Snakes and Ladders Finished!

At last it is finally done. And what's more, I updated my site as well to add it to the toy patterns page. Haven't I been good????

Now I have to go and get Benjamin some new school shoes.

Honey, I'm Home!

We had a lovely few days at my Uncles in Llangadog, a tiny village on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The weather was wonderful and the car didn't leave the drive! We had enough of driving to get there. There isn't much to do there except walk and take photos, so guess what I did?

I took hundreds of photos and then deleted most of them. I decided that it was the perfect time to try to learn to use some of the settings on my new camera. Of course, I had a whole load of disasters but, somewhere along the line, I got a few good ones. I wasn't disappointed. Disasters are part of the learning process so they were expected.

And one of the dafter things I did was to have a go on next doors 8 year old dirt bike. Now that WAS fun!

By the way, I have uploaded Septembers Calender. I have no idea what this flower is, I think it is part of the dandilion family. I just couldn't resist those colours.

What a week!

Apart from the mad rush to get organised in time, the few days my parents were here went well. We went to Storeys on Thursday while Benjamin was at Puppy Training classes and Joan then took him in to Ely so he had a day out with them. Mam enjoyed Storeys and spent a small fortune there! I got the yarn I needed to finish the Snakes and Ladders board.

We had a party for their anniversary on Saturday, it was their 45th. Joan made a lovely sponge in the shape of a 45. Because she had taken note of the various eating problems that Mam and Benjamin have, they were both able to enjoy it. Marks mother came as well. I have no idea what she thought of it all as we haven't heard from her since! The wine and beer was flowing freely so, at the time, I wasn't really bothered what she thought! LOL

Then on Sunday the puter threw a temper tantrum! I spent most of Monday, after Mam and Dad left, copying all my files on to Marks computer via my camera cards. There wasn't any other way to do it as none of my programs would open! Mark had to reformat it and then I spent half of Tuesday putting the programs back on. At least the network was working then so it didn't take too long to transfer all the files back. Unfortunately, I lost anything that was in OE, along with my address book, as it wouldn't open! I think everything is done now, I suppose if I have forgotten anything I will find out when I go to use it and can't!

However, despite all this activity, I have got the Snakes and Ladders board finished. I have also done the dice and one playing piece.

Three more playing pieces to go then I need some decent weather to take pics and finish the pattern.

Change of Plans!

Mam phoned last night to as if they could come a day early as their plans for today have been cancelled. This means all I had planned for today has undergone a major change. No trip to Tesco or Storeys. Instead, all the final stuff I needed to do for them coming tomorrow has to be done this morning. Mam will have to take me shopping this afternoon after they get here as I have no food for them!

However, I am quite sure we can fit in trip to Storeys either this afternoon or tomorrow. I am sure Mam will enjoy it. I have finished all the red squares for the board and almost finished the red playing piece. I have enough green to make that playing piece and I am making the dice in white (but haven't decided on the colour of the spots) as well so I have a few things to keep me busy.

Unconditional Love.

Look at this beautiful layout by Fi, using the heart frame and hearts she bought from me. This just makes me want to crochet more of them! I am thinking of making more frames in different shapes and sizes. And it would make a great pattern!

However, the Snakes and Ladders have to be finished first. I have made all the red squares but now have completely run out of both the blue and yellow yarn. I hope the weather will be better tomorrow than it is today otherwise I will have a long walk in the rain to get my stash!

Snake and Ladder

There is only one of each at the moment, because it is only half done. But I thought you would like to see my latest project - and part of the reason for not getting any scrapping done the last couple of week! Each square measures about 19 cm (7 ½ inches) so it will measure about 1 metre 20 cm (just under 4 foot) when finished. My problem now is that I have run out of the yellow and blue yarn. However, that means Stash shopping!

I also have a fancy dreamcatcher to make for a friends daughters birthday. This just happens to be on Wednesday so, as usual, I have left myself loads of time. Oh, and there are 20 flowers to make for the crocheted flower exchange in UKS!

In between all this, I have to find time for housework as I need the house perfect for when my parents come up to visit this weekend!

Times flying by!

Normally I dread the school holidays. They drag, he gets bored and I get irrate! However, this year they seem to be flying past. Maybe its because he is older and more capable of amusing himself that he isn't giving me the normal hassle. Maybe losing weight has given me more mental stamina as well as more physical stamina. Whatever the reason, apart from a couple of minor incidents, he has been really good.

Last week we went out a couple of times. Once to Heacham with some friends. Have to admit, I am not really a beach person but it was nice to smell the sea again. And then on Friday to Hinchingbrooke Park. Now that I really enjoyed. I went with a couple of other Mums and their children so there was company for me and company for him.

In between all this gallivanting, I have been working. Here is some of what I have been making. I am in the process of updating my site to include all the embellishment designs. Because I use different thread to design than for the embellishments I sell, I have to remake the whole lot to take pictures. The thread I use to design is DMC and is widely available on both sides of the "pond". However, I only have a small range of colours in it. The thread I use to make the motifs to sell is Twilleys. I have a drawer full of that!

So, until I manage to use up the Twilleys and stock up on the DMC, this is the way I have to do things.

Patterns Finally Finished

Its been a long hard slog. Ok, maybe not that hard!!!! But certainly long. And, of course, changing my mind in the middle of things didn't help as it meant I needed more new designs.

However, the first of my "Scrapping the Rainbow Valley way" patterns is completed. Now I suppose you want to have a look? All of the individual pics are on scrapbooking pages.

And I promised some free patterns. The first of these is the Heart Frame. Its quite easy to make if you know how to crochet.

The second is step by step instructions on how to make the mini flowers. This is aimed at beginners. Both are with the rest of my free crochet patterns at Cwm Enfys Crochet. Although, Not quite where I wanted them as I have had a few problems updating things over there. Those of you who know msn know they like to play games!!!!

A Day out!

We went to the beach today. I can't remember the last time we did something like that. Not a sandy tourist beach anyway. I did spend a fair bit of time at the one near my parents at Easter, trying to capture waves for a "Moving Water" photo competition on UKS. But that is all pebbles. Its good for a walk but not much else.

The thing is, living in a place like Barry Island, you tend to shun the beach as it is far too full of tourists! Its much more fun in the winter. You can go paddling in your wellies and run the dog.

One of the results of that photo comp, was this picture. It is the fountain in the gardens of St Fagans Castle. I always seem to be looking for a calendar so I decided to convert this one to a desktop calendar. Then I decided I might as well let everybody else enjoy it.

If you click on the picture on the left, you can download it to use for your desktop. And if you would like to add it to you blog or site for other people to download, there are instructions in the "Terms of Use" document on how to do so. I hope you all enjoy it.