« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
This just about killed me when Mads presented it after pre school. They just know how to tug at the old heart strings.. I was feeling a bit emotional anyway and this tipped me over the edge !
Nicky popped over and was reduced to tears too when she saw it on the wall. Sentimental old fools we are..
Hope you have a lovely weekend and a cosy Mothering Sunday with your babes :)
Although her birthday proper was last week, we had a lovely family get together on Sunday. Due to the utter failure of my completely tried, tested, never failed and always impressive Nigella victoria sponge (I have no idea what happened...) Maddies 'cake' was these very yummy carrot muffins with cream cheese icing. They are from this essential book. I use this book a lot and the results are always good, plus muffins are SO quick to bake, using store cupboard ingredients. What more could I ask ! I think everybody enjoyed these more than they would have the sponge anyway, so all was good in the end.
Can't believe my girlie is 3. She has really turned a developmental corner over the last few weeks, it's wonderful to see new understanding, words, wit, cheek and even some sarcasm (!) - she really is a sweet little bundle of mischief.
The bigger 'kids' had some fun too.....
Ok, I admit I've been milking the 'time off' vibe !
There's been a lot of little jobs to catch up with over the last couple of days but I'm feeling a little more sorted out now with 20 loads of washing and a cupboard clearout under my belt.
We had a superb break. The children enjoyed it so much. Little Maddie was very good and was happy to be pushed around in the buggy for the most part. On day two she just crashed for a 2 hr nap in said buggy, something she never does............it was a case of complete sensory overload poor thing.
Its easier to show you our trip in pictures I think......so here goes..
Tower Bridge
China Town lanterns
The London Eye and Bodecea in foreground
Big Ben and Houses of Parliament (told you it was a total touristy trip !)
A misty Thames
St Katherines Dock, very close to the flat
Maddies birthday
Top of the world !
Natural History Museum
Tower of London
The gherkin and Tower...just love the contrast of old and new
I couldn't get any wireless signal in the flat and we had no TV. Really a blessing , we just read and fell asleep on the sofa in the evenings...bliss.
It's lovely to be back to this little blog, I missed it but was nervous about returning, heaven knows why. I feel a little out of the groove. I had a think about my blogging habits whilst away....I love, really love, the routine of a daily post. I truly feel that doing this has made me more aware of the sweet moments that happen everyday and to be grateful for them. I get such joy from all the lovely comments and am flattered that anybody reads my meanderings !
But some days it's genuinely hard to find more than scattered 10 minute chunks of time to sit and write, especially now that nap times are few and far between. The process can be quite time consuming as I'm sure you fellow bloggers are aware and I just don't want to be seen as 'on the computer again' by my family, which is a little how it was getting before we went away (sometimes justified, sometimes not !). Maybe I'll slow down a bit.
I suppose any activity that is essentially solitary is going to be seen as, dare I say it, a bit selfish ?
I guess it's like anything else - BALANCE.
I'd be interested to hear if any of you out there have the same feelings, do you experience any rightly or wrongly felt guilt regarding your blogging or blog reading ? How do you fit in posting and keeping up with and commenting on other wonderful blogs ? Lets all spill the beans.....we may pick up some tips....how, when, where and maybe most importanly why !
from posting for a little while..As I've mentioned we are off on a little trip over the half term break, well we are leaving on Friday (cheeky day off from school for Lils) and heading up country. First to Dorset to pop in on Nicks Mum then onto Southampton for a night with Nicks sister and her husband.
I am then peeling off to visit my bestest mate up in Bucks. Just the thought of 2.5 hrs on a train by myself is thrilling me ! Love you all, wonderful family - but Mum needs a teensy bit of 'me' time. On a train.....with. a. book. aaahh ! or maybe that dastardly lace knitting (maybe not).
The guys are catching me up , the kiddos being dropped with me whilst Nick gets a bit of his own chillin' time with long lost mates.
Then on to London......we are lucky in that some very kind relations of Nicks have loaned us their London pad for the week. It's in Docklands near Tower Bridge, so everything will be on our doorstep.
We are going to do all the touristy stuff, London Eye, the Zoo on Maddies birthday, open top bus, Covent Garden, museums - and on and on. Oh, and a lot bit of shopping no doubt ;) Lily wants to see Buckingham Palace and Selfridges perfume dept !
Anyhow....lots of prep to be done before we go, as anyone who has ever gone away with the kids will know!
Like finding a replacement wheel for the buggy (it was run over at the airport a year ago....and now I'm trying to get it fixed...........sounds about right)
So, with that in mind I'm taking a little blog break until after we return. I keep getting the evil eye whenever I'm near the computer and little jibes about there being 'things to do' away from the screen.......so it's for the best !
PS - Just so there is a little something to look at here - I'll share with you a couple of classic moments from the week so far....
I opened the kitchen door to this...
She had been higher and was on the way down....(Lily was on hand to catch her just in case......while I grabbed the camera !)
She will climb anything and it's resulted in some very scary moments, such as leaning over the landing...I'm shuddering with the memory. The gate at the bottom of the stairs is still in situ for this very reason.
Less scary...
'I'm knitting Mummy'.....BIG hug for that as you can imagine.
Bye for now x
oops, better click on this to avoid the chopped off head.....
OK. These are just a delight to make. Lily received one a year or so ago and Maddie has been coveting it ever since. Her 3rd birthday is next week and this is her present from me. I hope it will be loved as much as Lilys has been. I just realised that I was referring to it as a he when it is so patently girlie. Not that I'm forcing it into any sort of gender stereotype you understand......(heck it's a stuffed dog - it doesn't matter Asti !)...movin' on......
