Robots, Re-Purposing and Some Sticky Fun Inbetween!

 

This morning we had a perfect start to the day...no waking early to the sound of the alarm or magpies!

By the time I woke up it was almost 8am!

What a treat to wake up so late and then indulge in a cuppa in bed!

 

 

Hubby and Teen Two were setting off for Guildford this morning for one of Teen Two's favourite annual events...the live tour of Robot Wars!

As the show started at noon, it was tricky thinking about lunch, so I treated them to a cooked breakfast to keep them going!

Teen Two's eyes nearly popped out of his head...he loves this sort of breakfast but they are reserved for VERY SPECIAL OCCASIONS!

 

 

Part of the show involves the audience shouting 3-2-1 ACTIVATE! Then the chaos ensues I understand!

Teen Two bought himself this to wave in the air...what fun...but not my sort of fun!

 

 

Teen One and I had much more fun going to a First Birthday Party!

 

 

 

 

"Little Princess" always makes a bee line for Teen One.

 

 

The cake was lovely...

 

 

 

 

...and tasted lovely too...

 

 

 

...the little ones had mini cupcakes instead...

 

 

 

...and got themselves into a lovely sticky mess!

 

 

 

 

When we got home, my neighbour's son came in ( as usual) with all sorts of suggestions of things I "might like!"

We already have a very full up house and am forever downsizing...but stuff seems to come in quicker than it goes out...ever had that feeling!

Some things however are hard to say no to.

There were several decanters on offer...but not being drinkers  they aren't of any interest or use to us...or so I thought!

When I saw this one I rather like the shape, and remembered that our friends in the US collect pretty decanters to store their mouth wash in!

It looks so pretty in their bathrooms.

Now I don't have the lovely large washstands to display ours on, but I did think it looked nicer than in the plastic bottle on the window sill!

The slim white cupboard was also from next door, and has transformed our bathroom storage system!

 

 

He then asked if I would like a dinner service and tea set.

Well I have more than enough tea sets that don't get used, but only one dinner set, which we use daily.

I rather liked this elegant shape...

 

 

...and the delicate colours and design of the pattern...

 

 

...its called Noritake... which I had never heard of, but having googled it tonight have learnt it is very high quality:
 

"Noted as the finest quality china available in Japan, Okura chinaware is a longtime favorite of the Japanese Imperial Household and also features prominently at government banquets with visiting heads of state and other dignitaries" The son said his mum paid over a thousand pounds for it many years ago! I am now wondering if I should say I will have the tea set! Not that this design fetches that sort of money nowadays, but clearly it is higher quality than some I already own!

 

The next item from next door was one of my bright ideas to streamline our lives a little, but I had no idea was going to be such a headache for Hubby!

We were offered a couple of units, which to be honest aren't really my cup of tea, but faced with this tangle of leads every time I walk into the living room, I wondered if one of the units might transform this ugly sight...and I didn't like the cheap TV stand anyway so what did we have to lose!

 

 

The three of us managed to carry this almost solid piece of furniture from next door and then Hubby set to transforming it into something useful for our modern day lives.

Although it seemed very simple to me, just put this here, here and here...the thinking behind how to actually do it was far more complicated!

However...after some comments like "this is going to be a real dogs dinner" and "lets take it back, it'll never work" we managed to get a break through!

When next door, this was filled to capacity with ornaments.

The larger section had glass doors and shelves and was used to store crystal glasses.

We dispensed with the doors and shelves, Hubby drilled two holes in...

 

 

 

...and after a whistle stop trip to Maplins, just before they closed, came home with what he needed to allow the new set up to work (don't ask...I have no idea!) and then threaded the leads through the holes....

 

 

 

..and now we have a wire free viewing....

 

 

 

...with the blue ray, video (yes we STILL have a video!) Wii etc all neatly hidden behind a door...

