AWOL

Hi All

had to take a little blogging break due being poorly sick and a little visit to hospital but hoping to be back soon as I am on the mend slowly but surely :-)
Lx

always take the weather with you .........(& blogiversary giveaway)

sunny days are back again :-) which makes a nice change from the random rainfall that appears from nowhere and soaks me through as I am never prepared.

Sports day was rained off which I wasn't that bothered about - I still have that dread of sports day even though its my children taking part and not me. The feel of those scratchy, rough, will rub your skin raw, hessian sacks for the sack race. Because I am not the tallest person in the world it was hard to hold it up and not end up with it over my head! I remember jumping like my life depended on it frantically keeping the finish line in sight then realising I had managed to cover about half a metre and was completely spent!!! so forgive me for not entering into the spirit of the whole sports day event its just not my thing ;-)


I'm more of a collapse in a heap as soon as the children are in bed - i would win the "how quickly can you pour a glass of wine and find any leftover chocolate" race though but we all have our priorities don't we ? ;-)

Sports day did go ahead a few days later and the children loved it so will keep my thoughts to myself and busy myself thinking of things to make with my 25% off Laura Ashley fabric. It was so busy in there this weekend and I just kept grabbing random people saying please cut me some fabric before hubby comes in from the other shop and sees what I am buying :-D We have our school fair in a week or so that I was thinking of making some bits and pieces for to donate to the raffle/tombola but we shall see as I'm a bit nervous about putting my stuff "out there" as not many people know I'm into all the crafty stuff - do you find your in the minority with liking sewing, crochet etc?

In the meantime I will keep checking on my tomatoes which although are now resembling a small rain forest have no signs of even one small green tomato!!!

I am extremely offended by them and am obsessively checking them morning and night! I feel under some pressure as Mother in law and my parents have asked for samples and I am sure they think I will have killed them off before any tomatoes appear so may have to resort to Tesco's finest and pass them off as my own ;-) This ladybird is even checking if there are any like the growbag promises!! wonder if I can get a refund................


I missed my blogiversary a few days ago and as I have joined in with the Pay it Forward tag I will combine the two and say that 3 of the comments I receive will get a little something from me :-) the idea is that you then do your own Pay it forward post but I know how busy people are so I will leave the decision upto yourselves so please leave a comment anyway to be in the giveaway

Have a good week!
Lx

my feel good song of the moment ;-)

First heard on the Special K advert of all things! If I can't look like a slim toned special k eating girly I can at least dance around to this and pretend I do ;-)

Making things and playing with buttons :-)

Oh what a busy bee I have been this week :-) In a good way though. You know those weeks where you feel you have been really productive and got loads done rather than breezing through the days then realising its Friday!!!

I have been playing with more fabric and the yummiest buttons ever from The Crafty Fish. Are these not just the prettiest things you have ever seen!



I have been making little things for upcoming little friends birthday parties inspired by the lovely Mary Poppins (thanks Mary) although the "R" on this doesn't stand out enough does it? any ideas/suggestions anyone? Its not the neatest in the world but the first attempt was worse honestly! I just have a bull in a china shop mentality with the sewing machine and my foot is pressing on that pedal like I'm in the Grand Prix.



I have been playing with my new laminator (don't ask why I needed one it was just one of those must have impulses!) if anything gets left around it gets laminated at the moment :-D


I have been making little bits and pieces for small boy as I do tend to favour the pretty girly stuff for the Daughter usually!

The "J" looks a bit squiffy but I have since realised that I would be better off to have a flat back to these as you would not believe how difficult it was to turn this the right way after sewing it inside out.......



I did help the daughter with a little fabric cupcake practise picture and am planning on doing some "proper" versions of these soon as they are a great way to use up old fabric scraps :-)


All that was much more fun than worrying about half dead sunflower plants, the washing machine not spinning at the end of the cycle and why my skin seems to be sliding down my face in a "drooping and will need a face lift sooner rather than later" type of way.

I will post next week about the Pay It Forward that I have joined in with via Tabiboo so watch this space !

enjoy your weekend x

Fabric.

Fabric. My still quite newish love....... even more lovely when it's super discounted Cath Kidstony fabric. The cogs were turning in my brain with all the things I want to do with it! A week later I have made some half hearted attempt at a mini cushion and small tote bag but never mind :-) just owning it is half the pleasure isn't it ?!

My "special" cupboard is overflowing and I have no real need for any more items in the house so what do I do with it all!!! I wish I was better at this sewing lark and could sell some bits and pieces then at least there is a purpose to it.

I have had requests from the children though so will work on those soon :-)

The weeks just seem to fly by at the moment I don't know how I would manage if I had to fit work in like I did when the children were babies although I have started doing some voluntary work one morning a week which I am enjoying. I did think about also volunteering in a charity shop as well but after watching Mary Queen of Charity Shops last night it put me off !! Is it just me or was she really rude to those lovely older ladies who have given up years of their lives to work for nothing for the benefit of a charity? I hadn't seen any of these programmes before but although the shop looked better at the end I can't agree with putting items up for sale at £40 as I can't imagine people will pay that in a charity shop but I am willing to stand corrected if I am wrong!!

It's made me resolve to support my local charity shops even more though so I will keep you updated with any Jimmy Choo handbags etc that I manage to pick up ;-)

Bye for now

Friends Swap & Fab Finds......

I recently joined in with Beki's Friends Swap and was lucky to be paired up with Alex from Pink Feather Paradise. I have been the lucky recipient to some of Alex's fab crochet in the past so was pleased to be her partner for this swap!!

For those who don't know the Friends Swap rules were to send something beginning with each letter of the word "FRIENDS"

I sent my swap off to Alex with nervous anticipation of whether or not she would like what I had put together for her! you can see what I sent here.

The following day I received my parcel and was giddy with excitement trying to restrain myself from ripping it open!

Here are the absolutely fantastic things she sent me: (all wrapped up in the lovely box above)
The handmade felt magnet tags are fantastic! the amount of detail and time that has gone into these is amazing I love them!


My F is for Fairycake is fab and looks good enough to eat :-)

My R is for Ribbon & ric rac is lovely and the I is for Individually wrapped chocolates (clever!) were eaten rather quickly!


My E is for Eclairs (one of my fav chocolates) have dwindled slightly but have saved a few for this afternoon :-)

N is for Notebook is the notebook I have wanted for some time after seeing it on a blog a while ago but never being able to track it down so am loving that along with D is for Dishcloth which is gorgeeeoouuuss and far to nice for spoiling with dishes!
S is for Salt Scrub is in a lovely crocheted holder. Again, very clever Alex :-)


I loved every single bit of a it! What a fab swap thank you soooo much Alex!!!

On my jaunts this weekend I popped into "King of Tat" TK Maxx :-)
Love this shop for various reasons including finding designer stuff at next to nothing and seeing the bizarre and the unusual!
This book I've had on my Amazon wish list for a while but been holding back trying to justify the £25 price tag so was pleasantly surprised to find it, albeit a bit tatty around the edges, but for £12 so popped it in the basket :-)



I also noticed this one as well which is full of yummy pictures and projects to do so imagine me(and children of course ;-) ) in that teepee one day very soon!





I am about to have a very lazy Sunday afternoon reading my new books and eating the rest of my eclairs but in the meantime here is what you get when you leave your 4 year old son and a pack of his reward chart stickers with your sewing machine! Apparently it has measles.......



Bye for now

Prickly heat, paddling pools and kitchen tiles....

How's that for a random mix of things!!!

Yes, silly me took it a step to far and subjected the pasty white skin for just a little to long and now have prickly heat rash all over my arms so look like I have measles!!! I don't think I imagined the till assistant in the supermarket recoiling in dismay when she was scanning my items earlier. Just for the record I went for pasta and Parmesan (as per the daughters orders) but came out with bamboo canes, some "cupcake" coasters, some peonies (possibly fav flower ever) and a small blue flowery plant....... maybe the prickly heat messes with my brain as well?
I did run some other errands today including posting my "FRIENDS" swap to Alex. I do hope she likes them as my sewing skills are limited so had to buy some things to save embarrassing myself ;-) is it silly to be nervous about a swap?!
I did take a picture of it all wrapped up but then realised I had written on the tags what are in the parcels so will wait until Alex has received it.

The children are also slightly red cheeked today but have spent lots of time splashing in a "larger than I thought and therefore nearly passed out from lack of oxygen blowing it up" paddling pool but they had loads of fun for the first 5 mins until one of them splashed the other and sibling war broke out.....sigh.... I sooooooo look forward to regaling them with tales of their sibling rivalry when they are adults!!




Currently issues involve how many Go-go's they both have......
Georgie mentioned these a while back and I had no clue what they were and now wish I still was completely oblivious to their existence as they are just a complete waste of time but of course we "MUST" collect all 80 of them...... and if you think Lego hurts when you stand on it then try finding one of these in the dark with your foot......


My current project is choosing kitchen tiles.... I do sort of like the floor we have in the kitchen (black slate) but its so hard to clean and seems to look slightly dingy no matter how much elbow grease is used! So! Hubby gave in after losing the will to live with me going on constantly about how hard it was to clean and alternating between sighing loudly and groaning every time I had to attempt to clean it ;-) I did want the same tiles as we had in the hall but cannot source them so have found some very similar although a bit smaller (hall ones are 60x60cm and we currently have the standard 30 x 30 in the kitchen but the new ones are 45x 45 - just thought you would like that bit of useless trivia )



I think they will really open up what is already quite a good size space but with these down I think it will look a lot bigger and brighter and more importantly easier to clean!!! Of course I do have to put up with a weeks worth of mess and hassle and I do not cope with mess and hassle very well so wish me luck!!

Have a good week!

for the peeps who think im a bit mad and crazy putting paddling pool on gravel (which i am normally anyway) I did the silly trick of filling it and then was unable to move it onto the grass where it would be normally :-S !

the sun has got its hat on.................

!


lots of hat wearing here the last couple of days with the beautiful sunshine we have been having :-) As is the norm with most English people I rushed outside at the first sign of sunshine yesterday exposing acres of pasty white flesh whilst watching children swinging and splashing around :-)

We have a had a lovely couple of days and the children are now on their way to the grandparents for their sleepover and Hubby and I are going to watch Angels and Demons and maybe partake of a takeaway or a meal cooked by anyone but myself......
I finished the fabric letter I wanted to make and also have been keeping a close eye on my recently planted tomato plants.... keep your fingers crossed I manage to keep them alive


Ahhh bank holiday weekends are great aren't they ? Hope your enjoying yours!!

