Just had to share......

....................THIS!!!!!

Ho, ho ho!!!! It's has been a very long hard day, I feel tired and grumpy and getting stressed that I am running out of time (especially child-free time!) BUT when Amelia came home and gave this to me it put the biggest smile on my face ever. Isn't it often the smallest things in life that make the biggest impact!

Sorry for the waffle and the awful lighting but I just wanted to share some Christmas spirit.

Love 'n' hugs.

x X x

Well, just back from another hospital visit with Amelia. After several cancellations, I complained and we have at last got to see an ENT consultant. Amelia has been going round telling everyone that the doctor is going to "hoover her ears out" and we giggled about having to wait and the fact that I couldn't exactly clean them out with my Dyson!

Luckily the wait was unusually good but it seemed the consultant barely had time for us to sit down before he was trying to get us back out the door. At least her likkle ears are wax free again for a while but her has referred us to yet another Paediatric ENT consultant regarding her adenoids. Ho hum, something for us all to look forward to next year then!

Anyway, enough of the moaning, let's get on with the only little bit of creativity in a while. We melted some chocolate the other day and poured into some little Christmas moulds we salvaged from a previous year's Advent Calenders. Then after they had set Amelia enjoyed selecting them and putting them into our "Advent Truck" which was a bargain in the January sales at Lakeland Plastics.

Concentrating hard...decisions, decisions. Hmmmm

Hmmm, I wonder if mum would notice if one "went missing!"

"I'll save the spare one for Daddy!"

Thought Jack might have been too old to want to do this but I think the thought of chocolate swayed him to give 5 minutes of "Game time or tv time or computer time!"

Right, I have a few hours "spare" shall I try to do some crafting or start that fight for Amelia Blue Bagde that I keep on putting off?

Take care.

x X x

Santa Claus is coming to town..

I had a "day off" today. A day to attempt to catch up on housework, phone calls, work records...and even a bit of online shopping.

In a vain attempt to find my crafty mojo I have been scouring the crafty sites but got annoyed with myself for wasting so much time and still not knowing what to buy to get me crafting again. Eventually I settled for a few downloaded Christmas sentiments so I have at least created SOMETHING today.
This afternoon I sat at my breakfast bar singing "Santa Claus is coming to town" all to myself! I coloured the sentiments with my copic markers, inked the edges , backed them onto an old Cuttllebug stamp shape die and finished off with a dab of Glossy Accents on the berries.

I might add a dash of glitter or metallic high lights....that will have to wait until my next "day off!"

Ho, Ho, Ho! ( Trying to get Festive!)

xxx

And for this week's attempt....

at baking we have cheese scones.

We have been out to do a bit of shopping today: a new pair of boots for Amelia, a new coat for me, some note pads, pens...etc...and some Christmas lights!!!! We had planned to go into Nandos afterwards but it was packed, so instead we came home via KFC but ended up with a rather late lunch.

The cheese scones have gone down a treat helped along with a large glass of wine! Cheers!

x X x

A bit of baking!!!!!

Please forgive me but baking really isn't something I have done much of, in fact I am a complete novice. Anyway, despite my complete incompetence in the kitchen I have plans to change this and spend some time baking with (hopefully) both Jack and Amelia.

Today we started with some scones which, despite their appearance, tasted lovely. Much lighter than I was hoping for and while still slightly warm we smothered them with double cream and cherry jam.....delish.

Next I made another batch of plain biscuits, with the children being at home this week, I don't suppose the will last very long.

Now, having had to use egg yolks for the biscuits I thought we'd try making meringues rather than wasting the egg whites. Never made these before and as a first attempt, was very pleased. In fact we have just eaten them with a fresh fruit salad, a squirt of cream and a drizzle of toffee sauce.

Oh dear, I had better get on that cross trainer tomorrow! LOL

Lazing on a Sunday afternoon!

Been a fuuny weekend really, trying to catch up onn the 1001 jobs that need doing around the house but actually achieving a bit fat nothing! LOL

I am very slowly helping my mum with a bit of knitting.....it is actually part of my Christmas present from Mum and Dad, but me being me, I chose a hooded aran coat. Seeing as, to make matters worse, I chose a dark marl grey, I offered to knit the sleeves!

