Comfort

Don't you just love the simplicity of a plate of fairy cakes? You can go from a feeling that you might quite like them to this.......

  

Then this.......

This.......

And finally this......

Ready to go with a nice cup of tea this afternoon. That's what I call comfort. 

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Weekend bits and bobs

It's been a bit of a week around here. Little F came down with a yucky tummy bug a week ago and it's laid him low most of last week. To top things off he woke on Wednesday morning with conjunctivitis too! Poor little lamb. We've all been feeling just a tad fed up I can tell you. 

So in defiance of all this sickiness and the snow as well I got out the Easter decorations on Friday, braved the cold outside to cut some branches from our Elder tree and made an Easter display. I can't believe it's Easter at the end of the week. It just doesn't seem like it could be. We didn't have too much snow here but what we have had is hanging around and the forecast says we'll be getting more towards the end of the week. Where is Spring?

Because of the cold and the poorly boy we had a cosy weekend inside. There was lots of playing and snuggling and book reading. 

I love these little wooden fruits that my Sis bought Little F for his Birthday. He loves to give us all different fruits to pretend eating. Another favourite of mine are these cute wooden houses. Maybe it's because they remind me of this favourite place. I do like wooden toys best. 

Yesterday Lovely S made us a yummy roast chicken. It's been a struggle getting Little F to start eating again after the bug but Daddy's roast dinner and especially the roast potatoes are always a winner. I'm very lucky that Lovely S always cooks the roast on a Sunday. I think it is my favourite meal of the week. Just not having to cook myself makes it taste so much better! Of course we had to indulge in some chocolate treats as well. 

There was more stitching too to cheer myself up. I love to get my little tin of current projects out in the evenings once the boys are in bed. 

I'm obsessed with making these birds at the moment. I've got a number of them now to pop into my shop. 

I think I might add some to my Easter tree as well. 

We're having a very lazy start to Monday morning. I'm pottering doing jobs and housework but I have to admit that we're all still in PJs! We're not going anywhere. We don't have the car today and it's way to cold and snowy to be pushing the pram anywhere. So we'll take it easy. Keep warm and cosy whatever you're doing. See you soon. 

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Re-arranging

I've been doing a bit of re-arranging this morning. Despite the fact that we have snow forecast for later I wanted to give the mantle a bit of a new Spring look. 

I still had my little German Christmas houses out and suddenly decided that they look too Christmassy and heavy. I wanted the look to be a little lighter. I haven't changed that much but I added the sweet post card of a rose and the little china flowers. The larger one belonged to my Grandma and the two smaller ones were sent to us as a Wedding present from the lovely Jane Posy. (how I miss her blog)

I bought out my Cath K jug which had been in the cupboard for a while but which I love. I also popped my diffuser bottle, which is almost empty, into the tea light holder and added another picture roses at the other end. It just looks a bit lighter and fresher. We can at least pretend the Spring is here can't we? 

Hope you have lovely weekend despite the snow. 

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Eggs for the boys

A couple of years ago I stitched a little felt egg for Little F to hang along with my other Easter decorations. So of course I had to make one for Little H for this year. 

His is looking a little plumper than the original one and I'm now wondering whether to re-do Little F's. I love being able to make things for my boys that we will keep and treasure for years. They both have matching Christmas stockings (I'll have to remember to show you those in December) and I've made bits and bobs for their bedrooms. 

Being boys I do wonder how much they will appreciate these hand made pretty things, but at least they will always be special to me.

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Red and Pink

Who says pink and red don't go together. Personally I love the clashiness of this combination of tulips bought for me on Saturday by Lovely S and Little F. They're really cheering up the dining room today which I need as I've got a poorly sick big boy to look after. Hope you're having a cheerful Monday. 

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Little dream house

Today I'm feeling like a would like to shrink down and go live in this cheerful little bird house my Mum bought for me the other week. 

It's going to hang from my Easter twigs along with all my little eggs. With two weeks to go do you think it's too soon to put Easter decorations out? I feel it might make me feel a little jollier than I currently do and you never know, it might actually make the sun come out and temperatures rise. 

Today I've been trying hard to get on top of some of the housework and washing. So so difficult with two little monkeys keeping me busy! The Mothers Day chocs are almost gone as a consequence! Looking forward to a cosy weekend with some friends coming over tomorrow afternoon for tea and cake and later pizza (which is turning into a bit of a Saturday dinner habit much to the joy of Little F). Hope you have a lovely weekend whatever you're doing even if the sun doesn't shine. 

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This and That

It's been a nice weekend despite the chilly weather. Lots of pottering and lots of cosiness in the house. Doing some stitching and eating a yummy Sunday lunch cooked by lovely S for us and my Mum and Dad. The boys have learnt already that the way to Mummy's heart is via chocolate and home made cards. I have a huge box of yummy Lindt chocs that I'm trying to make last but the reality is that with this miserable weather, they'll probably be finished by the end of the week! I'm still really enjoying stitching tiny things for my shop. I'm loving little birds and there will be a number of them fluttering into the shop in time for Easter decorations.  There are also more little brooches in the pipeline. A little Spring colour in this miserable weather. 

