Suwi's Life

Sunday 2 June 2024

Thursday 30 May 2024

Sunday 12 May 2024

Those that know me know that any sort of away from home time ends up with some sort of story (normally a near disaster) and this time was no different.
The 9th was Sophie's birthday so we went to the beach (Brighton) for a few days. Oh, and I hurt my back doing some ironing so was a little delicate (as in I could not lift anything and it was fun getting in and out of the car).
Wednesday morning we set of by car journey was a little longer than normal but not to bad. It's been raining since last June with just the odd day with no rain but Wednesday the weather was perfect. Once we arrived we parked up outside of the hotel we always stay at (they have two disabled bays and I managed to snag one).
Then we went for a lovely walk along the sea front.

We had a lovely view from our hotel

Being a corner room not only the sea but up into town as well. It's interesting how much variety there is, from new builds to awful 70s/80s to some building 100s of years old.

Back at the hotel we had a lovely room with a sea view and in the evening went for a great Chinese meal. All in all a good day.
The 9th (Sophie's birthday)we awoke to a couple of messages pushed under our door
1. Sorry for the inconvenience but no breakfast today!!!!
2. Please ignore the first message breakfast is back on.
OK, almost had a fit but all is well so of the breakfast we go. Apparently the chief did not turn up but they then found another one.
After breakfast we walked along the sea front to the pier.

Not far from the hotel we could see a group of people dancing to Brazilian music, my girls love music so had to join in.

We have been visiting Brighton for 15 years and have never been on the Pier. Lovely slow walk looking in all the mini shops at some wonderful art and crafts.

Yes, the seagull was listening to the music

Pier was a little boring but at least we can say we did it. Then off to an early dinner (or late lunch) and back to the hotel by taxi. I was sitting in the front and mum was directly behind me, as she went to get out her foot for caught but I managed to catch her. Not sure what happened but it fixed my back!
Later we decided we needed something sweet, so went down to the new hotel restaurant. WOW, the deserts were lovely. A little pricey but well, it was Sophie's birthday.
After all that we were pretty tired so it was back to the room. I wanted to take some sunset photos so went out on the balcony. Looking the other way I noticed a guy abseiling down from the i360 (a bubble thing that goes up and down with a viewing area inside it's 162 meters high) and watch some TV in bed.

Now to the fun bit....
It was just before 4am and I got up for the loo (mum had woken me when she went) so we were both still awake when.... the fire alarm went off!
I ran to the door to see what was going on but no signs of fire or smoke. None the less the alarm was still going so I said we needed to leave. So putting on some knickers and flip flogs (I had a nightie on) I got my jacket and bag. We have a rule the Sophie looks after Nan and Amy looks after me. Now the hallway had other people all half asleep trying to think what way was out. We were on the four floor and of course you can't use the lift. Found the stairs and down we go out into the lobby the the not so cold night air.

Now remember I said I had my car parked out front so we had somewhere to wait and if it was a fire I could move the car away. After a few minutes two fire engines turn up and after about an hour we could go back in.

Oh, and Amy had come out with nothing on her feet so the hotel gave her some slippers.
Was there a fire? Not quite, a freezer in the basement had over heated. In a home this would have tripped the electrics and it would just be flip the switch and find out what had blown. I guess in a hotel it flips the fire alarm?

Back in the room we all tried to go back to sleep. Unfortunately Amy has a fire phobia and had nightmares. Then at breakfast she was sick so I had to take her back to the room. She went back to bed after we had talked about what had happened and just as she was going to sleep they tested the alarm. She was terrified and took some time to calm back down.

After we had calmed Amy and finished packing we went for another walk on the beach then lunch back at the hotel (very nice)

We thought the worst bit would be the drive home with so many road works and the motorway being closed in part later in the evening. We had extra stops as Sophie gets travel sick and can only do just over an hour before feeling ill and that with medication and wrist bands.

But we had a pretty good drive home, so all's well and I have another story to tell!

Wednesday 20 November 2019

Doll Divas

My Story....

