All over the place...

ALL over the place, both mentally and physically, I am unable to concentrate on one thing before my mind hops on to the next, I feel I need a good tidy up, so bare with me... I want to thank you (and I will do personally by email) for all of your support over the sad loss of my cousin. I had such a busy couple of days I told myself I was just going to get on with it. I think this had an impact on me in a way I did not expect as I ended up ill on Sunday and spent most of the day in bed, I could not even face picking up my knitting. I slept a lot and spent a lot of time thinking of my cousins direct family, her husband, sister and Mother who were all there at her parting. It brought back a lot of pain about my Dads death and from what I have been told those final moments were both very similar, my heart truly goes out to them. A braver women you could not hope to meet, to fight with such dedication and zest for life. With that heavy guilt feeling we carry on, how strange it is that you get up and do the things you always do when such sadness is all around. I know this is an inbuilt thing so that we cope and keep going. So I shall carry on with my witter, I had a special moment last week, I actually took time out just for me in my garden, the day before I had done a lot of gardening and I enjoyed the rewards, the sun was shining, the children were out and instead of running around doing house work, I sat in my favourite corner of the garden, plugged my ipod in my ears, made a pot of tea and sat for and hour (or so) and finished my older ones tank top. Oh it was bliss. Before I knew it it was time to throw down the knitting and do the nursery run, but that moment was very special.
Baking, I have baked cakes until they came out my ears, Friday was a none stop day. Fridays are always a little busy but this one was especially full. I went to lunch at a friends, I stayed later than I should so I missed my 'baking time' in the afternoon, I did the school run then had an hour between Drama class for my oldest, I ended up at a neighbours whilst our children jumped all their energy away on their HUGE trampoline. Again missed another baking window. So once I had finally got all the children home, settled playing in the garden, I put on the apron and stayed in the kitchen till nearly 10.00pm. Why, well Saturday was my patchwork class followed by the school PTA quiz night, as I am on the committee I had promised to bake in the hope of raising some more money. So trays of cakes later and very gooey chocolate cake...well I was worn out to say the least, I also managed to cook a roast dinner, including Yorkshire pudding for the family.
So I curled up in bed and actually slept well, so Saturday, I went on my patchwork course, we did two blocks this week, I am only showing you the heart at the moment, quite apt I thought. We worked on 'curves' and I have to say I found it hard, but I did manage to achieve the end result, I will get the other block photographed then you will realise just how many curves we did!
I love this day, I will be sad when the course is finished, the whole thing is great, including the drive over to the place. I do live in quite an outstanding place of beauty, full of history and the grit of time gone by. On the way back I actually stoped my car and took a few pictures, they do not really show its beauty and impressive size but it gives you an idea...I have watched the seasons as I drive through these hills and moor land, from Autumn, to snowy winter, grey wet rain and incredibly thick fog (not a trip I enjoyed) and now to the freshness of spring. I listen to the radio, with no children to distract me and take in the views. Its a great time, although a little nervous when I realised a man in a car had pulled up behind me, I made a quick retreat...
On arrival at home I unloaded my sewing machine and fabric goodies and got the kids in the car ( I am always welcomed by such love, lots of kisses and cuddles) get the baking and off we went to quiz night, it went on till 9.oopm and the children all got past their best, My table won the general knowledge round, yippee...it was through no help from me I can assure you. My poor little boy was so tired he lost his co-ordination and fell about four foot onto his head, my heart went out to him, so he spent the night curled up in my bed, so peaceful in his sleep. Yesterday he came in to wake me before he went to bed and we spent a lovely half hour chatting and giggling, kids laughter is truly the best tonic on this planet.

