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

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!

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

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

Bicycles, books and blankets.........

There seem to be three obsessions going on in this house. Wherever I go I'm faced with piles of books, blankets in a heap, or bikes. I've just removed one of the aforementioned bikes from our bedroom where it was lounging against the fireplace, not an attractive addition to the decor to my mind. At the last count we had about 10 bikes in this household, bearing in mind we live in a terraced house and have no garage and a pretty small garden, that's a lot of bikes to conceal! To Ian they're a thing of beauty, to me they're an obstacle (apart from my gorgeous "Cameo" of course!) and I can regularly be heard muttering after catching my ankle on one of them.

Blankets are another key feature of this house. I can't resist them and the children seem to be following suit. Kit even has a serious blanket routine at bedtime, where no less that one duvet, one eiderdown and three blankets have to be tucked round her in the same order every night.

This is my latest little bargain, had to have it for the car. It's one of those gorgeous soft blankets, and red polka dot to boot!

Finally, books........All of us love books, they are in every room in this house. We have so many that I worry that one day I'll come home to find the house sunk into the ground under the sheer weight! I love the vintage Enid Blytons in Jack's room almost as much as he does (although Beano is beginning to take over!). Some of them are rescued from Mum and Dad's garage, but I've had to replace most of mine from childhood because most of our toys and books were passed onto our many cousins.

The books we keep on the living room bookshelves include Ian's beloved "Biggles" collection and all the books passed down by his Dad who was a professor of law. Needless to say I'm not often to be found reading "Employment Laws of Scotland" but they mean a lot to us and remind Ian of his Dad who's no longer here.

So there you go, what little obsessions do you have I wonder?.................

Bliss...................

An empty house, a cup of tea, a large (very) piece of cake, the latest copy of Country Living, a warm blanket and a comfy chair, what more could you ask for??..........

One good turn...............

Hi everybody, hope you've all had a good weekend. I'm hoping to get some time this week to catch up with all the latest in blogland. Where does all the time go? There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything and I can't cope with staying up after 10pm - one of the downsides to having small children!

I just had to share a story with you which once again restored my faith in humanity. Two weeks ago Ian did a 72 mile bike ride to raise money for Macmillan nurses. The day before he went I took Jack to the barbers where Ian has been going for years. Upon hearing what Ian was doing a man who I'd never met before turned and gave me £5 to donate, and then the barber told me that Jack's haircut was for free and to donate the cost to the charity. It's the little things like this that make you realise that the world isn't such a bad place and just how many decent people are out there - you lot being amongst the top of course!

Needless to say wonderdaddy completed the 72 miles no problem! How he does it I've no idea, the mere hint of a slight incline when I'm out on my bike and I'm feeling breathless!

We're well and truly back into the old school routine, Jack is enjoying being in juniors and tonight started drama after school. He really enjoyed it and is already looking forward to next weeks lesson.

On Sunday we decided to have a day of excitement and had a trip to London. We had an amazing day. We drove into Kensington in less than two hours and parked for free about 5 mins from the Natural History museum. What a place, the kids loved it, although I wouldn't recommend the food, unless you have a particular craving for cold pizza! We then drove to Buckingham Palace to show the children where the Queen lives. We could not believe how easy it was to get around London by car, and even better everything was free. The children saw all the landmarks and we got to drive around Notting Hill and fantasize about having squillions of pounds. After having a lovely supper in Windsor we came home tired but very happy, it was nice to visit but I couldn't cope with it full-time!

I love this time of year, the smell of the air and the chill in the mornings as we walk to school. I've ordered the logs, bought the kindling and I can't wait to light the fire. Everything about autumn makes me happy, I think I'm just a cold weather person, I love the long dark evenings, not having to shave my legs, wearing scarves and gloves and generally starting to hibernate!

Roll on October! I'll finish with my usual gratuitous house shot, some of the first things I ever collected, byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Spot the difference.............

There's a battle going on in this house at the moment! It involves the cushions on the sofa. I have a certain way I like to place them and every night before we go to bed I plump them all up so they look nice in the morning. I know, I know it's very sad but it's one of my "things" - I also can't leave the house unless all the beds are made, maybe I need to get therapy or perhaps a life??

Back to the cushions, I like them like this.........

But Kitty likes them like this.................

