Although I have finished my LSNED project I haven’t printed all the pages yet. I was looking for a way to put them altogether, perhaps my ‘Project Life’ album?, Spiral bound with the Bind-it-all? and then I saw Julie Kirks beautiful LSNED folder. She left a link for the blank book and I had my answer. As the folder is suitable for 4 x 6 pages and my LSNED pages are 5 x 7 I looked around for a similar folder to suit my pages. I couldn’t find anything and then got distracted, as you do, and went off to do something else. But I really loved the idea of a folder rather than a binder.

I was putting the breakfast things away and opened up an empty cereal packet for ease of re-cycling and had a Ha Ha! moment.
A few minutes later the now flat cereal packet was measured, cut and stuck I had the beginnings of a folder.

I love it! It was supposed to be a prototype, only just holding together with masking tape. But I really liked it! I taped over the plain masking tape with some Washi tape, decided brads would hold the pockets closed nicely and then wondered for a while how to keep it closed. I didn’t think ribbon ties were quite right.
Later in the day I came across a huge paperclip, problem solved.

Of course I could paint over it or cover it in paper but I won’t, not this time.

What do you think?

Thank you Julie x

Complete!

Yes my project is finished.
I have my last pages to share with you today.

29th

Shimelle’s prompt this morning talks about doing something to bring a smile to someone’s face.
Now today the doing would be hers and the smile would be mine! I noticed a picture of a spider’s web on one of her page examples and thought Ooh someone else can’t resist a spider’s web hung with morning dew. On closer inspection it was my page!
I can be a bit shy about a ‘Random act of Kindness’. Lets see if I can alter that over the coming months.

The lesson I wanted to learn from this day 2010 was to take my camera out with me every day. I started with a photo a day during October. Apparently if you do something everyday for 30 days it becomes a habit, it worked. My camera is always with me.
Learning Photoshop. Today I learnt about actions and twirling, not the sort you do yourself or with a friend but with actions and filters. Oh roll on my day off and I can play!

30th

This is the last day of Shimelle’s project and as luck would have it, it is my day off. The sun is shining and the birds are singing. Ben is at work and Paul is out with his plane.
It really is the perfect day.
I took these pictures in the garden this afternoon and couldn’t choose just one to include on my page.

Todays weather:
Simply beautiful. Sunshine, blue skies and not a breath of wind. If the traffic and the screaming child (not mine) would disappear I would think I had died and gone to heaven!

Reflection

Once again I have loved doing this project. The size, the format and the same background paper throughout made it quick and easy, as I’d hoped it would.
I haven’t followed all the prompts and I have not joined in on the forum again. I have learnt it is just not me and stop worrying about it.
I decided to post my pages on my blog (as well as Flickr) and have had some really nice comments about them. Thank you!

Thank you for looking x

I took this photo on the 1st September especially for my front cover.

An on-line class by Shimelle Laine

September 2011.

* Keep it simple
* Digital
* 5 x 7 photo paper
* post the pages to Flickr

The pages of my book are here if you would like to look at them. I’m looking forward to seeing it printed. I do love to have paper pages to hold don’t you?

I have my pages 22 – 28 to share with you today

22nd

I had the visit from hell today. Actually I thought I had died and gone to the mad house. It severely tested my patience and professionalism and the holding of the tongue.
There was no one in the office today to offload to, so my ‘at home at the moment’ husband got it. Goodness me, my language was not to be admired but obviously when I calmed down I felt as many sympathetic and empathetic feelings as I could possibly muster. Then I wrote it all down. I used to find that the drive home was a great stress reliever (or finding the secret stash of chocolate in my glove box) but the journey today wasn’t long enough. Typing it all out was brilliant. I’ll do that again.
Today I learnt to transfer thoughts from my head to fingers to keyboard to a new document

23rd

Today I was updated on 1st aid in the workplace.
Gosh it was a full on day! We had the same trainer as three years ago, I had forgotten about her!
Probably enough said.
There were nine of us and we did manage to laugh a bit, obviously the bandaging was hysterical.
Nothing much has changed and there is no exam with this one. I always dread going to work the next day and fear (like everyone else on the course) being called upon to put this stuff into practice, am I going to remember what to do? If I don’t feint at the sight of blood my bandaging skills were judged to be very good! Oh and my ‘head management’ during putting someone in the recovery position was ‘excellent’ So if you are bleeding and need a bandage I will be OK but if you are in trouble in Sainsbury’s and they call for a first aider I learnt that they mean one of theirs, not me, so I won’t be seen heading in the direction of the incident, I’ll be lurking ‘round by the chocolate looking for something to reduce my stress levels.

