Sewing is dangerous

First of all some pictures of the bibs I made for a baby shower.

Although during the making of these bibs I discovered that sewing is actually in fact one of the more dangerous of my occupations. I have been Gorge Walking (walking in a river, up waterfalls that kind of thing),  climbing, caving, abseiling and other related activities and come to no harm whatsoever so I thought I'd be pretty save doing a bit  of sewing.

But I was wrong. All I did was drop my pin tin on the floor. So of course Sods Law dictated that, as I stood up to retrieve the scattered pins and needles, I should stand on the biggest, longest, fattest needle I own which just had to land pointing upwards.

Great. So I had just a few hours to finish the bibs and now I had a pin stuck in my foot. And just to make things a little better my nose, who along with my ears, likes to take centre stage as far as medical issues are concerned, decided to get involved by pouring blood everywhere. It's very hard to call for assistance when you have a giant pin stuck in your foot and blood pouring out of your nose.

Thankfully by the time my mum arrived my nose had decided it had done enough bleeding but it did mean that arrived at the Health Centre covered in blood, looking a bit like I'd had some kind of terrible accident. This, however, did mean that the old ladies didn't complain when I skipped the queue for the Treatment Room! I'm guessing they didn't appreciate my zombie costume.

(You will, I'm sure, be glad to here that the bibs were finished in time oh and my foot has now recovered!)

The Best Dinosaur Story Ever Told

Yes, the eagerly awaited epic is finally here. So sit back, relax and enjoy!

All the dinosaurs are Dino Land lived in families. They ate together, slept together and played together. In fact they did everything together.

However Little-O-Raptor didn't have a family. There were no other dinosaurs in Dino Land that looked anything like him. He ate alone, slept alone and played alone. In fact he did everything alone. And he was lonely. 

So one day Little-O-Raptor went in search of a family. 

First he approached the Brontosaurus family. 

"Excuse me," Little-O-Raptor said in a loud clear voice so that he would be heard by Mr Brontosaurus. Mr Brontosaurus was awfully tall. 

"Is that you down there?" Mr Brontosaurus replied.

"Yes it is Mr Brontosaurus. I have no family and I am all alone. Can I join your family please?"

"Join our family?! Why of course not. Your are too small Little-O-Raptor."

"But I could grow," Little-O-Raptor protested.

"I don't think so," Mr Brontosaurus chuckled, "Your legs are too short to keep up with us and your neck is not long enough to reach our food. You cannot be a member of the Brontosaurus family."

With a sigh Little-O-Raptor waved goodbye to the Brontosaurus family and continued on his journey.

Next he met the Velociraptor family.

"Excuse me," Little-O-Raptor said approaching Mrs Velociraptor.

"Oh hello Little-O-Raptor, can I help you?" Mrs Velociraptor said with a smile.

"Hello Mrs Velociraptor. I have no family and am all alone. Can I join your family?"

"Join our family?! Why of course not! You are too slow Little-O-Raptor."

"But I could learn to run fast!" Little-O-Raptor protested.

"I don't think so," Mrs Velociraptor chucked, "You're legs are too stumpy you would not be able to run as fast as us. You cannot be a member of the Velociraptor family." 

With a glum look Little-O-Raptor waved goodbye to the Velociraptor family and continued on his journey. 

Next he met the Pterodactyl family. 

"Excuse me," Little-O-Raptor yelled up into the sky.

"Hello down there Little-O-Raptor!" called Grandfather Pterodactyl. 

"Hello Grandfather Pterodactyl. I have no family and am all alone. Can I join your family?"

"Join our family?! Why of course not! You have no wings Little-O-Raptor," 

"But I could grow some!" Protested Little-O-Raptor.

"I don't think so," Grandfather Pterodactyl chuckled. "You would not be able to fly here and there with us. You cannot be a member of the Pterodactyl family."

Feeling very sorry for himself Little-O-Raptor waved goodbye to the Pterodactyl family and carried on his journey.

Next he came across the Tryannosaurus Rex Family.

"Excuse me," Little-O-Raptor said rather nervously from behind a bush.

"Little-O-Raptor is that you behind that bush?" Grandmother Tyrannosaurus Rex said peering through the leaves.

"Yes it is Grandmother Tyrannosaurus Rex. I have no family and I'm all alone. Can I join your family?"

"Join our family?! Why of course not! You are not scary enough Little-O-Raptor."

"I can be scary!" protested Little-O-Raptor, demonstrating his scariest roar.

"I don't think so," chuckled Grandmother Tyrannosaurus Rex, "Your are not tall and scary with big sharp teeth. You cannot be a member of the Tyrannosaurus Rex family!"

Wiping a tear from his eye Little-O-Raptor waved goodbye to the Tyrannosaurs Rex family and continued on his journey.

He had been walking for ages and had not seen another dinosaur. He was beginning to despair when he found himself looking upon an island he had never seen before.

The island was full of bright plants and palm trees.

"Perhaps my real family are on that island!" Little-O-Raptor said excitedly to himself.

