Road trip

My lovely friend and I have been on a couple of road trips lately and it's been fun, just me and her, no boys around, we chat endlessly, laugh heartily and make each other smile. She drives, I don't so it's a real treat going out to the countryside for me. We found this great garden centre with prices so low we couldn't believe it. We got loads of plants and strawberries for our gardens,

 It was huge inside, these pics show just a tiny part of it, what a lovely place to see all variety's of plants. We each spent around £20 and my friend had to put her back seats down, the boot was full we got that much. The car looked and smelled lovely, all flowery.

I saw these and had to take a photo, they remind of old time America, not that Ive ever been!!

 We went to a craft barn and I managed to sneak a piccy of this little fellow, how cute is he, they had some lovely things but not in my budget. It was nice to look around though and get some inspiration.

A few Saturdays ago whilst the boys and men watched football, I went to the kitchen and started baking ( after staying up till 3am watching " the next great baker" ) I love that show, I started off by making some lemon cup cakes and some welsh cakes, they are yummy. I then thought what the heck and carried on making popcorn, little wraps and lots of store cupboard things like crisps, party rings etc. I got out all my teapots and cups and saucers and set the table, we each had our own teapot as we each drink different things. There was loads more on the table by the time I had finished, these are early photo's.

The game was over and I called them in, they had no clue to what I had been doing and was very surprised and really pleased especially Chris who recently said how he misses parties. We find it difficult eating at parties etc because we are dairy free, don't have any chemicals, pesticides, preservatives, additives etc. So it get a bit blah always taking a packed lunch to parties!. We had a great time and the boys kept asking why are we celebrating!! I said lets just celebrate having each other, guess what?, they answered with a loud groan :)

busy as a bee

So long between posts again - naughty blogger!!, I have just been so busy creating, baking, gardening, having days out with a lovely friend, having fun and sleeping!, I seem so exhausted of late, think it has something to do with the glorious weather which makes me get up early and want to fill my day, so by tea time I'm ready for my pj's and cosying on the sofa. I have been sewing presents for friends including this cushion

 I loved it so much I didn't want to give it away, I want to make more like this but in different materials so I'm not a copy cat!! I have also made and sold 5 Russian doll cushions which was fantastic, it gave me some extra money to spend on the garden. I made this very lovely even if I do say so myself, rabbit, he has  lavender and pearl barley base to sooth little ones to sleep. It was a commission for my friends nephew. I am in the middle of making a pink one for my dresser!, if you know anyone who would like a flopsy rabbit for a loved one they are £9.50 excluding postage, get in touch.

We have 3 new additions to the family, no I haven't had triplets;), some more chickie's, a lovely lavender and 2 blue araucana chickens. They are so different to our last lot, these seem to grow so quickly and eat so much. We do think 1 could be a rooster though so we are hoping we are wrong as we can not have a rooster in our garden, the neighbours hate us enough already!!

We have been so busy sorting out the garden, my handsome fellow has made some raised beds (how much compost does it take to fill them-phew!!) I have been sowing seeds and spending all spare time in the garden faffing and hoping for sun, which has blessed us this week with it's presence.

 Doesn't look much now but it will soon fill up hopefully. Under the duvet which is keeping the compost warm for planting we found a big fat frog, she stayed there for 3 days and then laid her tadpoles, I moved them into the pond and fretted if I had done the right thing in interfering, but I saw her yesterday swimming about and the tadpoles looked fine too.

 growing strawberries, lots of the all around the garden and rhubarb under some salvaged windows...

mint and nasturtium's around the pond, I have willow growing all along the fence too so hopefully by summer I won't be able to see the neighbours!! I have chillies and tomatoes in the greenhouse, peas, lettuce, spring onion, lots of different herbs, potatoes, sweetcorn, runner beans, french beans and carrots growing inside on my windowsills and table. I just love the feel of soil on my hands and watching new seeds sprouting through the soil, it's like a little miracle. I have 3 craft fairs coming up over the month so I need to get sewing, but I'm so easily distracted when the sun is out, I want everyday to be an adventure :)

Fun in the sun

The sun came out today after days of rain and gloom so we forgot about schoolwork and took ourselves off to the park, I sat and knitted, I'm in the middle of making some fingerless mittens with some gorgeous wool that is different colours, when finished I will share them if I remember!, I really love fingerless gloves at this time of year especially for gardening and planting seed, it's still a little nippy to go bear but normal gloves are such a faff, plus I love feeling the soil between my fingers it makes me feel like I'm really connecting with the earth. We saw lots of daffodils peeking through and some pied wagtails having a jolly time in the grass. Our park has had a makeover, it is an improvement but, and here is the moaning bit, why do planners etc not think further than the look of something, there are loads of patches of soggy mud where rain collects in puddles, these are dotted through the play area where children are meant to run from one piece of equipment to the other, there is no avoiding them or going around them either, some poor child fell face first into the mud and his mother was having a fit, I did smile to myself because I think by the grin on the boys face he liked being covered in mud, the mum (all in white) was not amused!

