June 2024 already...

 So much for good intentions...is it almost July 2024?...I just don't know where the time goes.

Work over the last year has been a nightmare and many colleagues have not found it easy to return to the workplace despite "hybrid working" (3 days office, 2 days home) as the cost of living has made things very difficult for folk. Because of the space taken by my work set up at home I haven't used my personal pc for ages, and although it has its limitations I mainly use my Amazon Fire tablet for most things..including watching TV and videos. It's amazing what is available out there on the web - and all for free.

Growing up I loved TV shows such as Miami Vice, Starsky & Hutch but probably most of all the Professionals...I was a major Lewis Collins fan.

Over the years shows like NCIS have added themselves to my viewing but the Professionals has always been my favourite...until now!

A couple of weeks ago whilst scrolling through Amazon Prime I came across the New Professionals..now don't get me wrong, I was aware that a new series had been created but at the time (1999) it was only shown in the UK on Sky and I didn't have access to that service. With the Euro 2024 football monopolizing most TV channels I settled down to work my way through the 13 episodes available on Prime and was hooked.

Colin Wells and Kal Weber do not disappoint in the 'eyecandy' department and there is plenty of action. So I went trawling the net for more only to find that a second series was never taken up..shock...horror. What I did find was a lot of negativity comparing the show and characters to the original.

I know when you love something it isn't easy to accept something new as a replacement but I really don't think folk gave this show a chance to find its footing. If folk are honest with themselves, the original TV series didn't start off that well as it took time for the actors to settle into their characters so it is annoying that these two actors were never afforded this chance. 25 years on from the making of the New Professionals this has been my first opportunity to watch the available episodes and it's is so disappointing that I will never have the chance to learn more about Curtis & Keel and the actors concerned will never have the chance to show us how they could develop the roles. I think broadcasters missed an amazing opportunity to create a new classic - so whilst the football is monopolizing our screens I'll keep Curtis & Keel on loop and make the most of what is available.

As a long time fan of "William Andrew Phillip Bodie" I am fast becoming a fan of "Sam Curtis" and "Chris Keel" isn't to be sneezed at either...

Where has the time gone???

 You would think that I would drop by more often 😁 especially as I used to blog most days but what with lockdown, New says of working and just life in general...time seems to have completely fun away from me.

I need to get back into the swing of things so fingers crossed I'll start to blog a bit 😉

Nearly September 2021...

 ...and still working from home.

After a crazy amount of knitting and crochet at the start of lockdown, the enthusiasm died away...I think I over did it and haven't touched a book since before last Christmas.

However, I have had a go at some other things and with the lifting of COVID restrictions am now back at parchment classes on a Friday.

This was one of my recent makes using polychromos pencils.

Hope everyone is keeping well...

At a time when everything has...

...gone mad.

Hi Folks, long time no blogging. Changes to work structures and numerous other things have meant that I just haven't had the time to get on here and blog.

Now, like many other folk across the world I'm working from home due to the guidance about COVID-19.

Day two of week two working from home and I'm already wanting to climb the walls **rolls eyes**

Had a Skype chat with my staff this morning and everyone is feeling the same about not having regular contact with folk outside of their own four walls (apart from necessary trips to the shops observing the correct social distancing).

How are other folk coping - are you all getting stuck in with your crafting or are you going stir crazy too.

There are a lot of fun things being shared on the web which if nothing else helps to bring a smile.

Hope everyone is taking care and keeping safe.

😷

Snail-paced broadband and...

...a spell of Jury Service.


Just a brief catch-up to prove I haven't dropped off the face of the earth.


Road works, gas main replacement and general weather conditions seem to have been impacting on the broadband services in my area for a while. I don't think having half the street dug-up during the snow helped very much as a lot of the cable piping was exposed to the elements for a few weeks.


Trying to read my emails each day has become a struggle because the limited time I have available doesn't fit well with the lengthy periods it takes to load Outlook.


On top of this, Windows 10 keeps freezing me out telling me that urgent updates are required yet when I try to install them I'm told that everything is up to date ??? ***grrrrrrrr*** more hassle. As a result, I haven't loaded any new photos for a while so I do apologise for the lack of pics.


