Being Honoured For My Charity Work .............

[willows]

Hello all , I am still alive and about , but have over the past weeks been in and out of bed like socks in the washing machine because I keep over doing it and getting so excited .

As you may or may not remember , part of my everyday life has been given to doing work for a children's hospices in the UK.

Over the past 7 years I have turned what was a few simple home made Halloween items on my front door step with about 15-20 coming to see me into a stage show with a full road crew , stage manager , set up crew and back stage actors with in excess of 300-400 children and parents participating in the events .

Well this year I have been asked to attend the huge event on Plymouth's Hoe with in excess of 10,000 people attending , put on a 2 months static show at a museum , do my normal October event and possibly take the show to the hospice itself.

Next year I am to attend all the South Wests local events ( country shows + large none profit events) as well as any other one off individual shows asked for by the public.

The show is also to have newspaper , glossy magazine and TV coverage within whats left of the year , and because the show is getting bigger and bigger as we speak I am now seeking 3 major sponsors to assist me in carrying on my fundraising efforts for the children.

One sponsor is for a portable housing unit ( this is transported via back loader to each event with all my props already set up within and so I can just open up as soon as I get there)

The second sponsor is for a large van ( in order to transport items /props to smaller events or local ones which are on stage ). The third is for a full time sponsor for all the free sweets I give away at every show ( I have estimated I need about 300-400lbs of loose sweets per year ) .

Each sponsor would get full advertising and marketing over the show and would be able to place certain advertising banners etc at the show site and have full recognition on all written event literature ..........which in itself given that the hospice is a very big one is worth a lot to any company .

So at this time I'm really working hard as its only 8 weeks until the first event , so right hand strapped down as my thumb/hand /wrist is not good I'm working like a lunatic to get all I need .

I already have sponsorship with ; a major international car company , an optician's, a photographer , a trimmings + feather company . As well as help with costs for all other items ranging from discounts to free items given to me , and as well as this I am also in talks with an American company to produce props for stage , screen and events for a very special item from a Harry Potter movie which I hope can be brought here to the UK for the next show , this will be the only one of its kind in the UK and if I can pull this one off it will be a real achievement for me .

So what with the designing , production and maintenance of all the props , backdrops , items given, advertising of the event and teaching all the crew their jobs and acting parts , as well as the sponsorship I am having to obtain myself I am now about to be honoured for all the blood , sweat and tears I have shed over the past few years for my work .

This has come so completely out of the blue and is totally unexpected , I work for the sheer enjoyment of bringing a smile to the faces of sick children and helping to raise the money needed to help make their lives less painful .

So being asked to attend the hospice to be presented to members of our Royal family for me is an honour that I will always remember .

I cannot say , who it is , when it is or why its taking place because of security , but I am taking my son Mike with me to be presented also and may be one of my owls to sit on my shoulder , after all I'm known for my crazy antics and even crazier ideas.

When all this has happened I will of course post photographs of the event in my photo section via a link .

So now its a case of 'what shall I wear' again.................mmmm let you all know later .

Bye for now Willows ( very tired , very sore , yet a very happy person indeed )

[corina]

ami!!!!!!!!

boy i am soooo proud of you!!!!!!!

i was starting to worry about you as you hadn?t been around lately, but now i understand!

i was thinking about you and your family, as i sent the beautiful photos mark made of my father and stepmom and they are very delighted and told me on the phone how beautiful they are (do tell mark please!), oh, the photos i mean of course . btw have you noticed there's an owl on their roof on the left??? when i saw it i thought it was meant to be.

now i will call my dad and tell them about your beautiful project and maybe he will be a sponsor (although a little one i guess as his business only is small). i wish you all the best with this great project ami and hope that you and mike will have a GREAT day meeting the royal family member!!! i hope your health will be good enough for you to enjoy it!!! do let us know how it went, will you (i'm a big fan of the english royal family as well!).

and last but not least: you are a great person to do this for others, i really admire you!

take care,

corina

[Dawg Tired]

WOW!! Your life has certainly taken an upturn!

Will you still speak to us "little people" once you rub elbows with the royal family?

