Ups, Downs and the Bits Inbetween

Anyone remember ickle old me??

2010-10-19T20:00:00.002+01:00

Allos everyone out there...Yeah i know it's been almost a year since i last posted on here and i don't even have an excuse as such...Am gonna be starting another blog http://minerva-creations.blogspot.com/ which will be about the jewellery etc...I probs won't post that often as such but i decided i didn't want a blog attached to the website itself...When i can actually upload images then i will upload some on the new blog and also get my logo on the header etc.

I have a page on Facebook for http://www.facebook.com/MinervaCreations and i also have a Twitter which is called Minervacreation...Had to drop my S otherwise i was too long pah...www.minervacreations.co.uk is my website...It should be easy to use and view and it comes with an online shop...I know it is paypal that is the method of payment shown on the shop BUT you don't have to have a paypal account to use it...Now you can pay using a debit or credit card through paypal without having an actual paypal account...It makes things much easier for people like me cos i don't want to have to set up for cards and paypal and cheques etc

I've just started doing wine glass charms this weekend and it looks like they are going to be popular...I have a wedding fayre in nov and i thought they would be nice as wedding favours...This will be the first time i have done a wedding fayre and i am really nervous...My trusty sidekick will do the selling for me lol...Trusty sidekick being Kerry.

Right better go try do an intro entry on the new blog and then go finish off a couple of bracelets, make a bracelet and finish a floral 'charm' bracelet i started earlier...The later being cos i wanted to experiment and the others are orders

Have missed people and i have actually read some blogs although not posted any comments

Take care all

Caff xx

WHOOPS

2009-11-10T19:01:00.002Z

Whoops haven't written here for months...Sorry i just haven't had much to say really or been that well as such...Those who are on facebook and friends with me will know that i have been in hospital a couple of times and been scanned, poked and prodded to point where am pretty fed up of being vampired (blood taken) having to go wee or feel like i should be aglow inside with all the ultrasounds...This is all to do with the lower abdominal pain that is still here and as yet no cause has been found :o( It's the reason i have been hospitalised twice and could have been more but there is no point when they don't do anything except starve me.

I have no idea if anyone who is not on facebook can see the page or if you have to be a member on facebook. The page being one i created for my jewellery and other crafts which will appear at some point. If you are on facebook check out Minerva Jewellery & Craft
Facebook Minerva Jewellery & Craft
Hope that link works and even if you're not on facebook then you could try it and see if it works. There is prices on all the photographs and there will be more photos coming soon.

Kerry is now getting regular physio and she also has an appointment to be seen by neurology in a couple of weeks time...Am gonna be in london on the 21st for a friends 50th birthday party :o)
Do promise that i will post a proper catch up either later this week or next week
TTFN
Caff xxx

catchy up again lol

2009-06-19T18:36:00.002+01:00

My scan was a waste of time...The stupid woman only scanned my ovaries and naff all else...I asked her if it could be kidney stones and she said possibly there is a lot in that area it could be and to ask my GP when my results get to him...I already know the results as she told me that my ovaries were normal...Why oh why in this super technological age does it take TWELVE fricking days for results to get to my GP from the hospital...Have they not heard of EMAIL or failing that a FAX!!!!!! It's bluddy ridiculous that it should take that length of time...Then again they use the local NHS internal mailing system and first class post from it is roughly 2 weeks...And am still in PAIN...K threatened to dial 999 for an ambulance on wed night...Told her not to as it's not like my life is at stake and personally 999 for an ambulance to me is for life threatening circumstances or something major bad...Plus am too busy to go near a hospital as there's another 18th tomorrow and M's awards ceremony on mon and social worker on mon afternoon and the british grand prix on sun...Oh and wimbledon starts on mon too LOL...Ok i don't wanna go there unless dragged and am sure if these painkillers stop working there are others i can be given...Am an awkward cow i know :o)

Tomorrow M is going on a limo to this 18th birthday party...I've been told i can go along too and to be there at the venue for roughly 7.30pm...The venue is about 5 mins walk so great don't have to drive :o) M i sreally looking forward to it...Last sun he had an 18th birthday BBQ in the middle of no-where...We got lost several times trying to find it...The lads mothers directions sucked to say the least, both the written directions and the ones she gave on phone twice on the day...Me and the other mum who was along got told we could stay so we did...She regretted it and well i had wanted to go to the nearby village for the afternoon but stayed with her...Put it this way the others who were there were all a bit snobby...Tomorrow will be much better :o)

My great nephew has been in hospital :o( He got an operation on his tummy on tues afternoon and is all better now...He got home yesterday :o) I went to see him on wed night and it's first time i have managed to see him...He's gorgeous...All smiles with loads of black hair and big wide blue eyes and he looks like his dad...Not saying that cos his dad is my nephew he does look like him...Bit of a worry for everyone though but all well and on the mend now...I can't pronounce let alone spell what was wrong with him LOL...As he was poorly i got him another outfit and some bibs on tues night in asda sale LOL

I mentioned social worker...She was round on mon afternoon and it's first time we had met...She is really nice unlike her idiot boss...The one who after 6 years still hasn't a clue about disability/special needs or how to do his job properly and wonders why he keeps losing staff...Anyways it was ME who had to phone to get M transfered to adult services...This didn't happen with G but i wasn't so fussed about him...M is going to a mainstream course after the summer hols and IF he needs outside support it has to be paid for either via social work or direct payments...Whichever way both require needing social work input...She couldn't have been more helpful :o) She was even speaking about supported accomodation or support to live in your own accomodation and such like...Something that will be needed in the future...Pity we can't keep her but she is for children with disabilities and he's 18 now...She is coming back on mon to finish off the transfer assessment form.

G got two A's and two B's in his results :o) One of the B's was for product design...His groups 'product' didn't do very well but better than others...They had to design and build a robot that would follow a line that was in a loop...His groups one managed to walk a whole 2-3 inches before it fell over but it did follow the line...Also they had to do individual talks on what part they played in that project...With his aspergers it makes talking in front of people extremely difficult and he must have managed pretty well to get a B...So am proud of him

Right better go finish some cards that have been ordered...I want to get them posted off tomorrow

Toodle pip xx

Excuses for lack of entries lol

2009-06-05T15:36:00.002+01:00

Oh flip here we go again i keep promising to do an entry and then not doing one...I am sorry but i have been feeling really crap to say the least...Actually i've been in a lot of pain since near the end of march :o( I left it a while thinking it would naff off but i eventually gave in when it got worse and went to the docs near end april...He decided to refer me for a scan as he wasn't sure what could be the cause...He put me on dihydrocodeine as well for the pain...This week i have felt physically sick with the pain and it refuses to go away at all...I had K in A&E on monday night and one of the doctors there ended up giving me painkillers even though i wasn't the patient...It was only a week yesterday i got a letter asking me to phone radiology to make an appointment for ultrasound...So it is next thurs morning (11th) IF i can last that long...I was back at docs yesterday and am on higher dose dihydrocodeine...At least they are dulling the pain although not getting rid...He's ruled out appendix as too low down and so much pain i would be dead by now as it would have burst...Been suggested could be a cyst, am sure this doc reckons it is gynae related...I just hope something shows on the scan so i don't feel stupid and that they sort it out ASAP...The last time i was in this much pain i ended up getting my gall bladder out and time before i gave birth 3 times LOL...Whatever it is am now sure it is pressing on my bladder as am fed up going to the loo...Anyways this is why i have barely written or done any commenting on other blogs.

So to more light hearted stuff...I was stopped by the police again last week LOL...And i know why this time...I had driven M up to his old school to hand in some party invites...On the way i was coming up the next street down from ours when a police car was turning into that street...It is a very narrow street but i had right of way and he didn't have blue lights on...So i didn't reverse back for him as he appeared to want...There was plenty room for him to get in anyways if he wanted or he could wait until i came out...As i said to M in a loud voice with window wide open i had right of way and he was the one with the special training in driving I looked in my rear view mirror as he went past us and saw him trying to do a 3 point turn on the narrow street...I had just parked the car in front of my flat when there was a knock on my window...Low and behold one of the policemen...So i opened the window and he asked if it was my car and did i have my licence on me...Said yes to both and gave him my licence...He walked round the car as i was saying in 29 years of driving this was only 2nd time i had been stopped...Told him the last time had been in march this year...I also looked in my wing mirror and could see the driver of the police car had a face like thunder...After my tyres and car had been checked he came back to beside my window with his back to the police car...I asked him outright if this was because of what had just happened and that i had been in the right and his partner in the wrong...He laughed and said his partner wasn't happy but he was a rubbish driver and gave me back my licence and said not to worry and left...So because so idiot police driver couldn't drive very well he got the hump and stopped an innocent member of the public who was driving properly...At least his partner knew who was in the wrong...Still does make you wonder just how often incidents like this happen.

I mentioned a party above and it was for M's 18th...Can't believe my baby is now all growed up and an adult...We went bowling and then to pizza hut and that was organised in just a week...We only had one person unable to go which wasn't bad at such short notice...He'd been at an 18th the previous sat and he has one next weekend and another the weekend after...Since beginning of may all we seem to have had is 18th birthday parties lol...The one in two weeks time he is going in a limo...I have to take him to where they are being picked up by the limo and then he will be coming all the way back up near us...He's well excited about the limo as he's never been in one before and always wanted to go in one...He's defo got into the Introduction to IT course at the college for next year, starting in august :o) I do need to check see what kind of support he will get though...They have an awards ceremony at the college on 22nd for the learning opportunities course so he's all excited about that as they get a certificate...He likes awards ceremonies and certificates lol...G hasn't had his results yet from uni...K's boyfriend got a 2:1 in his degree :o)

I became a great auntie 2 weeks ago :o) My eldest nephew is now a proud daddy to a bouncing 9lb 1 oz boy with tons of dark hair...I so wanted to get up there this weekend but am nto safe to drive :o( I really want to see Rhys (thats his name) and i have been buying loads of stuff and more than likely be told off about it.

Got to go now as am feeling a bit sore and woozy again

Toodle pip tc xx

M on radio please listen if you can

2009-05-07T19:25:00.003+01:00

Ok i've not written for ages but i have felt a bit crap and anytime i sat down to write something here i got interruppted and forgot...Am offski for a quick bath in a mo so won't be long catching up will do a proper one later in the week i promise.

Mikey is gonna be on a local community radio station on sat being interviewed about young people and disability...Ok so i can just hear you all saying "if it's local then no use to you to tune in to"...They have a website and as with a lot of radio websites you can tune in online :o) The website is www.shmu.org.uk He will be on air around 11am (UK time) i think...Am sure that's what the woman said yesterday...I just hope he comes across alright and doesn't just give yes or no answers to the questions asked of him...I should get him on the *talk/lecture* circuit LOL

All shook up

2009-03-16T16:26:00.002Z

This morning i didn't feel too good...Well i could barely open my eyes they were so sore with a headache that i managed to wake the boys but didn't make it to college myself...At midday my buzzer went (how i dunno as postie broke it) and it was the police wanting access to the building...Actually they were after me or more to the point after Mikey...Which by look on my face they could tell i was shocked/worried as they said nothing to worry about...One of his classmates from college had been missing all weekend so they were checking with everyone...I said Mikey was at college but he had the afternoon off and tues morning off...Also that i had no idea of any of the kids in his class names except for one of the girls...That Mikey didn't go out with any of his classmates outwith college times...They left and said the kid has gone awol before and turned up so not to worry...Well when Mikey came home he said this kid was at college this morning!!!...Hmmm would have thought either the parents or the police should have checked there first thing...Once Mikey was home i felt well enough, just. to drive to post office to post sympathy cards...So driving along minding my own business, not speeding (for once lol) into sainsburys carpark and finding a space beside post office easily when the car behind stops across back of mine...Next i know there's this policewoman at my window so i opened it...She wanted to know if the car was mine and did i have my licence on me...She looked at the front of the car, checked my road tax and parking permit for outside here all the time saying nothing...Not even her name when i asked for it...She hands me back my licence and said i was ok and naffed off back into the unmarked car which was blocking me in and they drove off...Me left sat there in shock with no explanation as to why i had been basically stopped...With i might add loads of people stood staring at me...I still feel quite shook up about all this police goings on today...I've never been checked out when driving a car before by the police...I have had police at the door once before nearly 12 years ago about a missing person associated with Mikey...Sadly that lad was found murdered a few days later :o( I got impression this lad from college maybe goes off out with friends and stays with them overnight and doesn't think to contact parents to let them know...When they have special needs that can be a major worry depending on what their special needs/disability is...I phoned the police station when i got home and apparently they can just stop you without explanation and give no reason when asked...BUT if you ask their name or better their badge number then they must give you it...I didn't ask for badge number...I just hopo they were genuine and not trying to nick my identity lol...They're welcome to it as there ai n't much of one to nick ROFL

Anyways Mikey had his information session and it went well he said...He didn't need to show any qualifications for this introductory course...All you need is to be interested and keen...He has said that he has a place on it :o) Wonder how i can check without Mikey knowing lol...Oh he is going out now with friends from college on a sunday afternoon...Well yesterday was the second time and they are old friends from school...Him and one other lad and the others are girls...He bought himself a hat yesterday.