Over the Rainbow

No crafty goodness today, my cousin lost her long and painful fight against cancer yesterday:-(

Joy and sadness

I had no intention to post today, I kept the morning free to catch up on return emails and reply to some of the lovely comments I have had lately, as usual this somehow leads to reading more blogs than I should. There seems to be a run of awards for blogs at the moment, not very big here in the UK, but all the same quite a few. I am not a very competitive person, in fact I am that Mom who gets worked up at Sports Day, when you watch the child who comes in last, the sadness as their heart breaks as they realise just what has gone on, Oh I feel uncomfortable just thinking about it. So I am never going to be a big fan of these things. Maybe because there is no hope of me competing let alone winning, but WHY OH WHY...do they leave you feeling vulnerable...Anyway today was a day spending time with my little one, we played trains and all the usual things, then ventured into the garden, that sand pit was the best garden toy we have, hours of fun. So as I was not needed, Mom or sand pit...yep sand wins!!! I mowed and strimmed the lawns. Timing was perfect, as I finished my little one was ready for the next adventure. An afternoon snack was due, so we did a bit of baking together, Oh so kitch in our matching aprons! (Thanks Caroline, still loving our Christmas present) -A friend made them for us all and with our names on, who needs a Cath Kidston apron when you have your own? My little helper really enjoyed this little task, he got, well, stuck in, flour all over the kitchen, an uncontrollable giggling session set in when it was tossing time!
Nothing is better than eating it all up though, Oh Boy! Chocolate and Banana...Yum Yum. I was instructed to leave some so 'My Brother can have some too' just so cute...
So it was time for bed, I had managed to get some knitting done, nearly finished now, the first picture of knitting is the pattern picture, the second is mine, its all done from stash so the colour is not as bright as I really need to use up some of my stash. Bedtime was the usual mass of cuddles and giggles and a few 'calm down' comments from me. The phone rings and its my Mom. The call I have been expecting. My cousin, who has been in a hospice for over a week now, is VERY ill. Her being ill is nothing new, she is an inspiration, three years ago she was given three months to live, her cancer was in-operable, over the last year she has got worse, I want go into detail. I am finding it really hard to move freely at the moment, I am weighed down by this sadness.
I have such a mental image of what is happening in her room as I write. Some of you know, if you have been reading for a while, my Dad passed away over a year ago now, I stayed with him and we spent his last night together, it was the saddest and most emotional night of my life. I can feel the love in the room, the utter sadness of the moment and the anger that this disease stirs up. The irony of it...my cousin was so very close to my Dad, she asked only last week if he would look after her. I pray that she has peace in her heart.

So on that sad note I shall away, I worry this is too person a post, I appologise if it is and I hope that you will understand, most of us know someone or more than one person with this disease, my heart goes out to you.

I need to hold my children tight.

Narnia

Narnia...OK its just a plain wardrobe. Did I say plain, Man look at those colours, there was a time when I would wear nothing but BLACK. So after four days of work, I have reduced the ironing pile by two thirds, I have caught up with most of the washing, swapped over my winter clothes to summer, and sorted through my wardrobe. I was inspired by a blog I read last week, this lady had the best set up for her clothes and shoes, it was amazing, (wish I could remember which one it was, sadly my favourites in AOL have all got mixed up...again) OK so mine is smaller scale, but no excuse for the mess it was in. So here are a few shots of the new improved version, If any of you know Boden you will know what a victim I am, skirt after skirt, I warned you I was a little sad!!!
Now I could not leave the shoes out, I wear ONLY boots in the winter as I so hate to wear tights. I feel it is now safe to put them away, so it was a change around from these heavy things to all my pretty flowery summer shoes. I have quite a small foot so I am lucky enough to still fit into children's shoes, this is great at sale time!!! SO a lot of my shoes are children's, have you not ever looked at the cool stuff you get for girls and wish they made them bigger? No...OH so it is just me that does that!!! Anyway I keep them in boxes so I maximise storage space, as you can stack without damage. Last years spring cleaning had me taking photos of all my shoes to put on the front of the boxes. I even printed them all out 'box size' they are still sitting there waiting to be put on, this year I took the lazy approach and just wrote on the boxes with a BIG marker!!! See I try to be organised, it just does not always come together. Now to start on the children's rooms...

