Tails of Terror from the Black Lagoon!

Hooked on Pinterest!

2012-01-29T20:36:00.002Z

Well peeps, it's been quite a while since I posted anything. I have only a one word excuse and that word is Pinterest.com For those of you not familiar with this website I can only describe it as addictive. It allows you to 'pin' pictures and graphics (and now YouTube videos!) that you find on the web, or on other users Boards to Boards of your own. You can build up huge collections of pins and boards (I now have 450 Boards, & nearly 75,000 pins!). Visit my Boards at Pinterest.com/charmainezoe

Each pin links back to the webpage it was originally pinned from, a useful reference resource and a great way to find exciting new websites and blogs.

3D TV is amazing!

2011-08-14T11:30:00.001Z

Result! Hubby just drove out to the Comet superstore we got our LG 3D TV from. At the time we negotiated a deal for a package that included an extra 2 pairs of the special 3D glasses - that was last November and as of this morning we were still waiting for them! Just rung to tell me he's now got his hands on one pair and they are going to search 12 stores for a second pair, which is great news. Means we have spares for the future as well as being able to have more than 2 viewing at the same time. I love 3D TV, just ordered the new Pirates of the Caribbean film which is out in September in 3D! I've also got pre-orders on at Amazon for 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader', 'Rio' & 'Ice Age 3D' when they come out in the next couple of months.

Source: beststuff.com via Charmaine on Pinterest

Also looking forward to receiving 'Ocean Wonderland' this week, which is a documentary film on coral reefs and gets great reviews for its depth and 'pop-out' 3D effects. Already have 'Legend of the Guardians' & 'Tangled' in 3D, both of which are amazing. I've got my daughter & grandson coming to stay for the bank holiday weekend so really looking forward to us all being able to watch together, as they haven't seen anything in 3D. Can't wait to see my Grandson's face!

New Zazzle sale to Brazil: Friends Forever Dog Art Button

2011-05-02T10:38:00.002Z

Just sold one of my Dog Art Buttons to a customer in Brazil. These feature my own dogs, Pepsi & Max, a west highland white terrier and a Scottish terrier. This is my third sale in Brazil and this is why Zazzle is so great for getting a world wide audience for one's designs. Now just waiting for a Japanese customer! This design is available on lots of different products like mugs, t-shirts, magnets etc.

Talking of the boys, we've just had them back from the groomers after one of their quarterly clips and they look lovely. But I'm not happy with the job they've done, Pepsi particularly doesn't seem particularly clean and I'd have to say has not been bathed, despite them assuring hubby they would be when he dropped them off. Last time we took them to this groomers we thought Pepsi had been clipped a little too severely, particularly round his neck, and again this time it's happened, only even worse. I also noticed that neither dog was keen on going up the stairs to the grooming salon when we arrived, which is not like them. So I think we can fairly safely say we won't be using this particular groomer again

Dog Art: Friends Forever! by CharmaineZoe
More Dogs Buttons

Paris Fashion Houses of 1910 Video

2011-05-01T17:33:00.002Z

This is my latest Vintage Fashion Video for my YouTube channel CHARMAINEZOE. It is a collection of original photographs showing the Salons of eminent designers of the Belle Epoque period in Paris, including Paquin, Worth, Doucet, Callot Sisters etc. There are many shots of the various salons themselves as well as the fashions of the period, but also a large number of behind the scenes shots showing the actual design and construction of the gowns including sewing rooms, cutting rooms, embroiderers rooms etc, which are a wonderful insight into the life of these famous Salons.

Watch the Complete Royal Wedding Ceremony Video

2011-04-29T18:03:00.009Z

I've spent the entire day watching coverage of the Royal Wedding and it's been one of the nicest days of TV I've seen in a long time. The crowds were huge, having such fun and so good humored, and when we finally got to see William and Katherine they both looked stunning! Kate's dress was really beautiful and very elegant. Her sister Philippa (Pippa) looked stunning in her very elegant sheath dress as well, and she did a great job as Maid of Honour. The little Bridesmaids and Pageboys looked terrific and behaved beautifully.

I thought the ceremony was beautiful and of course the setting of the ancient Westminster Abbey, which is over 1,000 years old was sublime. I spent some time watching the celebrity guests and foreign Royalty arriving and spotted a very handsome looking David Beckham, with Victoria wearing a very pretty little pillbox type hat. Also spotted Elton John and David Furnish looking very dapper.

Here is the complete ceremony for you to enjoy if you missed it.

Having Fractal Fun!

2011-04-24T17:50:00.001Z

I've been playing around and having some fun with some fractal images I created in Sterling 2 a while back. Below is my original work that I call 'The Chalice', and below that is a neon effect version in stunning scarlet. BTW a detail of the original 'Chalice' is available as a card from 'Kaleidoscope Kreations' my store on Zazzle.com

The Chalice Card: Template by CharmaineZoe
create card designs on Zazzle

Happy Easter everyone!

2011-04-24T08:35:00.003Z

Easter Greetings to all my readers, I hope you enjoy these lovely graphics.

Easter Comments & Graphics - Photobucket

T-Mobile Royal Wedding Video

2011-04-22T20:40:00.000Z

I just discovered this great spoof video of next week's Royal Wedding by T-Mobile - brilliant!

Lovely new Mothers's Day Card now available on Zazzle.com

2011-04-22T19:18:00.005Z

Mother, A Girls Best Friend: Template by CharmaineZoe
create cards online at zazzle

Amazing Spring Weather in an English Garden!

2011-04-20T19:42:00.000Z

Can't get over the amazing weather we're having at the moment, so was wandering around the garden this evening with the camera as everything is about 2 weeks early, and made this slideshow just for the crack!

Create your own slideshow design

Lovely New Easter Greetings Cards now available on Zazzle.com

2011-04-10T15:54:00.003Z

Easter Greetings Card by CharmaineZoe
Join Zazzle.com's greeting card affiliate program

Easter Blessings Card with Easter Eggs by CharmaineZoe
Browse Easter Cards

Slideshow of our English Garden in 2010

2011-03-02T21:11:00.001Z

This photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

I discover some great Travis Banton illustrations

2011-01-11T18:05:00.003Z

I was trawling through some vintage copies of the Theatre Magazine from the Twenties the other day, when I came across a couple of very nice illustrations. I wondered who they were by as many of these old mags are illustrated by people who, while not famous at the time subsequently achieve fame in later years. The signature was not easy to read but after Googling several variations on what I thought it might be, together with the words 1920’s and artist or illustrator I eventually came up with the possible name of Travis Banton.

On checking the previous months edition of the same magazine I discovered another two, in a slightly different style, but this time unmistakebly signed T. Banton. On confirmation of my discovery I got very excited as I realized just who Travis Banton was, and that these illustrations of 1921 had obviously been done at a very early stage of his career. Travis Banton was to become the chief designer at Paramount Pictures, as well as designing for Twentieth Century Fox and Universal He is considered one of the most important Hollywood costume designers of the 1930s & 40s, and consequently clothed many of the most famous film stars of all time.

He was born in Waco, Texas. And moved to New York City at the age of two. Later on he was educated at Columbia University and at the Art Students League where he studied art and fashion design.

An early apprenticeship with high-society couturier Madame Francis in New York allowed him to make a name for himself when in 1919 Mary Pickford selected one of his designer gowns for her secret marriage to Douglas Fairbanks, after which his reputation was established.

He opened his own dressmaking salon in New York City, and soon was asked to create costumes for the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1924, he moved to Hollywood when Paramount contracted with him to create costumes for his first film, 'The Dressmaker From Paris'.

Beginning with Norma Talmadge in "Poppy," Banton designed clothing for Pola Negri and Clara Bow (It) in the 1920s. Florence Vidor, who had seen herself as a plain Jane type, was enchanted with the lavish gowns Banton gave her for 'The Grand Duchess and the Waiter. (1926). In the '30s and '40s he designed for such stars as Kay Francis, Lilyan Tashman, Sylvia Sidney, Gail Patrick, Helen Vinson, and Claudette Colbert. Ultimately, Travis Banton may be best remembered for forging the style of such Hollywood icons as Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, and the inimitable Mae West.

Glamour, understated elegance, and exquisite fabrics endeared Travis Banton to the most celebrated of Hollywood's beauties and made him one of the most sought-after costume designers of his era. As a viewing of such films as The Gilded Lily (1935) and Desire (1936)reveals, his clothes were marked by simple but stylish cuts (often on the bias), rich fabrics (such as satin and lame), and extravagant decoration (beads, fur, and feathers).

When Designer Howard Greer left Paramount, Banton was promoted to Head Designer and was responsible for dressing the studio's most illustrious stars. Because of his alcoholism and reputedly also at the instigation of his subordinate Edith Head, Banton was forced to leave Paramount. He started his own business and also designed for Twentieth Century-Fox from 1939-1941 and Universal from 1945-1948.

I've discovered Photo Montage and Textures and I'm having a lot of fun!

2010-10-03T12:51:00.006Z

These are my my first three efforts at photo montage and textures, let me know what you think! I use Photoplus X2 to do the photo manipulation and texturing and then finish off using Picnik.

Photo Montage of Scotland's Eilean Donan Castle in a new setting with textures and created with 3 photos I took in Scotland this year.

Eilean Donan Castle: www.flickr.com/photos/charmainezoe/5037563806/

Rocky shore: www.flickr.com/photos/charmainezoe/5036697115/

Sky: www.flickr.com/photos/charmainezoe/5036797555/

Texture by ground*floor: www.flickr.com/photos/chromaticaberrations/2278536117/

Textured frame by rubyblossom: www.flickr.com/photos/rubyblossom/4954128101/in/pool-1024...

Photo Montage using these great Creative Commons images:-

Thanks to JordanHill School D&T Dept for their great Abbey pic: www.flickr.com/photos/designandtechnologydepartment/40075...

Thanks to pixiepic for her lovely swan: www.flickr.com/photos/pixiepics2008/3502210286/in/photost...

Thanks to flickrohit for his great clouds: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickrohit/2934554922/

Thanks to pareerica for the lovely frame texture: www.flickr.com/photos/8078381@N03/3137643630/

Original image supplied by skagitrenee at www.flickr.com/photos/14678598@N07/3786362162/

The Textures I added using a combination of PhotoPlus X2 and Picnik

Wordless Wednesday: A River runs through it!

