The Ultimate blog party

I've noticed this loads of places, including, of course, 5 Minutes For Mom.

It officially starts on the 2nd of March, and just seems to me to be a great way to 'meet' new people and read some new blogs. And... there are gonna be some fab prizes too. I'm not sure I'm doing this justice, so follow the links and check it out for yourself!

I have nothing to say, but I'm blogging anyway

So here's a pretty picture. It's HP playing 'Somewhere over the rainbow' if my memory serves me correctly.
(Taken on my mobile, which is why it's a bit grainy. However if you look closely it does appear to say 'Somew..' on the sheet of music, which would seem to back up my theory.)

catching up

I decided at the beginning of the year to start a journal, this would just be somewhere I could record briefly what I did each day, the title of any blog posts I wrote, and things like how much exercise I took and water I drank. I knew I was unlikely to manage to do it every day, but could catch up every few days. I looked in it today and discovered I'd got stuck on January 23rd and decided today was the day to try to catch up - even if that means only writing a couple of sentences for some days. My Mum and I decided it would be fun to keep track of what we ate (for our main meal) on a food themed calender we got free from somewhere and is up in the kitchen, so even if it's only writing what we ate that day, I can write something!

I've also been sorting out my Sunday school stuff for tomorrow, and a few other bits and bobs as well. Tonight I am babysitting the little one, so I plan to sit and write my journal and cut out a few things for sunday school. A good day of catching up. I wonder just how far I'll get!

Here's little one watching the ducKS.

bluetooth breakthrough

Ok, I have no idea why I couldn't get my phone and computer to communicate properly the other night, but yesterday our internet stopped working*, so I couldn't catch up on blogs and instead thought I'd try the bluetooth thing one last time before I called in the heavies (or asked some of the computer-y people at church). And it worked, so I sat and sent all the photos on the phone to the computer (all 70ish). It didn't actually take that long, you can sort of get into the pattern of what button to press when, and it goes really quick. It's good because I now have all the pictures saved, and can delete some off my phone if I want to, I think it can only hold 100 altogether. And most importantly I can now put them on my blog :-)

This is one of my favourites. It was taken on one of the very first times I looked after the little one, when he had a major desire to grab anything that was most unsuitable for him to have (phones, cameras, TV remotes...) and this captured his hand reaching out trying to grab my phone. I have it as my screensaver on my phone.

[Oh, I also have my computer screensaver set to be photos - it just picks photos at random from all those saved in the 'my pictures' folder. It's a great way to see and remember old photos - sometimes I just sit and watch the screensaver!]
[*Our internet was down because the guys digging up the road had cut through not one, but two cables. An engineer came out and fixed it this afternoon, so I'm happy again :-)]

Little one comes face to face with giant snail

Bluetooth

My Dad was kind enough to buy some software for us to be able to have bluetooth on our computer, so that I could get the photos off my phone. We've set it all up, and my phone and camera can 'see' each other just fine, however, when I try to send a photo from the camera to the computer, the phone says it cannot locate a device and therefore cannot send. Does anyone have a clue about what I might be doing wrong?!!

(Oh, and here's an apple photo from the other day. Or should that be a-boots?!?!)

Adding to the blog roll

As ever, the list of blogs I read is far greater than the list of blogs on my blog roll, and it seemed right that I ought to link to some more of my favourite reads, and hence share them with you, my faithful readers.

Before I do, however, let me point you towards One Weigh or Another. I check the blogs of the OWOA ladies on that blogroll every day, and you'll find some great reading if you check those out. In particular let me mention Lady Laura, whose blog I love to read, so much so that I am adding her to my blogroll as well (other OWOA ladies, please don't be offended if you're not on my sidebar, it just means that I click through to you from OWOA instead!)

I've been reading Arwen's blog ever since I discovered her on Bekki's blogroll a while back. A couple of other blogs I've grown to love, courtesy of Bekki, are Light and Momentary and Jules (who I actually know in real life as she goes to my church).

A blog I discovered with the help of Works for me Wednesdays over at Rocks in my Dryer is Life in a Shoe, which is the blog of a mother who has eight children. I have an awful amount of respect for her and love to read about their family exploits!

