Has it really been ...

... so long since I blogged?  Eeek!  I honestly don't know where the time goes.  Todat is the first day in more than 6 months of being off work ill that I actually felt I had time to wonder what I would choose to do.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I have been running here, there and everywhere while pretending to be ill.  For the first 2 months I was off I was virtually housebound as I was too sore to go anywhere.  In fact some days it took all the strength I had just to get out of bed!  Last week I had a physio appointment, one of 3 medical appointments last week alone, and I was asked what I did to fill my days.  I wasn't sure of she felt I was at it or if she was genuinely curious.  I told her some of the things I do such as read, sew, knit, scrapbook and I said somehow the days just pass, and they do and often I have no idea what I have done.  I am trying hard to ensure I achieve one thing each day.  Today I managed to hoover downstairs and clean the bathroom.  That took several hours because I had to keep stopping and changing position as I was getting severe muscle cramps and pain that made continuing impossible.

I also managed to complete last week's UKS challenge and get it uploaded.  I was quite pleased with how it worked out.  This was the 7th challenge out of 40 I have managed and is my 15th page made this year so far.

I have also been keeping up with my book challenges.  I have read 13 books so far this year out of the 50 I hope to read and I am currently reading my 11th Scottish book called Cross Stitch By Diana Gabaldon which was suggested by my friend Angela during our recent scrapbook weekender.

The weekend was great but not having a room to rest in on Sunday meant I headed home early as I was really sore despite having changed position often and not simply sat all weekend.  I think next year I will book to stay till the Monday morning as I would get more benefit from the weekend then as I would be less stiff and sore before starting the hour+ journey home.

I am aiming to get more scrapbook pages done and try and find my own style again so hopefully the posts will be more regular from now on.

Is it possible?

I know lots of crafters complain about having too much stash, something I am certainly guilty of.  I wonder if it is also possible to have too many books?  I suppose for some people it is and if all the books I own where put into one room, a very large room perhaps, there wouldn't be an awful lot of space left over.

Thankfully books on a kindle don't take up the same space that real books do.  If they did I would think I would need to be sleeping in the garden!  The up side is I wouldn't be able to buy any other kind of stash as there would simply be no room. 

What started this, I hear you ask?  Well one of the other people taking part in the Scottish Book Challenge had created a Pinterest board of books that were relevant.  As I was struggling to find a book earlier today I remembered this and decided to make my own board using books I had bought from Amazon, initially.  As there are currently 97 pins and that doesn't include any of the books I have bought from elsewhere, I doubt I will be running out of things to read any time soon.  If you fancy a wee keek it is here.

I have just finished reading The Tailor of Inverness by Matthew Zajac which is about what his father told him about his experiences during the war and what really happened.  I certainly enjoyed it and I learned from it but it was a bit confusing in places, especially when I was trying to get all the Polish relatives sorted in my head while reading.  The author went on the write and perform in a play about his father's experiences which I would certainly go and see if the opportunity arose.  My next book is a lot less complicated and likely to be a touch more riveting.  I am reading number 3 in Gordon Ferris' Douglas Brodie series called Pilgrim Soul.  That brings me up to 6 books completed so far and 4 of them fir the Scottish Challenge so I am on target, at least with one thing in my life.

Keeping up with the ...

Jones' challenges!

When I was younger the phrase keeping up with the Jones' was an often heard one.  It means to keep up with those around you in terms of things  such as getting a car/new curtains/new clothes etc.

In these days of recycling and upcycling it would be frowned upon, these days the challenge seems to be to have less and spend less, much as I was brought up to do.  We never really considered ourselves as less well off than others though because where we lived it was just what was done.  My mother being one of five girls helped because everything that had life left in it was passed on to someone and I still try to do that today.  I think during the 80's and 90's there was almost a stigma attached to having something that wasn't new which was a great shame.  I was watching last Sunday's episode of Call the Midwife earlier and a young dad whose children were not thriving was talking about his younger brother who had died and he said 'things have improved since then' and they had and some things continue to do so.

