This and that.....x

Today as I write, I am still listening to Alice Gold ( feeling like a teenager, playing my favourite song, over and over again, to the point of killing it!!! ) and feeling the wind blustering through the large gaps in the window, which are still kind of boarded up due to moody weather.........

So I have learnt this week I am utterly useless at puttying ( is this even a word? ) up the windows, and should def. stick to my paint brush.....who knew re painting sash windows would be so all consuming? Am a bit over it by now.........BUT I am ever so good a re buffing the latches even if it did take me THREE hours for three latches.....yes THREE hours......seriously, I'm all out of brasso now!

Just look at this gorgeousness would you. This arrived on my doorstep this morning, and it is full of her pretty ceramics and bits and bobs. I love the simple designs, hearts and strawberry ones are my best. Susie Watson, in my mind, must be an angel. With a glittery haze that surrounds her and a magic wand to conjure up such beautifulness.

So while the windows lay untouched for a few days ....even though I should really be trying to grasp puttying, I have been cutting out fabrics for my first EVER Stitch and Bitch with pals tomorrow....so excited I could burst! I am starting on a patchwork....all for me, greedy greedy me.

This little pile is my starting point, a few old pillow case covers, a few vintage ones, and some lovely ones donated by my bestest's ever growing fabric collection. I could think of nothing more perfect on a Friday morning...ahhhhhhhh. Oh and we have the Mother's Day Service at the church in the afternoon. Talulla bumblebee told me to bring some tissues with me, as she thinks I will cry......and I will, because I will be bursting with love and being so proud of my two bumblebee's......I love children singing, more than I love the smell of nutmeg, the colour green, and flowers.

Can you all send us sunny weather in Somerset this weekend please??????? I would love for the dining room window to look lovely again........only nine more windows to go!!!

xx

New song love.......................x

Am ever so slightly obsessed with this song, and just had to share it with you all x

I heard it on my beloved Radio 2 earlier on today  ( was convinced it was Vanessa Paradis!!! ) and quickly looked Alice up as I could not get the song out of my head.....and I was also driving myself crazy as I could not remember the words....so just made them up....

ALICE GOLD  -  RUNAWAY LOVE X

It is quite whimsical, floaty, summery, girly and romantic.......I hope you enjoy it as much as me.

xxxxx

A weekend of romance and stubborn windows........x

What a weekend! Am feeling exhausted already...it's Monday!!! It started like this........

Tea for the bumblebee's followed by a swift bath then story and bed all before 7pm, you see Mr.Q and I had romance planned, and the bumblebee's were NOT invited!

It is so easy to forget one another when there are little people about needing your attention constantly ( which I do love B.T.W..... I don't mean to moan about it! ) and a little effort and a twinkle in an eye is needed every now and then..

So a phone call was made to a very busy Q that afternoon requesting "please come home feeling romantic".....which resulted in him plucking daffodils out of the garden on his way home...see I don't mind! I would rather use our daff's than buy them from a shop for £1.50 a bunch....and a feeble bunch it would be too.....good old Q. 

Candles, drinks, pudding ,snuggles and a film......this was my perfect Friday night.

And then it started........................................................................................................................

What were we thinking? A little paint job??? NO Mrs.Q...that would be too easy, you must learn the hard way...

Rotten window frames, 20 yrs + of gloss paint, and stubborn putty......paint job turned into restoration.....

Can't wait to see it finished, but my goodness...such hard work!

Do you ever feel like you have bitten off more than you can chew????? Wish us luck....and no rain, definitely no rain.

But I do love a sash window, don't you????

How was your weekend?

x

A good book and wafting jasmine................x

I have started reading a wonderful book.I am completely taken with it, it's one of those reads that you find yourself thinking about during the day, and when reading I am totally immersed........perhaps it is because this book is written with such a melodious and whimsical hand - it is a grown up fairy tale, I feel 10 again. Snuggled in a corner of my bedroom with my duvet around my shoulders, and a drink of squash on hand!

  

Children at heart must read this book!!!

 Another thing I am taken with is my Body Shop room spray which I keep squirting on the cushions.....to the annoyance of the family....the bumblebee's surprisingly are not keen and have uttered " urgh " and "what's that stink?".........how very rude.

Jasmine and Frangipani is my best right now.

I am not sure where the week has gone so far...but now I am focusing on some nice things to do. The arranging of jumble for a stall I am manning at an Easter hunt in aid of the bumblebee's pre-school and School....I have a vision ( perhaps slightly rose tinted ) of vintage fabrics and pressed glassware being donated and discovered, however we will be happy with anything that is sell-able for a few pennies!! And I am looking forward to the weekly helping out at swimming class later today...it is a sweet little job to be helping with, plus....I get to spy on Tilly bumblebee's swimming....which......is...um interesting. She can't swim for toffee, but told all her teachers she can swim the whole pool!!! That one does love to tell a tale........

