contemplating.......

So, dear readers, once again I have been absent for far longer than is decent, suffering from blogging angst. Time is a major factor at the moment, I probably have much more of it than lots of you out there but time management is NOT my strong point and I feel that spending hours on the computer is not a productive way to spend my days. Added to that is the guilt factor, and being a parent brings with it a huge amount of guilt already without adding to it.

However I love the record of family life that a blog gives me, I don't keep a diary and all the digital photos spend their life on discs and not kept in any order, so a blog provides us with a great keepsake.

I love reading blogs that make me laugh, inspire me and make me drool with envy and I'm not sure that a log of my children's life would make scintillating reading. So what I think I will do is carry on sporadically, mainly for me but very happy to have you all popping in and I will endeavour to call in on you all whenever time permits.

So for now I'll leave you with some of the things making me smile at the moment.................

:: walking up a nearby hill, one of Ian's favourite haunts and enjoying a very windy picnic and the amazing views once there.

:: the fact that even with my limited (very) gardening skills, the mixture of rain and sunshine recently have meant that my haphazard approach to gardening has led to a pretty fantastic display this year. Particularly loving the geraniums and the surprise anenome that I'd forgotten I'd planted..................

:: special gifts from very special people. A gorgeous vintage inspired necklace from the lovely Kathy and a fantastic tea dress in the Cath Kidston fabric I bought a while ago made by a very talented mum from school who wanted to practice her dressmaking skills in return for a few crochet lessons.

:: taming that wild bed hair, scrumptious!

:: delicious, sweet cherries, flipping expensive but heavenly and with the added bonus of giving you an illicit thrill when you see how far you can spit the stone (or is that just me??)

:: sun, sun and more sun which means everything can be done outside, which in turn means less mess inside, just as well because I do not operate at full capacity when the temperature gets above 25 degrees.

:: the colour of the water against the paddling pool, it only stayed this way for about five minutes since Jack decided paddling pools should always have added soil, grass and leaves...............

:: celebrating my birthday with a meal without kidlets in a sushi restaurant, and loving the cards from friends who know me so well............


:: wearing a bikini in secret. This 39 year old body is not fit for public consumption but whilst everyone is out I can cavort around the house in total privacy without scaring small children. As Jack commented when asked his opinion about mummy in said bikini : "too white and too wide". Ahem.

Just in case you were all wondering if I've completely lost the few marbles I have left, I have remembered the button maker, next post I'll announce the winners.

Bye all.............

wet weekend...............

Well I don't know how the weather is treating the rest of you but here we seem to be either bathed in lovely spring sunshine or braving the monsoon season, all within the space of a few minutes. Far too confusing for my little brain and it means that twice I've had to cycle home in torrential rain wearing naught but a flimsy cardigan, "never prepared" being my motto.

We had a friend's 40th birthday party this weekend, a very posh do which entailed proper dressing up. I dragged my black dress from the back of the wardrobe, dusted it down and with the addition of a few turquoise accessories off we went, Ian resplendent in kilt and sporran, being of the Scottish variety.

Kitty has never seen me in evening dress let alone high heels and was fascinated by my shoes. She has been clattering around the bedroom in them all week. I learnt on the night why I never wear high heels, apart from making me walk like a drag queen, they're bloody uncomfortable. Being blessed with feet wider than a pair of flippers does not make wearing dainty strappy shoes a pleasure, give me flip flops any day.


Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday night. Once again I was reminded that I SHOULD NEVER EVER drink champagne, so for most of the day I felt the need to swoon on the sofa in a rather pathetic manner. Jack attempted to make me better with his toast crust heart, did the trick momentarily until my nearly 40 year old body reminded me of it's limitations when it comes to alcohol. Never again (until the next time).

This beautiful lilac was brought from a friend's garden. I love the blowsy beauty of it but I have to tell you, it smells like toilet cleaner. It gets right up my nostrils and I can't get rid of the smell. Is it just me?

I may be back later in the week, if we haven't been washed away, see you all soon.............

the week so far.................

This has been one of those weeks where nothing much has been done, a fairly relaxed affair, much mooching, wandering and pootling about. I have actually pulled my finger out and managed to make a couple of orders for people but I've also managed to grab the odd bit of sunshine earlier on in the week and created a few crocheted hangers in the garden. A nice quick and easy project, simply four lines of treble crochet sewn around the hanger with the addition of a simple flower. I also dug out my rather large bead collection and added to my expanding necklace collection.

One of the car boot finds came in very handily for these garden projects. An old folding table picked up for 50p now covered (very haphazardly) in oilcloth. This will undoubtedly accompany us on our camping trips this summer, the children have earmarked it for a few activities, poor table.

