Wooohoooo ....

Now Jack has been a bit of a pain these past few weeks. We thought that we were ready for anything but silly old us thought that Jack would be easy like Russell ....... WRONG!!!!

This dog eats everything including the walls! He has eaten part of the laptop, the iron, photo albums you name it he has found it and left nothing but distruction in his path. Things have got so bad that I rang the Dogs Trust for a dog behaviour expert to give me some advice (still waiting for the call, why does this not shock me with them?!?)

Well I was in the kitchen (Dan is at work for some silly class on radios) and I remembered I had not given the dogs their daily treat. Out came the box and in ran the boys, they can hear me open that cuboard from anywhere in the house. Well out came some treats and I said like every night for them to sit. Like always Russell done as he was told and while I was making a fuss of him I looked over and what do I see ....... Jack had done it!!!!!

Four, yes that is right, four times in a row my little boy sat when I told him to. Yippeeeee there is some sign of hope after all. Plus, yes it does get better, while we were out for our hour walkies when I told them to wait before we crossed the road, Jack waited until I told him to go again!

I think Jack may have been abducted and replaced by a new hoond. I doubt that we will have the same tomorrow but hey something is better than nothing.

I thought I would share as Dan has taken my phone with him to work and the half chomped laptop is the only form of communication to the outside world.

Here are the latest photos

I am still alive ........

Well it seems since I have come up to the land of the monsoon I have hardly spent any time on the laptop. So I best get typing to update you all.

Well the spare room has now been completed woohoooo I have turned it into Dan's/Hoonds/chill out room. It looked rather empty until the other day when Dan decided that as he had taken all of the wardrobe space in the house that he would buy me a material one. I have decided that I hate going food shopping around here. It is fine going because it is down hill but coming back home with half a ton of shopping is a killer. Though we are hopefully getting a car next month so keep your fingers crossed.

Jack has had his stitches out and is doing really well. He still poops in the house but we are working on that one. Russell loves him to bits and when the Nurse took Jack out of the room he cried because he thought we was getting rid of his brother. They tend to love each other a tad too much but the vet said that hopefully that will stop in time. Russell was ill the other day but that was because the terrible duo have this new game, Jack makes holes in a ball and Russell eats it! Russell's lead snapped when I was with the on the field behind the house, thankfully he stays near to me when we are out so I managed to grab him before he legged it into the woods.

We had a professional photo shoot in the living room the other day and Ken dropped the photos off last night. Dan and I loved them so much we have all of them ooops. At least now we have a selection of photos of us together with the boys.

I have been required to drag out the old Lawyer in me, I had to write a child custody contract last week! I think people forget that I have yet to qualify but that has always been the downside of doing law.

I have met the people on my little section and they are all lovely. We had Denise and Sandy over for drinks on Friday night. Though I was so tired I was nodding off by the end of it. Then on Halloween Jackey and Wendy came over for drinks dressed as a witch and a skeleton.

Dan and I decided that we would go to Darlington on Saturday, it was good to get out of the street for a few hours. After the 40 min bus ride we both felt a tad drained but it was worth it. We went into Past Times (I have always loved that shop) and they had a 50% sale on. I saw a few things that I liked but never thought anything of it. I went to Poundland and Dan said he needed something in Boots so off he went. Shortly after he found me and handed me a blue bag with a Cl adder ring with a Amethyst heart stone, Art Deco silver watch and a Celtic style necklace with a Ruby oval stone. The necklace is for Christmas but I have worn my ring and watch every day since :-D

We have had to have both the front door and back door fixed in the past few days. There are more repairs needed so I will have to get on the phone to DHE to get it sorted. It was so nice for the man to ask me if this was the house Jack built!

Well I must go as I have to be domesticated but I will put some photos up.

Toodles for now

Hello from the North ....

I am sorry that I have not posted much over the past few weeks. Finally the house is coming together but for the first time in a while I don't actually have that much stuff and the house still looks a tad empty. I am sure that I can sort that next month.

Well I love my new house even if it does look like something out of Balamory! It is taking me a while to get used to the constant cold, I think I will go shopping for some warm clothes next month. I am sure you have seen the photos from my Aunty of the house and once I have completed the rooms I will take some more.

