Saturday 30 August 2014

Grandad

Today I want to talk about my Grandad.
I think it's important that we talk about our past generations
so we can understand what they did for us!

My grandad died over 19 years ago and I still miss him everyday.


He wasn't perfect but he was a huge part of my life.
My dad was always close with his parents.
When his sister and then my dad moved out to South Africa
so did his other sister and his mum and dad.


When my mum and dad, my aunt and her family
moved back to England so did they.

We spent every other weekend with them
and they came on most of our holidays with us.


Most of my memories of my Grandad and my dad
are of them working together in the garden.
My grandad loved gardening.


He also had a part of his life he didn't really talk about.
During the 2nd world war he joined the army.
He'd only met my gran shortly before he left.
He was posted and within weeks was a prisoner of war.
I don't know the full details but I know at the prison he was
at they grew turnips.
The turnips were crushed in machines.
No matter how the prisoners felt or how ill they were they
were made to work.
If they didn't work fast enough they were beaten and quite a lot died.
My grandad worked out if you put too many turnips through
the machines they would get blocked up and would stop.
The guards thought he was brilliant because he was working so hard.
What they didn't realise was he was blocking up the machine so they
could get a rest and hopefully the ones struggling could cope
once the machines started up again.
I don't know about all the horrible things he saw and experienced.
I know when the war was coming to an end they were forced to travel
thousands of miles, quite a lot by foot.
Many died on the trip but luckily my grandad survived.
They were taken to Germany where they stayed prisoners even after
the war finished.
When everyone was celebrating he was still a prisoner.
Eventually he was freed.
He went back to the UK and married my gran.
Up until the day he died he couldn't stand the smell or taste of turnips.
I think it was all they could eat in the camp.


A few months before my grandad died he told everyone
he didn't want heroics and he wanted to go.
He'd developed a cough (he used to be a smoker).
He wouldn't see the dr about it and he had started
suspecting that he was developing dementia.
The thing is he still looked so well.
I'd never really seen him ill.

He was an inspiration to crafting!
He was an expert in 3D decoupage.
He was offered hunderds of pounds for one of his pictures.
His work was amazing!

During this time I had just split up with my fiance.
He took me to one side and said:
"If he is your soul mate you will get back together,
if he isn't your soul mate is out there waiting for you.
Your gran is my soul mate and no matter what people say
or try to do we will stay together.
We were meant to be together and I love her to this day.
He said he never wanted to be a burden on my gran
and that's why he had taken the decision he wanted to go."
It was such a special converstation and he was right.
My fiance wasn't my soul mate.
My husband is and I just needed the time to heal 
and then I could see he was the one.


The Sunday before he died he rang my dad and said
he was having problems breathing and could my dad
take him to hospital.
He had an x-ray and luckily an expert was passing and saw
a very faint shadow at the bottom of his lung.
He had pneumonia.
He was admitted straight away and put on antibiotics.
The first couple of days everyone took turns in visiting him.
My Auntie and her 3 children came and stayed at our house.
I looked after the kids whilst the parents went to see him.
And each day some of the grandkids visited.
I was the last to visit, everyone was fussing round him.
He had gone downhill very fast once the antibiotics started kicking in.
He'd had a fall in the hospital and it had affected him badly.
Everyone was fussing and I sat on the empty bed next to his.
Everyone was waffling and my Grandad turned and smiled at me.
In that second I knew.
I knew he was going to go, I knew he was ready and I knew it 
was what he wanted.
He didn't say anything and I'm not even sure anyone else
noticed the smile.
11pm that night the phone call came.
I went straight downstairs and told all the adults to go
and I would look after the kids.
My Grandad had a stroke but was still alive at this point.
Everyone went to his side, he couldn't talk after the stroke
and couldn't really move.
My gran was by his side with my auntie, mum and dad.
Unfortunately my dad had gone to get help as my grandad was struggling.
My grandad took his last breath and was gone.
He went the way he wanted to with his family around him.


I wish he'd met my husband and son.
They would of got on so well.
But I'm still happy he went the way he wished.