Things were ticking along generally and I was looking forward to another weekend away with crafting friends like the one I went on last year. Panic set in when I received a summons to do Jury Service.


Although the two weeks specified should not have caused any problems, I had visions of ending up on a long case that would drag on & on &...


Luckily it didn't - I was only selected for one case which was over & done with in 3 days.


I can't say I enjoyed my time, so much sitting around waiting to hear whether you are needed. However, I was very productive - I have done a lot of crochet and managed to make a good selection for flowers and small projects ready for our "Learning at Work Week" event. I have also nearly completed a crochet blanket (700grams worth of DK yarn) which actually came in handy and helped to keep me warm as the court building is very cold - unfortunately I couldn't take the blanket into the court room even though it was like an ice-box...just had to make do with coats, scarves and lots of layered clothing. Apparently they don't like the court to be too warm as the legal folk have to wear gowns & wigs.


So I'm back at work, catching up on hundreds of emails and trying to sort out a few issues that arose whilst I was off. At least I now know that there won't be any problems concerning the crafting weekend - time can't pass quickly enough for me.......................................................................

February came to an end...

...and we were awaiting the snow.

With warnings of the arrival of "The Beast from the East" we waited for the first flakes to fall.

On Monday 26 Feb public transport decided to stop services early and warned folk to plan their journeys accordingly and many British Rail companies serving the London area announced the introduction of 'Severe Weather Timetables' for the Tuesday.

Tuesday came and on my line the emergency time table worked well - but there was no snow!!! So late in the afternoon announcements were made that additional trains would run that evening and Wednesday we would be back on our normal timetable - fools...

This is what we woke to (photo heavy)...

 ...and this was my walk to the station...

 ...the road works relate to the re-commencement of Gas Main replacement (yep some bright spark thought it the perfect time to turn folks gas supply off - work started 26/3/18)...

 ...and guess what - no trains. Well not when they should have been...

 ...an hour & a quarter waiting for a train. No station staff to ask but there was entertainment...

 ...trees are being cleared to make way for an extension to the station buildings...

 ...and these two guys were a very long way up...

...and the snow started to fall more heavily - what fun (not).

I eventually got to work and the journey home that night wasn't too bad.

We didn't get levels of snow that some parts of the UK had but as usual, the South East doesn't cope well with the white stuff.

Parchment class was cancelled as Joanne wasn't able to get to Barleylands safely from where she lives but other than that not much was disrupted. By the following Monday most of the snow was gone. Little did we know that it was only gone for a short while.......................................

The world is full of...

...morons.

moron

ˈmɔːrɒn/

noun

informal

noun: moron; plural noun: morons

1. a stupid person.

   
   

   "we can't let these thoughtless morons get away with mindless vandalism every weekend"

Early 20th Century references to the word "moron" highlighted - adults with the behaviour of between 8 & 12 year-olds.

 

Every day I see so many people that fall into this description that I truly wonder how the human race has managed to survive this long.

 

Mobile Phones

The original meaning of a 'mobile' phone was one that you could pick up and take with you so that you could have phone access wherever you were. Not as it has come to mean - that piece of equipment, permanently glued to your hand and/or ear that is in constant use irrespective of where you are or what you are doing.

 

I commute to work via public transport and the amount of morons wandering through the stations at these very busy times is unbelievable. There is a young woman that I see most mornings and if she isn't chatting on her phone she is texting or gaming. She regularly trips because she isn't looking where she is going and the other morning she had a very nasty fall at the top of the escalator - 9 hours later she is going through the same station on her way home; eyes glued to her mobile and her thumbs rapidly texting away. Some folk just never learn.

 

However, what is worse is the 'parent' who has a small tot running around amongst rush-hour crowds but they are more interested in what is happening on their phone. So many possible horrors here a lost child, a snatched child, a child under a train.

 

We live in an age where the threat of identity theft is something that we all have to be on our guard against so why do some folk have extremely detailed, LOUD, conversations with their banks/building societies whilst sat on a busy train...complete stupidity.

