New Dooooooo!

I made a snap decision on Saturday and, with the help of my lovely husband, bleached and dyed my hair RED! I am soooo chuffed with it:

There were a few raised eyebrows on the school run this morning but yah boo sucks to them. Conforming is boring :D.

Can I sleep yet?

Wow, I am totally shattered today. But then I suppose I haven't stopped really. At least there is stuff to show for my exhaustion! The house is shining like a new pin after I tidied and cleaned today, the girls are happy and fed (no warnings, no time outs... Wooooo Hoooooo!). Little Brown Cat hasn't peed on the rug for 4 days now (wooo citronella works!). I am currently making bread and cooking tea for the girls and supper for me and Paul (Maple Parsnip Soup... yuum!).

However what I would really like to do is fall into a scalding hot bubble bath and stay there for a nice long relax before climbing into a lovely warm bed and sleeping until January!

Yule Log Hunt...

Fun filled day today, we started off with a trip to the cinema to see Tinkerhell... er I mean Tinkerbell and The Great Fairy Rescue. Got to love Vue cinema's and their Kids AM showing which means we can all get in for £5! Bargain :D. We did try and go yesterday but it was sold out... cue tantrum from the larger one and us hastily booking tickets and deciding never to leave it to chance ever again!

We popped home for a quick lunch of sandwiches before heading out to some local woods and looking for a Yule Log and decorations. To find our Yule log we were looking for a fallen branch of the right width and size and then asking the tree from where it fell for permission to take it. Sounds silly I realise but as Pagans we believe everything has a spirit and is part of the Mother Earth and you shouldn't remove something without permission. We had a good tramp and looked at all the pretty leaves whilst we hunted and eventually we found the perfect log and bought it home.

We then went to another park to look for a few decorations for the log. We also got to meet the residential squirrels who are very friendly and personable and the girls were delighted to meet so many up close! They had a good run and play in the park and we found a few pine cones for decoration (I will be going back to the woods for a few sprigs of holly to finish it all off but for now it looks lovely lying on our mantlepiece drying out ready for Yule.

We came home to hot chocolate with marshmallows and a soon to be roaring fire in the living room. I am so glad we have a working fireplace now, it is so nice and atmospheric in the living room with it!

Recycling...

Today I turned my lovely gorgeous curtains in the living room into a roman blind that fits in the sash window. The difference is amazing and the room looks much bigger without the curtains eating into it. It also means the toy box stays in one place rather than us having to pull it out and putting it back every time we moved the curtains!

It is only the 2nd roman blind I have made, the first being in Clara's room which looks ok but is nothing special. However I had it easier this time and the kit I bought for hanging it up came with a basic blind so I used that as a lining and it saved me about 2 hrs worth of work I think.

I must also thank Paul who helped me make it as it was an arse and a half having to sew on the skew because the base rod had to be sewn in before being able to sew across any of the others! Apologies for the crappy picture, it is almost 11pm and I can't be bothered getting the big camera out so I took it on the iphone:

Theme Tunes to my life...

I have 2 I think, it is either the Mission Impossible music or the Benny Hill music. I seem to be permanently on catch up with myself. Tuesday and Thursdays are my busiest days so they start with Mission Impossible and end with Benny Hill! Weekday life seems to be a never ending round of school runs and house work (especially with the latest pet, Little Brown Cat having decided to use the living room rug as her peeing place... gah!). Still I enjoy my mornings of peace and quiet now and because I JFDI* when I get in it means I get to chill out when it is done and watch crap TV and put my feet up.

Today's JFDI was to clean the wee of the rug (sigh), hoover upstairs and give the kitchen a lick and a promise after breakfast. Being on top of the housework is really making a big difference to my mood which is definitely a good thing. I don't feel glum about the state of the house at the moment and I wouldn't mind someone coming round with not a lot of notice now like I would have before!

Anyway I had better crack on JFD the girl's tea... oh wait is that Benny Hill I hear in my head again.






* Just Fucking Do It

Look what Yia Yia made us!

Look what Yia Yia made us!
Originally uploaded by ***Vix***

Oooh what lucky girls I have in their fabulous new bobble hats! They are delighted with them. Phoebe was telling Clara all about them and it was so funny!

"Carwa, this is your bobble hat because it is pink and you like pink don't you Carwa?! This one is mine because it is blue and I like Blue... isn't Yia Yia clever?!"