2010-08-31T22:47:00.006Z

JOIN IN AT WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Ruby Tuesday: Flambeing under Canvas!

2010-08-31T21:06:00.007Z

This is a picture of my hubby flambeing a peppered steak in the caravan awning while we were on holiday in Devon! Probably not a good idea - but it was delicious :-) For more participants in the Ruby Tuesday meme head over to Work of the Poet and get in on the fun!

New Scrapbook Pages

2010-08-30T16:04:00.009Z

I've been feeling a bit bored lately, so decided to reignite my interest in scrapbooking by browsing the great Scrapbook Freebie website DigiFree at CraftCrave, where I found links to a huge selection of freebie goodies including these great Quick Pages, which I've used to get my juices flowing again for the great hobby of Digital Scrapbooking!

This is a QP from Jenny743 Scrap Addict and Elegant Wordart by Bethany featuring some photos of my Grandson Kieran and daughter Samantha.

Below is another QP from Jenny743 Scrap Addict and Elegant Wordart by Bethany with a lovely photo of my Mum and Dad sitting together, just about to celebrate their Golden Wedding, shortly after which sadly, my Dad died and my Mum only survived him by a year. So this is one of my most treasured photos.

I also found this lovely QP at Lynn's Scrap Attic which I've used to frame a photo of myself 'first time around' in 1976 :-) I just like this photo for the pretty bouquet I was carrying!

Yet another Free QP! This time from one of my favourite designers Pam Lefors, again with Wordart by Bethany, and featuring a couple of lovely old photos of my mum and dad in the early 50's.

I'm just going to make it this four for now, as I have several more I'll use for a further post later this week. Hope you have enjoyed looking at them and I'm sure you'll love the sites I've linked to as they all have great stuff for Digital Scrapbookers

Happy 4th July!

2010-07-04T09:06:00.013Z

Click to enlarge
Wishing all my American readers a very happy Independence Day this 4th July! I wanted something special to honor the day and found this great wallpaper HERE. I hope you all have a lovely day and that wherever you are the sun shines for you.

4th of July WEEKEND SALE on ZAZZLE.COM - 17.76% OFF ALL ORDERS!! Use Code: ZAZZLEUSAUSA Ends Monday (Offer valid on Zazzle.com only.)
Sadly it's not shining here, despite us being in the middle of Summer! So I've been unable to do much in the garden, but that means I can spend the time at my keyboard (Yippee!), so I've been busy adding and updating my photos and art on various web based photo galleries and art sites which include Flickr, Photobucket, Webshots, Fotki, Fotolog, Poppyhill, Imagekind, FineArt America, DeviantArt, Artist Rising and of course Zazzle!

There is a selection of my latest photography art displayed as a great 'stack of cards' on my post 'My Photography on Fotki', two below this one.

So as you can see I've been very busy but enjoying it all hugely, and as I have a steady flow of sales, particurly on my Zazzle store from all over the world (now also available in Brazil & Japan would you believe!), other people like my efforts too, and I get such a buzz every time I get a notification that I've got a sale. I always rush to my Zazzle account to see where it's gone in the world!

So far I've sold loads in the USA, Canada and the UK, but also in Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, but still waiting for my first Brazilian or Japanese sale!

New Kaleidoscope Kreations Sales on Zazzle!

2010-07-03T09:19:00.005Z

Just got my first customer in Sweden! They bought a print of one of my kaleidoscope designs at Zazzle Kaleidoscope Kreations.Also sold a bumper sticker on Zazzle, to a customer in Denver, Colorado, who bought one of my military designs that says My Other Car is a Tank!

My Other Car is a Tank! Bumper Sticker by CharmaineZoe
View other Military Bumper Stickers

Troilus 3 by CharmaineZoe
View all the other artwork at zazzle.co.uk

My Photography on Fotki!

2010-07-01T22:18:00.002Z

A stack of all my latest and best photographs, now on Fotki. Just click on images to see each 'card'.

Creature From the Black Lagoon to Help BP Plug Oil Leak!

2010-06-23T21:20:00.008Z

Speaking to reporters today, the Creature from the Black Lagoon confirmed rumors that he has been contacted by BP in its continuing efforts to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Yeah, they contacted me. I’m glad to help. I live on this planet too” the Creature said. “I have experience in deep water that could come in very handy.”

When asked if he was worried about being injured he responded, “I swim in my own faeces. Do you think I’m worried about a little oil?

Read the rest of this funny spoof at MANHATTAN INFIDEL.....

Latest sale at Kaleidoscope Kreations - a mousepad

2010-06-22T16:04:00.004Z

Just sold another mousepad on my Zazzle store, Kaleidoscope Kreations. This time it's a design called PE201 (catchy, isn't it?) in browns and tans, with a repeating pattern diagonally across the pad and is going to a customer in New York

PE 201 Mousepad by CharmaineZoe
See more mousepads with zazzle

Journey Home in the Snow Video (click to play)

2010-06-22T06:23:00.006Z

I was browsing through my videos last night and came across this one of a journey from where I work in Northfield, just south of Birmingham, through the snowy streets to home. Recorded on 6th January 2010 after some heavy snow but on a beautiful sunny blue sky day when the snow covered houses and gardens look very pretty. it lasts just over 9 minutes. Just click on the centre arrow to play.

Astronauts fabulous photo of Aurora Australis taken from Space Station

2010-06-21T17:40:00.005Z

Just had to show you this stunning picture of the Aurora Australis, the one that appears over the Southern hemisphere, as opposed to the Aurora Borealis, which is visible from the Northern hemisphere. It was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and shows the aurora australis against the backdrop of Earth's horizon.

The ISS was over the Southern Indian Ocean at an altitude of 350 km, with the astronauts looking towards Antarctica and the South Pole. Dense cloud cover is dimly visible below the aurora. The curvature of the Earth’s horizon can be clearly seen as well as the faint blue line of the upper atmosphere.

The stunning sight is formed as charged particles streaming from the Sun – known as the solar wind - interact with Earth’s magnetic field, resulting in collisions with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. This striking aurora image was taken during a geomagnetic storm that was probably caused by a coronal mass ejection from the Sun on May 24th. The atoms emit photons as a means of returning to their original energy state. The photons form the aurora that we see.

The most commonly observed colour of aurora is green, caused by photons (light) emitted by excited oxygen atoms at wavelengths centered at 0.558 micrometers, or millionths of a metre. Visible light is reflected from healthy (green) plant leaves at approximately the same wavelength. Red aurora are generated by light emitted at a longer wavelength (0.630 micrometers), and other colours such as blue and purple are also sometimes observed.

While aurora are generally only visible close to the poles, severe magnetic storms impacting the Earth’s magnetic field can sometimes shift them towards the equator.

Fathers Day: a tribute to my Dad

2010-06-19T15:28:00.022Z

Dr.Hugo Coghlan 1925 - 2002
My Dad died in 2002 and I still miss him dreadfully, especially on Fathers Day. He was one of the kindest, gentlest, funniest men I have ever known and I was very fortunate to have him as my father.

He was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1925, although his family came from Skibbereen in Cork and he was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom became Doctors. This is a picture of him (right of picture), with his brothers, Georges and Diarmuid together in 1976.

He met my mother, Dorothy, while studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin and they fell in love, but unfortunately my mother was a Protestant and my Dad a Catholic, and this was Ireland in the forties!

Fortunately for me, my two sisters and our own children, they overcame all the obstacles, as theirs truly was a love match, and married in 1952. Sadly he died a few months after they celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary after 50 years together and Mum died of a massive heart attack not long after. I think she died of a broken heart without him. I like to think they have been reunited and are together again.

Dad and Mum on their Wedding Day

Dad with all his girls around him in happy times!

Friday-Follow: Building Friendship One Blog at a Time – June 18th

2010-06-18T09:12:00.011Z

Welcome to the 4th Friday Follow hosted by our awesome hostesses, Stephanie at Goober Grape Monkey Man, Meg at Just Another Manic Mommy, and Traci at Traci66. Thank you ladies for being willing to host! Please stop by and see these awesome ladies.

We invite you to join us every Friday to get more blog followers and to find many interesting blogs that you like. This is all about sharing and having fun.

We expect you to be on your honor and to have fun. These are only guidelines to make it more enjoyable for you. Here’s how YOU can join the Friday Follow celebration:

* Link up your blog below...One Link per blog
* Grab our Friday Follow button include on your side bar, or post.. grab the linky information if you want it
* Follow the Friday-Follow blog and the hostesses in slots 1, 2 & 3 that have volunteered today to host
* Follow the blogs you want, leave comment saying you are from Friday Follow – use common courtesy
* No spammers, or xxrated blogs - family friendly

If you need more guidelines about following see Friday-Follow.com

This list is new each week and closes on Saturday at 11:59pm EST. The links do not carry over. Please link up each week for new participants to find your blogs. It will be visible all week to visit the blogs listed.

Congratulations to our first Three Friday Follow Winners!!!

Pull Up Your Potty Seat, This could take a while
Singing Three Little Birds
A Cuppy Cake Life
Each week we will randomly draw from three (3) blogs from the links for the next week’s Friday Follow, and each blog chosen will be placed in the highly coveted number #7, #8, and #9 position on the blog hop. The first blog chosen will also be given the option of doing an interview which will post on Friday-Follow.com on Thursday the next week. We love your participation and want to give back to you! You could be next!

This week's Friday-Follow sponsors are Britanny and Amber from
If you are interested in being a sponsor for Friday-Follow, please fill out the sponsorship form HERE.

There are 2 giveaways, thanks to our wonderful sponsors.

The Shindig Card Package {$45 value} 25 Printed Cards, 25 Envelopes, and a Sheet of 30 Matching Return Labels.

The Funkylicious Blogger Blog design {$50 value} which includes a header, background and more! Be sure to check out our wonderful sponsor for everything they offer and some cool free stuff!

Thank you for joining us. Have fun! Happy Flying!!

Kool Kaleidoscopes Video now on YouTube!

2010-06-06T09:59:00.004Z

New! Flowers from my Garden Greeting Cards

2010-06-03T09:40:00.001Z

I took a stroll around my garden the other day, which is looking lovely at this time of the year, with lilac, clematis, cherry tree, crab apple trees, aqueligia etc all in flower. There was even the first rose of the season, a pretty pink Queen Elizabeth starting to bloom. Naturally I had my camera with me and took some nice shots as I love to be able to look back at the photos when the flowers are all gone.

