It's been a bad week....

.......for me. Only to be expected I suppose. I still can't get used to the idea that Theo isn't jumping on my bed in the morning and miaowing at me if he hasn't been fed by 10 o'clock, or trotting into the house several times a day to make sure we are still here. What I miss most is his comb and cuddle time in the evening. He liked to be thoroughly combed then would lay in my arms (just like a baby) for about an hour with me stroking his beautiful silky coat and Theo purring gently. He would come to lay at the bottom of my bed on his blanket at about 3 in the morning, then go downstairs when he heard my son getting up for work at about 5.

My new printer has arrived and it's been installed. I've still got to get to play with it properly yet....but so far the results are good. My mojo left me last week...didn't even manage to get the ATCs done for the ATC Swappers. I've made myself do a card today so perhaps it will come back. The card is for the Imag-e-nation challenge...which asks for a card made using the side step template. Not sure that I'm happy with what I've ended up with. I didn't have anything in particular in mind so I just went with the flow so to speak.

Last Wednesday I went to the doctors after I was asked to make an appointment for a prescription revue. The outcome?.....no problem with the medication, but I did tell her about the bouts of vertigo that I have been having. She checked my ears...fine she said....no infection. Then she asked why I have never done anything about my deafness. Well the answer to that one is that I was born partially deaf so it has always been normal for me...even though my hearing is deteriorating....probably age catching up with me. Anyway she said that she would find out about a hearing test for me at the surgery and would phone me to let me know. I'm still waiting. She also checked my blood pressure...again, fine no problem. Then she asked me to stand up while she took it. She ended up checking it three times..she thought her machine was playing up. No it wasn't....my blood pressure goes through the roof when I stand apparently. That could explain the vertigo and the bouts of profuse sweating when I exert my self too much...eg vacuuming the living room. Another wait and see.....is there something wrong or is it to be put down to the M.E. once again.

The bad news...

..is that Theo was run over and killed last Tuesday. He must have been on his way home for his tea. If he wasn't in by seven o'clock I used to shake his box of biscuits and he would come trotting down the garden. Now he won't be coming home.

Want the chance....

...to get your hands on the fantastic Flippin Christmas and Remember When... sheets from La Pashe? Just pop over to Toni's blog here ...to find out more.

Theo is missing...

...and has been since Tuesday afternoon. I know he's a cat and is probably doing what cats do but I'm so worried about him. He didn't come in for his tea yesterday....very unusual...and no sign of him today. He has never been out at night before. It has been windy and raining most of today...and Theo hates wind and rain. I've asked round the neighbours but nobody has seen him. I'm trying not to think the worst though and hope that he is ok and just got a bit lost...and hoping someone is giving him shelter.

Oh no!!....

.......my printer has finally given up the ghost. Got ink cartridges.....black no problem....colour wasn't coming through easily so tapped a damp tissue to get the ink flowing. Tried to print a test page but no joy. My printer wasn't communicating with my computer. Turned everything off..unplugged printer....waited a few minutes plugged everything back in... still no joy. My printer now says that there is no colour cartridge, so now it wont print anything. I even tried looking for an update for it. I went on Lexmark's site and my model isn't even listed. I've got so fed up of the rigmarole with it, and after tearing my hair out for the last 2 days, I have decided to buy a new one. Can't really afford it, but it seems to have become one of those necessities of modern life. It won't be here for about 5 days so until then....no printer. The model I've ordered is the same as my sons, an Epson all-in-one and the ink cartridges are cheap...unlike my Lexmark where the cartridges were beginning to work out very expensive, because it will not print on quick or draught.....only best. It is now uninstalled. I'm not sure how to dispose of it though. The scanner works ok..it just won't print!
Besides all that bother my week has been a bit hectic and tiring. I have been up and about early every day. Last Saturday was spent gardening, and I thought that would be it. Just finished and was admiring my hard work, when my neighbour popped his head over the hedge and told me that the fence would be installed on Monday. That meant me having to go out in the garden on Sunday to move some plants. He could have told me earlier. He sat in his garden and watched me cut the lawn and trim the edges. the side where the hedge was being dug out I needn't have done. Wednesday I went to town with Anne (you know Anne..my greatest fan...lol)....and we did a 2 hour lunch with chat and gossip....and book shop browsing. Thoroughly enjoyed it even though I was shattered by the time I got home. Thursday was shopping day which we had to hurry a bit more than we usually do. U2 were at the Arena so that meant long traffic delays on our route home, and I certainly didn't want to get caught up in that lot. So the last couple of days should have been spent taking it easy and making my daughter in laws birthday card. Had it all planned..but the printer has put paid to that. So now I shall have to give her one that I made earlier and hope she likes it. Will be taking it over to her tomorrow..her birthday.

