6ichthusfish

Mouse Escape

Hello,

It's 'Husb' again.

More news from Kenya:  There appears to have been a very long winded journey, which included a ride on the back of a motorbike (taxi) and an extended bus journey through the country.  However the business training course is now all underway and going well by all accounts.  Mandy isn't quite sure how to get 'photos to me easily as internet is not necessarily available, but I'm looking forward to seeing them as I'm sure you are.

The rest of us are managing the household activities and I thought I'd just share the story of what happened last night. - Chef was on his laptop and started screaming for Smurf to come and rescue him!  Very odd, as he's usually yelling at Smurf to give him some peace.  Anyway Chef felt something crawling up his leg - which turned out to be Smurf's mouse Sparkle.  Since this incident the mouse has had a change of accomodation to an old gerbil cage from the attic.  I've included some pictures of the mouse in it's new house and the Chef in his room on the laptop.  Hope they look OK, I'm no photographer.

By the way thanks for the comments left, I'll pass them on.

Chef at his laptop did not expect a mouse to be crawling up his right leg.

Inside the new mouse cage; Sparkle is waking up.

Sparkle is in the flying saucer section at the top.  She seems to quite like the change of scenery.

Hello - This is HUSB posting here! I'm the one who looks like Widow Twankey in the last post at the Glambuster event.
Mandy has instructed me to update the blog with photographs and news of her trip to Kenya with the charity 'Free 2 Be'. Well, she hasn't e-mailed any pics to me yet but I've just had a call to say that they have arrived safely in Nairobi and have met with their chaperone, and are about to head off into the countryside. I will update further when I hear more.
HUSB

Glam Style Fancy Dress...(with prop)...What I'm up to...

 Last Saturday, Husb, dd and I went to a fundraiser.  It was optional fancy dress....

 

Since the band were called Glambuster you can guess the theme was GLAM!!!

Husb was a brilliant sport wearing this get-up and wig and I thought dd looked gorgeous!! 

 Below, we are at the venue, in front of the Charity information board...

 I wore purple contact lenses and fake funky eyelashes (yep it was tricky to see anything!! and dd was pretending to bash me with the blow up guitar prop!! like you do)...

Below we were drawing the raffle in the band's break between sets...

A while ago, in the post 'New Beginnings' I explained all about what the children were doing now (ie University, College and school) and at the end I mentioned that I was starting something new aswell.  I have been helping an old friend with her African Charity, called 'Free 2 Be'.  We've been fundraising since last Summer and we are leaving today for a month's trip to Kenya.  I went in 2005 and never thought I'd ever get to go back.  Well, it's been a lot of work preparing for this trip and now it's finaly here.  Folks have given generously... clothing, toys, educational equipment, sewing and knitting supplies and cameras and mobile phones.  Below I will include some photos taken in Kenya.  Mainly I am super excited to be visiting lots of schools, helping the orphans and helping Kate run a 5 day business course to set up 60 individuals with micro-businesses.

Here is the school in Webuye...

Key stage One classroom...

Key stage Two classroom...

Many of the children are orphans.  We plan to buy land and build a brick built school.  At present this little school is bursting at the seams so we will add another room as a short term fix, but it has no electricity or water or proper toilets.  And no equipment at all.  we are taking books, pencils, learning resources etc.

Below is another member of the team going out to Kenya for the month.  She visited a rubbish dump on her previous trip to Kenya and we will be visiting the school near there too...

The local school at Nakuru...

Dinnertime in the Nakuru school...

I leave in about half an hour so just time to post this and grab all my stuff.  It's not easy sharing about Kenya.  Many times I tried to blog and it just wouldn't flow.  I feel so privileged to be able to go to Kenya and make a difference in people's lives.  So very privileged.

Take One from SJ at Little Musings...

Over on the blog 'Little Musings', SJ has been running an inspiring new series of videos called 'Take One'.  Well, I've had a little bit of extra time this week as it's half term here, so I decided to join in.  She's on 'Take One #3' this week.  I laughed out loud for real when I watched her video... seriously funny and entertaining.  So, what's it all about?  Basically, it's about taking inspiration from your own layouts.  You find a LO you made and like and then focus on just one thing from that LO and do that one thing again on a new LO.  Simples.  So, I flicked through my albums, with both T-g and Chef leaning in to see and and picked a LO I made last year.    Anyway... here's the NEW LO I made today...

