From across the water

Psstt...

2009-05-13T17:17:00.000+01:00

over here!

Firework night!

2008-11-05T19:52:00.003+01:00

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

I'm not sure if the people who live behind us actually know why they are firing fireworks, but man do they have a LOT.

Thank you!

2008-11-05T10:58:00.002+01:00

What is your little doll hiding?

2008-10-24T23:03:00.001+01:00

Out of all the Russian nesting dolls, the smallest one is the cutest. She is the baby in the family, and she is so tiny that if you're not careful, you could lose her.

But what happens when you put all the nesting dolls together again? Is the little doll still the cutest? Or does she have something evil to hide.

What is your little doll hiding?

This OSWOA was done on a water colour post card, using acrylics, water soluble crayons, water colour paper and a gel medium finish.

Creative Challenge and OSWOA

2008-10-22T15:02:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was the last of my Creative Challenge! I have to say these last 21 days have absolutely flown by!

It has been pretty amazing that not one day I skipped doing 'something creative', even if it was colouring in the drawings I had already done in my sketchbook, or thinking of Nanowrimo-ideas (I think I've got one! I'm working out details, but I honestly think I can work with this idea, yay!). I have learned that I feel lots better when I do sit down and do something creative, and that I don't have to 'finish' something that same day in order for me to feel satisfied.

Maybe I should just continue doing what I have been doing for these last 21 days, what do you think...>

Also....

Just when you think you understand what ACEO means (Artist Card, Editions and Originals, but you knew that, right?), there's something new: OSWOA. It stands for Original Small Work Of Art, and they are slightly bigger than the ACEOs, giving you more space to work with, and more art to enjoy. OSWOAs are 4x6", making them the same size as standard photo's, and therefor easier to frame or put in a photo album.

I just listed my very first one in my Etsy shop, so come and have a look and start your very own OSWOA collection today!

Nanowrimo

2008-10-18T14:41:00.001+01:00

Two weeks from now, November madness, otherwise known as Nanowrimo, starts again.

Nanowrimo stands for (inter-)NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, and the objective is to write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days!

Sounds crazy? Oh yes! Sounds fun? Absolutely!

This will be my 5th year of doing Nanowrimo, and I've reached that goal ('won Nanowrimo', as everyone who reaches the goal is a winner in Nanowrimo's book) every time, even before the month was over. I don't have much problems writing 50,000 words that don't even make sense half the time, no, it's finishing the actual story that's my problem. I write way more than the daily target, burning myself out completely by the end of the goal, so I don't even look back at the story.... I tell myself every year that this will be the year I actually finish it, but.. oh well.... But let's not go on and on about it, right?

Why would any sane person want to do this? Because you always wanted to write a novel, but never got round to it. Because you like to challenge yourself. Because although writing is a lonely job to do, having a forum with people doing the exact same thing at the exact same time will keep you going. Because you like competing, even though that's not the main goal of Nanowrimo. Because you're mad about writing. Because you're mad, period.

Come and join Nanowrimo, and look me up. I'm Eveline_uk on there. See you in November!

Twitter

2008-10-15T23:11:00.000+01:00

Curious about what I am up to when I'm not blogging or flooding the Etsy forums?

Follow me on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/EvelineTimeless

Creative Challenge, day 15

2008-10-15T17:10:00.000+01:00

Yes, YES, I've been keeping myself busy with the Creative Challenge, I just haven't been updating my blog. I know, bad bad me!

Let's see... What have I been doing?

I've turned my Art Journal page in the post below into four ACEOs, two of which are currently in my Etsy Shop.
I wrote little stories about them in my Flickr description, which I think counts as being 'creative', right?
I started a separate sketchbook come art journal thingy for my birds and other characters, just in case I will go ahead and turn it into a children's book or something....

I also finished my first spread in my Art Journal for the Round Robin we're doing, and I have to say I feel so much better for it! Now I 'only' have to do another spread and I can send it off to the first one on my list!

And last night, as I was struggling to think of anything to do (my sweet Love was already asleep and I did not feel like painting with just a small light on), I went to the The Dreamy Giraffe's blog, and found a link that got my writing juices flowing straight away. Six word stories! I had no idea you could write a story using just six words!

So I wrote these last night:

'Kebab man knows: chicken, salad, mayo'

'Staring at ceiling. Mister Sandman? Please?!'

And today I am writing more. I'm loving it. It's the complete opposite of Nanowrimo where the objective is to write a novel of 50,000 words, so you'll end up using 'fluffer words' in order to get to your daily target, but I do like these six word stories.

And on this site, you can submit your own!

Creative Challenge, day 9

2008-10-10T17:33:00.001+01:00

Meet the birds!

Lalasa (Persian for Love and Friendship)
Dea (Greek for Courageous)
Baina (Arabic for Clear)
Wakinyela (Native American for Dove)

Tye said I should do a children's book on othese little birdies. Who knows, I might...

Art Journal Round Robin

2008-10-09T23:49:00.001+01:00

A few days ago, I had a thought. A brilliant thought, if I do say so myself: what better way to 'force' myself to stick to my Creative Challenge than to start an Art Journal Round Robin?

Every time I heard about a Round Robin (a group of people who send a journal, or atc's or other work around so it will end up again with the person who sent it in the first place) I was too late to sign up. Starting one would be ideal. And, as I was meeting new people on Suzi Blu's Ning-network, I knew exactly where to find people who might want to join.

I found 9 great people and now we can get started! We will all send our own Art Journal round, so everyone will end up with an Art Journal filled with artwork done by all of us.

I'm itching to get started. I bought a new Art Journal the other week, but now I am suffering from 'blank page fear'. I have no idea what to do as a first page, what will the others think of what I did when they see it up close?

I'm sure it will get better, once I make my first mark. But that first mark.... Maybe tomorrow....

