Rantings

You are Bettie Page

Girl next door with a wild streak You're a famous beauty - with unique look And the people like you are cultish about it

UPDATE: I did this other similar quiz and guess who I was?

Marylin Monroe
You're blonde, curvy, scandalous, and dead by 36.
You spawn conspiracy theories you're so hot.


Pin up queen, or not?
brought to you by Quizilla

I’ve been following this news as it unfolds.  So sad, all those people.  I’m too choked to comment properly.

Ok, so who has been watching Life on Mars? Hubby and I have watched it since the beginning, but everyone I’ve asked hasn’t been watching it! It’s bloody brill! And so many little twists and turns when you least expect it. It just goes to prove to me that Britain makes bloody great films and dramas without having to rely on big budget special effects in order to get bums on seats.

Well done, BBC! Nice one!

Find out here.

Mine is Twisted Whispers.

So, somebody had their laptop stolen. Not only that but they posted details of said laptop on eBay, along with updates as to the police's progress in apprehending the crims. Heh heh!

This is mine:

Well, it seems that the bottle nosed whale that swam up the Thames died of dehydration, muscle damage and loss of kidney function. Poor thing. It was an eleven year old female, just a youngster. She must have been terrified. This makes me so sad. The theory goes that whales sometimes take a wrong turn around the northern headlands of Scotland when migrating, and end up in the North Sea rather than the Atlantic. They then try to correct their course by heading west, and sometimes this leads them up rivers. Poor girl was only trying to find her way back to her family. As whales get their water from the food they eat, and as there wasn’t much to feed a whale in the Thames, she became dehydrated. I feel so sad about all this, but I know that even if the rescue had been a success she would only have swam back upriver. Had they been able to fly her overland and released her off the West coast into the Atlantic then it would likely have been success, so maybe it’s better this way.

On a brighter note, I heard that the watering can that was used to keep her wet is likely to sell (if it hasn’t already) for £15,000, with the money going to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

Thanks to John Scalzi for this little snippet of humour.

I’ve just got back from the hospital.

Some of who’ve read my blog for a while will know that I have plantar fasciitis.  It started a few years back soon after I had bought a new pair of walking boots.  Salamon boots, they were.  They had good arch supports and lifted the toes allowing a good rocking motion when striding forward.  I started having pain in my feet very soon after starting to wear them.  However, I was told to persevere as it was because they were a new type of insole that I was not used to.

Pah!  I should have got my money back straight away.  Having been to see a physiotherapist, I now know that it is likely that boots have caused all my pain, that the tendon along the sole of my foot has stretched so much that I now have fallen arches, plantar fasciitis in both heels, and poor gait and posture.  I feel so angry.

I took advice and stuck with the boots.  I took the doctor’s advice and did exercises that made it worse.  I had a steroid injection which was given using an old method (straight into the bottom of my heel) which is very painful and was described by the physio as ‘barbaric’ when it could have been given in the side of the heel which is less traumatic.  I paid good money to see an orthotist who told me to wear high heels!!  Is it any wonder I’m quickly losing faith in so called experts?!

It turns out that my feet will never get back to normal.  The damage is done.  “Welcome to the world of fallen arches.”  Yeah, thanks, mate.  He did say, however, that I can be pain free and lead a normal life using a combination of treatments.  If this is the case, then why have I suffered with painful feet for the past 2 years or more?  Why the hell wasn’t I referred before now?  I’m pleased that the physiotherapist realises that I might still need to be referred further to the podiatrist.  At last, someone who can admit when they may not be able to help!

Neeaarrgh!  Someone stop me before I throttle someone!

We are both ill today.  We went to my parent’s house for dinner yesterday evening and this morning we were both up early with bad tummies.  I shan’t go into details, suffice it to say that I’m going back to bed now for a while.  Sorry, Mam, but it really could only have been the dinner.  :-(

Well, I’m shuffling painfully off to dog training class in half and hour. The pooch has been upgraded from the foundation course (designed for dogs over 1 year old with no formal training) to the bronze class, because he’s just too bloody good for them!! He he. That’s my boy!

UPDATE: The little git was horrible. He started off well, but when a husky misbehaved and ran up to him he didn't like it being in his face and got aggressive with it. After that, he wouldn't concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing and just generally disgraced himself. I'm not at all pleased. He is going to have to get his act together over the next few weeks, or he's not going to pass the exam and he'll get a big kick up the bum from me, because I'm not spending another £57 to take him through the course again! Grrr!

Ouch.  My feet hurt so badly.

I’ve been out this evening (I don’t usually go out on a Saturday night) and there were no seats to be had in Chicago Rock.  The place was full, and I had to stand the whole evening.  I have a problem with my feet.  I was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis in my left foot a while back, and had a cortisone injection in it.  Now I have the same thing in my right foot, and not only that, but I have generalised pain all over both my feet, especially over the top of the instep and up the lateral side, and in my ankles.  This comes on gradually after I have been on my feet for more than 10 minutes at a time.  So, I’m sure you can imagine the pain I’m in now.  I’m sitting with my feet up on the settee, typing this on my laptop, and my feet are still throbbing, especially in the joints in all of my toes.  I just wish I knew what it was.

Still, I have a physiotherapy appointment on Tuesday morning, so we’ll see what they say.  Personally, I think I should have been referred to the musculo-skeletal clinic in the beginning, but then, what the hell do I know?  I’m just the patient!  Pah!

So sad. I had really hoped that the whale might make it back out to sea, but it was not meant to be. Still, I can't help but wonder if we had done things differently the outcome might not have been so tragic ...

We went to see Thunder in concert at the City Hall last night.  Yes, that’s what a couple of saddo’s we are.  Most of the fans were greying ex-rockers who dug out their old leather bike jackets, dusted them off, then tried to squeeze into that and their old worn jeans.  At times I felt quite embarrassed to be there.  Then, when the band came on, the lead singer looked exactly the same and danced like my dad!  Aarrgh!

Well, I swallowed my pride and decided to make the best of it, so I screamed and clapped and sang along with everybody else.  It wasn’t so bad after that.  LOL

Newcastle 0-1 Blackburn

Pah!

Whale spotted in central London. Thanks to vanillasky for pointing me to the online article.

A blog worth browsing through. Some very interesting stuff. I personally like the USB coffee warmer, but I'm also thinking of taking part in swirlygirl's 52 figments.

Yes, I got fed up with the harbour template provided by Blogger and went googling  for something new.  I have a few I really like, so I may just be chopping and changing for a while!  In fact, it’s made me want to try my hand at designing my own, but not just yet.  There are so many other things I want to do first.  Anyway, I like these pink tulips, but watch out for a dark coffee template (literally) which I’ll be using at times depending on my mood!  Ha ha!    