We are proud of you!!

[Rachel]

Hi Willows,

I was wondering where you had gone! It's nice to have you pop back in.

That is wonderful news about the charity work! And you even get to meet members of the royal family! I hope that all goes well. I can't wait to see pictures and hear about it all!

Rachel

[nadine]

Willows,

I wish I had just a bit of your energy-- my goodness. Your passion keeps you going- good luck to you and CONGRATS!!

We will look for those pics---

[willows]

Thanks for all your kind words guys, I'm feeling rather like a sticky warm wet dishcloth that needs to be wrung out at this time ..............in other words really yucky I'm still trying to get the sponsorship for the 3 main things I need , but its early days yet for a reply from them so its still a case of 'wait and see'

This is causeing me so many problems as I'm shattered all the time , I had to get up at 1 am last night after having just a hours sleep , did a bit of pottering about and emailing , then BANG ...............I could hardly get myself up the stairs I was so tired and kept bumping into things and falling about .

Woke up at 7 am and then promptly feel asleep again until 10 am with my tablets still in my hand .

I've now been up 2 whole hours and I'm sweating like I've run a marathon , haven't cleaned my teeth , showered or dressed as I just dont have the energy to at this time ..............just want to go back to bed and sleep again , I am just so tired .

Mark has just gone to visit a friend of ours who suffered a NBD after her husband died quite suddenly, he will be back in about 30 mins so can take over anything else that needs doing in the house .

Mike is sitting his first exam today , poor lad its the subject he really doesn't like but needs at least a C level in it to get back into 6th form at college , so fingers crossed that its a breeze for him.

Tomorrow I go and see my local Doc to find out just what they are going to do with my right hand , many years ago I had my left hand tested for the amount of grip I had after 2 car crashes and various falls had left it rather 'fragile' they discovered I only had 60% of a normal grip for someone my age and I know that its got worse since then .

So now with the right hand going 'bye-byes' OMG its going to be real fun soon as Mark and I will not have a good hand between us both ........never mind the 'you hold it , I'll hit it ' it will be more of a case of ' are you teeth strong enough dear '

Well I will post pictures once I've been to the event for you all to have a look at , I'm going to wear a peach coloured suit made by Gina Bacconi the jacket is fitted with peach peal buttons down the front and matching heavy embroidery on the cuffs and collar area's with a mid leg chiffon skirt that flutters in the breeze. I'm adding a cream very small heeled sandal + matching bag and a largish cream chiffon brimmed hat to finish it off ..................well that is if I can find a hat I like soon .

Bye for now all , must have a drink of juice and another sleep before I fall of the chair I'm sitting on love to all AMI XXXXXXXXXX

[willows]

I'm back from the doctors again , mmmmm well life is going to be fun for the next few months or so

I've torn the muscle and possibly nerves at the base of my thumb , which is why I keep getting this awful pain when I use the thumb for anything other than just bending it at the joint , once that has worn off it leaves a constant aching pain , until I move the thumb again ............and off we go like a merry-go-round all 24 /7 .

Tell me have you ever tried opening a bottle without using your right thumb or moving the thumb from tip to base at all ?

Or try one of the following ;

Cut something with a knife , doing up a button , opening and closing a door ( when you have to lock it by pushing the handle up sharply and firmly) carrying a medium weighted bag , washing your hair , drying yourself .............I've discovered just how much you do use this digit and I never knew before I had this happen what a problem it would be trying not to use it

So , I had a number of choices .

1; have the hand/wrist put into plaster .........not a good idea as given the fact I now have only 50% use of my left hand doing just simple everyday things would be a real struggle for me .

2; Having it really well strapped + steroid injections into the base of the thumb in a couple of weeks time .

3; Going to see a surgeon for a repair job on it , then having it put into plaster .

So I went for the really well strapped + steroids later in the month , mmmmmmm, big problem as my doctor discovered having said it ! What I need is to have the hand immobilized from the first joint on my thumb ( nearest the nail bed) to about 3-4 inches below my wrist , this leaves my 4 fingers able to do things , although limited I am capable of typing ( yep ,I'm typing this ) and doing a few other things.