I am exploring to find new places, 2 and 1/2 hour walk to find the vets only to find it is no longer there! Russell loved it though, sorry Aunty Toni for not staying on the phone for long but as you know there are never ending hills up here. I need to take my camera out to get a few pics of the woods etc that are near me.

I need to book in for the second time to a dentist as the first one was up a flight of stairs! I had a look around the white shops, not over exciting but hey it is something new. I also found a taxi service that will take the hoondies to the vets.

Ah yes you might of noticed that I mentioned hoondies rather than hoond. Well Russell missed having another animal in the house so Dan and I sat down and concluded we needed a play mate for him. While Dan was on Afghan training Becky and I looked for all the rescue shelters in the area. We found a few potential dogs but my problem was getting to the Dogs Trust. Then my friend from down south also called Dan came up on a spur of the moment visit. He said that he would take us to have a look so off we went down the motorway. I thought I would want to take them all home but shockingly that was not the case. There was a few that were very nasty dogs jumping at the fence growling, I nearly pooped myself a few times!

I had not seen any dogs until we got to the last pen. There was three dogs in the pen, a small one that had just got a home, Jes and Jack. Jack kept in the background and Jes was sooooo cute. Typical me I wanted Jes because she was so tiny, cute and she loved us. All the info on the wall said she was perfect for us so we trotted off to the re homing block. We sat down with the woman and she started to tell us about her only she said that because of Russell we couldn't have her. I was gutted she was what I wanted. Then the woman said had we thought about Jack.

Jack's owner had two dogs and decided to get him from a farm only to find she couldn't cope with 3 dogs. The woman said that he was very nervous and shy which meant he needed some work but because we don't have a baby he would be perfect for us. The woman said he was great with kids but we had time to get him out of his shell before we had children of our own. So we agreed to have a look at him. We waited by the gate and out he came, this small scared little baby boy.

He didn't want to be taken from the dog workers but off we trotted around the car park with him. He was just skin and bones! Dan and I loved him esp Dan. He has always felt left out because of how much Russell loves me but I think we both have a dog now. Jack stood with us shaking like a leaf so we found him a ball which he took and ran off with. We told the woman we would have him and Dan agreed to drive us back the next day with Russell to let them meet.

When we got there with Russell I think he thought we were leaving him there, you should of seen his sad little face. Everyone was fussing over him and thought he was so cute, I thought to myself well of course he is! The women put them both on a lead and took them around the car park. Russell had a little grumble but after a few mins they were off running together so the woman said that we could take them out together. Dan was off running with them both, Jacks bum going one way and Russell's the other. This time Jack wasn't scared and he came and cuddled us and gave us kisses. So we have the house inspection tomorrow and we have to go for a talk Saturday, hopefully we can pick him up and bring him home the same day. Keep your fingers crossed he passes his re homing medical.

Very sorry ...

I am very sorry that I have not been on here to have a look at everyones blog of late. However I do have a valid reason ........... WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!! woooooo!!!

We move in on the 1st and I have been busy packing and spending hours on the phone trying to get everything ready. All I have seen is the roof from Google, although it is a lovely roof it would be nice to see the rest of it.

So first thing Thursday morning, Aunty Toni, Becky, the animals and myself shall do the horrible drive up to Catterick. I am excited about the move but there are certain aspects I am dreading! However, we will only have to put up with certain problems until May then we move again.

I am sure my Aunty will let everyone know all the latest gossip about the house until I am able to. Oh and before I forget I have an awesome bright green shower curtain, we will never need to turn the bathroom light on ever again :-D

I am an Aunty again ......

Well I have been at my in-laws for the past couple of days so that I could go with my sister-in-law to her baby's first scan.

Yesterday I was greeted by nudey rudey otherwise known as Kirstin (she has decided that running naked is far more fun than wearing any clothes). I now know most of the story books off by heart lol

The baby is fine but with the size of its head Vicky will need an awful lot of gas and air. They turned on the heart beat for us and it was there wiggling about flinging its arms and legs about. Very much an awwwww moment. I really can't wait for the 9th of March which is when it is due.

I spent a great day with the kids yesterday and I will be seeing them again later before 'Aunty Tristy' has to hike back home, woo public transport can't wait.