Yep, that little cutie is me, back in 1977, when I was 9.  The photos are originals, attatched by photo corners, not glued down... I can't see the point of making copies when part of the charm is the actual original photo, with all it's flaws.  Below is the LO 'earing model' that I took one thing from.  It's of dd being an earing model for my teeny little crochet earings I was selling on FOLKSY at the time. I remember that in 2010, that was the hat that never left her head all Summer, so looking back I'm so glad I got it on film.  Can you see what it is yet (insert patronising Blue Peter tone of voice) that was the one thing I took from the LO?...

Yep, it's the die-cut hearts with a negative heart.  (What on earth is a 'negative heart' and can you get treatment?)  OK... so very different LOs but I followed SJ's prompt to 'Take One' thing and do it again.

Here's a couple of close-ups...

...and the embellie...

The journaling says...

"This was my first bike and I spent many happy years riding it.  It wasn't new when I got it and it wasn't for a special occasion.  Before I had this bike, when I was much younger, Michael & I shared a little red trike and often fought over it.  One day my Dad came home with this bike for me.  Photos by Auntie Margaret. "

I recognise the square prints with no white border as having been taken by my Auntie Margaret.  She's sadly no longer with us because she was really my Dad's auntie, sister to my Gran.  She was famous for taking photos with the person at the edge of the picture.  Nope, not an arty reason, it was just that she used to obviously squint through the viewfinder a strange way and think the person was in the middle of the picture.  She was a character.

The LO is also made with Kraft and one colour (blue) so fits the prompt 9 for Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party too.  Yay! Two for one.  Lovin' the scrappy time I'm getting :)

 

 

Been Scrapbooking at the Pretty Paper Party.....!

I feel like a late comer to the Pretty Paper Party, hosted by Shimelle  but made this LO a few days ago and haven't had a moment to photograph and upload it   I made it for prompt 4 all about using dots and stripes. I loved this challenge  and have never used so much dotty pp on a LO. These photos were from our 16 yo twins' 5th Birthday party. Big brother, Roman,  and little brother 'Smurf' were dressed up too. It was a special day for everyone, back in the year 2000.

There's a stripy strip and I made the embellishment with the big white 5 on it by embossing stripes into the yellow card stock with my Cuttlebug and wood-grain embossing folder. This reminded me of how much I love the textured look of embossed patterns.

There was lots of journaling so I added a tag behind the LO...

It's not my usual thing to scrap older photos, but I am so pleased this special day will remembered and in the album.  Maybe I'll scrap more older photos.  We'll see.  Here's one last close-up...

Feels good to be creative again :)

New Beginnings...

There have been lots of changes around here.  Lots.  I am coming to grips with it all.  Slowly.  The biggest change has been that Roman has gone to University.  He got back from Thialand very (very) late on Wednesday 21st september and after three days at home  Husb and I drove him to Uni.  (Sunday 25th)  Yep it was too quick for my liking. I will post some of his photos he took on the trip in another post.  He used my Craftroom to pack in, because his room was still full of Thailand backpacking gear.

 

 
 

We'd found out he wouldn't be in catered accomodation so had to sort him a list of stuff for self-catering.  I really enjoyed just the two of us going to town to get the last few bits and pieces like new trainers because his had only just survived the Thailand trip.  New jeans, jumper, T-shirts and undies.  Toiletries and stationery.  Towels, bedding and pillows and a new hold-all.  The list went on and on.  We went to Starbucks and sat and sat.  I was holding it all together (mostly).  He has phoned once since we dropped him off.  Once.  I heard from him more when he was in Thailand and was using Internet cafes.  If you're reading this (you know who you are) get in touch with yer muther. 

Ready to go, just need to pack the car (and get a few photos!)...

 

Still looking a bit tanned...

 

When we arrived after over three hours in the car, we had 20 mins to drop him off.  Seriously.  There was a shortage of space to park, so although I could understand it... it was too quick.  Actually it was 17 mins from driving in the gate to driving off.  I did get some very quick photos of his new room...

 

 

 

He had been greeted by a bunch of folks that live in his Halls, so he was a happy chappie...

 

The campus is fab.  Here's the view from his window...

 

...and up to his room...

 
...and nearby...

 

 

When we drove out the gate I saw a bunch of students and just had time to capture this photo of Roman going off in a group to a BBQ. 

 
Unexpectedly seeing him after saying our goodbyes made me a bit tearful.  But as Husb said, it's good to see him walking off in a group than leave him sitting on his own in his room.  My Husb is a wise man.  We went for a coffee.  I was a bit teary.  We had a brief trot about in the sunshine and remembered that we'd visited this city about 19 years earlier on a mini-break.    