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Garden hopes

The opening pictures are not pretty today I'm afraid but I wanted to share them because I want to remind myself just how far we have come with our garden and hopefully by the summer I can show even more progress. 

The first three photos here show how our garden looked in August 2011, approximately 4 weeks after we moved in here. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of how it looked on the day we moved in as I didn't get my camera out quick enough before Lovely S went to work on the jungle! But what I can tell you is that only about half the amount of grass was visible due to the amount of growth that over hung from all borders. Most of it was pretty ugly greenery. Certainly nothing much worth saving. 

Last year we started to make progress but it was frustrating for me as my pregnancy meant I couldn't be hands on. Lovely S enjoys dealing with his lawn and doing the basics of the weeding and plant care but I'm the one who is really passionate about planting. I am so excited to get out there this year and start turning my garden dreams into reality. 

On Sunday I had a brief hour when both the boys were napping so I took the opportunity to get out there and start assessing. I swept the patio first then did a spot of weeding along border. 

Here are two butlers sinks that Mum and Dad gave me. I'm hoping to remove the concrete treatment as I actually prefer the original look. These will be moved down close to the shed as the garden gets sun there all day long. I plan to plant one up with herbs and the other with salad leaves. 

This border down the left may not look like much yet but it is the one we have done the most with. We've planted a number of evergreen plants to give it some structure all year round, including the box balls which I love. Everything is quite small at present but I hope through this year things will really get going. Looking at the picture below I'm thinking that I seriously need to do something about the lawn edging. I love to see a nice crisp edge to a lawn. 

I still can't decide what to do with the shed. Do we paint it? Do we leave it? Do we keep it?Do we knock it down? It's not really in the best state close up but I do like the focus it gives the bottom of the garden.The wall is looking a little sad as well with the selection of random pots sitting on it. These pots are definitely coming off. I think it will look better bare with larger pots sitting in front of it and flowers behind.  

The bird table has been moved a lot but I popped it here on Sunday. I think eventually it will be in the border in front of the patio though. This border below needs some serious work. We have put some box in here too and there are now three roses. One of the roses is one that my in-laws gave us as a first Wedding Anniversary present. It has never done well as it lived in a pot for a while as we knew we would be moving and wanted to take it with us. When we moved it was a while before it was planted because of the state of the garden. In the end my Mother in law just plonked it in somewhere just to get it in the ground but it wasn't really the right place and last year it didn't thrive. So my Mum moved it to this border for me at the end of last Summer. I'm hoping it's going to prefer it's new home as it will get a lot more sun. It has two new friends in the shape of two David Austin roses that Mother in law bought us for Christmas. They went in bare rooted in November and are showing signs of springing into life right now. There are two more in the other main border. I can't wait to see how they all do. I miss the beautiful roses that we had in our old house. 

The patio is looking fairly bleak at the moment. Most of my big pots are in the garage as is the bench that usually lives out here. We really didn't make much of the patio last year and this year I want so much more from it. 

I want to paint these railings outside the back door and I have a vision of pots of geraniums on the steps outside my kitchen door

So that is where we're at now with the garden. The sun has been shining today and I'm imagining how this garden is going to progress over the Spring and Summer. I can't wait to share it with you here. I have such hopes. 

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A Present for Little H

The other evening Lovely S came home from work with a surprise from our friend Rachel, who he works with and who is to be Little H's Godmother. The surprise was this gorgeous quilted blanket which has been made specially for Little H by Rachel and her Mum. Little H's Christening is not for another few weeks but this is an early present and a beautiful one it is too. It had me in floods of tears when I saw it(still very hormonal 3 months on!)  especially when I saw the work that had gone into it and the beautiful meaningful fabric that it has been made with. All for our beautiful little boy.

Aren't the little birds on the tree cute? Here's a better image of the complete blanket. The colours go amazingly well in Little H's room as most of these colours are in his dotty curtains. You will also note that the purple bits match the lovely(not!!!) carpet! Hoping we will be able to change this at some point. Not sure he will appreciate purple as he gets a bit older.

Look at the detail. This picture below shows the backing fabric with the front corner folded over. I love all the different words. Beautiful advice for a Godmother to give her Godson. 

More of the backing fabric below. So sweet. I hope that Little H will love it as much as we do and will treasure it his whole life. 

I'm being a bit of a mean Mummy at the moment and have not allowed him to have a good lay and kick and attempted roll on it as there is currently far too much drool coming out of him. The poor lamb has just started teething and it's a messy business. For now this beautiful blanket lies on the back of the chair in his bedroom and it makes me smile every time I see it. 

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