What a nice suprise

This is what came through my letterbox this morning it was such a lovely suprise!! I had no idea i had won another prize from the needlework show this year i have been very lucky to win two wonderful prices it was a fantastic suprise and i love it!!!this is the first prize i won well acually it was a $20 gv from scarlet quince but this was the chart i choose it really spoke to me and i had to have it :-) I have also been lucky enough to recieve some wdw two from my very dear friend Tonya and one from Lisa on the smo board thankyou both very much :-) xx

There has also been some good news and i can now show you a finish that i did a few weeks ago as Sandra has now recieved it, It was a summer exchange that i am runing for Helga on her yahoo group Sandra said she loved it which was great :-)

And last but by no means least at all here is my lastest wip it is the halloween trick or treat fairy from the magazine Louise kindly got for me from the us last year see i have finally started her!!! i havent got too far as its been nice and ive been in the garden with the boys lol but i have started!!!

And they couldnt wait.............

To get in !!!!!!!!!!!!! Leon and I spend a good few hours putting this up this morning it was a whole lot bifgger than i thought it would be and they just couldnt wait for it to finish filling they had to get in!!! I shall be waiting until tomorrow when its full . Its been beautiful here today hot and sunny and we are to have it for the whole weekend which will be fun!! I dyed my hair this afternoon so i am keeping out until tomorrow sorry to bombbard you with all the photos i couldnt help myself lol!!!

Remember.......

When i said i was making my own vodka for the first time? Well here are the results i have to admit there is a whole lot more than i thought there was going to be as almost all the bottles you see here are litre bottles!!!We also made some flavoured ones in these bottles are tequila, blueberry vodka and apple vodka

in these bottles are marshmallow banana shots,blue cuaraco and peach shnaps

and in these last bottles are coconut vodka and justvodka

so now it just leaves the tasting lol!!! i have already given a bottle to a friend and i am waiting to her her verdict i can bet it wont last long with her and her hubby!!! so i should know by tomorrow!!

We decided to show the boys the pool we have bought them for the summer today too we are hoping to put it up for them tomorrow as we are supposed to be having a very warm few days but if it stays anything like today they have no chance as its been quite cold and over cast all day long they were very excited when they seen the pool though as i had been telling them we werent going to be getting one this year.

The great outdoors

Last night the boys decded after a very hot sunny day that they wer going to camp in the garden last night so as Jordan had been with Jake and Leon all day he decided he was going to join them. They had a great time after we had all been playing pass the parcel with a machine shaped like a rugby ball with a water bomb in it that bursts when you dont expect it which was great but the managed to work out when it was going to happen i swear as it always seemed to get me!!!! i made a curry and they went into the tent with thier gameboys and psps they were still awake just before one i could hear them giggling!! and they were up quite early this morning but they all really enjoyed in fact Jordan is still here Leon has gone to meet his girl friend for a bit though so they boys have been playing on the 360 upstairs at the moment they have gone for a walk to lidls.

I was very busy yesterday gutting the lawns and my hedges i even had to go into next doors garden and cut down thier side as they cannot be bothered and it had grown upto over 15foot it was blocking all the light by my front door it was very scary climbing up on a ladder so high and trying to balance to reach Jake was holding it for he and helping but boy am i feeling it today my arms ache and my legs are hurting too but i think thats more to do with walking the kids to town around and back this morning the sun has gone today and its colder which is great for Donnys eys as he has been struggling in the bright sun poor thing

I had some very sad news this weekend about a very dear frined who i have made over the last few years on message boards she is a very big part of my board and my heart goes out to both her and her son and daughter and thier families i am thinking about you all xxx

also when i went to kick boxing with Leon i had a very big shock!!! i thought it was just a contest that he had won in kick boxing but no!!! it was qualifing for the Welsh team and the gold medals he had were just that he is a double welsh champion and when we go to Ireland in october it will be the world championships we are so pround of him!!! its just a shame that its going to cost so much to go im starting to save now i need to lol im going to be cutting back on any stitching shopping and trying to do special offers in my shop to help fund raise to watch this spot!!!

