All creatures great...

...and small.

On Saturday it was 'Aunty Toni to the rescue'. An urgent phone call from Mum on Thursday had set things in motion.

My niece and her boyfriend have been living just outside of Nottingham along with their menagery of pets.

Last week Tom got a job in Spain so arrangements had to be made for my niece to move back to her flat at Uni in Leicester so that the Nottingham flat could be vacated...problem...pets are not allowed in the flat at Uni.

So this was where I came in...

The pets needed to be collected and transported down to my sister so that she can look after them until other arrangements can be made. Aunty Toni Removal Service answered the call, lol.

Saturday morning saw me wizzing round the M25 and up the M1 to collect an undisclosed number of creatures. My estate car has never been so empty (it normally resembles a portable crop workstation - I mean - a girl has to be prepared when she goes out scrapping...) and the rear seats were folded down in readiness.

Weather 'up North' hasn't been too great lately (unless you have webbed extremities) so I was keeping everything crossed that I wasn't going to be battling up the motorway in heavy rain. Well, apart from a few short but heavy squalls the sun shone. I arrived in good time and the 'decamp' commenced.

Six larrrrrrrrrrrrrrge cages, tons of food & bedding, a Chinchilla and numerous Hammys in various colours and sizes were duly fitted into my car - pint into a half-pint pot, no sweat.

The little furry folk didn't stay in their cages they were all in travel boxes so that was additional bulk to be wedged in. My niece very kindly informed me that the largest hammy was an escape artist of epic ability but told me not to worry (????????????) "Honey likes the passenger footwell so if she gets out of her box that's where you'll probably find her" (probably???). I was also told not to worry if it sounded like some of them were fighting "they do that all the time, it's playing really...if it gets a bit noisy turn up the heating in the car and they'll fall asleep" **I didn't inform her that so would I, yikes!!**

The trip home was uneventful most of the way. Again, a few heavy, short sharp showers but nothing much until I hit the M25....................the world disappeared!

Rain so hard that the wipers couldn't cope, semi-darkness and IDIOTS driving without any lights on. I know the papers are full of comments about lightbulbs, carbon emissions, global warming...but, pleeease, common sense should prevail...to drive safely you have to be able to see and be seen (doh!).

The last bit of the journey was horrid but luckily by the time I reached my sister's home the rain was down to a gentle spit.

How long does it take two females to construct six cages and re-house numerous furry beings?

TOO LONG!

The car was unloaded at 5pm and I finally climbed back into it around 9.30pm (and only one break for coffee during the whole time).

All the little furry beasts are snug back in their cages but are now located at their "grandma's". Beds, toys etc might not be on the cage levels that they were previously but the furry folk didn't seem to object :o).

Good job other arrangements were made for the fish..............................

I'm a...

...Scrappy Happy bunny :o)

The page kit that Nicola produced for tonights crop was in shades of blue, brown and sand. As soon as I saw it posted on her blog I knew that it would be ideal for the pictures that I had found of a trip to Duxford with my niece back in 1995 (oooooooo how time flies).

That year seemed to be so full of days out - Hever Castle (my sister was navigating...we actually set out for Leeds Castle, LOL), Mountfitchet, Leeds Castle (did actually get there - Kristy navigated this time...), Tower of London, Sea World at Southend, Colchester Castle, Hatfield House, Duxford and probably several others that I will remember WHEN I sort through the rest of my photos.

I didn't think Kristy would want to go to Duxford again as she had been there the previous year but it turned out to be one of her favourite places and we went again the following year, and the year after that and she even manager to get her Uncle Paul to take her there a couple of times.

The weather wasn't always good for our visits but rain or shine we all seemed to have a good time.

I started this post with the comment that I was a scrappy happy bunny...not only did I get a double LO completed at Nicola's crop but I have also sent for another super Scrappers Unlimited kit (well actually - 2, **smirks, rather smug expression plastered all over face**).

This time the kit is a teeny book only 2.5ins high with lots of bead decoration. The pictures look absolutely fab. I had to make a very hard decision as Chrissie and her team are offering the kit in a choice of 3 colours - pink, green, blue. I had to be strong (hee, hee), well, I tried to be strong...I've only ordered two (green & blue) - my logic being that the Basque Book was mainly pink so I'm giving that colour a miss this time although looking at the pics it does look sooooo sweet in that colour option.

It is so tempting, but no, if I'm good this time (well sort of) I won't feel too guilty when the next kit becomes available...**very hard scrub at the halo to keep it glowing**

Cats & Dogs...

...yep, it's really pouring down.

Boy was I lucky tonight...I managed to get home before the rain became anything more than a few spits :o)

However, since arriving home from work we have had thunder (close enough and loud enough to make the air shudder) lightening (and it sure did light up the sky) and the rain has just fallen down - just the odd inch or two to add to the statistics (BBC Essex announced that this is one of the wettest Junes Essex has experienced for a very long time - ahh, but will it be the wrong kind of rain...?).