Just in case anyone is wondering what the heck is going on with the appearance of my blog … fear not!  I’m just playing around with the templates because I got a bit bored with the old one.  No doubt it’ll be back to its old self when I realise I don’t really like any of the others!!

It's good to see someone is showing a bit of common sense!

Woo hoo!!!!! What more can I say?

Traumatised.

That’s me.  I need a few extra psychotherapy sessions just to get over the last 3 minutes.  I won’t be able to sleep for weeks.

If you want to know what’s caused my considerable distress, lookee here.  Please folks, protect your kids from this kind of material.

Don’t blame me for finding this … blame Monsieur Scalzi.

Testing … testing …

Anyone used this Blogger for Word plugin thingy?  I’m just giving it a go right now.  I’m not a big Word fan at the best of times, and have been posting most stuff via email, which works well, but I sometimes find I have to edit the post from Blogger online to sort out any formatting issues.  Phooey!    

UPDATE:  Oh cool! It works!!  He he!

Thanks Amy! I think that as well as getting to know folks a bit better, they're also a great way to get your blog advertised!! LOL



Four jobs you have had in your life:
Admin assistant, catering assistant, veterinary nurse, quality administrator

Four movies you would watch over and over:
Any of the LOTR movies, The African Queen, Blithe Spirit, Close Encounters

Four places you have lived:
Felling (Gateshead), Washington, Birtley, Pelton

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Ray Mears's Extreme Survival, Nigella Bites, Farscape, Star Trek

Four places you have been on vacation:
Norway, Denmark, France, Greece

Four websites I visit daily:
By The Way...
glittyknittykitty
LiveScience.com
we make money not art

Four of my favourite foods:
Chocolate, noodles, warm fresh bread, roast chicken

Four places I would rather be right now:
Kefalonia, in bed, in a hot bath, socialising in a coffee shop with friends

Four bloggers I am tagging:
This is so sad, I know, but I only know two folks with blogs, so ...

Amy - http://amylovespeccarys.blogspot.com/ (dunno if I'm allowed to tag the person who tagged me)
glittrgirl - www.glittyknittykitty.com/

Twenty seven ... yes, you heard correctly, twenty seven new species found in one area! I mean we may find the odd new species every so often, but 27 in one go?! Wow!

Early man was hunted by birds ... well, the tables have turned somewhat, eh? It's usually the blokes that pursue the birds (chics to any Merkans reading this) here!

Arthur C Clarke's 'Newspad' Finally Arrives. Yay! I always did say this guy was a prophet! Way to go, Arty! Oh, and well done to Sony as well.

I've been decorating the kitchen today. Painting the skirting and door frames. I'll do the doors and window frame tomorrow. Possibly, I'll even do the walls in emulsion tomorrow as well, but more than likely that'll get left till the day after. My feet hurt. My back hurts. My neck hurts. And I have to take The Boy to his training class tomorrow evening. [sigh]

So, right now, I'm going to open a bottle of beer, put my feet up and watch an episode or two of Farscape! Blue vegetables rule! Yeah!

This is truly macabre! Books bound in human skin! Eurgh!

This is just incredible. what an achievment! Someone has actually made a dolls house and is an exact replica of Bag End ... yes the home of Bilbo and later Frodo Baggins of Hobbiton! Go on, have a look! Plenty of photos.

Ok, so who remembers this wonderful, wonderful series? :-)

Fantastic! How to make your house look less drab on the outside!

I thought this knitting pattern for a slit throat choker was rather cool ... thanks go to my big sis for pointing me to this website!

Yes, I need to try my hand at a new skill. I've decided it's going to be cheese making. I made some rather tasty breakfast rolls yesterday and took them to my Mam's to have with the butternut squash and roasted sweetcorn soup we had as the starter. I remember thinking, "some homemade cheese would be nice with this homemade bread", and the idea was born.

So, now I have to try to find out what I need and how to make it! I used to have the link to a site that sold cheesemaking supplies and I ordered some annatto[1] seeds to colour my soap from them, so I hope I still have it (the link, not the annatto).

[1] a natural colouring used to make yellow/orange cheese

Ideas, anyone? ;-)

I hurt my back yesterday. I was emptying the car of big lumps of old carpet and underlay that I'd taken up to the tip/incinerator and something went ping/wrench/grind. I managed to drive home, but by the time I got home it was stiffening up. I took some painkillers and lay down, then got up when they were working and had a hot bath to try to loosen up the muscles. It's not so bad today. Not so much a sharp pain as an achy muscle feeling all over my lower back. It does jab at me when I stand/sit/attempt to bend down/go to the toilet etc, but I suppose I'll have to suffer it till it heals on it's own. :-( It's taken me absolutely ages to do a little bit of housework.

I think maybe I'll go and have another hot bath. :-) With candles and scented oils. And lots and lots of bubbles. :-) I suppose there are some good things about having a bad back. I can relax without feeling guilty about it.

Some of you who read my blog may also be readers of my friend Amy's blog (link over there <----- to the left). She's been away for a while ... split up with her other half and got a place of her own. Unfortunately, this left her without a computer or internet access, but Santa was good to her and she's now back blogging again as usual. So, head on over and read what's been happening! See ya there!

Ever wondered where all the spoons go? Click on the image for more.

I bet you were wondering where I'd got to, weren't you?!

[fx: tumbleweed blows across the desert]

Ok, so perhaps not, but I'll post a quick update anyway, whether you like it or not.

After the awful incident with the neighbour, I took a serious downhill decline. Some of you may know I've been battling depression for some years, and this sent me into one hell of a nose-dive. I considered killing myself on more than one occasion, which, when I think back now sounds so silly, but it was far from it at the time. I was so deeply saddened and shocked that my dog had gone for someone in the first place, but then to be treated not like someone who had made a mistake but like a hardened criminal who deserved the worst the law could hand out was just beyond me. We sought the opinions of two independent animal behaviourists who both said that he was not a dangerous dog, and indeed one of them suggested that he had in fact exhibited typical herding behaviour and not out and out aggression, and suggested that we attend formal training classes with him so that we are always in control of that behaviour. The court hearing was on 8th December. The magistrate saw sense and fined us the minimum that the court can and sent us away. That's it. It's over with and finished. The idiot can't take it further and have our dog destroyed no matter how much he wants to. He will get a piddly £50 compensation out of it, which he'll probably be really insulted by because, to be honest I thought that money is what he was after all along. I mean, nobody goes on the way he did unless he had an ulterior motive.

On a lighter note, we spent New Year in Whitby. This is the first year that there has been a gothic weekend organised for New Year in Whitby, and it seemed to go down very well indeed. On New Year's Eve we were given a tour of the cellars below the Metropole and shown the old smuggler's tunnel which leads out to the cliffs. New Year's Day we had a very nice meal followed by party games, and of course every night there was partying and dancing till the wee hours. We came home yesterday and I felt like I could sleep for a week.