That's all the links I can think of off the top of my head, but you can be sure there are still more to come some day soon! Do click over and see what you think, you may even find them more exciting than me ;-)

Could he be any cuter?

Snow Story Saturday

[UPDATED - I added the pictures]
Ok, so I've finally got round to telling you about my day the day it snowed (which is now over a week ago). Unfortunately the other computer doesn't want to play, so I can't load up ay of my pictures which are saved there.

We don't get snow much in London, and when we do it never really seems to come to much. Just before the warmroof guys started on our roof it did snow, but not a huge amount, and it went pretty quickly. Last week (thankfully after the roof was finished) we were forecast not just snow, but heavy snow. On the Wednesday I went to my church small group, and didn't get home until quite late and the only parking space was at the end of the road, on the 'waiting limited' spaces (where between 8am and 6.30 pm people can stop for half an hour, but not longer). Since it was 11pm at night that wasn't an issue for me, and I'd be going out before 8.30 the next morning, so all was well and good.

Until, it snowed and snowed in the night (see my back garden here). And my car was all alone at the end of the road, with a lovely big snowdrift all around it. I did attempt to move some of the snow out of the way and try to move my car, but it was just too slippery, and I had to get my mum to reverse it back into the bay for me cos it was actually a bit scary. I left a note inside to any traffic wardens that might venture out, in the hope they would have pity on me and not give me a ticket for being there longer that I ought to be. At the end of the day though, I'd rather get a parking ticket than try to move the car and put myself in danger.

So I was off to catch the bus. Walking up our road I was able to walk on fresh snow as not many people had been walked up there already, but when I got to the main road at the top it was a different story - it was so slipperly and slushy and generally yuck. Many of you will know I am the most accident prone person in the world, and at that point I figured it wouldbe madness for me to try to walk all the way to work as I'd be sure to do damage to myself. However after waiting for three quarters of an hour for the bus to come I wasn't so sure! By that point though you don't want to move in case the bus comes along at that moment, and as I said already, the pavements were just horrible to walk on.The bus finally came, and then crawled along the road, taking about half an hour to travel what would probably take 5-10 minutes. Then, when we got to Homebase (for those of you who know my local area you'll appreciate just how far we hadn't gone) the driver said he wasn't able to go down the hill where I needed to go, and would just continue up the road rejoining his proper route later on. So I got off the bus into the snow that was rapidly beginning to fall again. I rang into school at this point to see if it was really worth me going in, or whether I should just turn back anf go home. And got back the cheery reply from the headmistress "yes, come on it, buisness as usual". So on I trudged, down a steep and very slippery road and on towards school, telling people I passed who were waiting at bus stops that the bus would not be coming along this road as it had made the decision to divert its route.

I was almost at school, and actually on the wrong side of the road talking to a group of people at a bus stop that it was unlikely a bus would be coming for them either, when a bus going in my direction came along. I was really annoyed, having been chucked off a bus and told they wouldn't be going my way, I was now on the wrong side of the road and nowhere near a useful bus stop. I thought 'what the heck' and stuck out my arm anyway. Luckily the bus driver stopped. She confirmed to the people at the stop that buses wouldn't be coming along for them, and graciously let me on. I told her what had happened and she even let me on without paying. What a lovely lady :-)

I then travelled the last couple of stops to work and then having got off the bus, managed to put my foot in a pool of slush whilst walking the last little bit of the journey, and totally soaked one of my shoes. I finally arrived at around 10.45, having spent over 2 hours on a journey that ought to take around 10 minutes by car. My coat and gloves were soaking, as were my trousers up to the knees and my shoes. Having sorted myself out as best I could I went into class for the last 10 minutes of the lesson. Then it was breaktime, and during the next lesson I was meant to be having planning time anyway (so not with the kids, but getting things sorted out!). Neither of the two children I work one-to-one with had made it into school, so in a way I actually had about 10 minutes in class being useful, having spent all that time to get there.

However, the headteacher did ask me if I would be willing to work in the nursery for the afternoon, and I agreed. My Mum works at the same school and she had a slightly less eventful journey (she only works afternoons) and had brought me some dry things to wear, so I was feeling a lot better. I actually had a lovely time in the nursery, only a handful of children made it in, and a couple of Mums stayed too, so we had 9 children cared for by 4 adults!

