Partytime and fun at the farm!

Ok, so here it goes, as promised, some nice pictures after I shocked you all with the spider close-ups. Pictures of birthday bunting, cupcakes, presents and farm animals all here, so I'm preparing myself for a major photo uploading session armed with a pint of tea, and a birthday cupcake.

So here's the joint effort bunting, I thought it was really pretty, but Danny wasn't impressed when he got in from work on friday, obviously not manly enough for him.

The little door outside the window is the outhouse, that actually takes up most of the garden.

As I mentioned before, I decided to cop out of making cupcakes this year after I saw these in sainsburys, only 99p for 4!

These are some of my favourite presents that Ella got, I found this iron board for ella for £2 at a car boot, and made a new cover for it, because the original one was yellow with lime green spots. The cute vintage style toy iron is from Lapin & Me.

After umming and ahhing, over one of these very expensive toy kitchens, I happened apon this little cutie, from the ELC that folds away, and was only £24 (with my 20% online discount voucher) much more sensible I think!

these cute handmade felt biscuits....

Along with lots of other bits and pieces, Mum and Dad bought Ella these gorgeous boots from the Monsoon Sale Shop in Bicester, I nearly bought her them last autumn, full price, but they got them for only £12, bargain!
I must admit that from these photos, it looks like my daughter is only given girly toys to play with, but she also got some football goals for the garden, it just they don't look quite as pretty.


Anyway, after we all had lunch, then we headed off to Boydells Dairy Farm.

This little one was so keen to gobble up the food that the kids are given, he got stuck trying to wriggle out of the pen

This is Hazel a Red Pole calf

and Milo the Donkey, she's the grand old age of 23! Aren't donkeys lovely

During the summer it can sometimes be a bit crowded, but they close to the public after september, so we had the farm to ourselves. As you can see, the farm was very hands-on for the children, which makes it really fun for them, they also got to have a ride on a donkey and cart, milk a cow, and watch the sheep being milked (the farm makes cheese from ewes milk which is sold in Waitrose) but I haven't put the pictures up because I haven't got permission from all the parents.

So a good time was had by all, hope I haven't bored you all too much. x

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...

....I don't know why she swallowed the fly. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly, that wriggled, and jiggled, and wiggled inside her, I don't why she swallowed the fly!

I don't know about you, but my house seems to be crawling with spiders at the moment, sorry for those of you that are a bit squeamish, or terrified of these eight legged creatures, PLEASE LOOK NO FURTHER!

I don't mind them that much, I like them better than flies anyway, and this little lady, or should I say big mamma, has taken up residence in the window next to me, beside my newly potted window box, but outside I should add, not inside, that would be really freaky!

She is about 1.5" big, and at the moment she is just a subject of fascination for me and Ella. Although Danny has completely wrecked her web several times while cleaning the windows, everytime, she builds a bigger and better one. Yesterday I saw a large fly get caught in her web, and in no time at all she was bandaging it up in a wide net of silk, a lot different from the thin stuff the web is made out of, then she tucked into dinner!

Today, I also found this sucker in the sink

Two weeks ago, I had a dinner party, when I opened the door to let my guests in we all laughed as a spider dashed in out of the cold, before anyone could even get a foot over the threashold! I thought that it was just a one off, but this tuesday, exactly the same thing happened, with a surprisingly similar looking spider, was it the same one do you think? Has this happened to you? It wasn't even like I had left the door open and it just wandered in, it charged in as soon as I opened the dooor, exactly like the last time, like it had been waiting for me to open it!

Sorry if I've completely put you all off reading my blog ever again, but I promise I'll never post anymore pictures of spiders again!

