Would you believe me if I told you......

Boo hoo, I feel quite sorry for myself this week.  As each day has passed, I thought it could only get better, but in fact it's got worse.......

This week has been a whirlwind of extraordinary activity - a lot of which I knew about and lots I could control.  However, at times things go wrong........

It started on Monday when I had a house full of boys and the boiler deciding to 'almost' self-combust.  Not having a clue what to do, I made a  desperate, almost ready to cry call to British Gas who told me to release the pressure.  Of course, I hadn't a clue what they were going on about, but nevertheless it got done, someone came round and 'fixed' the problem.

Tuesday was parents' evening which fortunately went very well, although there are a couple of budding bullies in Jack's classroom which needed addressing as he has been on the receiving end of it........

Yesterday was when it all came to a head.  We are due to have a range cooker  fitted today and our old cooker taken away, but Comet ordered the cooker with Rangemaster but failed to book in fitters to install it, despite us paying and booking it in for the same day........so I have an existing cooker pulled out in the middle of the kitchen, a new one being delivered today but completely useless as we now can't get it fitted till next week.

Whilst still in a complete rage,  I went off to pick the boys' up - got in my car and the ABS warning light came on...............

Within a mile radius of us, a lot of cars have had their ABS wires broken - I was the next victim.  This is the bit where it becomes unbelievable - following an extensive police investigation and forensic analysis, they've discovered the culprits are in fact not human, but animal - squirrel........yes folks, you've heard it hear first. 

Hubby had a good look at the cable under my car and it's quite difficult to see what or who has caused the damage - it's not a clean cut, but the squirrel thing doesn't sit with my logic.  We've lived on the edge of a protected nature reserve for the last 10 years and in that time have lived alongside all sorts of wildlife, including lots of grey squirrels......

So, it's now Friday and I'm keeping everything crossed that nothing else happens.  I've eaten my way through copious amounts of chocolate and the odd glass of wine this week so could do with a day off from it!!

With that now off my chest (sorry about that), I'll sign off for the weekend.  Have a good one everyone and those with children have a good rest next week.

Toodle Pip.

Here kitty kitty

Meet my new friend - sits quietly, no muck or mess and certainly no feeding!

It was whilst I was having a random moment, I thought I'd conjure up this little miss.  Pleased with the result, I thought I'd add her to my website, although I'm tempted to keep her....


Whilst being on the random setting this week, I thought I'd make some of this -

Piccalilli!  Probably a bit like Marmite - you either love it or hate it.  We only tend to have it at Christmas and whilst watching River Cottage last week, and seeing how easy it was, I thought I'd give it a go.


I used cucumber, radishes, cauliflower and french beans.  You have to soak them in salted water for 24 hrs, then boil the veg in sugar, distilled vinegar and ginger for 5 mins.  Add mustard powder, flour and cumin a little while later, you have your Piccalilli.


Extremely easy, but the downside is that we've got to wait 3 months for it to mature.  I think Christmas will be fine!


Still having empty shelves in my new 'larder' I made some very easy orange and ginger marmalade with regular oranges, sugar and crystallised ginger - scrummy.

Have a lovely weekend whatever you do!

Stitch away

Hi folks,
Hope everyone is enjoying the glorious weather we're having - it's hard to believe the middle of October is approaching.


I guess most of you would know by now! that good old Cath has bought out yet another book, and what a feast for the eyes it is. 

Good old fashioned cross-stitch (amongst others) using tapestry wool.  I can't wait to get started on some of the projects.  The book even comes with it's own kit.  I'm ashamed to say that I haven't even made the bag from the last book.......Here's what you make with the kit -

I used to do a lot of tapestry sewing many years ago, then like many things it went out of fashion.  With Cath now onto it, it's sure to be a huge come-back, although the price of kits are extortionate. 


I was lucky to be bought a kit (many moons ago) so I think I'm now inspired to get on with it - I might get it finished for Christmas!

Back to the book though - I love the idea of a little seat cushion for a chair -

I'll leave you with a few more yummy photo's! - 

Larder

Take 1 husband, some wood, screws, other necessities, 1 cupboard under the stairs - and this is what you get

I have always fancied having a walk-in larder with lots of homemade preserves and such like stacked neatly on shelves.  As we don't have one of those in our house, I thought why not utilise the cupboard under the stairs.  OK, it's only semi walk-in, but I'm happy.  It also forced us to get rid of all the junk which collects under there!

As you can see, there's plenty of shelf space.  I prettied it up by adding some French fabric shelf edging, as well as covering the jars of preserves with floral fabrics.

