Rainy day adventures #1 - homemade paint

Hey!  I've not been blogging for a while; probably because, ironically, I've had sooo many other things to do (haven't we all?). 

But, I have been keeping a note of all our shenanigans, so regular blogging will commence asap...

So, today it's raining.  Actually, it's not just raining, it's pouring and it's windy and it's miserable.  Not so good for a bank holiday weekend...

Don't get me wrong, my kids are great at keeping themselves amused, but not for the whole day.

So when I suggested painting (it's slightly less messier than play doh...) they were pretty excited.  I got the mat out, the paintbrushes, the kitchen roll, the wipes (thank God for wipes), the aprons and the...wait, what?  Dried out paint?  Bugger. 

Now I don't know about you, but when my kids have been told they're going to do something, they won't let it go.  I had planted the painting seed and I couldn't go back on my word. 

Fortunately for me, I remembered a fab pin I found on Pinterest (my bible) on how to make your own paint...

1 cup flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
Food colouring

Mix the flour, salt and water together until you get your required consistency.  I added a little more water so the paint was less stodgy, then separated the mixture into four bowls. 

Next, add the food colouring to each bowl and mix!!

 

 

Now, you need to find something to put the paint into.  Luckily, I like to keep things - not in a crazy-hoarder kind of way, but in a 'that could be useful' kind of way - so I had kept four squeezy honey bottles just for this type of project...

Pour the paint into the bottles. (Notice my bespoke funnel...)

And, voila!  Homemade paint.

And the management seem happy, so that's all that counts...

Right, I'm off to do something else.

See you soon

x

Dundee's Face of Freedom 2014

 

 

I’ll be honest, I don’t usually have any problems when it comes to writing. 

I find something I want to write about, I sit at the computer, I write.  Simple.  In fact, sometimes I have to stop myself wittering on….

So writing this wee blog about Dundee's Face of Freedom 2014 last Sunday 16th March shouldn’t be any different, right?  It should be straightforward. The plan was to write a follow-up to the piece I wrote a few weeks ago about my visit to Maggie’s Centre; so moved was I after the visit, I knew I had to go to the actual event and complete the story.  It would be easy.

Wrong. 

Nothing could prepare me for the emotional rollercoaster that was last Sunday night.  And writing about it is even harder.

I could tell you about how the atmosphere on the night was buzzing; how backstage I met the judges, the makeup artists, the organisers, the hairdressers, the designers, the helpers, the photographers; how I oohed and ahhed at the amazing clothes designed by the very talented local designers; how small and horribly ‘normal’ I felt when surrounded by a plethora of beautiful models with ridiculously long legs, all hoping to be crowned Dundee’s Face of Freedom 2014.

 

Backstage - the MUAs work their magic

 

Yes, there’s so much I could write about the fun and the excitement.  But to be honest, all of that pales into insignificance. The ‘search for a model’ competition isn’t the real reason nearly 400 people turned up at the Gardyne Theatre on a windy Sunday night in March.  Sorry, but it’s not.

Certainly, for me, the real reasons came bounding onto the stage, smiling, waving, walking tall and walking proud.

 

Maggie’s Models.  Ten very brave men and women who, at some point, have gone, or are still going through treatment for cancer.

Some of 'Maggie's Models'

(Photograph by Frameworks)

 

When they came onto the stage, the audience went wild.  I found myself grinning like a Cheshire cat at the emotion flowing around the auditorium.  It was amazing.

Then, one of the models, Rachel, came dancing onto the stage.  A tall redhead, this was her third year as a Maggie’s model, and she looked fantastic – she was loving it!  As she got to the front of the stage (singing all the way, I might add!), she stopped and looked at a point in the crowd, I assume at her family.  And perfectly timed, she thrust her arm in the air and sang along to the words, “I’m bulletproof!”

It was at this point I cried for the first time that evening.  There would be more.

So you can see why I’m finding it hard to write about make-up, hairstyles, outfits, what the models said, what the judges thought, and who I thought was going to win.  Because to be honest, I’d kind of forgotten that’s why we were there.

During the interval, I dried my eyes and went backstage to try to do my job.  I managed to chat to the judges and asked them if they had a favourite at this point and they all said yes.  One of the judges, Jennie Patterson said that it had been “…such a good process…” and that the show was “amazing”, but she didn’t give away who her favourite actually was…

 

The finalists

 

In the next room, I found male models looking for their clothes (unfortunately, they found them – I had suggested they just wear their pants, but they obviously didn’t think that was such a good idea…), a pretty, young girl looking nervous, and a frantic search for a dustsheet.  A dustsheet?  I was confused.

