.

moving on.........

2011-07-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

Today is a bittersweet day, the last day Jack will spend at primary school. This September he moves on to pastures new, the next step towards his adult life, one step further away from us. He has been very happy during his time at school, it 's been a lovely, nuturing and creative place to be. We're so proud of him and I just wanted to make a record of it here, not that he reads this blog, thinks it's "strange", but maybe one day he'll have a nosey and see just how we feel about him. We tell him constantly, but like most nearly 11 year old boys, listening isn't his greatest skill so we don't know how much goes in.

From the moment a child is born you're aware that one day that child will leave, and each step you take with them brings you closer to that day. They start making their own choices, have their own opinions, quite often disagree with you but still look to you to guide them, and sometimes even hold your hand (when no-one else is looking!) As parents we long to hold onto that hand but we know we have to let it go, and it's hard, very hard. I'll miss my boy on our walks to school, I'll miss seeing his face in the playground, and our chats on the way home but I know (hope) he's going to enjoy the next stage of his life and we're so looking forward to sharing it with him.

Last week we watched Jack in his school production, we waited with our hearts in our mouths for his turn to come. Jack's stammer has been worse over the summer and part of us didn't want him to go through speaking in front of an audience. How we underestimated him! Our brave, brilliant child stood proudly in front of the whole school and assembled parents, and although he stumbled he played his part brilliantly. Speaking is something we all take for granted but it is something that Jack is aware of the whole time and he copes fantastically, in fact he expects people to accept him for the way he is, we find him an inspiration and words can't describe how much we both love him.

We love you our darling boy, don't ever change...............xx

good homes...............

2011-07-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

Last year was a momentous one in many ways, we got married, Jack turned ten and I left my glorious thirties, a decade I'd loved. The decade in which I had my children and life finally made sense, I could admit that really I wasn't hugely ambitious and a life as a mum would do for me, more than that, I would really love it (most of the time).

Not being a diamond and pearls sort of girl a 40th birthday present had to be something else, and after visiting a friend of a friend's garden and loving her little painted potting shed, I worked on Ian and we designed a summer house with Reg, shed builder extraordinaire. This little beauty sits at the bottom of our little garden, and it's all mine................well, ok I do share it now and then with the children. I love it and when my photographer friend Amanda asked if she could take some photos for a feature she'd like to do, of course I agreed.

Let me say, it's never been this tidy since. We'd used the summer house a couple of weeks before for our wedding, as a tea room, filled with all my vintage tea-cups and side plates (and a few borrowed from Mum).
So whilst it was still tidy Amanda took all the shots she needed and did a brilliant feature for Good Homes magazine.

It's a very strange but incredibly thrilling feeling to see your home in a magazine, slightly surreal to see something so familiar to you through somebody elses eyes. Amanda did us proud, I think my family may again have bought up all the copies and Reg rang me the other day to say he'd been contacted from readers all over the UK for a quote.

Kitty has celebrated her 7th birthday with a pool party in the garden. Not the warmest day of the year, one of the girls even asked if we had a wetsuit............for a 3 foot deep paddling pool! The afternoon went well, there were no punch ups over pass the parcel, only one child cried when she lost the musical statues game and the dog was removed from the situation since we knew the temptation of food and children would have been too much to bear.

Sunday morning in this house means it's my turn to get up with the dog. She's an early riser our Peggy, normally about 6am. For a night owl like me this has taken some getting used to, I'm not known for my positive attitude towards early mornings. Peggy has changed all this, Sunday morning has now become a ritual for me............a cup of tea, crumpets and nutella (how I love nutella!) and a couple of magazines......bliss. I get about 2 hours quiet, the children fortunately take after me with their love of a lie in, which sets me up for the rest of the day.

It also gives me time to sit and appreciate the house and all our bits and pieces. For example, this shelf, one of the many areas adorned with bits of nonsense which mean something to us. Ian's dad's books, a tiny tandem I bought for my bike mad husband, one of my favourite wedding photos of my sister and I which perfectly sums up a perfect day, a strange springy dog that Kit bought from a street sale, a spotty candlestick from a neighbour for our wedding and Ian's Biggles books.

This year the garden is thriving, against all the odds. A gardener I am not, can't even class myself as an amateur, my special skill lies in killing plants. But I am a trier, and maybe my efforts are paying off.

The geraniums are doing brilliantly, as usual, the sweet peas are coming on, and this morning the first dahlia unfurled it's beautiful petals in the most glorious pink.

My one flower bed is pretty good, the roses are having a second flush, the foxgloves were a triumph and the cosmos my friend Liz grew from seed are beginning to flower.

Our scrubby neglected table has been brightened up with some donated verbena from a neighbor..........

................and the apple tree we planted for Jack four years ago is bearing many fruits.

Somehow the large blue paddling pool with the slightly stagnant water is adding much to the garden, it's only still there because nobody can be bothered to empty it!

Have a happy week all..............xx

a holiday, a dream comes true and asbo dog excels herself.........

2011-07-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

So much to catch up on, so apologies for a very picture heavy post. First of all, our "honeymoon". A honeymoon with two children in tow, we wouldn't have had it any other way. We ventured further than our usual west Wales haunt, left the dog with Mum, packed up the car and headed 1000 miles through Europe.......to.........here........

...........Venice, one of the most beautiful, vibrant and atmospheric places I've ever visited. There was so much to see, to eat, drink and just absorb. We wandered for hours, picnicked in squares, drank coffee and ate cakes, people watched, crossed so many bridges we lost count, and we all loved it.

Venice is one of those places that is just as you imagined it would be, we lost ourselves down endless alleyways, watched gondolas gliding by (at 100 euros, out of the question!), and admired the water taxi ranks..............

Balconies laden with geraniums were everywhere..............

We wandered far off the beaten track and found ourselves virtually alone.............

On our final day we stayed until the evening drew to a close, catching the last ferry out and enjoying Venice without the crowds, we ate seafood in a fantastic little restaurant, scoffed the famous Venetian ice cream and bought naff souvenirs.

We had the most wonderful time, and that was only one third of our epic journey, the rest of the hols were spent in Switzerland and Belgium. After a particularly busy year it was fantastic to spend so much time together on a holiday that I hope will stay in the childrens memories for ever, I know it will in mine.

Doglet was very well catered for whilst we were gone, Mum has fallen for her wily charms. She soon settled into having us around again, and is very pleased with her new collar.......

She spends rather a lot of time in the garden and the view from the summerhouse is like this........

Today she decided that she no longer needed her muzzle........so she ate it, along with her daily diet of pencils, tissues, shoes and to top it all she finished her feast today with a piece of toddler poo that we'd fished out of the paddling pool.........YEUCH!!

Hmmmmmm..........

Other exciting news...............a few months ago I spent a very frustrating couple of hours trying to buy tickets for Take That, without any success. Having given up hope of seeing them imagine my excitement when my fab friend Liz announced that her sister had won us two tickets and we'd be going to see them in Birmingham in less than two weeks. What an amazing night, the most fantastic stage show, great dancers, fabulous atmosphere, and to top it off The Pet Shop Boys were the warm-up act. Liz and I couldn't really believe we were actually there, we had the best night. I know they're not to everybody's taste but it was one of the best nights I've ever had........

So, life's good. Today I turned 41, my thirties are well and truly behind me and the next phase of our life as a family will soon begin as Jack starts secondary school.

More exciting news in my next post..............

a birthday, a wedding and an asbo dog.......

2011-04-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

So, where do I begin? After wasting far too much precious time changing the look of this blog I thought I'd pop back for a little update. How I wish I had a bit more technological expertise than a tadpole, I spend an inordinate amount of time sighing and having violent thoughts towards my laptop than is healthy.

So.........I'm back, who knows for how long, but I have been keeping up with you all out there, enjoying catching up and absorbing all those fantastic images. Losing bloglines has meant that I've lost track of some of my fave blogs, but I cannot get to grips with the new one so I'm relying on my sidebar.

How was 2010 for everyone? Here in the VH household things have been a-changing in quite a major way. Not only did I hit the big 40 last July but finally, after 15 years of blissful (ha!) happiness Ian and I finally took the plunge and got married! It was the most fantastic day, a very short civil ceremony at the pump rooms complete with music from The Waterboys and then 90 people squeezed into our diddy back garden for afternoon tea. Food was supplied by all our fabulous neighbours and friends, as were the flowers and cakes. It really was a special day which brought home once again how fortunate we are to live here.

The icing on the cake came courtesy of Emma and her fantastic photographs. Having followed her blog and loved her photos we asked if she'd take pictures of the day for us and she did us proud. They were exactly what we'd envisaged and she captured the spirit of the day perfectly, what a clever lady!

..............finally, a chance to use all those vintage teacups I've collected over the years

.................this photo sums up the atmosphere of the day perfectly, we laughed from beginning to end

............how she managed this one I'll never know. This is how I look in my imagination, not in real life!

It's the time of year when the garden starts to come to life and I've been experimenting with picnik's effects and loving the polaroid effect.

Which brings me to the latest addition to the family, a very naughty, hyperactive but extremely cute new member of the clan. Doesn't listen to anything I say, has a habit of chasing joggers round the park and steals shoes, newspapers and any food within reach.............what have we done??

...............asbo dog aka Peggy, how could you resist?

a new decade begins........

2010-01-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

........I'm not sure in which childcare manual it suggests that mouthing through the living room window "Get out here and finish the snow dog you miserable little sod" is positive parenting, but after two extra days of children at home I'm finding I can forgive myself. Ian and I had a whole child free week planned, you know, eating in proper restaurants where chicken nuggets are not on the menu, long walks without chocolate finger bribes, wandering round town without the whines of dismay, but two days in we, like the rest of you, woke to this glorious sight........

Needless to say the school was closed and entertainment of a snowy variety was our remit. Now we love our children, relish their company (mostly) but after exhausting them on the sledge on day one they were a little hesitant about venturing out on day two, hence thinly veiled threats being hissed through the window.

Fortunately the various snowmen, snow bears etc. were built on day one and spent the next few days watching us (quite ominously in the dark) until the big melt started and snowman's head looked futher skywards until it eventually fell off.

Did you notice how I slipped back in there, hoping no-one noticed my unexplained absence? A blogging crisis hit the VH household, actually I couldn't find the time to do it and I had little inclination anyhow. It's amazing how much time it freed up for me but I have missed you all so I'm back (again). Quite often it strikes me that this is a funny thing to do, what is the purpose? Sometimes it feels a bit show offy, a bit "look at my perfect life, home and children". That is so far from my life, our house is in dire need of attention, our children fight daily and life as you all know is never perfect. But I like the fact that this blog is my only journal of family life, my only diary, a record of how our lives are at this point in time. Many times over the last couple of months things have happened that I wanted to blog about and tonight this prompted me...........

...............our children love each other to bits but how they fight! Over anything and everything........who goes up the stairs first, who has the biggest piece of chocolate, who sits where at the table, who gets the extra yorkshire pud and on, and on. Sometimes however, they forget their differences and actually get on, in fact revel in each others company. Tonight Kitty climbed into Jack's bed and he read her stories whilst I was despatched to more menial duties, not much in the scale of things but to me, priceless.
So, Christmas has come and gone, New Years day was spent recovering from a fantastic party here with lots of friends, neighbours and their various offspring. The Christmas tree turned into a twig, far too much was chocolate consumed, terrible television watched and Ian and I got very competitive with Singstar. Normal life has now resumed but here's a snapshot of our festive house before the hoardes descended.................

........look at that cute little Santa, an ebay bargain and just like the one my Grandma had when we were children.
When this house is tidy the love affair with it begins again, quite a short lived one because the order never lasts long....................

.............this year the children were in full control of the tree which of course meant rather a lot of low flying santas, snowmen and baubles. We chose a beautiful tree which managed to shed both needles and decorations with alarming speed, there was a strict no go zone set out, in fact even breathing near it was strictly forbidden.

So, 2010, a new decade, the big four-oh is creeping up on me but apart from that not much changes. The children will try to kill each other with increasing regularity, I will still drink far too much tea and consume vast quantities of cake, I will consider a job, and then promptly reconsider, I'll lose my temper, Ian will pursue various hobbies with his customary intensity, we'll camp in the rain, visit new parts of this wonderful country we live in and rant, laugh, cry and dance with each other....................life as normal!

Happy New Year.........................xx

fame at last..........well, sort of.......

