He worked here

I might have mentioned many moons ago that J picked Community Service as his Enrichment option this year.

I don't envy him the task but he had to go and ask if anyone would have him. We started in the village library. Unfortunately, you have to be 18 to volunteer. Next I took him to a charity shop in town. He did his asking and they said, "We would love to have you". "Fifteen isn't a problem but we can't let you use the till until you're sixteen. See you next week ?"

He has been going in one afternoon every fortnight to help in the store. After taking down the Halloween display, J was asked to dress the window. I had to have a photo! It is not a great photo of the window as there were a lot of passing traffic and I was trying to avoid the reflection and looking like a loony.

I wanted a trift feel for this layout hence the book page, the journalling cards from Crate Pretty Party and something I have been hoarding for a while...a sheet of Popeye buttons. I used DIY Thickers for the title which I stamped with more text.

So that's recorded. J has finished the program for the year as they are gearing up for study leaves very shortly. I hope he will pick something as worthwhile next year. I am so proud of him.

A new sketch challenge site

Do you like sketches ? Have you seen Sketchbook365 ?, a brand spankingly new sketch challenge web site ?

This is what I made with the first sketch.

We went punting last Sunday. Mad, I know. The sun was hot but the trans-siberian wind was blowing AND, the water and hence the the pole was very, very, very cold. But when in Cambridge, what do you do ? Punt!

Do check out the blog for more gorgeous inspirations.

Outnumbered

Are you enjoying the school holiday ? We are having a gorgeous sunny day down our way. How about you ? But isn't it just typical, after a very wet Easter weekend! But I am not complaining.

Last half term, J dropped a bomb shell. "I can't really see the white board in class", he said. "How long has this been going on ?", we asked ? "For a while", came the reply. So I promptly booked eyes tests for both boys. "Make sure you use VisionExpress", said A, who is most experienced of all things eyes.

You see, A has had glasses since he was 7 or 8. He now wears contacts but without, he can only see about 3-4 inches in front of his eyes. On the other hand, I can see very well though I have had to buy a reading glass for my +0.5. I used to take the boys for their regular eye tests but since moving to Cambridge, I haven't got around to it ( nearly three years later! ).

It turns out, J needs glasses because he is short sighted. He needs it in class. He will need glasses when he starts driving. The surprise was H. He had a +0.5 in one eye which can sometimes give him headache when using the computer or reading. Using those tiny screens on IPod does not help matter either.

So there you go, I am now outnumbered in this household. Here are the boys trying their glasses on for the first time in VisionExpress. They were obliging(ish). The optician said, "Is it their first glasses ?".

Luckily J hasn't missed anything at school because he has good friends who would relate the content of the board to him. Big bonus too, for us, as both boys choose NHS glasses. But I must remember to take them for their regular eye tests.

And my winner for IACW Spring blog hop is

Drum roll...

Mole!

Mole, could you email me your address please. Thank you for all your visits.

Flowers are blooming

I am so happy that Spring is here. In fact, I think with the temperature we are having, we've gone straight into Summer. IACW is having a Spring Blog Hop this weekend to celebrate the arrival of Spring.

You might have seen previous posts on IACW and on here and you might know that I love adding large bunches of flowers to my background cardstock. I have another one today. I am going to show you how to make some flowers with 1cm ribbons and embroidery thread.

Start in the centre, stitch the ribbon into place. Fold the ribbon approximately 1cm away and stitch over the fold. Continue folding and sewing the ribbon in a spiral to end up with this

I added embroidered stems and some leaves made out of patterned paper and water colour. I also added some jewels to the centre of the flowers.

And a garden bursting with blooms is not complete without some butterflies.

And here is the finished layout

You might have read my previous post about Princess Layer laying her first egg. I am pleased to report that she has been laying an egg everyday since then. Jabba the Hen started laying last Thursday and she has also been producing every day. We have two still not started...roast chicken anyone ?

I will do a draw at the end of the blog hop. For a chance to win a little something from me, please leave a comment on this post. Thank you visiting. I hope to see you again.

Katherine is next on the blog hop so be sure to visit her at Fruit of My Scraps.

The best Retreat ever!

I am now recovered from my weekend in Warrington with Sarah's Cards Retreat. I have stolen this picture from their page on Facebook of our group photo.

Can you spot the rabbit up front ? I am not sure where he came from but he was very obliging.

I taught a class using gorgeous papers from Crate Paper. We misted and stamped and cut out some cute birds...

The photo is of my boys and A walking along the beach in Southwold. Ok, I confess, we didn't get down to the beach proper, just the paved path along the beach because A does not like sandy beach. I am Malaysian and the only way for beaches to be is SANDY! What about you ? Do you prefer sand or pebble ?

The first of many

There was much excitement in our household this week as our Cambridge Blue became the the first of our hens to lay. She has been having a straight run since that first one.

Isn't she gorgeous ?

We had placed some ceramic eggs at the weekend to encourage the hens. Her egg is the smaller, red egg.