jumble and jelly

Thrifty Thursday

2012-01-26T14:57:00.002Z

A necklace with just the prettiest beads for £1.50, bought yesterday in the charity shop I volunteer in.

Pretty floral t-shirt bought for £1.99 in a charity shop on Tuesday when I couldn't get to work because of an electrical fault at one of the stations. 3 hours and 3 attempts to catch a train and getting soaked through in the rain in the process. I was not a happy bunny.

Click Clack

2012-01-25T20:03:00.003Z

Picture this.

Me and S scurrying to school as we are a little late.

S- 'Mum can you hear that?'

Me- 'What?'

S- 'Our shoes.'

Me- 'Yes I can hear them.'

S- 'They are making such a loud noise, it sounds like we are off to an important business meeting.'

Get us!

Cardiff

2012-01-24T21:20:00.006Z

A Welsh dragon to start off this blog post about our weekend in Cardiff.

G found our hotel through lastminute.com and a very handsome building it was too.

The interior didn't disappoint either, this is the ceiling in the foyer

and we were thrilled to find that our room had a huge comfy bed in it for us and there was a separate room for T and S. Normally when we go away for a night we book into a Travelodge and it's all 4 of us in one room. This separate room thing was a real treat!

The reason for our trip away was for T to see his brother L. Although the boys chat on the phone they hadn't seen each other for over a year. Both were very happy to see each other.

We had to walk past here on the road leading up to out hotel. Bought back a few memories of when G and I were last in Cardiff watching Saints lose to Arsenal.

There is a statue of Sir Tasker Williams here as one of his many achievements was being President of the Welsh Rubgy Union for 11 years

and reading this certainly bought a lump to my throat.

To the left of our hotel is Cardiff Castle. We didn't visit on this occasion, so many things we want to go back and see

but we did take a stroll along the Animal wall which is now a boundary wall to Bute Park.

There were so many beautiful old buildings to look at but one of the things I noticed was the fabulous chimneys on the houses.

On Sunday morning we walked down to Cardiff Bay. There is a lot of public art to see from impressions along the waterfront walk

the renovated Norwegian Church (where Roald Dahl was christened)

a fabulous statue dedicated to Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition, you can really see the struggle in his face and body.

Another statue, this one to Ivor Novello.

The Millennium Centre looked stunning in the sunshine and again there was so much more to explore than we had time for. We hope to make a return trip soon.

Thrifty Thursday

2012-01-19T20:52:00.003Z

As well as the things I buy I would like to share on Thrifty Thursday the clothes my sister gave me for Christmas. She really surpassed herself with a fabulous selection of items. This top is probably my favourite. I love the little red buttons and the white 'stitched' pattern on the bottom. The denim skirt was also from C. The little corsage was from my other sister T.

Thinking Ahead

2012-01-18T20:49:00.002Z

When the days of January are wet and grey it's easy to wish for those warm and sunshiney days of July.

And then S brings home her reading book from school.

I guess the answer is to get the best out of everything.

HolyRood

2012-01-16T16:30:00.003Z

One of the things I wanted to do this year was to get back into the habit of taking a camera out with me each time I go out. Mid way through last year my little compact camera developed a memory card fault and I'm ashamed to say I haven't got it sorted out as yet. It's something I must do.

Anyway today was my (hopefully) last appointment with the chiropractor and as I was charging out the door I remembered to pop into my bag G's new camera. I'm so glad I did as I spotted these sculptures on the edge of an inner City housing estate.

This is a Sailor's Angel to signify the ancient tradition of placing models of ships inside churches.

There are three large brick planters depicting men at work in the City's docks

This chap is a Titanic Stevedore in remembrance of out City's connection with the world famous liner.

I've looked them up on the City's website since coming home and found there are a couple of others which I shall investigate next time I'm in town.

Stop Press! I Ate A Courgette

2012-01-14T12:29:00.002Z

Not as a cooked vegetable accompaniment to a meal though, I didn't get that adventurous!

I baked some Chocolate and Courgette muffins and they are delish.

Recipe below should anyone feel the urge to bake them too. Surely they must count towards your 5 a day?

In one large mixing bowl combine 10oz plain flour, 2tsp baking powder, 1tsp bicarb, 1 and a half tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp cocoa powder and 3oz soft light brown sugar. In another bowl mix 1 beaten egg, 2floz milk, 3floz sunflower oil and 12oz grated courgette. Pour wet onto dry ingredients, mix in 4oz chocolate covered raisins. Bake at 180c for 20 minutes. This makes about 16 muffins.

Down to the Pond

2012-01-09T21:11:00.003Z

Thank you for the all messages concerning my back, I've been to the chiropractor again today and should be back to work tomorrow. Just need to keep on with the stretching and being sensible.

Saturday afternoon we took a wander down to the local pond and open space

so S could have a whizz around on her new pink bike

although she did fall off and graze her knee she got straight back on again.

It was such a bright and fresh day, just look at the colour of the sky, so blue.

The short time we were out was made complete by seeing this little robin busying himself flying from shrub to tree and back again.

What A Pudding

2012-01-05T12:40:00.003Z

Wow! Thank you to everyone who left a message on my last post. I can't claim the memory jar as my idea, I saw it somewhere on the internet during 2010 and wanted to do it for 2011 but as so often happens with me I was organised enough.

Organisation is one of the things I wanted to work on and improve for this year. I had given some thought to things I wanted to do better, adjust or mildly tweak in 2o12 during those lazy days between Christmas and New Year. Nothing too strenuous or life overhauling, just little things.

But these things have had to be put on the back burner as on New Year's day I put my back out AGAIN. Not only that but I managed to pull a muscle in my groin. And what athletic manoeuvre was I tackling to accomplish this? Vacuuming. I always knew housework was bad for me!

So there has been no return to work, there has been very little done around the house and I am trying to be relaxed about it. One of my adjustments you see, be more relaxed. If others aren't bothered by the fact the laundry bins are overflowing, or that the ironing pile is reaching a dangerously teetering height or that the dining room table can't be seen for the amount of stuff on it, then I shall be unbothered too.

One thing I have been doing is watching all the programmes I recorded over Christmas and hadn't seen. So I have finally seen that fab episode of a festive Downton Abbey and drooled over Jamie Oliver's Epic Hot Chocolate and Breakfast Waffle.

As I haven't been where or done anything and I don't think photos of the chiropractors would be very interesting, I am instead sharing pictures of a few new additions in the dresser department. The lovely pudding mug was in my stocking from Father Christmas, the Pyrex sauce boat and stand is from my mum

and this Laura Ashley robin mug I bought from a charity shop a few months before Christmas. In fact there were 3 of them and the other two were given to my mum and sister who were as delighted with them as I hoped they would be.

Memory Jar

2012-01-01T18:08:00.002Z

This afternoon I asked every one if they would participate in filling up this glass jar during the course of the year. It will be kept in the kitchen with pen and paper close to hand for the four of us, or anyone who visits, to jot down things that happen during the year which we would like to remember for a specific reason.

Then at the end of December we'll open it up and read them all.

S has put the first one in. I'm so curious to read what it is!

The Days In Between

2011-12-30T10:30:00.004Z

As well as having all the excitement that goes with the anticipation of Christmas day there was also the much anticipated arrival of T's big brother R who came to stay on Tuesday. After a long drive to get here we allowed him to eat before he had to join in with Just Dance 2 on the Wii.

T and R spent a fab day together on Wednesday popping into town together for a few hours, a spot of shopping and a trip to the temporary ice rink.

We've also tried out a couple of other new games

and S and I had a lovely time with her rock painting set.

There has also been some jigsaw time. Such a lovely Christmas scene, so many sweet details

but why is it my eyes keep being drawn to the bakery and the amazingly cute pudding?!

I love being in our dining room and even more so this Christmas. A lovely new addition is this 'these are a few of my favourite things' sign by my mum and C gave me as a thankful for cooking Christmas lunch. I was given it after we had eaten, maybe if I'd burnt it all I wouldn't have been given it!

Talking of Christmas lunch I saw these on Pinterest (where else?!) and made them for T and S as an alternative to the alcoholic cheesecake I made the adults.

They were a hit and will probably be made again.

Table Presents

2011-12-29T09:26:00.003Z

I LOVED our table present selection this year. They had us in stitches. I love this tradition of ours and it is one of the things that makes Christmas for me.

G plays the guitar and so I was really pleased when I found these glasses, although the best find at a vintage fair was one of two false cheeks/nose/teeth combos.

Here's the same combo being worn with T's table present

and this is the other combo. G's little glove puppet Santa is my table present.

Here am I, although sadly the chins aren't false, they are all mine!

Just love this of T

Not sure which makes me laugh the most, seeing my sister like this or looking at how funny T is finding it all.

My mum couldn't escape having a go too.

I had bought S a sequinned cat mask which she said hurt her so she decided to wear the fan inside her cracker!

And then pretty much the rest of the day she wore these Christmas trees which were a gift from a friend and were unwrapped after lunch.

We took all the table presents to Salisbury with us so everyone could have a go on Boxing Day. G's brother looked hilarious and slightly scary at the same time when he put on T's.

Christmas Morning

2011-12-27T20:23:00.002Z

As usually happens on Christmas Eve G and I got to bed time some time just after midnight. The children were in bed hours before but were they asleep by the time we climbed the wooden hill to collapse, oh no they weren't! T woke us up at 2.30 a.m and 4.30 a.m pleading to start the present opening. At 6.30 he asked us again and we finally agreed. So after he very loudly went and woke up S the pair of them bought their stockings through to our room. In our house Father Christmas only brings the stocking presents and these are from the man himself. S was thrilled he bought the bubble gum machine she really wanted, plus a few other surprises too.

T's main present from us was an X-Box. It wasn't brand new (although it wasn't far off) and so it didn't have the original box. We put it inside a box which had been sent to me from the Book People. T's face was a picture when he tore of the wrapping paper of this large-ish box to see a label saying 'Book People', he thought it was a set of books! This is his face when he realised what it really contained.

S's main present from us was a new bike. She took to riding her bike so well in the summer but quickly out grew the one she had. She is now the proud owner of a new pink bike.

G loves the Monkey onesie we bought him back in October for his birthday and so on one of my shopping trips to town I made sure I bought T and S for Christmas. S is very pretty in her pink one, T's tiger suits him to a T. And probably the less said about the Santa one G bought me the better, but it's so comfy, I love it!

Melvin the cat isn't looking impressed though!

Happy Christmas

2011-12-24T10:26:00.002Z

To all our lovely bloggy friends near and far we wish you all a very Merry Christmas. xxxx

Children and Cars

2011-12-22T09:30:00.002Z

In the past few days we have had the annual glitter and glue fest so the children could make their Christmas cards for grandparents, aunties and uncles.

We have been to the park. We haven't been to our favourite park for a while and we were there for ages.

T and S ran around together, played together, laughed together. It was joyous watching them enjoying each other's company.

G was off on Tuesday and took them all off to the cinema to see Alvin and the Chipmunks whilst I stayed at home and wrapped presents. Why oh why do I forget each year just how long this part takes?!

All good so far and then yesterday happened and there was a car issue. Not a massive one and thankfully not an expensive one and one which was sorted relatively easily. But it meant that the day was given over to getting it sorted and not a lot else was achieved which was frustrating but not the end of the world.

Especially when there is a big box of Celebrations to dig into.

12 Fast Food Days of Christmas

2011-12-17T11:24:00.001Z

As well as the quizzes and games at our afternoon on festive fun last week we rounded off with a short sing song.
Word sheets were handed round and we sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas, Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bell Rock, Deck the Halls and then finished off with the 12 Fast Food Days of Christmas.

This is hilarious. I can guarantee that if you sing this at a get together everyone will be laughing and joining in very loudly especially with the 5th day of Christmas. Write out on a slip of paper each number and the item for numbers 1 to 5 and then 6 to 11, as we had lots of people here last week we had enough for 2 people per number. The slips of paper are then folded up and placed in a bowl and everyone dips in to pick one.