2009-10-16T01:38:00.000-07:00

Last week I was having my usual Saturday morning magazine fest, this involves a lie in, tea, toast and most importantly time to read in peace. Out of my pile I chose BBC Homes and Antiques and made my way to the contents page. I nearly fell out of bed, for there was a picture of our very own kitchen. Now don't get me wrong, I did know that someone had been and taken pictures of the house (be a bit weird if I didn't, eh) but we didn't expect them to be in the mag until next year. Amanda, the very talented photographer is a friend from school who mentioned about this time last year that she would like to take some shots of the house and see if she could place them with an interiors magazine. Now, although I love my house I can also see all the faults, the dust balls, leaky patches, cracked toilet, scuffed walls and bits of crap everywhere, so I was dubious as to whether it would be good enough. However, Amanda did us proud and took some fabulous pictures and earlier this year we heard that H&A wanted to do an article.

We were told that it would be going in early 2010 so it was a bit of a shock to see our kitchen there, right in front of me. I broke all my magazine reading rules and rushed through straight to page 59 and I have to say it was a great spread. The only downside is the picture of the old crocheting crone in the corner but I can avert my eyes from that bit quite nicely. It's a bit surreal seeing your house on paper, it almost doesn't feel like ours, but it's very exciting . The whole family have been out buying up all the copies , Ian alone bought 4, and it's been a great conversation piece for the last week.

The pictures here aren't the the best quality, I couldn't stop the flipping light shining off the pages, but you get the idea. Thank you to all the lovelies who left some very kind comments about our home, we love it and the children can't quite believe that we're in print.

News of a more depressing kind came a few mornings before the magazine arrived. Ian had to go into hospital for a minor op and stayed in overnight because of some complications. I've never really had a problem about staying in the house alone and went to bed as normal. Next morning I came down to find that someone had forced open our kitchen doors and been in and taken my handbag from the living room. Once the situation had sunk in, and believe me it took a couple of minutes to register what had actually happened, at first I thought I'd left the door open, I immediately thought of the children and I can't describe the cold feeling of dread that went through me. My legs went to jelly and the run upstairs to check them seem to take forever. Needless to say they were fine and none the wiser. The police came straight round and I had to pretend in front of the children that it was all a big adventure and managed to hide my shock until they went to school.

My handbag was recovered, all they'd taken was £6, they must have been so disappointed with that haul. The same night they also went in my lovely neighbour who lives alone. Both of us have now had super locks and burglar alarms installed. One of my biggest fears has always been someone getting into the house at night and to be honest if I sit and dwell on it and consider the "what ifs" it does haunt me, but I refuse to let anyone make me afraid to live in my own home, so life will go on as normal. My peace of mind will not be shattered by the creeps who think they have a right to invade my property and take the things Ian works so hard to provide, to be quite honest it makes me more angry than afraid, but there are so many nicer things in life to dwell on that I'm trying to close this chapter.

Onto things of a lighter nature, since the photos were taken I've had a major overhaul of the kitchen. The blue dresser was never quite right in there and I had a picture in my head of a cube type storage system since seeing it in a book somewhere. A bit of a departure from my normal style, but a couple of trips to the DIY store, a lot of drilling and painting later.........ta dah.........

Ian wasn't convinced about the whole thing so I did my usual trick and bought, built and painted the whole thing before he could argue about it. I think he likes it now but no matter because I love it, all my treasures (crap) are on display and easily accessible and it's freed up some cupboard space. The whole cleaning business will be a nightmare but we'll cross that bridge later.

The dresser has been moved to it's new home on the landing and I'll show you that later, I know, you can hardly contain your excitement, not exactly rock and roll on this blog is it!

Let's finish with a couple of gratuitous fire shots, can't resist. Our boiler seems to have gone into turbo heat mode and we can only have the radiators on at furnace level so we're hiding our heads in the sand and using the fire instead................

Happy weekend all....................

things I'm loving in September.................

2009-09-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

:: the logs have arrived, one and a quarter tonnes of them which took 3 hours to wheelbarrow through the house.............oh the joy of terraced house living. Let the fires begin!

:: having the lights on and the twinkling glow cast on our wine glasses from the fairy lights in the kitchen.

:: finally enjoying the fruits of our labour. Having these few sunny September days has meant that our tomatoes are finally edible, boy have we been patient, but the wait has been worth it.

:: still being able to enjoy our little garden, be it bouncing, eating, crocheting or tea drinking.

:: the colours of pencils and crayons. I've found that having them to hand in the kitchen means that the children are drawing much more than before and the added bonus is that I love looking at them in all their colourful glory in their pots.

:: my new two wheeled wonder. An early 40th present (ok, so it's a whole year early but who's counting). My lovely old Raleigh will be wheeling it's way up North to my little sis who can use the bike seat and it's been replaced with this beauty. I'm in love, this bike will be with me forever more, just got to wear the saddle in!

:: a new shelf in the porch. A simple thing really, but it's given a home to the lanterns which have been languishing on the kitchen floor for years. The drill has been in use quite a lot here recently, updates to follow.......

:: sitting in the garden today and noticing that amongst the dead strawberries, holiday buckets and other bits of crap my auricula has flowered unexpectedly.

:: moving a shelf from the kitchen to a new spot above the piano to house my ever expanding collection of wool, passing by and catching a glimpse of that colour in the corner of my eye, makes me happy................sad but true.

:: summer holiday puppet shows, an idea nicked from a friend. Kept them entertained nicely for about an hour and a half, a wooden spoon for each of us...........now to be found languishing in Jack's bedroom. Oh, and the dirty feet .................love 'em!

:: quiet lunchtimes once again, enjoying an impulse buy from the bookshop.

:: welcoming back Ian from a 150 miles in a day bike ride to raise money for Macmillan nurses, link here at just giving. Well done you, don't know how you did it but we're so proud of you!

Back later in the week, see you all then.................

normal service resumes..............whatever that may be!

2009-09-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello and hello again...............I'm back! School hols are over and although they were mostly blissful (and now and then b****y hard work) it is nice to get the house back to myself and I must admit to a small sigh of contentment when I came back to an empty house, once again the radio and I can be on speaking terms (please tell me the rest of you converse with your radios), and the once disgustingly filthy house has now been thoroughly de-loused and cleansed.

So...................summer - how was it for you? Most of you have been a lot less slack on the blogging front than me so I have managed to catch up with a lot of the news out there. As usual the weather here in Blighty did not really do us proud, despite the forecasts. We did however manage quite a few trips to the beach on our hols.

Right at the beginning of the hols we travelled up to the east coast of Scotland to stay at one of the Featherdown Farm campsites. What a place, from the setting within yards of a totally secluded beach, to the camp shop in an old boat, to the bread oven, it was a truly magical place. We had a fantastic time here, even my 16 year old stepdaughter loved it, despite the lack of msn and facebook. Miraculous what a couple of days away from real life can do for you.

Within a few feet from this fab tent was the most gorgeous beach which most of the time we had completely to ourselves, ideal for fishing, skidding down the dunes, kite flying and enjoying a cup of tea at the water's edge in complete solitude...................perfection.

This was a quiet holiday, plenty of time for being together, mastering stews cooked in the bread oven, games of scrabble and gazing across endless fields, new crochet project in hand and cup of tea never too far away................Harbours were visited (bit harbour obsessed, Ian and I), seals were fed, crab sandwiches munched, sweet shops raided, what more could you want?

I can't begin to describe to you just how cosy these tents are, stove and gas lamps lit, the sound of crackling logs and little else, very luxurious camping indeed. But before you start thinking that we've gone soft and can't handle the real camping experience any longer let me tell you that we did, in all its glory, at the end of the hols.

Once again we went back to one of our favourite haunts in Wales. The opposite extreme to Featherdown, portacabins for a loo, a long walk to the kitchen sink and some of the highest winds ever, but to us it's one of the best places ever.

The views are magical, the sun sets over the sea, dolphins swim in the bay, and again it's a quiet campsite (getting the impression I'm an antisocial so and so yet). The owner, Gordon, keeps the numbers down so you always have an unrestricted view of the sea. It really is a fabulous place, and this year the sun shone on us for most of the time although, being British, we were of course prepared for ALL weathers. The kidlets were shoe-horned into the car to accommodate swimsuits, fleeces, thermals, flip flops, sun hats, rain coats, wellies and of course the new hand made vintage curtain windbreak (bit floppy, very hand made looking, but does the job).

Of course, the crochet project came along too. Kit decided she wanted to learn, so latching on to a vague interest I patiently (not one of my greatest attributes) tried to show her. Willing she may have been but crochet is not an easy skill for a five year old to master. Luckily she was thrilled with her long chain and now wants to help with the blanket, although I'm not sure either she or I are quite ready for treble stitches just yet, I only have so much patience to share out.

Meanwhile big bro' managed to evade the camera yet again, leading to concerns that there will be a huge chunk of his life missing in our family journals, that is if we did actually have family journals that is, not just cds full of old photos.

The beaches in Wales are spectacular, less busy than elsewhere in the UK but just as lovely. Windbreaks, waves and wetsuits galore, lots of sandcastles, gritty cups of tea and ice creams, trying to read a newspaper in gale force winds, looking in estate agents and imagining a different life, a very typical British beach holiday.............fabulous!

Each evening followed the same pattern, tired children in bed, wine poured, crochet out and watch the sun going down...............bliss.

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

contemplating.......

2009-06-04T04:04:00.000-07:00

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...............

2009-05-17T04:45:00.000-07:00

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.................

2009-05-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

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..........

2009-05-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

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..............

2009-05-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

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..................

2009-04-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

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....................

2009-04-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

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...............

2009-04-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

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......................

2009-03-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

.............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...........

2009-03-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

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...........

2009-03-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

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...............

2009-03-17T13:58:00.001-07:00

.............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

2009-03-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

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.............

2009-03-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

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............................

2009-02-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

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...............

2009-02-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

............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!...........

2009-01-05T02:12:00.000-08:00

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.............

2008-12-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

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.............

2008-12-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

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...........

how many books?....................

2008-12-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

We have a problem in this house which no amount of shelving, storage or de-cluttering can resolve. All of us love books, no one more so than Jack. And, none of us can bear to part with them, even if they're outgrown, re-read 20 times, or not particularly good, we hang onto them. Wherever the children are in the house you can guarantee that there'll be a pile of books somewhere nearby. Which means that I spend an inordinate amount of time piling them on and then carting them back up the stairs. Every now and then I attempt a book cull but before I get chance to surreptitiously remove the bag from house to car and then charity shop I get caught and have to bring them all back in again. What's a mother to do??

I have to share a story about my gorgeous bookwormish boy. Jack is not what some people would call the bravest child. He doesn't like to take risks, can't swim, has only just learned to ride his bike, is terrified of dogs and cats and likes to be at home more than anywhere else. He also has a significant stammer. When the school held a talent show last year we assumed that he would not want to perform. How wrong we were. Our beautiful son wrote his own song, stood in front of the whole class with his best friend and sung and acted out the entire thing. To his disgust he lost to "Greased Lightning"! In our eyes he is the bravest, kindest little boy and we were so proud of him on that and every day.

On an entirely different subject, thank you so much for all your good luck wishes for my new job. I'm two days in and I think I can safely say that standing at a door shouting "Hello" at every customer is possibly not what I want to do for the rest of my life, but the girls who I'm working with are lovely, as are most of the customers, so I think I can stand it for six weeks! Needless to say I've spent (in my head) my wages six times over, and I've got my eye on a half price wreath at the moment, oh , and the napkin rings, cowl neck dress, rose print nightie etc, etc.........

Lastly, just had to show you my new gadget, a button maker. It's super quick and highly addictive, just what I need on these long winters' nights!

show and tell part one............

2008-11-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

So...........where to start? I think it'll have to be the Vintage and Handmade fair last Saturday. What a day, it was fantastic from beginning to end. Plenty of others have blogged about it already and have the pictures to go with it. Needless to say, flump that I am, I forgot the camera so I'll have to leave it to Michele, Jayne and Hen to show you the loveliness of it all.

Michele and Jayne did the most wonderful job at creating a fantastic atmosphere, they had put in so much time and effort and it really showed. The stalls were the nicest I have seen, there were so many reasonably priced goodies that I had to reign myself in. However I did manage a few little purchases.......

...........first up, a truly gorgeous lampshade from Frances. It caught my eye the minute I walked into the hall and I bought it even before the doors opened, a serious advantage of being tea lady and therefore present a little earlier than most! It casts the most gorgeous glow when lit and I can't help myself gazing at it at regular intervals during the night. It makes me happy, bit sad I know, but I love it so who cares!