Stuart from Speciman Days has now gone private so if you read his blog and still want to then you need to email him at the following addy:- email@kafkasworld.com

Am going to relax by checking on my garden on facebook lol as i still feel a bit shaky

Toodle pip tc xx

Catchy up

2009-03-15T19:57:00.014Z

Oops i haven't written anything for weeks...Not really had much to write about to be honest...My college course is going ok...I still need to find material suitable which isn't easy as we don't have anywhere up here that sells much in way of fabric...Well there is John Lewis and another shop...John Lewis haberdashery section is to be quite frank crap these days and has been for quite a while...Shame as it used to be rather good...The other shop doesn't sell suit material :o( I still have some time to find some as we make a twall (sp) first...Twall being the mock up in calico where you make any adjustments needed to fit like a glove.

Garath was 19 last week (gulp) I bought him some fcuk jeans and a hoodie that were so vastly reduced in a store closing sale they cost less than original price of the hoodie LOL...Otherwise there is no way i would have paid just under £100 for one pair of jeans...BTW i didn't pay near that for what i bought either :o) ...Had some sad news on thurs as one of my aunties has passed away :o( The funeral is on tues but i don't know if i will get to it yet...She was 80 so had had a long life but it's still sad.

Went along to a craft fair today with one of my friends but it was a bit rubbish...Put it this way we didn't buy anything and we must have been in the hall 10 mins max...We weren't the only ones who didn't stay long either...Shame for the 2 stalls that did have lovely stuff for sale...But then again am sure there are plenty people who wouldn't like my stuff...Then again most of the people who had stalls at the last one by this group weren't there today...I haven't got my cupboard on the stairs gutted yet but aim to do so soon.

I went to the gig, The Kaiser Chiefs, that Garath bought me a ticket for as my christmas pressie from him...I didn't care that i was on my own and i threw caution to the wind and went right down the front where everyone was being squashed :o) Got some cracking pics of the group :o)

Mikey has applied to do an introductory course to I.T. at the college...He has some information session thing tomorrow morning about it...Fingers crossed he gets into it as i don't know if i can go through another year of him doing the SEN course where he is getting bullied and the college do sod all about it.

Anyways i promise to try and not leave so long next time...Some pics below

Toodle pip tc xx

This looks really dark but it's not...The freshwater pearls are called peacock and are a grey colour...The swarovski crystals are heliotrope and a dark blue with special coating on them...I really like this set as i like the colours with the silver and i assure you it is much paler in reality.

Round freshwater pearls in natural cream colour with peridot coloured swarovski crystals

I like the chain i used on this one...The swarovski crystals are white opal...The round silver beads are corrugated and it makes a change from being plain

PMC

2009-02-19T17:08:00.002Z

I want to gather together some leaves and other similar stuff that can burn to use with PMC paste...PMC is precious metal clay and i got some delivered today...I haven't used it before but it can't be that difficult IMO...I always did love playing with plasticine as a kid And i have made and used my own salt dough...Plus the thing i loved doing best when i studied jewellery at art school was casting...To me this is a different way of doing something similar...Except the piece made from the clay will be the finished article instead of being turned into a cast to pour molten metal into...PMC is made up of microscopic bits of silver or gold which are suspended in a binder that is clay like...Once you have made the piece you want, allowing for shrinkage, then you fire it...The binder burns off and you are left with finished article in silver or gold...The silver version is a bit more pure than sterling silver and can be assayed and hallmarked...The gold version is approx 22K so almost pure gold and can also be assayed and hallmarked...The orginal type can only be fired in a kiln and i can't afford a kiln yet...It also shrinks more than later versions...Newer versions are less porous, therefore stronger, and can be fired in a kiln, on a gas hob or using a butane torch...I am so looking forward to working with it and creating stuff...A local ceramic place uses it for doing necklaces of kids thumbprints...A dod of clay, kid sticks thumb in, clay is fired, chain is added, you pay £30 and bobs yer uncle...Actually the clay ain't that cheap...Essentially i want it for making leaves, flowers etc for tiaras....You can buy it as a paste/slip as well...That's either for joining bits together OR to paint onto the likes of leaves or bits of bark or anything that can be burnt off.

All of the above means gutting the cupboard on the stairs...Clearing all the crap out, rearranging what is in it, and getting a heater for in there...Am hoping the little side window opens so i can move the tumble drier onto the floor below it and have hose sticking out instead of beside the other window...I would have had it all cleared out this week but i have felt ugh...Sore tummy, headaches, bit of a temp and just general ugh feeling.

Toodle pip tc xx

Thurs

2009-02-12T22:26:00.003Z

Am sat here watching 'A very British storm junkie' on channel 4 +1...I'd love to have the money and the time to do what this bloke does...Going all over the place looking for hurricanes, typhoons or tornadoes...I know it sounds weird but am sure am not the only person on the planet whos dream holiday would be to go tornado chasing and see a F5...Guess i could wait and do it in my old age...Well older aged than i am just now.

Tomorrow the boys and me are going out for a meal and am not paying :o) No idea where yet just hope we can find somewhere that isn't booked out or charging a fortune cos valentines on saturday...Trying to persuade M that i would like flowers but for him to wait and get me them as a late b/day pressie is proving difficult...I really don't like getting flowers on my actual birthday as the prices are so bumped up cos of valentines...I appreciate the florists need to make money and especially so in the current climate...I just get peeved it means any birthday flowers for me either cost an arm and a leg or are late or very early.

I read on teletext earlier in the week that Facebook is a modern addiction and taking over from traditional addictions like smoking, drugs or sex...Hmmm lets see Facebook requires me to have a computer and internet connection and not a lot else...Smoking i did away with, drugs no thanks and sex requires a partner (can't be bothered with one of them anymore lol)...Think i will stick with Facebook as i love a lot of the games on it, it keeps me in contact with friends all over the place :o) Most of the people i have on my facebook i have actually met in person and am not in habit of just nattering to any old weirdo on here...The only weirdos i do natter to online are ones i have met for real

Ohhh mr storm junkie is in trouble gonna go watch the rest of this without distraction :o)

Testing

2009-02-10T16:29:00.000Z

Just a test to see if the notify peeps by email works lol

Who do you think you are

2009-02-09T21:51:00.003Z

Am watching Who Do You Think You Are with Fiona Bruce...Her journey has taken her up to the Moray firth coast about 20-25 miles along from where i grew up...What they have shown of one of her ancestors fishing life is same as my grandads would have been...Do find it amusing Elgin being called a town...It is a town but also because it has a cathedral it is a cathedral city...Do wish the narrator would stop pronouncing Moray as in Mo - ray like the eel...People from up there pronounce it same as you would murray...Am curious now to know where the poorhouse was in Buckie...I kinda of want to try and trace my family tree but am not sure where to begin...I can go back to the late 1800's easily as my grandparents were born then...The families on both sides were so big that i'd need a massive wall to write it all down on lol...I have a friend who does genealogy as a job so i will ask her about it all...Just been interesting seeing bits on the telly from up my home way

Mon

2009-02-09T20:48:00.003Z

As i briefly mentioned the other day i have started a 1 morning a week course at the local college...I signed up for it last may or june and am glad it has finally started...As most of you know Garath has a phobia of buttons which a) sounds weird and b) not too annoying...It is extremely irritating and annoying and restrictive...He can appear standoffish as he won't stand close to someone wearing buttons...He can't wear a shirt or a smart jacket...Shirts are ok for now as ones that stud fasten are sort of in fashion...Jackets are a whole different ball game...Hence this course which is all about pattern making and designing garments...Or you can adapt a bog standard garment pattern...That is what i intend to do with a gents suit jacket pattern...Where i will get material from is another story...We have john lewis and 1 other shop that sells fabric...John lewis don't have material that is suitable for a suit whether you be female or male and the other shop can only order in...I'd prefer to see in person but that is going to entail travelling some distance :o( I may have to do the same for a pattern i don't know yet as i haven't checked that out...We learnt how to mark out a bodice pattern today...Next week is trousers...Needless to say i am not allowed to walk down the road with Mikey or to associate with him if i bump into him at college lol...Even today when i told him i would take him for lunch and we would go buy the tea towels and padlock he needs for wed...I had to phone his mobile several times before he would answer it to then inform me he was stood outside poundland...I was expecting him to wait for me outside college lol

Apparently it was -12 degrees here last night...Ok it did feel cold but not as cold as some other nights have been...It's supposed to get colder tonight...There are huge icicles hanging from the leaking overflow that look quite dangerous...The bloke out the back has put buckets down to catch the water as it was freezing on his tarmac and making it dangerous to walk on...and the numptie who owns the flat that has the leaking overflow still says it's not his!!!!!...Am defo phoning enviromental health tomorrow or maybe going down and into the council offices to speak to them...My bedroom is uninhabitable cos of the damage and it's starting to be a real nuisance...I'd post photos of the snow but i haven't taken any as it's not a rare occurance lol...Even the icy pavements aren't rare as it is now 8 years ago since i fell on very thick ice on my pavement and damaged my scapula...I did think they would have had the pavement gritter out on the main streets though...My pavement still wouldn't get done although the pavement at other side of the street would...It's a different area and any jobsworth pavement gritter people have refused to do this side even though they have to drive back up the flipping street...Although i like snow i do want enough of it to disappear so i can collect some leaves and anything else similar that will burn away...Not for a fire for something else.

Toodle pip tc xx

Lost my halo somewhere down the years

2009-02-08T01:06:00.003Z

Erm anyone know how i add my Facebook to my sidebar on here???? Cos i ain't managed to get to work...Oh a pic of me when i was 2...Whatever happened to the innocent angel LOLOLOL

Yeah i made an update :o)

2009-02-08T00:19:00.006Z

Oh my a chance remark on facebook and now i find two people from my murky past on blogger lol...Oh well stranger thingsa have happened and i have neglected my poor journal shamefully these last few weeks...So quick update as nothing much has been happening.

Mikey had a review at college and the upshot is that he is going to be applying to do an introductory course to IT...As he has no standard grades he can't do the course where you do highers and intermediates...So this is a slightly longer different way to eventually do what he wants to do...Which is media, filming computer related stuff...Now college is on the 2nd block of the year (they only have 2 blocks) his subjects have changed slightly but he is still doing IT...And finally he is getting to do the intermediate 2 level :o) Although his guidance blokey is nice he still really didn't get my point...My point being that it is really silly to have a course that is for students with SEN that only operates at the lowest denominator...And for those who are already at the level taught or beyond it the course is NOT about getting used to being in college...That is what the 1 day a week course he did last year is for...Mikey didn't say until this week that he is still being hassled by some of his classmates...From what he said they are telling him to be quite in class when he answers all the questions...He feels he is being bullied and he feels he is being bullied because he can answer the questions and they can't...I knew something was up as he has been a grumpy (expletive deleted) for several weeks and being a right pain to me and Garath...I think i will pop along on mon and see if i can have a word with the guidance teacher...I am in college on monday mornings myself...Last week was the first week and i learnt how to take ones measurements and how to make the pattern for a basic skirt...From that pattern you can adapt and make different skirt designs...Not that i will be making any skirts for me as i really dislike wearing them...This coming monday it is bodices which if you add to the skirt can make a dress...The chances of me wearing a dress are even more remote than a skirt lol

I have been making more jewellery...Drawing up designs for jewellery and cards and other stuff...Kerry has been working on a banner for the website which is going to be the logo...am also working on what to write on the website.

I've had enviromental health round and i really need to get a hold of the woman...She was sending the owner of the flat with the leaking overflow a letter giving him X amount of days to fix it...If he doesn't do so then they will be allowed to access his premises to shut the water off...There is a heck of a lot of damage around my bedroom window from the water from the overflow pouring in....Lovely NOT

We've had snow but that's normal...Some schools being closed up in the north east cos of snow is normal...And the buses don't decide not to run because of a couple of inches of snow unlike london it would appear...I went out this afternoon and when i came out of asda it was snowing but i still drove home...Driving really mega slow in the snow is actually a bad idea...Am not saying you should be speeding along at goodness knows what but unless you are in a whiteout you are more likely to slip and slide if driving at 5 miles an hour than at 15 or 20mph...Have to laugh at the news banging on about it being the worst snow for 18 years...Erm no we had worse snow 3 years ago lol...That time instead of the usual 2-3 inches in my street we had 2 feet

Anyways Mikey has respite tomorrow (providing place is open) and am still undecided what all PMC stuff i want to get...You will find out in due course what it is :o)

Toodle pip tc

PS: some pics from this afternoon before more snow came down...I just liked the pinks and blues in the sky

Haggis

2009-01-25T20:33:00.002Z

I know i know i haven't posted for ages and ages...I've not had much to say as such and well i keep feeling sick and getting bad headaches...But hey ho i thought i would write about a school burns supper that took place when i was in 6th year.