24th

I can hardly believe that it is less than a week to the end of September.
As much as I love doing this project I do find that the days seem to march along. September hardly seems to have started and here we are a week to October.
Today Shimelle is talking about procrastinating, that’s me alright. On my desk I have a night dress that needs new straps, yes I could throw it away as family suggest but I like it. Two weeks ago I bought some black hand towels. I thought I would cut them in half, hem them and give them to my oily rag of a son and ask him not to use my cream towels on his oily rag hands!
I have a gorgeous navy jacket that is too long for me, it needs 6 inches off the bottom and a new hem. I am too embarrassed to say how long ago I said I would do it. Well today I got my sewing machine out and completed two out of the three projects! Thank you Shimelle.
I learnt I can still use my sewing machine.

Day started warm and sunny, no rain until late this evening.

25th

Today I learned about an application called Snagit. (Oh and remembered about Tiny URL)
http://tinyurl.com/68pcb45

I wanted to publish some iPhoto books I had made so that my cousin could see them. The file was so big that no matter what I did I couldn’t send them to her. I installed Snagit and my darling husband taught me how to use it. It enables me to capture the photo’s from the eletronic copy of the book I made and put them on to some new pages I made on my blog. You can see them now as a slide show. Go to my blog, my pages and click on one of the book pages.

Snagit Says It with Screenshots
Use our easy screen capture software to create interesting training documents, collaborative design work, IT bug reports, and more. With its simple screen grab tool and impressive list of image editing features, the possibilities are endless.
It’s so easy, you’ll catch on in a snap. (I did!)

We had the biggest rain storm I have seen in a long time followed by a lovely warm sunny day.

26th

A real September morning! Beautiful clouds in the sky, spiders busy making webs, rain drops on everything, the washing line looked so beautiful hung with glistening crystal beads of rain. I was out in the garden at 7.30am in my nightdress, (the one with the new straps) with my camera. In old money, I took a whole roll of film! As my eyes don’t work so well in the mornings I hope at least one of them will adorn this page after work this evening. I learned about spiders today. I took the photo of the spider busy making her web and noticed that the leading line of thread was such a long way from the start of the web. Paul & I had a great conversation, about how we thought the spider organized
this. Obviously the conversation then reduced from intelligent to absurd to hysterical. When I got home from work he had sent me a link to a site (there is one for everyone) that made it all clear. I’ll let you learn about it for yourself
http://tinyurl.com/68e4uds
I went out to visit the spider after work in her completed web and took some more photos.

27th

Sunshine and blue skies again this morning. There was also a heavy dewfall, which makes everything in the garden sparkle. I think there is a real sense of the season changing at this time of year. The weather is set to be very warm for a few days. I suspect it is because I wore my gorgeous autumn red jacket yesterday! I’ll have to dust off the lighter one now. We shall see.
I had coffee with my friend this afternoon, I had to jiggle a few things around to get there and after the morning I had at work, it was so worth it. We went to Costa’s, what on earth do they do to make such a meal out of getting you a cup of coffee? So much turning and steaming and wiping and knocking and leveling and this cup and that cup and more jiggling and knocking and scraping and turning and Oh my goodness a person could die of thirst waiting!

28th

I worked in the office today and as I was the only one in I got a huge amount done. For once in a number of weeks I feel almost on top of the paperwork.
Today Shimelle is talking about learning from laughter. I had what I thought was a return to sender letter at work today. I had everyone in another office looking around for an alternative address and landline number for the sender of the letter. I wrote a letter to another department explaining there would be a delay in response until I located the ‘missing gentleman’. Later I was getting down my list of ‘must do’s’ and looked at the envelope again. Yes my envelope had been returned to me, re addressed to me, completed by the gentleman as I had requested! Yes, there was much laughing and Michael taking particularly in view of who I work for! Don’t assume Miriam, Check! I can even remember the name of the boss that told me that when I first started work, oh so long ago.
Still learning, not quite there yet.

I suppose the main topic of conversation today was the weather; It was sooo hot. Even if it was still August it would have been hot, hot, hot.

Because I have been on leave from work at the start of this project I find it easy to keep up, goodness knows what will happen to it when I go back to work.
I have my pages 15 – 21 to share with you today.

15th

Today is our 27th Wedding Anniversary. We had a beautiful card from Ben and he asked how did we do it? Apart from the usual, ‘I was drunk’ ‘I was paid’ I had ‘nowhere else to go’ ‘who else would put up with me’ kind of answers “I love him”, “I love her” and “we’ve got you!” We both said together! “‘You two have been married too long! You even say the same things!”