Some of them were good enough to use on cards for my ZAZZLE STORE, so I decided to create some personalised Birthday Cards. I hope you like them.

Crab Apple Blossom Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
See other Greeting card Cards

Azalea Flower Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
Browse other Greeting card Cards

Cherry Blossom Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
View other Greeting card Cards

Purple Aquielgia Flower Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
Browse other Greeting card Cards

Rose Birthday Card by CharmaineZoe
Design a photo note card at zazzle

Rose Birthday Card by CharmaineZoe
Create a photo note card online at zazzle

New Birthday Cards: The Natural Landscapes of Devon

2010-06-01T09:17:00.002Z

I was in the beautiful county of Devon in England for a weeks holiday at Easter, staying at a great Caravan Park called Dornafield, near Newton Abbot. While there I took some great photos of some of the lovely landscapes there and in the near vicinity. I have now turned them into attractive birthday cards which are all personalisable and available from my ZAZZLE STORE.

Devon River Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
Browse other Greeting card Cards

Devon Sunrise Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
View more Greeting card Cards

Beech Wood Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
Design custom note cards with zazzle

English Oak Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
Shop for a different greeting card on zazzle

New range of Vintage American Military designs

2010-05-28T08:56:00.001Z

Specially for Memorial Day in the USA I have created this lovely range based on old postcard designs. They are available as greetings cards, postcards, fridge magnets, mugs and caps and many feature the American flag. All are available from my ZAZZLE STORE.

New Designs at Kaleidoscope Kreations

2010-05-05T16:34:00.007Z

I've been really busy creating lovely designs for my Zazzle Store, Kaleidscope Kreations and among a great new series of design collections is one I've called Glacier, a set of 12 very elegant designs in silvery grey and gold on a very dark blue background. (I've included 6 on this post)These are available as Fridge Magnets, Stickers and Keychains at the moment, all of which make lovely gifts and party or wedding favors, and will gradually be added to more and more products. And don't forget they can all be customised to add your own text and create bookplates, save the date, etc., All designs are always available on any product available from Zazzle by request. The contact page is available on the Zazzle sidebar.

I've also got several brand new ranges apart from Glacier. These are called Jewelled Rainbows and Gilded Azure and can be viewed at http://www.zazzle.com/charmainezoe.

Glacier 1 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
See other Kaleidoscope Stickers

Glacier 2 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
View other custom sticker on zazzle.co.uk

Glacier 3 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
Browse more Kaleidoscope Stickers

Glacier 4 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
View other Kaleidoscope Stickers

Glacier 5 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
See other Kaleidoscope Stickers

Glacier 6 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
See more stickers available at zazzle

Some Demolition Work!

2010-04-11T09:31:00.011Z

When we moved in to our present house we inherited a big old wooden greenhouse at the bottom of the garden. We've only ever used it for storage and it was prone to having it's glass panels smashed by falling fruit from a large apple tree which overhangs it. We have now trimmed the tree back so it's not quite so destructive, but over the years it has become more and more decprepit and derelict.

So this year we made the decision to demolish it completely and replace it with a new structure, preferably one we can sit in on a blustery or rainy day and still enjoy the sunshine, which this end of the garden enjoys all day round.

The following video shows the operation to demolish it. Pepsi and Max are popping in and out of the frame all the time and it finishes rather abruptly as we realise that Pepsi has disappeared through a gap we had exposed in the fence (it used to have chicken wire attached to the greenhouse to stop him!), which is when we had to drop everything temporarily and chase him across the field down to the river which backs on to the garden! Didn't do poor Hubby's blood pressure a lot of good either!

My lovely Roses for Mothers's Day

2010-03-14T23:48:00.009Z

These are the lovely roses I got from Pepsi and Max for Mother's Day, or Mothering Sunday as we call it here in the UK. Hubby had bought them on the boys behalf when he'd done the shopping yesterday, and hidden them in the garage overnight so I wouldn't see them. He had them all arranged in one of my Waterford crystal vases for when I came downstairs this morning. I love the peach colour and globular shape, but sadly they have no scent and probably wont last long, which I find with most supermarket flowers these days. So I've taken loads of photos of them to keep as mementos, including this great close up which really shows off the colour nicely.

I also got got a huge bar of Cadburys fruit and nut milk chocolate, my favourite, and Hubby cooked the most delicious roast pork Sunday lunch, so I've really been spoilt today.

Oh well, back to work and real life tomorrow!

Michael Jackson's This Is It - They Don't Care About Us - Dancing Inmates Video

2010-03-11T18:50:00.009Z

Here's another great video from the inmates of CEBU Prison in the Phillipines, this time they dance to Michael Jackson's This Is It.

If you enjoyed this and would like to see their other performances check out the byronfgarcia YouTube Channel to see their complete impressive repertoire.

Curry & Specs!

2010-03-09T13:25:00.006Z

My office manager Pam, was telling us this morning how she went out for a curry with her sister last night. They go to the same Indian restaurant fairly regularly and she always manages to forget to bring her reading glasses with her, so reading the menu is a problem. Now the head waiter has taken to bringing out a tray of spectacles for her to try on until she finds a pair she can read with! These are 'borrowed' from the other waiters, chefs, washers up etc in the kitchens and has become standard procedure when ever they see her coming, now that's what I call service!

Kaleidoscope Kreations the website, gets a spruce up!

2010-03-08T22:12:00.004Z

I've felt for some time that my Kaleidoscope Kreations website at http://www.charmainezoe.net was in need of something of a spruce up. I keep this website to feature my kaleidoscope and mandala art, of which I now have a number of galleries in which I also include my animated kaleidoscope YouTube videos, as well as a section for featuring my designs on items for sale such as t-shirts, greeting cards, ties, gifts and even shoes.

I've improved the home page by changing the header graphic, tightening up the text and adding more graphics which give it a clean and tidy appearance without looking boring ( I hope!) and expanded to about 30 pages, so lots of content. Still got a few pages to complete next weekend (should have enough time, although I haven't decided whether to go in to Birmingham for the St Patrick's Day Parade & celebrations, guess it will depend on what the weathers like) and then it's finished - for the time being anyway :-)

I'm getting a lot more exposure these days as I get a lot of visitors via Google, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Zazzle, YouTube, Squidoo etc. and my kaleidoscope designs are selling well, I recently got an order for 400 photo cards and another for 100 invitations in the same week! I now have customers in the USA & Canada, Europe and Australia & New Zealand and I'm looking forward to getting my first Brazilian customer as my Zazzle Store just went on line there too.

In the meantime I am still adding new designs and just introduced a lovely line called Ice Crystals, in delicate blues on t-shirts, stickers, magnets etc. This is one of the 6 patterns available

Ice Crystals 3 Mandala Designer T-Shirt by CharmaineZoe
View other Kaleodoscope T-Shirts

St Patricks Day fast approaches!

2010-02-27T12:38:00.008Z

Will you be celebrating St Patricks Day on 17th March? As a true green Dublin born Irishwoman I certainly will! There is a huge St.Patricks Day Celebration and Parade in the City of Birmingham every year, this year on Sunday the 14th,(said to be the 3rd largest in the world after New York & Dublin!) and I'll be going. It's only 15 minutes into the City Centre on the train from here, so won't have to worry about parking - which will be a nightmare.

Pictures & reports for the Birmingham St Patricks Day Parade 2009

I've also been getting ready for the huge demand for St Patrick's Day Souvenirs, T-Shirts, gifts, cards etc by adding a St Patricks Day mini shop to my Zazzle Store. So far I've got 14 great vintage designs, many including both the ancient Irish flag of green and the American Flag. These are available on mugs, magnets, t-shirts, button pins, cards and ties.

The designs are all from old postcards which belonged to my Irish Grandmother, whose brother, as a young lad set sail for America and joined the 7th Cavalry in Texas. He was a horse shoer and when WW1 broke out was an MP at Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina before going over to Europe to fight on the battlefields around Ypres in Belgium, where he was killed, he was only 24.

But while he was in America he sent my Granny a lot of these postcards which I now have and which are no longer copyright due to their age. So I thought it would be nice to adapt them to create souvenirs, gifts & t-shirts etc to celebrate St Patricks Day. Of course they predate the adoption of the green, white and orange tricolour flag, and instead feature the ancient green flag of Ireland which dates back to the 1700's and often has an Irish harp or the words 'Erin Go Bragh' gaelic for 'Ireland Forever' on them and many also feature the American flag.

Proud to be an Irish American 3 by CharmaineZoe
See other Kaleidoscope T-Shirts

Proud to be an Irish American 5 by CharmaineZoe
View other Kaleidoscope T-Shirts

Create a personalized gift at Zazzle.

Been mad busy designing!

2010-02-20T10:10:00.008Z

A small selection of ties - click on image to enlarge
I've had a lot of fun over the last few evenings creating designs for my tie shop in Zazzle. I've now got a large collection of fractal kaleidoscope art in my library, which I've built up over the years and have been choosing works to use, then trying to decide the best way to utilise them, given that ties are long and narrow. But I think I've put together a very nice selection of patterns and designs for this latest collection. If you can't see the flash gallery below, you can go straight to the Tie Rack dept in my ZAZZLE STORE

I have over 250 ties in my store now with evrything from subtle colours and patterns to totally over the top psychedlic, or pretty chintzy to elegant. So gentlemen if you need a new tie check me out, and ladies if your looking for a present for Hubby or the boyfriend then have a look too.

NEW! Check out my new Tie blog and keep up to date with all my newest designs at Ties by CharmaineZoe!

I recently sold a couple of ties to a gent in Houston, Texas and I just love the idea that someone is walking around on the other side of the world wearing my designs, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling! I always get a thrill when I get an email from Zazzle to say I've had a purchase, not so much because of the commission, which is fairly small, but because someone has liked my design enough to actually buy it - I love that and that's why I keep designing!

Shop other personalized gifts from Zazzle.

New Kaleidoscope Kreations Video on YouTube

2010-02-08T22:53:00.005Z

Now have a total of seven Krazy Kaleidoscopes videos on my YouTube Channel. These are beautiful multi centered animations created from colourful and intricate fractal art, all with musical audio tracks. This is No 7, the latest volume in the Krazy Kaleidoscopes Series. There also 3 more series, Magical Mandalas, Moving Mandalas and a brand new series of Mystical Mandalas, perfect for relaxation or meditation, all on YouTube. I hope you enjoy them and if you have a good internet connection it's worth watching in full screen size.

