lane, meeting up with the dream team for a chat and maybe a chinese and trying to be as good as gold food wise :-) sounds like a plan

Wednesday 1 August 2012

review day

today i had my 6 monthly diabetic review at the doctors, i hadn't seen the nurse since january so when i walked through the door her first words were "bloody hell what have you been up to" LOL since i was last weighed in january by her i have lost a pretty staggering 6 stone five pounds, my cholesterol has dropped from 8.2 to 2.9 and my blood sugar levels are down from 7.2 to 6.1 :-D she was over the moon how well i had done and said because i have done so well that if i continue to do as well as i am doing there is every chance i will be able to come off my diabetic medication after my next review in january 2013 :-)

Saturday 28 July 2012

What a spectacle

 And although i didn't like the fact it wasn't daley thompson or sir steve redgrave lighting the cauldron i thought the opening ceremony was bloody fantastic :-D i loved the queen and james bond and rowan atkinson and chariots of fire, i loved how proud sir chris hoy looked carrying the flag and i had goosebumps at the childrens choirs at the beginning and at emilie sande singing abide with me but someone really needs to tell macca it's time to hang up his guitar. It was a great night and i thoroughly enjoyed it all now GO TEAM GB :-)


Wednesday 25 July 2012

Well at least now i know.....

Just why i've got an urgent appointment to see the gynaecologist, turns out i have an enormous cyst on my left ovary :-( i also have gall stones but since they don't bother me i have to get the cyst treated asap. Oh well guess i'm going to have to get used to getting my bits out for strangers then LOL so if you see a red glow in the sky on the afternoon of august the 6th, that'll just be me glowing with embarrasment at having to get the lady garden out LOL

Tuesday 24 July 2012

A good day

Although a bloody boiling one LOL i had my first solo weigh in this morning and i've lost five and a half pounds :-D i was over the moon cos that means i have now lost a whopping six stone one pound :-D going to have a little treat to celebrate then it's back on plan as i really want to be telling s and t when we go up to glenacre at the end of august that i've lost seven stone :-)

Sunday 22 July 2012

Yesterday

Was a funny old day. I finally made some descisions that had been running around in my head for a long time. I left my team over on ukscrappers and have decided to leave ukscrappers too. I also made the descison to stop going to class at slimming world. I won't be stopping the diet as i am still enjoying that but class has been doing my head in for a while and i really need a break from it. I will continue to weigh myself every tuesday and write it in my book and i might go back at some point but right now i am feeling strong enough to have a go of it on my own for a while. There was also a mass cull of "friends" on face book and i still have one very important descision left to make but i have until friday to make that one. Right now i feel the descisions i have made have been the right ones for me and to be honest that's all that matters. Now let life commence :-)

Saturday 21 July 2012

some of the thousand

in a completely random order a few of the 1000 photos i took on our skye holidays, this was a newborn seal pup near dunvegan castle, no zoom lens, we were this close, we were in a rickety old rowing boat at the time which had i known when i booked the trip we would never have gone on it LOL

our gorgeous room at cruinn bheinn, the best night sleep i have ever had and the most fabulous place to stay

photo of the isle of raasay, we went over on a boat trip and spent the afternoon watching the world go by and enjoying the sunshine

amazing sunset from the steps of our B&B

taken while enjoying a pint of lemonade at isle oronsay

random highland cow who just happened to be lying right next to a aprking bay on the main road to portree, i wasn't the only one taking photos LOL

common dolphin spotted on our way to loch coruisk on the bella jane boat trip

waiting to go on the aquaXplore trip from elgol, it was the trip of a lifetime and we saw so much wildlife

more common dolphins, part of a pod of about 300 we saw on the aquaXplore RIB trip to Canna

view of the cuillins from the steps of our B&B

the western isles from the trotternish peninsula on skye

loves watching the waves crashing on the rocks at staffin bay

the view from our bedroom window, loch snizort on skye

Friday 20 July 2012

Is excited

Have booked a sneaky few days away to edinburgh in december, it's actually dad's christmas present but i'm pretty sure i'll enjoy it too LOL will be going up on the train, first class of course LOL and staying in a four star luxury hotel just at the end of princes street :-) planning on a couple nice meals out and was planning on taking in a show but since the choice appears to be dirty dacing or mother goose think we'll be giving that a miss LOL really looking forward to it as there was no way i could manage to go from october until march 2013 without some little break away :-)

