SU! Markers

Yay!! I’ve managed to complete my marker collection via a marker share held amongst another 3 SU! Demos and myself over 4 months. I love the wee carry case it comes in too – very organised and no excuses for getting them lost or mixed up heh heh heh!!

Movies and Orange

My contract with T-mobile finished abruptly up last Friday. I had been considering for some time to go with another provider as we had been with T-mobile for years even when they had a different name originally! I wasn't using my package which allowed me 12 hours talktime at evenings and weekends and 50 text message allowance. This had been my package for a few years and not used to its full capacity [we struggled to get a signal in some areas even home!]. Eventually it got to the point that I was using more than my 50 texts allowance and my home telephone had the package of free evening and weekend calls hence why I didn't use my mobile too often.

It was a toss up between O2 for the texts and free calls to other O2 numbers. BUT it was "Orange" who had the cinching deal! Orange Wednesday - the 2 for 1 cinema tickets is definitely something to consider in the school hols for kids!.

I took the kids to see 3D "Coraline" when it first came out in the pictures - little did I know that you pay a premium for 3D movies and it was after 5 pm which is 'peak' time therefore costing more - that visit cost £22.00 for 1 adult and 2 kids!

I registered my "241" for cinema tickets and took the kids as part of "Orange Wednesday" to see the new 3D "Ice Age 3" movie for the afternoon. Definitely worth going to see - there were a lot of funny bits and I certainly chuckled and the kids enjoyed it! That outing cost only £13.00 plus pennies!

Drving Lesson update from Monday

Donna my Instructor, hadn't said that I would be sitting a mock test on Monday [thank heavens she didn't tell me the on the Friday before!]. Anyways, she got me driving about before the motions of a 'mock driving test'. Anyways, it seems I had 1 serious fault [I knew when I did it as nerves got the better of me!]. We had been going up a hilly kind of road, rather than drop down just 1 gear from 4th to 3rd, I went down to 2nd. She had given me about 9 minor faults in addition but said she was being pernickity and that perhaps an Examiner wouldn't be quite so nippy. Compared to my last 'mock driving test', there was a definite improvement. Anyways the outcome was, that if I drove to that standard on the day of my test - I should pass no problem.

Donna is off on holiday today so no lesson [hence my taking one on Monday] for 1-2 weeks and it just so happens that I am away the 2nd week she is gone. That leaves me a couple of weeks until my test - but plenty of time for practising! Donna and I joked that since I hadn't really forgotten how to drive in the 15 yrs since the last time I sat a test, a couple of weeks without a lesson won't be disastrous!

Olivia's mini birthday card

Apparently I had forgetten my youngest neice's birthday way back in May this year! I't unlike me but since my external hard drive had failed and it took me quite some time to recover absolutely everything on the drive, I haven't yet had time to do some housekeeping on those files. The "Birthdays and Anniversaries" document was amongst them but not on my main PC.

Anyways - sorry we missed your birthday Olivia!

Driving Lesson Up-date

Well not written much about my driving lessons of late only due to having a *pants* time whilst taking them LOL!! Last week's lesson was not all that great but it was an improvement compared to the lesson prior to that - which was WORSE! Everything that I could do wrong went wrong for the whole 2 hours! I didn't seem to recover from it somehow - the mere mention of the 'T' word and Helen falls apart! Anyways - Donna said last week it could be due to the fact that I am so near to my goal that the thought of the actual practical test is scaring me out of my wits psychologically! On last week's lesson, it took me 9 attempts at reversing round a corner I had previously mastered with no problems! Donna suggested the best way to go would be to book the actual test and then get on with the practising. So, last Friday, I booked and paid for my practical driving test - I'll not tell you when it's booked for so as not to jinx myself ;o) All I can say, I felt nervous today just before getting the car as I have done on the last 2 lessons, but today went fabulously!! I managed my turn in the road [it wasn't a wide road as to what I am used to carrying out this maneouvre]; reverse round the corner maneouvre; parallel parking behing a stationery car; left and right reverse parking in a bay! All without any verbal prompt or correction from Donna! I was well chuffed with myself. I've got another lesson on Monday afternoon as Donna is off on holiday next Friday for 2 weeks then so am I on her return. It'll mean 3+ weeks before I get another lesson.

It's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder today - what a huge relief!

Newborn Baby "Welcome" gift basket

I always keep a good selection of baby bathing products to hand as on occasion I am asked to make up nappy cakes.