On a slightly different subject, something that really makes me squeamish! It's Ella's 4th Birthday party on sunday, ARHHH!
I'm doing the kids, and parents lunch, and then we are heading off to our local open farm (Boydells Dairy Farm in Wethersfield, Essex) that makes cheese from ewes milk for Waitroise. They're open to the public during the spring to summer months, and close the last week of september, but they said we can come on sunday, and they will save a lamb for us to feed. The kids get to feed all the animals, and the lambs with a bottle, have a go on the donkey and cart and milk a cow, and the farmer takes us round the farm to visit all the other animals, with a 'talk' that's funny even for the adults, so all fun and games!
It was that or a trip to a play barn, which sounds like sheer hell to me, and they want to charge £10 a head for a load of deep fried junk food!

This time last year my sister Liberty came round the day before to help me out, but the night before we went out for a drink, and we were making cupcakes with a hangover at 7pm the next morning, not the best start to the day.
But this year, I found some very sweet looking cupcakes at sainsburys only 99p for 4, so I've got 24 on order. So that's one less thing I have to worry about.

I put the bunting for the party up today, to see how it fits, I bought a 5 metre length on ebay, because it was very pretty, and frankly it was cheap enough for me think 'sod fiddling about with all that cutting out!' but it really needed a bit extra, so this afternoon, I set about making an extention (at least I didn't have to make it from scratch!) and I'm really quite pleased with the end result, be it a joint effort (photos next week).

Oh, I've just remembered, Lib's (sister) just got a job as 'design assistant' for two episodes of "60 Minute Makeover" well done sis! I think it will be on tv next year, so I'll keep you posted as to when to look out for her.
She started today, and I spoke to her this afternoon, apparently it really does happen in an hour, oh and Terri Dwyer (presenter) got blue paint all over the face and in her eyes when someone was doing a 'jackson pollock-esque' piece of art, with a water pistol, that should be a laugh!

Anyway, wish me luck for sunday, and I'll be back next week with some photos of the 'happy' day xx

Swap Goodies & Sunshine Soup

I've finally got some time to sit down and put pen to paper, or rather fingers to keyboard, and say a big thank you to Jo my Back 2 School Swap partner, because on wednesday morning I recieved this beautifully wrapped parcel of goodies all the way from Mexico.

inside was some cute folders with a matching notebook, a length of twine with lots of mini wooden pegs for me to make a little washing line of inspiration, some metallic gel pens, some lovely polka dot pocket tissues, and three cute little badges, which Ella has got her eye on! Thank you so much for all my lovely presents Jo, it was definately worth the wait, and lovely to meet you too!

This week I got a bee in my bonnet about the state of the garden (I started off this year with good intentions, and just before all that awful weather we had, every thing was looking beautiful but with all the rain, both the flowers, and me gave up). On monday afternoon things got a bit ugly, as I cut everything back to within an inch of it's life, and now the garden is looking a bit naked.

So I went off to the local nursery and bought some cyclamen and pansies for my window boxes, as the geraniums are going for their winter break at my grandmothers greenhouse (where they will be fed and watered and meet lots of other geraniums, and fushias belonging to various members of the family, who are all cared for by my grandmother over the winter months, I wish I could go!).
Now I have something pretty to look at when I gaze out of the window, while I'm reading all your lovely blogs, look!

I have to say that I have finally succumbed to putting the heating on, I have been good up to now, and last week was saying to my mother 'why have you got the heating on, just put on a jumper and some slippers' but this week the temperature has really dropped, and the other night it felt freezing, I think it's time to get the 9 tog duvet out and add it to the 4.5 tog one (I have to boast because I am the proud owner of an all seasons, goose down duvet, courtesy of my mother-in-law for our wedding present, and two 100% goose down pillows, so being in bed is like being enveloped in a marshmallow, so cosy!)

Unfortunately the boiler packed up last year (it's about 15 yrs old, and we really need a new one, because as soon as you fix one thing, another thing goes wrong) it still heats the water, but the central heating won't work, so last year we resorted to electric radiators, and I think we will have to do the same this year, until we can afford to stump up the £2000 we where quoted to install a new one!