Thursday 19 July 2012

Awol

Been poorly for a few days fingers crossed for a quick arrival of feeling better

Monday 9 July 2012

Survived

The first day back at work with all my nails intact and just a smidgeon of a splitting headache LOL need to go to morrisons tomorrow to get some sweeties for the girls at work as i forgot the shortbread i was going to get, plus i might need a wee treat to pick me up after i find out just exactly how much two weeks in skye has sabotaged the weight loss journey LOL do you know what i don't really care because it was the most amazing holiday i have ever had and whatever weight i've put on i'll get off in a couple of weeks. Am away for the bank holiday weekend and i'd love to say i'd lost 7 stone by then :-) so onwards and downwards i go

Thursday 5 July 2012

We're back!

We had the most amazing time on the isle of skye, the weather was lovely, our b&b was so comfortable and spotlessly clean with amazing views and very delicious breakfasts, we found a fab place to eat at night that did yummy cocktails, i discovered a beer i liked and we did some great and amazing things, my favourite was the boat trips we did, we got to see dolphins and whales close up and were practically nose to nose with the harbour seals at dunvegan. The best trip though was on the aquaXplore trip out to canna on a super fast 12 seater RIB, i stood up the entire way as we bounced our way at 40 miles per hour over the waves to rumm and canna getting up close to dolphins, puffins and seals. It was so exhilarating and i so want a RIB for christmas LOL I took nearly 1000 photos in the space of ten days so it'll take me a while to wprk my way through them LOL bought myself some lovely things too, i got two lovely silver rings, a pretty necklace, some pottery and a harris tweed handbag :)also sponsored two lizards at the broadford serpentarium for a year and a snake for the kids at work LOL plans for the rest of the week include nails done tomorrow then i'm at the hospital for a scan on saturday then chilling out before back on earlies next week :-)

Tuesday 19 June 2012

A loss :-)

After last weeks surprise weight gain and not feeling confident about this week although i've been very good, i was pleased to lose 2lbs, so that's 79.5lbs so far, mind you god knows how much difference there will be when i come back from 2 weeks in scotland LOL

Monday 18 June 2012

Not much going on

Here i'm afraid, been busy with life but now on countdown for my jollies :-) put 2.5lbs on at weigh in last week and have no idea how, so was not a happy girl but got straight back to it so hopefully i might have lost some more this week. Have had a week of red days for a change so see if that agrees with me, hope so :-)

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Am not happy............

..........i'm over the bloody moon LOL have done loads of exercise this week which has paid off massively because at weigh in tonight i had lost TEN pounds :-D !!!!! So after taking ages to get my five stone award i got my five and a half stone award the very next week and have only four more pounds to go to get my six stone award :-D so three aquafit sessions, 2 gym sessions, 3 swimming sessions and a ride on my bike have well and truly paid off :-: don't know how long i can sustain that level of exercise but while i can i'm going for it especially with my holidays coming up :-)

Thursday 31 May 2012

Got it

This week i finally got my sticky mitts on the five stone sticker when i lost the final pound :-) i now want to lose another five stone by christmas so that's giving me seven months to do it. I was a bit disappointed with the 1lb but i knew the weight loss was going to slow down and it has so i need to be ok with that. I have started my gym inductions and am going to aqua fit twice a week as well as swimming and riding my bike so i am hoping that will help kick start the losses again in a couple of weeks time when my body has got used to it again. Plan for the bank holiday weekend is swimming, a bike ride and a visit to the gym and two lots of aqua fit as well as making something for the slimming world class jubilee tasting session so it looks like it's going to be a busy one, hope i can squeeze a wee bit of scrapping in there :-)

Saturday 26 May 2012

a little collage of the past 20 weeks

after losing another 2.5lbs last week and now being only 1lb away from my 5 stone award i thought i'd make a bit of a collage of my weight loss photos. i can definitely see a difference :-) been to aquafit twice this week, swimming three times, done my wii fit twice and i've got my bike back out of the shed :-) here's to the next five stone which i want off by christmas :-)

Sunday 20 May 2012

back to the exercise

been feeling a bit better this week and my cough seems to be easing off except early morning so i have decided to give the exercise a go again, didn't like zumba on my wii, i'm far too uncoordinated for it LOL been for a swim and run in the pool, i do 30 lengths swimming then run up and down for 10 lengths, have also started doing my fitness coach on the wii, i'm only doing 15 minute workouts at the minute but they are really fun, like aerobics and stretches, the music is crap but never mind you can't have it all LOL am going to the gym tomorrow to set up my perfect start session then i can start going there and i think i might see if i can join the aquafit class as well :-)

