Pretty Flowers!

 

Look at my courgette flowers now! Isn't it beautiful! I am so thrilled all my hard work a few weeks ago seems to be paying off. I think I need to do a bit of swotting up though to see if I should be doing anything with them. I left my some tomatoes to their own devices the first time I tried to grow them...well....the area resembled a jungle in the end! I can't say  I am an expert with them now, but haven't managed a repeat of that first attempt!

 

 

 

My friend brought me in a bunch of flowers at the weekend, for looking after her foster child.

Because of all the trauma that was going on I didn't have a chance to really appreciate them.

Today I suddenly spotted the roses had opened out...isn't it beautiful. Teen One and I are wondering what colour the lilies in the background will be.

 

 

 

On the subject of pretty flowers....what do you think of this adorable little one? Isn't she sweet...and what about all that hair!! She is the granddaughter of a friend who came for lunch today.  Teen One was in her element giving her cuddles.

 

 

The weather was a little unsettled this morning, but this afternoon has been quite pleasant. Perfect washing drying weather...warm with a breeze.

Teen One took our remaining gerbil out into the garden. We feel he is in need of some TLC at the moment and having more time spent with him. The play pen was half in the shade and half in the sun...he preferred to take in the suns rays...can you see him there?

 

 

I have finally finished the rainbow ripple blanket I am making for Teen One (inspired by Attic 24)well most of it anyway.  All that is needed is the sewing in of those ends and a few rows of single crochet for the edging.

I don't have any plans for my next project yet...unusually....so am open to some inspiration!

 

 

 

Finally, we are in need of some DIY advice! On Saturday Hubby made a new shelf for me, from a lovely piece of oak. Unfortunately, one side is curling/warping slightly. You can see in the picture where the right side is pulling away from the glue.

He has done some googling as to how to rectify this...from using a steam iron to leaving it alone....anyone got any advice?

 

I Like What I Like!

 

 

Well today has been an ordinary day, and I rather like ordinary days sometimes!

A day of achieving all the usual things and also a few extras!

Something I had hoped to do today was clean up Teen One's new shoes. They came back from the weekend away with grass stains. Seeing as they were  new I really wanted to see if I could clean them up for her.

I remembered an American friend had given me a "Tide To Go " stick a few years ago. It was something that for a long time just sat with the rest of the laundry products, until one day Teen One found a stain on a favourite top that washing hadn't removed. Not thinking the Tide stick would do any good (not ever had any success with Vanish) I smeared it over the stain with my mind on other things...and hey presto...the stain disappeared before my eyes!!

So this morning, I gave the grass stains a go...and see if you can spy any! I certainly can't! Teen One was very pleased :)

I had a google earlier, wondering how expensive it would be to have some shipped over from the US...and found I can buy them on Amazon!   I am now wondering if they have been available in Supermarkets all this time and I just haven't seen them! Will be keeping my eyes open next time.

 

 

 

I went into the garden just after breakfast to see if any of the plants needed watering before the sun got too hot. I was amazed to see the courgettes I planted from the Funky Veg Kit were started to flower!! This is the most success I have ever had with home gown produce...ok...I know we are not quite at the produce bit yet...but flowers....well its looking good isn't it!!

 

 

Teen Two was still a bit downhearted this morning, and I was thinking about him all day, hoping and praying he was managing to get on with the day without too many sad thoughts. I saw one of his favourite chocolate bars was on special offer, so couldn't resist treating him! After all...chocolate is one of the best pick me ups isn't it!

When we lived in New England 19 years ago, I had never heard of Oreos, but they were very obviously a part of most American kids life. Now, we see it everywhere over here in the UK, its one of the "flavours of the month" it seems.

I am hoping to make some Oreo topped Brownies this week, inspired by "Tales from a Happy House"

Her posting yesterday came at just the right time for me as I need to get a tray bake made for a young peoples event at the weekend. I am hoping this will go down a treat, along with a load of Jam Jar Puds I am planning on making. I shall keep you posted as the week goes on!

 

 

 

Whilst talking about "treats" I thought I would confess to a very big treat the other day!

For some years now I have been a rather avid fan of Orla Kiely. I particularly love her "Stem" collections. Whenever I see her designs I like to linger and admire them. There is something so simple yet endearing about her use of repeat patterning. Not all of her designs are to my taste, but the majority of them are. They are however rather out of my price range, so admiring and appreciating the work is as far as I go.

I was thrilled to come across one of her shops in Covent Garden last year...a whole shop of her designs! Not just a little section in a department store!