Sitting in the garden I noticed that the few plants I do have seem to have a common theme, a colour I'm not usually fond of but one that pops up everywhere in my small bed..........

...........purple. I'm drawn to purple flowers, especially alliums, I'm so impressed that the bulbs I chucked in the bed in November have produced the goods, I wasn't holding out much hope, so dire are my gardening skills.

Plans are afoot for our little garden, hopefully these will come to fruition in early June, although knowing our gardener the end of the month is more likely. There's also some very exciting (for me, anyhow) news which I'll update you on in the very near future.

Lastly I have a huge apology to all for of you for a terrible error on my part. Whilst rummaging through the carnage downstairs which is supposed to be my sewing room I came across one of these...............

...............hmmmm I thought, why do I have another of these? Then the horrible realisation dawned that way back in December I had a little giveaway which I then forgot to give away. What can I say??!! Lesson learnt, don't arrange a giveaway a week before Christmas because in the excitement my shrivelled up brain will forget that I've done one. So sorry to all of you who left a comment. As an apology I went out and bought another one and I will be doing the draw and giving away two and some other goodies next Friday. I'll count in all those who left me comments back then and anyone who leaves me another before next Friday. Does that garbled message make sense to anyone? Just pop in and say hi if you haven't already and you're in!

Ok everyone, have a lovely weekend, I have a feeling car bootin' may be off this weekend (sob), I can hear my bank account breathing a sigh of relief, but you never know! Emma, I'll be keeping an eye open for a table if we make it.

Byeeeee............

car bootin' treasure..........

Let's start with a couple of pics of my very own fashionista, useful blackmail material for those turbulent teenage years. Particularly loving the wedding veil and socks combo. This is how she walked around to a friends house to collect Jack, oh to be four and without any self consciousness again...

So, dear readers, would you like me to treat you to a quick peek at the latest car boot finds? Of course you do........... Sunday morning was bright and sunny so 7.30am found Andrea and I ready to start our regular saunter around what was a huge boot fair. This local (about 5 mins from my door) car boot has grown in both sellers and buyers and there's always a good atmosphere up there. There's been a distinct change in the people buying of late with a lot more arty / crafty looking people wandering around, people have cottoned on to the bargains to be had, great for the sellers but makes treasures a bit harder to come by. I nearly bopped a woman on the head with the two vintage windbreaks she snaffled just before I got to the stall. That's what keeps me going back, you just never know what you're going to find.

Plants are a great car boot favourite, cheap and abundant, the choice is fantastic. This week I treated myself to a foxglove and aquilegia. Let's see how long it takes me or the rampant snails to finish them off.........

Another fortuitous fabric find, two lovely patchwork cushions for £1. Lovely, lovely...........soon there'll be no space left on the sofa, that'll discourage lounging, doing my bit for a healthy lifestyle you see.

Although I can now crochet I find it impossible to pass a granny square by, especially for the magic sum of £1 - the price of most things it seems.

A fabulous red polka dot raincoat for the fashion queen, yes, you guessed it £1.

Here's where I pushed the boat out, couldn't resist this fair advertisement from Montana (apparently). Loving that name! Worth the £3, had to barter for this one, paying £5 for anything at the car boot is out of the question.

The colours are fantastic, really vibrant. Jack has his eye on it, but I have a space in mind in the kitchen once it's framed.

Bringing home something that Ian approves of always makes my Sunday jaunts more acceptable, the poster was well received but he loved this..............

..........our very own medicine cabinet for 50p. I virtually snatched it out of the bemused sellers' hands. Love that green, helps me forget the so-near-but-oh-so-far vintage windbreak ........just have to go back this weekend!

two wheeled wonder..............

Can somebody explain to me why our (or is it all?) children become hysterically giddy at bath time each and every night. Or why wearing a pair of green pants on your head whilst chasing your older brother round the bed is ever a good idea..............it always ends in tears! Phew, kidlets are now safely tucked up, the cider has been poured and peace and quiet has descended upon us.

So, how are you all? Enjoying the long weekend? Ours has been stretched out by a couple of days, Ian took two days off last week and we managed a trip to Malvern without children........bliss! We had a civilised lunch, wandered around the bookshops and antique shops without the need for eyes in the back of our heads, and enjoyed a leisurely coffee. Forgot the camera of course, but Malvern is a lovely place, views to die for and fantastic people, well worth a visit.

The rest of the weekend so far has been a quiet one. A trip to Burford for lunch yesterday, where I met the lovely Rachel from Rubyred. It's always so strange when you first meet a fellow blogger, almost as if you belong to a secret society, but within seconds we were chatting about blogland and everyone within it.

Today will be marked down in our family life as a momentous one. Kitty took the plunge and this happened...................


............a cautious start


..................a helping hand from Daddy


.................and she's off!