Am sure i wrote this in my old AOL journal but there are people reading this one now who didn't read the old one so no harm in a repeat...Besides it is funny IMO...When i was in 6th year which hear in scotland is as far as you can go at school one of the teachers decided to organise a Burns supper...A few of us pupils from 6th year who were doing art were all supposed to be helping with creating scenery for the annual school panto...Within a week of starting it ended up mainly with me and one of the lads doing it all...For the actual performances he was doing the lighting and i was helping change the scenery over between scenes...Well one of the teachers who was playing the pantomime dame (he was incredibly funny) took quite an interest in our efforts...He's the one who decided to organise a Burns supper...So i was sat in the 6th year art room one day happily messing about and having a laugh when in he walks and asks if i will carry in a haggis for a Burns night...I still can't remember how he persuaded me as i really can't stand haggis and didn't like being centre of attention at all...I borrowed a tartan skirt from a neighbour and got all tarted up and ready for the big event...I had to weave my way between all these tables following said teacher who was playing the bagpipes praying i wouldn't let the thing drop...I held it up as high as possible without looking too stupid so the smell didn't waft down too close to my nose lol...All during this i had to stiffle giggles...When i placed it in front of the head boy who was going to address it he looked at me and just about burst out laughing...He couldn't stand the stuff either so i don't think i have heard an address done as quickly as his...He did have problems trying to cut it open though...Now the reason behind that is why him and me were trying not to break out in fits of laughter...You see they had drafted in some of the school cooks to cook haggis for the night...Well they had cooked en masse in the large catering trays...No-one had though to buy a proper wee haggis in it's skin for the ceremony...So one of the cooks got a plastic sandwich bag and filled it up with haggis tucking the ends in so it looked vaguely like the real deal...A great big seam running down the centre of it just added to the hilarity of it all...I don't think i will ever forget the look on the head boys face when i plonked that haggis in front of him for as long as i live...For any of you who may be attending a burns supper then enjoy it and i wish that it is a proper haggis on the plate.

I love you dad

2009-01-04T01:06:00.002Z

In 4 hours time it will be 22 years exactly since my dad passed away...This year is the first one i can recall where the anniversary of his passing has been fallen on the same day of the week as the one he passed away on...Sunday Jan 4th 1987 at 5am in the morning and i still remember it vividly...I still miss my dad very much and i so wish he was still here...Dad had some very rare disease that i can't remember the name of now...He'd had it for the last 2 years of his life and it affected all his major organs :o( In fact it came to light via both his kidneys failing one weekend...He was on dialysis for the last 2 years of his life...He was on a type called CAPD (i think) that meant he got it at home and administered it himself...But if it wasn't working properly or he got an infection he had to go in hospital to be put on the machines...The last year of his life he spent more time in hospital through here in the city than he did at home :o( That meant i got to see more of him though and we became even closer...He would tell me off for going up to visit him every night and said i didn't need to...Well he was right i didn't NEED to i WANTED to...I did relent and didn't always go up but that was rare...The last time he was rushed into hospital i was home for the weekend...One of my cousins was getting married and i got a bus from work to the village where he was getting married to go to the dance at night...I found out there that my mum and my brother and my older sis and her hubby had been trying to get dad to go to hospital but he wouldn't...He wasn't at the wedding as he was too poorly to go...The next day was a sunday and when i got up i went through to say hi to dad...We spent a short time chatting and then he asked me to get them to phone for the doctor...To this day i am totally convinced that dad knew he wouldn't come out of hospital alive that time...Also that because i was going to be at home for the first time in ages he was waiting to see me at home before he would go to hospital...That was at the end of nov and by christmas time it was obvious he wouldn't be home for a while...I went home for new year that year and mum gave me a lift back in for my work on the sat...She went to visit dad and spent all morning and most of the afternoon with him...I didn't know that whilst mum was in he was put on the machine for dialysis...My best friend from school was staying with me that saturday night...Her mum had been in major bad car crash just before the christmas and she was going to visit her mum...The next day she was getting a flight back to london (where she lives) at 7.30am...We both went up to the hospital but i didn't spend much time with dad that evening :o( He was hooked up to the machine on dialysis and for all the world looked sound asleep...I got no response out of him and couldn't find a doctor or nurse...Not that it was unusual so i just went downstairs to the lobby to wait for my friend...Thing is i was upset and i felt weird and couldn't explain why...I briefly wondered about phoning my mum and family to say i didn't think dad was right but i decided not to worry them at night...Besides mum had been in during the day and well she'd have said if anything was up i thought...So me and my friend go back to my flat at the time and have a few drinks and a natter and watch some telly and go to bed reasonably early for getting up on the sunday morning...I had my alarm set for 6.30am but i woke up at 4.55am...I looked at the clock and remember that time vividly but shrugged it off as waking up early for the alarm...Then i felt someone in my room with me and it was a strange feeling but a peaceful sensation...I looked at the clock and it said 5am...I knew that my dad was in the room with me and he was saying goodbye...I'd had a fitful sleep up until that point and i fell asleep deeply and my alarm awoke me with a jolt at the time it was meant to...My friend got on her taxi for the airport but i was wide awake...The phone went at 8am and i knew before i answered it that it was mum and i knew what she was going to tell me so i sat in the floor...I picked up the phone and startled her by saying hi mum, she told me to sit down and asked if my uncle (the one who lives in same city as me) had been round...I told her no but i knew what she was about to tell me and when she asked what i said dad has died...She told me the time that the hospital had told her it had happened at and it was 5am...The time i felt him with me in my room saying goodbye.

It took me weeks to get used to not going up to visit him in hospital...I would find myself stood at the bus stop waiting for the bus that goes that way...When all the family went up to the dialysis unit to hand over a cheque my little sis couldn't face going in...She stayed outside the doors with a nurse...When the sister asked how we were all coping my big sis said she didn't think it had hit them yet as he had spent so little time at home that last year...At which point i blurted out it had hit me as i was always up there and ran out in tears...I gave birth to kerry the oct following dads passing away...I have said plenty times on my journal that i didn't know i was pregnant what i haven't said is am utterly convinced my dad sent her to me...I was on the pill when i fell pregnant with her and the gynecologist and midwife blamed the pill failing on me being in an emotional upheaval cos of dad...Doesn't matter because i still reckon he sent her to help me to heal.

I miss my dad big time...I was always more of a daddys girl...I wanted to be just like my dad and become a fisherman working on a seine net trawler just like him...If you are watching form above i LOVE you dad and always will and that love will never diminish.

Boxing Day

2008-12-26T16:24:00.015Z

After an eventful christmas eve for more reasons than i wrote in here christmas day has been and gone...I refused to let what upset me big time on christmas eve ruin christmas totally for me...Even Mikey calling me ridiculous on christmas eve late in the evening i refused to let upset me anymore...Ridiculous because daftie here decided to put a set of white battery lights on one of the mini trees i bought for the christmas fayre Hey i like being a bit daft especially with christmas lights...I bought myself a light up snowman that plugs into the computer and kerry nicked it so i had to buy another for me.

Anyways my lot didn't waken up until quite late and mostly got money...Mikey has been out and spent all his this afternoon and no not in the sales I got bubbles & truffles from santa, a large choccy shell with ickle choccy shells inside from santa, some belgian choccys from santa and a tigger calendar from santa...I got perfume from all 3 of them...I got a cuddly polar bear that you heat up in microwave from kerry...I got the new killers CD from mikey and he had bought a beautiful christmas bouquet of fake christmas flowers from the college charity shop...I got a ticket to go and see the Kaiser Chiefs in feb from garath...My older sis gave me some money and my younger sis got me some candles...My mum we banned from giving us anything and she did as she was told...I also got a dragon from one of my bestest friends for being a good friend and listener this year...Silly woman that she is

We set up a table in the living room as mikey wanted...He set it with the cover and mats and the posh cutlery and glasses...We even had crackers this year :o) Neither of the boys used to like crackers as the noise was too much for them...Our dinner may not have been traditional but we enjoyed it...As i can't have chicken anymore i did buy a steak for myself but didn't bother...I just had sausage meat stuffing (yum) with plenty chipolatas and rolls of bacon...Kerry and Garath had chicken breast stuffed with mozarella wrapped in bacon...Mikey had just plain chicken...Kerrys friend had vegetarian spring rolls...She's a nightmare as she is a severly lactose intolerant vegetarian...For pudding she had fruit salad and meringue...We had meringues, fruit salad, scooshy cream, pouring cream, mini eclairs and profiteroles...No leftovers except for leftover sweets...Today we're going to be completely non traditional and have some corned beef hash lol...I just watched Madagascar as i'd never seen it before...It's hilarious even if it is a kids feature length cartoon...Below are some pics of the tree and decorations...All of them were bought in sales or cheaply...I love the glass spiral baubles because they are so different...Hope you all had a fabby day yesterday

Toodle pip for now tc xx

Glass snowflakes glass drops

chandelier lights our new tree 6 feet high and black

My glass spiral baubles glass star bauble with snowman inside

teensy white and silver fairy white, glittery snowflake

colour changing snowman light...He turns yellow and green and white as well all randomly

See i put fake snow down amongst my dragons and in front of the telly lol

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T18:19:00.002Z

Well 'tis Christmas eve and i am rather tired...We went and visited mum and my sisters yesterday...In the middle of the night i went shopping to 24 hour asda and tesco to get the frozen things i was after...So i slept in this morning...I feel stiff from the driving so maybe my sis was right lol...Remember last year i ended up in A&E on christmas eve morning/afternoon...Well this year it was the turn of the friend who took me to A&E last year lol...I shouldn't laugh as she was rushed there in an ambulance as it looked like she might have been having a heart attack :o( fortunately she wasn't having one but it is related to an ongoing problem she has...And this could happen again :o( She's back home though and off out to her sons christmas eve celebration thing at his school...He attends one of the rudolph steiner schools...As most of the workers at these schools are from europe they do celebrations for all kinds of festivals...They do a lot of different celebrations in the lead up to Christmas Day...She found out today that our GP has mysteriously left...She is with the same practice as me and holds the same GP in as high a regard as i do...He was there on monday and spoke to her daughter and said he'd see her soon...Yesterday a letter had been typed up at the practice and sent out to patients with upcoming appointments with him...Saying due to unforeseen circumstances the appointment was cancelled and to phone to book another one...So my friend did that as she got the letter like that this morning, only to be told he was no longer there and they couldn't tell her why...Very strange and a right puzzle...Just hope that he and his family are alright...He's been there too long and is too caring for us to believe he had done anything untoward.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone...Hope santa is good to you all as you've all been good girls and boys this year

Stressed

2008-12-22T17:06:00.002Z

Second last entry was entitled ARRGGHHHHHH...Think this one should be too lol...Am so stressed just now and usually am not leading up to christmas...Last year i did get stressed on christmas day but that was because of not being able cos of my shoulder and i had wanted everything to be just right for K's friend...So why am i so stressed just now you may well ask...Well yesterday was pure and utter hell to be honest...Firstly my hoover had broken and i only bought it last month but i couldn;t find the receipt...No problem usually as it was from asda, is asda own make and looks barely used...Oh no it was a right old pilaver and i almost shouted and cried at the manager of the asda i took it back to...See as they had none on the shelves they needed a barcode to refund me...No problem phone another store i said and they thought that as well...HAHAHAHA!!!! the MANAGER was the one doing the looking online and phoning the other stores...After much waiting and much wrangling and me getting very angry but keeping my voice down and not shouting (well impressed with meself at that) i demanded contact for the manufacturers...See the manager had been asking the other stores and searching online for an ONN (however tis spelt) hoover...Thing is the hoover says ASDA and not ONN...Because i had been stood in that store at customer services for nearly an hour i flounced out to go to one of the other asda's...And just as well i did as they had about 20 of my faulty hoovers on their shelves...And it was them that said the manager had asked for the wrong flipping hoover...Needless to say i got it exchanged there and then i did my shopping...I did try to see if that manager was on duty in his store today but i couldn't find him...I was going to be polite but let him know in no uncertain terms that HE was the one at fault and not me as he was trying to imply...As i was leaving that asda i had Kerry phone me upset and in a panic...She was getting the last bus home to here last night...One bus from livingston had gone flying past her without stopping...The next one she went out early to get and it went flying past her whilst she was on way to bus stop 10 mins early...It didn't stop at the bus stop...So she tried a different bus to get into edinburgh but it was too late for her to get the megabus to here...She tried to get it at another stop she knew it usually stopped at...But it didn't turn up so she either missed it or it had been diverted...I decided stuff it and said ok am coming down to get you...A friend came with me for company...She had found a pub that was open late and sat in it waiting for us...3am before we got back here Today am shattered and tomorrow am driving north to deliver pressies there...My big sis has just told me off for even driving as she was barred from driving for 6 weeks when she cracked her ribs...She was also told it would be 6 weeks minimum before they healed...Erm my gp never said that or barred me...I didn't tell her i got an infection cos of the cracked ribs that could have turned to pnumonia LOL...I will tell her that tomorrow :o) Right i have a joint of beef in roasting cos it was reduced in asda yesterday...Must go put in the frozen roast potatoes :o)

ttfn xx

More pics of jewellery to bore you all :o)