I also bought this pegboard and picnic basket from Frances. Of course it didn't help that her stall was on the way to the tearoom so I had to pass it on regular intervals, each time spying something too delicious to pass up. I can however assuage some of the guilt ; the picnic basket is a present, phew!

Next up came a few stocking fillers for Kits. The doll came from Michele (more on that later), the peg doll from Hesta, and the cute hanger and picture from the lovely Lucy.

..............also from Lucy is the tiny picture which fits perfectly on my printers tray in the kitchen.

Last but by no means least, Michele and Jayne presented me with a bag of treasures as a thank-you for being on tea duty. Totally unexpected and overwhelming, I was actually lost for words! All the goodies below, and the wooden doll were mine, all mine. Thank you so much ladies, I really didn't expect it, the pleasure was all mine, and Jayne's lovely daughter Tamzin kept me in order very nicely!

I also met up with the other stallholders whose blogs I've been following, namely Carol, Emma, Lynn, Jo, Ginny and Alice, Sal, Sue, Nicky and Annie. All of them lovely and very, very talented ladies. I also came across the whole mollycupcakes clan meandering amongst the goodies.

I can't praise the whole event highly enough and if you didn't make it this time you MUST (that's an order!) make the May event, come hell or high water. I'll be there without a doubt, kettle at the ready!

drawing breath...............

2008-11-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hello again all. I'm back in blogland again, hurrah! There's so much to catch you all up on, not least the FANTASTIC Vintage and Handmade fair, but more of that later in the week.

Last Thursday saw the VH household in a complete state of disarray. When I have a fair coming up housework is normally the last thing on the list, however when the fair is in your house you have no choice but to clean it, at least the rooms where people may visit. Not only was the entire house covered in a carpet of white threads, the toilet smelling particularly wee-ish and the living room coated in soot from the fire, our (absent) builder decided to turn up and angle grind the entire front garden AND leave the front door open - aaarghh!

(.............see that washing on the line, aren't I the eternal optimist!)

After being up until 2am the night before because as usual I'd left everything 'til the last minute, I only just managed to avoid falling into a deep panic. Thanks to the help of Andrea it all came together just in time. Here's a few pics to show just a taster of the goodies on offer...................

It was a superb evening, it surpassed all of our expectations and gave me a healthy profit which I managed to spend the very next day at the Boden sale in town. I know, I know, far too middle England but I can't help it, I just love their children's clothes and I always sell them on later on Ebay.

The last few weeks have passed in a blur, but I will endeavour to post a couple more times this week about the CL fair and V&H fair. It's count down time now, only 2 weeks until I start work - yikes, I won't know what's hit me!

See you later in the week......................

crochet, country living and all things vintage.............

2008-11-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

With keen anticipation four of us set off for our first crochet lesson at No.9 this Tuesday.We had two lovely tutors, Kristina and Julie who were very patient and set us off on our first crochet flower mission, so with help from Lucy we're now set to become crochet experts. Sadly poor old Anna was struck down with the dreaded lurgy but all her planning paid off and we had a fab time. Liz and I even managed to scoff a bacon sarnie at the same time as crocheting, marvellous! We're all looking forward to the next session. If you ever have a chance you really must visit No.9, it's a perfect cafe in every way.

This weekend is our annual November jaunt to London, on Sunday we will be leaving at some unearthly hour to make our way down to Islington for the Country Living fair - hurrah! No children, men or other distractions, plenty of shopping and laughs guaranteed! We'll be popping along to see Kathy and we're also planning a quick trip over to Spitalfields after the show. Can't wait.

Next week, of course, is the Vintage and Handmade fair over at Rangeworthy. I will be there in a tea making capacity, I'm far too cowardly to actually have a stall there. Michele and Jane have done such a fantastic job at organising this fair, it will be such a treat to see all those fellow bloggers and put faces to the cyber personalities. Of course the promise of all those handmade goodies is also a major bonus, no doubt a few Christmas presents will be snapped up. Hope to see you there.

Blogging will be a bit hit and miss over the next couple of weeks. Next Thursday evening will be our Christmas sale here in the VH household, which I'm madly sewing for. Andrea will be here along with a couple of friends selling their handmade brooches and pictures. If any of you are nearby please feel free to join us, there will be mulled wine aplenty!

Have a lovely weekend all..................

2008-11-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a quiet weekend here in the VH household. A trip to the theatre for Kit, a cinema visit and sleepover for a (very) belated birthday treat for Jack, "Nanny McPhee" by the fire...............

a few leftover fireworks and sparklers, with a helping hand from Daddy................

yet more late night crochet and wine.............

a few favourite foods..................

a marathon monopoly session in which the boys seemed to take a little bit too much delight in bankrupting me..............

and a lot of mess on the kitchen table.

Plans for walks and swimming went completely awry and we hardly left the house and actually it was rather nice.

Crochet class at the lovely Anna's cafe begins Tuesday, can't wait, I shall endeavour to take the camera and keep you all updated...............

2008-11-03T12:20:00.000-08:00

How come you're always left with the Bounty's when the trick or treaters have all gone??

Lots of news to catch you up on but I'll make it quick because it's nearly 9.30pm and I haven't eaten yet. Half term has been upon us and we've squeezed in a quick trip up to Scotland during which I discovered that I can crochet in the car without throwing up - yippeee, made the 8 hour journey so much more pleasant! We then went to stay with my folks for a few days, which involved a bit of nursing on my part because poor Mum has pneumonia, but is hopefully on the mend now.

We had a great Halloween weekend, visited a few neighbours, ate a few sausages, and threw a party here on the Saturday night with fireworks, chilli and a bit too much alcohol!

This is my attempt at the Country Living pumpkin fest, bit difficult to achieve with a kitchen knife and a screwdriver, funnily enough I didn't have a lino cutter to hand!

Today has been a nice restful one, a friend round for coffee and cake, fire lit and tonight a very quiet house because Ian is in London having dinner at the Houses of Parliament - how the other half live eh!

Last but not least, my most exciting little update.................drum roll please...........I appear to have got myself a job! I know, I know, most of the people who know me had to scrape themselves up off the floor when they heard! For 6 weeks, over Christmas I will be helping the well-to-do offload some of their spondoolies in The White Company. It fits in with school hours and it will be nice to earn some of my own money for a while. Of course, the staff discount had no bearing on my decision...............although there is a rather nice rosebud nightdress I've got my eye on!

I'll finish with a couple of housey shots. At breakfast I looked over at these gorgeous flowers given to me by a friend and had to take a photo, I know they're probably out of season, sorry Lucy, but you have to admit they are fab.

..............and this tree outside our kitchen doors is a real treat too....

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

rock and roll......

2008-10-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist taking some sneaky pics when I saw this...............

You can't get Jack near a disco but give him a bit of Green Day (his choice, not mine, I'm just not that cool) and his best buddy and he really lets rip. I love that these two are growing up together, neither of them fits into the mould but to me they are just perfect and watching their friendship evolve is a joy.........................

from one granny to another.............

2008-10-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

You can blame lovely Lucy over at Attic24 for this one. She's been asking for a photo of my granny squares, so here goes, (drum roll please.............)

What do you think? I'm up to 14 squares, averaging about 1 1/2 a night, and I think I may be becoming a bit addicted. My friend Liz and I are becoming total crochet bores and every time we see each other we compare notes and often squares, in fact she even has photos of hers! Our other friends just roll their eyes in despair whenever the subject comes up. Last night Ian was away and I shuffled off to bed with a hot water bottle, my wool, hook and the radio and for two hours I was in total bliss, real champagne lifestyle I lead, eh!

Similarly to Lucy, twice a year I treat myself to a haircut, normally once the grey hairs outnumber the brown and I can't get a brush through it. My hairdresser Ian is a miracle worker and did this to me today, ta dah.................

....................not entirely sure what the mad staring eyes are all about but flip, it's so hard taking a self portrait, my arms aren't long enough, unless you want to see the inside of my nostrils (no, though not) so I had to resort to the mirror and totally confused myself with which way to look. If I was rich I would have someone to style my hair daily, I don't think my "wash it and leave it" efforts really cut the ice but twice a year Ian makes me look vaguely pretty, or as Jack put it "like you did when you were young"!!

I'll finish with this, no relevance to anything really but look at the colour, imagine how good they tasted!

.................still here!

2008-10-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, good or bad news depending on your point of view, I am still here. I can't make any excuses, I'm just crap at this blogging lark! I can't use the "I'm too busy" excuse because I know of others who are far, far busier than me but they still find the time to blog. I have no time management skills whatsoever, I reach the end of the 6 child free hours each day without achieving half of the things I should have done. I'm the queen of procrastination, even down to posting letters, cards etc., it's always a "tomorrow" job. Can somebody give me the secret of how a fab blogger like Amanda Soule of great Soulemama fame can home school three children, write a book, blog almost daily, and manage to cook, clean and remain sane - How?? It's not that I doubt she does it, I just want to know how, I can barely organise our little family and house!

We've settled into our new routine with remarkable ease, although Kit is almost on her knees with exhaustion by the end of the week. I'm getting used to the empty house (actually I did get used to it pretty quickly, but don't tell!). I do have the odd pang when I see a mum and toddler together, from a nostalgic point of view and also because I know the baby phase has gone forever and I miss lots about it, but I love the peace that descends on the house when it's empty and I'm so pleased to see them at the end of the day, even if they're not too thrilled at seeing me.

Our mornings have begun to follow the same pattern, books in bed whilst I shower and then pancakes every day, which is a joy if it goes well but if they dare to stick I have been known to fling the spatula across the kitchen whilst screaming hysterically, causing Jack to roll his eyes to the heavens whilst entertaining us with rather energetic drumming on his practice drum kit (ie. shoe boxes) until I can take no more. At this point I normally realise that we have five minutes to get to school and teeth haven't been cleaned or shoes put on and panic ensues. I can regularly be seen giving both children a lift on my bike to school - good for the legs, I count it as my morning exercise and it means I've earned a Kit Kat for breakfast when I get back.

I've had the best week at the Literature festival this week. Mum came to stay for the whole time and we've been to lots of different talks, from the Radio 4 news quiz to Alan Carr, from Gloria Hunniford to Jean Paul Sartre. Mum is obsessed with history so we went along to a few that I wouldn't have booked for myself but they were fantastic. I feel like my little brain has had a bit of a wake up call and I've loved every minute. The children had two weekends packed with events and we're all knackered but have had a whale of a time. I will try to catch up this week with you all, but I also have to find time to fit in my new obsession - granny squares - yes I can crochet - Yeah!!!! I'm off for a boiled egg lunch now, see you soon...........

Cake, cake and .............erm more cake!

2008-09-29T02:29:00.000-07:00

Last Friday morning found a bunch of mums with nowhere else they needed to be, eating cake and drinking coffee (how much coffee!!) in my kitchen. All in aid of Macmillan nurses. Ian suggested it may be a good idea to join in with the "biggest coffee morning" idea since we do spend an inordinate amount of time drinking the stuff elsewhere, and it was a great success. I did feel a bit strange making people pay to eat cake in my house, but I also ran a little raffle and we managed to raise over £100. I was thrilled when I opened the donations tin, and to all the friends who read this blog (not many, because I do keep it quite secret) can I say a big THANK YOU!

I was slightly worried that I may not have enough tea and coffee pots so one of the girls brought round the two beauties below, which needless to say nearly made me hyperventilate with joy, they so reminded me of the Featherdown Farm enamel ones. When I took them to school to give them back she said that as they had made me so (ridiculously) happy, and since they spent most of the time in her cupboard, that I could keep them. Forever. Hurrah!! It made my day.

After the arrival of the log man, Mr Coal arrived, so we could finally do this...........

Oh the bliss of an open fire, a cup of tea and autumn tv.....................I won't be leaving the house for a while!

Before I disappear again I must tell you that after many requests Andrea has bitten the bullet and opened a website here. Pay her a visit, she really has some fab stuff.

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

the log man cometh..............

2008-09-22T12:48:00.001-07:00

Monday morning and the long awaited call from our log man came, he'd be here in half an hour to dump a full van load of firewood in our front garden. So starts two hours of wheelbarrowing said logs through the house and down the side into the cellar storage area, all in all a very satisfying job, knowing that the blazing fire season is now upon us..................

.................of course it helps when you have a big schoolgirl back after lunch to give a hand, and to sit on the doorstep sharing your sandwiches watching the world go by...............

sunday morning................