I found this a few years ago on the internet and modified it slightly. So here is our version to sing to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me a double bacon burger with cheese

On the second day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me two happy meals

On the third day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me three large fries

On the fourth day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me four egg McMuffins

On the fifth day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me five onion rings (EVERYONE TO SING)

On the sixth day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me six chocolate milkshakes

On the seventh day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me seven pints of ketchup

On the eigth day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me eight chicken drumsticks

On the ninth day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me nine slices of pizza

On the tenth day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me ten baked potatoes

On the eleventh day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me eleven chicken kormas

On the twelth day of Christmas my takeaway gave to me twelve Alka-Seltzer (EVERYONE TO SING)

Enjoy!

Tudor House

2011-12-16T21:14:00.003Z

When I go into town to meet up with my friend I we usually pop along to the City's art gallery, but as it was only a few weeks since our last visit we decided to try out the fairly newly opened Tudor House museum. The museum has been closed for years and has had major work and renovation carried out funded by the Lottery, English Heritage and the local council.

We had the place more or less to ourselves and took time to explore the rooms, play with the interactive information boards and try out the dressing up box too!

We both loved the kitchen rooms. Everything was so well labelled and informative. I would definitely recommend a visit not only for the house, but also for the garden which is stunning, no photos of that I'm afraid as it was so chilly outside and the cafe was calling. As the cafe is in a separate building you can pop in there without having to pay the museum entrance fee, we'll definitely to making a return journey in the warmer weather.

Casting an eye over the wall of the garden you can see into this house, which I never even knew existed! Apparently the Norman fireplace is one of the finest examples of it's kind still in existence.

And if cannons are your thing then you'd be impressed by this one, it's a belter, my hurriedly taken snap doesn't do it justice. Made originally for Henry VIII. Proper history!

December Catch-Up

2011-12-15T06:06:00.005Z

We've been busy and so there's a fair bit to catch up with.

The month started with a parent and teacher evening at T's school. T had to make appointments with the subject teachers we wanted to meet and find out how he has got on this first term. We decided on Tech because he has really struggled with this (fine motor skills always an issue) along with Maths, English and Spanish. Really good feedback from each teacher with pointers for improvement and help and praise for work well done. I had to leave early to take S to her swimming lesson but whilst waiting for another teacher G got to meet T's History and RE teacher too.

Of course the start of December also means the advent calendars begin. The children have been using the ones from Grandma and this year my calendar is another purchase from Phoenix.

Behind each door is a plate of food. Loving this.

Saturday 3rd we went down to our local shops for a couple of hours to see what was happening in this year's Christmas festival. The weather was very touch and go for this outdoor event. We bumped into a couple of friends and caught up on news, watched the ukulele band and I bought a Christmas pudding tea cosy from a stall raising money for the Royal British Legion. Must take a photo.

On Sunday we put up our tree. Disappointingly our trusty set of tree lights have given up and we are still light less something I must try and sort out today.

S did a fantastic job, lots of concentration as each ornament was hung.

Lots of silliness too.

The morning of Monday 5th was lost to the orthodonist. Another 6 month wait and see if T's teeth will be ready for braces.

Tuesday 6th was a very exciting day. S was singing with her school choir at the Guildhall, along with other schools from across the City. They were being taken by coach to the venue in the morning for a dress rehearsal which she was very excited about. Then when she realised they would be back in time for lunch and that there was pizza on the menu I thought she was going to burst. She looked so happy!

Of course she looked splendid in her uniform stood in the front row singing her heart out and from where we were sat in the second row we had a wonderful view. And of course I cried. So very proud of her.

Whilst out doing a major grocery shop on Thursday I spied the Christmas edition of the Radio Times and suddenly felt awash with that festive feeling. The only thing I have looked up so far are the details on Dr Who and Downton Abbey, essential viewing in our house.

Friday evening I went for a meal with all the people from the charity shop. We were thanked by the area manager, pulled crackers, drank the free wine provided by the landlord and exchanged secret santa gifts.

A couple of months back we arranged to meet G's mum and sister in London for a trip to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.

Our route there took a little detour as we needed to go to Charing Cross first to snap a couple of photos for T's history project. I now know an awful lot more than I used to (which wasn't difficult really!) about Edward I.

Everywhere we looked as we made our way to Trafalgar Square there were people dressed up in Santa suits as that morning a charity Santa dash had taken place. It was bizarre but all very festive!

We meet Grandma and D for a late lunch and then wandered through the park to the Winter Wonderland entrance and walked straight in which we were surprised about as earlier there had been really long queues.

We had a lovely time wandering round and if I'm honest arriving slightly earlier and seeing more would have been even better, but we did enjoy ourselves.

G looked fabulous in this hat which he didn't purchase

S's eyes were on stalks at the huge bags of candy floss

T couldn't decide on which hat he preferred, this being one of many he tried on

before plumping for this as his final choice. And what is he taking a photo of,

why a singing moose/reindeer? head of course!

To round off our weekend and well and truly throw ourselves into the Christmas spirit we had a party at our house on Sunday afternoon. Between 3 and 5 our little house was full of family and friends. I'm still not sure how we al got in! I had sent out invites a couple of weeks ago and told everyone to expect quizzes, games and a sing song.

I had set up 3 quizzes in our lounge. Using faces cut out of magazines there was name the famous face. Another where Merry Christmas in various languages had to be matched up with the country they are spoken in and finally there was name the Christmas carol/ song title from just the first letter of each word.

I was hoping for a dry day so we could do a few games outside but it poured down with rain so we did our best indoors. I had lots planned and only a few were played which is the best way round, better to have too much than not enough. There was 'can you get an After 8 from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands', 'pass the balloon race', 'pass a chocolate button along your team by using a straw' and the 'coming or going' game where half a dozen objects are being passed along your team at the same time, some in front and some behind. This was very hectic made even more amusing by the objects being used such a a peeled banana and wet soap. Lots of cheating and lots of laughter!

I asked everyone who came if they would mind posing for a photo, either wearing one of our Christmas hats our using one of the photo booth objects I had printed out after finding such a brilliant selection through Pinterest. Luckily everyone agreed and here's just a sample.

Just as everyone was leaving two more friends arrived. He had been working and so we knew they were going to be late. We were chatting for a while when S mentioned we hadn't played the popcorn game. This involved tipping popcorn onto the floor and picking up as much as you can in 1 minute using cocktail sticks in chop stick fashion. So we all played. T's friend then suggested a popcorn fight.

This is just some of it. I found more in S's hair Monday morning and yesterday more in the basket with the hats and scarves. I have a feeling I may discover more yet. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

Christmas Swap

2011-12-14T14:06:00.004Z

Hello there, remember me??!

I've hardly spent anytime online these past couple of weeks and so I am way behind with blogging and reading what everyone is getting up to. I hope to catch up over the next couple of days, both with what we've been up to and also popping by the lovely blogs I follow too.

The reason for my post today is to say a huge thank you to Michelle for the totally fabulous swap parcel she sent me.

I don't enter many swaps as I'm not much good at crafty stuff but this one organised by Lakota over at http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.com/ was more up my street. So a big thank you also to Lakota for organising. The swap had to be a maximum of 5 items, one had to be a Christmas dec, one had to be handmade and at least one had to be a thrifted item.

I opened the card from Michelle first, isn't it good.

This is how my parcels looked before I unwrapped them, so pretty in their gold paper and colourful ribbons.

And here they are all unwrapped. A fab set of lip balms, a sachet of hot chocolate and some chocolates which obviously had to be sample immediately, a crocheted angel for our tree, a scarf in beautiful muted colours and the most gorgeous little notebook.

Here is a close up of the cover. Isn't it just one of the sweetest things you've ever seen?

Thank you again Michelle, I really loved it all.

Here are the goodies I sent Michelle. We actually posted our parcels last Wednesday and I know Michelle received hers ok. My postman tried to deliver mine when I was out so I had to wait nearly an extra week before it was collected from the Post Office. Well worth the wait though!

I sent Michelle a set of notebooks, a snowflake decoration, a set of nail varnishes, a handmade keyring and a purple scarf/wrap. Plus a little chocolate something for her two children.

Feeling very festive here!

November Scavenger Hunt

2011-12-01T14:35:00.004Z

A couple of these are very last minute (hence very dodgy picture quality) and there are 3 I failed on. No lucky charm, stairs or silhouette.

And there should probably be no self portrait either, due to dodgy looking blogger!

So let's do that scary one first shall we?

So without further ado, here is me with all my chins!

Warmth. A cut out collage I put together a couple of months ago.

Something purple. A corsage from one of my jackets.

Polka dots. There are so so many things to chose from here at home, but I thought I would go with this wrapping paper I bought recently for Christmas.

A poppy. One of S's hair toggles.

Something I have made. A cross stitch bear waiting for his second eye to be french knotted on!

A memorial. This is part of the local Millennium garden which really needs a blog post of it's own. There are paving bricks engraved with the names of local people who were lost or survived the Titanic disaster.

Comfort food. This on toast. With tea.

Something that lights up. This little handbag on my keyring is a light, very handy it is too.

Present Ideas

2011-11-29T10:03:00.008Z

Last year I shared a couple of ideas I had had for themed Christmas presents. For those who were here then you may remember the 'pepper and chilli' gift and the 'lemon and honey' one I did for two of our friends.

Here are two I'm pleased with this year.

First up is for our friend S. A travel toiletries bag, love the illustration, which fits neatly in with

the cover of this book about the antics of air stewardesses. Thanks to Caroline over at http://whatshappeningatmyhouse.wordpress.com/ who blogged about this book.

Then to finish off this gift we bought a set of travel size smellies, a luggage tag and a tin of boiled sweets which I didn't notice until afterwards are made by a company named 'Sky Candy'. Hopefully all will be useful when she goes off on her holiday next year.

For G's mum, sister, niece and his brother's partner I have collected items to go inside Ikea glass jars which will have pretty labels added to them saying 'warm winter wishes' or some such thing. Each one contains a packet of snowman tissues, a pair of festive patterned socks, winterberry hand cream, Christmas lip balm and two sachets of hot chocolate. These will be their gifts from the children.

Thrifty Thursday

2011-11-24T16:33:00.002Z

Goodness me it doesn't seem 5 minutes since I did last week's Thrifty Thursday post. The weeks are galloping past.

This week I have bought home with me this GORGEOUS polar bear. I love his little woolly scarf! He is actually a money box but I don't think I'm going to be using him for that. He cost me £1.50.

A new top, like I need another one, but in my defence I HAD to buy this. It's Boden and it was £1.00. I'm sure you understand.

I've been in town again today. Coffee with a friend and more Christmas shopping. This evening I'm out for a meal with friends I used to work with. I'm glad it's nearly the weekend.

Dress up day

2011-11-22T20:44:00.004Z

The main project theme at school this half term for S is the Titanic disaster.

Today was dress up day when the children had to go in in costume.

S was told she was to be a 1st class passenger. Her outfit was a dress I found in the charity shop last week, the shoes and sliver cardi she already had and the gloves and tiara came from her dressing up box.

How glam!

A Full Day

2011-11-20T08:53:00.003Z

There was lots to do yesterday. In the morning I dropped T off as he was meeting up with a couple of friends and dropped S at local school for a choir rehearsal. She was only going to be there for an hour so I took a wander around the park on the opposite side of the road.

Still glimpses of colour to be found,

I love this leaf in mid colour turn,

and the way the dew was sparkling in the sunshine on this leaf.

Can you spot the squirrel who kept peeping round this tree trunk at me?

Early afternoon S and I wandered round to a Christmas fair at one of the local churches. This is normally a really bustling affair with lots of goodies on offer and things to do for the children, but was a bit lacking in all aspects this time.

Late afternoon I took the children out to Eastleigh for their Christmas light switching on event. It's been a couple of years since we went. They had lots going on all day and when we went before we had a really fab day.

We took our place on the street to wait for the parade and when I realised we had stopped by Iceland, I nipped in and bought a box of these Christmas tree shaped ice cream lollies for us to enjoy.

We all liked these shiny Father Christmas balloons.

The charity I volunteer for also has a branch in Eastleigh and this was part of their window display.

After the parade we walked up to the park, along with the rest of the hundreds of other people there, and watched a brilliant fireworks display.

A busy and fun day.

Thrifty Thursday

2011-11-17T16:28:00.003Z

After I had finished at the chiropractor's yesterday I went and did a couple of hours of my usual weekly shift at the charity shop. Walking and moving around was the best thing for me to be doing and I didn't want to let the other volunteers down.