By the time we (My Mum and I) were ready to go home again, they had got the buses running again, and we caught one after a fairly short wait, and it was much more like the normal amount of time that it ought to take. Needless to say, I was absolutely shattered (and I was coming down with a coldy thing) so I never really got a chance to go out and play in the snow, and by the next day it was all slushy and horrid.
Oh well, it had looked pretty in the morning when I first woke up, and before I started trying to get to work!

A is for...

I'm looking after the little one today. He's been ill for the last week, but seems to be a lot better today, however his sleep pattern is all messed up, so this may have to be a short post if he wakes up soon...

Although it's only a week since I saw him last it's amazing just how much can change at this stage in a child's life (he's around 19 months old). He's started copying the way his Daddy puts his hands in his pockets, and also has several new phrases. The one I've heard most today is 'bad Boots' (Boots is the name of the cat BTW).

The little one has always had a thing about emptying out bags, and today was no exception. In the past he's managed to do thing like empty out a whole pack of wet wipes, seemingly in the time it takes to blink. Or pull out tissues, and hold each one to his nose for a second before discarding it on the floor and pull out the next one. Today he found an apple in my bag, pulled it out shouting 'ball', and threw it across the room, whereupon it rolled under the TV unit.
It was hilarious watching him try to turn himself upside down in an attempt to see where his new toy had gone. Eventually he was getting cross with not being able to reach it so I had to stop laughing and pull it out for him.

'Apple [little one], can you say apple? It's not a ball, it's an apple'.

I went to the kitchen to cut it up and came back with a bowl of apple. He loved eating it (picture to be added later when I'm back at home) and every time he took a piece I said 'apple'. He eventually got the idea, and when I said 'What's this?' he replied
'A-Boots'.

Well, you can't win every time, eh?

(oh, snow story. Hmm, yes, maybe later?! Or at least some more snow pictures!)

Not my snow story yet

I do wanna tell you all how it took me forever to get to work on Thursday and all that happened that day, but at the moment I'm not feeling too well, and have no brain power. I've just got a nasty cough and wheeze coupled with feeling all cold and light-headed, and generally just feeling a bit yuck. So I've had a gentle day today, and hopefully I'll be up to typing proper content tomorrow.

SNOW

Snow, Snow, Snow. We've got SNOW. BIG, BIG SNOW. It's just started snowing again (If you look carefully at the picture you can see the flakes). Must go eat breakfast now. That is all.

Wordless Wednesday

Wedding bells

Sorry, I and G, I resisted as long as I could, but I just had to post this picture and say congratulations your engagement :-) [For those of you who've been reading a while, I is the girl I lived with in GC last year. I miss the fun we had together :-( ]

Alphabet meme

I as tagged by Bethany, and as she's one of the lovely OWOA ladies how could I refuse?!!

