Friday catch-up

So today it's time for a crafting catch-up because as usual I've posted everywhere but here :-D

This is last week's and this week's posts at The Stamp Attic, here:-

...and here:-

...and also last week's post at The Scrappy Tree here:-

I've posted more details about making them at the respective blogs so won't bore you with that again here :) If you like them I would love some comments :) I've got another post to share at The Scrappy Tree this weekend but wanted to let the current very lovely Thanksgiving post stay up a little longer :)

So this week I have been writing a book review, collating information for a presentation, finishing up some craft projects, freezing my butt off and getting rained on!  Oh wait, I also catheterised a plastic dummy!  That was a first! I think the 'best' bit was getting video'ed and having to watch the playback to see everything we did wrong!  Happy days, don't you just love technology :-D

Well that's my week, hope you had a good one :) hoping to meet with my bestie tomorrow after her trip to Oz, and maybe accompanying my Mum to the craft shops for a browse while she spends her vouchers :-D

Plus another book review, more crafting, more research blah blah etc etc etc
See you next weekend!

Gayle xx

Vegan food swap

So earlier this month I took part in the UK Vegan Food Swap for the first time; the idea is to package up a parcel of about £10 worth of vegan foods, add little notes saying why you like them, serving suggestions etc, and send off to your partner, who will be sending to someone else, who sends to someone else, etc etc etc, who sends to you!

Having not taken part before I'm not sure if I got everything right (I got the mailing date wrong for example, and may have leant heavily on naughty snack foods!) but I will know for next time ;)
The person I sent to is called Justine, and the person I received from is called Claire; here is a pic of Claire's lovely parcel!  Loved the coloured tags attached to each item.

It contained hazelnut waffles, a hemp Spacebar, curried kale crisps from Saf, gingko green tea, a raw chocolate Bliss bar, and a Clif chocolate protein bar.

Let me talk first about the hazelnut waffles - absolutely gorgeous with a cup of coffee! Excellent sat on top of the mug for a bit to warm them up too :)
Kale crisps I have tried before and liked; these curried ones from Saf (a vegan restaurant) were also yum :)
The hemp Spacebar I have never seen before but it had a smoked flavour that was right up my street, I do love my savoury stuff!  Never seen them around here but may look online.
I have more things yet to try, looking forward to tasting :)

Will definitely take part in this again, it was lovely to try some new vegan goodies - animal-free doesn't have to mean it's not tasty, you just sometimes have to work a little harder to seek out your treats!  Definitely worth the effort :)

Gayle xx

Ten things on the 10th - November

November is the month of thanksgiving so my ten things this month will be ten things I'm thankful for :) I've seen a lot of gratitude posts this month so it's time I joined in!

I am thankful for...

1. Warm socks and a Slanket.
2. My husband. Sometimes he really surprises me!
3. My family - the family that I'm close to are some of my favourite people in the world.
4. My friends - these make up the rest of my favourite people.  Some I've never met in person but have 'chatted' with online for years!  Others I met at school when we were kids a looooong time ago ;) Some are nursie friends who understand nursie things and giggles. lol
5. My darling Kitty - she is my baby, loves to converse in miaow and loves cuddles, sometimes in bed. Aaaah.
6. Having enough money.  Not for everything, but for the important things like food.
7. Having a job that I love and I want to do well at.
8. Being able to study and keep learning all the time.
9. Wine, ink and paint.  Not all for drinking.  
10. The internet.  Possibly google especially, for answering the forty plus questions that pop into my head everyday.

You can find ten things on the 10th with lots of links to other such list-y posts on Shimelle's blog here.  Thanks for visiting!

Gayle xx

Ooh, I did craft this week, I posted yesterday at The Stamp Attic:-

 ...and The Scrappy Tree...

This is my crafting proof for this week LOL! Posted more details over on the blogs themselves so won't share those here.  Have a good weekend! I am at work today but planning on crafty time when I get home :) happy days!

Saturday catch-up

Thank you to the recent commenters on my blog! So nice to see you here :)
I tend to repeat myself a little with the projects I post here and at The Scrappy Tree and Stamp Attic because I just don't produce enough to do something different for all three (plus it's nice for me to keep a record on my own blog too!) so thank you to those of you who managed to visit me at any of those three places, much appreciated :)

For today's post I'm sharing my Scrappy Tree piece:-

and my Stamp Attic piece:-

...from Halloween to Christmas in one short leap!  haha :-D
I've posted more details about what I used at the respective blogs, so I won't repeat here.  Have to admit I did rather miss Halloween as I had an assignment due this week followed by an exam, but I have been getting excited for Christmas already with my Christmas projects for The Stamp Attic, of course I have been listening to Christmas music to get me in the mood!  I found a rock version of Walking in the Air by a band called Nightwish - actually quite love it!

