An Industrious Day

 

Today has been an industrious one for all of us.

Teen One has been hard at it with her course work ( with the tiniest of spaces on the dining room table!)

 

 

 

Teen Two has been working his way through some Maths and English worksheets

 

 

 

The builders have made some progress on the wall of the new conservatory

 

 

 

It's exciting to see it coming together, and the brickwork is soooo neat!

To the left will be the door to the garden and to the left will be sliding French doors, the same as we had before, which in the summer allows us to open the house right up, bringing the outside inside!

 

 

They also added some pine cladding above the kitchen window, which will blend in with the rest of the kitchen, the style we inherited when we moved in.

A lick of paint and it will look like its always been there!

 

 

The day for me has also been a flurry of activity, visiting my Monday Recycled Teenager as usual, visits to various shops, including a watch repair shop for Grandma.

She had bought this clock last week, but couldn't get the alarm to work.

Hubby and I had a look at it yesterday, but couldn't get it to work, so I took it back today,

and you know what I am going to say....

the shop owner took it out of the box, set the alarm and it worked first time!!

Not only that, but the thing kept buzzing in the boot all the way home!!

Goodness knows how he managed to do it, but do it he did!

 

 

The afternoon was spent doing endless laundry ( and having to walk round to the garage to access the washing line or drier after each load, so as not to get in the way of the workmen!)

By 3pm, with dinner in the oven and the house as clean as it can be given the circumstances,

I sat down for a breather and some more sock knitting.

I still don't like this King Cole shade at all, but am more enthused about finishing it off as family in Australia have given it the thumbs up!

I will be glad when its done though.

They have also seen some West Yorkshire Spinners yarn they like, so I will order that and whip up a pair or two for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Special Weekend

 

We have had a very special weekend, one that saw two lovely people tie the knot.

Both have had sadness in their lives, so it was truly heart warming to see them both so happy yesterday.

 

 

 

It was a small wedding, with the photos being taken in a small park with a game of cricket going on in the background....so typically English.

 

 

Teen One kept one of the little ones amused playing chase

 

There were a few children, all who were  a pleasure to be around, none more so than this little one... she was a doll!

 

The reception was in a beautiful boutique hotel, with lots of lovely touches....this dish of home made truffles, chocolate shavings, drops and fresh berries came round with the coffee...yum!

 

 

Instead of a traditional wedding cake they had tiers of cupcakes....I opted for carrot cake

 

 

 

In the evening the buffet had bite sized lemon meringue pies, brownies and scones, complete with cream jam and fresh strawberry...a perfect mouthful!

 

 

 

Teen Two dressed up his teeny ted in a "borrowed" waistcoat, from another ted....he is going to enter the photo into the "Something borrowed" section of the Wedding photo challenge we were all given!

 

 

Not only did I not have to cook a meal yesterday, but Grandma took pity on our chaotic "builders are here" household and invited us there for the day today, so no cooking today either!

It's been a lovely weekend and we feel very blessed indeed.

 

 

 

 

Fun With Puff Paint

 

This morning was a cold and dreary start, but seeing as I only had chores to do, and a quick dash to town, it didn't really matter.

I managed to retrieve my "lost" bag from Monday, (with everything intact!) and gave the shop assistants some choccie biccies to have with their tea break as a thank you for keeping it for me.

 

 

The builder spent the morning fitting the new kitchen window.

There wasn't anything wrong with the old one, but the line of the new roof was causing some issues, so they suggested a new window, which in the grand scheme of things wasn't that much and actually makes me realise how old fashioned the other one was.

The fact that I had to use an upcycled golf stick, with a hook on the end, to open the little louvre at the top, goes some way to showing how impractical the window was anyway!

I will be able to open this one with ease and it will also be way easier to clean!

As usual the builder left outside lovely and clean, they are the tidiest workmen ever!

 

 

This afternoon was spent making up batches of "puff paint" for the Friday club kids.

It is quick, easy and cheap to make.

If I were doing it with my kids at home, I would let them mix it up, but we don't have the time for that at club.

 

These icing bags from Poundland are perfect for bagging up the "batter", although I was disappointed our local store didn't have any recently, my stock is getting low!

