Welcome 2013 It's been a Long and Bumpy Journey!

I can't quite believe another year has gone by without me blogging here - well I can, but.... It has been a year of big changes and preparation and getting ready and waiting and waiting and waiting. It has tested me and pushed me to the limit. Almost. At times. A year of uncertainty. The doors I pushed in 2011 finally opened in 2012. A dream finally fullfilled in an unexpected way. My excuse for not blogging here? I am finally a Mum and loving it. I have been pushing the doors of adoption for the last 2 years. It has been rather all consuming it has to be said and most of my free time was taken up with form filling in, visits with professionals, compiling files ready for approval. At times I felt as if my creativity was being stifled, although I did my best to keep my creativity going. It has been in the writing for the assessments, where you spend hours and hours each week pouring out your heart and inner being. Months of preparing files with photos of evidence of childcare experience, which I scrapbooked! Further months getting the room ready and preparing a scrapbook of photos to introduce my little girl to her new home and surroundings - and of course the cat! More of all this later! Anyway, finally, here we are. It has been a long journey and lots of uncertainty and a very bumpy ride. Finally we are now both home and doing well. I am loving it but have been too knackared to do much creative in the last few months since we both arrived safely home. The creative things I have done over the last 2 years: scrapbooking, decorating, have all been kept a little quiet as there was so much uncertainty surrounding the process. Getting the room ready:

The cat is adjusting well to having a wee girl chase him everywhere and runs and jumps fast to escape.She, shrieks with delight when he sits on her artwork - usually on her glitter glue!

Half Term week of 365

Sunday 297/365Trying to get a photo of the new baby was almost impossible with the rest of them clambering all over me!

Monday 298/365 THEY all came round to see me and SHE found MY shoes.

Tuesday 299/365Christmas shopping! (All hidden of course!)

Wednesday 300/365 Christmas creative sewing day... but sshhh it is a secret, of course!

Thursday 301/365 Surprise!

Friday 302/365 A visit to the Hummingbird Bakery!

Saturday 303/365 The Michelin Tyres Car Garage, now an Oyster bar.

Meet the Ancesters

Imagine my amazement and utter surprise and delight to discover this photo of my Grandma and Grandad on their double wedding day circa 1929!
I have been beginning to do some research into my family tree, now that I have a few names uncovered from my adoption paperwork to go from.
I joined an ancestry website to begin my quest. It has been a hard search, as I had 2names, one date and one age to go from as my starting point.
I found a few leads and thought I had gone as far as I could with the mere few pieces of my jigsaw I had found. I was really pleased with what I had discovered but quite unexpecting this!
I was sent the link to this photo from the other half of the family from the double wedding, effectively descendants from my great aunt!
So in the photo, as seen for the first time by myself is my Grandma (as I have decided to call her)

Grandma Kathleen Lucy, when she married my Grandad (as I have named him) Grandad Hubert.

They were seemingly married along with her sister, Doris, (my Great Aunt)to Rev.Harry (my Great Uncle)
Imagine my further joy, to discover amongst the list of names and faces, my Great Grandma - who was called Lucy Maria.

So, I am among 3 generations of Lucy.
Imagine.
If only my parents knew the further linkage to my given name!
I am chuffed to bits!
Anyone see any family resemblance?

A Bit Of A Hen Do - Part 2!

So the presents for the Bride to be arrived in one piece.
Phew!
We went out to eat here:

Eat as much as you like.
Buffet style.
Hummus, crispy duck pancakes, curry, mint mouse, cheesecake and sweets and fruit.
Delicious.
Yummy food.
Stuffed.
Too busy eating to get some pictures of the food.
Sorry.
The Bride to be(my niece):

loved it all.
A lovely Girls Night Out!
I wore my lovely posh shoes, of course.
I teetered and tottered, bravely, pretending I was "fine" and tried to keep up with everyone who had worn sensible shoes, convincing myself that I was walking eligantly and not going at a snails pace.
The Mother of the Bride to be(my sister in law) couldn't walk in her shoes either...
but they do look great don't they?

It was lovely spending time with my "ex-family", whom I love dearly and remain close to, perhaps surprisingly, despite being divorced for many many years.
It doesn't generally follow a break-up to maintain good friendships with the in-laws, sister-in laws etc, but this family has a special place in my heart and they would say I the same in theirs too, I think.
It is fun to break the rules, anyway isn't it.
We love to laugh and see people's faces when I am introduced as "the ex-sister in law". We wait for the cogs to turn in people's heads and then say "Oh," and still look perplexed.
We just giggle.
It really is a story of mourning into dancing.
Maybe I will tell you one day.

A Bit of Hen Do! Part 1

i am off to my nieces Hen do this weekend. Her Wedding is in a few weeks time. I am making THE wedding cake and it is a work in progress but this weekend it is all about having a bit of fun with the Bride to be and friends and family.
I am trying to get a few gifts wrapped for her...

and would like to get them to the Bride to be in one piece!

Wish me luck!

