Hooray For Blissfully Moochy Saturdays!

Hooray for being holed up for the day while it pours with rain and pottering in comfies!

Just one day mind; we're off to the Leicester Food Festival tomorrow for which I have ordered wall-to-wall sunshine if you please.

Handsome hubby is away on my little brother's stag weekend (last I heard, hovercrafting somewhere in Bristol, feeling more than a little liverish) so the blondies and I are home alone until tomorrow.

So what have I been up to since I last blogged?

Well, last weekend we naturally basked in the wonderful weather and barbecued everything in sight!

(Hooray, HH has given me permission to put ONE photo of him on my blog!)

(No spaniels or blondies were harmed during the creation of these collages!)

I've been busy tidying the garden.  Living in a townhouse, we only have a smallish garden so I grow fruit and vegetables in baskets and large pots.  This year we have tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, lettuces, beetroot, broad beans and purple sprouting broccoli.  Broad beans and purple sprouting broccoli are absolutely my most favourite summer veg.  I adore broad beans in a salad and am drooling over the thought of my psb with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Anchovy and Chilli Dressing ...

50g Anchovy fillets, drained.

150ml Olive oil.

2 Garlic cloves, peeled.

Leaves from a sprig of thyme.

A few basil leaves.

½ Small red chilli, or a pinch of dried chilli flakes.

1 tsp Dijon mustard.

2 tsp Red-wine vinegar.

A few twists of black pepper.

Blend all the ingredients for the dressing in a liquidiser until completely smooth.

Also, I've been in a rearranging mood this week - probably hormones!  What I do is strip a room of all accessories, give it a good clean and then start 'dressing' it again.  The lounge is looking very minimalist at the moment (which really isn't my usual style) ...

I'm going to get crafty and inject some much-needed colour, starting with the fireplace.

The blondies have both had exams at school this past week so I have been helping them to revise ...

 ... if there is anything you ever want to know about the Battle Of Thermopylae or volcanoes, mountains and plate boundaries, just ask!!!  Thank flip it's half term.

I've signed up for two swaps which I'm very excited about.  Pixiedust's Strawberry Swap and Fondant Kiss' Boudoir Swap.  I've been racking my brains for strawberry-themed ideas and frou-frou fripperies!  Such fun.

Well, that's it for now dear friends.  Enjoy your bank holiday and I'll see you anon.

Hx

PS.  Guess what?  I'm going to have a bath now.  And it's 5 o'clock in the afternoon.  That's what you can do on a blissfully moochy Saturday! x

How Do I Love Thee?

OMG, even the box makes me want to weep ...

Picture it ... the school playground, organising a play date with another mother ...

ME: "Shall I make a note of your number?  Hang on, let me get my phone out ..."

(Gasps all around)

OTHER MOTHER: "Your phone ... it's, it's just so beautiful."

(A small crowd gathers)

ME: "Oh, this old thing."

 Hmmm ... must get out more! :-)

Hx

Winners!

This is the Cath Kidston iPhone cover I've ordered ...

Spray Flowers!

It's just sooo pretty!

Nine of you guessed correctly so I asked my blondies to pick three, they being:-

V For Violet

Alijane

Pink Feather Paradise

If you girls email me via pinkmilk@btconnect.com and let me know your address and which colour heart you'd like, it'll be wending it's way to you before you can say 'vintage rose'.

That was fun, thanks for playing!

Hx

Bit Of A Wind Problem!

Hello all.  Lovely weekend?

I spent most of last week in a 'making things frenzy' so definitely have some blog catching up to do!  Oh, and maybe a little housework.  If I hear "I haven't got any clean pants" again, I shall scream!  Ahem ...

Anyway, I had a stall at a local charity Spring Fayre yesterday.  It was outside on a school playing field and, whilst the sun shone, it was bloomin' windy.  Never again.  I spent most of the time holding down my wares and praying that my little gazebo didn't make a sudden bid for freedom.  At one point, there was a particularly strong gust of wind so I instinctively lunged forward and grabbed my felt flower pictures, making two browsing ladies jump.  "Do excuse me," I said, "I have a bit of a wind problem"!  To say they looked aghast is an understatement!

On the whole, elements aside, it was a reasonably fruitful day but I shan't be retiring on my profits!  I quite enjoyed selling something other than my usual silver jewellery for a change.  Plus, I've been invited to do another craft fair in October by a fellow stallholder.

So, what have I done so far today?  Well ...

*  A pants wash (!).

*  Written a letter to a local bus company complaining in no uncertain terms about the bullish and intimidating behaviour of one of their drivers (won't bore you with the details but, as a car driver who often has child passengers, I am sick to the back teeth of bus drivers thinking they own the road).

*  Taken delivery of an ickle White Stuff parcel (well, they had 15% off last Thursday) ...

   

*  Done a little Cath Kidston shopping!  Give you a clue ...