.................one very happy little girl and two ridiculously happy and proud parents.

Meanwhile big brother whizzed around the park, darting amongst the trees and working up an appetite for ice-cream.



Living here for a while means that we take this park for granted a little. Sometimes familiarity means that you don't notice just how beautiful a place is. Today whilst I waited under this tree, guarding Ian's bike and cameras whilst he chased Kit round the lawns I realised again why we love living here. This particular park is within five minutes walk from our front door and it really is a lovely place. Huge trees, two wonderful lakes, a few animals to feed and a pretty tea room make it near perfect really............



I had to finish with these pics of our own Gok Wan, confident of her own style and becoming more stubborn about it each day. This girl knows what she wants to wear, and she doesn't want any of it to match................

What's a mother to do?? And look at those little stripey legs finished off perfectly with gold shoes and an Ikea shoe horn used as a walking stick. Love her to bits!

wielding the paintbrush..................

Having procrastinated for long enough, a particular speciality of mine, I decided to venture into the spider (and probably rat) infested shed and dig out the old paint remnants and tackle a few of the jobs around the house.

Our kitchen table was a £23 ebay bargain. It can be extended using the lovely wind out mechanism and fits in the space brilliantly. The top however was a mess, lots of different colours made worse by my attempts at stripping it back to give it that bleached farmhouse look. That didn't work so the next idea was to paint the top and leave the legs in their natural state. It's taken a bit of getting used to but now I think I like it. I figure if I ever get sick of it I'll just chuck some oilcloth over it.

Next the lampbase I bought in the sale from Homesense. This was a perfectly acceptable cream base but I had visions of a red gloss version, similar to the ones Cath Kidston used to do. Out came the red gloss used for Jack's chair , I added the beautiful shade purchased from Frances at the V&H fair and the transformation was complete.

Finally, my latest treasure, a £1 car boot cabinet, hauled home last Sunday. This was a particularly fetching Germolene pink which didn't really sit well in our bedroom so another paint remnant was unearthed and it became this, a sky blue beauty. This blue is one of my favourite colours, it pops up everywhere in this house, it makes me smile and I find I'm drawn to it whenever I see it. The addition of a little bit of CK wonderfulness and it's a completely new (old)bedside table. Just got to find one for Ian's side now, not sure he'll agree to the floral loveliness though!

Lastly, whilst the creative urge was upon me I raided the box of gorgeous vintage cards I bought last year from the car boot (must show you those at some point) and made a new addition for Kit's wall. She's thrilled to bits with it, in fact she loves all her pictures, zoom in and you should be able to see the latest car boot picture, a Margaret Tarrant print - bottom left. The seller had some lovely large prints but at £10 each, way beyond my car boot budget. He must have taken pity on me because he gave me this damaged one for free, what a result! Don't look too closely at my new creation, as with most things I make it's slightly haphazard and lopsided, I'm far too impatient to get to the finished product. Same with painting, preparation - Pah! Sanding between coats - who are you kidding?! Surround them with enough stuff and nobody notices - I think!

And look there Hen, see who's nestled among the blankets? I saw the one you made for the Munchkin and I couldn't resist having a go myself. I love it, so much so I have thought of adopting it and giving it a new home on our bed but I don't think I'll get away with that one!

Now the sewing machine has been taken out of hibernation there may be a few more creations to show you soon...............

a perfect weekend....................

How are you all? Hope the sun's been shining down on you too. Despite yet more atrocious weather predictions the sun did indeed shine here, on and off. How fantastic it is to watch this sky at night knowing it probably means a great day in store. This weekend turned out to be the perfect mix of no plans and generally pleasing ourselves, which meant bike rides into town for coffee and cake, trips to the garden centre to stock up on geraniums, a garden clear out and just enjoying the unexpected sunshine.

Lovely enough for a last minute barbeque...............

Saturday afternoon brought a surprise phonecall from my lovely other half to tell me that he'd spotted a pair of boots I'd seen before Christmas but could in no way afford to treat myself to. These boots were now reduced to half price and did I want them? Did I??!! Bless him, just one of the many reasons that make him such a fab man to live with. Doesn't often cook, iron or clean the loo but a more thoughtful man you couldn't meet. Said boots are now residing in their box just waiting for their first outing - if this weather continues (who am I kidding?), they may not be out until Autumn.

This morning brought breakfast in bed for the two of us before the children woke up, one of the benefits of an early alarm call for the cat boot. 7.30ish and the familiar car horn outside means my car booting buddy is here and off we go for 3 hours of rummaging, laughter and bargains. Andrea spends a large amount of time whilst we wander shaking her head in disbelief at my treasures, still, it means there's no arguing over discoveries.

And look at just a couple of the goodies that I rehomed today. My favourite find just has to be this little beauty...............