Right, I need a cuppa and I'm still washing clothes from the weekend, so I'll finish here for now and post another update in a while.

Catch you later.

The dog behaviourist came on Saturday. She did some work with Sonny, then asked if there was a field nearby where we could do some long leash work. I said I didn't want to walk past that bloke's house but she assured me that he wouldn't say or do anything, and besides she was with us. So off we went. Boy was she wrong. Out the house they came (him and his wife) and started shouting and bawling at us. He kept saying that he was personally going to make sure that the dog was put to sleep and told the behaviourist that she was wasting her time because the dog was going to be dead soon. Ian warned him that if anything did happen to Sonny he would be in trouble (with the police) and the guy started bracing himself shouting "what did you say?" and making threatening advances towards Ian. His wife claimed that her son had been mauled by our dog (he had been nipped through his clothing ... didn't even draw blood) and complained that they hadn't even had an apology. To be honest, if my dog had mauled the boy I'd have taken him to be put to sleep myself immediately. I told her that her husband hadn't even given us a chance to apologise. As soon as we opened our front door to him he started with the bullying and threatening tactics. She said we'd had all week to come and apologise and I said I was steering well clear because he'd behaved like a psycho and frightened me. Then the bloke said to me "just you wait, I'm going to show you what real fear is". The behavourist was trying to reason with them, too, but they wouldn't listen to anything she had to say and told her she didn't know what she was talking about.

I no longer feel safe in my own home. I'm having serious panic attacks and I'm just a bag of nerves. The police should be visiting us again either this afternoon or this evening. Someone advised me to keep a diary of events. These are known as temporaneous notes and are admissable evidence, apparently. Let's face it this guy is going to end up with a civil harrassment case haunting him if this doesn't get sorted soon. We are doing everything above board, and are doing all that can be reasonably expected of us to ensure this never happens again. Having our dog killed for giving the boy some bruises is not reasonable. I will fight the bastard every step of the way.

It used to be that home was the only safe place to be. Anyone who has suffered anxiety/depression with associated agoraphobia will know what I'm talking about. One avoids situations which bring on panic attacks, such as being pushed about by crowds in the shops down to stupid things like answering the phone or front door. It escalates so that one's world becomes smaller and smaller, till eventually the only safe place is the chair you're sitting in and still the panic attacks don't go.

It's taken me a long, long time (several years) to work through this, and with the help of an absolutely brilliant psychotherapist over the past year I'm well on the way to leading a normal life ... so much so that I was starting to seriously think about trying to get back into work.

Sunday's events, however, seem to have had a major impact on my progress, but not in the way in which you might think. I'm starting to have anxiety attacks when I'm IN THE HOUSE on my own. After the threats we received at our front door on Sunday I no longer feel safe and can't wait to get out of the house in the morning. Today I spent the day at Ian's shop helping out, but when it became time to go home I started fretting and worrying about it. I was having palpitations, trembling and feeling nauseous. I had a pain in my chest and I was fighting back the urge to yell and sob and run away. It was just awful.

I did, however, overcome it, said goodbye to Ian and drove home as calmly as possible. Now I'm home it's not so bad, but the anger I now feel is almost overwhelming. I doubt if the bloke would give toss how much of an effect he's had on me, but I'm so angry all I want to do is go and smash his effing head in! No, don't worry, I'd never do it, but I've never felt rage as powerful as this in my whole life. If only I had some way of venting it. Maybe I should take up boxing ... waddya think? ;-)

Haven't been on for a while, but I've had a really stressful day and I'm just so chewed up I can't sleep, so I just had to let some of it out, so I'll say sorry in advance for boring you ...

Today, my dog bit a child. :-( Nothing serious, just a couple of nips ... didn't even go through his clothing, but that's not the point. He went for an eleven year old child. I feel so shocked and ashamed, I just want a big hole to open up in the ground and swallow me. I apologised to the boy, and a neighbour took him in (the boy had come to visit the neighbour's son when my dog rushed out of his own garden and into the neighbours') and said he would let his dad know. I said we would be in all day so he could come and talk to us about it.

Well, sure enough, he turned up, didn't even give us a chance to apologise and try to make amends, just told us he was calling the police and if they didn't order us to put Sonny to sleep he would come back and cut his throat. Needless to say, I was utterly shocked and just stood there at the door staring at him in disbelief. Once the door was closed I started crying again and shaking uncontrollably. That guy really really scared me.

Now, I know Sonny has problems, but I had no idea it was anywhere near as bad as this. We've only had him a few months, he came from a rescue place, and as well as being immaciated, he showed all the signs of being beaten and abused. He has some neuroses which we have been working on. He's been doing really well with his obedience training, and towards everyone else we know he is friendly and affectionate, so naturally, this came as a huge shock. And on top of that I had vicious threats from the boy's father.

Well, I phoned my cousin's house. Her husband is a policeman, and spoke to him, asking for advice. Or rather, I bubbled and wept while trying to speak coherently. He was very understanding and said that it didn't work that way, that he had no right to demand Sonny be destroyed, that the police did not have the power to order he be euthanised, and that the chances are it wouldn't even go to court. The boy sustained minor injuries, and in all his years in the police he had not known of one case like this that crown prosecution took up.

At worst we might get a fine, but more than likely we would get letter stating that we be required to ensure that he be more properly secured in future. Fair enough. I take full responsibility for my dog's actions and I agree he was dangerously out of control in a public place. He also said we should ring the police as well, to report the incident (which we are required to do so anyway) but to also tell them of the man's threats.

Well, a while later, the police arrived. He'd already been to talk to the boy and his father and took a statement. He'd also told the man that because he had made those threats that if anything happened to Sonny there would be arrests made at his house. Apparently the guy apologised to the officer for his conduct, but of course we can't expect an apology. Let's face it, he didn't get one from us ... he never gave us a chance! (To be truthful, I feel his son deserves the apology, not him.) We had to go down to the station to be interviewed on audio tape.

After the interview, the officer told us what the boy had put on his statement, and, as eleven year olds are apt to do, he had embellished his story somewhat! Apparently, Sonny latched onto his leg and violently shook his head for 10 seconds before having a go at the other leg! Now, I can't get angry at the boy, he'd had a nasty shock and maybe that is how he perceived it, but his dad saw those wounds (minor abrasions caused by friction from the fabric of his clothing and bruising from the pressure of the nips) and yet he believed what his son told him, and that's what really gets to me! Everyone else is in the wrong and of course his son is such an angel he just wouldn't tell a wee lie! I understand that he was angry and being protective over his boy, but really! Doesn't he realise he's just making himself appear really really stupid?

