Domestic Doris

Bad Week

2012-02-15T07:49:00.001-08:00

How are you? We're plodding along here - it's half-term so Freya has not had nursery this week. Thank heavens for the local Children's Centre though as the regular play sessions have still been running so we have been getting out of the house to let off some steam!

Personally I have been having quite a bad week. Not for any particular reason, I just haven't felt myself. I've been trying to keep up with my routines & have been successful for the most part but I haven't really worked on my zones this week & I have been beating myself up about it. I shouldn't really be so hard on myself as it's not the end of the world but it's a habit I can't break easily.

I have suffered from depression on & off ever since I was about 15 so go through these phases where I'm a bit fed up. Now I have children though so I don't let myself get as low as I could do as I don't want that for them & I certainly don't want it for me either!

My bad phase has really not been helped by Hubby's situation as he seems to be on a real downer at the moment so I feel like I'm having to compensate for him to a certain extent for the sake of the girls. That in turn makes me feel like I'm under extra pressure & the cycle continues.

When I'm in this horrible cycle I start to put on a little "pity party" & think about how I haven't really got any friends, how my family are a long way from us, we don't have much money blah, blah, blah. I then try to balance my thoughts with things like "we've got each other & our gorgeous, happy, healthy girls", "we've got a roof over our heads", "we've got enough money to pay our bills & to feed the family" etc. At the end of the day these are the most important things in life & I am very grateful for what we have got. In fact, we are in a much better position than we were this time last year & for that I am also grateful.

Forgive my ramblings, I am not always able to share these thoughts at home and this is the only other place that I can release some of these "stresses".

xxx

Playing House

2012-02-03T03:26:00.001-08:00

I am so pleased with my progress in keeping up with the FlyLady zones. Every month you do one zone a week and as a result you don't need to do "spring cleaning" ever again. Well, as I went in with a "gung-ho" attitude with the cleaning last month I've found that I really only need to do a tiny amount to maintain it so far this month.

This has meant I've had more time to play with my girls. Today we've built a house in our living room & they're loving it!

We've got my parents coming up for the weekend tomorrow, which I'm very excited about. I hope that you have a lovely weekend ahead too.

xxx

1 Today

2012-02-02T05:41:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it's here already but my gorgeous baby is 1 today!

Happy Birthday Abby

xxx

Morning at the Park

2012-01-28T05:49:00.001-08:00

It's a beautiful morning here in Doncaster. Lovely sunshine, blue skies but very cold - the perfect Winter's day.

We took the girls and the dog to the park this morning. It was Abby's first time on the swing, while Freya's a seasoned pro!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, whatever the weather.

xxx

Home-Cooked Curry

2012-01-24T13:01:00.001-08:00

Tonight I made us a lovely turkey curry for our dinner. I got the recipe from Lucy's blog. It was soooo easy, quick & tasted delicious.

I can highly recommend it!

xxx

Niggles

2012-01-23T15:25:00.001-08:00

I wonder, is it just me who gets really annoyed at the thought of a bed not being made "properly"? I usually have to come upstairs at some point during the morning to re-make it so that the pillows that we sleep on are put underneath the "decoration" pillows & that the bedspread covers the bed. Ok, maybe that sounds a bit OCD but I do it nonetheless & I don't complain about it - I like to come upstairs at the end of the day to a "welcoming" bed &, seeing as I'm the one who comes to bed first, it actually only affects me.

Unfortunately today, with doctors appointments, playgroups, food shopping etc today I did not come upstairs to check to see how the bed was made.......

This was what greeted me when I came up to bed.........

Crafty Morning

2012-01-22T00:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning the girls and I spent some time getting crafty.

I think another relaxing day is in store for us today.

I hope you're also having a lovely weekend.

xxx

Crochet

2012-01-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

I have done some crochet over the past year or so. Of course, as I mentioned in my previous post, I made this cushion for my mum for Christmas:

I have also made 2 blankets. The first was my crochet version of a knitted one that I saw in Mamas and Papas:

The second was one that I made for Hubby in my quest to give him something more "manly" to wrap up in during the cold winter evenings!

Here are a couple of close-up photos of some of the squares:

I am also making really good progress on the blanket that forms the Art of Crochet series. I will take some photos of that soon and will post them another time.

xxx

Ps. I would like to thank Kelly for the mention on her blog today

Zone 2 - Kitchen

2012-01-12T02:40:00.000-08:00

Well, week 2 of FLYing full-time has nearly passed and I am soooo pleased with myself. I've been working on the kitchen this week and am amazed at how much I've been able to do just 15 minutes at a time. Here are the "before" pictures:

Here are the "after" ones:

I even managed to clean the oven!!!

In other news, both of my girls have dreadful coughs & colds, so we've spent the past 2 nights having to get up what seems like every 5 minutes to sort them out. Freya didn't go to nursery yesterday or today & already I'm noticing the difference in her - she NEEDS to get better & get back!!!!!

Have a lovely weekend.

xxx

Family Day

2012-01-07T05:39:00.001-08:00

We've had such a busy week! Freya started nursery on Tuesday morning so it was a real test for me to be able to get us all up, fed and ready for Freya to start at 8am. I used to work full time and be out of the house by 8am every morning but since being home I've become out of practise! Don't get me wrong, my girls usually don't let me sleep in past 7am and I am always dressed before I come downstairs but knowing that there is a time deadline makes a huge difference.

Having 5 hours Freya-free for 3 days this week has been odd. It's been so quiet! I did miss having her around chattering about random things but I didn't miss the squabbling that usually accompanies any length of time that Abby and Freya spend playing together! I also managed to get my housework done during this time and that meant I had the afternoons to devote to playing with both of my babies.

It'll be back to the grindstone on Monday (next week my focus is going to be on my kitchen - yuk!) But for now we're enjoying our family time playing.

Have a lovely weekend.

xxx

Home

2012-01-03T01:00:00.001-08:00

Well the decorations have come down and our lounge is back to being a clean, tidy, "adult" space. Our mantelpiece and bookshelves had become a real hot-spot for clutter (paperwork, remote controls, headphones, mobiles, keys etc - stuff that doesn't have a home straight away). I'm so pleased that these areas are clear, they look lovely - I have posted the photos to remind myself & get out of the habit of dumping stuff there!!!

As per FlyLady's zone cleaning for this week I spent yesterday morning cleaning the dining room. I took out all the crystal glasses, washed them and put them back into the nicely polished shelves in the cabinet. The glass doors were cleaned too and it all looks very sparkly and shiny now, as you can see from the photo.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for the rest of that room as the girls' Christmas presents have well & truly taken over!!!

Plus, there is also a corner of paperwork, boxes & all manner of junk that we have dumped.....

We will get there slowly but surely!

xxx

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T02:10:00.001-08:00

Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2012.

One of my "resolutions" (I use the term loosely!) is to try to post on my blog more often. When I first posted I was so disorganised, had mountains of ironing, stuff everywhere etc but I do feel like I've come a long way since then - mainly thanks to FlyLady - so I think it would be nice to try to keep a record of what I do as it would be something to look back on when I feel like I'm slipping to show that I am making progress.

2011 was a mixture for me. On the bad side Hubby is still off work and doesn't seem to be getting better (it will have been 2 years since he was signed off this month). On the other hand, we had our gorgeous number 2, Abby, moved to a new area, which we're already feeling much happier & more settled in, and Freya is loving her new "social life" with all of the playgroups that we go to. Scarily she turned 3 at the beginning of December & is starting nursery on Tuesday for 15 hours a week - it will be lovely in a way to have a bit of a break as she really needs more activity and interaction than I feel she gets at home so she does tend to play up a bit, but on the other hand I think I will feel at a bit of a loss to start with!.

