Jeudi Journal - Life

This is the last week for Mia's challenge at Art Journal Journey which is 'Dots' and we have the quote "Life is good, without it we would be dead" to marry with it.  My story this week is about two middle aged ladies walking back through the park from Church one Sunday morning:

"It was a lovely morning, almost lunchtime to be exact, when Martha and Emma, two life-long friends, were walking through the park on their way back from the Sunday Church Service.  It had been a lovely service, biscuits and coffee or tea had been served afterwards which was an attempt by the church wardens to increase the congregation.  The two ladies had decided that they would have lunch at Martha's this week and that is why they chose the park to walk through.

"Ooh, look at those lovely mushrooms" said Emma a she spied some lovely red headed mushrooms that had white spots on them.  "I wonder what those are, the heads are lovely" she said.

"I believe they are called Fly Agaric" said Martha who was keen on this kind of thing.  "And the tops are known as 'caps' to most people".

"I wonder if those are the kind of mushrooms young people pick, you know, magic mushrooms.  I've heard them talk about them."

"I hope none of the teens we know have dabbled with them.  They are a class A drug you know.  But these are not the ones.  I don't think these are safe to eat but I do think they would make you ill."

"But they are so pretty" continued Emma, "the kind of thing a young child might pick and eat".

"I know, I just hope parents keep an eye on the young ones.  Maybe they should be taught about such things in school too." said Martha.  "Knowledge such as this could be a matter of life and death.  Perhaps it is something the Minister could talk about in his sermon some time."

"That's fine" replied Emma, "but we don't have that many young people coming to church.  That is why they introduced coffee and biscuits, biscuits, to try to swell the congregation.  Now if only the Minister went into schools he could talk about such things,"

"You're right, what a good idea, maybe we should mention it to him.  He could call his talk something like 'Life is good, without it we would be dead' and then go on to talking about the mushrooms".

"Perfect for the teens, not so sure about the tots though" replied Emma, "now what have you got for our lunch, not mushrooms I hope?" she said laughingly.

And with that the two friends went off through the park, excited about their plan with the Minister."

WOYWW 817

 Last post for January this year, that's a month that has flown by.  So many plans looming closer yet again, where is time going I ask myself?

Last Saturday we got up to find the alarm system dead!  We thought we could not get out of the house or into the lounge, the latter not being too much of a problem but what if someone came to the door?  Rang the guy who fixes it for us, left messages as he wasn't in or replying.  To cut a long story short he did get back to us and said the battery must be flat so we could move about and go out.  Anyway, he came Sunday and fixed it but he is retiring shortly so we need to be looking at a new alarm system.  Having done a workshop on Saturday morning I hurriedly made him a card to thank him for all the years he has been sorting our alarm out.

In the class we had revisited old techniques as a reminder and one had been 'blending' where we used three different blues, light, mid, dark which you can see I did above for the alarm guy.

We made four cards in all, although Speedy Gonzales here (for a change) made six.  Here are the two blended ones I made:

I didn't put a sentiment on as I will do it when I know what occasion I am using the card for.  I'll save the other cards for weeks I have nothing to show.  So now it's over to Sarah's Craft Shed to see all the WOYWW'ers are doing.  Toodle Pip!

Jeudi Journal - Chances

My story this week features a young lady called 'Dot' - well, Mia's theme at Art Journal Journey is "Dots" so why not have the heroine with that name?  Plus she has some dotted leggings on, some dots in her hair and as decoration on her face, plus the two appliances both have something circular on them and what are circles if not dots!   I hope there are enough dots there for you, Mia,  but just in case I added a dotted border.

"Dot was not the kind of young lady who took to housework easily, in fact she was the opposite most of the time and housework was a dirty word to her.  I mean, there is so much more to do with your time isn't there than housework - or so Dot thought, as she applied a sequin decoration to just below her eye.

She often wondered why her friends didn't come around as much as they used to when she first got her own apartment.  After a couple of parties they seemed to not call quite as much.  Dot put it down to the fact that she had supplied the wine at the first party and the pizzas at the second one when she told them she couldn't afford to keep supplying food and drink and would they mind bringing their own to the next one.  It never occurred to her that they simply didn't call to see her because she was so untidy.

Truth is that a couple of the girls were a wee bit superstitious and when the Christmas decorations were still up in March they decided it was too much bad luck, besides which they had noticed peanuts down the side of the settee and rings where wine glasses had stood on the coffee table on a few occasions.  If that was the lounge heaven only knew what the kitchen must be like.

So we find poor Dot on the floor in the kitchen talking to herself.

