just a few piccies...

Time is running away again.
What with the preparation for the house move (well.. i did pack a few things away earlier) and me new job...i seem to have misplaced some of september and october!

Nelson is doing well.. the first night was awful.. he was totally freaked out and was very skitsy..
Now hes seemingly back to the Nelson we know and love..

The weather here is getting colder and colder by the day , The hour.. minute... second!!

Cant wait to get OUT of this place and into the new one.

Still.. for a brief moment!

Nelson behind the curtain

Lick The spoon (UK)
Milc chocolate Lollies..

Found it!

This is it..
This is our new home

MY kitchen

 We should be in by EARLY December..
and..

I cant wait!

I'm seeing hanging baskets and roses around the door!

just looking

Just looking... thats all were doing at the moment..
but i really want to find a nice place to live up here.

I love this area.. just struggle very much, to love this house..
it is a house.. not my home..

i feel so cramped in this place, but then after my home in Brunei.. i think most UK houses will feel small..

looked at a couple of places yesterday.. no 1 was awful.. the 2nd one was beautiful.. just what we want.. but sadly a bit on the small side for what they are asking.

Took some photos of the area while i was out walking with my sister mandy.
its great to get out into the fresh air (fresh meaning a little chilly!)

The beauty in this area is breathtaking.. and i will be very happy to live here..

Just gotta find the right house .

as they say at the Ladies hash, ON ON!!

27th september 10

Have decided that today is the start of a new week, and things have got to get better.

have suffered the last 4 and a half weeks with back pain.. nothing serious im sure, but just always there.. all the time!
SO.. Drs appointment today!

Only two more weeks until Nelson gets out of Quarantine... we cant wait.

WE are thinking also about buying a home here.
YES we have a house to live in here but somehow.. it doesnt feel like my home.
something is missing!

WE love this area.. its a stunning place to live..

all we need to do now is find the right HOME..

we went to see that cat NELSON today

He is just one Laid back lad!!

Only 4 weeks and 3 days till he is a free cat!

I cant wait x

My lovely friend Helen in Saltash is now a Grandma..
her Daughter Catherine had a baby boy on 10th august,  this is the card i made for her...

and this is the card i made for Catherine and Ben...

i was a bit miffed as after id made this and sendt it off, i discovered some baby boy ish paper lurking! serves me right for not keeping a tidy ship i guess??

am missing my ATC thing alot...
i hope it will all be up and running again soon..

Im Back

This  is our humble abode

Its compact & bijou (thats posh speak for small)

But i like where we live.. we are rural.. and away from noise and smog and chavs!

This is the back of the house....

No beach ... but hey.. ill cope..

Nelson is a mere 20 miles away from us ... we have been to see him a couple of times...

he is bonkers.. and i miss him very much..

Only a mere10 weeks till he escapes quarantine (12th Oct 2010)

Nelson seems pretty happy in his small area...

i dont thin k hes ac tually bothered about being there and the ladies there seem to love him...

Im glad to be back

just feels like ive never been away!

but i have a thousand happy memories to remind me that i have xxxxxxxxx

Life after Brunei...............Wiltshire life!!

We made it! we have arrived back in the UK...

The flight was uneventful... if not a bit cold... the food on the flight was wholly inedible... even though i ordered the vegetarian option as its safer! usually!

one highlight was i jokingly asked if they had tea tharik...  the guy laughed and handed me the usual weak watery tea.
then just before we were due to land he came over and gave me a tea tharik... how sweet! (literally)

the Landing for me was VERY emotional.. last time i was landing in the UK was when my Dad was poorly.. just before he died.. made me realise for a split second.. Dads not here! that made me cry!

I think i spent the last 15 months pretending .. no, kidding myself he would still be here! bad idea i guess...

Well the hotel is nice.. the room is teeny tiny but its clean and the view over the fields with the deer and the tractors is very nice..its very rural... im in my element sat at this window..

Yes I will miss the beach at Muara
Yes i will miss the wildlife in the garden & at supersave
Yes i will definately miss the Ladies Hash on a Tuesday
and YES i will miss the friends that i made whilst in Brunei.
BUT i wont miss the life in the goldfish bowl, and the ensuing pile of pooh that came with living IN that said Goldfish bowl.
My sister told me whilst she was staying with me in Brunei.. there are 2 types of people..
Drains and Radiators!
sadly the Drain variety of 'friend' got the better of me / US after a while..
BUT the radiators came into their own, and without them the Drains could have won...
BUT they didnt..
so to all you Radiators out there..
I thank you..
YOU will be missed ....

Today is the start of the next chapter in our lives....... minus the Drain!!

Dubai

were in Dubai and on the way back to the uk this eve..
will have to re think my blog name now!!!

xxxxxxx

Loan Service Summer Ball ..

Last weekend (26th June) was the loan Service Summer ball at the Miri marriott ..