On the crochet note, I feel like I've been doing well with that too. I haven't got loads of finished projects to show but I'm happy with the couple I've done, most notably my Mum's Christmas present, a Union Flag cushion to go in her bedroom.

Here's to health, happiness, more domesticity and crochet in 2012!

Breaking Dawn

2011-11-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

If you're not a fan of Twilight then this post will really mean nothing to you. We went to see Breaking Dawn Part 1 this evening. All I can say is W-O-W. This film was amazing &, in my opinion, really did the book justice. If you're a fan of the franchise & you haven't already booked tickets to see this film then PLEASE DO!!!

Never Forget

2011-09-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

Thinking of those affected by the events 10 years ago.

On the Move

2011-09-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

How're things going? We've been busy with day-to-day life recently so I haven't had time to blog at all, although I have been able to catch up with other people's blogs.

We have unexpectedly found ourselves on the move again. Our Landlord has put our house on the market to sell and we are therefore going to be moving into another house in a month's time. This wasn't our plan at all but when a "For Sale" sign goes up completely out of the blue, what are you supposed to do?!!! Of course, with the housing market being the way it is there's no guarantee that the house will even sell but we didn't want to find ourselves in a position where it does sell and we are then forced to make a speedy exit. Instead, we decided to go on our terms and have found another house to move to. It's a lot of expense and hassle that we really didn't need at this point in time but that's life, I suppose!!!

On with the packing again then!!!!

xxx

10 weeks later

2011-04-15T00:16:00.000-07:00

Hello! I wonder whether there is anybody out there any more? I have been awful with my blogging haven't I?! Well, if there is anyone left reading this, I hope that you are well.

This is just another quick one to "touch base". Everything's going well with us. Abby's 10 weeks old now - how did that happen?! I can't believe how quickly time is going. Freya is still loving her baby sister and generally is very good with her. We have the odd moment (well, on a daily basis, if I'm honest!) when Freya's temper tantrums get the better of her - usually when Abby has started kicking off so we have a competition for attention! I really can't complain though.

I've been able to find some time in the evenings to crochet again, so when I have some time I'll take some photos of the things I have made/been working on. I also found some time last weekend to make a start on our new front garden. Nothing major, just digging some flower beds & planting some bulbs. Fingers crossed it will look nice in the next few months.

Anyway, I'll leave you with a couple of photos of my gorgeous girls & will try really hard to come back again soon to update you with what I have been up to.

xxx

Introducing......

2011-02-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

Abby Olivia

Born Wednesday 2nd February 2011 at 16:07 weighing 6lbs 15oz.

So far Freya is loving her new little sister.......

We're all doing well, although as expected sleep is severely lacking!!!

xxx

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T01:29:00.000-08:00

Good Morning everybody and welcome to 2011! This is just a very quick post today to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

2010 was really not a great year for us - Hubby was signed off work in January with stress/anxiety/depression and I'm sad to say that he has still not been able to return to work. It's been a really hard year so I'm really hoping that the NHS waiting lists will be better up here in Yorkshire so that he can finally get some help in getting better.

Of course, 2011 is the year we'll be introducing our new baby into the world - only 5 weeks to go now, which is really scary as the time seems to have gone so quickly. We've spent the past few days trying to sort out all of the junk in our smallest bedroom (still unpacked from the move) to try and make way for baby bits. I really need to get my backside in gear and get a hospital bag packed and baby clothes washed!!!

I hope that 2011 is a good year for you all.

xxx

Twin Blankets - Ta Dah!!

2010-12-10T07:44:00.000-08:00

How are you? FINALLY, I have taken photos of the blankets I crocheted for my brother-in-law's newborn twin girls. I'm really pleased with them, what do you think?

I apologise that the photos aren't great - I'm really no good at photography!

The squares that I made were a combination of 2 patterns: Sunshine Day Baby Afghan and Sunburst Granny Square - I found it easier doing the first 2 rounds using the Sunburst Granny Square pattern then the 3rd and 4th rounds using Alicia Paulson's pattern.

They took me about 6 months to make (although we did move house etc in between!) but I'm really proud of them - my brother and sister-in-law also loved them, so it was definitely worth it!

When I started them we didn't know whether the twins were going to be girls/boys/one of each so I decided to use purple, yellow, pink and blue for the sunbursts and then the squares were finished with beige for one blanket and pale grey for the other. I then did edging in the pink, purple and yellow to make them a bit more "girly" when they were born. I like that they are quite colourful without being over-the-top.

I did enjoy making these blankets but am really pleased to be able to get on with something different now. At the moment I'm catching up on all of the squares that form the throw from The Art of Crochet magazine, which I'm really enjoying as every square is completely different so I'm learning new stitches and techniques as I go!

xxx

30

2010-11-16T02:24:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry but I still haven't got any photos to add to my blog! Things have been crazy here over the past week as my brother-in-law's twins arrived 6 weeks early, which was not expected! Gorgeous girls - Paige Hope and Eden Grace. Paige weighed 4lbs exactly and Eden weighed 3lbs 15oz. Both are still in the special care baby unit but have been able to be transferred out of their incubators and they're doing really well. I have finished their blankets off so am hoping to photograph the finished articles before I give them away!!!

On top of that we had our dishwasher AND washing machine go wrong this weekend so we've been busy trying to clear up the water leaks etc - fun fun fun!!!

Changing the subject somewhat though, I turn the big 3-0 today. How did that happen?!!! Time goes so quickly. So perhaps I'm supposed to officially become a "grown-up" today? ;-)

I hope everybody is doing well. I'll be back with photos soon (fingers crossed!)

We're Here!

2010-10-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody! I hope that you are all keeping well.

This is going to be another quick one today, I'm afraid. We're here! We're settling very nicely into our new home up here in South Yorkshire. Of course we still have boxes to unpack but on the whole we're done. We have a MASSIVE garden, which I really can't wait to make a start on when the weather gets a bit warmer. Freya is going to LOVE all of the extra space come the Summer (especially seeing as the previous occupiers have left their big trampoline in the garden!) We are so close to the town centre and have walked there and back a few times. We have a HUGE park around the corner where Freya can "weeeeeeee" while on the swings. All in all, things are going well.

I have even had some time to catch up on my crochet projects that have been on the go for a few months. I don't know whether I mentioned before, but Hubby's brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first babies in December - non-identical twins! We're all sooo excited. I have been crocheting each twin a blanket, which I have really enjoyed but have also been a little bit frustrated with as I have had to be quite careful with the colours I've chosen as we don't know whether they're going to come out blue or pink!

Speaking of which, we have had our 22 week scan and, unlike my brother-in-law, we were very keen to find out what we are having.........................................it's ANOTHER GIRL!!!!! We're really pleased. I think Hubby would have liked a boy, just for balance, but he's still pleased nonetheless. On a completely practical level, it means that we don't have to rush out to buy loads of new clothes! ;-)

Anyway, I hope to come back soon with some photos of my crochet and also perhaps a few of the house. Until then, take care.

xxx

Eleven Days

2010-09-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hello All! How are you?