"Wonder who will be going out tonight?" she said out loud.  She had got quite used to talking to herself since living alone, "better that way" she thought, "nobody argues back with me".  She hoped there would be a few of the old gang down at the pub, she was looking forward to showing off her polka dot leggings and the new face and hair jewellery she had recently bought.

"I look quite good" she said as she looked in the mirror.  "Oh damn" she shouted as she kicked over a tumbler full of wine, good job it was white, it would have to wait until she got back before she mopped it up, no time now.  And with that she got up, catching another tumbler on the floor that had held a cup of tea.  "No time for that either" she shouted, posing yet again to check her make up, "You know what they say, Housework doesn't kill you, but why take the chance."

And with that she grabbed a coat and went off on her way out to meet the girls,"

WOYWW 816

 These weeks are going by too fast for my liking.  I'm not getting things done that I ought to be doing and things that I wish I could put off are looming too closely.  For instance I keep forgetting to get the varnish for my coasters and so they sit here stark naked yet again,

My desk is showing promise of some crafting to come as I have an online workshop on Saturday morning.  Oops, those are not the inks I want - those are the inks I used the other day to try to get Mr Mojo working when I did one of Jo's online cards.  So I do have something to show you, just have to go and get it and give it a scan - give me a minute or two please.

This was one of Jo's cards that she put up on Facebook and I quite liked it, had the stamps and so I just used a different stencil for the background.  I wasn't sure about the red and the wing colours but when I used them I did like the pop of colour it gave.  I usually do very pastel shades for wings - maybe not always now.

This is my desk which is what you really came to look at until I became side tracked.  Here it is and then I urge you to go to Sarah's Craft Shed for more WOYWW desks.  Have a good week, January is almost over and it will soon be time to get thinking about those Valentine cards.  Oh heck!

Jeudi Journal - Drifted

The quote for this week is "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted".  Join that up with "Dots" which is the theme for the challenge at Art Journal Journey and you have this picture in my journal.

"It was a dullish sort of day, now and again there were hail showers, afterall it was January.  Sami didn't like those kind of days, they made her feel dull and slightly fed up with her life.

Poor Sami was sat at home with nobody but her pet dog for company and outside the weather was not at all conducive with taking poor Brutus out for a walk.  He looked at her with eyes full of longing for a quick walk along the river but he could see there was no way Sami would entertain such a walk. So the two of them sat there quite miserable.  Not even a look at the TV schedule did anything for Sami's mood as she opened the door and signalled for Brutus to go out if he wanted but there was no way that lead was being removed from the drawer to take him for his much longed for walk.

"Sorry" she said, as Brutus lay his head on her knee hoping that 'sad eyes' would work.  "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted." she continued. "So you can turn those puppy dog eyes off and either go out in the garden yourself or just hang on.  There's no way I am going out in this weather for you."

And so poor Brutus had to go to the back door and bark a couple of times for her to open the door.  Yes, it was cold and wet and the hail did hurt a little if it hit you in the face but there was no way his mistress was going to take him out that day for a walk."

WOYWW 815

 It was good to get up yesterday and see the green grass of our back lawn.  First time in what seems like weeks but in fact was only a week ago.  It's really strange how the weather varies between the front and back lawns. The front cleared fairly quickly but sometimes we have seen it rain at the back of the house and be fine at the front.

Of course the news has been dominated by the fires of LA and last week saw me sending lots of messages out to friends over there.  I managed to track down all those people we know who live in the areas affected and thankfully they were fine, if evacuated to nearby friends and family, although David and his two boys had had to go in a hostel.  

Seeing the photos and watching the short film last night brought back memories of when we went to visit our friend after the last fire that took her home.  It was like walking on a scene from War of the Worlds as we waded through piles of ash and bricks trying to find the weather vane her husband had once had made for her.  We didn't find it.  It was strange to see an area of some 250 homes reduced to twisted metal and rubble yet plant pots remained upright just were they had stood at the entrance to someone's home.

Even more strange was to see her sister's home on the street behind hers standing fully intact.  How had that fire bounced its way along the Park, hitting most houses, missing the odd one.  Both our friend's sisters homes were saved but the families were not allowed back on the Park for a good few months as  facilities were dangerous or polluted.

I've done nothing craft-wise apart from my Thursday blog and one more coaster, a seahorse.  I would have preferred to do a 'land' animal but the seahorse was the only other large figure I had.  I have sent for some varnish from Amazon so by next week they should be ready to use as coasters.