A- Available or married? Available
B- Best Friend? Sarah and Joy Banana
C- Cake or Pie? Homemade (southbeach friendly?!?!) chocolate cake. (Hmm, might have to work on that one!)
D- Drink of Choice? I drink loads of water at the moment. Think I'm a bit addicted to it really. Oh, I also like apple squash. Not juice, but squash. Since I started doing South beach I've really stopped drinking most other things cos they just seem too sweet.
E- Essential Item? My mobile phone when I'm at work - I don't wear a watch so it helps me keep a track of time, and I can use the stopwatch to do stuff like 'how many words you can write in a minute' (the child I'm working with, not me!), and I can always text people if I get bored.
F- Favorite Colour? Purple. As anyone that saw me could probably guess. There was a day I pulled up at a petrol station in my purple car, wearing purple trousers I decided I'd better not put on my purple fleece even though it was cold - it does look a bit OTT on the purple front, and I didn't want anyone to think I was a purple freak!
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Um, either are fun. I like eating jelly babies, especially biting their heads off.
H- Hometown? Walthamstow, London. Location of the longest street market in Europe (or so I heard once, so could be that that bit of information is totally out of date by now) and also at the end of the Victoria line of the London Underground.
I- Indulgence? Two blog posts in one day?!? Chocolate, reading a book instead of getting on with whatever else I should be doing.
J-January or February? January - it is the month to have a birthday in for my family. My little sister, dad, uncle, aunts, several cousins and probably some other people all have their birthday in this month. Hmm, maybe I should have picked February, it might have been a less expensice month to pick (just think of all those gifts and cards).
K- Kids & names? Haven't got any, apart from the ones I work with. They include 'the little one' who gets featured on my blog so much that people probably think he's mine.
L- Life is incomplete without? books, friends, family, God
M-Marriage Date? Don't know yet if I'll ever have one. Hopefully, maybe, one day...
N- Number of Siblings? Two, Bekki and Hannah (aka HP)
O- Oranges or apples? Apples - you don't have to peal them to eat them. It's not fun pealing oranges when the eczema on your hands is sore.
P- Phobias/Fears? I've recently discovered I don't like heights that much, or least when you're sitting at the top of the ladder going into the loft and you look down and your tummy and head feel a bit weird. Does that count?
Q-Favorite Quote? Hmm, favourite quote. Lots of family ones that no-one else will understand, for example "It's like a whole 'nother country" "I think you'll find that's lions", and many other delightful things my Mummy has said.
R- Reason to Smile? Lots. Especially looking after the little one. He can make me smile just seeing him. Having Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour. Reading blogs.
S- Season? Spring, it's not too hot, and that's when my birthday is.
T- Tag three people! Kathleen, Bekki and Rachel
U- Unknown fact about me: I have a scar on my chin from when I was little and climbed up a hospital trolley (while I was in hospital because of my asthma) and fell off. Well at least I was in the right place, right?!
V- Vell, vot is vun to do if vere is no v?
W- Worst habit? Spending too much time on the computer.
X- x-cellent, I'm getting tired and there's nothing to put for x, so I don't have to use any extra brainpower.
Y- Your favorite food? I'm not sure I want to say, because last time I was asked this question I was really into salad and lettuce for lunch, and I said that, and then I went off it. So now I might go off whatever I say this time. And also,the other reason is that I can't actually think of what my favourite food is!
Z- Zodiac? Really not into that stuff.

(An almost) self portrait

This is me as drawn by little Debbie at church. She loves to come over to me at church and finds it incredibly amusing to be able to say "hi Debbie" to someone else, or when people see us together and say "hello Debbie and Debbie".

This fantastic picture (among others) was done at a church prayer meeting at the start of the year. Debbie came over to say hello while we were still praying, so i gave her my notebook to draw in. She said that this was me. She asked me to write Debbie at the top, which I did, and then had her own attempt at writing it (she's only about 3 years old). She then requested I draw something, so I did the snail quickly and she had a go at copying it.

I was clearing out all the bits of paper in my bible case today and came across her pictures. After coming out of the scanner this one is going up on my pinboard because it makes me smile.

new loft hatch

I was going to write this post tomorrow, but Steve (as featured here and here with HP) requested it to be written now (and I didn't need much persuading).

It just took me far too long to put all these photos in the right order, so I'll keep the explanations to a minimum or else I'll never get to bed tonight.

I got home from work just as the two guys who'd been working on our loft today left. We said goodbye to them, and then my Dad went upstairs to try out the new loft hatch again for himself. I just happened to be able to grab my camera and capture his every move. Some of the photos were perhaps not the best, but I have to say if you were to cut out and stick them together I believe they'd make a pretty cool flip book like those ones you used to have when you were younger. (Or as illustrated by flicking through the slide show on my computer very quickly. It's like, 'wow, you can see him moving...')

Without further ado, our new loft hatch and ladder and my Daddy. (The warmroof guys are coming back to do a few finishing off bits tomorrow, so maybe a few final photos of it them, but I guess soon you will have had enough of looking at my ceiling! Um, and maybe some pictures of inside the loft to show off the window that's been put in and the new flooring. Oh, and warmroof is the name of the company that are doing the work for us.)











































































Oh go on then, here's my Dad standing on the new flooring, next to the new window.

More loft progress

This is what our landing ceiling looked like this morning. Last night that plastic was still stuck up over the hole, but by this morning it has fallen down. What looks like snow on the inside of the roof is actually the new insulation that has been sprayed on. If you look very carefully you can see the edge of the old hatch just inside the bathroom (but it might be one of those things that you have to know what you're looking at to be able to see it!