wagwaan?

Making stuff

You know I get a lot of support from the Community Centre, right? I try and reciprocate when I can and as we are having to do a lot more fundraising this year due to cuts in funding I have been roped in to help (I know we are not alone in this, sadly.) Anyway, we have the option of taking a stall in the local "artisan market" and have all kinds of crafty goodness planned so we can make stuff to sell.  I was playing around with some bits of felt & ribbon and some pound shop hair clips yesterday... Claire was my (rather unwilling) model:

I really should get the big camera out for pictures like this..  

Well I had such fun that I made loads and loads of the bow ones, with different ribbons, and they went down a treat at the coffee morning today where I showed them off. "Baby Anabelle", our little nearly-2-yr-old resident beauty, let me put one in her hair to see how it looked and she was so sweet I let her keep it. They are perfect for little ones so I hope we can sell LOADS!

Travels and travails

Well, Claire is having fun in France, despite things not getting off to the best of starts: I had to take her to A&E on the Sunday night because the blister and "allergic rash" on her foot looked suspiciously like an infection and I knew it was not a very good idea to travel like that.  The doctor took one look and said "ooh" with a serious face.  She was given a massive dose of penicillin and told to wait 48 to 36h before travelling. Luckily we were able to change her ticket and she left Wednesday. If the penicillin hadn't kicked in she was expected back at the hospital to be put on intravenous antibiotics! 

Then, when she got to Paris, her cousin Amy was the one who needed antibiotics for bronchitis.  In the end just Marie and Claire (the "twin cousins") drove up to Normandy to stay with their beloved Grandma for one night. They saw the sea, and enjoyed hot weather, so even though it was a brief visit, it seems like it was worth it.

As for me, I attended the first event at the newly refurbished Colosseum on Friday night. I was nominated for an award because of the volunteering I have done for the community centre - I didn't win but I was invited along with a partner to celebrate. It was rather lovely, and dinner was delicious, but I didn't stay for the "dancing until midnight" with the live band!  I was a bit overwhelmed by the noise and crowds, which are both things that I have trouble with since the SAH, but I did better than I would have done just a couple of months ago. It's nice to realise that I've progressed in my recovery.

The hottest day of the year?

After weeks of rain and grey skies, today is apparently going to be the hottest of the year. And then I think by Tuesday we'll be back to normal, ha ha!   At least the weather was ok yesterday for our stint on the market. It was rather blustery in the morning but by the afternoon the sun came out and it was quite nice and sunny - just in time for my 2pm shift.  It wasn't very busy but we did sell all our good stuff to some discerning buyers. There's still a home chocolate fountain for sale - a bargain at a fiver, I can't believe it's still there. 

The lady opposite us was selling perennials and other plants, and I couldn't resist buying some to fill up the gaps in my garden. I got a creeping Jenny for the name (and for the fact that it covers the ground so weeds don't take hold so much), a nasturtium, a feverfew because it looks like a daisy and an "everlasting" sweet pea plant. Sweet peas last one season but this one will go on and on, although the flowers don't have a scent.  We were discussing gardens and I told her I had lots of weeds (among which my beautiful poppies) and she said as long as they have pretty flowers, she leaves them, so that's my new modus operandi. Talking of the poppies, this is what they looked like this morning before the sun got very hot:

See that blue sky behind the trees? It's wonderful - not a cloud in the sky.  Perfect laundry drying weather too, and it's been a long time since we had any sheets drying in the sun like today.

Well I'm half way through reorganising my workspace (although I had hoped to do this on a rainy day rather than the hottest day of the year) and this was just an excuse to see that I'd got the PC all plugged in correctly after moving it. And lunch is ready so I'll finish up now. Hope you are having a beautiful weekend where you are. 

