Just a quick post....

....I know that some of you who read this are crafty types so hope you don't mind me putting out a bit of an appeal for the neonatal unit where I work ( I don't work in the neonatal unit but you know what I mean). They are asking for people to make 'memory' bags for the newbies that will be placed on the incubators for parents to place things like name bands and other bits and pieces in, as a memory of the time the baby spent in the unit, sadly some babies don't survive and for their parents it is helpful for them to have something to remember their littles by.

So what am I asking? Could you make a bag or two (amazingly we need about 500 a year) to help the unit out? Ideally they need to be about 9 inches square with a short drawstring along the top - like the slipper bags the kids take to school but smaller.

They don't need to be fancy - just a simple one colour/pattern fabric would do, perhaps a bit of appliqué if you feel the need, with a ribbon threaded through as the drawer string.

I'm going to have a go at the weekend and I'll share pictures then!

Thanks for reading, let me know if you can help!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My Vodafone woes - again

I know I haven’t written for a while and I come back with a gripe! Sorry…

At the end of February I took the brave step of upgrading my mobile to an i-Phone. Gulp. A big step but I had just about had enough of my HTC wildfire S so I thought it was a step worth taking.

As my contract was only a short while in, I had to ‘buy’ myself  out of six months worth of contract – and I had to do that before the change could happen. I duly paid over the phone and received my beautiful, shiny, gorgeous i-Phone.

Move on a few weeks and I get my first statement for said i-Phone. Which included, yes, you’ve guessed it, the fee I had already paid to Vodafone in advance of the upgrade. So I phoned them on 191 and spoke to somebody who clearly thought I was stupid. I’ll confess that I lost my temper with him – big time. Poor chap was probably working in a call centre on the Indian sub content – I did apologise to him, honestly.

Moving on I used my favourite tool of contacting those companies who have p’d me off – Twitter. Usual response, log on to the web site, send us an email, blah, blah, blah. So I did. The response came back addressed to Mrs Apkle which I simply grimaced at. Oh yes, you’ve been charged twice so we’ll arrange a credit back to your account and then refund to you back – simples? You’d think so wouldn’t you. This was on 2 April. I kept checking to see whether the money had been transferred but no, so back to Twitter/emails the response was it takes 7-10 working days which absolutely astounds me in the technological era we are now in. After many a rant I gave in and waited. Now, it was Easter at the end of that week so we lost two working days. I accept that so, being generous I thought it must be with me by Monday 16 April, or Tuesday 17 or – you get me? You know where this is going don’t you – yep, I still haven’t had my refund. I’ve Tweeted, been retweeted and emailed again this week. I think this is a totally unacceptable service – don’t you? I’ve now sent about 7 emails to get my refund all of which are replied to in a very patronising way. I’m now tied into this company for the foreseeable future as I can’t afford to buy myself out of my contract in it’s entirety.

Am I angry – you bet I am, watch this space! My next step is going to be a snail mail to their head office in Reading, maybe that might get a better reaction!

Anyhow, apologies for the lack of blogging, if their is anybody left out there to care! Matt is now home from his travels and firmly ensconced in his old bedroom. I did miss him. I didn’t miss the mess. That is all.

In the words of Arnie – I’ll be back!

By the way – I love my i-Phone, it’s the best, it truly is…….

Just testing!

I know, it's been a while and now I post with a stupid title. Well you see I've got this new toy that has then over my life and I've been so preoccupied that I haven't even thought about blogging!

Anyway, before I write too much and find it hasn't worked, I'll stop to check. Watch this space there'll be more to come!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Christmas day plus two

Well, that’s Christmas over for another year. This year, for the first time ever (as far as I can remember) John and I spent most of Christmas day on our own. We were very civilised and sat down to a full blown Christmas dinner which we then slept off while we waited for David & Amanda to come around, with her Mum & brother, for tea. I don’t usually do much in way of tea at Christmas but this year I thought I ought to  make an effort – not surprisingly a lot of it went uneaten!

Yesterday morning we talked to Matt on Skype – the first time we’ve been able to since he left in September – he gave us a guided tour of the house he’s living in and introduced us to his housemates! I often wonder how families managed when their loved ones went overseas as recently as 20 years ago – it must have been awful not being able to make the instant contact we do now.

As I’m writing this I’m watching a trashy movie on Christmas 24, it’s all about a mail man and a lonely lady who meet up at Christmas – what a lovely idea , it has a slightly familiar ring to it…..

So what now? Well for the immediate I’m expecting Janet and her Mum for coffee at any time and I’m back to work tomorrow. I think I’ll make the most of the rest of my time off and do some hexie piecing because I can! Relatively pain free now, but just need to be sensible as I don’t want to undo the good that’s been done before my holiday next week – yep, I hear you ‘another one’. Doesn’t seem real at the moment what with Christmas and everything but I think after the New Year I’ll start to get excited about it!

I’ve only gone and done it!!

