Sunday 30 January 2011

AN OLD SURPISE

I got a wonderful surprise in my emails this morning from my Dad's cousin Gail which contained some photographs that I didn't even know existed.  I have very few photographs of my paternal Grandma as she died just two years before I was born.  My Grandmother Violets brother Alan was a very keen photographer and my Dad remembers him using the Anderson Shelter in the back yard as a dark room before he used the cupboard at the top of the stairs.  Uncle Alan emigrated to New Zealand when my Dad was young and then moved to Australia with his wife Joan and children Gail and Paul so we never knew about the photographs.  I got in touch with Gail via Uncle Alan via facebook last year and our friendship has grown.  Unfortunately Uncle Alan died a couple of weeks ago aged 80 and peacefully in his sleep at home.

As far as my Dad remembers these photos were taken at Whitley Bay on a Sunday School outing in the early 1950's.



This is the only picture I have seen with My Grandparents and my Dad together.  The lady on the right is Aunt Joan who was married to Uncle Alan.


I love how Grandpa is sat on the beach in a suit and tie.


This has got to be one of my favourites of my Grandma leap frogging Aunty Joan.


This picture of my Dad reading his comic reminds me of my youngest son Kyle minus the dashing tank top of course.

Saturday 8 January 2011

ONE WEEK IN....

... to 2011 and so far so good.  I have done a review of how I am getting along with my Doings 2011 list which you can see here if you are interested.

This week we tried an amazing recipe which we will definitely be having again as it is not only delicious it's low fat too.  The recipe is here and it looks like this.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

ACHIEVE....

.... is my word of choice for 2011.  I am going to try and achieve or create something every day this year. Today it hasn't been easy as I have had a headache all day and it seems that my long past back problems are resurfacing a sure sign that I need to get busy and loose some weight.  I did manage to sort out our new desk that we got for our backup computer and have a good sort out of my stash which in turn has got me itching to create something.

 4/365

I love this lamp it has a lovely soft glow which I couldn't photograph with my phone.  It has been sat in the Front Living Room for ever where no one ever sits so it is now next to the computer in the Dining Room which we go into frequently through the day and then all sit down in to eat our evening meal in every night.

 3/365

Yesterday after sitting and scanning old photos for what seemed like an age we went for a walk along the Whitegate Way returning across the Golf Course.  Kyle as usual did not cooperate.

Sunday 2 January 2011

SO FAR SO GOOD!

I can't believe I am posting again so soon, this is very unlike me.  Since yesterday I have added a couple more doings to my list ready for they year.  One of which is the iphone 365project which is a photo a day from my Iphone.  I am more likely to do this rather than getting my DSLR out as precious goes everywhere with me and yes that includes bed and the toilet as precious #1 found out.

Today we went out to B&Q, we know how to have fun, and bought a paper log maker so that we can make our own Eco fuel ready for our log burner next year.  Our shredder died a few weeks ago so this is the replacement and it now means that we can recycle all of our sensitive paperwork without wasting electricity and hopefully it will save us a few pounds next winter too.


2/365

Saturday 1 January 2011

2011 DOINGS

So that's another year done and dusted and we are on to the next.  This year I am determined to achieve more than I did last year be more creative and be more organised.  This is my list of things I am aiming for as it stands today, I plan for this list to evolve as the year passes and I expect that there will be some things on it that I won't achieve but I can but try!

1. READ 25 BOOKS
2. CREATE 52 CARDS
3. CREATE 52 SCRAPBOOK PAGES
4. CREATE A BOOK
5. LOOSE 45lbs
6. EAT MORE FRUIT
7. BLOG AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK
8. TAKE 7 PHOTOS A WEEK
9. FINISH DECORATING THE HALL
10. EDIT 2011'S PHOTOS AS THEY ARE TAKEN
11. EDIT 2010'S PHOTOS
12. EDIT 2009'S PHOTOS
13. GET A LOG BURNER
14. DECORATE THE KITCHEN
15. WATCH GREY'S ANATOMY
16. BRING OUR TOTAL OF GEOCACHES FOUND TO 250
17. SCAN ALL MY OLD PHOTOS
18. LEARN HOW TO MAKE FABRIC FLOWERS
19. LEARN HOW TO CROCHET FLOWERS
20. CLEAR OUT THE ATTIC
21. MAKE AN ART JOURNAL
22. KEEP A JOURNAL OF AWESOME MOMENTS
23. TRY A NEW RECIPE EVERY WEEK
24. PAINT A PICTURE
25. HIT ALL THE BUTTONS IN A CROWDED ELEVATOR
26. GIVE BLOOD
27. TAKE UP YOGA
28. KEEP ALL THE PAPERWORK UP TO DATE
29. KEEP SMILING
30. MAKE A START ON A FAMILY TREE BOOK
31. USE THE DISHWASHER LESS
32. REGRET NOTHING
33. SEIZE EVERY DAY
34. WASTE NOTHING
35. PUT A NEW RADIATOR IN MATT'S BEDROOM
36. CONTINUE ADDING TO THIS LIST!


I have created a new page on this here blog of mine to house this list so that it always readily available for me to see.  I will be updating my progress on here as I need something to blog about each week to enable me to stick to doing #7!!



So to help me on my way with doing#8 I took this after we had been for our evening walk in the dark and rain, not the nicest walk ever but needs must and it made changing into slippers and pj's that much nicer.