Ooh ... it's been a while!

Well hello again!  It's been a while since I last updated my blog, so as we're having to wait in for the gas engineer this morning, I thought I'd use the time productively.

I've been pretty busy lately, mainly because of the MacMillan Coffee Morning at the end of September, when we raised in excess of £250 and my annual festive gathering by way of the Christmas Cards and Jewellery Party at the end of October.

The Coffee Morning (which was held in the afternoon) went very well.  We were very busy serving endless cups of tea and coffee accompanied by home baking and teensy weensy elegant sandwiches.  It was a good, if tiring, afternoon and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  My choice of music was complimented! I had planned on playing my Timewarp 60s Music, but at the last minute I changed it to Fabulous Fifties Music.  The raffle raised around £100+ (£60+ of which was raised by sales prior to the Coffee Morning) and the shop raised around £60.  On the day itself, granddaughter Lily ran the raffle (and 'encouraged' everyone to buy tickets) and granddaughter Laura ran the shop, and just in case anyone hadn't realised we were selling things, Laura took the shop to our guests to 'encourage' folks to buy!

The home baking went down a treat, and a HUGE thanks to everyone who took the time to bake and also donate to the event.  I'd have hated to force my home baking on everyone there, although I did make some tablet, puff candy and the fruit cake that Arlene donated the recipe for.  Also, a HUGE thanks to everyone for coming along and supporting the event.  It wouldn't have been such a success if you hadn't come along.  THANK YOU ALL!

Now, the Festive Night was also a great success.  I do believe that Laura managed to sell 8 scarves for Woollen Wonders and made some commission for all her hard work.  Lesley's jewellery was also very popular.  I had my eye on a few things on the jewellery table, but by the time I got around to browsing, there was very little left.  However, I did make a small purchase which will go past for Christmas.

Again, many thanks to everyone who came along and supported the event.  I know that you all only came along cos I'd promised to play Crimbo music!  And of course, I've been playing Crimbo music since then and Mike hasn't complained once ... I suspect that his hearing is starting to fail.

And, continuing on the Crimbo theme.  Sky Movies Christmas 24 channel started on Saturday, so now I have Crimbo music in the kitchen and Crimbo movies in the dining room ... what more could a gal ask for!  Apart from hoping Santa keeps her on the 'nice' list!

I've also been working on some trinkets and stocking fillers for the Christmas craft fairs that I've got booked between now and Christmas.  I had hoped to get booked into the fairs for selling jewellery but unfortunately they've all been full for jewellery.  However, from the few craft fairs that I've had a table at, I've been watching what does and doesn't sell, particularly with regards to the jewellery sales.

It appears that what puts people off is that fact the the jewellery is so 'expensive'.  I put that in quotes, cos it's not my view, but from speaking with potential customers, I get the distinct impression that folks come along to these fairs looking for bargains, and don't seem willing to pay what they consider to be 'over the odds' for the craft items for sale.  Clearly most people feel that they should only be paying for the materials, and not for the time involved in making the items.  I do get the impression that people who go to the craft fairs believe that they shouldn't pay for the time spent making an item, cos people selling at craft fairs are selling things they make for a hobby, ergo, they shouldn't charge for their time. This seems really quite unfair to me, cos there are a lot of crafters who are making things to try to run a small business and generate an income.  So, to continue my ramblings, I've also been watching what does and doesn't sell.  The more expensive items just don't sell (maybe that'll change in the run up to Christmas), so I'm now working on creating some inexpensive trinkets and stocking fillers.  These are items that I can charge a reasonable amount for, and can cover the costs of materials, as well as my time for making them.. This means that I'm making things that don't really show any great amount of talent or creativity, but by their simplicity they look pretty good and the price is also attractive to potential customers.  I've found that I can sell several smaller items at £1, £2, £3 etc whereas it's almost impossible to sell an item at £15.  I guess another issue is the fact that it's a cash sale rather than using cheque or Switch cards.  Therefore, most people aren't bringing pocketfuls of cash with them to craft fairs, so it seems wise to switch to smaller, more inexpensive products.

