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Showing posts from 2014

Oh, the joy of summer!

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Sunday was the end of British Summer Time and the return to Greenwich Mean Time. In real terms that means the beginning of the winter months, the colder days, the darker nights....not really my favourite time of the year, to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with crisp, dry days, especially if there's a bit of sunshine thrown in too! But living in the UK usually means many a dull, grey and wet day, with ever colder temperatures that never seem to end....ah, but at least there is Christmas to look forward to.  This year I marked the end of summer by swimming in the sea!! Don't worry, I haven't gone completely mad! We spent the first half of our school holiday in one of my favourite places in the world – Puerto Pollensa in the north of Mallorca. For those of you who don't know, Mallorca is the biggest of the three Balaeric Islands situated in the Mediterranean Sea and belonging to Spain. On Sunday, the sun was shining brightly, t

Me? Crazy?!

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I love my friends, I really do! I especially love the ones - you know who you are - who, on receiving a slightly random request in a text message from me on a Friday afternoon, just smile to themselves and delve around in their recycling box hoping to help me out in my randomness! Yes, I'm like that. And my friends are like that too! Thank you. Let me explain.... Next weekend I'm organising (or perhaps I should say 'curating' according to the new buzz word on organising events!) an Afternoon Tea Party for a friend's 40th birthday. I'm gathering vintage crockery & tablecloths, baking cakes, working out exactly how many sandwiches we'll need and just where I'm going to store the numerous tissue pom-poms required to decorate the space, as well as furiously making bunting and worrying about whether there will be enough food, and and and...the list goes on. But on Friday I decided I needed to work out the easiest - and cheapest - way to

Read any good books lately??

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I really love the summer holidays, I do! In the run-up with at least 101 things to do every day, I can't wait for school to break up. I absolutely love knowing that the alarm won't be going off, that I won't have to shepherd small-ish people out of the door by a certain time, and that most of the running around from here to there will calm down. Suppose I look forward to not having so many responsibilities and pulls on my time. In my head we would have all the time in the world, every day. We girls could craft and cook and visit and play and read.... In my head I would have more time for reading. I even gathered a pile of books that I would work through (see below). In days of yore, holidays were all about reading. I'd take a pile of books away with me & often wish I'd brought more! Not so much these days with children to keep an eye on. But still I like to have a few good books lined up... The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman an

The quickest homemade gift....

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It's almost the end of term and boy, are we all feeling it?! What with that, the heat and the humongous thunderstorm over the weekend, this household is on a bit of a go-slow today. And, of course, that means my best laid plans for teacher's gifts has slightly gone out of the window....well, almost... I did manage to get the pre-school teachers theirs from from the whole class. No mean feat to attempt to get 45 fingerprints on a mug!! I managed 32 & am pretty pleased with that.  Not the best photos but they are truly lovely in real life! You'll have to trust me on that.  Many thanks to Rosie at Crockadoodledo for turning these around so quickly.  And later, I'm going to string a necklace for my elder daughter's teacher using buttons and beads given by all her classmates. Hmmm, maybe I haven't done so badly after all.... Some of their other classes are finishing too for the summer & I wanted to give a little trea

Run for your life!

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Running....hmmm, that really belongs to my life before children. To be honest, even then it was fairly short lived (keep reading for more on that)....And yet, as is my wont every June, I don my trusty Nike trainers and go for a run. Not just any old run, you'll understand, this is my once a year participation in the Race for Life. It's a 5km run for women organised by Cancer Research UK and there are around 200 of them up and down the country every weekend in the summer months. (In case you haven't heard of it, or would like to know more, just click here . ) I ran my first Race for Life in 2007 in memory of my friend Lyn. She lost her battle with cancer almost exactly a year earlier. I wore a red shirt (her favourite colour) and tried to remember the fun we used to have together as I ran with 5000 other women, each with their own stories.  I was cheered on by my mum and then 1year old daughter, Charlotte. Fast forward to the following year and I ran with 3 wo

Fancy a cuppa? Ooh, yes please!

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I wouldn't describe myself as a tea-drinker - I'm more of a double espresso kind of gal - but sometimes, nothing else will do! A cup of tea, a nice piece of cake and chance for a catch-up with friends. What more could a girl ask for?  Earlier this week I was invited for a cuppa with Pip Lincolne , my blogging teacher and all-round lovely person. However, since she's on the other side of the world, a virtual cuppa is as good as it will get for now. Maybe one day we'll get back to Melbourne... Hmm, she drifts off into thought & memories... So, back to reality, tea and that catch-up. What did you get up to this week? What did I get up to this week?? As usual it's been a busy one but has been filled with good stuff. Mostly this week I've been loving these things: Silly Shopping It started out so well...my friend needed - yes, needed! - a petticoat like this one , so off we went to Deadly is the Female in Frome. What an amazing shop! It's fil

Where would my life be without books??

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I confess, I'm a book-lover! My house is definitely testimony to that - bookshelves in every room (except the toilet these days since it's now a wet room!!) and a not so small pile beside my bed of those books I'm either reading or would like to read. The books beside my bed. The box is full of books too! But it goes beyond the physical book in my hand. When I was a child my dad worked at a printer's - the then famous Purnell's - and would often bring home books for us. I didn't realise until much later the reason they all had little squares cut out of the title page (to establish the exact paper weight when estimating costs), I just thought some books had this! One of the series I remember most were 'Thomas' books. No, not the Tank Engine, but a little line drawn boy, Swedish, I think. There were several books & even then I appreciated the simplicity of the design, the mix of colour & black & white. It makes me feel warm inside just

So, what do you do?

I've been asked this question several times in the last couple of weeks and each time I've responded with a different answer! Which, unsurprisingly has had me thinking...what DO I do? These days 'multi-tasking' is my middle name! In amongst being chef extraordinaire (catering for all types of food likes & dislikes), running a fantastic laundry service (bring me your washing - or rather put it in the washing basket, don't leave it in the floor - and it will be returned, washed, dried, sometimes ironed but always folded), being a travel agent (bespoke foreign holidays are my current speciality), a financial whizz (to be fair, I'm much better at spending it, but hey!), gift finder (who buys the presents around here?), post-girl (someone has to mail those presents!), events planner (mostly of the kids party variety but grown-up ones too), creative oik, I'm frequently something of a UN diplomat or perhaps an FBI negotiator... Have you guessed what I 'do&#

Taking Stock

Hello lovely people, Golly, can you believe it's been almost two years since I last blogged? I really can't! It would appear that I've only been blogging in my head, which isn't really that helpful for you lovely readers now, is it?! But, you'll be pleased to know that I'm on my way back. I'm currently following the lovely Pip Lincolne 's 'Blog with Pip' e-course and am absolutely loving it. Today, I've been a good student and have completed this week's assignment, entitled TAKING STOCK. It wasn't easy but it's good to reflect sometimes.... Here goes: Making: progress Cooking: food for friends (Bacon and Butternut Squash Risotto) Drinking: latte (now that I've finally worked out how to use my coffee machine!) Reading: 'Apple Tree Yard' by Louise Doughty Wanting: to start my next baby quilt Looking: forward Playing: our new Stacey Kent CD Deciding: what to do today Wishing: we could make up our minds! E