Michelle's Spot

Moving blogs..

2007-09-08T19:18:00.001Z

I've been building a new blog over at WordPress, and I really like it over there. So, I'm focusing my efforts over there. Anyone who's been reading and/or commenting here, please come over and take a look.

http://mjmoore.wordpress.com/

See you there.. I'm looking forward to those comments! ;)

Weather Watching!

2007-08-10T15:17:00.000Z

For the past few days, I've been even more interested than normal in the up-coming weather. And the reason is because we're off on holiday tomorrow, and I needed to know what to pack. The last thing I want is the girls moaning because they're too cold.. or even too warm, so I need to cover all eventualities; and the weather has been so changeable, that we could be facing hot sun, or chilly rain!

The other concern when it's colder and wet, is that I can't get much washing done, because of getting it dry, so I have to make sure I have enough clothes to last. And, that's all of us, not just the girls.. I can be clumsy too! lol

Anyway, we're going to be staying in a caravan park in Romney Sands - it's a nice family area, and we do enjoy the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch railway, as well as Dymchurch itself.

Oh, and the weather? Well, the bbc site looks hopeful, the weather.co.uk site looks wet!

I dispair of this world that I live in..

2007-07-26T17:07:00.000Z

"A 16-year-old boy has been shot dead after being chased by youths on bicycles, police have said."

Just one more in a long line of stabbings and shootings.

Tour De France Video Part 2

2007-07-17T20:24:00.000Z

The video has now had 20,977 views, and is a featured video in the sports category. I think it's really funny! :)

It soon adds up..

2007-07-15T18:01:00.000Z

We've had a really nice family afternoon.. but it soon gets so expensive! First we went to watch Shrek 3.. £23.80 for the tickets, plus over £9 for popcorn and drinks. Then we went out for something to eat.. another £30. That takes the daily spend way over £60! Sigh...

Next time, we'll take our own popcorn, and come home for dinner!! LOL

PS.. It was a lovely afternoon though! :)

Tour De France Video

2007-07-15T11:15:00.000Z

That little video that I posted below.. it's been viewed 10,981 times, and is #57 most viewed this week! LOL

Grammar - it's & its

2007-07-14T13:54:00.000Z

Here's an interesting discussion that's cropped up in the book forum...

I always understood that it's was used instead of it is, but also when talking about possession, such as the cat licks it's fur.

However, Bethany is being taught that the possesive is its, and it's is only used as a contraction. A quick web search seems to back this up.

Then again, in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, she has it's as a possessive.

So....?

I hate my hair!

2007-07-14T13:52:00.000Z

Why is it that everyone else seems to have nice looking hair, but mine always looks horrid? Short, long, or anywhere inbetween, I am never happy with it!

I'm sulking!

Tour De France

2007-07-11T12:36:00.001Z

On Sunday morning, Beth and I enjoyed the rare bit of sunshine, and wandered down to Erith to watch the Tour De France. After rushing to the French market to get Beth a crepe, we rejoined the crowds in time to watch the bikes go by.

It was all over very quickly, but worth watching. The best bit, however, was watching it on the tv, and seeing all the roads that we know / drive along.

Strange times...

2007-07-01T19:17:00.000Z

It feels like a strange time at the moment..

Two car bombs found in London, a burning car driven into Glasgow airport. I just thank God that no one so far has been hurt.

A big pile up on the A20, because of the rain and fog.. in June, when it should be sunny.

Ten years since Princess Diana was killed.. and it's also ten years ago that we got married, just a few days before.

We were on holiday when 9/11 happened, and on the way home in the car, I heard Missing You by P. Diddy, the words of which had me crying. I've just heard that he's going to sing it during the Diana concert. Considering how emotional I feel right now, I'm not sure I can listen.

If you've never heard it, watch it here.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QJse82M6BM

Will it ever end?

2007-06-29T07:18:00.000Z

Police were called to a suspicious car in The Haymarket early this morning, and they made safe what they described as a "potentially viable explosive device". According to a reporter on the tv, an eye witness said the car was packed with boxes of nails.

As a young student nurse, in the middle of the IRA threat, I attended a teaching session from a Consultant, explaining just how these types of bombs work, and the damage they do.. so hearing that this morning sent chills through me.

Londoners lived with the IRA threat for many years, and it seems that there is always someone ready to carry on that threat. Will there ever be an end to this?

We're back...

2007-06-10T17:49:00.001Z

Cottage - front
Originally uploaded by mjmoore uk

The photo is of the cottage where we stayed, and there are plently more photos here, if you wish to peek.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjmoore/collections/

Amy is still spotty, and my mum is looking after her tomorrow, whilst hubby and I return to work. The washing is actually now all done, and most of the ironing! And when Beth returns to school, she's going into the new building.. which she's rather excited about. I don't want to go back to work, but I guess I should. :(

Oh.. as a side note, I would recommend Flickr if you're looking for somewhere to store and show your photos.. I've had great fun over there, arranging all of mine! :)

Mid holiday...