2008-12-21T00:57:00.005Z

Below are pics of 3 necklaces i made today for christmas presents...The top one i have made 2 of hence 2 deisgn pics but 3 i have made...Depending on how the light is shining the AB (aurora borealis) coating can look more blue, more green, more pink or more yellow or golden or some colour or other in pics...It's the same in reality with them and i have been caught out with pendants being slightly different AB coating to others...That is a pain when trying to do matching earrings and necklaces...The bottom necklace is the black diamond colour...It's actually paler and more grey looking than this pic suggests...It is one of my favourite colours that swarovski do...I just think it looks elegant and also it goes very well with silver...The pendant in that bottom pic is a sort of squished cube shape...I'll try take some pics from other angles in the morning and post them

ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH's galore

2008-12-16T22:15:00.004Z

ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH no1!!!!!!! It's only a week really until christmas as such...Ok a week tomorrow 'till christmas eve...And am nowhere near ready :o( Ok the throat thing and the rib thing did set me back...Am afraid that this year i think i will just post cards that are bought from the shop to peoples instead of sending them beautiful handmade by me ones...I don't have the time and it is really beginning to stress and annoy me that i haven't made them yet...That's what the throat thingy and rib thingy really set back.

ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH no2!!!!!!! I just realised the other day that what i had for my mum for her christmas pressie is no use to give to mum...Mum absolutely hates the colour blue so much so i remember her refusing to sit on a sofa she liked in a shop because it was blue...We did get that suite just in a different colour lol...Well the glass pieces i bought from the international market back in sept to give to her are all half blue...EEEKKKKS defo can't give that to mum...So what do i get a 77 year old that doesn't need anything...I've bought some slippers but i need to get her something else...she doesn't need perfume as she has enough still from when i last got her lol

ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH no3!!!!!!! me and Garath have spent the better part of today trying to clear out, clean up and gut Mikeys room...His new double bed arrives on thurs and there is just no-way am going to have his room arranged how i want before then...Plus moving so much stuff, washing down stuff and the like has made my ribs decided they hate me again :o( Mikey did help when he got home from college...Tomorrow i need to finish that a bit and do a temporary arrangement of furniture until my ribs can cope with moving stuff proper like...Plus tomorrow i need to make space for the bed to get into his room in first place lol...Did you know that argos do some of their patterned duvet covers in double duvet size...Patterened as in like high school musical kind??? Well if you didn't before now you do as i learnt on sunday and am not amused...I wanted a king size duvet for Mikey but no i had to get the HSM duvet set grrrrrr so double duvet it is...Least i got it in a special pack along with 2 pillows from asda tonight for £8

ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH no4!!!!!!! My decorations still aren't up...Even my tree isn't up...See i always start with the stuff i put up on my part of the stairwell and then a few days or a week later the stuff for inside the flat goes up...But not really any decorations up in the stairwell because of the water thing...Some battery operated lights and that's it :o( After Mikeys bed gets here and set up then am going to do the decorations in the living room...The delay in them is also the rib thing and i know the boys could help BUT am afraid i like my decorations done in a set way and specific ones in specific place...Very autistic of me

Think i will go play with my fairy in my fairy garden on Facebook and maybe some Word Twist

Toodle pip tc xx

PS: I dunno what to get Kerry really but i can't ask on here because she READS this journal

Sunday

2008-12-14T23:13:00.004Z

It's stopped raining thank goodness...I still have umpteen buckets and basins out to catch water though and they are staying there until the roof is watertight...Am just praying for no more rain for a while...Well at least not any more torrential rain like fri and sat.

Is it just me or do others have problems with pics on here??? When i put the pics on for this entry i had to press done real quick because the same one was repeating over and over again...Think i had 14 tiggers at one point that i had to delete rofl...Today i was supposed to gut Mikeys room but i had a headache and felt sickly so i went back to sleep after taking him to respite...Not like i can put it off for long though as his new bed will arrive on thurs...He made me buy him a high school musical duvet cover today Yes they do it in double duvet size I wanted grown up and manly...Oh well he's off tomorrow so he can help and Garath is off now until after the holidays so he can help as well...Especially with building the bed and moving the warddrobe as i don't want to strain the ribs too much...Am not taking the painkillers as much now...If i've done too much then i need to take a couple or sometimes i wake up sore and need to take a couple.

I was pleased that Alexandra won the X Factor last night...Apart from Ruth she was the best finalist IMO...Am also pleased that on Strictly Come Dancing they put all 3 semi finalists through to the final...That was on grounds of fairness as two of the couples had the same marks from the judges...Am also pleased cos i would love Tom to win...Holby won't be the same when Sam leaves Even if he doesn't win at least we get another week of looking at him shaking his nice tight bottom :o) ...I got Mikeys pressie yesterday after putting off buying it for a few weeks...I got him a camcorder and the one i was looking at for last few weeks was on offer in Asda for £120...Well it then went down to £117 and some pence after the vat reduction...Yesterday they dropped it to £99 :o) So it paid to wait lol.

Oh just before i go can you over indulge in satsumas???? I just ate 8 of them but in fairness they were little ones :o)

Toodle pip tc xx

christmas present

2008-12-14T00:22:00.002Z

Well last christmas was bad enough but this year i dunno if i will be in the flat come christmas day...For those reading that don't know last christmas i spent christmas eve in A&E or ER for american readers...On the fri before christmas i was carrying shopping into the block when i tripped and fell...At that point i was carrying my new flat screen telly and didn't want to drop it so i went splat all over the doorstep instead...The following day i felt a bit sore but i drove 140 miles to pick up my daughter and then same back home again...On the sunday i was still sore but drove 70 miles north to visit my sisters and mum and then the same back again...By the mon morning i was in agony and managed to see my GP who sent me to A&E with suspected broken clavicle...It wasn't but i spent christmas in pain and not able to do much....Reason am not sure about this christmas is the roof...Readers from AOL will remember the leaking roof...The one that's been leaking for months and months...That has made my bedroom uninhabitable and the lad in flat above that side his flat a horrid mess...Well the slaters came on thurs and put up the scaffolding...I have been told they were round on fri doing some work but as i was out all day i dunno...What i do know is that when i came in around 7.20pm there was no damp bit on my half landing...At 9pm when i went to go to corner shop there was a damp bit on the new carpet...When i got back i put down a bucket, then i put down a basin and some small tubs...I went up to the half landing between mine and the flats directly above...The carpet was soaking about 3 steps down towards mine :o( I put a bucket down there as well under the worst bit...It was pitch dark and my torch is broken...I lit a candle to go all the way up to the top and someone had already put a basin down...The bucket and basins on my half landing aren't anywhere near full...The bucket on the half landing leading upstairs was nearly full :o( I emptied it and bought more cheap basin from asda when i was out this afternoon...They are all down on the landing now...Right up the top i have moved the fullish basin and put down a bucket...the bucket is under the main drip...I say drip it is like a waterfall :o( Now it has been horrendous lashing rain all yesterday and today...I don't know if the water is coming through so bad because of the existing condition of the roof...Or maybe the slaters having started working on it have removed whatever tis they are removing at that point and not secured some waterproofing properly...Now there is a bucket right up the top am hoping that catches the worst until monday...BUT my worry is that with so much water having been pouring down through 2 levels what state the stairs are in and how safe they are :o( I am really worried that they may collapse higher up :o( So last christmas it was A&E this christmas it could be a homeless shelter!!!! I just PRAY the rain STOPS overnight and stays OFF for a good few days

christmas past

2008-12-13T18:00:00.003Z

Jeannette at Outside - Looking In (Jeannette's Jottings 2) wrote about how christmas was for her before her family had tv...She's asked what did we do if we are old enough to remember not having any telly...I thought i'd put my wee bit here instead of a comment to Jeannette.

I can't actually remember when we got tv...I know the telly was black & white and we finally got a colour one in 1973...That was the same time we got a bbc2 ariel...Mum had wanted colour telly before that but dad wouldn't let her...He relented so that mum could watch princess Annes first wedding in colour lol...But even with the black and white telly we didn't watch it on christmas day except for the queens speech.

Christmas started at the beginning of dec not way back in sept as some retailers like to bombard us with nowadays...I say beg of dec because that was when we started the advent calendar...Not the kind you get now full of sweeties...I don't know if they had any like that back in the 60's/early 70's...We had one that was covered with a wintery scene and glitter...Me and my little sister took it in turns to open a door each day...On the last day we opened a side each as it had double doors that revealed the nativity...And the calendar doors were closed shut to be used again the next year...Mum would also have made the christmas cake and christmas puddings back in the nov or possibly the oct...We always had money wrapped up and in the pudding...When cutting it up to serve mum always made sure that us little ones got a piece with a bit of silver foil shining in it...That's not to say that we always managed to get the most valuable coins in the pudding...Leading up to christmas we spent sundays in the lounge instead of the living room...Sounds dead posh doesn't it lol...We weren't posh far from it just the house had 2 front rooms...One was the sitting room we used all the time and the lounge was kept for best...It was the lounge that the christmas tree and decorations went up in...We did have a fake tree but there was some years we had a real tree...My dad was in the masons and we got the tree they had in the masonic lodge for quite a few years...As we had to wait until after the kids christmas party and the other christmas events they had...So the years we got that tree it was only at most 3 days before christmas day...And it was always a huge tree (well it seemed huge to a small child) The lounge had a bay window and that real tree always filled it...We couldn't have afforded to buy a tree like that...One thing we always looked forward to at christmas was to come into the city to see the christmas lights on the main street.

Another highlight on the lead up to christmas was going to visit santa in his grotto in a local store...Now in retrospect i feel rather bad about how i was one year...Of course back then santa was santa so i didn't know why i might not get what i asked for...I was desperate for a puppet and when we went to visit santa i asked for a puppet...My mum said i might not get one and i threw a temper tantrum as far as i remember...The parents bought something in the store and it was wrapped and given to santa to give to the child...I did get my puppet and i don't know why...I think that was around about the time my little sister was born or just a baby and maybe i felt left out a bit hence getting the puppet...What i didn't know then but i know now was it was expensive for that kind of present...I still have that puppet complete with box and instructions...And on the instructions is still the tear off portion to send off to join the pelham puppet club in shillings lol...I did play with it and so have my lot (though them not much)...Another time when i was about 5 or maybe 6 i got a sindy doll...I hated dolls and never played with them so what possessed mum to think i would want a sindy is beyond me...I had been barred from the kitchen for weeks when i came home from school leading up to that christmas...That was because mum had sat and knitted and sewn up a massive range of outfits specially for the sindy doll...I did appreciate them just not the doll itself lol...My little sis broke it's head off a few months later and you know what...I was distraught lol...I do have one other christmas present from my childhood although some bits are missing...That's my super spirograph...Not ordinary bog standard spirograph but one with knobs on lol.