 

 

As usual, the activity was a hit

 

 

 

...each time we do this I think it wouldn't be too hard to make an edible version.

This version is only water, baking powder, food colouring and salt, so just switch the salt for sugar maybe?

Worth a go sometime anyway.

 

 

Our Bible story today was the blind man whom the Lord healed by putting mud on his eyes.

We got the children to make faces, then when the puff paint had been microwaved and cooled, get them to close their eyes and "feel" the features of the face, just as a blind person would do.

Needless to say, this activity lends itself to all sorts of other themes too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look What The Postie Brought Me!

 

Going back to last night, when Hubby came home, it was pressie and card opening time.

The Teens always make our cards, this was Teen One's (oh to be able to draw like that!)

 

 

Teen Two downloaded pictures of some of Hubby's favourite things....

 

 

 

...and I loved the verse he put inside, it's the second verse to "Happy Birthday" which we sing to the Sunday School children on their birthday.

Teen Two also created a musical performance on Wii Music, using some of Hubby's favourite songs and of course Happy Birthday was one of them.

 

 

 

At Parent and Toddler's this morning, it was my turn to do the activity, so I made these

 simple"Round and Round the Garden" plaques.

All you need is a paper plate (or a circle of card)

Teddy shapes (Teen One made these for me)

Split pins (check parents are ok with these for little ones)

Flower and bug stickers.

The children coloured the plate green for the grass, then created their garden with the sticker,

I put the teddy on.

Each time a plate was completed I sang the song with the tot...and of course they loved the unexpected

"tickly under there" at the end when I ran my fingers up their up and tickled their neck.

 

 

Back home and tucking into some lunch, the door went....

...it was the postie...with a parcel for little old me!

And look what was inside!

My prize from Elsie Pop's blog!

How exciting!

 

 

Needless to say, I was eager to get my hands on my lovely prize,

how I love WYS yarn and this Pink Flamingo is no exception.

As I am totally uninamoured with my current sock yarn...I can see myself abandoning it and casting on this plush pink with those delightfully colourful new Knitpro DPN needles!

 

 

Eager to try out the new needles, I grabbed my knitting and whipped up a few rows.

These needles are beautifully smooth and so easy to use.

All we have to see now, is how long it takes me to abandon this drab yarn and cast on that

gorgeous Pink Flamingo!

 

 

As for the builders, well they have been hard at it all day and levelled the ground, then

put in the footings for the new wall.

I do love the way they clear up thoroughly before going away each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Day Of Celebrations!

 

 

Today has been a day of celebrations!

It started with wishing Hubby a Happy Birthday!

I packed him off with a bag of cakes, some home made some shop bought, to share with his colleagues...he reported the home made rock buns went first!

 

 

 

Next up was Teen One passing her driving test!

It has been a long road ( pardon the pun) but we are so glad she has finally achieved what her driving instructor felt should have happened long ago!

She now intends to take her Pass Plus before embarking on any solo driving...it will at the very least bring her insurance down.

Some Local Authorities give vouchers towards this course, sadly not ours, but its worth a look if you know someone who is considering taking the course.

 

 

 

 

I had bought two tins of Celebrations last year, one for Teen One and one for her instructor...I was so happy they were still in date when I presented them with their "well done's" today!

 

 

The celebrations didn't stop there....I re traced my steps from Monday, in my mind and remembered one more shop Teen One and I had visited....I called them up and guess what....they had found my shopping!

They have kindly agreed to hold on to it till I can get down.

 

 

I am pleased to say the builders arrived today, two lovely lads, very polite and hard working and left the site clean....so phase one is complete...the old conservatory is no longer!!

 

 

The pussies had a bit of a shock when they went to go outside!

 

 

Straight out into the elements is not what they are used to....they came back in pretty quick!

This is where they are used to finding their food and litter tray and it was rather a shock to say the least...despite the fact both are in the dining room, they seem to have forgotten that!

 

 

Whilst the old conservatory didn't appear to do very much, it clearly did protect us a bit from the weather, with the howling wind coming straight at the living room door, its been freezing in here this afternoon...so there was nothing for it but to light a fire!

