What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 661

Hello Everyone

I don't suppose I'm the only one to notice today's date.  All the twos. I can't remember the last time time the date was made up of all the same numbers - I'm guessing 1.1.11 but I'm probably way out and some statistician out there knows the answer. What they won't know is how likely I am to be interrupted on a  Wednesday morning to see to something more vital than typing up WOYWW post. It's often. This morning it was a form for DVLA. The one they should have sent three months ago! The one that will enable DVLA to decide whether Alan is allowed to drive again. It did come with a letter apology but really!!! Rant over.

Breathe. 

Where was I? Oh yes, at my desk.

I know, not very exciting. Just me deciding on the papers and photos to scrap next. Yesterday, I spent much of the day putting together papers, stickers, etc., for this months Scrap Backward's kit. It's bigger than January's but I hope to make a lot of pages this month. Well, that's the plan! Here's a peek at the papers I've chosen.

Lovely, aren't they? Very springlike - summery even. I'm going to enjoy working with them.

The kitten bit:

Sunlight streaming through the window. Such a rare sight it enchanted Silver. She pinches Alan's chair at every opportunity - it's so comfy she loves it.

The book bit:

Not too surprisingly I'm drawn to any book that has 'bookshop', or 'book' even, in the title so when I spotted this one I had to download it. And it's a heartwarming enough story, if somewhat predictable. The main character, Natalie, inherits her mother's struggling bookshop and at the same time finds herself helping her aged grandfather. Of course, it's not as simple as selling up, finding a nice home for her grandfather and getting back to her high-flying career. What follows are enough twists and turns in the plot to entertain me to the end, even though that ending was just a wee bit corny. Sometimes corny is good. If you're a romantic you'll love it. And, bonus, I did learn more about San Francisco's history, about the 1906 earthquake, the subsequent fires and the loss of life and destruction that followed.

The funny bit:

That's all from me today. Note from last Wednesday - the cauliflower cheese soup was voted a great success and one to make again. No soup today but I did make potato soup yesterday - my mother's recipe - and that always goes down well. 

I hope you've had a wonderful WOYWW and that you will have a fabulous week ahead.

Take care and stay safe.

What's On Your Workdesk - Week 660

Hello Everyone,

My, but these Wednesday's do seem to come round faster then ever these days. A sign, I suppose, that I've had a busy week, but I'm blessed if I can recall what I was so busy doing! 

Anyway, it's time to share what's on my desk and link over on the Stamping Ground where Julia, as ever, is hosting WOYWW again today. 

There's not a lot to say about what you can see this week. There's another scrap layout in the planning. This one is based on the half and half formula and I'm planning to use the cutfile for the title ... once, that is, it's been decided how to treat it. I'm not sure whether to back it with another patterned paper or simply colour the letters to make them stand out. Decisions, decisions. 

What was on my desk.

When I was bragging about all the lovely crafty goodies I'd spent birthday/Christmas money on, I forgot that this fuse tool was still to come. Often seen on YouTube demos being used to create shaker pockets, the fuse tool looked one that I could use for attaching extra photos to a page. I can feel some experimenting coming on. And that's the February edition of my favourite magazine arrived already. It's a struggle to keep it until February before reading it.

The kitten bit.

Silver's undecided. Should she stay in and eat dinner or should she go out to play with the neighbour's cat, Harper, for a while. Decisions, decisions. She opted this time to stay and eat. 

The book bit.

If you've been following this blog for a few years you may recall me mentioning at sometime that I was, when young, a member of the Women's Royal Army Corp. What I might not have mentioned was that I opted to work in the Intelligence Corps which led to my being  attached to the Signals Corps. And that is a rather long-winded way of explaining my interest in the highly secret work at Bletchley Park during the WWII, and it also explains why I chose this book by Margaret Dickinson, 'Secrets at Bletchley Park'. The book, although a good read, is not what I expected from the title, mainly because about two-thirds of it take place before the war and before Bletchley Park. That said, I enjoyed the stories of two highly intelligent girls, Mattie and Victoria, from very different and difficult backgrounds but who are eventually thrown together as adults in a job they could never have foreseen for themselves. There's a lot of emphasis throughout of keeping secrets, perhaps a little too much, but I had hoped there would, all these years later, be more of the work that went on at Bletchley Park. So, I'd say good story but not what I was expecting. 

The funny bit.

I'm absolutely sure that that Silver attended that class and learned the lesson well!