So on christmas eve i think it was once i was 6 i got to go to the watchnight service...I don't remember who looked after my baby sister but i know it won't have been either of my parents...So it must have been either my older sis or bro...The watchnight service wasn't held in the church we went to on a sunday morning...Back then there was a church in the main street of the village as well...It was in that church that evening services were held and if it snowed then sunday morning service was held there...When that church was sold off then the watchnight service was held in the church hall...The church hall in the village isn't beside the church...We lived close to both and we walked to and from the service...I mentioned it can't have been either of my parents looking after my baby sister...My dad was an elder in the church and he was always on duty on christmas eve...My mum sang in the choir and also sang solo's and often she would be singing a solo on christmas eve...After the service i would be straight to bed when i got home carrying my sock for santa to put at the end of my bed...No fancy stockings but an old sock of my dads...The tree would have lots of presents under it and magically they appeared at the end of my bed on christmas morning...We always got presents from all our uncles and aunties hence we had a rather large pile to open...One uncle lived near a papermill and from when i was very young i always got a massive pad of very good quality paper with a packet of crayons or pens...I began to know that is what i would be getting from them and i always looked forward to it...Usually it was a small toy or board game or bubble bath we got from uncles and aunties...A board game one would usually be something to that was shared with my little sister...Because we had so many uncles and aunties i always felt like i was a real miser when it came to my own three's christmas present piles...I always had to remind myself i had lots of relatives...Anyways this is about not having telly and not being too nostalgic...On christmas morning we would run through to mum and dads room at some ridiculously early hour and waken them up...Then we'd all pile into their bed with all our presents and open them...After that mum would go downstairs to put the turkey on if she hadn't put it in already...For breakfast my mum always had her tangerine that was in the bottom of her sock...And that's what we all had for brekkie on christmas day...We would all get dressed in our new best clothes to go to church for the christmas day service...When we got back mum and my sister would be in the kitchen getting stuff on to cook...Me and my little sis (once she was old enough) set the table with the best cutlery, crystal glasses etc...We folded the napkins up all fancy as well...My maternal grandparents and my dads spinster sister would always come for christmas dinner with us...After we finished the dinner the men did the dishes...We'd then play with our new toys, read new books or use new drawing stuff...After dad had a quick snooze we would go and visit other relatives...Even with a telly it wasn't like it is now...Because videos, dvd's and satellite telly didn't exist films on christmas day were a big thing...Unless you'd been to the cinema to see it then it would be all new and exciting.

Think i have digressed a bit and Strictly and the X factor are on...Think am going to be upset tonight and my favourite be put out of strictly...I want alexandra to win the X factor

Christmassy

2008-12-10T19:45:00.002Z

Ok i tried to add some pics but they didn't work very well...They are animated ones but blogger refused to animate them adding to sidebar using add a gadget...So i went got a christmassy background instead...Job done in one fell swoop...You do need to have the blog full screen to see the background properly like...Apart from that i've done nowt as i've had horrid migraine nearly all day...One thing that absolutely refuses to add for me is a hit counter...It was same with my AOL journal a hit counter just refused to work on it...Doesn't matter really as not many people read my spoutings of sheer drivel :o)

I have to gut both the boys rooms...One is getting a new bed delivered next thurs and it's a double bed so whole room needs rearranged...I also need to give living room a good clear out so i can get some decorations up and my new black tree...Am allowed to have it up for this year only Am hoping no2 son who decided that was how it would be will forget by next christmas...Problem is he has an almost photographic memory and forgets nothing ever...Black will look nice with all my white and silver decorations and lights.

Pics and bits

2008-12-09T17:50:00.007Z

Thought i would post some pics of the 2 necklaces i had as an order from a friend...I took some snaps quickly to show her as the silver one is slightly different to what she had seen and the gold one she'd not seen at all...The silver one that she had seen used sterling silver cubes and this one has saucers...I was 1 cube short of the amount needed for necklace...It does look pretty with the saucers though and they are much easier to source...Cubes are difficult to find lol...The gold one i have used 9ct gold as i managed to find a chain necklace that made it feasible...9ct gold chain bought on it's own and then buying the catch and jump ring would be rather expensive...I did buy 9ct gold wire though as i needed that for the crystals...That varies in price a heck of a lot and even then ain't that cheap...If i do anything in proper gold it will only be 9ct and even then won't be done depending on the design...And at the end of the day that will depend on if the buyer wishes to pay the money that will cost...That's why i prefer working in sterling silver it is far more affordable...The gold one does look very pretty though :o) I did this one for my mum for her birthday but in silver and hadn't taken a pic at all...I did her matching earrings as well

Mikey has an outing to the local big panto tonight...Alan Fletcher from Neighbours is starring in it...He's going with the tues club he goes to and they got the tickets for free...He had his christmas party for the tues club on sat afternoon...I gave him a tube of prawn cocktail pringles because i knew he would eat them and there was nothing on the buffet list we had to provide that he would eat...Well finally he went and ate stuff and now the irritating thing is i ain't got a clue what some are...Chicken triangles anyone??? Your guess is as good as mine as i know it wasn't the chicken satay i had to provide...He has decided he likes sausage rolls now so that's cool...Typical though isn't it...You say that our offspring don't like and won't eat and they end up making you out as a fibber...Just usually it's done at an earlier age than 17 lol.

Apart from that nowt exciting has been occuring...Oh Garath has learnt how to skive off uni this week...Only taken him the whole term whereas most students would do it in the first week rofl...He's only actually skiving because they're doing revision and he doesn't need the revision lectures...His exams are in jan i think...Oh yes Mikey on fri doing the talk...He did extremely well i was told last night...He got a huge round of applause and was given a George at asda gift card that has £20 on it...They also found a student who is very interested in working with the Triple A's so that is brill

Sterling silver chain, wire, saucers and rounds with aquamarine swarovski crystals

9 carat gold chain with 6mm AB bicones and baroque style pendant

Some pics and some nattering

2008-12-04T23:47:00.019Z

Below are some pics of a few of the silver plated with various other beads items i have currently made...I did turn round the prices on the tags in the pics so they weren't visible lol...I also found out this week that paypal take a small admin fee off any money paid into your account...So i need to work out what that is and price appropriately for selling online...Or can that come under P&P??? Hmmm doubt that but am sure i can think of something...I have another 2 necklaces to make that are of the sterling silver with swarovski crystals variety...Well one will be with gold plated as the person the present is for doesn't like silver...Or it may be with 9ct gold it all depend son how much i am for a 9ct gold chain in the discount shop in town that sells chains etc...buying from a supplier online or by mail order is far too cost prohibitive...Well unless the purchaser is willing to spend a fortune :o)

Did you get snow today where you live in the UK???? Am sure that plenty of our american readers either did or already are knee deep at least in snow...Am rather miffed the forecast for where i am was WRONG...We had chucking down rain and more chucking down rain, naff all snow and highest temps we've had in the last couple of weeks...Am rather partial to snow and would have much prefered it to the horrid rain.

Main reason for this entry really is that tomorrow Mikey is going to be doing a talk to some students at the uni Garath goes to...This is via the local carers centre and it is Social Work students he will be talking to...The woman going with him is going to talk about being a carer first and then Mikey will talk about his autism and how it has affected him...Am really proud that he is managing to do this again...Perhaps it could turn into something that he can do often like others similar to himself do...Although usually they have aspergers and Mikey is high functionung autistic...I have been in the past to talks by a woman in her 30s who is autistic and she is brilliant to listen to...Also she gets paid quite well for doing talks and lectures...Mikey is more than happy to do it if it helps others like him get treated better and if it raises awareness :o)

Green crackle glass with silver plated rounds

Close up and this one is 18 inch length

Metalisised (sp?) glass beads with silver plated and AB coated glass beads

Close up of the blue one it is 18inch length

Close up of pink one and it is 16 inch length

3 necklaces with lampwork glass beads and silver plated chain
All are 18 inch length

Close up of the pink lampwork heart

Close up of pink lampwork glass ovals

Green metalisised (is it really a word erm answers on a postcard please) glass rounds with silver plated ovals

Close up

2008-12-03T15:50:00.003Z

Hmmm all i seem to have done lately is rant or moan and am afraid a wee moan today too...I tried to see my own gp yesterday as i was out of the strong painkillers and over counter wasn't helping much...Well he was off sick so i had to see someone else...The female gp i saw has been with my practice as long as my own gp and she used to be good...Note the words 'used to be'...In the past i had problems with her regarding M and something he had a long time ago...Since then i have mainly avoided seeing her but i was desperate yesterday...Now ok i may already sound prejudice BUT if one of you saw a gp who then questioned another gp in the practice medical judgement wouldn't you be annoyed too???? Especially if it was your regular gp that you see who's being judged???? I was really pissed off to say the least...First she asked me why i was there and i said i needed more painkillers...She asked why what was wrong...Hmmm she didn't have my written notes open or the computer ones showing on screen...Unprofessional to start with IMO...I explained about the cracked ribs without being sarcy or mentioning her note reading my notes...Stupid woman asked how i knew and i told her my gp had told me 2 weeks previously...This woman then had audacity to ask how he knew and had he had me x-rayed...Then muttered well no point as nowt that can be done regardless...And then asked to sound my back again to check my infection was clearing up...So the cow HAD READ my notes but chosen to ignore part of them...She was extremely reluctant to give me the painkillers and sai di should be using ibuprofen and paracetamol...I said they didn't work...So as she was printing off a prescription she hautily told me that these can be addictive and i need to stop them...Like DUH!!!! i know dihydrocoedine (in the painkillers slightly) can be addictive but i also know i've never been addicted to them...I am managing to cut down on how often i need the painkillers and am hoping that within next couple of weeks i can stop completely...Am really annoyed with this woman but i can't put in a complaint as it's my word against hers...Am just so angry that she can question in the way she did one of her fellow practitioners and partners medical judgement...I will not see her again unless i need a home visit where i can't dictate who comes to see me.

I had an order from a friend online for 2 necklaces for christmas presents that have been made and sent off...I have another order again for 2 necklaces for someone online which i will make asap as they are also for christmas presents...It may sound a bit daft but the stuff made with swarovski crystals i prefer to do to order...That's so the purchaser can choose which colour of crystals they want...I do need to order some components for that order but the place i use only takes a couple of days to send out :o)

How is the weather with everyone???? We had a most weird day yesterday...Woke up to a skimmering of snow but outside the city in the shire it was much worse and schools were closed and roads blocked...Then it snowed a wee bit later in the day...I was out but after i had shopped (ugh) when i took car out of indoor car park it was pouring with rain, by time i was almost home it had turned to sleet and rain...Once i parked the car and got out to go to corner shop it was sleet only and when i got out of the shop it was flipping snow...Then it chucked it down with rain again later lol...Today it is bitterly cold with heavy snow forecast for most of the UK tomorrow...Fortunately for most of you it will clear fairly quickly except for her in north east scotland...I don't mind snow as long as the council grit the streets (hahaha!!!) and it's proper snow...Not an inch but several inches otherwise it's just like a heavy frost or ice...Enjoy it tomorrow if you do get any :o) Sadly due to being poorly with the nasty throat virus i didn't manage to save much from my file manager bitty of hometown so i have lost all my bits and bobs for tarting up and trying to pretty up my journal...I'll need to go and look through all the clipart links i have again lol

Pics from fri evening

2008-11-30T21:56:00.008Z

The angel earrings...When i first made them M recognised what they were but pointed out i had forgotton to put on halos lol...So i had to take them all apart and make them again complete with halos...They were popular :o) They look huge in this pic but they are less than an inch tall

These are the snowmen...They were even more popular than the angels and they are around same height as the angels.

The other pics are just general ones of the stall...I was late in arriving to set up so it was a rush job...The tree idea wasn't going to work with very little time to arrange so i gave up...Normally i would have a large homemade cabinet thing at the back for earrings to hang in...That's the item that i can't get to just now...The pics were taken later on as i didn't have time before the event opened...The table was fuller with more earrings and more bracelets...Actually the bracelets were very popular which suprised me...I did sell a couple of necklaces but hey ho...Oh by the time i took the pics my table covering had been pulled about everywhere...I did really well and sold a fair few items and made a fair bit of money considering it was a school event so am chuffed :o)

I hate the way blogger does pics it is so annoying grrr

Weekend

2008-11-30T21:26:00.002Z

I got an appointment on fri but obviously with a different gp...First he tried to explain why you usually get an infection if you have a fracture on ribs...It did kinda go over my head a bit...I can understand the not taking as deep breaths bit though which can cause mucus to build up instead of never happening...Anyways upshot is he didn't think i'd been on the antibiotics long enough to tell anything yet...He asked if i could feel any difference in my chest infection...As i don't feel like i have a chest infection then i ain't got a scooby if the pills are working or not lol...I know the painkillers are working and to be honest they're all i care about at the mo...The gp did sound me and said it wasn't turning pneumoniaic yet...Not sure if i spelt that right but that's word he used even if it looks made up...He told me to take it easy, own gp said to keep moving, he said i'd be breathless for a few weeks anyways, own gp said i should be better in 2-3 weeks...Mind you last bit my own gp said when it was just cracked ribs with no infection.