Sweet dreams

Sweet Dreams...if only, Man I am tired, I mean blink and my eyes stay closed for a moment too long, I move like I have just got out of bed (which is now over 4 hours ago), I just want to curl up and sleep. I fear that if I did, I am just so tired, I would sleep through the alarm clock and miss collecting my youngest from Nursery. I guess the 'Busy Busy' has just caught up with me. I had a late night last night after the 40th Birthday celebrations for a friend, it was a good night with a group of people who once were such a big part of my life, for various reasons and commitments we have all drifted a little so it was good to see how they all are getting on. On my return I was greeted by sleeping Angels, I had just shared with my friends that my youngest had started to sleep a little better (BIG MISTAKE)!!! SO pre-kiss he looked so cute, his little chubby fingers curled around his pocket teddy. Suddenly he woke up...Mommy I want a drink! So this is a picture at the bathroom sink having a little later than mid-night drink!
Yer I know it is not a good quality shot, hey I am tired!!! This set the pattern for the rest of the night.

Add on to that the house is in complete disarray after my good intentions to get through the 5ft (no I am not exaggerating) pile of ironing and swap over the winter to summer clothes. We have clothes everywhere and its just a mess!!! I keep looking at it and do not know what area to start in. SO it was with relief to delay the cleaning time when a neighbour invited me in for a coffee this morning. I just wanted to mention her as she RAN THE LONDON MARATHON yesterday, for months now she has been running and all her effort paid off. Is this not just an amazing thing to do?

When I did get home I had a parcel waiting for me...
Oh so exciting, I ripped open the box with a big smile on my face and got stuck in to my goodies. This was a random purchase last week...
How sweet is this, its a cake stand, as I have numerous cake stands I think it will make its way into my sewing room for storage reasons! Its so pretty, I would have loved to have scored one secondhand, but I guessed that was a bit of a dream so I just treated myself...

As I was paying for delivery I thought I would go a bit RETRO and treat the boys to bit of fun at the dinner table. I am ashamed to say that both my children love ketchup!!! So I thought they would appreciate this.

Yesterday I went out to a tea shop with my children, we sat and read our magazines and chatted about this and that...it was a real revelation to me...suddenly aware that I am not actually physically caring for them, no wiping faces, spoon feeding, trips to the loo...We actually sat there and ENJOYED our time together talking as three people who love being together do. I guess I am having to acknowledge that the baby days are over...

As I guessed no crafting to report on, sorry to let you down, I will hope to be back on course SOON!!!

Squeezing it all in...

Squeezing it all in this weekend. I had to miss out on making the Tee's and ended up giving a card making set to the little boy and a big fabric flower pin for the little girl, I put it on a label with fabric sewn on (pink gingham) and machine embroidered her name on it, I do not know the little girl as it was a party invite from nursery so she could love it or loath it!!! Last night I managed to get a bit of spring cleaning done, I took out most of my winter clothes and started to pull out the summer stuff. Do I need to mention that I now have a room that resembles a jumble sale with piles of clothes to be put away, ironed or hung and all those hangers!!! The children went to bed, I read them a lovely bedtime story (book form the library trip) and they went to sleep peacefully, you know when you look at them asleep and they look like Angels. I actually managed an hour on my own, sewing. I sat at the kitchen table and listened to 'the creative moms' podcast whilst cutting out the shapes from the felted wool, I then got all the bits together, buttons, backs, pins, floss etc...and moved to the lounge and watched The Holiday DVD. I real chick flick, but such a great feel good movie and it worked very well whilst getting some sewing done. (Over Christmas, before I started my blog, my Best Friend , who sadly for us, now lives in Australia, came over with her three children for a week, we went to watch this film together as a little Mommy treat, it brought back lots of happy memories of a great time). SO these are the results, back and front.
So on to the weekend this morning I was woken by a little person wanting to play, It was around 6.00am, I should not moan as at least he slept through the night, which if you have been reading for a while this is not usual, although he has done it a few times now. The children had a few hours play, dressing up...Buzz Light Year and Spider Man trying to get into the shower with you in the morning produces a whole heap of giggling. Eventually we all got ready and headed off for the first fundraising event of the day. Mommy put on her new shoes!!! OK I have a secret, I will share it with you, they are not new, I bought them last year, put them in my wardrobe and forgot about them, on the change over from winter to summer I found them...
How could I have done this, they are so cute and VERY me! I have a problem with my pelvis, when I had my two babes my pelvis separated and I was on crutches for a couple of years, I am fine now as long as I know my limit's, one of those is high heels, the pain afterwards is just is not worth it. So its flatties most of the time so I like to buy them with a bit of fun in mind.
Anyway off to 'Narnia', my older child is slowly working through all the Narnia books and he adores them, so when he heard this event was taking place he was very excited. For 50p, the children got a drink each and entrance through the wardrobe into Narnia world...The place was very well decorated, someone had taken a lot of time and effort to do this, and the children could make lots of craft related goodies, my children picked the Crown and Shield to make, although there was a lot more they could have done. Not bad for 50p, sadly even after all the effort was put in not many people turned up, I hope lots more did once we had a left, having worked on many found raising events in my time I know how heart breaking this can be. We also came home with various books, knitted (very colourful) toys, chocolate and bits and bobs from the various stalls. The boys have gone for lunch and the house is quite, I thought I would catch up with my blog and then get on with the rest of the Busy schedule. See you Monday.