2008-09-21T11:48:00.001-07:00

..................and as last night's sky predicted the sun was blazing. Now, a good mother would have taken her offspring for a swim or to the park to enjoy the sunshine, but I'm not that selfless. No, I bribed my children with promises of old Beano copies and plastic tat and dragged them to the car boot, knowing it would be huge. It was! After nearly two hours the children were beginning to droop and I only had £2 left which I handily spent on a gorgeous rosebud duvet set on the way out. I hate running out of money only halfway round, I have to be dragged away whilst looking longingly at the stalls I haven't visited and imagining the treasures I may have missed - think I may have a small addiction problem here! Fortunately I'm normally with Andrea, my own personal banker who can sub me until Monday - problem solved!

So, what c**p have I added to this already bulging house? - here, have a look...........

................now I'm not claiming that this writing is original but I couldn't pass up this table and chairs, forgetting momentarily that I'd already purchased 4 garden chairs only 2 weeks ago, I snapped up this little set. Possibly more shabby than at all chic, slightly wobbly and with only three chairs, thus guaranteeing a fight every time we sit at it, I think it was a good buy!

Something else we almost definitely did not need were cake plates, we are overrun with them, but c'mon £1.50, I couldn't resist! They'll be brought out this Friday morning for the Macmillan coffee morning so I can at least partly justify them.

They will be added to my ever expanding china collection, some of which is here......

...........lovely fruit bowls

................part of a dinner service

................my favourite cake stand

.....................and Ians' parents wedding present dinner service which is so beautiful and is onlu used for very special occasions.

Finally let me show you this fab fabric I found at the car boot in summer, in the form of two curtains. I've unpicked them and it's an old Liberty print, now I have to bring myself to cut it up - gulp!

Have a lovely week all xx

autumn days..................

2008-09-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence again. Out broadband connection gave up the ghost for a whole week so I was computerless. Made me realise just how much time I spend on the thing because the house was spotless by the end of the week, but don't worry, it's all slipped back into general chaos now I'm back in cyberspace.

So, Saturday started as every other with a cuppa and toast in bed and a chance to read without my eyes closing after two pages. Passing breakfast duties to Ian on a Saturday morning is my little treat and I love that extra bit of time in bed all to myself, and look he even brought my my toast on one of his detested "dead peoples" plates!

The weather has been amazing today and this evening we were rewarded with this perfect sky and the promise of more sunshine tomorrow, yippeee!

I'm such an autumn and winter person, I can't wait for the nights to start drawing in. The coal and logs have been ordered and the fire is ready to be lit. I love the colours of the house in the early evening when all the lamps are on, it's so cosy. Summer is usually a bit of a disappointment in this country and autumn can quite often be surprisingly warm with lovely chilly nights so to me it's a winner all round.

Look what last weeks car boot produced, a fantastic (and working) anglepoise lamp in the most perfect pale blue for £1 and a lovely red tin for 30p - bargainous beauties!
Before I forget I must announce the winner of the "what to do with the green box" competition. Sarah aka miss sew 'n' sew, it's you. I like the idea of using one of my car boot goodies in order to buy yet more - genius!

I must also mention that I've been given awards and tagged by a few bloggers, unfortunately I've lost the bit of paper I wrote them all down on and now I can't remember you all. I'm so sorry, time seems to be running away with me, but I'm very grateful to you all. Thank-you xx

and the weather today is...............

2008-09-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

.....................ummmm mixed, as usual! Feeling buoyed up by enough sunshine for a park visit this afternoon I actually put my washing out to dry on the line. Needless to say it was a bad move. We now have monsoon rain (again) and I could swear the seagulls were laughing at my foolishness whilst I desperately yanked it all back off the line again.

Kitty has settled into school really well, in fact she leaves me without so much as a backward glance, desperate not to miss the morning story. Thank you for all your comments, it hasn't been as painful as I thought it might have been, it's just a weird feeling that I can't quite put my finger on.

Mornings off this week have necessitated not one but two cafe visits, I don't think my waistline can take it! I took two friends along to Anna's on Tuesday and we stuffed ourselves with the most delicious bacon sarnies, coffee and waffles. Having been shown the basics of crochet by a very kind friend over the summer holidays we're now trying to find a kindly soul to give us some tips over a few cuppas, and probably the odd bacon sarnie, at No.9.

In the brief periods of dry weather when I have ventured into the garden I noticed that one of my dahlia's is still doing me proud, and the lavender in my car boot bread bin smells delicious. Let me add that these are the only things looking good in my garden. No, the evidence is compelling, I'm not a natural gardener.

Let's finish with a little treasure, my tiny 50p green box from the last car boot haul. Question is, what can I do with it, suggestions please! A little goody bag will wing it's way to the most inventive!

going........going.......gone.........

2008-09-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have a little confession to make. I am addicted to avocados. Can't get enough of them. I try to find ways to stuff as many as possible into my weekly meal plans. Kit shares my obsession, not so Jack who'd probably rather eat a fried slug. Flitting through "Nigella Express" for lunchtime inspiration I came across her bruschetta recipe with tomatoes and avocados (does it have a "e" when plural - who knows?) and it was totally delicious. Simple and set to become a lunchtime staple in the VH household, better than a ham sandwich any day.

Another favourite in this house, Henney's cider, even better when they're on offer in the supermarket. It's even turned Ian into a cider slurper.

Finally, another half price offer, and a particular favourite of mine, Cadbury's Caramel, straight from the freezer, guaranteed to pull out any loose fillings. I like a bit of Green & Black's after a meal but for pure comfort food it has to be good old Cadbury's for me, it's my Northern roots you know!

See you later in the week, I'm off to slurp and munch - ooer missus!

onwards.............

2008-09-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

So, what do you do when you no longer have childcare as your main occupation? Flit about town gaily, meet up for coffee, read the books you've never had time for? No, you clean. At least that's the plan.

I'm not a naturally tidy person, my house and life is haphazard, disorganised, cluttered and untidy. No more. I'm to become a domestic goddess extraordinaire. In order to fulfil this role I had to buy a new piece of enamelware, I know it's a shoe cleaning one but it was cheap and it does the job. I have visions of myself floating about the house with my dusters, polish and rubber gloves, people marvelling at my gleaming taps, dust free mantelpiece and polished floorboards. Hah, who am I kidding, all I've managed so far is to tidy the tea towel drawer. Can't fit the rest in between coffee drinking, cake munching and blogging. Only don't tell, or I might have to get a job - Ian is showing a worrying interest in the positions vacant board at Sanisbury's, and it's not because he's always wanted to operate a checkout!

she's gone.....................

2008-09-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

With a little hesitation and a small smile she let go of my hand and her new school life began. A little bit of my heart went with her and I let the tears come only once I knew she couldn't see me. We enjoyed the last morning of our old life together eating sausage rolls, gingerbread biscuits and making fairy cakes. So begins the next chapter, exciting, daunting and for me just a little bit sad. How I'll miss her..................

This morning this little gem of a postcard popped through my letterbox from Andrea, just to let me know she was thinking about me, what better friend could I ask for? By the way Andrea, is that us three in the top left??

Thank you for all the fridge comments, I must also tell you that Andrea has a few sets of the glass, spotty lidded dishes left along with far too many gorgeous treasures. If you're interested please feel free to email her at andreahannis@yahoo.co.uk. By the way the mashed potato is STILL in the fridge!

a true case of design over substance...........

2008-08-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

Our last house purchase necessitated the acquisition of a new fridge. I'd always longed for a pastel blue retro style Smeg fridge freezer and much to my delight Ian agreed and we managed to find a "graded" one with a big discount. Not the best purchase we've ever made, yes it looks lovely but it has to be the most impractical fridge for all but the most minimalist of householders. The bottle rack is a great idea, but does ours hold bottles of Champagne, or even cheap plonk?.................oh no, we have three bottles of ketchup and three of BBQ sauce (we can never remember if we have either when shopping for an impromptu barbeque) The shelves are so squashed together that it's difficult to get at anything, and all the wire thingies have fallen off the door shelves so even a slightly aggressive door opening could end with a broken toe.

In an effort to organise my fridge I bought some lovely polka dot glass dishes from Andrea. I cannot bear to throw away leftover food immediately, I'd far rather put it in the fridge for three days and then chuck it out, makes me feel better somehow! This dish is holding on to last nights leftover mash.....................

I find myself staring longingly into the clean, ordered fridges of friends. Those American style ones with two door and, joy of joys, an iced water dispenser. I'm wishing an untimely death on our poor unsuspecting Smeg and wondering if anyone has come up with a pale blue, double doored, ice dispensing, self cleaning fridge yet!

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

I blinked and August disappeared!..............

2008-08-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

.............where did it go? The weather has been mediocre, and that's putting it kindly, but we've had a lovely, and sometimes challenging (very) few weeks. We've managed to do nearly all the things we wanted to at the start of the hols and still squeezed in an awful lot of pyjamas til noon laziness.

We started with a Mums and children trip to one of our old camping haunts in the Forest of Dean, which was a hoot. I think we may even have converted Andrea and although she insists otherwise I think she secretly loved it!

My sister brought her big and little girls down for a week, so there was much cooing and cuddling going on here and we even managed a couple of shopping trips. We had a great catch up and the house was a much quieter place when they left, how I wish she lived nearby!

Our trip to the Isle of Wight was a great success, although we arrived at our cliff edge site and were met with gale force winds and black skies. Trying to put a large tent up in windy conditions, Ian turned into a bossy school master and I spent a lot of time muttering. We did succeed and spent a very sleepless first night as the wind battered the tent. Fortunately the weather improved and we managed a few beach trips. The last night was one I will keep in my memory forever. We were fortunate enough to have a beach just below the campsite so we all went down, had a barbeque and lit a fire with driftwood collected by the children. Warmed by the fire we sat with our friends, enjoyed a bottle or two of wine and watched the children play cricket at the waters edge - pure bliss!

Other than that we've mooched around at home, been for long walks, seen friends and visited the local open air pool. We topped it off today with a visit to No.9 the lovely cafe belonging to Anna. Imagine my delight when I found it was only a five minute trip away. Jack and Kitty highly recommend the waffles, they are huge and cooked to perfection! Anna is a joy and it was so lovely to meet a fellow blogger in the flesh. We will be returning very soon!

Tonight will be spent sewing name labels into new school uniforms and trying to come to terms with the fact that in five very short days my baby girl starts school and I will become redundant. I'll leave you with some snapshots of their summer......................

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye..............

2008-08-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

So, the rain still pours down, but undeterred we are packing for our camping trip to the Isle of Wight. Every year we go away for a week with some special friends who moved away to Dorest four years ago. We will not be thwarted by the weather, our upper lips are well and truly stiff (if a little soggy) and we sail on Monday. Don't laugh, that's just plain cruel!

Whilst trapped indoors we have been enjoying the obligatory games of hide and seek, although Kit doesn't quite understand that the whole point is not that the seeker chooses your hiding place. The children have squabbled, cuddled, laughed, cried, secretly pinched each other when they don't know I'm looking, read hundreds of books and tonight enjoyed one of their favourite rainy day activities - potion making.

It's a very simple notion, give the children free reign over any dry ingredient in your cupboards and let them create. Mine always head straight for the chilli flakes and honey - yum. We also have to add water, milk, vinegar, a few herbs from the garden.............in fact anything they can lay their hands on. Tonight it was dumped in the toy mixer and, well, mixed. It's then decanted into a jar and has to be given a name, "ansuke" was tonight's choice. Two very happy children, and with the only rule being that everything has to go back into the cupboards, a very happy mummy, although I did decline the tasting offer, tempting though it was!

I'll be off the scene for a couple of weeks, so enjoy the rest of the hols and please can someone do a sun dance for us, rain coats are just so unflattering!

Do eleven broad beans constitute self sufficiency?..........

2008-08-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

...............oh, and a few very small carrots tasting peculiarly soapy?

Now, I'm not known for my green fingers. Optimistically I planted some carrots, broad beans, rocket and had some tomatoes donated by a sympathetic friend. We've had the results of the beans, all eleven them and very delicious they were too. The rocket was gone after two salads and of course I forgot to sow any more seeds. The carrots are strange. The tomatoes are more hopeful, I'm quite proud of them. However, I don't think I'll be adding myself to the huge waiting list for a local allotment because a: I'm a realist and actually quite lazy, and b: I'm a crap gardener. But I tried...............

We did get a few apples from our little apple tree.................

..............and this little beauty has been the star of the garden this year, ie. it's still alive! Unfortunately we can't eat it.

Kit is showing the same gardening skills as her mother. This is her "remedy" for an ailing rose that I was trying to save. Firstly cut off all the remaining leaves, next behead the rest of the flowers in the garden (very few), oh and the odd tomato, and add. Water profusely and wait...............I'm not holding out much hope!

