Someday I'll be........

Story time

2011-01-02T21:52:00.003Z

One of the things over there on my list for 2011 is to read more books. I love reading, but just don't allow myself enough time for it (which I should now, as the husband kindly got me a lovely swish Kindle for Christmas).

No matter what I do, I can't interest Cara in reading at all. She has always been the child who does things in her own time and not a moment before. She didn't give up breast feeding till she was ready. She didn't start speaking till she was ready. I'm hoping one day - when she is ready - she will sleep the entire night in her own bed!

Anyway - in an attempt to encourage her a little more, I've decided that bedtime stories are going to be actual stories - something which we can read a chapter each night from. So, we trundled off to the library last week and came away with several Rainbow Fairy books. So far, she seems to be enjoying them. She is asking for more than one chapter each evening and has also started asking if we can read it during the day too. I've already started gently saying that when she learns to read, she will be able to read them herself. I can't see this happening anytime soon though - I think she enjoys listening while she is drawing or writing!

So - does 'Pippa: the Poppy Fairy' count as one of my books??

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T07:51:00.002Z

I don't really tend to make resolutions as they never seem to stick. This year instead, I am making a list of things I would like to achieve. It's a work in progress, so I'll be adding to it as the year goes on.

One thing I'm hoping to do is to complete a photo a day project. I first started this back in 2007, but made it to the October before giving up. I started again in 2008 and managed a whole 365 photos, which I love looking back on. So...I decided to try it again. I'm not going to beat myself up too much about the quality of the photos, so I'm thinking most of them will probably be 'snaps'.

I was excited to start and even stayed up till midnight to take today's photo. I'm really proud of it!

Happy 2011 everyone.

She makes me laugh so much

2010-10-09T07:19:00.002+01:00

It's turning into a roller coaster of a term at work - every day brings new news and challenges and as a school, we are all facing changes. I don't think I've worked this hard since my NQT year!

Anyway - yesterday morning, in the car, Cara was asking about hearing dogs. So we were talking about what they do, who they help, how they help etc. End of conversation. Then, yesterday afternoon, we were in the car again. She said something and I misheard her "you should get a hearing dog" she told me. She just makes me laugh so much.

It was worth going to the gym for

2010-09-13T20:12:00.001+01:00

Earlier on, Cara asked me what she should draw. I said to her, "why don't you draw a beautiful house." I then went to step class, leaving her with the husband. I've just this minute got back to a dark and silent house. I crept upstairs and they are snuggled up together, sound asleep. This was on my pillow:

Not only is it an astonishingly beautiful house, but just there, in the middle and to the left a bit is my name 'mummy' (written backwards!). I think my heart may have melted a little bit when I saw it. It was well worth going to the gym for.

School

2010-09-10T21:44:00.002+01:00

Cara started 'big' school a week and a bit ago. She has been doing mornings only this week. Next week she stays for lunch and then the following week, she will be full time. Even in just one week, she already seems so much more grown up.

I asked her today if she is enjoying school. "Yeah...it's really quite fun actually" she replied.

New love!

2010-09-05T13:43:00.003+01:00

Cara has a new love - the paddling pool at the Strand. We've now been every weekend for the past three - today being no different! The only thing different today was the temperature of the water though - one quick feel and she soon changed her mind, settling for the park instead!

Cousins together

2010-08-21T21:11:00.002+01:00

Cara's cousins came to play today and we had a lovely day. Sometimes, if they spend too long together, they get to the point where they start to bicker, so I made sure we got out and about, not giving them much time to bicker.

We started off with a walk to the local library. Then we called in Tesco to get something for lunch. When we got home, they had lunch. Then they played in the garden for a while, then we went to the Strand, a local play area. Despite the fact it's August and therefore Summer, it wasn't exactly too warm. They didn't seem at all bothered though and loved the paddling pool. Cara was the only one to get wet. She bent down to scoop up some water to throw and in doing so, dipped her bottom in the water. Cue soaking wet shorts. She was pleased though as she got to sit on the towel on the way home!

Instructions for t-shirt transfer

2010-08-16T07:41:00.003+01:00

Following the comment she left on the t-shirt transfers, this is just for smilernbp - hope it's useful!

It's actually surprisingly easy to make these.

You get the transfer paper (I got it from Staples - it was £10 for 5 sheets, so fairly expensive. That was buy one get one free though, so was actually for 2 packs and 10 sheets. I'm sure you could find it cheaper online, but I was too impatient!)

Once you've got your paper, find your image. I then copied and pasted the images into Word and played around with the placement of them to get the most I could on the paper. You can use the tools in Word to flip the image - this is only important if you've got writing on your image, to ensure it comes out the right way on the t-shirt.

You then print onto the paper (instructions included in the paper, but you print on the white side). I've just got a normal printer and normal ink - nothing special. Just printed it as normal.

Cut out the image. Any white you leave will come out, so it's okay if it's going on a white t-shirt, but more important to be careful if going on to a coloured t-shirt.

Next, iron your t-shirt so it is flat and put the image on face down. Make sure the steam is turned off on your iron and it is set to its hottest temperature. Iron the transfer on. Keep ironing until the iron logo on the back of the paper is 80% brown (again, instructions in the paper). Peel the backing off. I then put a plain sheet of paper on the transfer and iron it for 5 seconds before peeling it off.

The instructions then say to leave for 24 hours and wash inside out before wearing. Cara is like me though and is too impatient for that!

I had a bit of a brainwave!

2010-08-15T19:29:00.003+01:00

My husband has a t-shirt with a cartoon image of the A-Team on it. He loves it and wears it a lot. As a result, it is beginning to look worn and also has a tiny hole on it. I had a brain wave a little while ago, that we could get some iron on transfers from ebay, buy cheap t-shirts and voila, he would have lots of new t-shirts. I bought one t-shirt a little while ago to test it and it worked, it was just a case of buying more t-shirts for him.

So...last night, I had a brain wave. Let's do some for Cara. I was looking on ebay at the transfers - £1 each. Which isn't too bad, but then I thought...maybe I could do those as well.

Cue a trip to Staples to buy the paper and then a trip to Primark to look for bargain t-shirts. Bargain t-shirts they were. They were on sale for £1 for two - one white and one pink. Perfect. So I've had a busy afternoon and now Cara has lots of novel t-shirts to wear.

Lovely e-mail surprise

2010-08-08T17:00:00.003+01:00

Our day has been a bit up and down - mainly centred on Cara pushing boundaries and testing limits. If we say it's black, she says it's white and so on.

So, this morning, after being given several chances, we told her she wouldn't be playing with her friends today. As a result, we all walked down to the shop and then called in the park on the way home. After also going to step class this morning, my knees were screaming at me, so I sat down while H pushed her on the swing. I took out my phone and checked my e-mails.

Check this out:

"Hi Dianna,

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have probably already seen on the website, you are our lucky winner of the Sakura Jewellery Giveaway competition, and our pair of silver and amethyst Orion Earrings are waiting to be dispatched to you!

Please can you email me your full address details including postcode, and I will pass these on to the designer, who will post them to you.

Thank you for entering our competition, and helping to spread the word for UK Handmade.

Best wishes
Anna"

I can't believe I won! It's one of those things where I forgot I had even entered, so when the mail dropped in my inbox I couldn't believe it. I had to read it several times to fully take it in!

You can check out what I won here - http://ukhandmade.co.uk/magazine/sakurajewellery - how lucky am I???

Child and dog

2010-08-08T07:55:00.001+01:00

When I was pregnant, we worried about how the dog, who had been my baby up until then, would accept the new addition. We needn't have worried - from day one, he has loved her - even when her love for him is a little overwhelming at times!

I heart Bob and Jillian

2010-08-07T17:04:00.002+01:00

So I recently discovered The Biggest Loser. Now considering they are RE showing season 8 of the US version and there have been several UK and Australian versions, I've been missing out on this for a VERY long time.

Now I've discovered it though, I simply can not get enough and will even admit to having a slight crush on both Bob and Jillian - but seriously, who hasn't??

I am loving the transformation of the contestants (and I'm talking about ALL the contestants as I'm currently watching three different seasons of the US version and one of the UK version)

Since damaging a ligament in my knee about 12 weeks ago, I haven't been to the gym. It's the kind of thing where you miss it for the first week of so but then it's easy not to go. My knee is still twinging and I know it isn't 100% but today, I went to the gym. I just did some walking and went on the cross trainer, but I really enjoyed it. I was going to stop at one point on the cross trainer and had 2 1/2 minutes to my goal time. I thought to myself "what would Bob and Jillian say?" and that carried me through!

So...long may it continue! (although I think the knee may pay for it in the morning!)

"oh well..."

2010-08-01T09:45:00.001+01:00

"I'll just have to get bored then" is what Cara just said when she realised it's too light for her to play on her DS in the car.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The kid who doesn't like walking...

2010-07-30T22:14:00.002+01:00

...walked all the way to our local library and back this morning. A grand distance of 1.6 miles. I'm so proud of her!

We set out from home and had a nice leisurely walk there (she took her scooter and scooted some of the way). We got to the library, where I enjoyed a nice rest! Then we walked home, calling in a local bakery on the way, where Cara bought a sausage roll and a drink. We sat in the park and had a little rest while she ate her sausage roll and we shared the drink before walking the rest of the way home.

It was a lovely way to spend some time - we probably could have driven there in less than 5 minutes, but it meant spending some lovely time together, getting some fresh air and killing a good two hours.

Beautiful hair

2010-07-28T21:32:00.002+01:00

I heart Cara's hair.

I dread the day when she asks for it all to be chopped off - as did my own parent's most probably, when I was about 8 years old. I remember feeling so grown up at the hairdressers as they asked me if I wanted a glass of lemonade while they chopped my locks off. I did - of course!

Family time

2010-07-21T17:19:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, H had the car, so he picked Cara up from my mums and then came and picked me up from work. Cara fell asleep in the car before they even reached school, so when we got home, I carried her in and put her to bed. I wasn't too far behind, going to sleep at about 5.20pm. The end of year exhaustion is setting in.

Cara woke up at about 7pm, so I sent her downstairs to H. He then took her and Buzz to a little club we are members of. They got in at about 9.30pm - I found out today that Cara walked all the way there and back - for the child who is so lazy it is unreal, this was a real achievement for her. Anyway - in the club, they have a machine of 50p cards - put 50p in, get a card out. It has 5 strips on, which you peel back. If you match 3, you win anything from 50p to £200. So...Cara asked H if she was allowed one. He bought her it, she peeled back the first one and said, "Daddy, I've won." He looked. She had won. £200. He couldn't believe it! Lord knows that at the moment, with H out of work and nothing coming up anytime soon, it was well received!

So, today, I managed to stay up beyond 5.20pm and we had some family time playing games (all four of us - the dog included!). First of all, we played a Moving House game - Cara won. Then we played a game I had when I was little - Rings on Your Fingers. She won again. It's not even as though we LET her win.

"It smells of mummy"

2010-07-20T06:18:00.002+01:00

Cara cuddled up to me in my bed last night. She asked if she could have my pillow, so we swapped. She lay down and then said in a little happy voice "It smells of mummy." I'm hoping she meant it in a good way!

It was her last day ever at pre-school yesterday. I can't belive where the past two years have gone. When she first started, she barely spoke (we had just had a speech and language therapy assessment saying she had delayed speech), she was in pull ups and my mum had to stay with her for the sessions to help he settle in. Now here she is, all grown up.

My garden

2010-07-17T19:18:00.009+01:00

When we moved into our house almost 7 years ago, the garden was okay, but nothing special. Part of it was fenced off and overgrown and the shed was well and truly past it's best. We've spent a lot of time over the years trying to turn it into a family garden and plant and grow things.

Here are a few pictures from over the years:

March 2007 - my dad and the husband dismantling said shed. You can just see the overgrown weeds to the left of the shed.

