WOYWW 617 - guess whos home?

 Well it has been a busy week since my last post, I did try and do so crafting but it didn't go as well as planned, more due to a lack of direction than anything else, but more on that later.

As the title of the post reads, yesterday/today was a special day, despite a hiccup which I am sure the keen eyed may well spot (I will point it out later) there is a special significance of today's date,  and I will cover that with a story later, for the desk this week I give you all back our beloved Shaz, I brought her home today (yesterday as you are reading this scheduled post) in the urn i chose, its ceramic piece with a fitting title called  "Always Together" and when I look at it I see Shaz as the one on the left, can't explain why xx

In the back left we have some peacock feathers in a case Shaz has had sitting there for forever, joining them is the black and burgundy wedding bouquet, salt lamp in the opposite corner that I bought many moons ago I believe around the time she was diagnosed.
Picture on the right is a very early one of Shaz and her eldest son Ant, that picture has also been on that unit for as long as i can remember.
Front and centre is the cast iron rose I bought for her during her stay in hospital from back in October 2015 (who says you cant take flowers into hospital these days)
The sleeping fairy on the left I believe her Son & Daughter in-law bought for her many moons ago for Christmas, this had been sat on the book case, so I brought it in to keep her company. 
There is also a mini bottle of Sharon's perfume she carried with her in her handbag too, along with a picture from a wedding we attended some years back.
By the way the funny shape thing on the right that kind of looks like an onion (what Shaz called it) is an essential oils diffuser (uses tap water and drops of essential oils to make the room smell nice) bought back in 2017 to help us relax linky they work really well.

So for the keen eyed you may have picked up on the DOB being incorrect, (for those that didn't I bet you just went back and checked 😁
Somehow they put the 11/08/1955 instead of  14/08/1955 (I checked the order and I got the date correct), I have e-mailed them to let them know and I am waiting on a reply, I did not fully unwrap other than to take it out of the very large pacing box to check that it wasn't damaged in shipping from the Netherlands before taking it to the co-op funeral care, still in the box to keep it safe.

I may have to the get the dremal and gold paint out and modify it myself as I can hardly ship it back now with Shaz inside it, although she might quite like the road trip😄.

Too many words, need another picture to break it up. 

Here is one of kind of failed, saved, failed, leave to one side and think about piece I was working on.


The background came out ace until my colour choice was not right ha ha 
the wolf stamp tried to hide the wrong colour choice, then the Lavinia Stamps pebble stencil, I may have gotten carried away with......just a bit, but we live and learn..

Doo feel free to go look at some crafting, some non failed or just better rescued crafting over at Julia's Stamping ground, I do try and comment on peoples blogs, but not as much as I should,  I am struggling for motivation and time, time; where does that go? plus this week I am back at work.

Well let's end on that promised tale, but this is not just any story, this one is our story (feel free to skip over this to the and finally if you are pushed for time) 
 

This ladies and gents is a tale of Chivalry, Suspense, Daring and Romance, but I warn you its a lot of words so if you are comfy lets begin.

 I first met Sharon at her place of work, she the manageress at a Kwik save  supermarket on a rough estate not far from where I lived, I had worked part time at another store, and transferred there to work full time when one came up.
Sharon's eldest son also worked there and over the next almost 3 years we had gotten really close, (Ant and Shaz already were of course but you know what I mean) we went to works do's  had the same taste in music, got drunk and did karaoke, that sort of thing. 

So the main stock delivery for Kwik save would arrive on a Monday morning so Ant and myself would stay until midnight to re-stock the shelves, then Shaz would come back and let us out and re lock up before going back home. 

Shaz didn't drive, so she caught the bus or walked everywhere, when she split from her husband a year before this saga's time-line she lived over 2.5 mile away, this meant catching the bus at midnight in a rough area.


So at midnight, Ant and myself would walk her round to the bus stop to ensure she got on it ok, this went on for a while, but it didn't sit right with me,  you never knew who would be on the bus that time of night, (insert chivalry here) so I offered her a lift home, convinced her even, I hated the thought of anything happening to her on the bus or when she walked the last part at other end.