..................for 50p!! My heart leapt when I spotted it and tried ever so casually to wander (sprint) over and ask "how much?". I'm sure the lady selling was as bewildered as Andrea by my joy at finding such a little piece of deliciousness, but I'm thrilled to bits with it.

This lovely little string box was £1, I'm a bit of a crinoline lady fan so this was a great find.

Finally, for today, these totally gorgeous barkcloth curtains for £1.50. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em! Washed and out on the line to dry and gladdening my heart with every glimpse. Ian HATES them, but I think they may be destined to become cushions and a bag so he better get used to those gorgeous blooms!

..........want a closer peek?

................scrumptious!

As you can tell, fickle old me has been drawn back into the land of blog. Is it only me who keeps feeling the need to stop one day, but loving it the next. Bear with me, for now I think I'll be sticking with it.

Have a lovely week all....................xx

beautiful derbyshire...............

Squeezing this post in quickly before I tackle the ironing mountain. Time's whizzing by too fast at the moment and like many others I'm having second thoughts about my blog, spring brings with it so many things to do outdoors, and I can't see my screen properly in the sunshine!

Anyhow, how were the Easter hols for you all? We started ours with a little break in the Peak District. Taking a tip from the lovely Lucy we decided to try a Youth Hostel. Ian has stayed in them for his cycling trips but we had never been as a family. It was fantastic! For campers like us it was serious luxury, the sight of the bunk beds sents the children in whooping, jumping paroxyms of delight, us parents less so since we were designated the bottom bunks.

The place itself was amazing, set amongst the hills and with a gorgeous walk down to the river right on our doorstep. We could feel the stresses of daily life falling away as soon as we arrived and the whole three days were fab.

Our days were spent walking, eating and just being together. We found a great 99p walks book in Bakewell and aimed for fairly short and interesting strolls, having a four year old with easily tired legs meant that Ian's shoulders took about a week to recover. She's not the most reliable of walkers but we took it in turns to cart her about when she needed it and bribed her with promises of chocolate and treats when exhaustion kicked in.

Derbyshire is a truly beautiful place, one I'd never visited before. The people are lovely, very welcoming and the scenery is spectacular. We had our usual "let's move here" moments until we realised that Ian would have a 2 hour each way commute each day! We'll definitely be going back as soon as we can.

Signs of Spring were everywhere we looked and despite a dreadful weather forecast of heavy rain the sun shone on us every day.

A hearty YHA breakfast set us up each morning, gazing out at the hills and deciding how to spend the day ahead. We had to tear the children away from the bunkbeds, I seriously think they'd have been happy to perch up there all day. We were all in bed by 9pm, lights off, unheard of for us parents but you don't have much choice when you're all in together. It did mean we were refreshed the next morning and ready for an early(ish) start.

Now the decision is, which hostel do we try next?

See you all soon.................

I'm loving today......................

.............the abundance of spring flowers everywhere at the moment.

.....................and being able to enjoy them even more with the doors flung open

....................which in turn means the children spend all their waking hours in our little garden entertaining themselves, which therefore means a tidier, if much colder, house and dirty handprints over every surface.

.................enjoying the peace and quiet of the post school drop off and washing the breakfast dishes. Particularly loving my red mixing jug, used every morning in the pancake ritual.

.............changing the bed and relishing the anticipation of climbing into freshly pressed, line dried sheets, particularly this delicious new polka dot purchase from good old Dunelm Mill.

..........which goes perfectly with the new lightweight summer eiderdown.

.............grabbing all those wrinkled tomatoes from the fridge and oven drying them on a low heat with thyme then bottling them with basil ready for the tomato tart later this week.

All in all a quiet but productive morning spent at home, a less quiet afternoon spent at school, but more of that later..................

ps. Forgot to say, thank you all for the fantastic comments about school, seems like I'm not the only one who has a bee in her bonnet about the starting age. I did enquire about starting Jack a year later but was told he would have to go in at Year 1 -does that make any sense?? Kit's actually a bit happier this week, we're looking forward to the Easter break so much.

Jack sends a big thank you for all your lovely comments about his circus, he's thrilled.

Good mummy has left the building, naggy old crone is back in town!!

this week...........

One of the greatest stress busters...............bed dancing. Guaranteed smiles all round!

Children bring an unbelievable amount of joy into your life but boy do they make it guilt ridden and emotional at times. After a remarkably smooth transition into school life Kit suddenly started to cry every morning before going in and not wanting to leave me. I know, common sense tells me that how a child is one week will have no bearing on how they are the next but she was worrying us. Suddenly our happy, giggly little girl had become quite unhappy and clingy and wasn't really able to explain why. We think it's probably the realisation that full time school will be the reality for the foreseeable future, quite a lot for a four year old to take on board.