So you can imagine how excited I was to see an advert on the TV for coffee jars carrying her designs!! I rushed out eagerly the next day to make a purchase, thinking I would add to my collection every couple of weeks, but was rather taken aback at the price of them. Around £8, but I suppose it was a posh coffee. I decided however I couldn't stretch to that much so just did my usual and admired the design.

A week or two later I saw that the jars were on special offer for £5!! Well...I just couldn't resist that could I....until that is...I saw they only did this range in regular coffee and we only drink decaff!

So...yet again I just stood there in the aisle and admired the pretty patterns.

Another couple of weeks went by and I thought no more about it, until one day I saw them again....pleading with me to give them a new home!! I kept telling them I really shouldn't, and anyway we didn't drink regular coffee, so I really couldn't justify buying one. But then they reminded me, I would never be able to own an Orla Kiely Storage jar for a fiver ( take a look at the website!!) and these ones came with the added bonus of being filled with posh coffee. Didn't I make coffee cakes...didn't I have friends  round who might prefer regular to decaff...didn't I have friends who would appreciate a Random Act of Kindness by being given some posh coffee in a  jam jar?? But which one to have ...which pattern did I like best...well....there was nothing for it....I had to have them ALL!!

Please tell me that coffee jars talk to everyone!

 

 

 

 

Last year we started to re-upholster some old dining room chairs. I couldn't find any fabric I really liked enough to live with, so started looking at curtains instead, hoping I would find a neutral design  that I could use to cover the chairs with whilst waiting for that perfect pattern in proper upholstery fabric to turn up...I found these in The Range ( so you can guess they were quite cheap!) and it wasn't until we were on the fourth chair that I realised they were very "Orla Kiely-ish!" I also around the same time started to collect some new tumblers in Ikea...

 

 

 

 

... look familiar!

I guess it goes to show...I like what I like!

The Final Farewell

 

 

With Teen One home from Wales, and the sad news broken to her, we were able to get on with a simple funeral service in the garden for the final farewell to Cookie. Teen Two, unbeknown to us, had chosen some "fitting music" as he said. In actual fact it really was very fitting indeed, and the sort that brings tears to your eyes! He said a few words, hubby said a simple prayer, and then Teen Two filled in the shallow grave. Grandma picked some flowers from the garden and laid them on top. We then added some stones and shells,  and garden toys from when the children were small.

Hopefully the Teens (Teen Two especially ) will be able to move on now and enjoy the time left with Cookies brother Shadow.....

 

 

 

Well the rest of the day was a usual Sunday really. Church and Sunday school in the morning.

Roast beef and Yorkshires for dinner. As usual I took my Recycled Teenager next door, a dinner in. I use this very handy "Casserole Carrier" made by the ever talented Young Retiree. Although the dinner is on a plate, with another plate covering it, the carrier is ideal as I always heat the plates before hand to keep the dinner piping hot for him.

 

 

Peeling the veg ready for dinner raised a bit of a chuckle today! I often buy the supermarket "basic/saver" range of carrots....all different shapes and sizes at a much cheaper rate. Today was a first though for carrots looking like this! The first one looked rather like a pair of legs I thought....

 

 

the next one to come out of the bag was even funnier....like a pair of legs desperate for the loo!

 

 

 

Although Teen One was only away for a day, having her back today was like a little ray of sunshine...and she looked particularly lovely, I thought, in her new dress  which she bought with Christmas vouchers from New Look.

 

 

 

Today's cake for tea was Luscious Lemon Cake again...quick and simple and very tasty!

 

 

 

 

 

We are hoping that tomorrow's return to routine, will bring about some normality to this very unsettling and unusual weekend.

 

A Sad Day For Teen Two

 

When I started this blog three weeks ago, little did I think I was going to be sharing things so sad and so close together.

Today was supposed to be a fun day, looking after a friends foster child, enjoying the sunshine, and then sharing a meal with our friends when they came to collect Young Missy.

Unfortunately the day took a different turn of events. We had noticed last night one of the gerbils was not himself, and also very very thin, apart from a very bulging tummy. This did not look good.

A bit of googling led us to believe he probably had a tumour. I had a rather restless night, worrying the little critter was in pain, and worrying how Teen Two would take the news.

He has been very protective towards these two little fellas, having received them as his 13th birthday present. He loves them to bits.

I came down early, expecting to maybe see Cookie hadn't survived the night....he had, but clearly was not himself.

So, when we were all up, we got little Cookie out and showed Teen Two what we had discovered, and then got him to monitor his movements in the little play area we have for them. It was obvious things were not right. So we talked out what options we had. All this brought poor Teen Two to tears...but he knew the kindest thing to do was go to the vets, knowing he may not be coming back with us.