Two new finishes

I just wanted to share with you my two new finishes its been a long while since i posted anything stitching so its most definatly about time!!! I do have another two done but they are both on thier way to people so they need to be kept secret for a little while still the first is from last years JCS halloween orniment addition that Louise got for me form the USA which i am very grateful for :-)

the second is my pheonix dragon by enchanting lair which i had planned on finishing a while ago but a lot of other things got in the way .

Leon did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes he came home with two gold medals!!!!!!! which means he will deffinatly be representing wales in Ireland later this year.This was who be fought in the first contest and this is the second contest

i found out that i will have to go with him to Ireland which got him a bit upset to think of Donny and Jake being left home he was wondering if Donny would be ok but i have some wonderful friends who have already offered to help out.

A quiet week

This week has been very quiet for me i managed to get a chest infection so i havent been to good i went to the drs and have been on antibiotics but i have felt so tired i guess its my body telling me to take a break as i have been so busy with the house and the garden and Donny has had a relapse so ive been taking care of him too along with all the other stuff with the children. On the bright side though i have got some stitching done well started anyway i wanted to do something easy and not too much detail because i really havent been in the mood to concentrate too much so here is what i started its by lizzie kate

Leon also passed his latest belt he is now orange he is at a competion today wher if he does well he will be going foward to represent Wales in Ireland in the summer he hasnt been going for very long so i have told him not to worry if he doesnt do well this time as by next time he will have had a lot more experience and it hasnt helped as they were away camping last weekend and he missed out the chance to practise his sparing he didnt want us there he has gone with Jake he finds it easier if we are not there watching and i have to be honest i dpnt really want to see him fighting either!!!

Jake also has started something new he has decided he wants to play guitar so we went out and bought him one this week and he loves it im not sure i love the noise he is making but im sure he will get better at it fingers crossed!!! LOL
We also had an eventful week when we had workmen arrive to put up scafolding around our house and nobody seemed to know why but its been sorted out now they were changing our guttering and faciers and it looks so much better!!!

On one last note i would like to send birthday wishes to my dad who turned 60 yesterday i hope you had a great day dad!!!

Making vodka

Yes we have decided to go from making wine to trying something new!! to be honest it isnt much stronger than the wine really but we just wanted to take that one step further to see if we could get it to work this was the first step after three weeksand this is the second step i didnt realise it would look so dark!!!

What a weekend

My boys left on friday night Jake at 4.45pm and Leon at 5.45pm after kick boxing of course!! to go camping with the cadets for the weekend they will be home in just a few hours and it will be lovely to see them and catch up on all that they have been doing but its been really lovely to have the house to ourselves too this is only the second time they have both been away at the same time since Jake was born almost 14 years ago so its a well deserved break for us i think!!!

I have felt sorry for them as there have been strong winds up to 50miles an hour here on friday and saturday but it has been mostly dry with just a few showers and the sun is shining beautifully here this morning and its lovely and warm so at least today it will be a lovely last day hopefully they were shetered even though they are almost right on the beach where they have been we will have to wait see as they are not allowed phones on this trip .

We have had a lovely time relaxing and watching dvds i did feel a bit guilty sitting watching my ghost whisperer dvd eating chocolate and drinking a glass of my home made wine just after 6pm last night while Donny was watching the footie because it seemed a bit early but it was lovely to have a bit of quiet to do it!!! we also made some peach schnapps and southern comfort which there is still plenty of but tasted really nice!!

Well im off to try and get organised because they are due home anytime after 4pm i hope you are all having a lovely weekend where ever you are and would like to wish all the american ladies a very happy mothers day xx

Watching tadpoles

Boy its been so long since ive stopped by i guess my life has more than halved the amount of time i leave myself for pc time these days with taking care of Donny and the boys and trying to get the house redocorated and the garden done before summer i guess im just too busy the only reason im sat here now is the boys have just left for school and im catching up on last nights 90210 i havent even done stitching in weeks and i feel awful as i have commitments to be met so im really going to have to try today.