Well, we're still waiting for the gas engineer.  He's just phoned, and it would appear he's running late (was booked to be here between 8am and 1pm) and can only say that he'll be here sometime this afternoon.  So, I'll ramble on for a short while longer, and then I'll start lunch.

I'm all set for winter dog walking duties.  I've decided to retire my old winter boots (my feet never got cold even when the temperature dropped to -16c a couple of years ago).  These boots are pretty well done now, so I'm going to put them in the bin.  But,  I've got some fabby warm welly boots (Muckboots) to keep my feet warm and dry over the winter.  They usually sell for around £60-£70, but I managed to get a pair for only £25! Fabby!  I've tried them out already, and my feet stayed warm and cosy.

I'm also working on a handmade Christmas this year, and will be making and crafting lots of handmade items for Christmas gifts.  I've got lots of ideas, and have even started working on them.  Just hope I don't run out of time ... I'd hate to be the one to keep Santa late on his very important journey on Christmas Eve. 

Well, time's getting on now, so I'm off to make lunch and then we'll get Mickey and Lucy out for their daily constitutional ... and a run with Lucy's beloved Ring Zinger!

Many thanks for reading my ramblings!

As Forrest Gump says ... "That's all I have to say about that".

Things to do on a wet summer afternoon in July!

Well, most of you will be aware that we've had some pretty dreadful weather this summer.  Lots of summer events have been cancelled because of the rain, however, Wimbledon has continued.  Now, I like watching tennis, and now that I'm retired I've got the opportunity of watching Wimbledon Fortnight on TV.  What's even better is that we now have a Scot in the final.  So guess who'll be watching TV tomorrow afternoon!

I've been having a look at some of my jewellery and I'm still trying to sort out the FB page for Treasures.  This is getting a bit closer to being sorted and my amazing niece Jennifer has kindly offered to sort it out for me.  I do believe that on Monday afternoon she's going to have a look at it and make sure it's all set up properly for me.  She's also offered to sort out a web site for me!  I suspect that I will owe her pretty big-time once it's all sorted.  Hmm, perhaps I should also be thinking of doing a Treasures by Isobel blog?  But if I do a blog, I wonder if anyone will actually read it. 

I came across this little photo on the internet the other day, and thought I'd share it with you all:

As it was our silver wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago, we were out for lunch a few times. On the Friday, we went with the family to the local Frankie & Benny's for a nice lunch and a couple of glasses of wine.  We had a really nice time, but all my photos include the grandchildren, so I won't be posting any here. However on the Monday (which was our actual anniversary) we wnt to the Melville Inn at Lasswade and had a beautiful lunch (and a few glasses of wine) with Rita and Eddie:

L-R : Mike, moi, Rita and Eddie.  It's a shame that it appears that I'm the only one drinking alcohol, but then that's nothing new!

Here are a couple of wedding photos (don't we all look young!): 

 L-R : My oldest brother, Ken, my Mum, moi and Mike. 

L-R : Arlene, Mike, moi and my Mum looking fondly down on me with a little smile on her face!

Earlier this year my sister was in Singapore for a few weeks, and had a super-fabby time. As I was feeling ever so slightly jealous, she sent me this photo:

Now many of you know that I'm pretty well into family history and genealogy.  Well, I spent YEARS trying to track down a copy of the book "Call to Arms, New Kilpatrick's Response to the Call of the King".  Well I managed to track down a copy which was for sale in a second hand bookseller in Michican.  So I ordered it and within a few days it arrived on my doorstep! To say that I'm ever so slightly exited and thrilled to have my own copy is a bit of an understatement! So, here's what the book looks like and you should know that it's in pretty good nick considering it's 96 years old.  And, as it's 96 years old, that's the very reason that I never thought I'd managed to get myself a copy! So here it is, in glorious technicolour:

Now, it may not look particularly interesting or exciting, but for me it's the most amazing purchase I've made in a  long, long time!  Excited??? You don't know the half of it.