That's it from me today. I am off to see to the soup that's bubbling away in the slow cooker. Today it's cauliflower cheese soup. Never tried it before but I've become quite adventurous with my food in my old age! 

I hope you've had a wonderful WOYWW and that you will have a fabulous week ahead.

Take care and stay safe.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 659

Hello Everyone

I hope you are all keeping well and finding time to craft. Of course, I'm here for Julia's WOYWW over on the Stamping Ground. I would have been there last week, was intending to, but that's not how things turned out. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't very well and, so, this was my desk a week ago. However, I'm absolutely fine this week, back to normal and even managed to get some scrapping done. Such small successes are worth celebrating!

Back to my workdesk and this is how it looks this morning. I cut into these lovely new papers (from my January kit from Mind The Scrap) to make a page yesterday. I did have to search for the circle cutter - that's the problem with decluttering, reorganising and tidying stuff away ... where stuff is stashed is easily forgotten! The little bottle of yellow watercolour was used to create spatters - spatters are so good at breaking up too much white space. But now it's done with and it all has to be tidied away again. 

New Stash:

Over the last couple of weeks I've been keeping my postie busy. Not my fault really, honest! Generous gifts of  birthday and Christmas money are to blame. The only advantage I can think of to having a birthday late in the year is that I get to have an almighty spending splash just when the days are short and the weather grim.  

Being an insatiable bookworm, there was no way I could resist Photoplay's Notting Hill Book Store, by Becky Moore, paper pack. Sadly Hugh Grant isn't included. Sigh. The coloured card packs are there to replace dwindling stocks.

After all the winter pages made last month, I've run out of seasonal patterned paper so this Winter Market collection from Carta Bella was another essential purchase. I've discovered that I particularly like layouts made in shades of blue. The intention is to continue scrapping photos from winters past occasionally throughout the year, if only to pare away at what is an enormous stack of photos still waiting to be scrapped.

And, of course, this month's kit from Mind The Scrap. I should say kits because my subscription includes the mixed media kit with the paper pack. MTS kit subscriptions and birthday/Christmas gift splurges notwithstanding, I'm still on a (probably lifelong) spending freeze. It would be wrong of me to do otherwise given the amount of patterned paper I have amassed - but there's still a few exceptions, essentials such as adhesives, plain white/black/coloured cardstock, etc. - the stuff without which no scrap pages could be made. 

The kitten bit:

Not the best shot but I thought you'd like to see Silver, our nature watcher, enjoying WinterWatch with Alan. She was totally into watching the skeins of geese fly past. 

The book bit:

I first read Jane Austen's 'Emma' when I was a teenager, some sixty years ago! And since then, when asked, I've always said it is my favourite Austen and Emma Woodhouse my favourite character. However, it's come to my notice that not all readers agree with me. Even Ms Austen said of Emma that she was 'going to make a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.'  Puzzled, and having no memory as  to why I enjoyed the book as much as I clearly did then, I downloaded an unabridged audiobook to listen to. And I'm so glad I did. I enjoyed the book as much again. Emma is, indeed, a vain, snobbish, selfish and meddlesome young woman, intent on not marrying herself but equally intent, rightly or wrongly, in matchmaking others. Mostly wrongly as it turns out. She's quite the antihero, and I'm a sucker for an antihero, especially one that finally sees the error of her ways. 

The funnies bit:

Ouch!

For all of you who have resolved to get fitter this year :) 

Silver has taken to guarding the bathroom door!

That's me done for today and so late again too. Life just gets in the way - I'd bore you with a list of interruptions but that would only make me even later.  

I hope you've had a wonderful WOYWW and that you will have a fabulous week ahead.

Take care and stay safe.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 657

Hello Everyone

Oh dear, I've only just realised it's Wednesday. The holidays have knocked me out of kilter and I'm feeling quite discombobulated! Hopefully, joining in with WOYWW over on Julia's blog, the Stamping Ground, will bring me up-to-date.

The desk bit:

On my desk today it my Cats, Dogs & Other Animals album, a partially done page featuring Silver, of course, scraps of paper, enamel dots, flairs and a pack of pet related ephemeral. There's also my tiny Sapphire die-cutting machine ready and waiting to be used. I might cut a paw or two for this page - and then again, I might not. Up on the back left is a bowl of essential tools - the sort of tools I could not live without. The bowl has also been known to serve as a large circle template when needed. 

The kitten bit:

Silver's napping. She's had a busy day up to now. She's either been out checking that all is well in the grounds of Casa Worthington or getting under my feet ... not for nothing do I call her my little silver shadow. 