You would never know but I'm a size 6 under all my layers ;)

We had a nice time though just being outdoors for a while, we came home and the boys collapsed on the floor in a heap of tiredness, my legs ached like mad too, it showed how much we have been hibernating this winter, we are so unfit!

I want to mention too the appalling tragedy in Japan, I can't even begin to know how those poor souls who have lost everything must feel, we have been reading about the various natural disasters that have been happening, it seems so hard to believe that so many things have and are happening to one country. There have been mentions all over the net about various explanations such as supermoons, the rapture, pole shifts, HAARP etc but whatever your beliefs on the terrible happenings, we can all agree that we should be thinking, praying etc of those poor innocent people who have lost their homes, families, friends,colleagues, animals, lives. It is at times like this I feel so helpless and small in this massive world.

Friends are like flowers....

I have been thinking a lot lately about how friendships are a lot like flowers, some bloom and grow over time, years even, like reliable perennials and others are like garage bought carnations, lovely at the time but don't last very long. I have always thought I am a good friend, I'm always available in a crisis, I think I'm a good listener, I'm funny so Ive been told and do make others laugh, I'm reliable and trustworthy. On the down side I'm late for almost everything and I am opinionated, perhaps I like giving advice about things a little too much, maybe this bugs people but I can't help being passionate about issues that are dear to me. At least I can take a step back and realise where my friendship skills are shaky. What I don't understand is why friends can't be honest with each other, if I talk too much about things instead of laughing at me behind my back, point this out to me, instead of having a good old gossip about the way I live with others, say it to my face, if you can't do that then I think the friendship has wilted and died off just like my snowdrops are doing in the garden right now. I won't feel bitter or bad, I will feel saddened because the friend I thought I had found didn't turn out to be a perennial after all.

On a much lighter note whilst trying to be creative with the small amount of food we had in one morning I made breakfast pizza, the children thought it was a novel idea and my fellow thought I had gone a little crazy, I made a spelt pizza base and added baked beans, a chopped up boiled egg and some very tasty organic bacon from Able and Cole, we have it as a treat about once a fortnight and it is so good, I made another breakfast pizza too, it had mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and beans on it, I and the rest of the family couldn't believe how tasty and filling it was. It's surprising what us mamma's come up with when there is little in the cupboards.

We also went to Showzam, a fab carnival that comes to Blackpool each year, it's so good in the way it takes you back to the circus/travelling shows of years ago when they had things like the flea circus and the amazing half woman. This year the boys loved the fire eaters and a magician who was an amazing juggler. I loved this:

I didn't know what to expect but the compare told us the story of how they had captured the butterfly girl in the Amazon and brought her back, he warned all the males not to catch her eye because she will transfix you with her beauty, when the curtains opened it was a lady who was on a swing with a butterfly pod instead of legs and big wings, they had done the background to look like it carried on forever, it was very clever, the compare was a really good story teller too which made it more real. I just love the artwork on the board.

sneak peeks

I love looking a photos of other peoples homes and know there is a flicker group called corners of my home which I have spent many an hour looking at when I probably should of been doing something else! I thought my post today would be what I would like to see on a blog, so here goes.....

 My bedroom, I made the patchwork bedspread, the cushions, the bunting, headboard, crochet blanket (just seen on bed)

 youngest sons bedroom, we just decorated it recently, it did have a full jungle mural that I painted for him but now he is a bit older and for ease I just painted everything antique cream, this is a tree he brought home from the park 3 years ago, he's got birds, dreamcatchers he's made, beaded strings and his last two cuddly toys in it.

 another bit of youngest son's room, he loves collecting things, especially warhammer

 middle sons bedroom, he loves bionicles and xbox games!

 our tiny kitchen, I'm guessing in the past it was actually a pantry as it's so small, I'm actually stood at the door taking this photo!

 welcome to out hallway, note the cath kidston bags...all freebies with magazines, I would just love a real one ;) .The indian bridal hanging came of ebay, it's so lovely, full of embroidery...

