The Crazy World Of Elmo

Latest photos of Lilly

2011-03-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

Lilly is finally finding her feet in our family. We have to keep her in the dog cage when she is with the boys as she is still unsure of them at the moment. However I am happy to say the hissing fits are far and few between now and she is happy to lay down and watch them. Hopefully once Dan comes home from sailing we can introduce them with out the cage.

Meet Lilly

2011-02-22T23:09:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my last post we have not had her for long, actually not even 24 hours yet. A friend of mine saw an advert for her on our version of Ebay on facebook. They got her three weeks ago but within days my friend went into labour and gave birth to a very cute little baby boy called Austin. The situation was not very ideal for Lilly and it soon became evident that their house was not right for Lilly. So at the weekend Dan said that we would give her a home but my friends husband said that he wanted to keep her. However, yesterday my friend turned up and said that she knew the situation was wrong, Lilly was suffering so asked for us to take her. Well now I have a very tiny bundle fast asleep purring away on my chest. The boys love her but she is not too sure of them yet so they are being kept apart and gradually introduced.

Dan is happy because he has a little bundle that follows him everywhere and cries if he doesn't pay her any attention.

So please welcome Lilly Marshall to the family :-D

8 things about me ...

2011-02-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

My Aunty recently passed on an award to me, thank you Aunty T! Well here goes 8 things to tell you about myself:

1) I live in Germany and I am right next to the border to Holland. I have to admit that ich liebe (I love) Holland a lot more than Germany.

2) As of yesterday Dan and I have 3 pets in Germany which are my amazingly cute dogs (not biased at all) Jack and Russell and now a very tiny little 7 month old kitten called Lilly. I was not intending on getting any more animals but the circumstances around Lilly meant that we couldn't say no. I shall upload photos in a moment to show her off.

3) I now have a paid job as a Youth Worker at the local Youth Centre. I teach Arts and Crafts to the children and also have got a few people into card making, scrapping and all kinds of home made delights.

4) I am a voluntary worker at the Thrift Shop on camp. It is basically like our version of a charity shop but we sell the items and a large percentage of the money goes back to the original owner of the items.

5) I have a few nicknames since coming to Germany. The latest is Aunty Yoda because my friend said that I am always right and know the answer to everything. Sam has also taught her daughter to wave her index finger when she says 'do the Yoda!'

6) I have finally overcome my oversion to smelly nappies and have changed a few now without gagging! I am rather proud of myself for that lol

7) I love taking photos and for my Birthday Dan bought me a new camera because my old camera couldn''t keep up with me hehe

8) The most important one .... I miss my family lots and lots but hopefully I will be able to see them all soon.

Photo update ...

2011-02-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

2010-09-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the garden showing all the bits and bobs that I am growing. Plus a couple of hoond pictures as well

Woof Woof to Our Great Grammy

2010-09-11T06:16:00.001-07:00

Mummy and Daddy told us that you would be having a look at the blog so we thought we would put our paws to keys and send you a message. Mummy has been taking loads of pictures with us in the garden so we thought we would show you how handsome we are. Russell was trying to howl in a couple of them but he still doesn't know how to do it.

As you can see we thought it would be awesome to take all of our toys into the garden (Daddy was not happy because he had to go find them in the grass).

We love our new house but Jackie loves it more than I do. I (Russell Hoond) like to sit next to it rather than on my decking.

We miss you lots and miss all of our cuddles. Mummy and Daddy want their computer back so we shall speak to you soon on the telephone

Lots of love from the Hoonds xxxxx

Latest update

2010-09-08T15:20:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone, including my little Grandma (when she sees this). I promised Grandma that I would put up a photo of the new addition to the house .... another house lol Dave finished the dog house the other day and we love it. We just have to convince the boys that they like it as well. They have had a couple of sniffs but nothing to get over excited about. I am going to get Dan to go out there with them and hopefully with Daddys encouragement they will go inside.

The card is just a quick card that I made with some paper that my Aunty gave me before I left. I cut out the images on the page to try and give it a bit of dimension. Kat seems to love it so they has to count for something. I think I went a bit ott on the purple though but I never think there is ever too much purple!

Not much has happened over here other than a 16 foot snake being caught on the air field eeeek I am never going there again. Work is alright, I am making more friends there and my boss is giving me more responsibility with the new staff.

