WOYWW Week 845 - A Busy Week

Hello WOYWWers, Followers, Everyone

I hope this finds you all well and that you've found the time to be more creative than I have these last few weeks. That's not to say I haven't been busy. I really have. There's just no scrap pages to show for all the busy-ness! Instead, I've forced myself to tackle the black hole that is the shed at the top of the garden. There's boxes in that shed, the contents of which haven't seen the light of day since October 2022. Contents like the file of stencils and box of shimmer mists that can be seen on my desk this morning. I can't tell you how delighted I was to find them again!

I've been tackling the emptying of one box at a time with the aim to clear the shed completely by the end of August. It's been quite the eye-opener too. The shed is leaky, not to mention crawling with spiders, and far from the ideal place to store anything, let alone my lovely crafty stash! The plan is to replace it with a new, clean and dry, shed once everything has been sorted and cleared. 

Rain, rain, go away. 

Come again another day.

Storm Floris and the generally bad weather that followed has meant there's been very little gardening done. Everything got a thorough drenching and was looking bedraggled following the high winds. 

But, now the sun is out again and the garden is getting over the damage, flowers like these sweet peas and cornflowers have perked up again. 

Here's a photo taken from Saltcoats this week.

I'm not sure what the RNLI were doing up our way but it's always concerning to see the lifeboat out. There's been no news report, so I think this time all was well. 

What with storms, fires and the frequent appearance of the rescue services, there's rarely a dull moment here in The Three Towns.

But on a quiet summer's day there's nothing lovelier than the South Beach, Ardrossan.

Silver hated the stormy weather.

She's over it now and off out chasing butterflies. 

And finally, 

This mirrors exactly how we both felt during the horrible weather.

Silver has perfected the above!

That's enough from me today, I'm sure. To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 825

Hello Everyone

It's been quite a while since my last post. Too long really. I don't want to bore you for too long with the explanation but I think one is due. It's that I've been chronically unwell from fighting a recurring infection, since the end of 2024, that just wouldn't respond to the various antibiotics prescribed. It didn't help that I'm allergic to penicillin and react badly to most other antibiotics. Finally, just after Christmas, when I was beginning to think I was going to have to go into hospital, an alternative medication was suggested. Since then my health has been slowly improving. In fact, I was planning to start posting again when, just three weeks ago, I had a fall and am now nursing a couple of cracked ribs. Crossing a road would you believe! My first time out in weeks too. Anyway, I'm on the mend again and ready to get going once more. 

Needless to say, I've not been scrapping much at all recently. I think I've only finished two pages in all the time I've been "off". This one is entitled 'Life in Pictures', one photo being of an organising job I was in the process of doing way back last August and the other of a mood board of my ideal home I'd optimistically put together. It's a dream but a very nice one. 

Here's a few shots taken on that fateful walk. Before the fall, of course.

The first three shots were taken of the South Shore in Ardrossan. It was a cold, grey day, but the view out over the Clyde Estuary and over to Arran was as beautiful as ever. The last shot is of the daffodils blooming in The Plantation, a one time wooded area just down the road from my home. The way they have been planted in great swathes always makes me think of Wordsworth's "host of golden daffodils". I like to think that's what the gardeners were trying to achieve. 

Of course, I just have to add this shot of Silver.

She's always determined to provide quality control on whatever job I'm working on. In the photo it's a plan for the garden. More of that in a future post. 

And finally, do pop over to Sarah's Craft Shed to visit the many other WOYWWer's desks. You could even join in and show us yours. 

In the meantime, thanks for reading this far and I wish you all a very good week. 

Take care everyone

Elizabeth

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 799/19

Hello Everyone,

Another Wednesday, another What's On Your Workdesk, and it's so nearly a real big one too. One week to go to No.800! Want to know more about this weekly show and tell for crafters worldwide? Check out this post over on Julia's Stamping Ground for an explanation of what it's all about. Joining in, just pop over to Sarah's Craft Shed where you can now link your desky post. It's all great fun.

Because I've been distracted by the chaos in my craftroom and unable to give myself permission to just sit down and scrapbook, it's clear I had to find some inspiration. 

Here is, I hope, the very project to get me going again. It's a jar of challenges, the idea for which is based on an old class of Shimelle's, The 20 Project.  

So far, so good. This is the result of the first challenge pulled out of the jar which was to complete a page for a gap in a near completed album. This one for my own personal album. The photo was taken at my 50th birthday party in 1997. Alan loved a party so he made all the arrangements. He wanted me to celebrate with all my siblings, my children, their children together with our mum. I'm so glad he did because it was the last time we were all able to get together at the same time. 

Materials are just the usual mix of goodies from my stash, some old, some new. I'm happy to report that some progress has been made in organising the craftroom. It's not perfect yet, but some improvement can be seen.

