Day 26

Sadly the last (and the bulk) of my crop of tomato plants seem to be getting blight. The ones I picked earlier in the season have ripened beautifully on the windowsill so today I picked all that remained. Last week I was given LOADS of fresh chillis, some damsons and I scrumped some pears off a tree at school! What to do with all this? Well a few days ago I made High Dumpsie Dearie Jam (pear, apple and damson) and today I made tomato and chilli jam and damson vodka! Mmmmm! Next will be green tomato and chilli chutney.
Now when I go back to school on Tuesday I think there are still more pears on the tree so I think I might help myself to a few more as I have seen a recipe for pear and lemon jam...

Day 24 and 25

A rather light-hearted entry for me today! Jess and I were discussing how fit Marc Warren (from Hustle) is. I was of the opinion that I was old enough to be his mother or at least I thought he may be about 30 (in which case I am NOT!!!) and felt a little odd about thinking he was soooo delicious! Today, in the course of our debate, I looked him up on Wikipedia where I found out that he is 42!!! So he is OLDER than me and I can now indulge in guilt-free lusting! Mmmmm!

My OH bought me some lilies tonight......because they were reduced to 75p! Now I am back at work, the twins had their birthday, clubs have started again etc etc, the old housework has taken a bit of a back seat. But when I put the flowers in the dining room it just looked sooooo much better! Well, it will go another week at least!

Day 23

This is my entry about procrastinating... well I don't really. If I want to do something enough then I usually manage to squeeze it into my ram-jam packed schedule! My friends know how busy my days are, shuffling 4 children and all their clubs, plus 4 hens, 2 dogs, a geriatric cat and a husband who works shifts!

Days 21 and 22

Bit more catching up! These pages seem to be getting a bit harder now! 21st was about regret...hardly an original quote I have used but I think that it just about applies to my life so far. The pic is just the lovely sunrise we had that morning!

22nd was my youngest childrens' birthday. They are twins and were 11. I still think of them as my "babies" and the other two as the "biggies" but my babies are really not now are they? I can't believe they will be off to "Big School" next year too!

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all you luverly people who have been following me in this project! It has really encouraged me to try to craft and blog daily and thus have a bit of "me" time every day!

Day 20

Missed a day again...but I do have an excuse...my "baby" twins were 11 today...so last night I was up late wrapping and making cards etc! Last minute as usual!
So on to this page...this was meant to be about you, well me; myself!! Not something I really like to think about but I took a look at me and how I am right now. I happened to be wearing a new jumper (purple) had a new handbag (purple) and was also wearing a brooch made by a friend (purple). So I think purple is my "new" colour! Then I decided to research the phrase "purple patch" and sure enough it means " a patch of excellence". Whilst I would never describe my work as excellence, I am quite chuffed that in my hectic, child-filled typical life-of-a-Mum I am managing to complete this project on time...mostly! So I felt that really fitted. I did add a few more purple things...a flower again creeping through from next door..(why are her flowers soooo much better than mine...and so keen to show off in MY garden???) and some seasonal backberries! My page of purpleness then...

Days 18 & 19

Got a bit behind as I have had a very busy weekend! So here is 18...something that isn't immediately obvious was the brief. Well I feel like a pair of pants...I have everything under control when I get up, all schedules and pick-ups sorted in my head. The OH rings and says his shift has changed, so I stretch a bit to accomodate this alteration. Then a parent's meeting is thrown in, and an extra rehearsal so I stretch a bit more. And so it goes on 'til at the end of the day, AFTER I cook tea, OH turns up with fish and chips! At which point my over stretched elastic completely fails!

Day 19 was about appreciating the simple things. I managed to catch my hens having a sneaky sunbathe! When I first got them and saw them laid out like this, I thought they were ill or dying! Now I know that, just like us, they like to catch a few rays! So here they are in the unexpected warm September sun we are having.

Day 17

The lesson for today was to focus on something positive that is around the corner. I love work..but I do like the weekends better. Well unless they are manic which they all seem to be at the moment!! Still I always get this little lift on the countdown to the weekend! And I decided to do it in "sleeps" like the children in my class do!
I visited Lesley's blog and her Art Journal inspired me to doodle a little on this one....

Day 16

Thoughts today were on HOW we have been learning throughout this month. Very simply...I have just taken a few more minutes each day to think, look about, photograph and then scrap. So this page was a good excuse to use those pics I have taken but that haven't yet made it to album pages!

Day 15

This is the halfway point in the project. So we were asked to reflect on our thoughts so far. As well as the lovely rose photo from yesterday I took this one of some tomatoes we have been growing. They have taken forever to ripen but I felt that, a bit like completing this project, they will be worth all the work put into them! And yes this is one HUGE tomato...not a macro shot!

Day 14

Before I share my 14th lesson I thought I would just show this photo I took this afternoon. The rose is poking through the fence from my neighbours side and this is it's 3rd set of flowers this year! I nipped out between showers to get this. It reminded me to "stop and smell the roses" from time to time and also to enjoy those unexpected freebies we get!