April 2007 - we cleared the overgrown weeds and prepared to turf

April 2007 - turfing almost complete

April 2007 - we put up a fence so Cara could play up there and there wouldn't be any danger of her falling off the edge. It doesn't seem real that at that point she was only 15 months old!

July 2007 - After putting the fence up, we seemed to play more on the main part!

April 2008 - A year later

July 2010 - today! It's changed a lot and we've really lucky this year in what we've managed to grow. More on that later though.

We had a lovely impromptu swim

2010-07-14T20:47:00.002+01:00

When we got home, Cara went and knocked for her friend, who it turned out, wasn't in. She started to get upset, so we played a game together and then I asked her if she wanted to go swimming. She did. So off we went. It was totally spur of the moment and was lovely. We played and swam - she swam all the way from the edge to the middle of the pool where the lane divider thing is, all by herself - no float, no noodle, nothing. Just her little arms! I would say it's about 3 metres or so - she kept coming up for air and then just kept going - I was so so proud of her.

When we got out, she handed her noodle in and the man said he'd watched her and she had done really well. She then said to me, "can I have a sticker when we get in?"

On the down side of things, the husband has one more day at work and then that's it. Looks like we'll be looking for a job for him.

Cara's drawing

2010-07-12T19:49:00.002+01:00

Cara sat on the landing last night for a good ten minutes, drawing this. She bought it in to show me all proud of herself. It's a person (in the middle) about to get changed into the clothes on the left and then they are taking the dog (with 6 legs) for a walk. Not sure what the other stuff is. I love seeing how her drawings develop and how her imagination works.

Not a happening really

2010-07-05T20:25:00.001+01:00

Life as usual at the moment...I haven't forgotten you little blog (or gone back to old habits!)

Will update soon - just as soon as something excting happens. In the meantime, I'm focusing on getting through the next 14 days feeling as awake as possible as I just feel utterly exhausted at the moment!

Chinook!

2010-06-24T17:52:00.004+01:00

A few months ago, I spoke to someone at work about organising a trip for our Year 10 Public Services group. There are only 12 of them and she had a contact who could help organise a visit and a tour around RAF Odiham in Hampshire. "Not a problem" I told her "I'll drive the mini bus."

So, after much to'ing and fro'ing with dates, it was agreed we would go on Wednesday 23rd June. At the beginning of last week I was bragging to people that I have PPA on a Wednesday period 6, which meant I could leave school early and be home in time for the all important England match.

Until I realised it was the same day as the trip. Arrgggghhhhhh. It was one of those things that you agree to and then when it sneaks up on you, you kind of wonder why you did it.

Anyway, the day came. I spent 15 minutes trying to find the fuel cap to fill the mini bus up with diesel (thankfully no one else was there!) and then we spent 2 and a half hours driving from Kent to Hampshire.

The day was absolutely fantastic. We got to see and do so much - it was amazing.

First of all, we had a tour of the fire station and then they showed us a little demonstration. Then we saw some Chinooks take off. Then we had lunch. Then we went up the air traffic control tower and got to see all the radar. Then we saw where they train the dogs. Then we got to actually go in a Chinook. The students got to sit in the pilot seat - how cool is that (I could have done, but because of the dodgy knee, I was worried I'd get in and not get back out!)

(excuse the sweaty look - it WAS the second hottest day of the year so far and it was HOT in there!)

It took us an hour and forty five minutes to get back home, during which time, we couldn't get Five Live to tune in, so we couldn't even listen to the football. We pulled into school just as the game finished! At least England won though, so we can all see the game on Sunday.

Then.....last night, we had Cara's primary school introduction. I welled up a few times while they were talking. My baby is all growed up! Where has all that time gone? Anyway - today, I am shattered. Think all that driving is catching up with me!!

"Shall we wash Grandad's tea pot up?"

2010-06-22T19:32:00.002+01:00

I found out today, that when Grandad is being grumpy, Cara asks my mum if they should wash his tea pot up. Apparently, he doesn't like his tea-pot being washed and so they do it when he's grumpy to almost get back at him. My mum said that if he is super grumpy, then they give it an extra hard scrub! I'm glad I don't drink tea!

Swimming

2010-06-21T18:11:00.002+01:00

A little while ago, we changed Cara's swimming lesson. She used to go on a Saturday and myself or H would have to get in with her. With the introduction of trampolining before swimming on a Saturday, it was all becoming too much and she would just mess around and not really do too much. So...when I joined the gym...I signed her up for the swimming lessons there. On a Monday and in the pool by herself. She loves it!

There are only 4 children in the group - Cara and 3 other little girls. I'm the only mum that sits and watches; one goes in the pool with her other (younger) daughter and two go and have a coffee/sit and chat with friends.

Today, there were only three of them as one (the one whose mum goes in the pool wth her sister during the lesson) was on holiday so they all went into the big pool. In the toddler pool, they can stand up, so don't really try, but in the big pool, they can't, so they have to work harder so to speak. Hazel, the swimming instructor is fantastic and does a great job. She got in and had Cara and one of the other little girls. The third one was a little bit late coming out, so had only just sat down on the side. Her mum had gone back out and this poor little girl just sat and looked at me. "Okay?" I asked her. She kind of half nodded at me and then her bottom lip started to wobble. "I don't like the big pool" she told me. My heart just went out to her and I will admit to being a little upset that her mum kind of sees her swimming lesson as a time to sit and socialise rather than watch and encourage her daughter. I know I shouldn't judge and I don't know the full ins and outs - for all I know this may be her mums only free time - but this little girl was clearly so scared and worried. "You'll be okay" I said to her in as reassuring way as possible.

Before she could get too upset, it was her turn. She went in the water and after a bit of a wobbly start, oh my goodness - she just went. She had a shark fin on, but she was going so fast and was so confident - it was like a different child.

When she got back to the edge, I clapped her and told her well done. She looked so pleased and happy - I just wished it had come from her mum and not from me though - a total stranger.

At the end of the lesson, her mum came and got her and dropped her brother off for his lesson which follows her one. She took her through to the changing room and as I walked past with Cara, I heard her ask the little girl if she had been in the big pool for the whole lesson. I admit - I butted in. I said what a fantastic job the little girl had done and how brilliant she had been. The mum seemed genuinely happy - imagine how happy and proud she would have been had she seen that for herself and not heard about it from a random stranger.

Children grow up so quickly and things like this to them are important. I would hate to miss one of Cara's lessons. For example, while in the big pool today, the instructor was getting her to practice getting her arm up out of the water on each stroke, so she said to Cara, "wave at mummy." Instead, she pulled her arm out of the water and gave me the biggest thumbs up possible. She may not be the world's most natural swimmer, but she loves her lessons, and to me, that's priceless. I wouldn't miss that for the world.

So it's official....I am lazy!

2010-06-20T19:00:00.005+01:00

Too lazy infact to even blog regularly. How pathetic is that? So, I'm going to try whole heartedly (until tomorrow maybe!) to blog on a regular basis. I mean - how hard can it be? I bet there's even an app for the iphone that would help me in my task.

So, today we went to a boot fair for the first time in an age. After damaging a ligament in my knee five weeks ago, it's the first time I've felt able to. We got a huge haul of new games for Cara. The type that would have cost a small fortune had we bought them brand new! Amongst the lot was this

I can remember playing with something similar (maybe a different version) when I was little, so for the bargain price of 50p I snapped it up. Unfortunately, it didn't come with any pieces - just the shell of the post office. So, while Cara whittled away the hours today playing with her friends (we had a house full again!) I set about designing and making some resources for her. She now has an array of TV licences, car tax, insurance forms, savings booklets, paying in slips, cheques, special delivery forms and stamps. She and her friend spent some time playing with it.

She is now having some wind down time in her room before bed and is happily playing away.

She just said to me "Are we going on holiday tomorrow?" I replied "No sweetheart, I've got to go to work" "can't you cancel it?" she asked. Wishful thinking!

Here she is on the bouncy castle this morning

...and whoosh, they were gone!

2010-02-27T19:43:00.002Z

This afternoon, Cara and I went to a local theatre to see a stage show of the classic children's story, Room on the Broom.

It was BRILLIANT!

You can see a clip from the show on You Tube. The show lasted about an hour and it ran straight through without a break (much to Cara's disappointment for some reason!). It was just the right length for small people and with only 4 actors performing, I figure just the right length for them as well!

The day then got even better when the husband won a bet he had done on the football. He put £1 on 10 games. 1 game was cancelled, but he got the other 9 right, netting a tidy sum of £235 (although that one game bought this down from £495!)

Good day all round :-)

My daughter just made me cry

2010-02-26T19:29:00.001Z

but in such a heart warming good way :-)

She's in bed watching Toy Story 2. I'm sat next to her. She is stroking my hair.
"You are such a smart girl" she starts off saying "and you are beautiful" and then "I love your hair" followed finally by "I love you mummy."

How could I not have a tear at that??

Today's offerings

2010-02-22T17:49:00.003Z

Today, my mum had been teaching Cara about the different types of houses there are. "What's the one called when it's all on its own?" she asked her. "A bunkbed" Cara replied.

Then in the car on the way home, she was asking me about the planets and Earth and where the moon was. She is a little obsessed with this at the moment and the other day, we looked at a book together to see how all the planets are lined up and are arranged. "When will it be summer?" she asked me, so I tried to explain that the Earth spins very very slowly (so slow we can't feel it) and when our part gets to face the sun, then it will be summer time. "Will our house wobble?" she asked me.

Too long

2010-02-21T17:35:00.002Z

Yes, yes....I'm a terrible blogger. I know. I didn't even really decide to take a break, it's just something that happened really.

I went back to work after the summer holiday in September and that first term till Christmas is always the worst. It's like being on a rollercoaster that shows no signs of slowing down or stopping. Winter then came. Boo. I seriously hate winter. I don't know what it is, I just seem to always hit a dark patch.

So, what's been happening?
1. We have a new addition to the household. A hamster called Honey. We got her just before Christmas. She is seriously cute.
2. Christmas. Cara gave up her dummies. Yay. She did a fantastic job. Put them in the special bag for Father Christmas who transformed them magically into a pink Nintendo DS and that was it. She has probably asked for one about 4 times - always when she is tired. I just tell her she doesn't have a dummy any more and that is it.
3. Birthday. Cara turned 4 in January. It was lovely. She had a party with her friends at soft play on the Sunday and then on the Monday (her actual birthday), H and I collected her from pre-school, we all went out for dinner and when we got home she opened her presets. It was lovely.

This week has been half term and we've had a lovely week together. I think it was a few things that happened this week and little things she said that made me want to log them and blog again.

Monday - we went to the cinema. We saw The Princess and the Frog. It was really enjoyable and she was a pleasure to be with.

Tuesday - I had my hair cut and then my mum watched Cara while I did some marking. We then went out for lunch. When we got home Cara and I made cakes. "Good work partner" she told me when we had finished, giving me a high 5 in the process!

Wednesday - We had a bit of a running about day. It started with Cara having her hair trimmed at the hairdressers. She sobbed. She then had a doctor's appointment because she has yet another cough (she has had three lots of antibiotics in the past 3 months). He referred her for a chest x-ray - she we went up to the hospital. She got a little teary on the way, but when we got there she was an absolute star. The radiographers were fantastic with her - she had her x-ray and then they showed it to her on the screen. We then went to my aunts house where my mum and all of her sisters (5 of them) met up. We spent the afternoon with them.

Thursday - we had planned to go and see a colleague from work who went on maternity leave at Christmas. The baby was due next week but we got a text message cancelling as she had the baby! Instead, we went out for lunch with my parents and then popped to Bluewater for a little bit of shopping.

Friday - we went bowling and then to Pizza Hut for lunch. She beat me at bowling and it wasn't even as though I let her! The shame. We then went to my parent's and then my mum and I took Cara and my neices swimming. They were exhausted afterwards and spent the afternoon playing really nicely together.