We were really busy. Lots of people buying lots of things. Some things were going out on the shelves and being bought soon afterwards. I lost count of the times someone wanted something from the window display which had been decked out with Christmas items.

I bought a few things too, no surprise there then! A couple of DVD's and CD's for pressies plus these plastic containers. Not sure where they'll end up and what they'll have in them but for 10p each I had to get them.

I hadn't noticed this top during the previous couple of weeks it must have been on the rail, but it caught my eye yesterday. It's a size 12 and I wasn't sure it would fit but as it had been reduced down to £1.25 I thought it would be worth trying on to check. Fit it did it'll be fab over jeans.

Lastly this book for £1.00. My mum doesn't read much but mentioned a while ago she would be quite interested in reading Fern's autobiography so I was pleased when I spotted this on the shelf.

Thanks for the messages about my back. I'm feeling much more flexible today. Ice packs are my new fashion accessory. Back to the stretching exercises, not that I should have stopped them really I suppose.

Easy Tea

2011-11-16T20:52:00.003Z

I wanted an easy tea tonight and this fitted the bill just fine. It's one of those feed a family for a fiver recipes from Sainsbury's. You see I've gone and done my back in again and didn't want to be faffing around in the kitchen for too long.

There was a bit of a playful incident here on Sunday morning (nothing naughty I hasten to add!) which has resulted in my lower back ceasing up. A trip to the chiropractor's this morning, £32.00 shelled out and I can once again stand up straight and walk without limping.

So if you fancy a tasty tea, don't want to spend too long in the kitchen and like bacon and rice then give this a whirl.

This amount feeds G, T and S. This evening it was accompanied with garlic dough balls.

Fry a packet of chopped up bacon rashers or cubed pancetta with an onion (have used a leek before), a diced carrot and a pepper. Tonight it was a red one. Add 200g arborio rice and stir for 2 minutes. Pour in 500ml stock and bring to the boil. Transfer to a baking dish. Cook @ 130c (mine is a fan oven so lower temp) for 20 mins. Remove from oven, stir and add 200ml more stock and a tin of sweetcorn (forgot that bit tonight). Turn oven up to 150c and cook for another 15-20 mins. Serve and enjoy watching family eat and leave clean plates.

Bits and Bobs

2011-11-14T10:44:00.004Z

Friday evening I asked my sister if she would like to join me at the Ladies night being held at T's old Junior school. There were lots lovely craft sellers, book stalls, nail and cosmetic specialists and of course jewellery sellers. I couldn't resist this sparkly ring. I also manged to buy more Christmas presents and won a bottle of bubble bath in the raffle.

On Saturday T spent most of the day out with friends (yikes!) but came home saying he had had a really good day.

S and G went off to the cinema and saw Mr Popper's Penguins which they both enjoyed.

I went to an indoor car boot sale with my mum and sister. They arrived before me and mum had alreayd snaffled these 'sweeties' for me for 10p. They were strung up as a garland but I have snipped them off and am now of the look out for a glass jar to display them in. I think they'll look fab on the dresser as part of our Christmas decorations.

I had two good buys. The first for 75p was a copy of The Holiday. I have only watche dthis movie once but LOVED it and look forward to watching it a lot more now. Who wouldn't want to stay in that cottage?!

My second buy was this fab black M&S skirt for £1.25. I am thinking this will be fabulous to wear Christmas day with some sparkly on top. The waist is elasticated so will be perfect for after lunch comfort!

Sunday was spent in Salisbury. We went to the Grasmere Hotel for lunch to celebrate 2 birthday's in G's family, his sister's last week and his mum's this coming week.

G's mum gave us these to bing home for the children. She is an avid car booter too and found these on one of her bargain hunting Sunday's. Aren't they cute. She has also given us the chocolates to pop inside each pocket.

Lots of Christmas items in this post. I think it's going to the way of things to come for a while.

Such a Good Day

2011-11-10T20:21:00.005Z

I have had such a good day today.

After dropping S at school I took the bus into town and spent half an hour mooching in Primark, coming out with 2 bags full of purchases and the first ticks made on my shopping list against items I had wanted to buy.

From there I walked up to the City's art gallery to meet a friend as we had arranged to go and see Boo Ritson exhibiton. Neither of us knew anything about her work so it was all new to us. Certainly gave us something to talk about.

To catch up with each other's news we decided on a sit down in Starbucks where I had the tastiest caramel macchiato, such a treat!

Once we had caught up I came along with me to Hawkins to act as my basket carrier.

I had browsed the catalogue about a month ago and had written down the things I wanted to buy, but did the list make sense to me today? Never fear a very helpful young man spotted me looking a bit confused and came to my assistance. I had only to read out 'wacky whirler' and 'bean boozled' and off he went gathering up my purchases for me.

My friend and I then parted company as we needed to shop in different parts of town. Not only did I buy the things I had hoped to, I also managed to buy T and S's Christmas present from G's brother which was an unexpected bonus. I arrived home with half an hour to spare before I needed to collect S. My arms and feet ached but I was so happy to have packed so much into one day and for it all to have been so enjoyable.

Christmas Mags

2011-11-08T21:26:00.003Z

I'm building up quite a nice little collection of Christmas editions of the magazines I don't normally buy the rest of the year.

They are hard to resist when the covers look so festive and full of interesting articles, gift and decorating inspirations and recipes galore.

I am so looking forward to enjoying them over a couple of quiet, indulgent hours.

Especially this one which was a gift from Clare. The ever lovelyMrs Summerfete came over to visit us last week bringing me this fabulous magazine and sweets for all. We had a good old chat, ate cake, drank tea and before all that we even managed a quick flit around the local charity shops.

I'm off to bed to make a start on the Country Living one which was delivered today!

October Scavenger Hunt

2011-11-05T17:40:00.004Z

This month's hunt is late and incomplete but it's here which is more than can be said for July, August and September.

Something eerie, the sign above a beer pump, Spotted this whilst we were enjoying a refreshing drink after our 6 mile walk in Shawford.

A river. The River Itchen which we walked along side of on part of our 6 mile walk.

Candlelit and pumpkin together! One of the pumpkins we had lit on our windowsill on Hallowe'en.

Heritage. Salisbury Cathedral.

Golden. The horn of a unicorn from one of the troupes of Morris men we saw in Reading last weekend.

Crunchy leaves, the park in Reading was littered with them, in a good way.

Black cat, the sign on a pub just down from Salisbury train station.

Only 7 photos for 8 catergories, lets hope I can do better this month.

Behind Again

2011-11-03T08:58:00.006Z

It seems to me that for the past couple of months I keep getting behind on writing blog posts and then doing a big catch up. This is another of those. Oh well, better late than never I suppose. My scavenger hunt for October will also be late (surprise, surprise) and I haven't managed to get them all either.

So last week was half term. Monday was spent with my sister for her birhtday, Tuesday G and the children went to Salisbury and Wednesday morning we spent indoors playing Just Dance on the Wii. I do enjoy that. In the afternoon we went to the local duck pond and fed the ducks, walked through mud and puddles and the children ran around for a while too which always pleases me to see.

I became slightly obsessed with taking photos of all the different berries but won't bore you with all of them, just these blackberries

and these 'traffic light' ones.

Thursday was miserable weather wise and was spent indoors. T was off colour all week as he hadn't gone to school on the last day of term and we all got a bit grouchy with each other, so let's move swiftly on to Friday when we did our annual Hallowe'en trail through a country park. Which we followed with a trip to the garden centre to have a look at their Christmas decorations and enjoy a hot chocolate in the newly opened restaurant. Very nice indeed, will definitely be going back there again.

On Saturday G and I had ANOTHER night away! Get us, 2 in one month! It won't happen again now for AGES. This one had been arranged a while ago. Friends of ours are nearing the end of the adoption assessment process and felt a bit of hands on experience would be good. So they offered, we accpeted and off we toddled to Reading. Neither of us had visited this town before and G was in charge of booking a hotel and found a good deal so that's why we ended up there.

We wandered around the town centre for a couple of hours and during this time came across a meeting of a few troupes of Morris Men which we stood and watched for a while. I love the sound of all the bells and the wood when they knock the sticks together. There is probably a more technical name for that!

G's back was starting to give him a bit of pain so he went back to the hotel and I carried on looking around. I could have stood in front of the John Lewis window for ages, it looked so festive.

The next morning we took a different route back to the station and found a lovely restored Victorain style park

which had this magnificent lion in the middle.

We also found the town hall and art gallery building which is stunning.

Really I should have done a bit of research into Reading before we headed off but as I explained in the last post I have been preoccupied with work, more than I realised, plus T had another MRI scan on Monday morning. I know his doctor says they are just routine but I can't help worrying all the same. Well it's part of the job description isn't it?!

Monday afternoon saw me sat on the floor tracing and cutting out bat shapes from black card and then sellotaping small chocolate bars and fizzy sweets inside and then folding the bat wings over and securing with another piece of sellotape. Talk about leaving it to the last minute. I saw this idea ages ago on Pinterest, but they got done. I made 35 of these. In total I had nearly 80 trick or treat callers. Thankfully I had other sweets but in the end I did run out and had to put on a sign on the door to say 'sorry sweets all gone.'

I took a quick snap of both T and S before they went out too. T went with friends and S went with G. The mask T wore was really scary, just little holes for his eyes. S was much more excited this year than last and was very keen to get out there.

Finally I must include our 30 minute craft project from last week. Another idea from Pinterest, mummy lights. Empty glass jars wrapped in toilet roll with black card shapes for the faces and tea lights popped inside.. S's is on the left, mine in the middle and T's on the right. We were very pleased with them.

Pre-Occupied

2011-10-26T13:18:00.002+01:00

About 6 months ago it was announced that the office I worked in would be closing as part of some government spending cuts. There has been an awful lot of uncertainty surrounding my job. I have been one of the lucky ones and have been redeployed to another office. Leaving the team I have worked with for a long time was quite a sad day. Last week I started at the new office. It's bound to be a bit bumpy at first as I get used to new colleagues and they get used to me, it's been kind of first day of school nerves. The whole change of workplace and people has been one big issue which has been preoccupying my mind this past month or so.

Yesterday I explored the area around my new place of work and found 6 charity shops. A plus point if ever there was one.
A couple of items came home with me, the best buy being this Pyrex dish for £1.99.

It was my sister's birthday on Monday and after she had waded through opening all her presents and before we had a late lunch we had a little browse around a couple of pretty shops. I bought this for my mum and she bought one for me. I just love the little sprig of holly and look forward to when I get to hang it up in our home.

Do you think they grow on trees?

2011-10-23T18:34:00.002+01:00

'Look at the fungi growing on the side of that tree,' I said whilst we were out getting some fresh air on a brief stroll this afternoon.
'Looks more like those white crisps from the Chinese takeaway,' said T.
These will now be known to us as prawn cracker mushrooms.

Thrifty Thursday- the Birthday Edition

2011-10-20T12:12:00.002+01:00

My youngest sister is 40 next week and today I am wrapping up all the bits and bobs I've bought for her. This is the sister with whom I do the gift exchange where we buy just about everything from jumbles/car boots/charity shops etc.

Pink blanket £1.00, charity shop
Set of 2 dotty tins 25p, charity shop
4 bottles of smellies 95p, charity shop
Pink jug 50p, jumble sale
Felt flower and butterfly brooch 25p, church summer fete
Heart casserole dish £1.99, bought new.
Heart garden stake £1.59, bought new.
The last two will be given to her from the children.

Silver cardi 20p, jumble sale
Book 20p, church summer fete
Bookmark 25p, church summer fete
Notebook 25p, car boot
Monsoon cardi £1.50, charity shop
Butter dish £1.00, charity shop
Bottle stopper 50p, charity shop

Green cardi 50p, car boot

1989 t shirt 50p, car boot

Green star shirt 75p, charity shop

Blue floral top 50p, charity shop

Fat face grey skirt 50p, charity shop.

There is also a green flower pot which I have forgotten to include in the pics. Total, for items from me, with the pot at 49p is £10.09. Just a smidge over our £10.00 budget.

Now to wrestle with the paper and sellotape.