The book bit:

I've decided to bring back this entry on Wednesdays. I know some of you are interested in what books I'm listening to/or even reading. It's also a way of me keeping a book tally over the year. 

James Rebanks's 'English Pastoral: An Inheritance'. I'm really pleased that this is the first one of 2022. You may have noticed from topics I have photographed/scrapped/written about on this blog that I have a particular interest in nature and the countryside. This may be because, for a few short years, I spent an idyllic childhood growing up in the country with nothing but the woods and fields surrounding where we lived. There's something special about having the country as a playground but for James Rebanks it's a way of making a living, and not at all an easy one, especially today. He mixes memories from his childhood of his grandfather’s old farming methods, growing up on his father’s farm in a time of change and finally his experiences when he runs the farm himself. The men and women who had lived and worked on the land had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled through neglect; the skies had emptied of the birds he/we remember from our childhood. His intense passion for his land is beautifully expressed and he is an eloquent and persuasive advocate of a more sustainable way of farming. Also by the author is 'The Shepherds Life: A Tale of the Lake District,.

And now the funnies:

That last one pretty well sums up life with Silver the kitten. 

That's me done for today and so late too. Next week I should be more day aware. 

I hope you've had a wonderful WOYWW and that you will have a fabulous week ahead. 

Take care and stay safe. 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 656

Hello Everyone, 

Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas, with family if that was possible or if, like for us, that was not to be then lots of long newsy phone calls with loved ones instead. And here we are halfway through the holiday and it's time for another WOYWW get together over at Julia's Stamping Ground. Here's what's on mine today.

Not a lot though I've spared you the mess of stuff on the far left of the desk. You really don't want to see that. According to the old Scottish custom, known as redding the hoose, I should be up to my eyes in cleaning equipment. 

'Redding the house – rather than a Spring clean, the Scots have a New Year’s clean to welcome in the New Year. Starting the New Year with a dirty house is bad luck. When open fires were common, people would clear the ashes and lay a new fire for the New Year. Cleaning one’s house also extends to clearing one’s debts. And that’s all we’re going to say about overspending at Christmas!' (8 Amazing Scottish New Year's Traditions, Edinburgh's Hogmanay 21)

I well remember my mother spending much of the week between Christmas and New Year doing just that - even the curtains were brought down and washed. But then there was a lot of coal fires in Edinburgh back in the day - not for nothing was it called 'Auld Reekie'. 

Anyway, back to the desk. Just some packs of photos and a pile of stamp sets. I'll be looking through the photos to choose the next one(s) for scrapping. The stamp sets just need put away for now. 

If I had any doubts that having a kitten was akin to having a toddler spotting Silver totally absorbed in the film of Julia Donaldson's The Highway Rat has convinced me! Sadly, like any 'terrible two' her attention didn't last for very long. Once she spotted a bird through the window.she was off out on the chase. 

Now, this week's funnies. 

 

And just before I go:

Alan & I would like to wish you all 

Health, Wealth and Happiness in 2022

And let's hope its a much better year than 2021. Surely we are due a break!

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 655

Happy Christmas Everyone

From Alan, myself and, of course, Silver. We're all joining in with WOYWW over on Julia's Stamping Ground, the last before Christmas. 

Silver is very taken with the decorations and like any typical kitten couldn't resist the tree. So much so, that we've been forced to take it down. We worried that she would do herself an injury, or worse make herself ill eating the fake snow. She's of the age, rather like human babies, when everything has to be tested with her mouth. Hopefully, next year she'll be old enough to resist. 

There's not a lot on my desk today. Just the page finished yesterday with the scraps of leftover paper, pens, ink pads and my tiny, but oh so handy, die-cutting machine that were used and now need to be cleared away. 

There's also the only magazine I have delivered monthly. With the ever increasing prices of magazines, I've cut back to just this one. Every issue has a word that is the theme of the month. January's word is 'rest'. Well, I'm happy to go along with that. Christmas and New Year is such a hectic time that it's not a bad idea to take some time to rest afterwards. 

Many thanks for all the lovely cards we've received. They are just about the only decorations that are kitten-proof! And they look fabulous strung up around the fireplace. 

And now, the funnies. I was spoiled for choice this week so I've limited it to four of my favourites.

And finally, 

Facebook threw this photo from 2017, in better times when Christmas was a whole lot more freer than it's going to be, given the restrictions, this year. Despite all that, I hope that whatever you're doing this weekend you will enjoy yourself and have lots of tun. 

Take care, stay safe and have a very Merry Christmas.