And that was the week. Phew.
Hopefully I won't leave it so long next time.

Me and my boy

2009-08-20T20:51:00.001+01:00

Since coming back from holiday, Cara and I have made it a daily task to walk the dog. I know it's awful, but when we are at work - and especially in the winter - there are times when he doesn't get a walk, or at best, a short pop round the block (he is never on his own though - he gets dropped to H's parents on a daily basis and then collected each afternoon!). Anway, we follow the same route each day and he gets a 50 minute and 2 mile walk in that time.

Today, because I went into work early, his walk had to wait till this evening. When H got home, Cara was playing out the front, so it was just me and my boy. I can't remember the last time it was just the two of us! It started off fine - especially not having to push Cara in the pushchair up the big hill we start off on. After a while though, I got bored! How bizarre! Normally Cara and I chatter away to each other. We might sing or play eye spy or just have a little chat, but tonight none of that. I certainly wasn't expecting to feel that way and it kind of took me by surprise a little.

Another thing that surprised me is that by not pushing the pushchair, we completed the walk 10-15 minutes quicker than what we normally do. Proves my pickle is a lump!! Bless her.

Another day

2009-08-19T19:09:00.002+01:00

spent not doing very much at all :-)

We walked the dog first thing, before it got too hot, then we trundled off to Bluewater. Cara was treated to the new Peppa Pig phonics toy to try and help her learn her alphabet and I treated myself to far too much lovely stationary in Paperchase. We then headed to Nanny and Grandad's house where we chilled out for a while before going swimming.

"Do ring a ring a roses" Cara told me, so I did - throwing her up in the air and catching her at the end. "Do it to Nanny" she told me. I passed on that one!

When we got home we spent a bit of time in the garden before walking to the park. Little Miss Lazy Bones wanted to get the bus home (two stops!) - I must say though, I didn't argue!

She played out the front for a bit and then bedtime. Bliss.

A-Level results day tomorrow. I must admit to being both a little excited as well as nervous. I shall be in school, so will get to see how they all have done.

Oh - and the car should be ready some time next week. Happy days all round :-)

Long time no blog

2009-08-19T06:53:00.002+01:00

The summer seems to be passing by so quickly. I actually return to work two weeks tomorrow. Eek.

As you can probably tell, I failed on the photo a day thing. I'm not beating myself up about it. It reached the point where it was a chore more than something to enjoy and when Cara fell asleep in the evenings, I would be thinking 'What can I take a photo of?' That wasn't what it was meant to be like! I managed a photo a day for the whole of 2008, so it's not a big deal.

So...the summer. We haven't done too much at all. Last summer we zoomed here, there and everything. Doing so much. When the summer holiday comes, it's almost as though I panic about looking after Cara and so try to spend as much time out of the house as possible. This year has been so so different though. She has a new favourite thing to do. We have a large grass area at the front of our house - as you go out of our door, you have our steps, then a path that runs in front of all the houses then this grass area. She and all the other local children have taken to playing out there. A few weeks ago I suggested she take the picnic blanket out with some of her toys. We haven't looked back since. The children - who range in age from about 8 years to 3 years - love it. They play so nicely together and get along so well. It is even at the point where they will knock and say 'Is Cara playing?' I sit on the doorstep and supervise - sometimes I read the paper, sometimes I might play on my DS, sometimes I just sit. At the start of the holiday I hated it - I was still in work mode and was tetcy - thinking 'I should be doing something', but now, I just chill! I supply drinks, ice lollies. Yesterday, three of them shared two big bowls of fruit all cut up. Cara went out with a little prepacked bowl we got in Tesco. "You can have the bits I don't like" she told one little boy. So I did them a separate bowl! 'Go and check with mummy first' you can hear me telling them 'just incase it's near dinner time'.

The summer is just whizzing by and although we haven't done anything, I think Cara is loving it and I feel just so relaxed (although I still have a pile of marking and preparation to do!) I did manage to go into work earlier this week and sort my new office out. At least that feels ready. I really don't want to go back - not just because I go back on my birthday, lol - but because I don't want to be the new of the Faculty. Urgh. I'm not even going to go there. I can already feel a black cloud looming. So, on that note, over and out.

Oh - and no word on my poor little car yet. Nothing. Not a word.

Day 10 - Saturday 1st August 2009

2009-08-02T13:04:00.004+01:00

I heard H go out the front door at about 7am and then a few minutes later, knock on the door. I gave a sigh and began dragging myself out of bed, when I heard the front door open and him call out "Di get dressed, come and look at the car, someone's smashed right into it." I threw a top on over my pyjamas and went to look. He was right. Someone had smashed right into it.

A few years ago we paid a lot of money for a decent car. About a year down the line, the head gasket went. We paid to have it mended. Then something else went wrong, then something else, then something else. We bit the bullet and got rid of it and ended up having a lot of cheap'ish cars that we looked after as best we could. Finally , last year, we bought my father in laws car from him. Low mileage, well looked after. A fair bit of money. A few months ago, the head gasket started to go. We paid someone to put a new one in, but it didn't do the trick, so we said "you know what...we both work hard, lets treat ourselves and buy a new car." So we paid a lot of money to buy a 3 year old car. This is it. We just don't seem to have any luck with cars.

On a positive note though, three separate people have knocked on our door and told us the registration of the car that did it (10.30pm on Friday night) that didn't bother to stop and where they live. Needless to say, I've passed the information on to the police. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Day 9 - Friday 31st July 2009

2009-08-02T12:59:00.002+01:00

This afternoon H and I went to the cinema. By ourselves. The first time in about 4 years. We saw The Taking of Pelham 123, which was okay. When we got home Cara played out the front and it was only as I was going to bed that I realised I had forgotton to take a photo. This was one of the reasons I gave up my PAD project - the feeling of 'having' to take a photo and in the end taking a 'snap' before bedtime felt that I wasn't doing the project justice. Anyway, on my list of things to do this summer is to sort out the spare room/my study/my sewing room. I'm hoping this photo will inspire me!

Playing catch up!

2009-07-31T08:02:00.004+01:00

I know, I know - I'm already behind on my photo a day thing! To be fair though, we went away for the week last Monday, so I knew it would happen. I just hoped to catch up sooner than this!

Day 4 - Sunday 26th July 2009

So, last Sunday was spent with Cara playing out the front with all the other children and H supervising her. I grabbed the moment with both hands and went mad tidying, cleaning and sorting. I even managed to clean the windows!

Day 5 - Monday 27th July 2009

On Monday, we made our way to Kessingland in Suffolk, which is where we were going on holiday. Cara was as good as anything in the car considering it took us a few hours to get there. It was her first holiday since she was 3 months old, so probably the first one she actually remembers. She had a few tears towards the end of the journey saying she wanted to go home because she had forgotten something, but by the time we got there and she joined in with the children's afternoon entertainment and saw the play grounds there, she soon forgot all about it!

Day 6 - Tuesday 28th July 2009

On Tuesday, we drove up to Hemsby in Norfolk which is where we used to holiday (and where Cara went when she was 3 months old!). She seemed to really enjoy the beach and couldn't wait to make a sandcastle. I must admit that I hate sand, so I supervised from afar!

Day 7 - Wednesday 29th July 2009

Wednesday started off with Cara having breakfast with Sparky (a giant rabbit!) and all the other children and then we drove to Lowestoft for something to do. We were making our way to a playground when we saw the beach was almost deserted (slightly overcast but ever so windy!) so we spent the next hour there....making sandcastles!

Day 8 - Thursday 30th July 2009

We decided to come back on Thursday and called into Jimmy's Farm near Ipswich on the way home. Cara was asleep in the car and as we pulled into the road to the farm it started raining, so we planned to pop to the shop, get some meat and then be on our way. Cara woke up though and the sun decided to come out, so we stayed a while and had a good look round. Cara feed the sheep and goats and played in the playground, I had some cake in the field kitchen and then we stocked up on meat before heading on our way.

All in all, a lovely week. What really tocuhed me was on several occasions, when Cara would stop whatever it was she was doing, come rushing up to me and say "I like holiday".

Day 3 - Saturday 25th July 2009

2009-07-25T21:18:00.002+01:00

We decided to have a 'moochy' day about the house today. It started at 10.30am when we all took the dog for a walk. We dropped him home an hour later and set out again to go to town for a few bits. We got home nearly 3 hours later! I'm just glad I had my fit-flops on, so if I don't have fantastically toned legs when I wake up tomorrow, I want to know why!

When we got home, H supervised Cara playing out the front, which is her new favourite thing to do. We have a large grass area at the front of our house where all the kids play. Her new best friend - Poppy - lives 5 houses away and they seem to love each other. Poppy is a few months younger and they spend their time between our house and her house. She's even been invited to dinner there tomorrow. "I'll look after her" Poppy told me. She is such a sweetie! Anyway...while H was supervising, I was domestic goddess'ing. I made Shepherd's Pie for dinner and this banana bread. Both were lovely.

Cara managed a little Shepherd's Pie before wanting to go back out and play. In total, she was out for 4 hours! She almost collapsed into bed she was so worn out!

Day 2 - Friday 24th July 2009

2009-07-24T20:55:00.002+01:00

A bit of a nothing day today, but it was nice nonetheless. She opened the fridge up this morning and was peering inside. "What are you doing?" I asked her. "Hanging around" she casually replied. I swear she gets cheekier by the day!

This was taken in the library. We got some DVDs to take on holiday with us and a book. Wibbly Pig Builds a Tent.

Day 1

2009-07-23T19:44:00.003+01:00

One reason I decided to start this blog was because throughout 2007 and 2008 I did a Photo A Day project where I took a photo each day - I missed 33 days towards the end of 2007 when I just lost my focus and enthusiasm, but I managed it fully in 2008. At the beginning of 2009, I started the project, but soon lost my love of it and so gave up. What I did miss however was the diary element of it. I love looking back over my photos and seeing what I/we were doing this time last year and then two years ago. I started this blog to help me get that 'diary' feeling.

I know I've been a bit slack lately, but I decided that for the summer holiday, I'm going to get back into that photo a day and blog about it...and then see where it leads after the break.

So...day 1. Today started at 4.50am. Urghhh. By 9 o'clock, I was wishing I was back at work. We soldiered on though and then came 10.40am and an appointment at the doctor's. Cara had to have her last childhood vaccination until she reaches her teenage years - I say 'last', but it was infact two - one in each arm.

Was she brave. Not a bit. She sobbed. She moaned. She whimpered. After about half an hour of crying on the settee and squealing every time she moved a millimetre, I carried up to watch TV while laying on our bed. "Can you sit me up please?" she asked in the most pathetic half a voice she could manage. "Of course I can sweethear" I told her in my best Florence Nightinglae voice. "Be ever so careful" she sobbed. If there had been an award for 'best over-acting' I think she may have been in with a good chance of winning it! Half an hour later it was all forgotten about and not a word has been said since.

First cinema trip

2009-07-19T19:05:00.003+01:00

Cara experienced her first ever cinema trip today. (It's also the first time I've been in about 4 years - although I have now promised myself I will go and see The Time Traveler's Wife when it is released)

I was a bit dubious about how she would be, but once she got into it, she was fine. She had a little cry to start with because it was dark and she said she was scared. She also didn't like it when it first started playing, because it was fairly loud. After that though, she tucked into her Smarties and seemed to really enjoy it. Then she needed the toilet. So out we went. Then she wanted something else to eat. So out we went. Then she needed the toilet again. So out we went. Then she wanted a drink. So out we went. The poor people sitting by us!

Tiredness then started to take over and she said she wanted to go home. Thankfully we only had a few minutes till the film finished, so we got to see the end.