Wednesday 16 May 2012

weigh in 18

and i lost 1.5lbs so was quite happy with that, i only have 3.5lbs to go to my five stone :) plus i went to get some gym clothes today and i'm down five sizes since i started in january. also came away with a maxi dress and shrug another pair of canvas shoes and two suit cases LOL

Saturday 12 May 2012

just dance

or land on the floor in a heap maybe LOL having had a go on my friends wii today i decided i was going to take the plunge and buy myself one with a couple of fitness games to go with it and make myself do a bit of exercise every day :-) had a good look around online and wasn't sure to go with the xbox kinect or the wii but the reviews for the fitness games came back better for the wii (and it was a heck of a lot cheaper) so i'm picking it up tomorrow.

tomorrow should be fun mind, in my foolishness i've told dad i'll take him out shopping for some new holiday clothes. now the last time we went shopping he moaned loudly about the price of everything LOL he still thinks you can buy things for a fiver, plus we have to go trainer shopping too so i'll need lots of good luck vibes LOL

Thursday 10 May 2012

last weekends scrapping results :-)

this weeks challenge over on uk scrappers using a sketch hb put up on our team thread

my go at the red ribbons house national scrapbooking day challenge set by s over on uk scrappers

a lo i did following a prompt on the counterfeit challenge kit blog who had a blog hop going on over the weekend

another lo from a prompt on the counterfeit challenge blog, made using the last quirky kit

and last but not least my go at this months house challenge over on uk scrappers which was to use a colour combo, used aprils creative craft world kit and scraplifted sians lo on the quirky kit blog

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Finally

Got back to swimming tonight after about a month off, i stayed the same at weigh in last night and in a way i'm glad because i had been really complacent about the whole thing for the past couple of weeks so it was the kick up the bum i needed. I have also booked myself into the aqua fit class on monday night too. Now whether i will last the whole 45 minutes remains to be seen but i'm going to give it a go :-) also am planning on getting a cycle carrier for the back of the car but since i have just booked myself onto the sarahs cards retreat for 2013 that might just have to wait until next payday LOL either that or i might have to rob a bank LOL

Sunday 6 May 2012

Early one morning

The naughty girl got up and tootled off to the speed awareness course she chose to do to avoid points on her licsense after getting caught going rather fast along the m6 one day. It was actually quite interesting and i learned a few things. Will it stop me going too fast? Probably not if i'm honest with you but it will make me think about it a bit more.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

And the first book

Has been chosen. The inaugural book of the killingworth book club is me and my sisters by sinead moriarty. Came home and downloaded it straight to my kindle and i've read the first three chapters already :-) and i really like it so far and i'm looking forward to our first get together and discussion on june the 13th. Feel all properly grown up and lady like now LOL

Monday 30 April 2012

Been busy

Devourng books the passed week or so, really enjoying my kindle and have bought some more new books to go on it :-) was talking to some of the girls at work about books and we have decided to start our own little book group. Just waiting to get the first official book then we are going to get together in june and have our first discussion. Ooh proper grown up eh LOL Not looking forward to weigh in tomorrow, have been in a munchie mood all week and still not done any exercise what with it being *week and i'm still loaded with cold. See what tomorrow brings eh? But i have set myself a challenge by buying myself sonme new clothes for my holidays. I bought them in the size i can just get into now, so by the end of june they will hopefully be fitting me properly. And one of the girls at work has said she'll come shopping with me when i've lost all my weight so i know which shops a 43 year old should be shopping in. Told her she's on though she might need to weight until this time next uear LOL

