On My Jolly Hols

OK OK I know I haven't blogged in aaaaages, but I have an excuse, I am in Florida yaaaaaay!!!

We arrived in Orlando on Saturday, and have not yet done the Mickey "thang", we drove towards Sarasota to stay in the most gorgeous beach resort in Longboat Key. Here is a pic of Sunset on the beach.....


And a pic of moi, at the restaurant, wearing my (handmade) top! Sorry I look a right poser and a bit miserable too, I am not very photogenic, I am having a good time - honest.

Longboat Key is lovely, a very rich area, lots of big boats and marinas and lovely places to eat too. We saw pelicans, and when we were in the sea the other day a pod of dolphins swam by and I saw a stingray!.

We left Longboat yesterday and drove across Alligator Alley to Miami. We are now staying in a lovely Hyatt hotel in Coral Gables. On Saturday we head off to Disney for a few days, which will be brill.

I managed to go to two scrapbook shops in Sarasota, one had the autographs of Ali Edwards, Kelly Panacci and Donna Downey written on the side of the cash desk. It was great to visit the shops since I started my paper obsession after the last time I visited the US. I am hoping to catch another shop in Orlando..............any recommendations???

Full of a Cold

Ugh!! I am full of a cold, woke up on Saturday with a sore throat and I also felt really stiff and achy, I could hardly move, I felt about 85.

So me being me, immediately thinks "OMG SWINE FLU" because of course being the drama queen I couldn't just have a common cold eh? Well it was a cold but by Sunday I really felt crap. I spent most of the day on the sofa feeling sorry for myself, forget about man flu, I got bird flu ha ha!!

Not being doing a whole lot of much lately, gearing up for my hols in Florida and generally just getting over the last remnants of the ol' Radiotherapy, gosh it made me VERY tired.

OOOOOHHHH almost forgot, I went to see Take That at Hampden in Glasgow. They were, of course, unbelievable. They were supported by Gary Go and The Script, ohhh I LOVE The Script. It felt weird seeing them in Glasgow, I've always seen them in Manchester which is of course their home town. It was still brill though.

Anyway I'm off, I have a hacking cough to whine about...............

Stamps for Sale

Hi Y'all

Got some stamps for sale - postage is free in the UK, I'll accept cheques and paypal. If you use paypal I'll need to add 50p to each package to cover my paypal fees.

All the Sugar Nellies are very lightly used and are mounted on that stuff (hmmm can't remember the name arrrggghh!!)

Sugar Nellies are £4 each, you can buy all 5 for £18 if you like (bargain or what!!)






Scrappy Cat Flower Scribbles £6 (very lightly used)
Alpha and Circles £6 again lightly used
Autumn Leaves background stamps - £5 - never used!!!

If you are interested please email me at sam.currie@btinternet.com - cheers!!!!

Chicken Update

OMG my chickens are hilarious, a couple of total nutters (well they belong to me so of course they are barmy)

Both are now laying an egg per day, it's a little miracle really. Lily laid her first egg right in front of me on the lawn, she puffed herself up so big I thought she was going to pop! This teeny egg popped out and she strolled casually away!! It was really small, but the day after they were regular size.

I am able to pick them both up and stroke them , Lily is a bit more "up for it" than Clover is - bless 'em!

One thing I should point out is they poo - a lot! Then they poo some more and then......well you get the point. Since I am chief chicken carer I get to shovel chicken poo most days and it's not the sort of thing you want to do first thing in the morning if you are feeling a little bit gippy.

They both LOVE to eat sweetcorn, in fact their love kind of borders on addiction - it's like crack cocaine to them. Last night I opened the back door and they LEGGED it super fast towards me , pushing and shoving each other. They clocked the plastic box with the sweetcorn in and Lily jumped up on the back of the garden chair next to me to get higher !

Anyway I am now off to see if they have laid a chuckie egg for me.

Thanks for all your lovely comments about the end of my treatment. I am feeling very tired at the moment but I am plugging on. We've booked a holiday in Florida in July and I cannot wait!!!

All DONE

Well , finally........ today was the day I had my last treatment for breast cancer. Just after 9am I walked out of the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh after my final radiotherapy treatment. I had 25 in all, 5 weeks, 5 days per week and it's been OK, but very tiring.

It's the culmination of 8 months of a "cancer journey" - diagnosis, surgery and treatment. I was diagnosed on October 9th last year. I've been pretty lucky all in all. I had a lump less than 1cm in size, all removed and no spread to lymph nodes.

It was found via a mammogram I elected to have as part of a BUPA MOT check and thank goodness I did. It couldn't be felt, I am 41 and not considered high risk. My cancer was an aggressive grade 3 and what we call "triple negative" which means I cannot be treated with Tamoxifen or Herceptin. My stats are good, apparently there is a 92% chance I'll still be alive in 15 years, which is obviously fab..........

I had 8 cycles of chemo and 25 doses of radiotherapy, the chemo was fine, it's not as bad as everyone thinks, I was lucky. All in all though, it's been a pretty horrendous few months and physically and mentally I am dented and I guess I will always worry if this damn thing will come back.

So, keep all crossed for me. I am very grateful for all the wonderful wishes you have sent via your comments so big hugs to you all xxxx

Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick, Chickennnnnnnnns

Lay a little egg for meeeeeeee!

The girls have finally arrived and are now settled into their new high tech home. Someone on Twitter said it looks like "the iMac" of the farming world, which is apt.


The brown one is Clover, the black one is Lily.

Lily is definitely the boss, she is a little bit braver than Clover - check out the pose.


Getting the girls home was a scream, they sat in a cardboard box, clucking away then it went quiet and we heard a "splat!" ewwwww chicken poo!

Needless to say that box is now away in the bin.

Almost as soon as they arrived they started scratching and making holes to sit in. They are very funny. Yesterday afternoon I heard Lily kicking off , making loud clucks!!! Hooray an egg I thought...... no chance, it was next doors cat staring in fascination at them through the hedge.

We don't expect eggs for a few weeks whilst they settle in. We can't let them free range in the garden for about 5 days since they need to know where "home" is. I'll be letting them out and keeping an eye on them in case Fantastic Mr Fox pops by anytime.

It's all very exciting.

Sew Sew

Gosh it's been a while since I posted eh? BAD Blogger...

OK so I am now officially half way through my radiotherapy treatment. To be honest it's actually been quite tough since it has made me very tired and apparently it will get worse ugh!!

Never mind, when I have the energy I have been sewing, yup I have rediscovered the art of sewing, it is BIG right now. I toddled off to John Lewis and bought the yummiest fabric and pattern from Amy Butler to make a bag.

This is the finished article, I am very proud of myself since it actually looks like it is supposed to. I showed Alan and he said "oh is that the new peg bag??" ARGGGGHH!! MEN!!!


My other news is that we are getting 2 hens this week. We have ordered an eglu which arrives tomorrow and we will be getting our two hens then too. We have decided to call them "Lily" and "Clover". Yesterday I went to a Hen Party , no, not the type with a male stripper, to learn about the Eglu and chickens. I had a great time and the lady that held the party, Stephanie, and her daughter and husband were very knowledgeable and helpful. Her hens are called "Boudica" and "Aphrodite" - here they are.....
This is their lovely pink hen house an "eglu" from Omlet, very cool.


As a bonus, Stephanie had made a cake and lovely egg mayo sarnies for us to sample - yum!

I'll be posting pics of the hens when we get them tomorrow, I am soooo excited.