Petanque and...The Forties weekend

A busy week end,which in honour of The J-Land aniversary I want to share with you all. On Thursday evening I had my annual Board member assessment ,which went well .

Above is a picture of Humphrey,introducing what was to be a marvelous afternoon . But I'm getting ahead of myself ~One of the committees I am on, decides how a community fund ,set aside by the company, can best provide something that would better the lives of the residents ,this must have been one of the biggest projects so far ,but what a success ,it has proved to be .....At one of our sheltered schemes for the elderly,(a beautiful old property ,converted into flats and set in the most beautiful grounds)

A few years ago a resident there saw an advert for a set of Boules in the local paper ,they were as new,so Ruth bought them ,and since then they played on the grass.....until their scheme manager suggested they apply through community grant system for a boule piste to be built ,we in due course approved the idea,.....So below you see a picture of Ruth on the left,next to the Mayor of Huntingdon who cut the ribbon to officialy open the piste On Friday afternoon,Next to him is Stella who is their teacher and trainer ,and then the head of the council .

We all had a little turn,and it proved to be so much fun we all want to learn and play ,Hmmm I forsee some matches coming up ......

I was proud of this picture see how the boules have just left their hands !

Below see Stuart ,our ops Director ,trying to beat Ruth

Isnt it great ?

My sister Jean had a birthday yesterday so of course I made her a cushion Now every year at this time our litte Market town turns back the clock ,and we have a fortys weekend ,so as I was shopping yesterday I'snapped' a few people ,who I encountered

An American officer and his lady

This chap told me he was riding a Belgium Amy bike called a monarch .

And here is his lady who was happy to pose for me

And here is my friend Jane getting into the spirit of things .

Jane is the chair person of the Ramsey intiative ,and works hard for our town .And below the ladies in the charity shop having lots of fun ,lots of fortys music playing

So there you have it !Have a Blessed Sunday everyone ,with a good week to follow,and as ever love from Jan xx....and Kizzie!!

Beauty,really is only skin deep.....

Hi there everyone ,I hope you are all well .I am fine ,busy as ever ,and like the cow's tail all behind as usual,lots of meetings and some sewing .....Because I am a board member ,I was invited to the staff conference .I love this I meet up with old colleagues,as well as other staff members .The theme this year was 'Challenge ',so due to the changes government are making ,in the housing sector,it was appropriate , so mindful of cut backs and everything else this year is going to be challenging .However Alan our chief exec is confident that we are able ,for what ever presents it self .

After all the facts and figures were explained to us ,by the different departments ,we went on to play some really interesting quiz games .before a delicious lunch ,where we could again chat to our friends .

After lunch more corporate stuff before our guest speaker .....

Yes it was Simon Weston O B E ,what an insiration ,this man is ,handsome inside and out !! I remember watching the programes on TV about his ,struggle with all the surgery he needed when he returned from the Falklands conflict of 1982 horrifically burned,(he is a similar age to my second son!).....and boy has this man accepted the challenge ,he helped to form 'Weston Spirit',helping disadvantaged youngters ,build their lives and believe in them selves .He has worked tirelessly for the Star and Garter homes ,as an ex Guardsman with the Welsh guards ,some thing close to his heart .Now happily married to Lucy with three young children,he campaigns,for many charities,-he has jumped with the Red Devils -run the New York marathon-to create a better future for the young people and veterans alike......Of course he has had his dark moments,some of which he spoke,and as many of us wiped the tears from our eyes ,he would have us all roaring with laughter , he has a fantastic sense oh humour ...A great Man ,God Bless you Simon ...

I went home feeling very humbled ,greatful ,inspired ,and clutching a copy of his latest book that he signed for me

A trip to London

I cant believe it is 12th June.since I put these pictures on here ,and never got back to finish this post. . Ah well Im here now

Before I start I want to introduce you to Debbie ,she has been blogging for about a year but doesnt have many readers SO~ shall we see if we can change that ? pop over ,you will be pleased you did http://notcompulsary.blogspot.com

