It's too early!!!

There really should not be two six o'clocks in one day.  The scaffolders arrived at seven a.m., ready to set up and get going.  I only just got downstairs and fed the dogs and got them back from the garden before the lorry was here.  (Bet I am popular with the neighbours now) Big dog has now decided the only safe place to escape the noise is in the knee hole of my desk, no room for my feet now.  Little monster has gone to ground in her enclosed cage.

On the plus side, I did get the caravan off to the dealers for its post service work yesterday, first time towing for about six years.  Once I worked out how to release the hand brake, it was a doddle.  There was no button on the end of the brake lever and all the handbook said was "Release the handbrake fully" - not helpful.  A phone call to the dealer sorted that for now - brute force and ignorance seems to be the way you have to do it.  On this occasion, I was lucky enough to have a friend with me who could do it, but I do not want to be dependent on others for these silly things.  As I don't have the physical strength, I foresee a lengthy correspondence with Bailey, the caravan makers, to sort that out and find a solution for me and any other woman who still wants to continue caravanning.  I cannot be the only one with this problem ... and I won't be beaten!

Towing is no problem in itself.  It is just watching out for idiots who think cars and caravans can stop in 2 inches.  Going through Studley (a busy village) yesterday at the speed limit of 30mph, I was passed at speed in the narrowest part by a fool doing around 50mph, and he proceeded to do the same to the vehicle in front of me.  I was quite pleased (highly delighted) when he did the same to someone else while passing the speed cameras (which are live), so he will get done.  There is some justice in the world.

OK. Time now to make the tea for the workers.  I even ordered an extra bag of sugar on my last Sainsbury's shop.

PS I am now wearing magnets taped to my heel and they do seem to have calmed down the pain and inflamation from my injury, without any increase in pain medication.  I now have a new method of getting into the motor which involves tying a dog lead round my exercise stepper, putting that by the door, standing on it, then I can reach to sit on the driver's seat, pull the dog lead and haul the step into the motor after me.  May look daft, but it works.

WOYWW - 212

You may notice a distinct lack of a photo this week.  That is because absolutely nothing on any desk has really changed over the last seven days.  I am still ploughing through reams of boring paperwork and cannot settle to anything else until it is all sorted and put away sensibly.

I managed to wrench my Achilles last week, just getting into the car, and have been limping more than usual since then.  On the positive side, I have had an Indian head massage and some deep massage on my neck and shoulders, which has eased the tension there.  Also on Monday, I had a call from friends, who now live on a narrow boat touring the waterways, to say they were close by at a point where I could get to with the car, so we met at the waterside pub and had a lovely meal and chat.

Today's main job is to tow the caravan down to the dealer to have some warantee (sp?) work done, and hopefully to persuade them to store it free of charge while the house roof is being done, starting tomorrow.  A friend is coming over to help with the hitching up and setting the towing mirrors, checking lights etc.  So I am off now to get ready for that.  Then I might spend this afternoon catching up with visiting everyone who has been kind enough to leave me comments over this past week, in between watching Wimbledon with my local Evesham strawberries close at hand to nibble on.

I will go back to dealing with British Gas and annoying insurance companies etc tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I am sure Julia has many fascinating desks on show over at her Stamping Ground centre.  Have fun and I hope to see all your wonderful creations later today.

WOYWW 211 - A different desk but just as bad.

Not my craft desk this week, but just as messy.  However, this photos does not show it at its worst as you can see some of the desk top for the first time this week.    Having finally forced myself to do the necessary to achieve probate, I decided that I would go through all the files of paperwork to see what I needed to keep and what I could dispose of in some way (the shredder is working overtime).  The probate was a nightmare - why do you need 40 pages of notes to help you fill in a 4 page form?  Surely that should tell the powers that be that things are far too complicated - or is my theory too simple? 

With the help of my very kind daughter, I cleared out the Freelander which is off to the dealer tomorrow as the first stage of changing two vehicles into a comfortable one that will do all I need it to do.  Then, it was hunting for all the paperwork that must go with it, and putting together both sets of keys.  The second stage will come if and when probate is cleared.  

This is In Tray no 1 - a Sainsbury's shopping box, and that is after the first sort when I got rid of millions of envelopes and the rubbish that comes with everything in the post.

As I said, nothing changes, even more stuff overflowing onto the floor.  

I do wish that people will turn up at about the time expected.  Sainsbury's delivered an hour earlier than arranged this morning - not too much of a problem as I did get help from daughter to put it all away in double quick time.  Then, after we had done the motor and she had got my suitcase down from the loft (ready for the Clarity workshop in August), I settled down for a relaxing lunch and coffee to watch Doctors, only to get a phone call to say that the engineer was in the area and could he come and service our alarm system in ten minutes time.  Ok, one good job done and the paperwork got up straight on that one.  Time for an afternoon tea break, when the dogs went into overdrive.  The gardener had arrived, unexpectedly, to gather the hay again, with his dog.  That means my dogs have to be shut in in case they do a bunk out of the gate.  It also meant a search through my purse and the car park money retrieved from the emptied car so I could pay him his dues.

On a more social note, I took myself off to a favourite haunt at Eastnor Deer Park in Herefordshire on Saturday afternoon to visit friends from the Land Rover Club - a really nice time, chatting and catching up with news and gossip.  I got plenty of offers of help when I finally take the caravan out on my own later this year, which will be to a club event.  Note to self - don't be the first one there!!!!

Right, I am off now to prepare for visitors, so I will let you slip away (if you managed to read this far) and see some of the more interesting desks on show this week over at Julia's  Have a good week, all of you.  xxx

Craft A Scene - Realistic Forest Animals

I had already done this card, so it is my first contribution to getting into crafting again.  Red squirrels are some of my favourite animals of the UK, and I have many happy memories of sitting under trees on both Brownsea Island (where scouting started) and on the Isle of Wight, watching these beautiful animals scampering around up in the trees and on the ground.  They are our native squirrels, which are under threat from the disease carried by the invader grey squirrels, and also from loss of habitat.   They are so much prettier than the greys, too.

 

I don't have a stamp for red squirrels (not sure if there is one anyway) so I drew this pair playing in the trees, and coloured them with my favourite Derwent watercolour pencils. 

 

I was not sure I could post this card today, as my craft computer is undergoing surgery and recovery, but, fortunately, I had remembered to back all my craft files on the other computer.  So it was just a case of finding where I had saved it.

Remember that to take part in this Craft A Scene challenge for June, you must show a REALISTIC forest animal in its environment.  I chose to draw mine because I had not suitable stamp, but the medium you choose is your choice.  Come on and join us.