Creative Challenge day 5, 7 and 8

2008-10-09T14:46:00.001+01:00

Remember I said I did Day 5 and continued on Day 7? Well this is it.. It's not finished yet, so there will be a follow up on this one.

Yesterday for Day 8 I did some sketches for ACEOs I will be doing later today, and another cheetah sketch. But I wasn't too happy with it, so it ended up in the bin. I did it tough, so that's all that counts, right?

Creative Challenge day 6

2008-10-07T15:43:00.002+01:00

This week you can watch Big Cat Live on the BBC. It's a series on wild life in Africa that's been going on for years now. The crew has been following some of the big cats since they were cubs.

It's on every night for a week, and you can watch webcams 24/7. There's also a messageboard where people can interact with the crew. This year, the episodes on TV are live, and there are nightview camera's so you can watch the cats at night.

The series concentrates on lions, leopards and cheetahs, and this year, a cheetah they named Shakira is one of the big stars of the series. She's a single mum who gave birth to six cubs, one did not make it out of the den, and the other day, the trackers found her out in the tall grass with only three of her five surviving cubs. She was crying for her young, you could see the pain in her eyes.

For my Creative Challenge, I paused the programma en tried to draw her. I've never really done any of this drawing from life, but I really like the way it turned out.

(And for those wondering if I have been a good girl and done Day 5, yes I have. But what I did wasn't finished yet. I'm adding bits today and hopefully will be able to show you tomorrow.)

Creative Challenge day 4

2008-10-06T10:26:00.000+01:00

For my 4th day during this Creative Challenge, I decided to do an Art Journal page about it.

The text reads:
'A few days ago I started something called The 21 Day Creative Challenge. I had read about it on a few different blogs. The idea is that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. And because I find myself thinking and dreaming and planning and not much time actually creating even though I like myself much better when I get my bum in the chair and paint or draw or write. So now, for 21 days straight, I will sketch, doodle, write, paint, crochet, (art) journal, photograph... Anything creative counts. This is day 4 of 21 days. I can do it.'

And hey, who says fish can't have a nose and hair?

(For more pictures, go to my Flickr page, and don't forget to leave a comment!)

Creative Challenge day 3

2008-10-06T10:24:00.002+01:00

Did not have much time to do anything today, but in the evening I managed to do a few sketches. Tye's niece (8) and nephew (11) were here, and they were really impressed. Even when I was not so happy with my work, the shape of the polar bear's head bugs me, the body of the lion cub is too long, the lamb has a weird neck, they told me that it was 'really good'.

Niece even took it a step further. 'You are the bestest artist. You should be on the telly doing art.'

Ahhh.... Out of the mouths of babes, right?

21 Day Creative Challenge

2008-10-06T10:18:00.003+01:00

You didn't know it, but on 1 Oct. I decided to join the Creative Challenge I've been reading so much about on other people's blogs. KJ from The Dreamy Giraffe talked about it in August, and she got it from Love to Illustrate, and she got it from Gina Perry.... And now I'm doing it.

From 1st Oct. to the 21st Oct. I will do something creative. Anything. Sketch, paint, make an ACEO/ATC, do an Art Journal page, write (NANOWRIMO is only a month away!!!), crochet (I am hiddeously behind on my One Block a Month challenge), collage, anything! And I will do my very best to blog about it, too.

So today is actually day 3 of my challenge, how cool is that? Yesterday I made these 6 ATCs that go in my Art Journal page I did yesterday as well. You can find more pictures on my Flickr.

Whenever she felt lonely.....

2008-10-06T10:16:00.001+01:00

... she would dance with Mr. Octopus, go for a Hedgehog-walk, take care of Meerkat kids or do karate with Kitty Cat and she would feel better.

The other day I was doodling animals for my Secret Language / Symbols journal (a Suzi Blu workshop homework assignment) and out came these characters.

The little girl stuck in her costume isn't feeling too happy. She feels restricted and lonely, it's hard to communicate when you're dressed up and don't even have hands to hold on to anyone. And she does need a cuddle.

So out come her little friends. Mr. Octopus, who in my Secret Language stands for fun, being a bit of a clown and being playful, Hedgehog, who stands for protection and is a bit of an outsider herself, Meerkat, who never gets any rest and could do with some help looking herself after the kids so she can calm down a bit and Kitty Cat who stands for everything warm like home and cuddles and love. They all help her in their own special way to make her feel a bit better, and guess what.. It works! They are the best friends in the world!

I used water colour paint, water colour pencils, a bit of acrylics and Steadtler fineliner on this Art Journal page. For some strange reason, I think I'll be seeing a lot of this little girl and her furry friends.

Cyber Monday

2007-11-26T23:25:00.000+01:00

You may have never heard of it, but today is Cyber Monday. After Thanksgiving in the US, the Friday after is called Black Friday, named because that is when people go mad shopping for the holidays. Shops open in the middle of the night, and people actually queue up in the cold outside waiting for special deals.

Today, Cyber Monday, is the online equivalent. Online stores hope to get a massive amount of sales, and Etsy is no different.

Because I took the Buy Handmade pledge, so I am on the lookout for great handmade items. At Etsy you can literally find anything from handmade notebooks to complete outfits, the cutest cuddly toys, geeky things for your nerdy friends, beautiful jewellery, houseware, and even (handmade and commercial) supplies so you can get your craft on yourself.

If you can sneak in some time at work to come and have a look at Etsy, and of course preferable Timeless, my Etsy shop, that would be great!

Etsy mini

2007-11-16T16:10:00.001+01:00

(All clickable)

Nanowrimo day 10....... Done! (sort of)

2007-11-10T20:33:00.001+01:00

The last few days have been amazing.

