My camera batteries ran out about lunchtime, amongst much-a-cussing, so the last few pics of the day at the beach were snapped with more luck than judgement.
What is going on? The climate is so unpredictable, it changes within minutes. From warmth and sunshine to incredible cloudbursts the next - it's all a bit 'Day After Tomorrow' for my liking....
Went to a crop today - hurrah! Don't often get to go & I love the time to myself. Today was the Exeter Scrapaholics crop and I produced this layout:
Does actually look better in real life!
Anyway - well done to George Sampson on Britain's Got Talent - a deserving winner methinks.
Bit of a shock this week - a bomb went off in the city centre. It went off in a restaurant toilet, but this was seemingly premature and by accident. The only injuries were to the man carrying the bomb - 'sources' say he has lost his sight. Whilst there is a bit of 'serves him right' with it, it is also a bit tragic, as he is apparently mentally ill, and was preyed upon by religious extremists. THAT is the really shocking bit, that there are so many weak/ vulnerable people out there, just ripe for this kind of thing. At the end of the day, you just cannot prepare for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and if someone is prepared to die for a cause - you cannot protect yourself against it.
Anyway, I would like to leave my little blog on a more cheerful note.... wept all over my SiL last week over the family issues, and would like to say an official THANK YOU to her - I cry rarely - very rarely in fact, so I must have felt quite low to be in such a state. She was lovely, so if you are reading this K, ta love.xx
Took Oliver to Beavers last week. Being home-educated, it's the closest thing to school I think he will experience, and he has expressed interest in PE-type things before, so the team game aspect is what he craves, and what I think he will derive most benefit from. My friend's little girl goes - E, and she looked after him well. Bless. Now his social calendar is more full than mine, sigh. lol.
We had a nice weekend away in Woolacombe, at The Royal Hotel and it was lovely. Mark and I were barely on speaking terms on the day we went, step kid stuff, so the break was MORE than welcome, and NEEDED. Some pics:
Don't marry a man with kids. That is my advice to you today. I did, nine years ago, and married into a nice little family of Mark and his two children then aged 6 & 7, (D & C), who were quite lovely, and there was an ex-wife, (R),hovering around who seemed quite happy for me to be the step-mother. In the dark background was a veangeful ex-girlfriend, (L),with two other children (then aged 2 & nearly 4 - L & C). There was a hideous access battle going on when we married for L & C & seemed like it would not be resolved anytime soon. The day we arrived back from honeymoon in Venice (the best time & place ever), L called to say Mark could see L & C. From there on in for around 3 years, our marriage was a nightmare. I did not understand the way Mark behaved with the kids - he seemed to need to shut me out in order to prioritise them. I resented this and subsequently behaved like shit. They were dark, dark times. Then I had Oliver, sunshine of my life, and, to cut a very long and very dull story short, there were periods of time without L&C and without D, and life ticked along very nicely just seeing C & being with Oliver & Mark. Relationships with the children are clouded by the attitudes/behaviours of their mothers (naturally the major influence on their lives), and now the situation is that it is Siberia between R & ourselves (more with me) and worse with L, who should be locked up for insanity I am sure. This week I am sick to death of step children, having seemingly upset C last week, and now out of the blue having accusing/abusive texts from L. We need to leave......
Hope they will be liked!
I have lost around 10 lbs in weight now, which I am very pleased with. Don't think I look particularly thinner, but I certainly feel lighter, and exercising is toning up some of the flabby bits. Got a weekend away coming up soon, where we will be in a hotel with help yourself meals laid on, so imagine some of the lost pounds will find their way home again... Is there anything more blissful than being able to load your plate up with nice food you have neither had to buy nor cook and that you don't have to clear away afterwards? I think not.
On the scrapfront, have done 3 layouts for the Scrapbook Sisters this weekend, and am working on a card for a change. Here are some sneaky peeks:
Today is Mark's sister's birthday, so we have been invited out to theirs for a barbecue later on today, which I am looking forward to. Good food, good company and a good couple of glasses of the grape. An excellent Bank Holiday.