Washing

2011-10-19T19:10:00.003+01:00

Just how excited is it acceptable to get about a piece of plastic?
When the weather changes and it's no longer possible to dry washing outside it doesn't take long before I am completely fed up with trying to dry it all inside.
The length of the banister is perfectly suited for hanging the sheets and duvet covers over and a clothes airer we received as a wedding present is in constant use for everything else. The trouble with that is we tend to keep it in our bedroom and where ever it is in the room it's always in the flaming way!
So to try and make use of the empty space and (hopefully) warm air circulating on the landing I bought a retractable indoor washing line. Oh how I love it. It's green, it's curvy and the line is very, very long.
G has attached it to the door frame of S's bedroom and it can be easily removed when the time comes.

This photo is probably one of the best contenders for most boring photo ever taken. Our plastered and unpainted walls with sundry items of washing.

But the washing is dry! Oh the bliss of hanging it up inside the house and having it dry within a few hours. OK it's a little unslightly, but you only see it if you go upstairs and you may have to duck underneath when you get to the top of the stairs, but I love it.

Not sure if that makes me a complete sad case but I don't really care.

6 miles

2011-10-17T12:04:00.007+01:00

G and I decided we should all try and get out for a walk on Sunday. The weather was looking good and so we thought we should try and make the most of it.
Leaflets were consulted, train times worked out and a picnic packed up.
We took the train to Shawford to do the circular walk that starts and ends here, it's part of a series of walks along the Itchen Navigation Trail. It said allow 3 hours for the 6 mile walk and some of it was a bit steep. We kept those details to ourselves when T and S asked where we were going!

The first thing that caught my eye after we left the station were these tiles outside a beauty salon, so of course the camera came out to a chorus of 'what photos ALREADY????!!!!'

Within a few hundred metres we had seen a deer in some one's back garden, a family of swans and this goose who was desperately trying to eat this apple as it bobbed along next to it.

It kept whacking it with it's beak and so it would sink and the goose turned upside down to find it. It amused us anyway.

These were the kind of views we enjoyed along the way to our left

and then to our right, chatting as we went and snacking on some oatmeal and raisin biscuits I had baked and were actually edible and enjoyed by all.

One of the reasons we chose this walk was it took you (or so we were led to believe) under an old viaduct. But unfortunately the directions at this point were a bit sketchy and we managed to miss it! We did spy it in the not too far distance though.

Halfway round the way we stopped at St Cross hospital

and had our picnic sat opposite these almhouses.

Hospital is used in the same sense as 'hospitality' and in centuries gone by they provided food and shelter to the poor. Clicking on the link will give you more information about this medevial building and it's history.

After leaving here the steep bit kicked in. It wasn't very picturesque for this part of the walk either and a bit of post lunch lethargy and boredom set in. We stopped at one point to see where we were by wandering into a field just off the path we were on and had a lovely view with the Hospital just poking it's head about the trees.

We passed fields with horses in and kept walking up and up

until we reached Yew Tree Hill and were rewarded with views of countryside like this

and this

and this.

Which made it the boring bit worth it. Even T stopped and took it all in and wanted to take photos.

Out with my family in the fresh air and sunshine. Perfect.

Doing the walk to St Cross and back again is something we hope to do next year, making sure we find the correct path to the viaduct this time!

More Ho Hum Than Ho Ho Ho

2011-10-12T16:20:00.006+01:00

As well as spending time in Blogland I also like to visit Pinterest. I have pinned so many craft ideas I'd like to try and as a lot of those are Christmas orientated I thought I should crack on and start having a go at some of them.
So last night I set about making a Santa sweetie jar like these at www.juliecasedesigns.typepad.com/julie_case_designs/christmas_/, except mine is using an old Sainsbury's pasta sauce bottle.

I'm not happy with the gold buckle, it definitely needs to be black like the original, but I couldn't find any black card last night, but then that's what doing a practise is for, finding out what works and what doesn't!
I'll top them off with a piece of red felt and then add a handmade tag.
I'm only going to make a couple of these, one each for G's dad and brother. Full up with Christmas chocolate these can be part of their gift from the children.

Birthday Weekend

2011-10-10T11:20:00.006+01:00

On Saturday it was G's birthday. As we would have been going up to Salisbury to see his family anyway he asked his mum if she would mind having the children to stay with her on Friday night so we could have an evening to ourselves.
She agreed and after we had waved them off at the train station we wandered into town and spent a lovely evening together and stayed over night at The Kings Head.

We had a very unhealthy but very satisfying cooked breakfast in the pub whilst watching England lose the rugby and then set about having a mooch around the charity shops. Our biggest purchase was this mirror. It's destined for the hallway. 'The shelf will come in handy for you' G said. 'Somewhere to put your keys and sunglasses when you get in.' I have to admit that most mornings I can be heard saying 'Now where did I put glasses?' as I tend to wear them all year round, my eyes stream otherwise. But I managed to surpass myself and I lost them during our wanderings before we got to G's mum's!

G's mum told me about a sculpture exhibition she had seen and suggested we should try and see too, outside and inside Salisbury cathedral

We were very pushed for time so we had a stroll through The Close and just saw a couple of them.

Not often G meets a woman taller than him!

We walked past part of the boundary wall to G's old school and spotted this blue plaque.

The houses around the Cathedral are very picturesque but it wasn't a day for stopping and admiring, although I did quickly snap this elegant display of greenery by someone's front door.

We were very excited about one of G's gifts. T had spotted it in Primark at the start of September and instantly asked if it could be his and S's present to their dad for his birthday. Knowing G would LOVE it I agreed.

His face was a picture as he opened it and saw what it was. He was THRILLED and trotted upstairs to try it on.

What do you think?

We laughed and laughed and laughed.

G says it's very cosy and his brother said he would like one too!

Yesterday I went to a Vintage Fair which took place in one of the University buildings. Mum came along with me and we took S too. She has a bit of a cold (again!) and so although I could have spent hours looking at all the beautiful clothes I was mindful of S coughing away and so we didn't stay too long.

Mum fell in love with a ring which I bought her and have squirreled away for Christmas and my two other purchases were this brooch for £1 (I know it's a bit chipped, but it's just so pretty)

and these 2 plastic masks, 50p each, which I'll save for G's table present at Christmas as we always buy each other silly hats or masks which keep us giggling through our turkey dinner!

The Weather Tree

2011-10-06T14:57:00.004+01:00

As quite a few people liked the strawberry paper from Phoenix a couple of posts ago I thought I would share with you all another of the items I bought. I did buy 2 other things but these are Christmas themed and I'll save those for another post.

I loved this idea for a poster which will keep us busy all year. It's called the Weather Tree and there is a leaf for each day of the year.

You have to decide which colours are going to represent each weather type and then fill in the key below the tree. There is a special space for the name of the person(s) whose tree it is and the year it was completed.

All around the tree are drawings with information about the seasons and the weather, such as cloud types

facts about snowflakes

and storms.

I'm, sorry of course I mean the children (!), are going to enjoy filling this in over 2012.

EDITED to say the company selling these posters can be found here http://www.phoenixtrading.com/ Items are purchased through a 'trader' but if you don't know one in your area then you can complete an on line form and someone will contact you.

Dotty for Storage

2011-10-05T15:00:00.003+01:00

I do have a bit of a thing for storage items. Boxes, baskets, jars that kind of thing.
I also ahve a bit of a thing for polka dots.
Combine the two and I'm one very happy person.
Yesterday I purchased not one, but two said polka dot storage items.

The first was from the well known purveyor of elegant homewares (not) that is Lidl!
A set of two cardboard boxes for £3.99.
I was after something that would go in our bedroom on top of the wardrobes to hide all those things that need to be hidden at this time of year. When Christmas presents and stocking fillers are being purchased on a regular basis and so instead of laying in bed and staring at a plethora of carrier bags there is a bit more tidiness and prettiness going on.

The second purchase is for the dining room, in the space under the stairs. I wanted something that I could throw all my reusable shopping bags into and also be able to get them out from easily too. I didn't want something I had to stuff them into and have to wrestle out again each time I was off to Sainsbury's.
Solution......

canvassy type bag for £8 from Matalan. Sturdy enough to stand upright so bags can be chucked in and large opening to easily grab bags from when needed.

Polka dot heaven for a storage freak.

Kitchen Shelf

2011-10-03T10:57:00.002+01:00

As part of the ongoing plan to use the kitchen cupboards to best food storage advantage and so cut down on shopping trips and hopefully save money, I thought it would be a good idea to have a place when all the sauces and spreads that are used on a very frequent basis are kept. I like the idea of open kitchen shelving so thought a little shelf was the way to go.
My sister found a brand new pine shelf for £3 at a car boot a couple of months ago which fitted the bill.
I wasn't sure which colour to paint it and so it just sat around getting in the way and annoying me because I wanted to use it but wasn't sure what to do with it exactly. Then when I spotted a sheet of strawberry patterned gift wrap in the Phoenix catalogue it all fell into place.
The paper was used to line the back and the bottom of the shelves and the rest was painted in a shade called Flagon. This was a tester pot I had bought a while ago when I was considering which colour to paint the dresser.
Yesterday G fixed it to the wall and so now at long last it's up and being used. Just the rest of the kitchen to sort now then!

It's a good home for my latest TK Maxx purchase. The heart patterned salt cellar, so cute.

The Beach in October

2011-10-02T09:07:00.009+01:00

Who would have thought that after the inadequate summer weather this year we would have spent 1st October on the beach in brilliant sunshine?

There were signs of autumn to be seen as we wandered from the train station to the beach.

A couple of conkers were spied and picked up to add to our ever growing stash at home, acorns(!) spotted

and a box left by someone's front gate labelled 'free food' which contained apples rom their garden. G and S enjoyed an apple each on the way from the station and back again later on in the day. Very tasty they were too apparently.

So where had we decided to spend the day? We took the train to Hinton Admiral in the New Forest and from there it was a 30 minute walk to Highcliffe and Mudeford.

This was a journey we had considered in the summer but never got round to for one reason or another and yesterday suddenly seemed the ideal day to give it a go.

Because it was kind of last minute we weren't really prepared and so there was no picnic, instead G treated us to lunch and from there we strolled back along the front to find a place to spend the afternoon.

Here is the view to our left

the one in fornt of us

a close up view of that seagull

and the view to our right.

G took photos of me having a paddle with the children and asked why I was doing a Rigsby impression all the while I was dipping my toes in!

We took a different route back to the station and walked through a nature reserve, this huge fossil was by the entrance

and we even spotted a deer!

The coastal path leads to Highcliffe Castle where a wedding party were having photos taken in the grounds. What a stunning car.

We didn't have time to stop and so G and I said that one day we'd like to come back (just the two of us) for further exploration of the castle. I only managed to snap a couple of photos as we wandered on past.

Maybe with a trip to the tearooms for a cream tea for good measure.

I am hoping that G has been able to sort out our computer issues and I can now get back to blogworld properly. Hope that hasn't jinxed it!

The White House

2011-09-26T10:11:00.005+01:00

Yesterday afternoon we popped out to a local charity fund raising event being held in the grounds of a local school.
When I was younger it was known as the White House, today it is gregg school. We would go there occasionally when I was at junior school for sports and it was also the venue for family outings on Bonfire Night a couple of times too.
A few years back we went for a visit during Heritage Open weekend and had a tour round the house which was great being able to get inside and have a snoop around.

The gardens were designed by Gertrude Jekyll

and although there wasn't much still blooming one of my favourites was there to still be enjoyed.

I seem to remember from our tour that the school children aren't allowed to go down to this part of the garden.

We weren't subject to the school rules and had a lovely wander round and the topiary helped us to practise S's maths topic of

3D shapes.

T wanted to take some photos so for once there is a photo of me!

There were lots of signs of autumn including these helicopters

trees groaning with apples

and plenty of windfalls on the ground

lots of pinecones, a few of which made there way home with us and now are sitting in a planter on the windowsill.

There was only one purchase made. A set of Russian doll pegs. My thinking is maybe I'll hang them up in the kitchen (once it's painted!) and use them to display the children's certificates and art work.