 

 

With the enforced "stay at home" time, I cracked on with a new ball of sock yarn, by King Cole, but I can't say I am enjoying the colours or pattern particularly.

It was a bit of an impulse by last month, when I discovered a new wool shop in a small village, wanting to give her some custom, I wandered round and saw this....but it wasn't a good choice.

Oh well, I will soldier one, it might appeal to someone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Win Some You Lose Some!

 

Well it's hard to believe we have had a whole week of being back home, back into our old routine.

How we miss all the family we met over Easter, knowing its likely some of those meet ups were

"once in a lifetime" meets.

However we have the memories to look back and email is an excellent instant way to keep in contact.

 

 

I must apologise for my lack of updates on the blog...this was down to a bout of food poisoning, which was entirely my own fault!!

I had bought a tub of "new" morrocan cauliflower and cous cous in Morrison's last week, which looked very tasty.

For some reason I had thought it was a salad, and ate some of it with my dinner that evening.

I must admit it didn't taste as good as I was expecting, but you've got to try this things haven't you!

During the next 48 hours I was barely able to move, in so much pain and feeling so unwell.

During those long miserable hours I tried to think what had caused this and thought about the "salad."

It then occurred to me I had bought it from the veggie section and not the salad section...maybe this was the culprit?

Today whilst in Morrisons again I took a look at the packaging ( which I had binned before thinking about it) and read "Ready to COOK!"

It had the usual "ensure product is piping hot" etc, and we all know (well you do know if you didn't)pulses have to be cooked properly or cause, to my cost, food poisoning!

So...lesson learnt...read the label first!

 

 

Over the week I have gradually got stronger, but it has been a hard slog and I am only just now feeling more my old self.

The Bank holiday was spent preparing the conservatory for the builders coming this week.

 

 

I should have taken a proper "before" photo, with the conservatory full of stuff, but you can see the gazebo is full of things too big to store in the house...

 

 

 

...and the dining room looks like a scene from a hoarders house!

There is a teeny gap saved for Teen One to do her course work on!

 

 

The conservatory has long since been a useful room, its cold in winter ( not to mention damp) and too hot in summer.

The roof leaks ( onto the light!) the floor is rotting  (because of the leaking roof) the dampness causes all kinds of mildew problems ( including in the washing machine) and basically, it just is no longer fit for purpose.

So, we are having it taken down and rebuilt, having it levelled off as well, so it will be slightly larger.

It was slightly disappointing to say the least, when the builders emailed this morning to say they had to return to a job they had thought was finished on Friday.

A mix up with the scaffolders or  something, anyhow, I resigned myself to thinking, if it were me with loose ends to tie up as a client, I would be thankful they came straight away to sort the issues out.

They have emailed again, apologising profusely, saying they will definitely be here in the morning.

He did seem like a very genuine guy, right from the start, so lets hope that's the case.

 

 

 

Yesterday we had spent a couple of hours shopping, ahead of a wedding next weekend.

Today I realised we were a bag missing....thankfully only the one filled with Poundland bits and bobs...but it was frustrating none the less.

I have hunted high and low....but then when you think about the mess of the dining room, I guess its conceivable its in there somewhere!

I was feeling a bit irritated by the loss, not least because I wanted something out of the bag!

Instead of festering any longer, I made a cuppa and logged on to see what was going on in the world...

I opened my emails and ....surprise surprise....had been notified of winning a competition I had entered a few weeks ago!

Wow!!

I couldn't believe it!

In the middle of my sock knitting frenzy to take as gifts to Australia, I had read a review on

Elsie Pop's blog about the very wool I had been using, by West Yorkshire Spinners.

I hadn't seen the new Pink Flamingo shade, and thought it would be perfect for my pink loving Teen One, so left a comment, but really didn't think anymore of it!

 

 

I am thrilled to have won and as the sock frenzy has not worn off (the Aussie family are eager for more!) I will love using those beautiful coloured needles, instead of my basic Lidl set!

The prize is worth over £50  and I feel like a kid at Christmas!

So, today really has been a "win some, lose some" day!