Omlettle with chocolate, cream and strawberry sauce

Don't mess with the Breakfast Eggy Queen. Gordon Ramsey would be quaking in his boots if he had to work in the same kitchen as me.
This photo was taken at a Badde Manors cafe Christmas work party, where I did an impromptu performance and pretended I had bought the cafe and everyone was now my slave and could not leave. I think they all love it, apart from poor Ben who volunteered to be in the show.
I made the curly tits costume and with great engineering skills they managed to stay up and curly. The fluffy hat is my dag hat made of real sheep's wool. Madam Lash has now got the costume at her house in Palm beach, where it is encased in Sydney's history as one of Sydney's greatest costumes.

Emergency!

Today was spent at the hospital doing a consultation with all the Hospital staff about the hospital arts project in the Children's ward. All the artists including me put there work out on all the tables for the staff to say yes or no to all the work that will be put up. There was positive feedback about my amazing console table and giant dolls house and wooden toys, but the rocking sea creatures might have to be left out as they might hurt other children while rocking. Health and safety seems to rule the roost at the hospital. The staffs input was great they helped redesign some toys to make them even more safer.

Emma had all her paint colours, floor tiles, curtains, chairs, cabinet colours all along one table. There were a couple of lads with amazing designs for the pillars in the restaurant area.
Lisa with her beach drawings that she will be doing with the children on the walls.
Bright coloured broads and beach paintings of Hannah's. Hospital arts volunteers helping the staff choose things from catalogues.

On the tables opposite me was Kate Green and her amazing sea life illustrations.
Here is pictures of her beautiful work.

The Children's ward nearly has all the funds to get the clean bill of health but is short of a few bob, to complete the project. Please donate funds to Emma Jarvis at the Hospital she said any donation is welcome. The whole ward gets completely done up in exactly one month and will be done in one day. Because they of the enormous up heaval in moving all the sick children to where ever they can find space. The art and toys are beneficial to helping bringing the children back to good health and the hospital arts project is run completely on charitable funds.

Junk buster launch

This week Stop Junk Mail have launched a new website that will solve all your problems in one go and reduce landfill. One of these problems is Telephone directory's, Yellow pages, Junk mail, Thomson, Royal mail opt out, etc. This neat piece of technology was designed by Robert  and 149 development. Just one button and you have saved many trees from there death.
People use the web to look up numbers and don't want there limited well earned rented or mortgaged homes clogged up with directory's. How many directory's end up a soggy mess on doorsteps and don't even get looked at and how many hallways end up with piles of unwanted junk mail. How many businesses get junk mail printed in there thousands to save a few penny's and don't even use it and how many scammers send out junk mail to rip people off. All a waste of time and money and trees.
If you are thinking of starting a business the best thing you can do is get in touch with an artist and get everything you need made to top quality standards and then the business will sell it self.
Another good way of marketing is sponsor a performer or festival.
Click here to go straight to Junkbuster.

Dementia activities

A few years ago I was out of work and landed myself in an retirement home that catered mostly for the elderly with dementia. My job was activities person, which was quite a difficult task. 4 hours per day 60 people and tons of paper work. I worked it out as two minutes person per day, enough time to say hello. So I would recommend if you are bored and feel like doing something there is plenty of people who need your attention in retirement homes or maybe a elderly neighbour might need a visit.
These places can seem horrific on first glance but when you get to know everyone they can become a lot of fun.
My motto for growing old is if you don't use it you loose it. But sometimes we loose things when using them to much to. The attention span can be very short for people with dementia but like anything if it is fun then the attention span is longer.
So I had a vast array of activities to keep them all happy and for all the different things that they might be able to do. This one here is an easy one. Tearing up bits of Christmas wrapping paper and sticking it down to make a picture.

This one was inspired by the second world war and survival of the Lady's. Catching a chicken and ringing its neck and plucking its feathers. I did twelve drawings of the Lady's catching various birds to eat during the war period. They coloured the pictures in. The pictures then decorated the activities room.

Easter bonnets were an old favourite and can be done with one hand if the person has had a stroke or with barely no hands if both hands were completely arthritic.

This is a lantern made by everyone it took nearly a year to make with an old cane blind and paper. The final piece had fairy lights put in it and a hole in the top to let hot air out. This was suppose to be Norwich cathedral as all the people new and still remembered the landmark of there city.

Musical live entertainment is the most important part of a retirement home. It involves everyone including staff. Cheers up moral and a fresh reminder of the old days singing round the piano. This lady was an all time favourite and she did lots of instant costume changes and came with her dance partner doll. The musical entertainment that was brought in varied from bands that had been around for nearly a century to one man shows with lyric hand outs. If your a musician and feel you have no where to play your music there is a wonderful audience all waiting for you in any retirement home. Please book in advance so they can spread the entertainment out and don't be disappointed if you get canceled due to a bug going round the home.

Scams or Salad.

Today I was reading the Stop Junk Mail blog and was taken by one of the story's about a lady that was scammed out of £50,000 by nasty scam letter people from all over the world.
These scams all start in the backs of women's magazines and the readers digest magazine. With the words luck, win, prize draw. Most people ignore these silly advertisements or have a giggle at how insane they are, but some people actually fall for the nasty scammers and send them cash. The Think Jessica campaign has been set up to help people who have a relative that might be scammed or just to warn people not to get scammed. The Think Jessica Campaign have also set up a petition asking the Government to help stop the postal service sending scammers letters to scam people with mental health problems or dementia. I think this could go further then people with mental health problems. The scammers are so good at what they do they could scam anyone.
There is no such thing as getting something for nothing or winning anything.
My mum played a very good trick on me when I was around ten years old, which rid my appeal to gamble. She took me and friend to the beach where the slot machines always hang out or the one arm bandits. I had a hand full of change mostly 2 pence pieces that I had saved up. She then left me and my friend there and said make sure you have 14 pence for the bus home and told us which bus to get. I had been traveling around Dublin on buses with friends or on my own already since I was 4 years old those were the days when kids had more freedom. So me and a friend were in the one arm bandit places putting are change in the things that are suppose to pay out but are always on the edge but never do and low and behold as you imagine the 14 pence soon disappeared and I had to walk a long way home.
Later on in life when I was in Australia to my horror pubs had these one arm bandits and in the 7 years I was there they built a giant casino which increased the population of gamblers. Then the pubs that had great live music started to get rid of the live music ( which is usually put on by musicians for love not for money) and replaced the musicians with one arm bandits. So the sound in the pubs was not beautiful music but horrible gambling machine noises.
In Geelong where my Godmother lived the council wanted to put a Gambling den for children down on the sea front. She campaigned and said would it not be better to have something educational and beautiful. She made beautiful carved and painted bollards of historical figures that went along the coast line for the children to follow on the way home from school instead. Now the bollards have become a tourist attraction and created more tourism and less potential gamblers.
It is very easy to get addicted to gambling if you have hardly any money and it is very tempting. My advise is if you have £30 get a council allotment and start growing vegetables. There is more gratification in growing vegetables and you get rewarded with produce to eat.
In Norwich there is a man at the local allotments who has divided up his allotment into small sections for beginners to start growing. He gives constant advise. My boyfriend tried it and came home with huge vegetables and his crop was a complete success on first attempt. My friend in Glasgow has got her first allotment and she said the other growers are all helpful and friendly.