Right I am off to bed as it is late here (never sleep at normal times when he is on guard)

Night all

Latest creations and new bits and bobs

2010-08-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Well as my Aunty knows by accident I found a shop in Holland that sells craft items. When I first saw it I thought it was very good (remember I have not been in one since leaving the UK!) Well I decided after work yesterday that I would go down and have a proper look at what they had to offer and stock up on the bits that I have been using.

Kat thought that going into Holland would be a good idea so off we all went on a road trip. Poor Dan was dragged around this shop for aaaagggeeesss! The shop comes with a stamp scheme similar to that of Art Base and once it is full you get E10 off of your purchase. My only problem with the shop is they focus on the items that are way out of my price range eg E40 for a pad of paper! They did have some papers that we both found but the selection was not overly fantastic and yet again neither was the prices. The shop sells a bit of everything for all different crafts so there is not a lot of any one thing. I very much miss Pinnacle's and Art Base for shopping and ideas.

Well anywhoos here is what I got, one page I made up last night with Kat. Sorry about the photos being at the top and not at the side, really do not like this photo uploader.

Duisburg Zoo

2010-08-23T14:04:00.001-07:00

Bruggen

2010-08-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

Around Elmpt

2010-08-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

House continued

2010-08-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

The house

2010-08-21T10:52:00.001-07:00

Latest Photos of the Boys

2010-08-11T12:07:00.001-07:00

I will actually write a proper blog soon I promise. Anywhoos here are some pictures taken of the boys since we got here. The picture of Dan and the boys is on Russell's 5th Birthday.

A little walk in Elmpt

2010-08-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

Dan and I decided that once we had got the car back we were going to go on a little adventure. We had been told that there was a lake near to camp so after two visits we finally found where the lake was. It is a stunning walk with a lot of wild animals roaming about.

More photos

2010-07-24T04:35:00.001-07:00

Fathers Day (I actually made those) they had chocolate in and everything!

My Thank You card that I made for Kat and Dave which is still up on the mantal. Dave thought I had bought it from a shop :-D

This is a glimps of our kitchen and yes that is Dan doing the washing up. Normally the loo brush is not on the counter but we had just bought it

Dan's first day at work

The boys in the hallway, the white door is the downstairs loo and the glass one is the front door

We have arrived pictures

2010-07-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

This is the house and the back garden

The stunning Roemond in Holland (when we have the car running we spend most of our weekends in Roemond). The Dutch are such lovely people and I could spend every day in Holland.

Berty the baby bird that I was looking after

Our photos so far

2010-07-24T03:46:00.001-07:00

Well I have been happily snapping away but sadly most of my photos can't be published (joys of living on a camp). I am starting to get photos of the house once the rooms are complete so keep an eye out for those.

This is at the Ferry port waiting to leave the UK

This is our last view of England

Welcome to Amsterdam, not as pretty and scenic as I had imagined

Further into Holland we started to get the more 'scenic' views. This is the boys first and only wee in Holland

This is our Hotel in Elmpt

Just a quick one

2010-06-16T02:35:00.001-07:00

Guten morgan,

Well just a quick one to say hello and also to let you all know that I have a voluntary job! Yes that's right lil ol me is starting to work. There is a thrift shop on camp and most of their staff is being posted in a few weeks. So they rang Welfare asking for help just as I came through the door. So within five mins I was at the shop and told I start on Monday!!!!

I will be starting paid work but in the mean time it is something to do and it is only 3 days a week, well I have to work late tag early amend. (that was German for afternoon and evening)

The people I will be working with seem very nice, plus all I will have to do is stick tags on things and sort all the stuff out. That has made my day, now I best hike home to sort the boys and fill out the mountain of paperwork that I need for living here!

Love to everyone

A quick hello from the Marshall's

2010-06-14T02:33:00.000-07:00

Well I am in the Welfare Office again trying to sort out all the changes of address that needs to be done so I thought I would say a quick Hello to everyone.

Today is roasting hot and I am getting a tan! However the past few days we have had heavy rain (just to remind us of home). Kat and Dave have been great and have taken us out a few times last week and cooked for us yesterday. Their son David is soooooo cute and he decided to watch videos on Dan's Ipod (Dan was not overly amused that his toy was with a 2 year old).