My usual last-minute research and lack of programme-reading meant I had totally missed the fact that Freedom Hairdressing’s Irving Miskell-Reid (the brains behind the DFOF events, and long-time fundraiser for Maggie’s) would be doing a haircut live on stage!  That explains the dustsheet then…

I hurried back out to my seat to watch the rest of the show.  Then, the time came for the live haircut.  Out came the dustsheet.  And Irving.  And the pretty girl who had been sitting back stage.

Turns out that the pretty girl is in fact the very brave 22-year-old Sarah Robertson – the other real reason we were all there. 

Sarah’s friend, Andrew McMahon, stood on stage next to her and told her story, while she stood, in front of 400 people and let Irving cut her hair, which she will be donating to the Little Princess Trust, a charity who provides real hair wigs to children suffering hair loss.

Sarah’s story wasn’t easy to listen to.  Andrew began by telling us that Sarah had found a lump in her breast last year, and that’s when I stopped writing in my notebook.  I couldn’t write anything.  I just listened.  I listened to how the lump came back again and again, and how finally Sarah moved home to Dundee after working in England, to begin treatment.  And all the while, Sarah stood in front of 400 hundred people and let Irving cut her beautiful, long hair.

Irving cutting Sarah's hair live on stage

Andrew told us that Sarah has been diagnosed with grade 3 invasive breast cancer, and continued by saying that, “Sarah starts her chemotherapy tomorrow”.  As soon as he said the word 'tomorrow', there was a deafening silence from the crowd.  I could feel people tighten in their seats around me.  An uncomfortable ache from 400 people is difficult to miss.  But my heart went out to Sarah, who couldn’t control her emotions anymore.  Irving hugged her.  Andrew hugged her.  400 people in the audience wanted to hug her.  And this is when I cried for a second time that night.

I couldn’t really concentrate much after that, but I was there to document an event, so I had to dry my eyes again and get on with it.

The fabulous Hayley Scanlan and Dundee’s Dreamland kitted out the models for their final catwalk parade, and after a bit of music from Dundee band Model Aeroplanes, the very beautiful (and very tall!) Justina Smile was announced as Dundee’s Face of Freedom 2014. 

Justina Smile - Dundee's Face of Freedom 2014

 

The grand finale

  

I milled around backstage for a while and tried to soak up some of the electric atmosphere, but I felt so humbled by Sarah’s courage, and by the lust for life oozing out of every one of Maggie’s Models, that all I really wanted to do was get home, hug my husband and kiss my kids.  And that’s exactly what I did.

But before I left, I saw Sarah chatting with friends.  I had to talk to her.  I approached her and said, "you are inspirational".  She said thank you, and I reached out and touched her newly-cut hair and told her she was beautiful.  I walked away quite quickly.  That was the third time I cried that night.

 

“Without Maggie’s, where would I be…?” Tracie, Maggie’s Model 2014

xx

 

 

 

Lots of people helped make DFOF2014 a huge success and I probably haven’t given them as much ‘blog-time’ as they are due.  So here’s my list of amazing DFOF2014 people –

 

Irving Miskell-Reid

Sarah Robertson and Andrew McMahon
Maggie’s Centre Dundee Staff and volunteers
Kezia Rose

Pauline Brown
Maggie’s Models – Arlene Fenton, Rachel Gorrie, Pauline Waite, Beverly Ward, Alison Mills, Tracie Coyne, Fred Mackay, Ron Mawhinney, Catherine Docherty, Val Wilkinson
The young models – Erika Ward, Caitlin Ward, Jennifer Mills, Bethany Cathcart, Liam Porter, Bobbi-Lea Smith, Corra Mackay
The Freedom Team – Kelsey Marshall, Lisa Cassidy, Elle Kinney, Jade Douglas, Kirsty Hunter, Nicola Stewart
The Judges – Karen Bowen, Dom Migele, Gail Sneddon, Pamela Beattie and Jennie Patterson
The MUAs – Meredith Scott, Carol Paterson, Karen Rose Simpson, Jill Sime, Jillian Elisabeth, Rachel Key, Margaret Wilson
Jenny Smith (Debenhams Personal Shopper)
Lucy Ryden from Rosy Tuesday
Hayley Scanlan
Jill Skulina
Ruby Coyne
Suzanne Scott – WhiSicAL LusH
Lynne Duffus – Lovely Things
Dylan Drummond – Son of the Sea
TammyLyn Shaw
Viktoria Begg
Kathryn Rattray
Mike Press

Gary Langlands
Gordon – Frameworks photography (more DFOF2014 pics here) http://www.frameworksphotography.co.uk/dundee-face-freedom-2014/
And all the others I’ve forgotten!!!

