Being 3 (nearly)

 So, the older jellybean gets the more headstrong he is getting. On the whole he is so easy and I get told that a lot, such a happy little soul, but when he is a bit tired or something isn't the way he wants then boy do we know about it! His favourite program isn't on or the toes on his socks are too 'crinkly' yes that really is a thing. The other night, his covers on his bed were not quite right and woke me up having a whine, getting up not looking at what time it was I tucked him back in and usually that would be that. OH NO, not long after he started again so in I went and shook his covers out, tucked him in and stayed until he was quietly snoring, or was that me?! Off I stumbled back to my cozy bed for a soundo sleep, I don't know whether it was 5 minutes or a few hours, it felt like I had just gone off and again he started, this time he was kicking off his covers going for it and all it was, he had dropped his cushion (baring in mind he is in a cotbed). I thought then that he would have me in and out for the rest of the night but thankfully he was happy after! 

Hi again!

I have not written a post for quite some time, truth is I find life as a mum to 2 busy. I love it don't get me wrong but as pip has her first year of school, things have ramped up with reading, writing, maths and home learning as well as Independent learning we try to teach. That and being the housewife still and finding I needed to get a part time job to help the family's finance, busy business!

Anyway, as the children get older they have personalities developing and can be really funny at times so I aim to document this and show them as they get older and how they've changed. X

Turning 30

Well, its arrived the big 3-0 and after the build-up ( and teasing from sisters in law) I can say I don't really feel any different. Tired but I have 2 toddlers who since September have seemed to catch every cough cold and occasional nasty virus around so not a lot of sleep to be had. Plus jellybean is now rather prematurely at the tantrum stage and winding up your sister, even though you know how it'll end up.

 I haven't written a blog post for a while A because I found when I was particularly lacking sleep I was also frustrated so used to vent writing and Mr P is awful to talk to butting in and offering solutions.

B as my approach to 30 I had a think what I wanted to achieve and 'goals for the future'.

I have achieved all but one, driving but now and then I have a quick spin round a car park. I like to think that this would have been a tick off the list too if the money issue hadn't been a little strained but this will be one for the future and it will not be long, two toddlers on a bus ride makes for no fun. 
It has also occurred that i can still go on a 18- 30 holiday too, ha that makes me feel a little better.

Quilt

For some time now I have been meaning to make a start on a quilt for my daughter. Before Christmas, I started to cut out some squares for a nine patch and then left it for a while, life got in the way. I picked them up again last week and realised I made a massive boob, I blame the lack of sleep from when I cut them due to my newborn. I had allowed the seam allowance but only for one side, an experienced quilter/ sewer may have been able to to still use the pieces but I want to do things ‘by the book’ and have it as perfect as I can manage. I thought that I would have all these small squares of fabric wasted, although I could save them for applique pieces but everything would then be quite samey. I thought about finishing, batting and binding then it occurred to me they are big enough to use as bias binding- woo no wasted fabric and it will give the quilt a nice finish too.

Keep checking back for progress and photos!

Thanks for reading, N

curtain tie backs

I had a spare pair of tie backs from our living room so in up cycling fashion, wanted to use them for my daughters room. Now her room is quite colourful and these are plain white bog standard ones so into the scrap box I go!

I got her to choose whatever fabric she wanted on them and decided to do a bunting design on them. As they were cotton fabrics instead of hemming or backing them I used pinking shears to make them look funky. I also got my daughter to help sew a running stitch to hold them until I got to my sewing machine.

I sewed a simple straight stitch along the top of the triangles and then pressed them.

Creme egg brownies

As it is time for Easter and indulging I have a recipe treat for you! I have seen these dotted all over the place, originally from Eric Lanlard I believe and as I have a weekend of family gatherings I thought I would give them a try.

185g dark chocolate

185g unsalted butter

85g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

3 eggs

275g caster sugar

A bag of mini crème eggs

-Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gm4. Over a pan of water, melt the chocolate and butter together then put to one side to cool slightly.

-In a separate pan, crack in the eggs and whisk in the sugar until pale and frothy. Add this to the chocolate mixture and stir in.

-Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and gently fold in.

-Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes and whilst the mixture is in the oven, take a sharp knife and finding the join, cut them in half.

-After 15-20 mins, take the mixture out and squish in the egg halves evenly spaced apart.

-Put it back in the oven for 10 mins to finish baking and melt the crème eggs.

-Let the brownies cool completely in the tin before cutting.

Vintage fair

Yesterday I had a mummy day, long overdue and popped over the water to have a bit of retail therapy and also attend Southampton vintage fair. I went with my younger sister and son and as we got to the guildhall, a long line of people greeted us which is always a good sign that it is worth going. As we made our way through the entrance into the hall, rails and tables of vintage lovelies awaited to be touched and adorned on the next owner. I already had a list of things I wanted to look out for but my eyes kept drawing me in all directions with the colours and textures, scooting up each aisle to look for fabric and tea sets proved fruitless unfortunately so I was free to browse the rails of clothes. As we laughed at a very 80’s shell suit it occurred to me that some of the denim pieces could be 90’s- my era at a vintage fair- eep! There were some beautiful tea dresses that I was very tempted to buy but were too big or long and I was just too nervous for the thought of my pins and dressmaking scissors to start making alterations and then have a disaster.

Walking round, a charming little stall caught my eye, the apple bobber, selling children’s vintage with some  pretty little lace christening gowns and THE most gorgeous little girls dress and jacket suit as well as magazines, books and patterns. Seeing how well made these clothes were inspired me to think about starting to make clothes for my children.

A stall with a rack of beautiful vintage hats stopped us in our tracks for a closer inspection at Juliette’sthread and we admired the reworked bags.

Another stall that pulled us in with their beautifully laid out goodies including a crocodile bag were Tomorrow looks vintage- by Jones. Fur coats in perfect condition just willing you to stroke them and some darling clutch bags.

A stall that I will be contacting in the future is vintage in print, Mr p wants a vintage car print, probably to offset the trinkets and treasures I have dotted around! They had some wonderful old vogue prints and harpers bazaar but I could see that he wouldn’t be impressed with yet more fashion related girlieness.

My sister bought a lovely Alice in wonderland inspired necklace from the lovely mother and daughter team, forage and find and we spent an age looking through the old postcards trying to make out handwriting and finding it endearing a thank you card for some socks. A child’s cabinet displayed made me think of parents and grandparents rummaging in their lofts to bring down old toys and looking through photos, especially now they have gone up a generation and noticing the painted murals in common.

The last stall we popped to is where I got my silk scarf which evidently my daughter, almost 3 just LOVES and carries it in her bag. The neck scarfs in particular where neatly folded across the table and you didn’t have to rummage through bins to look at each one. The ladies at kipper and bow were lovely to chat to and had some lovely shabby chic bunting made from paper that I just wanted to buy it all.

I am just wishing that I booked in an appointment for the vintage hair lounge as the girls being worked on looked fab.

Love N x