Catch Up Post - Pt 1.

The weather has been rubbish, but I got to wear my new boots!! Yes, I finally got wellies........& pink with polka dot ones!! Just the thing to brighten up the school run  :-)

The miserable weather resulted in many, many cups of tea being drunk. (& 1 or 2 biccies)

A new crochet project was started. So far, I'm loving it!!

Somebody who shall remain nameless, refused to wear her gloves (or hat, or blanket) outside, but was more than happy to wear her sisters ones inside?

This Diva (who now 'poses' for photos!) began Rainbows for the first time & loved it!! She has been waiting for a space in the local group since January.

The same evening, her Big Sister (who for some reason now pulls faces when the camera is pointed in her direction) finally made her Promise at Brownies, something she has been waiting to do since Easter!!

That evening was very busy & stressful, but fun at the same time!!

& this Little Madam turned 2!!

& enjoyed her cake!!

(I'll do a seperate post about her cake later!!)

xxx

My Craft Space...........................

Wasn't very inspiring to be creative in, LOL!!! Some major tidying & organising needed to be done.

                                                       Much better!! :-)

Needed to put all my wool into a box with a lid, as the kids love to play with it!! Even though they have wool of their own, I guess Mummy's is just better.

I have to say I do agree!! Love my wool, & this is just half of it.

Whilst I was on my organising kick, I decided to organise my stash my attaching a piece of wool to it's label for future reference.

My photos are awful at the moment! I think my camera doesnt like me. Plus the light in that room is terrible.

I also needed a box for my crochet WIPs. Will post about these later on.

So now I have a lovely clean creative space.  Unfortunately my space will be moved soon, in order for the xmas tree to be put up. Plus I'm sure that our next house wont have the space for a desk that size, so downsizing is in order. At least now it is tidy, it will be easier to do.

xxx

On my quest for a Simple Life.

I've made a start!! The above picture is the dumping ground in the kitchen. Everything gets dumped there, mail, paperwork, toys, hats, etc. It's the first thing you see when coming into the kitchen, so it's a definate eyesore & stress inducer.

The cupboard above it isnt much better  :-(

Sorry for the bad photo, was just in a hurry to clear it!! I grabbed a recycling bag, rubbish bag, & some plastic boxes, & set to work.........................................................................................

Aaaahhh, much better. It's amazing how calming an organised area can be!! It's been over a week since these pictures have been taken, & it's pretty much stayed the same, apart from some mail & school letters that need filing, so thats a job for today.

As for the cupboard.................................................

I know it's not as dramatic or visually exciting as some blog makeover things, but it's working for us!! Even though, with everything organised & in it's place with mutual things, my Husband still cant find anything, although I suspect thats a man thing, LOL!!

I've also organised our bureau (which was an absolute no go area!!) but I have no pictures of that. Yay for Me!! It's a good start if I do say so myself.

xxx

Wanting a Simple Life

My life is very chaotic, there is no real reason for my life to be chaotic, it just is. & to be honest, it's driving me mad!! Nothing ever seems to be straightforward, even trying to get the girls ready for school is a battle. Nothing is ever where it should be, & there is just too much 'stuff' that doesnt belong anywhere.

It causes me a great deal of stress.

Then I read this post by Karen Russell (who is an amazing photographer & scrapbooker!), & this post, as simple as it is, really hit home with me.

I want a Simple Life.

I need a Simple Life.

How do I get a Simple Life!?!?!?!?

I need to be able to stay on top of everything, running 5 peoples lives is an amazingly difficult challenge, especially when 1 of those lives consists of struggles that I dont always understand, & many hospital/pyhsio/special ed appointments. My house seems to be constantly messy & there are far too many 'To Do' things.

I need to find a way to simplify my life so that things run far smoother than they do now. I need to 'declutter' my entire house, especially as it's looking like we will be moving next year, probably to a much smaller house, & I really dont want to take all the crap with me!

I need to be honest with myself. Yes I need to lose that final 8lbs to get back to my prebaby weight. But it feels like too much pressure to take on now (I struggle badly with dieting) So, I will bin all the clothes that no longer fit, as they are taking up unecessary room & instead of concentrating on losing weight, Im going to concentrate on taking better care of myself, keeping healthy & getting fitter. & then, IF I lose the weight, I can reward myself with a new wardrobe!!

I'm planning on tackling all cupboards & wardrobes, & getting rid of anything unecessary. If it doesnt have a home to live, then it needs to go. I have far too much art & craft 'stuff', which desperately needs purging. If Im not going to use it, then its no point keeping it. My kids have far too many toys & books, & yet they still complain they are bored!! I need to purge their toys etc, some I'll donate to charity shops & the rest will go to car boot. With the money I make from selling their toys at car boot, I'm planning on putting it towards a nice family activity or christmas. I just have to be strict with myself, they love all their toys, so its going to be a tough one to do.

It seems like so much to do, & Im feeling overwhelmed already. But I just have to keep reminding myself of how good it feels when the house is in order, & how good it will feel when the house permanently is in order!!

I will take before & after photos to blog, just to show myself what I've acheived. Now Im going to spend the next hour or so researching organisational blogs looking for ideas. There are some amazing sites at there, & ideas that I would never have thought of myself.

Wish me luck please!!!

xxx

Our Weekend Plans.