Dan started his first day at work today and he has already been told that he is away Thursday night to do the farewell parade at JHQ for ARRQ (think thats how they spell it). Basically the camps here are closing down and ARRQ is the first to go while we are here. 7 Sigs are meant to be coming back to the UK but we were told that we will all be trotting back to the UK in 2 and 1/2 years time ....... typical Army have changed their mind and now we don't even know if we will be back before the 3 years are up!

The house is looking more and more like our house now. Not sure if Dan saw the delighfully huge pile of stuff that he needs to take down to the cellar later hehehehe

Russell has had his first tick, ticks are rampent over here so we are going to have great fun!

Right I best go, love to everyone back home

Hellooooo from Germany

2010-06-08T00:41:00.000-07:00

We have arrived!!!! My blog login is in German so this could be fun, it took a few goes to work out how to get this far haha

Well the Ferry, would never recommend DFDS again! Non stop problems the whole crossing but the boys had the worse part and were covered in wee and Jack cut his nose. We found that once we got to Holland our SatNav that had said it had maps for over here only had one road. Sooooo we found a petrol station and a very nice Dutch man told us how to get to the camp. Really was not too hard it's only two very long roads hehe

The camp is basically a wood with buildings plonked in it. The kennels where the boys were for two nights was lovely. They had a massive room out in the woods with a little house and were taken on walks around the forrest. Don't think they actually wanted to come home!

The house is bigger than the last one and it is taking a while to get used to the fact that the washing machine is downstairs. Dan has already made one of the rooms in the cellar his! The house was dirty and we have already had a falling out with housing over that one.

We have made friends with a couple that live a couple doors down from us. Dan worked with Dave years ago and by chance he met up with him in the Guardroom by accident. We have already been to theirs for a BBQ, taken to Hollland for lunch, drinks and shopping and we are going there Saturday so the boys can watch footy. Oh and they are cooking us a Sunday roast! Cat and Dave are so lovely so it will make it that bit easier to settle in.

Dan has found out he is 229 Sig Sqn which he was a bit gutted over as Dave and Dan (yup another one) are in 231 which on the paperwork was where Dan was meant to go.

Dogs are registered and will get a little Army number just like Dan.

Berty - The other morning Dan came running up the stairs, watermelon in hand to tell me that there was an injured bird in our garden. So me being me rushed out of the bath to go sit in the garden for an hour with a baby Jackdor (not sure on the spelling, my spellcheck is in German). A Magpie had pulled him from the nest and injured his wing and face so there was me in my PJ's and ever growing curly fuzzball of hair handfeeding this baby bird. The guard on duty told us to just snap his neck, you can guess my answer to that one. So we found the only vets open in Elmpt (although we are Elmpt Station we are just outside of it) and took the little one to get sorted. When we brought him home he went for a trot and found his parents and we think that's where he is now.

Oh and ref the google image we are the last house on the OTHER side of the road to what we thought. The reason we got it wrong was because the house numbers are not like in the UK and our neighbour has two houses in one. So we have a lovely view of garages and the NAAFI.

German classes - We went to the Army Education Centre only to find that I have to wait until July before the next lot start up. So for the meantime I shall just sit and say thank you a lot because that is the only one I know off by heart. Most of the Germans don't speak English, that's the Dutch. For the time being I just make sure that when we go off of camp I take Dan with me.

At the moment we don't have a TV (need a bigger dish), phone or net. There is a computer in the Welfare office which is where I am now so if any emails are sent I will see them when I next pop up.

I best be off, love to everyone back home and hopefully we will be able to speak to you soon

7 craft things to know about me .....

2010-04-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

My lovely Aunty named me to write a list stating 7 crafty things about me. I don't know many people on here so I am sorry for not passing it on.

My Aunty and Grandma introduced me to the world of Arts and Craft at a very young age.

I have tried painting, drawing, sewing, card making, scrapbooking, embroidery, latch hook rugs, ceramic painting and there is loads more!

I made my own thank you cards for our wedding.

I decorated all of our wedding gift bags.

It appears I am better at scrapbooking than card making!

My fave style is vintage and distressed items.

You can find something handmade in every room of our house.

Birthday card

2010-03-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a little card that I made for Lewis's 4th birthday. I used a background and bits from a mag my Aunty bought from me. It's not the most complicated of cards but it was quick and does the job so here it is.

