2016. Glass, Trips and Hospital Stays

Hello all!

It has been a while since I last blogged and it has been pretty eventful!

2016 was a busy one with lots of trips and nights away, the biggest trip being to Europe and my very first foreign holiday. It was amazing and yet scary, it's funny how reliant on being near my cf centre I am. But I was brave and off I, my boyfriend, and a group of friends went. Our trip took in France, Belgium and Germany so I went from never using my passport to needing it loads!  I saw my very first polar bear in Stuttgart zoo ( I have recently found out there is a place in the UK that has polar bears so that is a new place on the list to visit!) and was a (slightly scared )  passenger when my boyfriend took his car around the Nurburgring

Trying not to be sick on the ferry.

Bruges

Touristy shot.

    

There were hippos! 

One of our planned trips was to Verdun to see the First World War Memorial. It was pretty sobering to be honest and I did have a little tear in my eye seeing all those graves, I couldn't help but think how scared they must have been and how broken there families must have been left. 

Another trip during the holiday was to Technik Museum Speyer. It was brilliant!! It was full of aeroplanes, boats, trains, cars, bikes and even a space shuttle. It was heaven for a geek like me. 

After the Euro holiday there were lots of day's out including a trip to see the Vulcan.

It was a surprise day out organised by my boyfriend who knows that I love the Vulcan ( dragging him to all the airshows to see it was probably a big clue) 

2016 wasn't all trips and good times though, there were a few stays in hospital including just before Christmas when I found myself with pneumonia.  It was a little scary that admission, I was in a lot of pain which made it hard to breathe, my infection markers were through the roof and my kidneys were failing.. yep, it was a bit rough there for a while...but I slowly got better and, while I'm not quite back to where I want to be (I'm so thin! I hate it. I have at least 6 kg to put back on. I can barely look at myself in the mirror at the moment. ) I'm much better than I was. I just need to get back in to my old routine now, I think that's one of the hardest thing to get back to when you have been away for weeks. I'll get there!

I managed to get home for Christmas! It was so good to eat, drink (no alcohol this time boo!) and be merry. I got to sleep in my own bed ( my favourite place in the world) and be with my family (my favourite people in the world) I was absolutely spoiled with presents including a glass cutter/ ring saw from my amazing fella. I have so many ideas that I am so impatient to try! It is going to help me make so many different things, I can see lots of glass being ordered in the next few months. 

I should be re opening my conscious crafties shop today, hurrah! And will be adding new products during the week . 

Have a great week! 

Walks, Sun Catchers and Photography.

It's been over a month since my last blog, it's a good thing in a way, it means I have been keeping busy and out of hospital but on the other hand I have missed it!

Health wise, I have been ok. It's been 8 weeks since my last lot of I.V antibiotics so I'm starting to slow down a bit now, I've felt a bit roapy the past week or so and have needed extra antibiotics and my kidneys have been throwing a bit of a strop but other than that I have been good. My last lung function tests were better than I had expected so that's good. The doctors think it's down to the extra walking/ exercise I have been doing. Now, it's not like I have been running marathons every week, but I have been trying to add little bits of walking here and there and once a week I try to go a walk somewhere nice instead of my usual round the block.

Last Sunday I went a walk at Beacon Fell. It was a gorgeous day and I managed a decent walk, complete with oxygen strapped to my back.

Me and my trusty tank.

After Beacon Fell, we went to a blue bell wood, its something I have wanted to do for ages. It was gorgeous but they were past their best which was a shame, I will have to go back a bit earlier next year. 

I also went to the zoo with my folks two weeks ago, now that was a looong walk and I was shattered at the end of it. It was boiling hot too, and I'm pretty sure it helped cause my kidney strop (I didn't drink half enough ) but I had a brilliant day and took some fab photos (if I do say so myself hehe) 

I have been slowly adding products to my Conscious Crafties shop, I have got a bit of a thing for sun catchers at the moment, I love making them and have sold two, with one custom order to do. I am so chuffed! I love that I have something to do in the day and am doing lots of networking on Facebook which is hard and can be frustrating but it's slowly working I think...this time next year I could be a millionaire... hahaha! But it's brilliant having something other than treatment to concentrate on. Here are some of the things I have added recently, with the links to the item underneath.

Here

Here

Here

Here.

I am linking up with Handmade Monday

Have a great week all!

Walks, Wheels, Listings and Swans.

It has been a while since I last blogged so there is a fair bit to catch up on. Good Friday my boyfriend and me set off from Blackpool to go to Coventry to pick up some wheels for his car (He's a HUGE car enthusiast but I can't really say anything due to my obsession with anything crafty) The plan was to get there in about 2.5 hours, pick up the wheels then spend the afternoon at Warwick Castle....6 hours travelling in stop/start traffic and that plan went a bit wrong! However, we decided to make the best of it and found a lovely place called Coombe Abbey Park. It was gorgeous and we had a lovely walk around the grounds and a picnic so the day wasn't a total write off (well, apart from the successful wheel buying!) We stopped off on the way home for steak pudding and chips..bliss! So, after a verrry long day, we finally got back to mine about half ten.

Saturday was a very much needed lazy one, we just chilled out and relaxed so when Sunday came I was up for a good walk ( well a bit of one, my rubbish lungs aren't up to anything even close to be described as a good walk! hehe) We went to the beach to photograph the big metal shell that was put on the beach as part of several art instillations. It was very windy and the tide was in, it was brilliant! It definitely cleared my head and blew the cobwebs away. My poor boyfriend J was freezing though and was pretty glad when we got back to the car and the heated seats!

It was still early and the sun was shining so off we went to a country park called Stannah for a wander. We ended up near a pylon which crossed the path and you could stand underneath it, I was a bit scared of it if I'm honest, especially since I could hear it humming. My boyfriend took some really good photographs while stood directly underneath it, I'll make an artist out of him yet! 

I think I will stick to non hummy things!

You can just see the rubber duck floating down the river, it made me laugh to see it but I have no idea where it came from. 

I have been slowly adding items to my shop, the photos below are links to the item. I'm really enjoying getting back into craft and hoping to sell again. I've lots of ideas of the things I want to make next.. I just need to find the time to fit everything in! 

I am linking up with Handmade Monday

Have a great week :)