Remembering a Very Special Day

Unforgettable!

It's 29 years since I married this lovely man. Missed always. 

Elizabeth

Hello

 

Alan Worthington
16.9.1938 - 30.12.23

It's been a very long time since my last post. Many of you already know, but for those of you who don't my lovely husband died on 30th December last year. Life is very different without him and it's taking me a long time to adjust to life as it is now. I know I will never stop hating life without him. We had a lovely life together and I'll never stop missing that gorgeous smile. 

He always encouraged me to do the things I love. Particularly scrapbooking. He understood why it was important to me to play with photos, pretty paper and cute embellishments. For him it was his model railway - he enjoyed nothing more than disappearing into his shed to work on improving the layout he had lovingly put together. 

Bearing that in mind, it's time I got back into scrapping again. And blogging about it, as well as anything else I think might be of interest to readers here. And that means updating this blog. I've made a start by giving it a new header. Hope you like it. 

Of course, the content quite possibly won't be the same. Definitely won't be the same. After all, I no longer have my best pal to go out and about with anymore. But I do have a gazillion photos, hundreds of happy memories, all waiting to be captured on my scrapbook pages. 

And finally, 

Life goes on and I have to adjust to this new life I'm living. One project I hope to complete is an album recording the last two years. To this end, I have enrolled on Shimelle's current class, This Year's Story. I can't pick up where I left off but I can and will adapt and keep on keeping on. Looking forward to showing you the results in the weeks and months to come. 

Take care everyone, 

Elizabeth 

Lest We Forget

 

NOT FORGOTTEN

Elizabeth 

Blogging for Scrapbookers

Hello Everyone,

It's amazing what I've found during the settling in process. Whilst ferreting through one of the many boxes, I came across a document entitled A Year Of Blogging, downloaded whilst taking Shimelle's Blogging For Scrapbookers  class a few years ago. 

It's a list of suggested topics to blog about set out in order of months.  Out of curiosity I had a look at what was suggested today's date and it's 'What's under your bed right now?'  I had no idea! With the second bedroom still chock-a-bloc with stuff, we've been struggling to find storage space so nothing would have surprised me. 

Phew! Not so bad. Two plastic boxes full of my winter Woolies - I'll be swapping summer clothes for them very soon - and two hat boxes. The one in the photo is my wedding day hat as seen in more than a few scrap layouts. 

I used to be quite the hat wearer in my younger days. 

This brown one was in one of the boxes together with my altogether favourite one. 

It's red with a black velvet band. It's never featured in a scrap page so here's it modelled by yours truly. 

That was more fun than I expected. I may dip into the list again - occasionally. It will be particularly useful on days when I can't think what to write about. Even if I'm the only person to read this post it makes a fun record of a day in the life of this crafter. 

Hope you've all had a lovely Thursday. 

Take care,

Elizabeth 

Celebrating Halloween

Hello everyone,

Hope you're having a great Halloween, however you are spending it. 

That's my middle grandson, Joshua, looking his worst and ready to party. 

Halloween is not big around here but my grandchildren and great-grandchildren have always enjoyed getting dressed up and into character and I always enjoy seeing the photos that are posted. 

Even the youngest, Freddie, has made the cutest pumpkin and is totally unfazed by the evil ghosts. 

Even the great-grandogs got in on the celebrations! 

So, once again, have a great night everyone. 

Watch out for the ghosts and zombies!

Elizabeth

WOYWW 699

 Hello Everyone,

Yeah! I'm scrapping again so time I got blogging again too. And where better to start than with this week's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday ... a bit late but hopefully better than not at all. 

The desk is a temporary fold up affair, bought cheaply from Amazon, but better than nothing. I've been so missing playing with pretty papers but the last, goodness knows how many, weeks have been utterly chaotic. Making the decision to not only move house but to downsize too was a traumatic one but we did it! We're in our new home, a two bed ground floor flat in the seaside town of Ardrossan. Just! 

There's still what seems a neverending number of boxes to unpack. It's a case of so much stuff and so little space. Before moving we gave away a ton of stuff, loads of crafting stash going to a good cause, but, no surprise, we're still having to decide what to keep and what to lose. 

So, no surprise, I won't be in my new craftroom any time soon but I'm determined to factor in more scrapping and blogging time again and to get back to some kind of normal. 

We are still to be connected to the Sky internet - we have a fault in the line - thanks Openreach for choosing now to go on strike - so I'm relying on BT at the moment. Despite that, I hope to read all your posts and leave messages where and when I am able. 

In the meantime take care everyone and have a fabulous week. 

Elizabeth 

Rosa 'Douglas'

Hello Everyone,

The roses are doing spectacularly well now. Today's red rose is the Douglas.

I'm forever grateful to my two lovely friends, Jan and Julia, for the gift of this beautiful rose to mark the sad loss of my brother Douglas four years ago. He's never far from my thoughts but when I look at these blooms I smile at our memories.  

Thanks for looking.

As always, take care and bye for now,

Elizabeth 

Rosa 'Pride of England'

Hello Everyone,

I couldn't resist sharing this, my husband's favourite rose. It's a stunner!

The deep red petals look like velvet, are delicately perfumed and the blooms measure a huge 5"-6" across. About the size of a side plate. 

Lovely, isn't it?

Thanks for looking.

As always, take care and bye for now,

Elizabeth 

Albertine &:Black Beauty

Hello Everyone,

Spotted this beautiful combination of plants through the kitchen window today and just had to share it. 

The rambling rose, 'Albertine', with golden hop foliage against a backdrop of the elder, 'Black Beauty', which is looking particularly fabulous this year. 

