Well, that was weird!

Yesterday has to count as the most surreal Boxing day ever, as usual we all congregate at mum's. usually she has been so busy faffing about that the guests have to pitch in with the cooking - but this year there was a twist. Not only had mum invited her partner's mother in law, sister in law and brother in law (not as odd as it seems, both mum and Pete are widowed and have known each other for years) without saying anything until we got there, due to her collapsed shoulder Mum had taken industrial amounts of narcotic painkillers, so we were in the position of arriving at 1.30, with lunch due at 3, nothing actually prepared apart fro the roast , and 3 extra guests , taking the total bodies to 14! Mum was doing everything at half speed and apparently didn't give a monkey's about how the meal was actually going to get on the table.
My OH only goes visiting grudgingly(that includes his own family ) and only talks to people he knows, when they talk to him(no I wasn't aware of the social phobia when i met him) so he just sat blankly in the conservatory, playing with ella so he didn't have to mix (did I also mention he says he won't help out when someone's invited him - I know , he's a real charmer -no?)
We did eat eventually, though it had to be stretched a bit and all the workers had to eat off their laps

Ahh christmas!!!

Why do we do it? I've spent the last 6 weeks making gifts, scraping money together and buying more 'stuff' yet again -admittedly less than last year, which has required some invention, but 'stuff' nonetheless.
We've argued, burnt the candle at both ends(well I have) gotten horribly stressed and for what? To get that slightly underwhelmed feeling and the sense of despair that only parents know when faced with the ineffable mystery of toy packaging , how to get the damn things out of it, and what to do with the cardboard and twiddly wire mountain afterwards when the bin men don't come for a week and don't take more than one bag on the side.
don't get me wrong, I enjoy christmas, especially (as this year) when theres a noob in the family, you can't beat the look on the face of a littlie who's just old enough to understand that this is a special, different kind of day, I also enjoy all the rituals of christmas dinner, the peeling of brussel sprouts, the miles of tinfoil, the multiple 'accompaniments' that threaten to take over, and the traditions that every family forms for themselves. For us it's home made cranberry sauce, bacon and chestnuts in the sprouts, the clearing of every surface in the kitchen to make pork pies, mix stuffing, chop veggies and the way the table miraculously reappears from under the projects it's used for for the rest of the year (our standard dining routine is a folding camping table in the lounge for the kids, laps for us) and is transformed by cloths and crackers, flowers and napkins and dishes full of the additions that are so necessary to Christmas Dinner.
I shall probably end today with a toast to all the other harassed mums out there who will finally be able to put their feet up, examine their own gifts in peace and quiet and watchy trashy TV in the knowledge that the children are asleep, there is no need to cook tomorrow, because there is ample grazing in the fridge and it's 365 days until the next one!
Merry Christmas One and All!
Lisa XXX

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Have I any wool? Rather more than 3 bags full! this is the tip of the iceberg, 4 more in the loft and a dorset fleece still to wash
- as you can see, Ella thinks I have a wheel just for her to play with lol

.

is it really that long?

I can't believe its been so long since my last post, dunno what happened really -the window of time I hoped for when Amy went to nursery hasn't materialised because Ella decided that 71/2 months was a good time to start standing up, and 9 months was reasonable for walking, so instead of a just cruising baby, I now have someone who can climb stairs, and get from one place to another in the blink of an eye. I've been burning the midnight oil with the spinning so no time to do any digital stuff, and now I'm knee deep in chrissie presents that need finishing. I really wish i could get things done in the daytime, but nigel is an expert at derailing any plans I have, so much so that I don't tell him what my to do list is, because I can guarantee that he'll find a million and one things that must be done by both of us instead - I'm even dependent on him for transport :(. Enough moaning anyhoo.
I was totally cheered up by taking my spins to Heath yesterday, he's got the most stupendous christmas decs up in the shop -strings and strings of huge pompoms! there's even one as big as my head lol! A good reaction to my new stuff as well, plus some more sales so it's all good! I've got a few things to put on etsy soon, along with a project or two using my own and others recycled/repurposed bits and bobs - ooh and i'm on ravelry too!

Back Home!!!