One little project, One Big Mess!

Can anyone explain how I can be so tidy normally but as soon as I sit down to attempt a little sewing project my kitchen looks like a explosion in a fabric factory?






I needed to make a little present for my god-daughters birthday and thought a nice padded fabric initial would be relatively easy to make so started making a J for my Jacob instead as a practice ............ I currently have a laptop & 2 sewing machines on the kitchen table and the floor is covered in thread, stuffing and offcuts of material but I managed it eventually although its very "Shabby Chic" with more emphasis on the Shabby!

It seemed like a good thing to do today as we have been having some very bizarre weather and I am desperately cloud spotting watching for a 5 minute break in the torrential rain followed by sunshine, in which time I can run outside and plant up some hanging baskets..... It's like Challenge Anneka but without the jumpsuit (thank goodness)


Here is my gorgeous lovely beautiful love it to bits new fabric (Amy Butler) but ! I now do not want to cut into it AT ALL so maybe will have to dig a bit deeper into the fabric pile to find something suitably girly ;-)

Just thought I would also show you my new tins from good old Dunelm - how retro are these and a bargain as well!!


Bye for now x

To post or not to post................

that was the question I have been asking myself!!! Stepping away from blogland (for a variety of reasons) meant it was hard to get back in the saddle so to speak but I do like my little blog and the other blogs I read so here I go again :-)
One thing I do need to look at is how many blogs I am trying to keep up with! I found that if I start at the beginning of my bloglines list and work through it all by the time I get to the bottom the top one has probably posted again so I am back where I started!

What with bloglines, blogs I follow and bloglists its a wonder I haven't collapsed in a snivelling heap like I used to at school when faced with a list of French verbs to learn.........

So..... short but sweet for my blogging for now is my new motto.

I did have a whole host of things to tell you about and show you but thought I would set of a mass yawning session with the length of post required so I will show you my most recent little project instead .........

No comments of "you missed a bit" are allowed which is what my 7yr old said when she first saw it ! I am of the school of thought where you just slap on the paint and see what happens so don't look too closely ;-)


I did have images of two lovely pots filled with lavender either side with me sat amongst pretty cushions reading the latest Country Living magazine. Alas the weather has turned and its more likely to be covered in bird droppings and develop wet rot but hey, it looked nice for a day ................

"May" I come in????

see what I did there? :-) It's May already how did that happen!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been completely and utterly the worst blogger in the world but am planning on getting back on track very soon indeed as my mojo has just turned up at the bottom of a washing basket :-D
Back later in the week x

The early bird catches the worm......

early mornings... great aren't they?? NO !!! my children have taken to waking at around 6ish every morning and its messing with my Mummy patience!

I thought it was because of the lighter mornings but they both have blackout linings on their roman blinds and then blackout linings on their curtains!! its like a tomb in each of their bedrooms and if I went to sleep in there I probably wouldn't wake up for days.

I love having children I really really do (mostly) but the one thing I crave is more sleep - I do get sleep obviously but BC (before children) I would surface around lunchtime at the weekend. I am thinking that I can get my own back when they are teenagers and I can go in their rooms at some ungodly hour saying "can we go downstairs yet, pllleeeassse can we ? ok in 3 minutes then? 5?" this is the sort of thing I find myself discussing with my 7 year old most mornings!!

It was, of course, an early start on Easter Sunday to see if the Easter Bunny had been - I did hear small boy discussing with his sister that he had seen the Easter Bunny and that he is blue and HE CAN TALK!!!! said with high pitched excitement of a 4 year old :-) that must have been some dream......

It is also the only day of the year (bar Christmas) when it is okay to eat chocolate for breakfast isn't it ? or I am in the bad mummy club? Not to worry, the sugar high should take the guilt away for me ;-)
By next week I will be worrying about the half stone I will have gained over the last few weeks with Easter cakes, long bank holiday weekend indulgences and yes, stealing the children's eggs but for now let us eat chocolate.....

The first week consisted of me painting one wall..... I can procrastinate until the cows come home and I have a list of projects a mile long much to my Hubby's fear as he watches me humming and haaing over paint charts. I finally bit the bullet but the stress and hassle of one wall has made me lay down my paint brush for the foreseeable future and hope that "fingerprints a la children" may become a new paint effect..... I like the new colour but you can hardly tell its been done although I had to of course say to Hubby how much I liked it and it had transformed the kitchen :-S



The second week of the holidays found us visiting the bright lights of London with two very overwhelmed children who had never seen anything like it before. We visited the Queen but she didn't invite us in for tea unfortunately but we made time for museums, shopping and a big trip to Hamleys! Mia also made me climb The Monument which is the largest freestanding stone column in the world at over 61 metres high - It consists of over 300 spiral stone narrow steps and about a quarter of the way up I needed oxygen and had no idea how I would get to the top. A 7 year old skipping(!) up the steps whilst talking (!) saying "come on mummy we cant give up now, you get a certificate when we have done it" spurred me on and it was worth it when we reached the top!
Note to self : must do some exercise to avoid turning unattractive shade of blue when exerting oneself.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter holiday and I will be glad to get back into a routine on Monday. I've not been around much in blogland but am looking forward to catching up next week :-)

We managed a slight detour to the Cath Kidston outlet at Bicester on the way back from London so I have added some new fabric to my little collection and will do a "show and tell" in my next blogpost :-)

Happy weekend , Lx

Craft and create......

Why this picture? Baking is the only guaranteed thing to stop bored children in their tracks and get them to work together in harmony so we spend a lot of time doing it!

It's the first day of the Easter holidays for us so lots of chocolate eating to be done in secret when the children are in bed (well, they get way too many Easter eggs so will hardly miss one will they ? ;-))

This morning started with me up early and to the supermarket to buy Madagascar 2 on DVD which came out today - I seem to have made this a habit as Feb half term found me buying High School Musical 3 at 8am but it's a couple of hours peace so worth it. If you have never seen Madagascar you really must watch it and look out for any King Julian parts as he amuses me no end even if it is a children's film!!

We had some "craft and create" moments at the weekend and I finally had a go at this which I spotted on the Chez Larsson blog many many months ago!
It took me quite a while and I was a bit crossed eyed by the end of it but Mia likes it.


I also did a quick practice for a Union flag cushion (this is just a layout practice so of course will be a lot neater, a bit bigger and with the correct cotton! does anyone else find it a complete pain to change the bobbin? I've found myself avoiding using fabric if I can't use the cream cotton I already have threaded....

Also a little blue thrifted jug to join my collection.

Random.org very kindly provided me with 2 numbers to be sent one of my VERY handmade hearts. (disclaimer: these hearts were made to the best of my ability... unfortunately that ability isn't the best ;-) )

Surfer Rosa Please email me your address (via my profile "contact me") and the Bibi heart will be on it's way to you very soon.

Carol@Katherines Dream - The paisley one is yours if you could also send me your address :-)

The children are going for a sleepover at grandparents today so need to get packed and organised so wishing you all a lovely Easter and hope the Easter bunny brings you lots of yummy chocolate :-)

Lesley x

Hearts & awards & a giveaway :-)

Hello there ! I seem to be meeting myself coming backwards at the moment being so busy but my life seems to have been taken over by small children.................

Okay, I admit as a stay at home mum I shouldn't really be surprised by this but the last couple of weeks has consisted of a multitude of playdates (is this an American thing we have adopted ? I don't remember doing the whole playdate thing as a child) and 3 parties over 2 days as well as the usual school run twice a day. I like that the children are busy and have friends and stuff going on in their lives so maybe I am just a tad jealous that the family organiser calendar columns are full under their names but mine and hubbys are acres of white space............

My social life at the moment seems to consist of blubbing over the last episode of CSI Investigation with Grissom in it, catching up on blogs, planning lists in my heads of the crafty projects I want to do, wondering if I am green fingered enough to start a kitchen garden and thinking that I should really wash the car as the daughter has started a number tally in the dirt of how many more days it will be before it's clean again.

I have been buying a tiny bit more fabric (a big thank you to Mary Poppins for being a kind sharing person with the paisley fabric which is gooorrggeeous thank you MP ) and am almost embarrassed to admit just a bit more ribbon as well :-D

I have actually made a couple of hearts and a little bird though so although my fabric pile is now multiplying on a weekly basis I have made a very small indent into it!


As I have never really done the giveaway thing before if you leave a comment saying which heart you would like I will pick someone out next Monday and it will be yours :-)

Busy week this week as well with it being the last week before half term so having moved 2 large baskets of clean washing from the utility room to upstairs and I am hoping that by Friday I will actually have got round to putting it away but not holding my breath ;-) I'm doing the clever trick of balancing more and more clothes on top of the pile hoping that gravity doesn't take over and tip it to the ground! I even bought a new cardigan and top today rather than risk toppling the pile looking for something to wear !

I am feeling a bit tired though after the clock change and will spend the next week querying what time it "really" is rather than the actual time as it takes me a week or so to adjust!

Just wanted to say thank you ladies for my lovely awards I have received - I think most already have them but feel free to award yourself !


hope you all have a lovely week :-)
Lesley x

Country and the Town

3 years ago we made a somewhat impulsive decision to up sticks and move 40 miles further South. At the time we lived in a large, vibrant, bustling but slightly smelly overpopulated town and we had decided that we wanted a change!
So, 6 weeks after putting our house on the market found ourselves heading down the M6 to a "hamlet" in the countryside leaving all friends and family behind and basically replacing one smell with another. No one warned me about the yearly field spraying which absolutely stinks for days and days!

As we followed the removal van down the motorway I had lots of thoughts whirling round in my head along with a copy of Mrs Beetons Guide to Baking, some Cath Kidston tea towels and plans to trade in my subscription to Living etc in favour of Country Living magazine ( i didn't, I just have both now amongst many others)


I was also giving up work and would become a proper country wife and mother and embrace all things outdoors. The idyllic picture in my head never quite materialised as I should have known. The house we bought is accessed up a drive from a main road that is a tad busier than we were led to believe but having fallen for the Sunday afternoons only viewing trick then we had to grin and bear it and hubby much prefers a bit of traffic noise to "people" noise and having to put up with fireworks going off from October to January where we used to live. We moved in the dead of winter and having inherited "septic tanks" and "LPG gas" which turned out to be only marginally less expensive than diamonds then we took to choosing between warmth and food (okay it wasn't that bad but its very expensive!)