Anyway, the policeman told us that we seemed like sensible people who were already taking steps to correct Sonny's behaviour and had plans to install a larger gate and a crate for Sonny, and we had contacted a dog behaviourist for help, and that he really didn't think anything was going to come of it. Now we just have to wait and see.

Incidentally, the dog therapist is costing us £240. Just don't ask where the money is coming from because we don't know yet. But something has to be done. Money can be replaced. Sonny can't.

The vet rang yesterday. It is a histiocytoma after all, so I can now relax. :-)

On a lighter note, Ian came home tonight with Sonny after walking him and told me that he (Sonny) had made his first kill! Aargh! I've never had a dog that killed anything! Biff's caught lots of things but didn't hurt any of them and let them all go once she got bored. Sonny killed a rabbit outright and brought it back to show Ian, but the rotten scone wouldn't bring it home with him!! Harrumph! I'd have brought it home and put it in a pie. I love rabbit. But not Ian. He said he didn't think he could eat anything that he had just seen killed. The daft sod. If that was the case I'd have shared the pie with Sonny.

Some of you who have been reading my blog from before November will know that my beloved seventeen year old pooch, Biff, died quietly in my arms after battling cancer for several months.

Last night, Sonny, my two and a half year old Border Collie dog was playing with Ian when he (Ian!) noticed that he had a lump on his leg. I've just got back from the vet surgery. As he's had breakfast this morning they can't take it off today, so he's got to go back tomorrow morning to have it taken off and sent to the labs. Please keep your fingers crossed that it turns out to be benign. I don't think I could take losing another dog to cancer so soon.

Well, that about wraps it up for the photo entries. I'd just like to say a big thank you to Aris and Lula for making us feel so welcome, and for anyone else wanting to visit Kefalonia, go to Katelios Studios in Katelios!! You won't be disappointed!

The owners of the studios. From right to left: Lula, Georgio, Georgio's girlfriend (never did learn her name), and Aris.

And I don't want you see my sunburned nose, either!

No, I don't want my picture taken!!

A view across to Assos on a clear day.

This is the monastery. Very very pretty.

... and ostriches. Hang on a sec ... ostriches?!! For reasons no doubt only known to the monks, these were kept at the Monastery of Agios Gerasimou.

... wild goats ...

... a gecko ...

... swallowtails ...

.... an swallows ...

There were cute little lizards everywhere!

Our first night there and already we were being introduced to the locals at our front door!

Well, I'm back. Came back on Sunday, actually, but didn't get my photos transferred from camera to PC till now ... you know how it is ... too much laundry and unpacking to do, shopping, family to visit, etc! Our apartment was nice and clean, though basic ... which is all we expected for the money we paid! Still, there was a nice cool pool and a bar, so what more could we ask for? And to top it off, our favourite restaurant, Persa's Taverna, was just over the road. We hired a car for the full two weeks so we got to travel around the island quite a bit. Photos to follow shortly. I guess the only bad thing I have to say about Kefalonia is it has far too many mosquitoes. I'm still taking antihistamines even now!

Well, I'm off on my jollies tomorrow. It's been a while since my last entry, and to be honest I've been so busy washing, ironing and packing, I've been too tired to post an entry the past couple of days anyway. Still, off to the Med I go, to soak up the sun, drink cold beer, and eat lots of my favourite rabbit stifado!

So, enjoy, folks! Behave while I'm gone, and maybe there'll be some interesting photos to show you when I get back!

Toodle-oo!

I'm seriously thinking of building one of these when I go to Kefalonia in a week's time!

Click on the image to go to the website.

My new greenhouse!

It's erected and glazed and nearly all finished! We got this greenhouse for free, so it was quite a bargain. Ian is currently building me shelves and potting tables, and one of them is in use already! I'm so excited ... I have transferred my tomatoes, peppers and chilies to the greenhouse, so we'll see what happens. :-)

On a not so good note ... my new RAM seems to be faulty. The bigger hard drive runs like a dream, but my pooter won't boot up from HD or CDRom when the new RAM is in, so obviously I had to remove it. I'll be leaving in an hour to go to my therapy appointment and will stop off at the repair shop on the way, so I'll keep you posted as to what's happening. Ho hum.

UPDATE: The bloke at the repair shop tried it in my laptop and his own and it did exactly the same thing in both of them ... which is nothing. No booting up, nothing. So he tried another one with exactly the same results. Needless to say, they are going back to the manufacturer, and hopefully he will have one that works for me tomorrow. I'm going over there tomorrow lunch time to pick it up.

Sorry for the quiet period, folks. My hard drive died without warning, so my pooter has been in the pooter hospital having a hard drive transplant and memory enhancement treatment.

It is now recovering, with lots of TLC, and I should be back blogging as usual once I have all my necessary software installed.

TTFN

Well yesterday was ok. I took Sonny to the vet because he'd been bum-surfing so I though he'd need his anal glands checked out, plus he has fleas. I'd sprayed the house ready so I wanted him checked over as I wanted to start him on Program. That's what I'd always used before on my own dog and before that was around I used good old flea spray. Well, they didn't have any Program, so I came away with Frontline, instead. So long as it does the job I don't really care what I use.

Then in the afternoon I had my psychotherapy session which was ok. I felt a bit weepy and wobbly when I came home, so when Ian asked me if I wanted to go anywhere for dinner I ended up opting for an Indian takeaway and sat in front of the telly with his bathrobe on. I like his bath robe ... it's big and warm and comfy.

My new wireless router is fab! It's wonderful being able to take my laptop anywhere in the house and still have an internet connection. At the moment the printer is on the living room floor and has been since I got it! It's a bloody great laser printer that I use for printing my soap labels and also my postage 'stamps' as I use smartstamp to send out all my online orders. Smartstamp requires you be online when you print your stamps as it debits your smartstamp account at the time you print them, which means the printer has always had to be somewhere near the DSL modem. Now I can move it upstairs out of the way and get rid of all this spaghetti on the floor that I'm always tripping over! Yay! It's a bloomin' heavy printer, though, so I might have to ask Ian to carry it upstairs for me as my foot is not pain free yet.

I got some nice Clarins stuff from Ian's mam and dad for my birthday, so I had a little facial pamper last night, which made me feel a bit better, and Geoff brought me a box of Thorntons truffles, so we had one each after out Indian. He also brought me a large ornament that looks like one of those stone heads on Easter Island. I think it's meant to be an outdoor ornament for the garden (at least it has a 'frost resistant' sticker on the inside), but I like it and have it on top of the TV.

And guess what my Mam and Dad and sister got me? A Bodhran! LOL I have always been a little bit musical and can sing and knock a tune out of most instruments, but I have never played any sort of percussion instrument before. I don't even have a decent sense of rythm. I have one other instrument that has got me completely stumped and that's a didgeridoo. Man, are they difficult to play! I'm hoping there'll be lessons run near here some time, but in the meantime I will persevere and try to learn to play the bodhran. If I can find an appropriately shaped tuit (ie a round one) I will post a picture of it.