He had lots of flaws but he was an amazing man.
I have a few things to remember him by and I treasure them.
If someone has touched your life and made a difference you should share it.
If more people did those little things to make the world a happier place
then maybe we can make the world a little better.


Fighting doesn't solve anything.
We need to understand each other more.
My Grandad fought for peace.
I'm lucky I've had that peaceful life he fought for.
I just wish that peace would spread across the world
and we could make it a happier place.



Spend time with your family!
Even if its just to sit and watch tv together, 
it makes a difference.
Family won't be around for ever, make the most of them today!





Thursday 28 August 2014

Wizzimal ~ Product Review



Wizzimals are fantastic fun!

We recived a black and red pack to review.
As soon as Little Red saw the colours he knew what
he wanted to make.

He wanted to make an Evil Stampy Cat.
It's from his favorite game Minecraft.
Stampy Cat is a character that has been created by
a player of the game.
You can watch his channel on You Tube

So first we designed what we were going to make.

Then we opened the pack and saw all the amazing things
you get to make your character car.



You receive 3 colours of foam - black, white & red,
stickers & googly eyes.
You also receive the pull back car.

The foam is brilliant.
It's super light weight foam that can be shaped to
make any fantastic character.

You start by adding your base colour to your vehicle.
And shaping it.
It's really easy to add and shape so Little Red had no problems.
There isn't a problem with it sticking to the toy shape.

You can then either let the base colour dry or add your 
next colours straight away.
Be aware that if you add them straight away the colours
stick together really well so only add them once you
are sure that's where you want them to be.

We added ours straight away.



Once you have added the foam you leave it overnight to dry.
Once it's dry you can add any stickers etc. you want to add.
They are really easy to make so kids can make them themselves.


So this is our Evil Stampy Cat #Wizzimal

The brilliant thing is that there was still loads of foam left
so Little Red made a little monster as well.




I can honestly say we had loads of fun making our Wizzimal!
You can find out more information about them on the Tobar site

I would highly recommend them as a fun and interesting
project for kids (and big kids).
I love the fact that at the end of the make you have a fun toy
to play with!
You pull it back and watch it go :-)
Well worth trying and Little Red has already asked
if we can buy another pack and make some more toys.

I found them at:



I received the product to review.
However all opinions expressed are my own.
No monies were exchanged.

Wednesday 27 August 2014

What You Doing Wednesday Week 114


Good Morning Everyone!

It's beautiful and sunny in the North of the England today :-).
It's so nice to see the sunshine!

I hope your week is going well.

We are on the count down to Little Red
going back to school.
He doesn't think he is ready but I think he is.
We've had such a relaxing summer and it's now
time to get back to things.
This week he has had his hair cut
He is looking so old now!
I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

I only have one picture of a item I'm making this week.
I'm hoping that once Little Red is back at school
I'll have some more time and energy.

I'm making myself a Hitchhikers Shawl.
This pattern is by Strickmith
it's one of the most popular patterns on Ravelry.
I love it because it doesn't take much thinking.
Most of it is made by the knit stitch.
It's very relaxing.

One of the reasons I haven't got much made this week
is I've had a problem with my disability.
It seems it just keeps throwing something at me.
As soon as I think I've got things sorted it sends me a curve ball.