Just a very quick update today. We have found a house and we are set to move in on Thursday 7th October!! The move is going to take 2 days, so we vacate our current house on Wednesday 6th October. We have spent the past few days emptying our loft and taking stuff to the tip or to local charity shops. We now have to start boxing everything up - we only have 11 days to do it!!

I'm so excited as I feel that this is the start of a brand new chapter for us. I hope that our lives will change for the better, especially with so much to look forward to, including another new addition in February!!

I'll come back with an update when I can, although I doubt that will be before we move.

Take Care.

xxx

Sorry

2010-09-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

Hi there. I'm so sorry that I haven't posted for an age. Things have been a bit busy here recently. Thank you all for your lovely messages on my announcement of baby number 2, they were really appreciated.

Just a quick update really.....

We have accepted an offer on our house and will be looking at houses this weekend. At the moment we're aiming for a move the first week of October, but we'll have to see what happens. With that in mind, I had better get my butt in gear and continue with sorting out the 7 years of rubbish that we've accumulated!!!

I hope that everyone is well here in Blogland. I will hopefully come back with another update soon.

xxx

Big News part 2

2010-07-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hello! How are you all? I hope you're well.

First of all I would like to Thank You for your lovely and encouraging comments following my last post about moving. There's no update - no new viewers for the house and therefore no real point in looking at properties up North yet. I hope that we're not waiting for months and months and months before we sell our house as I think I worry about having second thoughts the longer time goes on!

Anyway, this isn't going to be a very long post today. I wanted to come back and share our other Big News installment with you..............

We're expecting another baby!

We've known for what seems like an age but we finally had our 12 week scan this week and everything was fine so we feel comfortable announcing it now. All being well, baby #2 will arrive around 4th February 2011. We're really excited - I told you we don't do things by halves! Moving across the country AND having a baby........madness!!

xxx

Big Changes Afoot.......

2010-07-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! Where have I been? I have neglected my little blog of late, for which I can only apologise. How are you? Keeping well, I hope?

I mentioned in my last post that there was lots to catch up on and this is definitely true. I think this will be in the form of a couple of posts - hey, at least I can rack up my blog post numbers ;-)

Firstly, I'll get the chick update out of the way - they have now been given back to their rightful owner. Phil (acting "mum") was ever so distressed and spent a whole day looking for her babies and crying for them, which upset my Mother-In-Law a little - she's very attached to all of her animals so doesn't like to see them unhappy. When they were taken "home" it was established that all three of the little chicks are actually male, so it looks like the breeder is going to sell them as he has no need for more cockerels. We found this such a shame when we found out as it felt a bit like all of the hard work was unappreciated - the breeder declared that they were "no good" when they arrived back (I suppose that's the difference between people who keep animals as pets and those who have them as their livelihood). Oh well, not really much that can be done now!

Anyway, on to part 1 of the "big news". After much deliberation we have decided to move house. Our house is officially on the market, which is VERY scary stuff! This is our first house and we've lived here for seven years so, although we feel it's definitely time for a change, it's a very daunting prospect. A prospect made even more daunting by the fact that we're not staying local. Oh no, we're not ones to do things by halves, we're actually packing up and moving to the other side of the country (nearly!) - South Yorkshire. Hubby's brother and wife live up there and his parents are also selling up to "retire" in a more rural location. We talked and talked and talked about it and decided to go for it. We don't want to have to pull Freya out of school in a few years time so why not do it now? We have nothing particularly holding us in Kent, especially if the In-Laws are also moving away.

We're really excited about it, although also very apprehensive as it means starting again completely - new home, new job etc. Hubby is especially looking forward to a fresh start - even though I am extremely concerned that all of this is going to add to his already high stress levels, he insists that this is just what he needs. I hope so. I hope we're doing the right thing.

I wonder has anybody else done something similar? I would love to hear your stories - please make me feel better about such a major upheaval with very few plans for the future?!!!

I'll come back with "big news part 2" soon.

xxx

Hello!

2010-07-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hi! I hope that you're all well? I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a while now - things have been a bit mental here of late, of which I will fill you in another time.

For now though, I wanted to come back with a little Chick update. Here are some photos we took today:

Excuse the pictures - these were the best we could get!! They have grown soooo much and are soooo confident (and cheeky!). From Day 1 they were more interested in their "mum's" food than the chick feed and they have thrived on all of the vegetables etc that they have been getting. They have managed to escape their coop overnight a couple of times as well (they are shut up inside a hutch overnight but have managed to get out of a hole in that and were found running around the coop! - luckily the coops are all enclosed and are fox-proof!) The minute you open the door to the coop they're running around your feet, kicking up the dust all over you. They certainly are not shy little babies!

I'm not sure whether there is a definite date yet for when they will join lots of other chickens at the "farm" but they're coming up to a month old now, so I can't imagine it will be much longer before they are taken. I will feel ever so sorry for Phil then as she has taken care of these little babes so well over the past couple of months and continues to watch over them even now. I suppose this is nature though - one day my little baby will fly the coop and I'm sure that I will be at a loss when that time comes too.

Anyway, I promise to come back soon to fill you in on what's been going on around here lately.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxx

Thank You

2010-06-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

This is just a very quick post to Thank You all soooo much for the lovely comments you left on my blog yesterday. Hubby and I were both really touched.

We didn't do anything out of the ordinary for our Anniversary yesterday but we did treat ourselves to a chinese take-away, which was yummy! I started to feel ill not long after dinner (I don't think the two were connected!) so I was in bed by 9pm - what an exciting life I lead ;-)

Anyway, a HUGE Thank You again for your well-wishes.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend - we have the in-laws over for dinner and football tomorrow night. We're very big England fans in this family! It's become quite an event to get together for the England matches during the World Cup and Euro tournaments. Good luck to our boys. (Sorry if you're not football/England fans!)

xxx

10 / 4

2010-06-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

On 10th June 2000 my husband and I first met face-to-face. We had been speaking to eachother over the phone every day for the previous 6 months through our jobs (I worked for an Insurance Broker and Lee worked for one of the Insurance Companies that we dealt with). Our work phone-calls progressed to exchange of personal phone numbers and email addresses and finally one day we decided to meet up in person. As I lived in Sandhurst, Berkshire and Lee lived in Gravesend, Kent we decided to meet eachother "halfway" in London (outside his office).

We had a lovely day together and the instant attraction that we'd had over the phone intensified in "real-life", but things were complicated as I already had a boyfriend at the time. However, when Lee dropped me off at the train station to make my journey home that afternoon I seized the moment and kissed him (before jumping out of the car and running into the station!).

There were many a complication over the few months that followed but we finally got together in the September. We got engaged in the December and Lee moved to Berkshire to live with me at my parents' house early in 2001.

6 years to the day after we met in person we were exchanging vows at Hempstead House in Sittingbourne. It was a beautiful day, a full-on heat-wave and I will always remember how perfect our wedding day was.

Today, 10th June 2010, it is the 10th Anniversary of the day we met and our 4th Wedding Anniversary. It is fair to say that the past 4 years haven't gone smoothly and that it was touch and go as to whether we would actually make it, but I truly believe that this has made us stronger as a couple. I can honestly say that I love Lee more today than I ever have. He is the most generous, kind and loving man you could meet and he has given me the most perfect daughter in the world.

Since having Freya my outlook on life has changed, as you would expect I suppose, and I no longer take my marriage for granted and am trying to enjoy spending as much time with my gorgeous husband as I can. I know that our life is not perfect, far from it in fact, but as long as we have eachother and our little family is happy and healthy then I believe that we will cope with anything that comes our way.