PS Thanks guys for all the support on the Road Rage incident, I am amazed that something similar has happened to so many of you, its hard to believe there are so many people out there with this kind of behaviour. Your emails meant alot, thanks.

Corner of my home (Reality shot)

The witterings of a busy MOM...
A lot of playing got done yesterday, the weather was good enough in the early part of the afternoon to play out but once we had picked up my older child from school it had just got to cold to play out. So they piled in the house. With all this playing Mom did not get much chance to get any making or housework done. I just about managed to make the dinner. I had to rush out early evening to get the flowers as its my turn to do the church flowers again. After the children finally went to sleep I came down to be greeted by this! This is only one room, trains in the living room and rockets and space ships in the play room. SO its not a surprise I did not get to sit down till 10.oopm, too tired to even pick up my knitting whilst chilling out to Desperate Housewife's!

I am not feeling great today and its always the way when you have a lot on...I mentioned Church flowers, I have two Tee's to applique for birthday gifts, I have a commission to make (Yippee), its story time at the library and my older child need to be taken to his Drama class...Busy Busy Busy, its the same over the weekend too, not one but two fund raising events, a forty-ith Birthday dinner, children's party and I really hope to get some housework done so I can find some 'making' time for next week...DO you get times like this when you just can't see the wood for the tree's?

Have a good weekend and I hope you get more crafting done than I am at the moment..its starting to get me DOWN!

PS I drove the route of the Road Rage incident today, yep I made myself, my heart was in my mouth and I found myself getting emotional, BUT at least I did it.

