Pippin Widget

Oops, - today I opened my blog to show off my Pippin widget & he's gone! So far I can't get him back, I'm very sad!

Journal your Christmas 2010 Day One!

This is my third year of JYC with Shimelle (shimelle.com) but last year I only got 3 pages done. This year I did some preparation before the prompts started arriving this week and rehashed last year's pages and album cover for 2010. I was so proud of my album for 2008 that I really, really must do better this year.

This is the Manifesto from the class forum today. My first page manifesto is done - 3 cheers - but I have a dreadful cold and I'm not well enough to go out.

Advent Calendar

Nearly done but waiting for more supplies.

Pippin

Today I learned how to add a widget to my Blog - it represents my oldest and most beloved cat, Pippin. He is very independent until bedtime when he usually insists on sleeping curled next to me or on my head! No wonder I have insomnia. Recently he's taken to sleeping during the day in the corner of a bedroom which has been recently recarpeted. If there is reincarnation I'd like to come back as a much loved cat please.

Sad days

Yesterday I  learnt that delivering a eulogy for my much loved 89 year old Uncle Ben was not as hard as my fears had led me to believe. I kept my chin up, gripped my hands behind my back and spoke about him for 5 minutes ending with a poem (below). I didn't fluff my lines & I remembered to say a profound thank you to his wife of only 20 years for the love, companionship and contentment she'd brought to him. I cried when I'd finished though.
When people came to me afterwards & told me of their appreciation of my words I felt very humble but happy that I'd chosen to speak.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn rain.

When you awake in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night,

Do no stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep. Anon

picasa

Yesterday's efforts included copying almost all my Picture Trail photos to my hard drive. I also downloaded picasa. Hopefully this will mean I can put better photos onto this blog - when I get to put any on at all that is! It took ages & I've got sore eyes.
All this IT stuff means that scrapping has taken a back seat. So I'm off to my craft room in my son's house for a little peace & quiet me time. If I don't take my mobile phone no one can get at me unless it's really urgent and dial the land line. So far we don't have Broadband there so computer stuff's done here and craft there. Of course there's the to be expected scenario of articles being in the wrong place. I have a big bag that moves between the 2 houses but I think it needs to be packed more carefully to avoid the hiatus of the last week happening again!

Lack of progress on the Blog

My uncle died a week ago & as he was my only surviving relative I'm not feeling too perky. Can't seem to get anything finished. We need to get our house on the market soon so the blog and the new Scrapbook album are taking 2nd place.
Today I cleared out a dolls house project, checked what was in it, dusted (!) and decided it was too large an investment not to be kept - oh dear the loft at the new house will be stuffed.
And I did a huge job on the PC - I copied all my photos from my Picture Trail galleries prior to putting them onto Picasa and then onto this Blog. It took all afternoon but should be well worth all the effort involved.

Time - not GMT!

I have just noticed that my last post was published at 7.49. Not! It's 4pm where I am, at my desk in the study in England. How irritating is that!

Progress?

Oh dear, this isn't good. The gadgets, aka blinkies, haven't stayed where I put them on the layout page & worse that that I don't know why. So not much progress. I am still working through the pre-course exercises in setting up a blog and down in the dunces' class.

The beginning..........

I am following an online scrapbooking class, "Learn Something New Every Day" which runs all through September 2010 so I'm hoping that this blog will be an interesting read.
It is my second attempt to do this course, last September I simply filed the daily prompts! I'm making things difficult by learning how to blog at the same time & this is my first post. It is more time consuming than I ever imagined and it has taken me many hours to get this far.
Better luck tomorrow.