Pizza Night and Art Gallery - 3 days To Go!

We spent today (Saturday) in Sheffield doing some last minute Christmas shopping. As a special treat for Livvie we let her spend some time in The Peace Gardens where all the 'Dirty Goffics' hang out. The thing is, all the 'Dirty Gofficks' are her friends! It's so funny to see all these lanky teenagers dressed in black and even the boys have black eyeliner and long black hair. They think they look so cool but I always have a private laugh at what idiots they all look! Livvie on the other hand, has the brightest blonde hair and bright clothes and really stands out from the crowd. As mean as they all look, they all came bounding over for a group hug when Livvie arrived. They're not so hard after all!

After that we took Livvie to the Graves Art Gallery for some sketching time. We sat opposite each other and decided to do portraits.

This the sketch I did of Liv, mmmmmm. More like Livvie in ten years time! It looks nothing like her.Well......the hair is good!And this is Liv's sketch of me:
I can see it's me, can you? :0)

Tonight we had a pizza night (not my favourite thing) and Vicki joined us as well. I had to put Vicki on the blog or she'd moan. All please say hello to Vicki! Vicki will be joining us for our New Years Eve party which is by now legendary. I'm sure she'll have great fun and not tell her mum too much!!! I just hope she doesn't win the Danglesplurge Championship or she'll steal the trophy. We have decided that if she does win, she can take the trophy home for a few weeks and then it'll have to be in Emily's room after that for viewing. :0)

Alternative Christmas Presents - Still 5 Days To Go!

I just heard that my cousin Lynne has asked for something from this website for Christmas. What a fantasmagorical idea! I am so impressed that I am going to ask for things from here too when my birthdays comes round. That will be February 1st......I say FEBRUARY 1st. :0)

http://www.greatgifts.org/GiftCertificateSelection/Success07.aspx?adid=welcome6

Look at all the cool things you can buy! Please do take a look and put it in your favourites for when you have to buy a gift for someone.

We in the Western world want for practically nothing. A small purchase on this website can change a family or indeed a whole villages lives.

Someone get me a bog will they?!!!

Daddy's Home And Sausage Rolls - 5 Days To Go!

Daddy's home! Mr. Wooks arrived home last night to the sweet smell of freshly cooked sausage rolls, yummy. I also did a batch of veggie rolls for Emily to my own recipe and they turned out really well. This has to be the most unflattering photo of us ever, but it captured the moment. *love*

These are the carniverous rolls with pastry just like Mr. Wooks mummy used to make:

Most of them are still plated up for you doubters out there! We all had a few and then had dinner, so there was no room for any more. I'm sure we'll polish them off tonight though! Below is the mess I get into when I make pastry. I just can't help it. Pastry making is the messiest job around!

Waiting For Mr.Wooks - 6 Days To Go!

I am trying to look pensive for this photo, but instead look like I've just spied a spider on the ceiling! Oh Come All Ye Faithful is playing on the radio, the Chrissy decs are up and I can't wait for the children and Mr.Wooks to start their holiday on Friday. YAY!

I am off to post the one and only Christmas card I am sending this year to my dear Father-in-law and then when I get home it's sausage roll making time. Mr. Wooks will be pleased! I shall try and time the baking of them for when he gets home so that he is greeted by that lovely yummy smell. :0)

The Christmas Tree And The Meat Market.

The Christmas decorations are finally up, PHEW! We really weren't in the mood, but we put a Christmas MP3 on and rocked around the Christmas tree and were soon in the festive spirit. I'm pleased it's done now as the girls get so excited when they see the tree go up. This year I added blue twinkling LED lights and blue tinsel and baubles to match my new colour scheme, very pretty. Today I even wrapped all the girls' presents.


Here are a couple of ornaments I begged from my mum and dad's tree a few years ago. This first one, a white plastic reindeer covered in silver glitter is from when they were first married in 1962.

And this little golden pixie is from Gran and Granddad's tree which I greatly admired as a small girl. :0)

Yesterday we took our yearly pilgrimage to Barnsley Market. The fruit and veg there is second to none and so cheap! Here's me and daddy at the fruit stall. Notice the rather smashing shopping trolley that we have to cart around. :0)

Then we met auntie Mo who happened to be doing her shopping too. We had a bite to eat and a cup of tea in Tilly's Cafe.