We've been slightly more successful in the baking department. Using the childrens toy mixer we made pancakes, lots of them. And they've all gone, yum, yum!

More later in the week.........................................

red................

2008-07-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

During the school holidays the children and I naturally spend a lot more time together at home and the big benefit is that I haven't got the time to do any housework. This is the last summer holiday where Kit is still a pre-schooler so I'm determined not to spend the time hoovering and getting cross about the mess created by two little people. The sun has been shining all week and it's been bliss. The paddling pool is out and the water is now a beautiful sludge green, although the children don't seem to care. We've had trips to the library, the local lido and the park and generally enjoyed each others company (and got on each others' nerves quite a lot). Being at home so much makes you take notice of all the little details around you and I've noticed just how much red has crept into our home, from tea towels.................................

to stuffed pears.....................

from tins holding embroidery threads................................

to tins there for no purpose other than being pretty....................

from Kitty's first wellies that she wore constantly........................

to a Greengate cruet set...................

from my old ironing board and apron.................

to the children's rice bowls..................

from Kitty's new dress....................

to my favourite summer food, avocado salsa..................

The sun is still shining today (hooray!!) and we're off to a neighbours tonight for a barbeque. I'll leave you with a picture of something else we've been up to this week....................

..................henna tattoos.

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

2008-07-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Have to start with a picture, here's the children's favourite meal - jambalaya - cooked in my latest car boot treasure. You'll either love it or hate it!

Claire tagged me about a week ago with the following :: write a letter to yourself at 13. After reading Claire's fantastic and very funny letter I was, to be honest, a bit daunted. But here goes :

Dear Julia,

You're now older than your mum, and you'll never believe how quickly the journey here has been. It won't seem like five minutes since you were sitting in your Laura Ashley bedroom, listening to Paul Young and gazing at the ugly bloke from Depeche Mode adorning your walls.

With 40 fast approaching you'll find yourself in the midst of the most contented time of your life. Casting off all the insecurities of your twenties you'll enter into motherhood in your thirtieth year (no party then!) and finally find the "career" that has eluded you so far. It won't be highly paid, fast paced or earth shattering but it will bring your more satisfaction, happiness and fulfilment than any bonus ever could. Enjoy your midday lie-ins, they'll become a thing of the past, as will going to the toilet alone and leaving the house in less than an hour.

Give up now on the "Princess Diana" haircut, it does nothing for you and the amount of hairspray you're using will be contributing to global warming (don't worry, you'll soon be learning about that). A healthy diet does not consist of chunky Milky Bars and chipsticks. Appreciate what you've got and know that you'll never be a size 10 again, but also that you won't particularly care.

Try not to get too upset if the Valentines postie at school never delivers that huge cardboard card from Sean in the second year, by your mid twenties you'll have had your fair share of boyfriends and you'll have forgotten all about him. In the summer of '96 a man sporting a rather suspect purple and jade green fleece will laugh his way into your heart at your first meeting. 12 volatile but happy years later he will still make you laugh and look after you like no-one else could.

Friendships will come and go. You'll learn that some women never actually leave the school playground. Let them go and instead concentrate on the steadfast ones, those with whom you share your highs and lows, your tears and laughter, those who make you a better person, the ones you couldn't imagine life without.

One of your greatest pleasures will be your home. Just as it is now, it will be a bolthole, stuffed with your ever expanding collection of other peoples' cast offs, a place full of laughter, noise, tantrums and eighties music.

Try to understand your parents and their concerns about your whereabouts, their hopes and fears and their expectations. The screaming fits won't change anything and it will all become very clear later in life and you'll repeat the whole experience with your own children, but they won't have the freedom you do.

You'll still recognise yourself at nearly 40, there'll be a few more lines, and your skin won't quite exude that healthy glow without a bit of help, but overall you'll do. All around you women (and some men) will be injecting themselves with toxins, waxing away all body hair and lifting, removing and tucking in various bits of their bodies but you'll embrace you late thirties, with its' receding gums, grey hairs and wobbly tum and laugh your way through it, looking forward to the next 25 years!

love from Julia

Now I have to nominate some blogging pals so it's going to be Lucy, Fiona, Steph and Carol. Over to you ladies, if you feel like it..........

I'll end with a few shots of our French holiday which feels like a million years ago. I didn't have a chance to tell you much about it but one of the highlights was a trip to Honfleur, just looking at these houses made me want to move there..............

See you all later in the week............

tagged again...............

2008-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Lovely Lucy over at attic24 has tagged me with the "5 facts about you" tag, so here goes.......

:: along with most builders but almost nobody else I take sugar in my tea. I love these sugar cubes we got in France, they have the exact quantity of sugar..............perfect.

:: I briefly attended university after a gap year in which I worked in both insurance and banking, exciting eh! I decided in my infinite wisdom to do a degree in social work a long way from home, it didn't work out, I was working in a grocery shop by Christmas. Still, at least I got free satsumas!

:: I wet my pants in New York. We arrived carrying two incredibly heavy rucksacks and I sat on a very low wall and couldn't get up. I laughed so much I lost all control..........and that was before children!

:: I have to have my chocolate straight from the freezer, even slightly gooey, melted chocolate makes me feel queazy. My teeth won't thank me for it in later life, I'm sure.

:: My brief glimpse of a career in the late 1980's came when I moved to Middlesex (the nearest I ever got to London) and worked for a large multinational company. It didn't last long, the relationship I was in broke down and I scuttled home to my parents quick sharp. Get the impression I'm not really a high flier?!

So, there you go, a few snippets about me. I forgot to pass on the garden tag so I'll lump the two together and ask Lesley, Suzie, Claire, Anna and Sairer. Choose either one girls because I know some of you have already done one...........................

See you all later in the week!

Room with (not much of) a view..........

2008-07-12T03:54:00.000-07:00

So, it's Saturday morning. Ian's away, Jack's gone up the road for a drumming lesson, Kit's asleep in our bed feeling not entirely chipper, the breakfast dishes are still on the table and I've got 5 mins to fulfil (one of) my tag duties, the view from my kitchen window. Here goes, don't get too excited..................

As you can see the gazebo is still up from Kitty's party and will probably still be there come September. It's a nice place to sit in the shade from the sun - pah, what sun. Handily it also shelters you from the rain, jolly useful in the current weather we're enjoying.

As I've said before we live in the middle of a terrace of Victorian houses so we don't have a large garden. Our kitchen is nearly the full width of the garden so it doesn't have any windows down the side, it's sort of slotted between our neighbours' houses. The view from the french windows is of the whole garden, warts and all. It has two sheds, both of which are full of bikes, paint, garden tools, you name it, a large climbing frame and slide which dominates the view and numerous gorgeous bits of brightly coloured plastic.

I've been admiring all the other gardens on view whilst visiting other peoples' blogs and feel mine is definitely lacking. Basically, I'm not a natural gardener. I'm full of good intentions but I never actually see them through because in reality I can't be bothered. I want a garden to look fab without any work and it's not going to happen. I kid myself that I want a huge garden so I can wander around wearing a floaty skirt collecting vegetables and flowers but I'm more likely to be sitting in it with a cuppa and a good book ignoring the grass waving around my knees and the dandelions peeping at me from the flower beds. I have attempted to grow some broad beans this year but I swear I can hear the millions of aphids gorging themselves on them laughing at me so I've given in!

That being said I do like Jack's little apple tree next to the bench, the only tree in the garden, it's got a few years to go before I can hang a swing off it! I also like my lanterns dotted about the place. Actually I quite like the whole garden because most of the time it's filled with children's laughter and mess, the grass is dead in quite a few places where various toys have sat for weeks, and it's lived in and loved by both my children, what more could I want really?

Finally, at last vindication that I alone am saving the planet. Now I have an excuse for sneaking out of the house on a Sunday morning, unwashed and at an unearthly hour, sporting my eco bags. I'M BEING GREEN, Country homes say so - Hurrah!

Pride comes before a fall!...............

2008-07-11T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all, hope everyone is well and the rain here in the UK isn't getting too depressing. Wednesday it poured all day and was horribly reminiscent of last year when we suffered terrible floods over here.

Anyway, onto more fun and mildly amusing news. Yesterday was our summer sale, held here as I mentioned in my last post. Wednesday I frantically tidied away toys, socks, cuddly toys and all the other bits of crap that normally litter our house in order to be ready to set up all the stock on Thursday. The day was slightly manic because we had Kit's sports day and Jack's friend to tea, but other than that was going pretty well. Until, that is, I went along to sports day and with last weeks 2nd placing in the mother's race still glorious in my mind (there were only 5 running mind you!!) I lined myself up with about 20 other parents and sprinted off....................only to stop after three steps having either pulled or torn a muscle in my calf and in agony. Nobody really noticed me trying to hop off the race track, other than to advise me to move along because I was in danger of being mowed down by the returning sprinters!

Friends who were watching the race realised that I wasn't joking as I hobbled back to the classroom looking more Thora Hird than Zola Budd, wondering how on earth I was going to get home on my bike. Having never injured myself in sporting activity before, as I avoid exercise at all costs, I had no idea what had happened. Thank goodness for my lovely friends who drove me home, rubbed tiger balm into my calf, cleaned the kitchen floor for me, made my lunch and took Kitty off my hands for the afternoon. One of them who's about 6 months pregnant wheeled my bike home with her pushchair strapped to it - I hasten to add I didn't ask her to do so, she just turned up. When things like this happen you're just so glad to have good friends like that and I'm really grateful to them.

Anyhow the sale went on, I sported a delightful blue support bandage and dragged my gammy leg behind me like an extra from Michael Jackson's "Thriller". And what a success it was, the Pimms went down a storm, the rain held off and we had a great night. So great that I felt justified in treating myself to a few goodies from Andrea and Liz.................................

................the most gorgeous Greengate quilt which I have been after for ages. Andrea has a couple more of these reduced from £150 to £100 so if you fancy one give a me a nod.

Liz makes the most glorious handmade brooches and so far I must have bought at least eight of them, I just can't get enough, they're pinned to everything. Sorry about the odd view, blogger has decided to turn some of my photos around and I can't work out how to put them the right way up. I made a few of these little fabric coasters which went down well. I have a few left so if you'd like a set (4) they're £5, drop me a line if so.

Andrea has taken Kit off for the for day so I'm off to put my leg up, eat the leftover meringues and read my latest Country Living. It's hard being injured y'know!

Have a lovely weekend!

Confessions of a bag lady.................

2008-07-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

Hello,my name is Julia and I'm addicted to shopping bags...................

Seriously, I can't resist. I've got the whole lot, jute ones, fabric ones, ones made from recycled bottles, you name it I've bought it. I pretend it's because I'm an eco warrior but really it's because they're irresistible. I've never been bothered by handbags, I'm the sort of person who's far too disorganised to have more than one bag on the go at once and I also feel a bit sorry for the one that's been replaced by the new bag on the block. Labels don't concern me and I couldn't justify the cost of a designer bag.

These are the current favourites, both a couple of quid and so much more attractive than plastic bags don't you think?

But the overall winner has to be my good old string bag. Not the prettiest but it fits into any bag and you can squeeze loads into it. It's also worth taking out just to embarrass my gorgeous teenage niece who looks like she wants the ground to open up and swallow her whenever I take it out in the shops!

Did I mention they're also great for car booting, believe me you won't believe the goodies I've crammed into them. This is one of the latest acquisitions, 50p from a lovely man (didn't fit in the bag though!) A coat of paint and a scrap of oilcloth and another addition to the VH household is born.

A couple more things before I go. I've been tagged with the view from my kitchen window by Emma but it is absolutely pouring down here and has been for days, so I haven't forgotten and will participate as soon as the sun comes out, if it ever does!

Lastly I thought I'd mention that Andrea and I are having a little summer sale here this Thursday evening. We've also invited another lovely lady who makes the most gorgeous felt brooches. Really it's just an excuse to get together, eat strawberry shortcake and drink Pimms but any of you who are nearby and would like to pop in, drop me a line.

Better go, I should be cleaning and sewing. Bye all!

Drum roll please..................

2008-07-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Finally, the winner of the "Marie Claire Idees"............Very short on time so I decided to ask Jack to write a number between 1 and 34 down and he came up with 18 - the number of pirates he has. So Lizzie, it's you. Could you email me your address and I'll post your goodies off asap.