Happy Anniversary Lee, I love you.

xxx

Chooks

2010-06-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hello All! I hope you are all well?
There has been much excitement at my Mother-in-Law's house over the past week or so (mainly just me and her getting excited but still!). The reason for this excitement? Babies!!!!

A friend of MIL's who breeds chickens asked if MIL's broody chicken would sit on 6 fertilised eggs that were not being sat on by any of his chickens. After 4 weeks we have 3 baby chicks out of 6 eggs. They're now about a week old and they now have started to grow their little wings - can you see in the photo? Sooo cute!!!!

We have no idea what breed they are but they're cute black fluffy things with white bottoms!!

Clever Phil (short for Philimena) for keeping them so warm. She loves them to bits, but unfortunately they have to go back to their rightful home in about 6 weeks time :-(

The chickens are ever so fascinating to watch. Freya loves them and is not scared of them at all. In fact, today she put a finger through the fence and we weren't quick enough to stop her. One of the chickens thought it was food and gave her a little peck. Freya wasn't phased one bit, she just crouched down to the chicken's eye-level, pointed at it with the other hand and gave her a good telling off!!!!!

MIL has 4 hens and a rooster. Phil and Florence live in one side of the coop while these 3 live in the other side:

There are 2 that look like this....Molly and Polly (I haven't a clue which is which!)

and this one is Hickory.

Molly, Polly and Hickory were only hatched before Christmas so it's been amazing to see how much they've grown and changed. They are all very tame and like their daily cuddles (?!). Hickory has now got his crowing down to a "t" - he can also impersonate the dogs quite well too!!!!

Anyway, enough rambling about the chickens. I'm off to do some more crochet before bed.

Have a lovely evening.

xxx

SIBOL

2010-06-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hi there

Just a quick one....

You may or may not have heard about Mrs Twins' project - crochet blankets for the elderly. After having been a quiet observer for the past couple of months I decided that I wanted to use my new-found-granny-blanket-square-skill and make a contribution to this wonderful project.

I have done a short post on the SIBOL website today. If anyone else is interested in taking part in this project then all of the information you need is on the site. Sue is a really lovely lady and I'm sure would happily welcome any new contributors!

xxx

Blanket Reveal

2010-05-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hello! I hope you're all enjoying your Bank Holiday Weekend (UK)?

You may remember that I have been crocheting a blanket for Freya. Well, I have finally finished it - YAY!!!!

Considering I had never crocheted anything before starting this blanket I am really pleased with it. It is far from being perfect - I've since heard of blocking and think that this blanket would have definitely benefited as it's a bit wonky in places! Having said that, Hubby keeps telling me that the fact that it's not perfect makes it more special as it's more "handmade". Bless him, he knows how to make me feel better!!

Anyway, here are some photos that I took this morning........

I'm so glad to have finished this project as I've been itching to get on with something else - unfortunately I'm not one of these people who can have lots of different things on the go at once!!!

Anyway, I hope that you have a lovely rest of day.

xxx

You're never too young to start crafting!

2010-05-24T03:20:00.000-07:00

Hello! Did you all have a good weekend? We had glorious weather and had a lovely barbeque with Hubby's parents yesterday for MIL's birthday.

We decided yesterday that, as we were out in the garden, we'd give Freya some paper and crayons to draw with. To be honest, I didn't think she'd be too interested as she generally isn't too fussed with things that require her to sit still for more than 30 seconds!!! How wrong I was!!

She LOVED drawing and she literally sat there for hours yesterday afternoon scribbling away while we all took it in turns to draw with her. In fact, she loved it so much that she threw a strop this morning because I wasn't putting her up at the table fast enough to get to her crayons and paper!!

Pad of A3 coloured paper: 99p

Box of 60 assorted wax crayons: 99p

Having peace and quiet AND your daughter's smiley face: Priceless

Hmmm, methinks maybe I need to invest in an oilcloth tablecloth though!

I hope you have beautiful sunshine where you are. Apparently we're due some rain tomorrow here so we'd better make the most of it today!

xxx

Garden Update

2010-05-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

I hope that everyone is having a lovely week. We've had amazingly hot weather over the past few days and it promises to be even hotter over the weekend. I did manage to get out in the garden and put all of my plants and bulbs out. I took some photos, would you like to see?

First of all, this is what my little greenhouse looked like before I started:

I bought a few plants at the plant fair last weekend, as I mentioned before:

There were 5 Alpines and 2 different types of Nemesia Aromatica (I think!). The Alpines are now in a low blue pot outside our back door:

I did an awful lot of tidying up - our trellis needed replacing as it had broken in the strong winds.

Before

After

I tidied the borders (you may not be able to notice THAT much of a difference in my pictures, but believe me when I tell you that they look SO MUCH BETTER!)

Before

After

Before

After

As I said earlier, I also had lots of bulbs to plant, some of which went into pots:

All in all, I'm very pleased with my progress. All that we need to do now is to mow the lawn in preparation for a barbeque that we're planning for Sunday afternoon as it's my Mother-in-Law's birthday. It will be the first barbeque we've done since before Freya was born - wish us luck!!!!

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend and that the weather is nice wherever you are.

xxx

Ps. Is anybody else having problems with Blogger when trying to insert pictures into your post?!! Each time I try it puts the picture right at the beginning of the post and no matter how much deleting I do, there's still a HUGE gap before my post begins. :-(

Medway Plant Fair

2010-05-16T01:50:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I hope you're all having a lovely weekend. The weather here in Kent was gorgeous yesterday and we took advantage of the sunshine by visiting the Medway Plant Fair in Rainham. We went on a family outing with Hubby's parents to have a wander around the small fair where local nurseries were selling their wares. The beautiful plants were lovely in their displays.

While MIL and I were looking at the displays Freya was dragging her Gramps around everywhere and loving the freedom (well, she was on her reins but she doesn't mind them, especially seeing as the alternative is being sat in her buggy!)

We did buy a few plants but I haven't photographed them yet. We spent the rest of the afternoon yesterday trying to tidy up our garden, which was in a bit of a state!! The wind had blown the bamboo screening down so it was only being held on by a few screws and we needed to trim the grass that was a foot long in places!! Hubby had re-seeded the lawn as there were many patches that had been churned up by the dogs but of course the grass that was already there continued to grow while we kept off the rest!! I really wish I'd taken "before" photos yesterday to show you just how much we'd accomplished.

The plan today is for me to plant my new plants and those that have been sitting in my little greenhouse for a while. I'll take some photos and will come back and update you on my progress!

In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend - I hope the sun's shining where you are.

xxx

Garden Pretties

2010-05-04T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hello! I hope you had a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend (UK) - apart from the rain, obviously!

I thought I'd show you some bargains that I picked up in Morrisons yesterday on my Mother-in-Law's recommendation.

Pretty tealight holders:

Made of glass with wire and bead handles. Here's a couple of close-ups...

They're currently half price in our local Morrisons........50p each!! An absolute bargain!

While I was there I also picked up a couple of handmade glass citronella candles....

.....there were loads of colours to choose from and these were only £1 each.

Now to get our garden summer-ready so we can use these lovelies!!

xxx

Blanket Progress

2010-05-01T01:01:00.000-07:00

As promised I've taken a few photos of the progress I'm making with my crochet blanket. I've decided that I am going to add one more round of granny squares and then finish it off. It will then go into Freya's bedroom and I can start on something else (yippee!!!)....