My New YouTube Channel!

2010-01-14T18:03:00.011Z

I am delighted to announce that I now have my own YouTube Channel
to showcase and feature my very special kaleidoscopic animations videos.

I have linked all my 'Moving Mandalas' videos to this Channel and now have one of each of my new series of videos available to watch. These are the 'Magical Mandalas' series, which is based on the 'traditional' circular kaleidoscope emanating from a central point and set to a musical background, and the 'Krazy Kaleidoscope' series which have multi point kaleidscopes continuosly interchanging and morphing into new patterns in multiple dimensions and layers, creating a fascinating and harmonious display of colour, pattern and music.

These videos are ideal for relaxation or meditation or just for entertainment and have a hypnotic and calming effect for the soul. Although they are created using the new technology of digital art they reflect the art of the ancients and are a continuation of the incredibly old art of the Mandala and Kaleidoscope.

I also have a selection of short 30 second silent videos posted on my KALEIDOSCOPE KREATIONS Blog. I hope when you discover them that you enjoy watching them as much as I have enjoyed creating them. I've included a couple on this post as a taster.

COLOR 4 LIFE! a new range of Zazzle T-Shirts

2010-01-09T18:43:00.010Z

It's still below freezing here and we even had a light snowfall, although tomorrow is supposed to be bad for snow again! There is still plenty on the ground and ice is a big problem. Apparently the councils are running out of salt and grit and having to cut back on the roads they treat, concentrating just on main roads. Not good for anyone trying to negotiate residential streets. We're lucky that we live on a bus route so most of our routes to work, shopping etc will be kept well gritted.

Our Garden in the Snow
While it's been so cold and snowy and not condusive to going out anywhere I've been beavering away at my Zazzle store (Best sale this week is a couple of ties to a gent in Houston, Texas - nice!) and just introduced a new range of designs. COLOR 4 LIFE! is a fantastic new range of T-Shirts & Sweatshirts each featuring a colorful kaleidoscopic design and each available in 60 different colours and styles for men, women, kids and babies. So far there are over 30 lovely designs with lots more to come. These are just a few of my latest designs for the range.

Color 4 Life Kaleidoscope T-Shirt FA 618 by CharmaineZoe
Design a custom t-shirt at zazzle.com

Color 4 Life Kaleidoscope T-Shirt FA499 by CharmaineZoe
Create customized tee shirts using zazzle

Color 4 Life Kaleidoscope T-Shirt FA 230 by CharmaineZoe
See more Kaleidoscope T-Shirts

Latest Moving Mandala Videos, real Kaleidoscopic Extravaganzas!

2010-01-04T18:48:00.010Z

I've just uploaded the latest kaleidoscopic extravaganzas from Kaleidoscope Kreations. These are a series of Moving Mandala videos featuring constantly changing animated kaleidoscopic patterns set to music, which are available to view on my YouTube Channel. I now have 8 videos in the Moving Mandalas series plus a set of slideshows, all set to music and very meditative, relaxing and, I hope, enjoyable.

A New Year and a New Blog!

2010-01-01T10:50:00.007Z

Happy New Year, I can't believe it's 2010 already, doesn't seem that long ago we were celebrating the Millenium!

I've got my daughter and grandson staying with us for the weekend, which is lovely as I haven't seen them since August! We had a nice evening yesterday and got to bed about 2.30 this morning! Max our Scotty dog woke us up about 7.30 but I shooed him back to bed and he let us sleep in until 8.15! Thought we'd find Kieran, my 6 yr old grandson downstairs before us watching TV but it's 9.30 now and still no sign , so it's lovely and peaceful :-)

The weather here at the moment is lovely with blue skies and sun, although very cold, which is very cheering, especially as the weather has been pretty grotty most of the week. We will just be chilling for the rest of the day here, although Ian will be cooking us a lovely leg of lamb for our New Year lunch which I'm looking forward to.

I've started a new blog, Free Patterns 4 U, to showcase some of my designs and help promote my website Kaleidoscope Kreations. these are tileable repeating patterns which are free to use however you like. With each pattern image there is another panel showing an example of the pattern tiled.

Wishing you all Happy New Year for 2010!

2009-12-31T23:42:00.005Z

An Arty Christmas!

2009-12-27T17:28:00.007Z

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year. Mine was very quiet, just me and Hubby, our PC's and the TV! We just had Pepsi and Max for company, a large Christmas tree (which I really go to town on) and a rose garland intertwined with twinkling lights along the mantelpiece. Will see if I can post some shots or video before the week's end. Hubby excelled himself with the food, cooking a duck with cherry sauce for Christmas Day lunch, and today did the most delicious baked ham, which he hadn't done before and was a triumph. Also been working our way through a huge raspberry, amaretto, sherry and cream trifle, which is divine! So I expect I'll get a nasty shock when I climb on the scales again come the 4th Jan! Hardtack and water from then on mefears :-)

Anyway when not watching the old goggle box, Hubby mainly entertained himself with his Flight Sim program, while I concentrated on my digital art, enjoying myself creating some more panels of kaleidoscopic designs. I am in the process of uploading them to my Imagekind store, where they are available for sale as prints, posters, canvases, cards etc. I've added a few examples of my latest creations below. Prices at Imagekind start at about $10 for a small print.

I've started getting ready for my daughter and grandson's visit, they are coming up from Devon on Thursday and staying until Sunday, and then I'm back to work on Monday (boo hoo!). Looking forward to seeing them and giving them their presents and seeing in the New Year together. We will be visiting Hubby's daughter and grandson sometime after that, don't know when yet, but hope it's not too long!

Fractal Art 935 by Charmaine Zoe

Fractal Art 936 by Charmaine Zoe

Fractal Art 934 by Charmaine Zoe

A Christmas Card from us to you

2009-12-21T11:53:00.004Z

Click to enlarge

Jewelled, the latest range from Kaleidoscope Kreations

2009-12-21T11:25:00.010Z

Jewelled is the latest range available on Zazzle, an absolutely gorgeous range of 20 different designs, each with sparkling elements and beautiful colours. These are just some of these great designs. Available at the moment on Fridge magnets, keychains and sticker sheets which make great stocking fillers, party favours etc. Thay can also be supplied on any other product by request. Check out the complete range in my GIFT SHOP. They can be customised with a message or name and the stickers come in two sizes which are ideal for book plates, property of, thank you, envelope seals etc.

Jewelled Kaleidoscope 36 by CharmaineZoe
Create custom stickers with zazzle.com

Jewelled Kaleidoscope 34 by CharmaineZoe
Get a sticker online from zazzle

Jewelled Kaleidoscope 23 by CharmaineZoe
Get some stickers from Zazzle

Jewelled Kaleidoscope 25 by CharmaineZoe
Design personalized stickers with zazzle

My first Australian Sale!

2009-12-19T00:39:00.005Z

Just got my first Australian customer today. That's my 3rd continent, as I've already got customers in North America & Canada and Europe! A lady living in Hamilton, South Australia bought a postcard of my Fractal Kaleidoscope Art 670 Design. Not much, but it's start and I hope to extend my customer base in Australia and New Zealand from now on. I have a Zazzle store for Brazilian customers as well so hope I get sales from there soon and can then add South America to my InterContinental Sales coverage. All very exciting :-)

Fractal Kaleidoscope Art 670 by CharmaineZoe
Create a Full color postcard with zazzle.com

Moving Mandalas on Flickr

2009-12-17T23:45:00.008Z

The first of a series of short (90 second) videos of animated kaleidoscopes I'm uploading to Flickr. If you like this check out my 'Latest Kaleidoscope Kreations Video' post for a much longer example set to a musical accompaniment and links to my YouTube Channel for even more!

12 Days of Christmas & The Christmas Can-Can : Straight No Chaser Videos

2009-12-17T21:50:00.011Z

Found this great video on the Alive with Trivita Blog and had to share it with you if you haven't already seen it. Hopefully it will raise a smile, it certainly did for me - great fun! If you would like to see more of Straight No Chasers videos visit their YouTube Channel. Have also added a great version of the 12 Days of Christmas. They also have a gorgeous version of Carol of the Bells, which is my favourite Christmas song, HERE.

Merrry Christmas from the Boys!

2009-12-16T23:59:00.005Z

A Merry Christmas to all my visitors from Pepsi and Max (The Creatures from the Black Lagoon!) Hope you all have a great Holiday period and wish you all the best for the coming New Year!

This image of the boys available on lots of goodies from my Christmas Shop

Card of Pepsi as Santa Paws available in my Zazzle store

Latest Kaleidoscope Kreations Video

2009-12-15T20:03:00.003Z

My latest animation with a musical accompaniment.

If you like this video visit my YouTube Channel to see more.

5 Sales this week on Zazzle!

2009-12-09T18:03:00.005Z

My Zazzle Store is doing well, I've had 5 Sales this week, mostly of the Elvis Happiness Quote in WordArt, and the others of my kaleidoscope designs.

Monogram : Choca Mocha : A by CharmaineZoe
Make a custom stein with zazzle.com

Elvis Happiness Quote on Red by CharmaineZoe
View more Quotes Mugs

Elvis Happiness Quote on Red by CharmaineZoe
See other Quotes Mugs

Elvis quote - Someone to Love by CharmaineZoe
Browse Saying Mousepads

Mandala 208 Fridge Magnet by CharmaineZoe
See other Kaleidoscope Magnets

On Boredom

2009-11-16T12:09:00.006Z

Have neglected the blogs, especially this one, very badly lately! Unfortunately I have been spending more and more time with my online stores at Zazzle, Imagekind, America Fine Art and now Deviant Art where I display and sell my art work. I now also have 2 new website domains at http://www.charmainezoe.com and http://www.charmainezoe.net. The first is my personal 'web hub' and the second my website for promoting my art. I've also got 12 Squidoo Lenses which keep me busy as well as regular Twitterings, Facebook visits, a full time job and a Social Science course with the Open University!

I often find myself thinking there just aren't enough hours in the day! I can never understand people who say they're bored. Life is just too short to waste in boredom. This becomes ever more obvious as I get older and head ever faster to eternal oblivion. There's nothing wrong with enjoying one's leisure and I am reminded of that lovely poem by William Henry Davis, 'Leisure'.