 

 

...and the drinks cabinet is now the perfect place to store Teen Two's Wii games, he even has a little shelf to display his interactive  amibo figures!

 

 

 

And the wire free view as we walk into the living room is much more pleasing!

 

 

 

 

So this is now my view from the sofa...much easier on the eyes.

Now of course there will be one of two items put thoughtfully on the empty shelves...but I really don't want to overload this area.

It's so lovely to have a stream lined look and the colour of the unit blends in perfectly with the oak panels.

I can't say I have ever loved these panels, but they are part of the original fittings, being hand made by the first owner.

I keep thinking maybe the next owners of the house will love them more than I do, and appreciate the fact we did not rip them out, but left them as part of the history of the house ( the staircase is also made of the same oak) but what's the chances they will just rip it all out anyway!

Oh well...for the mean time it does mean we never have to think about decorating in here, its very easy to upkeep....just dust it now and again!

 

 

 

 

Saturday June 11, 2016

Today's Proverb:
   For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Proverbs 8:11 / KJV
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Up With The Lark...Or Should I Say Magpies!

 

This morning started very early again....4.30am.

I awoke to the sound of magpies making the most deafening sound...I think they must have been on our roof, and with the window open it was impossible to sleep through!

So, just before 5am I admitted defeat and came down stairs.

Despite being up so early I didn't seem to accomplish as much as the other day.

 

 

I did manage some weeding and hedge trimming by 6am ( all in my dressing gown too!) and seemed to be on my feet for ages, but not much was showing for it all!

 

 

It wasn't a very exciting day really, shopping, housework, collecting Teen Two from his Biology exam, a bit more digging out the bag and then making dinner (fajitas if you were wondering!)

 

 

It was soon time for Friday Club, with the added chaos of "shop."

The kids love it...I dread it!

 

 

These "decorate yourself" fans were a big hit with the girls.

I bought them at The Works in another town, but was sad to see our local one has closed down!

I don't know why, it was always so busy.

Am hoping they will relocate somewhere else in town.

 

 

 

One thing did surprise me today, Teen Two said he was going to miss PE at school.

He has enjoyed using the health suite recently, so I decided to sign him up for a new contract free gym that opened locally a few months back.

Its only £13.99 a month ( which believe me is cheap...we were quoted twice that last year with an minimum of one years contract) and can be cancelled at any time.

Use it as often as you like, 24 hours a day ( but who would want to go in the middle of the night is beyond  me!)

So I can drop him off there several times a week for a bit of a work out and it won't cost anything.

He likes the  treadmill best...funny how just walking anywhere is no where near as exciting isn't it...shame as its free as well!

Once at college he can use their gym, so I only intend to keep this running for the next three months.

Lets see how he goes!

Friday June 10, 2016

Today's Promise:
   Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

Mark 9:23, 10:27 / KJV
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A Surprise Package In The Post!

 

 

Starting with last night....having uploaded this photo onto Facebook, asking if any of my friends wanted this sack of bean bag beads, within minutes I had  message saying "yes please!"

So I am glad it wont be going to landfill.

I also uploaded a picture of a chair in the attic I no longer want and that too was snapped up!

 

 

Feeling sorry for poor puss Milly who loved the bean bag, I kept back enough to fill a pillowcase...she now has her pussycat sized bean bag to snooze on.

 

 

 

 

 

Today at Mother and Toddlers was my turn for the craft table.

The other helpers aren't brave enough to use anything messy, so I usually have the market cornered on that one!

This morning the tots enjoyed painting one half of a cut out card butterfly...then folding it over...giving it a good rub, then hey presto, when they open it they have a perfectly symmetrical butterfly!

I don't use the word symmetrical of course but do explain that butterfly wings have the same pattern on each side.

If I want to get REALLY messy, I let them use their fingers to make the pattern!

 

 

 

When I went next door to do some cleaning, the son was there.

He showed me various pieces of china, wondering if I was interested in any....I have so much already and so little room to store it in....but I rather liked these cake plates.