Have a lovely weekend. I am looking forward to spending more time with my cheeky monkey!

xxx

April

2010-04-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hello!

First of all I'd like to say Thank You to everyone who left messages regarding us rehoming our dogs. We're slowly but surely starting to feel better about our decision but it does still feel strange not having them around at times.

Anyway, where has April gone?!!! I can't believe that we're nearly in to May already. This year seems to have gone so quickly.

We have just returned from spending a weekend with my parents in Sandhurst, Berkshire. It was such a lovely day on Saturday that we spent the afternoon in the garden while Freya and my niece played in the paddling pool. We then had a yummy barbeque in the evening - all good!

We also had a Christening to go to in Shaftesbury on Sunday, which was really nice. While we were in the area we popped to Poole for a little walk along the harbour - we treated ourselves to ice-cream and chips! Yummy!

There's been quite a lot of things going on at home over the last few weeks. Do you remember My DIY Wish List for 2010? Well, I can confirm that 2 (yes TWO!!) out of my 4 projects have nearly been completed. I will post pics when they are finished.

I've also been able to crochet more squares for my Granny Square Blanket. I'm really pleased with how it's going but at the same time I'm itching to move on to something different. I'll take some photos in the next few days when the light is better so you can see my progress (if you would like?!).

Anyway, I hope that things are going well with you all?

xxx

Gone

2010-04-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hi there. I hope you are all well?

Today has been a strange day. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing we made a decision yesterday but neither of us had really thought that the final result would come so quickly. We think that we've done the right thing for everybody but there's always that small "niggle" in the back of your mind isn't there?

When we brought them home we knew that they were going to be hard work, but we hadn't realised just how hard it would be. They had far more energy than either of us had imagined. With Freya to look after I was finding it increasingly difficult to look after them the way they needed to be looked after - they needed to get out of the house a LOT more than they were. Hubby has been signed off work since the middle of January due to anxiety/depression and he also has not been able to give them all of the attention they needed.

An advert was placed online yesterday morning: Two 14month old Springer Spaniel bitches need to be rehomed with a family who will be able to give them the exercise and attention they deserve. They must not be separated as they are inseparable.....

The phone rang at 6pm yesterday evening and some people arrived at 7.30pm to meet our pups. The family seemed very nice and own a 20 acre farm with horses, pigs, cows etc....plenty of space for the dogs to run around without being able to escape. Their jack russell currently goes everywhere with his owner and the idea was for Poppy and Holly to do the same.

So last night we waved goodbye to our pups as they were taken to their new life in Horsham. I believe that this lifestyle would suit their characters more and would enable them to put their excess energy to good use.

The new owners said that they would email us pictures to let us know how they're getting on - I really hope they do and that they look after these loving dogs as they deserve to be looked after.

xxx

Hello?......Is there anybody out there?....

2010-03-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hi! How are you all? I'm sorry that I have been a bit quiet lately, things have just got kind of hectic.

I have been continuing in my quest to become a "Domestic Goddess" and stumbled across a really useful website Flylady. It is the product of a lady in America trying to get her house in order by doing it little by little (babysteps). This may not be everybody's cup of tea (it can be a bit OTT at times!) but the regular emails help to keep me motivated and my house is definitely thanking me for it (as are Hubby and Freya!) I even managed to find time to clean out all of my kitchen cupboards (including cleaning the tops of them) and our local charity shop is about 9 bags of stuff better off (I think?!!). This website has certainly helped me to feel like I have a "purpose" to being at home. Of course I know that I'm a mother and it is my role to look after my family but I've found it very hard to switch from working full-time to being a stay-at-home-mum. I wouldn't change it for the world, but I do need to feel like my time is being used more productively sometimes!! I hope that this makes sense?

I have also managed to do more crochet in the past few weeks (no photos I'm afraid but I will take some soon) and my blanket is coming along. I've also (finally!) received issues 2 and 3 of The Art of Crochet magazine, so I'm really wanting to get my blanket finished before I start working on some of the projects in those.

This week I'm hoping to get out in our garden and do some tidying up. I recently bought loads of plants and bulbs online very cheaply at J Parkers - this link takes you straight to their Latest Offers page, which is where I got all of my bits and pieces from. All of my plants arrived this week and are currently sitting in 2 boxes in my kitchen waiting patiently to be dealt with. I'm going to try and give them the best possible start by planting them in small pots in my kitchen first - I can't plant them straight out into the flower beds as the dogs will trample them!! We want to put raised flower beds in to try and deter the dogs from playing in them, although I'm not convinced it will work! It's definitely worth a go though - I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, I'm going to go and watch "One Born Every Minute" now, which is currently being recorded on our V+ box from Virgin Media (don't know how we'd live without it sometimes!!)

Take care.

xxx

Married Single Other

2010-03-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hi! Long time, no speak. Sorry, have been a bit busy of late.

Just a really quick one to see whether anybody else has been watching the ITV drama Married Single Other? It has been absolutely brilliant, if a little sobering at times.

We've just finished watching tonight's episode........OMG!

If you haven't been watching then you can catch up with all the info here.

Will come back soon with a catch-up on my crochet and domestic life.

xxx

Stuff

2010-02-26T08:51:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you? We're all ok thank you.

I'm feeling quite chuffed with myself today as I have actually managed to finish ALL of my ironing for the first time since before Christmas!! Yay! I had been doing ironing but hadn't actually emptied the basket until today. Hopefully that means I'll be able to spend some time doing some guilt-free crocheting over the weekend.

Speaking of crochet, I think I mentioned before that I'd subscribed to the new magazine The Art of Crochet? Well, as yet I have only received the first issue and I got that in the middle of January. I have phoned a couple of times to find out where my next delivery is but was told that there was a severe shortage from the suppliers and that they were awaiting more stock (?!). I was told today that I had been allocated my next issue and that I should have it within the next week or so. I hope so! Fingers crossed.....

In addition to getting my ironing done this week, my wonderful Hubby cleaned our oven while Freya and I were at playgroup yesterday morning. It was a lovely surprise to come home to as it hadn't been cleaned for.....well, I don't even want to think about it really!! He also hoovered and mopped the floors for me - what a lovely Hubby!!

We had our first "casualty" with Freya yesterday, which was quite scary. She stood up on the sofa and before we could get to her (Hubby was sitting at the other end of the sofa) she fell off, smashed her forehead on the edge of the coffee table and fell on the floor. I was sitting opposite and it was as if it happened in slow motion but neither of us could get to her quickly enough. A massive blue lump with a purple line through it (from the table edge) came up straight away and we rushed her to hospital to be checked over - we were perhaps being a bit over-cautious but as she hit her head we didn't want to take any chances. It was awful in the car as the line on her head split and started bleeding, although I think that was really just a result of the pressure needing a release. Luckily she was absolutely fine and the bruise isn't bothering her at all today. I know that she's going to have lots of bumps and knocks but this one wasn't nice at all!

Anyway, that's about all for now. I do want to share a couple of cupcake photos with you before I go:

I actually made these last week, chocolate with coffee-flavoured icing. They were delicious!

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

xxx

Twilight Saga

2010-02-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

I've jumped on this band-wagon rather late as I only saw the first Twilight film just before Christmas. Hubby and I then went on to watch the follow-up, New Moon and I was hooked! I was given all four books in the series for Christmas and only got around to starting them a couple of weeks ago.