Blog candy..

I haven't linked to any blog candy for a while....but here's 4 not to miss.

Michelle has some wonderful candy...check out those "oh so cute" donkeys while you're there. Hurry though.

Bev has some more awesome candy...17th August

Emma has 2 lots of candy to give away...19th August

Claire is giving away candy .....21st August

It's Friday...

...and so far I'm doing OK with the plan. Thursday I had to get up a bit earlier than normal to pick up my prescription, get it filled (half day closing) and then to the bank. So the afternoon was spent making a card for the Imag-e-nation forum challenge and a couple of ATCs for a forum swap. The card I had planned just wasn't to be, my printer has totally run out of ink. The poor thing definitely needs replacing. According to that I have a half full cartridge of colour and almost a full black. It just isn't reading the ink levels and it will only print on the normal setting now.
Today has been a little overcast and threatening rain..and as it was cooler I had planned to cut the grass...yet again. The weed and feed is certainly working now. Didn't get it done though. I just couldn't summon up the energy. On a more positive note I did get a bit more of my craft stash sorted and tidied. The ATCs I'd made were quilled, and the papers were in such a mess.....that's probably why I haven't done more of it. I find quilling very therapeutic, it's really quite amazing what can be done with a few strips of paper. I've sorted the papers by colour into separate bags, and now they are sitting very neatly in a shoebox. I think it will be a lot easier to see what colours I have. Which isn't a lot at the moment..need to put them at the top of my craft shopping list..along with all the other goodies that I want. What I did use on one of the ATCs (just because I wanted to try it out) was the silver glitter spray from Crafter's Companion. I've seen it demonstrated on the tv...but I must say it doesn't do it justice. The result is gorgeous! No more debating whether or not I should use that last little bit of glitter card in case I can't get any more...or even hunting for just the right colour. Will have to have the gold as well now. Think my Christmas cards are going to feature a lot of glitter this year.

So far so good....

....my plan that is. The weekend was spent having a couple of relatively lazy days...nothing too strenuous. Yesterday I couldn't ignore the weather...it was glorious....so late afternoon..after a slow, gentle walk to the local shop...I spent an hour in the front garden trimming the lawn edges and weeding the borders. I told my son before I went out there to give me a shout in I hour, and I stuck to the hour! I resisted the urge to stay out there longer..as I usually do. Today another stroll to the shop, one load of washing and a tidy of my bedroom. I've no ironing with the washing I did. It was perfect drying weather..sunny and a light breeze.....which meant that with a few minutes spent carefully folding the dry washing, I have saved myself an hour of dreaded ironing. Yay! Tomorrow I will probably spend crafting. I can't do what I had intended as my printer needs cartridge refills...gggrrrr! .....and I wont be able to get them done until the weekend Why do these things always happen when I've made plans.
As for the gardening, it is going to be a lot easier very soon. My neighbour has a privet hedge in the front garden and we share one in the back garden. He told me yesterday that they are taking the front one out and putting in a wooden one..less for me to cut on my side ...and asked if it was ok to do the same with the back one. Of course I told him yes. This means that next year when the housing association take out another one in my front garden and replace it...I wont have any hedges to cut. A big workload off my gardening time. I know it's more environmentally friendly to have hedges, but only if you have the time and energy to maintain them. There's nothing worse in a garden than a badly neglected hedge. With the hedges gone I should be able to plant some slow growing, garden friendly shrubs and plants. So we all win.

Well I've made a start.....

