Birthday, swaps and life in general :-)

Well it has been a bit of a manic week here in the Sweetpea household with yet another birthday!  Our family birthdays all seem to have clumped together with March having my birthday, my Mums exactly 1 week later and then my daughters exactly a week after my Mums :-)

The week started off wonderfully with me having Sunday off work due to the clocks going forward.  I love going to work but having the day off gave me the opportunity to go to a car boot with my mate Bear's Footprints.  By the time I got out of bed at about 10am (9am old time) she has already texted an hour earlier to see if I wanted to go - mad woman :-)  I will show you my treasure on a later blog.

Monday however it went downhill a little when I got some sort of bug which made me feel very tired and sick indeed.  I managed to lay down for about 1 hour before the school pick up but that was it so I have been battling it all week really.  For the rest of the week I ached all down my legs - so much so that I wondered if I had done a marathon in my sleep.   Not great timing as I had to prepare to the party queen's birthday party.

She wanted a monkey cake originally but thankfully she saw a chocolate one in a shop so requested one of those instead.  So I started baking and made her a chocolate one with cream and jam filling - scrum.  We decided little mini eggs and chocolate curls would set it off nicely.  The curls were made by popping a chocy bar in the microwave for a few seconds and then using a potatoe peeler to peel little bits off the chocolate.

We prepared the dining room with decorations and her party food .... (this photo is to prove to Bear's Footprints that sometimes my house can be tidy lol - she popped over the other day to find buttons and felt all over the table!).

Middle Sweetpea usually has an Easter egg hunt for her birthday but as the weather forecast wasn't too good I set about making her a Pinata.  Not sure why I did this when feeling ill but it didn't work out too badly - you can see it in the top photo.  I will have to post a tutorial of how to do this for you all soon as it was quite easy.

Middle Sweetpea thought it made a fantastic hat after it fell down - she looked like Jamiroquai :-)

The girls had a fantastic time and played happily together.  After the Pinata and food they decorated cupcakes and had fun creating wonderful colourful art on them.  Instead of party bags which I am trying to move away from for eco reasons I made up their decorated cupcakes in tissue paper bags to take home.

My gorgeous little middle Sweetpea is now a whole 9 years old!  I still remember the day I had her, she took twice as long as her brother to arrive, so much so I insisted my waters were broken as I was getting bored of waiting for her (it was only 8 hours but felt a lot longer :-)).  I remember at one point in labour sitting on a bouncy ball to try and help ease the pain when having a contraction but then I got really angry with the ball and I kicked this large ball across the room, it then ricocheted off the walls and Mr Sweetpea and I had to miss it lol!   I also electrocuted myself on the tense machine - that made me forget about another contraction lol.   She arrived exactly on her due date and appeared at around 2 pm, when I took her to look out of the window the next morning little baby bunnies were hoping around on the grass.

She was quite a vocal little one from the moment she arrived - I remember wanting a bath whilst in hospital and I couldn't fit her cot in the bathroom so I popped her in the nursery next to a couple of other babies, she was fed and changed but she having a little moan.  I lay in the bath listening to her calling me and when I returned after a super speedy bath she was still there but the other babies had been taken out to somewhere more quiet :-)

Oh how I love my headstrong, full on, no fear Sweetpea.  She is so caring and thoughtful and will become a wonderful adult I am sure.

Swaps

I recently took part in my first ever organised swap which was the Spring Swap.  I was paired with the lovely Kathy from Postcards from the PP who sent me the most fantastic parcel!  Just take a look at the gorgeous packages below wrapped in ribbon and tissue paper - she thoroughly spoilt me.

And just look at the goodies inside:

 

There were candles, ribbons, a cute owl, a wonderful chicken tea towel, some gorgeous napkins and cards and some lovely flower seeds.  There was also a cute sheep cancer research badge and some card crafing items.

This is what I sent Kathy, now I wish I had sent more than the 5 items listed on the swap - you live and learn!

A hand made lavendar pillow with beaded lavendar cross stitch.

An egg masher, I have one of these and it makes me smile each time I use it :-)  Some chocy eggs - you can never have too much chocy.

I little notebook with a gorgeous bird print on it and some ribbons and buttons.

Here is the inside of that cute pad, it keeps shut with a magnet and then opens to reveal more gorgeous bird drawings....

Lack of Sleep

Mr SweetpeaSweetpea still won't sleep through a night.  We had a weeks worth of sleep the other week but she is back to her old tricks :-(  I even had to go in her bed one night this week for poor middle Sweetpeas sake.

I must confess I am now thinking of asking for outside help as I think I am now reaching my sleep deprivation limits after just over 3 1/2 years of broken sleep.  It doesn't help that Mr Sweetpea was on earlies this week, that seems to tip me over the edge a bit.    I just want me back, the old me with a bit of confidence and a lot more energy :-(   I popped out to the pub with friends the other night and had to really physic myself up for it, I felt quite sick with worry about going but I got there and had a fab time.  I know that this is due to lack of sleep and when I do get normal amounts of sleep I do have to battle the shy inner me a bit but not to that extent :-(  Here's to more sleep!