My hip has been playing up, sorry if it appears I am all whinge and whine, and I need to get it seen to and then maybe I can get the craft room sorted and do a bit of decluttering.  Guess I am going to have to learn to come to grips with Ebay and other such means of clearing craft stuff.

Rightio, better get on, this is a scheduled post and it's getting late.  See you at Sarah's Craft Shed later.

Jeudi Journal - Age

 This week we have "Dots" as selected by the lovely Mia at Art Journal Journey and the quote some of you might agree with -  "Everything slows down with age".  I know I certainly do.   So marrying the two together I give you this week's journal page and story:-

"Marjorie was quite looking forward to watching her favourite soap on TV when there came a knock at the door.  Before she had chance to get up from her chair in burst her two grand daughters, Milly and Molly who were eight and nine respectively.  Only ten months separated the girls and so they were more like twins than anything.  Marjorie loved her girls.

"Nan, Nan" came the cry from the door, "we've come to see you and brought you presents."  Both girls were so alike that they had the ability to finish one another's sentences and could often speak in complete unison.

"I've brought you a flower I picked from my own little garden" said Milly.

"And I've made you a picture in my journal" said Molly.

"Hold on Girls" came a cry from the doorway, it was mum who came in bearing gifts also.  She had made a lovely rich Dundee cake for Marjorie, her favourite mother in law.  She was, obviously, her only mother in law to be precise, but often she would tell Marjorie she was her favourite mother in law just to make Marjorie smile.  After giving the cake to Marjorie she asked if she would do her a favour and take the girls for a couple of hours that afternoon whilst she went to the hairdressers.  

Marjorie was only too pleased to have the girls, they always made her happy and her soap could wait until later in the day, or even tomorrow.  And so she went into the kitchen and made the girls a warm blackcurrant drink and a biscuit whilst she sneaked a tiny piece of the Dundee cake with her coffee after putting her flower into a vase.

"Shall we sit down with our drinks and I can take a look at your drawing Molly" she said, and the three of them settled comfortably into the lounge.

The girls drank their drinks, ate their biscuits and then said

"What can we do now?"

"Nan, you know how you have a big garden, well we could go and play tag, or hide and seek" suggested Molly.

"I have some chalk, we could play Hop Scotch on the Patio" suggested Milly.

"What about a nice walk down to the park" said Marjorie, "I'm not sure I have enough energy for those games you suggested.  Everything slows down with age.  And your Nan is getting older."

"You're not old Nan" the girls cried in unison, "But a walk to the park would be fine" said Molly, "I could do some drawings of you two on the swings."

"And I could push you right up to the sky" said Milly.

And so the three of them washed their hands and put their coats on and set off for the park which was only fifty or so yards down the road.  

"So much better than sitting watching TV" thought Marjorie as she set off with a girl holding each of her hands.  "Having grand children is the best thing ever" she said to herself."

WOYWW 814

We have seen on TV how areas have been affected by terrible flooding - some yet again after having suffered not long ago.  My heart goes out to those affected and I cannot help but think of my friend Carol who has been living in accommodation for the past few months from the last time her home was hit.  The photographs I saw of her home were heartbreaking and it brought it home to me just what flood water damage can really do.  I hope our WOYWW family are safe and have not suffered with these terrible floods.

Guess it is back to normal for some of us.  Schools around here went back on Monday and the snow came down thick and fast on Tuesday after a little bit on Sunday.  Just when the kids were no longer at home and not able to build snowmen in the mornings and have snowball fights (safe ones - not in the playground).

For us it was a question of taking the tree down, but that was the day before the snow came down.  I wasn't bothered about one going up this year but Chas did it and when it came time to dismantle it I didn't want it to be taken down.  I had so enjoyed my tree over Christmas.

Poor Father Christmas also had to go back in his box

I haven't done much in the way of crafting over the holiday, made three cards ready for next Christmas so now have a total of 27 cards (I think).  Then I decided to get back to my coasters and so I stuck the pictures you saw on the 18th December on the old two but I found a third one.  So yesterday they were drying and they now want trimming and then glazing.  Diana told me about some varnish but I haven't been able to find any so I am trying a different one on a small picture I have done to do on a button.  I need something good so that they withstand heat.  

Maybe next week I will have them with a nice finish on them.  For now I'll just pop over to Sarah's Craft Shed and see what everyone on WOYWW is up to.

Jeudi Journal - Cats?

So, today is the second of the new year - welcome to my blog, still going in 2025 - and Happy New Year to all of you out there in Blogland.

