February 13th 2015 - QUOTE

February13th 2015 - QUOTE

Todays pin is an inspirational quote that I found on pinterest.  I have added it to my board depression and moods.

I had a good day yesterday for the most part, I was at a meeting in the  evening which went on longer than I thought so I was hungry but never mind.  By the time I got home I had quite a few messages about something that I didn't know was happening and this turned my mood very quickly, however I wasn't feeling down about but very angry!

This event of yesterday that I knew nothing about made me realise that I need to get a grip of my moods and move upwards.  There is no point in moping about things that have happened or that I can't deal with, I need to sort out what I can deal with.  So I have spent today making phonecalls to try and sort yesterdays problem, although I don't have  answers yet and may not for a very long time I have started things in the right direction.

February 12th 2015 - HP Printer

February 12th 2015 - HP Printer

I swear to god I am going to throw something or hit the stupid thing!!!

All I want it to do is scan about 7 pages so that I can send them as an email so that they arrive quicker than via snail mail.  But no my HP 4500 Printer has other ideas.  It keeps telling me that 1. there are no computers detected and 2. scan to computer is not enabled.  So I follow the instructions, turn printer off and on again still nothing.  I click the disable scan to printer button and then click enable and still nothing.

I have no idea why it is doing this as it was working fine the other day.  My next port of call is to re-download the drivers incase they have somehow got corrupted or removed from laptop, not sure how they would have though.  I have unistalled and re-installed the drivers and still nothing.  So My final option was to completely uninstall and re-install the printer, turn laptop off and on again, turn printer off and on again and finally they are speaking to each other and have scanned the documents.  Only problem is I placed them upside down on printer and my laptop wont let me turn them round.  Oh well they will be emailed upside down!!!

Despite the printer being a pain today it is usually a good printer.  Although it wasn't that expensive when we bought it and the ink is very cheap to  replace (£17 total for both black and colour).  It has a scanner (when it works) a copy mechanism and is a good quality printer.  It also has the benefit of being wifi and you can connect to it via phone as well as laptop.  Most of the time I would definately reccommend it to people.  However today my answer would be NO!

February 11th 2015 - Story Mountains at Family learning

February 11th 2015 - Story Mountains at family learning

Today is wednesday, that means that its the day I go to school again.  I wasn't able to attend last wednesday as I had a meeting with St John Ambulance and hubby couldn't go in my place as we had a child off school ill with chest infection and asthma.

During today's session we were talking about story's, not just those read from books but those that you make up as you go along, those that have been told to  you by family members, stories that have happened to family members etc.  And after we had been told the story of the monkey that lived in a Jarmun (jaaa-moon) tree that tricked a crocdile we were asked to fill out story mountain sheets. 

A few of the younger mums had heard of them and even remembered doing them at school, whillst myself and the rest of the older parents (some are older than me) had not seen them before, so it was a whole new ball game for us. We all got the idea and filled them out.

We also did a "if you hold the toy you can talk" thing, but with this we had to each re-tell part of the story we had been told (again about the monkey and the crocodile).  It didn't matter if we altered it slightly or got bits in the wrong order.  I volunteered to go first - Once upon a time a little brown monkey lived high up in a Jarmun tree..... (I got the easy part!)

Again was a good day and the kids came in and joined us and again a story was read to them, this story was a true story about a boy and his green trousers and how he made a friend for life when they became to small for him, and they have a piece of homework to do linked to it - drawing the pictures about the story.

February 10th 2015 - Shortening curtains

February 10th 2015 - Shortening curtains

Today's pin inspiration comes from here.  A pin on how to shorten curtains, most of the pin is about cutting and stitching, but it does say at the end about just folding and stitching the hem.

The nice dyed curtains of a few days ago are starting their transformation - well one is.  One of them is going as a door curtain (when I get as far as adding the old curtain to it - was going to use a towel but already have the door curtain just wrong colour.) and the other one is going on the landing window, but obviously being a door curtain it needs shortening.

But instead of cutting and re-heming and then adding a lining to it I decided to simply fold it in half (still abit long for window but not much) and stitch the sides and the top together.  This is easier said than done!  The material is very thick cotton and I have bent 1 needle and a handful of pins already, so I am now using a leather needle and still strugling.  My thumb is very red from pushing the needle through and I don't have a thimble.