Quickie post tonight. It's a bit of a mad week. Mum arrived Monday, Kitty's birthday today and mine on Friday. I planned a lovely al fresco roast chicken birthday tea but Ian managed to amputate one of the chicken's legs, thus leaving only one, which went to birthday girl, leaving eldest child in a state of near hysteria resulting in Mummy totally losing her rag and shrieking in a not particularly flattering way in the back garden whilst Daddy made a hasty retreat. Sound familiar to anyone or is it just our family that's totally dysfunctional??!! Sometimes I wish for a detached house in which to vent my anger but I think my neighbours are all used to us by now!

Anyhow, birthday girl (4 today - how did that happen?) loved her presents which included the following ::

This dolls house was found in a skip outside a house in a very nice neighbourhood. I had to swallow my pride and knock on the door and ask if it was going begging, and it was. A coat of paint, wallpaper to be added yet, and some Sylvanian families and we have a very bijou little residence. I'm thinking of asking if I can move in, I'm sure there's no chicken leg warfare going on in there, it's far too civilised!

The deckchair was part of my car booty this weekend. We came back laden with stuff only to find that Ian had coerced the children into a walk around a fishing lake and locked me out. One of my lovely neighbours had to climb into our incredibly untidy bedroom, over the teetering pile of washing to let me in again. A quick coat of paint and some flowers and we have a very cute little chair, which I had intended to sell but once Kit has set her eyes on it, it became hers.

Last but by no means least, the lovely Sairer has awarded me the following and I must pass it on. Ho hum, it's such a difficult choice but here goes................

:: Fabulous Lucy at Attic24. A relative newcomer and a joy to read, especially those yummy recipes. I also copied the :: from her because I like it!

:: Gorgeous Kim at Ragged Roses. So eloquent and beautifully written and the most fantastic photos.

:: Witty Ali at Domesticali. Honest, funny and thought provoking. Ali has the brain I wish I had and I love all her posts.

:: Lovely Suzie at Suzie Sews. One of the first people to ever comment on my blog. Lovely thoughts on motherhood (and boy, is she a good mother!), crafts and life in general.

:: Fantastic Catherine at Mollycupcakes. I've mentioned her many times but you really should visit, she's a joy!

There are so, so many more I could mention but take a look at my faves to see who I love - reminds me, I must update it asap.

Thought I'd finish with my usual house shot. Ian has purchased a snazzy new camera which means we can take evening shots without a flash - what a revelation! It has far too many gizmo's and extra bits for me to have got to grips with yet but I can't wait to give it a proper go.

Thanks for reading, I'll be back soon. I will be visiting you all but probably won't have time to comment this week. Take care all........................ xx

Is there such a thing as "post party stress disorder"???......

2008-06-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to poison small children with too much suspiciously highly coloured food? Yes, you've guessed it, today was party time in the VH household. Eight 3 & 4 year olds ran riot through my tidy (not for long) home and, I hope, had a great time. The adults?............well we shared a jug of Pimms and pretended it was sunny!

Now I'm no baker (i blame the oven) and this cake proved to something of a challenge. Can anybody tell me why Barbie has such ridiculously long legs? It was either chop them off or sacrifice the sponge cake I'd made for us long suffering Mummies. In the end I decided I just could not amputate limbs just for a cake so we made do with strawberries and cream instead. May I say Barbie looks slightly relieved!

Small hint :: it really is impossible to keep Barbie's dignity intact when cutting the cake. She ended up with her (impossibly small) bottom hanging out of the back of the cake and looking slightly like she belonged in a very dodgy food related porn film!

As usual it's been a busy week and I'm feeling slightly frustrated because I've so many post ideas in my head but not the time to write them, probably how a lot of you feel out there.

Last Sunday Andrea and I went to London to visit a trade fair. We met the man behind the now famous "Sarah Smith" dishcloths with the flowers that have been mentioned here in Blogland so many times. After leaving we decided to have a little trek around the capital and managed (thanks to me) to get onto totally the wrong tube. We ended up in Portobello Road and from there walked about 6 miles (no joke) back to Kensington where we'd parked, via a very convoluted route worked out using only a tube map! Along the way we stopped for Sushi and walked through Notting Hill and Kensington Gardens. We laughed so much whilst we walked that I was beginning to rue my decision not to have followed my pelvic floor exercises! It was a truly great day out with a fab friend, one I'll remember when I'm old and grey and pushing her round in a bath chair (she's older than me, as I keep telling her!).

I haven't forgotten the giveaway, next post I'll choose the winner. Have a lovely weekend all, I'm off for a large glass of wine, a lie down, and a chat with my other half...................(or, truth be told, to slob in front of the tv!)

Gifts galore!............

2008-06-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

What a lucky girl I've been this week, little gifts have been popping up everywhere!

What a nice way to get back into the swing of everyday life......................

First of all my lovely giveaway from Lisa, a gorgeous embroidered apron, a flowered napkin, some lovely lace trim, a copy of the magazine that I hear so much about in the US but we can't get here (boo!) "Romantic Homes", and yes, it is fab!. We also got a big packet of Smarties (curiously missing from the picture, who could the culprits be?) And Lisa, Ian passes on his gratitude for the now famous "Tim Tams" - yum!! Lovely, lovely, lovely, all of it!

Speaking of Ian, he returned from Manchester with some more Harvey Nichols goodies. Oh how I love having a man who loves a good food hall! Our normally barren biscuit supply is now bursting at the seams with "grown up" treats and he also brought me a lovely cup and saucer for my French style cafe-au-lait, just to remind me of our fab hols. The flowers came from a neighbour as a thank-you.

Next the postie came a-knocking with this little bundle from the ever gorgeous Catherine at Mollycupcakes. Two little parcels for the little people. What excitement they caused, Kit was in yellow heaven and Jack devoured the book. Catherine is one of the nicest, most generous blogger out there, you must visit her blog!

Lastly, my scrumptious boy made me my very own paper fastener flower bouquet. What more could a mum ask for? I'm hanging onto these moments, he's growing up so fast!

All in all I'm feeling very blessed this week, no doubt something will come and smack me in the gob to bring me back down to earth next week but for now I'm just going to enjoy the moment!

And now....................the latest giveaway. Whilst in France I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to purchase the lastest "Marie Claire Idees" and what do know, another one just happened to slip into the trolley with it! Anyone who would like to get their sticky mitts on this and a couple of other little treats I'll pop in, leave a comment. I'm not showing a picture of it because I forgot to take one, but it'll make it even more exciting dontcha think!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend........................

A day of simple and slightly surreal pleasures........

2008-06-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Back into full blogging mode, although I do have to catch up with you all. Two posts in two days must be a record in the VH household.

After a lovely weekend of nosing round houses and seeing some lovely artwork at the open studios in Stroud and a relaxing Father's day, Monday started off in its usual fashion. Coffee with Andrea and Maureen straight after school drop off. We decided to go al fresco and enjoy the morning sun. Deep in conversation and munching on pastries we were suddenly joined by an elderly gentleman who just wanted a chat. After regaling us with his military history he then proceeded to serenade us with songs by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, in very hushed tones. Slightly surreal to be sung to at 10am on a Monday morning but there are worse ways to spend your time!

Kitty had her first session at school and after a slightly hesitant start seemed to enjoy it. She didn't want me to leave her but after realising that I was the only neurotic parent left (as usual)I reluctantly bade her farewell. It was very difficult, she looked like a little lost sheep amongst all the other faces. I'm pretending that September is a very long time away and making the most of the couple of months we have left together at home. It's very hard to know that my baby will be in the whole school system so soon and again I wish we had the continental scheme of keeping them at home a bit longer. Ahh well, such is life.

I do love having a bookworm for a child but it costs us a fortune. I try to use the library as much as possible, but being chronically disorganised means I run up fines larger that the national debt and therefore ashamed to show my face. Charity shops are a great help and on Monday Kit and I trawled them and came home with a few goodies. Hence this is where number one son was to be found after school that very evening................................

..................not the most comfortable armchair but perfect in his eyes, also great for watching my neighbours dogs at a safe distance, dog phobic as he is!

Thought I'd end with some holiday pics. It was a wonderful holiday, the weather was very mixed but we did get to the beach, and many of the towns we wanted to. We ate oysters galore washed down with cider, too many baguettes and crepes to think about (why are the French so healthy??) and wandered down lovely quiet cobbled streets dreaming about living there. Bliss.........

................a spot of Saturday Night Beach Fever!

........................the house in the middle is mine!

................Kits first horse riding attempt, she loved it!

Thanks for all the lovely comments about Ian's mum, they really are much appreciated. Life goes on here, as it has to with two young children, they are a great distraction.

Watch this space, a little giveaway coming shortly.....................

The best and worst of times.............

2008-06-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Another long absence, my sincere apologies. I'm sure some of you must have thought we'd sailed to France and decided never to come back, we were sorely tempted, let me tell you!

I've ummed and ahhhed about how to phrase what happened to us over the half term break. In some ways I was reluctant to blog about it because it's very personal, hence the long absence. Unfortunately when we were on the way to the ferry we received the news we'd been been dreading, that Ian's mum had taken a very serious turn for the worse. We turned back and Ian drove straight to Scotland whilst I went to my folks up north. Sadly Helen died that night at 10.30pm, but Ian made it in time to be with her. Although not completely unexpected it was a very sad time for all of us, Helen's children in particular.

Helen was a truly remarkable, brave, selfless and lovely, lovely woman. It was a privilege to have known her for the past 12 years, and she was the best mother, grandmother and friend you could wish for. She will be very sadly missed by us all.

We decided to still have our holiday, a week later, the day after the funeral. We thought it was probably the best remedy for our little family. It was a good decision, we had a truly lovely time, chilled out, played together, read lots and drank lots of French cider, it was the tonic we all needed.

I'll be back later this week, there's so much to catch up on.

Julia x

We're off................

2008-05-21T11:44:00.001-07:00

Euros have been bought - what happened to the exchange rate, I think we'll be taking our own wine over at this rate! Activity books have been purchased, we've raided the library, clothing for all eventualities has been packed, sun cream and thermal undies stowed away, wellies and flip flops, bikinis and fleeces all stuffed in. We're ready!

Won't be around for the next couple of weeks, but I hope you all have a good half term if it applies and if not just enjoy whatever you're all up to!

Thanks for all the tv comments, I was a bit worried I'd have become a social outcast!

Au-revoir!

Lazy days.................

2008-05-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

We've had a lovely lazy weekend. The weather has been a bit hit and miss so we haven't strayed very far, only to the park and a Beavers session. Ian's been away visiting his mum who has recently become very ill so it's been down to Mummy to entertain the troops - gulp! Fortunately we were rescued by friends both yesterday and today who came round for a play.

This afternoon, hoping to keep my bottom on a chair in the garden for longer that two seconds I set my children the "pirates" challenge we used to play as children. Get from one end of the garden to the other without touching the grass, using anything you can find. They loved it, kept them entertained for ages until Jack fell off the extremely precarious bridge he built using plywood and an old seaside bucket. I did try to explain the structural failings of the design but he wasn't having any of it! One lesson learned - mum knows best!

One thing very seldom heard in this house is the dreaded "I'm bored" phrase. I don't know if it's just that my children at nearly 8 and 4 are too young for that yet, but at the moment it isn't an issue. I made a decision when Jack was a baby that our children would not watch television. Most people thought me totally weird for making this choice but I stuck by my guns, and at times I wondered if I was doing the right thing. I knew that because I'm all for an easy life, if I started to let television creep in I would all too easily allow it to become a babysitter so I decided to not have it at all.

Many people told me that Jack would suffer among his peers at school because he wouldn't know about "Pokemon" or "Power Rangers" but that hasn't been the case. Ok, so he doesn't know the latest tv craze or any of the characters but he seems to manage without them. His love of books, lego and the great outdoors keep him more than entertained and although he doesn't have tonnes of friends he has enough to keep him happy.

Now they are both older we have brought a Friday night is tv night rule into play where they can choose a dvd or to watch something on tv. More often than not the tv is only on for half an hour and then they drift into the kitchen to see what I'm up to. I do wonder sometimes if they will grow up to be telly addicts because it was denied to them as children but at the moment it seems to be working for us so we're sticking to it. As parents we seek to do what we think is best for our children and this is one thing we thought was important, to bring our children up to have a thirst for knowledge, a love of books and the ability to entertain themselves.

Thought I'd end with some garden pictures. I'm no Percy Thrower, in fact I've killed off more plants than I've nurtured but my little (and only) bed is surprising me this year. I planted a few perennials without much confidence last year and most of them seem to be returning apart from two geraniums (I thought no-one could kill a geranium!) and the lupins. I'm looking forward to the next couple of months.

