swinging

We bought a new swing from Ikea last weekend, and the kids have been having so much fun on it. There is something lovely about swinging isn't there, Well worth its money already. Haven't blogged for days because I promised myself the next post would be something handmade! oh well, it isn't. next time.

Just been looking at photos saved on my camera and found some I was going to blog about but didn't, from a recent visit to the Japanese food shop in cardiff. I love going there, and usually try to pop in when I go to Cafe Junior(which is a great place, if you are ever in Cardiff with small childen in tow), as its just round the corner. Heres what I bought this time.


Those pink things, I only bought for the packaging, and because they were cheap. they were also horrible.


These were really yummy though, like pocky.


And these were yummy too, not Japanese, from Korea I think but I cant remember 100%, but they were really nice(despite scary looking potato on the front), we tucked into them on the way home. The other things in the picture are buckwheat noodles and sesame seeds(nice packaging), still in their shells, which you crack open and eat a bit like pistachios. yum.

Also got grape scented incense from the reduced section. how I love grape flovoured things, Britain doesn't do grape anything, such a shame.

Now however, my house is grape-scented.

catching up

Curly girls.

Lucie and her cousin Ana had a great time at the wedding party on Saturday, as we all did. This photo should have been much better than it is, but the girls wouldnt go closer together unless I had pushed them, and we were in a dark corner, and Im just not very good! You can see their matching curls though. There was yummy food, lots of wine, and we didn't get home until 1.30 in the morning.

So, bearing in mind that on Saturday we drove to London and back in the day (more than 3 hours travelling each way), whats the best thing we could have planned for Sunday?? A birthday party in our little house - yay!

It was only a few of Lauries closest friends though, and the weather was lovely so they all just played in the garden, someone bought him water pistols, two people I think, so there was a big waterfight at one point. I will show you his cake as I have hardly any other photos, but dont judge me, its a bit of a butter icing monstrousity, as I didnt get round to getting rolly-out icing, and secretly I like this stuff more anyway tastewise!! It is number 4 from the Numberjacks, for those unaquainted with British kids telly (oh if only!)


The sun cream tube at the top is not a part of the cake, just an indication of the heat of the day and another unprepared snap photo. Oh, and the candles are angel candles, lit but invisible in this photo, they have different colour flames, but dont really work outside, as you can see!

Ahh, a sunny day

Painting is so much better when it can be done outdoors. This was todays after-school activity, Esme always likes there to be something planned, I usually get in trouble on the walk home from school for not having thought of something for that day 'but Mum, thats what you are supposed to think of during the day...' like I have no better things to do - while the coffee shop and bakery remain open, mummy is a busy woman!

And of course then there are charity shops, and more goodies to be had there. Look what fell into my pushchair basket today.


I know, I know, I bought cups and saucers just last week, do I really need more? my husband will go mad when he sees them, I got told off for the first lot. But, he broke a saucer yesterday, so Im one down already, and these are green, and they have side plates, no, CAKE plates. And its typical, I have been looking for cups and saucers for so long, and finding nothing, then 2 great retro designs in one week. Of course they didn't fall into my basket, I did pay for them, but they were only £2.79 for all 6 like this, and I saw them last friday and didn't get them, and they were still waiting for me today, so I thought it must be meant to be. The plates had a price on too, but she wouldn't charge me extra for them. Now I just have to bring them out of hiding, when its safe!

I also took my long overdue library books back, paid up my fines, and found this book in the ex-libris box for 20p



Original Red Riding Hood?? I remember this book from when I was small, and it has great illustrations, Granny gets taken cake and wine, eaten whole, and the wolf gets filled with stones and dies at the end. I will put more photos of the illustrations on flickr, go and look, they are great.

I have so much to say today, we had a hectic weekend filled with parties, I have to go through the photos, so more on that tomorrow maybe. In the mean time, look at the present I had from my Brother and Sister in law, there is a great little chocolate shop just yards from their house, and they bought me all these yummy bars (they know me well!!)

packaging

I had been looking for a picture for my blog today, but now it seems immaterial as blogger isn't letting me add a photo tonight. thankyou to those who gave me blogs for the dress on the last post, it was The Mayfly where I got the patternand I had also seen it here originally, printed out so long ago I had forgotten.

I went to a local creperie today in celebration of my birthday, which is tomorrow, with friends from school and all the pre-school age kids we have collectively, 8 adults and 7 two and three year olds!! I think it took the owner/chef by surprise a bit, even though I had booked last night, he had to run around a lot as he was cooking and serving on his own. I should have taken my camera, as the food was very pretty and tasted yummy too.