I think my grandmother had something similar and I guess it brought back happy memories...her tea tables were always laden with home baked goodies and pretty plates!

 

 

There was a table of nick nacks he persuaded me to take a look at...and this jumped out at me.

I am rather partial to mushrooms, particularly wooden ones ( but not exclusively) and this is turned out of one piece of wood....its almost looks like a little tree as well.

It's actually for darning socks...unlikely to ever see action of that sort in my house, but its up on my shelf with a few other quirky mushrooms.

 

 

Those of you on "Tulip watch" its an interesting one, they are all standing proud ( ish) but the ones which were pricked...the yellow ones....are much less dried up than the red ones, so maybe pricking them does make them live longer?

 

 

Finally.....the deeds to our house arrived today!!!

I was so thrilled to see a large envelope with "Santander" at the top...I just knew what was inside!

I had been contemplating the letter they sent the other week which said "mortgages completed after 2005.." and wondered what "completed" meant.

Maybe it didn't mean when the mortgage was all paid up....just not at the application stage??
Seems like it was just a standard letter after all and we are the happy recipients of the deeds to our house!

It was initially bought for £700 in 1935, by 1994 when we bought it, it was worth £71,500, and now they are approaching £300,000!

There are one or two anomalies, for example we know there were four owners before ourselves, but only three are mentioned, with a gap in the 60's of who owned the house.

Nothing to worry about at all, just intriguing.

We will have a good look at the original plans later on...should make for interesting reading!

 

 

 

24hour Bargains...Whatever NEXT!

 

This morning was another bright and sunny start, and with the possibility of heavy showers, I decided to crack on with mowing the lawn whilst I could.

We were given next door's Flymo recently and it is so much easier to use than our own one, I put ours outside the house this morning, with a "free" sign taped to it.

When I looked ten minutes later it had gone!
Great, glad to know its gone to be useful somewhere and not to land fill!

 

 

 

With the washing out and basics of housework  done, I sat down and spent two hours finishing the report on Teen Two, highlighting in different colours the various issues, hoping to make it easier for the reader!

I had hoped to get it all posted, but the printer decided to run out of black ink, and as that is a "blue" job in this house I will have to wait for Hubby to come home.

 

 

 

His car is still in the garage, they haven't managed to work out what the problem is....and the worry for me is, its going to be a big labour bill with nothing to show at the end of it!

So he still has my new car whilst I have the trusty old one...it was my choice I must admit, and I had intended to do another trip to the dump with some more soil...but the heat was just too intense so I opted to do some clearing out instead.

 

 

 

 

One thing that is destined to go is an old bean bag. It was a hand me down from a friend, and has been much loved, but takes up too much room for the amount of use we now get from it.

The zip broke some time ago and there was no inner lining, so I used a quilt cover to store the teeny tiny beads in....but I want to keep the quilt cover (Disney Princess holds such happy memories!) so have to transfer those pesky polystyrene beads into something else first.

We happened to see a dumped bean bag in  a street the other week and initially thought we had a freak snow storm on our hands! What a mess....no way can I be responsible for that kind of littering, so will have to find a sturdy sack to store it all in before taking it to the dump.

True to form Milly decided it was a brand new piece of furniture that needed christening!
If it wasn't so big I would consider keeping it for her...infact maybe I could keep some beads back to  make her a mini bean bag using an old pillowcase!

 

 

I must tell you about a great bargain, and great service I received from NEXT today!

I had admired a friends t shirt yesterday and she said it was £4 from Next or three for £12, which for NEXT I thought was excellent value.

Later in the evening I emailed her to say I was considering buying myself three..."hold on" she said..."let me give you a FRIEND code which will give you £20 off orders over £40"

Well as I knew I was going to be ordered two of each size to see which was the best fit, and then knowing Teen One would probably like some, it didn't take long to get to the required amount.