She agreed and this made me feel a whole lot better, I would drop her off outside her door, and after a few times (insert daring here) I would joke one of these days I will be invited in for a coffee and drive off. Sharon's answer was, maybe or something like that (insert suspense here), 

Random pic warning

This went on for a while, until one fateful Monday night on March 30th 1992 (well the morning of Tuesday 31st, but that's being technical)

It was foggy, really foggy almost eerily so, we pull up out side the house, I was about to say "one of these nights I might get that coffee" when she invited me in, So I found somewhere to park and in I followed her in for that coffee, i follow her though the reception room at the front of the house to the dining room.

So with coffee made Shaz decides she was going to go and take a bath (odd for this time of night but Shaz was not normal either) we had sat in the dining room next to the kitchen, the bathroom was on the end of that and in dining room.

Against the wall was a free standing real fire (insert romance here) I figured I would light the fire so it would be warm when she got out the bath.

Then I hear Shaz squeal then laugh,  her cat comes running out soaking wet, it had managed to fall in the bath,  so I am sat drying it off with a towel I had found when shaz comes out in a silk dressing gown and sits down next to me, we sit and watch the flames for what seemed like forever, at some point she leans on my shoulder.

I remember cassette player playing as she did not have a TV , I forget what was songs where playing now, its not relevant, as all I can hear is Sharon's rhythmic breathing, and how it is slowly changing against a backdrop from the crackle of flames .......

And that kids is where I am leaving it, the rest is for me to know and you to guess at

It is most definitely just one of many wonderful memories that I will cherish forever.
 
Today/tomorrow would have been our actual anniversary that we became an item, it is why it was so very important for me to get her home for today xx


Apologies at the long post peeps, just had to share the story 


An finally....

WOYWW 616 - So where exactly does stuff go in here?

Well it is wednesday again, so that can only mean one thing , "Tuesday is behind us and we are one day closer to the weekend", and while that is true it is the one day a week that the crafting community shares what they have been up to on their desks, now that may or may not be some actual crafting, What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

This week I am afraid there has been no crafting, I am sure you can all understand as to why, but that does not mean craft related stuff hasn't been achieved.

Shaz had a load of tubs of stamps and stencils all over the shop in different tubs for either projects she had planned or projects she had completed, So today I have been mainly dealing with finding homes for all the stamps and stencils, Stuff and Things.

The binder is labeled Lavinia 2, it is reputed to store all the fairy houses, animals and trees etc.

So at the top of the desk you will note the lavinia stamps, they all look new and unopened, but they have all been listed in onenote (Shaz listed everything she ever bought including pictures) One note is something I am getting more and more familiar with as I have started using it for work. 

If you need something to keep yourself organised to prevent you buying duplicates i highly recommend it.

So what else have I been upto? 

I have been in contact with a womans refuge and I am awaiting them getting back to me with regards to some of Sharon's clothes (not the fancy stuff), things like leggings, socks, smalls and plain tops etc

Believe it or not she does have some plain stuff too!

I know right 😂 but it is true.

Things that can do some good and I won't feel a loss, baby steps and all that x

Ok so we are going to talk about the elephant in the room, the eagle eyed among you may have done, and those are the new stamps on the right of the desk too,  caught red handed.
What can I say? 
Well my excuse is LOOOOK at them trees, just LOOOOK at them!

So we have the Tree of Hope & the Tree Of Courage, then the sentiment one is called Magic Surrounds us 

Your welcome👍

They will be used with a future project I have whirling around in my head, just need the skills to pull it off, the choccy in the bottom, yeah I got that,  pretty sure I can manage that without trying 😋.

Anyway, that is our desk covered, what is yours like? head on over to our Julias for a link up and share what you have been up to.

Cheeky holiday snap, this one is from Kos in 2019, from the last working windmill on Kos, the tour guide said to pop your hands in the air, so we both did, Shaz let go of her walking stick to do so, this resulted in it falling to the floor ha ha  

so that just leaves ....