Growing up in the 70's

2011-09-22T13:37:00.004+01:00

As a little girl in the 70's I knew that when I grew up I wanted to be able to shop in Richard Shops .
I loved their advertsing jingle and I thought it would be marvellous to be considered a pretty face and be allowed to buy their floaty floral clothes.

I also DESPERATELY wanted life to be like a box of chocolates, try saying that without a Forrest Gump twang!
Most specifically I wanted life to be like a Dairy Box advert.
Not when the box looked like this hideous thing But when the art work simplier and the women in the ad were dressed in white floaty (that word again) cotton and cheesecloth frocks and reminded me of Sara Moon pictures.

The ads were full of sunshine, cricket matches, panama hats, all ages mingling and laughing, dogs, wicker chairs, croquet, a jolly vicar, good times and love. Thankfully some knind soul has put them on you tube where I can go and get my fix.
The people used in the ads were mostly blonde. My dad has 2 blonde half sisters who are about 15 years older me than and I thought they were the prettiest most glamourous things on the planet.

Finally I wanted to sit in a field of poppies and paint. Wearing, yes you've guessed it, something floaty.

Flakes are still one of my most favourites.

Happy days.

Name that Programme

2011-09-21T16:42:00.002+01:00

S's work of art before school this morning.
Of course it could only be Dr Who!

Thank you to everyone who left messages on my last post about T. Your kind words are appreciated.

I'd like to say...

2011-09-19T10:19:00.003+01:00

.....that the good start at senior school continued for T during it's second week, but I can't.
I'd like to say that we had a weekend ful of outdoor time in which we were able to walk off the feelings of worry and stress and anger, but I can't.

What I can do is share this huge rainbow which appeared yesterday whilst on our way home, a reminder that beautiful things can happen when all appears to be pants.

And in the meantime we'll endeavour to

A new phone case presented to me by T when I got home from work on Friday.

The Book Thief

2011-09-15T13:43:00.002+01:00

So much violence. So much gentleness.
So much hate. So much love.
So much sadness. So much happiness.
The power of words.
Read. This. Book.

Between the showers

2011-09-12T09:55:00.003+01:00

on Saturday I went to an indoor car boot sale at one local church hall where I bought a fabulous pair of nearly new boots which should see me quite happily through the winter and then on to another church hall for a bric a brac sale. The only item I bought there was this pyrex type baking dish. I'm thinking maybe a rice pudding for after tea tonight?

Then in the afternoon we visited a church G used to live opposite and I have travelled past a thousand times as it was open as part of this weekend's

The architect for this church was George_Gilbert_Scott who was responsible for, among other things, the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras station and the Albert Memorial

but it was the stained glass windows made by Heaton, Butler and Baynes I really wanted to see as the info on the website said they were designed in the Art Nouveau style.

And they did not disappoint.

This is Mercy

with Peace to her left

and Justice to her right.

We were given a tour by the very knowledgable church warden who pointed out this set of 3 windows in the Lady Chapel. Apparently these were made out of stained glass from other broken windows in the church.

Thankfully yesterday wasn't quite as wet, though it was a bit blowy, as first predicted and so we spent a couple of hours walking and cycling on the Common before G treated us all to lunch in the pub. It was just the kind of gentle weekend we needed after the first week of getitng back into routine again.

Back to school

2011-09-08T14:29:00.006+01:00

It's been an age since I last blogged.
We have computer problems and it's been so difficult getting long enough to even read just a couple of emails each day that reading any blog posts has been near on impossible so posting anything just hasn't been a option. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the computer plays ball now just long enough for me to complete this before it freezes.

S went back to school on Monday and was very ready to start Year 2 and see all her friends again.
I fact she had such a good week she was nominated by her teacher as Star of the Week for 'such a fantastic start to Year 2'. She was very proud of her sticker and certificate.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of T on his first day of senior school. Those photos are on my phone and not downloaded as yet.
Tuesday morning was the big day and T was so nervous he couldn't manage any more than a couple of mouthfuls of his Shreddies. It was the same on Wednesday. Thursday he manged to eat a whole bowl full. Friday morning it was 2 bowl fulls and a hot cross bun! I think you can deduce from that that the week went well! I can't tell you what a relief it was. Each day he came home he was full of smiles and chatted about different aspects of his day. I tried not to bombard him with too many questions but we had so many concerns over this major education move it was just so reassuring seeing him so happy.

So with the return to school there was a return to quietness during the day which these two certainly enjoyed stretching out and dozing on S's bed with the sun warming them through.

How do you like this artists impression of me keeping the children topped up with squash during the summer holiday as they frolicked in the garden?!

OK so it's actually an illustration from a vintage children's ABC book I found in a charity shop the other week, but oh to look so flawless and capable!

For me the summer hols seemed to finish a week earlier than it really did. T went to stay in Salisbury and then London for the whole week and S went to stay with my mum for a couple of nights so it was all a bit strange after being so busy.

So before I forget I must blog about the fab things S and I made one afternoon.

We each made a ladybird on which S did a tremendous job of painting on their spots and gluing on their eyes.

Photo is on it's side!

Our next joint effort were these bees. I drew the body shapes, S did everything else.

My favourite were these moustaches stuck to drinking straws. We looked completely ridiculous which of course is the whole point!

I hope to get round and visit everyone's blogs very soon. I may not be able to leave comments but I do hope to catch up with all the news and find up what everyone has been up to, I miss blogland.

What the Papers Say

2011-09-01T10:03:00.006+01:00

We found a little piece of history when we were making over that old pine wardrobe recently.
When G took the mirror out he found that a newspaper had been slipped behind it, maybe to help hold it in place, maybe for someone to find in years to come.

We've only had a quick glance through it as yet but it's safely stowed away to be looked at properly another day, but here's a few snippets to share.

As you can see it's the Daily Express from 7th August 1924,

it cost one penny and this particular copy was for Mr Greenwood.

Main news stories are about Lady Astor's portrait being scribbed on

the price of bread increasing

Political wrangles and money issues

and issues with a poor train service.

Any of those sound familiar?

A few advertisements include these pills for those who can not go

those seeking a satisfying smoke

cocoa drinkers with an eye on the pennies

ladies fashion

and a soothing bath brand still going today.

This advert is one of our favourites.

We'd be happy to snap up this bargain if it was still as cheap. I wonder what today's market value is?

3 years

2011-08-27T22:14:00.002+01:00

Feel no guilt in laughter, he knows how much you care
Feel no sorrow in a smile that he's not here to share
You can not grieve forever, he would not want you to
He'd hope that you carry on, the way you always do
So talk about the good times and the ways you showed you cared
The days you spent together, all the happiness you shared
Let memories surround you.

A word someone may say
Will suddenly recapture a time, an hour, a day
That brings him back as clearly as though he were still here
And fills you with the feelings that he is always near
For if you keep these memories, you will never be apart
And he will live forever, locked safe within your heart.

My dad will always be in my heart.
Miss you every day, love you forever.

Holiday Catch up

2011-08-26T07:10:00.004+01:00

I have a fair bit of catching up to do. I've hardly been near the computer, except for a quick peek at emails each day and haven't had time for any dedicated blog reading so am way behind with everyone's news.

Before I do start wittering on I would like to say a MASSIVE thank you for all the lovely comments that were left on my last post about our wardrobe make over. As I'm sure you gathered I am thrilled with the end result and it was wonderful to receive so many messages saying that others liked what we had done too.

Along with the general busy-ness of the school hols I have been somewhat distracted as our sweet Melvin went missing from Saturday night to Monday morning. He has never done anything like this in the 18 months we've had him and due to his very timid nature we did fear the worst. We were over the moon when he came home on Monday, but then he did the very same thing again and wasn't seen from early Wed evening until very late last night. We're now thinking he's found himself a second home to visit when the fancy takes him.

So now to catch up with the school hols we have to go back to Sunday 14th and into the town centre for the family Sky Ride.

We didn't take part in the first one last year but everyone was raring to go for participation in this year's.

Lots of roads were closed off and so thousands of cyclists had a traffic free route through the city centre. G said the best bit for him was being able to cycle through the fruit terminal at the docks, somewhere you don't normally get to go.

An extra surprise to our day was being spotted by Clare whilst we were sat lounging around listening to the live music in the park, meeting her husband and having a quick chat before they cycled off.

Monday was very quiet for me as the children had both been invited round to friend's so whilst they were away I did a bit a couple of very small decorating jobs I really wanted to get sorted.

Tuesday we went to the cinema and saw Cars 2. They both loved it but I think I preferred the first one.

Wednesday we were back into town but for slightly less adventurous time task of school shoe buying and optician appointments.

Then in the afternoon we hopped on the train to Fareham to meet G from work. Since he moved office the children have been very keen to see his new place of work so after a quick scout around and introduction to his new colleagues we went to a local pub for something to eat.

The place we chose was a converted church and it was so beautiful inside. The picture below doesn't really show the interior decoration very well, but it was busy and I didn't want to use the flash on my camera and draw attention to myself!

You can see the pattern much more clearly in this photo. T and S picked this spot for us to sit in in the middle of the room. A huge curved, high backed booth which could have easily seated another few people

and right above us was this chandelier.

Thursday poured and poured with rain but we still ventured out as I needed to buy T's school jumper from a specialist uniform shop which tied in incely with a visit to friend's we had arranged a couple of weeks ago.

Friday afternoon was our turn to have a full house as T and S both had a friend over although as you can expect their chosen activities were very different!

We had a fairly lazy on Saturday (I even had time to bake some banana cakes and make use of my new cake stand)

as on Sunday we had arranged to go out with friends down to Bournemouth for the Air Show. I have to say I was in two minds about going after the dreadful accident involving the Red Arrows pilot.

But go we did and I have to say the skill of the pilots gave us a show which was nothing short of spectacular. And the girls who do the wing walking on the Breitling bi planes were utterly amazing.

I don't have any photos of the planes just two lions which are part of a Pride in Bournemouth art initiative.

As soon as we arrived at the beach and S had eaten her lunch she was in the water, followed shortly afterwards by T. They spent practically the whole afternoon in there playing and swimming which I think was probably the reason why S didn't wake up until 10.45 on Monday morning! With nothing planned I was quite happy for her to sleep in and catch up on her rest.

We did go down to the park in the afternoon where a game of T and S pretending to be babies got out of hand and I ended up soaked from the contents of T's water bottle but for once it was a hot afternoon and I didn't mind too much.

The weather threatened to ruin our plans for Tuesday but thankfully it didn't. Clare had invited us over to see her and although we didn't get to go blackberry picking or full the full walk she had planned for us in the New Forest we did manage to squeeze in cake eating, lots of chatting, a sit inside their fabulous camper van, a tour round her beautiful garden and I got to see her totally gorgeous patchwork quilt in all it's splendour. It really is an absolute stunner and she is extremely talented.

We did manage to squeeze in a little wander down a lane before it was time for the train, although we cut it a bit fine with our timing and had to run a fair way back in order to not to miss it. Goodness me how unfit I am! It took me the journey back to Southampton to recover!

Thank you Clare for a really lovely afternoon and for our jar of homemade raspberry jelly.

Seeing S's smile I really should mention that there has been siginifcant tooth loss this summer hols. 3 teeth have fallen out and so the tooth fairy has been finding this summer quite an expensive one!

Speaking of teeth another reason I haven't been on the computer much these past few days is a headache and jaw ache which progressed to an infection and swollen gum and toothache for which I now have anti biotics. Ugh, not nice.

Nearly there and if you're still here well done, but as this blog is (hopefully) a diary for the children to look back on one day, I want to make sure I get down as much about our time during these holidays as possible.

Wednesday was a trip to Netley Abbey with a friend and her 3 children. We have been going there together during the hols for a few years now and the children always play together so well and enjoy each other's company, it's a delight to see.

Yesterday G was off and he took them all off to the cinema to see the new Spy Kids movie. This one they all thoroughly enjoyed which is more than I can say for The Incredibles which we all watched last night, it didn't really keep anyone's attention throughout, I don't think that's going to become a family favourite.

One more week to go and then it's back to school, what will this week bring?

Another Furniture Ta-Dah

2011-08-19T14:56:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks back I shared the photos of our newly painted and dressed up dresser. I'm now sharing photos of another new piece of furniture to our dining room.
A wardrobe.