Thank you Yia Yia :D!

Horsey Horsey Don't you stop....

Ah... no hooves!

As part of their stockings I decided that I would like to make the girls hobby horses so I diligently went off to good ol' google and searched. I found this wonderful tutorial for making hobby horses and went from there... I am pretty pleased with the result! Now I have to make one for Clara (and one for all the people who requested one... erk... well it keeps me out of trouble!)

I am mulling over finishing the stick bit with some ribbon... added extra holding for keeping it's head on!

Operation Declutter. Day Two.

I have been very productive today. I treated myself to a new CD so I have been clearing up to the tunes from The Bangles, marvellous. Today it was the Dining Room's turn and I filled another 2 bin bags with rubbish. I also rang for an update on the car and found out it wasn't going to be back until next week so I loaded the Roller Skate to the gunnels and did the tip run and charity shop run. Before I went out I decided to have a quick go through the girls clothes to sort things out as their wardrobes were getting very messy. In the end I had 2 bin bags to go to the charity shop too. The only thing I didn't take was the wee soaked rug because I refuse to be in that close proximity to it for elongated period of time!

Still the house is looking much better than it has done in ages. I have designated tomorrow as Ebay Day. I hate Ebaying, it takes time and effort and occasionally it means dealing with numpties which always puts me in a bad mood. Hopefully it will all go smoothly though and I can get shot of a few more bits and make a few pennies too. I dread dealing with the post office too but at least I can print out postage online so it doesn't take quite so long as queueing up.

Ah well needs must when the devil is behind the wheel eh?!

First Day Of Declutter Central...

This morning I tackled the understairs cupboard. The first job was a trip to Argos to purchase 2 x 3 drawer units to go in there. When I got back I armed myself with a marker pen, pair of scissors and set too sorting out. I don't think I have done too badly, the "bad bit" of the cupboard doesn't look like I have done anything but there is A LOT more stored in that half of the cupboard now and the bike trailer needs to live in there until I can ebay it (not happening until I have a pile of Ebay stuff to do at once, I hate doing it piece meal!)

What do you think?

Not too bad for a mornings work. Tomorrow's job is the dining room and, if I can manage it in the roller skate, do a charity shop / tip run.

Cover me... I'm going in!

Having decluttered the living room and kitchen I'll let you guess where all the clutter went... into the dining room and under the stairs! So [deep breath] these are the "before" pictures:




Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I should add that neither cat or small child will be included in the great declutter...  much as I might be tempted! 

Hopefully I will be back with after photos sooner rather than later!

How far I have come in a year.

On the way home from the Fireworks last night Paul reminded me that last year we hadn't gone because I had a meltdown at the idea of leaving the house and the crowds. If we had gone I would have had to be doped to the eyeballs to get through it and there was just no point. Last night I went, happily, to watch the fireworks with heaven knows how many other people in a local park and loved it!

We arrived for gates opening and secured our spot not knowing when the fireworks would start. The announcement came over a little later saying 7pm.... there was NOTHING to do there but hey ho. We amused the children first with a tray of chips each that went uneaten and then we bought them a light up wand each and they loved those. Phoebe went freestyle and amused a fair amount of people with her guitar performance to the toons on the radio:

 

She was hilarious. She even said her name on the radio and, apparently, Clara heard and was delighted. She did want to say hello to Daddy and Clara but the radio presenter was off before she could.

The fireworks when they began were spectacular and lasted a good 30 minutes. The girls were getting very moany and cold after waiting for 2 hours but both of them decided the wait was worth it for the fabby bangs and pretty lights. Clara said it was like the sky was full of fairies which I thought was lovely! Phoebe mostly like the ENORMOUS bonfire they had, and cackled when the poor guy on the top of it caught fire. I did try and tell them the story of Guy Fawkes but they weren't that interested... I will save that for later years I think!

In the spirit of JFDI...

Today I have:

• Washed the rug AGAIN, on both sides in a bid to shift the smell of cat wee. It hasn't worked it still honks and a new rug will be purchased forthwith (I am going purple too... woo!)

• I have hoovered the downstairs of the house and washed all the floors.

• I have filled a large bin bag with STUFF and put it in the bin (non recycleable alas).

• I took Clara to her swimming lesson and put up with being splashed by her shaking her bunches at me.