Well, it seems our summer holiday still isn't happening.  Mainly because of the weather.  The thought of being stuck in a motorvan with two dogs doesn't sound like two weeks of fun.  Add to that the likelihood of walking the dogs 3-5 times a day in cold, wet, horrible conditions and it doesn't sound very nice.  And, we'd run the risk of getting bogged down on a site.  At least with the caravan you'd have a chance of towing the van out but with the motorvan, we'd need a tractor or suchlike to pull us out.  But, you know, I do believe that August has to be a bit better that June and July, so all being well we'll get away for a few days then. It's just unfortunate that early in the year we had a couple of really, really nice weeks, but it was a bit early in the season for us fair-weather motorvan folks (mainly because I don't like walking the dogs in the dark at the caravan sites, particularly as they tend to be very dark (on account of no street lights etc) and also I'd be walking in areas I don't know and oftentimes you have to walk the dogs along the side of fairly busy / twisty roads.  Not ideal late at night!  So, hopefully August and September will be better for us.  I did think that we were being a bit lazy about the whole motorvan in horrible weather thing, but our neighbour across the road who will caravan in all weathers has also not considered attempting to take the van out in this weather and like us reackons it'll be towards the end of the summer before he'll be happy to give it a try.  

Unfortunately with the horrible wet weather, Lucy and Mickey haven't been getting the running around that they'd really like.  They are out every day, but they get so wet running around the field that Lucy sometimes gets a wee chill and that's not ideal for my we puppy girl. 

On Thursday cousin Valerie popped through to visit us, and we had a little afternoon of retail therapy (followed by pizza!).  I bought myself a lovely little pink hat (which Valerie assured me 'looked cute') and a pair of gore-tex walking boots (for ONLY £33 = BARGAIN) and a nice handbag which I've already started using.  It'll be ideal for carrying my 'stuff' as well as carrying a little bottle of water. Ideal!

Well, I guess that's about all for now. Hope you're all still enjoying my blog and please feel free to make any comments (let's me know that someone is actually reading it), and please remember to click the link to become a follower.  

Many thanks all ......................... Isobel

June goin' into July

Well, summertime seems to be remaining pretty elusive this year, which is a bit of a pity. When I retired at the end of 2010 I had beautiful visions of calm, warm sunny days spent walking the dog/s and pottering around the garden. Well, in truth that has happened on a few occasions but it would be rather nice if it happened with a bit more regularity rather than on the odd occasion. Ah well, c'est la vie! We had a nice weekend last weekend when we were celebrating our Silver Wedding Anniversary. We had a couple of lunches out with family and with friends. We went to Frankie & Benny's with the family on the Friday and on the Monday (our actual anniversary) we went to the Melville Inn out at Lasswade with friends and had a beautiful meal and of course a little bottle of wine.

 Now on to dog walking tales! As Mickey has been a bit naughty when he's been out on his walks lately we've been selective about where we've been taking them. Yesterday we took them up to Bankton Mains where naughty Mickey headed off to splash about in a puddle. Unfortunately this puddle came right up to his shoulders and was more like a small loch. He had a great time splashing around with a look of absolute glee on his face. Little Mr Bright Eyes unfortunately decided to leave his ring at the deepest part of his little loch. This was fine but the ring sunk and he wouldn't put his head down into the water to retrieve it. Fortunately I had on my trusty wellies and headed off into the water to get the ring. I was pretty dismayed when I realised how deep the water was and I had to go very carefully in order to ensure my feet remained dry. The water came to within an inch or so of the top of my wellies. Needless to say, we took them to a different field today!

 I'm getting back into the family history research and am delighted that I managed to track down a copy of a book published around 1916 which has photos of The Goldie Boys in it. I tracked down a copy of the book that was for sale in Michigan. It's in reasonable condition considering it's 96 years old!