Sunday 22 April 2012

scraplifting ahoy

been in the scrapbooking mood this weekend but since i don't have an ounce of mojo in me i decided on my usual recourse of a sketch, but then i remembered my two scrapbooking magazines had arrived during the week. Scrap 365 had some great lo's in this month so i set to scraplifiting some of them. I also had my scrapbook magazine delivered too, now i've been trying to unsubscribe from that one for ages but it keeps dropping through my letter box any way LOL the first one up there ^^^^ is my scraplift of the cover lo by lisa hausmann and is also my entry for this weeks challenge over on uks. the photo was taken on dad's 75th birthday when i went slightly overboard with the balloons and decorations
this next one is a scraplift of louise collins lo in the perfect patches article in the scrapbook magazine and i used the prima songbird papers and bits again. Could get quite used to this faffing around and not sticking down malarkey and i really enjoyed playing around with it.
this one is a scraplift of morag cutts lo in Scrap365. i have the papers she used but decided to give it a go with some of the other papers in the my minds eye miss caroline range. i also used one of my vintage doilies i have had for ages. i got them off ebay and they came all the way from america, although they were originally made in britain LOL used my 99p stamps for the list and i think i might need a few more sets of them in different fonts :-) also used my new spellbinders die for the flowers and my new cheery lynn dies for the butterflies :-)


this one is a scraplift of katy fox's lo in Scrap365. the photo is of dad at the lade inn at callender when we were staying at strathyre in november last year, dad ordered the prawn cocktail to start with and this is what arrived, there must have been at least a pound of prawns and it was delicious :-) i know so cos i had it for my starter the next night LOL

and finally a scraplift of riikka kovasin's lo in scrap 365. i have done paper weaving before but not for ages so it was nice to revisit the technique, enjoyed getting all painty and inky too :-)
well that's it for now, i have another one to upload but it's my example lo for the rikrak raver challenge that goes live over on uks tomorrow morning so i'll load that one up tomorrow.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

another stone bites the dust

was dreading weigh in tonight as i've really struggled this week with the plan and no exercise, am feeling really low and down and really tired and lethargic so seem to be doing work and bed at the minute or spending time in the craft room to avoid eating crap i keep finding in the cupboard. but i went to get weighed and i lost four pounds so i have now lost 4 stone 1.5lbs since the 10th of january :-) didn't stay to class, just came home had some tea and now i'm off to bed to see if i can get a decent nights sleep, wish me luck!!!

Sunday 15 April 2012

productivity

had a lovely day at the frozen north crop at holystone yesterday. it was very busy and the amount of stash in the room was utterly hilarious LOL i managed 3 lo's which isn't a great deal for me but one of them involved an awful amount of hand cutting :-)the first one is so not me but i did it for a challenge. when i was at the Sarah's cards retreat i sat next to Rachael who was using these papers and i loved the lo's she was making. we laughed because it took her two days to stick anything down and i challenged her to a speedy lo and she challenged me to a fussy cutting lo with a lot of faffing around so here it is. i cut the birds and branches out then fiddled with all the other bits and bobs. it's so not my normal style but it's absolutely beautiful. so thanks for the challenge Rachael i just might faff around on my lo's a bit more in the future :-)
the photo is a really recent one of me and dad at the falkirk wheel, taken by the official photographer, i love this one cos i can see how much weight i've lost. and no i didn't dye my hair to match my coat LOL

this one is made with the girls paperie papers i've been stroking for ages LOL the little rubber duckie was on the hot tub at our lodge in strathyre. if duckie was on the steps the staff hadn't been round to clean the tub but if he was on the tub it was all clean :-)

this is the lo i did for this weeks challenge over on uks. it's a complete scrap lift of the lo nora did in the creative craft world design team leaflet and i loved it. the kit is gorgeous too so much so i would like another set of the papers as both sides of the papers were gorgeous :-)
i do have another lo to show but i can't show it just yet. my team is setting the weekly challenge over on uks the week starting the 23rd of April and it's for that. it's another one i'm totally in love with so can't wait to be showing it off LOL

Monday 9 April 2012

Back again

From another belter of a weekend away. Stayed at our favourite b&b, Glenacre, near jedburgh. It is the loveliest place to stay complete with soft as muck chocolate labrador muddy and a field full of cows next door. We went up to the falkirk wheel on saturday which was a long drive but well worth it, we spent all day there, watching the wheel go round, having a trip on the boat and the wheel, having our photo taken and wandering around the exhibiton. Sunday was spent at thirlestane castle which was gorgeous and the teviot smokery water gardens. Will be definitely having a trip back there in the summer when they are in full bloom and having a walk along the riverbank. Had such a good time that i've booked myself back in for the august bank holiday weekend. Want to go to bowhill house then might just squeeze a patchwork class in at the fabric shop in jedburgh :-)

