Hunting, well scavenging...

I have decided to join in with The Scavenger Hunt, here on Postcards from the PP's blog. Each month there is a list, pretty random (I love random), of things to search for and photograph.

I thought it might be quite a tricky task but just going round the house this afternoon I have managed to work through a fair bit of the list. Want to see?

My front door
bubbles (is it cheating to use my screen saver thingy?)

a reflective surface, not a mirror

stained glass

and something out of place. Not only the Christmas stamp but a photo which is stubbornly not staying rotated...

Tomorrow I'll take my camera on the school run and get nature, playground equipment and the library snapped. No tombstones over one hundred years old on our way to school or any goldfish that I am aware of but they shall be hunted and scavenged soon.

Prizes

Way back in October I won a little giveaway, here over on Vintage Squirrel, which is a very lovely blog indeed. However. For reasons beyond everyone's control (and my knowledge) I only found out that I had won a couple of weeks ago.

I was invited to chose a brooch from the amazing selection that The Talented Mrs Squirrel makes. Quite frankly, this is An Impossible Task. All of them are beautiful. In the end, after much umming and ahing, I plumped for one which combines two colours which I think go oh-so-well together, red and tealy blue.

It arrived in a scrumptious brown squidgy envelope and when I opened it there was a packet wrapped in red tissue inside. Can you see the little personalised stickers holding the tissue together? Inside that was the treasure, and it does not disappoint. It is much bigger than I imagined. It has a dear little ribbon which I love and it was fixed to a hand-stamped brown card with all Mrs Squirrel's details on it.

Isn't it beautiful?

(Even better if I'd managed to get the blinking photo the right way round..)

Now I have the task of choosing how and where to wear it. On my hat? On my bag? Or perhaps I need to fix it to my poor old coat, just to jazz it up a bit and make it a bit less brown?

Pop over to her blog- it is a treat. And thank you, Vintage Squirrel- you have put a wee bit of colour into my grey Cambridge week.

Technical Hitch

One of my little promises to myself for 2011 was to blog regularly. Not just dip in and skim read every time I waltzed past the computer, but to spend a chunk of time once or twice a week doing a post and catching up with bloggers and reading their posts. This being possible because I have stopped my supply work and SmallerBean is going to preschool Four Mornings a Week starting Tomorrow!!! This is the first regular me time I will have had since the arrival of Small, six and a half years ago. And by this, I mean only me in the house. No children, no husband and no builders. Of course I will have rather a lot to do but I will not be interrupted constantly with requests for dressing Puppy, making drinks, sorting out squabbles and answering endless 'Why?' questions.

However. There is a problem. Over the hols our computer suffered a major illness. He (it must be a he) has been operated on and talked to and sworn at and taken to bits and reassembled but to no avail. We have lost everything from the end of August til now. BigBean is slowly managing to get a few things back but all our amazing photos from Scotland at half term have, pouf, vanished. All my emails and favourites, pouf, gone. All my supply work; newsletters, planning and records, pouf, disparru. Puff of smoke and finished.

And we are not out of the woods yet. We dare not put anything back on to the hard drive Just In Case. So I cannot upload photos (and I really really want to see our Christmas photos) and so I am reluctant to post a post. A post without a pic or two is not quite as interesting as one with some eye candy. Do you agree?

I have been given an award from Andrea, over at Fin and Gabs, (thank you lovely lady) but cannot get it onto the sidebar. I have new sparkliness that I want to show and tell. I want to keep my promise to myself about blogging. But NO NO NO! Bloody technology is not playing the same rules as me.

Normal service will (hopefully) be resumed soon. Until then, I'm back to dipping and skimming.