Now that caught your eye didn’t it! What have I done? I’ve listed some of my bags on Etsy – you can find me here at Handmade by Heather. I’m not sure if they will sell but if I don’t try I will never know will I? The pricing looks a little strange ‘cos you have to put the price in US dollars and I suppose depending which exchange rate the site uses the rate will vary. I really struggled to come up with a price that reflects my expenses and that will appeal to the buyer, I’ve had a good look around Etsy and at the various craft fairs I’ve been to and the prices vary widely - £10 - £45 for very similar items. I thought if I offered free UK post and packing it might seem a good deal.

Now just have to sit back and see what happens – gulp!!

In other news, we head towards Christmas wondering where the year has disappeared to. Matt seems to be settled in Brisbane now for a couple of months at least. He has a job working for a meat supplier – he works nights loading orders for supermarkets. Working nights should suit him as he has always been a nit of a night owl anyway and the money is good. It’s going to be very strange mot having him around at Christmas this year although we will talk on the phone.

And that’s probably all I can think of – oh, nearly forgot – the shoulder business. It’s getting better I think and I’ve finished the acupuncture – can’t say it’s made any difference really but it was worth a try, I’m still taking the medication because when I don’t take it the symptoms all come right back! But the good news is that the Physio suggested I try some hand stitching or crochet – almost like getting back on the bike when you’ve fallen off I suppose. I tried some on Thursday to no ill effect so hope that I can carry on. I’ve packed up the sewing machine as I don’t think I’ll have any time leading up to Christmas but a spot of hand stitching might just fill the gap!

A-ma-zing!!

Sorry if this is becoming boring but…Strictly was blooming fantastic. I’ve set this to post after tonight’s results show because the audience were sworn to secrecy about the result!

We arrived at Wembley about 4.30 and queued for a short time before taking our seats which, although not fantastic, gave us a good enough view. We were fortunate enough to have a screen that we could see the dancers on, although we had to watch the group dances on the floor as we missed stuff otherwise! I was sceptical about the Saturday show being transmitted live but it is! The fill in bits for Sunday are filmed before and after the Saturday show is transmitted and the opening group dance was filmed in advance of the live show – which is obvious when you think about it as they would never be able to do the costume changes in time. On the live show when you see the training segments the crew are busy clearing after the last act and getting ready for the next dancers – it is so slick!

And then there’s Bruce! He is so much better without the stupid scripted autocue gags, he came on before filming started and did a few gags completely of the cuff – let me tell you, doddery he is not! He sang and danced as well which was a Brucie bonus, I take my hat off to him!

Anyway, I think most of you know that Sunday is filmed on Saturday night, so we got to see who was voted off and now you know as well! Russell was so humble in losing, the final dance actually lasted two or three minutes which you don’t get to see on the TV and all of the dancers really support each other all the way through.

I’m not a great fan of Il Divo but they were fantastic as well – what you saw on the TV tonight was what we saw – just one take and the same for James Morrison & Jessie J! I sort of hoped that Robbie Williams might have turned up to see his pal Robbie Savage but it wasn’t to be

Who do I think will win the whole thing? I think young Chelsee might just nick it from Harry – she was amazing last night!

Oh nearly forgot  - the judges! We were all told to boo and cheer as necessary, but Craig got by far the biggest cheer when he was introduced, he seemed quite shocked!! Craig and Bruno were hilarious together camping it up – I don’t know if you saw them dancing at the end of the show – if not then you missed a treat!

So would I go again – hell yes!! It was fantastic entertainment, my hands hurt from clapping so much and, apart from the fact that we chose to stay overnight, it was excellent value for money at £20 per ticket which, apart from the VAT, all goes to Children In Need.

Needles & Pins

Ah, I see you all thinking this is going to be a crafty post, well you’d be wrong! It’s been almost five weeks now since I’ve been able to do any hand sewing or crochet – that simple holding action between thumb and for finger seems to have been the trigger for the dreadful pain I was having in my shoulder, arm & hand. However I have now had two acupuncture sessions as part of my physiotherapy and I think I can feel an improvement – I’m desperate to be able to do something of an evening, but am resisting the temptation to try.

I have made a few of the purses that I have shown you before and have decided to try to build up a stock and sell them, so I’ve decided not to post pictures at the moment. I’ve really appreciated the comments that people have left about the ones I’ve already shown and I think that’s sort of given me the courage to try to sell some.

In other news, John and I are off to see Strictly Come Dancing at Wembley tonight – excited doesn’t begin to describe how I’m feeling! Dress code is glamorous which makes it even more exciting! I’ve been driving my work mates made with my countdown to the big day and yesterday one of them said to me ‘do me a favour and call my phone, there’s something wrong with my display’. When I rang him he’d changed his ringtone to the Strictly theme tune! His deadpan delivery took me right in – there was of course nothing wrong at all with his phone!

I’m equally as excited at the prospect of going to IKEA tomorrow on the way home – sadly we don’t have one close to us so we have to take advantage when we travelling that way. I plan to stock up on candles and tea lights and who knows what else takes my fancy – last time we went we came back with more stuff than we knew what to do with!!