Baby love

Well I can now share with you the finished baby knit, you saw the pattern a couple of weeks ago, well now its finished and in the hands of Mommy and new born. I did not want to spoil it for her by showing you the pictures before being sent out. Its a beautiful wool to knit with, BUT be warned it needs to be hand washed, very unpractical for a new born. DO NOT be alarmed by this baby, it is in fact a doll, I bought it for my oldest child when I was expecting my second babe, how that doll was loved, it was bathed and feed and clothed just as my new born child was. It is now no longer needed but due to the emotional attachment to it I am unable to part with it. The dolls quilt is made by me too, the fabric is so lovely (Ebay purchase) and the edging came from an old pillow case, Gingham again, I can not get enough of this stuff!
On to the little baby booties, so cute and a lovely little knit, I worked on these in the garden at Easter whilst the children enjoyed playing. A most silly article of clothing, they will not stay on a baby's feet and they do not need them, BUT how cute are they!!! I wrapped them in a pretty box as they looked sweet enough to be an accessory for the nursery.
I would have loved to have knitted it in pink, as they did not know if baby was going to a boy or a girl I went with white. Oh the excuse to knit in PINK!!! Baby knits are just the best thing, big enough to feel like you are doing a project but small enough to reap the rewards of your work without the HOURS of knitting. I got a lovely email off the Mommy, she said her baby had just uncurled, OH this brought back so many memories, for a couple of weeks baby remains in that sort of fetus position, the hands and feet all curled in, it is so sweet and just makes me want to hold my little ones at that stage again when they fit perfectly to your body, adorable.
Enough baby talk its making me all maternal. I want to thank you for your support over the road rage incident, it was so scary, I need to point out that my car did not get actually get damaged, which is a blessing. I was very scared and have driven around since with my windows on lock, the kids are not happy about this in this heat and the doors locked. When I did the school run this morning I actually drove home a different way and pretended to myself I had to go to the shop...No it did not help because I knew in my heart I was just a bit too scared to go back to the place it had happened.
Yesterday was the awards day, it was held in a 'Lords Manor' it was very swish. I had the children with me, sadly due to a bit of singing from my youngest my Mom suggested I take the children out, so I missed the ceremony. This said, I had the grounds all to myself and I took lots of pictures of the children having a great time playing Knights in Castles, Pirates by the lake and even putting on a show for me with lots of singing and dancing. The last two pictures are a glimpse of the size of the place, the grounds themselves are actually MILES in size, huge. The place has lots of links to Royalty, but the simple joy to me was just watching the children play. Afternoon tea was served in true English tradition with little sandwiches, lots of cream cakes on cake stands and scones, well it would not be Afternoon Tea without the scones. I did have a little wobbly moment when my youngest was waving the best china around...

BAD DAY...think nice thoughts!!!

Bad Day...That's an understatement today. I am typing this with a little bit of difficulty as I have four big scratches down my right forearm, for some reason my bunny had an emergency getaway out of a cuddle, hes a big feller, which means big scratches. Its hurts, but I am being brave, assuring myself that it looks worse than it is. The real reason for the bad day and I am not ready yet to go into detail, I was the victim of Road Rage today. I was so scared, just outside a local school, which is a nightmare for cars in the morning. This person took it up on themselves to pretend to bump into me, then u'turned and chased me, pulled up so I could not get away and after shouting a load of swear words at me, he marched across to my car (he was still parked in the middle of the road) and demanded I got out...yer right!!! Actually I was so scared I could not have moved even if I wanted to. Eventually he gave up and left hitting the car then pulling away. I have never met this person, we were both in the same situation on a busy road and it just shocks me that someone can behave like this to another human being. So I am trying to think nice thoughts...which leads me on to our first outing to the beach after the winter. It was a big drive, we went over to Wales, on the way we took a break for a picnic at a fabric and wool barn, sadly they have changed it all around since our last visit and I only bought a small selection of crochet wool, but how pretty does that look? Lottie my rabbit from Little Cotton Rabbits is keeping a close watch on it.
We arrived after five hours of travelling to the most wonderful spot, we parked the camper van up and sat and drank in the view of the beach and the lush green hills. Eventually the boys demands for the beach meant we drove to the sea. They were all ready in their evening clothes ready for a meal out as a treat. Alas these clothes got wet through as two happy giggling bundles ran in and out of the sea and eventually daring the other to sit down...which they both did.

My second picture is a bit of a play on 'Corner of my home' more 'corner of my camper' Both children were so tired out by the fun they had, Mommy managed to get some quite time, a little knitting, a glance through the Country Living magazine and I even watched a movie...now that's camping!
Behind the sofa this little body was all snuggled up in his little nest, I bet he was dreaming about the Beach!
The next day was equally filled with beach fun, including making the very necessary sand boat, which gets built at all most every visit to the beach.
With all this playing I managed to knit the back of a Tank top for my oldest child, OK I had planed it for my youngest but I took the wrong size needles with me, tension was so out it must be twice the size it should be, perfect for the other child, who is very happy about this error.