My MC (Main Character) turned out to be a cat lover. I had no idea. She even went to a cat rescue center after doing some research online, and went to get a cat. Boo, a partially blind white tomcat, is now hers, after getting the OK from the center on both her meeting with him right there and having had a house check. It was not planned at all and took me by surprise. Only during Nanowrimo can things like that happen I guess...

On Thursday night, I reached the 40K. I had been writing roughly 5000 words a day, and was 'in the zone'. I was thinking about the story all the time, making mental notes and even though I did struggle a bit, I managed to keep on typing.

After midnight, I wrote another 2140 words, leaving me with roughly 8000 words. Doable, I told myself, absolutely doable.

And so yesterday, I started writing at about 7 pm. At midnight, I changed my word count on the Nanowrimo website to 46.734, and that's when I decided I could not let go. Not yet. Not with 'the prize' right there in front of me, where I could see it and almost taste it.

At 2 am last night UK time, I got to 50,150 words! I did it!!! And within 10 days! A new record I never even dreamed of reaching!

Of course the story is not finished, I need about 20-30K more, but I have already got all of that planned out. It will happen this year. I will finish it.

(But no more 8000 word days.... that was painful..... )

Nanowrimo day 3

2007-11-04T00:55:00.000+01:00

So day 3 of Nanowrimo has come and gone (well, give it 5 more minutes and it will on this side of the water) and I have to say... I'm doing very very well. In fact, I am a bit disgusted by myself.

I've written 15,334 words so far. Yes, that's right, over 15K. I've written enough to not have to write a single word for the next six (!) days....

It may sound strange to you, but I'm slightly worried. Worried that I'll get bored with the story before the first week is over, or that I'll reach the 50K so quickly I will not even think of finishing the story.... And I really really want to finish the story this year.

You'd think I should take it a bit more easy, and I suppose I have by writing 'only' 3047 today, which compared to the 5502 yesterday and the 6785 the first day is nothing, but still.... Something inside me thinks it would be brilliant if I could keep the roughly 5K a day up and finish very very early... ;)

I am my own worst enemy sometimes...

And now for something completely different: Nanowrimo!

2007-10-30T10:56:00.001+01:00

Nanowrimo 2007 is just around the corner, it's not too late to sign up!

For those of you who do not know: Nanowrimo stands for (inter)National Novel Writing Month and the idea is to... write a novel in a month! Well, rather a novella, because you're 'only' aiming at writing 50,000 words in those 30 days.

Sounds crazy? It is!
Sounds fun? It is!!

This will be my 4th 'Nano', and I'm very much looking forward to it. I've got my main character (usually referred to in the Nano forums as MC) all set, I've got my first scenes plotted and for once, I actually know where the hell I'm going with this. It's all good!

If you've always wanted to write a novel, this can be the boost you've been waiting for. Yes, I know it's a month before Christmas and I'm sure you've got a million other things to do, but honest, Nano does not take up as much time as it might seem. 1667 words a day, that's not that much, honest!

Join me and so many others and sign up now! And then, by the end of November, you can say that you've written a novel, how coooooool is that?

http://nanowrimo.org

Ooops!!

2007-10-20T17:58:00.000+01:00

I have been bad at updating this blog. Oops!

So much has happened since: I have done custom eggcups, made more peg pirates, and peg people, hand painted other items such as bowls, charms made of beads, doorknobs, the salt and pepper shakers you see above, reached 300 hearts and 23 sales, and that's just the business side of things.

On a personal level we've had some trials and tribulations with Tye's nan living with us, she's moved back to her own home again, job applications that did not result in interviews and next week my parents are coming to visit for the first time! It's all very exciting!

I will do my very best to keep this blog updated, promise! With Nanowrimo just around the corner, that should not be a problem.

Newsletter & discount!

2007-07-19T23:36:00.000+01:00

Want to keep informed about what's going on in my shop? Want to get the best offers? Love special discounts that will only be offered to a select few?

How about signing up for my monthly newsletter? If you sign up now, you will get a 10% discount to celebrate this new service!

Convo me at Timeless, or email me at timeless_etsy [at] blueyonder.co.uk!

1 year

2007-06-03T13:33:00.001+01:00

Look what I bought!

2007-05-31T12:40:00.000+01:00

This more-than-just-cute bottle cap girl is actually a button, and I bought her last Saturday from Circles are forever. I never expected her to arrive this quickly!
And, seller Kim was nice enough to throw in an extra little cap button! I love it!

They will both be pinned on my denim and coming with me when I pop into town this afternoon. I will be sure to take Kim's business cards with me in case anyone asks about them.

Business cards

2007-05-30T16:07:00.000+01:00

Look what I've got! My very own business card! Woohooo! Things are starting to look more and more professional.

(Oh, and if you'd like one, or a few to pass on to friends, please let me know!)

Peg pirates

2007-05-20T17:03:00.000+01:00

I know how hard it can be to shop for boys. They seem to already have all the cars they'll ever want, all the Lego, and after last year's disaster you definitely don't want to give little Joey another sword or toy that comes with batteries and lotsss of noise.

So how about something hand made? Something they can play with for hours and make up their own stories with?

These peg pirates will steal your little boy's (or hey, maybe even your girl's) heart!

Want these, looking for more than 6 pirates or maybe looking for different colours?
Come and have a look at Timeless, my Etsy shop.

And another one!

2007-05-20T00:33:00.001+01:00

Just before midnight, these were sold too! Woohoooo!

Sold!

2007-05-19T10:34:00.000+01:00

I just sold my first eggcups! Monday they'll be shipped off to Australia! I had to custom make one extra, as they were for her kids and she's got three, but that was no problem.

My first sale of the year! I'm so happy!

Purple on black

2007-05-12T17:17:00.000+01:00

These eggcups were first painted black and then decorated with purple flowers and some dotted swirly curls. They will look lovely on your breakfast table!