So. What about the other three?

This girlie now goes to College.  She has a very full timetable.  Here she is on the first morning...

 

I totally love her confident, purposeful stride...

 

The next day was Chef's first day at Catering College.  They don't travel in their 'whites'.   

It was a cold wet morning.  He's not over keen on photos these days :(          But he strode off, very excited and raring to go (he's wanted to be a Chef since he was 12)...

 

The following day, Smurf started school.  He had asked about school last Easter.  Husb and I visited first and I was very impressed.  We took him for a visit and he liked it too.  Then followed several weeks of gradually introducing him.  The school were absolutely brilliant.  They integrated him more and more and finally he went for the whole last week of last term.  He looks so grown up in his new uniform...

 

He's kept his morning paperound and has a ten minute window to get home and change into his Uniform.  School is a 25 minute walk away (uphill on the way home). 

 

We were so pleased when he got to do BTec Construction as one of his options.  He does Construction all day Wednesday and it's his favourite subject.  He has been doing all sorts of woodwork joints and helps his friends when he's finished his work.  He's not so thrilled with the academic stuff but has got on with it.  So pleased he's settling in.

Right then.  That leaves me.  I am not sitting at home like a lady of leisure.  I have been helping an old College friend with fundraising for her African Charity, but I'll put that in another post as I must go and get on.

Husb is fine too.  Supportive as always :)  I am so very blessed.

The Marriage between Scrapbooking and Crochet...

Again a post originally written for IACW Craft blog.

I've posted before about how I like to put my own crochet embellies on my scrapbook layouts. Here are some of my recent pages, made originally for the Scrap Factor Competition over on UKScrappers. This is my fave LO at the moment and has a layered flower and some 'flowery' trim to highlight the blossom in the photos...

Here's a close up...

The LO below has a yellow crochet circle embellie (supposed to look a bit like the mouse's wheel) and some yellow trim...

There's scalloped trim on the LO below and a flower (Free pattern here on my blog)...

Close ups...

I experimented with some crochet over wire and used it on the LO below (there's also a flower with a free pattern here)...

This has a similar (experimental) crochet over wire embellie...

On this LO I used the large crochet doily that I posted about here (free pattern)... and some crochet over metal washers (white trim)...

I wrote a post a while ago with free printable pdf files of word art to make circle scallop embellies... well I used one of them on this LO below. The word art says 'create' and the embellie has a crochet circle layered on it too...

Finally, the LO below has a double layer flower...

UKScrappers is a fab scrapbooking site, filled with inspiring LOs and informative forums & is a place to just indulge the love of scrapping! The Scrap Factor competition is over now.  congrats to Sutty for her amazing LOs... she deserved to win. Hope I've inspired some folks to add more crochet to their LOs... it really is a lot of fun :)

 

Free Crochet Pattern for Scallop Trim...

This post was originally written for the It's A Creative World Blog which I was a designer for.  We're taking a break (sob) but I realised this post hadn't been shared here on my own blog. 

It's no secret that I love to add crochet trim to my scrapbook layouts. Well, I put this crochet trim pattern together for anyone who wants to have a go and make their own crochet trim to add to their scrapbook LOs.

The green trim was made with a 2mm hook and dk cotton yarn. The red was made with a 1.25mm steel hook and 'Crochetta' Mercerized cotton yarn (approx size 10). The green trim is approx 9" long.

When you crochet trim you need to make the base chain a multiple of what the pattern says. This pattern is made with a multiple of 10 plus one extra chain stitch, (e.g. 70 +1 ).

The pattern is written in UK terms and the stitches are double crochet (dc), double treble (dtr), slip stitch (sl,st) and 'picot' stitch. To make a picot, work 3 chain, then into the third chain from the hook work a slip stitch to close a mini ring.

Mandy's Scallop Trim free Pattern:

Make the row of base chain in multiples of 10 + 1 stitch. I keep on chaining another 10 and another 10 until I get the trim length I want- approx 9".

Row 1:

Begin in second chain from the hook and double crochet all the way to the other end. TURN the work ready to crochet back the other way.

Row 2:

Do 5 chain (counts as a double treble stitch and one chain)

Do 1 dtr into same stitch below as the 5 chain, then 1chain, 1 dtr again into same stitch, then 2 chain.

*** Miss 4 dc below and do 1 dc into the next dc below, then 2 chain. Miss 4dc below and do 1 dtr into next dc below.

[1 ch, 1 dtr] x 4 into same dc below, 2 chain.