SO first we tried the big heavy strapping bandage , but all this did was to force my thumb down almost under my hand , OMG pain , pain, pain, right up my arm again ( Oh, that rhymes ) .

Next we tried the hospital support with the metal strip in it and the big heavy bandage on top ,which did exactly the same again, well a doctors got to learn as well you know .

So then I came up with the idea of something solid but flat in the shape of my 1/2 hand + part wrist that I could be strapped to ..........but what ?????

Looking around the doctors surgery there wasn't much that could be used and he , poor chap hadn't done this before , its always been plastered . SO I came home still with my big bandage on , which was making me feel sick by then and a determination to find something, come on guys I'm the arts & crafts person around here and as doc said , if I or Mark couldnt come up with something that would fit the bill 100% then something must be happening to our brains as we have sorted most of our own stuff like this for years ( Mark built his own walking stick + amputee cuff and I've done the bed side + pully )

So home it was and so I sat and looked around the room ...........lounge ........no.........dinning room ............no .........conservatory ..........no .........all bedrooms + bathroom .........nothing ..........OK this calls for the old arts & crafts box to come out ( its huge ) and me to have a jolly good think !

Well as soon as I opened it , there it was .................what ? well believe it or not the end to 8-9 weeks of solid pain once it had been cut to size , slipped into some of that tubigrip to cover it and then with my hand/thumb /wrist flat on it wrapped with the big heavy bandage .............OMG instant heaven , no more pain , no more knocking against things and almost passing out or catching it on taps , door handles, in my hair ............absolute heaven .

So what is this wonderful item ????????

A small 6 inch X 8 inch 1/2 inch thick white plastic ' CHOPPING BOARD' we traced around my flat hand , hubby cut it with a saw and filed the edges round , into a tubigrip .hand flat on it ( exact size so no bits stick out ) bandage on ...........hey -presto.

I've just sent my doctor an email to tell him what we did , so now you know , if you have to rest your hand /wrist at all and need to keep it flat , go to a local kitchen store and buy up a mini chopping board .

It can be washed and tried ( even dishwasher ) and is very comfortable indeed !

So if you see this strange dark haired woman wandering around you town or village with a large wrapped right hand , and your in need of a sandwich at all , I'll just roll down my bandage and you can cut your bread and slice your ham on my hand well it makes a talking point doesn't it ...................willows , just call me flipper from now onwards , OMG no pain in the thumb and hand is just so dam wonderful .................

[pat57]

WoW, hope you can sleep, between now and then!!!!!!

[willows]

Hello guys again ,

well I'm still standing upright ....just I had to go and see my physio as the pain in my hips got extremely bad again , so what did she find ???? yep my left leg this time had shortened by about 1 1/2 inches , so once again I had to have it moved back into place by the poor girl pulling and pulling on it .

I'm now going back to her in two weesk to check it and see if both are level again.

My right hand is still playing up , this Tuesday I'm off to the local doctors ( my brilliant one ) to have steroid injections into the base of it , something I am not looking forward to as the last lot I had into my left shoulder were excruciating and I passed out cold on the floor , I might add it was about 15 years ago I had this done and not by this doctor , so I'm hoping things have improved by now .

Tomorrow I'm taking a folding chair and umbrella and going to The Hoe on Plymouth's sea front to cheer on the 1/2 mile marathon , the company who are running this are the same company I'm in contact with about sponsoring me for a port-a -cabin for the big bus pull on the hoe in July .

I've now gone all 'Techno' being a great music lover ( well classical , movie theme's and some modern stuff ) I've now taken over my son's old iPod .................mmmmmmm, when I say 'old' thats rather a laugh as its just 7 months and hasn't had its 1st birthday yet but Mike has so much music to listen to I upgraded his 1MB to a 8 MB .............shhhhhh, dont tell him it was because I really fancied his old one because it SEEMS to be easy to work .............says she who still hasn't mastered how to write a message on her mobile or call anyone other than Hubby or son crumbs the things so technical and without my glasses I'm lost , so we'll wait and see how I get on with the new music machine . Having grown up with an 8 mm reel to reel ( that shows my age rather ) all this new fangled Ipod stuff and now those tiny little things the size of a cocktail sausage , well its beyond me at times.