 I'm also planning on clearing out wardrobes today and tomorrow and plan on trying to put some of the stuff up for sale on eBay. At least that's the plan. If it turns out to be too technical for me I'll just put the stuff into a local charity shop.

 I've got plans to sort out an area in the house that I can use for making jewellery etc. I'm planning on having all the bits and pieces in one place so that I don't have to gather everything together before I start working on anything. I've got a few craft fairs booked for autumn time so I'd better get things organised pretty smartish! I had hoped to do some jewellery making in the summerhouse but the weather hasn't been mild enough to spend too long out there and as its been overcast a lot of the time it's been too dark to work there.

 I've been getting my dancing shoes on again and have been going to a line dancing group. I'm enjoying it even if I've discovered I have two left feet! Oh wait, I already discovered that when I went to tap dancing classes a couple of years ago!!!

 I've also got some grand plans for doing some dressmaking and suchlike but I'll keep that for the next blog. Don't forget to comment on my blog. It's always encouraging to know that someone, somewhere is reading my ramblings.

Please also become a follower of my Shootin' the Breeze blog!

Bye for now ...............

Watch this space .............................

Well, just thought I'd update you all on what I've been up to lately.  Aside from being the domestic goddess extraordinaire, and clearing out cupboards and suchlike, I've been working on my little business venture. I'm also planning on sorting / decluttering the wardrobes again. I've had some sweaters and stuff stored in those vacuum storage bags for about a year or so and never worn them. Clearly I never will, so I'll either donate to the charity shop or may even venture into the selling world that is eBay.  I've only ever bought stuff on eBay, never sold anything, so I may well give it a go. 

Talking about donating to charity. I didn't realise that lots of those charity bags that you get through the door are actually from companies that don't really pass any or much cash on to the charities, and in some cases the stuff is recycled by the business who collects the bags. Which means that they're taking my stuff and instead of the cash going to charity, it goes straight into the coffers of the company collecting the bags. So, I now arrange with a local charity shop for their van to call in and collect the stuff. That way I know that the money will go to the charity.

I've been working on various ideas for jewellery etc, and am also going to try my hand at some lariat-style beaded belts. I've got some pretty beads which I think will be ideal for this little project. 

I'm also going to try my hand at doing a few crochet-style little scarves. Nothing quite as fancy as Arlene is doing, but well, I'll give it a try. 

I've booked a couple of craft fairs for October and November time, so I really need to get started on doing some more handbag charms, pretty little keyrings and stuff.  Nearer the time I'll give you all details and you can come along and support me! I've got some pretty charms already made, but I'll need to have quite a lot more ready for October.

I'm still trying to sort out a web page and the Facebook page, but sadly it's still all a bit beyond my techie capabilities, but no doubt I'll get it all sorted out. Ideally I'll have it all sorted out in time for the fairs. I'm hopeful that the two November ones could be successful as they're both being publicised at Christmas Fairs.  

I'm watching a programme on TV whilst I'm sitting typing this. The programme is all about haunted locations in Britain.  Perhaps I should tell them about the experience I had in a travel inn a couple of years ago when someone (oooh or SOMETHING!) kept tugging at the quilt during the night as I lay in bed attempting to sleep but kept being wakened up by the tugging. Oooh spooky! 

I must see if I can drum up some interest in card readings. I haven't had any bookings for quite a while, and I do miss doing readings. If anyone would like a card reading, let me know and we can get it sorted.  

I do wish that the weather would improve a bit. I've still got dreams of sitting out in the summherhouse doing some writing, making jewellery or just relaxing and meditating. We get a couple of nice days, and then the morning I decide to get up early and go sit in the summerhouse with my morning cuppa, it turns cold and wet and that puts paid to my chillin' out plans.

