plump pudding

A Day at the Beach

Today was Stephen's birthday and he had a rare day off work - which meant a day out for all of us.

I hadn't been to Tenby for so many years and we had never taken the boys there.  So in the name of reminiscing, that was our destination.

And it didn't disapoint.

From the pretty painted houses to the ones perched just above the beach.

 

After buying some new buckets and spades, there was no stopping them.

Plus some obligatory rock climbing

The only downside was that the tide came in rather quickly at about 4pm.

So we left the beach and headed into the town for blue (yes, blue) Mr Whippy ice creams and sticks of rock to take home.

You just can't beat a day at the beach can you?

Tears Before Bedtime

The school holidays started with a bang (literally) on Friday.  Just as I was on my way to school, I had a phone call from Ethan's teacher to say that he had been involved in an accident and some of the solution from a chemistry set had gone into his eye.

To cut a long story short, one of the children had taken a chemistry set into school.  Instead of confiscating the set, his teacher had told him not to mix the acids.  I'm sure you can guess what happened.  Ethan helpes clean up the mess in the toilets and either didn't wash his hands, or didn't wash them adequately.  He then rubbed his eye and transferred the chemical into this eye.

His last day of primary school ended short with me taking him to casualty and then having the wash fluids over his eye to rinse out any chemicals.  The poor thing was so brave and he ended up missing the class party in the afternoon, DVD and most of all a ride in a limo that one of the mums had organised. 

Thankfully there was no damage to his eye but timing wise it is very difficult as the school  has closed for the summer.  Ethan has left and wil be transferring and starting at secondary school and Keanan will also be starting a new Welsh school in September - which effectively means we are no longer involved in the school.  So this whole matter will have to be put on the backburner until September when I can sort it out with the headmistress.  As compensation for Ethan misising his limo ride, he is having some of the boys over next week for a DVD and pizza.  Not much compensation for me though!




This is the current state of my once (passably) tidy studio.  It was all fine yesterday.  I finished up a wholesale order and dropped it off and then decided that I should start putting items in my new wardrobe/storage area.  I then changed tack and started to sort through some boxes hidden under the curtains.  Lethal.




Goodness knows what possessed me, but I then decided that the studio needed painting.  Rather than plump for my usual white, pale pink was decided on.  Think marshmallow, but a little paler.  One trip to HomeBase later and my quest for pink paint was completed.  You can just about see the pink in the photo above - I stopped partway through the wall just for you all! 

I think I like it - usually I am a white girl through and through.  I am going to give it the second coat tonight and then I can start putting the studio back together.  Still on the list to be done are making the curtains that cover up the freezer and the tumble dryer and painting the worktop.

I did manage to go the the car boot sale on Saturday and ended up buying this lady.




She is made from plaster and she is from South America.  I really don't know whether she is supposed to be a particular Saint?  I don't think she is Mary.  Stephen's heart sank when I showed her to him and mentioned that she was for our bedroom.

Except I got a litttle bit carried away after that.  After buying her, I decided that rather than just put her up on the wall, I need to re-paint the walls.  They are rather scruffy - nothing radical, just white emulsion.

Then I started loooking on e-Bay and ended up winning a pair of 1950s grey barkcloth floral curtains.  They are in France and are being posted tomorrow.  So that should give me some time  to get out the paint and soften Stephen up.

Why can't I have one of those men who just love everything I do?  I think I am going to have to have to sneak the curtains and my lady up and present them to Stephen as fait accompli!

Branching Out

No school for the boys today as it was one of those teacher training (Inset) days.  A bit of a pain as I had organised a meeting with an advisor from Business in Focus to talk about next busines steps.

Thankfully the boys made themselves scarce which meant I picked up some hint and tips.  But before she arrived and I was trying to get the boys dressed and washed etc, I couldn't find Keanan




He had collected all his art paraphanalia and settled himself into our bed. 

Afterwards we went to Penarth with my parents for lunch and a mooch around the charity shops.  No bargains to be had though.  A quick request to Ethan and here is his tree outfit



I kept it simple with the shapes as I want people to be able to see the leaves from the stage.  There are leaves sewn all round the cuff which will look better when he had his hands against his side.  Also the ones on the sleeves will also hang better then.

He's pleased and it's a job off my To Do list.  I think Ethan's pleased!



