AND SO IT ENDS....

...another year that is; and like all years it has had its ups and downs...this year has had  its share of downs for us, but - as always- look hard enough and we have had many blessings too.

If you read my last post you will know that Christmas was not going at all as planned (and thank you for your good wishes for mum)...but we survived it. It was a very different Christmas Morning for mum and I...just the two of us and mum had to have her presents opened for her...we had a laugh though, as most of the things I had bought for her require that you have, if not two hands, then at least your writing hand! 

I went out for dinner with friends as planned and mum stayed home with a yogurt(!)...though I did bring some turkey back for a sandwich later in the evening.

Boxing Day saw Kirsty and her Craig arrive back....complete with all the presents I'd wrapped and left for them when I was over in November, so we had another Christmas morning

Now that's more like it!

My brother arrived on the 29th and travelled home with mum yesterday....when I spoke to her ;last night I could hear the relief in her voice just to be home...her Church friends have a rota in place to help her out and I am sure she will start to heal more quickly now.

All that's left is for me to wish you all a Happy New Year when it comes...I am looking forward to refurbishing my Craft Room (I've been to Ikea today!!) and trying to get back to scrapbooking on a regular basis.

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

ME ON MONDAY......

Well actually Tuesday......making the most of an overcast day to sit outside with my book!

The weekend?......it was time with Craig, buying some new garden furniture, looking for a new sofa (unsuccessfully!), booking a trip for Craig and myself at the end of September, booking a flight for mum to come over and generally eating too much kind of a weekend....not to mention being eaten alive by mosquitos- they are really bad this year...i have NEVER had so many bites as I have at the moment!

Hoping you have had a mosquito-free and fun weekend my friends.

As always  sometimes on a Monday (or indeed a Tuesday!) waving especially to SIAN and her merry band of 'wavers'!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

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ME ON MONDAY

Do the scarf, cardigan and grey sky give enough of a clue that I am not at home on this Monday morning ( yes, I'm posting on Tuesday but the picture was taken yesterday)

 

 

 

I arrived in Scotland last Wednesday night, and the scarf and cardi have been almost permanent fixtures since then!

As you can tell, I'm feeling ever so much better and the shingles rash has gone. It's the oddest feeling though, as if even my makeup brush touches the area which was affected the nerve endings tingle...not painfully now, but I'm still aware of it!

The weekend? It was a travelling with mum and Craig to see Kirsty and HER Craig's new house, loving the house but being dismayed at the state of the garden....thus pulling weeds and strimming the almost foot-long grass.....trying to explain the difference between weeds and flowers to my daughter, having a bit of retail therapy and eating too much kind of weekend.

I head home tomorrow, so today will be spent with mum....I took her for a 'proper' grocery shop yesterday; the first she's felt like doing since dad died....she is slowly adjusting to her new situation, but it's hard seeing her so sad......I'm just glad to have been able to get over this week and spend some time with her.

 

Waving to SIAN's 'Monday Wavers' and to everyone else ....have a good week!

 

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

 

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ME ON MONDAY....

....late, surprisingly enough!

Monday saw me spending quite a bit of time in the car,

between general chores and then taking Mum and my sister down to the airport...... Fortunately the chap who had been assigned to give mum Special Assistance through the airport turned up very quickly, so there were no prolonged farewells; my sister was filling up with tears ......she returns to NZ tomorrow, so there's no knowing when we'll see each other again ....I can only imagine how many tissues she'll go through this week!!

The weekend?....trying to keep mum cool- she found the heat very tiring, so spent a lot of time indoors sitting as close to the fan as she could get,reading. We managed a visit to the Mall (yes, we DO have a mall, which blessedly has AC!), a trip to the coast on Sunday evening-which of course meant a visit to the ice cream 'parlour' and lots of dips in the pool for my sister and myself throughout the course of the weekend.

Waving to SIAN'S little band of 'Monday wavers'...and of course to everyone else......hoping all's well wherever you are in Blogland!

Thanks for dropping by!
Take care of you
Alison xx

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ME ON MONDAY

I've been back home for a week now....and it's taken me till now to find my Blogging mojo again.

It's been a difficult and emotional couple of weeks, but by today I have managed to find the time and inclination to sit in the sun, in the shade of my new parasol:

The weekend?..... It's been mainly house tidying and cleaning, as my mum and sister arrive tomorrow for a few days. My sister came back from New Zealand about seven weeks ago and has spent all of that time either at hospital with dad or looking out for mum...she returns next week, and we felt that it would be good for the three of us to spend some R&R time in the sun. Mum is looking forward to it, but with mixed feelings, as it will be her first time here without dad; I am discovering that my mum is a very strong and resilient lady....I think I take after her...I hadn't realised quite how alike we were until these last few weeks and I'm grateful that I have seen this side of both of us.