 

Please take the time to donate to Sarah’s page -

http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Robertson14

 

xxx

Stand up to cancer

There have been quite a lot of comments going around about how the no make-up selfie is a stupid idea and that donations to a cancer charity would be more beneficial. While I obviously agree that donations are the best way of helping, surely both is even better? I was 'nominated' by a friend to do the selfie to raise awareness -  it's definitely done that.

Some people use FB to show pictures of their kids, arty shots of their lunch, holiday photos, and those silly 'colour of your pants', or 'where you leave your handbag' posts.

I recently donated to this - https://www.maggiescentres.org/fundraising/events/dylans-big-beardy-challenge-vote-to-shave-keep-or-trim/

And to this - https://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Robertson14/

And did a blog about the fantastic Maggie's Centre -  http://nothingbettertoodoo.blogspot.co.uk/ , with a follow-up blog on its way...

If my daft picture of me with no make-up on can get loads of people talking about cancer, and maybe even just a small percentage of those people then donate something, then surely it's worth it?

Isn't it?

The face of hope...

“Never lose the joy of living in the fear of dying” -  Maggie Keswick Jencks

I’m always looking for new things to write about here on my random wee blog, so when my friend Kathryn asked me to come along to a Dundee Face of Freedom 2014 meeting at the Maggie’s Centre on Tuesday night, I jumped at the chance.

Despite having no idea what the meeting was about, and having only 50 minutes to get the kids’ tea ready, thrust the nappy and PJs into my husband’s arms (not his I might add…) and get out the door, I was really looking forward to it.

I already knew a bit about the Dundee Face of Freedom competition; in a nutshell, Freedom Hairdressing runs an event every year to find Dundee’s newest ‘Face of Freedom’, whilst raising money for the Maggie’s Centre in Dundee.   You can read a wee bit more about the competition here - https://www.facebook.com/freedom.hairdressing?fref=ts



Some of the Face of Freedom models…

But as far as the Maggie’s Centre goes, I have to admit, I was pretty ignorant.  I knew that there were centres across Scotland, and I knew that it was some sort of ‘meeting place’ for cancer patients and their families.  But there, I’m ashamed to say, my knowledge ended.

I arrived (late, as usual) at the centre, nestled amongst the trees in the grounds of Ninewell’s Hospital, and was immediately taken aback by the beauty of the building.  Despite it being pitch black, and once I’d gotten over the fright of the silhouette of a large statue of a man in my car headlights (more about him later), I couldn’t help but notice the calmness of the place.

The wind was howling as I approached the stunning cottage-style building, but once inside, I felt like I’d really come in from the cold; and the warmth I felt was more than just the central heating…

Maggie’s Dundee

Designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2003, the Maggie’s Centre Dundee provides ‘practical, emotional and social support for people with cancer and their family and friends’, and it is a remarkable building.  I tiptoed through to where I could hear voices.

A small group gathered around a large kitchen table, and the huge windows behind them framed what is, in my opinion, one of the best views in the world; the view over the River Tay (nothing to do with the fact that this was the same view I had from the window of the room in which I spent the first few hours with my beautiful daughter after she was born at Ninewells…).

I sat down quietly as everyone listened intently to Valerie Busher, Fundraising Manager at Maggie’s Dundee, talk about the centre, and about her own personal experiences with cancer.

 

Valerie Busher, Fundraising Manager, talks to some of Maggie’s Models… 

Now, perhaps it was the honesty and humility of her words; the wind howling outside; the overpowering but unassuming aura of the building; the fact that I’d just had the fright of my life at a huge statue appearing in front of me in the dark; the enormity of how important the centre is to so many people; or maybe it was that I too have my own personal, and still very raw experience of losing someone to cancer, but sitting there in the bright kitchen, I felt a sudden rush of emotion.  I wanted to cry.  I did cry.

I tried to take notes as Valerie talked calmly about how she lost her husband to cancer when her son was only 6 years old.  And about how she wished, for her husband’s sake, that there had been a place such as Maggie’s when he needed someone to talk to.  But for him, it was all too late.