We spent a very sad couple of hours, waiting for our appointment time to come. Many tears where shed and much sighing went on.

I have to say, the vet treated us all with the utmost of respect, and gave us time alone in the room to say our goodbyes. Teen Two more or less poured his heart out to the little furry ball in his hand, whilst hubby and I looked on feeling completely helpless and as inwardly distraught as Teen Two was.

The vet took Cookie away, left us to weep alone, then came back with a little wrapped bundle for us to bury at home  (Teen Two's request.) She confirmed there had been a tumour and we had done the right thing in bringing him today.

I felt sorry for the foster child, who had to be an observer to this great family loss, and we did our best to include her, as she too as always loved playing with our gerbils.

The photo above was taken just before we left for the vets.

 

 

 

We tried to get on with the day and do some activities to take our minds off it,  a trip to the local park...

 

 

 

feeding the local wildlife...

 

 

 

 

 

a little stroll....

 

 

 

 

a game of "granny hop out of bed" with the plentiful supply of bindweed.....

 

 

 

 

some crabbing.....

 

 

 

although there were no crabs biting today...only tiddlers!

 

 

 

 

But none of these things took away from our heavy hearts. At least such events open the way to conversations one would never normally start...and these experiences are a valuable, if sad, part of life.

We shall end with a picture of happier days.

To many he was just a little rodent, but to all you pet owners out there...you will know that feeling of loss that comes with having loved and cared for an animal and made them a part of your heart and life.

For us as parents, its even harder to see your child mourn something they loved so much and we have yet to share the news with Teen One who is blissfully unaware of the sadness that has befallen our family today.

 

In Memory of Cookie 2013-2015

Friday Night is Chocolate Night!

 

 For Teen One and I, last night was spent putting these together ahead of Friday Club tonight.

I am excited to see what the children do with them...all will be revealed later!

 

 

After doing the weekly clean for my Recycled Teen next door, it was time to load the car up. Teen One is going to Wales for the weekend for a Young People's Bible Study. There will of course be some fun to be had inbetween the serious stuff. Tonight they have a BBQ, hopefully they wont get too wet overnight from the predicted heavy thunder storms, and will be up bright and early for  a bacon butty breakfast.

After a session of Bible study and lunch (they are well fed over their stay!) its a trek into the mountains.....hoping its not too hot for them!

We will miss her, but know she will be having a great time.

 

 

 

 

You will be pleased to learn, that on the 100 mile round trip to drop her off with a friend  who will drive the rest of the way, I only drank tap water! No smoothies for me today!

 

 

We had a bit of time to spare at the meet up service station, so Teen One and I had a wander round as it was cooler than waiting in the car. ( Take note, at this point I could have visited Costa for a drink!) We were amused to see these baby bananas....they were about as long as Teen Ones finger...so small...take a look at your own finger and then imagine it as a banana!! Dinky or what!! 

 

 

 

Once back in town, I had to pop in to the supermarket for some fresh provisions to take us over the weekend, and was happy to see a little bundle of fresh veg with yellow stickers on!19p a bag...bargain!

 

 

 

 

As I was walking passed our local infant school...which both my children attended what seems like only yesterday.....I thought how pretty the entrance path looked with these hanging plants. When I looked closer I thought, what a great idea...this has to be added to  my "must try" projects!

 

 

Very effective way of recycling plastic bottles aye!

 

 

 

A few years ago, hubby declared Friday night to be "Chocolate Night" much to the kids pleasure!

Tonight he presented us with this. Salted Caramel is the flavour of the moment it seems. It was rather nice...but for me nothing can beat a good old slab of original Galaxy ( unless its a slab of Cadbury's Dairy Milk!)

 

 

 

It did however have a rather lovely blue wrapper, which I thought just had to be kept for a craft project of some sort.

 

 

And finally....our craft at Friday Club was Jacob taking his family back to his homeland with his 12 sons.  I got the idea from Danielles Place, although we actually assembled them slightly differently.

We found it easy to lie the 12 cut sticks on a straight edge (ruler) then lay a strip of masking tape across the middle, turn over and add another strip of tape. 

 

 

 

The Friday kids had a great time  making them and wanted to take the spare ones home to do some more!

 

It's a Hat Trick!

 

 

I promise you this is not my usual sort of life....but today....for the third day running I had a smoothie!