I have actually finished reading all four books in the past couple of weeks - in fact, I only finished the final instalment of the series this morning - I have been well and truly ADDICTED! So much so that I haven't been getting to sleep before midnight and have not really watched any TV as I have just wanted to read these amazing books.

Hubby will surely be pleased now that I can actually have a "proper" conversation with him in the evenings!!

If you have heard anything about these books or seen the films but not read the books, PLEASE READ! If the whole human-vampire teenage romance appeals to you then I can not recommend these books more. They are on a much higher level than an ordinary teenage romance story so I'm sure would appeal to people of all ages.

I hope that you are having a lovely weekend.

xxx

Lovely Day

2010-02-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you?

We were blessed with an absolutely glorious day today so we decided to take advantage of the brilliant sunshine and take the dogs for a riverside walk. We packed ourselves some lunch and we headed up the road to Riverside Country Park. I'll admit that the wind was biting cold but it was nice to blow the cobwebs away and admire the views......

I don't think that the photos really convey just how bright and sunny it was today.

Poppy and Holly absolutely loved being out and about....

Although they LOVE water, they managed to avoid the "clean" looking rock pools like this:

and managed to find EVERY muddy puddle around and came out looking like brown, drowned rats!! Still, it was a lovely walk. I commented to Hubby that sandwiches taste nicer when they're eaten outside and he looked at me as if I was mad!! Does anyone else think this or is it just me?!!!!!

I hope that the sun is shining down on you as well this week.

xxx

Catch Up

2010-02-13T04:03:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you? How is your weekend going? I'm taking a few moments out while the house is peaceful (Freya is having a nap upstairs and Hubby has taken the dogs out for a run) to do a "catch up" post.

Where to begin?!!! Well, I treated myself to a couple of bunches of daffodils this week. I hardly ever buy fresh flowers, although when I do I wonder why that is. Look at how gorgeous they look on my kitchen windowsill.....

How about a closer look at the cheerful yellow flowers?

They're keeping my hyacinths company.....

I took this photo a couple of days ago:

The light's not great but the flowers looked wonderful......I've had to cut two of the stems off now as they'd gone brown. I wonder whether that was what I was meant to do? Probably not, knowing me!!!

I also bought some blueberries this week as they were on offer. For some reason I had it in my head that it was Shrove Tuesday so I thought that blueberries would be nice to have on pancakes. Unfortunately I was a week early so, rather than throwing them away if they didn't last until next Tuesday I thought I'd make blueberry cupcakes..........they're delicious!!!

Lovely with a large mug of tea!

To carry on with my "domesticated" week, I'm also really pleased with my crochet progress. You may remember that I had been getting myself in a right old state trying to hold the yarn correctly so had got quite frustated and had given up. I picked up the hook again this week and tried again and, although I still can't quite get to grips with holding the yarn the way I should be and I still occasionally give myself cramp in the hand holding the hook, I actually feel like I've achieved something!!! Yay me!! I did a practise of the first square from The Art of Crochet magazine (first issue) and here's the result...

It's not perfect by any means but I'm really pleased. I'll give it another go later to see if I might be able to improve. One thing I do find difficult (and I do exactly the same thing when I knit) is trying to get the tension even - my initial stitches and the first row is always tight until I get into the swing of the pattern and as my stitches loosen up I'm able to work the yarn much better and not have to force the hook through the tiniest of gaps!!! Any advice would be gratefully received.....

I thought I'd finish with a couple of shots of Freya and the dogs. I can't believe how much confidence Freya gains every day, she really does change on a daily basis. Her personality is starting to come through now (along with a few temper tantrums!) and she's such a joy to observe. The poor dogs don't know what's hit them (literally!)

Although Poppy has found her own unique way to get back at Freya......

Gggrrrrrrrrrrr :-(

I hope you have a lovely weekend and I will hopefully catch up with you next week.

xxx

There's No Place Like "Home"....

2010-02-08T00:06:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you? We're all fine having just returned from spending a few days with my parents. It was really lovely to spend time with them as we hadn't seen them since Christmas.

I love going back "home". Apart from the fact that it's nice to spend a few days being spoilt by my Mum and having family meals together, I always come away feeling inspired by what Mum and Dad have done with their house. It always looks so "homely" with lots of nick-nacks around but no "clutter". I try to recreate a similar kind of feel at home but find that our house always seems to be full of stuff rather than items that finish the look off perfectly. Hmmmmmm, I'm not sure whether I'm explaining myself very well - I know what I mean, anyway!!! I took a few photos while I was at Mum's using my mobile, so please excuse the quality!

These are a couple of my favourite things in the living room. The floral display from Next is beautiful and works well with the colour scheme of the room. I also LOVE this fairly new addition to the room - the unit. The top half is glazed and houses books, photos and some ornaments whilst the bottom half has cupboards for all-important storage. I'm not sure why exactly but I just love it!

These are a couple of things that are in the downstairs WC that I love to look at every time I visit. The boat brings the colour-scheme together very well (brown and teal) whilst the fish hanging on the wall behind the door continue a slightly "nautical" theme.

Finally, a little corner of the kitchen........

We have added some floating shelves to our living room as a place for some of my favourite things, so we're heading in the right direction:

You'll have to excuse the vase on top of my fireplace, it actually belongs on the floor but we had to move it out of Freya's reach!!!!

Anyway, on a final note, we returned home at the weekend to this gorgeous sight:

My beautiful hyacinths have flowered!!!! They smell absolutely wonderful in the kitchen.

I hope you have a good day.

xxx

Weekend

2010-01-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

Hello!

We've had a relaxing but productive one (if that makes sense?!) On our trip to Ikea we had also bought a new light for our living room - I didn't mention that in my post as I was so excited about my hyacinths and pictures that I completely forgot we bought it! Anyway, I asked Hubby to put said light up for me yesterday. After a lot of faffing (it seems that the light is too heavy just to put up and therefore needs securing somehow) my wonderful Father-in-Law fitted it for us as he has had so much more experience than us!! Would you like to see it?....

Hmmm, not really very clear is it? How about this one?.....

And closer still....

I'm really pleased with our new light - the old one was a dark shade that made the room seem dark even when it was on, which always facilitated the need for a second light to be on (waste of electricity and energy methinks!) - it makes the room seem bigger as it is so much lighter.

Hubby wasn't so convinced until it was fully up as we had actually come home with a much bigger version of the one we'd seen on display (oops!). When we got it out of the box we were a bit surprised at how HUGE it was! I quite like it though and it doesn't dominate the room like we thought it might, although when we had friends over for dinner last night the first thing they said when they came in was something along the lines of "an alien UFO has landed in your room!" They did add that they thought it looked good - I'm not sure whether they said this to be polite or whether they actually meant it!

Today I made some more cupcakes - yummy! - and we took some over to the in-laws' to have with a cuppa.....

In fact, maybe it's time for a cuppa now.......

I hope that you've had a good weekend?

Ikea

2010-01-29T04:34:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you?

We decided to have a little family outing to Ikea yesterday. I LOVE Ikea. I wander around in awe of all the little room set-ups, amazed at how they manage to get so much stuff in such small spaces and yet not an item of "clutter" to be seen anywhere. How do they do it?!!!

I treated myself to a couple of little treasures though (how can you go to Ikea and not buy anything?!)....

A lovely little pot of hyacinths.........

and some gorgeous picture cards that I just couldn't resist. I have no idea where I am going to put them, but I'm sure I will find somewhere!

These are my symbols of calm and tranquility in an otherwise chaotic house......

