Brainstorming ....

Since finishing the boot, I've been spending some time thinking how to customise the other boot. I've got a basic idea but to mould this idea around the boot shape, also needs planning.

I've also got an idea to make some cards, as I should be able to make and sell these with a small profit. As everyone knows it's better to sell more things at less profit than 1 thing with a bigger profit. In this current climate I think this is probably the way to go for the time being.

The trouble is once I start thinking, it almost always leads to another idea, and another, and another, and then I never know which idea to follow !!

I'm off to visit my oldest daughter tomorrow for a few days, and in between going out on adventures to find new things to photograph, I'll be borrowing her sewing machine to start both the boot project and the card project. How I wish I had a basic electric sewing machine that does zig zag of my own. Maybe one day if someone is kind on Freecycle eh.

Latest mosaic creation

Now my ramblings in Scotland are over it's back to work for me. So I've finished off my version of Pimp My Dr Martens Boot and below is the end result. Sadly, try as I might I can't capture the full brilliance of the colours of the glass and mirror which adorns this unique boot. This is for sale for £45 plus P/P ..... BOOT IS NOW SOLD and is going to a lovely home of someone who has a huge collection of Dr Martens, I couldn't be more pleased. :o)

End of my adventures in the Highlands

The last day of my trip to the Highlands started at 4am. By the time a coffe had been drunk, the horsebox started up and suitcase loaded, all too soon it was 5am and time to set off for the 7am flight from Inverness.

Just as we arrived at the airport it started to snow. I smiled thinking how fitting that the snow greeted me and also said farewell to me. I regretted that thought a good few times in the coming hours I can tell you.

After tearful farewells I dissapeared through into the departure lounge, with a final wave to Andy and Mel. Ten minutes before the flight was due to take off everyone was ushered onto the plane. We all sat down duly put on our seatbelts and waited. The pilot announced that there would be a slight delay while the runway was cleared, we waited ... and waited, then it was decided to get us all off the plane again while the runway was cleared, it was about 7.30am by now and the plane was due to take off at 7am. It got to 8.30 and I went and asked one of the Flybe staff what was happening as there had been no announcements to keep us informed. I was told we would be taking off at 9am now.

Ok only half and hour to wait, 9 am came and went and I was very aware that by this time my daughter would be waiting for me at Manchester airport, a quick text to tell her about the delay. 9am became 10 am and we were told we could get vouchers for a light snack, but no news of when the flight was going to take off. Mid day arrived and we were told to go and pick up another voucher for food. By this time I was getting very stressed and tearful, more because I was thinking about my daughter sitting waiting for me than anything I think. Eventually at 1pm we were told that the flight was cancelled and we were to go to the Flybe desk and get new boarding tickets, grrrrrr.

While I was waiting in the queue I heard someone divert to Birmingham airport for a 3pm flight rather than wait till 5pm for a flight to Manchester. So I did the same, after a quick call to my daughter to make sure she had enough petrol to get there, but I told her to hang on at Manchester till I was sure this flight would go ahead. 3pm came and we were told that there would be a delay ( this was beginning to sound all too familiar) Then at last at 3.30pm, 8 1/2hrs later than planned, we boarded the flight and 1/12hrs later, I arrived in Birmingham, no sign of my daughter !! A quick call she was lost lol, after about half an hour she suddenly appeared shouting "MOM" what a relief !!!

By now we were both tired, so we decided to go and stop at my oldest daughters house in Bromsgrove overnight and continue on home the next day. I found out afterwards that 12" of snow had fell in that snow storm, it didn't look that deep to me or any of the other passengers !!

Adventures in the Highlands Part 5

As I was on my last full day at the Highlands, it was time to get my case repacked. The week has flown by, it only seems like a few days ago since I arrived !!

A quick trip in Beauly for Andy to get more fuel, followed by a trip to Muir of Ord for a look round the local charity shop for me and Mel. I was quite looking forward to see what the Highland charity shop had to offer, but I was very dissapointed I have to say. The prices were well over the top, even worse than in some of our local ones here in Anglesey. Who in their right mind would pay £5.99 for a secondhand hardback book..not me that's for sure, but Mel was pleased with the oddments of wool she picked up, so it was worth the trip.