The evening was absolutely Brilliant, the Organisers had worked tirelessly to get the evening up and running, and it seemed like although people were 'up for it' on paper.. that when it came to parting with their $$ there was a bit of reluctance..

Anyway... there were approx 40 people who attended the ball.. and it was a lovely atmosphere..
The music playing when we sat down to eat was awesome.. very 80s and 90s.. and right up my street...

The food was lovely.. the WINE flowed excessively freely  ... and when the band came on they were fab...

They played just the right mix of music, and i think everyone danced at some stage...(even Ben.. who apparently did an awesome job of taking up the whole dance floor, and gave David brent a run for his money!)    sadly... I have NO photographic evidence of this!!!!

               
This is Steve & I with Auriol and paul

Helen and I trying to keep in the theme of the B movies....

Jo, Andrea, Claire who were part of the committee... and me ! (who wasnt)

10/10 To all concerned...

Thank you for a brilliant evening.. and steve and My last Loan service Official function..

One to remember for sure

x

Better late than never?

OK.. so its been a while..

Its been, and continues to be a bit weird here at the moment, as we are packing (well trying too... if we had boxes to pack our already packed boxes into then we would be packed.. but in true Brunei stylee.. were STILL waiting for them to arrive!)
Its ridiculously frustrating...
and we seem to be living life in a Limbo situation..

To be honest i would be happy to just Pack n Go now..
BUT we leave on July 10th, and its racing towards us now...

Havent had much chance to make anything much recently..
I have NO table chairs to sit at...

But i thought id show you my last few cards....

This was made for a lovely girl here who just had her first baby.....

these 2 were made just as general cards...
simple.. but i like them...
i dont do complicated!!

This is my lounge....

Its not my home anymore!!!!!

ATC Dress it up

These are the ATCs ive made for the june Challenge..

 This one is made from the Sultan of Brunei 's own GIFT WRAP (that i cunningly Borrowed from a friend)

Im not a girly girl and was never much into dresses and things so this was a bit of a struggle for me...

 The envelopes were made up from pages of info about the loan service summer ball this month!
I really should have used more colourful paper!!!

Vietnam

Vietnam is .... Mad..
the motorcycle and Bicycle are King here for sure..
Pavements are for parking (aka abandoning) bikes in any fashion!  

                                                               



Everyone is trying to sell you something


and to be honest its probaly something you done need or want!

Yes i did buy these, they are whistles!
i only bought them so i could take their pictures... they all wanted their pictures taken after id taken the older ladies...

it was like a photosession.. they all wanted to be with steve!

we took a trip up the river... to a fishing area.. where there was a boat(wow) and it was fishing (double wow)
and it cast its net, and hauled it back in ..
then they showed us fish..
Wow thery must have leapt in the net very quickly... then they asked for Dong!!
mmm didnt see that one coming (much!)

These guys werent staged...

and didnt stop to ask for any Dong either...

far better side of life to see..
reality wins every time over the staged acts for tourists!

Gosh i sound bitter..
Im not.. i just dont like being used as a way to extrude money from..
we arent rich

we never will be and hey.. thats fine.. Money is a necessary evil... but dont rip me off cos im a tourist and im in your country!

anyway!!

The food in Ho An was brilliant..
This was Tofu with chilli and garlic and lemongrass...

It was like eating eggy heaven!

and cost about 1 pound ish

ive bought some tofu since ive been back so i can try to make this! (!!)

And to wash it down

Larue...

tasted lovely.... and im not a beer fan either... but for 50p a bottle..
well
it was churlish not too wasnt it..



More pics later..
There are plenty to chose from!!!! x

A selection of pics....

This is the stray puppy i feed along the main coast road..

she looks pretty healthy.. and is such a sweetie.. though VERY cautious..


the rest of these pics are of Monkeys.. and they were taken at Helens house yesterday..
we were sat in her hall way with the doors ajar.. and the Monkeys were on her patio area...
close enough by far for me..!!

i feel very lucky to get to photograph these wonderful animals at such close proximity..

                                                 

Peeling Paint Artist Trading cards project

As you can see... this is the table where the magic happens!!
haha.. no this is actually my dining room table (thats for sale as we leave here in 9 weeks) and this is where i make all my cards and do all my ATCs..

This months theme is peeled paint effect background (i hope thats right!)

Ive loved messing with paints for this one.. Steve bought me some paints on saturday... as i sold a few bits and bobs and felt proper pleased with myself..

The peeling paint effect is achieved by using paints and vaseline!

what fun i had playing with this.. tho the climate here did make the cards turn up at the corner quite quickly.. i did panic a little but a heavy weight and patience paid off..

anyway..
here are my attempts at this months ATC..

and my favoutite angle.. as you can actually see the texture in the paint on this...

i think This has been the start of a new way of making ATCs..
as i have always used paper as a background before...

Thanks to Gaby for setting this challenge and for helping me learn a new technique..