I also decided that i must have a 4 x 4 to fit in..... but after 2 years of getting fed up of attempting to get between the white lines in parking spaces rather than spanning them , I have given up and traded in for a little sporty mummy mobile number instead. Although after the bad winter we have just had and the little winding country lanes I have to contend with I do miss the 'D.A.C' and 'T.C' and all those other little buttons with initials on them that I had no idea what they did but they made me feel safer!!

We do pull on our wellingtons and go trekking across the fields from time to time although the local midges and insects that hide out in the long grass have taken a particular liking to my legs and I can sometimes create dot to dot pictures on them if I join up all the bites..... we have shares in anti histamine bite cream nowadays.

I do, however, find that its a much more exciting event to go and visit "big shops" as I became so used to them and took them for granted. I get almost feverishly excited when I enter a Tesco Extra or a Debenhams. We do have shops obviously but they tend to be the small supermarkets that don't really carry any extra stuff or one of the local towns that is great if you are a short sighted, fish owning knitter (an opticians, pet shop and Wool shop) but not so easy to get the latest 'The Killers' CD...... But then it's more of a treat to plan to go to the big Marks and Spencers and waste money on the lovely food they sell.
I have though, found time to learn to crochet and attempt all things crafty but I do miss Borders with the Latte's available in the upstairs Starbucks :-)

It seems funny now when I find myself contemplating getting chicken's or starting a vegetable plot when back in the early 90's all I had to worry about was how high I could backcomb my hair and my plans to go out at 9pm when nowadays I would be worried if I wasn't in bed by that time!



All in all though we do love it here and being a stay at home mum is sometimes just how I hoped it would be although some days I do find myself daydreaming about being back in the office and having a new client file allocated to me with a deadline to meet.... I suppose I will go back to work one day as well but not for now....


Would I move back to the lights and sounds of the "big town" ? No, not at this point in our lives but I would like my children to experience everything the large towns and cities have to offer when they are older. Would I like a huge John Lewis store with attached large Waitrose to be built 5 minutes down the road from where we are now? Most definately :-) Some people are townies, some people have their heart in the country. Me? I want the best of both worlds please, as Hannah Montana would say ;-)
Lesley x

R.I.P Jade Goody

a spring in my step.......

i wish smellovision had been invented so you could smell what I can.....
its FRESHLY MOWN GRASS :-)
i think that may be up there in my "top 5 smells i like" which also include newborn babies heads, cakes/cookies baking and anything lemony.

Today was the day Hubby dusted off the cobwebs and got the mower out to do the first cut of the year. It was such a gorgeous weekend and then lovely again today so the children and I rushed home from school to run and stretch our legs outside. I even dug out my bright pink flip flops but in my eagerness to get outside left my socks on and socks and flip flops are not such a good look... I am slightly worried that if the weather keeps on improving I may have to show the slightly blue mottled effect that my legs are sporting at the moment as well.................

As I said in my previous post I had sickly children last week and did try my hardest to entertain them but they were both poorly little ones it was such a shame!! One of the craft projects I had on hold ended up being brought out to entertain The Daughter and we made a good job of our Mummy/Daughter project. Just need to do one for small boy now!


Eventually the children went back to school and I tried to get back to normal but its amazing how just a few days can throw your routine out. I came over all 50's housewife today and attacked laundry, cleaned bathrooms and potted plants outside!! There may even be washing drying on the line tomorrow if it stays like this :-)

Hope you have a good week
Lx

off sick....

Number of times woken by small boy crashing symbals 2cm's from my ear = 2

Number of child free days at the weekend due to sleepover at grandparents = 2

Number of new enamel jugs at a bargain price (thanks Jane) = 2


Number of trips to Dunelm in the last week = 2

Number of phone calls from school today re sick children = 2

Number of children taken to doctors this afternoon = 2

Number of bottles of antibiotics required = 2


Number of craft projects on hold = 2


Number of tired mummies looking forward to bedtime and a new magazine? = just 1 :-)

Shopping, specs & sleep

Today was a good day. One of those days where you meet up with a friend, have a good chat and a bit of impromptu shopping :-)

Hubby has, however, threatened to hire a private detective to try and deter me from purchasing more haberdashery items as apparently he can "smell the joy" in the air when I've been shopping! I do suffer from "blogfluence" (blog influence) and have been known to drop whatever I am doing to rush out when the urge overcomes me for something new and lovely seen on a blog. It was suggested by a friend today that I measure how much ribbon I have altogether but its like getting The Daughter to admit she is tired and should go to bed.... its never going to happen ;-)
(major sleep issues with my 7 1/2 year old are proving very trying at the moment)


so I use ribbon in my crochet bunting to justify the constant purchases although I am deliberating over joining it with a crochet chain ? any opinions welcome!


Alex @ Pink Feather Paradise has sent me some lovely crochet she has done which I love! thank you Alex you are a very talented lady :-)



I have also had to purchase something I really didn't want to spend money on. The last 5 years I have spent convincing myself that squinting slightly, along with tipping my head back and looking down to focus on anything more than 5 feet away was completely normal. Therefore I gave in an booked an eye test and had it confirmed that I do need glasses for driving and distances :-( I am picking them up this week and although it was silly expensive, I figured that it was cheaper than all the Botox I was going to need from all the frowning I do.

Well, nearly bedtime, so another evening to convince The Daughter that:
No, Minnie Mouse is not an evil mouse that comes to life at night and eats her toes, No, having the bedroom door open less than 3 inches doesn't mean that she is "locked in her room" and that , yes, being asleep by 8pm is necessary even if Disney Channel is still on at midnight.......

Truly scrumptious..........

My name is Lesley and I am a magazineaholic......... I buy a silly amount of magazines most month's with interior magazines being top of my list. One of my (many) favourite magazines is Ideal Home which I have had on subscription for some time now thanks to my mother in law!

This months is oozing with colour and lovely things :







Unfortunately it arrived at 5 minutes before school pick up but as we have a friend round to play I am hoping to get 10 minutes to quickly browse through properly before I have to deal with the comments so far including:-
"when will we eat?" "what are we having?" "get small boy out of my bedroom he isn't a girl" "can I have my ears pierced because xxxx has" "oh, and can I have a mobile phone" (she is 7 so the last 2 are never going to happen as long as I can help it!) and don't even get me started on the ideas for what book character they will go to school as next week on World Book Day!

I've also just seen small boy's quilt and pillow being launched downstairs so I better go and deal with it as I am a bit worried the actual bed will be next..........

Clean & Quiet edit..

Half term came and went, children returning to school, house back in some sort of order, quiet reigns............

It's always too quiet the first couple of days when the children go back to school. I have that sort of ringing noise in my ears from being in a VERY LOUD environment for some time as small boys volume is either "maximum" or "mute" (when asleep). The Daughter has worked her way through a small rain forest of paper with various artistic creations and I nearly did myself an injury playing on Wii boxing but the less said about that the better.......

The last couple of days of half term were spent out and about, we even took a trip out to the coast and let the children dig large holes in sand for reasons only known to themselves. Hubby & I turned a very unflattering shade of blue and wondered what on earth possessed us to go to the seaside in such challenging temperatures but it was a really bright lovely day, the sort that makes me think that spring may not be too far away...... I really love Spring. Summer is probably my favourite season (reclined on lounger in garden, feet in paddling pool, tall glass of *insert appropriate drink for time of day*)
but Spring is just so hopeful and promising with it all to look forward to!
EDIT(just browsing my pictures and found a sunny day in the garden last year sigh.............although ignore the building site and army of toys its improved a lot since then!)



There seems to be a lot of colour around at the moment which is probably highlighting Spring like tendencies for me. I'm working on a crochet flower garland/bunting for The Daughter's room even though we have a reasonable amount of bunting around the house already but can you ever have too much bunting? ;-)
She chose herself a new lampshade for her bedroom as well :-)


I've been attempting crochet in circles but luckily Kathy has saved me and sent a pattern for the lovely cushion like the one on Julia's blog. Thank you Kathy.


More spring like items about to come my way from LuluCarter..... This is a very talented lady who makes me sigh when I look at her lovely creations and a few weeks ago I found myself drooling over one of her latest designs, a modern day dreamcatcher. I am so in awe of people who dream (pun intended) up such original idea's and found myself sending an email straight away asking her to please let me know as soon as they were in her shop :-) To cut a long story short we are expecting a delivery very soon!!


More talent in blogland came from Ruby'sMamma in the form of this lovely beaded bracelet - again, finding myself sighing over sweetie coloured glass beads resulted in an another "request" email and now have it adorning my wrist making me smile whenever I catch a glimpse of it.


Thanks also to Mel for sending me lovely cards - The "Keep Calm & Carry On" one is to be placed in a prominent position as a reminder to do just that when I commence my spring cleaning. We have dust bunnies breeding like, er, rabbits, under sofa's and I know there are a few large spiders thinking of taking up residence in dark, cobwebby corners so on with the marigolds and out with the feather duster. You never know but I might even use those attachment thingies on the vacuum cleaner....

Have a good week!
Lesley x

love is all around.................

Hope you all had a very special Valentines days but seeing all your posts about the subject its obvious there was a whole lot of love in blog land recently :-) After 13 years together Hubby is still very good at the whole flowers and chocolate thing :-)

Of course its also half term as well which means :
How to entertain the children....
also known as : finding activities that suit a 7 year old girl and a 4 year old boy, not spending ridiculous amounts of money to do said activities, not resorting to DVD's/Television, keeping the peace when war breaks out because small boy has dared to go into The Daughters bedroom and messed up her Little Miss Books, thinking its a good idea to have friend's children round for the day who then make it look like the bedrooms have been burgled, getting out "lego" and then regretting finding it a little while later by the use of my foot.... spending an hour building a dinosaur with no instructions only to find that no child has been in the room for the last 30 mins having gone off to find something entertaining to do,
thinking I can keep my normal routines of laundry etc but 3 days in realising both laundry baskets are full and I have no idea where the uniforms are for Monday, negotiating with a 4 year old boy that wearing his sisters High School Musical sparkly t shirt isn't suitable attire for going to the library, agreeing the Spider man costume IS suitable for the library, dealing with the CONSTANT requests for food then burning the toast so badly that a day later the smell is still permeating the whole house, wanting to watch my sky +'d programmes that I normally catch up on whilst children at school but realise they have all been deleted in favour of "Hannah Montana, Phineas and Ferb, Suite Life of Zack and Cody etc etc" BUT then realising any minute now the Grandparents will arrive and take the children out for the day ...............