Now what are those people doing below ? you may ask ....perhaps not ! We are a group of residents ,who participate in the Residents Inclusion Group,or RI.....I am involved in The News Letter ,written by the residents,for the residents.I am vice chair of ARF ,Axiom Residents Forum , and a resident board member ....Axiom Housing association involved in social housing ,who value residents input and we work closely with them ,(I was a scheme Manager,on a sheltered scheme for the elderly ,until I retired seven years ago .)The picture below is us working on 'The Annual Report 'some thing the government want housing associations to do with the aid of residents .....getting boring now isn't it ? (nearly done now with the explanation)Last year we were,highly commended by TPAS (tenant particiption advisory service) and went for a lovely Lunch at Solliehull near Birmingham ....Then ......we were invited to give a work shop ,in London last month

Angela, who is PA to the Chief Exec,and communications Manager ,booked us all on a train to London,(she asked for assistance for us as we dont walk far !)So Angela Jackie Ann and Jan off to the big smoke

Not a good picture but this is where the meeting was to be

Bit of interest, you will need to click to make it big enough to read

Here we are at the side of the stage, assisting Angela as she gave her presentation which included us too .

Pheew we did it ,and with such aplomb,though I,say it myself ,we were a hard act to follow

Oh and I made a bag to go with ......

As ever love from ..Jan xx

Having a 'cushie' time

Sorry about the 'Good Morning ',it will be afternoon by the time I post this ,
and I will warn you
,this is a multi picture entry ,many of you asked to see what I had been making since I got the new sewing machine for my Birthday .The first picture is of Rachel my Great neice ,who shares a Birthday with me ,She is 11 and we are all extremely proud of her , she excels at swimming and has won many medals.She competes all over the country .

,
So for her Birthday I made her this cushion scanning a picture of her then transfering it to a transfer that is then ironed onto fabric, the idea for this method was explained to me by Laura
http://vintage-laura.blogspot.com I am very grateful to her and her patience in talking me through it via Email

Next I made a cushion for my Taxi driver Muncha who is so kind, and takes me to all my meetings he lent me a picture of his little daughter and
voila ...they were all delighted and little Atitia wont be parted from Her cushin! I have to make one for her cousin now !

My Friend has been fighting a very nasty illness ,so to cheer her up ,I snagged a picture of her Granddaughter from Face book ,and made this one for her .....

Then for a bit of a change from cushions ,I made some wall pads for along side the wall by Great nephew baby Harry's cot

Harry's great Grandparents are from Ireland ,so I put a shamrock on the back of one of the blocks!

I was telling my friend Jackie about Harry's blocks she said she would love a set for her new Great Grandaughter so I made some for little Rubi ..

And then Joanne my neice was 40 , (Jo is Rachael 's Mum)
so of course ,another cushion seemed right !and since Jo likes cats I put some onto her
one ,holding ribbons attached to balloons.....

Another dear friend Violet had her birthday on May 16th ,the same day as my Daughter Kate so two more cushions were made and two more happy Ladies

Sorry the pictures arent as good as they might be , but I sure you get the idea and at least you can see what I have been doing with my time ....

As ever lots of love from

Good Friday 2011

A Very Blessed Easter time everyone ,I bet you can't remember me ! I am ashamed to say I havent posted since last October ,So thought it was time to put that right .I have been as busy as ever .I have been doing lots of sewing ,and for my 70th Birthday in February ,Maurice and the family all chipped in to buy me a super new sewing machine,one that does wonderful things because it is computerised I love it ,I ,must show you some of the stuff I have made some time ,not today though ,because I want to share with you all where I went this morning,I feel so good ,so uplifted and erm ..humble ......Each Good Friday all those that believe ,and of different faiths ,do a silent walk of witness through the town , following the cross ,as we all assembled on a car park ,on a gorgeous warm sunny morning,The Rector said a prayer, before asking for a volunteer to carry the cross ,a dear little boy piped up ,''I will '',However his Dad stepped in to do the honours ,accompanied by a very proud little boy and his even smaller brother ,we walked in silence right through the town (me on my buggy )quite away,until we came to the green beside the Church,St Thomas a Beckett,with the ruins of the walls of the old Ramsey Abbey behind us ,I was amazed how many people had turned out ,For a wonderful open air service ,with Easter hymns ,readings and prayers ,I did say how up lifted I felt, as you will imagine .Afterwards came the Dressing on the Cross,where we all threaded our flowers through the wire on the cross that stands permanantly on the green,Afterwards tea and coffee was served so we were able to sit in the sun and chat to our friends ......

