Smoking Needles - The ezBoard

I'm afraid I've been really unoriginal in naming the board, but hey, at least I remember what it's called. I have a shocking memory you know. If you're already a member of the boards, just type in "bsmoking needles" in the relevant box, without the speech marks. For those of you who've got here by some other means than through my ezBoard signature, the web address is http://p097.ezboard.com/bsmokingneedles

Could do with some new members if anyone is interested...it's free!

Busy Week...Sort Of

Monday morning saw us tootling around on various missions - I needed threads, Craig was after a breeding trap for the aquarium as he thinks the female guppy could be preggers, and I needed to post a couple of things. I posted a RR then we tootled up to Stakeford to push some money through Jayne's door for the new set of Dragon Flosses that were due out today. We ended up going into Jayne's for a cuppa and were roped into doing some work. Not that I minded as it meant I got to fondle all those lovely threads while I was sorting them out and doing a stock take. I also checked the Dragon Fabrics while I was there, and Craig did the ironing!

Jayne can be such a laugh and I'm glad we get on well.

We left at about 4pm and went to the garden centre to get my threads, the trap for the tank and a couple of angel fish before going to collect Kate from work.

Yesterday I had a quiet morning sewing. I had to design a chart for one of the RR's I'm doing as I just couldn't find anything appropriate. I hope the person it's for likes it. In the afternoon we were at the gym. I did half an hour on the treadmill and walked just over a mile, then Craig and I played badmington for half an hour, with a rest in the middle. I thought I would be aching again today, like I was last week, but surprisingly I'm not. What a relief! Mind you, I have had a nap this afternoon as I was absolutely shattered, and had a really weird dream. Tonight I'm off to bingo if Jayne remembers to come and pick me up.

New Forum

I think I just made myself a new forum on ezboards. I had no idea what I was doing but I clicked on something that said Make A Community and went from there, muddled through and eventually got something that looks half decent...I think. Obviously it needs some tweaking here and there, and some more members wouldn't go amiss, there's only one at the minute, ME! Will work on it some more though before I go inviting people on to it.

Goal Finished

Hi Folks
Here we are on a lovely sunny Sunday. I've got some time to myself as Craig and Ian have gone fishing. Dene and Kate are still in their pits. I finished another April goal yesterday. I quite like the finished thing, but if I'd realised just how much backstitching there was to do on it I probably would have picked something different...

Health Start

Today Craig and I had our first session at Health Start. We were recommended by our GP a couple of months ago, for this scheme which is run at the local leisure centre, two afternoons a week, two hours per session. It's basically to try and get us healthier and to lose some weight. The scheme runs for 12 weeks then you go on to the next level.

We started off in the gym. I went on the wind cycle, where you have to pedal your feet and move your arms at the same time. I expect that'll do my shoulders some good, but I bet they hurt like hell tomorrow when I get up. After the bike - where I pedalled for about a mile and a half in ten minutes, I went on the treadmill and walked for ten minutes. I don't think I even made it to a mile, but it's more non-stop walking than I've done in ages.

After we were all finished in the gym we moved into the sports hall where we had a choice of what to do. There was either table tennis, soft tennis or badmington. Craig and I decided on badmington, which neither of us have played for more than 20 years. I quite enjoyed the badmington. All in all it was a good afternoon and I surprised myself at how much I actually did. Our next session is Thursday afternoon and I'm quite looking forward to it. As far as I know we'll be in the gym for the whole of the two hours. YIKES!

Trip to York

On our way back from Nuneaton today we decided to have a side trip to York. Jayne had been on about it last night at the club, and she recommended we have a visit to The Viking Loom for a look at their stuff.

So after a shower and getting ready, we vacated our room at the Travel Lodge and headed north. We were starving by about 9am so we stopped off at McDonalds for a breakfast McMuffin. Now this proves how hungry I must have been because I HATE McD's and usually avoid it like the plague. However, the bacon and egg McMuffin was delicious, washed down with a cup of hot chocolate. YUM!

We got to York at about 11.30am and decided to go on one of the bus tours, it being one of the best ways to see all the sights without actually having to walk.

This took almost an hour and when we got off the bus in the same place we got on we were ready for something to eat. First of all though we had a wander up to the Minster for a quick look and a photo...

I had wanted to go into The Viking Loom for a look at their stitchy stuff, but it was closed. It just means we'll have to have another trip to York when it's open.

We went to a pub called The Hole In The Wall for our lunch, and had a very nice roast pork and apple sauce sandwich. It was delicious. We then went back to the car and headed for home, eventually arriving back at about 3.30pm. We were both absolutely shattered by this time, Craig more than me probably as he's the only one who drives, so we went to bed and had a nap for an hour.

All in all we had a brilliant weekend. It was fab meeting up with all the Aion ladies, some of them again, but most of them for the first time. And the charity event was an added bonus. We'd never thought of staying over until Jayne suggested it, and I'm really glad she did. I think we'll do that again the next time we go to a GTG, and we're definitely going to make more time for US to have weekends away in the future. The kids are old enough and ugly enough now.

Nuneaton Get-Together

Yesterday we were up at the crack of dawn (5am) so that we could trundle down to Nuneaton for the Aion Get-Together (GTG). We got ready, loaded the car up and set off at about 5.45am. Traffic was fairly light at that time of the morning, in fact it wasn't too bad all the way down there, and we made it to the scout hut by about 10.30am, after a side trip to Dobbie's Garden Centre to get a couple of gift bags.