Wow! we've just got back from our holiday after the most hellish journey imaginable, it should have been 31/2 hours drive, but roadworks on the south circular,M25 and the M1 added another 3 hours, we were all absolutely whacked and nigel and I still had to pull the caravan onto the drive and unpack the essential items (including a huge bin bag full of washing.....) . I was hoping to have some wonderful photos to show you all , but a water bottle accident at Legoland put paid to that - the only photo on my card will be a view of heathrow and windsor castle, taken by thomas shortly before he shoved the camera into my bag instead of giving it to me :( .
The London part of the trip was exhausting but great, oddly for people born and brought up in the countryside, Nigel and I love the bustle of cities, the only bone of contention is him not liking museums- he truly has the attention span of a goldfish lol! This time we revisited the science museum, now the the launchpad has been reworked- it's superb, great fun for the kids, and then spent most of yesterday at Tate Modern - I introduced the kids to surrealism, which is difficult, they related much better to the pop art rooms, and to the installations(Philip related a bit too well to Daniel Ortega's 'Skins' so we had to beat a hasty retreat - oops!).
anyway I'll finish raving about that tomorrow!
night night!

Phew what a scorcher!

I can't believe how hot it is here today! We've got to get the caravan spruced up before going away on monday and it's unbearable, the drive is south facing so it's like an oven.
The kids have been outside since we got back from a last minute shopping trip and poor old mum has to get the laundry finished :(

freebie #3

what a numpty!
I forgot the download link(blush!)
download here

Freebie #3 - the packages!

Image bumped

Here they are, I eventually managed to save them properly (did them as png's -whoops- no layers to play with) They are tiffs so you can create a new image and drag them in-I've included stitches and staples on each of the files so there's a choice. Feel free to do what you will with them, I really enjoyed playing, but settled on the austere manilla card look, after trying out a few textures.
try changing text or a doodle to a pattern , you can get a great embossed effect if you use bevel and emboss/texture with it, or just fiddle with the sliders to change the colouring, use one of your papers as a pattern fill on the header, stick an eyelet or ribbon in the hole, whatever you want! All I ask is that you give me credit.
Don't know what i'll be doing next -i've a bunch of colour schemes worked out and am waiting for the inspiration fairy to sprinkle her dust on me, I've got something in mind for after our hols which should please all those motorbike mad OH's and sons, but it'll be a biggie and probably set free in bits lol!
thanks to everyone who has downloaded #2 - I'm really chuffed so many of you like it!

freebie #2 -some stickers and brushes

Here are a few stickers that I drew when I got my new wacom(well you've got to test them out!)theres a transparent and a cutout version of the doodly ones and cutouts of the flowers, plus brushes of the doodles in .abr format. Many thanks to Atomic cupcake for the sticker actions.
Download Here

Thank you!

thanks to everyone who's downloaded my Dad papers - I'm glad that you like them! I've been packaging up some stickers and brushes tonight, then I had the idea to make blank packages as a CU freebie so that anyone who needs bags and header cards can have a couple to customise - needless to say, I've got a little way to go , but should be ready to put them up tomorrow (morning or evening depending on when DH gets his sleep!)
Night night X

My first freebie!

Here's my first freebie -I originally designed it for the last Rakscraps mega kit, but missed the deadline cos of the school play,summer fair,sports day merry-go-round , be gentle!
download here

Nearly there!

Only 2 more days to go until the kids break up from school, then another 10 until we pack up the caravan and go to legoland for #2 son's birthday! he's been asking every morning if it's his birthday yet.
I've got a few potential freebies sorted so will get them up as soon as I organise them into files and upload them

changes afoot! (and another resurrected hobby)

I'm going to be putting some of my digiscrapping LO's on here soon, as well as a few freebie bits and bobs that have come about from playing with photoshop, life is very busy here and the spinning has really gone on the back burner due to lack of time- it's easier to drop a photoshop file halfway than a spool full of laceweight lol!
The kids are still eating up all of my spare time in one way or another- my particular favourite is the fighting on the bunkbeds when I'm trying to do anything, normally refined by Nigel being in bed after a night shift.
got to go, they're attacking each other again!

Good lord! It's been over a year since I updated - doesn't time fly when you're having fun
We have now welcomed another little terror into our midst - Ella , born in January. We've also gutted the house and I have a Kitchen! and a utility room (which is meant to be a workroom as well, but the laundry seems to have taken over) .Last summer we had a wonderful holiday in Paris (disney for the kids, the louvre and plenty of shopping for me lol) and things seem to have flown by. I now have some of my yarns in Heath's Country Store for sale, so fingers crossed the punters like em!