Right now I'm off to get a cup of coffee and some toast. I have another appointment with the orthotist this morning to have my night splint fitted, so I'd better get moving.

Ian's been preparing the garden to put the greenhouse up this morning. I started washing the glass panes. Bit of aboring job really, but it was nice to be outside while it lasted ... the heavens opened a short while ago. Then Geoff came over and brought me a card and pressie for my birthday, so that was nice. I won't open the pressie until tomorrow, though, even though I'm dying to know what it is.

Right, I'm off to make a sarnie for lunch, then back to work in the garden.

Oh, by the way, my foot is starting to feel better already! No excrucitiating pain this morning when I got out of bed. Yeah!

This is just a test. It's my birthday on Monday, and guess where Ian took me get my birthday present? Go on, guess! Ok, shall I tell you?

Aldi. Really. LOL. Actually, I was in there the other day and noticed they had some nice looking wireless routers for £69, so I told him about them and he got me one. So I guess I got my pressie a couple of days early as I'm posting this through it.

So, please, treat this as a test and be on your way. And I'll leave you to guess where my next entry will be posted from ... the bath, the toilet, the sunlounger in the garden ...

Yay! Nice to see the 'stuffy' old British Museum has a sense of humour! Go Banksy, go! Click on the picture to go straight to the news article.

I have a sore foot. I mean I have a really sore foot. I've had a sore
foot for a few years, but as it's come on very gradually, I can't say
exactly how long, or indeed why I didn't think to visit a doctor before
I did. I suppose with something that grumbles away in the background
you just sort of learn to live with it.

Unfortunately, 10 mile hikes were gradually reduced to 2 mile hikes, so
I eventually went to see my doctor. 'Plantar Fasciitis' he called it,
and gave me some exercises to do with instructions that if it got
worse, or didn't get any better anyway, to go back and he would give me
an injection directly into my foot 'but it will hurt'. Lovely.

Well, I'm a whimp when it comes to pain, so I opted to persevere with
exercises, determined to get it better and back up to walking 10 miles
again. However, I found that the exercises made my foot more painful
so I stopped doing them, BUT I still chickened out of going to have
that injection.

Months down the line and 2 mile walks were reduced to a walk down the
back lane with the dog, which were quickly reduced to limping to the
end of the garden and back. I was desperate. I was at my wit's end.
I thought it was only a matter of time before I couldn't walk at all, so
Ian did a bit of research online and decided that the best thing for me
would be to see a podiatrist/chiropodist/orthotist.

Well, I went to see someone one Tuesday, and a £50 deposit later (the
balance to be paid next Tuesday) I have a splint on order which is to
be fitted next Tuesday too. I have to wear it at night in bed to keep
my toes pointing upward. He also said I really ought to just grit my
teeth and have that injection, so I took my friend along (I really am a
whimp) and got my doctor to inject it.

Ow!! What else can I say, but Ow! It bloody hurt!! He's lucky I
didn't kick him while he was doing it! He poked and prodded with his
fingers till he found the most painful spot (as if that didn't hurt
enough) and then stuck a bloody great needle right into it! Jeez, I
nearly hit the roof! Then he told me 'It'll throb for a few days, so
I'll give you some strong painkillers'. 'Bloody hell', I thought, 'I
thought this was supposed to make it better!' 'Plus, he said, you'll
not feel the benefit of the injection for 1 to 2 weeks.' 'Great!' I
thought. 'That's me laid up for me birthday.'

So, I'm typing this with a very sore foot. My heel is hot, swollen and
throbbing, so I'm off to take one of me strong painkillers. Poor Sonny
can't even have his morning walk, so he'll just have to play fetch in
the garden for a bit till he's tired out.

Anyone else got this condition? I like to hear about your experiences
with it.

I thought this website was hilarious and deserved an airing. Courtesy of Dave Barry ... again! Just click on the picture to go to the website.

Fantastic news!! Oi loikes beer!

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/archive/200307/22/20030722p2a00m0dm019000c.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15186061-13762,00.html

Yeeeeaaaarrgh! [Runs away]

So, today I spent a few hours in Ian's shop updating fabric prices. I hate that job. It takes ages, and it's so boring I can't do it for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time. Still, once it's done, it's done, and hopefully won't need doing again for another year. The trouble is, if I'm only doing 4 hours a day, I could be on for 3 or 4 weeks at this rate!

On a different note, we had a delivery of mealworms and kibbled sunflower hearts for the birds yesterday. When I put mealworms out I just stick my hand in the bag and grab a handful to put in the dish. They wriggling worms feel kind of tickly! Well, I just found out today Ian doesn't like touching them. LOL The big wuss! He made a seed feeder out of an old coke bottle today to put up at the back of the shop. He already has a bird table attached to the wall of the yard and gets blue tits and all sorts, so thought it might be a good idea to provide worms to feed their chicks, and sunflower hearts because according to the RSPB they're a favourite of blue tits.

And guess what else?! I have indigotin!! The pigment obtained from woad!! Yeah! It's my first pigment I've managed to extract from it, and from one whole mature plant I reckon I've maybe got about a level teaspoonful! LOL Still, it's worked, and there may be enough there to dye perhaps one ball of wool! My sister will be pleased, hopefully, as she's the knitaholic. My next batch of indigotin will be going into a small batch of soap.


Indigotin from Woad


For anyone wanting to have a go at this, you can buy the seeds to grow it here, and you can find instructions on extraction and dyeing here.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3273562a4560,00.html

I was tickled pink by this article and just had to share, for those of you who don't read his blog ...

Looks like we finally got our greenhouse. Not a dog this time, a real greenhouse. We had to dismantle it ourselves, but as it was free I can't really complain. we've got all the panes of glass out and brought them home, and dismantled part of the frame, but we got fed up with the hailstones that kept coming down hard, so we gave up and planned on returning to get the rest.

Sonny was a real sweety today. He really seems to like target training, and runs to touch the stick with his nose now so that he can get his treat as quick as possible. He's such a clever boy!

Well, I'm off to bed now. It's late, I'm tired, and I have stuff to do in the morning, so I'd better turn in. Night, folks.

I got this meme from the Complimenting Commenter, and in true meme fashion it's spreading like an epidemic. It's a compli-meme. Go out and spread the news.

Finish these sentences in a complimentary fashion. Copy, paste, finish and leave them in someone's comment box. Then post them on your own site and pass the word.

1. WOW! You're site is

2. That post was very

3. You're

YOU'VE BEEN COMPLI-MEME'D. GO OUT AND DO LIKEWISE.