Tomorrow we are going to a wedding party, and the next day is lauries birthday party, he was 4 earlier in the week, so its all party party party here!!! must go now and survey the crisps and cake situation!!

a little linen apron dress

I have had a whole week with no internet - cut off from the rest of the world!! never mind, I'm back now, with a new ISP that is finally (just about) working as it should.






Last week, the night before I was cut off, I got round to making one of these smock dresses that I got the pattern from ...

[wheres it from?? - i just spent about an hour trying to find who has this pattern on their blog - help!!] *** edited to add - found it !!! here at The Mayflys blog.

Anyway, I made it from lovely green linen I bought ages ago really cheaply from Ikea, and lined it in a cotton voile to keep it light. I put buttons on the shoulders instead of ties. it crosses over at the back, my model wouldnt stand still and kept running about so most of my pictures were blurry!

Im pleased with it as a first attempt, and hopefully will make more, I have an idea to alter it a bit, and then to make a bigger one too, as Esme wants one like her little sisters.

"there's something good...."

Do you ever get that feeling that there is something good just waiting for you? Today as I walked past one of the local charity shops I had just that feeling.

So, I went inside, to look what it might be. I have been looking for some nice retro or vintage cups and saucers for ages, so thats what I was hoping for, but I looked and there wasn't really anything that caught my attention. I mooched around, and found an embroidered tablecloth, nothing too exciting, but maybe that was it, it was cheap. so I took it up to pay, and behind the till, I saw these!


I speeded round, was amazed at the price tag, and grabbed them quick! There were 6 saucers but only 5 cups, and now they are mine! They are british mde china and quite delicate, and such a pretty shape (that was hard to catch on the photographs) , they arent like the clunky opaque glass or stoneware cups you sometimes see in a similar printed design. And no chips or cracks. And all for only £1.99!!!
So now I am happy, and you can come round for tea and cake if you like, I'm ready!!

WIP-been crocheting

Last week Julia gave me a little present, this book. I have been trying to make the dress for Lucie. I am not very good at crochet though, I only learnt a few years ago, and have never really got going with it.

I am also very bad at following instructions, or indeed sticking to them, I have a rebellious nature, i can't help it.

So, anyone with half an eye for crochet will see I havent been following the pattern, but rather making it up as I go along. I did try, but I couldnt understand it, so I undid a lot, and have simplified it. I do one row of the holey pattern, followed by 2 rows of half double crochets. this gives me a repeat of 3 rows rather than the 9 they were suggesting. seems to have worked so far, but then I hit another problem. I ran out of yarn!

I am using Patons cotton rich in apple(I know the pic doesnt look like apple, but the light must have been bad), and I do have another ball of this SOMEWHERE?? I bought it from ebay and cant see any online today, so I need to extend my search of the house for it!

pretty

I found this lovely wrapping paper at paperchase. Look, it has pretty trees and owls and birds, I wish they did it as wallpaper, I would like to do a whole wall in it!

blackboard projects

A while back i saw this great idea for canvas squares painted in blackboard paint, so you can draw your own pictures for the walls and change them whenever you like.

Yesterday I painted 4 of these square mdf pictures I had hanging around (originally modern art things from ikea that i dont know why i bought) for my daughters room. look, we got pink blackboard paint, she approves.


after I had painted them there was paint left so I started looking for more things to paint.

like a half-wall in the playhouse outside. also a great success!!! I had to paint the rest of the insides of the playhouse white then, to brighten it up and make it pretty.



Now I got paint on my jeans and I think I am over my painting spree.

Mrs Noahs quilt-along

two posts in one evening, I can't remember the last time that happened!!

This week Duniris and I have just set up a new flickr group called Mrs Noahs Quilt-along. It is for people who have this book by Janet Bolton, or fancy getting it and doing some applique and mini-quilting. Also if you have any of her other books,or have been to workshops by Janet Bolton, or if you just like her work, please feel free to join our group, post any relevant pics, and tell us what you are up to. We would love to see you!!

You can get the book on Amazon or sometimes on ebay shops, and it comes with fabric pieces that you can just applique your own fabric scraps straight onto. I finished my quilt a bit back, and have begun another one called my grandmothers patchwork quilt.