In a moment of utter madness on Friday evening, we bidded for a piano on Ebay. None of us can really play, although Jack can read music and can play a few tunes on his electric keyboard. We thought it would be something fun to do with Amelia. Anyway, to our complete surprise, we won the bid at £21 and picked the piano up this morning. Not 100% sure of it at the moment, it doesn't really fit with the "decor" of our dining room but I really cannot moan for what we paid.

So far we have had renditions of Jupiter from "the planets" by Jack and we are trying to teach Amelia to play Happy Birthday. I feel I need to label / colour code the keys perhaps but we have had fun anyway.

,

Just finished tidying the kitchen after a lovely roast dinner, now I am going to sit in the sunshine of the conservatory and chill as I finish my wine and do a few more rows of knitting.

Sunny Whitstable!

Making the most of the last weekend before the children go back to school as well as the forcast of a glorious sunny September day, we decided to take off to Whitstable for a few hours. I have visited a long time ago but don't know the area very well.
We started of by walking "The Street." (A strip of land about a half a mile long that you can only walk at low tide.) After ambling along, collecting shells, mother of pearl and a few oysters along the way, we only managed to reach the end just in time before the tide was against us.

After a walk around we settled for a fish and chip lunch on the beach, the weather was truely gorgeous and aftyer lunch we spent some time just enjoying the sunshine...... it wasn't long before my little mountain goat, Jack, just HAD TO clamber over the breakwaters!

By mid afternoon it was far too hot tobe wnadering around so we decided to make for home where we watched the children run around the garden as we enjoyed a rather large jug of Pimms...well I did say we were trying to make the most of the summer didn't I!

A card for Jack!

My darling Jack is 12 today, goodness how quickly has that gone.

I did make a start on his card a little while ago, downloaded and printed a few images, chose my paper, coloured the image, got the frame ready and made up a few embellies. BUT then it sat in a polybag waiting to be assembled...which I managed at about 12.30 last night! (BLUSH)

As organised as ever! Still I was quite please with the results, especially as my mojo is still missing. I have done very little crafting recently apart from a bit of knitting.

I used papers and embellies from the Basic Grey collection I won from Card Making & Papercrafts via Facebook. On first impressions I didn't think I would have much use for the Life of the Party collection but I have loved working with these bold but grungy colours, thought them ideal for a 12 year old boy.

Loved this image, Paul Texting from Mo Manning - first time I've used it.

I inked some of the little stars and then applied some glossy accents to add texture.

This card meets;

Basic Grey Challenge 51 - Anything goes.
Cards for men -G is for ...... grungy, Glossy Accents, Grey (as is Basic) or even GRRRR he is on his mobile AGAIN! LOL
Challenge up your life - 51 Something for men.

More Waffle and walks in Wales!

Monday 1st August

The weather looked rather ominous so we decided to take another walk directly from the cottage. The start of the walk was on road and was hard going with Amelia moaning that her foot hurt, her legs, her tummy, her arm......I considered that we might be expecting too much of her but we weren't exactly climbing Snowdon! LOL

We got to a small clearing, had a quick "refuelling session" with a few snacks and some drink and then the "real walk" could begin! The woodland path was lovely and shaded and we stopped almost immediately to watch a little rabbit hopping around in the undergrowth. Not long after that, Amelia's moaning started again as the path suddenly took a steep incline! With constant encouragement Chris and me took turns with her, supporting her up the hill. After a few twists and turns, the path markers sent us on a small detour and the terrian became rather rocky. ( It was at this point Amelia told us she didin't like rocks! Hmm, perhaps Wales wasn't a good choice after all!)

My mountain goatof a son, Jack swiftly scrambled up a very steep bank of rock, somehow I followed with Amelia clinging to my arm, leg, neck...basically anything she could...and Chris stood behind in case we needed help in the form of a shove!