The rest of the day was spent scribbling down some of the highlights of my trip, ready to put on my blog. I spent some time thinking back over the little things that had happened that made my trip so enjoyable and sometimes so funny too, namely Mel in bed adamantly denying that she had any sweets despite the fact that Andy and I could clearly hear rustling of sweetie bags, another time when Mel woke up in the middle of the night demanding Andy got her a flake and when there wasn't one to be had, she insisted on being passed the tub of hot chocolate so she could satify her craving for chocolate and even funnier that in the morning she had no memory of it lol. The temperatures dropping to -13 overnight and the water containers all having ice in them, the next night it was even colder and the jug orange squash froze up completely too !! Constantly having to keep my feet out of the way of Dylan so he couldn't lick them to death, and watching both dogs insisting on sharing the settee with Andy and Mel despite there not being enough room lol.

So in my last but one post about my trip to the Highlands I've included some photo's of Mel and Andys bus, to give you a little taster of this couples fantastic way of life. Happy memories .....


Dylan and Custard insisting there was enough room for them too, on the settee.



Mel crafting by candlelight as she often did when the generator wasn't on.



Custard posing for the camera which he and Dylan loved to do.



Mel attempting to thread seed beads by candlelight, not an easy task let me tell you !!



Mel in the kitchen knocking up one of her lovely dinners. Also a shot of the raging inferno of a log burner, right next to my bed on the left lol.



Andy patiently waiting for his early morning coffee in bed lol. A treat I was happy to supply while I was there.



Andy surfing the net, after a hard day cutting up wood and trying to find the fault in the wiring on the horsebox.

Adventures in the Highlands Part 4

After our picnic Andy suggested it might be a good idea to set off on our return journey, reminding us that we had no window and how quickly the temperature drops in the Highlands.

Leaving behind the Tesco car park, which incidentally was surrounded completely by snow covered mountains....if only all Tesco car parks had similar backdrops shopping might not be such a boring task. We set off back to Muir of Ord where we've been based.

It's amazing how different the same road can look going the opposite way. Despite Andys warnings about the temperature, he couldn't resist taking a quick detour to somewhere else he thought might be suitable for a park up.Wow, this one is what dreams are made from. The layby overlooked a huge gorge which stretched on for miles, we could even see in the distance the sea and Ullapool, it was like being on top of the world !! Of course this was another photo opportunity that just couldn't be missed, but Mel decided to stay put in the cab and carry on snacking lol. As there were a couple of benches overlooking this huge gorge I couldn't resist suggesting that Andy sit on one so I could take a photo of him surverying his kingdom...which he couldn't refuse of course lol.

Then back on the road again, where I was lucky enough to see more stags. Apparently they come further down the mountain sides as the day goes on. I spotted one lone one which seemed further down but it was on Andys side, so I took a chance and took a photo across the cab of the van and into the sunlight into the bargain. Although I didn;t get the stag I did get a rather nice photo of Andy which I'll include in todays photo's.

Next it was my turn to ask for a detour, I had spotted somewhere on our way to Ullapool that I was keen to take a closer look at. I think it was called Black River ? Whatever it was called it was gorgeous, and the water did in fact look black. Fast running water tumbled down over large rocks into the distance, dissapearing under a bridge. Making my way back to the car park I went and used the poshest loo's I've ever seen in my life !! They were like log cabins and completely lined in pine wood too ...it's doesn't take much to keep me happy does it lol.

Then once more back on to the road to make our way back to yard, with only two days left of my week left. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun.

Adventures in the Highlands Part 3

Reluctantly after we'd taken loads of photo's it was time to jump back in the horsebox and carry on our journey to Ullapool.

I really didn't know which way to look first there was so many stunning scenes to see. Little streams with icy cold water rushing past snow covered rocks. More icicles where the winter sun had melted the snow and then frozen it again. Pine tree boughs bent low with the weight of the snow. Then as I was drinking in all these fabulous sights *CRASH*. A lorry driving past us had pulled out to pass some parked up cars, and had hit Andys rear view mirror with such force that the mirror smashed into drivers window and shattered it into hundreds of pieces. It was nothing short of a miracle that Andy, who took the brunt of the shattering glass only got one cut on his ear, it could have been so much worse. Andy jumped out the horsebox only to see the lorry driver dissapearing into the distance. None of us managed to see what company owned the lorry because it happened so quickly, but I'm pretty sure the driver would have gone back to his bosses with a story of how someone had hit him and carried on driving !!!