I am SAD! (Corner of my home)

Well, that's the end of the holiday, two weeks with my children flew by. This morning after the boys had been dropped off to school and nursery I came home to a quite house and with a heavy heart I took down the Easter decorations. I thought I would share the photo just before dismantling the tree. If you recall the post when I first put up the tree, you will notice some change... Look at all the green leaves and the flowers, when I cut the branches down they where still in winter mode and over the two weeks they have shooted and flowered. Someone in our house pointed out that the branches did not know they where dead yet, a true enough comment but quite a stark reality! Also to come down is the children's birthday cards...
I love the colour they injected into the kitchen, but even I have to admit that it looks a whole lot tidier without them. Still tonight the boys can cut and glue with them until their hearts content before they hit the recycling box. Please note my all time favourite photo, the water babe picture, Yep! that's my youngest, it does not come out very well on the general picture.

So it is with sadness that this all goes away, I have to remember they joys of Easter, the new beginnings, the meaning of Easter and the precious time with my family.

Tagged

Well I guess someone is reading my blog as I have been tagged. Its quite a hard one, Thirteen things about being a Mom, and not really thinking about it just typing down what comes into your head. I wanted to cheat and think about some clever answers, but no I was a good girl and actually waited until I was sat at my computer and just typed the stuff that popped into my head, which will explain the answers! Only thirteen...I could go on for twice that. (I added in my pictures after I had written the answers, they popped up before the reply so the answers are at the end not the beginning,whoops)!

Talking of being a good girl, I thought I would share with you this idea my oldest child came up with. Its his good/bad chart. Now I would like to state that I do not like the words 'Bad Boy/Girl' as this was his choice of words I did not want to stomp on his creativity so I chose to ignore this. So that was his drawing, which was used for a few days, then we between us thought we could make one in fabric...Yippee! So off to my sewing room and we picked out the fabrics...
Stitched it all up, the grey cloud is actually a pair of school trousers...whoops that was a bit naughty of me!
Because I was so pleased with it, I thought I should go the whole hog, whilst he slept that evening, I sat and quilted the backing and bound it using Heather Bailey's tutorial...it works.
The red bits are the labels with their names on which hook on to the right bit. I am pleased to say that they have been on the VERY GOOD for quite a while now, they get very upset when I say am am going to move them and then really try hard to be good, Bless them. So it was a great Mommy and child make and I for one think its BRILL, although not as good as the original idea and drawing, that's priceless...


I have been tagged by Under The Maple Tree...thirteen things about being a MOM, and not to think to hard about it just type what comes to mind...


1)It changes your life beyond all your imagination


2)Its is THE most amazing experience


3)Its the hardest but most rewarding work I have ever done


4)You are always wanting more sleep


5)You never wake up when YOU want to anymore


6) The miracle of life is beyond words


7)Its a laugh, never have I had such fun with two individuals who could not talk for over two years!


8)We gets the paints out almost daily


9)I, little me, actually made these little people (with some help, but that goes without saying)!


10) They love me so much, sometimes I can just see it in their eyes and it makes my heart melt with total devotion to them, yer there are a lot of tears.


11)They do not care what the hell I look like, bad hair day, do I look fat in this, etc...means nothing to them they just do not care, its total acceptance.


12)I love them with an emotion I had no idea I possessed, from being told it was unlikely I would have children to looking at my babes growing up day by day...well once again its beyond words.


13)They are my flesh and blood, sounds an odd one, but, I am adopted, it leaves you with feelings of rejection and not knowing where you came from, what colour your Moms hair is etc...is a bit strange. I was adopted into a good family have been loved and cared for. Its nothing to do with all the obvious things its just an amazing and unbelievable experience to have my own children, its a gift, a miracle and the best thing I have ever done in life and changed me into a much better person and a slightly larger one too!


OK now I have to tag three others, Oh my...how about French Knots, Tree Fall Designs and Ric Rac and Ribbons. No offence will be taken if you chose not to do this. I have to admit though that I always enjoy reading all the different responses from these kind of Round Robbins!

Hoping the good weather holds out for the weekend, we are off for our first Beach trip in the camper van tomorrow. Have a good weekend.

I am a WINNER!!!