Back next week (if I have survived:-)
Lesley x

flowers and ribbon......

Nothing heavy this time I promise but just wanted to say a massive ~~Thank You~~ to everyone who left comments on the last post - its amazing how much more clear headed and focused they made me!! I did consider speaking to his teacher this morning who is different to "miss independence" but its parents evening in a few weeks so I will save it for then!!!

anyway, I'm feeling like I need to get back to normal in blogland with my usual posts about pretty things :-)

Started the day with some pretty flowers to brighten up the place, made even prettier by a little bit of raffia inspired by Lydia from "Waving or Drowning? blog" (blogger not letting me do links at the moment so will try and fix it later) Isn't it such a simple idea but so effective? I may have to reign myself in from tying raffia around everything though as I do tend to go a bit overboard with any new ideas!!! The Daughter stood still for a few mins earlier and I was almost wrapping it around her pony tail.......

Had a bit of a sort out of ribbon central but it doesn't seem to have improved. I really need to get to Ikea for the ever growing list of "things I need" but keep putting it off as I am convinced the Marketplace area has some sort of special power that makes me buy things I had no intention of purchasing or any need for....... BUT there is always the meatballs and chips to encourage me :-)














We finish for half term here tomorrow thankfully and have a V.I.P (very important purchase) to make on Monday morning as High School Musical 3 comes out on DVD. The children are looking forward to a lazy week off school with days spent in our "comfies" (pyjamas) watching dvd's and generally lazing about the house.... for once, that sounds good to me!!!


Hope you all enjoy half term whatever you have planned :-)

(almost) Wordless Wednesday.....

Inspired by Rosie i wanted to do my own "Wordless Wednesday" :-)

However, I also need to get a little moan out at the same time if you don't mind? So not very wordless on this particular Wednesday but needs must !
I know I'm not prone to emotion and sentiment on my blog but bear with me as this is not about ribbons for a change ;-)

My youngest, Jacob, started school back in September after only turning 4 on August 26th so only just in time for school. His due date was not until September so it's never sat comfortably with me that he went to school so young. I really think they start school too early in this country (but a whole other debate another time about that!) and when my eldest started she took a little part of me with her and then when small boy started another little bit of my heart went along with him too!!! He is, however, really enjoying it all bar a few problems (there is a monster in the toilets apprently......) So..... today the part time teacher advises me that he needs to be more independent as he cannot get undressed and dressed without help for PE.............. wanting to cry "he is only a baby!" was advisably quashed inside me but really honestly come on!! He is only just 4 so was still aged 3 just 2 weeks before school started so surely we can give him some slack please???

She did, however, tell me how bright he is knowing all letters and good with numbers and keywords etc and surely that's what matters??

Does the parental worry and guilt that we are not doing a good enough job with our children ever go away? or should one just accept and encourage each child to grow and develop at their own pace and not just be part of a group of schoolchildren that should all act/perform in the same way? Mulling this over I then go to the playroom with stopwatch in hand ready to instigate a dressing/undressing time trial ;-) and find this little boy snoring gently with a little dribble of drool in the corner of his mouth and think that he IS my baby and he has all the time in the world to learn to dress himself.........

snow, snow go away, don't come back till Christmas day......

Sunday morning offered bright sunshine with grass and tree's appearing from under the blanket of snow they had been covered in. Thank goodness I thought, relieved the snow thing was all over , but then later that afternoon flurries start to fall from the sky and yet another blanket of whiteness covers everything this morning! So today I am huddled up in my warm kitchen about to eat my Creme Egg which is allowed as you can have eggs for breakfast can't you.......

I did want to share with you my Valentine Swap Parcel (organised by AThriftyMrs)received from my lovely swap partner Beki
She sent the most lovely parcel and it felt like Christmas all over again :-)
Thank you Beki I love it all!!! I especially love the blue dotty heart because she made it for me :-)


hope you all have a good week!

haberdashery chaos........

>

I love haberdashery items and almost have a problem with acquiring more and more on a constant basis! When it takes me 5 minutes just to locate a bit of ribbon I wanted for a project I decided enough is enough and that the big sort out is needed sooner rather than later :-) I really struggle with that first cut into a lovely piece of fabric or find myself picking up ribbons and buttons and just appreciating them but never getting much further than that!

As today is my first full day at home with no children and no real plans as it snowed again last night (oh I am so over snow now can we move on please?) I have started "haberdashery control centre" and I may even make something today as well as trying to organise myself............. or maybe I will just eat biscuits and cram it all back in my special cupboard at the end of the day :-D

just adding this picture - I made this a few days ago when I first started my crochet hobby!! the lovely PetticoatLane had included this fabric in my Christmas swap parcel and I had been to nervous to use it but just did it and was quite pleased with the result :-) The very talented Henhouse makes a professional version of hearts amongst other fab things if you feel like treating yourself:-)

Take a Chance on me.............

A little while ago I was very fortunate to win the giveaway over at Periwinkle. I never win anything really so was completely over excited but anything out of the ordinaryness of everyday life is very welcome so I will not apologise for being as gleeful as a 5 year old :-) "Chance" as he is very nicely named made an appearance a few days ago and as you can see from the first picture was snaffled by small boy immediately!! I wrestled him back to take the rest of the pictures and marvel over how clever and talented Lisa is to have made him and his special blanket , thank you Lisa he shall be very well looked after in his new home


Chance had lots of cuddles as small boy was unfortunately stricken with a sickness bug resembling scenes from The Exorcist at one point but is on the mend and hopefully back in school soon unless they close because of the snow. It was a blanket of whiteness on Monday morning which was soooo pretty although when I ventured out to take a few pictures I was met by some very serious faced fluffy animals looking at me as if wondering what on earth I was doing so I dived back inside to the light and warmth of the house :-) I did feel a bit sorry for them being outside in this weather but also was eyeing up the particularly wooly ones thinking if I run out of wool for my crochet then I know where to go ............... ;-)

I did a little more crochet at the weekend as well and my flowers are improving, although I have wondered how many flowers I will do before I think enough is enough?? but as there are so many different types of patterns for flowers I think it may be a while yet :-)
Stay warm!!!
Lx

Flower power..............

Well guess what I have been preoccupied with the last 2 days??!!

The crochet thing clicked all of a sudden and became my new hobby of the moment which is great for keeping me occupied and away from the fridge in an evening as there are far to many food temptations at the moment to test me. I imagine my flowers etc will get much better as they are not very neat at the moment and look nothing like the flowers on the Attic24 blog that I followed the pattern for but they are definate flower shapes so I am happy for the moment and even found another flower pattern which you then circle round into more of a raised flower (the blue one in the bottom right corner) Hubby did look a bit concerned when I set myself up in bed last night surrounded by balls of wool and doing that silly tongue sticking out when concentrating on something but he knows better now than to question me and left me to it :-)

Today I am trying to make one to go with Mum's birthday present as, like all Mum's, she will pretend its the best thing she has ever seen even if it's rubbish :-D

Have a great weekend :-)

A (crochet) stitch in time........

One of my new years resolutions was to learn how to crochet...... A few nights ago I decided to start knitting for the first time in about 25 years. The knitting is ok but not one to be satisfied with the multitude of things I already have on the go, I had to get my head around this crochet lark. With the help of YouTube tutorials and a few balls of wool I found around the house, I have spent the last few hours teaching myself how to crochet :-) its a LOT harder than it looks and my eyes are starting to go blurry, early onset arthritis is setting in and my arms are aching from holding them in one position but chain stitch, slip stitch, single and double stitch have been mastered (sort of...) and even if I couldn't crochet in public (would love to join a knitting/crochet group) then at least I can nod knowingly when anyone mentions how they are having trouble with their half double crochet stitch :-D

Not sure how long my new found enthusiasm will hold out but my aim is to make one of the flowers on Attic24 blog and then I will be happy and move onto the next thing on my list :-)

Any hints and tips please send my way!!!

Lesley x
Edited on Thursday : I did a flower! it looks a bit genetically modified but its definately a flower :-)

You know your old when..............

firstly, thank you Alex for my award its so nice when you realise someone is actually reading your ramblings:-D
Ive also been tagged by
PillarboxRed & Beki so I have some thinking to do , Thanks Ladies, I enjoy both of your blogs :-)

Well, the wallpaper stayed up *cue cheering* and has received lots of positive comments including from Hubby which stopped me in my tracks as firstly there is a hint of colour, and secondly definitely some pattern going on which would normally induce uncomfortable twitching symptoms but I am keeping quiet and enjoying my moment of triumph..... I have more plans as well so watch this space!!! Although have been doing that rather dull and seemingly pointless job of painting the staircase......... how tedious and I have decided I am going to start a campaign to get Dulux/Crown etc to do a slightly off white gloss/satinwood which would enable me to just touch up areas of woodwork rather than the gleaming white contrast that new paint brings!! A "white with a hint of age" (around 2 years since last painted) should suffice........

Onto the "old" stuff .............. I had a lovely shopping trip planned with some blogger friends which isn't something I do on a regular basis (the shopping I mean!). Couple that with an evening arrangement ON THE SAME DAY and I start to worry........ will my stamina hold up? will I fall asleep with my face in the dessert that evening? Will I start to do my usual nonsense ramblings with my brain not quite functioning?? Well, despite my concerns I had a lovely day (although finished with my feet twice their normal size and sort of shuffled back to the car with the odd "ouch" every now and again) I indulged in a little light shopping (ok, more tat, but sometimes it is necessary tat!) I don't think the lady in the Cath Kidston concession had ever had such a group of enthusiastic shoppers before but a good time was had by all (I hope!) and my evening out at a lovely friends house who had made a fantastic job of a 3 course meal for a group of girlfriends finished my day off nicely. I bought some yummy fabric in Laura Ashley and am itching to get the children to school tomorrow as feeling like I NEED to make things again after having a few weeks away from crafting. I also was nearly drooling over the knitted throw in Cath Kidston but am going to re-acquaint myself with knitting and attempt something myself!!! The Daughter has a new duvet cover but will do pictures another time of it in situ.

As today is Sunday we have a very lazy day planned and Small Boy is currently indulging in his new Wii Game and totally engrossed in Mario Kart...........



If his driving skills now are any indication of the future I can see some very expensive insurance claims coming our way...............