Teen One and I had a hectic morning with Mother and Toddlers, and with only a short amount of time in between before we had to collect Teen Two for his final ear check up. So the Golden Arches it was for a quick lunch. I tried their strawberry and banana smoothie and it was just right on a humid and muggy day.

 

 

 

I thought you might like to see the activity prepared for the tots to do today. It was organised by a dear lady in her 80's, who is not in the best of health. She had hand drawn and cut out these little boats...including the tug! She had also painted the waves. As the children glued on the boats, she told them a little story about how they were in a race, it was so charming!

So on days when I feel worn out, I need to remember this dear soul who shows no signs of retiring from working for the Lord!

 

 

 

Teen Two's school is very close to a castle which is over 2000 years old. We stopped there briefly to fill in a bit of time before collecting him. It's one of those places we always take any visitors to as it has so much history and is in such pretty surroundings, being right on the shoreline.

 

 

 

 

 Last night I was looking for an activity to do with the Friday Club children, and what do you think I stumbled across.....something using 12 lolly sticks per child...any ideas what our story might be? So I have brought home from church where I store a lot of craft items, a carrier bag full and Teen One and I will prepare them ready for tomorrow. I shall show you how it turns out!

 

 

The Pain of Answered Prayer

At the end of yesterday's blog I prayed that dear old Brown Owl would go to sleep and not wake up....and that prayer was answered. Not all answers to prayer bring happiness....and conversely there are many times I am sure we can all recall, when we were later in our life, happy a prayer went unanswered...for we are not always wise in what we pray for! Of course there is no such thing as unanswered prayer....we just find it hard to accept the answer as being "no!"
I had intended paying an early visit to Brown Owl, and was looking out a hymn book to take, so at the very least I could get the words right! As it turned out I was a bit delayed, so was just thinking of heading out about 9.30am when I had a call to say her carers had found her passed away. It has to be said it is a welcome release for a lady trapped in a body that no longer worked, for so long. At 93, with a good life behind her, to pass away in the house she was born in, peacefully, is something to be celebrated...but for now I will just mourn her passing and look back fondly on a dear old lady who came from a different world to the one I now live in.
I am thankful I was given the opportunity to say my goodbyes yesterday. Today is my usual day, so had I not had a discreet call from a carer I would not have had that opportunity and would have arrived to the Paramedics instead.
As I was pegging out the washing shortly afterwards, a dear little blackbird across the way sang me a lovely heart lifting song...."life goes on" he seemed to say.

 

Life does indeed go on, and food is always such a great comfort isn't it! Teen One and I had to go into town, and as we all know, we HAVE to keep up our fluids in this extreme heat! As we passed by Starbucks they were advertising their new Lemon Vanilla Frappachino. Well...it had to be tried! Along with a spelt and fruit muffin, it was a welcome break and early lunch. The frappachino was delicious and so refreshing. It lasted ages too. I feel I ought to say it is very rare we visit a coffee shop, so two days in a row is almost unique!

 

 

On our walk back to the car park....look what we spied! Even the local graffiti artists are being inspired to send me feathers it seems! Another reminder of the loving and caring Father we have.

 

Teen One and I called in to see our old family friend in the dementia home. Sadly she too seems to be deteriorating. She is now bed bound I assume, her bed is also in a different position, so she can be see from the corridor by passing staff. She gave us a big smile...but that was it, no communication, and clearly just wanting to sleep. So a kiss and a hug is all we could share with her today.

The Home has been decorated out with old war time posters....I find them fascinating.

 

 

 

 

I popped out to post a letter at the top of our road this afternoon, we are fortunate enough to have a lovely pond with plenty of wildlife there. These seagulls perched on the poles always remind me of pegs on a washing line!

 

 

 

The heat was quite intense on the short walk back, so I decided I would abandon any thoughts of finding a job in the house to do, and catch up on a crochet project/challenge I have been working on.

All the body parts are made, its just a case of sewing it all together, and then adding the defining features.....

 

 

...and finally the hair cut! I am tempted to take it to a Pet Parlour for a professional trim! I don't know that my hairdressing skills are up to making it look like this....

 

 

 

 

This pattern was designed by a lady called Christine Lucas and is available for purchase on Ravelry

I must congratulate Christine on her excellent instructions and photo step by step guide. I am not a natural when it comes to following crochet patterns...but this one is starting to look vaguely like it ought to!

 

 

 

The heat became too much for the cats this afternoon. Normally they can be found in wherever is the warmest spot in the house, a window sill, a patch of  floor, the corner of a bed....but today it was where is the coolest! Milly thought the this was the coolest

 

 

 

and Crystal found a shadow in the garden with a gentle breeze flowing through.