I spent yesterday afternoon with my lovely friend Annabel and, for the first time in our friendship, we left the children with the husbands (with instructions on how best to deal with a Phoebe vs Eliza squabble, they have a bit of a love / hate relationship lol) and headed off to the nirvana that is Annabel's local haberdasher.
We were so enamoured with not having to permeate every sentence with "no" or "put it back" or "Phoebe don't be wet" or to hear the "I'm hungry", "I'm thirsty" or "I need a wee". It was as hedonistic as two thirty something Mums with small children and a craft habit get! Anyway the haberdashers was fab, a treasure trove of lovely things for making even lovelier things!
I had gone in on a mission as I had my eye on making a Margaret Bag for myself (purely selfless as a test run [cough]). The haberdasher was lovely and really helped this dimwitted novice out. I found these two lovely fabrics in the curtain section and we made a joint decision to eshew the interfacing and interlining [life on the edge or what?!] and just have the double layer.
I have zero patience so as soon as the girls were in bed and the husband was fed I cracked on with cutting the pattern, then I couldn't leave it like that so I did the pleats and... and... and... well I finished at 1am. This did include having to sew it together 3 times as the first time I tried I got the strap in the wrong place and the outer the wrong way round. Second time I got the straps on the outside again and the third time was the charm! Still it is soooo worth it and is very very beautiful if I do say so myself!
Big thanks to Oh Fransson for the pattern :D.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Friday, 9 October 2009
So, I appear to be having a midlife crisis.
I am only 31, how did I manage it this early?!
My hair is now 50% red and 50% chocolate brown (red underneath...) and looks farking cool. My nails are violet (they match my lovely purple crocs!). Clothes wise is still the same old same old top, jeans and flowy cardigan (fantastic item that my lovely step mummy bought) but I am finding the need to look up lovely long flowy black ankle length skirts and purple Doc Martens. I have also discovered that my black eye liner and mascara fall out of my make up bag and apply themselves to my eyes... I haven't worn make up for Non Events in eons!
Paul is, naturally, jealous that I am having my crisis now. He wants his however I have informed him that as my MLC stretches to hair dye and a few minor new clothes and his will undoubtedly involve a motorbike of some description he can wait until we can afford it, harsh yet fair I think.
Phoebe is desperate to join in, she saw the hair dye and said with true awe in her voice:
"Mummy, you gonna have RED hair?!"
I replied in the positive and then the little madam asked:
"Can I have red hair too?!"
I had to fib a bit and say that we weren't allowed to let little girls dye their hair until they were much bigger but once that day came I would help her do it what ever colour she wanted! She seemed pleased with this arrangement and gave up. I will stand by my word and help her to do it, well I wouldn't want a repeat of what happened on one of my first attempts.
Picture the scene, there I was at some teen year, I forget which one, dyeing my hair in the little bathroom of my Mum and Sdads house when a globule splashes from my hair onto the carpet... whooops! However did my naive little mind worry about it on the carpet? Of course not, as it was of course fading dye in 6-8 weeks so that would happen with the carpet too no doubt. Erm, suffice it to say no it wouldn't and I was busted long before I could confirm this little theory. In my defence it was a very little bathroom.... and therefore a tiny carpet... and I was young... and innocent...and a bit dim.
Anyway, here is La Mop:
I am rather pleased, I might go for more red and less brown next time :D
My hair is now 50% red and 50% chocolate brown (red underneath...) and looks farking cool. My nails are violet (they match my lovely purple crocs!). Clothes wise is still the same old same old top, jeans and flowy cardigan (fantastic item that my lovely step mummy bought) but I am finding the need to look up lovely long flowy black ankle length skirts and purple Doc Martens. I have also discovered that my black eye liner and mascara fall out of my make up bag and apply themselves to my eyes... I haven't worn make up for Non Events in eons!
Paul is, naturally, jealous that I am having my crisis now. He wants his however I have informed him that as my MLC stretches to hair dye and a few minor new clothes and his will undoubtedly involve a motorbike of some description he can wait until we can afford it, harsh yet fair I think.
