I've been tagged... or is it a shameless ploy to get one post closer to my giveaway?

I have been tagged by Bekimarie from The ramblings of an everyday mummy

Now I need to list 6 unimportant things that I love and then I need to tag 6 other bloggers to play along.... so where to start..... ummmmm!

One...
www.whoogaboots.co.uk

Ugg boots.... I have owned and worn to death 2 pairs of these about 3 years ago.... I wore them day in and day out and they were the most comfortable items of footwear I have ever owned...
Mr P has offered me a new pair if I promise to not do any more PTA or committees....

Deal!

Two...

Coloured Glass....
My Grandfather use to build leaded lights (windows) and my youngest brother worked with my Grandpa and learnt the trade and now runs the business since Grandpa passed away

I love it when light shines through the glass and makes patterns, and the way it brings a design or image to life and when the light comes and goes its a piece of artwork that changes with the world around it....

Three...

I love Horses....
I learnt to ride when I was about 5 at Yeovilton air base riding stables, I was not a natural and I fell off more than I stayed on but I love them... the feeling of freedom and the fact that just you and the horse are in control of where you go... the exhilaration of cantering across a field with the wind in your face and the fact that you potentially could come a cropper at any moment made your heart, mind and soul feel truly alive....
I am too big to ride now... and I miss that feeling of being alive...
yes i know... go on a diet... eat healthily.... get some exercise.... blah blah blah! ;D

Four...

picture courtesy of www.sunkistcaravanpark.co.uk

The Coast, I am pretty happy whichever coast I visit but I have fond memories of Anderby Creek, Lincolnshire... we stayed in a holiday Bungalow right behind the sand dunes and you walked out your back gate and over the dune and you were on the beach... it was beautiful.

We were there in October as my eldest brother was getting married in Skegness and as we wouldn't put the dog in a kennel we rented a bungalow and took him with us, that was a long old trip with a howling dog in the back of the crew cab in his own private kennel on wheels, that was our first family holiday...Jamie was 6 and a bridesmaid at my brothers wedding.... we haven't had a family holiday since... we just don't seem to get around to it.

Five....

I would love to be Mrs P.... but it appears to be an unimportant thing to everyone else
:(

More info...? oh okay!

I proposed to Mr P on Brighton beach....in 1997 (I think) ...
we thought it would be lovely to get married in Austria at a place called Zell am See, Mr P's much loved and missed Uncle always use to holiday in Austria ...
I think its where they filmed the Sound of Music ...

I am not a church goer and I felt it would be hypocritical to get married in a church... I am not the type of person who craves everyone watching me walk down the isle... I would only fall over! ;D
Being the youngest child and only girl I always assumed that my dad looked forward to walking me down the isle so we thought a little chapel wedding in Austria, in the winter with a horse drawn sleigh to the wedding, and a little reception at the hotel... Just parents and my brothers and Mr P's Sisters...

As my dad was stationed in Austria during the war he wouldn't go and mum suggested we went off and got married and came back and told them...

Which was probably a throw away comment to my mum, but really did cut me... so we have done nothing... except have 2 lovely children and a fairly good 13 years together... we don't argue we don't shout at each other... we never have... we just seem to know what each other thinks and finish each others sentences... we obviously get on each others nerves but who doesn't...

I would like to be a Mrs P and not a Miss S as I don't feel particularly connected to the S family anymore... as a youngster I always wanted to be a S****** and decided that I wouldn't change my name when I married. However after a couple of weddings where the speeches always revolved around the ins and outs of being a S****** man and no mention of being a S****** female you kinda feel that your not part of the family anyway... so I would rather not be one now...
Perhaps I will organise our wedding and a family holiday all rolled into one
I am sure Mr P's Mum and Dad would forgive us eventually...

So if I blog about a trip to Austria you'll know something bigger might be afoot! lol

I don't think that this was the exact idea behind the tag but it really got me thinking about things...
sorry to bore you all to death...
and if anyone wants to do this tag, let me know your doing it I will pop on over

well this is post 98 so 2 more till the giveaway...

Oh I nearly forgot No Six...
I love to give gifts.... what can I say I am a giver not a taker! :)
I had better get a wriggle on and finish my 7 items and work out how I am giving them away...
all 7 to one winner or 7 winners...

take care
Alex
x

I have a new man in my life... well I think its a man!

I would like you all to meet Louie.....
Now the lady that was giving them away in our village has informed me that this little kitty cat is a boy... I am not overly sure but I am sure the vet will let me know when I take him over for his check up and eventually his jabs...

When I was growing up we either had 2 dogs and one cat then one dog and two cats then 2 dogs and 3 cats so I am quiet at home with pets...

and I very nearly had 2 of the 3 kittens that the lady was keen to get rid of...