Highs and lows ......

Hi everyone, I do hope you have been enjoying the last week and have had some sunshine where you are.  After another week of grey the sun is finally shining and the flowers are showing their lovely faces :-)  Little Sweetpea above has been wearing a little daisy chain I made her as she wanted to be a princess in the flowers - oh the joys of being 3!

I have really enjoyed taking photos of flowers again this week, I have missed it during the winter months.  I took this photo in our local grave yard, I am not sure what flower it is (does anyone know?), but it is stunning with it's tissue paper like petals.  It is such a simple looking flower but it captures my heart every morning when I walk past it, there is a whole group of them clumped together.  When I took this photo I did scare another local mum on her walk to school as I popped up out of the flowers in the grave yard - luckily she knows I am slightly bonkers lol.

I have also ventured out in a skirt this week :-)  I found a lovely 'White Stuff' skirt in a Charity shop and have been wearing it this week, I only knew who 'White Stuff' were when a mate told me, it looks like I got a real bargain!   I am not sure however if I am very good at being a skirt wearing girl, around 30 minutes after putting my new skirt on I decided to go to the allotment to cut some dafs and as you can see from the photo below I ended up with mud everywhere lol.  A friend of mine also joked that I would have to invest in an iron if I were to wear skirts, I can however confirm that with a slow spin and my shake and hang method it did pretty well on the wrinkle front - bonus !

I wore it out with a long spring coat I have, I was feeling pretty good until my middle Sweetpea said 'Mum, you look like Mary Poppins in that coat' , I smiled, feeling happy that I looked like her, I like her style, but then she said 'or .... a witch!' to which I replied 'hhhmm, I think I will go for the Mary Poppins option'.

Also this week I have been busy cutting felt and creating things, oh how I love felt, buttons and thread, you can create such pretty things with simple items.

I also did a swap with the lovely Kazzy recently, she sent me one of her gorgeous drawings, a lovely little robin for little Sweetpea, a gorgeous rose scented pillow and also a little notepad, it was such a lovely parcel!  I feel very honoured to have one of Kazzy's amazing works or art.

In return I sent her some little flower hair clips for her little Sweetpea, a button heart, a vintage pill box and a Little Bear Lost book (I love the illustrations in those books).

Pets, Highs and Lows :-(

We are all rather excited in the Sweetpea household as our lovely cockerel went off on holiday to my Father-in-Laws recently to meet the Light Sussex ladies there :-)  Well we have popped the eggs they have laid in an incubator, the eggs are turned 3 times a day, the temperature has to be kept between 37.5 - 37.7 deg C and the humidity at 45 - 50 with a little water trough (wow those hens do more work than we think when sitting on eggs!).  We checked the eggs by looking through them with a strong light and they are all dark so look fertile :-)  It takes roughly 21 days for them to incubate, the kids can't wait for next week :-)

On a sad note one of our African Greys escaped this week.  My husband has had him for around 24 years so he is really upset and we are also worried for his mate who he left behind.  He had eaten his way through a wooden door frame and some wire, walked through to the chicken run where we saw him when we returned from the school run.  We tried to catch him in a net but he then escaped and flew to a nearby tree.  What was really sad is that then a couple of crows started to mob him and call their friends in, then over 50 crow mobbed him until he flew away, you could see him trying to fly back towards us but they scared him away :-(  He still hasn't returned ......

Birthdays, gardening, cakes and makes ...

Hi everyone, I hope you have all had a fantastic week.  This week in the Sweetpea household we had a birthday, mine ! :-)   As I have said before I like to buy a pavlova for my birthday every year but this year I thought I would try and make one.  It was a lot easier than I thought and was great fun to decorate.  I got the eggs off my friend Helen as our chickens are not laying as much as they used to and used blackberries which I had frozen from the Summer (I bought the Raspberries and blueberries but hopefully we will have homegrown this year :-)).  It could have probably done with a bit longer in the oven as it was a bit gooey on the inside but then again  I like gooey meringue.  My parents popped over in the evening and bought a chocy cake so this pavlova was only eaten by me and my parents and the kiddies and Mr Sweetpea wanted chocy cake :-)

I popped to the toddler group today and my friend Kathryn gave me a lovely card with a crochet hook hidden in it, this then gave it away that it was my Birthday this week (she saw some Birthday messages on Facebook).

Now I don't mind getting older at all but I am not a fan of fuss so try and skip past my Birthdays with little fuss if possible.  The lovely Bear's Footprints had just shown me a gorgeous crochet mini cushion she had made which has lavender in it, it smells devine.  This was her first make of this kind and she then decided to give it to me as a birthday present!  How sweet of her, it must have been so precious to her as it was the first time she has made one and it is so lovely - if only we had smellyvision as it smells so yummy!