A Birthday Doorstop

Was it wrong to ask my sister for sand to put in her own birthday present?
Well, I asked her for some sand that I needed to make something stand and didn't tell her it was for her!

So, this week I have been making my sister her birthday present. Her birthday was on Wednesday, the same day as the Queen.
Here is what I made for her:
I had seen similar ideas around in stores, but they all seemed to be bright pinks and reds and not quite what she would like.

I chose the pretty burgundy and pink colour fabrics that I thought she might like.
I got sand from my sister in a bucket from behind her shed left by the builders. I dried it out on the radiators and added some pot pourri to make it smell nice :-)
So here is how I did it.
Step by step if you want to make your own doorstop. You could do any kind of "house", cottage, castle,zoo, greenhouse...
1. I drew a quick pattern. I used my cutting board as a guide.

Then cut out the pattern and the pieces in the colour fabrics you like.

You will need a lining too for the sand or dried peas that you choose to weight your doorstop with.
2. Sew up the lining ( I used curtain lining fabric) without a top and fill it with desired filling and then sew on the top.

3. Cut out windows and a door in plain fabric and any other details - like curtains or bunting or welly boots, or bird house, or wheelbarrow etc in desired plain and patterned mix. I used plain fabric for the base fabric, another plain fabric for the windows and patterned for the curtains. I did 2 pieces of fabric for the base to give it extra strength.

4. Cut out the same of each of these pieces in interfacing. I used iron on interfacing as it is easy to use. It strengthens the fabric slightly and stops the edges fraying when you applique them on.

5. Zig zag stitch each window etc and then the 2nd contrasting fabrics and details like bunting and curtains. Pin or tack them in place as they are a bit small and fiddly. I used a contrasting thread too for all of my edges, but you could match it for the fabric. Your choice!

6. Sew up the front and sides and bottom in the plain fabric using a straight stitch. I used a green coloured fabric.

7. I decided to use a patterned fabric for the roof, but plain would also work. I pinned and stitched a line of pastel pink bric brack onto each panel of the roof for decoration. I then used some lining fabric and hemmed it all around the 3 edges (like a pillow case) onto the patterned roof shapes. Turn it inside out and sew up the edge. I did it on the machine as an extra edge pattern.
8. Sew the 2 roof panel shapes onto the house shape edge.

Add any buttons or funky stitches you like. You could do roses around the door using a mix of cross or chain stitch and french knots in pretty coloured embroidery threads. I added a "with love" label too which I bought by the metre. my doorstop is a bit of a gardening theme as my sister likes gardening. I used a watering can button and plant pot button. I added a few coloured buttons to make a plant pot to sit by the front door.

9. Stuff the sand/bean bag inside and then hand sew the top edges of the 2 roof panels together and Tada!
You have your doorstop.

10. I put it in a gift bag and took it round to my sisters for her birthday along with the empty sand bucket I had borrowed. She said it was a heavy parcel and I said: "thanks for the sand." We giggled for a while and she said it was fab and smiled. Then she sneezed. Oops. I guess she is allergic to the pot pourri in the sand! Happy sneezy Birthday!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day here in the UK.
Happy mother's Day!

I love this photo!
It was taken of me and my Mum in the garden in the summer with our family dog, Sue, all in the hammock when I was 20 months old. It has always been one of my favourite photos. I don't know if it just seemed to be a happy day memory or that I remember the hammock being such fun swinging in between the 2 pear trees in the back garden or quite what evokes such a happy smiley memory of me and my Mum and the dog.
I remember choosing this photo to stick on my first book I did when I first went to school when I was 5.
I dug out this first prized and still treasured wallpaper covered book this morning from my memory box and took a photo of the photo stuck on the front for you all to see. It's a bit gubbed and gnarled now but precious all the same.

I also found this picture I coloured in for Mum in my memory box. No idea how old I was when I did this, but I guess older than 5 as I almost managed to stay within the lines! Presumably, I decided that yellow was more joyful than purple for these "violets". Either that, or I had no purple! From a young age I have always tended to think out of the box and break the moulds and constraints that said rules like violets should be only coloured purple.

Thank you Mum for choosing me to be part of such an amazing family with you and Dad and my brother and sister. Thank you for accepting me and loving me despite what the authorities and powers that be wrote and said about me when I was first born and when you first met me as a baby. Thank you for loving care and for nurturing and teaching me in all the ways I could go. You have been an incredible influence and role model that has shaped me into the woman I am today. I know I wasn't always soft play dough to mould and shape but at times a bit like concrete needing a chisel, but your love and perseverance seems to have paid off. I loved making and racing those funky turtles from walnut shells with you, by the way. Good times!

I got these flowers today for Mother's Day at church.
Can't help but think about the 2 Mother's I have had in my life.
My first Mother, who carried me, secret and hidden and bravely chose to have me, probably surrounded in shame, choosing to give me life and to bring me into the world. I have always known about you and how special I am to my family, I just never knew you.I recently discovered that you named me when I was 3 days old, tiny and premature. Thank you for wishing me to be in a family. Your wishes came true, against the odds.
I am very blessed to have had 2 amazing Mothers in my life.