Louie is technically Jamie's kitten.. and I really do try not to handle him too much but he's sooooo cute and I find my stressed out mind and soul quietens when I comfort his plaintiff cries...

He's a real time waster and a complete monkey...

Mr P is not overly keen on cats... I am not sure why as he had cats as a child but he has made no effort to be nice to him.. but that doesn't worry me as he can sit in the lounge and make a fuss of the dog!..

Smudge (our 4 year old Springador) however looks at Louie while licking his lips...

I am not sure how their friendship will grow...
hopefully as Louie gets older he'll put the dog in its place much like our old ginger tom did with our Springer spaniel when I was a youngster... that was so funny to watch..
So I have another 3 weeks of a housebound kitten to endure, I think I am going to have to make or get some more toys... mind you he plays with absolutely everything...

I am thinking of getting one of those cat towers with a platform at the top as he seems to like sleeping at night on top of the fireguard in the kitchen..

the fireguard was put in the kitchen to give him a safe haven from the dog but after their first enitial meeting the dog is in the lounge! lots of hissing and smudge getting very aggressive..

what kind of cat stations do you all think are good?

Well I had better get on.... Danny has had a bout of sickness this morning.. he seems to be rounding the corner and eating so hopefully he'll be fine by tea time...

take care everyone and this is post 97...

only 3 more to go till giveaway time...

Summer Fete this weekend and the vice Chair fell of a chair and dislocated her ankle and broke her foot... she's now in a wheelchair! so all in all it all going really well...

pass me the kitten I am getting stressed! ;D

x Alex

Summer Fayre or Summer Fete? (post 96)

Hello you... how are you today?

Me ?

well I have had better weeks but hey I am definitely learning a great deal from all my ups and downs....

Monday was a normal Monday Paperwork, invoicing, housework (bit of crochet... shhh don't tell the boss! lol)

Tuesday was a whole different bag of worms! I learnt all about Licensing for small events and I got to know my local councillor a little better and I am probably famous in the Council Licensing Department as the sobbing maniac that went into free fall when her "temporary events notice" was 2 days late and refused Long story short I hand delivered it to the offices and by the time I drove home I had a message to say it was 2 days late and would be returned... I couldn't have a bar at the summer fayre or the brass band or the country dancers... AAARRRGGGGGG! the PTA will kill me!

Anyhow... by Wednesday and an email to the local Conservative Councillor (not who I voted for) and a phone call to the head honcho in Licensing (apparently she live is the village and her children go to the school) who was on holiday and after talking to her colleague if we use the word FETE and not FAYRE and don't mind about not having a bar (which I don't as we struggled to get a parent to run the lucky dip drum let alone a bar) we can have the band, dancers and anything else we would like as it is exempt for a school FETE and "regulated entertainment" for a FAYRE which you need to pay £21 for a license for !

I am afraid the world has officially gone mad!

and its sad to say its taken me with it!

Thursday was the Village Cafe... I love chatting to all my new friends in the hall. One local lady stopped me to tell me my front garden was looking lovely, that was nice and I showed my Mum and her next door neighbour a backwards crochet stitch I had learnt... and then I was asked to teach a local craft group something new after September, not sure if I have the ideas or skills to teach a group of lovely ladies something new but I will have a think about it.. Joanne popped down with her youngsters but they were off to the park and I was so busy catching up with everyone I didn't really get to speak to her... and it was really busy down there... i bought a quiche and some Fuchsia's and a little pot of home made foot cream and soap of the aromatherapy lady

Mum was off to her friends house that afternoon to do some gardening and my mum is a bit naughty at times and over does things so I offered to go to and do all the heavy stuff... after a fish and chip dinner at mums we headed for the friends house and I am now doing this friends mowing and pruning and general garden duties on a regular basis... she said she would pay me but I would rather she put a few pounds onto a Asda Christmas savings card and I will have that at Christmas... so its almost like a Christmas gift in return for doing her gardening... much nicer... I don't like taking money off friends... it makes me feel uncomfortable
then back home cook tea put the children to bed and catch up on my blog reading..with a glass of wine! :-)

Friday is going okay, Mr P will be home lunchtime... Danny is playing... Jamie is at school and I have a date with the washing up and a washing machine! yay...

This is post 96... so we are one more post nearer my 100th post giveaway... I am still not sure what to do regards one big prize or 7 small prizes...
but its quite exciting !

Seaside swap is coming along slowly... Sorry a bun can dance...
this Summer Fete will be the last PTA event I organise... Jamie leaves in July and Danny doesn't start till September 2010, mind you Mr P doesn't think they will let me quit... but its become a chore and its no fun when something you volunteer for is a chore... parents aren't interested in attending events you bust a gut to organise and they don't come to meetings or help to run things... so I must admit I have run out of energy or inclination to help these ungrateful lot.