Because the floral one on the left has been claimed as her cushion it just has to go on her side of the sofa, but it doesn't look right! So we are having a very quiet battle, every time I go into the living room the cushion fairy has visited and the cushion has moved so I put it back, and so it goes on. Pathetic and a complete waste of time to some people I'm sure, but it's what goes on in this house, and she's only 2, what have I created??

Visited a couple of charity shops recently and picked up this lovely sheet, it's too small for our bed, and I can't bring myself to cut it up so I think it will become a tablecloth for our garden table. I hung it out on the line in the glimpse of sunshine we had yesterday and had that great "washing on the line" feeling, can't explain that one but hopefully you know what I mean!

Finally, I treated myself to some cherries yesterday, how expensive are they? £2.37 for this little lot, but boy were they worth it! There's no better taste in summer, although I always think the spitting out of the stones somewhat spoils the moment!

In the pink!

This is my favourite tea set. It was given to us by Ian's mum. I just love the little pink roses and tea does taste gorgeous when it's in a china teacup. The problem is I'm a true northern girl at heart and I like a good mug of tea, so the tea set doesn't get used very often. I am a total tea addict, completely horrible unless I have at least two cups of tea first thing. During the day I "treat" myself to cups when I think I've achieved certain things, it cheers me up and quite often calms me down. I love it!



Another vision of pinkness in this house is Kitty's bedroom, although she professes her favourite colour to be "lellow"- she's not allowed an opinion on home decoration yet, she's not even three! Both she and Jack share the top floor of the house and it's lovely and cosy up there tucked into the eaves with great views of the hills over the rooftops.

I found the curtain around the basin on Ebay, it came from the States. They have the most fantastic vintage stuff over there, much more than we have on offer here in the UK and quite often it sells for so much less, even taking the postage into consideration. (Is it my eyesight or are these photos blurry?)

It's a great place for hiding all the paraphenalia that children accumulate. The mirror above was a car boot bargain that I haven't yet got around to hanging, I can't quite bring myself to drill into the wallpaper!

Hope you're all having a great week, and here's to a sunny and relaxing weekend!

I can hear music.............

.............well, not quite!

Look what we got yesterday! A local church was getting rid of pianos so we couldn't resist. My friend who plays the piano could not believe that I wanted the painted piano, but I love it, it's the colour of vanilla ice-cream, and it goes so well in our playroom.

Not one of us can play an instrument or read music but you've got to start somewhere! J was totally disinterested until it arrived and now he and K are fighting over it (surprise, surprise!). I'm hoping it might spark a bit of interest in him and encourage him to learn to play something. I never learnt as a child and I regret it now. My friend Helen has lent me a book for children (about my level) to have a go with, so who knows - move over Liberace (I know he's long gone but he's the only pianist I could think of!)

Anyway, it's a great addition to the house, it took a bit of furniture rearranging and squashing things into already overloaded rooms but it looks like it's been there for years. I just want to get on it and have a go, but as soon as my bottom hits the chair I have two extra little pairs of hands to "help" me!

As a thank you to the church and Helen who organised the whole thing I made some cakes tonight for the tea dance. No.1 the plain old victoria sponge was a total disaster, all flat and pasty looking. I'm hoping with lots of strawberries and whipped cream and a generous smattering of sugar on top it will look edible. No. 2 a lovely raspberry and lime zest cake seems to be foolproof even with my hit and miss baking skills. I'll post the recipe shortly.

Lastly thanks to everybody who's left such lovely comments so far. It nice to think I'm not just wittering on to myself as usual!

The simple things.........

I picked these from the garden, can't afford real "shop flowers" but actually these look really cute I think. They're K's favourite colour so they certainly bring a bit of cheer to a bleak day.

Yesterday I felt so much better. K and I decided to collect J from school in the pouring rain. So, we donned wellies, raincoats and K got to use her frog umbrella. As I walked along behind and watched her splash in puddles and really enjoy herself my heart just lifted. It was one of those moments you have as a mum when you see things through your childrens' eyes and realise what a great place the world is (does that sound a bit schmaltzy??)