I say I tried to take notes, because unfortunately my inky scrawls aren’t legible; I was too overcome with emotion to actually write sensibly.  But I’ll never forget her story.

I did manage to find out quite a lot about the centre though -

 

• there are Maggie’s centres all across the UK, a new centre recently opened in Hong Kong, and a centre planned for Barcelona in the very near future;
• Maggie’s Dundee has around 17,000 visits every year;
• there are a host of cancer support specialists, psychologists, advisors and counsellors available for patients and their families and friends to talk to - https://www.maggiescentres.org/our-centres/maggies-dundee/meet-the-team/ ;
• on average, each Maggie’s Centre needs approx. £450,000 per year to run;
• they receive no money from the government, and couldn’t exist without community funding and donations.

I also discovered that my mystery man in the car-park was a statue by the very well-known artist, Antony Gormley (probably most famous for his ‘Angel of the North’).  A local family, whose daughter had spent time at Maggie’s Dundee, raised £75,000 and went to Gormley to ask him to create a statue for the centre.  Gormley was so moved by their story that he donated the statue for free, allowing the family to give the money to Maggie’s. 

We had a walk around the bright and airy rooms; the ‘living room’, with its comfy sofas, thick, warm rugs and beautiful art on the walls (there’s even a Grayson Perry in there!!!).

The cosy ‘Living Room’…

The library, full of leaflets, books and other information, which cancer patients and their families may need.  

The library…

 

The ‘quiet room’ upstairs, where an enormous, brightly-coloured tapestry fills the wall, and the fireplace adds to the feeling of warmth and homeliness.

The cosy, upstairs room…

There are also three private rooms downstairs for those who have perhaps received bad news, and need a little time with their thoughts and their loved ones.

As I wandered around the centre, I felt so many emotions.  My own sadness at losing someone close to me; warmth and heartfelt gratitude towards the amazing people who spend their time making sure others are comfortable; amazement at the amount of fundraising needed to make this place work; and that humbling feeling you get when you realise you’ve spent your day complaining about the tiniest of issues, and then you realise that nothing is more important than the gift of life.

There’s so much more I could write about Maggie’s Centre.

Like the Winston’s Wish memory boxes they help people to produce, for when there isn’t such a happy ending - http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/

Like the beauty nights they hold, where 10-12 women going through treatment are invited along to a ‘pampering’ session; beauty therapists and make-up artists give up their time, free of charge, to spend time with the women, giving them tips on how to ‘draw-on’ their eyebrows, and generally making them feel as ‘normal’ as possible.

Like the maze in the garden, the fundraising events, the support, the friendships… The list is endless. 

But unfortunately, so is their need for funds. 

With no government funding, the Centre’s rely solely on fundraising and donations.  This is where Dundee Face of Freedom 2014 comes in. 

This year’s Face of Freedom event takes place at the Gardyne Theatre on Sunday 16^th March, raising money for the centre, as well as raising awareness of this fantastic resource. 

Tickets are available here - https://www.dundeebox.co.uk/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=B1E69C15-F0E1-43B4-9D8A-9477F6FAC0CA

 

I can’t seem to get my visit to Maggie’s out of my head.  It seems to have drawn me in to its warm family and I want to give it as much support as it gives to so many people.

Valerie told us that at Maggie’s, they don’t pretend that everything will be ok.  They don’t pretend to have all the answers.  They just provide somewhere to feel ‘normal’ again.  

There’s nothing ‘normal’ about the Maggie’s Centre.  It is a truly extraordinary place.

 

“Never lose the joy of living in the fear of dying” - Maggie Keswick Jencks

 

 

Please help to raise awareness and money for this essential resource.

https://www.maggiescentres.org/

https://www.maggiescentres.org/our-centres/maggies-dundee/

https://www.maggiescentres.org/about-maggies/our-story/who-was-maggie/

 

Thanks to Kathryn Rattray, Justina Smile and Pauline Brown for the use of their photos x

 

Show us yer knits...

When my daughter was given a, ‘my first knitting’ set for Christmas 2012, my long-forgotten love of pins and yarn was rekindled.  I helped her with her ‘shawl’ (at least, I think that’s what it was…), and went straight to the wool shop.  I was hooked!

However, I soon realised why I gave up knitting.  I got bored...

I wanted to do something different, so I did some research and found a way to knit beautiful scarves without the needles. 

Without needles, I hear you cry? 