Happy Mother's Day.
xxx

project 365 week 7

A great mix of rest and play this week as it has been half term.
Let's see, what have I been up to?
So nice to kick back and take it easy!
February half term!
Monday - day 46/365
Lazy morning, meeting my sister for lunch and then finally got to finish the ironing!

Tuesday - 47/365
Pancakes for Lent. Thought about what to give up - more of a re-aligning, focusing. I am going to give up channel hopping. I gave up TV the other year. It nearly killed me - although the fruits of this sacrifice were amazing. Am hoping to still achieve great things to satisfy and fulfil in the gaps left without channel hopping time these next 40 days.

Wednesday - 48/365
A really lazy day!
You wouldn't believe that this cute kitten, Tudur, woke me up at 3 am with a thud on the door and lay on top of me purring, would you? When I ignored him, he biffed me on the head repeatedly. The discussions about this went on til 4.30 am. He won. I got up and he ran downstairs and hid. When I found him, I shut him in the kitchen and slept peacefully. We became friends again, later and we have had a lovely chilled day. Tonight, he will sleep in the kitchen. He has cooked his goose with freedom of the house at night. I guess I win.

Thursday - 49/365
A day of discovery. My sister and I met with a lady who told me a little more of my history. Amazing what has been hidden, secret all these years. A great day of surprises! More to be revealed!

Friday - 50/365
I love the way this little elephant is making a run for it in the snowy rain at the zoo, when I visited today!

Saturday - 51/365
Scrapbooking Day with friends from church. I got a chance to use my new photo cutters that my niece sent me from Boston, for Christmas. Thank you Rachel - and thanks to Diana who helped me learn how to use them - and the all important see through guides... that I nearly threw away! Oops.

Sunday - 52/365
Snow joke! Woke up to snow - the slushy and crunchy kind, so it was definitely a day for wearing wellies to walk/skid to church! I love my wellies!

Back to work tomorrow!
How long 'til Easter?

Whoop for Half Term!

Yep I did it!
I survived a whole half term in my new job - loving it, bit tired in the evenings it has to be said - but it is a great milestone to reach for me, nonetheless.
So now, to celebrate this milestone, I have a whole week off!
Today, there was lots of time for lazing in bed for ages with coffee and my book!
Lunch out with my big sister at a lovely cafe in my city. We both chose eggs florentine. Sisters! Delicious!
Then back home for some creative arty farty painting fun.

I did this to celebrate Chinese New Year - 2010 is the Year of the Tiger and the celebrations for the next few days began yesterday on Valentines Day, so I sneaked in a few red and gold hearts into my painting! I painted in acrylic and added the gold with a gold marker pen for the finishing touches.
I even did some ironing too!
A great day!
More of the same or similar, tomorrow I think.

Time to Flourish

On New Years Day I brought myself some flowers.
Not just any bunch of flowers.
These beautiful Lillies.

I got them for 2 very specific and different reasons.

Reason number 1)
Over this last year in my own personal prayer life, I have sensed God speak to me about the word FLOURISH. It is such a fabulous word, full of hope, possibilities, growth and opprotunities for new things.
I am choosing to have this word for this year 2010 and am praying about and actively looking for different ways I can apply it to my everyday life, like in my creativity, for example.
To Flourish in all I do has to be a good aim to work towards, doesn't it!

Reason 2)
I have begun looking into my own family history.
I am adopted and have always known this.
Last year, I discovered that my original given birth name was Susan - which means Lilly and to flourish!
I was telling one of my friends who was also adopted this story on new years day and she suggested that I should buy some lillies.
So I did.
I have loved watching them open out over these last 2 weeks into their full open bloom!

Another friend of mine, has one of those baby name meaning books with some suggested Bible verses to go with it:
Susan (origin: Hebrew)
Literal Meaning: Lily or Graceful Lily

Suggested Character Quality: Full of Grace

Suggested Lifetime Scripture Verse:
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows mercy and honor.
He holds back nothing good from those who walk uprightly.” – Psalm 84:11

So, that is my prayer for me since discovering this news - a part of my life that has now come into the open.
A part of my life that is now flourishing as it relishes in this discovery:
My prayer is that I will be full of grace - even though I am no ballet dancer and not very graceful - Thankfully, they are 2 very different things!
Also that I will FLOURISH in all that I do.

Aren't these lillies just gorgeous?
They smell wonderful too.
I wonder what your name means and what that means for you?

Snow day again!

I had yesterday at home again with another snow day.

I did some tidying, making a dent in some of my own filing that I wanted to do, so it was great to have a bit of time to sort and file and de-clutter some of the stuff from my last job.
I also met my sister and brother in law for lunch and gave her her Christmas cake - as a happy new year cake!!
she said it was perfect timing as she had just finished her Christmas cake!Here is the photo of the cake as my 7/365

a perfect day!