 

Cyclists

Whilst I will agree that many drivers do not drive with due consideration for other road users, there are many cyclists that do not help themselves to stay safe.

 

There are a lot of cyclists in London and there are many cycle routes for them to help improve their safety but every day I see them ignoring traffic lights, cutting across traffic lanes and mounting pavements without any consideration for pedestrians...and the numbers that are dressed in black/dark clothing without any reflective areas or worse still are riding in the dark without any lights just beggars belief.

 

At home, I have to walk past a parade of shops to get to/from the station and the times that cycles are just dumped outside shop doors with no thought to how they could trip someone coming out of the store or the fact that they are blocking the footpath shows they have no thought for anyone else.

I do not understand the mentality of parents who allow their kids to go out on their bikes just as darkness is falling with no lights of any kind on the bikes...

There also seems to be some kind of assumption (whether adult or child) that if you ride on the pavement you don't need lights??? Stupidity or what!!!


I could go on but this really would turn into 'War & Peace' so I had better call a halt to my rant now (I'm sure I can save my gripes about drivers and inconsiderate parkers until another day). I'll step down from my soap box for the time being.....................................

Just where has...

...January gone to?

I can't believe that we are here at the 29th of the month already - another few days and we will be in February. Gosh how time flies.

2018 has started in a rather hectic manner. Work has been a madhouse and commuting has been 'delightful' (NOT). Quite a bit of crafting has been going on but I really need to get the camera back into use - at the moment I seem to be completing bits but because the lighting is so awful nothing is getting photographed.

I've managed to organise myself right through until the end of October so that I can have Fridays off. This means that I can continue with my parchment classes which I am really enjoying.

Before Christmas I attended some of Andy Pearson's (Pinnacle Crafts) Saturday workshops where we got to play with Pan Pastels and Inks - all nice and messy and not the sort of thing that I tend to do at home. The camera did get forgotten most of the time but here are a couple of the cards that were made...

...it is lovely making a mess and seeing what results from it.

Lots of knitting & crochet has been going on and I'm pleased to say that I've made a great start on the Christmas gifts (don't groan). Christmas card making needs to pick up pace a bit but at least I've made a start...so you never know...I might have them all done & dusted well before Christmas.

Ooooo, was that a flock of pigs flying past the window.......................................................

Happy New Year...

...to you all.

May 2018 bring everything you could wish for..............................................................

Santa Dash...

...by one of our team.

At the start of December one of our team dressed up as Mrs Santa and joined Santa dash to raise money for her local hospice. Despite a very soggy day (she said she could really have done with some glasses with windscreen wipers LOL) she completed event and raised £140.

 

She brought her medal into work....

...to show all her colleagues who had sponsored her.

As I sit here creating this post I can't believe that it has been over a month since I last posted - time has more than just flown this year but although the posts have been rather lacking I think time has been well spent on the various causes that I and my colleagues have managed to support.

Back in July my "Craft & Chatter" group completed and sent off 150 mini hats for the Innocent Smoothie "Big Knit" to help raise money for Age UK. When the hatted bottles hit the shelves in the shops this Autumn, we eagerly looked out to see if we could find any of our creations. The answer to that was NO but we all bought items with hats that had been created by other folk. There were certainly some fabulous creations.

In October we were merrily making crochet & knitted poppies...

...which helped to raise just over £180 for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

The group are currently making "Bonding squares" for local Neo-natal units.

The office supported the Newham Food Bank (part of the Trussell's Trust) again this year and as usual I decorated the collection area to make it look a little more festive. There was a fabulous response and we collected far more than in previous years. The Newham Food Bank provided nearly 2000 food parcels last Christmas and we hope our contribution helped them to do even more this year.

Our support of the RNLI is on going and folk regularly bring in books & un-wanted gifts to add to our 'shop' area. Support from wonderful folk on the web has also been amazing - handmade items & cards from Lunch Lady Jan & Shaz Silverwolf  (regulars on Julia Dunit's "What's on your Workdesk Wednesday" over at "The Stamping Ground") all very much appreciated.