Thank you all

Sharon's family would like to express our sincerest thank you to everyone that had a hand in making yesterday as special as it was.

Whether you were able to attend in person or in spirit by watching the live stream, knowing you were there in one way or another meant the world to us, we could and did draw strength from each and every one of you.

An extra shout out goes to the company we both spent a combined total of around 40 years between us working at, while its company name has changed as few times over the years its core values has not.

The reason for the shout out is that when I contacted Andrea in HR to let them know of Sharons passing, I mentioned that we will be including Howmet fastenings (formerly Arconic, formerly Linread Northbridge) as part of the route to the crematorium, then I kind of cheekily asked if there was any way they would allow Sharon's work mates come out to see her off.

Now remember we are in a huge pandemic, and most companies have a  portion of staff on furlough!

Without hesitation Andrea was like leave it with me we will make this happen, and they did, even some of those that were on furlough travelled from home to be a part of it.

So when we turned in to the road and I saw just how many colleagues lined both sides of the road it filled me with so much pride and warmth, words can not articulate how huge that was so Andrea, Todd and Paul thank you for making that happen and for each and everyone of our former colleagues xxx 

Picture from 2008 with Shaz (Right), her youngest son Michael (above her) and I am on Michael's left. 

This morning, it was time to open the collections box that stood by the remembrance book, inside it was a little under £100 so I rounded it up and doubled it, when you consider that just 29 friends and family were in attendance that is amazing thank you all.

So £100 went to wolf watch (I removed my email addy from the image below as I get enough spam) x 

 

And £100 went off to Cancer research too x







Note:

Due to the way gift aid works, I had to put this down as a personal donation rather than a collection or they would not benefit from the 25% extra funds they would get from HMRC as a tax incentive, this is something we would always do.

Another cheeky picture...

This one from 2015 when we went out for a meal at christmas with work mates

Any finally ...

It's all about the bird, family and loved ones today x

Today Shaz rejoins the wheel, to be reborn once again, bringing happiness and love to peoples lives once more, we always joked that we somehow managed to get off the wheel in different places hence our age gap, this appears to be history repeating itself again, but we will be reunited once more in another life, in another time.

Today should not be a sad day, it should be a day of remembrance, a day not to be filled with regrets, but instead a day to remember the times we spent with her, the concerts, the crafting, the holidays, the family gatherings, the silly times,  a time to reflect on the joy that was to know shaz.

To remember Sharon's smile, a smile that radiated and made you feel loved, it was magical, and it reached into your very sole.

I have tried the best I can to give shaz the best send of possible under the current circumstances, I know I will be fretting over things I may have forgotten, and Shaz will be shaking her head in dismay, but I honestly can't think of anything else that needs to be done except to not be late, yeah lets not do that as that would be kind of bad.

I fully expect to be in bits today, making the arrangements has been a bit of a welcome distraction for me (I had no idea I was such a control freak), but it has allowed me to fuss over my beloved wifelet for a while longer, that is until she is home with me once again.

Some shout outs:

I am not going to list you all as I am a bloke with a poor memory and don't want to offend anyone x

My family I love you all dearly, and thank you for being there, for rallying round when I needed you, for keeping me fed Rob & Jen I love both dearly for that, meals on wheels rules ha ha  xx

Annie you have no idea how many times the bear has been held tightly (the seams are fine) thank you and for just being there for the chats when I didn't know I needed them, today i have in my pocket an extra rosette to hold, and i will be offering them out to her children to hold too xx

I would like to thank all of the staff at Co-op Funeralcare, especially Emma who has been there for us each step of the way, and for ensuring things like Sharon's hair is dyed and her pillow is sprayed with her sleep spray & for bearing with me as I fussed over the order of service, and Neil for taking the time to walk me the logistics of the day itself including the cars etc

Kate (funeral celebrant), we have chatted back and forth, over todays service, I know you will do Shaz proud today.