Annoyed that the driver hadn't stopped Andy drove on to the nearest layby, but grateful that none of us had got more than a scratch. Once parked up at the layby we all started picking up the shattered glass, I was furthest away from the window but there was even glass in my handbag on the floor, and I had a cut on my foot where the glass had hit me. Resourceful as ever Andy dissapeared into the back of the horsebox and came back clutching a replacement mirror, which he'd found previously while rummaging around in the scrap yard. Ten minutes later the mirror was fixed on and we were off on our travels again, fresh mountains air blasting through the missing window.Andy remarking " Ochhhh its all part of the adventure !! "

The journey on continued on with even more stunning scenery, it was like looking at real life Christmas cards, and much to my delight even more stags dotted on the landscape. Eventually we reached Ullapool, a lovely little seaside village. We parked up in a Tesco's car park and while Mel and I got out to do a bit of shopping, Andy jumped into the back of the horsebox to checkout what the signal was like for his laptop. He was well chuffed to find there was a great one, and decided that this would be a perfect place to come once a week if there was a bad signal wherever they parked up next time.

A bit of a plug

I've just found out my oldest daughter has started doing a blog, so I thought I'd include her blog addy here incase anyone fancies popping over for a read.http://memoirsofmeandmine.blogspot.com/

Adventures in the Highlands Part 2

After our Loch Ness adventure we spent the next couple of days parked up, spending our time chatting and doing some embroidery. Andy in the meantime spent some time on the horsebox doing a bit of maintenance, and chopping wood for the inferno called a log burner.

Monday came round and it was time for another adventure. This time it was further up into the Highlands heading towards Ullapool, to check out for the next park up for Mel and Andy and also to show me the scenery. How I wish you could move conventional houses where ever you want too !!

Although I've seen pictures of Scotland before nothing prepared me for the sheer size and beauty of this place..... it was breath taking. Huge snow covered mountains, bright blue lochs, huge icicles hanging down the cliff faces and babbling streams frozen in motion.

Our first stop was at an old park up of Andy and Mels, a particular favourite one. But this time there was no way they were going to tuck themselves away here, it was about 3ft deep in snow, with drifts even deeper, and totally inaccessible for the two trucks. But a great place for Andy and I, to indugle ourselves in our mutual love of photography.

Once the dogs were let out, they made the most of the snow, Dylan was dashing around everywhere and leaping about in the snow drifts. Custard who is way too laid back to be leaping about, had fun just running around. The snow here was different to anything I've seen before, it must be so cold there that the snow flakes are frozen instantly, producing snow that looks just like crystals....very pretty. Just across the road was a small herd of stags something we were hoping that I would get the chance to see while I was here. A shame they were just that bit too far away for me to get a really good photo of them with my little camera, but still amazing I got to see them in their natural settings.

My new tattoo

My daughter Jenny is in the process of teaching herself how to tattoo. Seeing as my left foot is pretty numb at the moment, I decided this might be a good time to let her loose on me. This is the end result ....I'm well pleased with it :o) Might get her to do another one on a different part another day.

Adventures in the Highlands Part 1

Well here I am back in Anglesey, my week in the Highlands of Scotland with Andy and Mel went in a flash it seems. Far too quickly for my liking, and since I've returned after a pain free week there, I seem to have got all my usual aches and pains back again I can't believe it !! So either this stupid little desk I sit at to go on the internet is the problem or my body is missing the overwhelming heat in the bus. I'm sure Mel and Andy were trying to cook me alive lol.

Anyway .... I digress, I arrived at Inverness airport after a pretty bumpy flight and got a warm and friendly Highland welcome from Andy and Mel who I'd only ever chatted to online before. For someone who usually gets very nervous meeting new people, this time I had no nerves. As we drove back to Muir of Ord where the bus is based at the moment, heavy snow started falling, a great omen for me I thought as I love snow and we get very little here on Anglesey.

I settled in very quickly and the bed Andy had made specially for the visit was very comfy. But a little too close to the roaring log burner for my liking. This fire blasts out more heat than a 100 electric fires, at least it felt like that. Within 5 mins of arriving I was stripped down to a vest top, the sweat dripping off me, as i am so unused to being in a hot room. I eventually managed to get to sleep covered only by sheet. With Mel fretting in the background about whether I'd be warm enough enough bless her lol.