With the discount applied, it worked out at £1.77 per t shirt!

Bargain!

I placed the order at 9.30pm and they were available to collect at my local store lunchtime today!

How's that for efficiency!

 

 

Many years ago we inherited an old Pianola.

Over the years, many kids have enjoyed pedalling away to produce a tune, and latterly of course our own children enjoyed it.

But sadly, once Teen One started piano lessons, she realised how out of tune the old player was and sadly it wasn't possible to rectify the problem, so it had to be disposed of.

For some reason we kept hold of the umpteen dozen rolls...only when we were sorting out the garage did we discover two large bags of them!

So today I have listed them on ebay and we will see if anyone wants a trip down memory lane, along with a bargain!

 

 

 

For dinner tonight I have made stuffed mushrooms to go with sausages.

It's a messy job...grating the breadcrumbs etc, but just adding some pepper, herbs, grated cheese and basil oil to bind it all together, a filling and tasty side has been whipped up for next to nothing...and the mushrooms were on special offer as well so its a really cheap dish and a couple of these alone would be perfect for a vegetarian meal!

 

 

 

Wednesday June 8, 2016

Today's Proverb:
   Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Proverbs 3:27 / KJV
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An Unexpected Gift

 

This morning I awoke at silly O'clock, and seeing as it was so bright and sunny, I decided to make the most of being awake and crack on with some quiet jobs.

 

 

By 9a.m I had finished the ironing, cleared the kitchen, hung out two loads of washing...

 

 

...made a cake (to take to a friend later) put away yesterday's washing...blah blah blah...you get the picture anyway,  I managed to pack rather a lot into those few hours.

 

 

 

After a quick shopping trip for some lunch treats, Teen One and I visited our friends with the little baby...soon to be one!

We have been visiting almost every Tuesday since my friend broke her ankle in January and have got quite a bond with the babe now.

One week we took them out and introduced them to Tiger.

I happened to say how much I like  a particular basket, it was ideal for storing current knitting/crochet in ( well, when the mojo is back!) and taking out for picnics, delivering home made cakes in etc.

This was several months ago, infact it may well have been late last summer even...anyhow I had forgotten about the basket and the comment.

So imagine my surprise when we arrived today and I was given this lovely basket as a "thank you!"

I am thrilled beyond words, and of course humbled that they should spend their money on me.

 

I have decided for the summer it can sit by the fireplace and our usual basket filled with logs can go into the garage until the colder nights come back.

 

 

 

 

 

They also spotted a couple of things they knew Teen One would love...strawberry designed foil (how cute will her packed lunches look!) and sour peach flavoured gums...they know Teen One loves strawberry designed things and also sour sweets, peach is such an unusual flavour as well!

So we both came home delighted with our unexpected gifts.

 

 

 

With Teen One dropped off at college, I had an hour to myself to sit in the quiet and write up some more of my report regarding Teen Two's special needs.

I keep thinking "maybe this is the last time I have to wade through paperwork evidencing his needs" but it seems this will be an ongoing issue for the foreseeable future.
If only all the authorities involved could just look at each others reports and accept each others findings!

 

 

 

 

It was soon getting near time to collect Teen Two from revision and hear how he got on with his English GSCE today.

He had gone off in dread of it and felt quite despondent.

After a word of prayer with him and a reminder he could ask the Lord for help himself, to keep calm and have a clear head, he seemed a little chipper. So it was a real thrill to hear him say the exam was ok and he actually enjoyed doing part B!

Regardless of the results, we know he will have tried his best and am just thankful he didn't melt into a quivering wreck, which is what happened in his mocks!

On the way to collect him I stopped off at the dump yet  again and disposed of eight more bags of soil!

 

 

It's been such a hot day, I stopped off at the drive thru KFC to buy his favourite Krushem as a surprise.

Needless to say he was delighted!