Once at the top of the ridge, it took our breath away. We stopped for a while and admired the view of the Conwy Vally, nearly 500 feet below from where sat, "Cadair Ifan Goch" or Red John's Chair! It takes its name from a legendary red haired giant who is said to have sat there to bathe his feet in the river, Afon Conwy!

Stunning, but sorry the pic just does it no justice at all!

More catch up waffle and some crafting to come.

XXX

Snowdonia catch up, day 2

Sunday 31st July

My first night in the cottage was rather unsettled. It suddenly dawned on me that we were (in my opinion) in the middle of nowhere with no way of contacting anyone if needed- our phones are all on hte same network and we have no service available, not even the convenience of the "World Wide Web" seems to work in this part of wild Wales!"

Once asleep, I slept as snug as a bug but was rudely awoken at 6am by the walking alarm clock we call Amelia. As I made Amelia's breakfast one of the sheep greeted me loudly just outside the kitchen window and I watched two pheasants make their way up the field as I drank my first cuppa of the day. As the men of the house slept, Amelia coloured and I took in more of the scenery from the comfort of the little conservatory.

After a nice cooked brekkie we decided to try a 3 mile circular walk from the doorstep of the cottage. It was lovely to see the cottage from a different perspective. The weather was cloudy but the scenery was stunning, shame the full beauty is just not captured in my photgraphs.

Our walk took us passed a lovely little chapel, Capel Salem, and we spent a little time chatting to some of the locals coming out of their Sunday service, so glad we did ponder for a while as this was followed by a rather steep hill...which Amelia moaned about all the way up!

The children seemed quite relieved when we were nearly back at the cottage....

.....and Chris was quite relieved to find that he briefly got phone reception at the very top of the lane!

At the bottom of the lane we stopped to say hello to these little ladies.

Then the children discovered a nice little step just outside the cottage, perfect for sitting on waiting for mum and dad!

Playing "Snowdonia holiday catch up!"

We are back from our hols and I am now playing catch up on some blogging and sharing a few holiday snaps!

Saturday 30th July!

After an early start we set off on our journey to Cae Llwyd, a cottage near Llanrwst, nestled in the Conwy Valley and on the outskirts of Snowdonia National Park. The children struggle to sit for 5 minutes without bickering, so a 5 hour journey was not something we were looking forward to. In anticipation of this we decided to get some in car DVD players to keep them both occupied but instead we should have just got some travel pillows!

We made very good time so as we drove through Llanrwst we detoured across the bridge and stopped off for our first cream tea! We followed with a short walk along the river and a quick pit stop in the park for the children to let of a bit of steam!

On our approach to the cottage my heart went into overdrive several times as we encountered some very steep, narrow and winding lanes. (Please remember I am a Peckham girl originally!) Perhaps following the SATNAV route was not such a good idea! Once at the cottage we were not disappointed, in fact I was rather overwhelmed by the views of the surrounding countryside!

The inside of the cottage was lovely too!

The neighbours are rather noisy bleaters though!

Later on we opened a bottle of wine and sat in the garden watching the sun go down and the housemartins zooming around above our heads.

And to finish a very long day we lit the wood burner and chilled out feeling totally relaxed!

Slow worm news!

Breaking news when I came home from my last day of work this term! Wandered around the garden in an attmept to clear a pounding head and what did I see...a baby slow worm with Jimmy! Not sure if Jimmy should be Jenny! LOL

Feeling shattered I am going to sooth my head with a large curry, a bottle of wine, and a looooong soak in the tub. Followed by 6 weeks of pure relaxation and pampering. Could someone please tell that to Jack and Amelia!

Meet Jimmy!

Life is as hectic as ever but my work records are done, reports complete and are being handed out to the parents today! Yippee, another thing I can cross off of my ever growing "To Do List!"

Jack has his Year 8 timetable and started the lessons this week. It's scarey to think that this he has been at Grammar School for nearly a year and that this time next year he will have chosen all his exam options. Goodness, he is still only 11. EEk, how old does that make me feel!

Life is still all over the place with Amelia, you just get over one hurdle and another is throw in your face. I just keep on jumping the hurdles as best I can.