"LEISURE"

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Sometimes I have to remind myself to 'stand and stare', but boredom is a completely different kettle of fish. It's such a shame that so many people seem to be oblivious of the wonders that surround them, from the diversity of life, both human and otherwise, out into the farthest reaches of the Universe or even the fascinating events of history, or all the modern discoveries being made in the Sciences. There is always something new to discover and marvel at!

Sorry this post didnt start out as a rant on boredom, it just seems to have ended up this way, but all I really want to say is, life is a wondrous thing, don't squander it in boredom. it's but a fleeting thing, make the most of it!

My Little Bit of Heaven in Devon!

2009-08-16T17:47:00.004Z

We are on holiday in our caravan in deepest darkest Devon and it's glorious! We are back at Wrenwell Meadows in Denbury, this time for a fortnight. We also managed to get the awning up we bought with the caravan (which we bought on eBay!) OK so we had to have help from a neighbour, who was very sweet and really mucked in with getting it up for us, but it is the first time we've used it and we're delighted with it. It's in great condition and came with not only a skirt for the caravan, but a ground sheet and a support bar so we can let one of the front panels down during the day. It's an NR Pullman model and has 4 zip out panels which is really useful, as we don't have to get the roof up with the full weight of the canvas.

Having the awning up also means we can leave the beds made up all the time in the caravan and not have the hassle of making them up at night (whch tends to be a real pain!).

Wrenwell Meadows is very peaceful as it's right out in the country and being a CL only has 5 vans max on it, and it's such a large area we're not too close to the neighbours, which is nice. Although there is only one toilet and shower, plus 2 sinks for washing we've never had a problem and Mr Partridge, the owner, keeps it all scrupulously clean. And the great thing is dogs are allowed, and our 2 are having a great time, they love being on holiday in the caravan. We like our creature comforts and have a microwave in the 'van, a flat screen TV and our laptops in the awning, in which we have a couple of tables, 2 loungers and a couple of folding bucket chairs for the boys or visitors. We also have a standard lamp. a desk type fan for when it gets too hot and a little fan heater for when it gets a bit chilly in the evening. So we are quite comfy cosy!
The view from our awning, peaceful isn't it?

So Who's been using my Photo's?

2009-08-06T07:03:00.003Z

It's amazing what you find when you Google yourself! I do it periodically as I have been on line for over ten years and have a reasonably large footprint on the web, and it's always fascinating to see what Google turns up. But I got a surprise today when I Googled for images connected to my username.

I found that TowSure, a large Caravan and Camping supplier with 3 stores and a big website was using one of my Flickr photos on their caravanning page (that's it with the blue car, taken while we were on holiday on the Isle of Wight). I do allow a lot of my photos to be used freely with a Creative Commons License, and occasionally get requests in my Flickr inbox. I have had requests from a Danish University, a Californian nature reserve and a Tourist Guide website to name a few. But very often I just find them by doing a Google images search, as most people give me accreditation..

Todays discovery is the most exciting so far though and I thought it would be fun to add a page to my new website with a list of the sites that use my photos. Who's using my Photo's?

New funny Swine Flu T-Shirts now available on Zazzle!

2009-07-22T18:30:00.008Z

Sold my first product on Zazzle yesterday, which really made my day.It's a Crazy Pink tie. Now I've just posted a range of funny Swine Flu T-shirts (all in the best possible taste - naturally) Check them out on my Zazzle Store. Have also posted more great tie designs.

My New Zazzle Shop

2009-06-27T18:33:00.003Z

I've been so busy lately that I'm afraid I've been neglecting the blogs, and this one in particular. I've actually had my hands full doing a course for a Psychology Degree with the Open University PLUS I've been creating lots of gorgeous designs to start up my own ZAZZLE Shop - Kaleidoscope Kreations.

Our Easter Holiday in Devon

2009-04-19T10:08:00.015Z

I've just got back from a great week in the caravan in Devon. We stayed in a CL (Certified Location, these are small sites certified by the Caravan Club and take a maximum of 5 vans only) called Wrenwell Meadows, in the pretty little village of Denbury, just outside Newton Abbot. This was our first CL, as we normally stay on the larger more commercial sites. There is a 5 star site called Dornafield about a mile away from our little CL, which is where we normally stay, and although a fabulous site it has just got too expensive. Our CL cost a quarter of what we would usually pay, and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.

We had a field with horses on the front side and the adjoining field had sheep in. We saw foxes, pheasants, owls, buzzards, greenfinch, blue tits, robins and other birds just while we sat in the 'van. The weather was lovely virtually all week, and when it did rain it tended to be late evening or at night when it didn't bother us. We got the dog drying routine down to a fine art and just protected the seat cushions with towels for any remaining dampness.

On our first night we decided to eat out as it was quite late by the time we had set up the 'van and Ian was just too tired to cook dinner. So we went over to Broadhempston to our favourite eating place called the Coppa Dolla, a lovely olde worlde restaurant in a pretty Devon village. We had a super 3 course meal, finishing off with a crunchy brandy basket with hot cherries in kirsch sauce and the nicest cornish cream ice cream I've ever had.

The next day we went down through Torquay and Paignton to Dartmouth and crossed the river on the car ferry. Dartmouth is a very pretty town at the mouth of the River Dart and incredibly picturesque. We wandered around looking at all the lovely old buildings and browsing the shops and then bought lunch to eat in the car before returning home via Totnes.

Another of our trips was onto Dartmoor which is only a few miles away from Denbury and drove over to Widecombe (home of Uncle Tom Cobley and all), passing the beautiful scenery of the moors and the great rugged granite peaks of the Tors.

Thursday we went out again for a meal at the local pub, the Union Inn which was having a Folk Night, and I had crab cakes, followed by duck with cherry sauce - lovely! Afterwards we went through to where the folk singing was going on and had fun joining in with all the songs with great merriment.

On our last day, Friday, the weather was glorious, so we drove down to the South Hams and Salcombe, one of our favourite places, but a nightmare trying to find anywhere to park! We returned via Kingsbridge, Slapton and Blackpool Sands, back to Dartmouth and crossed the river on the ferry again before driving up through Paignton and Torquay. It's lovely to see the sea and coast again, as we are about as far from it as you can get where we live now.

On Saturday we drove home back up the M5, which took us about three and a half hours with no delays or hold ups and the weather was again kind to us. Unpacked the 'van and left it on the drive, rather than take it back into storage. We'd like to go away somewhere more local for the later May bank holiday and have already booked a couple of weeks back on our pretty CL in Devon for August - and I can't wait!

Kaleidescope Fun 2!

2009-03-10T09:26:00.005Z

These are my latest efforts at kaleidescope art, both based on photographs of my aquarium. The first is of a shoal of green barbs and the second, one of our red clawed crabs called Buster.

Monthly Weight Loss Report: March

2009-03-02T11:44:00.010Z

I hit my 2 stone target this morning, so thats 28lbs lost in total, which is great. I am really noticing the difference in the way I feel and look, not to mention the clothes I can fit now. I'm down two sizes so can fit into clothes I haven't been able to wear for a couple of years!

My next stage is a 3 month timescale to lose the next stone (14lbs), deadline for which is May 31st. Which works out at an average 4 & 1/2 pounds per month. Easy Peasy Japaneasy! (She says optimistically :-). Will post an update again at the end of the month, so come back and see how I do.

Kaleidescope fun!

2009-02-22T21:34:00.008Z

I've been having so much fun this weekend playing with my kaleidescope creating program called Dazzling Reflections from Poppy Hill Designs. I even managed to create an animated gif with them, the first time I've tried this. I used a photo of a lovely sunset with dainty birch trees silhouetted against it that I took in Wales last year when we were on holiday in our caravan. I made 5 different kaleidescopes with this particular photo and put them in Serif's PhotoPlus X2 to create the gif. You can see one of the kaleidescopes and the photo below.

I have done lots more as well, many with lovely bright colours and most are in .png format with transparent backgrounds. You can see them all at Flickr. Make sure you view the original size if you want to download a .png. Theres a piece of fun art using some of these more colourful ones below as well.

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T22:24:00.010Z

It's Valentines Day, and a very special day for me and Hubby. It's exactly 8 years to the day we got married and we're celebrating our Wedding Anniversary as well as Valentines Day.

We have had a lovely day, he went shopping and came back with 8 beautiful red roses, one for each year we have been married, and a gorgeous romantic card. (He knows not to get chocolates!).

This evening he made a fabulous lobster thermidor with savoury rice and chips. He had gone shopping in the market in Birmingham and came home with Oscar, a live lobster, who we kept in the sink wrapped in a wet towel until it was time for his demise.

Celebrating my 5 Year Blogoversary!

2009-02-06T17:36:00.020Z

My First Blog Post on 6th February 2004, I hope you enjoy it.

I was clearing out all the clutter on my side of the study on Saturday when I came across a guide book of the Brighton Pavilion which I'd visited a few years ago. Showed it to Ian and he suggested driving to Brighton, which is on the south coast, the next day as he had never been there. So on Sunday we were in Brighton (only took 2 hours from Poole) by 12 o'clock and went straight to the Royal Pavilion (www.royalpavilion.org.uk). What a place! The Banqueting Room with the huge Chandeliers suspended from Dragons, the silver gilt plate displayed on the sideboards and the great dining table laid ready for a banquet.
The whole huge room decorated completely in the most lavish and ornate Chinoiserie style has to be seen to be believed. Then more beautiful rooms until you come to the Music Room,
even more stunning! Then upstairs to see Queen Victorias apartments. There was even a micro mosaic portrait of the Prince Regent made by the workshops of the Vatican out of tiny pieces of coloured marble.
You couldnt tell it was a mosaic unless you looked really closely. I couldnt resist pointing it out to some American ladies behind us who were amazed when they realised what it was.
After lunch in the Princess Adelaide Tearooms in the Pavilion we wandered around The Lanes, a maze of little alleys full of jewellery and antique shops, then wandered down to the (very shingly) beach and had a look at Brighton Pier. Although it was cold it was a beautiful sunny day and we had had a lovely afternoon in Brighton and we are now looking forward to celebrating our 3rd Wedding Anniversary on Valentines Day (Feb 14th) next week.