 

 

Teen One came home with an surprise of her own this afternoon...she had forgotten she took part in a Maths Challenge at college last year.

It's fair to say she isn't really a lover of Maths, but took the A level as its one of those subjects that is always valueable.

No-one was more surprised than her to be given a certificate today for her achievement on the day!

 

 

 

She is also very pleased today as she was offered a placement at a primary school nearby, for the duration of the summer term, once her exams have finished this month.

She will be working with Year 2 children and is looking forward to the challenge!

She also has some summer work lined up as well working with children at a club, the venue has yet to be confirmed, but it will be with more able children than last year, who were all non verbal, which she found rather a struggle.

So it's looking like her summer plans are all coming together nicely.

 

Tuesday June 7, 2016

Today's Promise:
   I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

John 14:2b,3 / KJV
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A Year (And A Day!) In Blogland!

 

Yesterday I passed a milestone...and forgot to blog about it!

It was exactly a year since my first blog post and above is the first picture I posted.

 

 

I am pleased to say the blanket, which was inspired by Attic 24's Ripple blanket, did get finished, and over the winter kept Teen One and I warm, as we snuggled up on the sofa.

I must say, my crafting mojo seems to have gone on holiday in recent months, and I can't settle to do anything. I have bright ideas, start something, then that "can't be bothered" feeling comes over me and I abandon the project to a rather bigger than usual hidey hole in my messy corner under a coffee table ( with a large tablecloth doing its best to hide the embarrassing sight!)

 

 

 

 

I am quite astonished, when I read my "stats" to see I have had 9701 views in the year, from all around the globe.

It's rather a mystery as to what so many folk find interesting, in for the most part is a very ordinary life here in the south of England.

This started off as "A year in the life of..." and I now am not sure as to whether to continue or not.

Just how much "cups of tea in bed, roast dinners, Friday club stories can anyone really want to read about??!"

Well its up to you....let me know if I should continue or not!

It has been interesting I must admit, diarying the various things we do as a family.

It is also rather sad as well to look back over the year and see how many folk we have lost, but we have also had the blessing of new babes coming into the family...such is the circle of life I guess.

 

 

 

Today has been glorious weather wise so I was able to make the most of it and have the two washing lines permanently filled with washing...mind you...I wasn't too impressed with my neighbour who decided to pressure wash his decking....despite the high fences my bottom line of clean clothes was splattered with dirty marks.

But I am sure had he been aware he would have stopped, so I wont hold a grudge.

 

 

 

 

 

Hubby still has some car problems so I let him take my new car and resorted to my trusty old Clio.

I did have some method in my madness, I thought I would make the most of passing the tip on the way to collect Teen Two, and fill the boot with some of the soil we cleared up at the weekend, no way am I taking THAT in my new car!!

I made my usual visit to my Monday Recycled Teenager, had a good catch up, did some housework for her, then took her to Morrisons.

 

 

 

They had smoked peppered mackerel on special offer, so I made Teen One and I a salad with it, using baby spinach leaves and pomegranate seeds...it was yum, but the boys would not have appreciated it!

 

 

Although the sunshine was calling....I was determined to tackle a job I have only a week or so to complete and that was evidencing the special needs Teen Two has, so he can get the proper support.

Scanning piles of paperwork takes forever and remembering if the piece of paper you have in your hand is to be scanned or has already been scanned  happens all too frequently!

 

 

Pretty soon the floor was getting littered with "done" pieces, and after an hour and a half all the scanning was complete.

I have started on the wording to be submitted and will then have to go through with a highlighter and colour code all the issues.

A couple more hours tomorrow morning and hopefully I can post it all off.

 

The rest of the afternoon has been spent, collecting Teen Two, folding washing, cooking a chicken curry for dinner and considering getting some felt out to make some hedgehog faces!!!

See...I do keep trying to get this mojo back on task!

 

 

 

Monday June 6, 2016

Today's Promise:
   And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13 / KJV
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