Oh...and the film. Beverly Hills Chihuahua, lol. It was on as a Kids Film thing, so it cost only £5.00 for us all to go to see it. If she hated it, I would rather it cost £5.00 for us to find it out rather than the £18.00 it would had we seen Ice Age 3. Hopefully, we'll enjoy a few more trips during the summer holiday.

Plodding on...

2009-07-18T19:53:00.003+01:00

...and desperately waiting for Wednesday to get here. I am so tired it is unreal. It always happens at this time of year though, but nothing really prepares you for it. I just want to sleep, but work is as manic as ever and then when I get home, there is Cara to take care of. So far this week, I have been in bed, asleep, at 6.30pm, 6.00pm, 8.00pm and last night 7.45pm.

We have 7 students who have had it confirmed they have swine flu. There are another 33 who are off, but as of yet are unconfirmed cases. I really don't understand the point of these last three days in such circumstances, but obviously the power that be, do.

I'll hopefully be back soon, feeling a little happier and looking forward to my summer holiday.

Our job for tomorrow....

2009-07-08T16:32:00.002+01:00

....is apparently to "dig the house up, pick it up and put it on the back of Daddy's truck, so we can move it up the hill". I asked her if she would be able to pick it up herself. "No!" she told me shocked that I could even imagine she would be. "You and Daddy can help me".

So, if I'm not here tomorrow, you know why!

This thing some people call a lie in

2009-07-07T05:33:00.002+01:00

Could someone please explain exactly what it is.

Cara has always been a terrible sleeper, only really sleeping through the night at about 3 years, when she moved in to sleep with us - but hey - needs must. After three years of unbroken sleep I think we were both willing to do anything for some sleep.

Anyway, unbroken sleep sorted, I'm just wondering now how to crack the early morning wake ups. 5.20am this morning. "Where are we going today?" she asked. Please tell me there will come a time when I can't get her out of bed for love nor money. I just need a little bit more sleep. It's a good job I haven't got to teach any lessons today, I feel like a bear with a sore head! Where's that coffee??

Today's offerings

2009-07-06T20:50:00.002+01:00

I love Cara's comments so much and I just want to be able to remember them. One thing I miss about my photo a day project is the journal style where I used to record what we had been up to that day, or things she had said. After almost 2 years of taking a photo everyday though, I needed a break. I keep thinking that one day, I'll go back to it, but for now, this is my place to record everything.

So, we were in the car this morning going to my parent's house. Out of the blue, she says to me, "When we take Buzz for a walk...." "yes, Pickle" I prompted her ".....it would be easier to go in the car." I guess you can't argue with that logic.

Back to the exam papers.

Exam marking

2009-07-05T21:26:00.004+01:00

I'm caught up with the joys of exam marking at the moment - only 51 more to go (yay). I thought I'd better get back in the blogging though. I've missed it. I've also decided that I want it to be a place to record all of Cara's conversation pieces.

Just over a year ago, aged 2 years and 5 months, my baby girl was referred for speech and language therapy. She had a vocabulary of about 20 words and couldn't string any together. At the time, I felt like I'd failed her in some way, even though deep down (and lots of people told me as well!) I knew I hadn't.

We had a home assessment but that was as far as it got. It was almost as though she had just been waiting for the referral so that she could prove us all wrong. Her speech came on in leaps and bounds and if you listened to her now, you'd never guess that there was ever that possibility.

So...last night, we were laid on the bed looking at each other. "Love you" I said to her. "Love you" she told me back. "Love you lots" I said to her. "Love you lots" she told me back. "Love you lots and lots" I said to her. "Love you a hundred" she told me. I think a tiny piece of my heart melted.

In the week, she was sat in my mum's kitchen watching her wash up. "Do you know the very most important thing that cavemen had?" she asked my mum. "No" my mum replied. "Washing up liquid" Cara told her.

Her favourite song at the moment is the 'a b c' song. We were singing it in the week and when we got near the end, it went something like this:
Me: "q, r, s"
Cara: "q, r, s"
Me: "and t, u.."
Cara: "Me? Why me? And you"

It's amazing how they learn it all really.

Thank you so much Nicola

2009-07-01T16:55:00.003+01:00

Nicola and I arranged to send our Seaside Swap parcels yesterday. We had it all planned so hopefully they would arrive on the same day, but I asked my mum to post mine for me as I was at work and she ended up sending it Parcelforce rather than first class, so chances were they wouldn't arrive at the same time.

I said to Nicola that I wouldn't open mine if it arrived before hers did but she said to go ahead. I didn't need much convincing! So, today.....it arrived!

I must admit to being rather like a small child at Christmas!

Everything was sent in a rather awesome beach bag.....how cool was that? (and I'm kicking myself now for not thinking of the same - sorry Nicola!). She even included something for Cara - how kind was that? (unfortunately Cara fell asleep on the way home and so I've saved it for her to open in the morning)

Everything was beatifully wrapped.

Look at all that! How amazing?? Included were a hand made framed beach picture - this is really lovely. Nicola is very talented. Next, there was a hand made sail boat key ring - again, so so talented. Next were some Yankee candles. Nicola mentioned that she liked these and now I'm lucky enough to try them myself! Some shells - which I haven't unwrapped because I need to find somewhere safe for them first! A lovely piece of seaside/beach fabric. Some sail boat fragence oil. A fantastic pair of flip flop socks and some chocolates...shells no less! Oh..and a lovely card.

How fantastic is this? I'm going to put it by my sewing machine to remind me how much I've loved this swap (I just hope Nicola likes her parcel!)

So much work has clearly gone in to this. I would have no idea where to begin with a key ring!

So - thank you so much Nicola. You have been kind, thoughtful and generous. This was my first ever swap and you have been truly wonderful to have as a swap partner. I hope your parcel arrives soon.

Giveaway winner

2009-06-24T19:38:00.001+01:00

is comment #2 - Esther.

Well done Esther and thank you for joining in.

I'm in the midst of trying to mark 200+ A Level exam papers at the moment, so as soon as I get a spare minute I'll e-mail you (or if you see this, please feel free to drop me a line).

Post 50 - A GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-06-17T19:00:00.003+01:00

This is my 50th blog post and I am going to make it a giveaway.

Up for grabs are 3 Fat Quarters from the Makower Coast range: Flip Flops, Beach Huts and Ripple Sand - perfect for summer projects!

All you need to do to enter is tell me your favourite holiday destination. It might be somewhere you've been, it might be somewhere you want to you.

I'll leave it open for a week, so until 7pm (GMT) next Wednesday (24th June). Everyone welcome, I'm more than happy to post Internationally.

Thanks for stopping by.

urrgghhhh

2009-06-17T18:34:00.005+01:00

I'm really not having a good time of it all right now, so I'm going to focus on the positives.

Carolyne left a message on one of my posts recently recommending Swap Bot to me, so I headed over there, joined and signed up for a fabric swap. We received our swap partners last week and on Saturday a lovely little parcel arrived. Inside was this:

AND this:

I love them all! The watermelon and cherries just remind me of summer and my swap partner said she choose the apples "for the teacher". How sweet was that?

Following on from that, it seems to have been a week for fabric. I ordered some fabric last week and it also came on Saturday:

Today, I had to attend a course in London and it just so happened that the meeting was held right next door to Liberty of London shop just off Regent Street. I couldn't resist a peek in there, and this just happened to fall into my hand....

I am well and truly stocking up on this stuff at the moment and I'm finding it harder to get (without paying over the odds or extortionate postage prices for it). Anyway, it was £8.50 a metre, which is probably the cheapest I've known it, but not only that, look....

it gets nicely wrapped....

and then put in a fabulous bag....

I might see if there are any more courses I 'need' to attend, lol.

If that wasn't enough, when I got home, these were waiting for me from the Sweet Words giveaway over at A Pocket Full of Buttons I won. They are truly gorgeous and I can't wait for the morning to show Cara (who fell asleep in the car on the way home!)

Onwards and upwards I say. Remember I said that my 50th post would be a giveaway....well this is post 49!

Look what the postman bought!

2009-06-11T18:02:00.004+01:00

So, I got home from a tough day at work (I had one of those unannounced lesson observations) to find the postman had delivered a parcel that contained the goodies from Laura's giveaway that I was lucky enough to win! She really is one very talented lady - all the pieces are beautiful and you can clearly see that each individual piece has been lovingly crafted. I am one very greatful giveaway winner!

Thank you so much Laura, I am in love with all of the pieces!

After being the lucky winner in two recent giveaways and with my 50th post fast approaching, I've decided to return the kindness and host a giveaway for my 50th post. It will be for fabric - a set of fat quarters, but I'm yet to decide on which ones. Check back here in a few days time for full details!

Rachel over at Contented is asking how you came up with your blog name. Mine is quiet straightforward really and if you are a Bon Jovi fan, you should recognise it straight away. When I was deciding on the name, I basically wanted something that summed me up. I did wonder about making it a 'craft' name, but I didn't want it just to be about my craft work - I also wanted to be able to include some ramblings, thoughts, moanings and so on. So, in the end I went with one of my most favourite songs of all times and something that sums up my own personal philosophy on life. I love how the title (and the song) is filled with optimism - it doesn't matter what is going on here or now. It doesn't matter how bad things get, there will come a time when things are better.

"Someday, I'll be Saturday Night"

(although when things get tough for me, I prefer to say "Someday, I WILL be Saturday Night")

Busy, busy, busy

2009-06-08T20:48:00.003+01:00

I've had a lovely evening spent infront of the sewing machine :-)
I've been working on the seaside swap and am so excited! I'm not saying anymore though incase I let the cat out of the bag!

I picked Cara up from my parents after work and we had a lovely few hours together. Sometimes she is just the devil child, but other times she just makes me so proud. We received a letter home from pre-school a little while ago saying that this term, the children would be looking at countries around the world and if anyone had an items of interest or things they could use, they would really appreciate it. We got some postcards together for Cara - the girl who lives next door to my parents went to Las Vegas and bought some postcards back, my dad found some from when he and my mum went to Malta years ago. I asked Cara if she gave them her postcards and she said yes. "Anita sat with me and we looked at them" she told me. "What did she say pickle?" I asked her. "She said had I been to those places" "What did you tell her pickle?" "Yeah - I have been to them". So, Cara...International jet setter. Bless her. She doesn't even have her own passport yet, let alone been on an aeroplane!

Also...in more exciting bloggy giveaway lovliness, check out the e-mail that landed in my inbox yesterday:

"Hi Dianna,

Thanks for entering my special birthday giveaway over on my blog.... You won! :)
http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com/2009/06/felt-flowers-galore-plus-winner.html

If you let me know your address I'll get your goodies posted out asap.

Best wishes,
Laura"

I can't believe it. I've been admiring Laura's work for a while now - she is so talented and so creative. Back at Christmas, she blogged a fantastic series about gift wrap ideas. I loved this one in particular and used it when I wrapped my nieces presents.

I can't believe that I'm going to be one lucky owner of some of her creations. I'm so excited!

Cara has also received all of her mail swap letters and she was so excited when she realised they were for her! It was lovely to hear from all the children on the other sides of the world (we had 4 in Australia and 1 in America) and we really enjoyed reading the letters and notes and using the stickers and pencil we were sent. Thank you so much if you were our partner! I'm certainly going to be watching Pigeon Pair's blog to see if there is another one soon - Cara enjoyed it so much.

Struggling with the juggling....but some good news too

2009-06-04T18:40:00.002+01:00

I went back to work on Monday following half term and I'm already struggling to juggle work with everything else. It's the final term which means exhaustion is just about setting in and with my Head of Faculty leaving (and me taking her place) it means there is just so much to do.

Add to that the fact we received 'satisfactory' on our latest Ofsted, means the Senior Leadership Team have put an 'Action Plan' into place as of today, which includes whole Faculty unannounced book checks with a focus on formative assessment and unannounced lesson observations, which will require lesson plans written according to a new format and assessment based on Ofsted criteria. Oh, and did I mention that we also need to re-write all of our Schemes of Work? And teach of course. All in the next six weeks. Joy of joys.