Thanks for looking.

As always, take care and bye for now,

Elizabeth

Foxglove

Hello Everyone,

Just because it's so beautiful, here's a photo of one of my self-seeded foxgloves. 

Such a pretty combination of colours. A real bee magnet. 

Take care everyone. 

Elizabeth 

Poppies

Hello  Everyone,

Just because they are so beautiful, I thought I'd share these orange poppies today.

Luckily, I popped out to photograph them this morning because the heavens have just opened and I dread to think what damage the downpour has done. Nature can be so cruel and flowers so fleeting.

Friday Smiles

Hello Friday Smilers

Joining in with Annie's weekly smile meme over on the A Stitch In Time. 

This last week has been a bit of a mixed bag, blighted by illness for the three of us on the one hand and, on the other hand, our garden has simply burst into flower and looks amazing. So, I'm sure you know what's coming - loads of photos. 

We had a new patio built just outside the kitchen door. to make it safer and easier for Alan to get access to his mobility scooter. 

My granddaughter's partner, Kyle, has done a great job in what was a very uneven surface. There's still some finishing off to do but first he had a wee accident to sort out which delayed the work.

Oops!!! Great-granddaughter Lacie stepped into her dad's beautifully smoothed cement work. It was getting late too so dad doesn't look at all happy. Much to my shame, I couldn't stop laughing. 

Later, after they had gone home, this happened. 

Silver left her mark too. We've decided to keep those paw prints for posterity. 

Before I move on to the garden, I just have to share these pics of our Callum. 

It was mad hair day at school and he opted for green ... I think he looks fabulous. 

And now a trip round our garden. 

I think that's enough for today. We have more changes planned for the garden, all intended to make it easier for me to manage in future. As it is now, it's very labour intensive and good gardeners are hard to find, so changes need to be made. We're very fortunate to have a handyman like Kyle in the family, able and willing to help with what needs to be done. 

I hope you've all had a lovely week with plenty to smile about.  And for more reasons to smile do pop over to Annie's and check out both her's and other Smilers posts. 

Bye for now

Elizabeth

Friday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

It's been some time since I joined in with Annie's smiles post on Fridays. However, the long winter, which didn't bring much to make me smile, is over and spring is here bringing sunshine, well not today, and flowers. So I've looked through the photo album and thought I'd share my favourites from the last few weeks. 

A neighbour shared this long shot of Ayr's Flowerpot Lane. It's maintained by the residents and has become quite an attraction for locals and visitors to the town. 

There's a lot more colour in my own garden. Here's a few pics. 

Clematis Montana Alba

The clematis has grown over and through the dividing fence to flower much more prolifically on our neighbour's side. 

And it looks lovely with the Spanish Bluebells blooming below. 

It's also apple blossom time. 

Canary Bird Rosa is always the first rose to bloom in our garden and a very welcome sight it is too.

The cherry trees were magnificent this year. 

The petals have fallen now - it's like someone has strewn confetti on the garden path. 

As you can see it's all about the garden here. We're having a few changes made to the garden at the moment. Nothing major. Just a few raised beds and a paved patio to make it easier for me to care for and safer for Alan to get around. 

Of course the photo album would not be complete without a pic or two of this little one.

Silver loves the garden, especially if I'm out in it too. I think she would stay out all day as long as I was there to keep her company. 

And finally, these are not so much funny as they simply struck a chord when I spotted them online. 

And that is it for today. I should say this post was written from my bed. I have a nasty throat infection, temperature, etc., etc., making me tired from all the coughing. Of course, it won't last forever and I'm sure I'll be 'up and atom' in the next day or two. 

In the meantime, I hope you are all well and finding much to smile about. 

Take care.

Elizabeth

Friday Smile

Hello Everyone,

I'm back, joining in with another of Annie's Friday Smile posts over on A Stitch On Time. I really enjoyed reading all your posts last week and look forward to doing so again today. It's been another ordinary week, much the same as usual but for one exciting bit of news. 

We have a new great-grandchild on the way. Due in August. And, no, we don't know whether it's a boy or girl yet. That can wait. We're just delighted with the news. Here's how young Callum announced the news to us all on Facebook.

Milo looks a bit nonplussed, but there's no mistaking how Callum feels about it - he's clearly delighted at the thought of being a big brother. 

Other less exciting, but still noteworthy, reasons to smile this week have been:

Snowdrops in Culzean Country Estate. No, we didn't take a trip down to Culzean but Facebook kindly reminded me of our visit there six years ago when the snowdrops were particularly abundant. 

I keep looking for signs of the snowdrops in our garden but so far there's been none. However, the primroses are out on Bonnie's Mound (named to honour our beloved cat, now sadly gone). 

Silver just takes this little tribute to Bonnie in her stride. Her reaction is less tolerant of other feline trespassers on her patch. 

Dawn today. The sky was so beautiful I should have realised it was going to be a lovely, albeit chilly, day. The sun is streaming in through the window as  I type this post. It's almost too hot!

We watched this film yesterday evening and it  was so good. Sheila Hancock is very good, as is her co-star, Kevin Guthrie. In a nutshell, the film is about Edie, a recently widowed 80 year old who feels bereft, not of her bullying and emotionally abusive husband, but of the life she had and gave up for marriage. With her house sold and her daughter intent on dumping her in a home for the elderly, she sets out to take control of her life, starting with a climbing trip alone in the Scottish Highlands. The film, dare I say, is worth watching for the Scottish scenery alone. 

And finally, a cutie to start the weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - full of lots to smile about.

Take care too.