Although you would never believe it due to the lack of posts on here, November & December were very busy crafting months. I finished off all my handmade gifts and managed to make all my cards (yes, I failed on the making as I went through the year - but hey-ho it all got done) but the thing that I didn't manage to do was take photos as I went. I was so determined to get everything wrapped the photos were forgotten.

With it being just a few hours away from a New Year, I can't promise that posting will be any better but I'm sure 2018 will be just as busy and just as crafty as 2017..........................................

 

Winter Skating Angel...

...by Kerryanne English.

 

 

Kerryanne loves all things 'Tilda' and this is her recent creation - isn't it sweet.

 

Each year Kerryanne holds a cyber event over on her Shabby Art Boutique blog called "Simply Christmas" and she shares lots of tips and ideas for putting the heart, home & family back into Christmas. She generously provides lots of free downloads to help you with your festive organisation and décor.

 



If you haven't paid her a visit before, please do - I'm sure you will find some lovely ideas to use this festive season................................................................

I'm still playing...

...with the LOTV images I bought.

I did buy rather a lot LOL...so it is taking me quite a while to work my way through them.

I have loved this image for quite some time so when LOTV had one of their super sales - it was a "no brainer" that this would be amongst my selection...

...I didn't go for a traditional colour scheme on this (although I do love the samples I've seen with this little miss in Christmas red) but went for blues & pinks. I still have some papers from the "Silver Bells" range that I think will work well.

I am still woefully behind with my Christmas cards but I think I have most of my presents sorted.

So better get a move on with my card makes otherwise it will be the usual panic session taking place to get them all done.......................................

The Poppy Appeal...

...and a bit more fundraising.

After having sent 150 mini hats to "Innocent" to help support this year's AgeUK fundraising, our Craft & Chatter group decided to make a start on some Poppies.

Patterns were obtained from a variety of sources (all supporting the Appeal) and we made a start.

Here are some photos of my early efforts...

 ...but since then I've become a little more adventurous ...

...and even made a few double layered ones.

I have more photos that need to be up loaded but to be honest, it hasn't been easy getting photos of the fabulous selection that everyone has produced as most of the poppies have sold before they even got to go on display.

Last week we officially put the poppies on sale to the folk in the office and on the first day the display was left almost bare. Resulting in the poppy 'fairies' working overtime to meet demand.

So...sorry for the lack of posts lately but as you can see there has been a good reason.

We have raised £140 so far due to the generosity of the folk in our building.

With the exception of the broach pins all the yarn has come from people's stash - along with an assortment of buttons.

Isn't it amazing how valuable all those crafting scraps can be................................................

Some more...

...LOTV cuties.

I have been meaning to get some of the LOTV calendar fairies and finally treated myself during one of their recent sales. I haven't made any cards with the images yet but I have been playing with a bit of colouring.

This little miss is so cute playing around in the fallen leaves...

 ...she was such fun to colour but don't look too closely. I decided to add a bit of sparkle after I had fussy cut the image and horror of horrors - I dropped the Spectrum sparkle pen lid and it had ink inside which splashed all over the place (including my image). Most mopped off but my little miss has rather a 'glow' around her neck & chin area...oops.

With Halloween fast approaching, this little cutie is just perfect...

...I think she is destined for a treat bag rather than a card - I kept the sparkle pens away from this one LOL.

Autumn has certainly arrived in my neck of the woods. ......................................

But I wanted a...

...playstation.

Don't you just love the expression on this LOTV image...

...you can tell that she is not amused.

Whilst colouring this little miss I was reminded of so many Christmas gifts from my gran. She always bought clothes for everyone and they were always too big - "so we could 'grow' into them". This might have been fine for the grandkids but she also did it with the adults...socks was the traditional gift for the men and my poor Dad (who didn't have the largest feet in the world) would receive socks that were so big that you could tuck the toe under the foot and it would reach back to the heel LOL

Did you have folk that gave 'strange' presents?

I would love to know if there are others out there that had family members who had similar mind-sets - I think with my gran a lot was to do with her up-bringing and the era that she grew up in. Things had to last so it was common practice to buy things bigger than needed so that you could in deed 'grow into them'.

Still, the thought was there and the gifts were always given with love - bless you gran................

A little bit of...

...colouring in.

A short while ago, the lovely folk at Lili of the Valley had a sale and it was too good a bargain to miss. As a result I stocked up on quite a few digi images.

I love stamps (and have quite a few **rollseyes**) but I find digis so useful as you can size them to suit what you want to make.

I was very quick off the mark getting all my new purchases printed but that was as far as it got - there never seemed to be a spare moment to sit and just colour. That was solved when I went to Carol Whalley's crop at the Toby carvery. Here are three of the images that I managed to play with...

...these Christmas ladies are beautiful (I have yet to finish the 4th one in the set).

Christmas is fast approaching - yep, they are already advertising the Christmas Movie Channel which starts the weekend after next and then goes 'full-time' from 21 October - just where has the year gone to?

Every year I say I must be more organised for the Christmas season and every year we get to this point and I start to panic. Well at least this year my 'special' Christmas cards are all done it is just the batch cards that are lacking in numbers. At the moment there are...NONE...as I can't make up my mind on a design.

Well if anything is going to get done I need to get my rear in gear and make a start. I'll let you know what I decide upon - if the broadband plays nice.....................................................

My "Groovi"...

...little Gingerbread house.

I have had the Groovi Gingerbread house border plate since it was launched but had only ever used the little Gingerbread men (when decorating my "Twas the Night before Christmas" book).

I decided it was about time it was put to some use so grabbed some parchment and here was the result...

 ...the tiles on the roof seemed to take for ever...

 ...but the colouring of the candy-canes was pretty quick & easy...

...nothing too fancy...

...but plenty of glitter on the roof to give a frosty effect.

The house is only tiny but will be perfect sitting on the mantelpiece at Christmas with a battery tealight inside.

You would not believe how long it has taken to complete this post - two weeks ago the pictures wouldn't load and I gave up in frustration. Broadband speeds in this area have been awful and today it has taken 3 attempts to actually get into Blogger. Let's hope things improve......................................

I can fully understand...

...why the UK appeared so far down the Broadband speed list.


This morning I spent a frustrating hour trying to get to my emails and then check my ready list on my blog - the second task was not accomplished as I gave up waiting for the 'blue ring of death' to stop spinning.


I appreciate that with the various "works" going on down our street at the moment this could be impacting on services...we seem to have holes and road works wherever you look.


But talk about rubbing salt into an already angry wound, when I did get into my emails this morning there was one from my service provider advising me that my monthly costs will increase by £3.99 from 1 November 2017. They then tried to soften the blow by reminding me of all the 'wonderful' things I have access to.


Needless to say, I was not in the best of moods when I finally managed to set off for work..........................................................................................

Someone...

...wanted to say "Hello".

But then got a little shy.

This is "JJ" and he belongs to one of my colleagues. He wanted to show 'Lunch Lady Jan' just how smart he looked in his doggy bandana...

 ...but then had second thoughts and got a little camera shy.
However, it wasn't long before he got over the problem...

...and was getting up close and personal with the lens LOL.

JJ has certainly fallen in love with his bandana - doesn't he look smart.....................................

I am a naughty...

...blogger.

The lovely Lunch Lady Jan sent me another parcel of goodies for the RNLI fundraising and although I had taken some photos I hadn't loaded them to my PC - how bad am I; sorry Jan.

There were a couple of beautiful tote/shopper bags that I can't show you as they have been nabbed by a friend for gifts but here finally are some pics of the wonderful items Jan made...

 ...hanging padded hearts...

 ...lovely drawstring bags perfect for PE gear, ballet shoes...

 ...or even just a change of shoes if going out on a walk...

 ...sunglasses cases...

 ...and tissue holders...

...such a lovely selection and aren't those Doggy Bandanas cute.

Such a generous parcel of goodies - Thank you Jan.........................................................