BOM Challenge #15 - Mementos

I have tried and tried to get this picture to load correctly, but it is not. I have left a question on Blogger help site too.

Here is the layout I did for the BOM Challenge #15 regarding our mementos:

Journalling is as follows:

Left page of layout:
Next to the doll - My Great Aunt Mary made all the clothes for this doll by hand. There is to much detail and all the seams and tucks were hand stitched.

Bottom left next to the earings - these earings were from my Great Aunt Mary. They are special to me because they came from her. Not quite my style though.

Top right - I really like Imbuia ball and claw furniture and I got this cabinet from Dereck's mom.

Bottom right - antique brooch and eternity rign. I got this from my Great Aunt Mary who live in Easbourne in England.

Bottom middle - old fashioned engagement ring with 4 small diamonds. Sentimental as I got this from my Great Aunt Anne who lives in Canada.

Right page of layout:

Top left - the complete mini set of Shakspeare books. I got this from my Great Gran, Gagga who I never got to meet. She lived in Scotland.

Top right - pastel tea set is what I got from my Gran Farquharson. She loved her tea and this reminds me so much of her. Too nice to use.

Middle - the desk I got from my Grandpa Farquharson and it has pride of place in my craft room. He always had lots of piles on it, but he always knew where thing were.

Left - Bangles - a fond memory of my Gran Engler was the jingly sound of her bangles. Each grand daughter got one and I had mine melted down to make two.

Bottom - this Moorcroft bowl is a collectors item and is special because it came from my Gran Engler.

Bottom right - the green enamel pot is from Dereck's mom. Not to keep, but to make her famous ginger pudding.

Treasurer signing off ....

New Glasses

I have been meaning to go to the optician for a while as I was battling with my eyes when doing things close up. My problem was that when I ate supper I could either see what I was eating and the TV would be blurred or I could see the TV but not see what I was eating!! I eventually went to the optician and decided to get multifocal lenses. I have always been told that these are problematic, but was convinced by my optician that this was not the case and was more in the mind.

I was phoned on Friday evening and collected my new glasses yesterday and put them on before leaving the shop - the shop assistant told me I was very brave!!


They are "Levi's" and come with their own denim case. I have been so comfortable with them on and it was a pleasure working in my craft room making pouches without having to take them off to see what I was doing.

I can see clearly now signing off ....

The Bank Account

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.' 'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. 'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away.. Just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank. I am still depositing. 'Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from hatred. 2. Free your mind from worries. 3. Live simply. 4. Give more. 5. Expect less.

I think there is a great lesson to be learnt from this and it is so true.

Life really is what you make of it.

Have a great day.

Banker signing off ....

I'm Back, but having problems

Yes, Dereck and I are finally back from our wonderful USA and UK holiday. We got back on 9 May 2009 and it has been rather busy since then.

I have been exceptionally busy at work as we have a big court case on at the moment and there has jsut been so much else on the go.

I am not sure if anyone else is experiencing blog problems, but there are some blogs that open and then internet says it can't open and has to abort and some blogs when I try and leave a message it just does not do anything and there is a little note at the bottom on the screen telling me that it took 93ms to process, but still nothing happens. So if I have only left a comment days after your post or no comment at all, that is the reason.

It was my brother, Warren's, 40th birthday get together on Saturday and we had lovely rolled meat over the spit and then soaked in a marinade with potato, noodle and green salad. Very yummy. This was followed by chocolate cake and ice-cream with chocolate sauce (all home made, except the ice-cream).

Busy preparing for our 25th wedding anniversary on 16 June and of course for the Doing Life Scrapaganza on the 13 June, so you can see, I have lots to do.

Anyway, that is all for now, will update again soon when I have taken some photos.

Just me signing off ....