The pattern is from AerieDesigns and part of the price you pay for the pattern goes towards helping Greyhound Adoption, so it's all good. You must check out the other designs, including the Life Size Greyhound !. Great stuff.
Now he (I mean she ............I think it's because all of our pets are male that I'm having this problem...) is done, that's it for the making stuff for a little while. I need to spend a couple of days trying to organise this chaos and get us ready for our little break. Oh, and go to work....a side issue at this point. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We need a little trip so badly.
but hopefully pleasing to the eye!
I've been working on Maddies little crochet hound over the weekend - well saturday night to be precise, in order to have him up for display today. All finished, stuffed and sewn. Little jumper made for him too - I've just got to sew it up around the body and then he's done. Might as well wait until he's completely finished before I show him off. (I'm completely bigging this up - hope he's not a total anticlimax !) I just didn't get round to it on Sunday what with one thing and another, mainly the fact that the weather cheered up and we decided to go for a lovely walk instead of chilling 'round the house. So glad we did, it was beautiful. Maddie stripped off down to a tee shirt half way round despite a distinct chill in the air....she is such an outdoor child, totally in her element when shoeless and grubby and free.
There is a country park near us with amazing trails to suit all abilities and desires. We chose the 'play trail' which was dotted with wonderful wooden structures, dens and secret paths for the children (and big kids ;)
my 'would you like to punch me ?' condescending smile (it was meant to be 'queenly' !)
and from the other angle...
(yep, I've been cropping the old chin out..it wasn't good :) The pinky purple bit is round the back. It looks a bit turquoise on my monitor - it's not, it's a most beautiful sea green. Anyway you get the idea...
I know a couple of people liked the pattern, I linked to it in this post. If anyone else tries it I'd love to see the results !
I'm so pleased with it and can't possibly take it off now, it's too snuggly The wool was Noro Kochoran which is a wool, angora and silk mix. Shade 14. I knit it up on US size 10.5 's. I was stressing that I'd not have enough wool to finish - the ball was disappearing fast, bringing me out in a bit of a sweat at the thought of having to go and buy some more!
but as you can see my fears were unfounded.......quite a bit left from 100g/160 metres, so not too bad on the old purse really ! I may crochet a flower and sew it on as well...
Anyway.....hope you all have a lovely weekend...mine will be spent preparing lists of stuff to take on our up coming trip over half term.....Bright lights, big city...I'm a comin' (but not till next Friday, so I'll see you for a bit next week. Can you tell I'm excited ?!)
in a relaxed sort of way.....my favourite position on an evening off. (The daubs on the front of the dresser are from Maddies little foray into my stamp pad collection...fetching bronze and silver fingerprints)
helped along with a large gin and tonic and the mp3 remote
harry 'helping' .....( it's a crochet greyhound head in the making, in case you wondered ;)
About time I had a little show of my recent charity shop gems !
Was over the moon with all this alpaca....found in the very depths, under all the tatty old half balls....I found the first ball with glee and couldn't believe it when I unearthed more...
3 of cream and 2 and a bit of the brown = £1 !
next up, another little cup for Maddie...the teddy one, of a few posts ago, suffered a little accident......but I've managed to superglue the handle back on thank goodness. It's having a little rest before going back into the fray..
This is a little more substantial...
I think it's a soup cup - but it's perfect for little hands.
And then.......the one I'm most excited about (you're going to laugh and probably hate it..)..
My new clock for the sewing room. I'd been looking at ebay for some retro-ish little clocks but they were going for silly prices so I sort of gave up. So yesterday, having paid for the wool, I just turned to leave and there this little beauty was, perched behind me on the back wall. So naff it was good.
Noticing that it was only £1 I grabbed it, natch. Turns out all the bric-a-brac was in the sale at half marked price ( I was obviously on a winning streak !)
By now though, my purse was almost down to the foreign coin and trolley token (it was a spur of the moment, 'oh dear I 've only got a couple of quid on me', type of shopping trip) and I'd promised the girls a cake from the bakery....a bribe after dragging them round the charitys.
Unfortunately for them the clock got lucky.........don't worry, I did manage to scrape together enough for one large choc chip biscuit between them. Not quite what they'd had in mind ! Huge iced buns featuring much more highly on their agenda than crappy old clock...
Totally off subject (well I suppose it is made totally from recycled materials).. I made this little hanging bird this morning on a whim. Quite pleased with him. I'm just loving birds at the moment, maybe it's Spring in the air ?
he's not hanging up as there was nowhere light and tidy at the same time....better go and remedy that....
Having been thwarted for the time being by the lace knitting (actually, it just needs a quick going over to make sure my fixing efforts were correct but I can't face it right now. It's in a bag where I can't see it)......I had the urge for a quick knit in a chunky wool. No magnifying glass needed, no tense posture whilst awaiting the inevitable errors, no 2 hrs to knit 3 rows.
Enter a visit to my local wool heaven. Just in for a teeny browse, you know...well, my eyes instantly clapped on the above. The colours are totally me, plus there was a knitted up sample on display to further tempt me....what's a girl to do ? Before I knew it I was paying for it. It was quite expensive an absolute bargain and I couldn't resist.
Back home though the old one skein dilemma was in full force. What to knit ? Everything I looked at and took a fancy to needed more yardage and I really didn't want to fork out another, ahem, few pounds.
Then, by way of Ravelry I came across this little scarf. Perfect in every way. I got a third done on Sunday. Basic garter stich with a few yarn overs - pure auto pilot knitting - bliss. My average weekday doesn't have that many slots for knitting but I'll do my best to get it done quick.
In case any of you are thinking 'butterfly mind'... you are correct :)
