I'm Back !

Ok this is it - I promise (hand on heart ) that this year will be the year of the blog !  Just don't know why I am so terrible at this writing lark, I kept a diary when I was younger for years and years and I simply love to talk so need to be focused.  No more blog hopping for me and day dreaming 'why can't I do that' nope that's it.   Had a sharp talk to myself (well ok did't really talk to myself because I think that's just plain daft - apologies to any selftalkers out there) and blogging as often as possible is one of this years resolutions.  Here are some others :

1. Blog more (great started on that one already)
2. Stop pretending I don't eat chocolate (I do - my Gran belongs to the Mars retirement club and gets LOADS of freebies).  That one's going well as I had a Lions Bar last night !
3. Stop moaning about having no money - nobody does at the moment and it bores people.
4. Wipe the drool off the pc and actually start to decorate/sew/embroider instead of being jealous of others who do.

There = not many and I think all achievable.

view from the motorway just as it started to snow

Just like rest of the UK it's been snowing here and I LOVE IT !  It makes everything so clean looking and so fresh and reminds of how I think Winter should be. 

Made some snow angels with DD 2, then DD3 was freezing so after taking her back inside we all had a snowball fight, but being as highly competitive as I am I decided to get all humphy and say I'm not playing any more.  Hour later had a text from a neighbour (who used to be my SIL so that's ok) who asked if I'd had fun in the snow. I somehow seemed to forget that I live in a cul-de-sac with neighbours!!!

Hope you all had a great Christmas, I did.  Last year was a complete non-starter due to illness but this year was much better.  Here's DD3 wearing her Christmas outfits.

Biased I know but I think she is adorable

DD1 bought me a gorgeous sewing machine a couple of years ago and it's been gathering dust but I bought these for DD3 and am going to make a start on the first one today.  Haven't sewed anything since home economic classes at my all girls school in the 80's so wish me luck.  So have bought a couple of patterns to get me started ----

I belong to a few forums and newest one I've found is British Mummy bloggers .  I haven't set up a home page yet and just finding my way around but the number bloggers is huge.  Joined the reviewers page just before Christmas and already been asked to review Green & Blacks chocolate .  I hummed and hahed - should I? Oh well someone has to taste and then comment on chocolate so it may as well be me!  Not really - I can't wait, eating chocolate and then writing about it how hard can it be? Will let you know xx

bye for now x

Time is flying by ................

After promising myself that I would be ever so good and blog at least once a week, I've failed already!  I don't know if the weeks fly by because I'm getting older or just because I am so busy but whatever the reason I wish life would just slow down ever so slightly.  It's been a week of coughs, colds and tonsilitis in our house and it's not the baby keeping me up it's the noise from the older children.  Yes, I know they can't help it but .......

Had the most gorgeous gift last week from my friend Alison's mum. She is a fantastic knitter and knitted lots of little white cardigans but now she knows I have a girl she has been churning out these -

gorgeous lilac number

lovely lemon

pretty in pink !

These are just 3 out of the 6 she knitted this month. I so wish I could knit as quick and as well.  She won't even let me buy the wool to say thankyou so need to think of something nice instead.

Talking of my little girl she is just adorable (biased I know) and has the most eatable cheeks, in fact they are HUGE.  Her Dad calls her squirrel for obvious reasons.

Just before middle daughter developed tonsilitis, she made these krispie cakes....

Just wanted to show you the plate really!  Lovely lovely lovely.

This lovely shabby chic pinny is from a Shabby Chic shop at Village Life .  Great place to visit.

And finally .....

My hubby has been running for six months now and did his first 'proper' race today and guess what ? He came 7th out of 72 !!! I haven't been taking his running seriously to be honest in fact it just annoys me when he comes in at 7 am all sweaty and I do moan loads, but I am very proud of him.  He wants to build up to half marathon and then who knows he may even do the full one.  Here he is ....

night all xx

Freecycle goodies and scrummy books

I have been a freecycle member for a couple of years now but haven't really asked for anything and only posted a few things but this month I have been very lucky. Our tumble dryer suddenly went without warning. With four children and winter coming all I could think of was heaps of drying clothes hung over radiators ! Not good - but a lovely freecycler emigrating to Australia donated an almost new tumble dryer. A lovely lady gave me some baby clothes and then this was posted .....

                                      

this is the back of a 70's dolls house

this is the front

interior shot

My 8yr old loves it and I can't believe after 35years it still has lots of original furniture including a lovely avodado bath mmmmm but also the carpet sweeper and Hoover in the shot above.  I had to explain just what a carpet sweeper actually does and then I remembered my Nan still has one which she still uses.  Funny how things today just don't seem to last yet her carpet sweeper must be at least 40 years old !

Also popped in to the charity shop again and someone has obviously been clearing their bookcase because I picked up these...

                                          

yummy!

The book is by Mary Berry who I think is a great cookbook writer.

I've tried cooking Chinese food and love it so hoping to make something bit different than the usual sweet and sour chicken.

Not sure if you can really see this but it's a recipe book that follows the seasons and gives a recipe for each day of the year. They look really easy to follow and don't have bizarre or hard to buy ingredients like some books do.

Thats the bargains for now, still have to let you know about my disastrous fridge cake !  How a fridge cake can go wrong is beyond me but I managed to do it.  My sister gave me a lovely recipe that involved Belgian chocolate, double cream, marshmallows and digestives. But I didnt have all the ingredients and used cake covering, no cream, oddly dry marshmallows and chocolate digestives that were getting soft. Heres the picture it looks lovely but my word it was horrid.  Even the kids who love chocolate cake wouldnt eat it and more than half sadly went in the bin. 