I will get them done and hung up, but I need to go and buy anotehr curtain pole as only got 1 and have 2 curtains to hang. lol.  I cant even use the existing one that is up as that is for the curtains with the little hooks on the back, and it will need to be fitted in the toilet with the existing curtain.

February 9th 2015 - Depression

February 9th 2015 - Depression

Today I had a telephone conversation with a counsellor I was referred to by my GP for Depression.  After going through the answers to the questionaire I was sent and answering her questions she conifrmed I am suffering from depression - well yes luv thats why I was referred to you!!!  Tell me something I don't know!

So this hasn't helped my mood much.  So for todays pin I don't have 1 pin but a whole new board linked to depression. 

There are many factors linked to my depression and low mood, and they stem back over 10years to when my Mum died, add to that 2 years later my Dad dying, move forward a few more years and my Hubby has a serious road accident of which had he been in a car wouldn't be alive today, filter into this lack of money, moving away from my friends and family (don't get me wrong I love where I live now, but I do miss my close friends), then there is the chronic knee pain resulting from twising it 2years ago and surgery almost 1 year ago, plus probably loads of other little things that on their own would be fine but altogether are a big problem.  I have tried to be strong and hide it for too long and it has just got to the point I can't do it any more.  I have spent the past 10years on and off anti-depressants.

I am fed up of not sleeping but being tired all the time, being hungry but not wanting to eat, being in constant pain, having no energy all the time.  The list goes on.

Anyway, hopefully the counsellor I see in person will be more use and come up with ideas to sort me out.

My Gp said I was a negative person as I came up with a reason why I couldn't do what he suggested - errrr no its genuine reasons.  He said "wrap up warm and go for a long walk" - I can't as recovering from knee surgery - some days just walking around the house hurts.  He said "go to the pub for dinner with your Hubby" - I can't as we can't afford to as on benefits.  He said "go to the pub for drinks" - just told you we can't afford to.  He said "go shopping with your lady friends during the day" - errr that involves money that I don't have and most are at work during the day.  He said "visit family" - I can't they are 5hrs down south in a car and I don't drive and can't do it in time for school, so he said "do it at a weekend" - can't afford to as nearly £100 return in fuel.  So yes they maybe negative answers but they are genuine ones and not made up excuses.

Onwards and upwards is the only way.

February 8th 2015 - Word Art

February 8th 2015 - Word Art

Today is a very dull and gloomy day outside, its really foggy and I can't even see the houses across the road!  This doesn't help me with feeling low and depressed.

So I decided to find some word art to colour in via the paint programme on my laptop.  I chose this image on pinterest for todays pin.  It says:

"some days you have to find your own sunshine"

Which I thought was great for the weather and my mood.  I will add a pic once it's coloured in.

Here it is:

 

February 7th 2015 - Halloween apothecary labels

February 7th 2015 - Halloween apothecary labels

Today my new ink arrived for the printer so I can now get on and print the apothecary labels similar to these (and various others I have on pinterest).

These are going on the bottles and jars that I have been saving to make halloween bottles/jars for a witches shelf for one of my best friends as she fell in love with mine last year at halloween and asked me to make her some.

Here's some of my bottles from last year, I can't find the picture of them on the shelf:

 

 

They have all been handmade by myself, most are from old food jars and medicine bottles.  The contents vary from things I have had in the craft box (feather shaped sequins) to shop bought items (the grow your own brain).  The labels were all found on the internet and edited to how I wanted them.  In total I have about 30 different jars/bottles on my shelf and where I am making a set for my friend and have had new ideas I will be adding to mine as well.  Once the contents are in the jar either dry or with coloured water/hair gel/hand gel/baby oil etc they are sealed with a hot glue gun to avoid them being opened by "little people".

Some of the new jars I am making include leprechauns gold (gold cake decorating icing balls) and ground unicorn horn (silver sparkly cake icing dust) and I have white glittery clay to make an actual unicorns horn.

There are many ideas on the internt for making apothecary jars, some are very simple others not so.  But the only limits are your imigination and purse.  I've had great fun in making those that I already have and i'm I sure I will enjoy making more. 

I plan to actually make a "life-size" witch to be sat with her potions over a couldron, she will be made from a £1 shop painters suit (stuffed) and then dressed in a witches outfit (including tights and hopefully shoes) and a witches mask.  This will be a depending on time make but as i'm not at home this year for halloween its not urgent.

A few of my new labels to go on bottles.  Please feel free to copy them.