2007-06-06T18:26:00.000Z

What a mixed holiday we're having! On the positive side, I LOVE spending some time with grandparents, it's nice to just be away from home, and for once, we're getting pretty good weather.

On the negative side, I've already had a migraine, and yesterday I managed to cause all sorts of aches and pains around my neck and shoulders, due to going on an old fashioned funfair ride. For anyone who remembers it, it's the 'caterpillar' ride.. it goes round rather fast, and a cover comes over you. Unfortunately, being an old ride, it really bumps you around. My neck and shoulder is my 'weak spot', so it's left me with 'whiplash' type pains.

However, beating all that is the fact that poor little Amy is now covered in chickenpox!! We took Bethany out for a bit today, and left Amy with her nan., and we're not too sure what the rest of the week will bring.

Still, the weather report looks good for the weekend, so I'll be able to get through all the washing that's piling up, and get it dried! LOL

Holiday time...

2007-06-03T08:48:00.000Z

Well, here we are, in not so sunny Wales! Yesterday was a good trip down, and for the first time I can remember, I stopped at one point to change from my boots, into my sandals! LOL Today, however, is very gloomy, and we're expecting rain. We're not too bothered though, because we're going for Sunday lunch in the local pub, then going to visit my grandparents.

The forecast for the next few days is pretty good. I don't need it to be hot, as long as it's warm and dry, and we can get the kids out and about.

We stayed in this particular cottage 5 years ago, and it's still lovely. The owners are really nice, and they've invited us to see their farm, and help milk the cows. I'm not sure what little Amy will think of them.. they're quite big up close!

I have access to the phone line, so I can use my dial up account. As it's pay-per-minute though, I can't be on for long!! It's strange not having it on constantly, but it is nice to have.. being with no internet at all is a strange experience!

I'll pop up some photos when I get back home, rather than attempt it on dial up!

We're ready...

2007-06-01T18:39:00.000Z

I *think* all the packing is done, and we're ready to go! I will have very limited dial up access, which will be very odd, but I have my new camera to play with whilst there.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to persuade 2 over-excited little girls to go to sleep!

Seeya in a week!

Getting ready for our holiday...

2007-05-31T09:41:00.000Z

On Saturday morning we're off to Wales for the week. We're staying in a cottage near Carmarthen, which means we can get out and about, as well as spending some time with my grandparents, who live nearby. You can tell we're going, because the weather forecast is WET! Nothing new there.. sigh!

Anyway, these are the days I hate.. trying to pack! Because of the weather, there are plenty of clothes to pack. Instead of shorts and sandals, it'll be jeans, sweatshirts and boots! Plus, knowing how messy my kids can be, plus the fact that there's no dryer in the cottage (thank goodness there's at least a washing machine!), I have to make sure we have plenty!

On top of that, I'm not good at organising myself until the last minute. I AM good at writing lists, but actually getting on with something until I NEED to is a different matter! LOL

Anyhow, this is where we're going... link - I suppose I should go and get on! :-D

More sorting...

2007-05-26T17:38:00.000Z

Today I asked Glen to clear out the loft, so we could see what we have. Oh boy! When I got back, there was stuff everywhere upstairs, but he had had to stop, because there wasn't room for anything else!

I started on what we had, and created 5 bags for the charity shop, as well as some rubbish. After dropping Amy off at nanny's (and grabbing a cuppa), we came back to get down the rest, and I now have 5 more bags!

I've stopped for dinner, but I need to get back upstairs, to sort out the remaining mess. And to think this house was ultra-tidy not long ago!!

Shopping...!

2007-05-24T18:16:00.000Z

It's been a fun couple of days.. for a start, the rain has stopped, and it's been lovely and warm. (It's not going to last apparently, but that's English weather for you!)

Yesterday I was able to get hold of some school trousers for Beth that actually fit, plus some nice t-shirts. I also found some new sandals for myself.. shh, don't tell hubby! hehe

Today, I got sandals for the girls, plus a lightweight raincoat for Amy.. which is usually needed during our British summers! I then went into Argos, where a new stereo system jumped into my arms! Oops.. how did that happen?! LOL

Link to my new stereo :-)

I've been using my computer to play music, but now I have my laptop, the desktop is often off, or the girls are playing games on it. So, obviously, I NEEDED something to play my CDs on. Right?!

Update...