This weekend was busy what with the bank holidays and the boys being home one extra day we had a busy night friday unning around from one activity to the next and saturtday while Jake was out with his friend i took Leon fishing for a while it was warm and nice to sit around the pond there was no fish caught just a million tadpoles which i have not seen for years!!!

On sunday i tried to get some flowers planted in the garden while the boys were power boating with the sea cadets which was nnice to try and get something finally done out there just hard work!! but i know it will be worthwhile. When the boys returned they helped which was great and well deserved after i had a room full of thier friends here wednesday night to watch the champions league game!!

Yesterday i continued to paint in my kitchen and its really starting to come together now at long last wont be long now i dont think!!

We were back at the hospital on wednesday too and it wasnt good news the condition is back in both Donnys eyes as we had thought so now its bac to medication in both and we were back at the drs thursday morning and he is now also on oral medication too but so far so good he is coping as best he can but the sun really isnt helping and i really feel for him and i am trying as best i can to keep his dpirits up.

Well thats me caught up for a bit i guess lol oh the boys are camping this weekend with the cadets so we are really looking foward to a child free weekend weather permiting so keep your fingers crossed for us!!!!!

Monday blues

i got up drove the kids to school as it was pouring then when i came home i managed to pick up my stitching for half an hour as i watched last nights desperate housewives im trying to get a summer exchange out its tiny but im getting nowhere at all then i changed all the beds after my dad called down to use my phone and have a cuppa then i glossed the kitchen not my favourite job i can say.

Then it was time to go back in the car to meet the boys in town after school to get Jakes glasses repaired again **sigh** i got home and had to finish the painting and then i made a chick pea curry from scratch for tea after that i put the bins out for collection in the morning then got my latest home made wine bottled.

Ive just had a bath and im going to taste my wine lol i need to relax all this work done around taking care of Donny i deserve it!!

The only bad thing is Donnys condition has now spread to both eyes again it hasnt been confirmed yet but we know we are back up the hospital on wednesday so if they give him treatment in both eyes he is going to need me more so i wont be able to get as much done but thats ok im here for him and im sure we are all strong enough to get through this together again.

Not good news

The both conditions are back in Donnys right eye along with the pressure build up and we are back to hourly meds with a cream before bed and the eye widening drops fou times a day we had a really hard time getting an appointment in our local hospital again and when we did get there we had to wait an extra 1 and a half as the person who told us to come didnt tell anyone else so the boys had to come home to an empty house im so lucky they are old enough to look after themselves they did have our next door neighbours watching over them though and my friend lives at the end of the road if they needed anything so anyway it looks like hes in for a rough time again as this is for the next two weeks at least and we are waiting on a new appointment to go back in the next week too they also have told him that this is most deffinatly a perminent thing now he will never be truely rid of it he has been going down hill slowly since friday night but when he got up yesterday morning his eye was full of blood so i knew it wasnt good. Just as it had seemed o be starting to improve too his vision was accually starting to get a bit less smudby he has now gone back to being unable to see it that eye again he was grateful it was just in one eye at the moment but its a great big come down espcially as Leon and him had both been disscussing going fishing at some point this month again .The sun has been very difficualt for him as he now and will always have the survier weakness in his eyes as the medication causes thining but they could of tried to go on a dull day now he is on the widdening drops he will be more or less confined to the house for that period and as the meds are hourly i cant go to far because i will need to rush home.

On a different note i am still working hard on trying to get my garden sorted out and trying to get the decorating done too with two exchanges needed out soon i really should think about stitching but now i cant even do that in the night as the lights need to be off and in the day im so busy at the moment it seems though it will never get done but i really need to try to find more hours in the day.

Jake got back ok from his yaughting trip tpp and had a fantastic time he loved it hasnt changed him at all though i thought it may help him grow up a bit wrong lol ah well i guess the time will come eventually!!! they are off camping again in 2 weeks with the cadets so we have a peaceful weekend with them both away. Right im off to get them out the door Liam will be here soon and at least then i wont have to watch anymore of Leons TNA lol.