Edited to add: Thank you Beki for my award I will pass it on soon!!

Wallpaper progress...............

 

I took the plunge today and decided to have a go at this wallpapering malarkey............ hmmmmm 2 hours later totally despairing of how hard it REALLY is I think I will leave it to the experts in future but for my first ever go at wallpapering I am sort of pleased with my efforts!!

I have taken this picture and am blogging immediately to record this momentous moment as I have a feeling it will all be on the floor in the morning having fallen down overnight :-D

Lesley x

Making your mind up!!!

Week two in the Diet Zone didn't go too well - I think it may have been that Mars Bar that I ate or maybe the Kettle Chips and dip........ whatever it was I fell off the wagon for a few days but I am back on it again now!!! I weighed myself this morning and think I have lost almost 2lbs (yes every ounce counts!) but my scales don't weigh anything less than a pound so I need some of the WW ones that Vintage Tea mentioned which weigh in 1/2 pounds as well. I found myself re-weighing and trying to hover over the scales to get it to tip into a 2lb loss but it kept flashing between so will count it as 1lb for week 2 and hope I get the benefit next week!

I really find I struggle in an evening mainly so may need to resort to going to bed around 8pm as the cheese and crackers call to me from the kitchen......... I can do without chocolate relatively easily but anything savoury isn't safe !!!

I am "trying" to keep myself busy and occupied though. I had a trip to a friends house last week that I hadn't visited before and seeing how lovely her house was decorated I have been acquiring wallpaper samples :-) the trouble is I am so indecisive with these things !! I have been known to deliberate for some months and spend a small fortune on paint samples to identify the best "off-white" colour that I like........ So chosing wallpaper is a whole new ball game to me as its not something I have ever really ventured into. If you look at the samples here the turquoise one with butterflies on I MUST have for The Daughters bedroom.... even if she doesn't like it :-D

Bye for now
Lesley x

edited to add : The lovely Alex has given me an award - Thank you Alex! will pass it on in my next post and also do my Tag from Beki!!

The Heart of the Matter

Following on from MaryPoppins, Country In The Town, LittleGem & SerendiptylovesNewYork I had a look round and noticed how many heart objects I have in my own home:-) I didn't even realise I had so many but that applies to most things in my house! This is just a few of them................





Be back on Monday with a new post but had a few hiccups re: Operation Diet which basically means eating biscuits and crisps on more than one occassion but slow and steady wins the race :-) I have also been trying my hand at making a little fabric bird for Mia. I have to hold my hands up and say I am not a natural "crafter" but I tried my best and this is my current prototype before I make one in the fabric she has chosen :-)
It's not very good at the moment but a few tweaks and it should look a bit more birdlike!!

Currently, I am hiding indoors before a trip out later on today as I had my eyebrows waxed this morning and look like I have done ten rounds with Mike Tyson at the moment..... The joys of being female ! but if I dont have them done then they take over my face and I end up looking like Noel Gallagher from Oasis with one large bushy eyebrow so needs must :-)
Have a lovely weekend x

He's behind you.........................

Hi there on this wet dark Monday morning - a good start to the week ?? The above is my new toy that I am sure you all have already but I am loving it. It's just a silicone egg poacher but I am the world's worst at poaching eggs for some reason so this makes things a lot easier! I am going to start clucking if I eat any more eggs this week though so I think the novelty is about to wear off :-)

I did have a good start to my week in some ways - Operation Diet is going well and the detox/strict calorie counting of my first week resulted in 6lbs gone this morning:-) obviously I cannot keep that up but if I can chip (oooo chips yummy) away and lose a pound a week maybe then I will be happy with that :-) I have been watching the Paul McKenna "I can make you thin" programme over the weekend - some good hints including techniques to use when you get a particular craving which involves tapping your face/neck/hand etc but I was attracting funny looks in Tesco when I tried it so just had to learn to resist the crisps aisle instead..........

I had a good day on Friday as well - a little visit to Mary Poppins in the morning who was a lovely host as usual and her house is coming along a treat and looking very nice indeed! Then I had the pleasure of going along on the annual pantomime trip with Mia and Jacob's school. We watched Snow White with Claire Sweeney and Johnathon Wilkes (Robbie William's friend) and it was very good I was pleasantly surprised! A bit of "Mercy","Back for Good" and High School Musical songs and I think I was singing and joining in far to enthusiastically at one point!!! It was a long day though and the hour travelling back with a coach full of tired children (and adults) was a bit trying but it's only once a year thankfully :-)

To keep me busy today I am having another go at de-cluttering - it came to a head when I tried to find a Tupperware container with a matching lid and ended up tipping out every container I had resulting in a large pile to sort through. I will get to grips with this de-cluttering concept but really struggle with the getting rid of things and have the "oh it may come in useful" mentality as soon as I start but I plan to be strict with myself. Another job is sorting out "one" of Mia's bookshelves but I don't mind sorting out nice things it's much more enjoyable :-)

Mia owns a very substantial amount of books and has another full height bookcase besides this one and again I find it hard to get rid of any as I love books myself and have the same problem! I do need to sort out the children's rooms a bit though including their wardrobes but will need extra stamina for that so it may have to wait a while!

Hope you all have a lovely week whatever your plans may be and don't forget to sign up for Thrifty's valentines swap if you fancy joining in :-)

It's snow exciting..............

The snow fairy visited us in Cheshire yesterday :-) look, she even left a message outside for the children who were amazed that the snow fairy has such big writing as snow fairies are obviously very little and can hardly be seen so it must have taken her ages to do that.............. ahem (note to self: remember how much attention to detail children notice)
Mia's poor tin ladybird looked like it had given up and was waiting for it all to go away............

But the sunshine broke through later on and we can forgive the freezing cold temperatures when it all looks so pretty.........


Yesterday was also the last day of the children being off school before going back this morning and already the house feels so quiet!! we had trips to grandparents and playdates etc yesterday so kept busy which was good as yesterday was also D Day. Yes, I jumped on the diet bandwagon and I intend to play along as long as I can!!!
I have a stone to lose so will do a weekly weight loss countdown to keep me motivated! Like going to Slimming world but with bloggers keeping me on track instead please if you don't mind? Plus it saves me £5 a week as well which I can buy more ribbon/buttons/crafty stuff with :-)
I know I am not alone as it is the traditional start of diet season so will return the favour where required :-D


A little project for me at the moment is to "customise" this lamp.... My grown up lamp didn't look right in this room so has been relocated and this one came in instead but it needs some sparkle I think? I had thought of edging in little glass droplets or something similar? I think a trip to Dunelm may be on the cards as I must keep myself busy and away from the fridge!!!

Thank you for all your comments on the last post - Kim, I am going to check out Homebase for kitchen doors I had never even thought of that so thank you! Thanks to everyone for the DIY encouragement as well - Hubby getting more supplies for me today so I can finish project 1 and we are getting a skip delivered next week so the great de-clutter can start...............

I am thinking that I should don a headband/arm bands/ankle warmer type outfit and do energetic movements around the house to help with weight loss..... But then I had visions of the newly filled gaps in the stairs opening up again with me running up and down pretending to be Olivia Newton John in Xanadu or something similar so I have abandoned that idea for now..........

To everyone back at school/work/normal routine have a lovely week and keep warm!!!!

edited to add: Mary at MaryPoppins blog and I both purchased the same bed for our boys and she asked to see pic's of it set up for Jacob as she is mid house renovation so these are for you Mary :-) (I have just one of the extra section in at the bottom at the moment so will go longer again!)

So, what now???

A new year, a blank sheet of paper to fill with whatever we like!
There seems to be so much time stretching out before us but before we know it we will be back in December organising Christmas again so this year I am going to make the most of each day, week and month.....
I have started off on a very motivated path of DIY. Now, in our house this is virtually a swear word with Hubby visibly shrinking before my very eyes at the mere mention of a new "project" I have in mind (of which there are lots) so my first plan is to make lists of jobs that actually NEED doing and then Do It Myself!!! if you don't mind I am thinking of putting my list on my blog and giving updates in blog posts as I go along to keep the motivation going! plus the blog is supposed to be a record of my days to look back on even the boring bits :-)

We have lived here for 3 years now and I am almost an expert at buying lovely things but not so much at the maintenance that a house of over 100 years old needs!!! So I have made a start on my first job of 2009 and am quite enjoying the process although I can't say how long this will last. Our staircases were obvious replacements of the originals which I presume were unsalvagable but after a few years of the delicate light footed steps (rather, a herd of elephants trampling up and down) of my family they have "settled" and left that annoying gap down the side that irritates me every time I go upstairs!! so stanley knife to the rescue and I spent a satisfying couple of hours digging it out and it's now a positive work in progress! I feel like Linda Barker let loose in Changing Rooms (but without the tiger prints/low budget/mdf supplies) :-D

Lots of filling and painting still to do but an improvement so far......

Another idea I have is to replace the kitchen cupboard doors and work surfaces. The kitchen was also just installed when we moved in and is perfectly fine although not something I would have chosen myself but as the carcasses are in good condition I wondered if anyone has ever just replaced doors and how easy it was? I shall be researching that project in the near future!! With the economic climate the way it is we are thinking "don't move, improve" and as we love the area we are in, a few tweaks and twirls should make this a home we love as well:-)

I've decided to make our living room more of a grown up area and leave the family room to the wild animals (children) for their own devices! Do you like my grown up new lamp??? I do like a bit of sparkle :-)


January of course brings the Sales with it! I am never normally brave enough to venture out into the crowds just to get that half price bikini in 2 sizes to small which will never fit me, for the holiday I will never have. But then something niggles at me that I may be missing out so I do give it a go sometimes! We just managed an hour at the Trafford Centre late evening yesterday but the wondrous bargains must have been snapped up by someone else so had to console ourselves with Krispy Kream doughnuts which I am convinced is what heaven will be like :-D
I will say there is never a bad time to go to John Lewis and I had a good browse in the Haberdashery department adding to my never ending supply of ribbons!! Also just had to pop into the Cath Kidston concession in Selfridges and buy some bits and pieces :-) small boy loved his new cowboy plate and I had to take a picture of him using it this morning for milk and toast as it was on my CK place mats and I know Hubby will be laughing at me about that later but he bought me the place mats so it's his fault :-D Because of blogland I have only just found the lovely Cath Kidston so am still in the honeymoon phase :-)
You wouldn't think I'm not really into pattern and colour around the house would you!!!

