Happy Valentine's Day

To everyone.

But especially to anyone who didn't receive a card.

(..... that would include me .....)

And to anyone who didn't send a card.

(..... that would be me too .....)

To anyone who never received a card during their formative years ..... apart from one from their Mum.

(..... umm ..... yep ..... over here .....)

Also to anyone whose Mother-in-Law's birthday is today ..... meaning that Mummy gets a card even though wifey doesn't.

(..... Pick me! Pick me!! ...... not that I'm bitter ..... much)

But it's not all bad. I know someone who did get a card .....

Great! I don't get one, but the monkey does! The smug git.

Many thanks to whoever the secret monkee admirer is ..... I have a sneaking suspicion that it's someone who makes lovely cards and corsages, whose name begins with N, but I could be wrong.

But really, I'm not bitter, and if my MiL is reading this ..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

RGH and I haven't done the valentines thing for years now as we like to think we're quite loved up all year round (plus we're too mean to play into the marketing men's hands), but trying to get into the spirit of romance, I wandered round the house yesterday snapping as many love-ly things as I could.

And thanks to RBD2 introducing me to Picasa while we were away, I made this ....

Love-ly Valentine collage

I LOVE Picasa! How come nobody told me about it before? I could possibly be the last person in the world to realise what my photos have been missing. The effects you can achieve are fantastic.

Like this ......

Curious George? Or just Nosey 007 .....

And this .....

RBD2 working on her own arty shot

And this .....

RBD1 yearning for MSN

I think I'm in love ..... with a photo editing application. Now do you see why I didn't get any cards? Happy Valentine's Day, and please expect more doctored photos from me next time .....

Oh this is bad ......

...... this is very bad. In fact it's excrutiating ...... but I said I'd do it so I am. Remind me never to film a draw EVER AGAIN!! It's so bad that I wanted to scrap it and do it again in silent movie mode, but RGH said that would be cheating. So I didn't.

A few things though .....

• I strongly recommend that you skip this horrendous clip and scroll straight down to the winners.


• I don't normally sound like that.


• I do really.
  
• I'm not normally such a nag.


• I am really.
• I'm so embarrassed I may never be able to blog again.
• Not really.
• But nearly.


• You may want to have some loud music playing while viewing.


• Or you could skip right down through this, as previously mentioned.


• You have been warned ......

Updated to add : Phew! I think .... it finally worked. I chopped 20 seconds off the beginning (luckily for you) but it's still 3 minutes and 14 seconds of home movie. Bad home movie. I wouldn't bother watching it if I was you.

Sorry if your number wasn't picked (it's all RGH's fault!) and if it was, can you please mail a forwarding address to me at monkeemaker@yahoo.co.uk and I'll post your prize off on Wednesday.

1st prize - HP38 - Ticket no. 268 - Kate W.

2nd prize - Monkee Tote - Ticket no. 36 - Patti

3rd prizes - Muffins - Ticket nos. 256, 136, 185, 352, 129, 303 - Martine, Michaela, Catherine T., French Knots, Jackie M. and Mrs Pao.

4th prize - 007 moo cards in a frame - Ticket no. 323 - Gina

5th prize - Stripey notebook and clips - Ticket no. 58 - Angela

6th prize - Spotty notebook and clips - Ticket no. 193 - Jackie T.

7th prize - Monkey tin and clips - Ticket no. 292 - Elaine P.

Finally, THANK YOU all for taking part in this raffle to raise money for the very lovely Ellie .... I'm off to Paypal to take my balance right back down to where it should be ..... I felt quite wealthy there for a while .....

..... and I think it's about time I put away the muffin recipe and got back to the very important business of knitting monkees ......

All bets are off ......

I'm not sure if that's the correct terminology, but my draw is now closed (..... not sure that that is either, but you know what I mean).

I'm delighted that the final total raised is £387.00 (someone just snuck in under the wire!) which I shall be sending to Ellie's fund this evening. Once again, HUGE thanks to everyone who has contributed to this.

I'll be back later to publish the winners of my booty ......

...... and when I say my booty, I obviously mean this booty ......

Didn't we have a lovely time .....

..... the weekend we went to Tenby? Why, yes we did actually, thanks for asking.


I took a monkee with me ......





...... and a muffin ......

..... and two Rather Beautiful - if slightly embarrassed - Daughters......





...... and a Rather Geeky Husband ......





...... but more of that another day. Today is all about a little girl called Ellie and the raffle I've been holding over the last week to help raise funds for her to visit some specialists in America.

Thanks to all the very generous people who have contributed, I have so far sold 368 raffle tickets, so have raised £368.00. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed - this is an incredible amount, and much more than I originally thought I'd achieve.

If anyone would still like to buy any tickets, you have until about 5 pm tonight (UK time - I'll post again when the draw is closed) and I'll film the draw and post it this evening. For information about Ellie and the prizes on offer please click here, and I'm happy to report that my fingers were busy over the weekend and I now have six of these little beasties to include in the prizes ......

..... knitted muffin, anyone? .....

An update on Ellie's raffle

Just a quick post to thank everyone who has taken part in my raffle for Ellie so far. I'm amazed, agog, astounded and most of all grateful that so many people have contributed and been so generous. Thank you.

