Well its finished but I don't like it at all!
I thought it would be a good way to use the terrible photos we took with film cameras when the children were little, as they are too bad to be used on a traditional layout.
It is made from a Buzz & Bloom chipboard frame but what hassle I have had with it - it seems to have dragged on for weeks! First I tried to emboss it - spent one morning making a mess - but it looked yuck. So painted over it with white acrylic paint - that looked ghastly as well but stupidly I left it on newspaper to dry and then it stuck to the paper which took me ages to peel off. So then I painted it with twinkling H20's. I only had 6 colours so had to use what I had, but still did not like it - but could not think what else to do with it and did not want to throw it away - so just decided to make the best of a bad job and get it finished as it was.
Its done now - just looking for a sliver no.6 which I know I have somewhere - but where? to put on the large purple box at the bottom.
No. 86 in my 104 target for the year.
He heard Idina Menzel being interviewed on the radio the other day and remembered how much I liked her from when she was the original green witch in Wicked the musical. He thought that I might like this CD so he bought it for me! He does not usually buy me gifts so this was a lovely surprise and the CD is actually very nice!
The problem was that Liam wanted to go to the seaside and Steven said that as Liam had actually asked to come out with us ( unheard of!) we should do as he wanted - so the trip to the waterfall was put on hold and back to Aberystwyth we went.
We managed to do one geocache by Clarach Bay - up a very steep hill! (Allt Glais GCZB7H). It was a very cany hide and worth the steep climb to get to it. Sorry for the topless shot - it was the only one I got of the cache!
It was arrivals day in Aberystwyth for the new university students - so there were lots of parents and students unloading cars and moving into accomodation overlooking the sea. We did not see any tears though - which is a usual feature of the Taylor family dropping off our children at University!
The day started off well with the sighting our a resting heron who we managed to catch in flight as well.
Our first Geocache was Sunday Best (GCH8M6) a lovely little cache following the track people used to take to get to church many years ago. All I can say was the church floor must have been very muddy!
We then walked back through Sallow Coppice where we had found some caches last time and a new one had been placed there called Fifty Fifty (GC1E94G) - to commemorate 50 years of the Shropshire Way. The owner had placed 10 Shropshire Ways coins in here for the finders to activate - but they had all gone by the time we visited. 
We then came back into the town and found a sneaky cache hidden in a stile (Craven Arms Crossroads in Time - Flying in Stile GC13EG5) and Mollie thought it was fun to attack me just as the shutter went off.
Thelma's knee held up very well as the walks were not strenuous but it was certainly aching afterward.
Steven took her to her test as she did it in her own car and he said it was so nerve wracking waiting for her - his stomach was so churned up - that it was worse than when he went for his driving test many years ago.
It has worked out so well , as she goes back to Norwich tomorrow and starts her placement (forensic OT) which is based on a business park on the outskirts of the city which you need to be able to drive to. If she had not passed she would have had to do the journey on her bike and resit her test in Norwich - which is a much busier city than Shrewsbury and she does not really know the roads. Aaron is going to take her around some of the places she needs to know over the next few days. I will drive most of the way there in her car and let her drive from Elevden Forrest - which is about 40 mins away from Norwich and no more motorways are involved. Steven will follow us in our car so that I can get back home!
There were lots of barges on show, all beautifully decorated - some in traditional barge fashion and others in more modern attire. There was a visual history of a barge they have rescued and restored callled Saturn which was very interesting.
The area surrounding the canal head, was rather run down - an old factory had been demolished around it - but there were big plans posted showing the planned redevelopment, which is going to be lovely and revitalise the area. There are houses and flats planned along side the canal - I want a house here as well now!
The day was made even even better because Liam wanted to come with us without being forced. He wanted to spend some time with Jess as it was her last outing before we drive her back to Norwich on Tuesday.They get on so well together its lovely to watch them out and about.
And because he was in such a good mood he even agreed to have his photo taken with me - unheard of!!
This canal is part of the Llangollen canal, part of which which Steven and I walked along a few weeks ago. They had some photographs of some locks along it which we have never seen, so we are going to look into trying some more walks along canals.
I have got the recipe for the cakes off to a fine art now - a 4 egg sponge mixture fills 24 muffin cases and makes nice big cakes. The frosting has been a bit more difficult - the first batch was just plain butter icing but that was too firm to pipe out. This next batch - photoed - was a bit better but a bit too runny so did not keep the shape of the swirls properly.
The final batch was best and made with 8 oz icing sugar, 4oz marg, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence and just 1 teaspoon hot water. I now need to experiment with different colours for the icing. Lakeland have got some colouring gels so I think I will buy some of those when I am next in town.
Card stock is Bazzill, PP : October afternoon : country fair - cotton candy. The rest is all Love Elsie - Toby. N0. 84 in my 104 target for the year.
The castle was lovely - lots of old ruins. The children would have had fun here when they were little - running around them all.
The University buildings on the sea front are architecturally beautiful - but the coastal weather has not done the buildings any favours - it needs quite a lot of maintenance now.
