Another layout completed

This layout is also for Easter 2014.  It will be sitting in my 2014 Project Life scrapbook in it's full sized pager proctector.  I liked that it was taking scrapping back out of the pockets and putting it back on to 12x12 cardstock.  I've decided to use up as much of my old supplies as possible so this layout uses old Club Scrap cardstock (I think it was called Desert Beauty or something).  It was a layout that I had already made the base of, so I just needed to add my photos and journalling & the simple embellishment.  Funnily enough the journalling isn't about the racing it's about what happened to James' lunch:

On Easter Sunday we went to watch motor racing at Highlands in Cromwell. Unfortunately James didn't totally enjoy the experience because he threw his lunch away, twice!  His first lunch was sushi but a wasp came and sat on it when he opened the lid, that lunch was thrown on the ground with quite a yell.  Second time round he got a hot dog and a wasp came at him again.  This time the wrapper was thrown to the ground and James found somewhere else to eat it.

That is my week 15-21 April 2014 all documented.  I can now backup those photos & delete them from my hard drive.

I've done a couple of layouts

Pocket scrapbooking has always appealed to me as a quick way to get photos scrapped without having to spend time worrying too much about the details.  Even with this quick method of scrapping I never had the inclination or time to do any.  Lately I have been so busy being a taxi service for the boys, mainly James for his sports, that really I haven't had much time to myself.  I remember when I used to be able to sit down and scrap on a Saturday afternoon but those days have long gone.  I did however get to do just that yesterday afternoon & although my mojo isn't totally back it was just nice to get some photos printed, quick notes for the photos and call it done.  I decided to start by doing this time last year, so the following layouts are about this time last year, which was Easter time and we went down to Wanaka for some plane and car spotting.

 The above layout is a quick overview of what we saw and did during the week of 16th - 22nd April 2014.  We drove down to Wanaka on the 16th with our obligatory stop at Reflections at Lake Tekapo for lunch.  On the 18th we went down to the lake and watched a fly over by 6 biplanes.  On the 19th we were away pretty early, 9:15 by the car clock, yet we got into a long line of traffic heading towards the airshow.  On the 20th we went to Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell to watch the Festival of Speed racing.  On the 21st we went back home and as usual I had to have my photo of Aoraki Mt Cook, which was looking stunning that day.

Obviously there were more photos than those taken especially at the Warbirds over Wanaka and at the Festival of Speed.  I chose my best warbirds photos to put into another quick layout of their own.  There is the RNZAF NH90, the Hercules doing it's flare drop, the Anson and a few Harvards.  Not much journalling and no embellishments but it gets the photos scrapped and now I can delete them off my hard drive after backing them up to both the dvd and external hard drive.

Scarey movies

Blog Prompt: August 13 is Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday. In honor of his birthday, name the movie(s) that scare you the most.

I really don't like horror movies & have never watched a Hitchcock movie. A movie that has had a profound affect on me was The Fly. OMG watching that man turn into a fly just was too yucky for words & ever since I have a real aversion to flies.

Wow it's been such a long time

It's been such a long time that I have posted on this blog that I came back to find a big fat advert had taken over it.  What it did make me do is go back & start printing of the last 200 odd blog entries in case my blog should happen to disappear one day.  If anyone else has an advert like this taking over their blog take a look at the widgets on your sidebar.  I had a stat counter by neoworx as my stat counter & funnily enough it was a neoworx ad.

All I had to do was go into the blogger dashboard choose Layout & then look at my gadgets & remove the stat counter.

I hope that small piece of information helps someone else who has this problem.

Autumn card

Obviously I have a lot of either retired Stampin' Up! product or other scrapbook/stamping companies product sitting around in my craft room.  It seems a shame that I can't show everyone all that I make with these supplies so I decided to show you what I make with this type of product on this blog.

I made this card last year, it was part of a series of cards using the Lovely as a Tree stamp set.  That stamp set is very much current but the paper I used is no longer in the current Stampin' Up! Idea Book & catalogue. 