Most people turned up not long after us, and there were a few there when we arrived. There were loads of us! As you can see from this photo.


Four of us had taken our Marquoir samplers along to compare notes.

Left to right: Jo, Sarah, me and Clare.

Everyone had a great day, and again there wasn't much sewing done, we were all too busy chatting. I think the quietest we were was when we were eating lunch...oh and when Nicola's husband Keith was taking the group photos.

After clearing everything away at about 4.30pm, some of us went to a local pub for something to eat. Craig gained himself a new daughter. Heather's little girl Marion adopted him as her Dad and she spent most of the time in the pub sitting on his knee and calling him Dad. She's such a funny little thing and really cute. By 7pm we were all ready to head for home. Apart from Craig and I that is. We'd already booked into a local Travel Lodge and had been and got changed late on in the afternoon. Once we left the pub we made our way to the Abbey Social Club as there was a charity event on there that Jayne had gotten us tickets for. Everything that was raised was going towards the Meningitis Trust.

We had a really good night there. First of all there was a young lad singing, then a woman singing, and then a trio of singers. One of them was called Gordon and was Ursh's husband. Ursh is Jayne's best friend is belongs to one of the Yahoo Groups that I'm a member of. One of the trio, Matt, is a professional singer and he was really good, both with the other two and also when he did a solo spot towards the end of the night. Unfortunately we weren't sitting near Jayne and Ursh and were in the corner, which made getting in and out a bit difficult, but we still enjoyed it. They managed to raise over £1100 from the event. This is going to be put with the other £2000 they've already raised and Matt is taking part in the London Marathon. All his sponsorship money is going to the Trust too.

By the time we got back to the Travel Lodge we were absolutely shattered, so it was straight to bed for us. We didn't take much rocking!

Mid Week Ramblings

April already! At this rate it'll be December before I know it and I'll be panicking about Christmas. Every year I say I'm going to start early, but every single year December creeps up on me and it's one mad dash round the shops to buy everything I need. I am so disorganised. Enough about Christmas!

We invested in a second car the other day, just to use as a run-around mainly, but also so the kids can learn to drive - one they get their provisional licences - and so that Craig and Ian can work on it. I think Craig has missed not having a wreck to work on in the last year, and his almost monthly visits to the scrap yard for bits. The 'new' car is a red G reg Nissan Micra, and it's mostly ok. I think Craig has to adjust the brakes later on today.

At the minute Craig has taken Dene back to the Metro Centre to try and get his phone replaced or fixed. It keeps switching off for no reason. He's only had it a couple of weeks so it shouldn't be knackered already. Hope they manage to get it sorted.

Ian has a couple of interviews next week for apprenticeships. He'll have to have the day off school on Thursday as they're both in Newcastle. Originally one was at 10am and the other 12.30pm, but the first one will take about three hours so he's had to change the time of the second one to 3pm. I hope he manages to get between them ok, he's going to have to go on the bus and the Metro and he hasn't had to do that by himself...ever!

Craig and I are off to Nuneaton on Saturday to meet up with some other people from the Aion board. The last Get-Together (GTG) was last October and there were about a dozen of us there altogether. We took some of our work to display on tables and something to work on while we were there, but to be honest I don't think there was much stitching done...we were too busy chatting and laughing. This time there are even more people going so it should be a good laugh. I'm looking forward to meeting some new faces and putting names to them. There are even two ladies coming from abroad - Athalie from Australia who is over here on holiday, and Hege from Norway (I think). So we won't be the furthest travelled this time. After the GTG there are a few of us heading off to the pub for a meal before we disperse and make our way home.

Oh what a beautiful morning!

It's a lovely day here today, which makes a nice change, but it was even nicer yesterday. Today it's a bit windy and by the look of the window it's trying to rain, but it's still sunny-ish too.

I saw this on someone else's Blog and thought I would do it too:

Accent - Northumbrian/Geordie
Bra Size - I have no idea, but probably smaller than I think
Chore I Hate - Ironing
Dad's Name - Ian
Essential Make-Up - Never wear any
Favourite Perfume - Eternity by Calvin Klein
Gold Or Silver - Gold
Home Town - Blyth, Northumberland
Interesting Fact - I can touch my nose with my tongue
Job Title - Domestic Engineer
Kids - 3...Dene, Kate & Ian
Living Arrangements - 3 bed semi with husband and kids
Mom's Birthplace - Alnwick, Northumberland
Number Of Apples Eaten In Last Week - None
Overnight Hospital Stays - Births of children in 1986, 1987 and 1989; Gallbladder op in 1986; Abcess removal in 2002; Mastectomy 2004.
Phobia - None
Question You Ask Yourself A Lot - Why?
Religious Affiliation - None really but baptised Church of England
Siblings - Brother called Kevin
Time I Wake Up - Anytime between 8.30am - 10.00am
Unnatural Hair Colour - It's been red, ginger, blonde...and at the minute is growing back in mousy brown with lots of grey
Vegetable I Refuse To Eat - Sprouts and parsnip
Worst Habit - Can't think of one
X-Rays - Collarbone when I was about 12; left hand for carpal tunnel syndrome in 2002; chest x-ray 2004.
Yummy Food I Make - Shish Kebabs
Zodiac Sign - Aquarius

One Goal Finished Already!

I have such a lot of goals to get through this time that I thought I'd better get a move on, and have so far finished one already. This is the April band of the Heart Sampler, and I also finished the border round the top too. Finished on 1/4/05.

Photo moved!