My Life's Ingredients

ALLY PALLY DAY!!! Got a budget of £150 and wanted to shop lots!! :) It took us about 1 hour (?) to get to Wood Green to switch to the coach to Alexandra Palace - but of course that coach just left when we arrived ... and none turned up for about 20 mins. We had one of the standard buses leaving already but decided to get the next one coming around if the coach didn't turn up (which it didn't). Alexandra Palace is an amazing building! Shame I didn't have enough time to look around (otherwise all the goodies would have gone! ;) ) but I definitely have to go back to have a closer look (Another reason to come back to visit Sharon!! ;) ). The foyer is absolutely stunning with the fountain and all the greenery! As for "The Big Stamp Show" I was fairly disappointed by the products on offer. For a particular paper craft show I'd expected more, but suppose you cannot have everything (one day I am going to plan my holidays in the USA around a Craft Show, I tell you!). ...

First day in London - and Sharon and I decided to go to the British Museum after a loooong lie in and bit slumping about with breakfast etc. :) On the way to the museum we got past Sharon's nearest Stamp Shop ... they had lots of nice stamps and accessories, but I held back with purchases due to our trip to Ally Pally tomorrow! :) The Museum was great as usual. Sharon showed me the "new" library - I am sure it wasn't there when I visited it in 1998/1999. Also went to the special exhibition about "Taboo in the Pacific" which was very interesting. I wanted to see the mummies but somehow we didn't find them so we decided to go for lunch and on the search for Sharon's brushes. Had a very nice plain Potato with Cheese (Thanks Sharon!!!) and then went searching for paint brushes (cheapy ones for Sharon to use with the H2Os) and anatomy/physiology software for me. As this took longer than we had planned (and I still don't have any software but got the...

Arrived save and sound in London - and of course totally forgot how horrible it is to travel with big luggage in the Big City!!! Steps and some of the tube stations and then a couple of steps plus the escalators. TONS of people everyday, handling the tube fares (pretty sure they've gone up since I left for good in May 1999!!). Ticket machines that don't give you change ... the whole lot. But HEY! I made it safe and sound through Kings Cross to the tube station where I stood in line for about 15 mins just to see the sign coming up that it only takes coins - and the next one in line the same! Both had a funny note on them.... "This machine does not accept Scottish Notes" ... now that's a bit harsh, isn't it?? LOL. Once I got my ticket at the desk I promptly went to the wrong direction of the Piccadilly line (and could have SWORN I went to the West Bound platform!!!) so changed at Caledonian Road (now that's really a sign, isn't it??? ;) ) and finally got...

"I'm on my way...." Well, here I am on my train to London .... just stopping at Newcastle. Unfortunately, GNER wants £2 odd from me for 30 mins WiFi connection, so I won't go online just yet. Can't imagine I am only now going back to visit London - not taking into account the flight connections at Stanstead or my module 6 last year as it wasn't really a "visit". I haven't been to the capital of UK since I left it in May 1999. Friends have been complaining that I have been visiting them more often when I was living in Germany than now that I am up in Scotland. Scary thought, isn't it?! On my way to Waverley this morning I was thinking about my sister - she's turning 40 (!!!) this year and I hope that we will be visiting her in December for a quick trip. Unfortunately, we won't be able to go to her birthday party because of the pre-treatment scan for IVF which will be around her birthday as it seems. Irony of life with me and my sister...

Haven't done any studying today ... but did some scrapping. Still have to do some bits and bobs around the house before retiring to the bedroom and watching TV. Can't wait to see Sharon again!!! :) Train leaves at 11am so I am probably leaving house at 9:30am. Means I can take the bus with DH for a bit at least.

Got up this morning at 8am to get stuff done ... and have been doing Wolves registration things and now am getting some scrapping done ... wahey!! :) Been a long time! :) Not sure if I am able to do any studying today though ... still have household chores to do (yuk) but probably will try to fit in at least 2 hours this afternoon. NO CINEMA tonight!! Well... gotta dash and go through my "to-do" list!! :)

... and exhausted and tired etc. The weekend was really busy and hectic and exhausting and draining ... but it still was great!!! :) We got back yesterday at 6:45pm and all I could do was flop on the couch, order a chinese with DH and watch some SKY TV and then fall into bed. Today I haven't studied at all and didn't get any scrapping done either. I have been cleaning the house a bit - even though we haven't been contacted by our visitor yet... and then met DH at the cinema to watch "The Sentinel" which was a very good film really! :) Have been doing Wolves stuff since I returned home (8:45pm) and now am getting really tired. Hope to be able to do some studying and scrapping tomorrow but still have lots of things to do before I leave on Thursday to go to London!!