I hope you have a relaxing weekend, whatever you are doing.

xxx

The Art of Crochet

2010-01-26T04:33:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to learn crochet for a few months now. I am in the middle of crocheting a blanket, which I'm really pleased with.

I used the pattern for Summer Garden Granny Squares that Attic24 has posted on her blog. I found these very easy to follow, although I'm not very good at making the squares all the same size!!! Of course, practice will make perfect (hopefully!) but for the time being I've just kind of "gone with it" for this blanket.

Despite the fact that it will ultimately cost quite a lot of money over the next couple of years, I decided to subscribe to the new magazine that was advertised on the TV - The Art of Crochet.

I wanted to try and learn how to crochet properly. However, after sitting down for about an hour last night trying to learn from the start, I've found that perhaps this isn't going to be as easy as I thought! I spent the best part of an hour trying to get the hang of holding the yarn properly, to ensure that the tension stays even. I tried to do the foundation chain and a row of slip-stitch (about 10 times) but only really succeeded in cutting the circulation off in the left forefinger, getting cramp in the left ring finger, getting a blister on the right forefinger and giving myself "rope-burn" on my left-hand before getting frustrated and declaring "time for bed!"

Now, the magazine does say that the best way to learn is to keep starting again in order to practice getting the stitches the same size, but I think that I may be too cack-handed because I really struggled! Any tips or advice would be gratefully received!!

Lovely Weekend

2010-01-24T23:06:00.000-08:00

Yet again another weekend flies by - can you believe that we've only got 1 week left of January? When I was at work I used to find that January was such a slow month, but then again that might have had something to do with the fact that we had to wait about 5 or 6 weeks for pay-day to arrive after having been paid early in December due to the Christmas period!

We had a lovely weekend. A very domesticated weekend! I actually baked some cupcakes on Saturday morning in preparation for the in-laws popping round for a cuppa - unfortunately they didn't last long enough for me to be able to take photos. I then cooked a lovely beef casserole with roast potatoes for Sunday lunch yesterday with the in-laws. Lunch was followed by apple pie and vanilla ice-cream courtesy of Aunt Bessie and Tesco (I'm not that domesticated - yet!).

All-in-all a very productive yet relaxing weekend for me. How was yours?

A Lovely Break

2010-01-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

We decided at the last minute to go and visit my brother-in-law and his wife, who live in Yorkshire. Hubby has been poorly and has been signed off work so I thought it would be a nice break for him to get away, even if it was only for a night.

The journey was very long but we were lucky that there was no traffic so we soon found ourselves in the North:

Freya was ever so good, despite the amount of time spent in the car:

If you look closely you'll be able to see the chocolate around her mouth from the Heinz Biscotti that I'd given her before she fell asleep!!

We had a really lovely time relaxing, watching a film, playing on the Wii, a few drinks, chatting, laughing....... It was wonderful just being away from home without having to worry about day-to-day things.

Hopefully it won't be so long before we do it again.......

The Importance of Being Organised.....

2010-01-14T00:23:00.000-08:00

My, we've had a busy couple of days! We knew that January was going to be a busy month what with car MOT, car insurance renewal, clearing up after the Christmas break and just generally getting back into some form of normality but I have found that it has hit me a bit harder this January - I wonder if I'm the only one?!!

Anyway, we got our car nearly a year ago (we decided to get a sensible family estate) and as the car insurance was due towards the end of the month I had assumed that the MOT would be due around the same time - previous experience has meant that when we've bought a car from a dealership the MOT is usually done only a few days before you pick the car up and then the insurance starts on the day you actually pick it up. Anyway, following this logic, I thought I had another week or 10 days before I needed to arrange the MOT - WRONG!!!!! I got the certificate out on Tuesday morning only to discover that it had expired a week ago! Much panic ensued, we had to get the car booked in straight away!

I managed to get the car booked in and had about an hour before we had to be there, which was plenty of time as the garage is only down the road. However, Hubby points out that one of the front parking light bulbs had gone and that we'd need to get that replaced before the MOT. Aaaaarrrggghhh!!!! Mad rush to get everything we needed for Freya to take out (nappies, wipes, change of clothes, bottle of milk, cup of juice etc etc), get shoes, scarves, gloves and coats on and to put the dogs out in the garden to have a wee. Why is it that when you're in a rush the dogs REFUSE to go out?!!!!!

Anyway, we manage to bundle in the car, get to Halfords and get the bulb. By this time we had about 30 minutes before we had to be at the garage - again, not a major problem as the garage is only 5-10 minutes away. BUT, we still had to actually fit the bulb. So there we were, in Halfords' car park, bonnet up, Hubby and I looking at the manual to see where and how the bulb actually fits, having to remove the windscreen washer fluid filler tank and something else I can't remember now in order to actually get to the bulb compartment........Hubby's hands being too big to fit in to remove the old bulb, my hands being small enough to get to the old bulb but with absolutely no clue as to what to do to actually get it out...........After 10 minutes I suggested that maybe we just go to the garage and ask them to fit the bulb for us before the MOT - surely it's worth paying someone an extra £5 or something than us both standing here getting confused and stressed out?!!!! So off we went.

The car passed its MOT (phew!) and all was good. So, we get ready to get back into the car to go shopping before popping into my Mother-in-Law's as we'd promised when Hubby's face dropped - he couldn't remember putting the windscreen washer filler tank back in the car before we left Halfords! I had also been in too much of a rush to pay much attention. So we rush back to the car to check under the bonnet - IT'S NOT THERE!!! It must have dropped out either at Halfords or on the way to the garage. I did suggest that we drive back to try and find it, but Hubby pointed out that we'd come along a dual carriageway and that we'd never find it - good point, well made! So we get on the phone to the Vauxhall dealership in order to see about getting a new one ordered (luckily only a few pounds) and then a drive to the dealership to actually pay for it so that it can be ordered......We should have it by the end of the week (fingers crossed!).

The lesson to be learned from this story is to know exactly when your car is due for its MOT - I've already noted it in my new diary a month before it's due to expire!!

On a more domestic note though, we've inherited a nice little bathroom cabinet from my in-laws, who have bought a new one and were going to throw this away. I spent a lot of the day yesterday sorting through all of the stuff in our bathroom and putting the "new" cabinet in there.....

I think that it looks quite nice. Although I do need to get a laundry basket, so excuse the pile of washing on the floor ;-)

I hope that you're having a lovely week?

My DIY Wish-List for 2010

2010-01-11T04:34:00.000-08:00

To be completely honest, this has been my wish-list for the past couple of years but I am determined that this will be the year that it gets done!!!!

Re-decorate our bedroom

You may have noticed in previous pics of our messy bedroom (yep, it's still like that!) that it's very purple! It's been like that for the past 5 years. I love the colour purple and in my early twenties it seemed perfectly reasonable to paint the walls lilac in our bedroom. My husband didn't really get a choice in the matter, bless him. As the years have gone by though, we really would like a "grown up" bedroom, somewhere to escape to in the evenings and that will help up relax after a hard day's work. I've already got the ball rolling by buying plain white, egyptian cotton bedding (to try and create that hotel-luxury feel that is constantly being mentioned in Ideal Home Mag), so now we need to take that one step further and remove the lilac from the walls!!!