I have a huge problem with the age we send our children to school in this country. Both my children are summer babies which makes them very young for their year groups. Whilst Jack has managed pretty well Kit seems very little amongst her class. I really think that four year olds are too young to begin full time education, I'd be more than happy to have had mine at home for another year. Almost all of the children in Kit's class are tired, emotional and grumpy, why are we doing this to them at four?

Ok everyone, rant over. Still with me? Good, let's have some pics. Whilst having a crisis of confidence this week and feeling the full force of good old parental guilt, I thought I'd make an extra effort to be a nice mummy and not the ranting old bag I'm prone to be, and then I thought I'd take photographs to show the children when I revert to normal, to prove that it actually did happen..........................

Firstly, the good old no-bake cake making. One of the family favourites is good old fridge cake.........which was supposed to be the biscuit substitute for the week but only lasted three days. I mix a 100g bar of milk and one of dark chocolate, add a large lump of butter, two tablespoons of golden syrup, all the broken up biscuits from the bottom of the tin, smashed up, a bag of maltesers, again smashed up, and whatever nuts I have to hand, this week it was pistachios. Its truly delicious, go on......try it, the nuts make it positively healthy........

Next, cornflake cakes for the school cake sale. Always a firm favourite and ones that I vividly remember making as a child. Mum would keep adding more and more cornflakes, we wouldn't believe that the chocolate would cover them but it always did.

Of course we had to try the eggs, just to make sure they were edible. I'm glad to report that they passed with flying colours!

Jack's been creative with a few old loo rolls, making his own mini circus.............

..................before going outside to practice his fire making skills, under my watchful eye. Damp twigs do not make the most ideal kindling but to give him his due he perseveres

meanwhile, conforming to the female stereotype perfectly Kit stays inside practicing her stitching............after helping Jack to waft the flames to life that is.

My creative urges were satisfied with a simple little project, 60 bookmarks for the new cookery book we've produced for the PTFA funds.......

At this point I feel should own up to yet another guilty pleasure.................ironing. Yes, you did hear me correctly, I do actually quite like ironing. Oops, said it again. Before I come over as all 1950's housewifeish let me confess that I'm totally crap at all other domestic duties but ironing I'm quite happy to do. I actually iron very few of our clothes so it only takes a couple of hours in the week, so it's on with the radio and I can happily drift away. And when it's something as delicious as Kit's bedding I'm quite content.

So on that slightly sad note I'll leave you for now. Have a great week.......................x

sunny sunday...........

What a lucky lady I was this weekend. After breakfast in bed the rest of the family piled into our bed to watch me open my lovely presents which included this..........

...........and this, which I've had my eye on for ages..........

I was also handed these fab cards which will be treasured forever...................

Sunday morning means my regular car boot trip, the sun this weekend meant that it was huge and busier than I think I've ever seen it. It wasn't a particularly fruitful trip but I did manage to pick up this sweet little blanket which will be perfect for our camping trips later this year.


The afternoon brought a trip to one of our favourite NT haunts, Hidcote Manor, the most beautiful garden in nearby Broadway. As soon as we arrive the children are seized with the desperate urge to run in any direction. The gardens are set out in a series of rooms and are a delight to visit at any time of the year. Although it is always busy there's plenty of space and it never feels crowded. We followed our little guides on a very fast and furious trip around the different "rooms" loving their enthusiasm and delight at each discovery. Each time we visit, this long avenue just begs to be raced along and this time we weren't disappointed. Whilst we took a moment to catch our breath the two of them disappeared into the distance and then returned at a much slower pace.

We had a much deserved snack break on my favourite bench under the Wisteria which is a sight to behold later in the year...........


.................and we admired the gorgeous flowers, in particular the hellebores, tulips and primroses.

...............and we finished it all off with tea and chocolate cake in the cafe. Perfect, worth all the sleepless nights, anguish, guilt and mess that having children brings. Spending time with my little family is (mostly) the best thing of all.

Before I go I have to mention this film. We watched it this weekend after seeing Kristin Scott Thomas nominated for an Oscar (or Bafta, can't remember) for it. It was superb, you have to see it!

See you later in the week, let's see if I can make it two posts this week.............

crochet paradise...............

.............well, how fantastic has this weather been?! After a frantic two day post weekend clean (kids, mess, food, toys etc...) the house is more sparkling than usual and I had an hour to sit out and enjoy the sun with the afternoon play and a bit of this..........

...............another round cushion in the making, this time as a gift for mum, It was so fantastic to sit outside, listen to the birds and enjoy the sun on my face. Isn't it great to be outside again, the children are barefoot in the garden once more, filthy feet are the order of the day.