So, that's what I've been up to. Still livin' the dream and walking the puppies each day.  Mickey was a bit of a rascal yesterday and was crashing about through bushes and stuff, having a fine old time for about 45 minutes. It was really funny to watch cos all you could see was the moving bushes, swaying to the tempo of the crashin' around Mickey! He was all bright and perky but absolutely knackered when we got him home. We then had to go out for a while and when we got back home he was a bit limpydan and had to have an early dinner of leftover fish'n'chips so that we could give him his painkiller. Silly billy boy ... he was much better today, but we took him up to Bankton Mains so that he was running about on a relatively flat field, rather than crashing about on steep hilly ground.  LucyLu was a little angel yesterday and she got to see her beloved petsitter extraordinaire, Caroline. 

I treated myself to a visit to the podiatrist the other day.  Partly to sort out the huge blister I got during the Race for LIfe, but also to get my feet into summer sandal prettyness (can feet ever be pretty???).  Anyway, my feet feel good and the podiatrist was thrilled to have seen her first fallen metatarsal head. Apparently in all the years she's been a podiatrist, she's never seen a fallen metatarsal head. She was very excited ......... some people have such a sad life, dontcha think?

I've also been for an eye test and am collecting me new spectacles on Monday.  I'm really looking forward to getting my new specs, cos I'm really pretty fed up with my old ones. I always wonder why opticians think that just because your prescription has hardly changed, you don't want new glasses! So I'll get my new specs on Monday!

Anyways, it's getting late now and it's time for my bedtime cuppa so, I guess that's about all for now ... hope you're all still enjoying my blog. 

Been a while ... but worth the wait!

Well, here we are again. The weather this last week has been amazing, but true to form, I had on my heavy jacket for walking the dogs this morning.  

We've enjoyed the last week being able to sit and relax in the summerhouse. Morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and late night cuppa ... it's been a nice relaxing time. This is why I retired ... this is what retirement is all about. Relaxing and walking the dogs....................

So, early morning coffee relaxing in the summerhouse: 

 Aah ... no better way to start the day.

Of course, this warm weather was all a bit to much for Mickey and Lucy.

Here's Lucy being ever alert, as usual ..... 

And here's poor old Mickey ......

We had a bit of an impromptu BBQ on Saturday (cooked by chef extraordinaire Gary whilst Mike supervised from a distance). Now it's most unfortunate that we forgot that I had gone out on Saturday morning to buy fresh beefburgers (12 quids worth!) and cooked all the square sliced sausages, all the link sausages, all the chicken. We munched all the other bits and pieces, but no beefburgers ... so Mike will be eating beefburgers for dinner for the next week.  That said, it was a nice day and little Matthew had a ball running around all over the garden.  We did try playing a few garden games, but Mickey insited in joining in all the games and running off with all the equipment.  Ah well ... such is life when you have an 8 year old puppy!

The exciting news within the family (apart from Sarah being engaged and getting married on Star Wars Day in 2014) is that I now have a furry great niece (courtesy of Sarah) called Florence ..... here she is looking furry and sweet and posing nicely for the camera:

Isn't she just cute and cuddly and looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth! Looks like she's settling well into her new home and no doubt will soon have her new mummy (Sarah) wrapped round her furry little paw.

The Race for Life on the 20th at Falkirk went very well.  We were very lucky that we had fairly good weather. Nice and sunny but not too warm. We've raised well over our target of £250 and hopefully by the time we close our JustGiving page we'll have raised a nice wee sum for Cancer Research UK.  Due to logistics, Lucy and Mickey didn't join us but Conway donned his sparkly pink bow and walked proudly round, and from the donations on the JustGiving page I think he had quite a few female fans who were sponsoring him. Well done Conway, he walked very well round the course and was a credit to The Goldie Girls.

My little Treasures by Isobel business is still working hard at getting off the ground, and I have boldly booked a table at a Christmas Craft Fair in Edinburgh in October.  I need to work hard at getting some more handbag charms and keyrings and suchlike ready for it.  So, just watch this space ......