Yesterday was a beautiful day - one of the very few we've had this year. So when my grandson sent me a text to say it was so nice we could see the Isle of Arran clearly from the shore, I just had to pop down to check it out. Not only could Arran be seen but that wee dot in the far distance is the island of Ailsa Craig. 

And finally, of course, it has to be my wee furry friend:

She's sending her best meows to you all. 

Best wishes from me to you all too. Have a wonderful week.

Take care Everyone,
Elizabeth 

WOYWW - Week 789/9

Hello Everyone,

It's Wednesday, our day for sharing to What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday now hosted over at Sarah's Craft Shed. Here's what mine is looking like today.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a very short post this week because there's been no scrapbooking going on. I had plans as can be seen from that pile, the contents of one of those homemade kits I put together before the great house move in 2022, but a delivery of tiny shelving proved too diverting. 

Of course it came in the form of flatpacks. Everything does now. Sigh! Saves on shipping, I know, but just for once I'd love to be able to simply unwrap and go. 

The plan was to have both units on the craft desk but the two together took up too much scrappy space. One is now on the computer desk - sorry I forgot to take a shot of it. The intention was to get as many of my ink pads as possible out of the inconvenient drawer they were stashed in. Success! 

And that's it, I'm afraid. Not a lot of crafting. However, a break in the weather let me fit in a lovely walk down along the seafront.

And a bit of gardening. Well, pottering and enjoying the wildflowers growing happily in the back garden.

The pottering above and a few of the wildflowers below.

Scarlet Pimpernel

Common Daisy

Hawksbeard

So nothing exciting doing this week. Just continued improvement in the weather and my health. And talking of health, Silver's been in the wars. 

She's taken to searching in the bramble patch growing at the top of the back garden. I'm sure it's home to many a tiny creature but it's also very thorny. It might be hard to spot in the photo but she's got scratches around her nose. All healing nicely but I don't think a few scratches will prevent her going a-hunting in the bramble patch again.

As usual, I will do my best to visit and comment on everyone that leaves their link on Sarah's post today. 

Have a brilliant week everyone. Here's hoping for good weather so the children can enjoy their summer holiday. 

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth 

More Catching Up

 Hello Again Everyone,

No fainting, please! I'm excelling myself by blogging two days on the trot! 

The following are more photos taken during my walk down to the seafront yesterday. This time they are of the memorial to HMS Dasher. 

It's dedicated to the 379 men that perished when HMS Dasher, an Archer Class Aircraft Carrier, sank in the Firth of Clyde on 27th March 1943. 

It is also dedicated to the survivors who never forgot. There's a lot more information on Wikipedia for those interested.

I forgot to mention yesterday that it was (inter)National Scrapbooking Day. A day to celebrate this happy hobby of mine. Not that I have joined in with the many celebratory challenges. I'm taking my time getting back into a routine after so many months of no scrapping at all. However, I'm rediscovering the fun of playing with pretty patterned paper. It's my therapy!

Here's the last pages made.

One of the few double-page layouts I've made. Ever! I'm just not a double-page scrapper. 

I have quite a collection of photos of post office boxes, most of which I put on Instagram but rarely make a scrap page with them, but I think these four are quite special. Yarn bombing is guaranteed to cheer up any PO box.

And here's the last page made for this weekend.

This is my middle sister, Margaret, showing off her new hair colour. She may have MS, may be increasingly disabled, may be living in a care home, may have just turned 70, but she still loves life and  cares for her appearance. So when the hairdresser visits her in the home, Margaret is always up for something new. Pink hair! Why not?

And finally:

 

Silver's preferred mode of entry and exit now that the temperatures are rising. So much quicker than waiting for the in-house servant, i.e. me, to open the door whenever required.

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth

Saturday Catch Up

Hello Everyone,

It's been a good day. Not perfect. Too misty for that but it was dry and warm enough for a stroll along South Beach prom. Sadly, Arran was hidden by the mist. 

It was nice to see the gulls keeping each other company where the burn runs into the sea. Strictly speaking it's not the sea, it's an estuary but it's a big one. 

When the weather hasn't been so good I've been filling my time scrapping. Truth is, I'm desperately trying to catch up with all the many photos, possibly hundreds, waiting to be scrapped. An impossible task. But here's a few. 

 

I've listed all materials used on postings on Facebook and Instagram (#worthington_elizabeth) should anyone need more information, but feel free to email me with any queries too.

Scrapping isn't the only thing I've been catching up on. The housework was neglected while I was poorly recently so I've been working through my to-do list and another that lists jobs that supposedly take just 10 minutes. So yesterday my 10 minute job was to strip and change the bed. Hah! More like 20 minutes actually. Putting a cover on the duvet is never anything but a battle! And I've tried all the tricks and tips seen on YouTube. 

I'm leaving you with this shot of our beautiful south beach. 

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth