Getting away from it all ....

Well lets try again, this blog post seems to have taken me ages to get sorted what with issues trying to upload photos etc.  It seems like ages since I have been to my little writing space (and as I type little one is shouting at me as she is bored as this has taken me far too long to do :-().  I had better be quick ....

We have been away to our little bolt hole in Mallorca (or Morca as little Sweetpea calls it).  It is a place in the hills away from all the hustle and bustle of life - no mains elec, no phones, no tv  - bliss.  It is nice to get away from all the electrical items that modern life brings us.

We went to the beach every day. 

We ate fresh sea food.

We watched the children grow in front of our very eyes.

I created new pretty things whilst watching the children play in the sea.  I even went in the sea myself this year :-o  Mr Sweetpea was rather shocked at how well I could swim - I usually hide under the trees sewing or looking after the children  :-)

I even found time to paint my nails !

We saw some amazing little creatures

Rock Mouse, Octopus, Angry Snail, Crab

The children kept themselves busy - most of the time :-)

Eldest Sweetpea is getting rather hormonal which did make some of the holiday testing.  After a real pep talk towards the end of it he calmed down a bit thank goodness.

Right I had better be off, little one is now starting to drive me very crazy and I have spent far too much time on this new blogger layout.  I will leave you with on my of my fav views - I do love hanging washing out in the sunshine.  Take care xxx

 

Orbital - the old me

Image source http://earpipe.com/2009/01/30/orbital-return/

Way back in October last year my little Sister called me to tell me that Orbital would be playing at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge and asked if I would like to go, we had been to see them several times before and knew it was a guaranteed good night out.  The old outgoing me really wanted to go but the shy tired me was screaming NNOooooo!  After a few palpatations I went ahead and said yes knowing that I could pull out if I wanted to and forgot all about it.

Fast forward to the bank holiday Monday we had in April and the evening had arrived.  I had spent days before worrying about if I had the confidence and energy to go whilst also pondering on what had happened to the old me who used to go out most weekends.

When I was a child I was always very shy, I was a very happy child but shy with it.  My Mum used to make me go to several clubs to try and give me more confidence and it did work a little but that shy me was still there.  I went on to Secondary School where I was bullied for quite some time but managed to get through that and meet some lovely thuggish friends who used to protect me :-)  Nothing like having your own bouncers to give you a little more confidence :-)  Fast forward a few more years and I had met my future husband and was out pubbing and clubbing it with our mates most weekends,  I got a fab job that I didn't even dream I would get and was feeling a whole new level of confidence.

I had my first child in my mid 20s, life stayed very similar to how it had ever been at this point but when I had my second child 19 months later I think this is when my confidence started to reduce and the old shy me returned.  Looking back it was probably tiredness, the reduced amount of socialising and lots of new scary experiences like the little ones starting pre-school, then school etc that reverted me back (goodness you really do feel the tension of new things like that for your children don't you).    I could feel the old me coming back a bit when my youngest was about 4 but then fell pregnant with my littlest one.  Exhaustion set in again and 4+ years on she is only just showing signs of sleeping through so I am just about seeing signs of the past, confident me returning .

Goodness, sorry I digressed a lot there ! The night before the concert my middle child was ill and spend all night in our bed with tummy pains, after many wakings and getting up at 1am running a bath for her etc we finally got a little sleep.  The day of the concert I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go , I was so tired and felt sick with nerves and exhaustion.  The time ticked by and it was time to get ready, I could do it, no I couldn't  - I was constantly struggling with myself to push myself to go.   I got in the car and started to drive there listening to an Orbital CD to rev me up.  Ooohhh I was getting excited, the old me was coming back :-)  I walked to meet my sister who gave me a big hug and we went in to meet her mates and my Uncle and Cousin - the vibe was great and the old me was back.  After some comical warm up lunges in the entrance hall we went to find our spot, we walked towards the stage, then further towards the stage and then we got to the front - eeekk could I cope with a mosh pit :-s

The lights dimmed, two men with head lights (so they can see their decks) arrived on stage, the crowd cheered and the music slowly started building up until we could feel the base giving us chest compressions.  I could feel every hair on my face move in time with the music (didn't know I had such a hairy face!), never before have I experienced such a heavy base. At this point my Sister asked if I was OK or did I want to move back (we were standing right next the the 7ft high speakers :-)), thinking she was just worrying about me and not wanting to ruin her fun I said I was fine.    We then did a toilet visit at which point she told me she really wanted to move as the base was making her feel sick - I thought I was just being uncool  feeling the same way :-)

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Whats-on-leisure/Reviews/Fans-view-Orbital-11042012.htm

We moved further back in the crowd and found a fab dancing spot.  One young women seemed to be rather annoyed at our new dancing spot and dropped a drink down my sis and kept punching me in the back whilst dancing.   A peak in the music and a pogo style dance move whilst moving back slightly seemed to sort that issue out and she moved - hhmm I hope her toes weren't too bruised ;-)  I danced for 2 hours non stop - the old me was well and truly back that night  :-)  I wish I had done more warm ups now, I pulled muscles I didn't even know I had lol.  I am looking forward to meeting the new/old me more often as time moves on and little Sweetpea begins to finally sleep better.

PS Any of my mates reading this will think I am writing about another person :-) I am not shy in most of my every day life but when I get invited out to events the old shy me pops up and I have a real battle with her :-)  Aren't humans funny creatures :-) x

If you have never heard of Oribital here is one of their tracks :

Flower Bombs - Guerrilla Gardening

For the last couple of years the kids and I have been doing a bit of guerrilla gardening around our village.  On the first year we planted sunflowers in random places - this wasn't very successful as we had a very dry Spring so most of the sunflowers didn't survive.  Last year we pop seeds around with variable success.  This year I came across the idea of flower bombs via a blog (sorry I can't remember the blog name :-() and had to give it a go :-)

 I had a rummage in the children's art cupboard for any old paper that wasn't very useful ....

I popped it into a blender with some water and blended it up.  My Mum popped over to visit at this point and did look slightly concerned that little Sweetpeas wakings were finally getting to me until I explained what I was doing :-)

We squeezed the wet paper out so it was damp rather than soaking and then mixed the seeds in (a mixture of seeds I collected from our flowers last year).  We then made them into little balls and left them to dry naturally overnight.  They did fall apart slightly so I may try making the compost and clay version next year.

 We then went for a walk round the village .....

and flower bombed random areas :-)  I will be going round with the children and planting cosmos in random places in a month or two, these plants seem perfectly happy if not watered and look so lovely.  I hope the bombs work and we see flowers popping up around the village :-)

We will plant these later in the year.

Also last week we were very excited to receive our caterpillar delivery for the pre-school.  We love watching them grow each year and turning into butterflies.

On the chick front, I am afraid to say that poor Bubbles at the front of the photo passed away :-(  Bubbles hadn't been too well for some time and I am glad he/she went of their own accord rather than Mr Sweetpea having to put him/her out of their misery.  Tiny is doing very well and is still happily chirping away thank goodness.

xxx

We have been busy bees here in the Sweetpea household.  What with bugs (mainly me suffering from those) , birthdays, chics and tendonitis it has meant hardly any time to blog or comment on blogs :-(

I am still suffering from tendonitis but after a 2 hour wait in physio I am finally getting some real help.  I was fed up with being popped on one painkiller after another - I want this fixed not glossed over !  After the lovely Harmony and Rosie sharing the advice she was given with me I went back to the doctors armed with my advice ammo :-)  After a lot of persuading (and even being told 'why do you need physio when you have a copy of your friends excersises'  pah!) I was referred to physio and now have wrist splints and advice on how to go forward.  I really want this fixed as it has been moving up my arms to my shoulders and it is stopping me hand sewing and being on here :-(   Those wrist splints look sexy don't they lol .

Whilst I have been away middle Sweetpea (top piccy) turned 10!  Goodness me, it only seems like yesterday she was a little baba :-(  She wanted a little piggy cake at first but then watched Hairy Bikers and decided she fancied Black Forest Gateau.  I followed their recipe but ended up having to make four layers rather than two which could be cut in half as they didn't rise very well.  Needless to say my hips are now a bit bigger :-) 

She decided to have a sleepover for her party and somehow caught me out by getting me to agree!  They had an easter egg hunt, watched films whilst eating popcorn in bed and had a take out Pizza (a first in the Sweetpea household - goodness they are expensive).  They weren't too bad but did all look like Zombies (as did I) the next day :-)

As the day progressed one of the eggs Mr Sweetpea had popped in the incubator (this man is addicted to having animals in our household!) started to hatch :-)

Tiny the Dutch Bantam  hatched the next day, it took him/her quite some time to get out.  Here he/she is at the front with Bubbles (can you tell the kids named them) his/her sibling.   After popping photos of the hatching in progress on facebook they have quite a lot of fans now and have had visitors popping in to see them :-)

This is how tiny they are, they are standing in front of our Easter tree....

Poor little Bubbles doesn't look too well at the moment, we are not sure how long he/she is going to live for :-(  We are giving them lots of cuddles (especially poor Bubbles) which they love.

There have been some other new additions in our village too, just take a look at these cute lambs.  They are soooo sweet, it always makes want a pet lamb again .....

My Dad used to take on quite a few waifs and strays and Daisy was an orphaned lamb.  Oh how we loved her!  Loving my crazy hair in this photo and my sisters huge cheeky grin :-)  She had to go back to the farm when she was big enough and we used to visit her there.