I just need to make more jams now to fill it up!!

I took delivery yesterday of another project which does again require 1 husband! 

I'm not sure how old it is, but I love the blue.  It needs a really, really good clean and overhaul of the interior, and a repair to the handle, but once done I think it'll look great.  What do you think?

Thanks for your well wishes with Toby's leg - it's slowly improving and we went back to the doctor's for a check-up and it's healing nicely although he does keep catching it which is inevitable really.

Bye for now.

End of the week

Phew, end of the week at last!  I've been meaning to post some photo's of the Isle of Wight earlier than this, but with one thing and another this week.........

A trip to A & E dominated the week.  Toby played in a school football match and he got 'studded'.  Unfortunately the stud got stuck into his shin and dragged down so he has a 1" deep gash!!! Yuck, yuck, yuck.  Due to the fact it is a stud injury and the edges are too ragged, the hospital are unable to glue or stitch it so the wound is left open, so a lot of wound re-dressing is required (not my forte at all!).

Anyway, back to last weekend and the Isle of Wight.  What I liked about the island was that you could drive from 1 place to the next without spending too long in the car.  One of our first visits was to the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm.

 The aroma of smoked garlic was glorious.

A little potted history about garlic and it's cultivation.

Cultivated garlic sets to purchase.

Next stop was the model village in Godshill.  What a pretty little place to visit.  The models were all done extremely well and were made using proper stone to give them their authentic look.

Even proper thatched roofs!

Model village within a model village - 

 Little people (you'll need to double click on the photo to get a better view of them!) -

Realistic church with bells ringing -

Here's a few more shots of the island -

Have a great weekend!

Welcome to

Vintage Vacations on the Isle of Wight where much fun can be had spending a night or two in one of these.

A choice of 10 retro Airstream caravans, all refurbished in true vintage style.

Yes, folks, that's where we were at the weekend, and a jolly time was had by all!  We set off on Friday afternoon (boys finish at 1pm), managed to catch an early ferry and we arrived safe and sound at our Airstream for 5pm.  A quick 'tour' by Fraser, the owner and we were then left to our own devices to enjoy our weekend.

Here's ours -

First, sit down and savour a complementary cream tea, yum yum, while the boys ran round playing badminton (racquet's provided).  We'll save the miniature bottle of Babycham for later!

Anyone for tea?

Let's take a tour -

Boys' had a bed each with the bathroom at the end (fully working shower and diddy sink).  Toilet facilities were housed in a portabcabin further down the field.

A bit of evening reading -



Cheery bunting -

Lounge area (our bed)

Fully working original cooker -

Some friends' to share our weekend!



We really did enjoy the experience, even the walking across the field in a hoodie and polka dot PJ's!  The Isle of Wight was lovely too.  I'll share what we did later on in the week.

Memories

I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to blog this week, it's been a whirlwind of activity, some good and some not so good.

Inbetween all of this, we've had brain numbing trips to various secondary schools, and I don't think we've undertaken such a stressful process.  Like many parts of the country, getting into the school of your choice doesn't always follow and you have to think quite strategically, especially with secondary schools as the quality can vary greatly.

We have 2 good secondary school choices, 1 of which was in the top 40 Sunday Times list.  Of course, everyone wants to go there, we live out of catchment, but go to an in catchment primary school (which does help).  Anyway, whilst wandering around, it bought back many memories of my secondary school days.

This particular school does woodworking and we happened to stand and watch some of the lesson.  I remember very vividly standing in my woodworking class one day and I must have had new shoes, probably about 12 yrs old.  I looked down at them and they were browny/tan in colour and they had a tassle (all very grown up!).  There was a mark on them, and I remember licking my finger and bending down to wipe it off!  That's it - nothing about the class, nothing about what I was making, but I just recall the shoes.

Funny what we remember!

Moving on - my mum has recently given me back this book from childhood -

Not sure how old I was, but I loved the pictures, this was my favourite poem.  The Jumblies seemed so sweet with their blue hands and green faces!

Interestingly enough, the author says "I have made this book especially for you; but not just for you, also for myself; not the present, grown-up self but the old self, the one left behind in childhood.  In memory, I have gone back to those days and I have tried to recall some of the verses I learned and loved then, and have drawn them as I remember them..............I want to make you look again at things, always noticing something new which you missed at first - the shape of a leaf - the wonderful colours of berries and flowers - the birds and animals and insects - all there for you to see if you will stop a moment"

Don't you think that's so true?  Certainly very poignant for me this week.

What do you vividly recall from your childhood?