Sunday beckons and it's just about light now so must get on with the day which will involve seeing if I can persuade Hubby to go back to the Trafford Centre today..... maybe the promise of another Krispy Kreme will persuade him :-D

out with the old....................

and in with the new.... Year that is. I am so ready to shake off the whole Christmas thing and get on with New Year with new lists, new ideas, new things to do, new organising of home and family and getting on with losing the 1/2 stone I just know I have put on in the space of about 2 weeks......... why do we do that? It's basically just one day and I have enough food (mainly rubbish food) to last till Spring.... and then I cannot start my diet with chocolate etc still in cupboards so have to "help" finish it all off so I can commence with weight loss ... which for some reason always starts on a Monday .... do you do that as well? why can't it start at 3pm on a Wednesday hmmmm??

anyways!!! Christmas came and Christmas went and amongst many, many new things we have new robotic puppies ! (saves getting a real dog) Red DS's, scary looking toddler size dolls, pirate ships and various pirate accessories and more craft stuff than any child would ever need............




The complete joy on their faces was worth the stress and hassle and they were over the moon with their Santa delivery :-)

2 days later I look round the room in despair and wonder where it will all go. I did have a big clear out a few weeks ago but finding a home for this lot may involve another mortgage and another house!!! It's actually quite sad when you start finding homes and putting away all the new things isn't it? but I have been investing in many wicker baskets which is driving my Hubby a bit mad when I say I need yet another one!! I think everything looks so much nicer in a wicker basket though!

We do have a small playroom on the top floor of the house and then some things are kept in bedrooms but not many as my 2 find it quite distracting at bedtime if there are loads of toys about!! We have stuff in baskets in the family room downstairs as well.... What do you do with toys? do you all have lovely pretty playrooms? or is all shoved in boxes and hidden? or scattered all over your house? One of my new year plans is to make the playroom more appealing so they will spend more time in there so we can have a "toy zone" and the rest of the house doesn't need the spread of toys as well but I think I am kidding myself and I do like to see them totally immersed in a game they have invented!!

So that will be challenge number one for January!

Even I got some lovely bits and pieces that I had dropped hints about...


I love love love this cake stand and it has been used 3 times already which probably hasn't helped as then I have to eat the cakes from the stand!

Oh well, a couple more days and then we will just have gloomy cold January to get through , I must admit to loathing January and find it a really depressing month to deal with but all my lists should help me fly through the next weeks:-)

I do hope you all have a lovely New Year with whatever you decide to do though...... I may be tucked up in bed by 10pm as my partying days are pretty much over with and I much prefer to celebrate the New Year on New Year's Day itself, but I am looking forward to hearing what you all do to see in the New Year!!

Happy New Year from me and my family to yours :-)
See you next year !!!
(ps - apologies for awful photographs - bad light + camera phone = rubbish pics , should have put new camera on my santa list!)

They think its all over...................

Well that went by in the blink of an eye didn't it ?! My camera isnt working so will post pictures another time but I do hope you all had a fantastic few days??

Christmas Day itself was an absolute delight with The Daughter being awake at 5AM - yes 5AM!!! How I got through the rest of the day I do not know but of course it was worth it to see their faces when they realised Father Christmas had visited!!

How completely magical is Christmas through a child's eyes.......

We enjoyed every minute but am secretly glad its only once a year and am now in a daze over the overwhelming amount of new toys with places to find for them!!!

I'm ready to shake off Christmas and bring on 2009 now !!!

Hope you all had fun :-)
Lesley x

peace on earth..............

or mad panic???? are you all ready, are you are you ? (said in slightly deranged panicked manner of someone who has left everything until the last minute) I keep scowling at my Father Christmas countdown widget who seems to have adopted a slightly mocking look on his face for the last few days as if laughing at me........

Hubby has taken pity and offered to wrap the remaining presents bless him !!! I have yet to do the rest of the food shopping so just wondering if Little Chef/Burgerking etc open on Christmas Day? they are missing a trick if they aren't :-D Otherwise will resort to elbowing little old grandma's away from the last bag of sprouts even though I am the only one who actually likes them but have them I must.............


I did take time to remember Winter Solstice and focus on being past the "shortest day" though and look forward to the fact that we are out the other side with daylight hours getting longer and heading for Spring ! I know it's really months away but it helps me through the cold grey winter months!


I have spent this week running round doing my headless chicken act and panic buying random items "just in case" which I always do for some reason! Do you find yourself thinking you just haven't got enough presents or is it just me?!

Lots of last minute little extra Christmassy touches around the house including one of these each for Mia and Jacob..............

Another lovely parcel arrived yesterday this time from the gorgeous Mary Poppins and I actually got to see the lovely lady herself today when I delivered her parcel in person:-) I even got a little tour of her "house in progress" which will be gorgeous when its finished as she obviously has lovely style and taste and Mia is loving having a NBF (new best friend) in Miss Poppins!! Thank you for your hospitality Mary it was lovely to see you :-)

As I know you all, like myself, probably have a hundred and one things still to do then I will now wish you a very Merry Christmas and health and happiness for 2009 and hope to see you back here soon :-) Enjoy!!!!!
Lesley x
The New Year lies before you
Like a spotless tract of snow
Be careful how you tread on it
For every mark will show.
~Author Unknown~

Found: One Christmas Spirit, my xmas swap and lots of pictures!!!!!

at last my Christmas spirit has been found alive and well, hidden quite deep at the bottom of a box of decorations but it's out in the open now for all to see :-)

What prompted this spirit out of its hibernation do we think??? Christmas Tree being finally up and decorated? The Daughter chose this years for me and it's a little smaller than I had planned but a beautiful choice Mia thank you x I stayed quite simple with my decorations and kept to a sparkly glass theme!!! So maybe it was the tree.......... or, was my spirit revived by seeing how excited my children are when their Advent Calendars are being opened?? This brings a whole new set of problems when the nightly chocolate craving kicks in but even I am not so low as to eat my children's advent chocolates............. I have decided rather rashly to be on a diet for a few weeks (except for Christmas day of course!) after finally replacing the battery in my scales to be quite shocked at the weight creeping back on after I spent the early part of the year shifting it!! So day two at the moment and if I can do it at this time of year then I can do it anytime! We shall see though, as I suspect after a couple of glasses of champagne and the stress of Christmas preparations ebbing away, I may be found in a dark corner twitching slightly from excess sugar consumption and surrounded by a large pile of opened chocolate wrappers and an empty tin of quality street.........

Luckily a few things have happened recently to keep me distracted from the thought of food ........

The lovely Jane @ Petticoat Lane returned from her holiday's and I finally gave in and delved into the deliciousness of the beautifully wrapped swap presents she sent me. It amazes me daily how much blogging makes me realise what lovely people there are in the world and this lady is up there with the best of them :-) The thought and care in this parcel shows firstly what a kind, generous soul she is and also what a fantastic friend she has come to be over the past few months via emails and phone calls :-) It's like she is in my mind sometimes (and that really is a scary place to be :-D)
but each and every gift was EXACTLY what I would have chosen myself. I can only say Thank You but it really doesn't seem enough!!! She is now in possession of the parcel I sent and I hope she will like it even a little bit of how much I like mine :-) Apparently she is waiting until Christmas Eve to open it but I am like a small child jumping up and down with excitement at the thought of opening a parcel and just could not wait!!!







The kindness didn't end there though............. i am a very lucky girl and Santa has been more than generous this year :-) I had a special surprise in the post today from MelMel and Claire@SerendipityLovesNewYork!!! These lovely ladies sent me parcel's completely out of the blue and yet again I was humbled by people's kindness :-)
Melmel is such a lovely lady who I am so pleased to have met and spent time with and yes Mel, I will wait until Christmas Day I really will.......

Claire has completely fantastic taste in music (like myself ), and I know we would both get on like a house on fire if I ever had the pleasure of meeting her :-) Thank you ladies I hope Father Christmas brings you whatever you have asked for :-)



Before this becomes like some sort of Oscar winning speech I shall press "post" now and get on with the more mundane tasks of the day..... all made that little bit easier by all the warm fuzzy Christmas spirit that came my way today :-)

Missing: One Christmas Spirit..............

An award came winging my way from a very entertaining blog I frequent.....

She put a fun description of why she likes my blog which I thought was such a good thing to do and am going to try and put more reasoning behind my award giving in future!!

Here it is:
"Notes From My Days - something I have just found out about blogland is that there are little pockets of everything out there, something for everyone. Notes From My Days and her friends all discuss the beautiful things in life. Lovely ribbons and fabrics, making your home look so delish you could eat it, buying beautiful flowers that cheer you up for a week. I like it because I love beautiful things and it's a great escape. She has lots of things I covet plus she has the biggest back garden I have ever seen... "



You, my blog friends, do share my enthusiasm for the beautiful things in life and inspire me a lot! It's only here on my little blog that I can be completely honest about how much a bundle of ribbon, a particularly good magazine, and a vase of flowers can make me happy. Maybe I should be more in depth about things I write about but for me blogland is my happy place and therefore don't be offended that I don't share more personal things with you its just not my way. I wish I could be one of those people that can talk about their feelings and problems as I sometimes don't think my way of bottling things up is healthy! I am however, sure I could get some honest to goodness advice from any of you lovely people out there or my friends and family, and sometimes it's enough just to know that :-)

I would like to pass this onto:

HenHouse - lovely photographs, great descriptive writing and generally being a super talented domestic goddess :-)

The Ecstasy of being Ordinary - for making the ordinary, extraordinary :-)

MelMel - if there was ever a more superior scribbler than Mel I would like to meet them :-) I know for a fact that Mels first thought when she purchases her pretty finds, makes things and has nice things happen is to let Blogland know and to share it with us :-)

They are just a few to pass the award onto but I would be here all day if it sent it onto everyone I think should have it but I know blogland will do its work and it will be shared amongst everyone :-)

We have had mixed week in our little household this week...... Sickly children (who hasn't been ill would be easier to ask!), dressing up for Christmas parties, Small boy being extra specially brave having injections in school then doing a solo performance at the school play which is held in a local church. Small boy is the youngest child in the whole school and to see him lead his class to the altar and then sing "Father Christmas" all by his little self was a proud mummy moment to say the least! The Daughter also sang her little heart out to Little Donkey with the rest of her class performance :-) The School Christmas performance is usually around the time I find my Christmas spirit but I am slightly lacking in that area at the moment and just can't understand why?? I haven't even got a tree up as yet but hoping to put that right this weekend as the children think Scrooge is going to be visiting us rather than Father Christmas so I need to get my act together!!!