Saturday 31 March 2012

and here's the rest :-)

here's the other layout's i did at the retreat. not a patch on the classes i know but i'm happy with them and that's all that counts at the end of the day.
this was done with the challenge kit we were given on the firday night. the title takes some explaining as i put it on after having been on the phone to dad for 15 minutes explaining to him he could watch a film on channel 4+1. of course because i didn't know the exact channel number he had to go through them all until he found it LOL my table buddies, rachael, lynne and jill were howling with laughter LOL and this is the man who wants an ipad LOL

hoping i'm not the last LOL

but i am finally getting round to uploading my lo's from the sarahs cards retreat other wise known as the BEST scrapping weekend ever :-) thought i'd do the classes first so in no particular order here they are :-) which ones your favourite?

Monday 26 March 2012

Didn't we have a lovely time...

At the sarah's cards retreat. Yes yes yes is the answer. It was great to see old friends and make new ones, scrap 15 layouts and shop until i dropped LOL the shop was fab and i came away with a rather large bag of goodies which i told a certain father were all part of the goody bag LOL H was having none of it of course but it was worth a try :-) Was rather chuffed to have scored one of the huge kingsize upgraded rooms in the hotel, it was lush, so when i discovered my room door wouldn't lock, when reception offered to move me i was like "erm no thanks i'll just put the chain on and put a chair in front of the door" LOL no way i was moving into one of their scabbier rooms LOL the classes were lush, the kits and goody bag were amazing and i have a lovely photo of everyone to treasure. Roll on next retreat just hopng i can get a place :-)

Friday 23 March 2012

And i'm off

Well i'm at my first stop actually, breakfast time before hitting the motorway, should be at the hotel by 1ish if the traffic isn't too bad. Dad has his instructions to behave and have a baby sitter on standby so he'll be okay. Roll on 3:30 cos that's when the fun begins

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Back x2

Back from a fantastic little break in dumfries and galloway, lovely little lodge in the middle of nowhere yet five minutes from the main road so we could explore. Saw rabbits, deer, pheasents, red kite, lots of cows and sheep, some newborn lambs and of course my favourite highland cows. Had really lovely weather, in fact yesterday i was strolling along the beach at rockcliffe in t-shirt sleeves in 16 degree sunshine filling my pockets with sea glass and pretty shells. Back too from weigh in, i wanted to go to weigh in even though it was a different class to my normal one as i was worried that being away for the weekend i would put weight on, i tried so hard over the days away and kind of stuck to red days, having meat/fish and vegetables, i was hoping to stay the same and secretly hoping for a pound loss for my club ten so imagine my shock when i stepped on the scales and i had lost 9.5lbs :-) that is 52.5lbs or 3 stone 10.5 lbs in ten weeks :-) such a happy bunny, i'll have to go away more often LOL

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Mixed feelings

I lost two pounds tonight so i got my three stone award but not my club ten, so i will be honest i was disappointed. My average weight loss over the 9 weeks is 5lbs which if i could keep that up for a year is a massive 18 stone :-o i'm going away for a few days at the weekend so not getting my club 10 this week has made my determined come hell or high water i'm getting it next week before the retreat at sarahs cards. What was a total surprise was to be the groups greatest loser, this is run from march to march every year and even though i've only been going for 9 weeks with my 3stone 1lb loss i was the greatest loser of my group. So i got a sash, certificate and bouquet of flowers as well as a sticker to go on my book. So,as i say onwards and downwards to the next stone award :-)

Tonight's the night

Really hoping the hard work of this week has paid off and the 127 lengths i've swam in three days and i get my three stone award and club ten sticker tonight, i have a feeling th three stone should be in the bag but i'm not so sure about the club ten, i only need to lose a pound to get my three stone where i have to lose three for the club ten so fingers crossed and lightest clothes i can find for weigh in LOL got my weekend away coming up too so the club ten will be great incentive to keep to the straight and narrow while away. Roll on 7:30 tonight and we'll see :-)

Thursday 8 March 2012

Once again

I forgot to update my weight loss LOL lost 4.5lbs this week to take mw to 41lbs over all in 8 weeks, am desperate to get my 3 stone award and my club ten award next week, the club ten award is when you have lost ten percent of your body weight so really want to get those two stickers next week. To help me along i'm eating loads of super free food like salad and veg and fruit and have upped my swimming to a target of 120 lengths this week, went for a swim last night and was aiming for 30 lengths, was having such a nice time i decided to keep going and either did 40 or 42 LOL i lost count when i was swimming length 21 and wasn't sure whether it was 21 or 23 so i swam two more just to make sure :) loaded with cold today so having a night off the swimming, i would hate to sneeze mid length and i've got nowhere to keep my hanky dry LOL going tomorrow night though once all the kids are out of course.

