Birds and wildlife of our new garden

baby starlings

Harrys friend ( not ! )

goldfinch

adult male pheasant

woodpecker

guess who ?

moorhen on bird table..would you believe it !

willow warbler

britains smallest bird : the tiny goldcrest

Hi everyone .
Today on a lighter note i have decided to let you see some of the wonderful wildlife in our new garden , one of the reasons why we love our new house ...we certainly did escape to the country. Being in the countryside with a river at the bottom of the garden certainly attracts the wildlife and i have been trying to take some pics for you to see . Last night we had rabbits on the driveway , an owl at the bottom of the garden and best of all we have a Cookoo who regularly visits the trees in the garden. Robert is also able to look at the blog on his iphone , so this too will cheer him up a little. You will notice an very unusual black creature with his Iggle Piggle toy , well this is of course our lovely little Harry gaurding his toys from those pesky birdies.Harry,s favourite tv show is called " In the night garden " He loves his new garden and is amazed at all the sights and sounds around him. I will try to keep up with the blog and i will let you all have another update on Robert shortly.
Gordon

Hi everyone.
I took these pics last night in hospital to show everyone that Robert is in high spirits . He is doing a daily journal in his own way about what is hapenning and how he feels each day . He is holding the first page he did and the other pic was to reflect and explain to the doctors the problems he is having with his feet and legs , they found this incredibly helpful and commented that wouldnt it be great if all patients could explain themselves in this way .
Robert had more news yesterday following his body scan for cancer . First all of all nothing else in the way of cancer has been found in his body , but they have detected something in his other lung which has them puzzled as they dont think it is cancer . They are operating on robert next week to take a sample of this mysterious thing they have found and then they will take things from there . Roberts doctors are very confident they can do a lot for Robert so things are looking much brighter today . Robert wanted me to show you he is doing ok and once again he sends his thanks to you all for your good wishes. Regards the business , we are now pressing ahead with our next venture on create and craft and i will have more details of this very soon . Regards to you all..Gordon

shop hours

Please note that the shop hours are currently operating as follows :

10.30 am - 2pm

During this time our great team of girls are available to help you with placing orders and answering any questions you may have . Why not call in to see them and have a chat and a cuppa , they will make you feel most welcome.

Thank you.

Gordon

Update on Robert

Hi everyone.

First of all a great big thank you to everyone who has expressed there good wishes to us at this awkward time . Robert has asked me to post a quick update on his situation. He is currently back in hospital in a specialist cancer ward awaiting some test results after a whole body scan to see if there any further signs of cancer hiding anywhere .
He has virtually lost the use of his legs due to the problems with his spine which we are told is a very rare and puzzling condition which is not helping.
If the test results are as we hope for ( if nothing else is found ), they will soon operate on Robert to remove the lung cancer and see how this afects his spine and the other things going on , with luck things may slowly begin to return to normal . This is a best case scenario which we are hopeful of .
Robert is out of pain and in excellent hands with a great team looking after him in the hospital.
We are both in a very positive frame of mind today .
You know i also have to mention the community nurses in our area where we live , they are a wonderful bunch of caring people and we owe them a lot of gratitude , they are simply wonderful in the help they have provided to Robert at home.
A great big thank you also to our wonderful team of girls who are looking after the business for us , what would we do without them i simply dont know , thank you !
Thats now for now , just to keep you all informed . As i say today we are very positive and in good spirits .
One last thing , our thoughts and best wishes go out to our friend Sandra whos lovely husband Tony is in a critical condition , Sandra all of our thoughts and love are with you at this time.

Gordon x

Back to Hospital again

Hi everyone

Since having the lumber puncture last week i have been feeling pretty poorly.

Last night was horrendous and i just have to say a big thank you to Gordon for everything he did for me as i was in a right state.

I am going back into hospital today as i need to be catheterised ( because spinal pressure is really playing my bladder and bowels up at the moment )

They are keeping me in as the lumber punch tests showed abnormalities and i have to have another one tomorrow :-((( as they cannot relieve the pressure or operate until they know what is causing all this.

I will let you know what happens as soon as i can.

Thanks for dropping by

love and smiles Rob Gordon and Barney xxx

Im back home for now

Hello Everyone

Oh my goodness what a horrendous past few days it has been for us here.