What a trip down!!! We left Edinburgh at 11am and had a fairly nice trip down to Eyemouth, where we dropped off DVDs for a friend of the family who's bedridden just now. Next stop was Alnwick for lunch, but we decided not to visit the gardens because the weather looked like rain and we didn't have enough time really. I told DH I'd rather have him drive relaxed (well... as much as that works!) to Sheffield instead of having him ranting about drivers again etc. Still managed to take a couple of photos of the Treehouse!! :) And what a good decision the short stop only was! We didn't even get to Newcastle when the rain began - bucketing down!!! And we had Friday afternoon traffic in Newcastle as well ... which seemed to be the standard theme for the whole trip on the A1/M1 ... very bad rain and slow moving/stationary traffic!!! All in all our 4.5 hour trip took us 6 hours in total due to the traffic!!! We arrived at 7pm at the hotel - which didn't have its own parking, ...

I received my last payslip on Tuesday - and they have left out my 5 days holidays I was supposed to get paid as I never took them.... trying to get in touch with my boss today but guess what - cannot get anywhere. Will phone team phone number in a bit!! I thought we had settled everything when we did the paperwork on my last day but HR informed me they were never told about those 5 days .... ???!?!!? Not saying anything about my old company but it's getting a bit annoying now!!! And then, just to top everything off - DH phoned me from his shopping trip that there's something wrong with the car - his dad's car, which we were supposed to use for our weekend in Sheffield (as per MIL - anything could happen with our little Peugeot!!!). Great! Can we please just have a breather?!?!?! DH just phoned again, and apparently the car should be ok to drive all the way to Sheffield and back. The whole shebang has resulted in an annoyed DH who has lost yet another afternoon of his week ...

Well... the one I purchased in August!! :) ) for the first time this week for Birthday card. It's a stamp from the Heritage Rubber Stamp Co (Stamper's Grove) . I love the stamp - I believe it's supposed to be Urquhart Castle, but I am not certain.... Definitely have to buy another anti-static bag at Ally Pally ... the embossing is getting a bit untidy (too much fingerprints etc.). Will post a piccie later as Blogger seems to have problems uploading at the moment.

Found some charts in there ... so I will be able to do some bits and bobs. Didn't want to search for Physiology bits as yet ... bit more complicated. Well.. finally can leave the PC alone and watch "Little Women" (the one with Wynona Ryder) ... didn't realise until a week ago that Christian Bale is "Laurie" :D There you gooooo!!! :) PS: Just for DH - I loved that version of "Little Woman" for a long time ... nothing to do with Christian Bale (LOL).

Mmmmh... trying to get some anatomy charts off the I-net for my notebook so I can study while on my trips to Sheffield and to London this month without having to carry all my heavy books with me ... but it seems to be a NO GO area?!?! You can BUY all that stuff but there's nothing for free? Really have to brush up on my muscular system and the joints but the Tortora is a bit big to carry around (you can kill people by just opening it!!) and it also has lots of chapters that are of no interest for me really .... Does anyone know of any charts or free anatomy/physiology software around? Any tips much appreciated!!!

I am an underachiever .... Well... at the crop today I just wasn't with it ... didn't have photos with me and absolutely noooooo inspiration. Was thinking of doing Christmas cards ... didn't happen. Between 10 -4 I have done 5 Christmas tags!!! That's all!!!! :( And went shopping for a bit. Geesh, I really have to do something to get out of this loss of mojo again!!! Used the Scalloped Tag Combo from Sizzix plus the See D's Christmas Set I got from QVC. Quite like the stamps... :)

Today was supposed to be my lazy day …. But again that didn’t happen!! First of all I woke up with a stinking headache at 8am and then survived until 10am after putting an ice pack on my forehead. Later I went downstairs to watch telly while DH was still sleeping … he got to bed very late/early after we had friends over yesterday to watch the NFL game (Dolphins @ Steelers) which lasted until 12:30am. I switched out the light at around 2am and DH must have been up until at least 2:30am. That’s why I let him sleep. At 11:30am we were ready to go to the Farmers Market at Castle Street - that was the only thing I have been asking for our 5th anniversary … a nice Hog Sandwich and a lazy day. ( So we got our Hog Sandwiches, some super fresh strawberries and some yoghurt drinks which were yummy. Then we went to Lidl to get some more food in and after our shop we found some new toys…. A DLP Projector and a Notebook … those special Sunday only offers. And … well… HAPPY BIRTHDAY / MERRY CH...