I keep my herbs in an old tin tub, I love picking my own from the garden, makes me feel all virtuous! We haven't got a patio at the moment (we did have a scary quote recently, so it's gone on the list of things to do) so I'm struggling where to put my pots. The railings are halfway through at the front of the house, I'll post some pics when they're finished.

Hope I haven't put you off with the whole television thing, I debated about posting it but it is an important thing in our house and part of our life so I decided to take a risk.

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

And the winner is....................

2008-05-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

First of all apologies (again!) for my absence. Time seems to be running away at the moment and blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. Also the sun has been shining and the last place I want to be is in our basement on the 'puter. Need a laptop, only problem is that finances are needed elsewhere so it will have to wait.

There's been plenty of paddling pool and water slide action, all meals have been outside and it's been bliss, shame the rain's arrived today, still, at least I won't have to water the pots!

We always dress for dinner in this house!

So..............the giveaway. We held the draw this morning and the winner is................

Congratulations Sairer, can you email me your address and I'll post your goodies asap! I hope you like them all.

I read Lucy's latest post about mugs and it got me thinking, as well as making me laugh. There are certain "rules" in this house that I expect everybody, ie. Ian, to abide by and in his way he tries to break them.

Firstly tea and coffee canisters. I insist that the tea canister should ALWAYS be on top because I drink more tea and need quick access. However when Ian makes the drinks I always find the canisters like this...............

.................not only is my tea at the bottom but it's also facing the wrong way!

Next, dinner plates. Ian refuses to eat off my priceless treasures, or "other peoples' tat" as he describes them. So rather than reach up to the easily accessible plate rack he rootles around in the cupboard to find a plain white one.

Same with mugs, he doesn't like the flowery ones hanging above the sink so he's off again into the cupboard to find the "manly" ones.

Don't get me started on towels!...................

I can't really complain about him though, he has to be the most accepting man when it comes to my car boot trips. He merely raises his eyes, sighs almost imperceptibly and feigns interest. Only occasionally does he look truly horrified, so I can forgive him for his plate, mug and canister foibles. That's not to say I'm not working on him, control freak that I am!

Talking of car boots here are a few of the latest finds.............................

......................gorgeous green stuff

....................another fab eiderdown for a couple of pounds

...........................and another teapot.

Have a lovely weekend all................................

A woman's work is never done!.......

2008-05-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Not only do you have to make the tea....................................

....................you have to do the dishes as well!...........................

Hope you've all had a lovely, sunny weekend. Keep those comments coming, I'll close the giveaway on Thursday.

Do snails actually have any purpose?..............and a GIVEAWAY!

2008-05-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Look what they've done to my prized and only allium. I've been watching this little beauty with baited breath after planting it last year. All was well until the snails launched a major assault on it and ate through the stem. Aaarrrggh!

The children are tucked up in bed in a state of frenzy wearing two gruesome (gorgeous) very bright blue and orange t-shirts which came free with our holiday details today. Yes people, a holiday, a trip to France no less. I don't know who's more excited, me or the children! It will be our first trip abroad as a foursome and we can't wait, only 3 weeks to go, no childrens' passports as yet, a minor detail which I'm sure will be sorted, fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed!

The weather tonight has been fantastic so we've managed tea in the garden, yum! This is the after photo, note the fabulous garden furniture, ie. camping table and kitchen chairs dragged outside. We have been through so much garden furniture, we're just not capable of looking after them and after a year they rot and people end up falling through the chairs!

Kitty and Jack entertained themselves for ages carting jugs and buckets of water through from the kitchen to pans, seaside buckets etc. and then pouring them down the slide so they could whizz down fully clothed. I can honestly say my children are the dirtiest I've ever come across, show them mud and they'll throw themselves headfirst into it.

Well done for staying with me through all that waffle, now my first year giveaway. I've decided that it's going to be a surprise gift, I don't know if that's the done thing, but I'm sticking with it. I love getting surprises, so leave a comment and the first name out of the hat will receive some extra special goodies. So join in, lurkers very welcome, it'd be great to hear from you. (Andrea, I know you're reading and you're not allowed to join in!)

I'll finish with some more gratuitous house shots, my bedside table, complete with handcream, a sure sign of ageing!

Finally a rather blurry shot of our understairs coats, hats, shoes etc. etc. storage area having had a major overhaul.................Enjoy the weekend everyone!

It's been a while...................

2008-04-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

Having just survived the whole bath and bedtime routine I'm back! Is it just my two or do all children go mad just after bath and before bed, at the particular time when I'm at my most grouchiest/hungriest/exhausted?? We've had the snorkelling bath routine tonight which was the cause of much merriment and general farty/squirty noises, hmmm probably explains the overexcitement! So, where to start? I suppose with the snow that you've all posted about and are probably sick to death of by now but bear with me, I'm a little behind. We did manage our one and only sledging trip of the year which was fantastic fun if only to watch my friend Marion whizzing down the biggest hill in our (now broken - sorry kids) sledge wearing a bright green duffle coat and screaming with delight! I have to add that I did it too but only after she'd done the first run, cowardy custard being my middle names.

That started our holiday off with a bang and as our friends departed from their weekend visit my sister and her brood arrived for a few days of shopping, lazing about and cooing over our new baby cousin.

We than had a few days up north at my parents house, Jack came down with chicken pox so took to his bed and Kit and I visited aforementioned baby on numerous occasions for more cooing and smooching.

During the holiday Kit took advantage of long days at home and a clear space in the kitchen to learn to ride her bike (with stabilisers, before you think she's a 3 year old olympic hopeful). This involves her whizzing around the table and island unit at an ever increasing rate of knots, much to her father's great disapproval. I'm of the lazy parenting school of thought, if it keeps them quiet and it doesn't hurt anybody, let them get on with it. That's not to say I don't wince every time she scrapes along my lovingly painted units! She now likes to cycle to school when she can which involved us getting caught in a thunderstorm wearing nothing but a cotton cardigan between us on Monday. Something tells me the safest place to be in said thunderstorm would probably not be on a bike!

Can't put Kit in without mentioning big bro' so here's a picture of a theatre he made with his dad tonight...........................

Whilst I've been gone my first anniversary passed me by on the 20th April. As is the tradition in blogland I'm preparing a little giveaway so keep watching!

Last weekend was the Sudeley Castle grand spring fair at which Andrea launched her new company "Lottie's Barn". I was planning on sharing a stall with her, but I know my limitations and decided that the year before Kit started school was not the best time to set a business up. It was a great success, her stall stood out as one of (if not the) best at the show and she did a roaring trade. She still has a few choice Greengate bits and bobs left so let me know if there's anything you're after.

I'll end with a picture of my new doormat, too exciting I know, be still your beating hearts! Don't you just love it, one of my first purchases from Andrea. Try not to look at the scruffy door, that's what comes from having a son who kicks the bottom of it to open it, every time!

Off now for my weekly fix of "the Apprentice", I love it, love it, love it! Keep posted for the giveaway!.....................

Taking after Mummy......

2008-04-03T03:28:00.001-07:00

Don't you love forget-me-nots? They take me back to my childhood when the garden was full of them. They are, however taking over my small bed and every year I have to haul loads of them out!

It's been a creative few days here in the VH household. Last week the weather was dire so the children and I decided to be crafty. Now I have to tell you, quite often the words "can we paint?" fall on deaf ears in this house, I try to avoid it at all costs, the mess and most of all the clearing up afterwards put me off, cruel mother that I am. So in order to avoid poster paint armageddon we had to come up with an alternative. Inspired by all the fabulous blogs I read we borrowed a few ideas and here's what we did..........

I asked both of them to draw anything they liked. Jack chose a seaside theme and Kit chose a party scene complete with flags (bunting) and her new baby cousin, my sister and her big cousin.

They then had the choice of any fabric from my massive scrap collection (can't bear to throw even the tiniest bit away!). They decided where each piece would go and I then bonda-webbed them on and machine stitched around each piece. We stapled them to cheap canvases from the craft shop, et voila, Jack and Kitty now have their very own masterpieces in their bedrooms...............................

They're both really pleased with the results and I love the fact we've got a permanent reminder of the stage they're at at this moment in time. We've got loads more ideas in the pipeline!

Last weeks car boot purchase (found by good old Andrea) has become Kitty's new throne in the kitchen. Deciding we didn't like the orange pine effect we thought we'd throw even more colour into our already rainbow like kitchen and painted the new addition bright yellow, Kitty's favourite colour in the world.

Of course, we couldn't leave Jack out of the equation so his old chair got a coat of "letterbox red" and it looks great. As always his beloved weekly copy of "Beano" waits for his return from school.

I often wonder what my children will remember about their childhood home and whether it will influence them as they grow up. Will they become staunch "minimalists" or will they embrace colour, clutter and general chaos as I do?? Sometimes even I think there's too much in this house, it does make for much more cleaning, but I can't help it, it seems to be an inbuilt desire to surround myself with stuff and my entire family have the same affliction. May as well give into it eh!......................

Before I go, a lot of you asked which books we have been reading in our book groups. Here goes.......

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards - nice, easy read.

The Collector by John Fowles - bit disturbing, not one I'd have chosen but really enjoyed it.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - a great book I thought, bit depressing but thought provoking.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson - my choice after reading "life changing" type reviews about it. Didn't change my life one iota, but a nice, gentle book.

Nana by Emile Zola - A hard book to get into but once I did I really surprised myself by loving it.

Hope this helps those who asked, have a lovely weekend everyone, school holidays start tomorrow, yippeee!.............

Who ate all the Mini-Eggs?.............

2008-03-27T05:13:00.001-07:00

Good afternoon everybody and I hope a good Easter was had by all. Vast amounts of chocolate have been consumed in this household, purely for medicinal purposes you understand! Kit and I have been suffering from the dreaded lurgy this holiday which just seems to be leaving us now. It has not however stopped us from enjoying the few days off.

We ventured out on Saturday to give our new ebay bargain (99p!!) it's first outing. Don't you love it, it smells a bit suspicious but once you get over that it's fab! We stuffed the box with ham and egg (adds to the aroma beautifully!) sandwiches and chocolate cake, filled the flasks with hot coffee and went off to Minster Lovell for a picnic. We hadn't banked on how cold it was so we managed to sit in the car and eat our goodies before dragging the children down to the ruined hall in the bitingly cold wind only to immediately turn round and head back to the car for more cake!

Easter Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast after our garden egg hunt. We lit the fire and treated ourselves to croissants in front of it. Before you picture the idyllic family scene let me tell you it involved one very sulky 7 year old who was having a terrible time trying to stand his Easter chicken up for the photo shoot, whilst his father tried to hide himself behind the crossword! Never mind, I enjoyed my breakfast at least!

We had a lovely Easter lunch with friends, followed by another egg hunt and a very lazy and relaxing afternoon doing absolutely nothing, something I excel at!

Finally, today everybody is back at school / pre-school so I have the house to myself. It's tidy and there's nothing I need to do for the day so I'm catching up.

The garden is starting to spring into life. At last my camellia has flowered. Each year we get loads of buds which then seem to shrivel up and fall off before blossoming, however this year having moved it to a more sheltered position we've been rewarded with theses lovelies......

Tonight it's book group night. Last year six of us, three of whom I'd never met before, decided to start a small group. It's been a great success, it's made me read books I'd never would have chosen and although I haven't enjoyed all of them it's been great to discuss them with the others. I didn't want to be part of a high brow, literary group, I think there's too much intellectual snobbery about literature when really reading should be about pleasure. I did however want to challenge my brain slightly and I can confirm it still works! It's a very diverse group, so we each bring something different to the discussion including a lot of laughter about life in general. Tonight we're going out to eat to celebrate a 40th birthday so after a couple of bottles of wine there may not be much book dissection!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Memories.........

2008-03-19T04:07:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the tiny photos, I had to nick them from the internet and cannot resize them for the life of me!

Whilst cycling through the park this morning on the way to pre-school, enjoying the sunshine with Kit singing one of her made-up songs behind me it suddenly struck me. Only a few more months of this and my baby will be at school. Why does life have to whizz by at such a pace?....................

Three ladies and a Renault Espace..........

2008-03-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

Where do I start? Life has been totally mad around here for the past couple of weeks. Last week we had five people staying at the house for race week. Each year I say "never again" in the run up to the races when we're desperately trying to get the house ready, but then when everyone's gone the house seems very quiet and we're looking forward to next year! We wandered up to the race course after school on the first race day and watched the horses through the fences, the children were so excited to see them so close.