I have returned!

Well it has been a while! The joys of changing your name only for your internet company to get confused and cut you off. No one told me that getting married would cause so many problems.

I have still not moved out of my mum's house. The Army only recently allowed the application to go to Defence Housing, then they put a hold on the house because shame on me I asked for a ramp! So far we have had a week of fighting to try and tell the army a specific OT report can not be given on a house that does not exist. Neither can an OT from Thurrock do a report for a house in Yorkshire. The best part is according to Housing Defence there are no houses available in Catterick, yet there are empty houses sitting there .... obviously they are housing dust elf's!

There have been a few trips to Barleyland since my last blog and I have plenty of bits and bobs to make the odd card.

I finally got to spend some time with Dan wooooooooooooooo we have officially spent roughly 12 days together since the wedding. I know I know how on earth can he fit in work with all that time spent with me lol We attended a wedding and then came down south to spend some time with the dog and to see all the family down here. We also went on a day out with my Aunty so I think Dan has now seen most of the Essex countryside hehe I shall be adding some pictures later but at the moment I am busy with yet another day of phonecalls grrrrr when will this end

Grrrrr

One of these days I will have some good luck without half a ton of bad luck to follow.

The other night I got a text to call some random number about Dan, panicking I rang to find out that his boss allowed him one night off with me. Woohoo, off I went to Earls Court being chatted up along the way. Finally I got to see Dan and it was great to see him again.

The next day he mentions to his Captain about letting me go with them around London, he gets humphy and says no we are on duty blah blah. When they finally find Dan the Captain mentions it and Dan states we have not been together since the wedding 'oh if I had known I would of allowed her to spend the day with us!' Grrrrr thanks for letting us know after I hike back to Essex!

Then I get a bill today from 3 to state I owe them two months for my net. Now I rang them on the 1st of this month to pay it because that's what I was told to do. Some silly man told me it had been paid and that I owed them nothing. I ring them today 'we have no record of that', mentioned about the direct debit dates 'we have no record of that'. So now I am waiting for a call from the manager which should have been no later than 49 mins ago! Plus if I change the date on the direct debit it will take another month for it to go through.

To top it I have to return shoes for a wedding next week because the company thought I would prefer two RIGHT shoes. Thanks to the Post Office who knows when they will get there due to them needing another day of strikes. If they did their job then I could understand them wanting more money, but their service is rubbish and unless you pay the earth to send something it is very doubtful the other person will ever get it!

I feel much better now after my rant lol

What I have been up to ....

Well Aunty T is not the only one to have been busy for the last few days. I have made a house album and photo doo dar today. Logical explination of how to make these and what they are made of can be found on my Aunty's blog.

Yes it is true that I half hacked my finger off making my house but that is all part of the fun lol

The cards are made with a basic card background and all bits and bobs found in my craft bag. So here they all are.

CHRISTMAAASSSSS ... at Pinnacle's

I have been waiting and waiting for this weekend so I was rather excited this morning to head off to Barleyland.

I had the camera at the ready, fully charged as ordered by my Aunty. I did think it was rather odd to take a camera with me shopping but now I know why. I have lots of piccys to get ideas and pictures to follow, all from the fantastic cards that were on display.

I have a huge bag full of goodies to play with. There may be the odd Christmas card popping up soon to :-D

I have a mountain of vellum as it was 20p a sheet, bargain! Plus I have two bags full of stamps so I shall have ink and paper flying all over the place.

I shall resist making any tonight though as I am up early to toodle off to class in the morning. Hopefully I shall remain in one piece this time, I might take some plasters with me just in case though hehe

Night all and a very Merry Christmas in July!

P.S Thaaannnkkkk yoooouuuuuu Aunty T love the Pest xx

What a week ....

Well Dan is back in Catterick for now. He has been given the wonderful duty of playing guard at Gaza for the week! 24 hours on and 24 hours off for an entire week, how lovely. Hopefully I will see him on the 24th when I make the oh so wonderful hike up north for the wedding.