I was already a collector of Barbie and at the time (1990's) I had a Barbie Doll Specialist shop in Ware, Hertfordshire. Mattel even allowed me to use the Barbie name AND filmed an infomercial (My Fair Lady) in my store. Sadly it did not make to final film but was a fun day and I got to meet some great people. I did however make the final cut in the infomercial chatting with Twiggy.
Anyway back to Doll Divas, once I had my Sophie it was not so easy being at the shop every day so I was often at home, my first home with Sophie was small and no room for my dolls so the stayed at the shop in my little doll room above my doll shop. Then when Sophie was five we moved to a house and I had a LOFT! My dad boarded the loft out and i moved my dolls in. I wanted to make homes and stuff for them but had little idea how to go about it. I found quit a few Sindy houses (bigger than Barbie's) and started a basic decoration.
I had a computer and would for ever be looking for hint's clue's and ideas on decorating doll rooms. Hundreds of doll house (1:12) but nothing in what I learnt was called play scale (Barbie). THEN, one day I found [b]DOLL DIVAS[/b] My life really was never the same again. OTHER PEOPLE WHO LOVED DOLLS AND PLAYED THE WAY I DID!!!! Dioramas (as I found they were called, DOLL STORIES WOW who knew? Beautiful dolls, doll I had never even heard of Misaki, Momoko, Bigger dolls and these funny little dolls I found out were called Nari Pons!
I looked, I chatted, I made friends, I found out about OOAK dolls, I became hooked on Fashion Royalty, I purchased two Nari Pons mine are Lizzi and Lotti. I worked on my dioramas and gleaned so much information from others on the board. I also adopted Amy around this time. I needed a bigger house so needed money to move, how would I manage with not buying any doll stuff while I saved up? Dad said I would NEVER do it...well red rag to a Bull I said I would and dad said if I did he would buy me Costume Drama Gisselle.
I went on [i]Dolly Cold Turkey[/i] and I achieved my aim by posting every single day, yes EVERY DAY right up to my move ...which was a lot longer than I expected at almost 300 days!!!! When I was low there was always someone to cheer me up. I also did something I never thought a dyslexic like me would do... I started to write doll stories.
When I went on [i]Dolly Cold Turkey [/i] I did have a few dolls on their way to me...well more than a few I had two OOAK's and EIGHT dolls from Integrity Toys! The two OOAK's were Neal from Veronica Hage and Sarah from Dawn OSS. They arrived first the the box of eight. I started to tell the tail of Neal's Dates along with Sarah's Story. I opened one f the IT dolls each week and told the story of their date with Neal. Sarah was a sad lady and her turmoil was revelled slowly over the weeks...
The eighth date and Sarah's story joined at the end followed by the Suwinarmi, I had found a new house and everything had to be packed up and moved.
All of this was done with the support of those on Doll Divas.
I moved and along came The Priors A Doll Story. I had nowhere for my dolls so I had a garage built that was made into a doll room.
Other the years I have still tried to visit Doll Divas every day, I love the people her and have had many wonderful chats both on and off board, made real friends many I met last year at my one and only convention (with dramatic entrance LOL)
This board is not 'just dolls' it's family it's friends, it's support, it's a place to laugh and a place to cry.
AND we can show off our pets! I love my nine cats and showing them off Without this group of friends I'm not sure how I would have got through last year when I lost Tilly and the following week my wonderful GODFREY!
When my dad had his heart attack's the people here were second to none.
THANK YOU DOLL DIVAS

Washing Machines.....!!!!!

I have started sorting out my Christmas 'stuff'
This required me to first move all my diorama/doll stuff in my dining room into the study

I have done a little decoration in the study already

Then it was time to bring all my Christmas stuff out of the loft....this is most but not all

At the same time I had to deal with a flood from my washing machine. It's a front loader and something got caught up in the seal around the door....A LOT OF WATER!!! My washing machine is in a cupboard where I store the cat food and litter ALL VERY WET!
Naturally the machine now decided that it would be funny to play up and not do as requested and keep pumping out water instead of drain and also would not let me open the door so I could remove the peice of cord that was messing things up!
A lot of towels required and once I had returned from my flu jab (another drama as I have a needle phobia) I did manage to get the door open and then drain the machine.
I put all the towels in the laundry basket and then puzzled over where to put it over night as the towels were so wet the water was running back onto the floor. In the end I dumped it in the garden. It was a cold night and in the morning the towels were frozen! LOL