As usual the garden is not looking at it's best. Having neither gardening skills nor knowledge means that plants do not thrive in my care, there are bare spots aplenty where there should be flowers. However some of the bulbs I planted in autumn are beginning to show and today I noticed this little lonesome beauty nestled amongst the weeds.............

..........more of which are dotted around the house, courtesy of good old B&Q which had a great offer on.

............and of course, the hyacinths keep on going, this one is particularly fragrant.

Did you notice that new mug up there?............yet another to add to my rather large collection, along with the Portmerion one I bought last week it's fast becoming a firm favourite, it's the perfect size for my cuppa. We had a girls only shopping trip to Bicester Village last weekend and of course the first stop had to be the Cath Kidston outlet store, from where said mug was purchased along with a couple of other goodies, including 3 metres of the most gorgeous dress fabric.........now all I need is a seamstress to run me up a tea dress.

I also bought this bath bar, much to Ian's delight. As he put it :: "Will that be going in the bathroom cupboard along with the other two you bought which drove you mad?" No, no, no, this one will be different, it's light and won't chip the bath every time the children knock it off. Besides how lovely my soaps and new flannel look on it. So I have to remove it and replace it every night, no matter, it gives me pleasure to look at it, this is the PERFECT bath bar and here it will stay....................

..........(if you look closely you can catch a glimpse of our horrific shower and revolting loo in the background - yeuch!)

Enjoy the sun everyone..........................

and then the sun shone...........briefly

Our yearly race going guests arrived today which means five days of cooking breakfasts for five people every morning, by the end of the week I'll be happy never to see another sausage. It also meant we had to do the BIG clean up over the weekend. This generally only happens if we have visitors and normally can be confined to only a couple of the rooms, however having the entire house full of people means that we have to clean the whole lot, no mean feat when it's usually only treated to the odd blowing away of dust and half hearted hoovering. Possessing a crap hoover which will only work with a hand held attachment means that I do most of my cleaning on my knees, and yesterday, whilst the sun was shining, this gave me a whole new perspective on my clean and shiny(ish) rooms. I rushed off to grab the camera to catch the moment and to remind me that sometimes the house can look pretty nice, even the horrible bathroom............


..............what you can't see is the completely foul, cracked toilet with duck tape trying, and failing, to stop the drip, or the mouldy old shower cabinet. This picture makes me love my grubby old bathroom a little bit more, I've no choice really, it'll be another year before we can update it.

Now this room, our bedroom, I do love, especially when it's cleared of all the usual family stuff. It never looks like this, there's always a pile of washing to be put away, numerous children's books and toys lying around, and all the other detritus we can't find a home for seems to gravitate towards here and stay for months. Now it's calm and peaceful, but for how long?...........

A peek into Kit's room. I like this "through the door" view, it means I can hide the mess behind said door, isn't blogland a wonderful, make believe place, you can pretend to have a lovely tidy home because nobody can see round the corners!

Finally a glimpse of our sitting room. The console table was dragged up from the basement sewing room single handedly by me which involved lots of muttering, bad language and mild panic as I realised how heavy it was. It used to be a dark brown but looks so much better in the pale pistachio colour. Notice yet more hyacinths waiting to burst forth............

So there you go, another post about not very much at all. I'm just pleased to have a tidy house, enjoying that clear brain feeling and kidding myself it'll last - hah! I give it three days at the most!

See you all soon...............x

things I'm loving right now.............

a fab new enamel bucket and mop, hopefully this will entice me into cleaning the kitchen floor more than twice a year................then again, maybe not

a gorgeous new mug to add to the never ending collection

some lovely new owl stationery from Paperchase

enough sunshine for a garden picnic

beautiful and very pink primroses

Hope you've all had a great weekend, just a quickie tonight because blogger is seriously confused and is beginning to drive me mad, back soon x.....................

collections............................

Whilst wandering aimlessly round the house last week, a skill I particularly excel in, I happened upon a few of the little collections going on around here at the moment................

Crochet..........it's everywhere. From the squares for my niece's baby blanket (must be finished next week, and boy, it's taken a long time) to the round cushion inspired by posy and now requested by nearly every family member, to little crochet flowers dotted around the place, the house is being taken over by baskets of yarn and every evening I'm to be found in my favourite armchair, glass of wine and chilled chocolate to hand, crocheting away. I think Ian finds it slightly disturbing and I have many times been likened to an old crone sitting at the gallows - NOT the image I like to think I'm portraying!

Bulbs..............oh, the joy! Flowers I can actually grow, why has it taken me so long to discover this? Now they're everywhere, you name it I shove a collection of £1.26 Lidl bulbs in and a few days later, flowers galore - pure bliss, and an extra place to push in a few crocheted flowers.