Phoebe is desperate to join in, she saw the hair dye and said with true awe in her voice:
"Mummy, you gonna have RED hair?!"
I replied in the positive and then the little madam asked:
"Can I have red hair too?!"
I had to fib a bit and say that we weren't allowed to let little girls dye their hair until they were much bigger but once that day came I would help her do it what ever colour she wanted! She seemed pleased with this arrangement and gave up. I will stand by my word and help her to do it, well I wouldn't want a repeat of what happened on one of my first attempts.
Picture the scene, there I was at some teen year, I forget which one, dyeing my hair in the little bathroom of my Mum and Sdads house when a globule splashes from my hair onto the carpet... whooops! However did my naive little mind worry about it on the carpet? Of course not, as it was of course fading dye in 6-8 weeks so that would happen with the carpet too no doubt. Erm, suffice it to say no it wouldn't and I was busted long before I could confirm this little theory. In my defence it was a very little bathroom.... and therefore a tiny carpet... and I was young... and innocent...and a bit dim.
Anyway, here is La Mop:
I am rather pleased, I might go for more red and less brown next time :D
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Christmas Crafts....
Seeing as I am let off mincemeat, Christmas pud and cake duty this year, we are going to France (and sorry burglars, the house will once more be watched carefully so mits off!) to stay with Grannie and Grande. I thought I should attempt a start on my Christmas gifts I have bought all the stuff I need to get started on my Christmas Tutu's for all the little girls we know... well most of them those that aren't getting tutus are getting something just as nice. I have sparkly tulle, ribbons and satin coming and then I will get started on my tutu production line :D. Amazing how in hindsight I can spend only a little over the amount of money I spent making 1 tutu to make 7! Wonders of Ebay I suppose! I am quite excited about it. Especially as I know at least one of my tutus has been made by my lovely friend Annabel and looks fabulous!
I have also been tweaking my wings tutorial, hopefully the new improved one will be even prettier than the wings I made for Dimitra. Watch this space for a new tutorial. I also have a dinosaur pattern up my sleeve that I will be working on once I have done the girly stuff, thankfully we only know one boy who needs a gift as I have a feeling this will be a lot more complicated than mucking about with Tulle! I need to find an outfit for minis too... or something. I might make a cuddly item for them, but something cool... will have a think!
I also have grown up ideas... so parents and siblings if you are reading please put in your order (well I want you to like your Christmas gifts...). I am going to have a go at A Margaret Bag for the ladies, maybe with a matching purse if I am feeling particularly brave. Not sure what for the boys yet... any ideas? Knowing my father and husband maybe some sort of organiser thingybob would be a good thing...
I have also been tweaking my wings tutorial, hopefully the new improved one will be even prettier than the wings I made for Dimitra. Watch this space for a new tutorial. I also have a dinosaur pattern up my sleeve that I will be working on once I have done the girly stuff, thankfully we only know one boy who needs a gift as I have a feeling this will be a lot more complicated than mucking about with Tulle! I need to find an outfit for minis too... or something. I might make a cuddly item for them, but something cool... will have a think!
I also have grown up ideas... so parents and siblings if you are reading please put in your order (well I want you to like your Christmas gifts...). I am going to have a go at A Margaret Bag for the ladies, maybe with a matching purse if I am feeling particularly brave. Not sure what for the boys yet... any ideas? Knowing my father and husband maybe some sort of organiser thingybob would be a good thing...
Monday, 5 October 2009
The time has come, The Walrus said, to look for schools for Bibi
My baby will be starting Reception as of September 2010... Yeep! This morning I have been busying myself with calling the 2 non denominational schools in our area. I have a visiting date for one of them on the 30th November and I have to call back at the end of October for the other one. This doesn't sound too bad until you consider that the closing date for applications is 4th December!
We are in an awkward position as, being pagan, a Christian school wouldn't be appropriate for the girls. However there are only two non denominational schools in our catchment area and both were over subscribed last year so I have a feeling I am going to worry about this from now until the 25th March 2010 when we can find out where Phoebe will be going.