Still things are still going well here for the 'speacil event ' not long now is it I've managed to find a suitable outfit in case its cold , its a velvet trouser + matching sleeveless round necked top and long jacket in a wonderful deep purple colour and so soft this with my steadfast ankle boots ( I do have a tendency to fall over rather ) and one of my birds on my shoulder ( may be 'sparks' my Phoenix but possible the new one I'm making who's all royal blue, bright yellow, emerald green and shocking pink ) well that will cause a stir , after all I'm known for my lunacy and for making the children laugh , so with this in mind and given the fact that there will be a number of sick children with us ...............I just cannot resist making a fool of myself and seeing them laugh at me , its what make me who I am , crazy ...........completely silly ..........rather a lunatic ...............but , if I can bring a smile to the face of a sick child and make them happy and forget the pain they have for just a while , thats all that matters to me , thats what I do best .

Well if I'm going to be off tomorrow morning looking not like something the cats dragged in ( old English saying ) I;d better get myself back to bed and sellotape my eyes closed as its now 2 am in the morning here .

Bye for now , look after yourselves and I'll write soon with more of what I'm up to are not ..................Love AMI XXXXX

[willows]

well with just 2 weeks to go until the big day I've now tried on my outfit and because of the full arm plaster I cannot get the suit on as the jacket is one of those that you wear as the top it makes it totally unwearable .

So I've been into both of my wardrobes and nothing is usable at this time . OMG what am I to do ??????

Never fear I went to the Indian site I got my caftans from and I've just ordred a white trouser suit ( not see though as its make of a linen mix) It has a long line jacket (almost to the knee) with a collar , the front and sleeve edge has the most wonderful heavy embroidery on it of flowers and leaves in red, pink, blue and green , I've slo ordered a white heavy beaded shoulder bag with silver chain shoulder strap , add to this my flat very strappy silver sandals and possibly a white hat or do something very 'arty' with my waist long hair ...................

well its not the normal sort of thing you would wear to an event such as this , but then I'm known for my unusual event ........remember my show is all about Magic and mystery , so why go looking like a middle aged mummy dressed in a normal suit or dress and jacket like all the other ladys are going to wear !

I can have one side of the jacket over my shoulder and still wear the other half of the jacket , just have to put a sleeveless white cotton tee -shirt with the trousers , I'm send a picture once its arrived so you can judge if it looks OK , as long as i dont look like a gangsters moll I dont mind

Bye for now AMI xxxxx

[corina]

ami,

i love reading your stories and how you describe your clothes in detail, so that we can picture how it must look like! i am sorry you have to deal with the plaster but you are such a creative person that you found yourself a solution. i admire your attitude. keep on going, ami!

love,

corina

[flop]

I hope that you're planning on getting plenty of photos taken of you in your outfit on the day and sharing them with us on here?

Flop

[willows]

Hello all , yes it is me back from the land of bed rest ...............

I did go to the event , but half an hour before her Royal Highness Sophie of Wessex was due to arrive I started feeling unwell , yes I know , but I knew it was coming as I'd tried to put my make up on 5 times that morning at the hotel and my clothes where marked with sweat from me getting those uncontrollable bouts of really bad POTS waving over me again.

So , I took the decision not to meet her , crazy you will think , BUT I was thinking about it from my point of view and how I would feel if I was asked to shake hands and talk to someone who was dripping sweat and it was running down their face ! how I would feel if this person was looking pale and grey and was about to pass out .................yep ..............I did , but outside of the big marquee away from all the VIP's and HRH with just staff to help me .

I will be having some photo's to put onto my site later , but at this time I'm resting still as I have another worry to contend with at the minute .

When the plaster cast was taken off about a week ago now , the doctor noticed a mark on my forearm about 8-9 inches from the wrist , he asked what it was and how long I'd had this .