                                  

Ok then its off to make Tuna and tomato risotto - that's one recipe I know I can do without mistakes.  Bye for now

Bargain hunting !

It's been a great start to the week ( apart from the weather lol).  Found some lovely bargains in some local Charity Shops.  Met some nice people via Freecycle and one of my closest friends has gone back to work this week after almost 10 years at home raising children to work with the elderly and she loves it.  I am so pleased for her as she was a bag of nerves beforehand. It's made me think more of the future and I am more determined than ever to open the little artsy craftsy shop I dream of!  But for now I am just loving being at home with my little gorgeous girl. 

Here are some of my charity shop finds..........................

this is a small posy dish (20p)

a lovely shaped dish just perfect for soap (40p)

I found two of these hand-crochet place mats (?),any way they will be made into cushions.  I was thinking of using a duck egg blue material with the cream crochet on top. (20p for both)

this is the corner of a large square of hand embroidered linen table cloth (20p).  I just don't know where to put it yet but it is so so lovely.  I did think about putting it on the back of the sofa but my Nan still does that and she is in her 80's so love my Nan but want to try something else.  I have seen some of these types of embroidery turned into cushions or lavender bags on Shabby Chic Cafe but am not sure if I should cut it up.  Will just have to add it to my growing pile of WAS (wait and see ! )

Little one is sleeping now so it's off to tackle my ironing mountain and throw away my disastrous chocolate finger flan that even the kids won't eat.  xxx

     

It's been a YEAR !

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I last updated my blog, where on earth has the time gone? But I have been busy and above is one I made earlier lol. This is Genevieve born 4th August and she is adorable.

I didn't have the best pregnancy and the most traumatic birth ever when we thought we had lost her but now she is here she is just so scrummy.

Just starting to feel normal now so I am resolving to be a good blogger and updating once a week !

Did someone say it's October?

Where has time flown? I just spotted 4 comments following my last blog and it is such a buzz when that happens - so thank you and thank you again for letting me know how to add links. I wish I had read the comment about light sanding - think I may just have to live with the brush marks on top of my desk and if I keep the lights low I'm sure nobody else will notice either.

Have finally finished painting the desk and thought I would post a piccy of all the other carboot bargains I picked up at our local carboot. It is huge and I have never managed to get all the way round - I get bored by about row 8 and usually buy a greasy hamburger and sit in the car reading whatever new book I have bought until husband/sister/daughter joins me. Does anyone else struggle with all their bargains and will it be terribly old ladyish if I bought a shopping trolley 40 years earlier than most shopping trolley ladies???? My sister/daughter have both threatened to never shop with me again if I do but I must investigate if CK sells one.

Here we have a little chest that hangs on the wall but not sure if I am going to paint it or just change the knobs to little china ones. Any suggestions? This one cost me £1.oo It isn't as orange as it looks in the photo.
These were from left to right 50p, 20p and £1.00. The heart shelves are going to be painted white and put in my little girls room, the one in the middle (to be painted and stencilled) will go in my room above my newly painted desk and hold all the little knick knacks that I seem to pick up just like a magpie and the one on the right I simply love and not sure where to put it.

And finally we have this - mmmm
It's hard to see but this is a magazine holder (50p) with different paintings either side (but I think they are just prints not really painted). I was thinking of distressing it (which I have never done I may add) and putting some duck eggy wallpaper in front of the prints. Just in case someone 'spots' it and tells me I am covering up a 17C masterpiece ! I am going to use this in my room for all my papers and ideal home magazines.

Children are all much better and back at school so it has been lovely catching up with the ironing, which frankly was not so much of a pile but a mountain - literally. It has taken me nearly a week to get through it, why do kids get their clothes so dirty? And why do teenage boys have to spray an entire can of Lynx when they are about to go to school? I pity their poor teachers if all boys are like that - the peculiar mix of Lynx and football socks UGH !

And finally I don't think I mentioned I have a new kitten who was bought to replace my cat who died last year (Marmite RIP) my cat ws 21 years old so I was very upset. So welcome Nibbles, for some unfathomable reason my husband keeps calling him Torres but luckily being smart he answers to both. TTFN x

Where has the week gone ?

September is flying by and can hardly believe it's been over a week since my last blog.
Have been very busy this week and have had some good things some bad. The bad first - two of the children have been very poorly with chest infections and youngest had a burst eardrum. Sounds much worse than it is, she was fine once it had burst as the pain ebbed away. But think my Florence Nightingale image is now seriously dented after a week of 5am shouts of ' mum, my throat still hurts - can I watch Hannah Montanna'. Mmm I think she is better now and its off to school tomorrow.

Good news - it has been a great week for bargains. Since joining the Shabby Chic Cafe I have been so inspired and the house is filled with bargains and paint pot samples and sand paper!

Picked up a lovely pine desk from freecycle (its just had its 1st coat of paint so will upload when its completely finished.

this is going in my bedroom as I really need to be organised.

Other bargains came from the carboot. It's a really huge carboot but normally there are just loads and loads of mums selling baby stuff, which was great 7 years ago but I really never want to see another tommi tippe nappy squidgee thing. The gorgeous clock below was bought by my eldest daughter and she gave it to me when we got out of the car - so pleased as she's a uni student not on much money so was very thoughtful. I am not dwelling onthe £20 I 'lent' her to actually go to the carboot as it's the thought that counts. Will take pics of the rest of the stuff over next couple of days and post. Just busy busy at the moment sanding and painting. Am struggling to get a good finish so going to ask the experts at the Cafe how to get rid of paint lines.
If anyone knows how to add weblinks in the blog please let me know. I have come across some beautiful inspirational blogs and would love to share them .
x