Beads..................hanging from the pretty rose hooks I bought in TK Maxx. The perfect spot to keep them, I can see them, admire their colourful sparkliness and it makes choosing one each day soooo easy. I'm a cheap jewellery fan, I have no diamonds or gold. I always have a favourite on the go, this is the one at the moment, isn't it fab?.............

Stuffed toys................obsessed is the word I'd use for my children, they can't get enough of them. can hardly get into bed because of them, all the old bits of crap that no-one else wants, we bring 'em home and squeeze them in. For a person with a bed making obsession it gives me palpitations. I have to fold the duvet around them because under no circumstances am I to MOVE THEM! I don't know how they sleep with them all but it makes them happy, which in turn makes me happy so I have live with the untidy beds (deep breathing, telling myself it doesn't matter, only looking at the bed with one eyes open - I've tried it all)

So, there you are, a brief glimpse of our overly cluttered house, see you all soon.....................

creeping in, full of apologies...............

............what can I say? For a while there I lost my blogging mojo, no idea why. Blogging does take up a lot of time and I wanted to claim back my old life for a short while. It has made me realise just how much space blogging fills so from now on I will keep it up but just not as regularly as before (hah! I hear you say, I was hardly reliable anyway!) This seems to be a common thread amongst many bloggers at the moment, so I know I'm not alone.

...............bit of mosaic inspiration there from Lucy, one of the many ways I've been wasting time recently!

So..........what's been happening in the VH household? Much the same as ever apart from the FANTASTIC snowy days we enjoyed a couple of weeks back. Much sledging and snowballing took place but I'm so far behind the rest of you that I won't bore you with too many photos, although I can't resist a couple. I love snow with a passion, waking up and seeing that glow through the windows fills me with glee and we had the added bonus of time off school. We managed to find a part of a nearby hill that no-one else had discovered and had a whale of a time. We even dragged a very pregnant friend and daughter along to join in, thankfully it didn't induce early labour, my nursing skills aren't up to much!

I've been filling my child free days with crochet (one baby blanket nearly done), coffee (with my new whizzer) and cakes, half hearted housework, a bit of helping in school and completing orders for a few people. Much the same as ever really. We're half way through the half term break right now and we've had a house full of children for the last few days. Jack and I are grabbing a few moments peace by the fire whilst Kit plays with one of her school friends. Needless to say Jack is engrossed in his latest library book, and at the same time pestering me to play on my new laptop (yippee, now I can watch tv and blog!)

We had a fab weekend with friends from Dorset, hence lots of noise, food and just a little bit of alcohol. Sunday we walked it all off through the (unexpected) rain and when they left we settled in by the fire with "101 Dalmations" and pancakes - the perfect way to end a lovely weekend.

At some point in the week Kit will no doubt ask me to "play schools" with her, a request which I'm reluctant to admit does not fill me with joy. It involves me sitting on the hard floor whilst she tries to remember all thirty children in her class so she can take the register. This has to be done whilst trying to hold three different coloured pens which regularly drop on the floor and have to be retrieved, which invariably leads to the losing of the place in the register and starting all over again. Call me a meanie but I can think of a few other more pleasurable ways to pass an hour, selfless mother I certainly am not!

Meanwhile Jack will be up in his room shaking the floorboards with the latest musical acquisition, no doubt much to the delight of our neighbours. Every Saturday he trips up the street to have lessons from one of the neighbour's sons and then comes home to practice and make sure we're properly awake. I have to admit to feeling a little bit envious, how cool it'd be to be a 38 year old drum playing mum, unfortunately possessing no rhythm makes it slightly challenging for me so I end up sitting there looking a bit dumb and not really knowing what to hit next.
Back soon............................

blimey it's cold!...........

Hello everyone, and a very happy new year to you all! Did you have a good Christmas? I have been lurking in the few spare moments I've had so I have caught up with most of you and it seems, apart from the dreaded lurgy which struck a few of you, a fab time was had by all.

We had a lovely time. A very quiet Christmas with just the four of us, highly unusual but very enjoyable nonetheless. It meant that we actually had time to play with the children and go on bike rides and long walks. It did us good to have that concentrated time together, no stress, little food preparation and plenty of sitting by the fire.

Christmas morning was a joy, look who arrived.....................

..................from Father Christmas (via Nicky at the Vintage Magpie). How cute is she, Kit loves her - nearly as much as I do!

There was much frantic ripping of paper................

..................squeals of joy, and strumming...........

The weather down here has been perfect for long wintry walks. Boxing day we shrugged off our Christmas Day stupor and went for a lovely walk around the local racecourse, one of our favourite haunts. It was cold, very very cold, but a beautiful day and the perfect antidote to all those choccies, sausages and turkey!

