Round Up

2 months since I last blogged!  I really am dreadful at blogging/remembering/doing stuff in general! (and I use exclaimation marks way too often)

It's not like life hasn't been busy over since January, it has, which is probably more to do with the lack of blogging.  I do have a tendency to get to a point of feeling overloaded and then procrastination sets in which in turns means nothing gets done.

So what has happened (bit further back than start of January but my blog so my rules), there were some Christmas parties

   

We then had a visit from Santa

I bought some of Katy Jones' Priory Square (with a particular reason in mind but it's not right, however I hopefully have another use for it for the same project so it's all good)

Then it was all back to work/school so the normal mundane essentials of everyday took over and lots of this happened

The husband had to go and this cut out - benign tumour, it's harmless but still a 'thing' to get my head round (for a while it looked as yuk as that sounds, but it all good now)

I have even done some sewing believe it or not..... another bee block, which I based on a design I found in Katy Jones' book, 25 Patchwork Quilt block, which it a really good book.

And we've also been doing a fair bit of exploring our new neighbourhood, we have this path literally on our doorstep which takes you to some farmland which feels miles away from traffic but isn't at all!

So life has been trundling along quite nicely lately, not massively productive sewing wise but lots of other stuff (i.e. 2 small people) keeping me occupied.

Restful New Year

Well it's that time of year again, 1st January.  The start of a new year, a time when most people make new plans, new goals, have new hopes for the forthcoming days, weeks, months.

I'm not really one for making resolutions,  don't really see the point. It's like setting yourself up to fail on purpose.  Why do that?

So no resolutions from me but what I do want to do is take some time to enjoy all that happened last year.  Last year was a jam packed year - the whole rigmarole of getting the Dude into school (which basically went on for 8 months from applying for a place in January to the day he started in August), moving house, change to work patterns, minor illnesses, 2 cars deciding to part company from us, I turned 40, news of changes in our immediate wider family, etc, etc.

Lots of good happened, nothing terribly bad and lots of people had to deal with lots worse than us. It was just a lot to keep on track of mentally. So as 2015 starts I'm celebrating in a low key fashion and planning lots of good stuff to keep me busy for the next 12 months.

(the photos are just to prove I did actually make something in 2014, I did make a little more than just these but there are few decent photos on my phone!)

Hello forty!

It's happened, I've had a 'big' birthday.  If you look at the traditional views this occasion seems to be a big deal, a major phase in life, something to be massively depressed or upset about or to celebrated in some grandiose fashion.

For me, well the actual day itself started off with some lovely gifts from my family, then a shopping trip, then some visits from friends with some more lovely gift followed by a meal with extended family and ended with them all coming back to ours for a natter. It was a busy, but lovely, day and I was a very lucky girl given the amount of gorgeous gifts I was given. 

But it all seemed a bit anti-climatic, I don't know what I expected to happen or feel but I woke up the next day and felt ......... exactly the same!!!  And I'm perfectly happy about that.

I was very lucky with my gifts, I got this fantastic red (and very shiny) food mixer from Pedro, I've been debating over getting one for a couple of years, not knowing if I would actually use it but I decided well if I've got it, then I've got to use it!  I also got a few book and some baking things from the kids.

  My dad obviously knew about the mixer as I got a load of cake making/decorating accessories and a cheeky wee book about turning 40!  Oh and he got me my fabulous birthday cake, which I'm not sure I actually got a photo of before it was cut up but it had a funky wee handbag and shoe decoration on the top.

So the day after my birthday me and the dude had our first shot at using the mixer and tried out the number cake moulds too.  40 for me obviously, 1 for Little Miss, 5 for the Dude and 2 for Pedro because he was 42 (he's 43 today) and we didn't have two number 4 tins, so he could share my 4!!

 From the lovely and generous Lynz I got these fantastic little dragon prints, which are essentially my kiddies in dragon form, aren't they just the bestest, cutest little dragons?  I lurve them muchly.  She also made the gorgeous cushion for 'my' chair and the funky throw too.  The cushion has a feather insert and I swear it's the most comfy cushion I've ever had!  No word of a lie.  Thank you hugely Lynz :)

My friends at work got me some wonderful jewellery from a wee local place which had a few artist studios and a cafe in the middle of it (which sells the most amazing food and the biggest scones I've ever seen!) which also has space to sell the good of the artists who are based there.  I got a fabulous pair of angel wings earrings and bracelet but also these gorgeous earrings which I just love

From my brother I have been well and truly spoiled, he asked me what I would like a little while ago and I came up with a suggestion which, if they wanted to, I was more than happy for the gift to be from my brother, sister and dad, which is what we have done quite a few times in the past normally for my dad - joint gift of higher value that is particularly asked for rather than a 3 jumpers or whatever!  But he outdid himself and bought this all by himself.  I'm still a bit stunned and very, very appreciative.

(I used it to take all these photos and I'm still having a play with it but did realise that you can't take a photo of a camera when you are using the said camera so a crappy photo of the box is all I could achieve!)

I got quite a few other gifts but there are enough photos in this post tonight as it is and if I include everything in the one post I'll have nothing else to post about for ages!!  Well that's not strictly true as I've a massive amount of sewing to do/catch up on, but that's for another day.

Wise Old Man?

This little guy is one half of my world and he is the best.  Obviously I'm immensely biased based on the fact he's my son.  He's a very responsible little dude for being 5, he loves being a big brother and loves his little sister more than I could ever have hoped for. 