It's a bit of a slow Saturday for me today, I am beagle sitting this weekend (for four beagle babies), doing some chores and finding the answers for a workbook on catheterisation(!) before going to work for a long shift tomorrow.  Wahoo!  Now the deadlines are all passed I must get myself back to the gym, feeling weak from weeks of exercising only my mental muscle :-D

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend :) have a good one!

Gayle xx

Signpost Friday

Just a quickie message today for signposting purposes!  I blogged my book cover from last week's Andy Skinner class over on The Scrappy Tree blog -

...and I've also posted my DT project at The Stamp Attic - here comes Christmas!

It's been a busy crafting week but a busy study week too - pleasure and pain!  I have an assignment due Monday and an exam Thursday so they're keeping us busy :) I'm looking forward to getting the assignment done so I can play some more with the goodies I had last weekend at The Stamp Attic! Plus I really want a bunch more stuff with that gesso carving technique on it ;) lol!

It's getting chilly here now ready for the traditional autumn celebrations at the end of the month :) it's not Halloween or Bonfire Night if you don't need to wear a scarf and gloves to go out, and you should be able to see your breath in the air!

I made pumpkin walnut loaf and a carrot cake in the past week, so there have definitely been autumn smells and flavours in our house :)

It's been very windy though, so the trees are already starting to look more like winter than autumn already!

I am going to crack on with this assignment so I can get my life back sooner rather than later ;)

Happy Friday! Have a good weekend

Gayle xx

Monday catch-up

What a busy week! I'm not sure how many photos I can share but I'm feeling like waffling anyways so here I am :)

This week was my last at my current placement, and I worked an extra shift to compensate for some sick time on my previous placement - 4 long days? Ouch!  By the end of the week I didn't know if I was coming or going.

On Monday last week my stepdad's mother passed away, and Tuesday was his birthday so it's been a week of ups and downs for him especially.  I made him a birthday card steampunk style which I shared last Friday at The Scrappy Tree.  For his birthday gift we clubbed together and bought him a telescope; I have never in nearly 20 years of knowing him seen him so excited and happy about a gift!  I guess he really wanted one for a looooong time.  It was nice that he was able to enjoy something about his day during such a sad time.

On Saturday I went to The Stamp Attic for Andy Skinner's gesso carving class - SO enjoyed, but am blogging about it Friday at The Scrappy Tree so won't share that here now, except to say that I've found another technique that I adore and want to put on everything :)  thank you Wendy for a lovely day, hope to see you again soon!  This pic was at the start of our day before things got messy :)

The sky on our drive home was so beautiful, this picture really doesn't do it justice.

I already have my eye on my next Stamp Attic class at the beginning of December; if I could wangle going again so soon I would be there again next weekend for Hels' classes too!

I've been doing some knitting this week with some wool my mum was intending to turn into a scarf - I am getting there slowly!  It's very fluffy indeed and reminds me of the mome raths from Alice in Wonderland :)

I have worked on a few things this week that I can't share, most recently a DT project last night, but just to prove that I have been busy, here is a snap of my inky Smurf fingers :)

Have a great week :) 

Gayle xx

Ten things on the 10th

So a lot of my time at the moment is being taken up by placement, so my ten things this month will be ten special moments :)

1. Talking rubbish to my mentor on the drive home from night shift, and finding out later she got home and was wondering what I'd been talking about and what I was laughing at! (yes I really don't need anyone else to have a fun conversation LOL)
2. I got to see the inside of a lung and a colon on the same day (via those very clever cameras on long bendy sticks, thank you nameless patients for letting the student come in too.).  Absolutely fascinating.
3. I've learned what to do in some emergencies (believe me, this is a source of great comfort for us student nurses who worry that they will miss something important and not know what to do!)
4. Seeing one of the staff shake a large bottle of milk of magnesium with the top not on properly (this has actually happened on quite a few of my placements, but still funny).
5. Seeing a chest drain inserted, and watching what happens next (genuinely, it is AMAZING the things that can be done when someone is unwell).
6. All the smiles and good wishes from wonderful patients who are really unwell, but are still cheering you on because you're a student and they want you to do well.  Very special people.
7. The honour of looking after patients in their final days - this is such a privilege, and a humbling part of being in this profession.
8. Being able to wave off the patients who got better and left us to go home :) such a sad feeling to say goodbye, but so very happy to see them get better :)
9. Being told that my manner of being a bit hyper and full of beans when I'm working cheered someone up :)
10. Last but by no means least - being slightly taken aback when an older chap told his neighbour 'I wouldn't kick her out of bed'.  Nice. But very very funny.

Can you tell I love my job :) happy days!

Ten things on the 10th is courtesy of Shimelle, who will be running a post today :) check it out at her blog here.

Gayle xx