What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 839

Hello Everyone,

Happy WOYWW to you all.

Not much has changed on my workdesk since I last posted two weeks ago. I'm still working on alterations - a pair of pyjama bottoms this time. I missed posting last week and for good reason. I woke in the early hours of last Wednesday to find a flood in the bathroom, The water was coming from the flat above. The next few days were spent mopping up and trying to get the leak stopped. Not easy when your neighbour is out and his flat can't be accessed. It was Saturday before the plumbers were able to get in and stop the leak.

Usually I show my workdesk, first photo, because it's where I make scrap pages but today I thought I'd also show you this lovely desk. The one where I store the laptop. And where I now plan to type up these blogposts. This was Alan's writing desk and until last week was just tucked away in a corner of the main bedroom. Recently, though, I decided that I wasn't making enough use of the living room. In fact, except when I had visitors, I rarely spent time in there. The cat spent more time snoozing on the sofa than I did sitting on it! 

This room is front facing and looks out on to a very small garden area, much neglected until recently. There's a privet hedge screening it from the road which, because it's a well-known shortcut to the beach, can often be very busy. It's also on the shady side of the building. Nice when it's been as hot as it has been this week, but not when the weather is, as it so often is here, not so fair. Indeed, today the temperature has dropped by 10 degrees, it's grey and overcast above and rain is forecast shortly. 

It's been a few years since I could do this, but at last I'm able to pick flowers from the garden and fill a vase. Just nasturtiums and cornflowers for now but I'm delighted!

I'm also delighted to see that Annie's Rose is in bloom, joining Alan's Rose and the Douglas Rose. Lovely!

Silver is never far from me, Here she is on the sofa hoping for some fall-out from my lunchtime snack. 

And finally, a few funnies.

Obviously AI generated but this 'Blowin 737' cracked me up.

Phone box of the day: Outer Hebrides. Pic by Joan Irvin

Silver has obviously attended the Kitten School!

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 831

Morning Everyone,

And it is a lovely morning here in North Ayrshire.

On my desk this morning Silver. She's thinking about going out by that open window but first a few quiet moments watching a magpie perched on the neighbours fence. To the left of her is my next project. 

I've put together photos and materials for a page I hope to make later today. Homework for Shimelle's class. It's all from old stash, of course. Even the photos are dated 2022! I have unfinished albums from the year of Covid, 2020, up to 2023 so I hope to remedy that this year. 

January 2025 - Side 1

At the same time I'm working on this year's album and this is the introductory page. I'm not a great fan of pocket pages but they are the best way of beginning each month. 

January 2025 - Side 2

The photos used capture some of what's happened during the month. There will be a few 12"x12" pages following this introduction. I spent a few hours over the weekend sorting through photos taken so far this year trying to decide which to scrap. Decisions! Decisions!

Most of yesterday was spent in the garden. My daughter and SIL were round so we stopped to sit and soak up the sun. It wasn't all play though. I did check on my seedlings in the mini greenhouse, which turned out not to be as mini as I hoped. Sorry, I forgot to take a pic to show just how big it is. I also planted out a climber, Clematis Grandiflora Alba. 

We had this fabulous one in our last garden. I'm hoping for a similarly stunning display with the one planted yesterday. Perhaps not this year, but in years to come. 

I did think to grab this shot of Silver squeezing into an empty basket during a latte break in the summerhouse. She never fails to amaze me!

 

And finally, a few funnies for this week.

That's me for this week. I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend. Just in case you missed it, there's another one in a few weeks time. 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 fabulous week.

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 826

Hello Everyone,

Happy Wednesday. Happy WOYWW too.

This is not really what's on my desk this morning but it's a photo taken back in February, the last time I did make a page.  Since then there's been a lot of dreaming and scheming but no actual scrapbooking done. 

This then is only the second page completed so far this year. It's an old photo taken from last year's  Three Towns Explored calendar. The term 'three towns' is used in reference to the towns of Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston in North Ayrshire which together form a contiguous settlement along the shore of the Clyde Estuary. Since moving here to Ardrossan I have become fascinated with the history of the towns and surrounding area. 

The materials used to make the page are from the Scrappyroo Scrapbook Supplies October kit, purchased while I was doing all that dreaming and scheming mentioned earlier. This is not a paid promotion, but it is a lovely kit and I could be tempted to buy more in future. Just as soon as I get busy scrapping again.

Talking of dreaming and scheming as I am today, and as I hinted in last week's post, I've been longing to make a garden. It's been on my mind since we moved in just over two years ago but, of course, other more pressing needs prevented me actually doing anything about it. For the record here's a photo of just how neglected the garden was.

Shameful! Hardly a redeeming feature to be seen. Even the shed is on it's last legs and there is no boundary between the strip that is my backyard and that of my neighbour in the flat (apartment) above mine. 

At the end of last year, I finally decided to do something about it and drew up a plan of sorts. 

This plan. It's basic and will probably change in time but it gave me a starting point. 

The first thing I did was order the summerhouse.

It's arrival was delayed by winter and a certain, now notorious, Storm Eowyn! One thing that has become very apparent is that Ardrossan could be a contender for the stormiest town on the west coast of Scotland so there will be no greenhouse. The summerhouse will have to do double duty as a potting shed, somewhere to grow seeds and a retreat in which to sit and idle the hours away.

Next came a fence to create a boundary.

This area of the garden is now enclosed. The area to the front is where the washing lines are and wher the two poles on the boundary are shared. I'm not sure why this is so. Perhaps it was intended to encourage neighbourliness, or more likely to save money. The apartment blocks were built by the council in the post-war period in answer to the increased need for affordable housing. Today apartment blocks like mine are a mix of privately owned flats like mine and council owned like my neighbour above, 

Since these photos were taken a gate has been fitted and trellising added to the picket fencing ready for the planting of the climbing plants I visualise scrambling up and over and around all that brown wood.  

Digging and clearing, not by me I hasten to add but by a neighbour's son, has unearthed paving hidden by the overgrown grass and evidence we believe that the land was once used as allotments. Possibly as part of the war effort to dig for victory. It's a nice thought. 

Needless to say, I'm now busy acquiring plants - quite a few. The plan is to keep it mainly grassed but to introduce wild flowers where possible like those in this photo - snowdrops, bluebells, wild daffodils, and wood anemone. There's also wild garlic which, as it spreads too readily, will be planted up in a pot.  There's more. The climbers - clematis, honeysuckle, wild sweet pea, and my favourite rambling rose, Albertine is on order.  As are a couple of small trees,  rowan and an amelanchier (also known as serviceberry or juneberry) to encourage birds to visit. Which brings me to my last photo for today.

Silver has found herself the perfect lookout post. She's clearly intent on monitoring the local cat and bird population.  Seriously, she loves being out in the garden with me. My own little gardening companion. 

And finally, the funny is back.

So that it from me this week. Thanks to everyone who read last week's post and also for the lovely comments left. Sorry if I didn't leave you a comment. Must try harder. I'm just out of practice as could be seen from the mess I made of leaving a link on Sarah's blog - Sarah's Craft Shed - where you can find even more clever crafters revealing what's on their desks this week. 

Goodbye for now and thanks for reading this far. I wish you all a very good week.

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 798/18

Hello and Good Afternoon Everyone,

I'd love to say I have a great excuse for being late but it wouldn't be true. As my mother would have said, I'm like the coo's (cow's) tail, all behind! I just can't seem to get organised and it shows on my desk.

See what I mean. It's a mess. To quote a fellow desker, Lynn of One I Made Earlier, I need 'to give it all a good coat of looking at' and and then just sort it all out!!!

Maybe I should explain a little of why things have got to this abysmal stage. As well as being the designated craft room, this room became my bedroom. I had to move out of the main bedroom when Alan was becoming increasingly disabled so he had the necessary space to move around with his walker or in his wheelchair. While I slept in here, I kept it reasonably organised, crafting in one area, sleeping in the other. However, recently, after many months of dithering, swithering and generally being somewhat unwilling, I have moved back into the main bedroom. And what an upheaval it's been. Stuff has gone from one room to be stored in the other. Result the main bedroom is a haven of peace and tranquillity but the craft room is in a real muddle. I dare not show you the rest of the room - it's the very definition of chaos! I'm ashamed. 

Unlike Jan of Lunch Lady Jan's Fabric Frenzy, brave lady that she is, I won't be posting a photo of the bed! See her post here. Like she says, it's just become an extra work surface. In my case it's a dumping ground! 

So if you'd rather see more organised workdesks than mine, and why wouldn't you, do pop over to the keeper of desks, Sarah on Sarah's Craft Shed and check out the many links thereon. Better still, why don't you join in the fun and let us see what's on your workdesk too.

As there's no show without Punch, here's Silver's contribution today.

'Me, shameless, not a bit of it!'

Best wishes to you all. Have a wonderful week.

Take care Everyone,

Elizabeth 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 797/17

Hello Everyone,

It's been another while. Another unscheduled break. I won't make any declarations along the lines of being back for good this time. But I'm here today and there's something on my workdesk too.

Another of my kits made from a combination of old stash ...

and leftover scraps. The tan and brown printed paper is actually a sheet of saved wrapping paper that I thought too nice to toss. 

I'd also included a stencil that I thought would be great for a mixed media background. Taking my cue from the two chosen photos - there's rather a lot of sand in each - I inked through it with the colour Pumice Stone in Ranger's Distress Ink. The spatters were created with Heidi Swapp's Colorshine spray in Teal picking up on the blue of the hills in the distance.

The photos were taken on my first visit to Barmouth in Wales in 1995. City born and bred, Alan much preferred to be by the sea so when we met he couldn't wait to introduce me to this little seaside town. I'm a city girl too but, in truth, I didn't like sand. At all! Not between my toes, in my hair or on my clothes. Not anywhere.  Fortunately there's more to the town than sand, those blue remembered hills for instance, and I did grow to enjoy visiting Barmouth as much as he did. 

Like the layout in yesterday's post, no new stash was used in the making of today's page. The stencil is from Design Worx. 

I enjoyed having a go at a mixed media background again and there's a lot of satisfaction to be got from using up old leftover scraps of paper. Anyone looking through my album in the future won't have any idea the materials were old when the page was made. Well, not unless, like you, they've read this post!

And finally, 

Silver couldn't resist the empty wash basket and beat me to it. 

As always, I will do my best to visit and comment on the posts, Blogger permitting, of everyone who leaves a link on Sarah's post today. 

Best wishes to you all for a brilliant 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