Anyway keeping with the cosy theme, today I made Sunshine Soup, so called because it's made mostly from carrots, potatoes and butternut squash, and maybe some sweet potato if I've got any, and when all those lovely root vegetables are whizzed up in the blender it makes such a lovely yellowy-orange - hence the name.

I love homemade soup, chunky or smooth, there is just something really comforting, and warming about it, made with good healthy ingredients and love, you can just feel it doing you good, and it's always surprisingly filling. I was watching 'Rachel's favourite food at home' last weekend, a she did a chorizo and chickpea soup, and since I've got a tin of chickpeas and and some chorizo in the cupboard, I thought maybe I'd give it a bash over the weekend!

'So tired, tired of waiting, tied of waiting for youuuu...'

I'm listening to The Kinks, and this song is quite apt, because today I have to wait in for a courier, which I'm sure you've all had to do at some point, thankfully I have been given a time slot of 1pm-5pm but that co-incides with Ella's nursery drop-off and pick up time which is the same 1pm and 5pm, I managed to make it back from the drop-off without missing them, but I hope they don't leave it till 5pm on the dot to try and deliver, because I have to leave at 4.50.

It also means that I can't really do that much this afternoon, which could be nice, but means I feel a bit naughty, and the reason for this is (I don't know if anyone else has had this happen to them?) that several times, when I've been upstairs working, I have come downstairs to find that a 'phantom' courier has been and gone and left me a card saying 'we have tried to deliver, but you weren't in' which was a blatant lie, because I've been in all bloodly day waiting for them!!!!!!! Why does that happen, I'm not deaf, I have a doorbell, and a knocker, do they just not bother??? It is not even like a have a big house where I can't here the knocker, it's only a little 3 bed terrace.

This whole courier thing is because of my mobile phone, because in the last couple of days, it started to switch itself off randomly, which is annoying, because I don't realise that it's off till I go to look at the time, or make a call. So Orange are sending out a new one costing my £15 for delivery, but If I miss the delivery, then they charge me another £13 to re-deliver!

Anyway, I've finished ranting now, so while I'm waiting, doing nothing, I thought it might be a good opportunity to write a post, which I've had trouble fitting in my schedule recently. I have also sort of been waiting for my back 2 school swap to arrive so I can post a picture of what I sent Jo, which she recieved last weekend, and I what I got from her, but my parcel hasn't arrived yet (god-bless royal mail) But it is coming all the way from Mexico, so I haven't given up just yet.
So this is the photo that she took of the contents of her parcel.....

and I will post a pic of what I get soon.

I managed to get round to doing something on my ever-increasing list of 'things to do' yesterday, I re-covered two out of three cushions (yes, I know, more cushions) for our sofa in some fabric off cuts that Phillippa (Boss and sister-in-law) gave me, because they match my living room, and because she's so generous and kind...(are you reading this???)

The one in front is made from Kensington velvet flock in Duck Egg, with a Duck Egg Blue colour cotton velvet on the back and edged in pom poms, and the other one is in Rossini Stripe in Duck Egg made into a 'Oxford' style cover.

Shameless Plug: Both fabrics are available to be made up into curtains or blinds on Phillippa's soft furnishings website Zia Koko, along with a large selection of other fabrics, including Cath Kidston, Vannessa Arbuthnott, and Voyage.

While I'm mentioning the 'Things to do' list, last week I got to tick off no.109) Make Lily a new bed cushion. I had bought some denim a few months ago to make what I thought would be a durable, not show the dirt too much, cushion for the lovely dog bed that Mum made to fit the un-used fireplace in the dining room. So here are some shots of Lily enjoying the new cushion......

and here is what I caught her doing the day after I made it..........

As you can imagine, I was not best pleased! I have since been spraying the corners with lavender oil, so it is not so tasty.

Edited at 5.45pm: Guess what, the courier never came!

Just a Quickie

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, been a bit busy, and I still haven't got time to write anything of any substance, but in the meantime, here is a song I really love from The Long Blondes, it's called 'Weekend Without Make-Up' x.

Cushy Galore!