This is the cross that was carried

Out side the Church afterwards

The Tall Gentleman with his back to us is our Rector

Wishing you all a joyous Easter ,and in the words of Our Lord 'Love one another '

As ever love from

October issue !

Once again my graphics are by Donna ,Thankyou Donna,





Now after the confusion on my last post ,the girl in the prom dress was my Beautiful Granddaughter Charlotte and not my neice as some of you supposed .So talking of Granddaughters here is Alice aged seventeen, who is the Granddaughter of Maurices's cousin Jim.Isn't she another beauty ?A real peaches and cream English Rose,but since her Grandparents are Irish ,I suppose that makes her a lovely little colleen as well .

Whoops ,what does this racing car have to do with things ? you might ask!

The car is in fact being driven by Alice ,and very well indeed ,Below are a few quotes from Alice and links to the story of her success My Renault is the identical car to Lewis Hamiltion’s UK car when he won the title at 18 yrs old. To reduce mechanics’ fees, the BARC championship does not allow gears cogs to be changed to suit track conditions, and there is a slight restriction put on the engine to extend its life. Both cars cost the same to buy.
I raced against UK’s top GT drivers (300BHP) in 2010, out qualifying ex-F1 driver Martin Donnelly: This link explains how I got my Renault title at a year younger than Lewis Hamilton: http://news.driverdb.com/2010/10/18/alice-powell-wins-formula-renault-title/ I only got a few qualifying laps on a cold track, near the end of the session, and I still managed to get a pole.

Alice has been supported and encouraged by her Granddad Jim ,and here is the link to her website http://www.alice-powell.com/

A champagne moment !

And Alice does after dinner speeches and has met many famous people ,From Prince Andrew ,to Sir Stirling Moss.

Well done Alice ! you are a clever and lovely girl as well as a plucky one and we are all very proud of you ,.....and as they say Watch this space .......





So as usual I will close ,with love from

Catching up ..Again !

Hello Every one ,yes it's me again ,I checked and my last post was August 4th ,that is bad ,I just don't know what happens to the time ,I'm not wasting it honestly ! Though I did spend two days in bed recently, with this throat bug that has been doing the rounds . My Header and my signature to day were made for me by Donna ,a very talented lady and dear friend in the States .The rain is very appropriate as thats all it did yesterday ,and doesnt look too promising today ,So what have I been doing since I was here last ? Well I was helping to prepare and take part in the Annual Tenants conferance ,I did a work shop ,'Computers for fun 'which was well attended ,and though I didnt do anything very techy ,Chris my friend and fellow board ,and forum member ,was able to deal with that part ,we hope we inspired people to go 'silver surfing' ,and since computers are to be installed in all the company's sheltered schemes for the elderly it seemed the thing to do .Here is a picture of me arriving on my buggy ,with all my props on the back and front of the buggy .In case you are wondering what the turquoise shoes have to do with the black and white theme they match my beads ,and nail polish !!!

My dear Granddaughter Charlotte has now left school and is doing a college course on' Hair and Beauty' she loves it, so Im looking forward to some treatments soon ,below is a picture of her at her school prom ,Charlotte is the' Lady in Red ' isn't she lovely ? Of course I might be prejudiced !(clutching mobile phone !! )

A couple of weeks ago we had a visitor ,Mark and Chrissy brought Sam over to see us ,perhaps some of you will remember Blue their previous dog ,he died and was so missed ,but now they have Sam and he is just as loving.... what a gentle giant he is ,

Though Kizzie is a bit in awe of him

We went shopping the other day for some more material ,I have yet another bag to make for my Daughter Sharon ,who has a Birthday on Thursday . Can you see the Elephant in the picture I won him ,and some gorgeous covered buttons with sheep on them ,just the job for our Kate's next project ! And some lovely green beads, I wear quite alot of green and they are super .The butterfly material I fussy cut to put onto appliqued projects ,

Sarah had called the Elephant Morris ,and he arrived with the other goodies in time for my Maurices Birthday ,I also bought him a new jacket and a Cardigan .Sarah We discovered ,lives not far from me ,well about 15 miles, small world isn't it ? And her Blog has the delightful name 'Happyness is a bottomless button box',do have a look and tell her I sent you

http://sarahlpayne.blogspot.com/2010/09/quick-catchup-and-my-100th-post.html Oh ...I nearly forgot Serendipity ,was five years old on the first of September ,So on that happy note I will send you my love as ever ....from