a proper spring day

Today we went to the beach for the first time this year. it was so mild we didnt even have to wear the extra jumpers I had taken along with us. The children scrambled over the rocks and looked for shells and crabs(finding 5 and none respectively). After, we played in the country park and the children found yellow butterflies and daisies and other wild flowers. what a lovely way to spend the first day of our Easter holidays.


and on the way home, we saw Scooby Doos van!!

Happy Birthday Mum!

Today is my Mums 60th Birthday, so happy birthday Mum! Here are a couple of pictures of her and me when we were both a bit younger.

one last time

Here is a bit of my finished blossom branches (blogged for the last time I assure you!), sorry about the fuzzyish photo, the light is not good in my dining room, and it is actually in my window but those photos didnt work at all.

When I went out to collect branches from my usual place and trees, the pussy willow, which is usually not out at all at this time of year, looked like this:


So I had to rethink, as it was so far on and all full of pollen. I found some other branchy tree, but on pulling down a high branch I discovered it had thorns (ouch). So I had to snip off all the prickles. I am happy with it now though, and along with the fine weather we have been having it makes everything feel like springtime has arrived.

spinning it out

oops, so we havent got round to getting twigs yet, but i thought you might like to see how pretty the white blossom looks in its bowl, nevertheless.


Busy doing nothing today, or so it has felt. We went to ikea for lunch, I bought a new muffin tin and some washing-up brushes, oh and a new smoke alarm, and thats about it. They had nothing Easter-y in, which was disappointing. We ate our lunch on a table next to a new mum who talked loudly and incessantly to her baby in high pitched motherese, completely driving me crazy, was I ever annoying like that? no im sure I didn't gush at my babies in public.

I have just been bought a cup of tea, it is green tea with mint, and is a different brand I am trying. This brand reminds me of my Grandads house, and I haven't been able to think quite why, it has a smell that haven't been able to place, until just now. It smells of fresh mint as you chop it to make mint sauce to accompany Roast Lamb sunday dinner. Rather disconcerting considering I have been vegetarian for 18 years, but funny how smells and tastes stick in our minds over time.


Today I got this cute (and big) postcard through the post from Megan of Beetlegrass. It really is sweet, Red Riding Hood looks rather worried, like she knows what might be about to happen to her. I love the toadstools, and her knobbly knees! You should go and check out all the finger puppets she has been making recently, I love all the googly eyes on Mcfly, Thanks again Megan!!

spring blossoms

For the last week I have been trying to work out how to make the paper blossoms that I remembered from spring last year. They were from Martha Stewart Living last April, but I did not have the magazine, and on the rejigged Martha website there is only half the instructions. So all I had to go on were these (great) flickr pics.

I was stuck on how to make a 5 petal flower out of a square piece of paper with 4 corners. However, the internet has the answer to everything and I found this great site that had a pentagon fold. Then there was no stopping me! I fixed the flowers to my fabric wrapped tree with a little wire and a shirt button.


So there we have it, the winter tree has blossomed. And I love making these simple flowers, tonight I made a whole load more to do some branches like the original Martha Stewart idea on twigs. They are looking gorgeous in a little bowl now and I hardly want to disturb them.

Tomorrow I am sure the children will love to go out searching for sticks, and then they can help me fix the blossoms on, watch this space!

want to see my odd sock collection?

Confession time. The odd sock situation in our house has been spiralling out of control, so I bravely decided to tackle the heap of socks that was overflowing its basket and taking over my bathroom floor. I emptied the pile onto my bed to search for pairs.


This took some time.

ok now, how many odd socks can one family have? Well, there weren't many grown-up socks so I took them out, as there wasn't enough space on our (5 foot wide!) bed. After matching 43 pairs of kids socks, all that was left was these few...


132 odd socks!!!!

I have thrown out all the hopeless causes and saved only the few socks I think might have friends lurking under bed edges, in the bottom of the laundry and places like that. I have hidden them in the bottom of this basket, with the pairs rolled together on top.


ssshh, don't tell anyone, this can be our little secret.

the new girl

There has been a new girl round these parts! She has been finished for a week but Blogger has not let me post her picture until today. I made her for a friend and she has left now to go to her new home.


She is pretty similar to Bea, in fact I think they are cousins. She has lovely stripey hair and turquoise legs, and a skirt made out of Amy Butler fabric. I have been making her for ages, I am not very good at doing something twice so I must apologise for her taking me so long to finish!!


Glad shes done, she turned out ok I think, and now I can get back to the 3 different spring baby tops for Lucie I have on the go, oh and to try and find somewhere where I can get my sewing machine serviced, or I will be doing them by hand!

problems with Blogger

thats what I have got!

it looks like lots of Mac users are having blogger issues the last few days, as Blogger is not uploading pics for us.

so please excuse the temporary blip in posting while we wait for them to fix it.

3 days I have been trying to post - uurgh!!

look what came in the post!

Chocolate!!


As modelled by the most fantastically strawberry scented dolly borrowed from my daughter for the photo, she was sitting on the windowsill and every time i see her I have to pick her up and sniff, she smells great. She loves chocolate too, she even has a chocolate scented dog!

