What a Waste!

Not been around a lot, I know, I know ..... can't believe how quickly the days are flying by, it's almost June already!!!  But I have done a "little" bit of art journalling, couple of pages, and a page for a story book swap that's been doing the rounds for several months now.  So I'm starting to feel like some creativity is weaving its way back into my life.

Anyhow, the title of this blog (and I do have trouble coming up with titles) refers to the day I've had as I had to travel over to Preston first thing this morning to the hospital for my appointment with the consultant regarding my weak hand and to find out the results of the two scans I had about four months ago.  Somehow I knew it was going to be a waste of time and money - after spending around £10 in bus fares to get there, the consultants' clinics were all running behind schedule and my appointment was over an hour late.  When the consultant did see me, basically he asked me if the weakness in my hand was same or worse (some days it's stiffer and weaker than others), told me the scan results had all come back as normal (no bumps or lumps for him to operate on), that he was referring me to the neurologist to see if there was any inflammation or suchlike anywhere (it's the radial nerve that the problem is with - but no-one knows what the cause of it is) and was discharging me from his clinic.  All in all, I could've been with the consultant no more than a minute!

All that wasted time sat around, not to mention the expense, just to be told something that I could have had in a letter - no wonder the clinics are all clogged up and running late!  How much more economical would it have been to send a letter out instead?  I'm sure these consultants must only look at their patients' notes a few minutes before they see them!  Grr!!!  Well anyway, rant over - at least I don't have the worry of surgery hanging over me, just got to see if the neurologist turns anything up now ...... whenever that will be, it's already been going on a couple of years now and no proper diagnosis of the problem so far.

So ...... better shut up, ignore the hand and get on with as much arty-crafty stuff as I can *LOL*!

Whilst I was in Preston I had a bit of lunch and a look round the shops, so as not to let it be a total waste of the day; popped into one of the bargain book shops and was leafing through a "cat behaviour" book.  I was amused to read that apparently some Siamese cats, apart from being very vocal, affectionate and with a passion for wool (oh yes, I know about that one!), also have the habit of urinating on their owners to get attention!  (Mia, you better not try that trick, thank you very much, or you really will be in trouble)!   She's actually curled up, very sweetly, on a cushion on the floor next to me right now, no doubt dreaming up new forms of mischief. 

The Pink Gents are on their way .....

The "pink gents" swap ended at the weekend and as I only had three participants, as well as myself (first cards I've made for ages!), everyone has received a card from every other person.  I swapped the cards out today and Graham has assured me that he dropped them in the postbox at lunchtime (first collection day after the bank holiday weekend).  Thanks to Joanne, Mel and Sonia for taking the time to join in this swap - you really came up with some interesting and amusing takes on this theme ...... here are pics of what they did!

Joanne Parkin

Mel Dunkley

Sonia Jones

....... and these are mine

I was also going to have a draw to win the "Dandy Gentleman" cabinet card which I created (see pics in previous postings).  As there were only three names to choose from, I decided to let Mia once again pick the winner for me, so this is what I did ....... first I wrote everyone's names on differently coloured pieces of paper and then scrumpled them up  into little balls.  Mia's absolute favourite game is chasing balls of paper up and down the hall and stairs, so I threw them along the hall to see which one she'd go for.

As you can see, Mia very definitely made her choice .........

..... and (drumroll please!) the Winner is ..........



Congratulations, Mel - the "Dandy Gent" is coming your way soon!!!



Any more for swapping?

Just a reminder that my "In the Pink" ATC swap (details in post below and sidebar) still has another week and a bit to go before the cards are due in to me.  I know this has proved a challenging swap for some (even so, I've had some fab cards come in), but it's just a bit of fun for spring and it would be lovely if I could tempt a few more of you creative folks out there to join up as well!

If you fancy having a go, drop me an email to let me know.

In the Pink ..... and an ATC Challenge!

I've noticed an increasing trend over the past few weeks ....... men have taken to wearing "pink".  Every time I turn on the TV there they are - broadcasters, celebrities, antique experts, chefs, students, pensioners, sober politicians, flamboyant artists, sportsmen, old and young ..... there they all are with their pink ties, pink shirts, pink trousers, pink jumpers, pink hats, pink shoes!  I've even seen a couple of football teams sporting very fluorescent pink shirts!  I even had a quiet smile to myself the other day, driving home, when I passed an elderly couple out for a walk - she was dressed all in blue, he was dressed all in pink (shirt, jumper, trousers)! *LOL*  I must admit, I rather like it!  In fact, it seems that men are quietly reclaiming the colour "pink" for themselves as back in Victorian days, it was a masculine rather than a feminine colour.

And so, as my own little homage to men's new found "pinkness", I thought I'd create a little piece of art using one of my Victorian cabinet cards.  I've turned it into a wall hanging.  Hope you like my "Dandy Gentleman".

Before

After

Now, I thought it was about time I posted another little ATC challenge for you all so here's what I propose - you need to create three ATCs containing an image of a Victorian gentleman (just google away to find suitable images) dressed in or surrounded by the colour "pink" ..... you can keep your cards serious, quirky or humorous, entirely up to you.  (Details in the sidebar, as per usual).