Monthly Weight Loss Report:: February

2009-02-02T23:25:00.003Z

It's been a while since I posted about my diet and the reason is, it's been a little bit irregular over the last few weeks. I lost another pound, then put 2 back on, then lost again, then gained it back! But this week I feel confident enough to say I have definitely lost a further 2 pounds so thought it was about time I updated the blog :-)

I have been on the SlimFast diet for 4 months now, started at 280lbs and have lost a total of 26lbs so am quite happy with my progress. It's never been my intention to lose a lot quickly. I've tried that before and then piled it all back on again really quickly. So this time my plan is slowly but surely, and so far it seems to be working. I have lost the huge bum I had when I started and have gone down a size. I just look so much better but know when I lose the rest of the weight it will be incredible the difference I will feel.

I want to lose another 3 stone this year (42lbs) and feel I have made a good start. I will be posting on a monthly basis this year, rather than weekly as I feel that will be more interesting for my readers. Hopefully each month I will be able to give a really positive report so wish me luck.:-)

Scrapbook Saturday 17/1: Belated Greetings

2009-01-17T19:37:00.007Z

Bit late I know, but I wanted to use the greetings slab I made a while ago using a great new font I found on DAFONT.COM. It's called VTKS Beauty. I've used one of the instant effects in Photoplus X2, my photo editor to give it a great gold look. By the way I use that program for all my scrapbooking and its a great inexpensive one to use, available from SERIF.COM. Haven't had time to do this one up until now, but better late than never!

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

Ruby Tuesday 13/1: With love

2009-01-13T08:45:00.004Z

Why not join in and post a Ruby Tuesday picture yourself, the rules are simple. Just post a picture with red in it, but it must be one of your own and it can be of anything you like. For more details hop over to The Teach at Work of the Poet and check out the blogroll.

Scrapbook Saturday 10/1: Life is meant to be this rewarding!

2009-01-03T16:44:00.007Z

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year, I've had a good one and am now returning to bloggerland, having taken a couple of weeks off just to enjoy the holiday period, chill and recharge the old batteries:-)

This weeks scrap papers & elements are from Annies4corners great FREE Coffee Break Kit, so if you like it pop over to her website & snaffle a really great kit.

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

The Night Before Christmas!

2008-12-24T17:19:00.006Z

A Christmas Card for You!

2008-12-22T20:45:00.001Z

Jasper Carrott's Christmas Cracker 2008

2008-12-22T09:16:00.044Z

We were out last night to Jasper Carrott's Christmas Cracker Show at the NEC in Birmingham. We've been to the Rock with Laughter Shows he's put on for the last 3 years which have always been great, but with the Christmas Cracker shows (which are every 4 years) you don't know who's going to be on the bill until they walk on stage. Past Crackers have featured top stars including Sir Cliff Richard, Robert Plant, Bill Bailey, Roger Daltrey, Robin Gibb, Chris De Burgh, Riverdance, Vanessa Mae and even Victoria Beckham. The vast majority of performers appearing at these shows will originally have been from the Birmingham/Black Country area.

These are variety shows Jasper puts on each year for charity where the performers give their services for free and the lighting, sound, and stage people work for just a nominal fee. The Rock with Laughter Shows are usually over 4 nights, but the Christmas Crackers are only on for the one night and each year the shows are always sold out to capacity of 10,000 each night! This year we were given free flashlight keyrings as we came through the doors and to see 10,000 little lights twinkling like stars around the arena throughout the performance was fantastic!

Last night kicked off with Elkie Brookes with her backing band, who was fantastic. She sang Pearl's a Singer and Gasoline Alley and at one point held a note for what seemed like forever, and would have been amazing for anyone, but even more so given that she's now 63!

After a local comedian called Lee Wilson did his act (who did some very funny gags about Redditch - which anyone who's familiar with the traffic system there will appreciate) we had the great Rick Wakeman on keyboards,who appeared with Yes in the early years before having a solo career. He did a solo stint which included playing a medley of nursery rhymes in the style of various classical composers and then a rendition of Eleanor Rigby in the style of Prokofiev (brilliant!) before coming back later on in the show with a 'supergroup' including Bev Bevan, the drummer from ELO and Tony Iommi, lead guitarist in Black Sabbath as well as Dave Berry and Toyah Wilcox in an amazing costume with huge feathers protruding along her back who sang Sweet Child of Mine. There was also a surprise appearance by 'Ozzie Osbourne' :-) (Thanks to Clareh for the video, and she has lots more on YouTube - dont miss Rick Wakeman playing Eleonor Rigby, just superb!).

Closing the first half we had the great pleasure of seeing UB40, who were playing on their home turf, perform 3 of their biggest hits including Red, Red Wine and went down a real storm.

There was another great show stopping performance from Escala, the 4 girl group who appeared on Britains Got Talent last year and play electronic strings, 3 rather strange looking violins and a double bass (very similar to Bond). They looked and sounded amazing in very short sparkly gold dresses and did a set of at least 4 different tracks, including Palladio.

The comedians on the bill were Lee Wilson (mentioned earlier), Bobby Davro (who had driven up from Bristol after appearing in panto the same evening)and Lee Mack, who's in one of our favourite sitcoms, Not Going Out and also appears in They think it's all Over and Would I Lie to You. Bobby Davro had some great gags about his time in Eastenders and came up from London just for the show.

Also appearing on the bill were a troup from the Birmingham Royal Ballet, who were sadly depleted as 4 of their number were down with the flu.

The last act to appear was Roy Wood, who was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. His songs included See My Baby Jive and Blackberry Way and the show finished with his famous I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day.
For more videos of the show on YouTube go HERE, these include UB40, Toyah Wilcox & Escala (with thanks to Lee Gibb).

And of course Jasper Carrott was there to introduce the acts and act as compere throughout the show and nearly £200,000 was raised for hospice charities, many of them local.

As usual a great show and the lighting, sound system and side screens on either side of the stage seem to have been improved as well at the NEC. I'm sure they were HD quality the pictures were so good!

Can't wait for next year!

Scrapbook Saturday 20/12: Pretty in Pink!

2008-12-20T18:04:00.005Z

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

My Diet Monday: Week 11 - 262lbs (18lbs lost)

2008-12-15T09:27:00.007Z

Scrapbook Saturday 13/12:The Boys in their Xmas Hats!

2008-12-12T19:42:00.025Z

This week I have used papers and elements from Flashgraphics Creations. Make sure you visit as Marie has lots of lovely Christmassy freebies waiting for you to snag.

The photos are of Pepsi and Max in their Christmas hats. Pepsi was fine about wearing his lovely green and red pixie hat. But Max wasn't impressed at all and just wasn't cooperating. I am lucky I got any decent photos of him in his santa hat and scarf. I think you can sense the sulk he's in :-) He's far too sensible and dignified to be putting up with this malarky.

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

A Warming Christmas Story!

2008-12-09T15:41:00.006Z

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T22:00:00.005Z

And Birthday Wishes to my Hubby XXX

Scrapbook Saturday 22/11: Santa's Little Helper!

2008-11-22T00:41:00.015Z

This weeks scrapbook page was created using a kit by Angelique, a french lady, who's blog Le Digiscrap d'Angelique has a lovely selection of kits available, together with examples of them being used. This kit is one of her FREEBIES and has some great papers and elements.

As you can see we are starting to get in the Christmas spirit :-)

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

Taking the Grandson to Finding Nemo on Ice!

2008-11-21T13:32:00.003Z

Contd from previous post.....

Fortunately it was only for the two nights as they were up here to go and see the Finding Nemo on Ice Show at the NIA in Birmingham on Saturday. When they asked me to book tickets for the show, there had been a couple of previews on the TV and I thought it would be fun to go with them and enjoy a night out with my grandson, as I don't see them very often. I was horrified to realise that this time it had been a whole year since I'd last seen them!

My daughter drove us into the city using her satnav and we arrived in plenty of time, I think the volume of traffic surprised her as she thought it was rush hour. I explained that the traffic was always that busy as Birmingham is the 2nd city in Britain, so it's very like London traffic. She's not used to driving in traffic like that as she lives down in sleepy Devon. But she coped very well, even when several lanes of traffic converged from different directions as we approached the NIA and all wanted to join the one she wanted, particularly as it was a very dark and wet night, making conditions difficult.

The show was fantastic, with wonderful costumes and great skating. There were two entrances at one end of the large ice rink with a large screen between them, on which was projected appropriate scenes from the movie. From the moment the characters of Nemo and his Dad appeared on the ice after an introductory scene from Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy, it was clear that to my 5 year old grandson they were real. The very fact that it was clearly a woman on ice skates wearing an oversized Nemo belt didn't register. He just soaked up the spectacle of colour, movement and music – and all were there by the boat-load.

The sets were impressive with plenty of eye-catching pyrotechnics when required (grandsons reaction was 'awesome' when we all jumped the first time one went off) and some neat high-wire stunts to get the kids 'oohing and ahhing' on cue - the pelican was particularly fun! The menace was provided by a giant shark and whale but, without wanting to give away the ending, they left the set without satisfying their hunger pangs, while being pretty impressive.

So overall, a fantastic show that enthralled the children from start to finish, and grandson went home happy clutching his souvenir programme and Nemo mug and hat, which he couldn't wait to show his schoolmates the next day.

What is it with Teenage Boys?

2008-11-21T12:12:00.011Z

It's been 4 weeks since the Boy Wonder moved in with us and I think we've only seen him a couple of times! Well that's what it feels like, as he spends all his time up in his bedroom, and most of it is spent on his laptop playing World of Warcraft. Well he is 17, and apparently this is fairly normal behaviour for this age! At least according to my friends at work who also have teenage children, particularly boys.

I think poor hubby had this idyllic vision of the two of them spending time together and bonding - yeah right! He has however, been sadly disillusioned, particularly now the first few weeks are over and he can see what the future holds. The first week he took time off work to run around various colleges, training centres & job agencies with the BW, trying to organise him into the world of work or get some training.

He had been accepted by an agricultural college for a course in animal management (I think he had ideas about working in a zoo or somewhere like Woburn) but at the very last minute he changed his mind and decided he didn't want to do it (Don't you just love them?) but he has no idea what it is he does want to do - if anything!

Unfortunately with the recession looming large this is not the ideal time to be job searching. He does have about 12 GCSE's so he's not stupid, just aimless and I think hubby has got fed up of being the one doing all the 'driving' and decided to just get Christmas and New Year over with before giving him a kick up the proverbials.