You can see more pictures, and of course buy them, at http://timeless.etsy.com

Royal Orange

2007-05-12T17:14:00.000+01:00

On April 30th the Dutch celebrate their Queen's birthday. (It's not our Queen's birthday, it's her Mum's, but as our Queen's birthday is in January and her Mum had been Queen for so long, she decided that Queen's Day would still be celebrated on April 30th... ) As our Royals' last name is Van Oranje, of orange, it's hardly surprising that the eggcups made on that day, with a little prince and a little princess, are mainly orange.

You can see more pictures, and of course buy them, at http://timeless.etsy.com

Seahorse eggcups

2007-05-12T17:08:00.000+01:00

I recently started painting on wood. These seahorses were painted on wooden eggcups and lots of glitters were added. They will bring a sparkle to your breakfast table!

You can see more pictures, and of course buy them, at http://timeless.etsy.com.

Why Tye's eyes are watering

2007-02-15T02:14:00.000+01:00

Next time I try to eat Dutch crispbread (!!! At Tesco's! Who knew?) with egg and chili con carne on the same day, please stop me.

It's such a good thing the bedroom window is open.....

Storm

2007-01-20T01:31:00.000+01:00

For the last couple of months, I've been trying to get people to pronounce my name correctly. Some get the first bit right, but mess up on the second bit, some stick to the English pronunciation. I think I'll give up on trying to tell them it's Ah-vuh-lean.

Last Christmas, even after I wrote my name on all the cards, I got prezzies with my name spelled Evelyne, Avelyne, Everlyne and Everline, only Tye's one was correct. (He would not have survived if his wasn't..)

At one of the B3ta-bashes I've been to recently, someone asked me if I was 'The Dutch one,' and when I told him 'Yes, I am, nice to meet you,' he said he was disappointed that I don't sound Dutch.

On the forum, I'm often referred to as 'foreigner', and people somehow find it funny to write down every single typical Dutch thing they can think of. So I hear a lot about clogs, clog dances, windmills, legal drugs, prostitution and cheese.

When people talk about 'those bloody foreigners moving here and taking our jobs/men/women/houses', I simply cough and watch them struggle to apologize to me. 'I don't think of you as a foreigner' or 'But... I don't mean the Dutch' are the usual remarks.

When I'm being asked if 'they have this in my country', referring to anything from weather to how people live or act, I simply smile and explain, once again, that Holland is not that different from England.

Do any of these things make me feel discriminated against? Of course not!

I have no idea how not being able to pronounce someone's name or ask 'silly' questions about someone's country, background or even the what kind of house they live in could be considered racism. Take away the fact Shilpa is Indian and all you have left is two women rowing over stupid little things like oxo cubes. Not exactly new or shocking in the Big Brother house. If Tony Blair had actually watched the show before commenting on it, he would've known this.

I hope now that Jade is evicted this huge storm will die down.....

Postman Santa

2006-12-17T16:15:00.000+01:00

As you all know, this year I will be celebrating Christmas in England for the very first time. And I am confused...

Whereas in Holland, children believe Sinterklaas, who comes from Spain on his boat with all his black helpers and who hands out presents and sweets, is incredibly rich because he can afford to do so, here I am told that the children, or at least the ones in this family, believe we buy the presents, but hand them over to Santa Claus, and he will then give them their presents on Christmas Day..... That's why the gifts have tags with 'To and From' on them..

What?? So Santa Claus is nothing but a postman??

To me this all sounds too complicated. Why would you hand your gifts over to Santa Claus, why not give them yourself? And where do the adults see Santa, and why does he then wait until Christmas Day to return the gifts?

I was talking to my dad the other day on Skype (gotta love it!) and he said 'Those kids are just playing with you. They don't believe this whole story, they just want their prezzies!'

What do the children in your family believe when it comes to Santa Claus?
And how do you 'sell' them the story of postman Santa?

I won Nanowrimo!

2006-11-28T23:40:00.000+01:00

Just a few minutes ago, I crossed the 50,000 word line, and got to upload my 'novel' on Nanowrimo only to get those magic words a few seconds later: 'YOU HAVE WON' Whooo hoooo!!

Ok, so the story isn't finished yet, but this time, I promise, I will!
And who knows, maybe, after Tye's read the first version, and I've done a second version, then mayyyybe I will let others read it too. Or maybe not.

But for now, I'm very very very happy and very very very proud. I now have 50,377 words (that's in an odt-file, for some mysterious reason in a txt-file it's 'only' 50,368, but who cares?), that's with a whopping 6 days of no words at all, 3 days of writing more than 3000 words and one day, yesterday, of writing almost 4000 words in one evening. This means I wrote 16,666 words a week, which means I wrote 2380 words a day!!

I've done it! Yayyy me!

It's Thursday again

2006-11-16T01:18:00.000+01:00


Thirteen Things we would do if we won the Euromillions

Last friday, nobody won the Euromillions rollover, so the jackpot tomorrow is £120 million! If that does not cause you to daydream a little, I don't know what will... Here's what me and Tye would do if we had that kind of money.


1. A house. A big big house. Ok, not huuuge, we don't want wings or anything, but big enough for everything we want. That includes a nice size bathroom, a sauna, a room for Tye to play his video games, a creative room for me to do my painting and writing and for Tye to do his graphic stuff, a room with a white screen so we can watch movies the way they're supposed to be watched, good size bedrooms, and a lovely kitchen. Not that I'd do much cooking, but that's completely besides the point. Oh, and a garden, of course.

2. We would travel around the world, go see the places we'd always want to see. Tyronne does not like to fly, so we'll go by boat (we'd have time, right?) or maybe we should do a B.A. on him...?