And here it is .....

2010-03-21T02:15:00.000-07:00

Well I finished the final page to my layout of Oliver. Once I picked up my photos from Tesco's (which I would recommend as better than Jessops) I decided that I wanted to finish the layout. So while the boys played on the playstation I got all of my stuff out into the office and taadaa one layout completed.

I also finished colouring in but it is a bit in your face so I will have to have a think about what I am going to do with it.

I am also doing a birthday card for Lewis so I will add that once it is completed.

Scrapping .....

2010-03-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday was rain rain and yet more rain! So I pulled everything out from under the stairs (my storage space) and covered the living room with all my craft stuff. My Aunty had sent up a couple of scrap book kits and it was bugging me because I had a few ideas. However due to Jessops changing their T&C's I have to wait a whole week for my photos to be printed by tesco's. On the plus side I have got just over 40 prints for 30p woohoo.

Anywhoos yesterday I finished off a page that I started at one of the classes my Aunty took me to and then I done another two pages. I have yet to get to the scrapping standards of my Aunty but we all have to start somewhere. Dan contributed by passing me some glue and sticking on some buttons (he was feeling left out).

The purple page has another half to come, the first half is all of Oliver scan pictures from 3 months and the next one will be (once tesco's print them) of when we met baby Oliver :-)

My Aunty got me some funky pens and ages back paper with a pattern on it (which looked a tad plain) sooooooo I am in the middle of being very grown up and colouring it all in.

Well I shall upload all of my pages so far and get back to colouring in.

Long time ......

2010-03-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

Since I last wrote a post .... sorry!

My laptop officially died so I had to wait for Dan to return from Salisbury before I could use his computer.

Brrrr snow, snow and more snow!

2010-01-18T07:24:00.000-08:00

As you can see we have had plenty of snow. It started a week before Christmas and it has never gone. Thankfully it has melted in places now but I am still stuck in the house until it has gone. I have been so bored that I have contemplated moving the furniture around because I am sick of being in the same rooms in the same house!

The house has been ice cold because housing put the wrong size rads into the buildings. A couple across the road have demanded to be moved because it is so cold. At some points we have even seen our own breath sooooo hurry up summer!

Wedding frame

2010-01-18T02:33:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest work, my Aunty and I was confused as to what to do with the plastic sheets as they were so pretty. So I used a black piece of card as a base, then I used an opal card which I cut to give a wavy edge. Then I put one piece of the silver plastic design on the card to highlight all of the designs and then added a photo from the wedding. After that I just cut out parts of the design that stood out and put that over the photo. Not the most complicated of pieces but I liked it so I thought I would share with you all.

Hello from the North Pole

2010-01-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Just a quick hello from the snow palace! Yes it is still snowing and I am sick to death of it. According to the weather we have more to come, oh joy!

I have actually made something crafty which my Aunty will be happy about. I finally found a use for the plastic sheet design that we had spent ages looking at, I made a photo frame thingy bob with it. I shall upload a photo of it when I get some batteries for my camera.

I have found a craft shop in Darlo but it has nothing on the shops that are down south. I did find a few bargains the other day including my flipping santas for 30p!

Jack is learning his basic skills and we have learnt sit and lay down. He still has some issues but he is so much better than he was. The Vet said today that we have finally reached a weight that is normal for his breed.

Dan and I are finding loads of places to visit and our last trip out before the snow was to Richmond Castle. The views are amazing from the grounds, I will upload some photos when I load the other pictures.

Right I am off to bed as I am starting to nod off (must be my age lol)

Night all

Wooohoooo ....

2009-11-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T03:15:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-03T02:46:00.000-08:00

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 ....

2009-10-21T00:53:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2009-09-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

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 ......

2009-08-19T01:47:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-08-10T03:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-17T03:42:00.000-07:00

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 ....

2009-07-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

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 ....

2009-07-10T02:27:00.000-07:00

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 ....

2009-06-28T05:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

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 ......

2009-06-23T01:59:00.000-07:00

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 ....

2009-06-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

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

Some of the photos I have taken

2009-06-17T01:33:00.000-07:00

Big THANK YOU .....

2009-06-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

... 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

2009-06-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-12T06:31:00.001-07:00

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.