Three little snowmen

Tonight, as Tye was working, I painted these three little snowmen. To be honest I'm rather proud of the way they came out....

And nowww it's time to go to bed, Tye will be home in 4 hours, oops! And he'll be off for 4 days, so I doubt I'll be doing a lot of painting... ;)

It's Thursday again



Thirteen Things about Rock Painting that I like



1. All you need is some rocks and paint and a few brushes.

2. And your own imagination.

3. Sometimes you find a rock that can be nothing else but what you had in mind.

4. A rock is 3D, which makes it so much easier to paint!

5. You can paint anything you like!

6. And it doesn't have to be exactly life-like. In fact, cartoonesk rocks are just as much fun.

7. There is no art teacher telling you you need more shade, you need more this, you need more that....

8. Inspiration can be found anywhere.

9. You do not need an expensive course or workshop to learn how to paint rocks, you just get your things together and paint!

10. But if you do want some helpful tips and tricks, there are books and websites to help you.

11. It's an inexpensive hobby (although I can see it turning into an expensive one if I get too addicted.. I'd want more brushes, paint, cases to put the finished rocks, books etc. etc.)

12. It's a quiet hobby, I can do it while Tyronne sleeps during the day.

13. It makes the evenings alone fly by.




Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants



Rock painting

A few days ago, I came across a website dedicated to rock painting and thought, 'Hmm, there's an idea...' I googled a bit and found more and more wonderful websites about painting on pebbles, rocks and slate. I found some very impressive live-like pets and wild life, and some lovely little ladybirds. And then I thought, 'I want to give it a try.'

I bought some acrylic paint and varnish, some brushes, Tye and I went pebble hunting while taking Luke for a walk and that evening as he was off to work I did my very first pebbles and loved it!

I did some ladybirds and some frogs that first night. The next day I did some more ladybirds and frogs, and tried my very first rabbits (the brown ones in the picture), the day after that some grey rocks (and the grey rabbit in the rabbit picture) and last night I did a baby wale and a cat.

Some rock painting books are on the way (one of them is rock painting for kids, so it should not be too difficult) and I've already joined a rock painting group.

I think I'm addicted.....

Thirteen


Thirteen Things I learned this week

1. Bureaucracy is as bad here as it is in Holland. How comforting.

2. Tesco's have Dutch cheese! I've got some lovely lovely Gouda in the fridge..!

3. When you take a disposable BBQ to the park to enjoy some wonderful corn on the cob, mushrooms, pitabreads with cheese and pineapple and bananas, please make sure the bottom does not fall out!

4. Coca Cola Zero puts out fires. Well, small ones anyway.

5. Rock painting is fun!

6. And addictive! In two days I've made 6 ladybirds, 5 frogs, 2 rabbits and did some doodling on pebbles. And I'm doing some more tonight.

7. Mauve acrylic paint by Boldmere bleeds when you put the varnish on it, even after letting the paint dry for 24 hours.

8. Luke the crazy labrador does not like thunderstorms. He was crying, poor thing.

9. Charlotte Church can be funny. Who knew?

10. Corn on the cob is yummmmyyy with honey and red chilli's.

11. We had more mergpijpjes (Dutch chocolate, cake and marzipan thingies...) than I remembered. Yayy!

12. I like sour candy, but I should stay away from Toxic Waste Hazardously Sour Candy at all times, especially when wearing make-up for there is no such thing as waterproof mascara.

13. Time flies! I had no idea it was thursday already!


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants






Shit (3)

'Hello, this is your doctor's surgery, how may I help you?'
'Hello, I'm calling about the results of a test I had done a while ago.'
'Was this a blood or urine test?'
'Neither, it was a stool sample, actually.'
'Ok, let me check for you. Your name please? And your first name?And your date of birth? Ah yes, the results have come in. One moment please.... It all came back normal.'
'Ok, thank you.'

Shit!

Bureacracy

Today was another day of official stuff, much like the job interview and going to the bank to get an account sorted. Today, I went to get my National Insurance Number.

Or so I thought.

The night before, I read the letter they sent me again, just to make sure I had everything they wanted me to bring. Valid ID card, check. Proof of address, check. Proof of actively seeking or having work, check. Just to be on the safe side, I also took my birthcertificate and my driving licence. And Tyronne took his passport and licence too, just to prove he is who I say he is.

We got about 20 minutes too early, which was good as there was no where to park and we had to walk a fair bit. We were asked to take a seat, and about two minutes later someone came to take my documents so she could copy them.

When finally it was time for my interview, the first thing the lady said was 'I'm going to give you an envelope because you do not have all the documents we need to get you your National Insurance Number.' Umm, excuse me? 'We need more proof that you're actively seeking work. I appreciate you having signed up with the nanny agency, but we need at least one more letter to confirm you're looking for work or have actually found a job.' Right. She explained that even an email saying my email or letter had arrived would be proof enough. And I have to get this proof in within 5 working days.

She filled out the form as if I had all the documents she needed, I even had to give her a date of my very first time to the UK (I think it was 2002, but I'm not exactly sure), I signed the papers, and she then put it all in a file, telling me again that I needed to get my proof in within 5 working days.

What really really really gets to me... I checked everything I needed to bring today. If they had said, look, you need to have at least two types of proof that you're looking for a job, then I would've had two types of proof today. Now I need to hurry up and get some, send off the proof, and then there will be someone on their end who gets the envelop on his or her desk, has to read it, find my file, put it in there, and send it off again. That's someone doing a job they should not have to be doing if they had told me what I needed to bring in the first place. Lovely. And would you believe it takes six to eight weeks before I get my National Insurance Number as it is, and at least two months more until I get the actual card......

Bureaucracy, isn't it just lovely?

Smarties

Thank goodness they've cut down the Smarties tv ad to just one more line from the annoying little kid. I do hope this means it will be off tv in a few weeks time, because if not I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill him.

Thirteen

Yesterday I was supposed to do a Thirteen Things. I even thought of a topic, got the code, wrote down the first few things on the list, opened another window in Firefox for the pictures I wanted to link to to make things a bit more clear, and then Firefox decided to die on me.

I could no longer switch from one window to another. Aarrrgggghhh!!!
I tried restarting, but it did not help. Firefox clearly did not want me to do this..... How absolutely frustrating!

So, next time Gadget, next time.... Promise!