An extra smile goes to those who participate.

We got a new dog the other week. We were looking for a greenhouse in the ad mags and happened to accidentally browse through the pets section (as you do) and saw an ad for a two and a half year old border collie dog needing a good home.

Naturally, how could we resist? We were going to call him Greenhouse, because that's what we were after, but settled for Sonny in the end. ;-)

He's very intelligent. He's even got internet access and went and set up his own blog! Honest!

http://www.adogsblog.blogspot.com/

Wow, I really must try to keep up with my journal. This just isn't good enough! I just get swept up in stuff and before I know it weeks have passed!

Well, so far as the sushi goes, Ian ate it, and he didn't complain, but I know he didn't like it! His face lit up when I grilled the remaining tiger prawns with some bacon and served it up with some tomato and garlic mayonnaise!

Beamish Museum phoned me up on Monday with an order. I have plenty of soap made, but not wrapped, and now I've gone and sprained my thumb and I'm having difficulty wrapping the damn things! Argh! I wanted this whole thing to start off without a hitch, but why is it that that's never the case?! I have 144 bars to wrap, too! Oh well, I just have to wrap in small batches, have a rest, and wrap a few more. They'll get them, just not this week.

I made chilli for dinner last night. It was yummy. We had it with basmati rice (because it's my favourite and doesn't take long to cook!) and grated mature cheddar (I didn't have any Monteray Jack). It was yummy. We were really naughty and didn't have salad or anything with it! LOL Still, we have been having fruit after our meals, so we're not completely unhealthy.

Poor Ian has been really poorly since last Friday. I think yesterday was his first ok-ish day. We both got some virus that made us really tired and achey and shivery, and I got over it quite quickly, but he has had it longer than me, and even though he's been going to work, he's been coming home early, taking paracetamol and curling up on the settee with a blanket over him. Aww, bless him. It's not like him to be ill, and when he is, he really is. Unlike me. I seem to get every little sniffle or cough or tummy bug going, and constantly feel like crap, but it doesn't last long.

Well, I've just been to the post office to drop off a bundle of parcels and now I'm going to make a cup of coffee and then start wrapping soaps!!

I'm really looking forward to tonight. A few days ago I order a sushi kit from the Japanese Kitchen and it arrived yesterday. So, this evening I'm going to try my hand at making sushi. Thing is, I'm only familiar with nori sushi, the little rice rolls wrapped up in seaweed, but in the kit I also got a packet of O-Inari san, beancurd packets, for making inari sushi. I've never had it before, and I'm a bit undecided as to whether I should have a go at making that, too. Has anyone had it and can tell what it's like? Decisions, decisions.

It'll be the first time my hubby has had sushi (he, like many others, has been under the misconception for years that sushi = raw fish) so I'm a little worried that he won't like it. He said he's going to phone the kebab shop and make sure they're on standby! Cheeky git!

Anyway, the real reason I'm writing about it is because I'm in desperate need of ideas for filling! I've already been out and bought some tiger prawns, shiitake mushrooms and an avocado, and I have cucumber and suchlike already in. Any other ideas? I do so want this to be a special dinner for my man!

"Hmmm ... where do I start? I guess the thing which is at the forefront of my mind is my wellbeing, or lack of, at the moment. I've been taking antidepressants for several years, but for the past few months I have been trying to wean myself off them in preparation for hubby and I undergoing fertility treatment. This is the third drug I've tried, and while it has proved the most effective in controlling my anxiety/depression, it has also proved to be the most difficult to stop taking. I have tried to explain to my GP, but I may as well be talking to a brick wall. In fact, I saw a different GP once, and she more or less told me it was all in my head! How the f**k would they know unless they try taking it themselves and then see what's in their head or not?! I'll try to explain.

I'm not dependant on ADs, not at all. They have helped, and proved useful. Unfortunately, I was not warned about symptoms of withdrawal if I was to stop taking them. Over the past few months, I have gradually gone from the equivalent of 4 tablets a day down to a quarter tablet every other day. I was actually told by my GP that once I was down to one a day I was to reduce the dose to one every other day, then after a month reduce it to one every third day, etc. I tried one every other day and felt so ill on the days I wasn't taking them that I took it upon myself to start cutting the tablets in half and taking a half daily. They are tiny anyway, so I had to use nail scissors! Before I started doing that it was a relief to take my tablet after the day off, just so that I could feel normal for a day! Anyway, on the days I wasn't taking them, I would feel lightheaded, I'd get that awful restless leg syndrome, I'd feel like there were ants crawling all over me, I'd feel nauseous, and at night I'd get involuntary twitching in my legs. Does that sound like it's all in my head to you?! Eventually, I cut the tablets down to a quarter every other day, and I managed to stay on that dose until my tablets ran out. I've now been off them for 4 days, and I feel weird. Nowhere near as bad as before as I guess I've got my body used to a reduced dose before stopping entirely, but I don't feel safe to drive, and I'm having difficulty sleeping at night. My whole body aches with fatigue, yet my mind is wide awake and active, and it's so frustrating! I can hardly do a thing without collapsing in a chair with exhaustion afterwards, but I know that this will pass.

The trouble is, my hubby is having a hard time understanding. The night before last he did a huge pile of ironing as I hadn't been able to, but he huffed and grumbled and slammed his way through it as if to make a statement that I should have done it before now. I said nothing, went to bed and left him to it, but the next morning, he was awful. He lost his temper with me and basically told me to stop being so lazy (in a roundabout way), then stormed off to work. I was so upset and honestly felt that if he wasn't going to give me the support I needed to get through this I would have no option but to leave home until I was well. We've been together 15 years and the thought of leaving him, even for a short while, was heartbreaking, but I just didn't feel I had any choice!

Well, to cut a long story short, I telephoned him after I'd had a cry and calmed down a bit, and explained my thoughts and how much he upset me, and he was great. At times he's a totall git, but then I consider how lucky I am to have someone like him. He's loving, caring and hardworking, and I love him to bits. He's completely clueless at times, but I just put that down to the fact he's a bloke, and we women should make allowances for their shortcomings!

I wanted to say so much more in this entry, but unfortunately it's turned into selfish rant, and I'm afraid I've bored you enough. Besides, I can't even remember what else it was I wanted to say now. So I'll leave it there, and if I haven't scared you off I'll post more as and when it comes to me. If nothing else, it has proved useful in that I have written down the effects of not taking the drugs and can feel a bit more 'solid' about it when I next go to see the doctor. If I can help it, I will not be taking them again!!

Take care, folks, and have a good weekend!