I received a fantastic email from the OFT today telling me that yes a company is braking the law but all they will do is take my account of things and file it. Trying to work out how that would even remotely help us. We have a country full of fantastic laws (ha yeah right) that are meant to protect us! Yet no one wants to enforce them and we are considered guilty thus having to prove our innocence! What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'. Does that only apply to the hardened criminals who have had such a terrible life they have turned to the world of crime and use it as an excuse for their behaviour?

I am still packing, at the moment it is not getting done as quickly due to the pile of paperwork and phone calls I need to make *groans*

My Aunt and I went to Art Base yesterday and took part in a class. I have finished the house, but I want to do more to it and I have a few ideas. Though I did manage to hack away at my finger with a craft knife in the class, there will be no doubt who made that book ..... I have my DNA on it hehe The people there are so lovely and helpful so Sunday should be a fun day.

I got a file for all of my paper so now it shall be kept all nice and protected just need to sort it all out. I have made a couple of cards from my Pinnacle's shopping which I shall take pictures of soon. I decided in my wisdom to cover my drawer sets in handmade paper. However I really really really love one design which I only had a small square of. So I shall be heading to the bargain bin to find some more on Saturday.

Christmas in July this weekend. I have been getting rather excited about this for weeks. I have got my do craft goody bag which has kept me amused for a week so far. I finally have my oval shapes so I can make my fave design today woohoo I will be looking forward to seeing all of the products and ideas that the staff have come up with.

We finally found the shop in Ockendon for crafts. I can't say that I was overly blown away by it. I think that is because I am spoilt with Pinnacles and Art Base. I managed to get a couple of things from there but I doubt I will be rushing back.

Oh well I best go as Dan is back in the Guard House so I can finally speak to him :-D

Meet the zoo ....

These are my pets, I don't have as many as I used to but these keep me happy.

Sooty the Chinchilla: He belonged to a friend of the family but she became pregnant and no longer had the space for him. I already had a chinchilla when we got him but sadly she died. He is a bit of a rude boy and flashes but thankfully that has calmed down now.

Russell: Jack Russell/Terrior, there was an add in the local vets for Russell and Boo. Boo was a huge rotty which I could never of looked after but when I saw him I rang Dan and asked if I could bring him home. Everyone falls in love with him and he knows it. His owners had lost their jobs due to the recent probs and could no longer afford to keep him so they sold him to me.

BJ: BJ the hamster is I got in October, I had 12 (an oops from the pet shop meant I came back from holiday to pups) and when they all died I missed having one. Mum called him BJ ..... well you can guess what he does to get the name. He has always been a scared little hamster and jumps at the slightest bang. We can pick him up but if you don't put him down when he wants to he will jump (I found out he bounces :-S)

Elmo and Elmina: They are 3 year old Herman Tortoises. Dan was the one who named them because he thought Elmo (the small one) was like him and it was logical to call the large one Elmina after me. I did have the hump for ages that the one who was meant to me was the fattest but hey that is male logic for you. Their previous owner, yet another friend of the family, could no longer take care of them and joked one day about me having them. A few weeks later a tank turned up with two tortoises inside. They have very individual personalities and they love to be cuddled and have a fuss.

Cards

My Aunty and I went to on a little trip yesterday to Art Base and Barleyland. I must admit I was very impressed with the stock in Art Base and the staff seem so lovely. They showed us the house that we will be making which I am looking forward to. I have never done anything like that so I am not sure how it will turn out, but hey you have to try these things.

Then we went to Barleyland. I love it there, plenty of fresh air and people who are friendly, because lets face it all the staff are there because it is their hobby to. We had to go to pick up a cute little stuffed dog for Kirstin which Russell thinks is his. Then it was to the first port of call .... Pinnacles. Now recently I had seen a card design that I really loved but I could never see the items to make it. By the counter is a what I call the 'bargain bin' and ......... two yes that's right two packs were in it with all the kit to make my cards :-D

Sadly though the stock to make all the Christmas products was mostly still upstairs. There was a selection out already but not of the items I wanted, typical.

We had also been to the Farmers Market and tried everything and anything as well as sniffed jar after jar. So when I came back I had a few bags of goodies to play with. Typical me, I know there are items that I need to finish but I was straight into the card pack and within a short period two cards were made.

My Aunty picked me up a multi purpose heat gun so I shall be trying to make some Christmas candles in the near future. Though to be fair why on earth my Aunty thinks I am safe with something like this I will never know.