Yesterday, I got round to making a couple of new cushions for my Etsy shop, and a new one for me, aswell as updating an old favourite that my mum made when I was little.

This is the old cushion, I took it apart and added some pom-pom trim to the sides ( you can never have too many pom-poms!) It's a bit old and faded, but I love the birds and butterflies, and on the back it has these gorgeous peonies

after finishing that I caught the bug a bit and pulled out some remnants from the shelf, This one is made from a pretty oatmeal linen printed with tiny blue rosebuds, and some Cath Kidston 'Rose Bloom Blue' cotton with a pale blue pom pom trim (yes, I know, it managed to sneak in again!)

The next one is made from a pretty white linen fabric embroidered with a leaf design in two shades of blue which I think is Jane Churchill, but I'm not completely sure (let me know if you recognise it) and a plain white linen, trimmed with blue grosgrain ribbon.

The above two are now in my Etsy Shop for £17 each ($32) including a feather or polyfibre cushion pad, which ever you prefer.

Finally I made this little cushion out of an embroidered linen cloth that my mother-in-law gave me, backed with some white linen, and I'm using it as a lumbar support for my sewing chair, which is a large Lloyd Loom armchair, not really ideal for sewing, but I haven't found a nice old solid office chair to cover in pretty fabric yet, they all seem to be made from black plastic, and I want a metal one!

After that I did the weekly shop at sainsbury's and decided to treat my self to this little beauty from the bakery counter, which I don't normally do, but it looked so pretty!

And imagine my joy when it was given to me in this surprising pretty box! I was debating on whether to keep it or not, but some of the strawberry cream from the cake had got on the inside, so it went reluctantly in the recycling.

Anyway it's friday, so roll on the weekend, I hope you all have a good one! xxx

Are you a member of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Eiderdowns?

Today is Ella's first afternoon back at nursery following the summer hols, and since I've got a day off today I imagined that I would be 'domestic goddess' making chicken soup this morning, and DIY diva, finishing the decorating in our bedroom this afternoon while Ella was out, but my plans have been foiled by evil call centres this morning, ahhhhhh!!!!! several long calls(mostly on 'hold') later, and knowhere closer to resolving the problem, I am feeling rather frazzled to say the least, and don't feel like doing anything much.

So with Ella shipped off to nursery, and pint sized mug of tea beside me, I have decided to write a post about nice things, cosy things, make you feel happy things!

I have been noticing a recent change in the air, fellow bloggers seem to be gearing up for autumn, especially in the UK, where we've given up on summer this year, and I'm feeling that change too, a longing for fresh clear days, with bracing winds, fallen leaves, wrapping up warm against the elements, fires lit, and snuggling on sofas with your favourite eiderdown, blanket or quilt!

After reading about Steph's and Sophie's recent acquisitions, I have decided to set up the Society for the Perservation and Appreciation of Eiderdowns and start the wheel turning for a 'show and tell' of your special eiderdowns, quilts or blankets. All you have to do to join the club is to write a post about your snuggly beauties, where and when you got them, where or how you like to display or use them, and any tips on caring for them, and encourage other bloggers to 'show and tell' too. Remember, this is not just for eiderdowns, but for quilts and blankets too!

It was about this time last year that I started looking on ebay for vintage eiderdowns (I've already started looking again), my grandmother always had some at home, and they where lovely and cosy to suggle up with in the evenings, and I wanted to replace the duvet that my husband always used on the sofa with something a bit more pretty and respectable. After a few mournful weeks of being outbid on several choices, I found this one in baby blue with little white polka dots and little posys of pinky red flowers, filled with down, and I fell in love with it, I hadn't seen one like it before, you don't tend to see a lots of blue ones, and I had to have it, I got into a bidding war with someone else and I think I paid about £70 for it! It's only small, made for a 3ft single bed I think, but it's very cute, and I love it.