And here is the reason we really go to Barnsley Market every Christmas, Barker's Butchers in the meat & fish market. They sell the best meat in Yorkshire and we always have a laugh with them. I bought a huge corner of beef, some donkey's doo-dah's (don't ask!) a boiling ham and 2lb of sausage meat for my sausage rolls. Luverly jubbly.

I'll try and be a bit more festive and update you on the yuletide happenings at our house. Ta ta for now!

Motorhomes Galore and Other Interesting Stuff.

Last night we had to take the motorhome back to it's mummy showroom for some repairs under warranty. I am now the designated driver as Gary doesn't have a licence, so I had to drive the van in the scary dark all the way to Newark! Anyway, no one died and we arrived safely in time for tea. Brownhill's Motorhomes has free overnight facilities so we stay there in order to get the van in the workshop nice and early. While the van was being fixed, we spend a few hours wandering around the lot.

This was probably a mistake as Brownhill's claims to have the largest stock of motorhomes in Europe and there was lots for us to drool over. Below is just a tiny selection of what's on offer.

It didn't take us long to fall in love with a 2000 Mercedes Rapido! It's the same size as ours, but so much swisher and the lay-out was so much more practical. It would only cost us another £5,000 which seems a lot but on a loan isn't so bad.......is it?!!!!

That's me in the driving seat down there.

The seating arrangement is smaller, but it has a fixed double bed which means someone can recline and read in comfort in the evenings. It had every little luxury like fly screens, sliding windows, bike rack, shower etc. All the fitments were top luxury. I honestly don't think I could have thought of any extras that weren't included.

Below is one we didn't want to buy as the price tag was £85,995!!!!

This is me driving our van home.

So we have come home upset that we don't have thousands of spare cash to spend on a new motorhome. We can't afford it as I am costing too much is driving offences this week. So far I have 2 x £30 fines for driving through the tram gate (damn Sheffield City Council for sneaking in a new camera!) and 3 points and a £60 fine for speeding! I blame Gary for not driving and making me do it all!!!

Our tumble dryer broke down last week and this time hubbiest could do nothing to save it. Well, it was 15 years old so we mustn't grumble. I found a bargain dryer on eBay from Manchester so a few nights ago we set out at about 4.30pm over the Woodhead Pass to fetch it home. It hadn't occurred to me that I would be driving over the mountain pass and across the moors in the dark and I certainly wasn't prepared for the swirling fog that engulfed us! I was literally terrified. I don't see too well in the dark anyway with oncoming traffic blinding me and the fog was so dense that at times I could not see past the bonnet!

When we got home I felt the need to make a stress-o-meter to illustrate how agitated I was. This week I had a root canal filling and driving over the Woodhead Pass was faaaaaar worse I can tell you!

This stress-o-meter was really made for my journal.

Here's a few more pages. This watercolour is pretty self explanatory really!

I'm working on a whole series of self portraits. Can you tell it's me?

This is my favourite. My left foot!

Lastly for today's blog, a bargain. I picked up this digital Olympus Camedia C-40 ZOOM for £5.99!!! It even takes video. :0) It works perfectly and all it needs is a USB lead to download to my laptop and that has cost me £3.95. Bloody bargain mate!

Nanny Flo's Ring. :0)

I often admired my Nanny Flo's jade ring when I was small. I just need to look at it and I can see in my mind's eye my Nan's hand with her soft skin and gorgeously shaped nails with pink nail varnish. Nanny Flo wasn't one to wear make-up or perfume, but she liked to have her hair set and she powdered her nose and wore nail varnish on special occasions. She was a big woman but had lovely, feminine hands and dad's nails are shaped just like hers. :0) Nanny Flo was a proper nan, always baking and treating the grand children. She was the best ever audience and when you had a song to sing or a line in the nativity play to recite, she would literally puff her chest out with pride. We often miss her and say quietly 'nan would have been so proud'.


Granddad Tom and Nanny Flo (Dad's parent's) and Granddad Sid (Mum's dad, the artist)

When nan died she left the jade ring to mum and mum has worn it ever since. Recently mum gifted it to me to give me a chance to wear it. I keep catching glimpses of it out of the corner of my eye and it's Nan's hand that I see, not mine. Often, when I open my mouth to giggle I can hear Nan's giggle and that makes me laugh even more. Mum has been telling me for years how I laugh just like her, but as I get older I can finally hear it for myself.

I don't suppose the ring is worth an awful lot in monetary value, but in sentimental value it's worth millions to me. I painted my nails pink for the photo, in honour of the bestest Nan in the world. X X X X