Anyway....after that day, I came home and opened up my e-mail to find a wonderful message from Melissa of Sweet Words sitting in my in-box. A Pocket Full of Buttons recently hosted a giveaway for some her Sweet Clippies. Anyway, here is the message:

"Hello Dianna,

CONGATULATIONS!!! YOu are the winner of my Sweet Clippie Giveaway! If you could provide me with your mailing address, I will ship out your Sweet Clippies ASAP!!

Thank you & Have a Sweet Day!

Melissa Deline"

How fantastic is that?!?! It's certainly made my day :-)
Thank you to both Melissa for the giveaway and Stephanie at A Pocket Full of Buttons for hosting it.

GIVEAWAY WINNERS

2009-05-31T20:27:00.002+01:00

When I first decided to join in the giveaway, I thought it would be fab to put all the names in a hat and let Cara pick the winners. This idea soon went out of the window with the sheer amount of comments. I can not thank everyone enough for joining in and making my first giveaway so successful. I also can't wait for the next SMS giveaway!

Anyway - down to business. I'm using www.random.org to draw the lucky winners - I've spent the last 15 minutes trying to work out how to copy the little results table over to here but I can't do it, so I'm afraid you are just going to have to trust me!

Winner #1 for the pattern and fabric is comment no 68 which is Jules over at MoonCat Farms meanderings. She said "Having to pick just one is Hard!! I love the August Fields collection, especially the Graceful Vines in grey. Thank you for entering me in the drawing."

Congratulations Jules - I can't wait to see the finished article!

Next up is the quilting book. The winner of this is comment no 128 who is Melanie over at Sugar Lemon. She said "I am currently working on my first ever quilt - it's a cot quilt for my youngest (7 weeks old yesterday). I'm really enjoying it so far. I'd love to be in your giveaway :)" Hope the book comes in handy Melanie and I'd love to see that quilt when it's finished.

Finally we have the cupcake cards. There are 2 sets of these.
The first winner is comment no 20 who is LFinn over at Lfinndesigns. She said "Okay, I love all of your giveaways! You are so very generous. These cupcake cards are adorable. I love cupcakes (but don't like 'big cakes'). Thanks for sharing!"

The second winner is comment no 114 who is Breanna.S over at Breanna's Knit Bits. She said "Your cupcake cards are very cute."

Congratulations everyone and thank you all for joining in. I'm still trying to visit the blogs of everyone who commented - I think it may take some time!

An hour to go!

2009-05-31T19:06:00.007+01:00

Well it's 7.05pm here and I said I would close comments at 8pm. Less than an hour to get your comments in and be in with a chance. I've made an extra set of the cupcake cards, so there will be two draws for giveaway 3.

We went to a boot fair this morning and I picked up some bargains:

The craft magazines were 20p each, the book of paper has never been used and was the grand sum of 50p and the cards for Cara were 50p. These are brand new and have never been used. I've put them away for a rainy day!

I also got this sewing pattern for 20p which has never been used - I like the look of the skirt and one day may get around to trying it out. For that price, I couldn't leave it there!

I also got some lovely new fabric.
This has become my latest obsession, lol. It's also recycling in the best sense! These are actually mens shirts and cost me 50p each. I love the patterns and have lots of ideas on how to use them. I'm going to do some more bunting with them and I also experimented with some more cards earlier. What do you think?

I'll be back later with the giveaway winners!

A finished project

2009-05-30T20:28:00.004+01:00

Cara and I haven't had the best of days. She has almost perfected her 'threenager' strops but she continues to work hard on them and the attitude at times is beyond belief. If I hear the word 'now' pass her lips one more time.....

Anyway, I cunningly planned that we would take the dog out for his walk at about 4pm. Fifteen minutes into the walk she fell asleep. Yay! I transferred her to bed when we got in and got on with some sewing. Bliss.

I have been wanting to make her some personalised bunting for a long time now and tonight I finally turned my hand to it.

I'm on a real fabric 'recycle' kick at the moment - the pink gingham here was once a pair of curtains (I really should have ironed it before putting it up, but I was far too impatient!)

Here is the little minx herself.

We went to Farming World on Thursday and it appears to have become a tradition that I take a photo of her on the little boat thing they have there.

Photo 1 was taken on September 2nd 2007 (aged 1 year and 7 months)
Photo 2 was taken on March 2nd 2008 (aged 2 years and 1 month)
Photo 3 was taken on May 28th 2009 (aged 3 years and 4 months)

Blown away!

2009-05-29T06:42:00.002+01:00

That is how I feel about the response to my giveaways! I can't believe all the comments and visitors to my little ole' blog in the past few days - it is completely amazing!

Thank you to everyone who has visited and joined in.

The giveaways are open till Sunday evening so if you haven't yet joined in, there is still plenty of time.

In the meantime, I'm still trying to make my way through everyone else's blogs. I'm trying to look at the blogs of everyone who has left comments as well as participate in other people's giveaways - I'm up to 'M' on the Sew, Mama Sew list so far - the generosity of everyone is amazing!

Good luck to you if you have joined in mine or other giveaways - the next few weeks should certainly be exciting for the people of blog land with some lovely prizes making their way to the lucky winners!

The time has come....Sew, Mama Sew May Giveaway Day

2009-05-26T08:20:00.001+01:00

I am so excited about joining in the Sew, Mama Sew May Giveaway Day - this is my first ever giveaway and I have decided to give three things away. I know it's not the 27th yet, but I'm so worried about not being able to post before the deadline, that I thought I'd do it now so I don't miss out (hope tht is okay!)

I've posted each one on a separate post below. All you need to do to enter is answer the question in the comment box. Please feel free to enter just one or all three - just leave a comment on each one that you would like to be entered for (I couldn't see a better way to do it - sorry).

I'm more than happy to post Internationally.

Giveaways will close at 8pm GMT on Sunday 31st May when the winners for each will be drawn.

Good luck everyone and thank you for joining in.

Giveaway #1 - Amy Butler Frenchy Bag Pattern AND fabric

2009-05-26T08:10:00.001+01:00

First off is an Amy Butler Frenchy Bag pattern. This can be made either as a shoulder or a handbag.

Accompanying the pattern is also fabric to make the shoulder bag. There is 60cms of Kaleidoscope Dots Leaf for the main panel and straps and 140cms of Full Moon Polka Dot in Lime for the lining, pockets and exterior top (the lady in the shop helped me calculate the amount, so it should be right!)

Of course, you don't have to use the fabric for the bag, but I know that whenever I get a new pattern, I just want to get started on it straight away, so thought it would be nice to give the fabric as well as the pattern.

To enter this giveaway just leave a comment telling me your favourite Amy Butler fabric. Easy!

Giveaway #2 - Learn to Quilt book

2009-05-26T07:53:00.009+01:00

Next up is a book titled 'Learn to Quilt'. I have recently started on my first ever quilt, so I thought it might be nice to offer this. Of course, you might be an experienced quilter - there are lots of lovely pictures and inspiration in this!

To enter this giveaway just leave a comment telling me who your next quilt is for - is it your first ever quilt? Who is it for? Yourself? Someone special? Is it a gift?

Giveaway #3 - Something hand made by me!

2009-05-26T07:21:00.014+01:00

Finally, giveaway number 3 is something I've handmade (please be gentle with me....I only got my sewing machine at Christmas!) This is a set of 5 hand made Cupcake cards. Each card measures approx 5" x 5" and comes with an envelope. It is blank inside for your own message.

To enter this giveaway just leave a comment below. No question for this one!

Busy weekend

2009-05-25T20:28:00.008+01:00

I can't believe it is Monday already! Because it's been Bank Holiday, it still seems like Sunday to me. We've managed to cram so much in!

On Saturday, we went to Chessington. We very nearly didn't make it after H and I had an argument but we got there in the end. Cara had a fabulous time for the most part. There was one or two rides she didn't like (Professor Burp's Bubble Works being one of them!) but she fell in love with a dragon:

and came away as a lion!

Yesterday we spent the morning at a local boot fair, where she got lots of 'new' toys at bargain prices. We then spent the afternoon in the garden, where she played for three hours with two of her cousins. I think much fun was had by all - especially when we painted hands and feet on a large sheet of rolled out paper!

Today, we went to the beach. As a child, we spent every weekend camping at Romney Marsh. We used to come home from school on a Friday, get straight in the car and we'd be off. We would go with my aunt and uncle and several cousins and we would just have a fantastic time. My memories are full of our camping trips. As an adult, we've made a few trips back down that way, but this was the first time we'd taken Cara. When we got there it was raining and really blowing. We walked along the beach, but she really didn't like it.

We went into the amusements instead and as soon as she saw the soft play area, she was off.

It gave the weather a chance to brighten up a little, which then meant we could go on some rides.

She then decided she wanted to go back on the beach and build a sandcastle, but when we got back there, the tide had come right in and there wasn't a single bit of sand in sight. She wasn't too pleased!

We ended up driving down the road, but all that was there were pebbles. We ended up bringing a bucket full home so she could paint them!

I think a return trip very soon may be on the cards!

I was going to post my Sew, Mama Sew Giveaway this evening as I'm so worried about missing the deadline (I can't work out time differences and want to make sure I've posted it by the time I should!) but the two hour season finale of 24 starts in 8 minutes and I don't want to miss that! So, come back tomorrow for the giveaway. I have three things that will be up for grabs!

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend.

Trying to be organised

2009-05-20T19:06:00.008+01:00

The deadline date for posting the Kids Mail Swap is Monday. It's a bank holiday here, so none of the post offices will be open. We are hoping to go to Chessington on Saturday, so ideally we need to post our letters on Friday. We've got 2 all done and ready to go, but Cara needs to finish the other 3 off. She seems to have a short attention span for learning to write, lol!

The sign ups for the seaside swap don't close till Friday, so I don't yet know who my swap partner will be, but I've already been thinking hard and have lots of ideas. I got so carried away with it all that I even started making something, which kind of feels a little like cheating as I don't even 'know' them yet. Anyway, I'm pleased with the progress of it so far, but as this (along with the mail swap) is the first swap I've been involved in, I'm getting myself all in a pickle, hoping that they don't hate it or think it's not very good. Anyway - here's a tiny tiny sneak preview.

I've also been thinking ahead to the Sew Mama Sew May Giveaway Day. Again, because of bank holiday on Monday and Saturday being taken care off, I have limited time to decide what to give away, photo it, post it etc, etc. So this afternoon, I paid a visit to my most favourite fabric shop in the world and decided what to give away. Again, being my first give away, nerves are setting in. What if people don't like it and don't comment? What if people just don't visit let alone comment? Too much to think about!

Anyway....I've decided to give away two things for definite, maybe a third thing if I can make something I'm happy with by next week. Do you want a sneak preview? Oh, go on then, twist my arm!

I'd be more than happy to enter a give away for either and even more happy to actually win one of them. I just need to decide on the specifics of it all now!

While I was in the shop, this was there as a new addition. Polka dots. What more can I say?

Cara fell asleep on the way home again today. But not before telling me that she wants to go on an aeroplane. "So do I sweetheart" I sighed wistfully. She went on to ask a million questions about them. "How do we get on aeroplane because it's high in the sky?" "Do we sit down on the aeroplane?" "Do we wear a seat belt?" "Why?" "How does it get in the sky?"

I think it's amazing how thier brains work. I also think it more amazing that this time a year ago she was speaking only in single words and only had about 20 of those and was referred for speech therapy. Who would have thought it now listening to her?