Yes a wardrobe, in our dining room.
Except I'm using it as a larder type arrangement.
Our kitchen is tiny and we only have a few wall units and even fewer base units.
So to increase our storage space which will also hopefully mean less shopping trips we hit upon this as a solution.

I found the wardrobe locally in a secondhamd furniture warehouse which was closing down. The measurements are perfect for it fitting snuggly into our second alcove and it was reduced to £65.00 which seemed like a reasonable enough price to me.

So here it is au natruel with it's mirror

and this is how it looks painted in a shade called Ruby Fountain along with a gingham covered corkboard.
I know some may well prefer it in it's original plain pine state, but I love the way it's turned out just as much as I love the dresser makeover.

G shelved out the interior (although he left the old hanging rail in place) and I covered the shelves in our old oilcloth polka dot tablecloth so they will be easier to keep clean with a wipe over every now and then.

Did I mention that I just love it?!!!!

Cake Stand

2011-08-15T15:19:00.003+01:00

Amongst the fabulous present I received for my birthday last month were 3 cake stands.
One from G, one from my friend T and another from my friend G.

The other two I haven't photographed as yet, but this is the one I wanted to share as I thought some who call by here would find it inspiring. I actually meant to blog about it much sooner, but heigh ho that's the summer hols for you, I'm even more disorgainsed than ever!

So anyway here's the cake stand.

My friend G said she saw a photo of one somewhere, decided she wanted to have a go and thought it would make a good gift.
Two ordinary plates, one dinner size, one dessert sized with a glass vase glued between them for the stand.
Simple.
What was that noise? Is it the sound of Diane's glue gun being plugged in?

Blog Anniversary

2011-08-12T17:25:00.005+01:00

Let's pick up the summer hols at last Saturday.
One of the projects being undertaken in the dining room needed some cork tiles to help it come to completion. We decided to pop over to the other side of town where there are a few shops likely to stock such an item and combine it with a visit to a newly opened and quite fantastically redeveloped play park.
No cork tiles were purchased and within about 10 minutes S was in tears because things at the playground weren't going her way and was having a bit of a hissy fit. This isn't normally in her nature and so we concluded she was probably over tired and we cut the trip sort.

Sunday morning we were all up bright and early and headed of to the car boot.
Here I bought the cork tiles we needed (and a few more besides) and all for a £1.00. Cue happy face.
From the same lady I bought these ice skates.

I have seen lovely photos of skates used at Christmas time in door and window displays and seeing as she just wanted a £1.00 for them I snaffled those too.

I haven't spent much time on the computer this week and because of that I missed the 3 year anniversary of me starting this blog. The first photo I blogged was on 11th August and it was taken in this exact same spot at a local country park.

I had a bit of an emotional day Monday.

I was kind of expecting it to happen at some point, but it just leapt upon me on Monday. Whether it was going to the country park that topped it off but it's at this time 3 years ago we found out just how poor dad's health was and within a few short weeks we lost him.

Tuesday brought another emotional meltdown.

This time it wasn't from me.

It involved and Ipod and to be honest it's better best forgotten.

An afternoon spent down at the water's edge in Hamble with a bucket and crabbing line got us all out of the house.

Not a single crab was caught but the sun was out and ice creams were eaten and our spirits were refreshed.

I thought the parking for bicycles in the car park was very inventive.

What a day we had Wednesday.

Each month I receive an email from the county council informing me of exhibitions and talks, ideas for days out and details of cycle rides and walks to do. It was in the email I found deatils for a nature walk around Bishops Waltham. As it's not somewhere we've been before and is very local it was decided to head there.

We started at Bishop's Waltham Palace. The medieval remains are owned and maintianed by English Heritage and are free to visit. The Bishops and senior clergy of Winchester would stay here as they travlled through the diocese. Famous visitors include Henry V and Richard the Lionheart.

It was enjoyed for it's hide and seek qualities before we found our way to the central car park as this is where the walk starts.

We walked for about 45 minutes before we stopped for our picnic. We had read there were Highland cattle grazing in the fields but hadn't seen any until we went to the very next field. Most of them were sat in the shade offered by the trees at the edge of the field.

Then a little further on we came to the most lovely view. It was such a treat to be able to walk in such living countryside.

This field of wheat was divided in two and through the middle were lots of wild flowers, mostly pretty red poppies. You couldn't help but smile.

The very best view was saved until last.

We sat here for a while just gulping in the fresh air and savouring the summer sun.

That leaves us Thursday and Friday which have mostly been spent indoors.

A little decorating project finished, test match cricket listening andsome reading for us and friends over for both T and S.

This evening the plan (courtesy of T's idea) is to open some popcorn, get snuggly on the sofa and watch a movie. Sounds good to me.

Royal Arcade

2011-08-07T19:25:00.004+01:00

When we were in Norwich last week we wandered through the bea-u-ti-ful Royal Arcade.

Apparently the lanterns which you can see here were only added during the 1980's when the arcade under went restoration.

The colour, pattern and artwork of the tiles is stunning.

They were designed by W J Neatby who also designed tiles for Harrods food hall.

And if they weren't enough just look at this delicious Art Nouveau stained glass window.

The view from inside

and outside

It knocks spots of modern day malls don't you think?

Swanwick Lakes Nature Reserve

2011-08-05T17:22:00.006+01:00

Week 2 of the holiday's started wiith G and S going up to Salisbury for the day to visit his mum and dad whilst T and I stayed at home. T had invited a friend over for the afternoon and lucky old me got to spend nearly 4 hours ironing.

For today's adventure we had to keep things fairly local as G needed to be back mid afternoon to ready himself for a trip to London to see Iron Maiden.

We have only very recently become aware of a nature reserve very near us, it's a 10 minute train journey and then a 20 minute walk away and yes I could have driven there quicker but this way we are out for longer and the exercise is good for us.

It's a really beautiful place. There were slippery banks to jump to and fro from

ready made dens to explore

art work in the wildlife centre

and outside on the trees

lots and lots of ducks

stunning views around 4 different lakes

lots of plants and fungi

strange woodland creatures who quickly turned from this

to this!

We had a lovely few hours exploring and look forward to our next trip there.

An added bonus was finding a playground on the way back to the station to while away the extra time we had before our train was due. Much more fun than standing around on a deserted platform for half an hour.

1st Week

2011-08-03T20:32:00.006+01:00

Well if the rest of the school holiday is as good as this first week we'll all be happy and exhausted by the end of it!

The first day off last Thursday was gloriously hot and sunny and most of it was spent in the garden. A friend of G's gave T this water blaster but unfortunately it was broken. G spent some time trying to fix it and once he thought it was all sorted, well there was really only one outcome wasn't there. Although the water fight was initially just between the 3 of them T couldn't resist the temptation and I ended up completely soaked as well, hardly fair as I had nothing to defend myself with! Never mind it gave us all a good laugh.

T and S also had loads of fun in the paddling pool and had G and I crying with laughter at their antics.

And in case you were wondering, the washing did get wet again!

The forecast for Friday was warm but with plenty of cloud cover so we decided a walk was in order. You can imagine the moans and groans and here is a lovely photo of 2 children about a mile into the walk complaining of thirst and heat exhaustion. Aren't we just completely wicked parents for taking them out into the countryside?!

Our chosen destination was Brockenhurst in the New Forest. I had kept details of a 5 and a half mile circular walk, which began and ended at the train station, which had been published in the local paper a few years ago and with views like this

and this

and this
the children soon forgot to moan and just ran around and played and enjoyed themselves.

We had our lunch sat by this massive tree.

G is 6ft 5 so that gives you an idea of how massive it is!

And of course fallen trees have to be explored and walked along. This was just one of several we found, the favourites were the ones that had fallen from one bank to another across the streams.

Saturday was a quieter day spent tidying thehouse in readiness for our housesitter and packing for a couple of days away.

We did pop out for an hour in the later afternoon though.

Just over the bridge from where we live there was an event being held to celebrate the start of the round the world Clipper race and part of this was live music over 3 evenings.

We chose to go and see a Madness tribute band who very quickly had the crowd dancing and enjoying themselves.

Sunday and Monday were spent in Norwich as we had arranged to meet up with T's birth siblings.

He spent time with S

we spent a lovely evening with R

and had a short meet up with his other sister R.

We had very little time for sight seeing, just the odd hour snatched here and there. We did a tiny bit of shopping and S decided white shades should be part of her new look!

We found the most beautiful shopping arcade ever, this deserves a whole post on it's own which I'll do another day.

The other thing which cuahgt my eye were these glass globules on the fence around a churchyard. They were in different colours and must look fabulous if there is lighing around them at night.

If you don't like snakes then skip this next photo.

T's sister S has a partner who likes snakes and he got their pet snake out to meet us. It took a liking to G and G took a liking to it. He sat with it crawling over him for ages, he said it was very relaxing!

Yesterday was spent travelling home again, so no time for anything else.

Today though with the sun out once again G loaded up the car with the bikes and we went up to the Common. Lots of cycling through parts we don't normally visit and then on to the paddling pool which was heaving with people. After half an hour or so I went to buy ice creams and bumped into a friend I hadn't seen for a while so whilst we sat chatting and arranged another meet up the children played and had fun in the sun, just what the holidays should all be about.

Thrifty Thursday

2011-07-28T20:26:00.004+01:00

This weeks thrifty buys aren't ones I have bought, but are ones given to me for my birthday.

If you've been reading for a while (well done for bearing with all this nonsense!) you will know that my sister and I only buy each other's birthday gifts from jumbles, car boots and charity shops. More recently my mum has got in on the act too.
This little selection of goodies came from her. The yellow bag, necklaces and vintage brooch are all pre loved items. The badges I fell in love with when I spotted them in a shop whilst we were on our day out in Swanage last month and so were added to my present haul.

The next two photos are the items my sister bought with our £10 budget. There was a pink smock top which wasn't flattering and 2 pairs of trousers neither of which fitted so she took them back to resale when she does her next car boot. One pair were M&S Autograph trousers with the tags still on them!
So here we have 2 cardis, 5 tops, a skirt and 3 pairs of trousers

set of Eco hangers (they are made from recycled cardboard), a Denby mug, a purse, a notebook, a fleecy nightshirt, a linen jacket and 2 glass dishes decorated with sweets. There was also a bangle which I was wearing and forgot to take off to photograph.

Didn't I do well?!!!!

School's Out

2011-07-27T16:35:00.003+01:00

Today was the last day of term for my two.
The school hols have now begun.
'Show me how you feel about having 6 weeks off' I asked them and this was the reaction I got from each of them.

It's not just a case of coming to the end of a school year for T.

It's the end of junior school.

In September he's off to senior school.

I can so very clearly remember when he left infant school. It's like it was only last year that happened and yet so much has gone on in our lives since then.

In the middle of year 3 we became a family of 4 and at the very start of year 4 we lost my dad.
Then there was a spate of bullying which T didn't speak to us about for a while and when it was made known to the school the teacher was extremely ineffective in dealing with it. We had higher hopes for year 5 but it soon became apparent that things weren't much better and when the teacher went off on long term sick the class had a variety of teachers which was quite disconcerting. T also began to receive extra help and support to help him socially and emotionally.

T was thrilled when he found out Miss S was going to be his teacher in Year 6. She had been a support to him in year 4 and was involved in getting the extra support he needed in year 5.

When I went into the school to talk to her at the start of the year 6 she told me that she had given up certain other aspects of her learning support role at the school to concentrate wholly on her class as she felt they lacked cohesiveness after the choppy year they had just had.

Since being with Miss S T's confidence has grown in leaps and bounds. His junior school experience has been made so much more positive because she took the time to understand T and 'got him'.

On Monday the whole year took part in a performance of The Lion King. T was on stage dancing with his class but he was also in charge of making sure the right song was played at the right time. There had been an issue with the music during the rehearsals and T had taken it upon himself to sort it out at home. After the performance on Monday evening (which G was at) the head teacher made a special mention of T and asked that 'everyone give a cheer for T as without his computer know how there may not have been a show.' Children and parents in the hall cheered and gave T a round of applause. It was such a thoughtful thing for Mr W to do. After the turbulent time T has had at junior school it was a wonderful gesture which will give him an enduringly special memory and will (hopefully) help to create a much more positive attitude when he recalls the years he was there.

