Sunday 1 January 2012

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012 ... Day One

Happy New Year to you all and I sincerely hope it is going to be a good one for you too.


2012 has started off well for us already. Today is my great-granddaughter's first birthday so I'm celebrating here with my favourite snap taken in Rhian's first year. The quality of the photograph is not perfect but the tender moment caught within is perfect.

To make the day even better my grand-niece, Arihanna, and her lovely mother were allowed home yesterday - great news and a wonderful start to the year. Louise is still recovering from the affects of the pregnancy but hopefully she will be back to normal soon ... and Arihanna has lost a great deal of weight - she went from 6lbs 5oz to just 5lb in the week after she was born - but she is feeding better now and has started to gain weight again - what more could any of us ask for :)

For the EM and I, the last few months have been something of a trial what with the nasty accident he suffered in November, from which he is still recovering, the death of not just our SILs best friend but also that of a dear old friend of ours who passed away in rather tragic circumstances mid-December, and not forgetting the wee dog, Mac, who also lost his fight for life. For all those reasons we are more than happy to say 'goodbye 2011 and hello 2012' ...  we have plans, lots of them, the main one being a road trip taking us on a meandering route through Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire, into the Cotswolds and then on down to Wiltshire - we may even venture down to Devon, time permitting.  We could be gone some time so the Boss is not going to be pleased - she clearly equates the cattery with cat hell so will give us such an ear-bashing when we pick her up at the end of the trip ... ah, such is life :))

On the crafting front, I have lots of projects planned too. I'll be making fewer Christmas cards this year, but that's because there are so many other projects I want to work on instead ... e.g. scrap page layouts, digital and hybrid layouts too, photography, altered items, etc. I also want to use some of those stamps I have in my collection that have never seen the light of day, e.g. Clarity, Crafty Individuals, Lavinia and Sheena Douglas, Tim Holtz - bought because I loved them and yet have never found the opportunity to play with them :(

So what are your plans for 2012?  I don't mean resolutions ... they are a quite different animal altogether! I don't make resolutions because I know fine well I will never keep them beyond the second week of January ... so why set myself up for a fall. And, I'm quite capable of beating myself up for a host of entirely different reasons believe me ... I just don't need any extra self-imposed grief :))

Right, it's almost the end of day one, 2012, so I'm off for a cup of Horlicks before turning in. Unless, of course, you were up all night bringing in the New Year, when you will have been sleeping the excesses off all day today, I hope your day has been a happy and fun-filled one celebrated with family and friends. And for those of you who are poorly, I hope you are well on the road to recovery, and for those of you who went to work as usual today, you're our unsung heroes, without you the rest of us could not enjoy the holiday - many thanks :)

Whatever, you do in the year to come, I hope you all keep crafting, blogging, and following because otherwise I would be sitting here typing to myself and I would miss you all :)

10 comments:

505whimsygirl said...

Elizabeth, You've certainly had your trials in 2011 - let's hope 2012 will be a healthy year and one filled with possibilities. I don't make resolutions, either, as I always seem to break them. Instead I chose a word to concentrate on, and that word is blossom. Of course, having Daisy the dog and Tulip the bird didn't play into my word at all!

Here's to a wonderful 2012!!

l00pyscraftcreations said...

Same here, hun, final cup of coffee for the night, I have watched hubbys team win, am catching up with the crafty gossip, and heading off to bed, where I hope to be allowed to sleep for hours, and hours, and hours, and hours..... My own fault, I had one single baileys at midnight to see the New Year in, and then couldnt take the tablets, so didnt go to sleep until gone 4am, then up at 7 for church, up and down a River that used to be the M62, calmed grandson down, played with DD's new toy, a Cricut cake, which finally arrived just before Christmas eve, came home, did dinner, took all the decorations and tree down, watched Harry Potter, as I havent seen it, and now I have to plan middlests Birthday card, and have it finished by tomorrow night, as his birthday is on Tuesday, so you know the Sleep I was going on about? Well dont think I am going to be allowed to have the hours I want and need somehow do you?

Have a wonderful 2012, and enjoy the Babies, they dont stay that way much now-a-days do they?

Jules said...

Well Elizabeth I'm not surprised you are pleased to see the back of 2011. It certainly sounds like one heck of a year.

Hopefully 2012 will be much better for you.

I love the sound of your plans for the new year and have to say that you are the first person in blogland so far that has said they are going to make fewer Christmas cards. Quite a few are actually saying they are going to start making them now!! (I think I should be one of them LOL!!).

Have a great year Elizabeth. Much better than the last one!!

Love the photograph you posted by the way and I am so pleased your niece and her baby are starting to improve.

Love Jules xx

Crafty Loops said...

Hi Elizabeth. What a gorgeous photo. Hopefully 2012 will be filled with much more wonderful things. Lee x

Di said...

Oh Elizabeth - what a year you had in 2011 for sure. I wish for a much better year for you, the EM and your family in 2012. Like you, I intend to keep working my way through a lot of, as yet, unused stamps. I almost cringed when you mentioned Lavinia and Clarity stamps - I found a little haul of those in my 'to use for the first time' basket only yesterday!

Your trip sounds wonderful - remember, if you reach North Hampshire to let me know!

Happy New Year. Love, Di xxx

CraftygasheadZo said...

Happy New Year to you, Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing so many precious moments with us. For me, I just want to keep smiling no matter how each day turns out. Crafting will be more adventurous and I plan on attempting some new projects too. I want to write more too, fiction, not just my Rovers articles. I just want to end 2012 knowing I tried! Zo x

Angie said...

Happy New Year ...you really need to have a wonderful 2012.

I shall be calling on you for some low sugar recipes ...I am resolving to be really good from the 6th ....when I see the diabetic nurse for the first time ....could not be good with a house bulging in all my favourites.

Diane said...

Thanks for popping by my blog and your lovely comments. Have loved looking at your blog and fab photo's and enjoyed looking at all your creations..crafty and foody!!!!
Bst wishes for 2012 to you and your family
Diane

Irene said...

Happy new year Elizabeth, so glad to hear your niece and baby are much better and at home, and whe you do your road trip, give me a wave, as you pass through yorkshire, love Irene xx

Dolly Daydreams said...

Elizabeth what a very sad year 2011 was for you ( and for myself ) am so glad to see the back of it. Wishing you happier times and much love with your family and friends. The photo is just so beautiful what a beauty ! Your trip sounds amazing I wish I could do it I do so miss the beautiful countryside in the UK

Take care my friend and I wish you all of the very best.

Marie