Carefully he made his way across the stepping stones. It was very hard as Little-O-Raptor is awfully small and the stepping stones were very slippy.

The sea rushed past the stones and waves crashed against them. Little-O-Raptor was very scared but he was also very brave.

Eventually he made it to the other side safely.

With a smile he waved goodbye to Dino Land and continued on his journey.

It wasn't long before he met another dinosaur. He had never seen this dinosaur before.

"Excuse me," said Mystery-O-Raptor.

"Hello I'm Little-O-Raptor,"

"Hello Little-O-Raptor, I'm Mystery-O-Raptor. I have no family and am all alone. Can I join your family?"

"Join my family?! Why of course! I'm looking for a family as well."

"I can be your family!" cried Mystery-O-Raptor.

"I think so," chuckled Little-O-Raptor, "Together we can be a family."

So, each with a smile on their faces they waved hello to each other and continued into the sunset together.

They lived happily ever after as a family. They ate together, they slept together and the played together. In fact they did everything together. 

Me, in pictures

At the beginning of this month it was my 21st birthday and on Saturday my sister gave me my birthday present; a rather awesome canvas printed with pictures from my life. It really made me smile and got me thinking about pictures of me as a child so I turned to our stacks of photo albums.

Ok I'm not one of those people who gets embarrassed about their baby photos mostly because I was damn cute! (Shame that didn't last...). And so I've decided to give you the opportunity to laugh at me by showing you some of these pictures. So here is a guided tour of my life in pictures with your tour guide, me:

 Wasn't I adorable? Come on give me an aww...

However not everyone thought I was adorable:

Please note the terrified expression on my sisters face. (I'm the baby, my sister is the three year old). 

Speaking of my family. There is some things you should know. In our family it is perfectly normal to have a giraffe come to dinner:

Or to find yourself reading a story to a pink elephant: 

There is a good chance I could be under that pink elephant in that picture. It was very unlike me to miss out on story time. 

However this is not perfectly normal:

And I don't mean my sister getting starring role as Mary in the nativity scene! I mean the police officer that can be seen just in front of Mary and Joseph. Since when was there a police officer present at the birth of Jesus? And what is he doing? Looks like he could be arresting baby Jesus. For crimes of being plastic perhaps? 

Now to continue with the tour. Firstly I've always been stylish: 

Just look at that hat. Even as a baby I dressed impeccably!

And are those not the most amazing dungarees that you've ever seen?

Sporting the Yorkshire terrier hair do!

 However at certain age I lost my style and all pictures were better taken at this distance: 

It's ok, don't worry, I got my style back: 

Such up to date fashion!

Not only am I stylish, but I'm an awesome dancer:

TRAGEDY!! 

I also did more classical styles:

(I'm on the right in the ballet kit)

Now I love to boogie: 

Just look at those moves... 

(I'm the one in the dark purple dress that looks like it has a leafy pattern on it)

I also had other hobbies. I've been in guiding all my life:

Wonder if anyone told Rainbow me that my trefoil is all squiffy...

You can even hire Brownies out for weddings (well Guiders need to make their money somehow!) I'm the one on the far left of the picture. 

I've always been rather adventurous and brave:

 

I'm the kid who's head has been lopped off by the plant pot. And if you look closely you will note that I am managing to walk around the very high, and narrow, almost Bridge of Khazad Dum like wall without holding my mums hand whereas the boy just behind my sister is having to hold his fathers hand. And I was a whole month younger! 

From Khazad Dum my adventurous exploits progressed to jungle rope bridges:

 

I even rode wild animals:

There seems to be a bit of a giraffe theme.

I also trained for the Winter Olympics:

I also did a fair bit of extreme boating:

No I do not have my eyes closed in fear, the sun was shining in them. Clearly. 

Look at my feet - I'm even peddling despite my legs being miles from the peddles! 

Anyone for a bit of gorge walking: 

Aren't wetsuits flattering! (I'm on the right!) 

There was only one thing I was scared of:

Well not SuperTed but people dressed up in animal/ bear suits like that. It's just not natural. You see I'm not in that picture because I'd run 20 miles. Ok I am in that picture. I'm the kid on the right in turquoise who looks like the only reason they haven't fled for their life is the fact that their older sister is holding their hand in a vice like grip. 

I also had a few career options. I could have been a baker:

Unfortunately it's not a brilliant picture but they were biscuits decorated to represent the four seasons using mainly dessicated coconut, food colouring and playmobil figures. And look I won first prize!! And there were clearly other entries because I can see a plate in front of it! 

Or perhaps I could have been a nurse:

Every nurse needs a pair of fluffy blue slippers! Admit it, you'd want to be treated by that cute little thing, wouldn't you?! 

But my main ambition was to be a pirate:

I still think I'd be an awesome pirate:

So for a bit of a summery: I was an absolute doll when I was small!

And just a little bit crazy: I liked boxes.

But at least I wasn't as crazy as my sister. 

Ok everyone lets just point and laugh. 

Now it's time for me, your ultra cute tour guide, to bid you farewell. Until next time!