I made some great bread (recipe from vintagepretty.org) before J came home. Normally my bread involves a lot of swearing, sweating and not much success. However, even if I say so myself, this one was a triumph. We sat at the kitchen table and ate it still warm, with butter and mackerel pate (Sainsbury's not home-made!). K declared it "dishlishush" - praise indeed! As we were sitting there the sun broke through the clouds and poured into the room, a very simple and heartwarming 15 minutes full of catch-up and chats about life, it doesn't happen often enough. Of course there was the usual cup of tea accompanying it. Whenever I have a spare minute I make a cup of tea, don't drink half of them, but it's a habit. Still I suppose it's better than drugs, gambling etc.! Bit of a rock and roll lifestyle I lead, eh!

Just had to put this photo in. Love the shoes, they clomp up and down the stairs (terribly dangerous I know) and round the kitchen, normally pushing a shopping trolley laden down with bits gathered from around the house and other general detritus.

Thought I'd sneak in a picture of my favourite cupboard. I know it's not a corner of my home but it'll do. I love it, you can squash so much into it. I spend so much time when I'm sure I could be doing something much more worthwhile decanting pasta into glass jars that no-one sees because they're in this cupboard. But sometimes I just open the doors and stare into this cupboard like a lunatic, probably need to get out more really!

Tomorrow I've something new to show you, here's a hint, not too difficult really!

By the way if there are spelling, grammatical etc.mistakes through this blog I apologise, I have no idea how to use spell check so I just publish it and hope for the best!

Check out my list, I've added a few more delicious blogs to it.

The garden beckons

The sun has been shining for days now so the time has come to venture into the garden and try to do something creative with it. We only have a small garden, typical of a terraced house but I think it could be lovely. Only 3 weeks ago it was a compete tip, all the grass had gone and it was full of broken toys (no pics unfortunately so I can't do the garden makeover before and after shots!)

Then a man came with wheelbarrow loads of topsoil and rolls of turf and transformed it in a day. Okay, we're not quite ready for Chelsea yet but believe me it's a vast improvement....

Now all I need to do is add some plants. I've been and made a few purchases but to be quite honest I'm clueless when it comes to plants. I mean I watch Gardener's World but that's mainly so I can admire Monty's big hands! You can just see some of the perennials I've planted, they're not looking too thrilling at the moment, but I have great hopes. Any tips for great plants would be gratefully received. My problem is that I'm just too impatient and gardening is one of those things that takes time. So I'm trying to train myself into not going out there every five minute to see if anything has grown yet.

More successful have been my meagre selection of pots, here's a peek.........

I think auriculas are one of my favourite flowers. This little one had been ignored all year but when I moved it to it's new spot it suddenly gave me all these gorgeous flowers. I will be nuturing it from now on!

Geraniums are another favourite so I can't wait for these little lovelies to blossom.

Does anybody know what these are? I bought them years ago from a garden centre and they have flowered faithfully year on year but I don't have a clue what they are. (Note the space hopper in the background, sort of spoils the effect!)

Finally I have planted a few pots of various salad leaves. I'm always totally over excited when anything sprouts, I come over all evangelical and drag the children over to see my efforts. Needless to say they're a bit nonplussed about the tiny seedlings, but I love them!

I had a bit of time today whilst Kitty slept to firstly sit in the garden and read my new books, hence I now have minor sunburn - why do I never learn? I also managed to make a new cover for my car boot deckchair so I now have somewhere to laze on those hazy summer afternoons, glass of Pimm's in hand (who am I kidding?).

Don't you just love the feeling that summer is on it's way?

I LOVE this room!

Finally, our kitchen is more or less finished so we have gone from this.....

to this..............
It finished on time, of course took at lot more money than the initial £2.50 we'd anticipated but we love it! It's the first home that we know we will be staying in for a long time so we decided to bite the bullet and create something we really wanted. The builders were fantastic and the whole project ran smoothly. Of course we'll never be able to go on holiday ever again or actually feed the children but who cares! This room has become the hub of family life, and it keeps the children from sitting on the cushions in the living room - am I the only one with a weird obsession about small people squashing cushions flat?

Here's another couple of views of it if you're interested...

Notice the plates (see 1st blog)

So we're mortgaged up to the hilt, thank goodness charity shops are still cheap. Finances can be quite tight when only one of you is earning but fortunately neither of us are into flashy cars or expensive holidays. This year we shall be dragging the trusty tent out of the shed again and wheeling our way over to Wales with friends, praying for good weather. The children love it and to be honest if the sun shines on us there's no better feeling than sitting in a blanket under the stars with good company and a few glasses of wine.

Of course if it pours down that's another story completely!................