Monday 5 March 2012

2800 metres

Or 1.73 miles for those of us who work in old money. That's how many metres i've swam this week in four swims, 112 lengths :-) hopefully that should be worth a couple of pounds on the scales tomorrow night. Printed out the photos for the classes at the sarahs cards retreat this weekend so at least that's organized, nothing else will be though, not until we get bacl from castle douglas anyway, can't wait, really looking forward to the next few weekends - frozen north crop, castle douglas, sarahs cards, a weekend at home (boo!) then glenacre for easter. Proper temptation coming up but i'm determined to stay on plan, i'm not undoing all this hard work.

Thursday 1 March 2012

finally

ever since i have started on my slimming world journey i have wanted to be slimmer of the week just once and so far it had never happened until tuesday night. i stepped on the scales secretly hoping for 3 cos that would take me down into another stone bracket but prepared for a smaller loss. imagine my utter delight when penny pronounced i had lost 8lbs, so not only had i gone down into the next stone bracket, i had got my 2.5 stone sticker and was then pronounced slimmer of the week and slimmer of the month with a total weight loss in feb of 17.5lbs and in seven weeks a grand total of 36.5 lbs :-) then to top the evening i won the raffle prize too :-)

so it looks like the swimming is paying off so i've done 52 lengths over the passed 2 nights. having a night off tomorrow though :-)

Sunday 26 February 2012

resisted...................for a while

then thought "sod it i've been good for 7 weeks" and had a pudding LOL well they had my favourite pudding in the entire universe on the menu, cranachan with fresh raspberries and shortbread, so i had it, it was delicous and i'm being extra good until weigh in day to make up for it LOL mainly ate super free food yesterday and went for a swim so i hopefully will be okay.

Friday 24 February 2012

The first temptation

Tonight we are going out for a meal for dad's birthday, he was 79 on tuesday, we always celebrate birthdays with a nice meal so that makes tonight the first temptation i have really had since starting at slimming world. I think i have it all planned. I've chosen a restaurant that does grilled, baked or steamed fish and i can have a salad with that,i can have oysters for my starter and have saved my syns to have a couple of drinkies with the meal. I am really hoping i can stick to my plan and not have a pudding as i don't want to undo any of the hard work especially with holidays and sarahs cards coming up. Fingers crossed it all goes well

Tuesday 21 February 2012

It might be * week

But i still managed to lose 2.5lbs so that meant i got my two stone award tonight, really happy as n the past 6 weeks i have lost 28.5lbs, gone down two dress sizes, can do my watch up two extra notches and most importantly have stopped the kidney problems i was having and my blood sugar levels are almost in the healthy range :-)

Thursday 16 February 2012

More swimming

Tonight i headed to the pool straight from work, did 20 lengths all in one go then thought come on i can manage another five, after that thought i could probably manage another five to make thirty but at the 28 length mark the body told the mind just where it could go, dragged itself out of the pool and came home LOL tell you something i'll sleep well tonight LOL Finally got round to donating the proceeds from the quilt raffle to the sir bobby robson fund, it's taken me so long cos i kept forgetting to bring the money home with me LOL so we raised the grand total of £150 and with gift aid added to that the grand total was £187.59 :-) so chuffed with that, it's a fab cause very close to the hearts of us all at work after one of my colleagues was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2007, she had a lot of her treatment at the centre paid for by the foundation and has her yearly checkups at the new centre.

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Gutted.com

Had my weigh in tonight and i lost a pound and a half, yeah me :-) well no actually, i was completely and utterly gutted and promptly burst into tears,why? Well i so wanted to get my two stone award this week but no it wasn't to be, plus all the swimming i've done this week too. Never mind onwards and downwards i go and at least i didn't head home and consume my body weight in chocolate cos i hadn't got that shiny sticker, hopefully next week