I have the gardening clubs flower show coming up..( I am not a member) Last year was the first time I had entered it. I submitted some flower arrangements, some photography and a watercolour... and I won a cup! I was stunned so I will put in some crochet and jewellery and sewing this year too... Jamie entered some photography and a colouring in competition.. she did really well too!

well I had better go... thought I would just pop in to let you know what I have been up to this week... hope I haven't bored you all to tears! lol

take care
And thank you for popping by
Alex
x

Getting ready for a give away... and big hugs to you all!

Morning all you lovely, wonderful friends..
Firstly thank you for all you kind words, I was having a dark day indeed and you have helped me no end... I am feeling much better, mind you Mr P bought a parts washer for cleaning his motor bike bits and I thought I needed some retail therapy so I bought some wool that I needed to finish an afghan blanket I started months ago...

I have been feeling so much love for you all that I have decided to get ready for my 100th post giveaway...

now I am after your advice,
I am going to make 7 items to represent each swap I have taken part in (if I have missed a swap let me know, I have so much going on in my head I sometimes struggle to remember simple things!)

the 7 homemade gifts will relate to these swaps

Easter, Heart, Freestyle, Rose, Friends, Seaside, Cosy Crochet & knitting

do you think I should give all 7 items to one lucky comment leaver, or to 7 lucky comment leavers?

Have a fab weekend everyone
Cheers Alex
x

the Downside of being me!

I have been waiting for "the bad day" to turn up
you know when everything is going far too well and Carma throws a bit of rubbish into your life to balance it out,
well today is that day

admittedly there are a lot of people out there with much bigger traumas in their lives

and trying to keep everything in kilter is sometimes not an easy thing to do

My personality is that of a wobbly child trying to learn to ride a bike...

you know you start off gingerly pushing the peddles around and popping your foot on the ground every now and again
and then you gain in a bit of confidence and you go a bit faster and you keep getting faster and faster until you realise you don't know where the brakes are and you smash into the edge of the pavement and fly through the air...

landing in a heap you pick yourself up and push your wreck of a bike home...

That is me!

I love to help people and be nice to people and I think I pick up speed being nice to people and being there for people and then I go to far... get involved where I shouldn't and say that thing that you shouldn't have said and you hit that curb!

I am at the picking my bike up stage and pushing it home.....

I don't think its a complete wreck, but then I am an eternal optimist!

I think I will have to start off slow again....
and try to learn from yet another blunder to keep my mouth shut and think before I type in a comments section...

I think I will have a coffee and a bagel and play with my little lad

take care everyone
Alex
x

Friends swap goodies...

Lovely Lesley from Notes from my days has sent me my FRIENDS swap parcel and I am so thrilled, it luckily arrived Tuesday Morning as I was getting ready to take Danny to pre-school.
So I popped it in the car and took it to the office with me...

Inside the parcel was 2 parcels one was a little something for Danny and Jamie...
and the other was all contained in a clear plastic folder with a handle on top...
I think I am going to use the plastic box to store all my ribbons...

Inside my parcel was all of this wonderful loveliness....
Each item had its own label explaining the contents hidden inside...

F = Fabric, a lovely piece of red gingham which will be fabulous for a union jack project I have in mind...
R = Ribbons and ric rac... I sent that too... but Lesley has really spoilt me with whole rolls!
I = I made this myself, Lesley has made me a fabulous pink starry heart... its CK and has a button where the ribbon is... I think I have it around the wrong way in the picture... Doh!
I think I might spray it with some rosewater and it will definitely join my collection of hanging hearts... I love it !

now where did we get to?
ah yes....
E = Eco Friendly.... why didn't I think of that... I got completely stuck on E.... see how this ladies grey cells work... she's ace!
I threatened to send her an egg! lol
Any hoo... she sent me a fab spotty dotty bag... I love bags... I have all manner of bags.... everywhere... generally full of Crochet! ;D
I used this bag last night when I popped out for some groceries... its fabulous!
N = Notebook, not just any old notebook... a fabric covered notebook made by herself! I love the fabric the colours are so me... mind you any colour is me! I am a colour junky! the flowery fabric is yummy!
D = Drippy tea bags...and Dotty things... I think you can just see it... A very useful teapot shaped tea bag dish... now I am terrible with the teabags I always leave them on the draining board and then later when I have to clear it up I have a good moan at myself! this is a thing of the past now... and the colour matched my kitchen wonderfully.
Don't you just love my dotty bird, I am sorely tempted to glue a magnet to the back of it so that I can use her on my notice board... she is beautiful and made by the fair Lesley too!
Plus some dotty CK tissues and some lovely red buttons! (I love buttons)

S = Something Sweet and Something pretty... The vanilla fudge is almost gone... me.. vanilla and fudge... oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! its not good!
Danny tried to walk off with it... I mean ...how rude!
I also had a bar of milk chocolate and its sad to say that it has had a bit of a hammering too!
the something pretty is the pale blue china filigree butterfly... this is lovely and destined to hang in my bedroom... I recently bought 2 china filigree birds from Wilkinson's, how weird is that!


