Hallowe'en pumpkin time

My first ever carved pumpkin! Not a great photo, but all I had with me was my phone. We went to a Hallowe'en party at a friend's house, and we had lots of fun. The girls did a short tour for trick or treating, nothing major. Alex came back because she was frightened, bless her!
We spent the day at an open farm today, the girls loved it, and the rain held off! It was very cold, but copeable with. Tomorrow we are staying around the house, mostly because we need to clean out the guinea pigs and do a few bits and pieces. Plus the girls have been very busy this week, so it will be nice to just chill out at home.

Might get some crafting done tomorrow night... fingers crossed...

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Can you hear it?
Yes, that's right, it's the sound of silence... my house is blissfully quiet as the girls are still at my mum's! I do miss them, but have got loads done while they've been away. I am going up to Durham this afternoon to get them, in my beautiful new car.
So, this morning is my last chance to get some final jobs done, so enough for now.

Off to a wedding!

Remember the wedding invitations I made a few months ago? They're here if you missed them. Well, today is the day of the wedding! I am so excited, first wedding I've been to in ages, and I'm going without the girls too. Chance to let my hair down and relax completely.
I'll be back tomorrow with some craft projects I hope, as the girls are away until Thursday.
Bye for now!

Getting over it

I still get asked from time to time if I have got over Nigel's death. Hmm. Then I have to explain that no, I haven't got over Nigel's death, and that I never will. To me, I explain, it is more about getting on with my life in a different way to how I'd planned it. It is hard to explain the disappointment I feel that my life is not how I had hoped. However, I am working hard to make my life something more than full of sadness because Nigel has died.
It is easy to let sadness overwhelm my life, but I must admit that I feel I am getting better at controlling such sadness. Different dates are hard, like birthdays, anniversaries, etc, so I have to prepare myself mentally about looking positively to the future.
I wonder how life would be if Nigel was still here? If he had survived his heart attack, he probably would have had to have had major heart surgery, so he would have had to make some changes. It would have meant changes for us too, but to what extent we'll never know.
We would most probably still be living where we are now, with me working at the same school, Nigel still at the council, and the girls settled at their school. Nigel would still be enjoying a pint at the New Inn, just round the corner.
Easy to wonder how life would have been if it wasn't for the events of August 10th 2006...

Five more sleeps

Til half term hurrah! Then on Saturday I am off to Trudie and Mark's wedding. I made their invitations and am making the place cards on Wednesday night. It is only a small wedding, 25 guests to toast the newly weds. The girls are off to stay with my parents, as I am going to the wedding alone. Plus I am staying overnight at the hotel, which has a spa attached to it. Note to self, ring hotel and see if I can go and have a bit of a relax on Saturday in the spa before the wedding at 3.

I am then having a couple of days to myself at home, time to get some bits and pieces sorted in peace and quiet. I am also planning on getting some extra sleep, during the day if necessary. I think that is possibly one of the most taxing aspects of being a lone parent. If the children wake in the night, there is only me to deal with them. My parents are down at weekends, but not every weekend, and also not during the week. Alex was poorly during the night on Saturday, and I was on my own with the girls that night. She screamed and screamed in absolute agony. Her grommets have come out now, so it is looking as if she is starting with ear problems again.

Coping with a child in pain, no sleep, and then a full day afterwards is hard. I am feeling almost drunk with tiredness tonight, so I am off to my bed shortly. Two more working days for me, then Becky,my beautician friend is coming on Thursday to get me ready for the wedding, which is always nice. Friday I am meeting with Clare Hooper at church to discuss how Love Bradford can help WAY. I am also hoping that my new car will be registered by the weekend!

Craft wise, I made 20 Christening invitations today, for my lovely online buddy Gwen. She's had a rocky ride over the last year, so I was honoured when she asked me to make the invitations for TK's christening. I forgot to take a photograph of them, doh! I will make another one similar, as it is handy to have as a christening card tbh. I need to build up some stock cards for me to send, as more often than not I end up buying one at the last minute!

And on that note, good night!

Wii Games for sale

Shrek 3 £12.50 inc p&p

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption £17.50 inc p&p

Trauma Center: Second Opinion £14.50 inc p&p

Super Paper Mario £16.00 inc p&p

Paypal preferred, but am willing to accept cheques too. Once your cheque has cleared I will post the games. P&p is first class recorded.

Interested? Email me annajahead at yahoo dot co dot uk

So this is what I planted

The flowers in the pot on the pedestal of the headstone are from Nigel's mum. In front of the headstone, you can see the ornamental cabbage and the two cyclamen plants that I planted. I have put plenty of slug pellets down as there are so many of the little beasts about just lately.
I don't go up to the cemetery that often, I will be there more often from now on, need to keep an eye on my cabbage!

Birthday boy

This was taken in December 2005, two months after Nigel's 40th birthday. I have a photograph of Nigel which was taken on his birthday, but I can't find it just now, so this one will have to do.
So, 3 years ago, amazing how life changes, isn't it? There was no way we could ever have imagined how things would change the following summer. Really, it is the stuff of nightmares, no-one ever thinks it will happen to them. People still think that it won't happen to them, and while it is a little extreme to spend your time worrying that it could happen to you, I also think it is blinkered to think that it definitely couldn't. No need to think negatively, by any means, just never ever presume that it won't be you!