Today we are starting with a new theme at Art Journal Journey, set by the lovely Mia - simply "Dots".  The quote I have to work with is "If you want the best seat in the house you'll have to move the cat" as chosen by my friend Wendy who is my partner in blogging on a Thursday.  The constraints we have to work with, apart from fulfilling the theme at AJJ is that we have to use characters from Dyan's collection at "Dylusions" to fit the quote of the week.

So to begin we have an old page which I had done in the style of Teesha Moore (actually made under the guidance of Dyan at one of her workshops) but not completed.  As it had a figure sitting in the bottom corner I thought I would use this page for this quote and simply added some 'dots" using a stencil by my old friend Abs who heads up 'All & Create'.  So, as is usual on a Thursday I accompany my blog page with a story.  Here goes:

"Celine had been watching well 'binge watching' actually, all of her favourite films over Christmas and on New Year's Eve.  A great admirer of the old style romance she had seen 'Emma', 'Wuthering Heights', 'Jane Eyre', 'Pride and Prejudice'.  She was just waiting for a Mr  Darcy to sweep her off her feet when all of a sudden she noticed a young lady had come through the door.

"Excuse me" came a timid voice from the direction of the doorway.  There appeared to be a young lady dressed in a beautiful long dress of white with a blue overlay and the prettiest of poke bonnets on her head standing there.  "I seem to have wandered too far and am completely lost."

"Err, who are you looking for?" asked Celine, who the heck was this woman who had wandered into her home.  Obviously someone at a new years fancy dress party.  I mean, why else would she be dressed in such a way?

The woman looked pale and somewhat frail as she answered "I am looking for my father, Mr Bennet."

"Sorry" said Celine, "there is no Mr Bennet here, this is my house, I think you have got yourself lost."

"No, I know this is where I live, where we all live, my sisters and I, and my mother and father.  Perhaps if I could sit a moment."

"Well" said Celine, "if you want the best seat in the house you'll have to move the cat."

"We don't have a cat" came the timid reply,  "Father would not entertain cats, he had enough with my sisters and I" she added, "but I must sit and rest awhile."

"Of course" said Celine as she shoo'ed Spot from the most comfortable chair in the room.  "Can I get you something, a tea maybe?"

"That would be delightful" answered the young lady as she sank gracefully into the corner arm chair. 

A few minutes later Celine arrived bearing a tray with two cups and saucers on it and a pot of steaming tea.  "Do you take milk with your tea?" she asked, "sugar?"

"No" just as it is if that is not too much trouble" replied the young lady.

Celine sat opposite this strange young lady wondering what on earth she was going to do with her.  it was obvious she was muddled in her mind as to where she was, but why was she dressed like that?

"Do you know the address to where you live?" she asked.

"Yes, this is it silly, it is Longbourn in Meryton where I live with my sisters, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Lydia, mother and father.  Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering" replied Celine.  "Will you excuse me for a moment?" and off she went to get her copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' - "am I dreaming?" she asked herself.

Just then Spot, who had had enough of this not sitting in his favourite chair leapt from where he had landed when his mistress shoo'ed him away.  If he was not to be sleeping then neither should she - and he landed with a huge 'plonk' right on Celine's head as she lay there sleeping on the settee where she had been curled for the past hour or so.  He needed feeding, it had been ages since he had had lunch.

"Oh" she exclaimed, as she sat up with a jump, "what on earth are you doing Spot?  And where is our mysterious guest?"  It was then that she sat up and realised there was no-one in the best chair.  Had there ever been anyone there?  Or had she been dreaming?  She glanced at the clock, it was almost seven o'clock and she was due at a party to celebrate the New Year.  

So she quickly fed Spot, adjusted her make up and set off to bring in the New Year with friends.  What a shame it had been Elizabeth Bennet who had been in her dream and not Mr Darcy.  Maybe he would be at the party.  A more modern version of course."

WOYWW 813 - Happy New Year

 Welcome 2025 and A Happy New Year to All My Internet Friends out there.  

I turned to good old Google for a bit of help and here are one or two things it suggested, I am sure you can choose one of them that resonates with you, or at the very least, have a chuckle.

Cheers to another year where we can still make 'adulting' optional and 'fun' compulsory.

Embrace 2025 like we embrace brunch - with bottomless drinks and a complete lack of regrets.

Maybe this is the year we finally ditch the "I'll start on Monday" excuse

Here's to a year of not taking ourselves too seriously, unless we're talking about food.

Let's have the guts to chase our dreams unless they involve an early morning wake up call.

Cheers to a New Year filled with fun, laughter and steering clear of the gym like it's an old flame.

and now it's over to Sarah's Craft Shed