There are days when he drives me round the bend and then there are times when he makes my heart melt.  Like the other night.  We were walking to the local park to watch the Round Table Annual Bonfire and Firework Display when he noticed one of the street lights wasn't working.  I joked around making a comment about someone forgetting to put 50p in the meter (showing my age).  At 5 years old this meant nothing to him!  So I explained that my Granny used to have a meter that you had to put in a 50p coin and turn it round to make the electricity work.  He then asked if my Granny was dead, (we've talked about this before), so I reminded him that she died a long, long time ago.  To which he replied,

'yeah, but she's watching over everyone, that includes you too Mummy'

It was such an innocent but incredibly mature thing for him to come out.  I did have to wipe away a few tears very quickly before he thought he'd upset me. 

We've talked a little bit about heaven, not that I'm particularly religious, but mainly as a way to explain where my mum is, as she died 19 years ago, so he knows about his 'special granny' and that she watches over all of us but it's nothing we talk about that often.  That statement just took my breathe away at a time of year where I feel the absence of family members a bit more than normal.

Love my little dude :)

Seasonal Activities

I'll start this by making a statement that we don't normally 'do' seasonal stuff.  I mean, we do the standard traditional christmas 'stuff' and in the last few years we have started doing more easter stuff but the other seasonal 'holidays' to americanise things for a second, we don't really do.  For various reasons, but mainly because I've never really seen the point!

But this year is a bit different, for a start the Dude is at school now so that meant his very FIRST school disco.  Excited?  You betcha!  And what did I forget to do?  Take a photo of him, but he was dressed as Spiderman.

(actually this was him at a birthday party a few weeks ago - the guy is kneeling down, the Dude isn't quite that tall yet!)

I also take Little Miss to a local toddler's group once a week so when they said there was a Halloween party I thought I'd dress her up too

 Not the best photo to be honest but she hardly stays still for a second and the camera on my phone isn't the quickest!  But she was a little cute pumpkin and looked adorable :)

Then when we got home she ended up pulling this face!  She is going to be trouble this one!!

Then to finish off getting into the spirit I popped up a couple of decorations and even managed to carve out these 2 pumpkins.  With only a little help from a couple of stencils (I'm good at times but not that good!)

 

 Then I rounded off last week by completing my Siblings Together2 Bee blocks for Sue this month.  I really enjoyed these and I can't wait to see Sue's giant Granny Square quilt.  It will look fab.

Now to get organised for Christmas (did I just say that?) quickly slap me now!!!

Purely in the Interest

.... of science I ate some cake.

The other week the lovely Susan at Canadian Abroad blogged about an awesome cake.  Now I'm no Mary Berry but I like to think I can pull off a decent cake when I try and I like to try different things.  I have never baked a cinnamon roll cake before so throwing diet caution to the wind I decided to have a go.  Now a couple of people have tried this before and apparently not been successful so I wasn't overly keen I'd be either.  But a quick trip to the supermarket to make sure I had the necessary ingredients and I was ready to go.

  

So a little weighing, measuring and mixing (by hand! I never mix by hand but couldn't be bothered plugging in my hand mixer) I ended up with this

It smells amazing!  I made it last Thursday night and it still smells fantastic every time you open the cake tin.  Everybody loves too, including Pedro and he doesn't really do cake so it must be good.  My only issue with it is that I feel it's a bit underdone in the middle but the cake tin I used wasn't quite 9x13 so it's not as shallow as it probably should be so that's why it's not as cooked as it should be.  It is still really, really good though, even being a bit squidgy.  Definitely one to be tried again, even though it plays havoc when your supposed to be dieting!!!!

Sunday Morning ...

... up with the larks!  Well sort of, it's 8am and I'm sitting in blissful quietness having a cup of tea before the rest of the household descends for breakfast.  The song does go on to say, 'think I'll take a walk in the park' but it's chucking it down outside so I'll give that part a miss.  But I am watching the birds on our feeder having their breakfast so I'm 'at one with nature' in a sense!!

Part of the reason I'm sitting here myself is to have a wee wander through the web without little people pestering me.  Recently I've come across a quilter called Cristy Fincher, initially on IG, but I'm checking out her blog, Sew Much Like Mom, where she talks about paperless paper piecing.  She also glue bastes and I'm intrigued about that.  So Sunday morning is about learning stuff :)

And learning new stuff is good.  It distracts me from the fact that life is hectic just now.  I've been stressed the last week, quite a bit, which I'm putting down to dealing with a lot this year - apply for the dude to get into primary, selling & moving house, dude starting primary school, working extra hours, general craziness at work, car hassles on top of starting the year being ill - it's kind of all come to a head this week and to be honest I've been a right moaning minnie, I've been doing my own head in, and I need to stop.  Everyone one has hard times, I'm no different.  Whining does change things, it just makes me irritating - to other people and myself. Pedro tells me I haven't really, but then I do suspect he's only saying that to stop me moaning lol!!!

Anyhoo, to attempt to stop myself from tipping right over the edge into complete crazy looney-ness I made stuff!  I've been playing with the halloween fabric I've got to try and decide what to do but at the moment indecisiveness and procrastination are my constant companions, so the other night I just sat down and started cutting and sewing.  Just to do SOMETHING and this is what I ended up with

I'm pretty pleased with them, although as ever I can see where they should be better, but they are a hit with the children so yay!  It's all good.