I explained that I had some sort of bite or lump there , that I'd been trying to get it to heal for about a year now and that at one point I thought a maggot was coming out of it as it kept coming up to a head with a strange long lump of matter tryig to come out ............yuck ( no , not a spot ) it started out as a small mark , grew into a lump about the size of an English 1/2 pence piece and is now the size of a 1 penny piece and was black in colour on my skin , I had over this year , cut it off, burnt it with wart acid and still it came back ...............doc took one look at it and said I had to see a dermatologist ASAP.

I saw this skin cancer person who has cut it out ...............when she froze the area and said she would just cut the mark away , but as she cut it , it became apparent it was not a mark and she had to cut down into the tissue ( yes I was watching it all ) and she took out a lump of tissue about the size of a marble from my arm , it looked like a whole bunch of eggs !!!!!

She's sent it off for testing , then she looked all over me and found two more smaller ones , if this comes back with anything 'strange ' at all they come out as well .............so having just had my plaster off ( 4 days) I now have 7 ..............yes , 7 stitches in my forearm which are due to come out on Friday , I'm now having physio on the hand /wrist and arm and my lump removal site is ' very sore ' and the muscles have been 'twanged' somewhat .

As soon as I get any photo's from head office concerning HRH's visit to us I will send them on , but I'm sure if I look hard enough I can find you all a site lead in to a newspaper about us all , I'll have a look in a minute.

Well , things are never quite what we expect , but this mark on the arm was quite a shock for me and passing out at the event , well , you know yourselves , you have to expect the unexpected and think of it as normal when POTS are concerned .

Best to all AMI

[Rachel]

Dear Ami,

I'm sorry that you had to leave the event early. That is very disappointing, but it sounds like you made a wise decision. I hope that you have been able to rest and recuperate. I look forward to seeing photos when you're able to get them up!

Let us know how things go with the testing results.

Take care,

Rachel

[willows]

Well I'm back again , thanks for the kind words Rachel .

If admin will allow, if you put in on your web search ................Children's Hospice South West Royal opening June 2007 , it should lead you to the Weston Mercury newspapers front page , they covered the Royal event , it tells you a bit about the hospice I work for and what went on at the opening etc.

My stitches are not good at the minute, every time I have to have them I get nothing but trouble , its as if my skin just doesn't like having them in at all .

Still with another two days to go before they come out at the earliest ( as the wound was so deep ) and the skin around them is bright red and angry , the area is getting 'hot' and my arm is swelling so it looks like yet another dose of antibiotics when I do get them out , but from the looks of them they really should come out today as they seem to be cutting back into the skin and its extremely sore again .......................

I dont know , my body , why cant I just for once have a nice normal day with no tiredness, no plaster casts, stitches, headaches, sore bits here there and everywhere....................as well as the 'oh, lets eat out , then when the meal arrives its either throat contractions, sweats or just plain 2 mouthfuls and 'thats it' .............................yep, I'm having a moan and a feel sorry for myself day today , I'm tired , sore and a bit fed up , still its my Mid - Summer -Nights -Dream show ( I've done all the scenery for it ) next Wednesday and Thursday and now my hubby's camera has been sorted today when I go to do the last bits on it he's going to take photos so I can put them on my photo sit for you all .

I'll get him to photo my poor sore arm as well so you can see what fun (Ha ........humbug ) I've been having down here in glorious ( where, have I missed it , did I blink to slowly ) wonderful Devon by the sea ( as well as all the water thats falling from the skies and sitting around our ankles )

Bye all for now ................its 6 .30 am and I'm going to bed as I've been up all night with pain ...............my, my how unusual for me love and smiles Ami XXXXX

[corina]

ami,

i am very sorry for everything that "crosses your road". not being aksed for, but still it happens. i hope you are doing okay (as far as your able to) and that the things in your skin turn out to be nothing dangerous.

take care ami, i'll be thinking of you.

oh, btw, did mike pass his exams? i was wondering, because it must have been rough for him, as i remember that he had been very ill and in hospital this last (school)year. we are still trying to make it to cornwall this year (we are now trying for one week) and when we will, i will definitely come and visit you (that is, if you would like that of course!!!). i'm sending my best thoughts to you and your family, as i'm sure you all have had enough trouble.

corina

[willows]

Sorry I've not been around again but been very unwell and stuck in bed .