Friday

Aargh! The tiredness is making itself felt big time here. I know what it is - I get too enthusiastic and overdo it, because I'm fine now, right? And then I end up dizzy, headachey and pooped.  And then I eat sugar and wonder why I don't feel any better. Sigh.  I've just gone back and read previous posts, and surprise surprise, I've said all this before :D 

Anyway, I must rest today because tomorrow I'm helping in the afternoon on our fundraising stall at the Queens Road Summer Market. We collected loads of bric a brac and books, and I made some cute pencil pots - which I forgot to take a picture of before I handed them in. Oh well, I'll just have to post a pic of the makeup brush pot Claire commissioned me to make instead lol.

 

   

Claire wanted plain on the outside and patterned inside (see the little flowered paper there?),
and I added a lace border from my Costco scrapbooking stash

Talking of Claire, she surprised me yesterday with a gift, totally out of the blue. She knows I've been hankering for new cutlery as ours has seen better days, and she has started my new collection with these forks from Laguiole at John Lewis!  I have been meaning to treat myself, but she got there first. Now I'm looking forward to completing the collection ;)

 

See the little Laguiole bumble bee?

She's a good 'un that girl of mine xoxoxo

Squeal!

I got the most interesting phone call today - my friend V over at the Community Centre called to tell me our website was finally LIVE and neither of us could stop squealing down the phone, haha.  It's been so long coming. I think I did most of the work in April, so you can see why we were excited.  

Anyway, I've got a lot on my plate so I've not been blogging as often as I could but I did want to show you our website.  Enjoy!

We all have a calling

Oprah and I know it for sure - see here. 

 

Gosh darnit!

I know I haven't been around much - I have a lot on my plate (some say too much!) and to add insult to injury the computer just crashed when I'd nearly finished writing  a long post. Aaargh!   

So, the fundraising for Headway went well. I spent the morning with the todders group, where the littlies made crowns or hats with our craft supplies. The mums said I could take photos, but I'll just put the ones where you can't really see their faces on here:

 

I was going to say the post-stroke fatigue had got better, but I'm having a pretty bad day of it today. Typical!  At least I don't end up in bed for days at a time any more, and I am trying very hard to think ahead. This means realising that, although I don't feel the fatigue until it's upon me, I need to build rest periods into my schedule. 

What a shame - I had written quite a witty account of the other stuff I'd been up to, but now I'm really feeling the strain so I'm going to go and have a nap. I'm sure I'll be back on top form tomorrow! 

Pictures from the weekend

Silly  me - I forgot to take my camera to the Canal Festival on Saturday, but luckily I had my trusty iPhone with me.  

First I walked along the canal, looking for my friend's boat and admiring all the houseboats, narrowboats and barges that had gathered for the festival.

(click to view larger)

Finally I found her place, but she wasn't there. The people in the next boat told me she was at her stall in the Aquadrome, so I rang and she came and got me. The place was PACKED; the fact that the weather was great obviously helped draw the crowds.

(Actually, now I look at those pictures, it doesn't look as packed as it felt walking round! )

I helped out on the stall, handing out leaflets and talking to people about the Stroke Association. Quite a few people stopped to chat and explain that a friend/relative had recently suffered a stroke or a bleed, and it was really nice to be able to hand out literature about what to expect or how to get help.  

The sun was beating down and I had to retreat to the shade every so often, because I don't possess a hat and didn't want to fall ill.  Unfortunately I had to call it quits mid-afternoon and go home, which means I missed the "partay" back at the houseboat. Oh well, there's always a next time. It was such fun and has multiplied in size about 10 times since we last went when we lived nearby.

Busy busy busy

I'm just popping in quickly to say I'm still here and life is so hectic I've hardly had a minute to come and tell you what I'm up to.  

There's so much going on, good things, things that affect my future, that my head is spinning.  I shall blog about it another day. Right now, though, I'm getting ready to go out to help the lovely people from the Stroke Association raise awareness for Stroke at a canal festival.  Camera at the ready, it's gorgeous weather so I'm hoping for some lovely shots.  See you later!

 

Getting there...

I'm really pleased with how our Community Centre website is going, and I can't wait for it to go live so I can link to it here. Today I sat with V and went through all the pages to make sure we had all the information correct. It's looking mighty fine. As I don't have a picture to share, here's an oldie. I love love love this picture (that Claire took and I played around with), so enjoy.