3. We would get some nice cars. Tye is thinking Bentley, I'd still love a tiny little red fiat 500, but as people drive on the wrong side here and I'm not exactly the most confident driver, maybe I should just drive around the garden a bit.

4. I'd get a baby hedgehog and make a whole room for him/her. He or she would have the most wonderful cage ever possible and lots and lots of room to play and run around and just be the happiest little hedgehog there ever was.

5. We'd get a German Shepard pup, a girl. Tye's parents had two, and he loved them. I think they are beautiful too, even if they do tend to get a bit nervous. I just hope I will not be scared of her, but as I'm doing so much better with dogs, I shouldn't be.

6. We would adopt a retired Greyhound. The stories are just heartbreaking. The racers have always been in a kennel, so you need to house train them,  which includes getting used to all kinds of house noises, they  have never known any other dogs but greyhounds so that might be difficult at first (I'm thinking we should get the Greyhound first, and introduce him to other dogs while walking  him before getting the German  Shepard puppy..),  and they need to learn that you're the owner, and they don't have to run anymore...

7. We would get a personal trainer, to get back in shape. Maybe even some nips and tucks.

8. We would invest in something sensible. Not sure what yet, but we'll figure that one out when we get the money.

9. Of course our families would get a little something too, a house, a car, whatever they wanted.

10. We would put the money in the bank, and just watch it make more money.

11. Tyronne would go into work and tell Captain Useless that he really is on his own now, and no, he will not accept phone calls from him to answer things he should know by now.

12. We would have people do the jobs we do not want to, like mowing the grass, and washing the cars, cooking meals when we don't feel like it, but, if one day we decide we'd like to get our hands dirty ourselves, we'd help them out. We're nice that way.

13. We'd be happy. Very happy. Sure, the money would help, but we don't need £120 million just for that. We're already very happy without it.

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Thursday Thirteen!

2006-10-26T12:13:00.000+01:00

Thirteen Things I LOVE about Nanowrimo

1…. Nanowrimo gets the creative juices flowing.

2. During Nanowrimo you discover that you actually can stay focussed on one thing!

3. Everyone who knows you're doing Nanowrimo will think you're crazy, but actually they're jealous.

4. Nanowrimo only asks for 50,000 words a month! Most books are 80,000 or 100,000! Some even more!

5. You're not alone! So many people are doing Nanowrimo too!

6. The forums! Nanowrimo has general forums, and regional forums, so you can get in touch with people writing in your own country, or even your city!

7. The deadline. Because of the one month deadline, Nanowrimo helps you to write. You know it has to be finished by November 30th.

8. You will write crap, and it's ok! You can't expect to write 1667 words a day and have them all turn out perrrrfect. Nanowrimo even expects you to write crap. And it's fiiine! You can edit it on (Inter-)National Novel Editing Month, March.

9. You can sign up for weekly pep talks. Well, emails. Nanowrimo's staff sends you a 'you can do it' email every week to keep you going.

10. There's even a Nanowrimo shop! You can buy a T shirt, mug, poster or even a book to help you write.

11. Kids can Nanowrimo too! There is a special Young Writers Program for kids and students.

12. During Nanowrimo you write like crazy for one month, which means you can either get that story out you've been wanting to write down, or get a huge start on that book you've been dreaming of writing 'one day'.

13. When you've done it all, when you wrote down word number 50,000 just before midnight on November 30th, you can let Nanowrimo 'validate your wordcount', meaning you upload your novel so Nanowrimo's computers can check to see if you did write the 50,000 words they want you to write. And if you did, you get this cool banner saying You Are A Winner! And then you can sleep, finally...............

Sooooooooooooo.. I now dare everyone reading this to sign up for Nanowrimo, even if you think you can't, or don't have the talent or the time, you'll see you'll be able to do it. Or, as they say at Nanowrimo, you rock for even trying!

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!

Visiting

2006-10-20T21:45:00.000+01:00

Today I visited Marloes. She lives in such a lovely town. Such colourful flowers and lots of trees with all kinds of fruit. She then invited me to her home, which is a lot bigger than mine. She's got the most amazing furniture, a whole room in a mushroom-theme and a kitchen with microwave and she's even got a washing machine.

I also met her husband, who turns out to be rrrrrrrrrich. He just dropped some money on the floor for me to pick up! Marloes gave me a shovel so I could plant the fruit she allowed me to take. Let's just hope I will soon have peach-, cherry- and peartrees too.

I can just imagine how addictive Animal Crossing can be!

Now, if any of you dear readers play too, please feel free to leave me a message, who knows, maybe we can visit too!

2006-10-19T09:14:00.000+01:00


Thirteen Things I just want to share.


1. It's getting colder now. Eventhough last night it was still warm enough to walk around in a jumper (ok, so it was a thick knitted one with turtleneck, but still), it's a lot colder than last week, when we were still walking around in t-shirts.

2. Which is why I got a new coat at H&M yesterday! It's black and lovely and warm (and yes, I should post a picture of it, or me in it, soon...)

3. Sales are up! Yayyy!

4. I've only just got Animal Crossing (Me!! A game!! Whatever next....) but I can see how it can become very, very addictive very, very quickly!

5. When you've been in an accident that's not your fault, be prepaired to sit through hours and hours of boring on hold-music.

6. Skype is the BEST invention in the world! I've so missed talking to my dear friend...

7. It's funny when 3-year olds say 'Gimme some money, mummy needs new shoes!', not so funny when a 9-year old says 'Women eh?'

8. Money can't buy you love, but apparently it can buy you a child, even two.

9. Laura decided to stop blogging. Poo!

10. I had no idea I was supposed to blog two days ago, but then, I'm not British.

11. Lidl sells Dutch goodies! Yayyyy!! Now I can enjoy hot chocolate and speculaasjes any time I want!

12. Nanowrimo is coming up soon!! Time to get started on a new story!

13. So yeah, I should be writing

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!