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Mine was so hectic I didn't have much of a chance to post to my journal because I seem to have every day booked up with something or other ... which is surprising as my parents are in Australia, and I thought it would have been nice and peaceful without them expecting me at their house every other day!!! LOL
Anyway, my main Christmas pressie was a rather nice Hitachi DVD-RAM camcorder, so needless to say, I've burned 3 DVDs already!! Well, 2 of them were of the New Years celebrations, one for me and one for Ian's friend, Geoff, who was with us at the time. I bought Ian an HP iPAQ 1710 PDA, which he is rather pleased with. I was worried because I didn't know if he would appreciate it, but he's really pleased with it!
On 2nd Jan my first soap orders of the year started rolling in!! There is a pile of about 9 parcels waiting to be posted in the morning! Let's hope that this is an indication of what is to come for the rest of the year!
I'd better go now. I've had a few wee drinkies and I'm sort of waffling about nothing interesting. I'll try to post again tomorrow and say something coherent when I do. ;-)
Buy, folks.

OMG! I can't believe it! I am floating right now! Let me explain ...

Last week I had a meeting with a guy from Beamish Open Air Museum with a view to selling my soaps in the gift shop. I showed him my full range of products, along with wholesale prices, turnover times, production levels, etc, and he said he'd get back to me in a couple of days as he had other soapers to see.

Well, a week passed, plus another couple of days, followed by a phone call to the museum with a message for him to ring me when he returns to the office ...

... well, I reckon you've guessed the rest. He has just been on the phone and we've closed the deal. I am now official handmade soap supplier to Beamish Open Air Museum! Wahoooo!
I'd better get soaping when I've scraped myself off the ceiling!

Well, I'm feeling better now. I can't believe it's taken me this long to start to feel ok. I was so devastated over Biff, my whole world fell apart.
Anyway, I thought it was about time I started writing in my journal again, so here I am. I have just been over to my cousin's house to a) sell her some soap she wants to give to her bairn's teachers, and b) to fix her computer! Well worth the visit ... I got £26 of sales, lunch and a free bottle of wine thrown in! LOL
However, on my way home I was frightened by some bloke who was tailgating me all the way home, then when I indicated and slowed down to turn into my street he started tooting on his horn and gesticulating and swearing at me (I could see him through my rear view mirror ... I could even lipread what he was saying to me and it's not something to repeat). There was quite a bit of traffic coming from the other direction, so I had to wait a few seconds before I could begin to turn, and he tooted and swore and made filthy gestures at me the whole time. It was quite scary and I feel rather rattled and upset about the whole thing. Luckily he didn't follow me home.
Why are some people such dickheads?!

On Monday 29th November Biff took a turn for the worse. I made the decision then and there that enough was enough and it was time to end her pain. My husband and I took her to the vet that afternoon, and she died quietly in my arms at 2:45 pm.

This past week I have been unable to tell you about it, both of us have just spent the time grieving, indeed, typing this now has got me in tears.

Thank you everyone for all your kind thoughts. These pages have been up for a few years ... I think I'm going to leave them up now:

Biff's Pages

Biff, my dog, is very ill now. Those of you who've read past posts will know that she was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma a few months ago. So far she's coped very well with it ... that is until a few days ago. The cancer has spread. On top of that she has an ulcerated gut and is in pain and off her food.
I've just got back from the vets. She's is starting on ulcer treatment today, but we both know that this is the beginning of the end. If I can't make her a bit more comfortable with this lot of treatment, we are going to have to make the hard decision to have her put to sleep. I reckon she has between a few days and a few weeks left.
Needless to say, I don't feel much like posting which is why I've been quiet. I'm going to go and give her a cuddle and have a cry now.

Olivia in another of her fantastic creations!

Well, I took loads of pictures, so I thought I'd better just condense them down in the hope of giving you a flavour of what the whole thing was like.

I'm exhausted. Utterly, utterly exausted. I probably shouldn't have gone what with this virus (the doctor said that's what it was but recommends I have a blood test), and even a healthy person would be tired after such an event. However, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and will be going again in April.

The only photos I was disappointed with were the ones of Alien Sex Fiend ... I just couldn't get close enough to the stage, so I haven't included any of those. Not that it matters, I don't like them anyway, but Zodiac Mindwarp were amazing!

Anyway, enjoy. Hope you don't get too scared by what you see, and if you want to know any more about the famous Whitby Gothic Weekends, have a lookie here (although it is a bit out of date!).

Night night, y'all!


The lovely Olivia


Paul and Olivia doing the Monster Mash


The lovely Olivia. You can probably just make out some bat wings behind her. They were part of her costume and they opened!


Zodiac Mindwarp


Eeeeeeeeek! Actually, that's me. I ended up wearing bloodshot lenses instead of brown ones! And, yes, that IS a wig!


Some fat witchy lass. Oh, it's me again!


Geoff, Graeme, Graham, Glenda, me and Ian (my hubby) wearing his lovely jubbly coat that me and my lovely mam made him.


Just look at that wig! It has a boat in it! The whole thing had a boat theme.

I'm beginning to get pretty excited now. Ian's coat is finished, and looks pretty fabby, too! I have all my stuff sorted, I think. Today is going to be spent cleaning the house and getting clothes ready for the weekend. Tomorrow I'll be packing, then we leave tomorrow afternoon after 4pm, so there won't be any more entries until after the weekend. However, I have extra batteries on charging as I type this, specially for my camera, so you can expect lots of photos of the event posted here when I get back!
Watch this space! Should be interesting!

Ok, I'm going to keep this short because I had a big long entry typed out and lost it all when AOL crashed on me ... so ...
... the main gist of it all is that I'm almost ready for next weekend. Some of Ian's coat is done, and when it is I'll post photos of his outfit, but for now, here is mine. Please bear in mind that I'm really blonde with blue eyes! LOL Yes, my brown lenses came today! The headpiece my sister bought for me. All that's missing I think is the typical Gothic makeup and the black fingernails! I even managed to get some comfortable boots today! Yay!
Ok, here they are.

My cloak is finished! Yee haa! Got it finished last night, and got Ian's coat cut out ... 44 pieces! Aaaargh! I'm going to spend most of Monday on it, then Tuesday and Thursday nights, so hopefully we'll get it done. My poor mam, she's helped me so much on these outfits. I really hope we get the coat finished as we go to Whitby next Friday! Aaargh! Still need to find boots, too.
Ok, got to go. I've got wages to work out for Ian's staff, it's payday for them today.

I've had an awful time sleeping the last couple of nights. This is not like me at all, I usually nod off in no time once my head hits the pillow, but the past few nights I've had an awful time because my legs won't keep still! Have you ever tried to sleep but you have an uncomfortable feeling in your legs like you need to stretch and move them all the time? It's really quite unpleasant. I have had it before a couple of times, but it usually goes away in a few days. Also, my mam suffers from it. So ... I decided to do a little research. If anyone else has this condition, have a look at this website:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/pubs/restless_legs.htm

A very interesting read, and 100% of the symptoms fit me exactly. I know I don't eat properly because my stomach is so dodgy, but I'm going to make an effort to eat better, take iron supplements and be more active.
So I'm off out now to take Biff for a walk!