Only another four days

Last monday we got a call from the sea cadets asking if Jake would like to go on a sailng trip from saturday to friday with one other boy from the unit they were to set off to Weymouth on the train from here making several stops along the way and them spending the week on a yaught sailing the english channel during the day and moaring up during the night spending the whole time on the water well he wanted to go so we let him!!! he has been gone since saturday morning we know he got there ok as he phoned saturday evening and he called again last night and it was so lovely to hear from him. I have been so good this time i guess im really getting used to seeing my boys go off on trips there was no tears but i did get a little upset hearing him last night knowing he is quite far away but he sounded fine and he will be back on friday afternoon they are leaving Portsmouth at 9am Leon is missing him and the dog is looking for him all the time but he has to make the mostt of every thing that comes his way as he may not get this chance again.

We had this years presintation on friday night too and Leon has earned two new skills he has had his certificates and once he has his badges i will be uploading the photos to share with everyone. The two boys both took part in presintations Leon did comunications and Jake did first aid all very cool to sit and watch.

I have spent the last few days with Leon we bought him guitar hero on the xbox and it has ben a whole lot of fun and we have also been having a bash at the karaoke machine i bet our neighbours are sick of hearing us lol!!! but its been so much fun and i have spent so much time with Leon which has been great and i hope its helped him deal with his brother being away.

I have also had a night out with my friend and she has been back over with me for a few drinks and a nice chat which has also helped pass the time and with the champions league on tonight and mine and Donnys team still undecided whos going through it will be a fun night at ours tonight as my team beat him last week there will be fireworks who ever goes through tonight!!!!

Well Leons just got up im suprised he wasnt up earlier with the noise of the work going on here it was way to earlier for me to be getting up at 8.30am after not going to bed until after 2am oh well i guess i will sleep tonight!!!!!

A quick update

Im jumping on quick just to try update you all with whats going on at mine so here goes here are the photos of the works so far as you can see there is still lots more to be done and everything is still such a big mess made worse today by the fact that the electrictions are here and everything has been moved and pulled apartduring all this going on Jake has decided to get the flu it started on sunday with him he got up for fundraising in cadets and was sick went back to bed at 8.30am and i was shaking him awake at 5pm he then went back to bed at 9pm and slept right through until 10am the night morning he has been coughing sneezing and looking awful ever since he has seemed to pick up today and we have been out for a walk he wants to go back to school tomorrow but we will see as he only 2 days left now before the easter half term holidays anyway

Tears and cleaning.

Last night we all went and watched Marley and me it was a fantasic movie funny but very sad it had both Leon and I in tears by the end it was just so moving now i know why i sick to horros at least they dont make tears roll down my face!!!! I t made me think of our dog who is going to be 12 very soon and that just made me cry even harder its well worth going to see this movie but please please remember your tissues!!!

Ive had a busy morning the boys left just after 8am they are off to help raise funds for the sea cadets the attend i havent seen them yet today as i stayed in bed until 9.30am and Donny got up with them to get them out of the door in time but they are meant to be finishing at 3pm so i will see them pretty soon. While they have been out i have hoovered and moped all through down stairs cleaned the leather sofas polished all through played with the dog who was most annoyed at the fact i was trying to clean and wanted to be played with lol washed and tried 3 lots of laundry which are now folded and waiting to be ironed and theres more to come and my dad and stepmum have been over i think this afternoon i decerve to sit and watch Wales play footie while i stitch what do you think??

Oh and by the way no the works still arent finished in my house so here we go into the next week which will be the third week they had better get a move on as the boys easter holidays is going up the week after next and they will be home for two weeks and i really dont want them to be still working here while they are off school.

A reminder

That its still early in spring boy has it gotten colder in the last few days it was so lovely and warm bright and sunny last week but at the moment its a reminder that its a little too soon to be putting away our warmer clothes. I dropped the boys off at school this morning as i had a follow up appointment with the nurse reguarding a lump i have had under my arm since christmas i finally plucked up the courage to go get it looked at when Leon hurt his finger i have beent o see the nurse 3 times now and she has tried different things to see if she can ruke things out well this morning i was back for blood tests and to see the dr he has told me for the time being i need to keep a close eye on any changes and i am to go back if anything does change its all so scary with all the family history and i still am taking care of my hubby so i dont need anything to go wrong with me i will hopefully find out on friday the results of my blood tests.

