Queen Bee

Greenfingers

Every now and again I get some stupid harebrained idea into my head (much to the chagrin of Mr Bee) and this week I have been seized with another of these schemes... growing my own veg :)

Despite the fact that we don't really have a garden, I am going to attempt to grow the following:

• coriander
• basil
• parsley
• runner beans
• cherry tomatoes
• rocket
• beetroot
• spring onions
• radish

I'm also going to grow some sunflowers just because I like them :)

I've been out to Wilkos this afternoon and have bought my seeds, compost and a little mini greehouse which is going to go out at the back of my little house. We don't get loads of sun at the back of the house, so I'm going to make the most of the sun we do get!) Unfortunately, we don't have our own garden but there is a communal yard type thing at the back so I'm going to put my pots out there. My neighbours have been watching me this afternoon and I think they think I'm nuts but I'm going to give it a go anyway :)

I was going to leave you with a pic of my holiday in Tenerife but for somer reason best known to itself, Typepad isn't letting me upload pictures! :(

101 Update: #71 - Visit the following places: Paris, America, Brussels, Barcelona, 2 places I have not been to before (0/2)

101 Update: #71 - Visit the following places: Paris, America, Brussels, Barcelona, 2 places I have not been to before (0/2)

I'm still working on the whole fear of flying thing but Mr Bee surprised me last night and told me he has booked a holiday in Tenerife for the 2 of us in April! It's to cheer me up after my op because I've been feeling a bit down because I'm still a bit sore and can't really get out and about much at the moment :( This has definitely given me something to look forward to!!

As I've never been to tenerife, this will count towards #71 on my 101 list.

I'll leave you with this picture of Tenerife :) This time in 6 weeks I'll be sunning myself there...

(picture taken from wikipedia)

101 things in 1001 days

I first heard about this on Meshell's blog and thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. The idea is to create a list of 101 things you would like to accomplish in 1001 days. This really appeals to me because I loooooove lists and also because it will make me focus on the things that I keep saying I'm going to do but never actually get around to doing (I'm a bit rubbish like that!)

The idea first originated on this site. I actually started my list on January 23rd 2008 so my 1001 days will be up on WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20th 2008 which spookily enough is my 32nd birthday. I like the synchronicity of that :) Anyway, without further ado, here is The List:

Key: Projects in bold are completed, italics mean the project is in progress

1. Learn to crochet and complete the following projects: ripple blanket, granny square throw, a project where I need to learn 5 new stitches
2. Learn to knit (properly!) and complete at least 1 project (maybe from irresistible knits book?)
3. Complete 3 quilts
4. Make at least 3 scrapbooks of the following: Me and Mr Bee, Family, Good Times
5. Make an advent calendar
6. Make all my own Christmas cards in 2008 and 2009
7. Make at least 1 item from every craft book that I own
8. Make at least 3 bags
9. Create my own Christmas decorations each year
10. Complete my list of cross stitch projects that I have planned to do (and already bought the materials for!)
11. Take photographs of all the things I have made and post on this blog
12. Take part in at least 5 swaps (1/5)
13. Make at least 1 thing using a craft that I have never tried before
14. Make new cushions for the front room
15. Make Mr Bee a mix CD
16. Make at least 1 handmade present for the following people: Mr Bee, my mam, my dad, my sister, my brother-in-law, my nanna, my grandad, Mr Bee’s mam and her partner
17. Make a purse organiser that I can easily switch between my bags
18. Learn how to make jewellery. Make at least 10 pairs of earrings (not just all ‘drop‘ ones), 2 bracelets and a necklace (6/13)
19. Make 3 pieces of wall art for my house
20. Learn how to make handmade journals and make at least 3 to use for ideas, etc
21. Create 26 mix Cds, 1 for each letter of the alphabet, see here and here to see what I mean
22. Learn Spanish well enough to be able to more than just “get by” on holiday
23. Take part in 5 different reading challenges, including the 888 reading challenge and the book to movie challenge
24. Listen to 3 audio books on CD (1/3)
25. Learn about 5 new topics (to be decided!) (Growing vegetables, ?, ?, ?, ?)
26. Learn to fold 10 different origami shapes
27. Take an evening class in something craft-related
28. Learn about aromatherapy and how it can be used in my every day life
29. Read all of LM Montgomery’s books (as far as possible in story chronological order), including re-reading books I have already read (0/32)
30. Complete the Race for Life
31. Reach my target weight
32. Buy a bike and go cycling regularly
33. Walk more! Use my fit bug to record how many steps I am taking each day and try and beat my personal best. Go for long walks in the summer on the canal, Daisy Nook, Dovestones etc
34. Take 10,000 steps a day every day for 1 month (can be non-consecutive)
35. Cook a ‘fancy’ meal for Mr Bee (starter, main course and pudding)
36. Plan our meals each week and only buy the things we need. Make a list when we go shopping!
37. Cut out all alcohol for 1 month
38. Join a gym and go at least 2 times a week
39. Learn how to bake a cake
40. Learn how to make a loaf of bread from scratch (I bought a breadmaker and have been making all our own bread but I still want to have a go at making bread without the breadmaker!)
41. Invite 3 sets of friends for dinner (cooked by me and Mr Bee)
42. Take my lunch to work at least 2 times a week (I am office based 3 days a week and the other 2 days work at home)
43. Get my “five a day” every day for 3 months (can be non-consecutive!)
44. Go veggie for a week / a month
45. Sort out and organise my craft room so it is a comfy, cosy place for me to be
46. De-clutter the house. Find ‘homes’ for things. Get rid of things I no longer need or want
47. Organise all my Slimming World stuff so it is not taking over the living room!!
48. Get all my pictures framed and hung up
49. Try to recycle more
50. Grow some vegetables and herbs
51. Get an inspiration board for my desk
52. Buy at least 3 new board games and have a “games night” with friends and family
53. Buy a plant and keep it alive
54. Put laundry away after folding
55. Find a way of hanging all my necklaces and earrings up so they don’t become tangled
56. Sort out all my magazines. Put pictures I like into an ‘inspiration journal’ (or similar) and recycle / donate to charity the rest
57. See the sunrise from Hartshead Pike
58. Go on a ‘proper’ picnic (with blanket, wicker basket and eat-with-your-fingers food)
59. Go to a free summer concert
60. Go camping
61. Go and watch 5 plays at the theatre
62. Go to 3 gigs / concerts
63. Go to all the museums and galleries in Manchester, Liverpool, Llandudno and Conwy.
64. Go on at least 12 trips to places that I have not been to before that are reasonably close to where I live, e.g. Sheffield, Halifax, etc
65. Go ice-skating
66. Go to the zoo
67. Plant a tree
68. Go to see a movie by myself
69. Fly a kite
70. See the Cirque du Soleil
71. Visit the following places: Paris, America, Brussels, Barcelona, 2 places I have not been to before (1/2)
72. Get over my fear of flying!!!
73. Have a Hallowe’en party
74. Go to 10 different restaurants that I have never been to before
75. Attend an Alpha course. Find out more about Christianity, God, Jesus
76. Read the Bible from cover to cover
77. Stop worrying about what other people think of me. Less negativity
78. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy or that I am grateful for. Add to it once (or more!) a week
79. Come up with a tradition of my own for Christmas
80. Create a journal of poetry and quotes that ‘speak to me’. Post some of these on my blog
81. Pay off everything that I owe
82. Save up for our wedding and deposit on a house
83. Get my Slimming World class up to a category E
84. Create a work plan. Where do I see my self in 1, 3, 5, 10 years? What do I need to do to get there? Is what I’m doing now what I want to do for the rest of my life?
85. Get married!
86. Find out all family birthdays, anniversaries and telephone numbers. Write on a calendar and make copies for my mam and sister
87. Trace my family tree (back to at least my great-great-great-grandparents)
88. Go on a date with Mr Bee at least once a month (going to the pub doesn’t count!) (1/?)
89. Contact old friends and arrange to meet up (if possible!) Call / email / send card to 1 friend a month
90. Give blood
91. Attend as many band rehearsals as possible
92. Participate in a book club
93. Take more photographs! Take at least 1 photograph a day of something that interests me for a month and post on my blog
94. Get a cat
95. Watch 101 new films (I.e. ones I have not seen before), including at least 5 musicals
96. Organise all the files from my old computer and burn what I need onto discs etc before getting rid of the old computer
97. Make up 2 Christmas parcels (1 for a boy, 1 for a girl) to go to the Tameside Radio / Key 103 Christmas appeal
98. Stop using plastic bags. Take cloth bags with me when I go shopping
99. Get new glasses
100. Visit the farmer’s markets at least once a month
101. Put all my slummy into a jar and don’t touch it until it is full!!!

Phew!!! If you're still reading WELL DONE!!! I will edit this page as I complete items on my list and am going to post regularly about my progress on this. I'm really excited about this project as I think it's going to be a lot of fun!

Been a long time....

....but hopefully I'm going to be around here a bit more!

Things have been a bit hectic lately and I haven't had time to blog or even do much crafting :( However, I had an operation on my shoulder last week (there was a bit of bone there that shouldn't have been so it was removed - yuk!) which means I shall be off work for the next month or so and so will have lots of free time. Yay! There still probably won't be a lot of crafting going on for the next couple of weeks (I'm right handed and my right arm is out of action!) but I do have piccies of things I made / was doing before the op so I'll be able to show you a few of those :) I can't wait to get back crafting again, I'm really missing it and I'm bugging Mr Bee because I keep whining about how bored I am! I've spent the morning blog surfing and have seen loads of things that have inspired me so I'm itching to get back to my sewing!

I will also have piccies from the Valentine Swap that the fabulous Lucy organised recently. I was super spoiled by Lucy and can't wait to show you the amazing goodies she sent me!

Take care

xx

Random things...

I saw this over on the vicious chicken and thought it seemed like good fun, just the thing to brighten up a very grey and miserable day in Manchester...

It's a meme but for every question you answer, you type the answer into google and post a picture from the first set of results. Ok? Here goes...

1. Age you will be on your next birthday

I will be 30 in October this year. Scary. I only really feel about 17. 30 seems like a "grown-up" age and I'm not sure that I am yet!

2. A place you would like to visit

Mr Bee has promised to take me to New York one day when I have conquered my fear of flying. It was going to be my 30th birthday but I'm not quite ready yet! 

3. One of your favourite places

This is Llandudno in North Wales. I spent a lot of time here as a kid and my sister lives here now. I just feel really chilled out every time I'm here and the pace of life is a bit slower and more relaxing. Me and Mr Bee are hoping to move to Llandudno in a couple of years time :)

4. Your favourite object

At the moment it is my lovely shiny laptop FREE from the Carphone Warehouse :) My old computer was a bit of a dinosaur so I'm loving having a computer that actually does what I want it to without crashing every five minutes :)

5. Your favourite food

How sophisticated am I?

6. Your favourite animal

We can't have any pets in the house where we are now (landlord won't let us - Boo! Hiss!) so I'm having to content myself with goldfish but as soon as we can have pets I'm getting a cat.

7. Your favourite colour

I couldn't choose one so I chose my favourite two and combined them! Love this fabric :) It's from the fabricfinder.com

8. The name of a past pet

I had a cat called Priscilla when I was little. She died of old age when I was 18 on the first day that my parents went on holiday. I was distraught and had my next door but one neighbour giving her mouth to mouth in the back garden!

9. Where you live

I live in a small town up in the hills outside Manchester. We've lived here for exactly one year today and love it here!

10. First teacher's last name

Mrs Dutton was my nursery school teacher. I remember her being very quiet and gentle; I don't ever remember her raising her voice. The picture is of James Dutton who is an astronaut from NASA's class of 2004.

11. Your middle name

Louise. Lake Louise is in the Canadian province of Alberta. It was named after Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta.

12. A bad habit of yours

I'm a bit (Mr Bee would probably say a lot) untidy. I prefer to call it organised chaos because I know where everything is! The house we live in is a small stone cottage and we don't have a lot of storage space (and I have in excess of 200 books!) which exacerbates the problem!

13. Your favourite flower

I love the simplicity of daisies.

14. Your favourite holiday

The first real holiday (i.e. one where we went on a plane and were going for longer than a weekend) me and Mr Bee went on was to Benalmadena in Spain. This is a picture of the marina, which is gorgeous. There are loads of lovely restaurants and bars and we had the most fantastic time :) We're hoping to go back in May this year but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get the time of work. There is one day in the middle of the week I want off where all company leave has been cancelled so I might not be allowed it off :( I'll be very upset if that happens...

A bit late but....

Happy New Year!!!

Hope 2008 is a fab year for everybody :) I can't wait - I've got so much planned for this year and I'm really excited about it :)

My brain is purple?!?

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

I first saw this on Urban Gypz's site. I think poor Mr Bee would agree with this as I do tend to get a bit carried away when I'm daydreaming. So many ideas... too little time :(

Saturday night crafting

I've spent the night sitting in front of the telly watching X-factor and making these. I've really got the snowflake bug now!!!

Tomorrow I have a lovely day of crafting planned and I'm going to finish making my Christmas cards and hopefully a few more decorations for the house, having been inspired by these:

• Star ornaments from the purl bee
• Fabric Christmas Cards at Trail Mix Designs
• Fab gift tags also at Trail Mix Designs
• Super-cute fabric trees at The Small Object and Little Birds
• Fabric wreaths from Sugar and Snails
• Rice bags from Sew Mama Sew (I know this isn't a decoration but I think my mam and me could both do with these as she has a bad back and I have a dodgy shoulder!)

I will try and post some pictures on my next post but the camera on my phone is out of action at the moment (some dopey bugger stood on it and cracked the screen) so I'll have to borrow Mr Bee's and I'm not quite sure how to get the pictures off it and onto my computer...

Pay it Forward

This is such a cool idea! I first heard about this on the lovely Euphoria's blog and I've also seen it today on Mybyrdhouse, which is a blog you should check out if you haven't already. Lucy makes the cutest softies and I'm very jealous of the octupi her mam has made for the children in her family!

I've cut and pasted the following rules from Lucy's blog:

Here's how it goes:I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week (especially as I'm in the middle of Christmas present crafting! lol), but you will receive it. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So, if you're one of the first 3 people to comment, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog and share the crafty love!

I do need to be able to get a hold of you somehow. If I can't get you for some reason I will choose the next person. You need to post here and then Post this Exchange on your blog and I will contact you.

I've been neglecting this blog shamefully in the last few weeks but I do have a good reason - I've just started a new job as a Slimming World Consultant and have been mad busy in the last few weeks setting up my class and getting things organised with that. Things are getting back to normal though now so I should be able to blog more regularly, yay!

I have loads of things I want to post pictures of (I don't think my gift recipients know about this blog so it won't spoil the surprise!) and we've already started Christmas decorating in the Bee household (much to the disgust of my mam who thinks we are far too early...) so I have piccies of my tree and garlands I want to show you.

I'll leave you with a couple of videos of my favourite Christmas songs - these have been on heavy rotation in our house in the last few days. I know, I know, I'm sad....but I don't care!

and

Another reading challenge :)

I'm starting to really like these! After I saw the 888 challenge I talked about a couple of days ago, I was eager to get started on it but the rules state it should take place during 2008. I'm definitely going to take part in it and plan to choose my books in the next few days. If I can remember how to do it I'll post my lists on the sidebar.

But..... now I'm all enthusiastic about the idea of a reading challenge and the one I wanted to do doesn't start for another 3 months :( With this in mind I have been looking around some fantastic book blogs and found this challenge on SMS Book Reviews and thought it sounded fab!

Book to Movie Challenge.

I'm too late to 'officially' take part in the challenge (sign up deadline was September 1st) but I thought "what the heck" and have decided I'm going to do it anyway just for the fun of it :)

The idea with this challenge is that you pick (and read!) at least 3 books that have been made into a movie. This sort of thing is right up my street :)

This image is taken from SMS Reviews blog, which can be found here and is well worth a visit if you're a bit of a bookworm (like me!)

I think a little bit of a background might be in order here... when I was 18 and at 6th form, for some reason best known to the college, they decided that all 6th formers had to take an A-Level in General Studies. This caused uproar amongst the students as we all thought it was a huge waste of time as there was no syllabus and it was just pot luck as to which questions came up in the exam. Luckily for me, one of the essay questions was a discussion about books that had been turned into films and which was better, the book or the film? Being an English and Media student, this question was perfect for me. I am sure it was the reason I got my one and only 'A' grade A-level in General Studies and has sparked a long time interest in books that have been adapted into films.

Ok, enough rambling. Down to business. Here is my list:

1. Anywhere But Here - Mona Simpson
2. Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman
3. Da Vinvi Code - Dan Brown
4. How to Make an American Quilt - Whitney Otto
5. Mermaids - Patty Dann
6. Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
7. The River King - Alice Hoffman (this is actually a re-read but I love this book and I just found out they made it into a film, so let me off with this one!)
8. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares
9. A Slipping Down Life - Anne Tyler
10. Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbit
11. White Oleander - Janet Fitch
12. Where the Heart is - Billie Letts

Looking at my list in black and white, I can see that a lot of my books / film choices are girly chick flicks but I like chick flicks!!! I'm not sure if I'll get to read all of these by December 31st so if I don't finish by that date I think I might just carry on!

I've also decided that wherever possible I'm going to try and watch the film (after I've read the book) so I can compare the two. There are a couple of books on this list where I've already seen the film (Mermaids and Practical Magic) so I think I might find it strange reading the books as I'll be imaging Winona Ryder and Nicole Kidman as the characters!

I hadn't meant for this to be such a long post but if you have any more ideas for books I could read to it in with this theme I'd be glad to see them :)