The leaves in Christchurch have not only started to turn but they are falling to the ground.  I wonder what the flooding is going to be like this autumn when we have a busted sewerage network & storm water drains can't hold all the rain let alone all the leaves that are blocking the drains.  So far I haven't seen any street sweepers come by to pick the leaves, they were on to it quickly last year but I suppose the City Council has more important issues than possible flooding due to a build up of leaves. 

Another season has arrived a timely reminder that life does go on no matter what. We just have to adjust ourselves to what mother nature throws at us.

It's been a long time!

It's been a very long time since I have posted to this blog.  Since the last post I have been to India with Scott while he was on business.  We finished the trip with a weekend in Singapore which was fantastic.  We came home to a house that was still standing & with minor damage despite having an earthquake.  We then went to Fiji as a family & the boys enjoyed being away from a shaky city. 

We all came back home & got into the 4th term of the school year which involved athletic sports & carol services & then it was holidays.  We spent the holidays in Wanaka & Christchurch, leaving Christchurch just after the aftershock on Boxing day.  Yet again it was good to be out of the city.

The new school year started with Brent deciding that he really would like to go into boarding, so that is what he is doing this year.  James is enjoying being the only child in the house most of the time.  The aftershocks had died down & we got complacent then on February 22 BANG!

Apparently it only lasted 23seconds but that was one of the most terrifying 23 seconds of my life.  One minute I was enjoying eating lunch in front of TV & the next the house started a gentle shake, then the power went off, which kind of freeked me out because that's never happened to me during any of the aftershocks.  Then just as I was pondering the significance of this happening the house started really shaking violently so violently that I couldn't walk without lurching to one side or the other.  Things on the TV cabinet fell to the floor, the sliding door that is our front door slid open, the door to the hot water cupboard just swang open.  It stoppped & the first thing I did was walk towards the table to get my cellphone only for the next one to hit.  It sent me scurrying with tears in my eyes to stand back under the doorway where I was before.  It stopped again & I ran to the table to get my cellphone only to have another shake so I was back under the doorway again.  At least this one was a lot smaller & I could just lean against the door frame & ring Scott to see if he was alright.  Of course everyone was doing the same thing so I couldn't get through.  I decided to text him instead & this was my message " Are you alright.I'm scared shitless & we have no power."  At 1:02pm I got the comforting message "I am ok, things are bad here in town"  Scott walked home from Cathedral Square & picked both boys up from school on the way.  It was a huge relief to have all of them home safe & sound.

The boys had a week & a half off school & then it was back to school & all the activities that were supposed to happen within the 10week term had to fit in the remaining 5 weeks.  Now we are very quickly coming to the end of the term.  The boys finish the term on Friday.

Blogosphere Book Circle - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author: Jane Austen and Seth grahame-Smith
Published: Quirk Productions 2009

From the back cover:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem.  As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet village of Meryton - and the dead are returning to life!   Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menacer, but she's soon distrcted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr Darcy.  What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilised sparring between the two young lovers- and even more violent sparring on the blood soaked battlefield.  Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of teh class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalisim, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

Well I rather disagree with the sentiment expressed in the last sentence of that blurb.  I am left wondering why anybody would want to change Pride & Prejudice & why he thinks it is better with sword fights & zombies in it.  I suppose I am a classical person & feel that classics should not be ripped off like this.  I don't think it improved the story at all having sword fights & zombies but then maybe Pride & Prejudice is too boring for male readers. Was the author trying to get more people to read a classic?  I don't know, plus having a Readers Discussion Guide at the back really rubbed me the wrong way.   I had to read Pride & Prejudice at school in English & I loved the book then, I loved the way Elizabeth fought with her words.

I really don't like this book & feel quite strongly that someone really shouldn't make money off totally taking someone else's work & just slightly adjusting it like this.  Maybe I don't get it, maybe he really was trying to poke fun at Pride & Prejudice, but why?  I am just glad that I didn't spend money on this book because it just felt like a cheap rip off of a classic & I can't see why it was a New York Times Best seller.