I have received my swap parcel from the gorgeous Jane @ Petticoat Lane and we had planned to open our parcels on the same day but I have to confess to having opened just a couple of things already sorry Jane!!! but you knew I couldn't wait :-) She has been extra specially generous and I have to admit to having a lump in my throat just at the beautiful packaging (along with jumping up and down with excitement going "oooohhhhh") and the care and attention that has gone into it but I will do a special post next week all about it as it deserves it's own!!!


Something else that deserved its own spot was the breakfast Hubby made for himself at the weekend - this was breakfast/lunch/dinner all rolled into one and I said he would never finish it but he did!!! There is a hangover cure for the festive season if ever you need one :-D

When Christmas comes early.......

I will start with the bad........... woe is me and all that but what a week it has been!!! I have a trapped nerve in my neck which is Very Painful. I also have conjunctivitis in both eyes. Other than that I am fine :-D

I battled through these two issues (oh what a hero I am) to meet ThrifyMrs and MelMel for my First Ever Thrifting Session on Wednesday though :-) We had such a giggle and if you ever want your first thrifting experience to be a positive one then these girlies are the experts and definitely the ones you want by your side :-) I had a fab time although, as now seems to be the case whenever I meet MelMel, I have something wrong with me!! Because of the aforementioned issues and once my pain killers wore off and my neck seized up I did a good impression of a robot with bloodshot eyes. It's not a good look and I wouldn't recommend it.....
I have had a whole new world opened up to me though. Some of the conversation about MelMel's "virtual cottage" took on a whole new meaning and I cant quite think about cottages now in the same way I used to........

I bought some nice bits and pieces and yet more ribbon for my growing collection and had a lovely afternoon thank you ladies.

I was also reminded of why a certain person is such a good friend to me when she presented me with these Christmas gifts. She made the peg bag herself clever girly that she is and knowing me soooooo well knew exactly how much the CK purse would make me ooooooo and ahhhhhhh. Thank you Kelly :-)


My ribbon requirements being sated for the time being I have turned my attention to fabric again. Goodness knows why have I got into this as I don't really make anything much or use the ribbon/buttons but have them I must!! My little "craft" cupboard has become my happy place and I can be found just opening and closing the doors and re arranging fabric piles, wicker baskets etc etc I will have to get round to posting new pictures of the interior very soon :-)

With fabric in mind I recalled a blogger friend mentioning this shop a few times and although I am many many miles away I MUST visit it one day soon! It seems like it would be worth the 3 hour journey to spend an hour or so just taking in all the lovely things. Imagine my delight when a few days ago I had a brainwave of checking for a website and finding I can order the fabric to be sent to me! AND they do fat quarters of Amy Butler, Kaffe Fasset, Alexander Henry to name a few. My little parcel arrived today and I love it all :-) I doubt I will ever cut into any of them and they are only fat quarters (i love that phrase) but enough to make me happy and arrange them into little piles of loveliness :-)

Lastly, but certainly not least! I left a a comment on Lace Hearts blog a while ago complimenting a lovely bunny on her beside table. To my immense amazement and subsequent joy she then produced this gorgeous bunny all for me and me alone :-) I can't quite express how much I am touched by such a kind act and how much it restores my faith in the human race....



Thank you Caroline :-) Dotty (as she is now named) will have a very special place in my home.

Friday evening beckons with relief that it is the end of the week. I am hoping that the vibes I am sending Hubby's way about him surprising me with a Takeaway and a nice bottle of wine are about to come true any time now................

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Yes, I know its only just December but the whole Christmas tree thing pre occupies me from about now.

I know some people put their tree up at the beginning of December but I am usually quite late on and the weekend prior to Christmas Day is my normal time for tree/decorations being pulled out of their dusty hiding places and arranged artfully (I like to think!) around the house. I am not big on decorations though so tend to hold back a bit as I know its just more work for me to keep them dust free and then the hassle of putting it all away again a few weeks later to contend with! Bah Humbug did I hear you say :-D

I never seem to get the whole tree thing right though. I have had fake trees, real trees, fibre optic trees, cable light trees, twigs with lights etc etc but never am completely happy with whatever offering I come up with!

What do you like? I know some people swear by a real tree and nothing else and I must admit there is something special about the smell and look of a real tree. I always pick the "no needle loss guaranteed" ones but have found out to my cost that THEY LIE!
I can spend hours and hours putting my tree together and go to bed happy but the next morning it looks like something has attacked it in the night and it is surrounded by a bed of pine needles which then impale themselves in my feet on a regular basis from that moment on until the time I find super human strength to pick it up and throw it out when I have just about had enough of vacuuming EVERY SINGLE DAY.

So then I hunt out fake tree's but mine never look like they do on display in the shops and always seem to have at least half of the branches missing making it look as barren as the real tree does a few days after it drops all of its needles.

So to tree or not to tree that is the question.............

There is something really magical about a Christmas tree though and the children will have "their" tree which they can decorate themselves with all those delightful hand made offerings they come home with over the years. Little do they know that Mummy takes it all off when they have gone to bed and re-does it ......

supermarket sweep...

My hyacinths have finally opened. The smell is gorgeous and makes me forget how far away Spring really is.

I may have mentioned before that I do try and avoid supermarkets and at the moment am eagerly awaiting the opening of another new farm shop nearby, but sometimes its worth going to the supermarket just for the entertainment.......

A couple of weeks ago I ask The Daughter would she like to do something with me on Sunday afternoon (mummy and me time we call it) Small boy stays with Daddy and Mia and I head off for an exciting trip to Tesco!!! easily pleased my daughter......... but there are clothes, magazines, books, cds, toys etc so I can see how her mind works!!

We had a little shop and went to the checkout with a pen with Mia's name on and the Mamma Mia CD. The smiley young checkout girl asks Mia if the pen is for her and is that your name and Mia responds politely "yes, it is" then as the CD is being put through she asks if we had seen the film which we respond "yes" to again. She then asks if I named my daughter after the film....... I hum and ha and ask do you mean the song/theatre show? No, the film that's on at the cinema at the moment (she doesn't realise there was a theatre show and not even sure if she knows who Abba are) - I try to explain that Mia (my daughter) is 7 and therefore cannot have been named after a film that has been out for about 2 months but she just looks at me blankly......

Just for the record I named Mia after Mia Farrow after watching "Rosemary's Baby" about ten years ago!! I just loved the name but obviously naming your daughter after someone in a horror film probably isn't the best topic of conversation :-D

Anyone want to share any interesting reasons for the names of your children?!

My other recent experience was a "discussion" with a checkout girl over the fact I had brought my own carrier bags but they weren't from their supermarket....... The supervisor had to be called in the end to confirm it was okay to use Tesco carrier bags and to apologise for any confusion and explain to the checkout girl that shoppers are encouraged to re use carrier bags and it does not matter what name is on them :-D If I had taken Waitrose would she have been okay about it?

I should keep shopping to on line in future I think :-)
On that note I have recently received some more goodies that I ordered from Claire@Serendipity - you must check out her website it has so many yummy things on it !!!

I also indulged myself in a painting from the talented Vanessa -
It arrived yesterday all wrapped up in brown paper with the red and white stripey string around it!! It took me ages to open it as I had to untie the string really really carefully as I couldn't bear to ruin the beautiful wrapping, then slowly slice through the tape on the lovely paper it was wrapped in ! It was almost better than the painting itself :-D Obviously not! but I was so pleased with my painting I cannot wait to get it framed nicely :-)
I will leave you with a picture of Jacob's two old rabbit men that he sits on his old battered chair (it used to be mine when I was little and is completely scruffy and worn but I like its charm! A friend said I should paint it but I can't bring myself to do it!)
Apparently they talk to each other during the day while they wait for him to come home from school...... A bit like Mummy does :-)

Mirror, Mirror on the wall.....

and the fairest is? well not me that's for certain!! Urgh this drab, bitterly cold weather has me reaching for the largest, multiple layer, thickest clothing I own. Which in itself does not conjour up the sophisticated yummy mummy type look I would prefer (but never achieve). Instead, I more resemble a Sherpa about to embark on leading a group of climbers up Mount Everest! ..... but, I am warm so always best to look at the positives!!

I should be enjoying a leisurely weekend after the trauma of trying to be ahead of the game and finish all Christmas Shopping before the end of November. I promised myself I would not go overboard this year, I would have a budget and I would stick to it!! If my children are like yours that means you already have more toys than Hamley's/ELC/Toys R Us, in various locations throughout your house, the large majority being totally unused and maybe also hear the dreaded "I'm bored" every now and again?? My response to that is usually "only boring people are bored" but I do think that maybe some of that is mine and hubby's doing? I wont go all melancholy on you and say things like "remember when you went out at ten in a morning and didn't come back till tea time having played with an old doll with one eye missing and a hankerchief fashioned into a dress?" and maybe a bag of marbles if you were lucky and had just had a birthday recently???

Children are certainly spoilt for choice nowadays. Or is that just spoilt?!
I know I have been guilty of this on some occasions throughout their lives so far but then again we have more opportunity to do that nowadays with generally better standards of living and more financial freedom than our parents? But I must be honest I would like to take my time again in this area and try and hold off the large quantities of toys I have provided in the past.

With this in mind and also that neither of my little dears had asked for anything "big" for Christmas I then entered the challenge of getting what would be considered a reasonable amount of presents for both of them (Just to help Santa out you understand) The older they get I imagine the more expensive presents get and therefore the amount of presents decreases but at the moment still love to see their faces when they first witness that large pile of presents that Father Christmas brings :-)
I have of course gone completely over budget for both of them already and the problem with the shopping all being done at this stage is that there are still a few more weeks to go and I now need to resist the temptation to just pop extra bits in here and there. I have also found myself really wanting to give them some of the things that have been purchased as I cannot wait to see their faces when they get something I know they are going to love! who is the child here?!

I have already received one of my Christmas presents though, but I am a grown up so that's okay :-)
Every girl needs her own dressing table and I have managed for 3 years in this house so far until Hubby's brain seemed to have processed the "drip, drip, drip" strategy I employ when I really want something and finally came up trumps :-D

I am really pleased with it although we do seem to have an extraordinary amount of mirrors in this house for one who doesn't look like she even looks in one most days...........