My only disappointment is not being able to include all my family due to the restrictions on the amount that can attend the service, It is so unfair that we can't have all the family and friends here, 30 people sounds a lot, but it really, really isn't.

We will celebrate the life of Shaz once this lock down ends, the issue then will be finding somewhere big enough 😁

We had some new lovely cards arrive, they are stunning thank you, as have been arriving over the last few weeks, I also opened the door to find roses on the matt.

So raise a glass or two, eat cake if you have it and remember our Shaz x

Until we are together again my wonderful wifelet, rest in peace xx 

14/08/1955 - 13/02/2021

RIP

now & forever, always & eternity
I will love you
x

The live stream linky and info

 So I have scheduled this to go live at 7pm the eve of my wonderful wifelets funeral service.

Where possible view it on a single device please as it is capped to 400 simultaneous log-ins (we had it increased from the standard 150) so please do not share this out.

Also be aware that if you log in early and there is another service running, or the previous one is running over, be respectful and log back out again, this also is true at the end of our service, another follows on at 11am.

Take a note of this info as I may well remove it on the morning if I remember to prevent us from crashing the system.

Website linky click me

Username Zawe6942

Password 602702

The service will begin at 10:15am so grab your tissues, coffee and cake it you have some ahead of time


For those that are interested in the lead up to the service it will be as follows 

The hearse will arrive at our road at approximately 09:25  director will then get out of the hearse at 09:30 and lead the hearse past our house on foot, pausing so shaz can see the house from the outside for the last time (more on that later), the two limos and other cars will tag in behind at this stage.

From here we will head down to where we worked, arriving at approximately 09:45 where our previous colleges will be stood out to watch sharon off  (so love that they didn't bat an eyelid at this request, Sharon loved her job, we both did) we will be using the works entrance to turn around and head back out again.

From here we will be heading to the Redditch crematorium arriving around 10:10 am, the Director will then pop in and ensure all is ok before leading us ready for the service to begin at 10:15.

Due to social distancing Sharon's awesome glitter coffin can not be carried in by us, instead it will be wheeled in.

Shaz is holding her paper bouquet, and is as ready as she can be, her makeup, hair and outfit are beautiful, she is wearing her favourite necklaces, and bracelets too.


When it comes to the ashes, Shaz is coming back home, to be with me where she belongs, I have picked out a wonderful urn; I understand that this is not for everyone, but I am not ready to completely let go just yet😭 maybe in time, but that time is not going to be any time soon xxx

Here is a pic our our beautiful Shaz xxx

Tomorrow's order of service in case you wanted to print it.
Click me

We can't not have a funny, this one would make Shaz howl..

WOYWW 615 - my YouTube history is just wrong now

 Ok so I have a ways to go when it comes to doing this blog justice, but I am trying, and when I say I am trying I know shaz is grinning and agreeing with me as I type this.

Well as many of you know Shaz and I have a shared facebook account, we only started it in 2009 when we got married as everyone was uploading photos from our wedding, now you may be asking why am i bringing this up? 

Well it's simples 😀

I see all the craft posts, just like Shaz does, and all the new stash that are due out, and quite often I will tell shaz what I think will look cool and say she must have it, well that kind off hasn't stopped. 

Which means I kinda, sort off, did a thing...again 

So above the cutting board we have a bunch of distress inks used on the back ground
Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire, Frayed Burlap, Iced Spruce & Blueprint sketch.

The "One day At A Time" stamp just had to be bought

The "Rose Corner Stencil" (can't see a name for it, but it is the new one)

What can I say, the Clock and sentiment, and the stencil had to to be bought, the smaller was more of a free shipping filler but I liked the sentiments.

Well that could only mean one thing, videos, I watched the facebook video for Honey doo Crafts launch for the new stamps (after the fact), then went to Youtube on how to do some of the things I wanted to do with them, and more importantly the type of stock for stamping on Lavinia Stamps (Quality Card Multifarious Smooth and Supreme 20x A5 330gsm). 