Hello, look what came in the post for me, talk about cute... This is a prize from Haphazard happenstances I left a message on her blog, I was lucky enough to be put into a draw and I won. Yippee. She actually designs them, they are so cool, the possibilities here are endless. Let me assure you that they are VERY professional. Archie the rabbit might have seemed a bit of an odd request for a photo, but, as he is one of the family and it was Easter orientated I thought he was a good choice. Go check out her blogs, she does have a few laugh out load posts and some very thoughtful ones too. I like to leave a comment when I read a blog and enjoyed it, I always feel a little, well, rude, as if I am reading a personal diary without permission, so I like to leave a little word or two:-)

Its been a blissful day today, I have remained in my PJs all day, its been a garden day and the children and I have just lazed around in the warmth of the sun. I have knitted at every free moment. I am doing a swap with my blog mate Small fox this is my first swap in blog land and I am very excited but also nervous as I am actually knitting something for her, its her choice but my design, oh I hope its OK. You know you have a few blogs you read everyday, well her blog is one of mine, and I am so pleased to say she has supported me almost from when I started, so who better for my first swap.

Now I have been tagged by From Under the Maple I have every intention to write my list of 'Mom things', but after a takeaway and a couple of cool drinks (hiccup) I think I should leave it for tonight.

Hoping for another sunny day tomorrow, its a 'Moms that Lunch' tomorrow and it will be so nice to eat outside whilst the children run around.

Shopping and me!!!

Before children shopping was my main sport, on a Saturday I would get up late have a long bath, dress up and hit the town, spend all afternoon shopping for an outfit for that evening, maybe a bit of make up to cheer myself up a little more. A coffee stop was a must, or when I lived in Scotland, the wine bar trend had just started out and I would pop in for a glass and a bowl of nibbles to keep me going. Book shops also got a pounding, at least an hour of just mulling over the shelves of books, Oh heaven! Since children I am a completely different person. I still like nice stuff, but do not have the time to go shopping. I am a country girl now, through and through, so I am not keen to go into the city. MAIL ORDER....the joys. Now I am a Boden girl. I love their clothes, I like their quirkiness and sense of fun. Occasionally, especially in the summer when I am away in the camper van, I do a little shopping in Fat Face. But today I am thinking Plumo The reason for this is my Summer catalogue arrived this morning and I sat with my cup of Lady Grey and mentally spent a fortune. It's more of an 'I wish' shop as its quite expensive, but its an all round catalogue and its full of great idea's This morning I saw this tea set and just secretly wished that someone would buy it for me, in reality I could think of other things I would really like, but in a dreamy sort of way I longed... So today I took my children on a train trip to a nearby town, a particular trendy one with great charity shops. I stumbled upon this tea set (Only £2.) Now how similar are they, and the best bit is it has a cake plate!!! I also wanted this glass range, with a bit of thought I realised I already had some great pieces. The two glass bottles are baby bottles, over forty years old, I am not a fan of bottle feeding but these are special, the butterfly perfume bottle was a charity shop find and came in at £3.00. So I do not need to buy these either.
For the inspiration side of things I loved this cushion, I remember seeing Simple Sparrow
making a batch like these but instead of applique she had embroidered caravans, they are cool, go check them out, they are from about a month ago if I recall correctly.
Now maybe with all the pennies I saved on the tea set and glass work I could stretch to this beautiful sweater...yer in my dreams!!! ( My oldest child thinks the model looks scary, so I thought I should just confirm that this is a model and not Suzie Sews)! Edited to add...bought this sweater in the winter sale for half the price!!!
BUT, I am thinking about this top, its so lovely and I am going to a garden party later this month and if the weather holds off this would look great with a rather slimming pair of trousers I own, which I imagine came from Boden!!!

Project update...Baby knit finished, so cute, I will have to wait to show you the picture as it will spoil the surprise. On to knitting some groovy mitts bought some Lush wool for them today. All quite on the sewing front since the applique Tee's.