I do seem to have a penchant for collecting things though - my whim of the moment as you know is fabric and who can have fabric without ribbons and buttons? I am now in the process of collecting ribbons and need some sort of storage system for them. Who cares if they never get used, you never know when you might have a ribbon emergency :-) Although I would imagine most of you crafty bloggers have collections to rival John Lewis haberdashery department :-D


Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend and if I am spotted anywhere near a toy aisle then call for help immediately............

edited to add: Can I just mention how much I heart Take That please...... Yes, I am watching X Factor with Take That songs on the menu :-)

Thank you Driftwood for this award and the 7 things tag that came with it, ......


7 Things to do before I die

in no particular order:

Visit New York
Watch my children grow up
Stay married
Buy my dream house
Write a book
Become a grandmother
Do a parachute jump


7 things I do now

Spend to much time on the computer
Buy paint but never use it
Start diets every Monday
Finish diets every Tuesday
Write lots of lists
Follow family members around clearing up after them
Complain about following family members around clearing up after them.....

7 things I can't do

knit/crochet
Very rarely ring someone instead of texting
Step classes (no co-ordination)
Grow things from seeds (no green fingers)
Sing
Complain in shops
Return faulty/unwanted items !

7 things that I find attractive in the opposite sex

Doing something without me dropping massive hints
Make me laugh
Taking control of the "boring" household stuff
Ability to Cook especially when I've just about had it with preparing meals!
Letting me sleep in
The ability to find things that are right in front of them!
Tolerating my "whims of the moment"

7 things I say most often

Am I a servant?
"Sweetie"
please put your shoes on we are going to be late
"Manners?"
I'm fat aren't I?
Stop leaving televisions/lights on
I'm tired....

7 celebrities that I admire (in no particular order)

Jamie Oliver
Lauren Child
Gary Barlow
Robson Green

I honestly cannot think of anyone else I "admire" so best to leave it there!

7 favourite foods

Spaghetti Bolognese
Lemon Drizzle Cake
Lasagne
Crisps
Roast Dinner
Bacon Sandwich
Chinese Food!


7 people to join in the fun..

Kelly
Josie-mary
Krafty Girl
Pink Feather Paradise
Willow
thriftymrs
I can't sew

Have lots more to post but will do it in a seperate post over the weekend :-)
bye for now

sewing habitat.....

Well I do hope your all cracking on with your Christmas Swap parcels? I have made a good start on mine although a bit stuck for another couple of items to put it so would it be wrong to ask for some help?! hmmmm thought it might but I may have to resort to making something at this rate!! poor Jane@Petticoat Lane LOL

With regard to my recent foray into the fabric/sewing world and after lusting after many bloggers lovely sewing rooms but thinking an extension to house my mini Dunelm sewing machine would be a tad excessive, I came across a lovely bargain in Laura Ashley yesterday and because my husband is so lovely and has lost the will to live with my battle for all things crafty (thanks hubby x) he very kindly bought it for me today :-)
Look isn't it lovely :-)


I did not, however, show him the interior till much later :-D as previously said he is allergic to flowery patterns and just groaned when he saw the inside - it's not something I would buy normally as I am also a bit more reserved with "pattern" but I do love the fact that it is hidden inside and I can just go and open the door to get a little glimpse when I want to. I also now think I need to aquire more fabric!! It does look a bit of a weak collection but some ebay surfing should sort that out !


I did buy some Japanese retro fabrics and made small boy a little cushion which he was so grateful for and declared it "fantastic" ; a son's unconditional love for his mother does help the ego sometimes.



Well, as it is X Factor night and even though I said I wouldn't watch after last week's shock exit I cannot help myself and I am about to settle down with a glass of wine and maybe the odd chocolate or two........

If anyone went to the Country Living Fair I hope you had a fab time and I have been giving some thought of maybe a group of bloggers from the North travelling down together next year if anyone fancies a trip out? go on, you know you want to :-)

Lovely weekend wishes to everyone.

Christmas Swap Buddies :-D

Hi All - the long anticipated Christmas swap pair up is finally done :-)
Thank you to MelMel for hosting it and I have had lots of fretful hours putting this together and I can now do links in my sleep (:-D) so I hope its okay for everyone and if you have any issues/problems please email me or leave a comment in this post. I did match the two obvious USA bloggers and I know that's a bit against the rules sorry! but the rest I used the random generator gadget and had assigned your number in order of comment position presuming the rest are all UK!
The theme is "Cosy night in" and a maximum of 5 items to be included but please remember its not a monetary thing it is more the thought that counts!! Items can be bought or hand-made dependent on your skills! Could you please contact your partner via their blog link which I have included in the list and I will try and get round all blogs to let you know the list is ready and to check here :-) Hope it all makes sense!
Are you ready? okay here goes............


MelMel & Kelly

Angel & VintageTea

Pixie Dust & Josie-Mary

athriftymrs & TillyTatas

Notesfrommydays & PetticoatLane

kraftygirl & MaryAnne(Noblog)

SerendipitylovesNewYork &TheLinenCupboard

Dollydollop & Lacehearts

CinnamonCottage &Lou@Ludabelle

ShabbyChic(RosesPoses) & Kim@Brigantia

TeawithWillow & ginghamandflowers

TillyRose& MaryPoppins

SkippyMom (USA)& FrommyCherryHeart (USA)

Karensplaytime & DianaBocco@Inkwoes

Andrea@AndreaFay's & HenHouse

Please remember the spirit in which this is intended and post by 10th December at the very latest to avoid disapointment :-)

Edited to add: it's up to yourself how you want to wrap your present - some may do Christmas paper I would imagine but it's your decision :-) oh and if anyone can control themselves and wait until Christmas Day to open their parcel I will be very impressed LOL
Happy Swapping :-D

Award time :-)

The lovely Caroline has given me this award which is the Marie Antoinette Real Person Award - Thank you Caroline :-)
I would like to forward it onto more "real people" :-)

Emma @ LavendarHouse
Jane@Petticoat Lane
Do you mind if I Knit?
HenHouse
DottyCookie

thank you all for keeping it real!!

It was a good opportunity to practise my links as the Christmas Swap partners will be announced tomorrow lunchtimeish here on my blog so check back!!! Head over to MelMel and leave a comment on the post this links to to be included!! Hurry!!!
I am off to leave messages for the award people and indulge in my new hobby of trying to make a word out of the comment verfication letters that you have to copy when you leave a comment...............

Lesley x

Fabric love......

I have recently found fabric. Not that I hadn't seen it before but I had never really looked at it to buy or just to covet. Laura Ashley, Dunelm and local fabric shops have now become places of joy for me. I love the colours, the patterns and just buying bits and pieces here and there with no idea what they will ever be made into but it is now my new past-time! I just like having them in my little basket that I can get out and look through sighing over the lovely textures and colours. All this exposure to fabrics has seeped into day to day life and I am buying things that are far more colourful than I am used to.




My house, as I have previously mentioned, is quite reserved with colour and pattern as my Husband has an extreme allergy to anything with a flowery pattern so this is a good outlet for me :-)

Fabric love has come about as I recently aquired a sewing machine at the grand old age of 37 ! I know you crafty bloggers out there will be amazed that I have managed without one so far and I must be honest I now wish I had had one earlier as I am loving my little foot pedal and wadding and thread and ribbon surrounding me as I turn out things that a 5 year old could make a better job of but happy I am :-)


The daughter had to join in on the act so we bought her some new bits and pieces as well and spent a lovely sunday afternoon being crafty :-)




If anyone has any ideas for little projects for absolute beginners then let me know (for me not the daughter, she is already better than I am...)

I do still love getting those parcels through the post though and the knock at the door a few days ago had me running for my camera to photograph a cardboard box...... is this a sign of a true blogger? when you run for the camera before you even open the parcel?.......... The lovely Claire had sent my order which has resulted in me placing another order virtually straight away as her things are so lovely you must visit her shop!!



have a lovely week everyone and pop over to Melmel to sign up for the Christmas Swap and just hope you don't get partnered with me ..... although I think I will have to promise to BUY my swop present as I had visions of my offering being returned for a refund :-D

Shopping, visits and losing my marbles.......

Phew it has been a bit hectic around here lately :-) not that I'm complaining I do like being busy but today is "cleaning day" which has now been put off since last week so an even busier day today I think!! Bed changing to take place as I finally persuaded Hubby that the winter duvet should come out of hibernation to save me shivering myself to sleep each night! I love to change things around for winter and make the house seem all cosy and the most important thing to me (and many other parents) is sleep!!! There is nothing I wouldn't do for an extra hour in bed some mornings. Hubby and I have weekends lie ins, me on a Saturday, him on Sunday. I have been known to lie there groaning and offering him money if he will get up on Sunday as well ... he has yet to take me up on this offer..... and you do not want to know about the rant that goes on when the children sleep in on his morning to get up but of course wake up with the dawn chorus when its my turn.......

I need the sleep to keep my mind alert and ready to deal with all eventualities though. For example losing my car in the car park on Monday. Admit you have done this too please!! I came out of the supermarket and just could not find it and trust me its a big car! I was doing that silly jumping up and down to try and see over the row of cars whilst pressing the remote lock on my keys hoping the lights flashing would lead me to it.... All this whilst my fingers were slowly losing all feeling due to the large boxes in carrier bags that were too small for them resulting in what felt like thin wire cutting into my skin..... Next year my children are only allowed to ask for small things not boxes I could live in after the present has been removed!!

I have had a lovely visit at this lady's house yesterday though which made up for it :-) I got to see inside her pretty home and cake into the bargain ! She is very lucky some of the things I was oohing and aahing over didn't come home with me :-D She did send me home with a lovely fabric heart she had made though which is so pretty! I also got to drool over the red sewing machine I have had my eye on for some time! My list for Father Christmas gets longer and longer every day..........
Although I am thinking of abandoning the whole list thing. I find myself with a list of things I've bought, a list of things still to buy, a list of idea's for other people, a list of a few emergency presents, and then made myself a list of the lists!!! Have not quite mastered the list making art just yet I think.

I do have other jobs to do today though and need to sort out The Daughter's wardrobe and put summer things away :-( but summer things are so pretty!!!


But, as winter could set in for good any day now and the garden look like this again,then needs must.




I also have the lovely chore of bathroom cleaning to do , joy of joy.... how lucky I am! Although The Daughter has left me a couple of chums for me to chat to whilst cleaning the bath :-)