My stitches became infected and I was put onto 4000 mg a day of antibiotic , this caused my POTS to go into hyper drive and all I wanted to do was sleep , sleep , sleep and sleep , I couldn't eat or want to or drink much and I just felt so ill . After 4 days of this I just decided that I had to stop the antibiotics and within another day I was up again , but when the stitches came out ..............the wound came open .

So steri strips were put onto it .........which came off at the first big sweat I had ............and the wound came open

So I just keep sticking it together as best I can with the steri strips now and little by little it has almost healed but in this process I think I have now found out what is wrong with my thumb joint ( was in plaster for this remember) .

I was rubbing in some cream to my hands , rubbed the cream down my left thumb to the base .............then my right thumb to the base and thought ' hang on a minute , this isn't the same as the other one ' on closer inspection and much to the shock of my husband .............I was so right

At the base of my right thumb , this is the one I have so much pain with still and cannot hold heavy items with or turn things with etc .........well there is this big bony lump !

Yes , I know you will say , hang on a minute I have a bony lump at the base of each of my thumbs ( have a look , and feel and you will find it in time ) but the one on the right thumb base is so big that it sticks out about an inch to an inch and a half and is about 2 inches round .................the other side is hardly noticeable .

So its off to see my doc again and now hopefully a surgeon .

Did any of you find the site about 'Sophie' coming to our hospice , next week end the 14th July 2007 if I am 'upright ...breathing right ...and mobile ' I will be going to The Hoe at Plymouth to join the CHSW BUS PULL ( no not pulling the bus !) its a HUGE fundraising event with lots of things to do and my show 'A magical place' which I do for the children's hospice is going to be there , if I am up to it .

We are expecting over 25,000 people to attend the day ! and the local TV , radio and press will all be there , so if any of you are in PLYMOUTH , DEVON , ENGLAND on the 14th July come to the HOE event ............... and then please come and see me and make yourselves know to me ( comfy chair and drinks always available to a fellow pots person ) I will be there in the big marquee with my husband , son and an army of my sons college friends ( as security and crew) doing what this girl does best ................helping to raise money for the sick and suffering children of Devon and Cornwall , my owls , birds , phoenix will be there as well as all my elves and so much more of my 'Magic' stuff from my show .

So if your about look for the sign on a marquee and tell the security on the gates you are a fellow pots ( they all know what this is ) then you can walk straight in ................I would really love to see you OR any member of your family who's in England , it would be so great , as it was when I met Corina's parents in Cornwall

Well its 2.30 am here in lovely rainy Devon and I'm up again because of my best friend and companion called 'Pain ' he's such an annoyance , keeps waking me up to come down for coffee and a go on the net after about 1 hours sleep .

Anyhow its been so nice to come on here again having been off site for so long , thanks Corina for the email.

As soon as I can get hubby to , he will stick those other photo's on my site for you all ...............OH , and the 14th photo's as well ( once thats been and gone of course )

Have a nice summer all and I hope that this last month or so of laying in bed watching Harry potter all the time has now come to an end for me , boy do I hate not being able to do things like arts and crafts .

Love to all , keep smiling and keep asking your doctors for help , one day a cure will be found , soon I hope .

Love , hugs , kisses and big grins to all AMI XXXXXXXXXXXXX

[corina]

hi ami, thanks for the update! hope you stay well for a long time now!

i will call my stepmom and tell her about The Hoe at Plymouth the 14th. I'm not sure whether they can make it of course, but i'll ask. (i'll have to ask her what The Hoe is, as i don't have a clue ).

oh, and i've found two LOVELY cottages near Porth (close to my dad's) and i emailed them to ask whether they will be available for the end of august (keep your fingers crossed with me please!!!). when we are able to come to corwall, i'll bring my wheelchair and scooter and will be driving along the cornish coast and smile, smile, smile!!!!!!!! (oh, AND wear my dysautonomia t-shirt of course!!!)

take care,

corina

[willows]

How brilliant Corina , I do hope the cottages are available as I so want to meet you all .