I did make a mistake with the stamping towards the end by placing the stamp on the card upside down, when I flipped it round the it took some of the background away.

It was not the reason why I added the spiral stamp, I just felt it needed a little something there.

The spiral stamp is from a set called "Winter Solstice 71" from a company called Non Sequitur which I believe are still going under De-stempelwinkel Linky not a cheap set but a pretty cool one.

For the clock I used a versafine Clair - Nocturne ink, for the stencil more ink from Versafine Clair, this time "Shady lane" for the foliage & "Glamour" for the rose heads.

I also tried my hand at embossing, now I know what your thinking, and you would be right, thats a full on gallop.

Dang it, that is not as easy as it looks ha ha, nor is it easy to mask and use half the stamp when not using the stamp platform. 

That was my second mistake, my first was not to try it on a scrap piece first.

My third mistake was not putting enough embossing ink (is it ink?) on the stamp then you have to go back in and do it again (I digress) well lets just say the bottom part of the text is wonky and leave it at that.
 

Anyway head on over to  the Stamping ground for some more WOYWW goodness, but from some  real crafters, crafters that possibly plan and practice before commiting to the final project? 

Anyways, as is usual in my posts, a snap of us, this one was taken at Download festival  back in 2015 

That just leaves the and finally...

P.S

Check back tomorrow for the live view link for Sharon's funeral, I will be scheduling a post to go live at 7pm with all the details on it.

P.P.S

The funeral is Friday 19th March at 10:15

So I may have done a thing

So after coming back from a visit to see Sharon lunch time, ( needed to take over the flowers her Son and Daughter in-law made) I decided I needed to spend some time in her room.

So after finishing some chores I headed up stairs.

Now lets just be clear, the day before I had selected a few stamps I liked the look of and thought would work well together, but I had no time-frame in mind as to what, when or even if  I was going to do anything with them, it was just a well "it would be nice to see if I could", sort of thing, if that makes sense?

Anyway I had picked out the following Visible Image stamps (and a few others I did not use in the end) 

Ahead Of Our Time (for the spiral)
Immortal Love Set ( for the word "Love"  &  "is Forever")
Heart Inkognito 
Create It!  (for the large crackle)
Believe in unicorns ( for the clouds)

I then went to pick out some inks, yeah that went well, I watched a video on how to create a background (I said I was a noob) and, well, lets just say I tried to use a non water based ink one with water spray, and it did not go so well.

So I swapped to these Distress inks on the left of the picture, all by Sir Tim Holtz
Wilten Violet
Fired Brick (kind of went overboard with it)
Frayed Burlap
Old Paper
Dried Marigold
Tumbled Glass

With the background kind of done, if a little heavy on the Fired brick, I figured what the hell and got to work with the stamping platform, laying the clean stamps on the card where I wanted them, then closing the stamp platform to allow it to pick up the stamp, then adding ink and closed it again.
Pressing down firmly BUT gently at the same time (I have this thing resting on the Tim Holtz glass cutting mat, there would be hell to pay if I broke it (possibly literally).  

Anyway the inks I used for stamping are by Dew Drop

Nautical Blue  (Memento) for most of the back-groundy stuff like the Spiral, the Heart and the Crackle 
Grey Flannel (Memento) for the clouds
Graphite black (Brilliance) for the text   
Ignore the VersaMagic Perfect Plumeria from the image as it was not used.

I didn't think to take any pictures of the back ground creation as I figured it was going in the bin, it was not until I started to use the stamp platform and add some layers to it i decided I was kind of happy with it, for a first attempt, I am quite happy with it.


The text is not as straight as I would have liked, now its not on the image in this shot but I added clouds to cover up a mistake in the centre of the image.

 I basically added a feather but did not like it, used a colour that I thought would work, so I over stamped it in the final shot below using the clouds from the believe in unicorns set.

So I then stuck it to a burgundy piece of card using that proper cool DST tape gun ( how cool is that bad boy?), trimmed it to give a border (Cough er twice as I stuck it down wonky the first time, so I had to do it again) but don't tell anyone, it's our secret  ;) 

Moving on...