I would be lost without my internet connection.  I use the internet all the time, to find out things, to share things, to keep track of things yet for young people, and sometimes not so young, it can be a dangerous place.  I like to share my scrapbook pages, some of the things I knot or crochet, some of my photos, my thoughts but I also like to keep many things to myself.  It is all about finding a balance, something I am still working on in terms of my health.  Recently I have been using a walking stick as my left ankle has been really bad and i have found it helped a great deal.  The stick I was using had been loaned to me by the hospital when I had previously torn the ligament in my knee and was barely able to walk.  As it had made such a big difference to the amount of pain I was in and my ability to walk I decided I would try and buy myself one.  The hospital one has a rounded top and isn't always comfortable to lean on so I opted for a flat handle and thanks to the internet I am now the proud owner of not one, but 2 snazzy walking sticks.

I have also been busy with the many challenges I have set for myself.  I have finished Truth Lies Bleeding by Tony Martin, my 3rd book of the year and my 2nd for my Scottish book challenge.  This one was definitely a challenge and as I got to the end and reflected back I couldn't say I enjoyed it much.  It did keep me reading and keen to find out more of the story and some of the characterisation was excellent.  Sadly though I felt I was none the wiser about the main character and I actually didn't like many of the characteristics he was given in the book.  I may or may not read another of this author's books but if I do it won't be for a while.

I have also been keeping up with my scrapbooking and have completed 3 pages recently, including 2 at a crop.  It is a long time since I was so productive at a crop so I am hoping that this is the start of an upturn in my desire to scrap.

The week 2 challenge on UKS was to choose 3 of the following and make a page -
1. hot tropical or warm summer colours
2. ribbons or flowers
3. birds or butterflies
4. sparkle and bling
5. break open your new stash after the holidays
6. use your favourite photo from last year (2013)
7. ice cream
8. sand or water
9. frame the photo
10. scraplift from someone else's work and please do credit them when you post your LO picture

I went for numbers 2,3,4,5,6 and 9 for the first ever 12x12 page I have made using only Webster's Pages paper.  Normally these papers scare me and much as I find them pretty, I never quite know what to do with them.  However just before Christmas I bought the Postcards from Paris collection pack from my friend Angela and I am determined to use the whole pack!  1 page down and a few more to go.

This week's challenge is to use at least 3 of the colours shown.
Use a photograph taken outdoors.
Add some triangles, at least 2, and create some layers or a cluster of embellies.

I had volunteered to make a page for Maggie to show as an interpretation of the challenge, which I loved.

These were taken on one of our many trips down by the river where Sean was climbing trees and showing the kids how to do it, which I found a bit stressful.  Needless to say the kids thought it was great fun!  I hope I can find the balance in how far and how well I can walk so that we can spend time by the river again.  Fingers crossed.

Hurry up and wait

I consider myself to be a fairly conscientious person and I hate to agree to do something then find I can't do it for whatever reason, I absolutely hate letting people down.  On the other hand I get very frustrated when someone tells me they are going to do something then don't.  I have also met many teachers who profess to have a bit of difficulty with things they have no control over and I would be the first to admit I am like that so my current health situation is driving me nuts.

 I have seen countless GPs, an occupational health nurse, a practice nurse and a lymphoedema nurse.  Today was a new one, an occupational health doctor.  Thankfully he was really nice and very sympathetic to my current health problems.  My own GP is still of the firm belief that I will improve, probably not to what I once was, but certainly significantly better than I am now.  The trouble is none can tell me when or how much better I will be.  I have to simply accept this fact but it is frustrating.  On a slightly more positive note - today the process to decide if I can continue to teach or whether I am unlikely to ever be fit to teach again was started.  I say positive but only because I will have some idea of what my future holds, not because I no longer wish to work or because I dislike my job.  When retirement was first put forward I was devastated and it has taken many weeks for me to begin to look on the prospect differently.  Unfortunately I have little idea of how the process works from here on in, apart from the fact that it involves lots of paper detailing what I can and cannot do.  I had contacted my union representative for advice who pointed me in the direction of someone who would be able to help.  That person has so far not done what they have promised so I am having to chase them up.  I feel like my head is going to burst at times.