New Year was a much more raucous affair with friends and family gathered here to see in 2009. Plenty of food, bubbly, laughter, singing and story telling, the perfect way to see in the new year.
Yesterday saw me having to drag two very warm, sleepy and reluctant children from under the covers to start the new school term. Fortunately for me there was something outside to tempt them..............

..................before they were even dressed and in the low morning light they threw on coats and wellies over pyjamas and were in the garden building a tiny "snow hawk" and throwing snow at the open doors, ie. into the kitchen!

Whilst they were at school I cleared the house of Christmas clutter, boxed it all up and put it away until next year. Now for the big clean up, sigh................

My brief stint at a working life is over, I enjoyed it but have to say I'm glad to have a bit of time to myself in the house again, like the rest of you there are a million and one things to do, now where to start?

And no, I haven't forgotten the great button maker give away. I shall be back later in the week with the winner....................

ho, ho, ho, the festive spirit kicks in.............

Good evening everybody, is the festive spirit upon you yet? It's well and truly arrived in this house. The tree is up, decorated to within an inch of it's life, the stairs are swathed in fairy lights and garlands, the candles are lit, as is the fire, Nigella's on the telly expanding our waistlines just by watching, the advent calendars have only 5 doors left to open and I've still a humongous pile of presents to wrap and Christmas cards to send.

So this will be a post of many pictures and very few words, apologies to all. However, I must mention the button maker since so many of you have asked where it came from. So I will let you in on my little secret because I'm kind like that. I bought it at Dunelm Mill for the princely sum of less than £2, the buttons themselves are about £2ish as well. I've also seen them at "The Range" - see, I go to all the best places don't I!! Of course whilst I was out and about scouting round the cheapo shops I felt it would be churlish of me not to throw another one in my basket along with a pack of buttons, so I have one to give away to one of you lucky ladies (or men). Just do the usual, leave me any comment before Christmas Day, doesn't have to be funny or anything, a simple hello is enough, and this little gadget will be winging it's way to the lucky winner. As Miss Sew'n'Sew will vouch I am the slowest parcel posting lady so I will not promise it before Christmas Day but it'll brighten up those post Christmas blues and give you something to do on those long dark nights.

So, are you ready, pictures galore to follow...........

...............let's start at the front door with my trusty old wreath. As tempted as I was with the truly delicious eucalyptus "White Company" one I was a goody two shoes and let it go. There is a limit as to how many a person can have and at the last count I had nine!

....................now have a nose through the window, go on tell me you do it too! I just love dusk at this time of year, it provides the ultimate nosing opportunity, curtains still open and lamps on. Does that make me sound weird, back me up here ladies!

.................the fire's roaring so come on in out of the cold.

....................Christmas tree by night (bloody hard to photograph it was too!)

..............................and by day.

.................we have our own little carol singers,

.................vintage baubles,

............................little sparkly snowmen,

The baby blanket will not be finished in time, surprise, surprise. It is coming along a treat, the Rowan yarn is a dream to crochet with, the colours are sublime. I've (sort of) followed a brilliant tutorial for granny squares with built in flowers kindly given by Rosehip, and I'm thrilled with the results. Give me another 6 months and we may have something resembling a blanket.

The only thing left to say is have a lovely, peaceful, joyous Christmas, and see you in the New year!

For some reason my latest post is below the last one, if you get my drift. Scroll down below "show and tell, part 2" and there it is, can't work out how to move it, so there it'll stay!

show and tell part 2.............

In trying to fit in all the house cleaning, Christmas shopping and sewing duties before I start work on Sunday blogging has taken a bit of a back seat (again).

I promised details of our trip down to London to the Country Living fair. However, pictures are a bit thin on the ground. After hauling the camera round in my bag all day and being too embarrassed to take any photos in the fair itself, we spotted this fab restaurant in a red double decker but after one very blurry photo the battery died!

We had a fab day out, met the lovely Kathy on her gorgeous stall and managed to snap up a few treats. We also visited Spitalfields and the market and then got totally lost on the way home, being totally unused to driving in a big city. So that's our London fix over until March and very enjoyable it was too.

I've also been indulging in a bit of retail therapy closer to home. A local wool stockist is closing down and everything is down 50% so needless to say I was there, big bag in hand, ready to fight off the grey haired old ladies to get to the Rowan cotton yarn - totally unnecessary, they preferred the pale blue and pink baby wool it seems! Now Rowan is a revelation, a total dream to crochet with and I've set myself the task of making my baby niece a blanket for Christmas (gulp), not being the fastest hooker in the west, it may be a tall order. Anyway, she's only 8 months, she doesn't know Christmas falls in December!

Look at those colours....................

Talking of colours, I couldn't resist these cyclamen to try and brighten up our post armageddon front garden.................

and finally, I had to take a photo of this scrumptious pea soup in a cup, easy to drink and sew at the same time!

Back soon...........