* A day at The Castle *

Today sees the start of the last week of the school holidays, and tomorrow D is back to work after his 2 weeks holiday. I have to admit feeling a little sad as we have Sooo much enjoyed each others company. Just the three of us!

Yesterday we took a drive out to this beautiful Castle.

Lulworth Castle

We climbed up a million steps to very top of the tower to see amazing views across the Dorset country side. With a glimpse of the sea in the distance.

Just about see the sea in the dip bewteen the hills!

We watched the jousting!

There was a great little animal farm, where H loved the donkeys, goats, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs, alpacas, ducks, birds, peacocks and happily ran round stroking and feeding as many as she could. Great Day!!

I am sorry there has not been much crating going on here lately. I'm hoping to get back into this week, now that our little "holiday at home" has come to an end and with a new Shimelle class starting on the 1st I am looking forward to it.

Hope you have had a fun Bank Holiday!

* New Forest Deer *

Those that read my little blog regularly may remember that I mentioned in this post that DH has had 2 weeks off work and we were planning on making the most of the beautiful area that we are lucky enough to live in. Despite the rain we have enjoyed a few day trips out on the days I was not working.

Last week we went to Salisbury, Monkey Worlds and Monday was Gunwharf Quays near Portsmouth for some serious shopping. My favourite so far was Thursday just gone when we donned our rain coats and wellies and headed off to see these beautiful animals

In the New Forest, which is a 30 minute drive from us, deer (and the famous New Forest ponies) roam freely. It is possible (but rare) to spot the deer but on the odd time we have seen one it has run off into the trees and out sight. The Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary is the ideal place to see them, complete with a special viewing platform from where I took loads of photos (just so wish I had a better zoom!!).

I know some of you live locally or visit the south on holidays from time to time. If you get a chance to go, time it around 1.30pm-3pm as this is the time the Forest wardens feed them so there are plenty gathered in front of the viweing platform.

After a lovely walk through the forest, with opportunity for plenty of photos we headed into nearby Lyndhurst for coffee and cake.

The Beautiful New Forest

I'm looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend, despite me having to do an extra shift at work, we haven't quite decided what to do yet. What are your plans?

Right, I'm off to sort out my scrapping stash and put some bits in a basket ready for Learn Something New Everyday.

* A New Class *

I think I am becoming a Shimelle.com class addict!

Last night I signed up for Learn Something New Everyday.

Class starts 1st September!!!

Well, I figure I need something to keep me busy once the school holidays are over!!

Want to join the fun? Find out more right Here !!

* Monkeys, Shopping and a Layout! *

After a few days of not having chance to get on here, I think we are due a bit of a catch up blog post!

Last Thursday we took H and her little friend to Monkey World as her birthday treat. For her 5th birthday she had a party at a soft play centre and last year we hired a local hall and organised games and activities for 20 children (which I found very stressful) so this year we suggested she chose one special friend and had a day out and we would treat them to dinner afterwards. A heavy rain shower in the morning almost tempted us to cancel but I am so glad we didn't as the sun came out for the rest of the day.

Monkey World is an amazing place!! We saw monkeys, chimpanzees, orang-utans, apes, gibbons and so much more, many of which had been rescued from abuse or neglect. H loved it and enjoyed sharing her special day with her "BFF", Aimee!! Sadly I forgot my camera batteries so took no photos, I know how bad is that?!

Friday was my nephew's 3rd birthday so more family celebrations and birthday cake! Today we have escaped the rain (just!) by going out for breakfast and a shopping trip to nearby Poole. H spent some of her birthday money on some new clothes.

I do have one layout to show you. I didn't manage to do any of Shimelle's On Line crop last weekend as it was H's birthday but I was having a browse through the challenges the other evening and this sketch caught my eye and I came up with this.

I love all the TV talent shows, so I am so pleased X Factor has started again on Saturday evenings and right now I'm just settling down to watch the "Don't Stop Believing" Final on Channel 5. Anyone else love X Factor??!

* Birthday Time *

Yesterday was H's th birthday! She had an amazing day and lots of fun with friends and family! Her cousins came over just after lunch for some crafting activities and cake decorating, which they loved!!



Then for the rest of the day we had an "Open House" and friends and family popped in throughout the day. We had dancing, games, a treasure hunt, a yummy birthday tea and a Hannah Montana Cake!!





Today we headed off to Salisbury for the day, as hubby has the next 2 weeks off work and although we aren't going away anywhere we are planning a few day trips. We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful place with lots of beaches, country side and places to visit nearby so for the next couple of weeks, we are going to make the most of living in a holiday resort!

We couldn't really go to Salisbury and not visit the Cathedral, somewhere I have not been since I was about 16. It really is beautiful!


Apart from the one above, I took loads more photos (which I'll save for another blog post). H also took loads of photos with her new camera, a present from us for her birthday! She loves it and felt very grown up being able to take her own photos!


A true scrapbooker in training!!

It is very late, and after a hectic but enjoyable few days I really must be off to my bed now!!

Night, night Bloggers!

* Scrapbooking at Last *

Helloooo, and welcome to my new followers, great to have you here!

Very quick post tonight. I just want to show you a couple of layouts I have done this week. It's been a while since I scrapped. I just haven't been able to find the time lately, but I really enjoyed making these pages, even if they were done "a bit here and a bit there" whenever I had a few minutes to myself or whilst H was engrossed in a DVD. I've just had all my stash out on the dining room table so I could come back to it whenever I had a few minutes. Sitting down and scrapping for a few hours is near on impossible these days!

These photos were taken a couple of summers ago at Longleat Safari Park. Not the best photos but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

Detail of the butterfly and alphas (ignore the glare from the camera!!)

I've been wanting to scrap these pics for a while. They show my daughter wearing her 1st pair of glasses. She only needs them for computer, TV or when she's tired. For this page I followed a sketch (very loosely) from a prompt from Shimelle's recent Love Your Pages Class. Journalling reads "You had your first glasses at 4 years old. You chose cute Little Miss Naughty ones!"

This weekend will be a busy one for me. It is H's 7th birthday on Sunday. I have to shop for party food tomorrow, do my shift at work tomorrow afternoon, wrap pressies, blow up balloons etc... Then Sunday we have family & friends coming over to celebrate.

Have a fab weekend!

Holidays So Far!

Good evening!

How fast are the school holidays going? Too fast for us!!

A few days after school finished, D's Mum and Dad came to stay with us. We hadn't seen them for ages, since Christmas '09 to be exact, which really is far too long but with the volcanic ash & flight prices we were reluctant to book anything to go over or them to come visit us. H really enjoyed her quality time with Granny and Grandad, making the most of the good weather with lots of days out and trips to the beach.


I love this photo of them all at Mudeford Beach taken just after they had built a boat in the sand!!

Today has been the first day H and I have spent together, just the 2 of us and we have filled our day with a visit up to our local "The Range", crafting, baking and generally chilling out!

I have done a little scrapping this afternoon, but nothing finished yet to show you.

I love the way Jenny and Rachel have blogged their crafty goals for the week so here's mine:

1 Finish some of my half done layouts
2 Make at least 3 cards for forthcoming birthdays
3 Tidy and reorganise my craft area
4 Do a photobox order
5 Blog more often!!

Have a lovely evening!