I'm fair enjoying this retirement lark, now that I'm starting to get organised with various wee project and stuff. It's nice to have the time to pursue some interests and it's been good having the time to give the dogs long walks each day. Going out for lunch is also a pretty cool pastime. We were out for lunch today and then stopped and have an afternoon cuppa .... and a cake. Tomorrow we're off out for lunch again, but this time it's a birthday lunch for a friend. We'll be picking them up at noon and then heading off to Frankie and Benny's for a nice lunch washed down by a nice bottle of wine. Then after spending the after noon chatting and drinking wine, we'll run home to see to Lucy and Mickey for an hour or so before we go over to see Matthew, who'll be celebrating his second birthday. Grandad has chosen his gift and I think the young man will like it ... if he doesn't, well then, Grandad will just have to play with it. Arlene will be particularly pleased with the card I chose for Matthew, and I just know that Matthew will think it's the coolest and bestest birthday card a young lad could ever get!

I'm hoping to start updating my blog a bit more regularly now that I've remembered about it. So you can all look forward to me sharing words of wisdom with you and maybe some amusing stories and nice words. And, I'll also share with you some of the books I've been reading, and plan on reading over the next wee while. 

So, I guess I'd better go cos I hear there's a little glass of vino with my name on it so I better go get it.

As my hero Forrest Gump says ... that's all I've got to say about it .......

Be back soon, bye for now.

Isobel

Update ... update ... update

Well, at last time to get my blog updated! I know most of you will think that I've forgotten about my blog, but I haven't, I just haven't had time to update, been busy with my new hobby, but more of that later!

Well the last few days have been beautiful. Unseasonably warm and sunny, and we've had afternoon tea in the summerhouse twice within the last few days. On the first day, Mickey went exploring (he's not really been in the side garden much, until now). Anyway, he went exploring. After he'd vanished from view for a few moments, I decided I'd go and check up on what he was up to. I found him behind the garage ... trapped! He'd gone wombling along, clambered over wood, plastic pipes (guttering stuff?!?) and gone to the far end of the space at the back of the garage, decided he was stuck and started crying. Have you ever heard a big lump of a barrel-sized black lab crying? Well ... you don't want to hear it, I'm sure the neighbours thought we were being bad to our boy! Anyway, mummy (in slippers) to the rescue. I managed to get him to 'back up' (not an easy task with a dog who's not been taught the 'back up' command!). Got him backed up a few steps, and he reckoned he was free and did a u-turn, bashing me against the back of the garage in his haste to get out, and clambered out, rushed up to his Dad, as if to say, I was stuck Dad, but I got out ... silly Mummy is still stuck at the back of the garage! Anyway, excitement over, today when we had afternoon tea in the summerhouse, Mickey went exploring ... again! This time he went round the back of the summerhouse. We were sitting quietly chatting and supping our tea, relaxing in the late afternoon sunshine, chatting about our lovely afternoon at Cramond with the family, Laura's skating skills, Arlene's skating skills, Gran's lack of skating skills. We were just relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather and the sunshine, when all of a sudden we heard a very loud CRASH! BANG! WALLOP! We were out of the summerhouse in double-quick time (well, I was, Mike just sat on supping his cuppa tea) and rushed to find Mickey (clearly assuming he was the culprit). He came clambering out from behind the summerhouse and rushed straight inside to Mike (ignoring me) and when I checked out I discovered that all the stuff stored behind the summerhouse was all over the place and fencing, pipes, and various other assorted bits and pieces were all over the place ... fortunately nothing was actually damaged, it was just all over the place ... oh, Silly Mickey!

We were down at Cramond today, and I'm hoping that as the good weather is here to stay for a few days, I can get my bike out for next time we're at Cramond ... nice flat shorefront, good path and during the day on a weekday it'll be fairly quiet!