At least he's not costing us a lot to keep at the moment, which is one way of looking at it and we only see him at meal times :-)

Unfortunately he is occupying the room that used to be my study and I had to clear out all my books etc. Two large bookcases, which we managed to accommodate in the other two spare bedrooms, the smaller of which we use as an ironing room and the larger of which is my dressing room, which doubles as a guest room. However I still have a large stack of boxes of books, papers, photo albums and other paraphenalia piled on the sofa bed and on the floor, so when my daughter came to visit with my grandson for a few nights at the weekend, I was unable to accommodate them in that room, so they had to sleep on the sofa in the lounge!

Sky Watch 21/11: November Sunrise!

2008-11-20T18:56:00.004Z

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This slideshow consists of a series of photos I took yesterday morning from a window at the back of my office block south of Birmingham, England. The whole series was taken in a 15 minute time frame and have not been altered in any way. I hope you enjoy the show.

Be sure to click on the Sky Watch badge for the Blogroll link above to visit more beautiful skies from around the world.

Sepia Scenes 20/11: The Floozy in the Jacuzzi!

2008-11-20T09:12:00.010Z

Sepia Scenes is a Meme that Mary the Teach, over at Work of the Poet.com has started. Mary is also the organiser of the Ruby Tuesday Meme. The meme consists of posting a photo you must have taken yourself, it can be any subject, but it must be tinted sepia. Easy to do in a photo editor. Mary will open the Mr Linky list up from Wednesday every week, but you can add your entry any day after that. For more info and to get involved pop over to the Sepia Scenes HQ.

This weeks photo is one of the fountain in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. The statue at the top is known as the Floozy in the Jacuzzi! The building at the top is the Council Offices and to the left is the Town Hall.

I edited it into sepia and framed using a very easy to use online photo editor called PHIXR.COM which is useful if you don't have access to your own editor, but do have web access, plus it doesn't need Flash or similiar to work.

Ruby Tuesday 18/11: A Man and his Dogs!

2008-11-18T08:02:00.006Z

Click on pic to enlarge
As I had just completed this digital scrapbook page of my lovely hubby looking very happy with our 2 dogs I thought it would make a lovely Ruby Tuesday post - it's certainly red enough!

Why not join in and post a Ruby Tuesday picture yourself, the rules are simple. Just post a picture with red in it, but it must be one of your own and it can be of anything you like. For more details hop over to The Teach at Work of the Poet and check out the blogroll.

My Diet Monday: Week 7 - 264lbs (16lbs lost)

2008-11-17T08:03:00.013Z

I can hardly believe I've lost another 2lbs again this week! which makes a total of 16lbs and only 12 to go to my first goal of losing 2 stone by 31st December. And this despite having Spag Bol and a roast chicken dinner at the weekend, although I've got very good at regulating how much I eat when I have my main meal in the evenings. Whereas before I tended to eat whatever was on my plate, now I stop when I know I've had enough, and depending on how much is left it goes to the dogs or in the freezer for another time. As for breakfast and lunch I have stuck to the SlimFast shakes religiously, avoiding all temptations such as a cake sale we had on friday for Children in Need, not to mention the large box of chocolates and bottle of wine I won in the raffle! (Hubby won a DVD of the latest Indiana Jones movie & a set of matching collectors marbles!)

I had my daughter and grandson stay for a couple of nights at the weekend and we went to see Finding Nemo on Ice at the NIA in Birmingham, great show, but I hadn't seen her since this time last year and although I knew she had lost weight - three and a half stone actually - I was amazed at the difference that made to how she looks and has really spurred me on to be even more determined to keep on the straight and narrow.

The only problem I have at the moment is a lack of exercise. If I am honest I haven't been doing any for ages. I did try doing some to a YouTube video, but hubby said I looked like a demented aeroplane, which I had to agree with :-)and let's face it, I didn't need much of an excuse to stop! Now I've said this before so you'll probably take it with a pinch of salt, but I'll try and get more active this week. I'm not going to give myself a certain number of minutes to workout each day but just going to see what I can do and maybe that will work better. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Join me next week to see how I get on :-)

2008-11-15T09:19:00.011Z

This week I have used a couple of great Quick Pages (QP) from Pam Lefors Designs. Pam makes some lovely kits and usually has a FREE QP available for download each week. I love her muted, grungy style and her limited colour pallette. Apart from her lovely bluey range, she does a very nice rusty range. Her Rustic Autumn range is particularly nice and her peeled paper sets in this range are gorgeous.

Make sure you click on my scrap pages to enlarge, they really are worth seeing properly as the detail, especially in the top one is amazing.

That's my grandmother and mother in about 1926 in the first one, which is still available, and my stepdaughter with her partner and new born son, Jonah, in the second, which is no longer available, but Pam does have another similar QP available for free download at the moment. so make sure you get over to her webpage and grab yours.

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

Shannon Matthews Mother goes on trial

2008-11-12T18:20:00.004Z

The case of Shannon Matthews, the schoolgirl who prompted a huge search when she disappeared early this year for almost a month, came before a jury this morning.

Ten-year-old Shannon's mother, Karen, is accused of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice by pretending to West Yorkshire police she had no idea where her daughter was.

Alongside her in the dock will be 40-year-old Michael Donovan, who faces the same charges. Donovan is the uncle of her partner. Both defendants will plead not guilty in a trial that is expected to last four weeks.

The nine-year-old schoolgirl was drugged and tethered to a roof beam as part of a kidnapping plot staged by her mother to claim up to £50,000 ($75,000) in reward money.

Donovan abducted Shannon as she was on her way home from school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, by telling her he was taking her to a fair. He gave her Temazepam -- a type of sleeping tablet -- and travel sickness pills and kept her tethered to an elasticated strap attached to a roof beam through a loft hatch when he went out.
The strap was discovered by officers searching the first-floor flat following Shannon's discovery

It had a large loop at the end which, at full stretch, would reach around most of the flat but not permit anyone who was restrained by it from leaving through the front door. Donovan would have used it to restrain Shannon when he left the flat

"The prosecution say that it is a reasonable inference that Donovan, who had used other methods of subduing Shannon Matthews, had employed the strap to restrain Shannon when Donovan left the flat to go shopping."

Meanwhile Karen Matthews kept up a "wicked and dishonest lie" as her daughter became the subject of a massive police search operation and a reward fund offered by a local newspaper grew to $50,000, jurors were told. Apparently Donovan planned to release Shannon and then "discover" her.

The trial continues tomorrow.

My Diet Monday: Week 6 - 266lbs (1 stone lost)

2008-11-11T11:13:00.006Z

Delighted to report another loss of a further 2lbs, making a total of 14lbs lost and my first stone accomplished! So well chuffed :-) I have been really good again this week, avoiding temptation like the plague. The girls at work are now very good and know not to tempt me with all the sweets, cakes and other goodies that frequently go around the office. The only cloud on the horizon is a cake sale being held on friday for Children in Need Day, but I was very good and avoided the one they held last month completely, so should be OK this time round.

Still using the Slimfast milkshakes for meal replacements for breakfast and lunch and then having a normal dinner in the evenings. I've had fajitas, spag bol, roast pork and beef strogonoff (with oven chips!) this week. I just eat what I want until I feel full and then stop, irrespective of how much food is left on my plate. This seems to work very effectively and I plan on continuing this regime until the end of the year and hopefully lose another stone. I have definitely noticed an improvement in the size of my bottom and hips (I've stopped doing the Jabba the Hutt impression!) and I can fit into clothes I certainly couldn't a month ago, but there's plenty in my wardrobe I can't fit yet and that's one of my incentives.

Hopefully next week I'll be able to report another loss, but until then I shall stay focused and determined :-)

Barack Obama is IRISH! : Video

2008-11-09T09:57:00.008Z

Documents unearthed by an Irish vicar show ancestors of Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama may have arrived in the United States from a tiny village in central Ireland as early as the 1790s.

"They're old parish records going back to 1799," said Canon Stephen Neill, rector for the parish of Moneygall, Co.Offaly.

"They're in remarkably good condition and we have constant applications from Americans chasing their ancestors."

Genealogy Web site www.ancestry.co.uk asked Neill, whose father is Anglican archbishop of Dublin, to check parish records after discovering documents indicating Obama's great-great-great grandfather on his Mother's side, arrived in New York in 1850 before settling in Ohio.

"Like most of us he has an interesting mix of ancestry, including some impressively early all-American roots," said Megan Smolenyak, a spokeswoman for the Web site.

Records uncovered in 2007 found the President-elect’s fourth great grandfather Joseph Kearney was a shoemaker whose son, Fulmuth Kearney left for the US in 1850. Between 1845 and 1851 over a million people left Ireland on 'famine ships' to escape mass-starvation caused by potato blight and ancestry.co.uk says passenger lists show Obama's great-great-great grandfather was among them.

Subsequent research into the parish records provided by Neill revealed not only that the Kearneys hailed from Moneygall in County Offaly but also that other family members may have crossed the Atlantic before him in the 1790s, the Web site said.

Nothing remains of the Kearney homestead and surrounding land in Moneygall, which ironically once belonged to the family of Obama’s distant cousin, Henry Healy. They were forced to give it up 30 years ago after the local authority compulsorily purchased it for new housing, but just four properties were built on the field and plans are afoot to turn it into a museum or heritage centre.

Born in Hawaii to a white American mother and Kenyan father, Obama's European connection means he can also join more than 30 million of his countrymen in claiming Irish descent.

You can view the Irish line of Obama's family tree HERE.

The Irish band the Corrigan Brothers have released their song 'There's No One As Irish As Barack O'Bama'.

The song features the chorus: "O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara...there's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama."

The band will perform the song, which is already an internet phenomenon, at the day parade on the Irish American float, and also at Mr Obama's official inauguration party on becoming President.

This is just hilarious! Being Irish myself of course, I appreciate it more than most, but you don't have to be Irish to enjoy these videos.

Below, the extended and sing along version :-)

Scrapbook Saturday 8/11: The Boy Wonder

2008-11-08T01:03:00.005Z

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

Wordless Wednesday 5/11: Guy Fawkes Night

2008-11-05T00:11:00.006Z

Click image to enlargeFind out why we celebrate Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night HERE

Song of Silence: A Short Story by Me

2008-11-04T16:14:00.004Z

This is my first attempt at writing fiction. I hope you enjoy it.