Repeat from *** until the end of the row. When you come to the last 5 stitches below, only do 3 dtr into the final dc on the row with one chain between each stitch.

Row 3:

[1 chain, 1 dc into chain space] repeated all the way along the row but end with a dc stitch. This is what the trim looks like....

Snip off yarn and pass the end through the loop, pull to fasten off.

Row 4:

Restart at the other end of the trim with the same side facing you (I.e. don't turn the trim).

This row is mainly dc stitches, with a picot stitch at the top of the waves on the trim and a slip stitch in between the waves.

A variation on on this trim can be seen below in blue. It is the same up until the end of row 3 but instead of breaking the yarn and re-joining it, the trim is just turned and a whole row of dc stitches are done all the way along (no picot or slip stitches). This makes a much softer row of waves...

I really hope some folks give this trim a try ... it makes such a personal embellie for any LO. By the way if you are in the USA and want to translate the pattern from UK to USA terms....do a single crochet (sc) everytime you read 'double crochet' (dc) and a treble crochet (tr) everytime you read double treble (dtr). Slip stitch and picot are the same. Phew... complicated or what!!?!

Bye,

Mandy.

He's been here...

 
Wow... seriously... Roman was here ^ doing a diving course.  He saw a giant turtle among other things and did a night dive and a wreck dive too.  He'll finish up with a basic and advanced diving qualification.  He sent through a few photos...

 

 

 

Certainly looks like they're having fun.  Still in Thailand as far as I know, but moving on today to a new place.  I'm sketchy on the details.  Here's an excerpt from his last e-mail...

 "We're moving on tomorrow to Koh Samui. Should be interesting.

Finished the advanced course as well now. Last night we went for a night dive. That was very interesting and disorientating, with just a torch, we went down to about 14m. You have to be so aware at night, it's easy to lose the group.

Next dive was the deep dive, that was this morning, it was quite scary at 30m, as you can't see the sea bed or the surface in the middle. Quite impressive as the maximum no decompression limit for recreational divers is only 40m!

Last dive this afternoon was the wreck dive. That was really good, it was a pretty impressive warship. It a boat that was bought from the americans by the thais after the war, and recently decommissioned and deliberately sunk. It was probably the most exiting dive.. and there are some underwater photos on facebook that I could probably dredge up.

I also bought the DVD of our final open water dive, which was recorded, it was the one with the turtle in it and it is a really spectacular dvd.  I'm glad I bought it because it really was good. That's something for you to look forward to seeing.

Love you loads."

The A' level results came out too.  He got an A  in PHYSICS, and A  in CHEMISTRY and a B  in Biology. He got into Uni so that's good.  So proud.  Missing him a lot at the moment :(

More Birthday antics... canoeing in Wales...

After a full day on the Saturday we got up Sunday to go canoeing in honour of Smurf's Birthday.  All 7 children paddled as well as Uncle Foghorn and myself.  Husb took all the photos and I am grateful to capture the activity.  Here's the Birthday boy...

Such a beautiful part of the country.  It was overcast but not raining.

 

Not sure why Roman, (below far right ) is sitting back not doing anything...?!

 

 

 

That's me below, having a blast. I used to canoe before I was married on white water rivers in Germany (long story) and I loved it. Being 4' 11" has no effect when you're sat in a canoe. It was just like riding a bike (although obviously canoeing is nothing like riding a bike)... it all came back to me.

Here's a close up of Chef who was really enjoying himself...

 

The instructor, Katy, was great (white helmet).  She demo'd the skills she wanted us to practise, then off we went to have a go. 

 

We played games too, like 'Sharks and Minnows' ... a variation of 'tag'. Lots of fun. So too was throwing a ball to each other.  No photos as Husb had gone for a coffee at that time.  Below is my niece, Sweetie.  She did really well, everyone did.
  

 Yep... this boy loved his Birthday activity (we all did)...

 

Once we'd put the canoes to bed, hung up our wet stuff and got dry and changed, we had a picnic in the courtyard.  No Birthday celebration is complete without a Nanny made cake.  Smurf loved the canoe dude on his cake...

 

If you're wondering... Uncle Foghorn was kindly sheltering the cake from the wind so's the candles didn't blow out prematurely.  There was a gathering for a group shot...

 

Here's the cake (minus the candles, just before it's cut up)...

 

There were a few rude comments about the canoe dude looking like he was straining to do something smelly and were it not for the canoe, he'd look right at home on a potty. heehee.

Thanks Nanny for a great weekend :()