Scrapping away since 21st August for my FIL's album for his 60th!! And I got a lot done ... 20 single LOs (Layouts) in total!! Not bad, eh? Here are a couple of the LOs I've done for FIL. Used mainly HOTP Heritage paper & Heritage Cardstock (8x8), Prima Flowers (not sure which set though!), See D's alphabet stamps "Large Swirl Letters & Numbers", Tim Holtz Distress Inks and eyelets/brads from Dovecraft. Wonder when I am going to scrap again for myself... ;) Next in line is a scrapbook for my friends for their wedding ... which was ... mmmmh... 2 years ago!!! :o !!! But fortunately they know about what's been going on in my life since 2004 really, so they haven't been nasty about the delay - and I am DETERMINED to get this gift album done in time for them!

It's my FIL's birthday today - the real one! :) We went to the Museum of Flight and also did the "Concorde Experience". That was a fab day, even though the museum doesn't look like much from the outside... like an abandoned military base, which it is after all, with several Hangars and other buildings... :) It is amazing what a big plane the Concorde is and how small it is on the inside!! Not to mention the loos! :) When you had to get up and the "trolley dolly" came up the aisle you really got to know your fellow passengers better - bet you had to sit on their lap until the trolley had passed!!! The other Hangars contained War planes in one and Commercial Planes in the other. The German plane (a Messerschmidt Me 163B-1a KOMET) looked more like a bath toy than a plane that could actually FLY!! :) The first Hangar we visited had collectors planes - including helicopters and sea planes. After spending a surprisingly long time at the Museum of Fligh...

...and I'm sad and glad at the same time. Bah, that sounds nasty ...!!! I like her being here, like visiting her, but this time I felt more obliged to entertain her (even though she never asks for any entertainment) ... and with the whole "working the notice" and big change in my life I think I was just a bit more on the grumpy side and getting more annoyed easily (and DH probably will agree with that ... just with one change .. "WAS???" :o) ). Anyway, wasn't the easiest holiday we had, probably because I had more days off and still tried to get my FIL's scrapbook done ... and was/am yearning for a DAY OFF!! And of course I didn't get much of a break because of the translating etc. Ah well... "Hab Dich trotzdem lieb, Mutsch!"!!!! I was working on the scrapbook, my mum was out in town, and DH was on cooking duties for his "famous" (well.. with guests anyway) Philly Cheese Steak in Ciabatta. YUMMM!!! On 4pm we left to drop off my mu...

The post on Friday about DH, my mum and me going to a Football game!!! :) It was actually my FIL's secret birthday party... he was going to the Bo'ness Car museum with MIL, BIL and two other relatives while we were meeting with 12 other people at the Bo'ness Railway Museum where we ushered them onto the steam train for a tour - with FIL and Co turning up 5 mins before the train departed. This was a long planning from my MIL since April, involving us in lots of things and all those LIES!!! LOL. We had a fab day though, and FIL thoroughly enjoyed it - and was very surprised when he saw us all on the train. Afterwards we went for high tea at the Richmond Park Restaurant/Hotel where the food was very nice - but the service wasn't the best to state it mildly! DH held a speech before food, we had games afterwards (guess the baby photo etc.) and then even did our version of the "Von Trap Family" ...Adamson's family ... sounds a bit like "Adams Family"...

Well.. it just had to be, hadn't it?? Today it was raining ... nawh, even worse ... it was BUCKETING down!!! Actually wanted to have a lazy day but my mum wanted to do the most of her trip so decided to go up town - and DH kinda volunteered us both to come with her! :) We went to Subway for lunch (yummy sandwiches - always one of our favourite places to go for a quick but nice lunch!) and then off to the Royal and National Museum. About 1 hour on the top floor at the Royal Museum (nice Chinese, Japanese and Middle Eastern art & artefacts), then we went over to the new "Sporting Scotland" part of the National Museum (nothing about the Claymores of course ... :( ) and back to the Royal Museum to see/hear the Millennium Clock strike 4pm! :) It's a beatitul clock - in a way ... lots of gory things but then it makes sense. I only read the background of it afterwards though. Then we went back to the Rooftop Terrace of the National Museum - what a VIEW!!! Well... it wo...

Mmmh... was a funny one... I had my message about going away drinks passed around the company by one of the main secretaries and kinda expected other people apart from my team mates to turn up - I have been working for the company for 6.5 years after all and thought I got to know a couple more than just the 12 people in my area .... :( :( Well.. it was just my team mates who turned up (after I have been sitting all by myself for 30 mins). Shame the Crags had again problems with their coffee machine (funny that ... heard the same when I went in the last time, and that was 4 months ago!!! :O ), I quite fancied one of their white hot chocolates... Anyway, we had lots of fun!!! I knew that neither Lisa nor Heather would turn up because both have little ones to go back to with their DHs either away or busy that day - and Heather is working at the other office at the other end of town anyway. Wasn't too bad, we had a good natter and people kept buying me WKD Cherry's ... specially w...