This lesson was one that we still struggle with. Well I HATE nagging (tho I am sure my OH would disagree!) but yet I still do it. I just get sooooo fed up of messy bedrooms! To be fair, for once, the children's rooms are pretty tidy so I had to search a bit. Usually I can't SEE the floor....

Day 13...

Over the weekend we were thinking about what things make the 2 days of the weekend different to the 5 of the week. Often on a Sunday, after we have all eaten out Sunday roast, we start watching clips on YouTube and end up laughing hysterically. This weekend it was Victoria Wood songs...go look here and you will se what made us laugh soooo much!

Three times in one day...!

So this is my piece for an "Upcycled Packaging" swap on UK Stampers. I started with this cheese box and it is meant to be a picturey type thingy! Not sure what the real name is! I painted it with acrylic paint and then stamped on tissue paper and glued that inside. Then I removed the lid piece and stamped on that, cutting round the stamping. The sunflowers are stamped on inked card, cut out and then attached. The centres have some glossy accents in too, (but that doesn't show in the pic!). Now my camera didn't like this as it couldn't decide where to focus......Still I hope the recipient likes it!

and another entry..Day 12

My friends will tell you that I am not good at keeping in touch. I would like to say that it is because I lead a busy life but actually I don't really think that is a good enough reason. In this day and age with texting, forums, facebook and the phone, keeping in touch just couldn't be easier. So I am really going to try to be a better friend, even if it is just by sending a text or quick e-mail...

Day 10

So today we thought about what we could learn in our own house. Well my oldest daughter has just started 6th Form so has to leave the house earlier, meaning that she can't do her early morning "job". And then there are people out at clubs in the evening who can't do jobs on certain days....
So this evening we re-designed the chores list...a chore in itself!

Day 9

And wow! I am still keeping up! I decided to ignore the prompt for today because we had a beekeeper come to visit the class. Now I quite fancy keeping bees but sadly don't have the time or space. The gentleman who came had the most soothing gentle voice and I could have listened to him all day. Then there were the amazing things that we learnt about bees...

...so I decided to put them under the photos. Here is my favourite fact..when the bees are smoked by the keeper, they think their hive is on fire. So they quickly eat as much honey as possible in case they have to take flight. This makes them drowsy (much like us with a full tummy) and the full tummy also makes it difficult for the bee to bend round to sting!! Now tell me that isn't an amazing thing to have learnt!

Day 8

Today was supposed to be about learning a lesson from those things that are outside our control. Now I always moan and rant and get soooo fed up with the amount of time I spend driving around the country, ferrying children from school to clubs etc. So today I decided to focus on the positive and appreciate the glorious country roads that I have the luck to drive through.

Day 7

Today our lesson was to be a "relearnt" lesson. I rarely wear a watch in the holidays and every year when we go back to school I am convinced I can manage without. This year my watch broke so I haven't bothered to replace it. But guess what...I really DO need one at work! I have to ask the children the time so that I can end play! So a lesson relearnt....again!

Day 6

This is another centenary picture, but of the actual party. My lesson was that when I looked about I realised just how many people worked alongside each other, quietly behind the scenes, to keep Guiding going. This picture shows some of the Leaders, past and present at our Opening Ceremony and this time I added some journalling on a pull out tag.

Day 5...

So our brief today was to think about that thing you really should have learnt by now but that still frustrates you. Well I HATE the way that when women get together to organise stuff it seems to take forever. We have to chat through every eventuality, every permutation and sometimes I just WISH we could say "this is how it will be". The lesson I need to learn is that despite all the pontificating (great word that!) I should have faith that it will be done! (But I still wish we could get there quicker!!!) By the way we were planning our Celebration Party for 100 years of Guiding!

Day 4 LSNED...

So this one was about "what your feet can teach you". Well I LOVE these shoes..I bought them, wore them just a few hours the first day and built it up gradually cos they rubbed a bit....but still over a year later they rub! And still I wear them, cos I love 'em! So maybe this is a lesson I haven't learnt!

Day 3...

Today (well Sept 3rd, the day I did the page about!!) was my birthday so I really felt that my lesson ought to be about birthdays. Whilst I was out at work and ALL the rest of my family enjoyed a day off, my husband arranged "Happy Birthday" into 2 parts for violin and cello. Then when I got in I had a little concert! One of my other children also worked out the piano part too so I guess sometimes birthdays really aren't about the pressies...! (Tho they are always good!)

Day 2...

So Day 2 was an INSET day and I spent the day labelling pegs and books and trays etc. Last year we only had 20 children in the class and the year before only 22. This year we have 28 and I learnt that 28 children is going to be a WHOLE lot more work than just the smaller numbers we have been spoilt with! This will be the largest class I have ever worked with so quite an experience. Everything just takes so much longer to do....