I'm starting to get my little business organised. For those not in the know, it's called 'Treasures by Isobel' and inially I'll be doing little jewellery items, and have made lots of handbag charms, key rings and little evening purse charms. I'm now going to make some bracelets, necklaces and earrings. I should say that Lesley has very kindly shown me some basic 'jewellery-making techniques' and I've become ever so slightly hooked. But, she'll still be coming along later in the year for my annual Christmas Cards and Jewellery party ... it's become a bit of a 'Lyman Household Tradition' so it will continue.  I'm really enjoying my new hobby and hopefully my little business venture will enjoy a small measure of success. I'm hoping that it will eventuall include my interest in 'new age' stuff and I can also include things like pendulums, crystals and suchlike. But, time will tell ... small steps to start with. I've got a corporate image now, and here's a copy of my 'Treasures by Isobel; logo:

I think it's very pretty, and am very pleased with it. I've got some business cards, t-shirt and baseball cap ordered.  Here are a couple of the little handbag charms that I've made:
This is a little black and white charm, with little black and white heart beads:
This one is a little black and white charm, with little black and white hearts. I think it's very pretty and I'm really pleased with it.

 And this one is a little white and silver number.
Again, I'm really pleased with it.








So, it's a start, and I'm enjoying it, so watch this space for more pictures and more updates on what I'm doing.

I'm hoping to go along to a bead fair in May and Valerie has organised for me to go to a jewellery workshop in Irvine at the end of April. Fiona has kindly offered to take some of my handbag charms along to a couple of markets / craft fairs that she's going along to at the end of this month, and early next month. Fingers crossed that someone will buy my wares!

Well, just wanted to update you all about my early retirement adventures!

As Forrest Gump says ... "that's all I've got to say about that".

Early retirement = travelling and learning, travelling and learning!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2012

Well, haven't updated my blog for AGES so thought I'd get that sorted pronto! 

Another year to enjoy my retirement, and another year to make a plan. It doesn't have to be a good plan, or a great plan, it just needs to be a plan. 

I enjoyed my parapsychology course last year and received my certificate around Christmastime. A few of us have been keeping in touch and hopefully we'll continue to do so. It was an interesting course and has me hankering to do another one sometime.

I've been reading a few books on my Kindle:
'Eat, Pray, Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert. I saw the film on TV a while back and enjoyed it so bought the book. Have to say, I think the book is far better than the film. Sort of shades of Shirley Valentine. 
'All That is Bitter and Sweet' by Ashley Judd. It's her memoir. Again I downloaded it on my Kindle. I wasn't too sure about it when I downloaded it, but I do like Ashley Judd so I decided to buy it. I'm only part-way through but I think it's pretty interesting. Glad I bought it. 
'Feel FAB at 50' by Sue Donnelly. I've been reading a few of the Colour me Beautiful books lately to get an idea of the colours that suit me. I have to say, they're pretty interesting and I'm getting a good idea of what suits me. I came across the Sue Donnelly book purely by accident and it's a thumpin' good read. She explains not just what colours suit, but also styles for body shape and also styles for my age. 

We've not been doing as much walking lately as we'd hoped, purely because of the weather. Poor old laddie Mickey had been put on a diet. He's gained 5kg since we got him in October. Not good as he has arthritis. So, now he's joined me on a diet. Lucy is doing fine and when we took them both for a walk at Dechmont Law (site of a UFO incident about 25 or so years ago, google it for more info) Lucy got a super surprise when we bumped into her beloved petsitter, Caroline. 

We're trying to get back into the habit of getting up a bit earlier. Not at 6am (like when we were working) but around 7 or 7.30 would be good. Just now it's usually around 7.30 to 8.30 before we get up and by the time we've sorted our guy and gal for their morning constitutional round the garden, had breakfast, showered and dressed and then taken our guy and gal for their walk, half the day has gone. So we need to get it sorted, double quick pronto. 

I've got the TV in the spare room moved so that I can watch it when I'm using the treadmill. So, I'm watching 24 (again) and starting from series 1. Gotta get my weight-loss journey started again! Aim to be at or close to my goal weight by our anniversary in June. I plan on celebrating our 25th anniversary in a smaller size! 

Well that's about all for now ... didn't want you all to think I'd forgotten about, or given up on, my blog. 

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2012.