Paint the kitchen

When we got married in 2006 we decided not to have a "traditional" gift list as we'd already been living together in our own house for 3 years and had most of the homeware items that we needed. Instead we asked for friends and family to contribute towards a new kitchen. We were overwhelmed by the generosity and were able to order everything when we came back from our honeymoon. We didn't spend a fortune but have been very pleased with our Homebase purchase:

We were also very lucky to have my father-in-law to tile the floor, fit the kitchen and tile the walls for us - he's brilliant!!! Anyway, we only had the walls left to paint in order to finish it all off and, 3 years later it still hasn't been done!! I even bought the paint over 18 months ago in the hope that it would get done before Freya arrived - alas, this wasn't to be!!! We have no excuse, it really needs to be done this year!

Paint the bathroom

Similarly to our bedroom, in our early twenties we really liked the blue in our bathroom - so much so that we actually used exactly the same paint as we had in the flat that we lived in before!

We have now out-grown this colour and would really like to try and create a more luxury-feel (I read too many Ideal Home magazines, can you tell?!!!). Anyway, at the tail-end of last year we treated ourselves to new towels in black and white, so all we need to do is paint the walls. I would also like to introduce a colour to keep the room from looking too cold, but haven't got as far as deciding what colour or how I'm going to do that yet!!!

"Repair" the dining-room walls.

We decorated our dining-room just before Freya was born and we absolutely loved it as it made the room so much lighter. We picked the wallpaper to go on one wall as a "feature" but, as the dining room links directly onto the kitchen via an archway (you can see in the kitchen picture above), we didn't want anything too patterned or bright as we wanted the rooms to "flow" (or at least not clash too much!).

You may be able to see in the lower right-hand corner of the wall that there appears to be an odd, dark patch in the wallpaper? Well, this is the result of my dear puppies........

Yes, all of that hard work was chewed up with a side-order of door-frame!!

We have got a spare roll of the wallpaper left so, when I'm sure that the dogs are out of their chewing phase (please let it be in 2010!!!) then we will try and "repair" this part of the wall!!!

I'm sure that there are other things that will make it onto my list, but for now I'd like to leave it here - 4 "projects" in 12 months seems achievable, so I don't want to aim too high just yet!!!

It's Oh So Quiet.....sshhhh......sshhh

2010-01-10T05:28:00.000-08:00

Everyone in the house is asleep except me, of course! Poppy & Holly are curled up on the sofa asleep next to me, Freya went upstairs for her nap about 30 minutes ago and hubby is asleep in bed as he's working nights this weekend. It's lovely!

My husband doesn't understand how I can just sit in silence with not even the tv or radio on in the background but I find it very relaxing. What helps at the moment is the smell of my beef casserole cooking in the oven wafting through the house, making it all feel very cosy and homely. See, I can be domesticated!!!!

The snow has just started coming down again here and, as nice as it is to look at, I really want it to go away now! I haven't ventured out of the house for a week and I'm starting to get cabin fever! That and the fact that we're starting to run low on food supplies, so I really need to go shopping. I thought I'd be clever and see if I could order my shopping online to be delivered as I've seen the Tesco van come up and down our road a few times over the past few days. Unfortunately, everyone else must have had the same thought as there were no delivery slots until Thursday afternoon! I'm afraid I will need some bits and pieces long before then!

Oh well, people in other countries manage to carry on with their day-to-day lives in the snow (far much more of it than us as well!), so I will have to brave the cold weather.

I hope you are keeping warm and cosy as much as possible on these cold winter days.

xxx

Poppy & Holly....

2010-01-09T01:10:00.000-08:00

are the names of our 11 month old Springer Spaniels.

Holly is the one on the left, Poppy on the right.

We've had them since they were about 5 weeks old (we were told they were 9 weeks when we got them but the vet thought otherwise). We hadn't intended to get 2 puppies but they tugged on my heart-strings & I couldn't resist. They were the only pups left & I wanted one while hubby wanted the other - in the end I couldn't bear the thought of leaving one puppy all on its own while we took her sister so we came home with them both - we did a buy-one-get-one-half-price deal with the sellers, & it's a good job we did as when we got them home they were so poorly that it was touch & go as to whether Holly would actually make it. Anyway, I digress.

They are beautiful dogs & are ever so affectionate. In fact, Poppy is curled up asleep on the sofa next to me now. Freya absolutely loves them & she likes to use her new-found skill of cuddles on the dogs frequently, even if they really don't want to - she tries to pull them closer to her by their ears but they just let her do it, although it must hurt. We couldn't really ask for better dogs to grow up with Freya. With everything in life though there is always a cloud to the silver-lining......

They are very mischievious. I went upstairs for a grand total of 5 minutes this morning to get Freya out of her cot & change her nappy. When I came down I found this:

A shredded (clean/new) nappy & a finished packet of biscuits (I think there were only 2 or 3 left in the packet). I had obviously forgotten to move them out of reach of dear doggies!

Yesterday morning we came down to more shredded nappies, which had been left in the middle of the dining room table (we thought out of reach!) & Freya's hairbrush:

Naughty doggies! Still, I suppose they're still only puppies & I'd rather them make a mess in the house than be nasty to Freya when she pulls them around.

A morning in the life....

2010-01-07T04:15:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you?

I am quietly pleased with myself today as I have so far managed to keep myself motivated in getting bits and pieces done around the house! Admittedly I haven't done as much as I'd have liked but I'm getting there! Hubby's been poorly over the past couple of days so he's spent a lot of time in bed, the mess therefore remains untouched so as not to disturb him - oh well, there's always tomorrow!

I have also allowed my daughter to venture out of the lounge to play and practice her walking skills, which has meant that I could get on with so much more - why am I only discovering this now?!!!!

She loves her new-found freedom and enjoys walking her little sit-on car around the kitchen and dining room......

We had more snow overnight here so everything's looking lovely outside - it's the prettiest my garden's looked in a long time ;-)

The snow hides a multitude of weeds, plants dug up by the dogs, dead plants in desperate need of digging up, etc....

Our dogs are absolutely loving the snow. They've spent most of the morning chasing eachother around the garden, spraying up big clumps of the cold, white stuff as they rapidly change direction. Bless them....

Butter wouldn't melt, huh?!

Anyway, I had better get on while Freya's having her nap - the sooner I'm finished the sooner I can get on with my crocheting!

The Perfect Housewife?

2010-01-06T05:02:00.000-08:00

I finished work in October 2008 to go on maternity leave and was made redundant before returning, so I have been a stay-at-home mum/housewife for 15 months now. You'd think that by now I'd have established some sort of routine and that the day-to-day chores would be up-to-date, wouldn't you? Unfortunately that's not the case!!

When I was at school I gave the impression of being a very organised and tidy person - so much so that I used to de-clutter, clean and tidy my best friends' bedrooms for them, sad as that sounds! Over the years this reputation caught hold and I have even been referred to as "Monica" (Geller, Friends OCD clean-freak). Truth be told, I WISH I WAS LIKE HER!!! I really do, but it seems that as I've got older I've always managed to find better things to do - even sitting down doing nothing was more appealing!

So here I am, at the start of 2010 with about 4 weeks worth of ironing to catch up on;

Christmas decorations to heave up into the loft;

Bedrooms to de-clutter;

and a routine to establish - if not for my own sake but for the sake of my long-suffering husband and daughter!

I knew that I needed inspiration and came across Anthea Turner, self-proclaimed Perfect Housewife. I bought the book and I watched the DVDs and I feel much more enthusiastic about what I need to do. Who knows, by the end of the year I may have mastered the art & have it down to a T. Speaking of which, my cuppa calls.......