Hopefully, plenty of you will want to join in and what I propose to do is put everyone's name "into a hat" and whoever is pulled out will also receive my "Dandy Gentleman" cabinet card as well.  You have until the end of the month (30th April) to make your cards and post them to me (just email me please to sign up).

Finally, if any of you want to give your brain cells a good working out, pop over to my sister Lindsay's blog and have a go at her crafty quiz - it's quite challenging, in fact very challenging, but there's a prize for the winner (closing date 9th April) so it's well worth having a go.

My Little Helper!

It's been a few weeks now since I last posted and I'm afraid not a lot (if any) crafting has happened in the meantime; my hand is still "dodgy" and playing up, making me clumsy and not easy to do a lot of fiddly work - or use the keyboard for any length of time!  One way or another, I think I'm definitely falling apart! *LOL*

Still, I wanted to join in the fun on Joanne's new blog for our crafting pets and took some photos of my little minx, Mia, helping me the other day when I was having a clear out in my "craft room" - I sorted out some old jigsaws and an assortment of leftover balls of wool to take to the charity shop.  I packed them all away neatly in a large plastic shopping bag, but it wasn't long before Mia sniffed out the wool (she's obsessed with it!) and decided to reorganise it all for me - would you believe, there wasn't a single hole in that bag before Mia started on it!  I came out of the bathroom the other morning and walked back into the bedroom, only to discover bags of wool strewn all across the floor and the wardrobe door wide open - she'd only nosed her way in and dragged it all out - it was so funny.  I've had to give her a ball of wool to play with and she's now proudly trotting round the house with it in her mouth, the ends trailing along underneath her - what a comic!

"Now if I could just move this ball here and put that one there,

I think you'll find that looks better!"



"If I lie very still, maybe no-one will know it was me"

"Agh, now this looks interesting!"

"And if I could just check it out from over here"

"Hmm, yes, definitely prefer this blue wool -

I might just have to move it into the light to get a better view!"

If you want to check out the antics of other "crafting pets", then please go pay a visit to Joanne's blog here.

I'm Back

Just thought I'd let you all know I'm back on line again.  My computer went kaput a week or more back; I was just sitting there, looking at a website (a quite respectable BBC one, before you get any ideas!), when the screen went completely black and the computer shut down.  I tried switching it back on several times, but it wasn't having it for more than a few seconds - I thought maybe the fan had gone and it had overheated, but no, still wouldn't switch on the following morning.  So it meant a quick phone call to my techy friend and then having to wait until he was able to come round and take a look at it.  As he suspected, it turned out the power pack in the "tower" had gone, but it wasn't a difficult job for him to replace it with a new one - and a lot cheaper than a whole new computer would've been .... whew!!!!

It was very strange being without a computer for so many days, but I did at least get some early nights (I'm guilty of being a real night owl staying up till all hours, which can't be good for me), so I'm hoping to keep that good habit up now.  But by the time my computer was fixed, I was quite glad because I was beginning to wonder what I'd been missing out on and seeing what everyone else has been up to this past week or two.

I think I'm still catching up after the winter and having a couple of bouts of ill health through January, and my creative levels are pretty low at the moment.  In fact, I've only managed to create one page of an art journal so far.  The art journal project is one suggested by Ali in one of my online groups, where we are given "prompts" for each page, to follow if we want.  This is the first and only page I've managed so far - the prompt for this was "Every Journey begins with a Single Step".

I think maybe it's time I took my own advice from this page - basically, stop thinking too much about what lies ahead and just get going!

Resurfacing!

Thought it was about time I resurfaced now that we're well into the New Year and my apologies for being absent so long!  Thank you to everyone who sent such lovely handmade cards at Christmastime - I really do appreciate them all, especially as I'm very bad at cardmaking myself.

Before Christmas, with much trepidation, I visited the consultant at the Royal Preston Hospital for the results of my neck scan and electrical conduction tests on my arm ..... the good news is that I don't have to have an operation on my neck (which I'd been told previously might be the case and which I was really worried about).  The consultant did a few more tests and concluded that I appear to have radial nerve damage in my arm (hence my weak hand), but has sent me for more scans to try and locate the exact centre of the problem before coming to any decisions about treatment (or not)! 

Just before New Year I came down with a nasty cold which lingered for a week or so and then just after I got over that, last week I became really ill with an even nastier stomach bug which had me laid up in bed - I don't remember ever sleeping for so long or for so many days before - I struggled to eat anything and was left very weak and tired, I've never experienced anything like it before nor ever want to!  I only just started to feel back to normal yesterday; ventured into town today but noticed I was walking around more slowly than normal, so I think my energy levels are still not quite 100% yet!

Sooooo ........ I've not really felt like doing much at all since Christmas as I've been unwell most of the time.  And as I'm still having ongoing problems with my hand which means I'm struggling to grip things and it takes a lot longer to try and create anything, until it's sorted out, I'm pulling back from taking part in any swaps or doing much hosting.  I'm going to try and do a little art journalling for myself (Ali in one of my online groups is throwing out weekly prompts for journalling ideas so I'm going to go along with some of them when I can - but no pressure involved) and will post swaps/challenges on my blog as and when I'm able.

Be back again soon !!!