I was way disorganised and not at all anywhere near ready for the craft thingy that evening...My 'business cards' ended up a disaster...I printed them on the wrong side and the ink wouldn't dry right...On my way there i had to return a mirror i'd bought which had a part missing...Well i got the most horrendous fright on way to the venue after changing the mirror...Luckily i was only going at 5-10 miles an hour but i still hadf to slam on the breaks...It was dark and there was a group of kids with a male adult i presumed was the father walking on the pavement...They were heading towards a pedestrian crossing when all of a sudden this tiny figure ran out across the road right in front of me...Not on the crossing but before it and the lights weren't even for pedestrians anyways...The idiot adult and the idiot older kids, two must have been at least 12, weren't holding the little ones hand or keeping an eye on him...How i managed to not knock him down i still dunno but obviously am glad i didn't...I did hit my horn really loud, not at the wee lad but at the others...They still hadn't noticed what had just transpired...Even when i wound down my window to speak to the adult he didn't look bothered at all and still NO-ONE took that wee lads hand or arm :o( I really wanted to stop but i didn't have time but i was shaking for ages afterwards and it didn't do my ribs any good eitherI just can't understand people who don't keep an eye on their wee ones...They are precious and should be looked after...Not keeping an eye on them when out and about, especially on a busy road is to me a form of abuse.

Anyways seperate entry about the craft thingy after this one...This weekend was the international market again...To be honest it was a bit so so compared to others that have happened...It was nearly all food stalls this time around with very little else...Oh apart from quite a few jewellery stalls...The coffee bloke was there though and i bought several jars of weird flavoured instant coffees for christmas pressies...I bought something for K which i can't say...I bought a handbag for my older sis that the boys say is very her...I bought her birthday pressie today as well which i was kinda talked into at a permanent stall in one of the shopping malls...Today i feel like i've done far too much and to be honest i probs have over the whole weekend but sod it.

Still breathless

2008-11-27T23:52:00.002Z

Am still breathless so looks like docs tomorrow IF i can get an appointment...Must say am sorely tempted to wait until night time and go to out of hours doctors...Why you may ask, well thurs and fri nights my lovely GP works at the out of hours service...So see if i wait until the night instead of trying during the day i might get to see my own lovely GP...Am actually quite worried about all this...I have my craft fair thingy tomorrow evening and i have got to go to it...I need to sell some of my wares...Speaking of which cos of capput ribs and being all breathless (like dirty phonecall type) i can't get to the doohdah i used to use for displays when i did fairs before...It's at the very back of the cupboard on the stairs...It would require a lot of moving of stuff which i would feel duty bound to sort out and put half of in the bin...So my solution has been to buy some teensy christmas trees...I know, i know christmas doesn't start until 1st dec in my book but well if my stall looks festive then peeps may be more tempted to purchase...The teensy christmas trees (approx 10 inches high) are for hanging earrings on...I have battery operated lights to decorate the stall with as well...Ohhh i have also made christmassy earrings...Only 9 pairs in two designs...1 design being an angel and the other a snowman...Made with silver components...Not real silver but silver plated...M got the angels straight away but pointed out i had missed the halo...So they now have halos :o) G didn't have a scooby as to what the angels were but he guessed snowman after guessing santa...I've spent the evening pricing everything except the earrings...I need to cut up acetate later to hang them on and put the prices on...Tomorrow i need to make business cards, get a float from bank and a cheap white sheet.

Toodle pip tc xx

Infected

2008-11-25T22:39:00.003Z

Over the weekend i was getting more and more breathless...Not sore or anything just irritating...Well last night i went to visit one of my aunties in hospital as she had a heart bypass last monday...The nurses were ordering me to see a gp again or i was going to end up in there eeks...I had an appointment this morning i was going to cancel as we'd spoken last tues about my gynae appointment in january...But i kept it and trotted off to see him...Before i even got into his room he said you don't appear any better in fact you seem worse...HAHAHA i just lurve my GP...Turns out i have an infection because of the fracture hence being so breathless...So am back on antibiotics i was on just 3 weeks ago...IF am not breathing any better within 48 hours i have to go back to the surgery...Now that worries me because it sounds rather ominous...But even though am busy on fri i will do as am told...Hopefully by christmas i will be all fine and dandy and well rofl

Busy on fri because it is the craft evening thingy...I have a fair stock now of reasonably priced jewellery...I even have a few christmas earrings done :o) I say reasonably priced but i ain't priced anything yet lol...Reasonably priced meaning not sterling silver and not swarovski crystal...But silver or gold plated with pretty glass and other beads...I will post pics once i've taken some...I've still so much to do to be ready as i've not done this for years...Need new table coverings (cheap white double flat sheet from asda will do), a mirror, string labels amongst the more mundane lol...I do have pretty material for table covering but i want something under it hence a sheet i thought.

Anyways got to go as am feeling dizzy again as been sat up too long...Forgot to tell gp about the dizziness with the stupid breathlessness duh!!!

Toodle pip tc xx

Snow is falling

2008-11-22T01:37:00.002Z

I've just got in from a girls night in at a friends...Think it was just as well she couldn't afford a babysitter and am not allowed to drink as it is a winter wonderland out there...It's been snowing on and off all day but the snow has been permanent on the ground since about 4pm and still now at 1:32am the roads have not been gritted...One of my friends her daughter had a car go into the back of her earlier...The police refused to go out to the accident saying the weather was too bad but that they would contact the powers that be and get the gritters to come out...Oh and that the accident would be due to adverse weather conditions...When buses have severe problems not skiding about on the streets and getting up and down hills then surely gritters are a necessity and shouldn't be an afterthought...Anyways despite that it is pretty out there

Am cracked

2008-11-18T21:59:00.003Z

Well i managed to get an appointment with my fabby GP this afternoon...That did mean that i couldn't try and get along to a business start up roadshow thingy being run by business gateway which was taking place up here...Basically because the appointment was for mid afternoon and K was going back down south today as well and needed a lift...There will be others and anyways just as well i got to see GP...I've cracked at least 1 rib lol...Me dosing myself with ibuprofen and paracetamol was useless ...So am back on the co-dydramol i started the year on rofl...Am still amazed that merely coughing once has done this...My GP checked my chest to make sure it was clear but as i said if my lung had been pierced then i think i would have been in hospital by now lol...Ach it's not really a hassle just uncomfortable and should be fine again in around 3 weeks.

I've sold a couple of necklaces :o) Ok to a friend but she wanted some jewellery for christmas presents and decided to buy from me instead of elsewhere :o) My missing items from the other week are being sent out with no quibbles from place that was doing BOGOF...I've got lots of necklaces for next weeks fair but i really need to get loads of earrings made as they are more likely to sell...Am taking a break tonite not because i want to but because i didn't get spacer beads and more chain bought today...Suppose my ribs are more important as in getting seen by GP and letting them rest i suppose...Ohhh i did have a treat today :o) Despite the credit crunch i had fillet steak for tea...It was reduced at the butchers bit in sainsburys...Down from £25 a kg to £8 a kg and a decent sized bit for me was only £1.53 :o)

Toodle pip tc xx

monday

2008-11-17T22:48:00.002Z

Sobs, sniffs, wails and cries...Don't nag i did try to get an appointment today just the only one was with vile horrid GP i refuse to see and at a non suitable time anyways...Will try again tomorrow morning PROMISE

Denise their isn't any money being spent on these consultations...It's actually one of the disabled children and families officers from local carers centre that has got them organised...Two during the daytime and two in an evening and still few people are attending...And it would be a safe bet that those who don't attend then moan the loudest when cuts are made and they get naff all for their children...They can't exactly claim they didn't know about them either as they are in the parent/carer newsletter which gets sent out from every school both SEN and mainstream to any child with SEN in the city.

Stuart in reply to a comment you left recently i went with the people you recommended.

Lynne i can say what i want about himself as there is a 24 hour flight between us

Am going to bed soon to warm up as it is baltic here today...Oh here's a giggle for yous...The radiators in the court here in abdn are controlled by the court in edinburgh...So if it is warm down there they'll switch the heating off or on if cold with no regard as to what the weather is like up here...I found that out today when freezing in the place :o) Who was it said the law is an ass???? cos the people in charge of it in whatever form can be asses too :o)

Bit of this n that

2008-11-14T22:10:00.002Z

I've spent a lot of time trying to make some jewellery this week...CheapISH, cheerful, colourful and some sort of christmassy...Eeeks i said the C word...Am really against it until actual december but as am gonna be selling (hopefully) stuff at end of the month then i thought i'd try do some seasonal ISH kind of jewellery...Well colourwise seasonal hence the ISH :o)

On top of the £50 million of cuts our useless council had to make in this years budget (2008/2009) the proposals for next years budget (2009/2010) are to make £30 million of cuts...Social work overall have to make over £8 million of cuts...The are specific for children with disabilities will have to make £50,000 of cuts...Now that may not sound like much but it's a fair chunk and will be on top of the cuts made already...Playschemes and respite services have already been cut and further cuts will result in families getting no provision at all as far as i can see...I was at a meeting yesterday where this was being discussed...The cuts that is, and the bloke chairing the meeting wanted to know what parents thought and what parents wanted...Some of what he would like to see happen i do actually agree with but other stuff i don't...I don't think that some families should be cut to having naff all in the way of respite or support...On the other hand there are families who are still getting the same level of service they got several years back...And in some of those cases the child no longer needs such a high level of input...Like one family i know the mother throws a hissy fit if they dare to threaten to take away any of the respite her son receives...She immediately goes to her doctor and gets put back on anti depressants just so she can keep the very high level of respite she currently gets...And she has admitted she does that to keep the level of care he gets...Wouldn't mind if he wasn't in residential school mon-fri and only home at weekends...Or if she was on her own but she is happily married with a husband in a very good job earning a fair bit...Her son also is a lot more capable than either her or her hubby give him credit for and her son knows exactly how to get what he wants from both of them...Her hubby works for the local NHS and also is on every committee going to do with wherever and whatever their disabled son goes to...Basically he pulls strings and she fakes stuff...That really isn't fair when there are people getting naff all whos children are not in residential care for 5 days of the week...Getting that kind of thing sorted out may not necessarily save any money as such but it could help to get what is available shared out more fairly...Not gonna rant about it all on here so gonna shut up about it.

I do have another mini rant/irk though...Sir Ian Wood one of scotlands richest men has decided out of the blue this week that he wants to give £50 million of his own money to raise gardens in the centre of the city to be on a level with streets surrounding them...Now the raising of union terrace gardens has reared it's ugly head every so often for donkeys years...The public in general do NOT WANT it to happen and you'd think they'd have learnt their lesson...But naahhh the current council have got in on the act like every other council before them...Alex Salmond was also on telly talking about it and what a good thing it would be...Erm okies i wonder how it would go down in Edinburgh if they proposed to raise Princes Street gardens to street level????? Not very well i suspect...The public don't use the gardens much but then again neither does the council...There is currently underway a proposal to build an arts centre for all to use but a local existing arts group in the gardens...That has gained funding for various places including the council and the scottish govt...So why go and contradict that and put it in jeopardy just to satisy the whim of a man who was once the richest in scotland to have a square named after him...What he could do instead is donate his £50 million to the council to help pay for their move to new headquarters and create a civic square once the current headquarters are raised to the ground...That is gonna cost our council £80 million so his £50 million would go a long way in helping...And they could name that civic square after him...The link here is a wee bit of info about the gardens...The arts project i mentioned is spoken about in the link...But latest info on it is that they have £3m funding from the council amongst other funding...Seriously would you want to see beautiful sunken victorian gardens like these turned into a concrete mess!!!... Union Terrace Gardens Aberdeen Park Hey we have another square being built down by the train and bus stations...It keeps stopping and starting as they keep running out of dosh to pay the workers...He could fund it instead and have that shopping centre (surplus to requirements methinks) named after him...No offence meant to the guy as he has bailed out some of the places that were going to shut due to this years council cutbacks in the budget but there are limits.