I forgot to say , Mike my now very old and very tall 16 year old son has finished all his exams but we will not know the outcome until mid August , so keep your fingers crossed for him as he needs 6 c levels and above to be excepted into the 6th year courses.

He is expected to get more than this , but with Mike being so ill and having had such a lot of time off , plus his hay fever kicked in over the spring , which in turn means he has had to be dosed up with vast amounts of stuff so he could actually sit the exams and be able to see the paperwork ( poor love ) ...............well , we just dont know now.

The good thing is that his doctor has sent in a letter to the examination board explaining the drugs and the problems they can cause ( sleepiness) and the fact that Mike , through no fault of his own has been so unwell and missed so much college time.

Apparently the examination board can and will look at Mikes work and if they feel , given the fact that what answers he has given to what questions he could or could not answer , if they feel that if he had of been at college full time he would have made the next grade UP , they will then award him this grade , without question , so fingers crossed again.

I'm feeling so much better today , more like ME and less like a large wet lettuce on a hot summers day with slugs crawling all over it who are dressed in crispy tu-tus carrying jelly umbrellas ......mmmmm, imagine that if you can ................owwwwww! creepy !

I'm going to the Mid summer nights dream show tonight with Mike , this is the one I did the scenery for , if anyone at this time wants to see the photo's you will have to log in to my control panel and get my home email , then just drop me a line and I will send you the 3 back that I have at this time .

Well I'd better go as the phones ringing , I know its the charity boss as I have just ordered 12 t-shirts and 12 black base ball hats for my crew to wear on the 14th ( all black coloured and the crew will also wear black sunglasses ) cool or what .......men in black eat you hats , here comes the magic crew !

Bye all for now ..............AMI XXXXX

[willows]

Today is Thursday and in 2 days time will be the big event on The Hoe Plymouth and boy oh , boy are we all going mad with the excitement in this house. It will be the biggest show we have ever put on and the biggest crowd w have ever turned out for .

All 12 lads are now signed in and sorted , each has black trousers, black t-shirt with white lettering on the front that reads SECURITY as well as a black baseball hat and sunglasses, Mike my 16 year old tried the outfit on and it looked really good, in fact I was amazed at how he looked , so imagine 12 lads all dressed like this ...........WOW

I've just finished the last of my show owls and now have ready and waiting to be transported ; Smog the wise , Rusty, Topaz, Jaffe, Lark, Lord V, Arty, Molly , Ringo .

As well as Little Sparks the Phoenix , Spot the toad, the 12 elves in a cage ( little horrors they are I can tell you ) the silly black rat who thinks he's a bird , 2 dragons ......................and about 80 other animals, birds and other things all to do with magic!

Am I excited, well yes and no .

If I get to worked up , as I did on Monday night then I stand to suffer the consequences .......2 angina attacks in 6 hours .

So I'm trying to stay cool and calm and together , which I can assure you is very hard because at this time sitting here I'm surrounded by owls , birds, dragons and everything under the sun , feathers all over the place , mountains of sweets , lollies, sherbet sticks, candy necklaces , chewy sticks , chocolate mice................... a girl just doesn't know which way to look or turn.

And another little problem I have is that I've started to talk out loud to the birds + animals around me , so my son and husband are never to sure if I'm talking to them or an owl mind you having spent all afternoon stuffing shingle into owls bottoms ( to make them heavy and more stable) I think they have now decided I am completely of my previable rocker , why ? .................. because everytime I shoved the shingle in ( according to husband and without me knowing I was doing it ) I apologised to the owl and said it wouldnt hurt and it was for its own good .

Me thinks, me magic is getting to me ...............or is it just all the drugs I take ??????

Roll on Saturday so I can become the shop keeper again and not have to worry about talking to the props !

Regards to all you muggles out there................Ami keeper of a magical place .

[willows]

Well , I'm almost there now guys................................

