What a weekend!

I think this has to be one of the most disappointing weekends that I have ever spent. Tim and I have spent all the time on the Incapacity Benefit form trying to cover all our bases and say exactly why we think the decision to stop his benefits is wrong based on evidence from our daily lives. It is taking hours and is thoroughly depressing. No-one likes focussing on what they can't do which is what is needed and so it has been getting us both down. We are at the end of the weekend and it still isn't finished. It is so hard to catalogue all the ways in which Chronic Fatigue Syndrome affects Tim and his responses to different things are so variable that it takes hours to document fully. Poor Alex has been left to his own devices more this weekend than I would have liked although he doesn't seem too bothered by it. When I have had the chance to play we have had the greatest of fun giggling and running round like crazy. We also went to the park which he loved, and although he spent much of the time pushing his pushchair round he also practiced his walking and splashing in puddles! I just so love being his Mummy and those giggles and big broad grins of his just melt my heart.

On Friday evening I insisted on having a little time to myself to craft and had fun completing this scrapbook layout. I am not very confident in working with paint but decided to have a go using a 'dry brush' technique and three different colours of blue and white to generate a wave/surf effect for the bottom half of the page. I supplemented that with some pen strokes using the sakura stardust pen and then added sequins and shells (most of which were collected from the beach. I chose the title of 'Natural Pleasure' to reflect the simple pleasure that Alex and I took spending time together on the beach - we didn't need any 'equipment', just being there was enough. The journalling reads 'Alex and I loved every minute of our time on the beach, West Wittering, May '08'.

The only other crafting I have done this weekend was to finish off an A5 zentangle (or doodle as Tim insists on calling it) while watching a little television. This I then cut up to form these ATCs and inchies. I have never actually made one of these before and found it quite fun, although it was hard to find a variety of interesting shapes to use for someone with my limited drawing ability! I am quite pleased with how they have turned out and hope they will be good enough for the swap that is happening on the CM&PC forum later this year. More soon, and I hope I will be able to report that we have finished this wretched form!

Love,

Caro

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