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Pebbles

2006-10-11T18:28:00.000+01:00

I've been keeping myself busy doing more and more pebbles, today I made Gary the green fish and Yasmine the yellow fish. A couple of days ago I made this turtle and a golden owll, who just got back from clubbing. And in case you need an extra dose of good luck I've got this lucky pebble in my store.

In case you're looking for some last minute Halloween decoration, I've got some glow-in-the-dark pebbles with cats , spiders and a couple of ladybirds...

Daytrip to London

2006-10-11T11:57:00.000+01:00

We went on a daytrip to London. To be honest we should be ashamed we had not done that before, London is only 30 minutes by train.

First of all we went to see Big Ben. There was an awful lot of police around, but we never saw anything. And lots of tourists of course, and for the day, we were one of them!

Then we went to the National History Museum, where we've seen fossils, the most beautiful minerals and chrystals, and experienced an earth quake. And then we went next door, to the Science where we saw trains, planes and automobiles and lots of last century discoveries. We shipped on the 3D film though.

After a Subway lunch in Tower Hill park we crossed the road to visit The Tower of London (in the picture you can see Tower Bridge, too). To be honest I did not know all that much about the Tower's history, so I was glad to go on a guided tour. Tye really wanted to seel Traitor's Gate the gate everyone who's ever been imprisoned in the Tower had to go through. The guide joked that it used to be called Watergate, and how Americans can never name anything for themselves, thankfully the Americans who joined us had some sense of humour. We saw the Bloody Tower, we saw the place where people were hanged, or beheaded, or quartered, in some cases all three... We saw the ravens that can't fly off or it will be the end of the monarchy. Thankfully they're clipped so they won't get that far (Yes, I'm being sarcastic). The doors in that picture are houses that are still lived in. The Beefeaters and their families still live there! I can't imagine living there, knowing what happened there.
We saw the Crown Jewels (the guide said not to take any pictures "... or we'll never sell the postcards") which to be honest made us a bit sick, visited the towers, saw knights armour, paintings, cells.. All in all it was all a bit creepy.
After that we went back to Liverpool Street station and had dinner at a pub there.

It was a very busy, very fun day. I know I haven't even seen half of London, but as it's not that far, I'm sure we'll go there again.

News

2006-10-11T11:05:00.000+01:00

A few months ago I wrote some things on this blog I shouldn't have. In part because I wrote it while being emotional , in part because it was too early to tell. I deleted the posts.

Unfortunately, someone Googled my name and found it right before I deleted the posts, only to tell my parents about it a month later.

Now Tyronne and I will never have the memory of telling my parents, sisters and other familymembers in person that we're engaged........

Shop!

2006-10-01T16:50:00.000+01:00

The other day I finally decided to set up a shop at etsy.com, a place where people can sell handmade things. Tye helped me pick out the name, made me a very cool banner and then it was up to me to take pictures of my pebbles and put them online.....

Timeless, the name of my shop, apparently caught someone's eye because within 5 hours of posting it, my elephant was sold! It is now on its way to the US!

Last night I posted some of my Halloween-pebbles and some other ones, and I can only hope they too will sell! Fingers crossed!

(Oh, and, you're more than welcome to buy, of course! ;) And to spread the word...)

Three little snowmen

2006-09-28T02:36:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-21T12:42:00.000+01:00



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!

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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!

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Rock painting

2006-09-16T12:14:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-14T17:52:00.000+01:00

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!

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Shit (3)

2006-09-13T12:32:00.000+01:00

'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

2006-09-12T21:54:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-10T21:48:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-08T12:57:00.000+01:00

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!

2006-08-31T16:57:00.000+01:00

>

Thirteen series/films I had never seen, or even heard of, before moving in with Tyronne.

 1. Filthy, Rich and Catflap. This apparently is what the people in The Young Ones did after that series was stopped. He cries when he watches it, I merely smile every now and then.

2. D.A.R.Y.L. About a robot boy. I was shocked that I recognised him as Bastian from The Neverending Story.

3. Red Dwarf A tv series I'm sure I've seen on the BBC before but could not be bothered watching.

4. The Mighty Boosh. Zoo-keepers, talking monkeys, and the spirit of the jazz. Umm.. Yeah.. well.. see 1.

5. Gimme, gimme, gimme. A homosexual and an ugly nymphomaniac sharing a house.

6. Supernova. Australian/English series about astronomers in the outback. I actually found some bits of this funny. I think I need to get worried...

7. Bottom. Two sad acts sharing a flat. Very sick and well, not funny. To me, that is.

8. I'm Alan Partridge. The ongoing adventures of Alan Partridge, a sport presentor/talk show host, during and after his failed tv series. I've stayed away from this one for now, maybe it's best to keep that up.

9. Double Agent73. Wonderful '70's porn about a woman with huuuuge tits and a camera hidden inside them. 'You have to see it to disbelieve it' it said on the box. So true.

10. Chocky. Boy talks to alien friend, while parents think he's losing it. Poor poor kid. Note to self: need to make my friend a copy of this as she loved to watch this and couldn't find it anywhere in Holland.

11. Brasseye. Current affair style comedy which at the time seemed to be far fetched but sadly is now more fact than fiction. Tye is threatening to put this on now so I can actually watch it....

12. Quatermass. Late '70's show about an elderly scientist trying to save the world from an alien invasion by nuking a new age rave. Poor Tye did not see it for 20 years because it scared him....

13. Black books. Comedy set in a bookstore, with Bernard Black, the most unsociable person in the world who loves wine and insulting people.