Perhaps if she giggled a lot less ...perhaps she might not swallow so much of the pool!!!

Really the real reason for helping is I'm sure I sweat the lbs off whilst on the sidelines......I can live in hope!

A girly post.............................x

Just a few of my favourite outfits today, really I could have just used many, many, many pictures of Helena Bonham Carter ....that lady loves a petticoat with lace up boots!

But variety is also good.

I also am on the look out for some nice vintage dress patterns, in the hope of re-creating some thing from below, on a tighter budget.....as always!

Bjork's swan dress has always had a place in my heart!!! Can you imagine rocking up at school pick up with that on! And I would, I really would......

Now we all love a Cath Kidston print, BUT I do have a little problem with some of the clothes. Well a few actually.

They are pricey.....very pricey.

Some  Most outfits are dry clean only....what use is this to a mummy?????

The two tops I had bought ( in the sale ladies ) were, ummmmmmmm.........eeerrr......NOT 12's. One was huge, and one was tiny. And made from very cheap cotton, which stretches and stretches with time.

The answer, I think, lies in Charity shops and jumble sales, where we can customize our finds ( not in the style of Gok Wan....whoever spends £50 + just customizing????!!! ) and eventually hope to look something like this....

Obviously we would look less frazzled, and more yummy mummy?! I hope?!

xx

Red Nose Day and Pretend Sunshine x

It started this morning at 7am............I was quite happy and snuggled under my duvet thank you very much, before Tilly Bumblebee decided to shout in my ear " IT'S RED NOSE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!".......Yes indeed it is.....

I had promised them we would decorate some cupcakes for the cake sale at school, AND make a crazy hair style for them, AND make eggs on toast ( the ladies are doing ever so well and laying one a day each!!! So impressed with them.....think they might deserve some porridge later )

And so this was the scene before school.....

I am feeling unashamedly smug with myself for 1. getting ALL requested activities done. 2. getting the bumblebee's to school ON TIME, with book bags, coats, clean faces, and donations. Smug, smug, smug...............

One thing I am not so happy about today is the weather.......so I am going to pretend that yesterdays sunshine is still here...

My tree's blossom is nearly here, it is the brightest fushia pink...the trouble is, I don't know what the tree is. Any suggestions would be really helpful, I am thinking perhaps a crap apple? But she has a little disease I think, I just can't bring myself to chop her down, the birds love her and for those few weeks every year, she's stunning....

Now Talulla wanted me to show you her bag she made....all by herself. She fashioned it on Lucy from the Narnia film, when Father Christmas gives her the little magic medicine in a pouch.....

And yup, we have a jam jar on a window sill with a petal and grass potion brewing inside.........really pleased she has the making bug though.......

Mr.Q is up in the big smoke today, doing worky bussinessy stuffs, Tilly thinks he has gone to buy Mummy diamonds and crowns.....if only......

Happy Friday, dig deep for Red Nose Day........xxx

Happy Friday to you all

Escaping....................x

When there are boring jobs, sorting, and paper work to be done....I always seem to find some thing far more important to do, that just can't wait.

Like sewing a present for a special someone.......now that JUST could not wait.

And faffing with the wallpaper samples for the bumblebee's room.

Sticking my head in the wallpaper paste bowl, ignoring pending boring jobs, and...well.....having a bit of fun really!!

I have littlest Bumblebee off school with a nasty cough today, and whist I slapped on the paste and positioned, and re positioned, she wandered in from my bedroom ( where she had been flopping ) and gave me the thumbs up, what more could I ask for eh?

I just felt that, in a few years I did not want the girls growing out of their bedroom decor, but needing to keep it girly, but not too grown up. With the Green Ground Farrow and Ball walls, bits of pink here and there, some bunting, AND now the wallpapered chimney breast I think we have the answer.....

Actually.....I feel quite jealous, their room has far more space than ours, with lovely views either side. Just hope biggest Bumblebee comes home and likes it too!!!!

Now then........what other jobs can I find to do...........xx

My button spoons..........................x

Snuggly socks, particularly ones which don't belong to you....are....my best.

I think I am slowly starting to like the unfinished school room type floor boards, hummmmm perhaps it's because they are soooo good at hiding dirt?????????

Today has been a project day.......... I had buttons, glue, and spoons.........You see, every morning the Bumblebee's race for a special spoon for their cereal....It's a big drama, and so finally I decided to put an end to the morning Armageddon and make some more....