Have a good weekend!

Following the Crowd

After the caving in under peer pressure and allowing Ethan a mobile phone, I have caved in once again and bought both boys a pair of Crocs.  I was quite surprised that they asked for these, but it is probably due to the fact that some of their school friends have them.



Not one to disapoint, I bought them when the boys were in school.  Which meant that when they came out of school pestering me to go to buy them, I could casually mention that there "might" be a surprise at home.  Of course they guessed straight away.




Stephen is adamant that I only bought them for the boys because I like them.  I don't.  And neither does he.  So that's the family divided: two who don't like them and two boys who love them. 



There is one consolation though - they won't be hard to spot around the village!

Black and Blue

Happy Bank Holiday Monday to you all!

I'm back - this wasn't a deliberate break but we had problems (again) accessing the internet.  After several days and a phone call to our phone provider and AOL, Stephen unplugged the wireless router, plugged it back in and hey presto.  Sanity is restored.




It has been a hectic week to say the least and the grand finale was getting rid of the piano.  Keanan has lessons and we were given  the piano - which we then discovered was not worth using.  So spurred on by my Open House I arranged with the council to collect it. The only problem was that they collect from the kerbside.  Keanan and I managed to manouevre it to half way through the door - where it got stuck!  So Stephen and I had to manhandle it down the stairs, down the path and eventually onto the kerbside.  It was joined by some more junk that had been lying round the house.  Hence I am covered in bruises: arms and legs.  But the dining room is so much emptier and this of course, prompted some re-arranging of the furniture.  Space again



Also on my hit list was the garden.  If the weather is good, I am planning a gazebo in the garden.  But even if it isn't. people will still have to walk through it to get into the house.  My neighbours laugh when I get out the secateurs, as I seem to have a problem putting them back down again.  Which means that me armed with secateurs, loppers and a saw is a lethal combination!  Just ask the poor branch above which was one of my casualties.  But do you know, my garden is looking good at the moment.  Even if I say so myself.  Which I just did of course.  So walk on through people.  I'm ready for you.



Well, that's not quite true.  My house is ready.  All the junk has been cleared and the garden will just need a little weeding and cutting the lawn.  Which means that I have to knuckle down and get started on the items for sale.  Easy work in comparison!

Party on

The wanderer returned Friday.. After four days at Pendine doing outdoor pursuit-type things, Ethan was shattered.  He spent the entire evening sat on the sofa and had a relatively early night.  The poor things didn't have good weather and all this clothes were soaked through.  He did however break into a smile when I showed him his party bags.




See those cans with their cocktail umbrellas?  That design feature was down to Keanan who just can't resist fiddling.  Wonder where he gets that from ?

But the funniest thing was he was quite specific in his choice of can




Saturday night we had five boys over to watch Casino Royale with the new Bond.  Quite liking Bond films, I decided I would sit in with them and watch it.  What was I thinking about?  So much chitter chatter, laughter etc - plus popping outside to the see the tadpoles.  Not much of it was watched.  But bad mother that I am, I filled them with chips, pizza, potato wedges and jelly and ice cream.  Plus bulging party bags to go home with.  A good time was had by all.




Remember my vintage Polish dolls I showed before?  Well, I was lucky enough to find a new friend for them.  She was sat on the shelf with a 50p tag on her.  Quick as a flash I swooped in and took her to the till.




I know I shouldn't have favourites.  But she is definitely my favourite by far.

Manual Labour

It all started innocently enough on Friday, with a trip to buy some bias binding.  When I came out of the shop I spotted that the paint store next door had a special offer on wooden fence preservative.  Out I came with a 5 litre tub.  That was just the beginning.




Throughout the weekend, I have worked through painting the fence panels and generally giving our back garden an overhaul.  My plan is to put up a fabric banner in the back garden so that people will be able to see it when they drive through the village.  Which then led me to thinking what if people come in the wrong way and walk through my mess of a back garden? 




There was nothing I could do except get out the rake, fork and spade and get digging, removing in the process two stumps from bushes that I cut down a few weeks ago.  Two days later, the ground has been cleared, stumps removed, plants moved and some new ones planted.



By the time the Open House comes round, all my new plants should have settled in and grown a little, so it won't look as "just been planted".  Tiring though it was, I keep having to peep through the bedroom windows, just to have a little look and a moment of smugness.