On Wednesday evening one minute im climbing the stairs to go to the loo and the next thing i wake up in Hospital.

As some of you know i havnt been doing to great the past couple of months and have slowly been getting worse.

Because of all the things that are happening to me the doctors at the hospital ( as well as Gordon and I ) thought i may have a brain tumour ( i did ask them to pickle it for proof if they found a brain ) so i had to have an M.R.I scan for at and another one for my spine.

I can now tell you that i am Tumour free on both counts but my condition remains a mystery and i have had eight phials of blood taken for eight different tests.

Being as i cannot have a Lumber Puncture in my spine until sometime next week they have let me come home ( also the blood tests will be late back because of Easter). They will need to operate to remove the swelling in my spine to relive the pressure from other parts of my body ??? but need to try and find out what has caused it first.

I am still paralysed in parts of my face and i have numbness ( that feels like a dentist has injected me in parts of my feet and legs bottom and privates with anaesthetic ) but even though i cant leave the house at least im with Gordon and Harry and im being cared for great.

When Gordon heard i could come home he put this sign up on the house that he has been keeping a surprise from me for ages and i really couldnt believe it when i saw it.

So now i really do live in the House of Wishful Thinking.

.

So next week i will know more and as soon as i know what they have found i will let you know.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and good wishes we really appreciate them.

Hope you have all had a wonderful Easter and thanks for dropping by.

Love and smiles .

Rob Gordon and Harry xxxxxxx

Robert

Just to let everyone know that Robert was rushed in to hospital last night after his health deteriated further.
He is currently undergoing a series of tests and scans on his spine and now on his brain. The experts say he does not have Bells Palsy as we were previously diagnosed and that it may be more serious that first thought.
Robert is comfortable and in reasonably good spirits .
I am very concerned for him at this time and i can only hope the scans do not turn up what we both fear most.
Robert is well known by you all as quite an incredible crafter as well as being quite an entertainer and of course a wonderful person. Remember when he used to draw some of the largest audiences at all the shows around the uk as everyone waited to see what he had come up with next...those were great days .
I know a lot of you out there have expressed your concerns and this is greatly appreciated by us both , we are constantly overwhelmed by the kindness you show and your loyalty to everything we do.
We are scheduled to be on create and craft again towards the end of April in a very special show . Robert is due to be taking the show as it involves a brand new range of products we have both been working on and designing for at least three months now , lets all hope he is still able to do so.
Robert has unbelievably let me loose on his blog to keep you updated and i will endeavour to do you .
Lastly a huge thank you to our great team of girls who look after us and our little business ...we cant thank them enough, we are very lucky to have them with us.
Regards to you all .
Please say a little prayer for Robert .
Gordon

What the Specialist said.

Hello again.

Well i went for my visit with the specialist at the hospital today and he showed me an X Ray of my spine.

I seem to have a small legion on the last two vertebrae of my spinal chord and i now have to be seen by a Neurologist at the big hospital where Gordon was last year to talk me through what all this means and what is going to happen next.

So i am still a little in the dark but keep telling myself that if it was anything really serious i would have been sent there straight away.

The specialist has told me that i will get a letter within the week, so i will let you all know what happens next as soon as i can.

I am a little scared ( only natural ) but will feel a lot better when i actually know what i am up against.

Thanks everyone for dropping by.

Love and Smiles

Rob Gordon and Harry xxx

OOPS I,m Poorlier than i thought.

HI Everyone.

Since mid December i have been getting really bad pains in my feet legs and left bottom cheek.

I was told it was sciatica and sent to a physiotherapist to see if that would make things better.

To cut a long story short i have been getting slowly worse and have had to have two M.R.I scans in the last week.

I have been diagnosed with a thing called Intramedullary Legion of the lower back and go to see a specialist tomorrow who is going to let me know all the details of what was found out from the scan.

I would like to say a big thank you to the girls who work with us for taking care of things at the N.E.C last week ( you did us proud ) so that Gordon could be at home with me.

We have still not completely moved into the new house yet ( 2 more weeks i think ) and i will post more pics soon .

I will let you know how i get on with the specialist tomorrow.

Until then thanks for dropping by.

Love and smiles

Rob Gordon and Harry xxx

California Dreaming and Other Tales

Hello Everybody.