• Sobbed when Phoebe told me she had 3 time outs today (that makes 8 in her first 4 days back at school... waaaail].

• Bought a new doormat to go by the back door.

• Come up with a plan for a more visual way of Phoebe seeing that being naughty at school does not pay.

• Moved a load of pictures around the house.

There will be wine tonight. Oh yes...lots of wine. I still have more to do in the dining room (including pointing out that the newly clear sideboard in there is not the best place to put the bag of cat litter... sigh!). There are a couple of floorboards that need fixing in there for a start and I might consider a rug as well. The pile of stuff for the tip is growing steadily and my first job when I am back with Renault will be the tip run I think! Only other thing I need to think about is the quickest, non smelliest way of stripping the woodwork back enough to be able to decorate in the living room in 3hr stints in one week. Hmmm, I am thinking ceiling first (one coat of white should do it) then the walls (only need to do 3 and a bit) over a couple of days then the wall papering (I may be able to get Paul to do this in the evening after I have finished the walls) and then the woodwork (inc shelves, fireplace and radiator cover) over a couple of days. Ambitious? Me?!

Had a break... Had a think... Doing stuff!

The Break:

Phoebe had a 2 week half term, 1st week was so the teachers and staff could move locations to the new school site (which is looking rather fab!) and the second week was half term proper so I had Clara off too. For the second week we all went down to a lovely cottage in Portwrinkle, Cornwall with my Mum and Sdad and had a lovely week of beaches, Eden Project and Donkeys. It was wonderful! Mum gave me a much needed break from the daily rigours of child rearing and it was nice to be able to be a family and go and do things together.

Phoebe and Clara particularly enjoyed the Donkey Sanctuary. Phoebe was in her element around the animals and Clara got her confidence back with animals and was very stern about pushing to get the feed! They then had a wail of a time in the soft play area whilst the grown ups had a drink.

We also did The Eden Project but it didn't really capture our imaginations as we hoped it would. It didn't help that it was heaving and the weather was awful I suppose. We enjoyed going around the bubbles and seeing all the plants and things they had done but other than that we were relieved to come away from the crowds at the end of the day.

Mostly we enjoyed going to the beach and looking in rock pools! There was a beach a short walk from the house so we mostly went there and had fun but we also did a bigger beach a short drive away. The girls had so much fun looking for fish and 'nenomes in the rock pools, building sandcastles, skimming stones and splashing in the waves!

 Here are the pictures from our Adventures!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The Think:

I am not responsible for what people think about me. I shouldn't mind their opinions of me and I should rise above what they choose to tell people. True friends love me and don't believe the tosh and that is what matters.

My house needs a serious going through and declutter. Living in a mess is doing nothing for my mental health and I should Just Fucking Do It from now on instead of avoiding doing things but still dwelling on them.

My first duty is to myself. I have to find my voice and use it to tell people when I don't want or don't like something. I need to stop smiling and nodding because it makes life easier and less complicated. It doesn't.

My depression is an illness, it is not my fault and I do not deserve it. I can however help with it's treatment.

The Doing Stuff.

The house needs a deep clean and a serious declutter. Before we went away Paul and our friend Greg emptied the attic of all the old toys and technology that have migrated up there and I freecycled the lot. I went through the toys we had down stairs and cleared out about 75% of them as they were all either broken or unplayed with (the girls haven't even noticed!). Since we came back I have shampooed the living room rug (spurred on by a certain Little Brown Cat leaving what we now refer to as "yucky presents" all over it whilst we were away) and it looks 100 x better than it has done. I have also gone through the toy box again and got shot of all the rest of the crap that resides at the bottom and never sees the light of day. The dining room is the next project but as I am stuck with a Cheverolet Matiz for the next week or so I am a bit stuck as all the things that need chucking are in there and a Matiz is a very very small car. Still I have cleared the dining table so I suppose that is a reasonable start. I also plan on going through the understairs cupboard and buying some decent storage in there to keep it under a little more control. That should, in turn, mean that less stuff needs to be out in the dining room and I can make things look nicer in there.

My main aim is to get all of this done by Christmas so that I feel a little bit more in control of my life by then. Ideally I would like to decorate the living room before Christmas but I don't think it will happen as there is so much woodwork to strip so it isn't a quick job! Still, baby steps all the way!