(Please excuse the dummy - it is something we are working on getting rid of)

Finally - viv of Concept Design Form - if you see this, I need your address to send you something for the Pay it Forward (I can't see a way to e-mail you via your blog or web page)

The Farm....the one with the big sand pit

2009-05-17T20:08:00.006+01:00

Cara had a day off from her swimming lesson yesterday and so we went out for the day. I took her and my two neices to Godstone Farm. "The one with the big sandpit?" Cara asked when I told her. It was, so she was happy. Although she did mention, "it takes hours to get there". It doesn't - only about 40 minutes.

The weather forecast wasn't the best and that coupled with the fact we got there about 10 minutes after it opened, meant it was nice and quiet. We started off in the soft play area and other than one little baby in the toddler area, they were the only 3 in there. They loved it!

We went on a tractor ride

And walked to the adventure playground

Where we played in the large sand pit

and played on all the equipment

We saw pigs

and piglets

Lambs,

and sheep

Goats,

goats,

and more goats (goats are my favourite!)

Today, we topped it all off by making cakes.

Justice: served

2009-05-14T18:31:00.002+01:00

Jury Service is over.

Thank goodness. I fully understand the necessity of it and to start with, I did find it very interesting, but for these past few days, I have been going out of my mind. Part of the reason is that I just wanted to be back at work - we got the message last Friday that Ofsted were coming Wednesday and Thursday of this week and although in some ways it was nice not to be there for that, in so many other ways, I did want to be there - if nothing else, just to support my colleagues. Anyway, it's over now and I still haven't heard how it went. I think speculation was that it was going to be 'satisfactory' rather than 'good'. Oh well.

Anyway...on to happier things.

I have signed up for Sew, Mama Sew's May Giveaway Day. They hosted one back in December and by the sounds of it, it was great. If you want to join in, sign up ends on May 25th and you need to post your giveaway by May 27th. I have an idea about what I'll be giving away, but check back here to join in on the 27th!

Mary over at Still Waters commented on my post earlier in the week that no-one has yet signed up for her Pay it Forward. Go on - head on over there and join in the fun (although that said, I still have one space in my own PIF!) She posted about a fantastic bag that she made, so who knows what she'll send you in the PIF, but if the bag is anything to go by, it will be something great!

Lastly, we received the names of our swap partners in the Kids Mail Swap and we are so excited about putting our letters and things together. We have 4 in Australia and 1 in America, so how cool will that be to receive post from so far away! (I just hope the children like what we decide to send - I always get so nervous about these things!)

Dragon massacre and boot fair bargains

2009-05-10T20:03:00.007+01:00

Today didn't get off to a good start at all.

For the past 16 years or so, I have been collecting Pocket Dragons. I have about 60 in a display cabinet, hidden away in the bedroom. I have even managed to train Cara to look but not to touch. This morning, at approximately 6am, my husband decided he needed to move the cabinet. I have no idea why, but rather than carefully considering his options and then gently pushing it one way and then the other so as to move it slowly and precisely, he grabs hold of the back and tilts it forward.

I was still half asleep when he started this mission, however the clatter of my precious dragons hitting the glass and being thrown about inside the cabinet was enough to fully wake me up. I screamed his name, sat up on the bed, eyes wide open and mouth agape. I must admit it was his words next rather than his actions that tipped me over the edge. "Don't be so dramatic" he told me. I burst into tears. "That's 16 years of my life there" I told him. "People have bought me those as presents for different reasons because they remind me and them of certain things." He walked off in a huff. I surveyed the damage to find that he had managed to break 3 of them. Cara came into the bedroom and asked me, "what's wrong mummy? Why are you crying?" She tried to help me pick them all up, bless her. A damn sight more sympathetic than H was.

A short while later he did apologise (in a begrugingly and half mumbled way) and told me he would replace them ("How?" I questionned him knowing they stopped producing them a few years back "Ebay?" he asked me) He knew he was well and truly in the dog house.

We got ready and headed to a local boot fair. As a child, I was bought up on boot fairs - they were still a relatively new thing back then I think and mum and dad often reminisce about some of the boot fairs we went to when my brother and I were small. As I grew up, I soon realised they were a fantastic way to make my pocket money go further (plus dad always gave me a little extra when we got there!). When I hit my late teens, I tended not to go as much - instead of getting up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning, I was instead reaching the point where that was the time I was going to bed after a Saturday night out! I still used to give mum and dad a 'shopping list' of things to look out for though! As an adult, and now especially as a parent, they are a firm favourite for a way of saving money.

Anyway - after the dragon massacre, one of the first stalls we looked at had a collection of none other, than some Pocket Dragons for sale. H said it was fate and bought the lot for me. I kind of thought I should forgive him at that point!

I also bought this book for 10p. I used to read these as a teenager and loved them. My mum commented recently that I am a very sentimental person and it's true I am. I love collecting anything from my childhood, books I read, toys I had, etc. In the back of my mind I guess I would love it if Cara wanted to read them when she's older, but I won't force them on her. For now, they sit in my study (collecting dust!)

I also got two more books - they were both 50p. What a bargain! The paper one is for me to have a look through and I got the knitting one for someone I 'know' (an Internet wierdie!) who loves knitting. I e-mailed her to see if she wanted it and she said it was on her Amazon wishlist, so that's good then!

We spent the afternoon in the garden, planting some new things and tidying up. So, not too bad a day after a very shakey start!

Friday night sewing

2009-05-08T20:22:00.006+01:00

The news came today that Ofsted are going to be paying us a visit next Wednesday and Thursday. I'll still be on Jury Service. How lucky am I? I think we've been expecting them for a fair while and I think they've choosen a good time (for us - or at least my colleagues!) to come. Our Year 10s will be on work experience and our Year 12s left for study leave today. It's the people who have a full 6 lessons on those days with all Year 7, 8, 9 and 13 teaching (like my Head of Faculty!)

So, I decided I *needed* to do some sewing this evening. I made cards.

I hadn't been planning on making cards, but the Kid's Mail Swap got me thinking and half an hour later, they were done.

Made entirely out of scraps. I think a zig zag stitch may have been better, but I'm not very good at zig-zag and plus I quite like the 'rustic' feel to them.

Look familiar, lol?

Excitement in the post

2009-05-07T19:45:00.005+01:00

The postman has delivered two fantastic parcels for me this week.

The first one was from bagladee and was a prize from joining in her giveaway. It's a gorgeous felt dragonfly and I love it. I'm trying to think of how I can use it to give it justice but at the moment I'm coming up blank - it is just so beautiful.

The second parcel came from Silkie Sue and was from her Pay it Forward. It is a truly wonderful framed watercolour. She is so talented and I can't wait till I decorate Cara's room in the summer as I may see if she can possibly do some custom paintings for us.

Mary over at Still Waters is the only person so far to sign up for my Pay it Forward which means there are 2 spots left. All you need to do is leave a comment and then sit back and wait to receive something I have hand made. You then pay it forward, by doing the same thing - sending something you've hand made to 3 other people.

All of the talk of exciting post has inspired me. I've signed up for Rachel's Seaside theme swap. At first, I was a little nervous - what could I make that had a seaside theme? However, I put my thinking cap on and have a list. I can't wait to get my partner so I can see what I think they would like most. It's my first ever swap and I can't wait to get started on it (although as always, I'm nervous that the person won't like what I send them!)

The second thing I signed up for is Cara and it sounds fantastic. I think with all the modern technology we have, snail mail is a very rare thing. I remember as a child I had about 15 pen friends from all over the world and I used to love coming home from school and finding a letter waiting for me. Christie at Pigeon Pair is hosting a Kid's Mail Swap for children aged 2-12 years. You will receive 5 children that your child then sends mail to - a letter, a postcard, a drawing. How brilliant will that be?

Urrrgghhhhh

2009-05-06T19:15:00.002+01:00

Just about sums up how I feel at the moment. It's 7.15pm and I'm already in bed!
The Bank Holiday on Monday was fabulous, but I honestly don't feel like I know what day it is at the moment! I started my jury service yesterday and while I am finding the whole process really interesting, I feel absolutely shattered having to concentrate so hard on everything and constantly trying to think everything through and weight it all up in my mind. I'm also trying to juggle work with it because this is just about our busiest time of year. Coursework deadlines, marking and feedback, moderation, predicted grades, actual grades, samples to be sent off and then cover work to set as well.

I went in this morning and ran around like a headless chicken to try and sort everything out. I left there at 9.20am, went to the court, done my stint there and then got back to work at 1.30pm to do more running around like a headless chicken. Anyway, my cover work for tomorrow and Friday is sorted, so I don't need to go in now which is a bit of a relief. Roll on the 15th I say. Final date for grades to be with the exam board and a week away from half term. Yay!

Bedgebury Pinetum

2009-05-04T20:27:00.005+01:00

We decided to visit Bedgebury Pinetum (thankfully one of the information boards around the place informed me it was pronounced py-knee-tum because I didn't have a clue!) today. It was lovely. We arrived at about 9am and it was so peaceful and quiet. There weren't many people at all around and all you could hear were the birds. The whole place very much reminded me of the Girl Scout camp I worked on one summer in Florida.

The trees were spectacular and Cara loved the play area. When we left she asked, "can we go the forest another day?" Both she and I had to have a little nap in the car on the way home!

I spy with my little eye....

2009-04-30T19:00:00.002+01:00

On the way home, Cara asked me, "Do you want to play I Spy?" So she started. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C" "Is it car?" I asked her. She thought about this for a second before throwing her arms up in the arm and cheering "Yayyyyyy! Your go" she told me. So I thought carefully, bearing in mind she is only 3 and doesn't yet know her alphabet. "I spy with my little eye" I said, "something beginning with S". She thought for a brief moment, had a glance around and then asked "Is it sky?" She was right and I was so proud that she knew 'sky' began with an 'S'. "I spy with my little eye" she said, "something beginning with K" I had to think carefully about this because I couldn't see anything beginning with a K. So I thought outside of the box. "Is it kite?" I asked. "No" she told me. "Kiss?" I asked and blew her one "No" she told me. "I don't think I can guess it Pickle" I told her "I think you might have to tell Mummy". She gave a little sigh. "It's Grass" she told me.

Maybe we'll work on that alphabet over the weekend!

Paying it Forward

2009-04-29T20:26:00.008+01:00

Continuing Silky Sue's Pay it Forward, which I just couldn't resist joining in with, this is my Pay it Forward post (is it wrong that I am stupidly excited about this!)

The first three people to leave a comment will receive a hand made gift from me.

The only thing you have to do to participate is carry on the gift by giving to three more people...as soon as you have left a comment do a "pay it forward post" on your blog and continue the giving.

I'm not going to say what the three things are, but they involve these fabrics (one of them has the two fabrics on the left, the next has the three orange fabrics in the middle and the last has the two fabrics on the right). (I'm more than happy to post internationally if anyone from overseas wants to join in as well)

More fantastic giveaways

2009-04-28T05:21:00.003+01:00

Blogland never fails to amaze - so many people spreading the love and doing fantastic giveaways on their Blogs. I can't wait for when I get the 'courage' to do one of my own. Maybe when I reach 50 posts - which the way I'm going, won't be too long!

So...
Gracie Lou is giving away scraps this week. I think scraps are fantastic - an opportunity to see and use fabric you may not have otherwise given a second though to. There are also some fab groups on Flickr all about scraps, so lots of inspiration there. All she is asking is "where do you sew?"

Next up is Red Ruby Rose who has just started a new blog and is giving away one of gorgeous clutch bags to the value of $75. All you need to do - I say all, but trust me, it's tough! - is check out her etsy store and tell her which design is your favourite. I choose this one:

You then also need to tell her which animal you would choose to be if you weren't human. I went for a goat, as they are my most favourite animal. Whenever Cara and I go to the farm we always have a discussion about whether we could smuggle one out. She thinks we could! Entries close 1st May.