....on my plan. Monday I thoroughly vacuumed and dusted the living room, and cleaned the kitchen. The kitchen isn't too hard as I clean the work surfaces, tile splash-backs and cupboard fronts daily. Tuesday I was going to do a little gardening, but of course it rained....so I cleaned the stairs and landing....with plenty of rest stops in between..and did my ironing in the evening.
Wednesday saw the sun show it's face in the afternoon....that meant me doing my washing and in the garden cutting the grass. I did want to do more but I resisted. Today has been shopping day...so now I think I have earned a couple of days taking it a bit easier, and having some craft time. Don't know how long I can keep this up without me resorting to trying to do everything in one day. Time will tell!

I'm going to have to get...

...some sort of order in my life. At the moment I take each day as it comes, and that is fine as far as it goes. However, not having any order means that I'm not getting the things done that I want to. I know that I have to pace myself and not try and do everything in one go...but I'm not leaving myself any "me time." I want to be able to do the things I enjoy without feeling guilty that the housework is being too neglected. OK, I don't do housework that I used to...I just can't manage it. What I need to do is devise a flexible plan for the week which will allow me to get the necessary work done and still leave me enough energy to do the gardening (weather permitting) and have a day just for crafting. At the moment I'm having to make things at the last minute.....and that is not enjoyable...it will become a chore.

Here are 3 cards that I've made recently. The first 2 are for the Imag-e-nation forum challenges. I didn't win..but then I didn't expect to..the standard is very high.

The first one has the theme of teddies, and as I'd got some free Paddington Bear papers..I went along with that.

The second one was for a theme of black and white. The stamp is from Dimension Fourth and the spotty paper from Jak's blog.

This last one is the card I made for my youngest son's birthday, which is today. My baby is 20 now. The paper and image are a free download from Peejay. It didn't turn out quite as planned. The wheels on the car are gold on the download...but my printer decided that yesterday was a very good time to run out of yellow. So I made it a blue and silver rather than blue and gold.
My signature is back....but I think that I've accidentally deleted it from this post....dohhh!!

I don't want....

......another week like the one I've just had. After the problems with IE and finally catching up with my blog reading, my comp decided to play up. I went to switch on the computer last Wednesday....no joy. I thought that it was just a sticking button...but no. Eldest son came over and found that the button was playing up (cheapo plastic!) but the main problem was the power unit. When my computer went down last year I had a new motherboard and other bits but not a new power unit. Groan...more expense...but son came to rescue. He'd bought himself a laptop recently, so he still had his old comp with all the bits...including an all singing, all dancing, power unit. He has been over today to fix it for me.... so now I'm back online with a long list of emails and again I'm playing catch up with my blog reading. So if you are on my list.....SLOW DOWN!..until I catch up....lol. All this has meant that I haven't been able to make a card for my youngest's birthday on Monday...so I will have to get a wriggle on tomorrow. Not that he really appreciates it mind.....he "doesn't do cards." Besides all this, my sleeping hasn't improved over the last week. I can see myself making that card tonight if I'm still awake at 3 in the morning.
The weather has been just typical for us. Start of the school holidays and we have had rain...some of it torrential. I had to go to the local shop on Wednesday for bread and milk. I set out in a fine drizzle and the sun trying it's hardest to avoid the clouds. I came home absolutely drenched to the skin. I had to stand in the porch and ask my son to fetch my bathrobe as I had to strip off completely. The leather shoes that I had worn are still not completely dry. On top of that I had visitors. The housing association sent 2 officials to undertake a quick survey of my house prior to the modernisation early next year. They wondered why I was surprised to see them as apparently they had turned up by appointment. News to me. I can see that I am going to have a few problems with the modernisation. They showed me a plan of how the kitchen is going to look. OK..except that they haven't accounted for my table and chairs. "Well you can always move them into the living room"...erm..where? Then the plan has put the fridge-freezer in a corner next to a radiator. Humpfff. I have got a separate fridge and freezer. " Well in that case they can go in the porch" (what is at the present the old coal-house and currently houses my dryer and gardening equipment). Hummppfff! ..."or....you can sacrifice a unit in the kitchen and have the fridge in there and the freezer in the porch." What..with my dryer, garden equipment and the new combination boiler that is going in there? "Right....that will have to be sorted at a later date with the liaison officer, who will be contacting you about storing some of your belongings while the work is carried out." Oh this is going to be fun.....NOT!
Then to cap it all, Thursday I was rudely awakened after a restless night, by 2 workmen who had come to repair the overflow from the cold water tank in the loft. Yes I had reported it and was given an appointment date...Friday!