Wile i was sitting in the surgery for two hours i took along my ds and was banging away at my guitar heros rock tour i have become addicted to thei i have completed easy and meduim on the drums but boy do they mean hard when it comes to hard LOL i feel like chucking the thing across the room hehehe but i am so addicted i keep going back its causing havock with my stitching i have to say but i have to get some done today as it is stitch night on my board.And i do have that special project i am working on too which has now becomemore of a prioroty which to say the least is such a big shame.

They did come to my attic this morning thankfully when i was out but still no sign of the other workmen as yet today oh well i have to collect Leon from school at 4.45pm tonight as he has after school club Jake will be home as normal then there is cadets tonight so we get a peaceful evening at least. Well if i dont make a move there will be no stitching done.

Is it ever going to end?

I am getting pretty sick of not having our house to ourselves and then i got a call in tescos yesterday afternoon reminding me that we had people calling to do the insullation in our artic on tuesday which i had completly forgotten about so you know what that meant? yes i had to go climbing up in thier through all the cobwebs and dust to remove the last lot of things from the people who lived in the house before us. Now before i go on i must add the fact that 4 times already we have been up there and removed at least 30 black bags full of thing everything from baby clothes photos certificates etc well this time it was a carpet (yes you heard right) toys clothes more photos all of these things are loss mind not in bags at all toiletries clothes teddy bears cardboard boxes videos dcs books honestly why do that i mean if you dont want it throw it away not into your artic!!! we have been here 6years if she wanted it she would of been back for it so it all went down to the local recycling place honestly you should of seen me when i got there i was stinking dirty and covered in cobwebs i looked like something out of a horror movie!!! i was just waiting to see a big spider crawl down my face and if i had you would of heard me screaming from where ever you are in the world LOL

No more work has been done so far this week on our kitchen and bathroom but we have beem told it should all be complete by a week on friday fingers crossed maybe the middle of the week after i have taken some newer photos will try get them uploaded later with Leons birthday photos.

I am blessed

With two wonderful sons who i love very much. Sunday was mothers day here in the uk and on saturday my boys went out and bought me some gifts with thier pocket money that they had been saving up. The bought me a lovely bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates. They hid the flowers under the bed and gave them t me on sunday lunch time but they survived!!! They also raided my craft things and made me some lovely cards. Boys you are so thoughtful and you made my day thankyou both so much xxxxxx

Happy birthday Leon!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow i can hardly believe my baby is 12 years old today where does all the time go??? I was just sitting here looking through the window at the beautiful day we have outside (even though our home still looks like a building site inside) it is just the same as the day he was born beautiful warm and sunny it really doesnt feel like it was oh so long ago and its hard to believe that soon he will be all grown up its quite frightening!!! He has had his birthday cards this morning before he went to school but will have his gifts later this afternoon its just a shame that we cant do much with all the mess we are in i guess we are lucky he is old enough to understand that really i am just hoping he likes what we have got him as he really wasnt much help on that front!!!! we shall see :-)

Well last night we acually had a toilet that flushed!!! may not seem like much to celebrate but believe you me it really was lol and we managed to start getting our food back into the kitchen we are hopeful for our washing machine and bath back today fingers crossed!!!! Well i hope you all have a lovely day where ever you are and what ever you may be doing.

What a mess

Here is what used to be my kitchen

and here is what used to be my bathroomthere is so much mess and so much clutter everywhere all my stuff is pilled in my living room there is dust everywhere im so fed up and its only day 2 god only knows how many more days i will have to live like this so i wont be around very much at all and now you can all see why.

Just wanted to let you know though that Leon is fine after his finger and is back at school today and all went well with him at the optician and othodontist which is always good to hear.