History Lessons

2011-07-24T18:08:00.006+01:00

We've had a really good weekend. The only downside is that G hasn't been here to enjoy it with us. He's been in London at the High Voltage rock festival with his brother indulging in copious amounts of cider and loud music.

As you may well remember I'm never one to pass up on a free walking trail and yesterday as part of the city's Hidden Treasure's weekend they were offering a Treasure Trail for children. This turned out to basically be a walk around some of the Walls, which we did just a short time ago with Diane and Clare on our bloggy meet-up,

but on return and full completion of the trail the children were given a bag of goodies. S was very taken with the bright orange water bottle.

Here she is hard at work writing down one of the answers. We had to count the number of steps on one particular section and I let them do it a few times before letting them in on the fact that it was written on the information board at the bottom. But it was good exercise anyway!

I told them I was going to caption this photo as 'T and S on the loo', much to their disgust. This part of the old walls was actually the toilet which was 'flushed' when the tide came in.

This walkway has seen a lot of activity through the centuries. Here's G's mum walking through it into the town, but marching the other way Henry V led his troops to do battle in Agincourt and it was also from this spot that the Pilgrim father's left on the Mayflower.

Down near the docks we were able to walk along the top of the walls where soldiers would have once kept watch and had a good view of one of the very much larger (and friendlier) sea going vessels which visit our city these days.

Once the prizes were claimed we headed to Hoglands park for a well earned picnic and a sit down before escorting Grandma back to her bus stop for the journey home to Salisbury.

And so to today.

Another day, another city centre park.

This time our choice of place to picnic was Queen's Park. The reason being the city was holding an information gathering event with added entertainment in the form of 'Horrid History' being played out.

The park actually belongs to Queen's College and is leased to the council who maintain it. They are looking to redevlop the site and make it more user friendly and wanted input from the public as to what we would like to see there.

It was such a shame this string quartet were sat a little way away from where the main action was taking place, they played beautifully but couldn't really be fully enjoyed.

Whilst we were sat eating the chap seen here on the left with the bucket came over and introduced himself to us. He told us he was our local nightsoil man. S didn't have a clue what he meant until he clarified his employment as the man who takes away 'your poo, your chocolate logs, your excrement, whatever you might like to call it!' Cue loud 'yuck' noises from us all! He told us that the food we were eating looked like it was good quality and that 'the people who lives round here eat good quality too you know.' He then put his finger in the bucket and pulled out something very brown and lumpy looking which he proceeded to sniff and then lick off! Cue even louder yuck noises and lots of giggles.

We were then visited by this dashing man in green who told us that a show was about to start so

we trundled over and watched these 4 girls perform a skit to music which was really funny. The tallest one appeared to be a very stern cook and the others her kitchenmaids. There was lots of flour throwing and one of them ended up face down in a plate of whipped cream.

It was then over to a Victorain melodrama where extra cast members were plucked from the audience and T was chosen to play the part of the wicked Squire. We had to boo and hiss him each time he did something nasty. Although he wasn't overjoyed at being chosen he did all that was asked of him and really entered into the spirit of it.

Next was a WW2 playlet, but I couldn't see this as S needed a wee and by the time we returned it was just coming to an end.

The final performance was set in Tudor times with a fabulous looking Henry V111.

Before he came out to dine with us at the banquet his Queen chose children from the audience to act as dancers, musicians and artists. S was chosen, but wasn't at all keen, she tried to hide behind me.

T was also chosen again, along with me, to be presented to the King as Lord and Lady something-or-another. Can't remember the name as we were laughing too much and making sure we performed our bow and curtesy correctly so as not to get displease His Royal Highness!

Birthday girl

2011-07-22T13:24:00.003+01:00

It was my birthday yesterday (patch courtesy of my sister) and what a lovely day it was too.
Breakfast in bed followed by cards and pressies from my family and friends. A trip to Gunwharf Quay for a spot of mooching in the CK outlet shop and lunch with G. Home again for cake, visits from friends bearing gifts and then finally more cake when my mum and sister popped round with yet more gifts. I shall photograph other gifts to share another day but I wanted to show what G had bought for me.

Last month whilst visiting a local museum I was looking through a bunch of old Ladybird books and saying how much I loved the illustrations, especially in the Going to School one which I used on my last blog post.
Well G bought a copy, which was in a very state of disrepair as it's spine was broken and the pages were falling out, for 1p on Amazon. He then searched the shops high and low for suitable frames and this is what he made.

To say I was thrilled would be an understatement!

He wasn't sure which pictures I would prefer to use so nothing has been permanently put in place and we may have pictures in all of the aperatures rather than some with text, we need to have a play around with them to decide.

G said he was so relieved I liked them as he wasn't completely sure on the idea.

But I do love them ever so much (as I love him too) and they are going to look fabulous in our newly decorated dining room.

School Uniform

2011-07-20T09:43:00.004+01:00

During June as July as the summer term winds to a close some of the shops start to put up advertising for 'Back to School' items such as pencils cases, lunch boxes and uniform. I remember this happening when I was at school and getting very indignant because the school summer break hadn't even started and already we were being encouraged to think about September!

Each year I have taken the children out during the 6 weeks to kit them out with new clothes. The school colour for jumpers and cardigians for their junior and infant school is burgundy. It's the most difficult colour to buy for. Lots of choice in red, green and blue, but burgundy is hard to come by.

So whilst I was scouring the shops in early June for a suitable waterproof jacket for T to take on his school trip I found myself, in desperation, in Tesco and lo and behold there with the school uniform were acres of burgundy tops.

I am now feeling just the tiniest pleased with myself to have got most of S's uniform sorted for her IN ADVANCE of the summer break.

I just love a pretty pinafore and I got these for £1.00 each in a CS. They are originally from BHS and look like they have hardly been worn.

Now I only have the polo tops and the new shoes to buy.

And of course the PE kit, to avoid a pants and vest scene like this for S!

Dream Come True

2011-07-13T16:16:00.006+01:00

Last year when we bought our little green sofa for the dining room, from a second hand furniture shop, we also bought a small pine dresser. I have lusted after a dresser for many years. It seemed too good to be true when we found this slimline one as it has the perfect dimensions for slotting nicely into one of the alcoves. It has been awaiting it's transformation for nearly a year now and although I still have the feet to complete, its so near completion, but I just I can't not blog about it, I'm so completely thrilled with the end result.

I thought I had a photo of it pre-op as it were but can only find this side shot. It was quite a shiny pine and it had glass doors.

This is how it looks now!!!!
It's blue and the doors have gone to be replaced with open shelving, courtesy of my very clever and wonderful husband who very patiently made my dresser dream come true.

I had so much fun unpacking my china and tins, placing them here and there and try to decide where each piece should live.

Here are the top 3 shelves

and then the bottom one.

This is a closer look at the top two.
My Haddon Hall coffee pot, Poole pottery jug and cherished Emma Bridgewater

and here's the next two shelves again.

My dad gave me the pink flower bread and butter plate with matching tea plates so they are extra special.

I think I'm going to need to put a few cup hooks up along the edges of the shelves so I can hang up the cups and jugs, I'm running out of room already!

Triumph

2011-07-11T06:48:00.002+01:00

For her birthday last year we gave S a bicycle.
She was initially very excited and enjoyed whizzing around on it and then over time it developed a problem with the stabilisers which led to a balance issue and the inevitable falling off.
So S has been bike less for a while. We had been keeping our eyes peeled for a replacement and last weekend G spotted one for sale at a local animal charity's fundraising day.
As you can see S is very pleased. with it.

Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me whilst we were out last weekend so I couldn't record her first ride without stabilisers. On the way back to the car G asked her if she wanted to give it a try, she got on and was away. Simple as that. We were amazed!

Yesterday, after buying a bike rack from a work colleague of G's, we loaded up it up and went off to the park.

And here is S whizzing around loving her new bike. You can't really see the cheeky little grin she has on her face, but she was looking very pleased with herself! It was lovely to watch.

And here are my 2 men in green looking very sporty on their bikes too.

What a Shot!

2011-07-10T10:46:00.003+01:00

Here is G enjoying the fun on offer at a local church summer fete yesterday afternoon.

And the person who threw the sponge which was just about to land (not for the first time) smack on target ?
Why it was T of course!

Why if it's 7th July

2011-07-07T13:00:00.003+01:00

did I need to wear my, £1.00 from charity shop, ankle length red wellies when I took S to school this morning

and not my pretty pink, £1.50 from charity shop, Dr Scholl's summer sandals?

New diary

2011-07-06T16:02:00.004+01:00

Last week I went to one of my favourite shops to buy one of my favourite things.
I went to Paperchase and bought my new diary.
Up until a couple of years ago I had the regular January to December type and it was always a pain having to transfer all the school term dates and other school related info from the old to the new. Then I realised how much simpler things would be if I bought an academic diary which would run from July to July.

As I paid for my diary I confided to the shop assistant just how excited I was.
So many empty pages waiting to be filled.
So many possibilites.
I feel the same way when I buy a new notebook too.
I bet I'm not alone.

How long is

2011-07-04T13:05:00.002+01:00

a piece of

My latest love.
Who knew a 50p round orange plastic box could make you smile so much.

Thursday Trip

2011-07-02T07:06:00.009+01:00

G and I were planning a day out for the two of us on Thursday but with the school closure our plans changed and instead we had a family trip to

We wanted a trip to the seaside but also wanted not to have to travel too far so after some leaflet consulation and googling we decided on getting the train to New Milton and then walk down to Barton on Sea.

And this was the scene which greeted us on our arrival.
Just lovely.

A great clear view over to the Isle of Wight too.

The beach huts here aren't painted in the prettiest colours but I wouldn't say no to owning one.

We liked this jolly little sailing boat.

It was fairly breezey and this chap certainly made the most of that. He was up in the air for quite a while.

It was lunch time when we arrived so we sat on the grassy bank to eat our sandwiches and as our food disappeared so did the sun, until we had a canopy of black cloud over our heads.

G decided he woild try and make them disappear by dropping S into the pit of despair (just a small gap between 2 huge rocks, the other one is right in front of him, honest!) as an act of sacrifice to the weather gods. She wasn't too keen!

The children were desperate to get into the water but as it just got a bit too cold we kept busy playing different games of catch, until the clouds did disappear and they were warm enough to venture in.

They weren't the only ones to enjoy the water, this dog was having great fun running in to retrieve it's toy until it got lost. T very kindly gave his ball to the dog's owner so they could carry on playing. An extremely thoughtful gesture we thought.

There are plenty of other places (and beaches) to visit along this coast line and we hope to visit more of them during the school holiday.

This was a great start though, especially as it was finished off with an ice cream and then a quick trip round the charity shops before heading home again.

June Scavenger Hunt

2011-07-01T07:05:00.011+01:00

My offerings for June, a day late because we took advantage of the school closure yesterday and we went out for the day. More of that later.

Childhood memory- when I saw this purse in the 10p toy box in our charity shop recently I had to buy it. These little beaded purses take me right back to holidays when I was a child. It's just the kind of thing I would buy with my spending money.

An elephant- one of my many shopping bags.

Tree branches- the rowan tree in our garden laden with berries.

Night- another recent find in the charity shop. Beautiful illustrations.

View outside your door- thank you for the ladder love. This is the view outside our back door.

Cutlery- coffee spoons with coloured handles. I love these to bits.

Cheese- all together now, ba ba ba, ba babybel!

The name of your town- one of the many paving stones in the city's QE2 mile which leads through town down to the waterside.

Architectural feature- I used to see this most days when I collected T from his infant school and never tired of looking at it.

Wheel trim- I was going to use one of ours until I spotted this yesterday just leaning against a hedge!

Something beginning with Z- half a zebra's face in an advertisement at the railway station.

Farmyard animal- 3 for the price of 1 on this banner advertising a local market.

Thank you Kathy for the new list. It's looking very festive and full of summer colours.

Lemon Confection

2011-06-28T12:26:00.002+01:00

There was no way I could leave this night time twinset on the £1.00 rail in the charity shop.