Monday 13 February 2012

Gosh

Where did that week go to LOL had a busy week, then i had the frozen north crop at the weekend, and i've been swimming too, started last week with 16 lengths, i'm now up to 26 and can swim them in sets of ten :-) i signed up online to do the swimfit challenge, i find the actual sessions too hard at the moment but i'm enjoying the challenges. The first one i decided to do was the distance of the great north swim which is two miles, i'm 96.4% finished that one now :-) so i'll be looking for a new one from tomorrow LOL i can even buy certificates and badges when i have done certain distances, well i'll have to have a few of them to go in the weight loss journal LOL hoping to get a few body magic stickers to add to my weight loss stickers too! Hoping for 3.5lbs tomorrow night to get my 2 stone award! I'm very highly motivated by a shiny sticker LOL

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Another

Five pounds off last night so i got my one and a half stone award, making 24.5 pounds in four weeks :-) i have 3.5lbs to lose to my 2 stone award so would love to get that next week but i'm not building my hopes up, any loss is great and i know it will have to slow down eventually. Also decided to bite the bullet and join the health club at the hotel the slimming world class is held at, i love swimming and they have a lovely pool with steps down into the pool as i can't manage ladders at the moment, had a look round the rest of the gym which was very scary but i did it. It's a bit expensive but i was spending a heck of a lot a month on takeaways so at least this is going to get me fit and toned up :-) So tonight i decided to go for my first swim, it's a 25m pool and i did 16 lengths before i was exhausted LOL but 16 lengths equates to 400m so i'm pretty proud of that, i should sleep well tonight too LOL

Tuesday 7 February 2012

quite a lot



acheived in two days off work, yesterday i headed to the metrocentre and finally spent my birthday vouchers on an overnight bag for my holidays, then today i gave the craft tip..... i mean craft room a bit of a tidy up and under the rubbish and unused kits i found my mojo resulting in those three lo's this afternoon :-)

Sunday 5 February 2012

it's cold out there

so i'm staying by the fire LOL we've had a tiny bit of snow, hardly covers the ground, but unfortunately it's turned to sheet ice :-( thankfully i don't have to go out today but i do have to go out tomorrow as not only do i have a doctors appointment but i have a day off work so i'm heading off to the metrocentre to finally spend my birthday vouchers off the girls at work, i had asked for paperchase vouchers only to find i can't spend them online or at the one at the silverlink cos it's only a concession so have to go into a paperchase shop, which means a trip to town or the metrocentre, well since i detest the metrocentre slighlty less than i detest a trip into town that's where i'm going LOL

Friday 3 February 2012

back to work

today after being off for a couple of days with dizziness and feeling sick as well as my cough and cold, i have some antibiotics now so hopefully that will kick it into touch :)
never had a chance to get on to let people know how i did at slimming world on tuesday, another 5lbs off to make 19.5lbs in 3 weeks :) was over the moon to be slimmer of the month too :) so i now want to lose at least a pound and a half next week so i can get my 1.5 stone award :) can you tell i'm very highly motivated by shiny stickers LOL


Sunday 29 January 2012

Catching up

With a bit of reading. while dad is watching the bowls final, i can get my hands on my kindle and read some of my books i had downloaded, he had asked to see how it worked and then decided he wants one so i've bought him one for his birthday but in the mean time i have to prize it off him as he likes it so much, what a cheek lol. Managing to stay on plan, it's a bit frustrating not having any scales in the house cos i'd like to know if i am losing weight through the week, it's such a chore having to wait until a tuesday night lol, need to go and make the pasta for my lunch tomorrow, getting good at this cooking malarkey lol

Wednesday 25 January 2012

weigh in number two

and i lost four and a half pounds to get my one stone award in two weeks :) delighted :) and so far i am enjoying every meal i've eaten, haven't had to take any indigestion tablets since i started and my clothes are starting to feel bigger already :) go me and go slimming world :)

Saturday 21 January 2012

the results of last weeks crop

and another couple i managed a while ago but have just got round to photographing LOL
dad on the sea probe atlantis on the kyle of lochalsh.


babbling brook running down the side of the ptarmigan station on cairngorm

dad and i after we gor off the funicular railway at the top station on cairngorm

looking through the windows of the glass bottomed boat at the kyle of lochalsh

done using the sketch from the simple recipes challenge over on uks, dad at the commando memorial, spean bridge

part of the work through the woods on the ardverickie estate, got to eat wild blueberries that the gorgeous matt picked from the sides of the path as we walked along to the waterfall on our land rover safari

chinese whisper lo, the house on the ardverickie estate in scotland where monarch of the glen was filmed