Yes, the long awaited iPhone covers are finally in stock!

I thought it would be a bit of fun to ask you to guess which design I've ordered.  The choices are ...

1.  Electric Flowers

2.  Mini Dot Cherry

 

3.  Provence Rose

 

4.  Spray Flowers

 

*The first three bloggers to leave a comment and guess correctly* will win one of my new vintage rose wooden hangers in a colour of their choice ...

Little iPhone cover competition update ... as there has been such blatant naughtiness(!), instead of selecting the first three people who guess correctly, I'll randomly pick three from all correct answers at lunchtime tomorrow (Tuesday).
xxx

Do you like them?  I shall shortly be listing them in my Folksy shop for anyone who doesn't win and fancies one (self promotion, self promotion)!

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Hx

All The Fun Of The Fair?

Good afternoon kindred spirits!

Hope you're all well and have had a lovely weekend.

I'm feeling a little sorry for myself today.  We took the blondies to the fun fair yesterday and I got talked into going on a ride with blondie son and his friend.  It was a sort of hideous spinning/flinging affair so I don't know what possessed me!  I had to sit on the outside edge of the seat being the largest and consequently had the combined weight of two eleven year olds (eleven stone) repeatedly flung against me at breakneck speed.  Long story short, I have ended up with very sore ribs and a wrenched shoulder.  Note to self, at 38 years old, I'm too bloody old for fun fair rides.  Never again.

Anyway, I've been so looking forward to showing you some of the treats I popped into my Tesco shopping trolley over the weekend, like these Union Jack tins ...

Prettily patriotic huh?

What about this lever arch folder for storing my pile of ever-increasing crochet patterns? ...

Very Cath!

You know me, I couldn't come away without any roses ...

The mug, coaster and dear little tray were part of a set.  I think I shall keep the tray in my bathroom.

I just love the glass worktop saver ...

Well, I'm off for some gentle cloth wafting and a touch of crafting now.  I have a stall at a Spring Fayre next Sunday and, for the first time, won't be selling my jewellery.  After the initial 'what the hell can I make to sell' panic, I've opted for a theme of spring flowers.  Amongst other things, I've made half a dozen felt flower pictures over the weekend, what do you think? ...

I've really enjoyed finding a different flower quote for each picture ...

 

My favourite being "I'd rather have flowers on my table than diamonds around my neck".

Ooh, talking of flowers, I want to put my Cath Kidston feather eiderdown away for the summer but should like to clean it first.  It cost £25.00 to dry clean last year.  I'm sorely tempted to wait for a sunny day (she says casting her eyes at the grey gloom outside the window) and hand or machine wash it.  Do you think I'd ruin it?  I'd love to know your thoughts and experiences.

Hx

So NOT A Party Political Broadcast!

Do you ever have mornings when you suspect that the ugly fairy has paid you a visit whilst you slumbered?

I think she attends to some more frequently than others ...

Hmmm, well she certainly graced me with her presence last night.  Mr Brown would have felt aesthetically superior to me this morning.

My hair was a lumpy heap.  The greys which are, it must be said, usually in the minority had obviously decided to fight back and not only multiplied during the night but were actually standing to 'LOOK AT US' attention.

Yesterday's mascara from just my right eye had somehow worked it's way messily down my face so I looked like a scary Pierrot.

My mouth had that sloppy look that shouts 'I've been drooling and snoring like a bugger for eight hours'.

My skin looked creased and didn't seem to fit properly.

Well, I don't need to tell you that I didn't hang around when I dropped the blondies at school at 8am.  In fact I was a little tempted not to stop at all and simply hurl them out as we passed the gate.  There was no way I was going to get cornered by one of the immaculately made-up and exquisitely-dressed mothers this morning!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not normally a just-got-up natural beauty at all.  Most mornings I need a little cosmetic help to look daisy fresh but, my god, this morning I had my work cut out ...

Skip forward a couple of hours and a LOT of help from Messrs Pantene, Clinique, Benefit, GHD, oh, and gravity, and I am finally ready to face the day!  Or what's left of it!

As for the grey hairs, well they have been temporarily flattened but their days are numbered.  As soon as my hairdressers opened, I telephoned and made an appointment for a cut and highlights.

Phew, it's hard work being a woman.

So I think I might stay up all night tonight.  Not to watch the election results but to catch that nasty ugly fairy in case she has plans for a return visit.

There are no pretty pictures or a moral to today's story, just thought I'd share it with you.  Please say you have ugly days too.

Hx

One Person's Junk Is Another Person's Treasure

On Friday I bought myself some roses ...

£20.00 for the lot from two charity shops.

I could weep with joy.

Mum has been dying to go for a browse around the local charity shops for ages and ages so, her six-week-old hip in place and one stick to hand (very useful for beating people out the way - hell hath no fury like a woman with an eye on a bargain), we spent a lovely morning pottering.

Hope you're having a relaxy bank holiday.

Hx