The chocolate has come from Maria, also in the UK, for the latest round of Candyswappers. Thankyou Maria!!! Lots of yummy goodness from Thorntons, you might be able to tell I have already eaten the littlest bar!! She is way ahead of me, as I am usually a posting-on-the-deadline girl and havent sent out my parcel yet, but be patient dear Maria, it will be on its way this week!
It is so great that Candyswappers is up and running again, as this is the first swap since autumn, and now with a new co-ordinator Amber.

We also got a new toy at the weekend, and, as Hubby has pointed out, it doubles as a mirror too look.

St Davids day and a blog birthday!!

I have put this on here largely because today I went to visit my friend Julia and we were talking about putting photos on blogs that our kids will hate us for when they are older, this one surely fits into that category. oh yes, and its St Davids day, so lots of welsh celebrations going on.

back to my day,one spent sitting and chatting, and I helped unpack and set up Julias new sewing machine, as she doesnt like instruction manuals!! We ate a large amount of Welsh Cakes and Bara Brith, yummy!! and she cooked me and Lucie the most fantastic pancakes for lunch. While there we were talking about how it must be nearly a year since I started my blog, and I just looked, and it is exactly a year! strange huh??!! I have never kept a diary consistantly for this long so I feel this is quite an achievement, and it is interesting to look back on this time last year and what was going on.

So, Happy Birthday Blog!!


I couldnt resist this beautiful heather picked from Julias garden as I left there today, don't worry, I did ask first if I could have some!! It is such pretty colours, and I bought 2 jumpers in the sales today, also in shades of purple and deep pink. Then I noticed Lucie was wearing Lilac, she is the blur in the background, I am definitely going through a purple phase right now.

postcards and birthdays

I thought I would share some of the postcards I bought for myself from the Museum of Childhood last week. I like to buy postcards of nice things to put on my pinboard by the computer for me to look at as I sit here, much better than bare wall dont you think?

The top one above is of six cardboard dolls with wooden legs, designed by Hilda Cowham from 1914/15. I like that they have names: Demure Dora, Little Miss Folly, Mademoiselle, Motherly Molly, Nurse Nora and Saucy Sally!


Next is this fish, I am sure we had one of these, or someone did, in my childhood. I can remember the feel of it in my hand, it felt smooth and comfy to hold, snug. anyway, it is a plastic bath toy fish designed by Patrick Rylands in 1968.


I also had to get this one of Jemima, from Play School, a tv show we used to watch in the 70's. nice to see her again.

I did also buy some Miffy cards, they are some you can colour in yourself and I have a plan for them, when I get around to it (best not to hold your breath), I am not being very productive craft wise at the moment.


Yesterday was Andrews birthday, here is the yummy cake I made, chocolate in the extreme, thanks to my friend Lucy lending me her cocoa powder. do you know, in the little town I live in, which does have limited shops, but by way of food shops it has a marks and spencer, an iceland, a somerfield, and 3 health food shops, you cant actually buy cocoa powder?? How rubbish is that?

Is it only me who bakes? tsssk.

some random London images

We had a fun time in London, went to Hamleys and Liberty, Cheshire street, various parts of Bethnal Green including the Museum of Childhood and Duke Of Uke Ukulele shop (hubby likes his Ukuleles, oh yes). Chinatown (it was new year), Covent Garden, Tate Modern plus a wander along the Millenium walk to see all the touristy sights. pretty hectic for 3 days in the capital. Didnt get to Marlebone street, next time. More pics on flickr.

No miffy pictures yet though as my battery ran out so I had to just take stills on the new DV recorder, which is as yet incompatable with our computer, we need another lead or something, dont ask me.

Visit to my brothers house

Went to see Uncle Andrew and Auntie Jen last weekend. we had a lovely time with them, we visited Oxford on Saturday, and went to a farm park place on Sunday).

They have guinea pigs which the children loved (and a stone path in the garden which the children liked even more!!


Andrew bought us the most fantasic cookies from here, the smell was delicious all around this tiny stall.


and Esme is highly amused by this photo of two pigs bottoms. they are playing football, believe it or not!

Hooray for half-term!

We have been counting down the days, Esme in particular, until this saturday (today, though it is early hours so still tomorrow really) until we go to visit Uncle Andrew and Auntie Jenny, My brother and my Sister in law. Esme made this countdown poster nearly 2 weeks ago, the day after she packed her bags to go. She asked me to write the days in the boxes she had drawn out. I took the photo a few days ago but have not had time to blog it before now.

So, we are off to Bicester for the weekend, then going on to stay a few days in London. We are planning then to go visit Miffy here and also go here. I am also looking forward to a little shopping, I would like to go to this street, also this one. I would also like to go to Covent Garden, Liberty and the list goes on!!!

now all I have to do is squeeze in a little sleep before we leave tomorrow morning bright and early. See you in a few days!!!

dodgy haircut

guilty party

Snow and cookies

we had almost constant snowfall for 2 days!! now I know that for much of the world this isn't a lot, and many people have been snowed in for the last 2 months, or rather not snowed in, but living with snow and carrying on just about as normal. Well that doesnt happen here, in the UK I mean, a few flakes of snow and everything grinds to a halt. Thursday we woke up to about 3 inches, all the schools shut, people were bulk-buying bread and milk and more or less going crazy.