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch in these last couple of weeks.....as always the Blogging community has been so supportive and caring!

Waving to the other Monday Wavers, spurred on by the lovely SIAN

Thanks for dropping by!
Take care of you
Alison xx

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ZOOMING IN AND OUT

Here I am....late again for HELENA'S weekly meme:

ZOOMING OUT

I've been starting to tidy up the garden this week...cutting back and getting rid of older plants which aren't looking so good any more...and I bought this little selection to replace some of the them:

ZOOMING IN

I particularly love the markings on this little viola!

My mum was just bemoaning the fact that it's too cold over there to contemplate any gardening....yet again I am reminded of how lucky I am to live in this little corner of our planet!

Hope the weather allows you to do something outdoors this weekend

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison x

MOTHER'S DAY

Today, in the UK, it is Mother's Day.....and, although living in Spain, this is the day most ex-pat Brits celebrate. Spanish Mother's Day (Dia de la Madre) is celebrated on the first Sunday in May, and Father's Day is actually tomorrow...it falls on the Fiesta de San Joseph, always March 19th. It is an important religious holiday, and all our shops, banks etc will be closed. 


I have made the phone calls to  my own mum and to my MIL....and am hoping that my brothers will  remember to go visit, and that DH will remember to ring his mum.
 My own Mother's Day has been spent with my non-human 'baby'...and you can see how excited SHE has been about it!

Kirsty has exams this coming week, so is (hopefully) busy studying up in Barcelona...I have though, had a card

and a telephone call.....and the news that he is coming home for a few days over 'Spring Break', which starts next weekend!

I can't help but think of Stuart on Mother's Day, so have scrapped another page from when he was born

Although none of these girls had children at the time, they now have 14 between them!

Boo has roused herself and I have just looked outside and seen this!

I obviously dropped some ribbon whilst rummaging, and 'eagle-eye' has spotted it!

Look at that  face..trying to look all innocent!!!

I have just remembered that I haven't drawn the name for PASS THE BOOK....and will go do it now before I forget again...I'll post the result later-PROMISE!!

Hope all you UK mums are having a lovely Mother's Day!

thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

A 'VINTAGE' Easter Layout......

......inspired by this week's Sketch Challenge over at  ANOTHER FREAKING SCRAPPY CHALLENGE (AFSC). If you've been following my Blog, you'll know that I'm on a quest to get some of my old, original (boring) scrapbook pages re-done...and  over at AFSC , the idea is to scrap about YOU, preferably in your 'younger' days.


My problem is that my mum is NOT a hoarder...and got rid of SO many family pics when my Gran died, and she fell heir to all of her photographs as well- admittedly a lot of them were of the headless, blurry sort so who can really blame her! So when I saw that the Challenge was to create an Easter layout, I was initially a bit stumped...then it occurred to me that we got married just before Easter (in 1980!), and that I had a few Honeymoon pics on a page somewhere. I rooted out yet another old album, and sure enough- all of three pictures on a page, which, of course, I forgot to photograph before carving carefully cutting it up.


This is the sketch from AFSC

 

and this is my take on it

The pictures themselves are very poor quality, and badly faded...and there were originally an awful lot more of them, but I have my mother's genes and got rid of far too many that, at the time, didn't cut it! I was too busy thinking of saving space rather than posterity, at that point in my life...thank goodness for the digital age!!

So there it is..no Easter Eggs or fluffy bunnies, but another page re-done, and lots of happy memories brought to mind whilst doing so...and apart from leaving a legacy for future generations, that, to me is what scrapping is all about!

If you stop by next Saturday (24th), it will be party time! Our lovely friend DEB over at PAPERTURTLE is hosting a Housewarming Party Bloghop, and a bunch of us are joining her (unfortunately in cyberspace and not in Arizona :<). There will be recipes for Starters, Soups, Salads, Mains..and of course DESSERTS flying through ether..hope you can join us!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

Grandma's Girl

At last I've got around to actually doing something with the first prompt from SHIMELLE'S new class! 

The last couple of days have just been a little bit crazy, what with getting mum and dad to the airport and attacking the laundry pile (DD was here for the weekend, and left some laundry too!)...then of course yesterday was big exercise day- Keep Fit and Line-dancing (I can manage one-and-a-half dances now, without causing damage to anyone else-or myself, for that matter!!)

This morning saw some shopping at the market (and let's not forget the floor-cleaning )...and then, eventually this afternoon I got this done:

Am now about to attempt Prompt 2!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx