Project 365 week 52

Yeehhh done it, apart from the middle of the year when I was ill and did not take a picture for two days then this is the end of my fourth year of this project. So lovely to look back on and year five will be under way by the time you read this. It really is a fab project to join in with.

So here are my last twelve days of the year.

Sunday

Hubby was getting the decorations out of the loft and decided to dress up Floppy Bear to make him look the part.

Monday 

Really no idea how I manage it but constantly seem able to cut my finger no matter how careful I am with a knife, I was only cutting a piece of bread and managed to make a nice deep cut.

Tuesday

Had masses of things to do in the town. I was wanting a few bits and pieces for myself as well, but did not manage to find either the bluetooth headphones I want for watching the tv or the halogen cooker I was looking for. DD2 has said she will buy us the headphones for Christmas but have had to end up ordering them online.

As we were out so long we went for lunch at Wetherspoons, it was steak day, very yummy it was too. Manage to get the food shopping we wanted so was not a total waste of a day.

Wednesday

For years we have always made mince pies for Santa and allergy free biscuits for the elves. This year I was disappointed that Fifi decided she was too big to join us and make them. But Bob and I made biscuits and then the pies.

Thursday

Christmas Eve and so we took a drive down to take Gran her flowers, and dropped in on a few other relatives while we were there.

Friday

Christmas Day started out quiet but all that changed when we went round to join DD1 and SIL and the four children as well as the other grandparents for dinner and fun. Daughter had not been feeling well, think she had the nasty cold bug I had a few weeks back. We played games and had a lot of fun, the food was delicious and it typifies what Christmas is all about - family.

Saturday

I won these on Twitter, had the choice of any name but sadly could not get my blog name on them, that would have been fab, but love the novelty value of this.

Sunday

DD2 and 3 were over along with their other halves were over with presents and food ready for Christmas Day No2. We were tormenting the dog with a drone and some of the battery operated toys.

Monday

Christmas Day No2, a family event where the grandchildren get their presents from our side of the family. You can share our fun here if you want a look.

Tuesday

Do any of you remember the adverts for Douglas? There are plenty on YouTube, search for Lurpak and Douglas and have a good old fashioned giggle. Hubby had spotted the butter dish a while ago in a shop, so it came out the cupboard for Christmas,

Wednesday

As part of the children's Christmas we bought them panto tickets, and so tonight we went off to see Jack and the Beanstalk at the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr. We had booked a table to get something to eat beforehand but sadly the only thing on their menu that Bob can eat they had run  out of, rather spoilt the evening. Bob ended up with crisps and an orange. we had chips and ate them in the car.
They really enjoyed the panto and asked can they go again next year, worth every penny when this is the end result.

Thursday

Well this is it the last pic of the year. DD3 prints a lot of her own items of clothing from pictures to writing. How awesome is this sweatshirt she printed for me for my Christmas? This is on the back.

Well folks that is it, year four over and done with. See you for Project 366 next year.

Happy New Year to you all and I hope 2016 is good to you.

Christmas comes twice.

We spent Christmas Day with DD1, SIL, the four grandchildren and their other grandparents. It is a lovely way to spend the day. Between them they make the dinner, Fifi chooses the soup and makes it, daughter does the main course, the other grandparents make a lovely pavlova and we take along the crackers. It is lovely to spend time with them all and we have some good laughs.

making the dinner

using Gran's ipad

look grandma has her camera out

shout her and she turns round

then turns right round to pose

Granddad jumping off the step with Minky

Now we have always done what we call Christmas Day No2. This is usually Boxing day when we have the grandchildren over here and they get their presents from our side of the family. We started it to give my daughter a break and allowed the children to be on a high slightly longer.But this year as it fell on a Saturday and I work weekends then we postponed it until Monday.

We planned this time to split the day into two parts, the first part mainly about the gruesome twosome, we did this for two reasons, one as Dinky is not comfortable up here and tends to cling for the first while, but I knew with a houseful of people she would not settle too well, and secondly as Fifi had a sleepover the night before and it saved her having to get here too early.

So DD3 picked up Bob and the twins on her way by their door and walked up with them Their wee faces were a picture when they saw the pile of presents, they have well and truly got the hang of this unwrapping lark.

Here are some of the pictures in no specific order of the day. You will notice in just about every one of these that Dinky is clinging onto Bob.

Bob reading them a story

Minky and I with the aquadoodle

Bob and Dinky with the aquadoodle

opening presents

making music

opening Granddad B's pressie

He got a row from Auntie T so he is in a huff

with her microphone

not so impressed with the beautiful clothes they got

playing with the pans

They know this mat signifies picnic time, and so readily sat on it.

lunch time

So that was the twins fed and changed and DD3 took them back down the road while DD2 went to pick up Fifi from her sleepover while I went and dealt with the next stage of the dinner. So when we were all reassembled we started on the present opening for the big people.

Bob handing out presents

with her gin hamper

Bob opening one of his

 It really is amazing despite all the technology that was there between them that the new game of Connect 4 we got for Bob was the biggest hit of the day. When Bob Fifi and myself play we play a series of games with the loser sitting out each time and the third person coming in. So we escalated that up with the group of us. Bob did well he won five games in a row ( and no we did not let him win) this was equalled at the end by Uncle M.  This must have been played with for well over an hour with two people playing and the rest engrossed in the play. One match came to stalemate and two others came down to nearly the end with one person having to let the other win. Much laughter was also had.

much concentrating going on

 but then a few other games were a doodle, here is the pic of shame for DD2.

Have to say they got some fab presents, four very fortunate children! We had a lovely meal with everybody contributing something towards it, and by the time this was over Bob had had enough and was getting tearful. A lovely day was had by all. Roll on next year.

Project 365 week 51

Been a busy old week between one thing and another, and cannot believe we have reach this stage of the year,

Sunday

A great start to the day - not. It was -5, first really cold day we have had so far this winter. Hubby gets up and defrosts the car, scraping all my windows clean and warms it up ready for me to leave for work. Well this morning it was for none of it, the pigging thing would not start, and it would have to be a weekend when I start work at eight and the first bus out of the village is five past nine. Phoned the breakdown company and they said they hoped to be out within an hour. So I phoned daughter and dug her out of her bed to run me in, and she did. The battery on the car has a bad cell and needs replaced.

drawing in the hard frost

Monday

This is it, our effort on Christmas tree and decorations. Got a new battery in the car as well, could have done without the expense but needs must.

O Christmas Tree 

Tuesday

When I did some shopping I treated my taxi driver to a little thank you, just thought it would make a change from doughnuts for her.

taxi driver payment

Wednesday

A bit of babysitting while DD and SIL went off for an anti-natal appointment. Spud is measuring a bit bigger for her dates than she should be but nothing to worry them. Will make a change as DD has not had a big baby yet, considering she was 9lb 1oz and 24 inches long at birth herself. The twins had been playing with the bricks but when they got fed up Bob decided to play with them.

Granddad reading with the twins

Thursday

A bit of baking that tastes quite yummy but was a disaster, Tried out the brownie maker I bought awhile ago, hmmmm don't think I will use it again, though to be honest I think I over filled it. It all stuck to the top and I had to scrape it off.Still taste yummy but.

think they stuck a bit

Friday

Hubby was filing the receipt for the battery and decided to sort out all the ones that are out of date. I know I lead such an interesting life that this is picture of the day. I don't have kids and cats to take pictures of.

old receipts

Saturday

A very good friend of mine makes all her family and friends hand made cards, and I feel honoured to be considered amongst them and receive mine every year. Beautifully cross stitched.

hand made Christmas card

Well that is it for this week, remember we are not back next week, nobody wants to be doing 365 on Christmas Day. I hope you all have a great festive season whatever you are doing. See you all back on 31st December when the linky opens early in the morning to link up our last twelve pictures. That linky will stay open until the Monday night as normal. 

Making life #Betterforbaby in local communities

When I became a parent  I wanted  my children to feel loved and secure and to become well balanced happy individuals.I wanted them to have the space to play and develop, other children to interact with and opportunities to experience new things in life.  I have to say this is easier said then done with all that life throws at you in different ways. I have felt the despair of being a mother of a child that would not stop crying, I sat and cried with her when I felt I could do nothing for her, and seriously felt like shutting her up with a cushion when I felt so sleep deprived I could not think of anything else to do. Support groups are invaluable at times like that. 

A friend of mine Alana goes to a breastfeeding support group locally. She tells me 

 They're fab and they've made a huge difference to my life, not just with helping me feed my son but just in keeping me sane. They have weekly group meetings and do home visits and antenatal classes and everything. They're all volunteers and they do a brilliant job

They've even got a Facebook group Full of advisors and mums who can help out and support each other online. They're a lovely bunch of ladies and sometimes just going to the group on a Monday to chat to other mums and have someone make me a cuppa and be there to answer all my irrational worries is fab.

So groups like the one Alana attends would have been a great help when my daughter was young, I felt isolated and alone and thought I must be doing something wrong, that it was all my fault. But these groups require funding, and this is where Pampers come in with their  #Betterforbaby scheme. Pampers want me to share this scheme with you and to encourage you to apply for one of their bursaries. 

But first of all why not have a look at their video, I love the words of the lullaby. There are very few of us can resist a cute baby, or answering a toddler who talks to you. 

How you can make life #BetterForBaby?

What better time to celebrate the love that babies bring than Christmas? This festive season, Pampers want to help spread the cheer by pledging to help make life #BetterForBaby in local communities. Is there something you’d really love to see built in your community? Maybe you want to improve some much-needed changing facilities, supply nappies and blankets to a local shelter, or update playtime equipment for a community nursery… anything goes!  If so, Pampers want to know exactly what you’d do to make life #BetterForBaby - tell Pampers your pledge using #BetterForBaby to be in with a chance of winning one of five £1,000 bursaries!

My daughter says this would come in handy for the mother and toddler group she attends. They have been displaced out of their usual hall as the local primary school is being rebuilt and the school are using the large hall in the community centre that all the local groups usually use. They have been moved into a smaller hall with no baby changing facilities and only one toilet which has no heating it. The money would allow them to seek alternative premises encouraging more parents to bring their children along. 

Anne tells me The Forehill, Holmston & Masonhill Community Council in Ayr is undertaking a number of projects in 2016. One of our projects this year is the upkeep of the Kyle Cycle track behind Kyle Academy. Another is Friends of Castlehill Woods where we will start a clear up early in 2016 to make the area a safer (and nicer) place to walk and play.

There are just three ideas I am sure there are many more locally, and there must be some in your area. So what are you waiting for search #BetterForBaby @Pampers_UK for more information!

The Beano Revisited

The Beano Revisited - a guest post by my husband.

Since its inception on the 30th July 1938 by DC Thomson The Beano has been one of the stalwarts of comic history steadily sailing on into the vast ocean of fun and humour.

For a relatively small part of that time I was an avid reader looking forward to spending some of my pocket money on the weekly issue always looking forward to the latest escapades of my favourite characters such as Desperate Dan, The Bash Street Kids, Dennis The Menace and Lord Snooty to name but a few. However it has been some considerable time since I last read a comic book, probably around 45 years or so in fact so it was a nice surprise to be offered the chance by magazine.co.uk to read a modern version of the Beano and to give my humble opinion of it.

a topical from cover 

First thing I noticed was how different the look and feel of the comic was compared to way back in the 1970's era, a nice shiny cover and a more rounded logo with a sort of  embossed look to it, and despite altogether slimmer look there appeared to be more pages than I remember and when opened it has a semi gloss sort of feel to it and dare I say it a different smell, quite a change to what I had been used to as a child it's strange how you remember these things. However down to the nitty gritty, the important stuff, the content.

I was more than pleasantly surprised to see how many of my favourite characters still existed Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Billy Whizz and of course Dennis The Menace and Gnasher to mention a few. A good number of new characters (well new to me anyway) have been introduced, Tricky Dicky, Calamity Jane and Dangerous Dan all seem to have slotted nicely into the comic in traditional style

still have comic strip style cartoons

The style of Beano humour seems to have shifted quite noticeably since I last read it, though the long standing tradition of anarchic humour has remained. When I was reading the Beano as a child quite a few of the characters appeared to glorify naughty style behaviour, e.g. bullying (Dennis the Menace), dishonesty (Roger the Dodger) etc. the copy I have been reading seems to have done away with a lot of dare I say not quite politically correct behaviour, you wont for instance see a slipper being applied to Dennis's rear end as a punishment. There also  seems to be a fair amount of activities and competitions and educational facts as well although that may have been the case way back in the day just not noticed at the time or remembered by myself now.

Star Wars themed makes and bakes 

I loved how the edition we received was very topical with not only the cover showing Star Wars but also some recipes and activities inside as well.

I think subscriptions make great presents as they are a gift that keeps on giving all year, and I for one know that the grandchildren love them coming through the post for them. There are so many different topics covered from computing, gaming, cooking, photography, hobbies, sports, to name but a few as well as children's comics and magazines.

To summarise I can highly recommend The Beano to readers old and new as I found the it to be as enjoyable as I did when first read it as a kid though I would have to read a few more issues  to get into some of the newer characters and I am quite confident that DC Thompson can continue to sail this (to me) newly revamped ship on into the future and perhaps in a few decades some of it's current readers will be writing a review similar  to this one and experiencing  that strange sort of feeling that you get when something so simple as a comic  with its familiar characters can transport you back to a into a world where things were just a little different.

Project 365 week 50

Nearing the end now, well done to EVERYBODY that has stuck it out this far.

Sunday

My bi-annual birthday present from the NHS, my bowel screening test duly filled and returned.

on its way back

Monday

hot chocolate and a doughnut. I had been a nice mummy, my daughter likes Morrisons jam doughnuts, so I bought two lots, dropped hers off  on the way home then had mine with hot choc topped with mini mallows, yum yum

hot choc and a doughnut

Tuesday

We braved the weather and went and checked on one of our geocaches, all in aid of testing out the new sat nav that we bought, lets just say it failed miserable and so we took it back and swapped it for another one. Despite the very srrong wind it was nice to get out for a walk.

hubby checking the cache

Wednesday

We drove past this, and just had to stop, turn round and come back and take a fw pictures. Its a Del Boy car all painted up for Christmas. The garden also had a lot of lights and inflatables in, will go back one evening when it is dark and have a look at it again.

made me stop and take a picture

Thursday

SIL was away down south with work for two days, so to help out I took theses two and Bob out for a while. It was cold, first real cold day we have had this winter I think, They played happily for a while but then Minky fell over and I think his hands were that cold it hurt so once we had dried the tears we went home, Sadly at this age they will not keep hat and gloves on. First time their Toddlebikes2 have been out, they managed quite well on them.

Had a repeat visit to the anaphylaxis clinic in Glasgow this evening. The blood tests he did the last time along with the history he took confirms my issue is with tree pollen and that is why I have an issue with anything that grows on a tree. My body sees fruit and nuts as pollen and attacks it. So basically to keep away from anything that grows on a tree, though I find ( at the moment anyway) I tolerate most fruit cooked, but that could change as until I hit the menopause I never had any of these issues. Advises again that I never leave home with out the epipens and there is not much else they can do for me. Least I know where I stand.

the twins with Bob in the background

Friday

We all have daft family things that we do. For the last years when we have taken Bob to see Santa at our local Dobbie's we have met up with a friend and sat and coloured in the children's colouring sheets with the crayons they provide. So we have escalated this up to taking our own pictures and crayons and sitting and colouring them in. Yes I know we are daft!! So we now get a member of staff to pick a winner. So far every year it has been Bob who has won, well he is the only child there so could be a bit of cheating going on to let him win. This year while we were there Santa took some time out from his busy schedule to come and talk to Bob and have his picture taken.

Bob, DD No3 and Santa

Saturday

When I had my last smear test I was told I had a slight prolapse and she suggested pelvic floor exercises for 15 minutes a day. I have to say I do not remember to do them so I treated myself to a machine to do it for me. Early days yet, they say tweleve weeks, so will let you know if I feel it has helped.

my new toy