I started to clear out the garage yesterday, and guess what I found? 12.5kg of coconut oil! Doh! And here's me panicking because I didn't have any left and worrying that I wouldn't be able to keep up with demand. The difficult thing about soapmaking is that you have to think ahead. Each batch of soap has to be cured for at least 4 weeks before it can be wrapped, labelled and sold, and so I have to have quite a large amount of stock on hand at all times. Oh, well, it's going to be a soapy day today. I'd better get the kitchen cleared out and disinfected ready.
My cape/cloak is almost finished! Yay! I won't be able to go and do some more sewing until Thursday now, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Ian's coat will be finished in time for next weekend. Eeeee, I can hardly believe it's so close! Wow! I need to decide what I'm wearing on my feet, though. I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot, and I sprained my right ankle weeks ago and it's still not right, so it's going to have to be something flat and comfortable, as I'll probably be spending quite a lot of time standing. I wonder if I can get some flat comfortable boots from somewhere. Ideas anybody? They must be size 2 because I'm only weeny!

I felt a bit better this morning. Haven't taken any Gaviscon at all today! Yay! Posted another 3 parcels this morning, and went to my friend Hazel's house this afternoon for coffee. I had a lovely afternoon, but started feeling a bit dizzy and lightheaded again by about 3 pm. I left shortly after 4, and went shopping for some onions and peppers and salad for dinner. I'm making chicken jambalaya, one of our faves! MmmMMmm.
So, I'm feeling a bit crap right now, but I cheered up no end when I checked my email and found I had an enquiry for postage costs from a potential customer in the USA! Cor! I've posted to all over the UK, but never overseas so far!
Anyway, I'd better get cracking. I have loads to do including cook, and I'm hoping to get over to my mam's later to do some sewing. The Whitby Gothic Weekend is next week, so I don't have that much time to get everything finished! Ooh, one other thing ... I wanted to get some black contact lenses to finished the demonic look (let's face it Whitby=Dracula doesn't it?!), because I have blue/grey eyes and it looks a little odd with the dark makeup and black wig. I looked on Ebay and they were £25, so I ended up getting some dark brown ones for £8!! I think they'll be just as good. The only problem is they aren't prescription lenses, which means I'll have to wear my glasses, which I didn't really want to do. Pity you can't wear 2 pairs of contacts at once! LOL Actually, I think I'll carry my specs with me and only put them on when I really have to ... the rest of the time I'll hang on to Ian and let him lead me around! Ha ha!

I'm still feeling bad, but I have an upset tum now. :-( The past 2 nights I have hardly slept because of the pain in my stomach which is worse when I lie down. And I just cannot sleep sitting up, unlike some folks I know who can fall asleep in an armchair at the drop of a hat! I'm supposed to be going to see my therapist today, too, but I don't know if I'll make it. For a start, I'm too dizzy to drive, still. I think it's more important I get myself to the doctor, actually. It's just annoying that I have to miss my therapist appointment as I still have to pay for the session even if I don't attend! Ah, well ... I signed the contract ...
On a brighter note, I have five parcels to send out this morning! Woo hoo! And I have a separate order for a friend totalling £24. It started off slow, but now it's beginning to snowball! I just hope I'll be able to keep up with demand! LOL Plus, I must keep records of how much I'm making, as I may have to sign off Incapacity Benefit soon! LOL
I haven't forgotten about the gown picture, either! Soon. Soon.
Oh well, I've almost finished my cup of mint tea, so I'll sign off for now. Bye, peeps!

I've felt a bit odd yesterday and today, and I have absolutely no idea why.
Yesterday I started feeling a bit light-headed and dizzy, you know, woozy, kind of. I felt pretty tired all the time, too.
Today, I feel twice as bad. Really light-headed and dreamy and I've been back to bed and slept twice today. Just got up about an hour ago. I need to think about dinner, too, but I've been feeling sickly and off me bait for a good few days. Still, I shall make an effort.
I was supposed to go to my Mam's last night to do some more sewing, but I couldn't drive as I was so dizzy. I wonder what it could be?
Anyway, I just had a look on Ebay and I've sold another lot of soaps and bath fizzies and soap favours! I'm starting to get a bit worried as I'm just about out of Coconut Oil and my supplier isn't expecting any more in until next week, and legally I shouldn't buy from anyone else unless it's the same brand of oil. Sheesh, I hope they send it pronto as soon as it's in. I told them I was worryingly low on supplies, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. I have plenty of everything else (except Castor Oil, which I forgot to buy, but as I only add 60g per batch, what I have left should last a while).
Oh well, I'd like to write more, but looking at the screen makes my head swim.
Bye, folks!

Woo hoo! My gown is finished! It only took 3 night's of sewing! I'm starting the cloak tonight, then Ian's coat! I'll probably get Ian to take a picture of the frock (with me in it!) tonight so you can see it. :-) I got the patterns from a lady on Ebay (in the US) and they're really good adult costume patterns I haven't seen anywhere over here.
Anyway, I have to go ... I have about £25 worth of soap orders to fulfill.
Ta ta!

I went to my mam's last night so try to get a decent amount of sewing done on these goth outfits we're making for the Whitby Gothic Weekend at the end of the month. It's so exciting! My frock is really taking shape, and the cloak won't take long to put together, I reckon. It would be nice to think I can get Ian's coat done, too, but ...
Anyway, as soon as the gown is finished I'll post a quick photo. Eeeeeee ... I'm looking forward to it. Pity The Damned aren't on again at Whitby this time.
By the way, I'm not a Goth, I just want to dress up and parade around the streets. Somewhere inside me there must be an exhibitionist trying to get out!

Yep, folks still want to buy my soaps! Wahoo! Send out 4 parcels today. Thanks, Amy, for making a purchase. One of my very personal favourite soaps is on it's way to you now. :-)

This is the first chance I've had to sit down and think about writing an entry in my journal. What a week! I put some of my soaps on Ebay, as well as some of my hubbie's scatter cushions that he had in the shop window and didn't seem to be selling, and I feel like I've done nothing but package stuff up and take them to the post office! I'm running really low on soaps now and need to get my arse in gear and make a load more as they need a month to cure before wrapping. And, you know what? Out of all the lovely blends of essential oils and pretty colours I do, the two uncoloured, unscented soaps (Au Naturale and Honey & Oatmeal) are the best sellers! I had a couple of bidders just about fighting over one one day ... they just kept upping their bids!
Hey, Amy ... thought about putting your handmade cards on Ebay?! Might be worth a try. :-)