Last up is Clara at The Rainbow Room who is celebrating her 100th blog post. She is giving away this fantastic bundle: in return for you visiting her etsy shop and telling her which is your favourite product. There are so many bright and wonderful colours over there! I choose these:
which I think Cara fell in love with as soon as she saw them! Entries close 30th April.

Good luck if you decide to enter them.

Pay it Forward

2009-04-27T21:04:00.003+01:00

I've just left a comment on Silkie Sue's blog to join in her Pay it Forward. All you need to do, is be one of the first three to leave a comment and then she will send you one of her gorgeous paintings. In turn, you then Pay it Forward. I'm already thinking about what to pay forward and am already excited! I'm going to aim to do it over the weekend so watch this space.

Watch this space

2009-04-25T08:07:00.003+01:00

Since writing the tutorial for the reversible dress, I've decided I enjoyed it so much that I'm now going to do a tutorial to make a reversible summer hat, like this one:

I'm going to (hopefully) start on it today, so watch this space!

Oh...and the interview? I got the job :-)

As of September 1st, I will be the new Head of Faculty for Social Education.
I'm very nervous but also very excited. They advertised for 2 i/c yesterday (my old post), so time will tell who that will be - I think there are 3 contenders within the faculty. I just hope I don't have to choose which one!

Manic week...and it's only Wednesday!

2009-04-22T16:52:00.009+01:00

I returned to work on Monday after my lovely two weeks off and it's been a bit manic since then really!
I tried to start off on a really good foot and started on my pile of marking as soon as I get home. How is it that I can spend two weeks marking and within one day, it is back to being a mountain again? I remember a recent discussion/article saying that teacher;s shouldn't mark in red. At the moment, I am marking in pink. One thing that 'encourages' me to do my marking is if I have a nice pen to do it in. One that feels nice, writes nice and looks nice. At the moment, it's pink (I think the girls' secretly like their work marked in pink as well!)

I also managed to complete two more reversible dresses. I wanted to check the tutorial I wrote and plus I had some lovely fabric that I just couldn't resist.
I made this one in a one year size:

reversing to:
(I've only just discovered the Katie Jump Rope fabrics and I must say I love, love, love them!

and I made this one in a two year size:

reversing to:

I made them in different sizes as I was thinking about maybe seeing if someone I know wanted them for their little girls, but now I don't know. I don't really 'know know' them and don't really know how to approach the subject. Cara's pre-school have a summer fair at the end of the year to raise funds for the outdoor area, so maybe I'll see if they want them (and maybe some summer hats?). Or maybe I could do a giveaway on here? So many decisions!

The next good thing happened last night. I joined Weight Watchers last week and I had my first weigh in last night. I wasn't overly hopeful, but I lost 6 and a half pounds!

Cara went back to pre-school this afternoon and came out clutching this masterpiece.

I love it when she brings home her art work!

Finally, I went to Tesco this morning and look what I found....

I am so excited. I have been waiting for this book for the past month and was so disappointed when they put the publication date from the end of March till tomorrow. So...I'm off to bed to snuggle up with Jack Reacher.

Oh...and on a final note, I have my interview tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Back to work

2009-04-19T21:22:00.004+01:00

So, my lovely two weeks holiday are up and I go back to work tomorrow. As usual, there is marking I haven't done and a whole heap of work to sort out. Sigh. The time has just flown by and although we haven't done too much (although that said, we've been to the farm 3 times, the park umpteen times, the family picnic, played with cousins loads, swimming - so more than I thought!), it's been nice spending time with Cara and just chilling out.

On the brightside, going back to work isn't all bad I guess. Firstly, it's pay day on Friday. Following the discussion on the Amy Butler fans group on Flickr about the Belle and Lotus lines being withdrawn in the Autumn, I'm going to stock up (big time!) on my most favourite fabrics - namely the wall flower and polka dot patterns which I have fallen in love with all over again!

Secondly, we've only got two weeks and then it's Bank Holiday Monday.

Lastly, it's a mega short term - only 5 weeks till May half term (plus I've got Jury Service smack bang in the middle of it, so it will be extra extra short!)

I actually asked H if I could give up work and just stay at home and sew all day. He just looked at me.

We finished the holiday with (another) trip to the park.

Saturday morning project

2009-04-18T08:22:00.005+01:00

I've had this idea in my head for a while now and finally got around to doing it this morning - in all of about 10 minutes!

I bought a set of 4 t-shirts for Cara from Next with the idea that I would decorate them. So, a piece of Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market Apple Dot Pink, some wonderfully easy to use Steam-A-Seam, five minutes on the sewing machine and voila.

When I showed Cara, her response was "I like green apples." So, it's a good job I love this pattern so much, I've also got it in the green!

Before:

After:

My first ever tutorial - Reversible A Line dress

2009-04-17T16:49:00.021+01:00

There are so many tutorials that people have posted to their blogs and I thought I would join in. I love making this reversible A Line dress as it doesn't take any time at all and it looks lovely on, but each time I do it, I always have to stop and re-think how to do it. So, not only am I hoping that this will be useful for others, but it will also be useful for myself!

I use New Look pattern 6578 for this dress, but anything similar would do. I think, depending on how talented (or brave) you are, you could also easily draft your own.

I use the 3 size from this pattern, which has been fine during the winter as Cara has been wearing the dresses over leggings. However, if she were to wear it on it's own (as I am hoping in the Summer), it is possibly a little short. I therefore decided to add a little to the length. In the end, I added 6cms (it wasn't calculated scientifically - just a rough guess!)

So, pattern selected, you only need the front and back pieces. Nothing else. You now need to cut two front pieces from each piece of fabric and two back pieces.

Two front pieces - one from each piece of fabric:

Two back pieces - one from each piece of fabric:

You now need to take the two back pieces and place them right sides together. Pin and sew where shown on the photo (the red line)

Turn in the right way and press where you have just sewn.

You now need to do exactly the same, but for the front. Place the two front pieces right side together and sew where shown (red line on photo)

Again, turn in the right way and press and then do your button holes.

You now need to sew the front pieces to the back pieces. To do this, lay each piece out lengthways - you have to sort of fold down the part you have just sewn and then it will lay out. Place the fabric right side together, but so that you have one of the patterns on the left side and the other pattern on the right hand side:

Your next step is to sew the two pieces together. Starting on one side, sew the entire length of the dress (red line on the photo) - take care where you move from one dress to the other, because the better you match the seams up, the neater the finished article will look.

You can now turn your dress the right way and you should be able to see it clearly taking shape.

You now need to press and pin your hem. If you made your original pattern longer (as I did) then you can take the time to try it on and measure it properly. Obviously, the more time you take with the pressing and pinning of the hem, the neater the match between the two fabrics you can get. When you sew it, you need to try and get as close to the bottom of the hem as possible. Once you have done this, you can top sew it if you choose (I don't).

All that's left now is to sew on your buttons. Work out where they need to go and then sew two on back to back on each strap.

That should be it (fingers crossed!)

Here is my finished one being modelled (whilst bouncing on the bed!)

Three fantastic blog giveaways!

2009-04-17T07:25:00.003+01:00

The generosity of bloggers never fails to amaze me - there are some truly wonderful and beautiful things being given away out there!

Here are three of the moment:

First off, bagladee is giving away one of her lovely bags to celebrate her 1st anniversary. There are loads to choose from, although I think I'm being drawn to the one in the top right hand corner. The colours are just yelling 'summer'!

Secondly, The Farm Chicks are giving away 2 yards of Pixie Dust Fabrics. This is the first time I have seen these fabrics and I think I've fallen in love! Choosing two was so hard, but after much deliberation I think I'd go with the Watermelon Lattice and the Aqua Pagoda.

Lastly, Bumble Beans is giving away a gorgeous reversible shopping bag and a whole stack of fabric lovliness! The possibilities with that little lot are endless!

Good luck to you if you decide to enter.

Parenting woes

2009-04-13T08:42:00.002+01:00

I need to get this out and I figure here is probably the best place to do that. I well may delete it later, but for now, I just need it to be somewhere other than in my head.

Despite being married, despite Cara having both a mum and a dad, I am truly fed up with being a single-parent with two full time jobs and I just want my husband to realise that. I work full-time as a Secondary school teacher. I have done so since Cara was 6 months old. It's not something I particularly enjoy - it's done more as a 'need' than a 'want'. My other full-time job is obviously being a mum. Cara is at a age where she has dropped her afternoon nap, asks endless questions and it just all-consuming. Don't get me wrong, I love her to pieces, but just find everything so exhausting. I obviously have a fair few holidays as a result of being a teacher, but I also have a hell of a lot of work to do during that time. I am incredibly conscientious when it comes to my work and I feel really stressed out and worried if I am at all behind. I teach a lot of coursework courses and this obviously needs assessing (and often re-assessing) - it takes a lot of time.

What I would love, beyond anything, is when H is off (as he has been this weekend) is for him to say to me "I'll take Cara out today so you can do some marking". Does he do this? No. It's always a 'deal' with him. He has just said to me, "I'll do you a deal - if you take Cara to the farm, then I'll take her to Bluewater with me later on." WTF is that all about? He is her father and yet does everything he can to 'get out' of looking after her. Maybe I should have said to him when we planning a family, "I'll do you a deal - I'll carry this baby for 9 months and give birth if you help me in bringing her up." So - why didn't I say that? Because it's just ridiculous. Parenting is a full time job that we both went in to with our eyes fully open - so why is it, I'm the only one of us doing that job? Gahhhhhh

His idea of childcare is to put the TV on, sit on the settee, ignore her and play on his phone. He doesn't talk to her - he doesn't know how to, because he has never tried. He can't understand what she says and she often has to repeat things three or four times before she even gets a response from him.

I am just so fed up with his 'contribution' right now. He needs a very serious wake up call.

Fabric lovliness

2009-04-12T17:35:00.002+01:00

I got two pieces of lovely new fabric this week.

The first - Michael Miller Eiffel Tower in black was an absolute bargain. It measures almost 2 metres long and cost me the grand total of £1.04. Got to love eBay at times!

The second - Pink Stripes by Tanya Wheelan - was even more of a bargain as it was free (sort of anyway)! My most favourite fabric shop have a customer loyalty scheme, whereby you get a stamp for every £10 you spend. When you get 10 stamps, you can get a free metre of fabric. I filled my card this week and choose this as my 'prize'.

My first quilt (and a little confession!)

2009-04-11T08:51:00.004+01:00

I've decided that during the summer holiday, I am going to decorate Cara's bedroom. I'm going to let her help choose the colour scheme, but I can see lots of pink (I'm thinking pale pink with white).

I decided that I would love to make a quilt for her bed, to finish it all off. So, this week I started. I have never made a quilt before, but just feel so inspired by all the fantastic examples out there, that I decided to just go for it. Now...my confession is that I don't really have a clue what I'm doing. I'm just sort of 'doing it' and am going to see how it ends up (probably not the best way of doing it!)

I've made several blocks so far and am really pleased with how they are turning out.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T14:56:00.002+01:00

Last year, on Good Friday, we visited the Rare Breeds Centre in Ashford where we saw the lambs, sheep, pigs and goats.

We were going to go there again today, but our car is a little bit poorly and so we didn't want to go too far in it. Instead, we decided to go to Leeds Castle as they had lots of Easter events on for children. When we got there, the queue was massive and wasn't moving very fast. With two young children (one of my neices came with us) both impatient to play in a park we decided to try the newly re-opened Kent Life just up the road instead. I'm really glad we did - it was fabulous. Live music, lots of lovely farm animals, lots to see and do and a fantastic outdoor park. The girls were having a great time - so great infact that Cara got carried away and wet herself. She was so upset bless her. A lovely lady near by offered us a spare pair of her son's pants, which was so kind of her, but we had some for her in the car. Unfortinately though, I hadn't taken any spare trousers, so our trip was cut short.

I bought an annual pass for myself though, which at £21 I thought was a bargain. I think we'll have another trip there next week to make up for today.