Here are all my goodies finally packed up ready to bring home from the office...

Lesley I am so pleased with all my goodies, you really put a lot of time and effort into my pressies and I really love them all.
Thank you
Alex
x

p.s
Jamie loves her friendship bracelet kit and I think she had some chocolate but as it was straight after school I didn't see the comings or goings of that! lol
the little soap I think has been snuggled away in her underwear drawer...

Danny love love loves his rucksack... he wore it to playgroup today, and he was still wearing it when I picked him up... his chocolate has lasted a little longer than Jamie's... but only just!

hugs
Alex

Oh my..... its a bit hot for me....

Sunny days and staying indoors....

that sums me up...
I don't mind a bit of sunshine...
I quite like the way it makes me feel happier and that I am suddenly far more productive,
in fact I was up at 5:30 am.... yep... uh huh... that's right, that time of day actually exists, I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes!!

It was a shock I can tell you, but I could not stay in bed any longer... it was soooo stuffy and warm... and outside was much fresher and I put a load of washing on the line and had a lovely cup of tea watched the news.... Oh look another MP is swindling us! and oh dear... that lady off Britains got Talent is having a tough time and gone for a rest in The Priory... did you know that she will potentially make between 3 and 5 million this year! I wish I could sing!.... and of course a little crochet.....before everyone else got up at 7am.... I even did some ironing.....!!

This is not a true representation of "The Pink Feather".... commonly known as Alex!

Yes this is the right blog... (Mum)
you are not reading about someone else....
I do actually know how to use an iron....
I just choose not to for the best part of the year! ;D

Actually I bought myself one of those "steam generator" irons and I love it... for a person that detests the back breaking monotonous chore of "IRONING" it is actually quite a joy to use... I must tell you it was a struggle with my conscience to spend £80 on an iron.....
(I know.... "HOW MUCH" I hear you cry) but my old iron was horribly horrible! and my board had no life left in it... its legs were bowing and every time I put any weight on it the board got lower and so did I!
Mentally and physically!

I bought a new "huge" board and if I ever go on holiday to Cornwall I am taking it with me I swear I could go surfing on it, it is that monstrous!

Still not a true likeness to me, I wish my legs were that thin, hell I wish my board could take my weight !!

Needless to say the steam generator actually "almost" irons both sides of the clothes at the same time... I very rarely have to turn the item over and press the reverse... I did a whole stack of ironing for 2 and a half hours and didn't get back ache or bored!

Well I got Mr P off to work and then Jamie off to school and then administered a plaster on Danny's index finger.... yep he had a minor dissagreement with the cutlery drawer....
needless to say it bit him!
He cried a little !
I put a plaster on it !!
and he cried a lot !!!
this is his first injury that I felt required a plaster and he hates it...
is that normal ?

Any who he's fallen asleep on the settee and I am on here.... Jamie is now home and upstairs in her room doing something, and she is a bit miffed because the girl she use to play with in the village won't talk to her.... because her cousin doesn't like Jamie...
I now remember how I hated being 11 !

I don't think Danny slept well last night.... bless him... I can't get him to go to bed without his pyjamas on and he won't have a sheet instead of a duvet... he was so hot last night... I have a fan in his room and he doesn't like that much either!

Jamie on the other hand, had the fan so close to her bed that if she had moved in her sleep she would have ended up with mesh print on her backside.... however I ruined her fun and moved it...!

We have a ceiling fan.... but I did spot Mr P researching air conditioning units... but that is not going to happen as I am not keen on them.... yes its warm and yes living on a busy road means the traffic noise is too much to have your windows open at night but we'll live....

Probably ! ;D



I am busy finishing off my FRIENDS swap.... I was hoping to have it posted today but as I am at the office tomorrow while Danny is at playgroup I will post it then...
hope that's okay Lesley!?

I am also part way through making my bits and bobs for my seaside swap with A Bun can Dance... and I have signed up for another one... don't tell Mr P.... a cosy crochet swap over with Mel at A Country Dream I have asked if it can be open to knitters too, but I am not sure if it will be... there are so many knitted things out there that I love but I just can't knit... it eludes me! perhaps its trying to co-ordinate 2 needles... I am not particularly clumsy but I use to be ambidextrous and I get all con-fuddled!

Well I had better get going
I may pop to the Supermarket later, I really fancy some watermelon!

take care
Alex