What's not to love about vintage buttons?

I can quite understand the cheeryness of a button spoon now........in the morning, I shall also be using one. So cute! 

I have many unfinished jobs in the house, and a few today were completed, I feel quite proud of myself!!! Only a few hundred more to go............

My lovely dad gave me a pair of London prints oooooooooh 10 years ago I think? One of London Bridge, and this one of The Tower......The Bridge frame was painted and distressed yonks ago...this one remained painted for the past year. So out came the sand paper......Aaaaaaaaaaah job done!

So now I have another project up my sleeve ( yes you would think I might be inspired to finish off all those other nagging jobs would'nt you?? Nah, that would be too sensible ).....

Meet my wallpaper samples I have collected up.......a friend gave me the idea actually......and I can honestly say she is happy for me to magpie it....... ( does a "uh huh " count as a yes???!!! )

Will try and finish it for the next post....along with my Exeter piccies which seem now, well over due...ooops!

Enjoy your weekend, smile, drink tea, eat cake, enjoy some sunshine, and relax.....see you next week xxx

Spring cover fantasist .......................x

I buy far too many magazines...........but what can I do when a cover looks so good?

Cucumber sandwiches with little flags, pastel coloured iced biscuits, and a yellow Easter cake topped with chicks and bunting.......am def. going to have a bit of bunting on my Easter cake. AND my sandwiches will be adorned with flags, with the sweet waftings of hyacinths on the window sills......

I love leafing through housey magazines with a cup of tea, I think perhaps I am just nosey.......looking at the lovely houses inside wishing I had a timber framed conservatory, and a bespoke kitchen with a smeg fridge, and an aga, and, and, and, and....the list could go on couldn't it? But lets be happy with what we have, because we always want more, more, more, and really..............

I was happy to just find this.......in the spirit of spring......

YELLOW NAIL VARNISH!!!!!!! Ooooooh and to think I nearly walked past it in H&M at the weekend. B.T.W they have some rally nice colours in there, but Mr.Q had had quite enough of wandering around by that time....and I sensed I was on thin ice! ( A longer post of our trip to Exeter will follow soon )

Do you love ribbons?????????????????????????????????????????????? Me too, I like wrapping presents in them, and putting them in the bumblebee's hair....and so I bought in bulk today as you never know when they might be needed.

Thank you for all your sun shiney wishes, we have had a rather good few sunny days non? As I sit tapping away, the sun is streaming through the lounge windows, onto some very sleepy lazy dogs on the sofa! AND it is 5PM!!!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Just a few things on a sunny day.....x

Today the words are not flowing. This is my third attempt to write this post today. Have I drunk too much tea? I know I have not had any chocolate ( which, ask my Mum...makes me quite excited! )....I feel all gobbledygook and tongue twisted. I quite often have the same affliction when crafting, and reading.......and almost always when gardening.
I must move on..........
Waking up late, with bumblebee's wanting to read school reading books to me whilst I am trying to apply my mascara ( was as good as it got this morning, hair didn't even get a brush ) then finally getting out of the door to find that naughty Jack frost had been.....AGAIN......does he not know I have no spare time to scrape frost from the windscreen???!!!! THIS.FROST.MUST.END!!!!!......Although.........


Today is infact warm and sunny, blue sky overhead in Somerset, which makes me smile. So was wondering if you fancied a peek at the other garden today?

To be honest it is still a huge mess.......mud piles everywhere, branches and even the christmas tree in a huge bonfire style mound. The neighbours must be thrilled.......but we are on the way to it becoming a serene quiet calm place, for chickens, vegetables, and den making, and lets be honest the weather has been dreadful eh?

My little apple tree is doing well, all bricks found around the garden, soon we will add timber for raised beds and gravel for the paths.......

Have you met my Daisy Do-Da? Actually her name is Daisy Do-Da Marmalade and she is a fluffy, cuddle cat.

And how about him?????? I think he is called beetroot but the bumblebee's are constantly changing the chickens names, so I forget.....talk about shaking your tail feathers......

Can we all wish for more blue skies and sun please? And while we are at it, perhaps an extra half an hour in the morning? T.T.F.N lovelies x

Today I am loving.....................x

We had beam love on our last post...............................
Today being Friday......hip hip horray....I am still feeling the love.......
I love Bumblebee's pencil hedgehog......

Candle teacups.......

Naughty Aggie sneaking on the sofa.......caught you out lady....

Things starting to grow..........

And gifts from friends to nurture and grow................

.....and admire some wafting daff's........

My Fridays loves.........are you feeling the love today? x