Right i've taken ages to type this as i have to stop and start...Think i have pulled a muscle in my chest...Well i coughed in the car on tues night and next thing i knew i was gripping the wheel in agony...K and G have been nagging at me since to go to docs or a&e lol...Well a) i couldn't get an appointment on wed or today and b) i had a meeting yesterday and c) well it's only a pulled muscle...Besides i have jewellery to make and hopefully have time to glass paint if i can get loads of jewellery done this weekend and part of next week...Oh i tried printing on the acetate and it was a disaster (said in craig revel horwood style voice)...It will look good if done properly and am gonna make some enquiries

Beads galore

2008-11-11T18:06:00.002Z

K didn't get back home when she was going to...She had intended to stay for a week then go back south but she has succumbed to this nasty throat infection thing...Took her to the out of hours doctors on sunday night after a lot of wrangling with NHS24...Bunch of useless eejits them lot are...Took the details and said they'd get a nurse to call back soon, after nearly 3 hours no call so i called them...They'd been busy i was told but they don't just have 1 nurse in the call centre...They don't even have just one call centre they have several...We can't see our out of hours GP service without going through NHS24...This i know angers several of the GP's who help to man the service but they can't do much about it...My own GP practice was one of the ones who initially set up the joint service across the whole city...Anyways when we eventually got an appointment it was for 10.45pm and to be honest i think we'd have been better going to A&E...The GP on duty was next to useless and very dismissive...As it is because K is now here longer than suppsoed she had run out of prescription pills she takes daily...So phoned my GP and got her an appointment with the delightful GP she misses so much...He gave her the medication she'd run out of and also looked in her throat...And he immediately said antibiotics and was horrified she'd been dismissed so casually on sunday night...As the SYP are meeting here this weekend coming K is staying until the weekend regardless...She had a call about a job she applied for but didn't get...They had said they were going to keep her on file and they were true to their word...They're doing the checks just now and need a couple of forms filled in via email and fingers crossed she will be employed by them...She did tell them she is stuck up here ill at the mo and won't be back until next week like...That was fine with them...The job is with customs and excise LOL...Fingers crossed she gets it...She gave up university because her health problems were causing too much hassle with uni :o(

I ordered lots of beads the other week from a couple of places...One of which i have used in the past and didn't take too long to send the goods...I got an email last thurs confirming shipment and that i would get the goods either the next day or the day after...Hmmm that packet arrived today along with 2 others...Mind you that does mean i don't have to stay in until the postie has been...One of the parcels was from hong kong...Never ordered from over there before but it was cheapest place for factory packs of swarovski crystals...They're defo not fakes as the brilliance is on a par with from elsewhere...Swarovski are the most brilliant and shiny you can get...Ok they are all manmade but none of the others has that clarity...Any of the costumes you see covered in crystals or wedding dresses etc will be swarovski and not czech or lesser quality...That is the one main worry about ordering beads etc from over in that part of the world as fakes are rife...Postage wasn't anymore than from buying in this country from that particular seller...I also ordered stuff on sunday night and it arrived today as well...Think next time i use the first place i will make sure i order well in advance of needing lol...Does anyone know if a normal everyday printer is likely to be able to print on acetate and stay there???? Just before i maybe try it out...Suppose i could go to printer place at end of the street but he has been a bit dismissive in the past...I want business cards on acetate not the usual card...I could do them myself by hand writing i suppose but that would be too much of a phaff...Oops just noticed time got to go take M to fun club

Toodle pip tc xx

Gulp

2008-11-09T00:43:00.002Z

Ok i have just taken the bull by the horns and registered a domain name and paid for web hosting service to go with it...Now i need some decent pics, some goods to display and oh make a website to put them on to lol...I will post a link once i actually have a site running...Suppose i could even open a blog on it i dunno if that is possible or not...You can tell am as much use techy wise as a choiccy fireguard :o)

Today is the first day in 3 weeks i haven't spent whole time coughing my guts up...My throat still tickles and feels like there is a massive lump in it but i feel half human...Just as well as i need to make plenty stuff for the craft fair thingy...Not sure where my display board thingy i had all those years ago is...It's not where i thought and am wondering if i chucked it out...Eeks if i have but then again i can make a new one and make it different...I may also make up kits to make yer own jewellery with...Did that before as well...Anyways gonna go see about kip thing for a bit

Toodle pip tc xx

K's birthday and not a lot

2008-11-04T23:06:00.003Z

It's been drab and dreich and ever so horrid and freezing cold the last few days...Literally freezing cold as the temps have been down as low as minus 3 at night here I've been left with the most awful dry cough that nowt over the counter is helping...Am spending my days and nights cough, cough, coughing away trying to not have to go to the loo in the process...Coughing so much that there is traces of blood and people think am being sick when they hear me... Couldn't get an appointment with a GP i will actually see today though...Gonna try tomorrow...At least G got his flu jag on monday :o) He should be okies now as usually once he has the jag that's him no colds until the folloowing year...M as per usual ain't got this grrrr...Seriously he never gets anything that is going around...Might be an idea to poke, prod and test him and then market whatever it is in his system that makes him like that lol.

For her birthday K got a sterling silver hot diamonds charm bracelet with a couple of charms from my mum and 2 sisters (their families too)...They're really pretty :o) From a family friend she got some money and she also got money from her father...Woopty doohs $100 again...I know it sounds bad saying that but it was her 21st and therefor a special birthday...I was hoping he'd have sent her a memento to keep as well...His mum has some things for her which she'll need to pick up...From me and the boys she got this really gorgeous silver and opal jewellery by an australian designer...At least am sure the woman in the gallery said the designer is australian...The opals aren't the usual cream or pale blue...They are more a very bright aqua blue and very firey...I will take pics of what i got K and post them for you all to see...We went out for a meal on fri evening when K got home here...We went somewhere we hadn't been before and am not sure if i will go back...Not that the food wasn't good but i prefer potatoes to having chips with everything and the portions weren't that big for the price...On sat we ventured north to visit mum and my sisters...But everyone came to mums so we didn't actually go anywhere except hers lol...And even though am supposed to be back on a diet again i did have some cullen ice cream...It has to be done as it is the best ice cream in scotland if not the world :o)

Yesterday K and me went into town so she could get her hair cut and get some furry boots...Cheap ones from primark that are ever so cosy...I bought some C word lights from primark and they don't work So going to have to take them back and pray they have more back in as they were the last ones...I have plent C word lights but i loved these and well they could be used on my stall at the school craft fayre...See a good excuse :o) Right gonna go have a wee lie down and hopefully the american election results show will put me to sleep...No offense to our american friends as the UK ones do the same...I really want some proper sleep without coughing and coughing and waking myself up

Toodle pip tc xx

SNP are bunch of numpties

2008-10-30T13:55:00.002Z

Lots of people who live in england seem to think that in scotland we get far more than is our share of anything...That we get services or medical treatments that are unavailable down south...I have always said it works both ways...Money for things like the free personal care for the elderly means cutbacks in other areas...Likewise the money to help freeze council tax has been taken from elsewhere...Somewhere very personal to me is one area that the money for that came from...Westminster put aside a 3 figure million pound sum of money to transform services, respite, care etc for families with disabled children last year...Unfortunately this money was NOT ring fenced :o( Wales have spent the money on what is was supposed to be used for...Alex Salmond and co decided to NOT use it for the purpose given but instead to use the £34 million scotland was given to freeze council tax...Now in a totally seperate initiative the scottish govt has announced a plan to increase respite weeks for families over the next 3 years...Unfortunately the money they will give to councils to make this happen is also NOT ring fenced...So the councils can basically do whatever they want with the money...And some will be as unscrupulous as the current scottish exec have been and use it for other purposes...Respite provision in my city has been DRASTICALLY CUT in recent months...Many families of disabled children or disabled or elderly adults have had their respite cut to NIL by our council...Or have been left with barely anything at all...So scotland ain't all it's cracked up to be all of the time by the media trying to whip a frenzy of envy between us and the rest of the uk...Needless to say i am disgusted with what the scottish government has done...Ok most of this is far too late for me anyways but it isn't for others...Freezing council tax has only caused all kinds of financial difficulties for councils anyway...Sounds good but is really just an unworkable gimmick.

Went out and bought K's birthday pressie today but will only describe it or post pics after she has received it as am not sure if she has found this blog yet lol.

Good news

2008-10-29T18:23:00.003Z

Am going to be a great auntie :o) ...Well i already am a great auntie or at least i like to think i am lol...My eldest nephew who got married 4 years ago is going to be a daddy...Yikes great auntie sounds so old doesn't it...My big sis is naturally over the moon...Long time to go yet though so just fingers crossed my nephews wife has a safe pregnancy

I have a craft fayre evening thingy at a local primary school at the end of nov...It's at the school one of my cousins sons attend...The kids are selling stuff they have made and they have outside stalls in as well...It will be cheap and cheerful jewellery rather than the sterling silver stuff...Doesn't mean design gets compromised just that i will use silver and gold plated components/beads instead of the real thing...It does mean i don't have long to do 101 things to be ready for it...That includes trying out packaging on the cheap andmaking business cards...So i better be 100% soon...I still feel wobbly and now have a cold and left with tickly cough

Oh we did have very light snow that didn't stay yesterday so G told me.

Pics

2008-10-28T20:02:00.020Z

Sterling silver charm bracelet

Close up...Freshwater pearl, clear AB swarovski crystal and jet swarovski crystal

Bracelet of fine stering silver chain with freshwater pearls and clear AB swarovski crystals.

Close up

Matching earrings...Very bridal i think and there is a matching necklace...I hope to do a tiara to go with the set

Same thing but different colours of swarovski crystal

Again same earrings in different colours...I made these to use up colours i didn't like but they look fine on earrings

Same as before in pinks that is hard to see because of crap lighting on pic

This one is the 'summer' set to add to the 'autumn' and 'winter' from my old AOL journal

Close up of the earrings

Close up of the colours i decided were best for 'Summer'...Clear, light siam (red), peridot and a yellow the name of which escapes me.

This one is the 'Spring' to go with the other 3 'seasons'

I have no idea why this has come out pink but hey ho...Close up of the 'spring' earrings

Close up of the colours of the crystals i chose for 'Spring'...Fuschia, lime, clear AB and light emerald

Adding pics on here and writing bits beside them is much more of a pain than it was on AOL

Designs are my own and not to be copied please

Odds n ends

2008-10-28T19:13:00.002Z

Before anyone says anything i know i didn't say what the audition was for last week...Am a bit concerned that this being an open to all and sundry blog i could get in trouble...Last year i realised that i had said too much (name of programme) when i really shouldn't have...BUT my AOL journal was private so not many knew...I do know that a group who got slightly further than M last time around had to remove stuff they had written on their website...If you wanna know ask me to email you

Going to Glasgow absolutely killed me...I spent thurs, fri, sat and most of sun in bed or on sofa wrapped in a duvet...I was barely able to go to the toilet let alone anything else...I still feel a bit jittery and wobbly...I have been on but not typing just saving as much as possible from a couple of websites before they disappear on fri...Speaking of fri that is K's birthday...She's going to be 21 this year Time flies a bit too quick these days cos doesn't seem that long ago lol...Tomorrow regardless of how i feel am gonna have to do mass tidy and clean up...Needless to say the boys haven't done much whilst i have been poorly...They have gone to shop or chippy but not cleaned or tidied Also there is a mini mount everest of washing to do...See i hate getting poorly cos chores just mount up...Mind you i hadn't felt like that for a very long time.

It has been bitterly cold here today...We were forecast for snow but we didn't have any...There may have been some snow in the shire though...The city tends not to get as much as aberdeenshire...Maybe the weather knows that aberdeen city is not part of aberdeenshire...That must sound daft but it is true...Since local government reorganisation in the 70's the city is seperate to the shire...Actually the village i grew up in the snow or rain often bypasses as well...It's all to do with the siting of the urban area and lay of the land...My radiator through here in the living room isn't working...The hot water ain't going into it so looks like am gonna have to call on the plumber soon.

Going to attempt to post some rubbish pics of some odd bits of jewellery i haven't posted a pic of before...Really do need to get a better camera but wallet says no can do lol.

Toodle pip tc xx

A real quickie

2008-10-22T22:19:00.003+01:00

Ok we went to Glasgow despite me feeling like death warmed up...Actually make that death cooled down to minus goodness knows what...I look awful, sound awful and can barely move...The only reason me and M went to Glasgow was because he was auditioning again...Old readers from AOL will know he auditioned last series and now he's done it again...Is it wrong of me to hope that he doesn't get to be in front of the judges this time????? I just don't think i could hack tootling off to glasgow to sit around for hours again and most exciting thing to happen is you meet titch and titchier aka Ant & Dec...When we came out of the armadillo (audition venue) we saw people we know from up here in aberdeen...Am gonna phone one of them tomorrow to see how they thought they got on...At least M had a backing track this time...Oh and one of the researchers recognised him from last time which was a surprise...Oh well we hear before jan21st as that is when the auditions seen on tv are filmed.