In this basket there are 10 x newborn Pampers dispos. nappies; Johnson's Baby Shampoo/talc/soap/baby bath/oil and moisturising lotion; Winnie the Pooh feeding bottle; Winnie the Pooh groom set; 1 x burp cloth; 1 x popper vest; 1 x muslin square. I also added the 12 x birth announcements I had hand stamped/cut beforehand. Finer details regarding the birth announcements can be found here.

A gift basket similar to this would normally sell for around £28.00 - £30.00 without the birth announcements

End of term school staff and teacher thank you gifts

Just a small few of 2-step stamping on these thank-you cards:

Those paper bags were recycled from the school staff room ages ago - I had this in mind when I acquired them lol!! Hand stamped with SU! stamps:

I bought a few little storage boxes from Hobbycrafts, a few thimbles, needles, fancy dressmaking pins, sewing machine bobbins etc and filled the storage boxes as emergency sewing kits. Using my sewing machine, I wound white, black and navy blue thread on individual bobbins rather than cards. Yeah I know, you can indeed buy tiny sewing kits for around £2.00 odds but the threads are never up to much and neither is the packaging! I think in total the sewing kit I made up cost between £6 and £8 as the items are more substantial than what you would normally purchase as 1-off kit!

I apologise for the 'puckering' of the coated paper on this clipboard - 1st coat dried brilliantly! however, the 2nd coat didn't and I proceeded to a 3rd and gave up once it had dried, still 'puckered'. The little flowers were rub-ons. In fact the patterned papers/cardstock where what I have left from my days of being "Top Line Creations" scrapbooking consultant.

I also altered a bingo clipboard in similar colours [for same teacher] and added a few notepads too. PPs and c/s again from my TLC days.

All wrapped up in cello and gift bow:

I had bought those little dainty metal plant pots from Ikea some time ago with the view to doing this - just filling up with a few choccies and wrapped in cello and bow:

A close of my small hand-made bow ribbon:

All wrapped and presented in the stamped paper bags:

Aural Sculpture

Susheila - the designer and art specialist:

The primary school my youngest 2 children attend has a unit built into the new school build to accommodate exceptional needs children from P1 through to P7. The courtyard is a fabulous colourful place to be for the kids from all stages of the school including exceptional needs kiddies. A project to design and build an aural sculpture took place where children from the mainstream school and also the exceptional needs kids worked together to design and make this sculpture what it is. I was very fortunate to have been invited as a parent helper to assist with the project - I was even offered to carve [a totally new experience for me!] a little bit of the wood supports too which was fun.

The unveiling of the aural sculpture took place on 15th June and songs were sung and sign languaged by the kids and adults who attended. The aural sculpture is not just something to look at, it is also a musical instrument with various parts of the sculpture making a different sound. It is full of textures and patterns - very pretty and colourful - I especially love the different textures and patterns on the wooden stands!

Dad's 60th Birthday

A few weeks ago, we attended my dad's get-together to celebrate his 60th birthday. The kids thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with their grandparents again and a nice time was had by all.

I've passed!!

Things have been a bit hectic of late! Plus I have been recovering lots of photos and documents from a supposed 'top of the range' external hard drive costing a few bob or 2! Got them all back thank heavens!

Anyway, I digress! I should have been updating my driving lesson events but not really had time to of late. I have been getting on really well with them - thank goodness I have been taking 2 hourly lessons as I probably won't have come this far had I stuck to the 1 hr lessons! Around 2
½ weeks ago, my instructor, Donna had suggested to apply for my theory test. I managed to get an appointment for today via the internet - I wasn't impressed at all with the telephone service as it was continuously engaged!! For those of you learning the theory driving test is £31.00 and the the actual 40 min practical test is almost £65.00!! That isn't including any lessons you had just prior to the actual test.

I had a few months back, bought the DSA Official Theory Test CD Rom - very much worth the money! It holds the full Highway code, revision sections for any area of the highway code you know you need more studying on and of course the multiple choice tests. You have to bear in mind when using that CD rom at home - the test 'window' displayed will actually be of a reduced size on your screen compared to the actual test [which shows a full screen]. Revising by using the CD rom is very similar to the actual test centre set-up. The hairiest part of the test is the hazard perception - which shows simulated road scenes and you have to 'click' the sooner you see a hazard or hazard seen to develop further. The time is crucial at time of clicking - the earlier you see a hazard and click, the higher you score. That is very nerve-wracking indeed and most definitely not like how you would be actually driving [although it is supposed to be].

After all that I passed - YAY!!