Up our stairs, all paintings done by me at various times, our walls have been painted all sorts of colours over the years but now I'm doing something I thought I would never do and that's paint everywhere antique cream, it looks so much calmer and tidy, but I do love colour so much. I love all sorts of styles too, shabby chic, retro glam, art deco, all eras, in fact I have always thought how cool it would be to own a street of houses and decorate each one, filling it with furniture of each time period and then when the feeling takes you could stay in the 40s house, or live it up in the 70's house etc. Which interiors period do you love?

This site is so worth checking out for this unusual and very awesome house

I like a russian cushion!

A quick catch up, we had a great enrichment day at the zoo with the monkeys but it was freezing cold so we didn't stick around long, in fact the weather has been rather rubbish, mother nature if your listening we would like some sunshine please!.

 I have been planting chilli's, basil, coriander, peppers and lots of flowers including sunflowers and verbena, which I adore for it's vivid purple flowers. I bought 2 small rhubarb plants and hopefully will get out into the garden soon to plant them. We have moved our pond now to make way for Tom's medicine herb garden. It all looked great but the neighbours cats have taken to pooing right next to it, I did ask for some lion poo from the zoo but wasn't allowed!

I have been busy making hings to sell on misi and to sell at a craft fair coming up in march. These Russian style babushka dolls have been in my head for ages and I just cracked on and made them, I also made a bag too with an appliqued one on but haven't got a photo yet. These 2 lovely ladies are on sale in my misi (link on right hand side of this page), now for £12.00 each, do you think this is an OK price?, I'm rubbish at pricing up stuff I make.

 

I'm not liking the new blogger type layout for writing new posts, I can't seem to make it go in the middle-Grrr.

I received a great permaculture book off one of the lovely ladies over at green parent, it's really good and I'm sure it will come in handy as the redesign goes on with our garden, ooh I also found some lovely wooden window frames in a skip just perfect for making my Alys Fowler style greenhouse!

I have just started reading the lovely bones as recommended by another friend, I'm liking it so far but it seems I hardy get the chance to read a full book lately, I'm always spending my spare time in cyber land, maybe if the solar storm hits and we lose our ability to connect with the cable our lives will become less virtual!

happy valentines day

Valentines day:
It's that one day of the year where most single people feel inadequate, sad and lonely and where big companies like hallmark rub their greedy hands together and say thanks to all the folk who think they have to celebrate their relationships on this certain day by buying the best card and the biggest flowers etc. It is commercialism gone crazy and lots of people buy into this fake idea.

Now 4 years ago before I met the love of my life, my true best friend and soul mate I would of been feeling pretty rubbish because I didn't get a card and the radio, TV, shops etc are full of love. I longed for love, I longed to be loved just the way I am, I thought that I'm a pretty decent girl, I'm kind and intelligent, why can't I find a good love?, valentines day just makes these feelings so much worse.

So to all you single people, it's only a day just like other days, you are loved by families and friends, one day you will find the one to make your heart sing, the one who shares your secrets, the one who still smiles at you when you wear spotty pyjama pants under your skirt because it's cold, the one who makes you smile without even knowing it, the one who you would do anything for willingly to make them happy, the one who wraps their arms around you and the rest of the world fades away because nothing else matters and you feel safe.

For all you couples who are in crappy relationships you deserve so much more, you are worth so much more, you will be loved, you will survive if you go your separate ways, life will be better. I had 8 years of abuse and domestic violence from my first ever relationship, we shared 3 lovely children, we had a home, everything we owned we owned it together, it was hard and frightening to leave, to face the unknown, to be a single mum to 3 children aged 5 and under. I did it, yes it was difficult, yes I struggled but do you know that I am a better person and a better mum because of it. It saddens me to think of all of you couples wasting your lives, making each other miserable when there is so much more waiting for you, you can find another person who will treat you the right way.

To all the couples who are so happy with their partners, thank each day for being lucky to have the fates let you find your special partner. I do, my lovely man and I feel truly blessed every day to be together, not just on one day of the year.

It's also not about how expensive gifts are or how big they are, if you love someone tokens of affection should come whenever you feel like showing someone how much you care. A love note costs nothing but means a lot. Warming your other halves clothes up before they get ready for bed, giving each other a massage to ease the days stresses away. Making cakes or just walks holding hands, these little things are the things that people do when in love, so sorry Hallmark, Clinton cards and any other fat cats out there, you can stick your helium filled love balloon and cuddly toys where the sun don't shine and I will celebrate my love everyday of the year.