They are easy to pick up and set down when you get interrupted by small children (just my experience!!) and are great for summer as you can take a couple of squares and scraps of fabric virtually anywhere, a needle, some thread, just slip it in your bag!! Come on, you know you want to - join in!!!

fab retro pinny and bangs

Hmm, I never look good in photos, or at least I never look like I think I look in my head, maybe this is as good as I get in real life!!

anyway, I wanted to show off this fantastic pinny that Anamama thrifted for me and gave me as part of an easter gift. Isn't it beautiful? I love it as a piece of clothing, but dont know if I quite have the gall to go out about town in it, I think the old ladies in town might give me some hard stares! I would like to alter it maybe to turn it into something i could wear, I will have to have a think. (any ideas???).

Here's a close up of the pinny fabric, it is black when its out of the sunshine.


Hey, I have a new haircut too, I have a fringe (or bangs, and isn't bangs just such a great word?)), though it is clipped up in this photo. Its the first fringe in 14 years, and not without good reason as it is very unruly and I either have to use straighteners or clip it back, or it ends up going like this:


uh-oh!

...anyone else having flashbacks to those fringe trims that your Mum used to give you that always ended up being a bit short as you wouldnt sit still to let her cut it level, so she had to cut a bit more and a bit more, and it was wet, and when it dried it was so high above your eyebrows....

Oh, and contrary to the first pic I do have feet, just my trousers are long and my feet are bare , and yes that is yesterdays washing still on my line!

birds nest and cake time again!

Last night I was tidying my house like mad in an attempt to make it visitor-worthy. In among the general house debris that builds up, I found this bird that I made last year, crocheted out of fabric, but what struck me was that my bird had found herself a nest!

She was sitting in another crochet project, this time made out of crocheted plastic bags. It will one day become a bag like this one by my Sister-in-law, or I was thinking, perhaps a funky waste basket. So far though, it is only about 5 inches high, and waiting for me to cut, tie and ball up more plastic bags ready to crochet.

For now, it makes an ideal, colour co-ordinated nest though, dont you think???

All my tidying was in preparation for our 3rd Cake day, this time at my house. As hostess I didn't have to make a cake, but I did make lunch; lots of cheeses, biscuits, salad, fruit and other nibbles. There were 5 of us today, and 4 children. We had a lovely day as the sun came out and we spent nearly all day out in the garden while the children played around us and we chatted, drank tea and nibbled cake.

Today we had Banana cake, Orange and Lemon cake, Wheat-free Chocolate cake and Coffee and Walnut cake. Yum.


click on the pic to see it bigger.

Two shoes, New shoes

bright shiny blue shoes!!


We have been shoe shopping today, and got these lovely shoes. I had some dilemma about which colour to get, I am always naturally drawn to red, but these are such a pretty blue, and Lucie liked them, so I plumped for these. I haven't ruled out running back and getting the red ones too!!!

As we left the shop I remembered a book we have by Shirley Hughes that both I and the children love. I searched high and low for it, and found it where I expected - under the bed!


Recently several people have mentioned that my children look like they are from Shirley Hughes books, I like that, they are happy and free to play and be creative and look a little messy in the process if they like!

T-day!

Friday was T-day! I went over to my friend Julias house and we had tea (and later coffee - is that allowed?!) and biscuits. She has much prettier teacups than me, more photogenic! Oh and has anyone seen my saucers, as they are not in my cupboard, not one of them. Anyway, we drank some of the tea Bonny from Canada sent to me in her swap parcel, I just realised I only put photos on flickr and didn't show on here (I think I was saving it for now). She sent me loads of goodies anyway, have a look.



And this is what I sent to my partner Suzi of justbeyou.


It was lovely to have a mini tea party and to know that internet friends were sharing teatime too!

braved using my cronky sewing machine

and made a dolly sized quilt. My sewing machine really needs looking at, its not very well, poor thing, though it was behaving well enough last night to let me make this. I was aiming for log cabin, I haven't tried it before, I dont have much patchwork experience really, only the odd bit of simple stuff. I dont know whether this is log cabin as it is a bit symmetrical, so it might be called something else. anyway, it started and finished in one night, and is a big hit with my littlest in particular.


So much so that I found her in the toy cot with dolly and playing like this. Though if I think about it now I understand why, we let our kids sleep in with us and havent used a crib since Esme was born, so thats just what mummys do!!

a slight pause

I seem to have taken an unannounced break this last week or so, what with Easter holidays, visiting and being visited, and child sickness (yes, all of them in turn). normal blogging should resume within the next week, see you then!

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!!