Now to what is becoming a slight obsession of mine. I have returned to my love of all things smelly (nice smelly of course). So I am building a collection of smelly bath bombs from Barleyland (where else) and creating a collection of candles. When I was at uni we were banned from having candles, which I can understand as one student set their flat on fire with a chip pan. I remember it well as I was still in the building at the time, who knew that you would have a real fire on the same day as a fire drill and people still didn't know what to do! I did .... relax by the window and perv at the hunky fireman below!

Well I shall hopefully be able to add pictures of my cards ... keep your fingers crossed

Another day another pile of boxes ......

After the wedding I planned on being extremely well organized and have all of my stuff packed and ready for Dan to finish his course. It seemed such a good idea at the time. I dismantled my chest of drawers and packed away all of the clothes I did not need, then I lost half of my room to the depressing sight of brown boxes! Though the end is in sight, hopefully we only have to wait until next month before we are given our quarter.

I really hope that we get our posting in York, it would be good for us to start a new chapter in our lives and get rid of some very bad eggs that we have sadly collected along the way.

I am also excited about my new role as an Aunty with Kirstin's third birthday next month. I finally have an excuse to go back to children's shops and play with all of the toys (they have to be tested to see if they are suitable). Kirstin is learning to say 'I luff Aunty Kwisty' which I find very cute and Ethan is more interested in his helicopters lol

Well I most go back to the joyful chore of packing some more boxes before the dog wakes up and tries to pack himself!

My latest project ....

My Aunty has been taking me to Barleyland and on one of our many trips she found some lovely wedding velum. When we are together we are often talking about possible craft ideas so an idea came into my head about making an album with the velum. Here is the front cover, it is not finished yet but I am not sure what else to do to it other than a quick tidy of the organza ribbon. I am sure I will think of something soon enough.

Photos

I have a thing about taking photographs. I have never been very good at it but I have always loved to capture everything that I see in a photo. I have been known to take hundreds of photos just on a day out. Here is the latest of those happy snapping moments

Some of the Thank You cards

Please excuse my photography but here are the thank you cards that I am making.

Some of the photos I have taken

Big THANK YOU .....

... to everyone who has welcomed me to the world of blogging. If I haven't personally replied to your comments it is due to my computer dying half way through so I shall say a huge THANK YOU here.

Ok now on with my blogging. My Aunty and I went shopping yesterday to Barleyland and I am getting all excited with all the new things and ideas I have for the house. I have some new velum which I am playing with and I have started something (my Aunty will be proud) but I'm not showing until I have done some more to it. Though I really need to find where my glue went otherwise I wont be getting very far. I still have a pile of thank you cards to finish but I never seem to have time to fit that in.

Well I must go the dog has been given a treat from next door and he wont eat it until I go to the landing and watch him. I think it is a boy thing!

Wedding Photos

I am not sure if this will work but I created a very basic video with some of my wedding photos. Fingers crossed it will upload.

First of many blogs

My Aunty has had a blog on this site for a while so I thought I would give it a go. It has taken me a while due to a fault with my anti virus but fingers crossed that it is now fixed.

Well I best get on with the latest news within the crazy world of elmo. We have been given our posting which will be in York so hopefully we will finally be allowed to live together next month. Dan's away on a course at the moment so at the moment we don't get much time for each other, though I have used his bank card (it's my way of reminding him I am still here hehe).

I shall try and upload some pictures of the Thank You cards I am making for our guests from my recent wedding. My Aunty made my favour boxes, invites and a little photo flip book for our wedding (very proud and thankful to have a clever arty person in the family). Most of it is safely packed away so it might be easier to visit her blog to view pictures of those.

However I do have a couple of pictures saved on my computer so I shall try to add some pictures to this blog. My favour bags started off as simple paper bags or as my Aunty put it .... sick bags! I used the same stencil that I had used on the cake boxes and a very old paint brush with a plaster wrapped around it to make a point, some burgundy paint, some burgundy organza ribbon and wam bam you have yourself a little favour bag. Although the main reason for making everything for the wedding was to cut the cost I also wanted to make something personal to Dan and I. I would like to think that we managed it.