It is quite scary considering Phoebe at school. I worry that she will struggle there or won't make friends or won't keep up with the work. I know Phoebe so well, she is a 0-100% kind of girl and I don't know if that will work as well for her in school as it does at the moment. I also worry a lot about the friend thing, I have always struggled with that myself and was badly bullied in Secondary school (but it sort of started in primary too) and I really really can't say how much I worry that the same fate waits for my girls. I really hope not and I hope I will be able to help them as much as possible.
We are in an awkward position as, being pagan, a Christian school wouldn't be appropriate for the girls. However there are only two non denominational schools in our catchment area and both were over subscribed last year so I have a feeling I am going to worry about this from now until the 25th March 2010 when we can find out where Phoebe will be going.
It is quite scary considering Phoebe at school. I worry that she will struggle there or won't make friends or won't keep up with the work. I know Phoebe so well, she is a 0-100% kind of girl and I don't know if that will work as well for her in school as it does at the moment. I also worry a lot about the friend thing, I have always struggled with that myself and was badly bullied in Secondary school (but it sort of started in primary too) and I really really can't say how much I worry that the same fate waits for my girls. I really hope not and I hope I will be able to help them as much as possible.
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Perfectionist? Moi?!
Mum and Rob are coming over for Sunday lunch today, I don't normally do a big lunch on Sundays as it is a lot of work and, frankly, I am lazy. There is also a bone of contention between me and roast potatoes... I can't do them without excessive amounts of goose fat and that makes them too fat laden for me to eat then and I don't really like them either. Anyway I am doing one today and because I am a perfectionist when it comes to meals I make for others I can't use packets. I would if it was just the four of us but not for guests...
So today's menu is:
Roast Chicken
Gratin Dauphinoise (if ANYONE tells me double cream is worse for me than goose fat then they are going to get lynched!)
Sage, Onion and Lemon Stuffing
Bread Sauce
Roast Parsnips
Roast Carrots
Broad Beans
Peas
Gravy
It took some hard hunting through the cookbooks last night to find a stuffing recipe, Gary Rhodes Keeping It Simple wins the prize. I was surprised that there was only one stuffing recipe in [cough]94[/cough] cook books... obviously I don't have enough (Paul remains unconvinced of this!). Stuffing and Bread Sauce was done last night, just needs cooking / warming through. The gratin I will make shortly when I can pop up to the shop to get the double cream (and the other veg). The rest is plain sailing!
The girls are very excited about seeing Grannie and Grande, I am hoping Clara will acquiesce to the request of a morning sleep (I doubt it but I can hope) and I am sure we will have a lovely afternoon. It is Grande's birthday on the 5th so they are bringing birthday cake for pudding, this will certainly put the girls in a good mood as they do love a good birthday cake!
So today's menu is:
Roast Chicken
Gratin Dauphinoise (if ANYONE tells me double cream is worse for me than goose fat then they are going to get lynched!)
Sage, Onion and Lemon Stuffing
Bread Sauce
Roast Parsnips
Roast Carrots
Broad Beans
Peas
Gravy
It took some hard hunting through the cookbooks last night to find a stuffing recipe, Gary Rhodes Keeping It Simple wins the prize. I was surprised that there was only one stuffing recipe in [cough]94[/cough] cook books... obviously I don't have enough (Paul remains unconvinced of this!). Stuffing and Bread Sauce was done last night, just needs cooking / warming through. The gratin I will make shortly when I can pop up to the shop to get the double cream (and the other veg). The rest is plain sailing!
The girls are very excited about seeing Grannie and Grande, I am hoping Clara will acquiesce to the request of a morning sleep (I doubt it but I can hope) and I am sure we will have a lovely afternoon. It is Grande's birthday on the 5th so they are bringing birthday cake for pudding, this will certainly put the girls in a good mood as they do love a good birthday cake!
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Home Sweet Home...