Everybody left on Saturday morning and we had a lovely relaxing day. We wandered into town and had some lunch, then we came home with a couple of dvds and a huge tub of popcorn, lit the fire and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Sunday was my day off and three of us drove into London for the Country Living show. Rather than park outside and tube it in we decided in our great wisdom to drive straight to Islington. I've never driven in the centre of London before, I apologise to Ken Livingstone profusely, I thought those lovely quiet (ie. bus) lanes were there specifically for 30+ novice London drivers! It was an experience, as you can probably imagine, we managed to buy an A-Z which didn't reach Islington, but we got there in one piece and managed to park right next to the show.

I didn't go mad there, I just bought a couple of things including the glasses below............

and these fabric flowers which smell gorgeous, like rose soap, I wish I'd asked the seller what she'd put on them...............

There were some fabulous stands, so inspiring. I thought it was a better show than the Christmas one and we'll certainly be back next year. I love the whole atmosphere, being surrounded by so many gorgeous things, there were some lovely vintage stalls.

We ended the day with a late lunch in a great eaterie in Islington called "The Elk in the Woods", very trendy, animal skulls all over the walls (why??). Fortunately the vegetarian amongst us had her back to them!

Back to normal today, quiet house, the smell of hyacinths everywhere and a Cadbury's creme egg. Bliss!.................

Nearly done.............

2008-03-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness it's nearly over! Ian and I have spent the last two weeks frantically cleaning out our two basement rooms in order to have the new carpets put in. Last years floods caused a bit of damage down there so we've had it redecorated and re-carpeted. Now I'm not much of a carpet person, much too dirty and clumsy, but it's been a bit of a revelation. Kit and I played down there last night and it was actually comfortable to sit on the floor. I'm so used to floorboards that it felt quite nice to be on the floor and I could actually get up without groaning like an eighty year old!

Anyway we went from this........................

............................to this. This is our new spare room, and I have to say the floods were a blessing in disguise for us. We couldn't have afforded to redecorate down there but now we have two lovely new rooms without the hideous carpet. It's been quite stressful because the basement is the dumping ground for all our junk, and believe me there is a LOT of it, since we don't have a loft here. That junk has now been distributed around our house, and we've nearly finished.

This is part of my new work room. My lovely other half (what do you call an unmarried partner - boyfriend is too young, partner too business like!) agreed that I could have the room for my sewing and it is lovely. No more clearing the kitchen table before tea, I can't wait to get started. I've been painting all the furniture down there, including a very overpriced Laura Ashley console table that I'd gone off (sorry Mum!). I've had to agree to one bike being kept in there but I'll work on that one.
I've now got dedicated fabric storage, no more precarious piles everywhere..........

The photos aren't brilliant, I had to use the flash and it washes out all the colours, but believe me it's colourful!

So now I'm in relaxation mode. Ian's away tonight so I've got homemade rice pudding in the oven (makes him want to vomit) and I'm sipping (gulping) Lidl Devon cider because we've no wine, as usual. I know how to live!

Have a lovely weekend everyone, thanks for all the lovely comments about my gorgeous niece.............

Welcome to the world.......

2008-03-05T01:47:00.000-08:00

This gorgeous little bundle arrived on Saturday 1st March at 10.10pm weighing 8lb 4oz. Say hello to my new niece Olivia. Mum and baby are doing brilliantly, my sister is such a natural mummy, Olivia is a lucky, lucky girl! Her new dad is thrilled to bits too. So starts a new life............ Needless to say Jack and Kitty are thrilled with their new cousin and lots of kissing and cuddling went on during our visit. It was sad to leave them knowing we won't see her for a couple of weeks. They both made cards for her but only Kit would let me take a photo of hers, don't you love the hair on her baby!...........

I received these in the post this week. I ordered them from applehead after seeing them on another blog (sorry, can't remember which one). They are so cute, this one is my particular favourite, I love the red polka dot dress. I love the fact that you discover things through other peoples' blogs that you wouldn't otherwise know about.

I treated myself to this button box from good old Cath Kidston a couple of weeks ago. Mum and I spent a relaxing hour sorting all the buttons out and it will really help not having to root through jars to find the right button in future.

Mum found this little shelf unit in a charity shop for me, a coat of paint and it's a great place to put just some of the old tins that litter this house. I have so many, but all of them are used. The problem is that I forget which one holds the particular thing I'm looking for so I waste so much time looking through all of them. It's hard work being a compulsive hoarder y'know!

This is the ferry which capsized near Heysham and then floated into Cleveleys where it is now beached. We went to have a nosy on possibly the coldest and windiest day of the year. Jack was fascinated, the picture doesn't really show how big it is, but the waves were lashing against it and it was a pretty strange sight.

Finally a plea for some advice. I 've finally mastered Bloglines (I think) but I can't leave comments on blogs straight from it. Is there a way to do this or do you have to go into the blog separately? Any help will be very gratefully received.

Also, I've been tagged to do the archive meme, I haven't forgotten I promise, I will try to get round to it asap!

Have a great week everyone, I'm endeavouring to catch up this morning..................

My Kingdom for a horse..............

2008-02-18T03:35:00.000-08:00

It has been another glorious weekend here in the Cotswolds, the sun has been shining for days but it's still incredibly cold. I love it, this is my favourite weather.

Mum and I ventured to Stratford-on-Avon on Saturday for her 60th birthday treat. We bought her tickets for "Richard III" at the RSC Courtyard Theatre. It wasn't really Dad's cup of tea (ie. not involving a fishing rod) so I got to go with her - hee, hee! I was a bit unsure about watching a Shakespeare play having had no involvement with him since A Levels. I was a bit concerned that I may not understand it. I needn't have worried, it was fantastic! I'm well and truly hooked. It was the last of eight plays, a series called "The Histories". If you get a chance, get yourselves along there, it was a great experience, truly memorable. We spent the afternoon eating cakes, drinking tea and enjoying the atmosphere. It was lovely to spend time with Mum without any interruptions.

Sunday morning Mum had to go back up North, my sister is due to have her baby any day soon, I'm hoping she'll hang on until Wednesday when we'll be going to my parents for a few days.
Ian and I were supposed to tackle the basement rooms to clear them for the decorators, but after stamping around, shouting at the children and generally being bad tempered (me, that is) we decided "sod it" and went out to enjoy the sunshine instead. Before we went we all devoured the seafood platter Ian bought us as a treat. It was delicious and cost us a lot less than lunch out would have done. The remains are here for your delectation............attractive eh!

We came back and whilst Ian attempted to make some order out of the slum downstairs (before and after pics soon) I pretended to be busy upstairs. We put a bit of Neil Diamond on the ipod and had a good old dance in the kitchen. We (Ian not included) love a bit of Neil, particularly "Sweet Caroline" and some of Jack's dance moves have to be seen to be believed! My children will not dance in public but in the privacy of our kitchen they let rip. Jack must be the only eight year old who can identify Barry Manilow being played in a shop, what am I doing to them??

I'll finish with a couple of home shots again. Since I started the blog I notice things around the house a lot more than I used to. Helps me to ignore the general chaos which is around the place at the moment!

First, I love the colour of this soap and one of my car boot freebies, the saucer it sits on. After it's taken me ten minutes to turn the flipping shower off with the screwdriver (don't ask) it makes me smile to see a nice bit of our otherwise dilapidated bathroom..............

Kit's bedtime toys "put to bed" under the eiderdown on our bed. All around our house we find various creatures tucked in under blankets, tea towels, kitchen roll or whatever is to hand.......

My "granny grater" I bought in London from "Octopus". Isn't she cute? She cost me three times as much as my excellent and practical Ikea grater and she isn't half as efficient, but she's much better looking!.............

Have a great week if you're on half term or not. I'm getting a bit suspicious, my two have been together upstairs for an hour (hence the long post!) and it's ominously quiet! I'll probably go up and find Kit's been bound and gagged by her loving big bro'!

I've been to London - didn't see the Queen though....

2008-02-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon readers, here comes another weekend! Sorry for the lack of contact again, but life's been busy here. Mum has come to stay for the week so we've been out and about. The main reason behind her trip here was our trip to London last weekend. We went last Saturday, along with her sister, my aunt, to see "Shadowlands", the story of CS Lewis, at the Novello theatre. It was absolutely fantastic, at least as good as the film. By the end of the play the entire audience were in tears, it was so well acted, and very, very sad. We had a wander around Soho, ate lunch at "Wagamama's" noodle bar (delicious by the way) and just a little retail therapy. It was a lovely relaxing day.

Sunday morning, finances (or lack of) should have stopped me visiting the car boot but Andrea called to tell me how fantastic it was so what could a girl do?? Five minutes, no shower, no hair brushed and I was there. It was a beautiful morning and the car boot was massive, the goodies were never ending. I only stopped when I ran out of money (pretty quickly) but managed to scoop up some great bargains.

One stallholder had loads of linens including lovely old flannel pillowcases that I've been scouring the charity shops for, to no avail. I need them for a certain project I have in mind so needless to say I was in flannel heaven. I bought them all along with some lovely embroidered tablecloths and washed them the next day. The weather has been so lovely I even managed to dry them in the sun. Look at that lovely garden, do you think the National Garden Society would consider including me in their scheme??..........

Now they're all ironed and ready to go...............

I found another old basket and everything in it was free! I'd already bought a tea set from the man on the stall when he announced that he didn't want to take anything home so we could have whatever we wanted for nothing! No hesitation on my part, I filled a box with goodies.

Next I came upon this cute little picnic basket, which was filthy. Andrea could barely disguise her disgust at it but I think its lovely and it looks great now its been washed. Its even got the old paper plates with it, and I love the colours.

The sun shone through the whole weekend and our kitchen looks so lovely when the sun shines in, it seems to glow. I saw the poster on Kristy's blog and had to buy it for Ian for Chritmas, it's so apt for this household!

Finally I'll end with a shot of what my children get up to when I'm not looking. After running the bath for them last week there seemed to be a lot of laughter and shrieking coming from the bathroom. When I went up there was Jack in the bath still in his school uniform! I had to let Kit join him as he was so pleased with himself. Why he did it, who knows, but it certainly made bath time less boring!

Happy Valentine's day to all you romantics out there. Both children went off with a secret choccie loveheart in their lunchboxes today. They'll probably come home and tell me the chocolate was disgusting. Ian's come back from Manchester early, bearing gifts, after we agreed not to, but I'm not complaining. I've got a gorgeous "Benefit" set of toiletries and some lovely foodie bits from Harvey Nichols food hall including the "Pret a Manger" cook book - he knows the way to my heart!

Have a lovely day!.................

2008-02-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone. Hope you've all had a relaxing weekend. We've had a lovely weekend in the VH household. I was out Friday night at a friend's house for a lovely meal, and Ian and I went along to a neighbours to eat on Saturday. Needless to say, on Sunday energy levels were a bit low, I can't cope with two nights out on the trot, it's a sign of impending old age, I'm sure! Nevertheless Andrea and I managed to drag ourselves along to the local car boot early(ish) Sunday morning. We've been regulars for a while, but this is the first time we've managed to go this year. At first sight it looked pretty umpromising, it was absolutely freezing and compared to normal there were only about half the stalls. Looks can be deceiving, it turned out to be a very fruitful visit. Because the weather was so bad, and there weren't many people daft enough to brave it, the sellers were having a pretty thin time, so there were bargains to be had!
This lovely chocolate box with three layers of old buttons, and a sweet little tin jam packed with vintage needles.
A gorgeous fire screen which sits in front of our bedroom fireplace. This was a total bargain for a couple of pounds.

A beautiful little rose print which Kit immediately snaffled for her bedroom. It sits above her cute little rabbit picture from a charity shop. I love the fact that she and Jack love old tat as much as me!

I bought this tool kit a while ago from the car boot for a few pounds. Similar sell in childrens' catalogues for about £30. Jack loves it, he spends hours whittling away at a bit of wood which I remember doing as a child, although I didn't have the proper tools to do it.

We ended the weekend with a walk around Frampton-upon-Severn, one of our favourite places. As you can see on the picture Kit doesn't really understand the concept of walking, she prefers the carrying method, so Ian and I took it in turns to heft her around. Boy, was it cold, the wind was howling, I'm surprised Jack wasn't blown into the canal! There were certainly a few complaints coming from his direction, fortunately the wind carried them away!

This morning's plans have all gone out of the window because Jack seems to have the dreaded lurgy which is going around, so it's feet up, fire lit and snuggle in for the day (for him at least, suppose I'll have to tackle the dreaded ironing pile!)

Keep warm, see you all soon................