The list could be endless really, as he's got far far FAR too many DVDs, mostly of stuff when he first tells me about them I think he made up himself.. And yes, I could put links up for all of these series, but as you've got the internet at your fingertips, you can do that yourselves...!!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Buttercup

Supernanny

2006-08-31T10:51:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to look for a job here. One of the most logical things to look for, other than something to do with people suffering from eating disorders, was to look for a job as a nanny. I love kids, I've been a nanny a few years ago and loved that (eventhough the parents were a bit of a problem) and I knew it would be something I could do.

And so I found a nanny agency and filled out their form. A few days later, I got a call asking when I could come over for a job interview. And that was yesterday!

We arrived early. Of course we did. Yoda told us where to go, which was so nice of him, and I waited another 15 minutes before ringing the doorbell.

Belinda answered the door, very casually dressed which I like because it makes you feel less like you're at A Job Interview, and showed me to her office. We talked a bit about my CV, about the police check I need to have done, about living in the UK and about my previous experience and how it's usually the parents who make it a difficult job, not the kids. She signed me up for a First Aid class sometime within the next two months, gave me my Nanny-card with my picture and Nanny-number as well as their address and phone number and that was about it! She said she would start looking for a family for me within Chelmsford, as I'm not that confident at driving and need to use public transport (at least for now, I know I need to bite the bullet at some point...) and off I went..

Now all I need is a Supernanny suit....

Card

2006-08-31T10:43:00.000+01:00

So there we were, at the bank, talking to a boy who did not look old enough to work there. After about half an hour he told us that he had a 4 year old daughter and that the bank holiday had been all about her. How is this possible? He looked no older than 16. Oh I don't know, I still have to get used to people having kids a lot younger than in Holland.

Two hours later, Tyronne had some financial stuff sorted out and my name was put on his account. Ha! He gave me access to his money! How foolish can he be?

Today my shiny new debit card arrived! Now, where is the nearest ATM?

Seamonkeys

2006-08-28T18:19:00.000+01:00

When we left on saturday for the bash, the Seamonkeys were swimming around in their lovely tank with gold on the bottom of it (pirates!! arg!) minding their own business, just being Seamonkeys really.

When we got back we found that they had grown. Lots! They are HUGE now! Enormous! I'm sure that within a week, we'll be seeing some Seamonkey sex! Whoohooo!

Bash

2006-08-28T17:18:00.000+01:00

Last saturday me and Tye drove off to meet some loonies. Don't worry, they're harmless, and he's met them before, but as this was my first time meeting them I was still a bit apprehensive as they had only been names on a screen to me. Oh no wait, that's not entirely true, I had met two of them before. Anyway... After driving around for an hour, following instructions by Yoda on the TomTom satnav, we finally got there.

There were lots of people already, lots of booze, some chilli, later on someone went to get chippies, and as it was someone's birthday, there were balloon cock-hats and cake too. Pony-cake and bum-cake with a huge goatse on top. (If you must, you can google for goatse, but whatever you do, do NOT do that on either an empty stomach or after having just had your food, or while eating, and definately not while at work! So in other words, maybe you should just try and resist googling this.) And of course the biggest topic of conversation was sex, whether it was bumming, dogging or the very explicit explanation of space docking. (Again: try and resist)

Tye on the other hand got more and more lovely as he got more and more drunk. He kept saying how much he loved me, how happy he was I said 'yes', and how pretty he thought I looked. Which of course I did. He said some other things as well, but let's not go into that.

Later that night, or very early that morning, after all the booze, the talking, the Guitar Hero and the Karaoke (not me, not me! Don't worry!) it was time for bed. As we were not going to share a futon with 2 other people (I wish someone had taken a picture of those four that did, they looked so very cute) or sleep on the kitchen floor, we got our brand new tent out of the car and tried to set it up. Picture this: 4 o'clock in the morning, me cold, Tye drunk, not enough light to read the instructions, both of us not having set up any tent for a number of years. Let's just say we got it up, but it looked nothing like the picture on the bag it came in. The foam matrasses that came with it were far too thin, the sleeping bags too straight jacket-like, the ground too hard and too cold, but other than that, it was perfect. Tye was snoring within 2 seconds, I was awake for about half an hour and then finally fell asleep as well.

I woke up again at 6.15, and for about an hour I tried to decide whether or not I should get out of the sleeping bag, get dressed and get inside the house to use the toilet. 'I'm not going, but I need the toilet, but I don't want to go outside, but I need the toilet, but it's cold outside, but I need the toilet, I'm sure I can hold it for another hour, but I neeeeeeed the toilet!' And so finally, at 7.15, I did get dressed, got inside the house, tip toed up to the bathroom (this is the second house I've been to that only has a toilet upstairs in the bathroom. I've never seen that in Holland, it would be the other way around there..) did what needed to be done and got back downstairs again, only to learn that one of the people sleeping on the kitchen floor had been sick about an hour ago. I never smelled anything or found any evidence! I was so pleased. He could've easily had decided to go out in the garden next to our tent, but instead he got upstairs to go to the bathroom and cleaned up after himself!

I got back into the tent, got back to sleep for about an hour, woke Tye up and we then had some breakfast and coffee. Yes, I had coffee too, only because there was no tea.

Yoda got us back safely, we popped by McDonald's for McChicken on the way, and then we got back in bed for more wonderful, wonderful sleep on wonderful, wonderful bed with soft matrass and nice duvet and no cold floor.

Our pictures of the bash can be found here, if you really want to see what the loonies look like.

Thursday Thirteen

2006-08-25T18:45:00.000+01:00

Thirteen Things I've had here for the first time and LOVED


1. Jaffa Cakes. The little ones, the big ones, the bar ones.

2. Chelsea buns. Yummmm!

3. Coca Cola Zero. Better than the diet, although it took some getting used to the no caffeine bit...

4. Sweet corn with honey, spash of lime and lots of chilli....! Pop in the microwave for a few minutes and it's delicious!