So far touch wood , just 2 angina attacks , chronic leg contractions feeling very sick and a rather nasty headache ...........for all the work this week ( as well as my normal stuff ) so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself

Tiny , the man who is another fellow fundraiser and the man who is to single handed pull a double-decker bus to raise money for the hospice , yes, single handed ! Came round yesterday tea time with his wife to discus the last minute things and sort a van for me . Tiny by the way is the exact opposite to his name and fills my lounge door way , he is a giant of a man in size as well as love for the work he does for the hospice , we now think that we will be working together as we have plans for the show including a film of me reading the story I have written about how my show ' A magical place' came to be, I sat and read this to Tiny and his wife ( another Harry Potter mad fan ) and they both sat riveted to the chair listening .

When I'd finished , glasses perched on the end of my nose ( as you do ) they looked at each other and said that if I was in a over sized red velvet chair , with my story in a gilded book , myself in my full costume , hair all up and falling down etc .............one of my owls on my shoulder , black cat on my lap and dragon sitting on the floor with his head also on my lap as if listening to me read ..............it would make the most wonderful little film to ( DVD ) to sell for the smaller children to have . So this is what we intend to do later this year or early next , another clever fundraising idea for the hospice !

I haven't really had many 'outsiders' see my work , you know the owls, birds and all the other things I've been slowly working on these past 10 months , so when they came in and stopped dead in their tracks .............looking at Lark my 2 foot baby fluffy owl sitting on her owl perch ( well actually its a broom handle stuck up her bottom , poor girl) which has been turned into a realistic bird perch some 3 foot high.................well , the look on their faces, they had to have a good long inspection of her .................then they caught site of all the rest of the stuff in my now full to over flowing conservatory ..........................OMG...........gobsmacked , stunned and quite unbelievable was all they could say .

AM I OVER THE MOON ? well this girl has done a double whizz around the earth and back , is still as high as a kite and still sitting with a big grin on her face THEY LOVED IT ALL

So much in fact that Tiny wants to buy me the life size 'Dobby the house elf' himself to add to the show !!!!!!!!! I could have cried I was so happy last night .

So me being me , they stayed to tea and we all started nattering to 10 pm , this is the first time I've stayed up like this for so long ..............in real clothes and not my Pj's .

So this is the last time I will be on here until the big event has been , come and gone.

Tomorrow at 11 am we start the big set up , marquee first , then flooring , electrical leads , plugs and generator in place , lighting system on and all checked ............then shelf units for the owlery , small table and shelves for the 'sweet shop ' section of the show , main table for the cauldron, spells and such, with smaller shelf units and units around me to make a 20 foot section in a curved shape , a bit like a large banana shape in fact . Once this is done the props can all be put out , flying kettles, brooms, plasma ball, silver flying spheres , dragons, birds, elves .................I cannot wait to see it in place .

So take care all , watch out for the event on the local news here in the UK as I think if you in the USA log into 'West country ' news you may see something of us all ............about evening time UK ( GMT 6-7 pm ) .

Wish you could join me and see the children's faces , wish you could just be there to share my day with me , love AMI.............shop keeper of ' A Magical Place , The Hoe , Plymouth , Devon , UK.

[corina]

good luck ami, i'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that everything will go perfect, and sure wish i could cross the sea and come to the hoe!!!

i called my dad and he was sorry to tell that they can't make it to the hoe this saturday, as he has his business and sue has her bellringing on saturday (and it's too far to just drop by for one or two hours). i will send you their emailaddress soon.

oh, and undortunately the cottages are booked until september 1st, but the boys have to go back to school the 3rd of september. i am still looking for other possibilities, but as i'm in a wheelchair (whenever i go outside) and i can't climb steps, it's a bit difficult. still, if we can't make it this year, we will certainly come next year (and book earlier!!!).

well, i'm off to watch "to buy or not to buy" (yep, i LOVE to watch the bbc!!!) and i'll search to watch anything there is about the plymouth hoe!!!

take care (and please, DO)

corina

and thanks so much for sharing your "happy" moment. i would love and come to watch dobby the house elf!!!