The next day we sat with our fingers and toes crossed, hoping that the horsebox would pass its MOT on it's 3rd try. Whooooooo it passed and that was us off for a trip to Loch Ness somewhere I've always wanted to visit. What a beautiful place, surrounded on all sides by snow covered pine tree's the loch seemed to stretch on forever. Mel and Andy took the boys Dylan and Custard down to the lochs edge for a run while I stayed at the top of the snow covered steps. Dylan, who is a collie with a strange fetish for licking people's feet lol, stood in the freezing cold water barking for all he was worth. After driving a good way along the loch it was decided that it was time to turn round and head for home via a chippy for dinner. But just before we got to Beauly and the chip shop the horsebox chugged to a halt, by sheer luck it happened right by a small layby ..... we'd run out of diesel !! Andy as resourceful as ever had two 5 gallon jerry cans of spare fuel in the back. Once refuelled, the engine turned over and over but wouldn't quite fire up. I lost count of the number of times Andy tried to get it going, but eventually he decided there was an air lock and he would have to bleed the pipes. Even that didn't seem to help and almost ready to give up and get someone to come and fetch us Andy got Mel to fire Quik Start into the engine while he had one last go, sucess at last and off we went to get some well earned chips with Andys words " Well that was one way to get to know my new van " echoing in my ears.

Daft Hermits and Scotland

I've just come back from spending a week in the Highlands with Andy and Mel from the http://theblackbuscompany.blogspot.com/ They sometimes call themselves the Daft Hermits, well let me tell you, there's nothing daft about these two !!!

Although I intend to write some posts of my time there, describing what I saw and the places we visited, I wanted to use this post to say a big thank you to them both for inviting me to share their home with them. By the end of the week, there was no doubt in my mind I had met two of the most genuine, honest, warm and friendly people I've ever known. Even when things went wrong Andy managed to turn them into part of an adventure, and his dry sense of humour cracked me up morning, noon and night. I bonded with Mel really well, this is one very special lady who I know will always be there for me, and I'll always be there for her too.

I found this little quote which seems to sum up exactly how I feel about these two lovely people.

Friends are relatives you make for yourself. ~Eustache Deschamps

Off to Scotland

Well I'm off today and as Inverness is due to get some snow I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's no disruption at Inverness airport, which stops my plane taking off from Manchester. As my daughter is just dropping me off and coming back home.

I'm also hoping that there's not too much walking involved at Manchester airport too, as I was too proud to let them know I've got mobility problems.

I'm feeling pretty nervous too, not through meeting Andy and Mel just worried if I'll get there ok because of the snow and navigating my way round the airport.

If I don't see you all before I'll see you when I get back :o)

You have to laugh ......

As I was going up in the mountains to take some photographs of the snow yesterday, I decided to get out the brand new jogging bottoms and a pair of 3/4 length leggings I'd bought in anticipation for my trip to Scotland on Weds. How funny was that !!! The jogging bottoms although they fit in the length, which is unusual as I need 36" inside leg the actual legs themselves could do a clown proud they're so baggy. So undeterred I thought I'd wear the leggings instead..... more laughter the 3/4 length of these only came to my knees and look like slightly, over long shorts lol. That will teach me to buy on the internet !!

Going back to my trip to Scotland tomorrow, I am now becoming a little concerned that I might have problems getting there. I'm travelling from Anglesey to Manchester Airport by road and then flying to Inverness. If today weather is correct I'll be able to get to Manchester ok, but it's whether Inverness airport will be open. It all seems a little ironic that I was going to Scotland to met up with my friends Andy and Mel, and was hoping to get some photo's of snow on the mountains while I was there, and yet as I type there's more snow here, than there lol.So I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that everything goes to plan.

My trip into the Snowdonia mountains yesterday was great. A gemerous sprinkling of snow transforms them and much to my delight there were some gorgeous icicles. My daughter Jenny bravely managed to overcome soggy banks and jumped over a little stream just to get me some photo's of some particularly pretty icicles. We also found a little track that led along the other side of the river I took photo's of on Saturday. Snow laden tree's overhung the little track, so when we emerged at the other end onto the main road, it felt like we were coming out in the light.

It's looking doubtful that I'll have time to continue the tagging today that was sent to me by Dave at http://woodwosecarving.blogspot.com as I am well behind getting myself packed and ready to go to Scotland tomorrow. But maybe if I'm organised for once in my life I might have time to squeeze it in tonight. Even if I haven't got time Dave's blog is well worth having a look at, his carvings are brilliant.

More mountains photo's

I thought I'd just add a few more photo's of the mountains as they're too beautiful just to be enjoyed by me. While a lot of the UK is covered with a blanket of snow, here on our little island there's not even a flake of the stuff :o( I do hope that the snow doesn't affect my trip to Scotland on Weds I will be very annoyed and that's being polite about it lol.A couple of these photo's were taken by my daughter by the way, just to give her credit where it's due lol. I've been tagged ...but I'll do that later on cheers Dave lol.