5. Shepard's pie. But what ever you do, do not look at what you're eating..

6. Curry. A real one. Chicken, of course.

7. Flapjacks, the big ones that Tesco does. Much better than a muesli bar.

8. Pub food. Pubs in Holland should do food too, more than just kroketten and bitterballen.

9. Yorkshire pudding, especially the crunchy ones.

10. Kievs. We've tried a couple but I have to say I like the garlicy ones best.

11. Cornish pasties!! They definately need to do those in Holland.

12. Sausage rolls, although they do taste a lot like sausijzenbroodjes

13. Walker's Thai chilli crisps. Or Hoola hoops.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. My 2 cents

2. Tink

3. Dane Bramage

4. Cheryl

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thursday thirteen

(Sorry to everyone who replied to this: as I was putting your links in, my template started acting up, so I had to copy it all and post the list without the TT-template.....)

Shit (2)

2006-08-23T00:08:00.000+01:00

Why is it that when someone asks you to do something you normally do every day without any problems, it suddenly becomes a problem just because someone's asked you to and now It Has To Be Done?

I finally had my sample in the tiny tube (not something I hope to be doing again any time soon). Tye and I took it to the surgery while making every single shit-joke we could possibly think of.

The lady at the reception was very friendly, maybe a bit too much, because.. .I have to be honest, I've never heard anyone say 'Thank you so very much,' when taking shit like that.

Shit, quite literally

2006-08-22T00:04:00.001+01:00

Back in Holland, I had seen my doctor several times to talk about my horrible heartburn. Nothing in particular could set it off. Sometimes I'd get it after drinking tea, sometimes on an empty stomach, sometimes right before having anything. I could not pinpoint anything I could stay away from and not have heartburn. There had even been times when I nearly choked on acidic stomach juices, not nice! Especially not with my fear, phobia, of being sick.

But he said 'We both know why you have this. You're fat. So you know what you need to do.' Oh thanks so much. He never asked about my eating habbits, if maybe I was under a lot of stress, he never examined me, no, it was my weight and that was it.
Last time, about a month before I left for England, he did give me some medication, and those pills were great! For the first time since I don't know how long I didn't live on Rennies, and I could sleep without being afraid of choking.

Unfortunately, I took my last tablet the first week I was here. And the heartburn was back within days. So it was back to Rennies. I just started my second box of 96. Not good.

So today I went to see my, new, doctor. I was a bit nervous about what she might have to say, but she was very friendly. Asked me about my eating habbits and if anything I have might set this heartburn of. Asked me if the medication I had relieved the pain. Asked me if I had ever been tested and when I told her no, asked me if I perhaps would like to have that done.

A test, that sounded rather scary. She explained that she thought my heartburn might be caused by a bacteria called helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that causes ulcers. (Funny enough I had told my former doctor that I was afraid this might be an ulcer but he laughed that off.) If I would be tested positive for this in my stool sample, I might need a stomach endoscopy... Not something I'm looking forward to!!

So tomorrow, I need to put some of my stool (doesn't that sound lovely? Nothing like the stinking shit it is!) in a little tube and walk all the way to the doctor's with it and have it tested. Results will be in after about a week. Fingers crossed!

V festival

2006-08-19T23:05:00.000+01:00

If I turn down the TV, I can hear the V festival, a huge 2 day concert both here in Chelmsford as up in Staffordshire. Bands that played here today will be playing there tomorrow and vice versa.

My Love, who actually said it was OK to use his name on here, so it will be Tyronne or Tye from now on, promised he'll take me next year. From what I can hear from my window right now, I can't wait!

Postcrossing

2006-08-19T22:27:00.000+01:00

I just signed up for Postcrossing, a project that's about sending postcards all over the world.

I used to have penpals, in Holland, in the US, in Denmark, in England and I loved it! I loved writing long letters till my fingers hurt, I loved decorating the envelopes, I loved receiving the letters and then writing back again.

The internet is great for meeting people all over the world and keeping in touch, but it's not quite the same as writing letters by hand, sending them of, waiting for replies that might take days, weeks even.

Now (well, not now now, obviously, as it's half 10 on a saturday evening) all I need to do is request an address, find a postcard that is OK enough to send and make a trip to the postoffice. And who knows, I might find a postcard in the mail sometime soon, too.

Writing again

2006-08-18T12:03:00.000+01:00

I am writing again! A few days ago, I bought a 'Write your own novel' CDrom by GSP, and it works! On it you can write down your ideas and notes, keep track of events, dates, locations, add all your characters and their description, personality and relationships. You can even keep notes on where you've submitted your story, and oh yeah, you can actually write your story on there as well. I have to be honest, I was a little scared to actually save my writing on here instead of a notebook (I of course keep one anyway) but it really does work!

And best of all; I'm not doing this on my own. I've got My Love as a sparring partner. I had a very basic storyline, but while talking to him we added more and more to it, making it more complex. We talk about why people do the things they do in the story, when certain events take place and why in that order, and how it will all end. We are now looking at a police thriller, which is something I've never done before, but by having him as my partner I feel the story will be tight enough to work.

And now it's time for, as Mur Lafferty from I Should Be Writing always puts it, 'butt in chair'!

Horses

2006-08-15T21:48:00.000+01:00

My favourite tv ad at this moment: the Clark shoes one with the little girl who pretends she's got a horse. She's wearing a skirt that looks like a dress I used to wear, her hair is as long as mine was, and she's got the boots I used to have.

She's making her pretend horse jump, run, she offers it an apple, she walks it back to the stables, she's lost in her own little world.

You watch this ad and you just have to love it. You can't help it.

Unless you're My Love's 6 year old nephew. 'She doesn't even have a horse.' Yeah, thanks for that.