 

As the sun came out late last week (none this week I am afraid, just grey, grey, grey :-() we all got out in the garden and planted some seeds.  The kiddies and I really do love being outdoors in the warmer weather.  Little Sweetpea got busy with her new watering can that she got from Father Christmas :-)

 

And I had to find ways to label my seeds so I decided to use those old CDs you get with internet software or children's sample programmes on to label some up.  They also act as a bit of a bird deterrent.

oohh and I have been creating more daisies, I decided to make a rainbow of colours :-)

I have also been thinking about Easter so have been making some felt pouches for the hairclips for my little Facebook Shop :-)

ooh before I go, can I pick your brain???  If you are into sewing can I ask what machine you would recommend as I really want to buy one with my Birthday money and try my hand at sewing?

xxx

Random goodness ....

 

 

Wow it seems like ages since I have been able to post a blog :-(  Time seems to be rushing by and I can't seem to slow it down!  

So what have I been up to ???  I am still in my tidying/de-cluttering mood so the ribbons were the next to get it :-)  I bought some pegs for the washing but then thought they would be great for storing my ribbons on, I rather like them wrapped around their little wooden pegs ...

I have been to a WI jumble sale with my mate Bear's Footprints ... wow what an experience !  She did warn me it would be packed but I didn't believe her until I drove up there and found a rather large queue.  When I got in there I had to literally be pulled into the crowd by Bear's Footprints  to see the clothes etc.  I came out with several bits including some lace curtain, a woolly jumper and some cord trousers all for about 40p each - bargain :-)

I also popped to a charity shop in Bury St Edmunds called Open Door, that place is like Aladdin's cave full of treasures - I spent hours in there (much to Mr Sweetpeas dismay lol).

I am going to felt these jumpers and will let you know the result.  I also got some more lovely ladybird books for my collection - ooh these take me back in time ...

 

I fell in love with these vintage curtains, love the colour and pattern.

We have been watching a little field vole (or mouse) feed under our bird feeder, a whole family sometimes arrives, they are so cute!

I have been buying hellebores for my collection and planting them up, a local nursery sells them for around £2 - yey!  How I love these flowers, they are like jewellery with their gorgeous flower heads.

I have been planting up primroses for my windowsill and popping dafs in vases - if I can't have sunshine naturally I will make it in my house instead :-)

I accidentally made the most humongous cake the other day .... it was meant to be a little sponge cake as I had an urge for a cream cake but then the cake tin was tool large so I had to make two large layers and this is the result!  Mind you we still managed to eat it all :-)

I have also painted this door in our room and the window etc with cream paint.  I painted them yellow and long time ago and have grown out of that colour now, mind you I do miss it a bit.

Oh and I have been creating more hairclips , I had a lovely large order for daisy clips so have been busy making them up and other new ones.

  

Phew, I think that is it for now!  I hope you have all had a fab few weeks.  I better be off as this bloomin blog post has taken me ages and now little sweetpea is getting rather annoyed with me and she wants to plant up some cosmos and marigolds .... now I feel guilty!  Motherhood hey!

Crafting and sorting

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a fab half-term week last week.  Ours was a lovely chill out week (well once the older Sweetpeas got used to being with each other all the time again :-)).  I really must make sure we enjoy the next break too as Eldest Sweetpea is getting to the age where he wants to go out with friends so we may not see so much of him in the Summer term :-(  He is then off to College in September and I am hoping I don't lose him completely then :-(

During the last couple of weeks I have had a little play with knitting, my work mate decided I should learn knitting before teaching me any more crochet - not sure why but it has been fun.  This form of knitting is different from the UK knitting technique, I had thought it was Russian knitting but then talking to another work friend who is Lithuanian I now think that it must be a wide-spread version of knitting and maybe the UK uses a different technique to everyone else?   Basically you have the loop on your knitting needle and hook through the wool from the back and pop your new loop on your other needle.  I will have to try and blog some piccies of how you do it.  It is quick to do but I am not sure if the knitting is more loose with this style , it may however be due to my lack of skill :-)

I got going and made little Sweetpea a scarf - she picked out the colours she liked and away I went :-)  As you can see it is not fantastic but she seems to love it.  It looks a bit like Bagpuss wrapped round her neck lol.  On finishing it I realised I didn't know how to get it off the hook so my Mother-in-Law taught me along with the help of You Tube :-)

I have stalled slightly on my Crochet.  This little square was created with a lot of help from Bears Footprints the other Friday.  I really must try another one as I am sure I have forgotten it all already :-(

Middle and eldest Sweetpea joined in with some felt fun during half term.  They made their own little brooches and hairclip designs.

We have also been painting.  I got the watercolours out, lots of lovely vibrant colours and this is what little Sweetpea above created - hhhhhmm a lot of black!

Eldest Sweetpea then bought the above painting home from school, should I worry about my children and their fascination with black lol :-)  They reminded me of the comedy Spaced where Brian the artist is inspired by black and of the comedy below:



Spring Cleaning

I have been in a real de-clutter mood lately, most cupboards have been pulled out and most things put back in again.  I do think I have a bit of a problem with saving too many things - just take a look below at some of the things I have saved from things I have been posted over the years !

 

 

That is just some of it :-o  I just can't bring myself the throw things away if I think I can re-use them, the problem is where to store it all???  Any ideas?