Too long?
Still loving,
Still laughing,
Still learning.
Too long?
No, I don’t think so.

16th

Learning to use my new iPhone.
Learning to tap gently, it doesn’t respond to nails, not even fabulous dark purple ones.
Learning to keep my tongue in whilst texting.
Learning to stop pressing ‘send’ instead of ‘o’ or ‘p’.
Learning not to press the tv symbol otherwise I’m lost in the nonsense
world that is YouTube.
Learning the difference between camera and photos.
Learning how very easy it is to take photos.
Learning that yes, it is actually talking to my computer without a fight.
Learning to stop saying wow! every 30 seconds when I discover another thing it does!
Learning to stop taking it in and out of the posh little purse that came with it.

10 learning points! (stalking thinking about Shimelle) Ooooh, except that it’s not the tenth. I wonder if it would be cheating to use this list on the 10th October?

17th

The moon is very beautiful this evening. If the moon was in the centre of the clock, at 2 o’clock there is the brightest star which isn’t a star at all, it is the planet Jupiter! How exciting is that? Look in the eastern sky.
And there was I sitting here thinking I have nothing for today.
I don’t have a picture of my own; I’ll find one on t’internet.
In September you can also see the Planet Mars in the western sky, quite low on the horizon but you need to be up at 5 am.

Night Sky Note for September 16, 2011

Friday, September 16, 2011
The Moon rises five minutes before Jupiter rises. Watch the Moon rise in the ENE less than two hours after sunset. Overnight, the Moon is to the upper left of Jupiter.

18th

The last day of my holiday, and as usual, the busiest. I never learn this one. You see the day coming for a number of days, you think you have ‘ages’ you are sure you know where you put the things but no, mad hunt for my work phone! I can’t ring it because I turned it off!! Why isn’t it in my work tray? Oh & why did I leave that letter I said I would do, ‘till now? And this is the day I decide to cook a roast dinner because I’ve ‘done no cooking for you for two weeks’ I have also done no ironing, well that will go by the way, I’ll wear something that doesn’t need ironing. I’ve forgotten everything I know about the bit of the Alexander technique that I do try hard to practice every day: Choice. It’s about making a choice. I choose to do something or not to do something. I make a conscious decision to do this or that or something, making a choice takes away so much stress, now; breathe, have a glass of Pinot and cook. You love that.

19th

It is the first time I have seen 7.00am for two weeks.
No one was more surprised than me to see myself in the kitchen looking out at the beautiful sunrise and rainbow! I don’t remember seeing a rainbow in the western sky in the morning. It looked like a water colour painting, so beautiful. My picture won’t do it justice but it will remind me that I saw it.
For a Monday and the first day back after two weeks leave I would say it was a good day.
I love my singing group, what a joy to sing first thing on a Monday morning.
I had a text from my friend asking to meet her for a coffee and another friend returned from her holiday so there was lots of catching up to do today.
I had two beautiful comments on my blog.
A very simple, straight-forward, quiet, calm, working day.
With some very special moments.
Yes a very good day.

20th

My signature seems to be the colour purple, a new bag, and my nail colour, which this week happens to be purple! Actually, the colour on the bottle is Pinot, which suits me as Pinot Grigio is what I love to drink. How this Purple thing happened is a mystery to me because my one overriding concern is to always stay in the background. I think this has only been since I was an adult, I don’t remember being particularly shy as a child. Today I am wearing a black skirt, grey & purple top, purple heather colour jacket, dark purple/maroon bag and a necklace in a similar colour, Oh and the nails, Pinot. Oh and my purple bracelet and come to think of it my new glasses have purple frames. Oh my word, until today I never really thought about it. I know that I always choose purple if its available but am not conscious of saying, Oh it must be purple, or I want a purple something or other but goodness me, purple I have become.

21st

I haven’t read today’s prompt because I wanted to look back at my LSDN books for 2009 and 2010.
2009 was the first time I had done the class; I followed the prompts every day. Today was ‘face the challenge’ I have been totally unable to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer without help, today I conquered my fear of that task!! I have come along way since then.
In 2010 I didn’t follow the prompts every day but I did use Shimelle’s ‘extra challenges’. Today’s was ‘include buttons on your entry, one or dozens. I went with one! I wrote; I love to have a day to myself! Ben & Paul had gone out for the day leaving me & Peps, home alone, Love it!
And I still love a whole day on my own. Anyway the point was, looking back. These projects of documenting your life are really wonderful gifts for the future. Keep telling the stories.