Indeed.  Without needles.  In fact, all I use are my arms…

 

My husband calls me a witch (amongst other things…) as he watches me wind up to three balls of wool around my arms and magically produce a scarf; he can’t understand what the hell I’m up to.  But for me the finished product is much funkier than any of my shop-bought scarves.  The only down side is that you can’t stop half way to go and make a cup of tea.  Once that bad boy’s on your arm, you have to finish it; no putting the scarf down to go to the toilet…

So I started ‘arm knitting’, and actually really enjoyed it.  It was very therapeutic, and I actually liked what I had at the end (unlike my attempt at the good old ‘decorate a mug with Sharpies’ trick…).

This was my first attempt…
 

 

 

A year later, and I’ve started my own wee business, Arm in Arm Knitwear and Accessories.

 

I do scarves...

 

 

...bags, brooches and corsages...

 

...and they all come in a hand-made, re-cycled newspaper bag. 

What more could you want?!

So if you want arm knitted scarves, up-cycled bags, corsages and accessories, you know where to go. 

It’s not going to make me a millionaire, but at least I'll have a warm neck…; )

Speak soon

x

 

The real crime

I started this blog to keep a note of all this things I do(mainly with my kids), baking cakes, knitting scarves, making bags and doing wee art projects, and to have a rant about the things that get on my goat.

Today's blog was going to be about my arm knitting business, how I'm getting started, going to craft fairs, making corsages for a Burns' supper...

But something happened yesterday that made me really look at what is important in my life.  It made me think about what really matters.  And it made me so angry that I had to write it down.

Little Mikaeel Kular's body was found.

He was the same age as my son.

When I first heard the news that a little boy had gone missing from his home, my initial thought was, "Oh my God.  Someone's taken him from his bed!"  Horrible.

Then as snippets of information came through, and I realised that the police were starting to believe that he had got up, got dressed and left on his own, I thought, "Not likely...!"  My kids can't even cough in the night without me waking up, let alone going downstairs and out the front door.  I started to get suspicious.

Then the awful news that a body had been found and that his mother had been detained.  I can't really explain how I felt when I heard that.  Shocked.  Disgusted.  Saddened. Horrified.

Now, obviously, the worst thing in this whole situation is that a little baby has died.  Of course it is.  But for me, it's what his mother did that I can't believe.

We don't know exactly what happened.  Was it an accident? Did she give him too much medicine?  Did she get tired and stressed - we've all been there - and loose her temper.  Did she shake him or push him and he fell and bumped his head?  If that happened, yes she would be scared, and yes she would probably have been charged with some sort of negligence or culpable homicide, but perhaps, though not condoning her actions, we could maybe feel some sort of sympathy for her?

But no.  Not this mother.

She decided to take her own baby, and dump him in a cold, dark wood, knowing that he wouldn't be found for ages.  In the freezing cold.  All alone.  Then she lied to the world, telling us she didn't know where he was.  What kind of mother could do that?

A real mother would never harm their baby in the first place, let alone leave them alone in a cold, dark wood.  It goes against all a mother's instinct to protect.

This, for me, is the true crime.  And for this, I hope Karma finds her.

RIP little angel.  You are with your own kind now.  You are safe.

x

Jack of all trades…

So, I'm new to this 'blogging' malarky.  It all seems a bit strange actually.  I mean, does anyone really want to hear about what I get up to in my spare time *cough/splutter... I mean, what I get up to when I should be doing a million and one other things?

Who knows, but I'm going to tell you anyway...

I'm one of these people who can't stick to one thing.  I can't just find something I like doing and keep doing it.  No, not me.  I need to find as many things as possible and try them all, and keep doing the other things I found last week... Lost?  Me too.

I have a lovely husband and two kids (age 3 and 5), so time isn't something I have a lot of, but when I'm not cooking, cleaning, washing, playing with kids, doing homework, making scarves (I have my own arm-knitting business - more about that later!), writing and singing (hmm, maybe more on that later too..?), doing a bit of acting (have a wee look at this - I'm the po-faced woman in the blue dress... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG4kFszPrKw) and all the other things that come with family life, I like to make stuff.  All sorts of stuff.

Cards.  Dresses. Toadstools for our 'fairy circle'. Advent calendars. Cakes. Bags. You name it, I've made it, and, thankfully, most of them have turned out ok. 

So, after much debating, I've decided that I should keep a wee note of everything I make, just in case you're interested...

 

...it's not like I have anything better to do...