Anyway, it is so nice to have the kids home from school for a few days. We got more snow on friday and did all the snowy weather stuff that you have to pack into the few days a year of snow, like make snowmen, have snowball fights and go sledging with Daddy.



I have been poorly too, perhaps one snowball too many, sent me to my bed at tea time Thursday evening. I am feeling a lot better now, but Laurie has been ill with an ear infection today (trip to the hospital as its saturday for the emergency doctor, uurgh). Hopefully we will all be over these bugs soon.

I finally finally got round to making the pistachio cookies that African Kelli sent me the pistachio mix for so long ago this week. I had been holding out as I kept forgetting to buy pistachio nuts. so I finally remembered, then went back to print off her recipe...only to find it has no real nuts in it! lol. Anyway, we made the cookies and they were really yummy, and a crazy pale green colour (doesnt really show on my pics). I even forgot to photograph them until there were only a few left, the kids and hubby wolfed them down pretty quickly, so these arent the best looking of the bunch, but hey, you get the idea.



There hasnt been much crafting going on, between being ill and caring for everyone else, and with Lucie having a few very grumpy tantrumy days and evenings, some weeks fly by without a moment to spare it seems. I do have a few works in (very slow) progress, hopefully some will be completed and able to show soon.

mini eggs and updates

will someone please take these mini eggs away from me!!! I cannot stop eating them, I have munched through nearly the whole bag, and it was a big bag!!!



I bought them on offer last week, 3 for 2, to put away for easter baking with the children, but the packets were calling me and I had to open one. I hope I will be able to resist the yells of the other bags.

I have been updating my sidebars tonight (while munching mini eggs) and have swapped some of my links. I plan to keep refreshing these every month for a little variety, so the ones you see now will be there for February. I havent forgotten you other people who I have moved, I will still visit, but I have so many bookmarked as favourites that this will keep more to mind I hope.

we have had a lovely weekend, went to brecon yesterday and mooched around fabric, antique furniture and second-hand bookstores. today has been much colder and Country File tells us that snow is on its way, I do hope so!!

first cake-meet

today I have been mostly eating cake.

I have a group of likeminded (cake-inclined) friends, we all have children at school together, and we are in the habit of going for coffee and cake quite often. We do do other things too, last year we celebrated thanksgiving (mustering up all the American-ness we could), with 5 families getting together and each family bringing homemade dishes to share. And as food was plentiful, there was enough for everyone to take some home and not have to cook for at least the next day or two! Before christmas the suggestion was made that we could do it again, but with cake, all bring a homemade cake, spend the day in great company, get some new recipes, and just have a lovely day. Things got too busy before christmas, but it seemed such a good idea that we planned it for today instead.

There was six of us, plus a sprinkling of toddlers for good measure. I made no-nut chocolate brownies from this fantastic book. The other cakes shared were (from the top then left to right in top pic) red velvet cake(recipe found in blogland), pear and cashew nut cake, chocolate orange cake, yogurt cake and lemon cake. lastly I also took soda bread as I thought we might need something not so sweet and sugary (my idea, who'd have thought it!). here are the cakes about 5 miinutes after the first photo!!

Of course it would have been rude not to have at least tried each cake, so we all ate quite a lot. what was left over we divided up and each got a variety to bring home for our families to enjoy. My stomach is still rather full. but what a lovely way to spend a day, we have already made plans to do it again next month (the start of something big??!!).

cluck??

not much has been happening round these parts. one child has been sick, but other than that life has just been pretty humdrum. So I will share some recent shopping finds (because theres always something new in that department). I am not sure what fairy story these new russian dollies are telling, if any, but I thought they were cute and the shop is closing down, so they were half price too. There is a grandfather, a grandmother, a chicken and an egg. any ideas? oh, just thought is it the one where the couple get a hen (or goose?) that lays golden eggs so they will be rich forever?? its all a bit fuzzy though, anyone know any more of the story? here they all are


ok, now you know the kind of person who spends all her remaining money on a new purse, well that is me.


I treated myself to this yesterday, even though I was going to get one before christmas and was talked out of it by my friend Julia. (mainly when she found out how much they were!!!) anyway, I am not going to disclose that as my mum reads this blog and she will surely tell me off. I kept seeing it, and if i had not bought it yesterday, it would bug me forever every time I see it there in the shop.

And it is pretty sweet, it even has cute lining, look, and pom pom trim, and ribbon...



lastly I wanted to share this with you all, I saw it today in Caerphilly and had to buy a bar just to try. and it is nice, very weird, but nice all the same.


Chocolate with lavender. it has real lavender essence in it, and good dark chocolate. it is really lavender-y, and pretty nice. I wish I had had my camera with me too so I could have taken some pictures of the castle, we had lunch in a cafe opposite and I had a direct view of the castle, complete with geese and passing horses, fantastic!