I had thought about adding some ribbon or something on the right side of the image, then thought better of it (just learning to walk this game, not ready for marathons just yet) and trimmed it off instead.

Not only that..

I would have to find it, and it is anyone's guess as to how long that may take...

So my first ever card is done excluding the sentiment that goes inside, So I know what you are thinking...

"will there be more ?" 

I think so... in fact I know so  :)

Simply because Shaz has spent over 25 years collecting all the stuff and things she has in here, it would be almost a crime to break it up!


And because if you read the post below I kind of ordered a stamp as I have a project in mind for it.

So that has got to deserve a picture of Shaz looking happy

We can't very well sign off without adding the 
 and finally....

WOYWW - organising stuff and things edition

Another Wednesday which can only mean one thing, its time to visit our Julia at the stamping ground for another "Whats on your work desk Wednesday" So head on over the the Stamping ground for a view of some actual crafting.
 
As the title says, there hasn't been a lot going on, other than loads of organising, but with that said, take a look at the desk this week

Well, I take no credit for any of this little lot, we have more beautiful cards, if you look carefully in the top left hand corner, you will note I found the Sir Tim Holtz stamping platforms and dug out the large and medium one.
At front and centre we have 2 beautiful Bouquets in black and burgundy, the one on the right is Sharon's original bouquet she put together for our wedding 12 years ago now. 

On the left is one that Sharon's Daughter in-law and eldest son  Anthony worked on, this is (with the exception of the ribbon)  is created with all natural materials,  so paper flowers and wooden BBQ skewers etc.

I had this vision of having Sharon cremated holding the wedding bouquet, but with what it was made from I needed a plan B as plan A wasn't happening.


So a request for a duplicate with some minor differences, a flat side so  Shaz can have it lie flat on her chest


What an incredibly amazing job they have done on them too, they even have glitter on the leaves x


I kind of also ordered a stamp too for something I want to work on, I am a noob when it comes to ordering stamps so if this is a clone or copy please let me know. Clicky me
 
I could have looked through all of Sharon's binders but that would have taken forever and lets face it, I am not getting any younger.

So yes, watch this space I hope ..

A cheeky shot of Sharon with one of her Granddaughters (Merlin)

And that just leaves and finally...

Funeral broadcast

We have been approved to have far more concurrent connections to view the funeral than the maximum limit imposed previously.

This means instead of being capped at 150 we can now have upto 400.

So to view it please check back on the evening of the 18th march for the log-in details.

Also if you would like to send a picture of yourself and or family to place on an unoccupied pew email them across to me and i will print them and take them in personally. 
Email address is dsjbrooks (at) gmail.com 
Please add Picture for funeral in the description of the email, and reply below to say you have sent it.

A picture of the bird being silly, cus why not :)

WOYWW but its the last one.....

Welcome back you lovely lot X

 
So here is a dilemma I faced the other day, you see I asked the lovely Annie to make me some bears, not just a few either as we are a large loving family.

So I did what anyone would do and think, right I need a thank you card. 

Shaz made large amounts of cards, and kept them in a large box all sorted with index cards so you could find them ( I know right how organised is that?) , anyway when I go into box to get a card out there is just the one thank you card left.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, it was meant to be.

But for me I was in a dilemma, this was Sharon's last thank you card, and it was sealed down, how could i open it and use it, I wanted to save it....

So conflicted I take it out the box and take it downstairs, staring at it willing it to somehow multiply, but alas it did not. So still unopened I went to bed, the next morning the bears were due home (they may need a lift, it's a long walk and they only have short legs) so I needed to make a decision.

I could almost hear Sharon mocking me "the cards are to be given, not kept, you keep received cards not unsent ones"  

Anyway I open it and to my dismay, there is no stamp on the back?, It is sealed you unfinished? WTF, this cant be right!

I can't hand this over like this, it has to have a stamp on the back, Sharon's handmade by ShazSilverwolf, it was not there...


