My Place And Yours: What I'm Reading

I could be Bookish and tell you I'm reading a classic novel   -  but Jane Austen is as classical as I get!

I could be Trendy and tell you I'm reading the latest Best-Seller -  but I always wait until they're in paperback and borrow them from my local Library. And I never read a book just because everyone else has!

So, what am I reading? It's a book I found on the shelf at work where staff leave books so that others can borrow them. It's a bit grubby on the cover and has obviously been read more than once, which is often a good sign, I think, that a book will be interesting. It's entitled 'Who Gets Fluffy?' and was written by Judith Summers. It probably did make the best-seller list in 2008 when it was published but it passed me by then. It travelled home with me yesterday, and I've only just finished the first chapter... but it's looking good...

'A house without books is like

a room without windows'

Heinrich Mann

'My Place And Yours' is back, with a new Host and a new theme this week called 'What I'm Reading'.  If you'd like to join in the fun, hop over to Vic's place at Punky and Me .

Unadopted

Very sad that word; unadopted. It conjours up images of orphaned, crying children, but in this instance I'm talking about unadopted roads!
My walk this week for 52 Walks in 2010 was along the cliffs at Peacehaven, East Sussex in the early morning mist to take photos of the Meridian Monument. The Monument marks the end of the imaginary Greenwich Meridian Line on land and the start of it's long journey around the World. (I just happened to snap the ferry leaving Newhaven too).

Walking along the cliffs in the summer is not a problem as the ground is dry, but this week, after all the snow had melted, the ground was very wet, and as I discovered, extremely muddy! Much of the road along the cliff edge is unadopted, not looked after by the Council but by the Residents, and the potholes are enormous! Some must be 4 inches deep and it's a shame to see it that way.

The Monument is supposed to be a tourist attraction but this is the state of the road where it is sited.  Peacehaven is infamous for being mentioned in a Food Guide as a place to pass straight through and not stop at. The town was also briefly seen on Eastenders as the place where Sharon's ashes were thrown out to sea. The Monument bears a couple of plaques about when it was erected, but the most interesting thing for me is the brass plaque upon it commemorating where the line passes through on it's journey around the globe. It lists all the countries it crosses and how far away.

The one good thing about the unadopted road is that it is very quiet and uncommercialised. The Monument and the pebble beaches at the base of the cliffs remain a well-hidden secret, enjoyed by the locals.....and me with my camera and muddy boots!

WOYWW

This is starting to hurt already! My pledge to not spend any money on Stash in 2010, that is. My workdesk is definitely looking similar to last week, especially as there's no new stuff to play with! ...and I know that Julia Dunnitt will spot anything she's not seen here before and hound me about it!

So, shall I wax lyrical about my craft scissors? .. No? .. Perhaps the double-sided tape would be more interesting to describe? Only kidding! ...but how on Earth do those presenters on TV talk endlessly about different items in order to sell them? I couldn't talk for an hour on the merits of.... umm ....a battery operated toothbrush .....or a steampress.... or a cordless drill!! Maybe you could, but I would be boring myself stupid before ten minutes were up!

You can see a couple of my 12x6 pages for a weekly challenge I'm taking part in. The three boxes of sewing threads are out of sight on the sofa - of course I need every colour they make so I can find just the right shade for sewing the ribbon to the latest page. I think I probably, just maybe, have enough ribbon to complete this 52 week challenge! The box has hardly been touched so far.
And it would be sooo nice to have a Bind-It-All instead of book rings for the album. But no, Julia's got her beady eye on me, so I had better stop moaning and get crafting instead!

If you want to see other people's workdesks on Wednesdays just hop over to where Julia hangs out to meet everyone taking part. You can join in too by posting a link to your workdesk photo.

Marathon Man

Here's a layout I did a few years ago with Hubby dressed as a clown for the London Marathon. He has run it 6 times in total and lots of half-marathons too. I used to be a Marathon Widow, left behind as he travelled around the country entering running events.

All that ended when the children arrived and he became a house-husband. Did you know that is a recognised job? When form-filling we were often able to enter his occupation as house-husband. But I digress...

His heyday was twenty years ago, bless him, and now he's entered himself to run in the first Brighton Marathon, taking place this April.

Here's a more recent layout of him. I don't think he can claim that the hair loss makes marathon running any easier! But who am I to say? I cannot run 100 yards without the need for resuscitation!

A lot has happened since he gave up jogging, not least that his waistline, like mine, has expanded exponentially! He's had surgery for cancer and been diagnosed with osteoporosis. He also has Meniere's Disease. I question whether he should even be contemplating running 26 miles, but he is determined to do it. I am secretly proud of 'the old pot and pan' for giving it a go and hope he makes it to the finishing line.

He's a bit old for a 'Midlife Crisis' but if he's ever going to have one, I think this is it!

Awful Photos

This week's challenge at Scrap Weekly in 2010 is to scrap those awful photos we all have hidden away somewhere. I have exactly the photos they mean and spent Sunday afternoon trying to make a layout with them! They are the sort of photos I would never bother to scrap. To be honest, they would be destined for the rubbish bin, torn into tiny pieces so no-one could see how bad they were! However, I didn't get any decent pictures of the family at Christmas this year - not one single photo! - so these are all I had to play with to record Christmas 2009.

I used K&Co papers and American Crafts Sparkly Thickers for the title. The centrepiece is a paragraph copied from a book I read leading up to Christmas and really enjoyed. It is called 'The Gift' by Cecelia Ahern and the excerpt sums up our Christmas this year.

We spent it indoors!

No Regrets

I try to live my life with no regrets. After all, you cannot go back and change anything. What's done, is done!

This week's challenge from 52 in 10 is to scrap about Life's Lessons - what life has taught you and the advice you would give to your younger self if you had the chance. And to include a quotation in your journaling.

It's a difficult subject. To open up your inner thoughts for everyone to see. It's not easy for a private person like myself, but here goes...

I do have one regret, an event that I should have handled differently as it has coloured my whole life.

I was very young, probably 6 or 7 years old and at Nanny's house. My cousins were there too. When it was time for them to leave, my Aunt told my cousin Roy, one year older than me and someone I idolised, to kiss everyone goodbye. He dutifully kissed everyone on the cheek until he came to me. He refused to kiss me and turned away. Of course everyone laughed and they left to go home.

A minor, silly incident, but it had a major effect on me. I learned that day that I was not a pretty girl. I grew up very shy and lacking in confidence. Throughout my teenage years and beyond, that one event changed me into who I am. To this day I do not draw attention to myself, hate meeting new people, and have a very real fear of making public speeches. At work I am a different person, hiding behind my profession, but I actually enjoy meeting patients and talking to them. In my home life I will go to any lengths to avoid unfamiliar social situations.

The advice I would give to that young Me would be to ignore my stupid cousin! - what does he know? - and to be confident in myself and my abilities. To make the most of the looks I have been given. Not to be shy, but to put myself forward at every opportunity and experience life to the full. Most importantly, not to accept second best because I believe it is only what I deserve.

Because of the page format I have chosen, 12x6, I cannot include more than one Life Lesson really, so this is the one I have scrapped today. The journaling is hidden behind the photo which I have hinged so that it can be lifted to reveal 'the story'.

And the quotation I chose to include?

'All things are difficult before they are easy' Thomas Fuller, MD.