What else have we been up to, sorry if you are falling asleep at this point :-)

Well we went to a Charity shop and got the most wonderful bargains.  For some time now I have been wanting to make little Sweetpea and middle Sweetpea a cooker out of a bedside cabinet.  I asked on freecycle if anyone had an old cabinet they didn't want and someone kindly told me that she had seen one at our local Open Door charity shop.  We drove there last week and low and behold there was a mini wooden cooker, it cost me a whole £2!  It needed some tlc but that made it even better.

Little sweetpea washed it all ready for me to sand and paint it, I have nearly finished it now so will share the after photos soon :-)

Eldest Sweetpea was very happy too as he found a chemistry set in there, which had never been opened, for £2!   He busied himself later that day creating chemical reactions - hhmm not sure that is a good thing in the dining room but it kept him happy.  I am so glad he found this actually as I am not too impressed with his science lessons at Secondary School, this is just what he needed to spark his imagination and interest in it again :-)

We have also been down our new allotment a lot too.  Late last year I planted a spiral of daffodil bulbs which started to pop up.  I am going to extend it every year as the children already enjoy  going round the spiral :-)

We are also lucky enough to be next to a friends allotment and she created this wonderful willow wigwam a couple of years back.

What with these two items and our little trampoline the kids are kept busy so we can concentrate on planting and weeding :-)

Look she can levitate :-)

I had better be off now as you have probably all dozed off :-)  Take care and sorry again for not being able to comment as much as I used to on your blogs - I will soon be better and hopefully then normal service can resume :-) xxx

Happy Easter

Just popping in for a very short and sweet Happy Easter to you all.  Will try and get here for a proper blog very soon. Hope you have/had a wonderful weekend xxx

Long time no see ....

I have been swept away by time yet again - reading back at this time last year I seemed to have the same issue with time running away.  Mind you I do seem to feel it all of the time at the moment :-(

I have good excuses though, honest!  Not only have I been in the garden with my camera (dreaming of the days I can walk/bike for miles, just me and my camera :-)) taking photos of my beloved Hellebores but I have also been searching for vintage floral fabric.  And look what I found ....

Oh my goodness I had childhood flashbacks when I saw these in separate shops.  In fact I did talk myself out of the purple one whilst out shopping with BearsFootprints.  I had only got the pink one days before so decided I didn't NEED another one ..... boy was I wrong!  I couldn't sleep with ideas for the left behind sheet swirling in my head .... I went to work and told my work mate all about it (luckily she knows me very well now and humours my mad chats :-)) .... then first thing Monday morning I had to go back and buy it as I did NEED it afterall :-)   I have dreams of them being turned into a vintage teepee for the children - only time will tell !

Little Sweetpea just keeps growing so I had to create her a new skirt as she had outgrown the other two I made her.  She loves it and I had an order for one to make for another little girl which was lovely to do.

Bunny had a new dress made for her.  After lots of cutting and making of mock up dresses she now has her perfect little outfit :-)  I have also been making some new hairclips but as my tendonitis is still playing up I am trying to stick to either machine stitching or other creative outlets so I created this out of a lovely antique brass bobby pin and a pebble from our favourite beach in Mallorca.

I love wearing it as it reminds me if here ....

We have also been busy in the garden , the chickens have started to lay well again, we never tire of the excitement of finding eggs in the chicken run :-)

I have also been helping at the pre-school allotment every other week - the children are really enjoying going there.  In fact I enjoyed it down there so much we have moved our allotment to the same plot.  This one seems to have so much more life, there are chickens, turkeys, ducks and a horse there plus you usually get to have a chat with a fellow allotment holder each time you go there.  Our other allotment just seemed a bit lifeless and always had issues with water but this one has a bore water well :-)

My birthday was whilst I was away and of course that called for me to make a meringue :-)  The children made me some lovely handmade gifts, Mr Sweetpea got me a diamond ring which was lovely (nothing too huge but perfect for my dainty fingers) and my sis got me a 'Keep calm and have a cupcake' sign and a lovely box to hold buttons or threads in.  The lovely Bearsfootprints made me a wonderful Bee keyring, she machine embroidered it herself - it is adorable (I will post a piccy next time).  I was also given some money from everyone else to spend at some point - my Mother-in-Law joked that I may have spent it by my next birthday :-)  I think after years of saving and paying our mortgage I am not really sure how to spend properly any more.

Ooh and before I go, here is Nibbles.  This was middle Sweetpeas Christmas present.  She was so happy to get him and is now even more happy as he has finally let her hold him and cuddle him!  He is such a cutie. 

Winners .......

Well it is wine time here so time to announce the winners of my recent giveaway :-)

The winner of these gorgeous earrings created by Becky Pearce Designs is ................ Country Rose :-)  Please contact me via my contact info with your address.

A big thank you to Becky for creating these gorgeous earrings , do pop to her website above or her facebook page for more gorgeous creations or to buy these very reasonably priced earings above.

The winner of the £35 worth of Small Print vouchers is ...... Kathryn :-)

Well done to you both and sorry I didn't have enough to give to all of you.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Take care


Zoe
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