Forgot....doh!

I forgot to say that Brenda has the Floral Fantasies blog and there is a link on here to her latest offer of blog candy!

Middle age!

How a day turns from dark to bright!

Well I could be talking about the dawn but at this time of the year.....no, I'm talking about feeling rough and bunged up and then the postman pops a wee package through your door and voila! Your day is brighter already. I won a prize in the first ever Blog Candy I entered for within a couple of days of starting blogging. It did my confidence no end of good. So a big thank you to Brenda and I have just taken a photo of the prize and here goes

A lot to play with and a lovely card too. And the realisation that I can take a picture and upload it to my computer and onto here in less than 5 mins also lends itself to the feelings of excitement and achievement. It's going to be a good day.

Mr H has called a plumber because I could not fix the wc. My limited skills were insufficient and believe me it has been so exhausting flushing with buckets of water that I nearly wept with relief when he caved in! By this time tomorrow I'll be flushed with relief!

I have entered a docrafts challenge to make a  christmas card each day following the letters of the alphabet. These are the A and B efforts.

A for Angel is a LOTV stamp which unfortunately didn't stamp too well but I've ordered some EZ mount because the glue on block thing just doen't work for me - I kept getting worse so I just used the best one and went over it in fineliner. I should have just gone in another direction but no, I wanted this! B for Boy, Blue and Beads is a digi stamp whose provinence I cannot remember (if you see it and you know please let me know). The photo isn't brilliant but I was getting glare on the auto setting on my camera so I changed it with the above results! Well 24 to go!

I've also agreed to host two challenges at docrafts in the coming week so I must get my thinking cap on for themes. Should be fun at any rate!

Had some lovely and scary tricksters on Sunday night and managed to nearly give all my Haribo away but there are still one or two wee packets left.

Fireworks soon too - love the smell at night of cold and damp and gunpowder; it is the scent of November.

xxHazelxx

Sunday Gloomy Sunday

Weather wise, anyway. I've been up for ages because the cold and arthritis combo had conspired to make a long sleep impossible. Also, and he will deny it, my husband broke the flush on the WC last night so it'll be a day of flushing with  buckets of water. The fun will come tomorrow if him indoors decides to get someone in to fix it or decides to have a go. If he thinks he can fix it then I'm in for a treat listening to him cursing and then having to fix it for him with the help of my DIY book. He had free access to this info but as with driving, men do not take direction well and prefer to get lost in spectacular style. My late mother-in-law warned me you could lead a Hopkins to water but they'd die of thirst unless they thought drinking was their own idea.

I was expecting trick or treaters yesterday, it being Saturday but maybe they are sticking with tradition and guising tonight; Bonfire Night seems to be the more movable feast now that personal firework displays and bonfires are replaced by public ones usually to be held at weekends. I used to love it when my dad would make bonfire and light a box of Standard Fireworks one by one.If you looked down the back gardens of Weavers Knowe Crescent you could see all the other dads doing the same.

Its a male celebration really; Mr H has his very own brazier so he can burn things to his hearts content - mainly receipts and old bills admittedly (he fears identity theft so much he shreds and burns!) but I never see him more cheerier than when he is making fire. My cousin.Phillip used to make his own fireworks (in the good old days when you could by chemicals from your chem teacher to top up your chem set no questions asked) and I was delighted when one year he filled our whole back garden with spectacular green and smelly smoke for at least half an hour. No one called the fire brigade but the neighbours poked gentle fun at my shamefaced pa for weeks after, as if his fire making skills were somehow diminished. I think that the competitiveness about bigger and better has led to the discouragement of personal fireworks. Hey, that's my Big Bang Theory!

Made a card yesterday but have not uploaded it yet so no photo of a card. So here is one of my two most wonderful creations, in fancy dress as befits the day; I give you the Misses Hopkins, Sian and Morgan.

Sian was Rainbow Brite and Moogs was Jessica Rabbit; the pout is their fathers and the keen intelligence shining forth from their eyes they got from me.

The dawn has broken but the sun has not appeared so I guess it will remain grey for a while. Happy Hallow'een.

Hazel x