What's Rocking Your Friday?

It's days like today on which I feel the real value of participating in WRYF and am grateful to Virginia for initiating the whole wonderful thing. I urge you dear blogger to join in if you haven't already. It's got to be good for the soul!!!

I'm so grateful to the wonderful world of the web. It allows us all to have glimpses, large and small into the lives of those around us, near and far, differing in culture, nationality and existence. Part of this joyous exploration is finding like-minded people, and also the realisation that you're never as alone as you had perhaps believed.

Next, to my work colleagues and friends among them, for making me smile when I think I've forgotten how to. They are a wonderful bunch of academics who combine their academia with high-level sporting achievement, firm social conscience and often the most amazing sense of humour. They accept my for who I am, in so many ways diametrically different from them on a physical and psychological level. Thanks guys one and all.

Again, as always, I express my love and gratitude to the staff at my son's school who have again this week been so supportive to us all as a family, but more so in their education, protection and care of my darling son on all possible levels. It's been a hell of a week but nobody's died so we live to fight another week.

On a crafty point of view, I thank all those individuals who share their beliefs, loves, aspirations and achievements in their blogs. One of my current favourite heroes is Suze Weinberg. I love the way she writes of her diverse interests, love of her family and the way she shares all this unstintingly.

Finally, my darling Dad. Who constantly reminds me in his quiet way to never give up, to hold belief, and that I am loved. Thanks Dad.

Right - time to get on.

Hugs and sparkles to you dear reader.

Gxxx

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

I'm conscious that at times in this world it's all too easy to become moany, obsessive, introspective and generally ungrateful. Well I'm damned sure I must appear that way to a lot of people a lot of time. I think joining Rocking Your World Friday will be good therapy for these nasty little habits.

So........... today it goes like this:

At 4 o'clock last night I became eternally grateful to the designers at Archos who came up with this little beauty



I bought this for DS some months ago as he loves his gadgets and especially those which offer visual stimulation and whose function he can control infinitely. He is a control junky in the extreme but perhaps that's more than his autism.

Anyway, after much pulling of hair, screaming and gnashing of teeth, I am finally able to download all his favourite Youtube clips via Cnet, convert them into AVI format from MP4, and pop them onto this little gadget. He finally got to view it yesterday when OH went to see him down at school. Verdict - thumbs up (Ross is pretty non-verbal). It's not often I feel that I've done something in his life which I think he truly appreciates, but I get the impression Ross might think his mum has a purpose in life other than to make him sausages and chips on demand!!!

Next - so grateful to be alive and have my nearest and dearest around me. We, as a family, lost someone very close to us this week and the funeral was today. A stark reminder. Over.

My crafting - generally a hit or miss affair but it helps me to focus. When i craft, nothing else gets in the way. I'm out of the house, in my own little world and the house's other inhabitants know better than to disrupt me.

Finally, with the thought of a big review on Monday, to the absolutely stunningly fabulous staff at my son's school. I give them total responsibility for my son's safety, education and social and moral welfare for 11 days out of 14 and he now has more mums and dads (in the nicest possible way) than any little one deserves. They all bring their own brand of humour, compassion and experience into this little boy's life and I love each and everyone of them.

How's this for a first effort?

Gillx

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Good afternoon bloggers

Two weeks ago today, in our back garden, my OH and I experienced a moment in history. I decided to record it for posterity, in a manner befitting all good scrapbookers. I hear you asking what the occasion was. Well, DD has her first boyfriend and they decided to venture into the garden instead of loitering outside the house in the manner of a modern day Romeo and Juliet! The photo isn't great but all mothers will appreciate the significance.



Today I'm faced with the prospect of a house devoid of children for the next five days. DS is peacefully ensconced at school and DD is on a coach on her way down to Hull. Tonight she'll take the ferry over to Rotterdam, en route to Michelstadt in Germany for a musical arts exchange visit with her school's twin school, the Gymnasium in Michelstadt. In addition to performing in the Gymnasium's annual arts concert, she and her schoolmates will endeavour to teach the German pupils a song in Gaelic - oh to be a fly on that wall!!!

Anyway, I digress, as usual. I was checking my camera card this morning and came across the photo above and decided to break the habit of a lifetime and do a 12 by 12 layout. Apologies for the photography, but I hope you get the gist of it.















I'd had the papers for a while - Bella Bella by My Minds Eye. They are a beautiful muted selection of papers. I cut the titles using Cricut's Jasmine cartridge, cutting a mellow warm yellow Bazzil cardstock. To the naked eye the title looks lovely and stands out well, but sadly my photos belie this fact!

The flowers and tree were Kanban stamps, using Versa Mark and copper and Green perfect pearls and give a gorgeous glimmer. I have, sadly, failed to go big with embellishments but any suggestions to amend/improve this LO are gratefully appreciated and no offence will be taken.