I loved our two weeks away with Dad and Jane but oh it is good to be home! We got in an hour earlier which was even better and the girls were delighted to see everything and the cat was pleased to see us too. Unfortunately it appears she had been sick whilst we were away so the laundry pile was rather larger than we anticipated! Still everything else is fabby and it is lovely to be in our own home again.
I heaved a sigh of joy when I climbed into my own bed last night and have been enjoying all the little bits about being home that you take for granted. Little things like being able to find everything you want to without having to look (too hard!), not having to worry about the girls shouting or being pesky with animals (well we do but they know better!), flushing the loo roll! In fact the only downsides to being home so far is breaking Phoebe of the loo roll in the bin habit we had to do in Greece. This has totally bemused her bless her but she will get back to normal soon, better warn preschool about that though...
I have taken all my pictures to Snappy Snaps for printing and have a sketch pad ready for making a simple scrapbook up tomorrow evening so that should keep me out of trouble for an evening.
Mum and Rob are coming for lunch tomorrow too, can't wait to catch up with them :D
I heaved a sigh of joy when I climbed into my own bed last night and have been enjoying all the little bits about being home that you take for granted. Little things like being able to find everything you want to without having to look (too hard!), not having to worry about the girls shouting or being pesky with animals (well we do but they know better!), flushing the loo roll! In fact the only downsides to being home so far is breaking Phoebe of the loo roll in the bin habit we had to do in Greece. This has totally bemused her bless her but she will get back to normal soon, better warn preschool about that though...
I have taken all my pictures to Snappy Snaps for printing and have a sketch pad ready for making a simple scrapbook up tomorrow evening so that should keep me out of trouble for an evening.
Mum and Rob are coming for lunch tomorrow too, can't wait to catch up with them :D
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Last Greek Blog for 2009... sob!
Well we have had 2 glorious weeks here with my Dad and Jane. The girls, for the most part, have been fabulous and well behaved. The cats, dogs chickens & seagull will recover with some good counselling and possibly valium... As for Dad and Jane, well they will stop rocking soon. Not for a while though they have Father Avraam's 3 month old Jack Russell cross bouncy puppy coming to stay for 8 days on Sunday.
I have been saving the last of the animal pictures for this blog in the hope that Kenton and Brel will reappear however they are still AWOL and are being fed elsewhere. If they come back in the winter Dad and Jane have promised to photograph them for me so I can blog the miscreant kitties. Anywhere here are Maud and Wilfred.
Maud:
She has a glandular problem M'kay? And an attitude problem but we will skim over that.
Wilfred:
Poor Wilf, he just wants a friend. He has tried all the other cats to no avail and even the seagull isn't fussed.
Now Paul and I face the Boat Trip, The Flight, The Train and The Taxi to get home with 2 small children who will be a, tired and b, missing their Papous and Yia Yia. Damn them for changing the rules on medised (not that I would drug my children... oooh no [whistles]. I am hoping the house is still in one piece (and one place...) and the cat is going to be too miffed with us for going and leaving her with the neighbours popping in daily. Only time will tell, I am looking forward to curling up in my bed tomorrow night though, and the girls sleeping through.
I have been saving the last of the animal pictures for this blog in the hope that Kenton and Brel will reappear however they are still AWOL and are being fed elsewhere. If they come back in the winter Dad and Jane have promised to photograph them for me so I can blog the miscreant kitties. Anywhere here are Maud and Wilfred.
Maud:
She has a glandular problem M'kay? And an attitude problem but we will skim over that.
Wilfred:
Poor Wilf, he just wants a friend. He has tried all the other cats to no avail and even the seagull isn't fussed.
Now Paul and I face the Boat Trip, The Flight, The Train and The Taxi to get home with 2 small children who will be a, tired and b, missing their Papous and Yia Yia. Damn them for changing the rules on medised (not that I would drug my children... oooh no [whistles]. I am hoping the house is still in one piece (and one place...) and the cat is going to be too miffed with us for going and leaving her with the neighbours popping in daily. Only time will tell, I am looking forward to curling up in my bed tomorrow night though, and the girls sleeping through.
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