I take amitriptyline to help with my nerve pain and to get into a deep sleep.
One of the symptoms of CFS/ME is that I can get to sleep but I dream all night.
I usually wake in the early hours after spending 4 hours dreaming.
This is exhausting.
The ami stops this and helps you to get into a deep sleep.
Anyway after getting to a high dose and taking it for so many years
it has stopped working.
After 2 weeks of only dreaming I was exhausted.
The dr prescribed me sleeping tablets and said to
try one night and then the next night ami and see how I go.
I took one and slept a whole night!!!
I haven't slept a whole night in over 8 years.
I woke up and felt drunk and had to hold onto furniture
and walls and I was wobbling everywhere.
It looked very funny.
As the day progressed the nerve in my face decided
to get aggravated.
By the evening I was in agony. I took my ami
and nothing, I couldn't sleep I could only sit in pain.
Of course with not sleeping the pain just kept increasing.
I took all my pain meds but nothing helped.
Anyway after 19 hrs of extreme pain I called 111.
It was a tick boxer who answered.
It was bank holiday so I couldn't contact my own dr.
I answered all the questions and he told me to contact
my dr the next day.
I told him that if I didn't get pain relief soon I was going
to cut the nerve out of my face myself.
I did actually mean that. That was how bad the pain had got.
He transferred me through to a nurse.
She agreed with my diagnosis and agreed that until
I got medication that would treat the nerve pain I wouldn't
get any relief.
Off to the out of hours dr I went.
Then I had another fight.
I knew what I needed thanks to a letter from my Neurologist.
He had advised gabapentin previously but if that didn't work Pregabalin.
Gabapentin didn't agree with me but Pregabalin is more expensive
so I had never been prescribed it.
The dr really didn't want me to get a prescribtion.
She actually said why didn't I just take a sleeping tablet.
I explained my dr had advised not to take sleeping tablets & ami.
She said that is true but due to the fact that it hadn't worked I should
of tried it anyway.
I was on multiple medication that can make you drowsy and she
wanted me to take the sleeping tablet as well!
This can cause you to stop breathing!
Anyway after arguing my case and saying that the nerve pain
won't go until I have something that will treat the nerve pain.
I said after 19 hours of  pain I wasn't willing to put up with it anymore.
I won that fight and got a small prescription.
I now have to have the fight with my dr's surgery.
Thankfully my fight was worth it!!!
Within a few hours the pain decreased and I'm now pain free!
In my face anyway.
I still have my other pain but I can put up with that.
What astounds me is if I didn't know what I was talking about
and hadn't known what to ask for I wouldn't of gotten any help.
I would of had to wait till Tuesday and I wouldn't have
gotten the right treatment.
I know the NHS only has a set budget and I know that this medication
is slightly more expensive but I have worked for years
paying my national insurance.
I spend a fortune on alternative treatments and I even bought
my own crutches.
Surely people deserve to be pain free or at least the pain
controlled to a stage where you can function.

Anyway enough waffle about my health and the nhs.

I'm reading The Chamber of Secrets at the moment.
I've read it previously but after watching the Harry Potter
films again I decided to read all the books again.


Now it's your turn to share what you are doing.
It doesn't have to be crochet, anything you are making
is perfect.
Please add the pin to your post & check out a couple
of other people that are sharing their work 
Crochet Addict UK What You Doing Wednesday



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Monday 25 August 2014

Patchwork Loves Embroidery ~ Book Review


Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)
hand stitches, pretty projects
by Gail Pan
ISBN: 9781604683738
Publisher: Martingale
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
RRP: £18.99
Photographer: Brent Kane

Available in Book & eBook format from Martingale


Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle) Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

This book is full of beautiful designs
for you to embroider to many different projects.
Gail has designed the patterns so that
embroidery can work along side and within patchwork
to create beautiful projects.

Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

I love Gail's use of quilting alondside the embroidery
to create beautiful projects.
The embroidery just gives the quilt that extra touch.
I haven't seen this used previously and it's very effective.

Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle) Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

The projects range in size and design so you
can pick up a small project to start off with
or go straight for a big project.

Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle) Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

Gail talks you through each project step by step.
You get the design for each piece of embroidery
however you don't get patterns for the different pieces.
You do however get step by step instructions
that include the measurements for each piece
of material so you can easily replicate the designs.

Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle) Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

Each embroidery is explained so you can easily replicate them.
I think a beginner sewer maybe able to complete the projects
but an experienced sewer would find them easy to replicate.

Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle) Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

The designs are beautiful and you
can easily to be added to any project.
Not only can you add them to the different items
they would look beautiful as a picture.

Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle) Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

They would make fantastic gifts for friends and family.
I think adding embroidery to a project makes it even more special.

Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle) Martingale - Patchwork Loves Embroidery (Print version + eBook bundle)

This book is full of beautiful designs and wonderful projects!

Available in Book & eBook format from Martingale




I received a copy of the ebook to review.
However all opinions expressed are my own.
Affiliate links are included on the post.
No monies were exchanged.