2007-05-20T20:54:00.000Z

I had trouble with blogger the other day, so I haven't updated. On Monday, we learnt that our buyer had in fact dropped out. Thankfully, over the next few days (full of stress!), we got another offer.. just below our asking price, but good enough.

I also went for a 2nd viewing of the house in Dartford, and I love it even more. I'm already planning the furniture on my head, so I have everything crossed it works out!!

With the move in mind, I've started sorting out various cupboards etc. There have already been many bags of rubbish, and a few for the charity shops.. and I'm yet to attempt the loft!!

Please keep all fingers and toes crossed!!

We sold!

2007-05-11T20:53:00.000Z

Yesterday at 10:30 we had a visit from an estate agent from Your Move.. we took the contract into them at 6pm, had a viewer at 8:30pm, and by midday today we had accepted an offer, from first-time buyers, of our asking price. Speedy or what?! :D

Blood, Sweat & Tears...

2007-05-06T19:09:00.000Z

Ok, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it felt close! lol A while back, I promised a friend that I would design her a web site. As a writer, she wanted something to show agents etc, so I wanted to come up with something nice for her.

After playing around with a few ideas, which weren't going well, I came up with a design that we both thought was 'ok', but wasn't exactly what Cindy was looking for. However, it did the job, so we left it up for a while.

A few weeks ago, I finally persuaded Cindy to give MySpace a whirl, and I offered to sort out a layout for her. Once we had the right colours for that, I set about trying to transfer them to her site.

Eventually, after the afore-mentioned blood, sweat and tears, www.cinthiahamer.com was re-born.. a design that I think we both finally like. :)

House hunting continues..

2007-05-06T08:00:00.000Z

Yesterday we trotted off to see the house that Glen liked.. and I think he got a shock. The road was absolutely lovely, but the house was old, and would need some work. Every bedroom had strange 'fitted' cupboards which looked like they needed pulling out, and the kitchen was tiny and old. We walked away saying that if you had extra money to do it up, it could be lovely, but that's something we don't have.

So, after that, he suddenly started looking at some of the other houses, and phoning estate agents! LOL

We went to see two more yesterday, both newer, but neither were suitable. if we could have taken the good points from each, we would have been ok.. but not on their own.

We're off to see one this morning, and another tomorrow.. and I spotted two more last night that we want to phone about.

The hunt continues!

Time to start viewing....

2007-05-04T15:23:00.001Z

We've contacted a few estate agents about coming here to do their valuations, and three are booked for next week. They have all told us that properties here sell VERY quickly, and one said they have buyers waiting.

So, it's time to start seriously looking...

A new property to come up is http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/7508703 which we are going to view tomorrow morning.

I'm also in the middle of arranging a viewing of http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/7441281 which I have liked ever since I saw it. However, they have switched estate agents, and the price has gone down, so I wondering if there's anything to NOT like...?

Third on the list is http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/15210172 - when I know when we're viewing the above, I shall try to arrange this one too.

Buying, Selling, Moving.. Argh!

2007-04-27T13:16:00.000Z

I am now officially starting to get stressed, because this is starting to get close! Glen has done the bulk of the decorating, and just has some fiddley bits left to do. As he does those, I'm going to follow on behind, trying to make this place look tidy and uncluttered.. and with two children, that'll be fun!!

The stair carpet will be replaced by mid-may, and that is when we will go on the market.. and that is but a couple of weeks away really!

I started seriously looking at houses today, and I have 3 that I'd be willing to look at. All have their good and bad points.. unfortunately, my perfect house just doesn't exist in this price range!

1) http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/14673916
2) http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/6701868
3) http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/15088159

If they should still be there in a couple of weeks, we shall go along and have a look.. and I'll let you know!

Tour De France

2007-04-19T10:47:00.000Z

I found out yesterday that the Tour De France this year will pass literally streets away from me. I knew it was coming close, but not THAT close! I suppose I should be excited, and if it's not too crowded, I guess I could go along and wave at the tv cameras.. ;-)

However, because of the way the roads are laid out around here, we will be COMPLETELY shut off. That means I won't be able to make any plans for that day (possibly all weekend), because I won't be able to go anywhere. It's kinda weird, to lose my choice to be able get in my car and drive off, if I so wish.

There's another negative too. Some of my friends know that we have had MAJOR roadwords going on around here for some time, which have caused alot of stress. Well, that is finally nearing it's end, and has gotten much better. Now, however, more roadworks have sprung up, along the Tour route.. more chaos and stress during my daily journeys! (Yes, I know it'll be nice to have improved roads.. but the ironic thing is that we're moving away from here in the summer. )

Anyway, if you're a fan of the Tour, and you fancy coming my way to watch it, let me know, and pop in for a cup of tea! :-D