Right - off to prepare a leisurely dinner, without the usual variations to suit a varied household. OH can have what I make and like it!!!!!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Gillx

And now for something different

Bloggers

Just need to share this one with you. I'm as hard-hearted and detached as they come but I have to confess to a bit misting of the eyes as this one went along.



Enjoy!

Gillx

Rumours of my death................

Morning bloggers

I am such a lazy, lazy, lazy blogger. I have been busy since my last post but in my usual fashion have forgotten to take pics of my crafty efforts - deliberately or otherwise.

An early preoccupation this year was memory books for some of the cast members of Fiddler on the Roof in a local production. DD took part in this production as her first full musical. I have to admit that I was uncertain about allowing her to join the company. However I can now put my hands up and say that I was wrong to worry. It's done her confidence the world of good. Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the covers of two of the finished books. The sepia book is Alexandra's own and the pink one is one for a friend of hers in the company, Elaine. I also did books in sapphire, emerald, ruby and gold.







Next up was a challenge on the Docrafts scrapbooking forum. A number of us agreed to do a matchbox swap. The matchbox in question was one of the Cook's Matches boxes which was to be decorated and filled with little crafty items. It has to be said that this allowed us to be a little more creative in terms of decoration and the amount of items we could put in the box.

My swap partner was the lovely Sue Bubbles and she very kindly sent me this little treasure trove:







Thank you so much Sue! If you want to see my contribution to the swap, go to Sue's blog here .

Last, but by no means least, I dug out my Bind-It-All which I received as a birthday present back in October. Having completed the Fiddler books, I thought I'd have a go at a couple of Post-It holders.






Looking at photos of my work makes me realise that my style is a very simple one and perhaps I shouldn't fret about trying to change it - easier said than done my friends.

My final word - go here to my new favourite blog - Suzy Weinberg.

Happy blogging!

Gillx

A blog award - thanks Tania!!!

I received this award from my friend Tania who I met through the DC forum although we actually only live apart 4 miles apart!!! Apparently I've been awarded it in the hope that it inspires me to get blogging regularly again.

Well, I am at least crafting again and am currently working on half a dozen souvenir memory books for people involved in a production of Fiddler on the Roof which is being put on in Falkirk in April. I can say no more for fear of prying eyes LOL!!!

I think I may be suffering a confidence crisis as my desk has several little completed crafty items which I've made for specific people but then failed to post on as I fear that they are not good enough. It's obviously just something I've got to work through. May well be a backlash from the stress we have suffered as a family since mid-December and which is finally abating. However that, as they say, is in the past and is best left there!

I will pass this blog on to Sue-Bubbles, Val (phenomenal work - go see!!), the lovely Maria a.k.a. Superwoman, and finally a fairly new but phenomenal blogger, the marvellous Alma!!!!

I've just realised that the condition of this award is that I state the three things I should/would never do, and these are:

1. Hurt anyone intentionally
2. Give up believing in a better way of life for our precious boys
3. Be tidy LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Right, onwards and upwards with the promise of more regular blogging, and dispatch of my craft work to the intended recipients (perhaps!!!)

Eddie May - you're a good man!!!

Well, I’m only too aware that my little blog has remained very sadly neglected over recent months.

My reason for this post is to publicly acknowledge the departure of a good man from my working environment.

Yesterday morning sports news in Scotland heralded the departure of Eddie May from Falkirk Football Club.

For the record, I found Eddie to be one of the most unassuming and moral people I’ve had the good fortune to meet in recent times.

He single-handedly and passively started to revise my opinions on the world of football which surrounds my working day. In my working environment there is a commonly held belief that it is football which makes the world go round. My colleagues accept with good grace that this isn’t a belief that I share, even if they don’t understand it.

Now, I haven’t sat through a whole football match, live or otherwise, since the day that Forres Mechanics won the Highland Football League Cup in September 1984 – obviously not yesterday or the day before!!! The two most memorable things about that day, to me anyway, were the two hours spent standing in the freezing cold (no seated stands in those days) in Elgin. The other was the local radio announcement immediately after the game, that there would indeed be “dancing in the streets of Forres tonight”.

The more opportunities I had to talk with Eddie, the more I began to realise how strongly principled he was. We would talk about the lives of people less fortunate that ourselves, particularly children. Eddie spoke about his thoughts on how young people should grow up with the ability to maintain their chosen lifestyles and careers in the full knowledge of cause and consequence.

Recently Eddie had used his connections at Falkirk Football Club to support fundraising ventures run by my son's school, providing financial sponsorship and items for charity auctions. This was all done without seeking any thanks or acknowledgement.

I really just want to say publicly that I am horrified and sickened by the mob mentality comments of so called football "fans" and "experts" over the causes, reasons for and method of Eddie's departure from Falkirk Football Club.

So, if you're reading this Eddie, thanks for everything. I forgive you for reducing me to tears on occasion. Your leaving is Falkirk's loss and I look forward to hearing what you get up to next and whatever/wherever it is, the people there will have their lives enrichened by having you among them. I just hope they realise it!!