Our other momentous occassion this weekend was Ethan's 11th birthday.  It really is his birthday today, but this morning I waved him and a coach load of his friends off for a four day outdoor pursuit holiday with the school.

So we all celebrated yesterday.  Pizza, fizzy drink, presents and family.  What better way to celebrate!

The Saga Continues

After my last post about that little mouse, I thought I had better update you.  He is no longer.  Ethan left his bedroom door open and Maudie went in and found the little mouse.  And killed him.  She is so heartless - thankfully Stephen sorted out the "arrangements"




But there is more to tell.  She has truly reached a new level with this mouse massacre.



I cooked a chicken and roast vegetables yesterday.  It ended up not getting eaten as the boys spent the day at my parents and Stephen was in work until late.  I just couldn't be bothered eating it.  After it had coolled it was put into the fridge.




I came in from dropping the boys to school this morning to a tale of woe from Stephen.  He had taken the chicken from the fridge and placed it on the unit.  In the meantime his phone went off and he went into the bedroom to answer it.

In the interim few minutes, Maudie came in from outside and left her contribution to supper on the plate with the chicken and vegetables.  It was a mouse!

Stephen wasn't too impressed.  I couldn't help but laugh.  She loves us.  What more can I say?

No crafting this weekend, but the photos above are of 1950s fabric dollies bought from the boot sale.  They have squeakers that still work in their tummies.  The now sit on the scales in the photo, but on my kitchen windowsill.




The latest edition to my bathroom windowsill collection is this charming vintage print. Just couldn't resist him and managed to slip in onto the windowsill without Stephen noticing!

There's a moose loose aboot this hoose

After "Life on Mars" finished the hightlight of my TV week (in fact the only programme I sit down and watch is "The Apprentice"   I also let the boys stay up late to watch this as they watched it and loved it during the Easter holidays.




Stephen had gone out to work and the boys and I were nestled up on the sofa under Keanan's duvet.  I could hear a squeaking noise and rather than leave the sofa ignored it.




After five minutes I heard it again and cottoned on to the fact that Maudie caught a mouse and brought it in through the open window.  Sure enough, I caught her red handed with this poor mouse in her mouth.  I've learnt from past experience that the best strategy is to remove Maudie and then attempt to catch the mouse.  First obsacle was to put a slightly miffed Maudie in my bedroom and shut the door.



After trying for ages, I had to admit defeat, shut Ethan's bedroom door and put a draught excluder in front of it to keep the mouse in.  Of course, I had to let Maudie back out and she was most  un-impressed and kept wandering around looking for the mouse.



The upshot of this is that I have NO idea where this little mouse is now.  I don't think that Maudie found him again - but where he's gone is a mystery.  I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.



Yesterday I mentioned some Thank You gifts that I needed to make.  The photos show them.  Lavender sachets.  I had so much fun making these: dipping into my stash basket, cutting out a small section and sewing it on.  I reached my thank you quota and couldn't seem to stop.  The result is that there are some spare for my shop

Making up for lost time

Today was the day I promised the boys that we could do what they wanted. After all they had spent 4 days with me at St Fagans trying to enlighten the public that they do want handcrafted quality items - all to no avail.

It was all very straightforward and easy.  After a trip to the hospital for some physiotherapy to help strengthen Ethan's muscle tone, we took a detour into Argos and bought him a gym ball.  He is supposed to spend some time every day sitting on it whilst watching the tv etc.

After that a trip to Toys R Us.  I hate this store with a passion.  A giant supermarket full of plastic and muzac.  The aim was to buy Pokemon cards which have re-emerged again in our house.  Out came the pocket money and we escaped as soon as we could.

The main event was a trip to the swimming pool.  And, a first for the boys, they went in alone whilst I sat on the sidelines watching and reading a magazine and drinking a cup of coffee.  They went in on their own, did what they had to do in the pool, showered and came out to some chips (which of couse is de rigeur after a trip to the swimming pool)!

And to top it all off we stopped at a local charity run place that sells odd bits and bobs that can be used in arts and crafts.  For me: 2 metres of fabric and a fabric sample book.  See those top few photos?

And for the boys various oddments of gold card, crepe paper etc.  And then back home.

And miracle of miracles: not a peep out of them all day!