Summer is on the way!

2009-04-04T20:55:00.002+01:00

After a pretty gloomy start to the day, which resulted in us having to cut Buzz's walk short as it started to rain, it really brightened up around lunchtime. We spent around 3 hours out in the garden - I mowed, trimmed and tidied. Cara happily played with her water table and watered the (as yet, non-existent) flowers for me. She then insisted she wanted her pool filled with water, so we did that. She kept asking if she could get her feet wet, which I wasn't too keen on, but I compromised and made her put her Crocs on first so she wasn't just bare-foot. She clambered on it and exclaimed "it's freezing! Can we put some hot in?"

It makes me long for 'proper' summer. I'm going to get my finger out and make some more sun hats for her. In the meantime though, I've been looking at this fantastic tutorial for a twirly skirt.

Toes

2009-03-30T19:45:00.002+01:00

We were in the car on the way from my parent's house where I had just collected Cara to my parent in laws, where we were going to pick the dog up from. Cara discarded her socks and I was teasing her by saying her feet smelt. "Do you want to smell them?" she asked. "Erm...no thanks Pickle."

So, we picked the dog up and my Father in Law walked to the car to say hello to Cara. They had a little chat and when he shut the door, Cara said to me "Why didn't Grandad smell my toes?" "Erm...I don't know Pickle."

Lovely day and parenting tip #1

2009-03-28T18:05:00.006Z

It has been a lovely day. We haven't done anything out of the ordinary, but H had the day off work and has been home!

He took Cara swimming and then I went to my most favourite fabric shop in the whole wide ever and treated myself a little (or rather a lot...oops!)

I bought a metre of each of these (the Michael Miller Disco Dots and Sandi Henderson Farmer's Market are two of my all time favourite fabrics and I kept worrying that the shop would sell out - infact the lady only got the Farmer's Market back in stock yesterday after - and she said that she is unable to get the orange one anymore *sob*.... ....as well as a fat quarter of each of these....
....and then these gorgeous little fabric letters....

When I got home I finished off a little sewing project I've been thinking about for a while, but have only just round to doing. I'm really pleased with it although Cara keeps asking if it is for the dog rather than her! All we need now is some sun to go with it.

Parenting tip #1
Invest in waterproofs. It has been raining off and on all day, but this afternoon, when it cleared for a bit, we donned welly's and waterproofs and headed for the park. It didn't matter that is was wet and much fun was had jumping in puddles, sliding down the slide (rather fast thanks to the water!) and going on the swings. Not a wet bottom in sight. I'm hopig it has helped wear her out a little bit more, ready for an early'ish bedtime (although we mustn't forget that the clocks go forward tomorrow morning. Roll on summer.)

The deed is done

2009-03-26T20:28:00.002Z

So....about a month ago, my lovely Head of Faculty got a job at a new school for September, leaving her post 'up for grabs'. I'm the second in charge, so I think most people thought I would jump at the chance to apply for the job. How wrong they were. I just don't want it. It was what I did in my old school and it's almost as though 'I've been there and have got the T-shirt' so to speak. A small part of me can see all the reasons why I should apply, but it's like my heart is saying 'no' and my head is saying 'yes'.

The closing date for applications is tomorrow. As of last Friday, there had been two enquiries and no applications. I took an application, 'just incase', but haven't had any inclination whatsoever to fill it out.

That said, I have just spent an hour writing a letter of application. I really can't be bothered to fill out the whole application and so have written this half-hearted letter instead. I know why I'm doing it. For the other members of the Faculty who want me to apply, for the school and for the students. I guess that's the thing with teaching. Very little of it is actually done for yourself.

If I get it, my heart will be in 100%, I've no doubt about that, but I'm just so confused with it all (that's why I'm now rambling!)

So - I guess time will tell is all I can say. Oh to have a crystal ball ah?

Lambs, lambs and more lambs

2009-03-15T17:54:00.011Z

We have had a truly lovely day today.

For the past two weeks, we have been planning to go to Hadlow College today for their Lambing Weekend. This morning, the weather was glorious and we couldn't have asked for it to be better.

Cara got the opportunity to hold one of the lambs and have her photo taken (it isn't the best of quality as this is a photo of the photo)

After that, she went
on a little carousel...

...and then we queued
for a tractor ride (not
the best photo of me,
but I don't have that
many of the two of us
together, so I figure,
here is a good place to
start!)

When we left the college, we called into a lovely little pub where they had a children's play area. I think both H and I could have sat there all day while Cara played, it was so relaxing (although H was a little disappointed that they had stopped serving food!). When we left, Cara told us, "but I don't want to go. It's so pretty. I really like it". I think a trip back there will be on the cards for one day soon :-)

Just like buses

2009-03-11T18:30:00.002Z

Nothing for ages and then everything at once!

Two more things from today:

1) Cara actually asked if she could go to bed. This is the child who ever since being born has had a dire sleep pattern and takes convincing that sleep is a good thing. She sat on the floor in the front room and said "can I go to bed?". My mum tells stories about how I was an awful sleeper and because my brother was such a good sleeper - who also used to ask to go to bed - it was such a shock to her!

2) I've been called for jury service. Tuesday 5th May. Let's hope Ofsted think that will be a good week to come and inspect school, lol.

Heart melting moments

2009-03-11T18:03:00.002Z

Two things have made me go 'ahhhh' today.

First of all, when I was all snuggled up on the settee this morning, waiting for my mum to come and collect Cara for me, Cara wandered out into the bathroom and came back with a beaker of water and a tissue, to try and make me feel better because she knew I was poorly. Bless. The workings of a three year olds mind!

Secondly, I popped to Tesco at lunchtime to pick up a few bits and because it forced me out of bed and made me get dressed and also helped me get some fresh air. As I was wandering around in a half dazed state (lord knows what I looked like), an elderly gentleman randomly came up to me and told me that the tea bags that were in the next aisle that were selling for £2.89 were on special offer at the local Co-Op for £1.18. Bless him. I don't even drink tea.

Disaster strikes

2009-03-11T09:14:00.004Z

I know in the grand scheme of things this really isn't that big deal, but my husband walked in from work to find me in flood of tears about this last night!

Because I was feeling so ill yesterday, I took a bottle of Lucozade to work to try and drink through the day to perk me up a bit. When I left work, I put it in my bag along with a massive pile of my student's work (ever the optimist, thinking I'd feel okay to do some marking!). Just before I was going to go to sleep, I thought I'd take two tablets to help my throat, so I got the bottle of Lucozade out of my bag. Only to discover the lid wasn't on properly and it had leaked.

It had got pretty much all of the work wet - thankfully each piece was in a plastic wallet and it was only the top of each bit, but it was still enough to upset me. I am so conscientious when it comes to work and it takes hours to mark all the assignments and provide feedback (one of the drawbacks of teaching courses which are either all coursework based or have a large coursework component!).

Anyway - as Cara has taken to sleeping with us lately, I laid it all out in her room to see if it will dry out.

What a difference a week makes

2009-03-10T18:55:00.002Z

Last Tuesday was fab - what with the new bike and all.

Today - I feel so ill it is unreal. My throat is on fire, I have a pounding headache, I have a cough, am cold and shivery and I was sick last night. I made it in to work today (for the simple fact I had an easy double lesson and PPA time this afternoon) but somehow, I think tomorrow will be a different story.

Roll on the summer I say.

"It's really lovely"

2009-03-03T19:20:00.003Z

Now that Spring is finally on it's way, I decided that it would be lovely for Cara to have her first 'proper' bike. I had visions of her riding it in the park with the sun shining! So - after I picked her up from pre-school, we went to the bike shop. "How do you make a bike?" she asked on the way. "How do you make a bike shop?" she asked after that!

She picked a bike out - it's pink with tassles on the handles! She tried it out and she fits it. She also got a helmet, "for if I fall off" she told me. We put it in the car and on the way home, she commented, "It's really lovely."

We have one happy pickle this evening!

Rough night

2009-03-02T16:59:00.002Z

I currently have sinusitis. I woke up Thursday morning with the worst headache (just in time for Year 9 options evening!) and I finally put two and two together Saturday morning. A trip to the doctor's confirmed it. Anyway - in my infinite wisdom, I took two Sudafed before I went to bed last night. It was only as I was laying there, my mind racing ten miles to the dozen, that I realised they contain caffeine. Two hours later, I finally fell asleep.

1.15am, Cara (who has taken to sleeping in with us) wakes up crying. I first thought she was having a nightmare, so tried to wake her. Seconds later, she was sick. Everywhere. A change of bed clothes and pyjamas later, we were all settling back down to sleep, when she was sick again. We all went back to sleep only for H's alarm clock to go off at 4.30am. Arrrgggghhh!

I picked Cara up from my parents' house this afternoon and she is as right as rain. She then fell asleep in the car. I'm going to use the time to get some marking done. Although, I've left my favourite 'marking pen' at work. Maybe it's fate trying to tell me something!

Lots of lovely goodies!

2009-03-01T09:10:00.000Z

I decided to treat myself rather a little bit too much this past week!

I have been lusting after the combination of these two Amy Butler fabrics for a while now. My two usual favourite fabric shops let me down - one shop stocked just the Polka Dots and not the Wall Flower and the other didn't have either (although they did have the Wall Flower in Apricot which I succumbed to!) Anyway, I found a place on the net that stocked both and the lovely postman bought them to me earlier in the week.

Next I decided to actually make myself something so bought the Amy Butler Barcelona Skirts pattern and some fabric to use for it.

The last thing, which I am incredibly excited about is this new 'Flip' video camera. We recently got some of these at work and they are fab. They hold 60 minutes worth of video and to download it, you just flip out the USB, plug it into your computer and it's done! Expect to see lots of video of Cara here soon!

Batteries charged!

2009-02-28T16:31:00.000Z

I finished these two projects last weekend, but when I went to take a photo, the batteries on both my cameras needed recharging. So, that done, here they are.

The skirt is made using Simplicity 9854. I decided to adapt the pattern slightly - I added the applique and the trim to the bottom of one side and then made it reversible. It's a bit too long for Cara at the moment (oops) and so will probably be put away for a while till it fits her (possibly a few years!)

The fabric on the second side is Amy Butler's Full Moon Polka Dot in Tangerine. I am absolutely in love with the pattern and have it in a number of other colours!

I love the combination of the orange with the Polka Dot and made a tote bag using the same two fabrics. However - a certain small person decided she wanted it, so I haven't been able to photo it as she took it to Nanny's house and that is where it still is.

After that bag was 'stolen' I then made the one below. I used this tutorial - http://www.belleepoquewhimsy.com/bias-tape-tote-tute/
Fantastic and so easy to follow. I think the possibilities with fabric and bias combinations are endless. I already have another cut out ready to sew (using another Amy Butler Polka Dot!)

Taking the plunge

2009-02-23T18:42:00.000Z

So...I set this blog up a little while back but haven't yet had the 'courage' (not sure if that's the right word!) to write anything.

Just over a month ago, I gave up on my Photo A Day project, after having taken a photo every day for the past two years. In this past month I have realised that the PAD project acted as my 'diary'. I love looking back over my photos and seeing what I was doing this time last year. I don't miss taking a photo each day, but I do miss the diary element, so...I figure this blog could be the way to go. Who knows ah? I guess only time will tell.

So - today was the first day back at work after half term last week. I picked Cara up from my parents' house and it was just magical to listen to her in the car on the way home.

It went something like this: "Mud, uuurrr. Can't go over it, can't go under it, got to go through it. Water, uuurrr. Can't go over it, can't go under it, got to go through it. Cave. It's dark. Bear. Quick, quick, run. Back through water, back through mud. Home. Go upstairs. Oops, forgot to shut door. Back downstairs, shut door, back upstairs, hide under cover. WE'RE NOT GOING ON A BEAR HUNT EVER AGAIN."