Living Here

Today I made a layout with some of yesterday's photos. My visit to Hove Seafront made me think about living where I do, and my journaling reflects my thoughts about this city. We've lived here 16 years now and my daughters do not remember very much about Aylesbury where they were born.
Aylesbury was very flat, with little to do unless you drove somewhere else, like the Cotswolds.
In contrast, Brighton and Hove City has something happening all year round, has a Metropolitan atmosphere..... and of course... it's by the sea (or rather the English Channel!) and the chalk cliffs of the South Downs.

I kept the colours on my page to white, blue and green and managed to use up scraps from my scrapbox. A Martha Stewart border punch and Papermania alphabet stamps were also used to make this simple layout.

I will link my layout to the Scrapbook Challenges Blog, the first time I've entered one of their Challenges. They have lots of sketches and challenges every month, all entries are due before the month end, and you can enter as many as you like. Go on over, take a look around.

Emergency Services

Newhaven Lifeboat, East Sussex

Working in the NHS you get to see Death at close quarters, no more so that in Accident and Emergency. It's a few years since I worked nights and x-rayed trauma victims, attempted suicides etc. But on those shifts I grew to appreciate the work of others trying to save people's lives, especially the ambulance crews who were first on the scene. It's a job that I could never do!

Another emergency service I appreciate is the RNLI, run by volunteers willing to risk their own lives to save others in danger at sea. Now that I work at a hospital on the coast, I  know personally a couple of volunteer crewmen who work in the hospital too. Just normal people prepared to go the extra mile to save someone's life. I salute them.

When we lived in Aylesbury I was aware there were three emergency services I could call upon if needed  - Fire, Police and Ambulance - and naively thought it was the same everywhere. Entering a phone box to make a phonecall one day, I was shocked to find that here in Brighton there are actually FIVE emergency services: Fire, Police, Ambulance, Coastguard and Hill Rescue. All those brave people willing to help others, many unpaid, some the target of yobs whilst trying to carry out their duties. I salute them. I could never do what they do.

I always donate to the Poppy Appeal and also to the RNLI. I cannot pass their collection boxes by. Do you have a favourite charity whose work you admire and to whom you give donations? I would love to hear which ones you support and why.

(This post is dedicated to the doctor who committed suicide by walking into the sea at Brighton recently and the people who tried so hard to save him)

Young Catlover and Our First Date

This is a layout I did yesterday featuring photos of a very young Jenni in our garden at Aylesbury. She was fascinated by this furry creature that would always follow her around......next door's cat! She didn't have any hair until she was 9 months old - Jenni that is!

The papers and alphabet stickers are from the Basic Grey Sugared Collection. Also the border, hearts and Girl Journaling block are in the same collection, on the Element Stickers sheet. When you like something, and I'm a fan of Basic Grey, you've just gotta have it all!

In an earlier post I said I met my husband in Aylesbury. To be exact, I met him at Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he was a Porter and I was sent there for 6 weeks placements in my training as a Radiographer. On my first placement, I asked at Reception for a key to the Nurses' Accomodation and he was the porter on duty. Afterwards he told his colleagues he thought I was 'a snob'!.....

However, two years later, after I qualified and started working there, he asked me to go to the cinema in Harrow to see Neil Diamond in 'The Jazz Singer'. Of course he didn't tell me he had never driven to Harrow. In fact he hadn't long passed his driving test and hadn't driven outside of Aylesbury!

Inevitably we got lost. By pure chance (or was it meant to be?) I recognised where we were and directed him to my Great Aunt's flat where we asked for directions! We eventually got to see the film (having missed the first showing) and had fish and chips in the car afterwards. Very romantic eh?

Actually he is quite romantic. He often buys me flowers or chocolates 'just because' and never forgets my birthday or our wedding anniversary. He even remembers how many years it is since we got married - something I'd rather forget now it's over 25!