Slow down, yes I did but let me tell it.....

Now I am not a stamper, so I could really stuff it up, right, couldn't I?

This is the last of its kind, there will be no more of these made by my wonderful Wifelet, and I am about to deface it.

The decision was made, the next challenge was to actually find the stamp, it had to be close to hand as surely it was in constant use, so a draw maybe, on the desk possibly.

And it was, but OMG the ink, wtf does she need this many ink pads for, ink is ink right, I get the different colours but come on... Really?  

There is just so much of it!

So with shaking hands after looking at the colours on the table, at the bottom of the pile is one that compliments the colour on the front of the card, it’s a "VersaFine Clair  - Warm Breeze" and I am now looking for Sir Tim Holt's stamping platforms, (look I am a noob ok , don't judge)  Shaz had at least 3 of them in this room ........somewhere......But I can’t find them.

I am going to have to free hand this bad boy

 The time is ticking and i need to be on the road, so the stamp gets peeled off and stuck on the acrylic stamping blocks, cleaned with the baby wipe and dabbed dry on kitchen towel and I practice until I am happy.


Jobs a good one, I did it and it looks kind of OK, not wonky, not as defined as I would like, but I did it, go me!


I close the ink pad, dry it and think, but there are other things on that sheet, and the top needs something. Like the newbie I am, I open the inkpad upside down and end up with ink on my finger.



Does this make me a crafter or clumsy ?

                                                         answers in the comments below


I then balance it out with little crow, and dragonfly that was with the set, (had a smart and stuck them on opposite ends of the long thin acrylic block, give them a quick dry with the warm air gun and take it down stairs feeling like Shaz is just grinning at me all the way down stairs.

I did not think to take a picture of the back of the now finished card, but i am Sure Annie will be sharing it ..

For actual proper bona fide, qualified crafting head over to the queen of the deskers at the stamping ground  and check out some more crafty goodness from those that actually know what they are doing.


Another gratuitous picture on our way to Tenerife back in 2016

And that just leaves the and  finally ...

Note to self type much less ha ha 

Donations preferred over flowers please

 I have been asked about flowers etc for Sharon's funeral..

 We will of course be having some on top of the coffin, and if you feel like you would very much like to do something in memory of Sharon please donate to either Cancer research UK or Wolf Watch UK or both.

You guys know the history of sharon and cancer, but let's talk about the wolf side (no she is not part wolf) but she did love them, so much so that I adopted one for her through wolf watch UK, this Wolf called Pepe sadly passed away in 2017 but before that we went out to see him.

A nice day out in 2009 to visit wolf watch
featuring Maddah 

Pepe was a male Timber wolf  bourn in west Midlands safari park back in 2004, where he was ousted in a scuffle for dominance.

Pepe lived out the rest of his days at wolf watch where he was able to roam the vast 100 acre with a beautiful valley on the shropshire/welsh border.

In Sharon's memory I have adopted 2 new wolves  Bosch and Sansa, and plan on continuing to do so going forward.

Meet Bosh, Bosch is a grey wolf (almost silver) and is not quite a year old born in may 2020, he was owned privately until the human malware pandemic meant that his owner could no longer afford to look after him.

He has been well socialised and extremely well cared for.

 Bosch is settling in nicely in his new home and has a delightful nature. He appears to be quite comfortable around women but is cautious of men he has not met before.

Sansa is as the name suggests is a female, born  April 2016, she is a Norwegian wolf, hence why I was drawn to her.

She is inquisitive, and likes to know what is going on, and is typically the first to investigate food, or chase of birds trying to steal the meal.

Sansa is a wild wolf, and not social at all, although she is getting used to people passing by the enclosure.

Funny thing about the Norwegian bit, take a look here 



Wolf Watch was established in 1993 by the founder Tony Haighway, and has been a safe haven for displaced  wolves ever since. It is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the rescue, welfare and conservation of displaced wolves from captive situations across Europe.

Please use the links below to donate , thank you