OK rant over for today.  I finished the Ian Rankin book Saints of the Shadow Bible I was reading and it was a delight to have John Rebus back as a policeman and causing chaos with his blatant disregard for most of the rules.  I did enjoy it and it kept me guessing to the end of the book, as a good who dunnit should.  I did feel that it was not quite as good as some of the earlier Rebus books but it was very enjoyable.  So that is 1 book from my hopeful 50 and 1 of my Scottish books.  I am currently reading Truth Lies Bleeding by Tony Black which is considerably darker than the Rebus book with some very unpleasant characters.  It was recommended by someone else taking part in the Scottish Book Challenge so I will see how I find it.

So far, so good

This is going to be my year for achieving goals and challenges I have set myself.  So far I have recorded 3 challenges for myself.
1) To read 50 books in 2014
2) To read 13 or more books that are either written by Scottish authors or are set in Scotland
3) To take more photos, make more scrapbook pages and record more stories

To help me with challenge 3 I have set myself a goal of completing 40 of the weekly challenges set on UK Scrappers.  I have bemoaned the fact that it is very quiet and that posts aren't moving as fast as they used to but I haven't helped that by visiting infrequently and not posting when I do visit so with a combination of completing challenges on UKS and using story swoop on Get it scrapped I am hoping to achieve this goal.

The week 1 challenge on UKS was to use the following sketch -

and combine it with inks, paints and sprays and lots of journalling.

Here is the page I made as a result -

  

I don't think I have ever used as many different multi coloured papers on one layout but I found this just came together so easily and quickly.  It was great fun to make.  I do love my doily stamps.  I find stamping can be a bit hit or miss these days, due to my shaky hands.  I find I get the best results by putting a soft mat under whatever I am stamping onto.  I am having to find all sorts of tricks to get the same results I used to get but things could be worse.

For challenge 1 I completed a book called The Lavender Keeper set in France during WW2.  The first half of the book was really good and it was clear that the author had done a lot of research.  Sadly the second half of the book was a let down with an unbelievable main character and a pretty predictable romance.  At the moment I am reading Ian Rankin's Saints of the Shadow Bible featuring John Rebus.  So far, so good as they say.  It will be interesting to see how things pan out for John Rebus, I hope Mr Rankin has a few surprises for his readers.  Time will tell.

Challenges number 1 and 2

Sometimes I feel I start every January with several challenges in mind but by the end of the month at least one of them has fallen by the wayside.  I am not renowned for my staying power.  This year will be different in that I am likely to have a bit more time on my hands and I will need to find a balance between the things I do and the times when I need to rest.

I am having real problems with my hands and there are times when they are too sore to knit or crochet or too shaky to scrapbook or sew so I need to do other things.  I have bought myself some puzzle books and some jigsaws, though it is many years since I had the luxury of time to do either.  I have also set myself 2 reading challenges.

The first is via Goodreads and it is to read 50 books over the year. 

It isn't that I am a slow reader but I often don't have a lot of time to read, though this is changing.  I didn't want to set myself too unrealistic a target so I am hoping to beat this one easily.  It will also encourage me to keep a record of what I do read.  I have found that choosing my books for monthly ebook club has already widened my reading horizons and I am hoping that my 2nd challenge will also widen them even more.

I have committed myself to read 13+ books over the year that are either set in Scotland or are written by Scottish born authors.  Details of the challenge can be found here.  I have many books on my to be read list that would fit this challenge so I am hoping to be able to fulfil both challenges by the end of December 2013.  All I need to do now is get them in my planner!