Madrigal Verizon stepped out on to the balcony overlooking the town square. Her long golden hair glinted in the evening sun and as she stood enjoying the last rays before sunset she was only too aware of the interest she was attracting in the square below. She was feeling very pleased with herself as she had just received a phone call from her editor to confirm they had agreed to publish her series of articles.

She had been working on these for quite some time, investigating the rumours of a hidden network of paid assassins within the government, and it was satisfying that at last her work would be recognised.

Suddenly the peace of the evening stillness was broken by the whine of a bullet as it whizzed within inches of her head. For a second she was frozen to the spot, before the realisation that someone was shooting at her dawned. She dropped to the floor and started crawling back into the room she had just vacated. Another bullet whizzed by, hitting an expensive vase. "Damn" she muttered under her breath "I paid a lot of money for that!" and it had taken her a long time to track down such an exquisite example of the glassmakers art. But now was not the time to worry about such matters!

Suddenly, just as another bullet smashed into the wall within inches of her head, the door of the apartment flew open and a stranger stood framed within it. She could only see his silhouette as the light from the hallway behind him streamed into the dark room.

"Stay down!", he commanded in a deep voice "and try and crawl towards me as quickly as possible. Keep your head down!". Stunned by the suddenness of events and terrified by the danger she found herself in, Madrigal did as she was told.

It took her another few seconds to reach the door and as she did so the man leant down and grabbed her hand, pulling her upright in one swift, easy movement. As he did so she became aware of his height and strength and two laughing blue eyes looking down at her.

"My name is Alex Rafferty" he told her, "and I'm here to save your life!".

Bundling her out through the door into the hall, he slammed the door behind him and, still holding her hand, pulled her unceremoniously towards the lift.

“Hold on a minute” Madrigal exclaimed “I can’t go with you, I don’t know who you are! You could be in league with whoever is trying to kill me!”

“I just told you who I am and why I’m here!” Alex replied, “just get in the lift”

As he said it, the lift doors opened and he shoved her through. By this time Madrigal was shaking with a mixture of fear and indignation.

“Where are we going?” she asked

“To a safe place” Alex replied “you may not have realised it, but you are in grave danger. You have been asking too many questions and certain people have been getting very nervous”.

In the bright light of the lift Madrigal took a closer look at this strange man who had burst so abruptly into her life, and who now seemed to be offering her the protection she very obviously was in need of.

He was dressed in what was obviously a very expensive suit and tie, his jet black hair immaculately groomed, but with just a touch of grey at the temples, lending him an air of gravitas. She found it difficult to pin an age on him.

He saw that she was taking him in and smiled, "Don't worry, we have been keeping an eye on you for some time now. We were just waiting for something to kick off to give us a reason to move in on these people."

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"There is a safe house not far from here, we will tuck you away safely there for a while", he replied. Suddenly the enormity of what had happened hit her, she felt her legs starting to shake and would have fallen if he had not sensed her distress and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry" she found herself apologising.

" Don't worry" he reassured her,"we will soon be down and I will take you to the safe house. But we had better go out the back way, just to be on the safe side." He had still not released her and she could feel his warm body against her. Somehow she found it very reassuring.

The lift stopped and they got out. There was no one in the lobby, but still Alex ushered her towards a service door at the rear. "Don't worry, everyone will be far too busy to notice us" he said as they walked quickly through the large kitchen. They went through another door and suddenly Madrigal found herself in a dark alley at the back of the hotel

As they stepped out into the darkness and the door closed behind them Alex turned to her and bent down as if to kiss her. She felt her body respond and she stretched up towards him.

As their lips met a shot rang out and then a large red stain spread across her back as she slid slowly down to the floor, a surprised expression on her face.

Alex bent over her, pocketing the gun he had used. He briefly checked her pulse, and when he found no response he walked quickly away towards the long black limousine which had pulled into view at the end of the alley.

"Like shooting ducks on a pond" he said, chuckling quietly under his breath. As he got in to the waiting limo a shadowy figure asked "I take it everything went according to plan?" " Oh yes," Alex replied "it always does. My goons are already picking up the body!"

Ruby Tuesday 4/11: Red Boxes

2008-11-04T09:18:00.004Z

A row of red telephone boxes in London's Covent Garden area.
Why not join in and post a Ruby Tuesday picture yourself, the rules are simple. Just post a picture with red in it, but it must be one of your own and it can be of anything you like. For more details hop over to The Teach at Work of the Poet and check out the blogroll.

My World 3: Kings Norton, England

2008-11-03T23:26:00.011Z

I live in a medieval village called Kings Norton just south of Birmingham, Englands second city. On the ancient Green stands one of the oldest grammar schools in the Midlands, a 12th-century church and a large 15th-century timber-framed house. The Old Grammar School and the medieval house, known as the Saracen's Head, are buildings of considerable historical and architectural importance and were the winners of BBC Restoration 2004.

The Old Grammar School is a wonderful-looking, timber-framed structure. Tree analysis of its huge timbers have revealed a construction date of between 1434 and 1460.

The nearby Saracen's Head was quite possibly the largest house of the royal manor during the 15th century, home of a wealthy and successful wool merchant, later becoming an Inn. The house boasts highly decorative medieval workmanship. It was here that the wife of Charles I, Queen Henrietta Maria, stayed on her way back from Yorkshire where she had gathered troops for the English Civil War. The devoutly Catholic Queen arrived at King's Norton in July 1643 with around 5,500 men and spent the night in what is known as the Queen's Room, while her troops slept on land behind the church.

Every year there is a 'Mop Fair' held on the village Green where in ancient times the hiring of agricultural workers and domestic servants happened, and the origin of the name is said to be that house- maids who attended the fair in the hope of being hired carried mops and pails. The hiring took place in conjunction with a country fair at which the roasting of an ox was a great feature. Although the hiring has stopped we still have an ox roast and country fair, and entertainers such as Morris Men & Clog Dancers and fun fair and every month a Farmers Market on the Green.

A barge on the canal in Kings Norton/
The church and ancient Saracens Head on the village green
The 15th Century Saracens Head
The Old Grammar School, built around 1450
The Bullshead Pub on the Green
The Village Green

2008-11-03T18:14:00.004Z

An Ambleside stream in the English Lake District
Monochrome Monday is hosted by Aileni, and more Monochrome Maniacs can be found on the dedicated Linky page.

My Diet Monday: Week 5 - 268lbs

2008-11-03T08:37:00.005Z

It's now 5 weeks since I began my diet and I have lost another 2lbs this week, making a total of 12lbs lost altogether. I had hoped to have lost the first stone by this point, but I am happy with the 12, as it is 2lbs closer to my immediate goal of losing 2 stone by the end of the year. So only another 16 to go!

There is not a lot to say about the diet itself, as it consists of drinking a bottle of Slimfast milkshake for breakfast, and another for lunch and then having a proper evening meal. I avoid snacks in between all together, although you are allowed these. I just prefer not to bother, I think I have this subconcious fear that if I start snacking, even if it is allowed, I will start to slip off the straight and narrow.

This week I really need to concentrate on the exercise side of things as I have been very bad about doing any for quite a while. So that will be my goal for this week, to do at least 15 minutes of exercise every evening. I'll let you all know how I get on next week.

Top EC Droppers for October

2008-11-02T00:35:00.004Z

WindMill on the hill 26
Communique by Ivanhoe 20
SportsFanatic @ Today.com19
Scraps of Mind 19
Athletic Alley 18
Knoxville Tennessee Area Local Expert 18
Rich Talks Real Estate 17
I Love-Hate America 17
From A Yellow House In England 13

Scrapbook Saturday 1/11: Squirrel Nutkin

2008-10-31T23:56:00.012Z

This week I have found a very exciting source of scrapbooking FREEBIES! WaterLo Project is a community of designers based in Czechoslovakia who create really stunning realistic elements, papers, frames and alphabets, all FREE at FREEBIE HEAVEN. The kits they create are huge, colourful and photo realistic. The kit I used 'In the Evening Forest' comes with 17 papers, 75 elements plus an alphabet, and all the other kits are just as exciting. The members of the WaterLo Project like to find unusual things to create elements of and challenge scrapbookers to find ways of using them. There is also a GALLERY of the members own creations to browse through for inspiration. Make sure you visit this amazing website and enjoy what these lovely ladies have prepared for you.

Just time to remind everyone that today is Digital Scrapbooking Day and HERE is the link to my previous post all about it if you have not seen it.

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and check out all the other great entries for this weeks Scrapbook Saturday and add yourself to the blogroll.

Does your Blog own you?

2008-10-31T15:31:00.005Z

I knicked this quiz from Archies Archive and got an interesting result. It would appear my Blog does own at least 75% of me - so I am very close to full assimilation - as my Hubby can testify! Which makes me largely Cyblog (I 've suspected as much for quite a while now:-)

75 %

My weblog owns 75 % of me.
Does your weblog own you?

SkyWatch 31/10: Halloween Sunrise

2008-10-31T10:27:00.012Z

Sunrise from my bedroom window - south of Birmingham, UK.

No.274 0n the SkyWatch Friday Blogroll

Be sure to click on the Sky Watch badge or Blogroll link above to visit beautiful skies around the world.

This is Halloween!

2008-10-31T07:28:00.004Z

And Yes - it is me!!!!

Other video posts in the Halloween Countdown series: The Monster Mash!, Dressed Up Doggies! and The Time Warp!

Sepia Scenes 30/8 : My 1930's House

2008-10-29T23:00:00.010Z

Sepia Scenes is a brand new Meme that Mary the Teach, over at Work of the Poet.com has just started. Mary is also the organiser of the Ruby Tuesday Meme. The new meme consists of posting a photo you must have taken yourself, it can be any subject, but it must be tinted sepia. Easy to do in a photo editor. Mary will open the Mr Linky list up from Thursday every week, but you can add your entry any day after that. For more info and to get involved pop over to the Sepia Scenes HQ. For my first post I've got a photo of my 1930's semi that I took last year, pity the Safira was parked in the drive at the time, but I think it works well in sepia. I've also used it for my Sepia Scenes badge.

I got the aged look by uploading the original colour version to a great Japanese website HERE which is very easy to use & has an English version (top right hand corner). Just choose to upload a photo from your computer or one on the web, Photobucket or Flickr for instance, then just put in the URL, press a button and it comes back with a great black & white version with a really good aged effect (you will need to have Flash installed on your PC). You can then give it a sepia tone in your photo editor. I use Photoplus X2 from Serif, which is compatable with Photoshop.