Happy Easter

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. I have been off line due to a huge computer problem, after four days it was eventually sorted out. After almost nine hours of being worked on it got fixed. Anyway on to the good stuff, this is a corner of my home, my bedroom at about 12.15am Easter morning. I had just finished doing the preparation for the children's Easter Hunt and wrapped the gifts up and it hit me that I could now EAT CHOCOLATE!!! SO that's just what I did whilst reading through a little gift to myself. Yummmmy. By the way this little sewing book and kit is really sweet, I thought it might be a bit too childlike, but it has some good tips and great transfers and despite the plastic hoop, its a fab little gift, and under a tenner! I like the way the book is written, its very friendly and jolly. Just before the chocolate outbreak, hey come on I did just about manage to go the full 40 days and 40 nights and as a chocoholic that's going some, which is the whole point of the exercise! I was keeping my hands busy and spending some loving time with my sewing machine, I made two Tee's for my kids. Little chicks, you might remember some time ago I got the fabric and mentioned I had an idea of what to do with it, well that's the idea now complete, it looks great, one is much better than the other, my work really suffers when I am tired. When I bought the fabric it said it was Anna Maria Horner fabric, which I was very excited about as you struggle to get it here in the UK, I have checked out her web site and not found this design but hey its really cute and I love the fried eggs, but I especially love the colourful hens and chickens fabric, which is used at the back of the Tee's and I still have half of the fat quarter left.
The weather was so stunning all over Easter, we really made the most of being outside, as you can see the garden is starting to lose its drabness and is coming into colour beautifully. The grass needs lots of attention, not helped by a rather busy day when a couple of friends came over for the day, with nine children between us, it was a hectic play day. Boy did the kids have fun.

So my children loved their Tee's and wore them all day, I have some great photos of them hand in hand doing the Easter Egg hunt, holding their cute baskets and helping each other out, this idyllic image soon changed once they were sugared up!!!
I leave you with a picture that just about sums up this Easter for me. My own Easter bunny (Archie) beautiful Cath Kidston fabrics, my favourite blue gingham and my knitting! A corner of contentment.
Its Easter Monday today and after all the good weather we are now getting none stop rain, grey skies and rather miserable. We started the day off with pancakes (well it seemed like a good idea as that's how we started Lent) fun was had tossing the pancakes, lots of chocolate spread and banana's. The children have now gone out for 'pictures and pizza' so I am catching up with a bit of housework and if I have some time (after blogging) I might get some projects worked on, nearly finished the baby knit, on to sewing it up. I need to get up to date with my knitting as I am venturing into my first blog swap and I am doing a knitted project...worried it might not be good enough. I shall tell you more later in the week. It should be good fun and I am keen to get going with it.

The EGGcitment continues...

It has truly been the first day of the 'summer type' of days ahead of us. I was greeted by bright light peeping through the curtains. As soon as we all made it down stairs we put the cushions and seat blankets out in the garden and remained there for the morning. We even stayed in our PJs till mid-afternoon! The feel of Easter is all around us, new beginnings and new life. I thought I would share with you our Easter tree. Sadly for some reason I can not explain, I actually agreed to throw out years worth of hand made eggs for the tree, OK some where in a sad way, but I can not believe that I did this. So over the next couple of days the boys and I are on a mission to make some more. I have a pattern for some fabric eggs, I am hoping to find an hour or two to make some with my patchwork scrapes.
Keeping with the egg theme I snapped this picture of a little afternoon treat for my children, I am not big on Chocolate and sweets for the kids, especially as one of my guys reacts quite badly to sugar, But its Easter and I have an abundance of chocolate in the house. (Mostly because I gave up the lovely stuff for lent, only a few days to go now...yummy)!
Now to share with you a busy play corner of my home...the sand pit, its been well played in today. Can you spy the chair at the side with my knitting bag, YES I actually got a little knitting done today.
Now I did not blog at all yesterday in fact I did not get much done. A group of us took our babes to a farm for the day, you know one with a play area and pic nic area. Sadly my youngest was hit with a temperature and spent the whole time in my arms either asleep or whimpering. Poor little chap. He slept all the way home and in the evening I cancelled my night out (how rare to have a night out arranged) and I just settled down for a night of cuddles....I mean all night. I felt very loved indeed. I am pleased to say he woke up much better. My older child enjoyed the day and he got to feed a baby lamb. The JOYS of SPRING. Hope your all feeling the spring in your step...