Shortly after, just before christmas, my habit need to be fed again, and I came across this beauty, from one on my favourite ebay sellers, and again, the bidding war ensued, and I ending up paying about £60 for it. It's a lovely plump double sized one with a gorgeous pale pink ground and little pink posys of roses and daisys with touchs of pale blue, yellow and pistachio.

Finally under the two eiderdowns in the photo below is my Ivory silk handstiched bedspread which sits at the bottom of my bed, that my mum bought me as a present when Ella was born, it was so wonderful to get a lovely present like that just for me, when most people where buying clothes for the new baby, mum said I deserved a special treat since I did all the hard work!

I normally have my eiderdowns draped over the sofa in the winter for serious sofa snuggling, but during the summer I had them hung over the back of the day bed that I have in the spare bedroom/workroom for guests. I tend to just wash them in the machine on a gentle hand wash programme and then tumble dry them with a couple of tennis balls to fluff them up nicely. So if any of you reading this have a penchant for these cuddly wonders, dedicate your next post to them and join the S.P.A.E. today!

As for me, although the sun is shining here for once, my chicken soup is on the go, I've got my Uggs on, and going to snuggle up with my eiderdowns and another mug of tea, goodbye xxxx

Birthday Picnic Joy

On Sunday Ella, Libby (sister), Charlotte (cousin), and I, took Anna (cousin and sister of Charlotte) on a girly birthday picnic, Luckily the weather was fantasic (which I was a bit worried about after how the beginning of the week was), and we had a brilliant day. Our picnic location was by the lake at Ashlyns Organic Farm in North Weald, which is where Anna and Charlotte grew up, and where Libby, William and I used to spend what seemed liked endless summers with them and my Dad used to call us the 'Famous Five'.

So we had a bit of a trip down memory lane and after the picnic, we drove to Anna and Charlotte's old house, and sat outside it in the car, with the neighbours giving us strange looks, then we went and got an ice cream from the shop and walked to 'the rocks' (a clump of concrete slabs dumped in the middle of a field on a hill) which as you probably know for yourselves if you have been back to a place from your childhood - looked a lot smaller!

Anyway, here are some pictures of our nostalgic afternoon.

Libby teaching Ella a move from 'Karate Kid', we also acted out a scene from 'Dirty Dancing' you probably all know which one I mean!

Anna and Ella on 'the rocks'

Libby, Charlotte and Ella under the parasol

and some lovely brown cows we met on our way to the lake.

Oh the Glamour!!

Although my house is decorated mostly in a cosy country cottage style, I sometimes need to indulge my magpie tendancy for a bit of sparkle, so my bedroom, as I mentioned in a previous post, is in the slow process of being redecorated (it's been the same as when we moved in nearly two years ago with disgusting purple walls) - inspired by my love for Art Deco glamour, in pale shell colours, with lots of silk, mother-of-pearl, and ideally some mirrored furniture.
So here are some photos to give you the general idea, including a picture of a few of my 1920's-30's beaded purses which I collect, I've got about 15 now.

This pretty little lace butterfly brooch I found in the house when we moved in, it was in the cuboard under the stairs, hooked onto an iron holder screwed to the wall!

I have finally finished the silk curtains for my room, hurrah!!!
Here are some pics, I had to take them with the flash, because the light coming through the window made it impossible to get any kind of definition, so it made them look a lot more shiny than they actually are. Also, ignore the purple walls trying to get into shot

Blog Award

I'd like to say a big thank you to Jayne at Country Cottage Chic for awarding me the *Nice Matters* Award last week!
Thanks so much for thinking of me!

The Nice Matters Award is the idea of Genevieve at Bella-Enchanted. This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.


So now I have spread the love, and nominate 7 other lovely bloggers to receive it too, It was very difficult, as there are so many lovely blogs out there, and I've noticed that some of you that I would have choosen have already have been awarded, so after much deliberation, i've decided to choose ....

Nesty

Buttercup & Roses

So Tread Softly

Country Chic

Hope and Faith

Louise Loves

Tiny Happy

Congratulations girls!!!