That was then, this is now. Today Alex has a birthday party to go to, her buddy Katie is 4, so we are off to a playgym to help her celebrate. I get to drink coffee while she plays, which suits me fine! Then later we will take some flowers to Nigel's grave, which I tidied up yesterday. Weeds a plenty were growing, so I hacked them away. I also cleared the grave next to Nigel's, as I felt sad that the couple whose ashes are there had clearly not had anyone to visit in a very long time. I don't go up there that often, as I find it very distressing, but when I do, I have a little mental chat with Nigel. Nigel's grave has a lovely sunny position, so it is always sheltered and warm there. I need to wash the headstone at some point, the base is a little dirty and needs cleaning. Also, the heathers which the girls and I planted for his birthday 2 years ago have died, so time for some new plants.

Time to crack on with the day, so raise a glass to Nigel later if you will. Here's to all the fabulous birthdays we celebrated in the past.

Sunshine on a rainy day

Spent the day at Skelton Grange with one of the year 3/4 classes I work with.What a fabulous place! We had a great day,the kids were enthralled by it all. We went pond dipping, mini beast hunting, played games with sorting animals by habitat, assembled food chainns and used keys to help identify the creatures we found on our searches.

Can you see the waterboatman we found? We also found newts, bloodworms, dragonfly larvae and lots of other teeny critters.
I must admit I was worried on Wednesday evening, it was absolutely siling down with rain here, but the rain abated while we were at Skelton Grange, only drizzling at the end which made it a much better day than I'd thought it would be! I am planning to take my girls there at some point, need to work out when we can get to one of their open days!
And so to the weekend...

Birthday time again

It should be Nigel's 43rd birthday this coming Saturday, 18th October. I always feel worse as this time approaches, seems harder to be without him as I get older but he can not. Missing him more comes and goes in waves, I have mentioned it before, and just now I seem to be swamped by the waves.

Blog candy over at Julie's blog

Julie is about to celebrate her blogoversary. Check out her blog here to see the gorgeous blog candy she is offering!

Been to the dentist today. I have a crumbling wisdom tooth which needs to be extracted, but other than that I got a clean bill of health! I have a bit of a phobia of all things dentisty, so to go to my new dentist today was a breath of fresh air! I felt completely comfortable, and so came away feeling much happier about it all.

Gardening and card making

Could there be two activities which are more diverse? Finally took some pics of the CHristmas cards I have made recently. They are fairly simple, as I am thinking about postage costs. The bulkier the card, the higher the postage cost. I want all my cards to be able to be sent with an ordinary stamp, and not pay extra because they are too fat. Since the new rules came in, I have been caught out a few times, so I have been conscious of making cards which I like but that are also nice and thin once in the envelope!


These cards are made with Stampin Up Dasher papers, and the Perfect Presents stamp set. Nice and simple, easy to make lots of them!

Sophie made these with help from my buddy Julie. Gorgeous, aren't they! Sophie loves to craft, and is keen to do some altering.I bought some greyboard recently, so Sophie has decided she wants to make a little house. Maybe next weekend...
I've been busy in the garden, cutting new borders into the front lawn. I decided the border across the front was too narrow, so have widened it. During the week I will turn over the soil, and then get some new mini fence panels. Once those are in I will cover the soil with anti weed membrane, plant up some winter pansies and decorative cabbages, and then put gravel on top of the membrane. Alongside the box hedge, I am just planning on putting the gravel in, to make it look neater. The lawn had grown right under the hedge, so I couldn't cut it neatly. I spent ages digging the turf up, and pulling the really long grass out of the hedge. Needless to say, I am very proud of the end result! I have left the geraniums in there for now, so will pull them up and store in the garage over winter, ready to be replanted in the spring.

Time to get off the rollercoaster?

Cor, life is hectic again! I seem to be busy non stop from morning til night just lately. I am working my way through some Scrapagogo kits which I have stockpiled and I must say I am loving working with the kits! I will take some pics in the light tomorrow.
Sorry for the short post, I will be back tomorrow with photos I promise!

Can anyone help?

As the October half term approaches, I'd like to make some Hallowe'en cards with the kids at craft club. Trouble is, I haven't got any Hallowe'en stamps!
Here's where you could help.... have any lovely readers got some suitable stamps they could stamp me some images from to make Hallowe'en cards with? I'm thinking along the lines of Spiral Whisper, Sugar Nellie, Hanglar StAnglar etc.
Please? Pwetty please? I need 18 images, to cover one each per child and a couple for me and Jules to demo with!
If you can help, please email me annajahead at yahoo dot co dot uk (avoids me getting spam if I put it like that!!!

Great North Run, how proud am I?

So my brother was running th Great North Run today. I was in awe before he even started. I am rubbish at running, so to even contemplate doing it was amazing!

Well, I heard this afternoon that Richard completed the course in 2 hours 4 minutes. Pretty impressive given it was his first time. And, he also raised £645 for the BHF.

Well done Richard, and thank you for running in memory of Nigel.

And to everyone out there who sponsored him, thank you from me and my girls. Here's hoping the BHF can carry out research to help prevent people dying from heart problems quite so often.

How long til Bermuda?

A little something to keep me going until we head to Bermuda in April!

That and the fact that I have ordered me a new car! Alas I have at least two weeks to wait til t arrives :(