..... I did mention that there were only seven prizes, didn't I? Just checking ......

..... but as so many people have entered already, I wanted there to be more prizes and since I love knitting these muffins (they're so much quicker than monkees!), I've added this bunch of calorie-free cakes to the raffle ......

...... including a triple choc chip one ......

We're going away later today for a long weekend ..... to a place with no internet connection - aaaarrrrggghhhhh!! - how will I cope?! But please carry on buying raffle tickets, and I'll mail your numbers to you on Sunday when we get back. The draw will take place on Monday evening.

For details of how to enter and for a peek at the other prizes, please scroll down or click here.

Once again, and borrowing Ellie's words ..... Thank you. Thank you dearly.

Muffins with attitude.

Possibly the sweetest girl in the world .....

..... and I know sweet girls - I've got two of my own, but this one is something else .....

You see? I told you. That's Ellenor Wiseman and she is 12 years old. Together with her parents, Kirsty and Mark, she's trying to raise £5000 to be able to go to America for treatment that the NHS seem unable to offer. Please read this to find out about the ailments that affect Ellie.

I don't know Ellie or her parents, but have been inspired by Kirsty's amazing photos on the Her Space : My Space challenge blog that she runs with Anita (a challenge which I seem to have failed at before I even properly started - who knew that keeping up with two blogs AND knitting monkees would be so challenging? Anyway, I digress .....)

I was moved by Ellie's video and wanted to help, so I made a private donation to the fund. But then I thought that maybe I could help some more by holding a raffle, with ALL proceeds going to Ellie's fund. So I've assembled some goodies and hope that as many people as possible will buy raffle tickets at £1.00 each for this very worthwhile cause.

Here are the prizes I've rustled up ......

1st prize ..... this Silverback Gorilla .......

..... ok so it's a hairy monkee made of knit (HP38) but I was trying to big it up!

2nd prize ...... a long handled monkee tote bag ......

..... with purple and white sewn monkee motifs and lilac lining ......

3rd prize ...... my very first knitted cupcake ......

..... and wouldn't you know it - it's only a raspberry and white choc chip muffin flavoured one! (with thanks to Kae for giving me the link to this pattern ..... which I've just modified slightly - as is my wont ....)



4th prize ..... some 007 moo cards in a frame ......

5th prize ..... a stripey notebook and some tiny cute bulldog clips ......





6th prize ..... a spotty notebook and more tiny cute bulldog clips ......





...... and last (and probably least), 7th prize is this cheeky monkey pencil tin (complete with said tiny cute bulldog clips, should you desire) ......




So, a round-up of the prizes on offer ......




I have my book of raffle tickets at the ready ......

Ok, so I KNOW that I'm not going to sell 500 tickets, but any money that I can raise here will help Ellie's cause, and I hope that some people will want to win this junk these incredible prizes. Obviously there is no obligation to take part in this raffle, but if a lot of people give a little, then a little will soon become a lot. (I just made that up ..... profound, huh?)


If you would like to enter my raffle, please send £1.00 per ticket via Paypal - by clicking the Send Money tab in your Paypal account - (Pounds Sterling only please) to monkeemaker@yahoo.co.uk , with Ellie's Raffle in the subject box. I will mail you back with a ticket number (or ticket numbers if you buy more than one). Then, next monday - after work - I will hold the draw (and film it if I can get RGH to agree to take the starring role ....) and post the winners.

As previously mentioned, ALL proceeds from this draw will be forwarded to Ellie's fund and I will pay for these prizes to be posted anywhere in the world.


As an afterthought ..... just a quick warning .... should you win my muffin - which may or may not look more like a spotty mushroom ......




...... this muffin bites back .......

..... you have been warned ......

I really really need a wee .....

...... sorry - I mean Wii .....


Last weekend we went to visit some friends who have one of these new fangled game thingies, and it was a revelation to me. Never normally one for computer games, this one was different. I was hooked. And I wasn't the only one .....

RGH working that pink Wii controller

Like all games, it can be a tad frustrating when you lose ......

RGH being a bad loser

But what I was most impressed with is that it's like a workout at the gym! The next day we were aching in places we didn't even know we had! Although that could have had more to do with my playing style .....

Notice how my opponent is casually standing still while I was throwing myself all over the shop ..... it's all in the wrist action apparently ......

And it comes with some really cool accessories, like this oh-so-handy golf club ......

Oh - and did I happen to mention I was excellent at bowling? Those scores speak for themselves ....... read up and weep, RGH, read up and weep ..... oh no, wait - he already did ......

Of course, my new bessie mate, Martin LaFelt came along too .....

..... but he preferred playing with their guinea pigs ......

Martin LaFelt .... King of the hairy pigs

So, what with the flowing wine, the good conversation, the laughs ..... but let's face it ..... mainly the Wii, a good time was had by all. I'm sure the girls would have loved the Wii too ..... if only they'd been given a chance to go on it ..... maybe next time .....

Here's a little something for the weekend ......

..... a sneak preview of the new chimp in town, who will be up for grabs on Monday. (Don't get too excited though - it's not another giveaway ..... all will be revealed early Monday morning.)

Right, now where did I leave my purse, I'm off for some Wii-tail therapy .....