It's in absolutely pristine condition.
I don't think it could ever have been worn.
The label shows it came from Freemans.
It reminds me of something some pretty blonde actress would have worn in a 70's sitcom when opening the door to the milkman, G says it reminds him of something one of the leggy ladies from a Benny Hill 'chase' sketch would have been wearing.
Either way it a frothy creation of man made material I couldn't resist buying.
And before you start wondering (if you haven't already) I won't be wearing it, it's in S's dressing up box. Perfect princess clothing.

Swanage

2011-06-26T19:55:00.008+01:00

One of the ladies I work with in the charity shop is very active in her church organising social activites and days out. When she mentioned that one of the coach trips was to Swanage I asked if I could book some seats. I've never visited this seaside town before and as it's not linked up to National Rail it's not somewhere we are likely to get to on a day out.
So bright and early Saturday morning me, my mum, T and S set off with 40 odd other people to spend a day at the seaside.

Our drop off point was just opposite the Swanage Steam Railway. If we were going to be in this part of Dorset for a short break we would definitely have been having been taking a ride on this.

Our first stop was to get a cuppa and we found a little place called Country Foods Kitchen (blogger won't let me do a link). Would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting. Our toasted teacakes just hit the spot and mum said her coffee was delicious. And the staff were really helpful and friendly too.

After being refuelled we were on a mission to buy a bucket and spade and a ball to take to the beach. These we found quite quickly in between stopping to watch the 11th Signals Regiment exercise their freedom of Swanage by marching through the town centre.

We gasped in awe at seeing a real live dalek through a shop window and dashed in to have a closer look. The very kind gentleman inside was more than happy for us to take photos. This made T's day!

Whilst my mum went into another shop I crossed the road to snap this balcony above a deli. Love the faces on the terracotta pots. It all looks so colourful.

Of course being Sawnage the pub in the town centre had to be The White Swan.

My sister had visited Swanage a few months ago and told us about a shop we just had to go into called. Curiosity. Well I could have spent all day in there. So much to look at, it was a bit over whelming! Candles, hearts, jewellery, badges, purses, crockery, photo frames, trinkets, glass ware, the list goes on and on. And the biggest selection of door knobs I've ever seen, these are only part of it.

The children were so good waiting for us to make our selection from the goodies on display we headed straight to the beach to find the right spot to enjoy our lunch.

As you can tell from the photos it wasn't the sunniest of days but this didn't put us off.

The children went in the water, played catch and made sandcastles.

And enjoyed an ice cream, as modelled by a very sandy Miss S here.

Here's mum trying out one of the deckchairs just before we started to pack up and head back to the coach.

Instead of going back the way we had come we decided to go in the opposite direction as I was sure it would lead us back up the hill to our pick up point.

As we strolled along we spotted so many places we hadn't had the time to investigate.

Giant bears.

Beautiful buildings.

More seaside shops.

Shops selling wicker baskets, always a favourite!

Shops selling lovely items for the home and garden.

The pretty floral entrance to the Salvation Army hall.

As we got to the top of this hill it became apparent that my theory was wrong, but luckily there was a couple out walking their dog who told us if we took the short cut we had just walked past we would be right back on track. Thankfully we made it back to the coach on time and we weren't the last ones!

Ladder Love

2011-06-24T08:25:00.004+01:00

You may remember last year I acquired a ladder, through Freecycle, to use as a means of plant display. These aren't the only ladders we have in the garden though. A very many years ago we rescued another set which were being thrown away by a neighbour and G fixed them to the wall between us and our neighbour.
And there they sat, only being used sporadically when I could be bothered to use pot uo some plants.
That is until this Spring when we were treated to all that sunny sunshine and then further inspiration struck when I found a couple of little red seaside buckets at a car boot for 10p each.
I gave the wall a lick of white paint to smarten it up, T and S helped me paint the ladders blue and with a few busy lizzies I'm really pleased with the finished result.

The other ladder is still empty as I'm still on the lookout for more suitable red containers to use combined with little terracotta pots.

Thrifty Thursday

2011-06-23T12:04:00.003+01:00

Another cardigan for me. Not sure how many I have now, must do a count sometime.
Couldn't resist this one though with it's stripes and scrummy buttons and a snip at £1.75.

A book for S. All the children's books are priced at 30p in our charity shop and with such a beautifully illustrated cover I had to buy this for S. I've never read Anne of Green Gables and as this is the prequel hopefully we can discover this story together.

Another book, this time for me. I find anything about stately homes and their occupants interesting and this has the added bonus of being a signed copy so I happily paid the £1.00 asking price.

I'm trying to take books back to the charity shop after they've been read, but I think this one will be a keeper.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T16:11:00.004+01:00

One minute it's all smiley faces and jelly bean sharing,

the next it's shouting and play fighting.

Thankfully still with smiles.
Happy family life.

Happy Father's day.

Countryware

2011-06-18T16:55:00.002+01:00

I have always had a passion for collecting china and crockery and many years ago when I worked for Wedgwood I was able to indulge this by buying some really lovely pieces.
My biggest investment was 4 place settings, plus other oddments, in the cabbage leaf design named Countryware.
Unfortunately I have never really made use of it and have probably only used it all half a dozen times. It's been sat in the china cupboard for so many years and now with all the decorating and furniture changes being made in the dining room the time had come to make a decision.
Should I start to use it or sell it on.
After much debate I'm (hopefully) going to sell it.

It's so lovely it really should belong to someone who will use it, after all that's what it was made for.

Thrifty Thursday

2011-06-16T20:09:00.004+01:00

Basket bought at church fete 50p.
'Like you really need another one' was G's comment.
But I haven't got one like this.

Scarf bought at the charity shop yesterday which is originally from H&M, £1.50.

A t-shirt I bought for T. So worth the £2.00 for seeing the smile on his face grow wider and wider as he read through it!

Making me Smile

2011-06-13T21:30:00.004+01:00

S and her travelling companion.

The stunning stained glass window in the church we went to on Saturday as they were holding their summer fete.

A poppy growing by the side of a busy main road into town.

A free muffin!

Mum bought this cross stitch kit over a year ago. I started it almost immediately and then stopped. An hours work on Saturday evening and it was complete. Why did I leave it so long?

A freshly used paint tray.

Yep the painting has started.

I began at 9.30 and painted until 2.30. My shoulders ache but it's work the effort so far.

Hope there's lots making you smile today too.

My Week

2011-06-11T09:18:00.004+01:00

I hadn't intended to post Monday and then be quiet for the rest of the week, but we all know how things don't always pan out the way we would like.

G didn't go to work Monday as his back was really bad again which is obviously extremely painful for him but also meant he wasn't able to make a start on any decorating! I am sympathetic really.

I came home from work on Tuesday with such an awful headache I was up laying on the bed by 7p.m, had been sick by 8p.m and then fallen asleep fully clothed by 9p.m. Not a great way to end the day.

Wednesday morning I went off to the charity shop for my weekly volunteering session and then afterwards I went and collected this.

The walls still haven't had their prep coat so aren't ready for the final colour but at least it's in the house waiting more patiently than I am.

I had to swap my second working day from Friday to Thursday as yesterday T was off to the Isle of Wight school for an actvity weekend with the school and I needed to drop him at the ferry point early afternoon.
The terminal was heaving with people off to the music festival this weekend. It was so amusing watching them all. Some went with hardly anything more than a rucksack, others looked like they were going camping for a week. Lots were wearing wellies.
T's headteacher was there to wave the children off. He said he had just rung one of the teachers to make sure all was o.k prior to them sailing to be told that Kate Moss was on board and she was very friendly. Bet that caused a bit of a stir!

So what with swapping work days, G not 100% and me feeling icky the dining room is still lacking any new paint and I am getting a tad fed up with it.

One of the highlights of my week was when I got to the charity shop and I found this.

I have wanted one of these for the longest time. The stairs are constantly strewn with all sorts of flotsam and jetsam and this will help to keep it all a bit tidier. Until it overflows of course.

Another highlight was receiving so many replies to my 'Postcard' post, I enjoyed reading which one you all chose!

New people have popped by and left comments and decided to be follwers which is just brilliant as it's lovely meeting new bloggers.

So thank you to you all and have a great weekend whatever you may be doing.

A Postcard From Bournemouth

2011-06-06T19:52:00.002+01:00

Make mine a Fab please.
Which would you choose?

The Laughing Policeman

2011-06-05T20:17:00.003+01:00

and his ridiculous looking mum!

Me and T having a good giggle when we were trying on assorted police hats at the annual family day. A jolly good time was had by all.

The dinkiest police van I ever did see. Great colour choice too.

A Different Day Out

2011-06-03T16:49:00.008+01:00

The plan hatched on Wednesday evening between me and G was that we would have a family day out on Thursday and we chose Poole as our destination.
Research was done on the internet regarding things to see and do once there and we decided that once we had arrived by train in Bournemouth we would then get the open top tour bus down to Poole. A perfect way to travel on such a sunny day.
Only we didn't manage to get on the bus. It drove past us. Us and the other 2 groups of people waiting at the bus stop. You can either get the bus from it's starting point at the pier or the next point on which is the town centre. We went to the town centre as it was a bit closer to walk to from the station. It was due to arrive at 11.00am. It came into view at 11.15 and just as swiftly disappeared!
We stood there agog for a second or two and then G gave the company a call. Apparently we were supposed to hail the bus as there are over 100 stops on this route. Reading the website the night before it never mentioned this and it also states there are 22 stops. Given that we were at a designated bus stop on what we were led to believe was a limited stop service we thought the bus would slow down in it's approach to see if there was anyone waiting at the very least!
The service runs hourly and the last bus back is 5pm so we didn't want to wait around for an hour and have an less in Poole, so Plan B was put into action. Luckily I had bought the children's swimmers and a towel with me so we hit the beach.

G didn't have his so he after a quick paddle he nipped up into town and bought a pair of swim shorts so he could go in an enjoy himself with T and S.

Thankfully we had a really lovely day in the end as you can see by a very smiley Miss S.

The children played in the sea for hours, we ate fish and chips and just enjoyed being on a family day out.

I am normally a bit of a wuss when it comes to fairground rides but I actually fancied this one, maybe next time!

Just had to snap this very stylish lady I noticed on our way back to the station.

What a fabulous dress!

As a footnote to the above, we spoke with the other people at the stop and they weren't aware of the 'we only stop to a hailing request' policy either.

Today I sent a very polite email of complaint to the company and they have replied with an equally polite email and said they will send us a complimetary family ticket to use so we shall get our trip one day, I hope!

If it's half term

2011-06-01T15:53:00.010+01:00

then it must be time for a picnic in our local park.

Entertainment was provided with tennis ball and rackets and S's new hula hoop.
S is very adept at hula hooping the hula hoop on different parts of her body.
Strange expression optional!

T prefers jumping over the hula hoop as it rolls back to him, which he did 9 times out of 10.

The flowers, shrubs and trees at this park always look so well tended as demonstrated by this border running the length of the old wall.

A team of council gardeners were hard at work whilst we were there planting up more beds. Hard at work in between the 2 rain showers and one hail shower we had in the 3 hours we were there.

The work the staff do is not only appreciated by us but also the bees who were everywhere being busy.

May Scavenger Hunt

2011-05-31T16:36:00.006+01:00

We've not been out and about so much this month because of the work being done inside and outside the house plus bad backs for both me and G so photo opportunites have been a bit limited and I actually only finished the last couple of items this morning!

So here we go...
A butterfly- taken on a family walk back at the beginning of the month.

A bicycle- snapped in HomeBase whilst looking for paint tester pots.

An emergency vehicle- a fire engine from the children's carousel in town.

A red door- Salisbury train station.

Texture- tree trunk on a different family walk this month.

Something blue- a rubbish bin in a children's playground.

A black and white portrait- this piece of graffiti has been added to the wall just outside the church where I go and see my dad each week. I think it's Andy Warhol?

Sign of the zodiac- Leo the Lion!

A cartoon character- T modelling his Family Guy t-shirt.

A street light- snapped from inside the train when we stopped at Dean train station yesterday. It's actually in someone's garden, but it's the closest thing I could find.

An interesting local building- just down the road and round the corner this old Public Bath buliding is looking a lot less attractive than it must have once looked what with all the metal grills over it and the big advice centre notice. But at least it's being used.

Think vintage- a favourite brooch.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else have come up with this month too.