Excuse me if i don't actually comment on anyone elses blogs in the next few days...My whole body was aching before we set off for glasgow and it's worse now...Tomorrow is going to be spent in bed or on the sofa curled up under a duvet feeling cack and probably the next few days as well...I was just kidding about sending this to anyone...I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy as i haven't felt like this for years...Just hope am able to pick up my glass at the weekend...That will be explained in another entry

Toodle pip tc xx

Icky

2008-10-21T20:10:00.002+01:00

I had the doctor today for an appointment i booked over a month ago...I've to go back to gynae again ...I've not been feeling too good since fri and my gp insisted in checking me out...So i have a very nasty raging throat infection, chest infection and generally feel ugh...On antibiotics which i hope work...G has similar except he was at the docs last thurs and got steroids and same antibiotics...Steroids because he had upped his inhalers but was wheezing...They've not really kicked in as such yet :o( ...He won't go to docs on his own so if he's no better tomorrow he won't go along...Me and M are in Glasgow tomorrow..Gonna be fun and games with me looking like death and feeling even worse...Can't postpone as if he doesn't go tomorrow then that's it...At least am not having to drive as we're getting the train...Sainsburys have a deal on just now where you get a return fare anywhere in Scotland for £15...Anyways i can't sit here long as i do feel vile...Can i just waft this infection through the internet to you all though After all it's nice to share things :o)

SAAS saga finally sorted

2008-10-14T00:21:00.004+01:00

G got a letter on thurs from SAAS about his Disabled Student Allowance (DSA)...It was another mess that would need sorting out and i wasn't about to do it lol...Had enough of getting some numptie on the end of the phone who hadn't a clue...On fri i phoned his disability officer but she had the day off and wasn't going to be in until today...When our post eventually arrived on fri (can be anything between 9.30am and 12.30pm) there was another letter...This time it was a cheque for the amount stated on the previous days letter...Let me explain why it was a mess lol...With the letter from them on thurs there was a list of what was requested by his university...The letter stated he would be getting the amount shown on that list...Said list of equipment being identical to the copy we were emailed before it got sent to SAAS...One thing was missing but his disability officer (lets call her J) explained today the money for the training gets paid direct to the training company...So that makes sense that it would be deducted from the total for G to be given...BUT that still didn't explain why the amount highlighted on the list of items was different to the amount written on the accompanying (sp?) letter...And the cheque was for the amount stated on the letter which was £550 SHORT!!!!!...Which is a pretty large amount gone AWOL...Oh and the other amount highlighted on the list (bits highlighted are paid to student) was £150 for consumables...That's the allowance for printer ink and paper for the year...So J phoned SAAS herself and she only had to be on hold 20 mins (lucky her) and yes they did cock up...So he will be getting the difference sent in another cheque.

I must interrupt myself here and explain to new readers...G is aspergers but he was diagnosed quite severely non verbal autistic when he was just turned 3...He didn't actually speak until he was 5 and he has come on so much over the years...Through some determination on my part, his part and managing to get the appropriate education he is now just started at university...It is a local university as he is still unable to live away from home...The course is a Masters in Electronic & Electrical Engingeering...Old readers from AOL know this already but thought i best explain cos am nice :o) Am pretty damn proud of him actually...In the UK students who have a disability or special need of some kind can apply for a disabled student allowance...It used to be disabled student grant (DSG) and DSA but now it is all classed DSA...DSG was for equipment you need because of your condition in order to participate on the course...You don't get money for anything any student would need as par for the course...G is getting a laptop with specific programmes on it he needs because of his dyspraxia...He's also getting a dictaphone so he can record tutorials, meetings etc...Also a PDA so he can try and be organised...He has a memory like a sieve unless it's academic lol...Now you still get the equipment part but it all comes under same header of DSA...The equipment part you only get ONCE during the duration of your course...The rest which is non medical help, consumables etc you get each year...That can amount to i think around £23,000...That would of course take into account disabled students living away from home who need to be in supported accomodation...As G is living at home then he is getting money paid to his university for a buddy he can meet up with weekly and for support from the NAS (national autistic society)...So hope this explains a bit to new readers.

So back to first chapter am just glad i didn't have to phone SAAS and try and sort it out...Am going to have the dubious pleasure NOT of clearing out G's bedroom in preparation for the company that everything is coming from coming to instal it all lolol...Once the other cheque arrives he can put both into his bank account...Then after the cheques have cleared he can order the equipment and hopefully not have to wait too long.

My connection has been like wading through a quagmire all weekend...Some times the boys were online on the Wii no problem and i couldn't connect with the PC and other times other way round and rest of the time nothing worked...From reading various message boards and some posts on blogs it wasn't just me but happening to lots of people...So either CWP or BT had issues along the lines somewhere...It's late so kip time

Toodle pip tc xx

WOOHOO

2008-10-09T00:38:00.002+01:00

WOOHOO i've managed to transfer old AOL journal to here on blogger...It was so simple and easy to do and i think it transfered all the written stuff fine...Will need to do a check and match before 31st like...I won't write in it anymore but only on this one but it is good to have it transfered and not lost...That way i can peruse at my leisure to gather the posts i wish to keep and print them off for posterity...Well at least until i one day decided i may just write a book...At least the last 3 years are on the journal, not all but enough to trigger the memories...The rest isn't as i never kept a diary before i started the journal on AOL...I do often think it would be good to write down the experiences i have had of living and coping with my sons and their autistic spectrum disorders...Old readers from AOL will already know that like.

BTW i did go round to my friends and it didn't turn up...Shame as i wish it had done would have been fun to see his face...I have begged her to go to womans aid as am sure they can give advice even after the violent partner has left the home...He still has a hold over here and she needs advice on how to make that break stick which i can't give.

Am well scary me

2008-10-07T23:55:00.004+01:00

The weather has been absolutely minging here all day...Minging i might add is a good old fashioned scots word recently hijacked by the english media after being used on big brother...I've used the word minging since i was teensy little and i like it :o) Minging actually is an understatement i've been drenched several times today :o( It did kinda match my mood though...I said i thought i had fallen out with my best friend...Well she'd left a message on landline answering machine and sent a text when i didn't answer asking me not to be angry with her...Well i am big time angry and tomorrow am going round there at 6pm...See ickle old me must be very very very scary...Well i must be if a grown man runs and hides when a doorbell rings because he thinks it is me at the door...Said grown man being the expleteive deleted ex partner of my best friend...The one who has mentally abused her for the last 6-7 years...The one who has been physically abusing her for slightly less years...The one who i always saw right through...The one who disliked me totally because he knew i saw right through him...HE walked out at beg of sept...Sat was first time he'd been round to see the children, then he turned up on sunday and last night...And he turned up tonight and reason she answered the door was because she thought it was me cos she'd not long phoned the house and G said i was gonna be going round after dropping off M at club...Her doorbell had rung whilst he was round and he said that must be cathy and took off at a rate of knots and cowered and hid...Now i have absolutely no problem whatsoever with being big bad scary dude if it keeps that dickhead away from her and her kids...He's back in control and she needs to wrest that control back and she ain't gonna manage to without help...We've not fallen out am just trying to give her the imaginary kick she needs to let him realise he doesn't control her anymore...And i will get more angry with her and more angry until she sees sense.
Sandra i dunno how to reply to comments individual so gonna leave a reply here to one you left on first post...AOL don't actually get our subscription money, that money goes to and belongs to Carphone Warehouse...AOL has in effect ceased to exist as an ISP since they sold the membership to CWP and are merely a portal to the web...The only way they make money is by advertising...Now closing journals down means they lose advertising space so it really doesn't make any sense...They think they make no dosh from journals but they did because how many advertising spaces did the 1000's of journals give them DUH!!!
Now it would appear i have some lovely new people that i dunno following this madness of a blog so am gonna go have a peek at them :o)
Toodle pip tc xx

Stuff

2008-10-07T01:02:00.001+01:00

Forgot to ask in earlier post do you like my new and improved pic???? I love my WeeMee which i created really for using on Facebook...I got fed up being 'hit' on whilst playing poker...I mean am minging looking anyways and am HAPPY being single...So cartoony me did away with that Promise i will post real me pic at some point in the future

I've managed to add some bittys to the side and the bottom...I moved the feeder doo-dah and the archive thingy to the bottom...On the bottom i also added the wild weather pic of the day thingamijig because those who read me for years on AOL will know i lurve weird weather...My dream holiday is not lying on a beach somewhere exotic (would be nice like) but to go tornado chasing and see a T5...My ex husband thought i was nuts but told me i could if i got insured...My children think am bonkers but they're used to it...Everyone else just looks at me with that sad kinda look on their faces and shake their heads :o) On the side i have created and added a slideshow of my jewellery...Well not all but some of my creations...The photos are pants but i will get them changed at some point...Do look forward to slideshows of glass painted bittys, cards and other bits n bobs in the future...Am rather miffed that i cannot seem to get Comic Sans as my font...Very irritating as i have used that font the whole of my internet life which is more years than i care to admit, lets just say i was still happily married at the time and i've been single 10 n half years.

I have a meeting in the morning so suppose i should try out the kip thing...I think i have fallen out with my best friend but not sure lol

Still lost and a wee rant

2008-10-06T19:56:00.000+01:00

ARGHHHHH okies i found the bitty where you can add on elements and tart it all up...Problem is my tigger which is supposed to flash between Caffs and Journal doesn't and other things wouldn't work...I tried to add a list at the bottom of links to favourite or useful (IMO) sites...Did that work, did it heck...Does make me wonder if other pics with moving elements in them will work or not...I've been saving stuff out of my AOL ftp space to my HD...I wouldn't have had to if my HD hadn't died a year ago meaning i had to get a new one...Pics i've taken though aren't a problem i never stored them within AOL as such...They're all either on an SD card or as negatives somewhere lol.

G's student loan and bursary stuff has finally come through and as it should be...A week past fri he got letter from SAAS (look it up lol) saying he was getting bare minimum loan...So me being me went nuts and phoned them up...Not too hard you'd think but you'd be wrong it takes forever and a day to get through to that lot...After almost an hour on hold i got some dipstick who was about as much use a choccy fireguard...Oh says he it could take another month before he gets his bursary and loan because we've only just got your financial details and divorce confirmation...Ok says me that we can deal with but what about his disabled student allowance/grant....Oh that's been approved said he BUT it won't be released until the rest is all sorted out...At which point i said 'you what no way'...After trying to get the dipstick to understand that the DSA has SOD ALL to do with student loan or bursary i demanded to speak to someone higher up...This is the bit that proves the male personage i was speaking to is a total dipstick...He said 'there isn't anyone higher than me'...I was like 'really, are you the boss of SAAS'...He laughed and said no to which i politely informed him that meant there was someone higher up the chain than him...As it was past closing time by now he couldn't find anyone for me to speak to and through i wanted complaints anyways...Tell you this bloke was thicker than a peasouper of fog...So last mon and tues i tried to phone SAAS and gave up after over an hour of being on automatic hold...On wed i decided i was gonna hold come hell or high water until someone answered...After an hour i got dipstick again...So straight away i demanded to speak to a superior...At which point dipstick CUT ME OFF!!!!!...Thurs i couldn't get through and fri i was out all day...On saturday G got a letter from them stating full stay at home loan and full bursary and it was dated 1st oct...The day that dipstick cut me off...Am gonna phone G's disability officer and see if she can sort out the prats about the DSA money...DSA is money from the government distributed by whatever student award agency you come under...However much you get in a student loan, bursary or anything like that is totally and utterly IRRELEVANT...How much money either you or your parents have in the bank (or not as case be now) is IRRELEVANT...ALL that the DSA matters on is how you are affected by your condition and what help and support you need to do your course because of your condition...So WITHHOLDING it until anything else you may or may not have applied for to me is WRONG...If it is true that SAAS do this (am not quite sure if to believe dipstick) then i will be writing to my MP...G has met up with his buddy 4 times now and i dunno who has paid for it...He obviously doesn't have his equipment because the money hadn't been released...Luckily what they are doing just now is stuff he did for his highers 2 years ago.

Rant over lol

Toodle pip tc xx

Dazed, lost and confused

2008-10-04T17:28:00.000+01:00

Nowt new there i can here everyone who read my other journal shouting at their screens :o) Am totally useless when it comes to technical stuff on here...This is follow on from my upsides, downsides and inbetweens journal on AOL...That wonderful lot who have decided blogs ain't important so we're gonna do away with them...AOL was at one point an innovative and forward thinking ISP...Over the last few years they have receeded more and more to not even being an ISP anymore...What was innovative and people copied is now deemed not good enough for AO and all because it doesn't bring in money...Blogs are something that many people read, tv programmes have them, tv programmes have been made about them (belle de jour or however u spell it) newspapers have them, journalists have them...Hey everyone and their aunt has them apart from AOL come halloween...AOL want money and the only way they can do that in the UK now is from advertising...Well they're not gonna have much to advertise if they do away with every community based element...I can see AOL disappearing permanently soon to be honest

Anyways enough moaning about them am here now and LOST...How do i add pics that aren't one of me to my sidebar???? How do i add anything to my sidebar???? How do i make my own layout as the choices are pants???? Erm how do i do anything on here would sum it all up :o)