Chris and myself have been very busy in the garden. I should be like some sort of muscle woman after carrying all those railway sleepers, concrete posts, gravel boards and fence panels about. Progress is slow but hopefully you can see that there has been some improvement in the chaos we call a "garden!"

So far we re-done the rockery in front of the conservatory, taken the borders right back and made a raised, slate border on one side. Dug up all the plants in front of the playhouse to make a step/ small seating area and fenced the back of the garden and planted out a new border.

"Phase II" of the fencing has been delivered and is waiting in the garden for us to find the time, energy and motivation. WE are attempting to clear the ivy and tidy a very overgrown contorted hazel in preparation.

The garden is looking rather bare but that will take time and I will enjoy watching the garden become established as I sit a sip a glass or two of wine!

***

Our new little seating area just waiting to be "prettied up" with more flowers

and some solar lights.

New fencing & border at the back of garden...looking a bit bare!

Our pile of rubbish and rubble!

.....and at the top of the page, did you meet Jimmy the Slow Worm? He has ignored the chaos and has taken up residency under a rock in the rockery, right outside our conservatory windows. Last night Jack and me were watching the slow worm slowly slithering over the slate and Jack suggested that we should name him. Jack then decided to call him Jimmy (I don't know why) and he called out to Amelia. "Amelia, the slow worm's name is Jimmy!" Amelia replied "Really, how do you know!" LOL

A Barn Dance Style Card!!!

A friend at work asked me if I could make her a Barn Dance Style card for a Bridal Shower and like a mad woman, I said yes!! EEK.

I faffed around for ages trying to find inspiration but my mojo has, I fear, gone forever. I did however manage to tidy my craft room a little bit more. (At least the huge pile of 12x12 papers have found a new place and I can see some carpet!)

Eventually I felt I hit jackpot with some of the BasicGrey paper that I won on Facebook from a Cardmaking & Papercraft competition. The fabby "woodgrain effect papers" are from the Life of the Party collection and were just what I needed to get the ball rolling with this card.

I downloaded a couple of free "Western style" fonts and made my up a little Wanted Poster type sentiment, backed with a distressed piece of BG Mortifica and a little paper doily I attacked with some inks and glimmer mist. A few rustic touches of natural rafia "lace" and a bit of gingham ribbon hopefully complemented the theme. Finished of with the fabby image from the Charming, Holly & Madison Around the World Collection.

My card was made with the following in mind:

BasicGrey Challenge - Mix and match (I also used brads from the BG Suigared collection)

Creative card Crew - Anything goes

My Time to Craft - Use a die cut

That's life!

Long time, no blog but that's life as it is I am afraid. Got a "day off" today so as well as blitzing the house and updating my work records I thought I'd take 5 minutes to pop along to the land of blog and say hello.

Jack is doing nicely at school and getting back into his cricket so that ties up all but one Sunday between now and the end of July. Thing have been pretty hit and miss with Amelia and on top of all her other "issues" she seems really congested. I am clutching at straws and have booked in an appointment with an Osteopath, all I have to lose is the £30 fee. This is a new venture so we will just have to wait and see how it goes!

work in the house seems to have taken a back seat for now and we have been making the most of the dry weather and started working in the garden. Last weekend we had 10 big reclaimed railway sleepers delivered and slowly but surely we are making progress-well if you can call it that!

We are not gardeners and time has always been an issue, so we are taking some of the borders back to hopefully ease the time and attention we will need to kepp the garden looking reasonable-well that was the plan.

The huge clump of what I think are Japanese Anenomes are in need of a new home as we are stripping right back in front of the playhouse to make a step/ border running right accross. Lots of digging! Oh joy.

In between the digging I am revamping the playhouse with a dark preserver, can't wait to get it all back "in an orderly state" again so I can sit on the patio with a jug of Pimms and enjoy!

(The chaos I call my craft room is in a state of mid-reorganisation but I MUST get up there at some time over the weekend as I have 2 cards to make and I have also promised a friend a little goody bag of embellies!)

Off to search for another few hours in my day.

x X x