It is still pouring down as I sit typing this and I can hear the passing traffic swishing through the surface water but for all that, the temperature hasn't fallen very much and it is still 'muggy' :o(

Fingers crossed things brighten up tomorrow...

A thought...

...to take into the new week.

"Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated." Alex F Osborn.

Have a good week...

How remiss of me...

...I didn't tell you, Starbucks has arrived in Stratford (East London, not Upon Avon).

Yipeeeeeeeee, hurraaaaaaaaay, YES!!!

Oh how I love coffee, not that you would possibly guess, LOL.

I sooooooooo missed not having my Gingerbread Latte's over the Christmas period but time just flew and I never seemed to find the time to get to the nearest outlets at Lakeside & Thurrock Retail Park (ho-hum).

Stratford has a shopping mall, roughly in the shape of a + with exits at 3 of the farthest points. I go into the mall every morning on my way into work as it is slightly less busy than trying to battle through there at lunchtime (I do stress - SLIGHTLY). I usually pick up something for lunch and grab the latest craft mags that take my interest. I used to also pick up a coffee from Tchibo until they modernised it and did away with their fresh coffee in favour of a vending machine (pah!).

Just outside the fartest point of the mall (next to Superdrug & MacDonalds) there had been a cheepy fashion outlet. After a verrrrrrrrrrrry extended closing down sale the store was boarded up for what seemed like 'forever'. So you know what it's like when you are so used to seeing something...it doesn't always register that things have changed. It was only when a colleague mentioned that she had met a friend in 'Starbucks' that I found out about it. I must have walked passed there several times a week for about a month without even realising it was there...:o(

My only excuse is that I am usually suffering from commuter-i-tis first thing in the morning and it normally takes at least two mugs of coffee to bring me back to normal (yes, I did say NORMAL, I can do normal...well sort of...tee,hee).

Still, I know it's there now, and hey, I don't have any other vices so why shouldn't I treat myself to a daily latte...OKAY, I heard you, revise that...I don't have many vices, just shopping, crafting, obsessed with coffee - no you can't include scraping, that's art................:o)

Whatever happened to...

...dialing your own calls?

I am just about fed-up to the back teeth of computerised dialing. Take this evening as an example...

Late home from work (surprisingly, not the fault of British Rail on this occasion). Not in the best of moods, it's muggy and even the brief shower - that I got caught in getting off the train - hasn't cleared the air. All I want to do is sit down with something 'quick' to eat...phone rings!

Grab the phone only to have my 'hello' greeted by a lot of clicking noises and some background static. After a few repeats of 'hello' I'm just about to put the phone down when a cheery voice breaks through the static...the call wasn't even for me >:o grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Sort out food, just sitting down to check emails...phone rings! More of the same - I hung up.

Few minutes later...phone rings! This time as I say 'hello' the call cuts off.

Phone rings! The dial tone is already back before I have the phone to my ear or have had a chance to utter a word.

What's even worse is when you punch in 1471 you get greeted by the message "Sorry, the last caller was from a Network that is unable to transmit numbers".

When I get in from work I don't want to be pestered by 'cold calling' whether it be to offer me a super designer kitchen or replacement windows on a b-o-g-o-f offer. Free holidays are never that, there is always a catch and if you want polite, sensible answers to your survey don't call me after a 90 minute battle with public transport. I also don't expect to have 'my time' continuously interupted by unsolicited calls...and wasn't there something about cold-calling not happening after 9pm..........???

Word of warning to all you call-centre & phone-sales staff...if you want to put me in a bad mood continue to have a computer dialing your numbers for you. That delay whilst your super machine connects you after I have picked up the phone is a sure-fired way to get the call off to a bad start. If you must contact me, don't do it in the evening and I would suggest that you learn how to dial your own calls so that you can be ready to greet me without all the clicks, static and ...........................................DELAY!!! :o(

Been having a play...

...with my new lime-green Crop-o-dile.

Setting eye-lets is soooooooooo easy and punching holes in chipboard is like a hot knife through butter...easy-peezy!

Whilst "playing" I thought I'd have a go at coming up with some card making ideas that my neighbour could use with her Brownie pack. Having just passed her several boxes of embroidery threads that were no longer required it seemed like a good idea to have a go at spirelli (hope that's spelt correctly).

I tried a couple of ideas as 'toppers' and think this will be fine - quick, easy and not too expensive (the centre of the flower has an eyelet that I filled with glitter glue to give a bit of sparkle).

The Brownies love making cards and had great fun at Christmas adapting an idea I had, using CDs. They did really well, and sold lots of cards to raise money for their pack.

Must go and have a rummage through my cardstock off-cuts and get punching out a variety of coloured circles. A few dozen should keep them busy for a while...:o)