Well its been a fantastic couple of weeks for us and heres why.

On the 19th of January we left for California to attend and work at the CHA trade show in Anaheim, but before that we had a weeks holiday in San Diego and had a wonderful relaxing break which we both needed.

We then drove up to Anaheim and spent three wonderful days with Diana,Roy and their lovely girls on the Scor-Pal stand at the CHA demonstrating our products to the masses which went down brilliantly.

I was going to put lots of photos up but cant find the disc i took out of my camera when i got back home so will put them on Flickr when i find it.

So thank you Diana and Roy for giving us the opportunity to show our wares off on your stand we love you loads.

It was also great to meet up with Kitty from the Netherlands at last and Diane from Seattle who will be coming over to see us later this year and hopefully do a workshop at the store as she is a very clever and crafty lady xxx.

We really had a great time and it all ended too soon.

We arrived back in England to promises of snow and thankfully madeit home just before it started. We stayed awake as long as we could to try and avoid the jet lag and although we stayed up until 10.00 pm i was wide awake again at 4.00am.

We went and had a look at how the new house was doing ( and i put a new disc in my camera )

as soon as Gordon woke up ( he did well and got up at 8.00 am )

Wow what a difference two weeks makes just have a look at the pics.

Arrived to another full skip and a Winter Wonderland.

All the Double Glazing completed front and back including balcony doors for main bedroom.

The back garden in all its winter glory.

Oh wow and the Kitchen is almost ready too, I Love it.

And so is the bathroom

And the shower

A bedroom with a view ( and a balcony soon i hope )

After that we went and picked up Harry who had had a wonderful time with his pal Bob and the Pussycats.

The last two weeks have seen us painting decorating and packing and Gordon and Sandra were at the paper craft show in Stevenage last weekend and if you went i hope you had a great day as the weather was still really cold. Thank you for all your help Sandra we really love you loads xxx.

I am frantically packing boxes like mad and trying to remember to label them all.

The washing machine and dryer have both gone to the new house now so the kitchen here is looking a little bare.

So i think that has got us back up to date and i will put some pics up of how the new place is looking in a few days.

Thanks for dropping by

see you soon.

Love and Smiles Rob, Gordon and Harry xxx

Have A Peek

Hello Everyone.

I have just put some more pages i did for a collaborative Art Journal Swap i did last year up on my other blog.

These pages were done for Barbaras journal in her chosen colours of Ochre and Kingfisher.

Heres a little taster to whet your appetites.

Here is a snippet from one of the pages. An acetate frame and a peacock head dress wearing Friendly Plastic face.

We are really busy at the moment getting our samples and goodies ready for Create and Craft next month.

I cant wait until i can show you all of the new products we have come up with and i am sure you will love them.

The house of Wishful Thimking has said goodbye to the builders ( who have done a fabulous job ) and the plasterers have finished off in the kitchen.

So now it is filled with plumbers,glazers,electricians and Malcombe the joiner.

I went up with Gordon and had a look at how its all coming together last night and we are loving it.

I think the bathroom will be ready in a few days and will put some more pics up then to let you all see.

Coffee time now for me.

Thanks for dropping by.

Love and Smiles Robert, Gordon and Harry xxx

Had to Share This With You

Hi Everyone

A couple of days ago one of our customers came into the shop and Gordon asked her how she was getting on with her Big Shot Pro machine.

She told him that she was having problems using it and in fact lately she cant use it at all.

Gordon said that she could bring it back to the shop and he would see if there was anything wrong with it.

The lady then told Gordon that she had a photo of the machine and the problem that was stopping her using it and showed him this.

This is Orion and ever since the lady has had her Big Shot Pro he has decided that it is his new place of residence.

As you can imagine everyone in the shop was highly amused and Gordon suggested she had better buy another one so they could have one each.

Hope this brightens your day.

Love and Smiles.

Rob, Gordon and Harry xxx

Time Flys and Art Journals What a Mixture

Hello Everyone.

Well what a week its been here.

On the 3rd it was 19 years since Gordon and i first met and I cant believe how quick the time has gone and how far we have come. What a wonderful journey it has been so far.

Heres something to make you laugh.