Well, so far my weekend has consisted of waking up with a nearly 2 year old climbing on me, making breakfast for everyone, lunch for the Hubby who has to work today, then about 4 cups of tea whilst catching up on some blogs. The weather is miserable, not raining fortunately but grey & so dark, that I still have the lamp on & it's 10:45am!!

I decided late last night that I would photograph & blog the weekends activities, which seemed like a good idea!! So far however, no photos have been taken!! LOL.  But I will continue with this plan.

Our weekend activities are looking like this:

- Some crafty time for the older girls, which will involve a very large piece of paper, as well as glue, glitter (probably) & maybe paint.
- Some painting time for the younger one, as I finally got her some paints this week.
- Some creative time for me!! Yay!! I really need to get on with the crochet squares for my scarf, which could be done this evening whilst catching up with the Bones episodes I have saved in prep for the new series starting next week :-)
- Maybe even some scrapbooking for me? Havent scrapped in over a year, but I have soooooo much stash that needs to be used!! & I have even printed photos in preparation for this!!
- Baking a delicious looking chocolate cake!! & maybe a strawberry flan too???
- A walk in the woods, to collect leaves, conkers & other Autumn things, to craft & decorate the house with.
- Maybe a family movie night? We watched the Tooth Fairy last week which was very good, even though the kids played up & were sent to bed half way through leaving the adults to watch the rest. Heres hoping this time goes better?!
- A crafty project involving some gorgeous postcards I've wanted for ages, some frames from the £shop, some paint & ribbon.

Sounds like a good weekend, so I'd better switch off the 'puter & get off the sofa so I can do all the boring housewifey stuff first!! Then we can get on!!! Yay!!


What are you up to?? Have a good one.

xxx

I sewed something!!

My poor sewing machine has been very neglected lately :-(  Someone had asked me to talk them through the quilting process, & I agreed to take photos as a small tutorial. I spent Saturday afternoon doing this, & was left with a patchwork strip. What to do with this strip then?? Make a cushion!!

I was originally planning to use cream cotton to make the cushion. But it just didnt 'pop' enough!! So I had an old pair of jeans to hand, & the denim was the perfect accompaniment to the materials in the patchwork piece. The colours are richer in real life, but the light at the moment is awful, so I cant get a decent photo!!

It's a simple envelope style cushion, & is now living alongside my crochet blanket,brightening up the sofa.

**Happy Days!!**

Is it sad that a simple cushion can bring a ton of happiness??

xxx

Monday Mornings..........

............are rubbish anyway, but today is absolutely miserable. Woke up to a dark grey sky & rain, but not pouring down rain, instead we have that horrible misting rain, that, even though its light rain, it soaks you through. Yuck!! Hubby has gone for his first day at college (so proud of him!!), so the morning routine was all down to me (although now I'm writing this, I'm realising that the morning routine is always down to me!!) Megan had her school photographs today, which added the stress of keeping her super tidy until she got to school......is it just my kids that only look tidy for 5 minutes?? So, once the school run was done, & Lilly-Rose & I returned home, soaking wet, there was only one thing to do:

Yep, have a cuppa!!

I did not, however, have a piece of cake. This picture was taken last week, hence the sun!! It was a very delicious Marble cake :-)  But I did use that cup!!

************************

Now on to something creative. Im totally hooked on crocheting (hooked, geddit??!!) & last week, whilst out for some Mummy&Megan time, I saw a gorgeous crocheted scarf in Accessorize. The price however was not gorgeous, £22!! No way!! So, after scrutinising a picture & figuring out the colours used, I took a trip to my local wool shop & picked out some wool. I chose acrylic wools, as they are cheaper, with the total cost coming to £17. Now I know what you are thinking, add the cost of the wool to the time it will take, why dont I just buy it? But the lady who owns the shop told me that I could probably make 3 scarves from the wool I've got, so there's 2 xmas presents sorted!!

Heres the wool, in Attic24 style:

I have to say that the navy wool is horrible to work with!! But the Stylecraft Special wool (the middle 3 in the bottom wool) are a dream!! I think the colours are Pomegrante, Meadow & Lavender. & it cost under £2 a ball which is an absolute bargain.

So far I've finished 6 squares, only 34 more to go!!

But I'm loving it!! (You can see what the finished article should look like in the picture). Am setting myself a deadline to finish by Monday 4th October, which is 1 week today! However, I've just worked out that I will need to crochet 5 squares a day, which could be pushing it!! LOL!! Maybe I should extend my deadline to the following Monday?

xxx

A Crochet Ta-Daa!!!

In the spirit of Lucy, at Attic24, heres my first crocheted blanket/throw!!!

**Taa-Daa!!!!!!**

It's the Granny Stripe Blanket. It was pretty simple, as long as you know how to chain stitch, double & treble crochet, you are good to go!! Its not as bright & colourful as Lucy's, but I have found a company that sells the exact wool that Lucy used as a set, so thats on my wish list.

My blanket is set to live on my sofa, although the other sofa is now feeling jealous!! Im thinking of granny squares (if I can ever master them!!) for it?

The edging is granny square trebles all around the edge.

The wool is cheap acrylic, as I didnt want to use expensive wool for my 1st project in case it was a disaster!! I have to say though, that apart from the brown, which was really 'squeaky', it was a dream to work with.

xxx