This is how we looked all those years ago ( Oh how i would love that waist back :-)

This was 9 months after we met and Gordon took me to Florida and it was really magical.

We are somewhere in Disney Land in this pic.

The week before we went i decided to have all my hair cut off ( it was very blonde and way past my shoulders ) and i am so glad I did as it was scorching hot over there.

As you may remember last year on the 4th Gordon had his Aneurism and almost died.

We cant believe a year has gone by and how lucky he is to still be here.

He continues to grow stronger every day and doesnt get so tired any more but the girls at the shop and I still guard him and make sure he doesnt do too much.

By this time next year he should be back to 100 per cent himself thank goodness.

I dont make resolutions for New year as i never keep them and then get on a line with myself, but i have decided to get my other blog up and running again even if i only post 4 times a month or so.

The first things i am going to put on is the Art Journal swap that myself and 6 others did for our college course last year.

We all had to choose two colours and then use these on the persons pages of their book.

This is one of the pages i did in Cherices book.

Her chosen colours were Purple and Teal.

I chose Fairy garden and Mermaids for her book and this is one of the Fairy Garden pages ( the other one i will put on my other blog as it may be a little risque for this one )

I was really pleased how this turned out and used all kinds of media on it including acrylics, gel pens, friendly plastic, canvas, fabric and Spellbinders dies.

So thats all for now.

Oh i almost forgot ...... The builders should be finished at the House of Wishful Thinking tomorrow.

So now the Plasterers can come in and do the kitchen walls.

Malcolm the joiner has already started doing the walls in the bathroom, and the glazers are coming soon to re fit all the old windows that remain with double glazing.

So hopefully by the end of this month we will have a kitchen and bathroom all fitted and finished.

Cant wait to put the pics up for you all to see.

Will stop here as i need a coffee.

Thanks for dropping by.

Love and Smiles .

Rob Gordon and Harry ( who goes for a haircut tomorrow ) xxx

Love and Smiles

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year.

Hope you all had a good Christmas and a safe one too.

We had a very relaxing Christmas day and didnt get up until around 10.00 AM.

We opened our presents and helped Harry open his ( he didnt know what to play with first ha ha )

At around one o clock we went for a good long walk from our new house to Newstead Abbey as it was such a beautiful mild day.

This is the walk that leads you into the grounds of Newstead Abbey.

Not a soul in sight as everyone was probably tucking into their Christmas dinners.

Newstead Abbey is usually very busy , but today we had it almost to ourselves and i was able to take some great photos of the Abbey.

This is the oldest part of the Abbey and I just love the big window and would love to have seen it when it had its stained glass, i bet it was gorgeous.

Here are the three of us by the waterfall.

Harry and i just had to go look through the window behind it.

Where there is water Harry will find it, so Gordon let him have a paddle.

I love this door. It used to open at one time but now it is locked.

One more shot of the Abbey in all its glory.

We got home around three o clock and i started the Christmas dinner.

A Turkey is too big for the two of us, so this year we had a loin of Pork with all the trimmings and it was delicious.

So we had dinner around 6.0.clock and then just relaxed in front of the telly as you do at Christmas.

Boxing day was fun as my Brother and his family came up and stayed over.

We had a great time chatting about old times when we were kids and all the great presents we used to get.

We took them to see the new house and the shop then went for a walk around the Nature Reserve just around the corner.

The rest of the Christmas break has been spent relaxing ( we cant do anything to the house at the moment as there is building stuff in every room ) and we have been into the shop every other day for a few hours to process and post any orders.

Last night we saw in the New Year with Harry and kept him entertained while the fireworks were going off outside.

Gordon decided he wanted to launch a floating candle up into the sky.

So we got it lit and held it until it was ready to float upwards and just as it was going up over the house a big gust of wind blew it into the tree in our front garden. So i had to get a bucket of water to put the flames out.

I dont think we will be lighting any more of those somehow.

Today we have been to the shop and got all the orders processed ready to post on Tuesday.

I have been doing some boxing up in my craft room ready for the move and Gordon has been reading and taking it easy.

The shop will open again on Wednesday and we look forward to seeing you and hearing your Christmas stories.

I am going to have one last Mince pie now with a cuppa.

Happy New Year again.

Love and smiles Rob Gordon and Harry xxx