Camping Crafts

For the past few years we've had a camping holiday in the UK during the summer months.  One of the things I like about camping is the chance to sit and relax, some peace and quiet without the temptation of Twitter, Facebook or crap telly sucking up all of your time (although a smartphone and wifi make all of these things totally possible).

In and amongst packing the tent and the kitchen sink, I can be found standing infront of craft supplies trying to decide what project to take.  It needs to be portable and easy enough to pick up and put down at a moments notice. 

Reading
A good book or my kindle are essential items on a camping holiday but after last years kindle disaster ...

... there's definitely a need for other pastimes too.

Quilting
I'm a big fan of patchwork and quilting but my sewing machine is less than portable and my handsewing leaves a lot to be desired, especially in low light evenings outside the tent.  I do have a tin of paper hexagons and fabric squares in my handbag for whenever I feel the need to do some english paper piecing but this is not something that will fill a week for me.

Needlefelting
Last year I took my needlefelting supplies and made Mr Blobby

which I enjoyed, however, jabbing barbed needles into wool you are holding, I think, is a hobby best kept to well lit, alcohol free areas and maybe not best suited to evenings under a camping lantern with a glass travel mug of wine or two.

Cross Stitch
Can be very portable and while dim evening light is not ideal, at least the needle is not sharp so the risk of injury is not to great.  Following a pattern though does require a fair bit of concentration, fine if you've plenty of time but there are many occasions when crafting is interrupted my children and family who want talking to, watching, feeding etc

Crochet
This is my newest craft.  I've had a fair few goes at amigurumi and made toys for friends and family (and the cat) but again this portable, finger friendly craft has a pattern that needs following.  There's counting and everything! 

I have been wanting to try traditional crochet, granny squares in fact.  Before we left I watched a few YouTube videos and had a few tries.  This is my camping craft of choice (this year lol).  I packed some small balls of yarn that came free with a magazine, a 4mm hook and my little project bag with scissors and stitch holders.  It's portable, a nice easy pattern that's easily pick up and put down able and gentle on the fingers in dim evening light.  Even better I can stick project in my handbag for use on the go without fear of jabbing my fingers when routing around.

Here is the result of my camping crafting this week.  I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Rory's Story Cubes

I often get sidetracked.  Start off looking for one thing and end up looking at something entirely different.

I think that's how the internet gets you.  A 'quick look' online for todays weather forecast and two hours later you're embroiled in an Ebay bidding war for dice games, your laundry hasn't done itself and the kids are still hungry.

Now I love dice games & card games.  I have a games box that goes on holiday with us and I'm always on the look out for new games to go inside it.  That's how I found Rory's Story Cubes.

 

What are they?
Rory's Story Cubes are basically a box of 9 dice with a different image on each face.

What do you do with them?
You roll the dice then use the images as prompts to create a story.

When do you use them?
They did get into my games box, but not for long.  I decided the best place for them was my handbag.  Anywhere where I have to wait with the children, out they come.  It prevents a lot of bickering and arguing and general boredom.  They have served to keep us entertained in the waiting room at the dentist, waiting for a train, waiting for our meal in restaurants and many more places.  They're not just for killing time though, we get them out to play at home and they always come on holiday with us.

How do you use them?
The way we play is to roll the dice then in turns blindly pick 3 each.  The first player then uses their dice to start the story, the second continues it with their three followed by the last player.  If we're enjoying the story we might roll the dice again and continue.

A night in with a bottle of wine and the Story Cubes results in a whole different story and lots of laughter. 

How much do they cost?
I paid £10, which seems to be the average price.

Where can you get them?
I bought my original set on eBay and subsequent sets from Amazon but you can also get them direct from Rory @ http://www.thecreativityhub.com/shop

How many sets are there?
I may have indulged in additional purchases as they've come out:-
Actions 

Voyages

Mixes
The most recent addition to the Story Cubes family.  They are 3 dice packs on a specific theme (clues, enchanted or prehistoria) designed to be used with one of the three original 9 dice sets.

Also the iPhone and android apps joined my arsenal as they work better in the car than actual dice as there's nothing to loose under the seat.

Anything else you should know?
Packaging - The original sets come in compact sturdy packages that have stood up to months of frequent use and battering in the bottom of my handbag.  The mixes are new and have only been in my bag a week or so.  So far so good but to be honest I do not expect much from the thin card wrap around case, I would have preferred the sturdy base to entirely enclose the dice, perhaps with a magnetic clasp as the larger boxes do.  I may have to whip up a drawstring bag for them in the not too distant future.


Would I recommend them?
Absolutely!  A resounding 5 out of 5 in my book.

I've gifted two sets to friends and convinced the speech and language therapist at work to buy a set for use in her sessions.

Still with me?
I love my Story Cubes and can often be found enticing people to play.    Now I'm giving one original set to one of you, my lovely readers.  How can you get your hands on them?  Leave a comment about how and where you would use them and I will use the very high tech method of picking a name out of a bag on the 6th August 2013 to decide who gets them.

What next?
I try and remember the stories we come up with using the story cubes.  If ever I remember enough or remember to set my phone to record, I'll come back and tell you a story that's a little longer than 'the Octopus of destiny saved the alien jelly bean nation from the virus invasion'.

The Craft of the Moment

I try my hand and many different crafts but usually only one at a time.  At the moment it is crochet.  In previous bouts of crochet I have played at amigurumi and made eggs for the cat and a giraffe for a friends baby.  I made a start on a this tooterphant but stopped only 10 rounds in in favour of something else.  Project Life I think.

As I said, it's the turn of crochet again but this time I'm trying something other than amigurumi.  I revived my Ravelry account and had a browse of patterns before settling on this Hook Monster Crochet Case.  I made two in the space of a week, mainly because they're easy and don't need me to keep count of stitches or rows, just carry on until it looks to be the right size for my hooks.

I think I started out with tensions issues as the pink case was my first and it should be an even rectangle shape, not narrower at the bottom.

Next I want to have a go at a Mobius pattern I found on Ravelry and yesterday I detoured to Texere Yarns after work to get something chunky to work with.  I came away with this:-

Two balls of something chunky, a ball of sparkly (I think I may have magpie tendencies) and a pair of 4.5mm knitting needles I don't need (I wanted an afghan crochet hook it seems, not knitting needles.  Oops).

A Google search for how to crochet with Sirdar Firefly turned up a pattern for this beautiful shawl which is now also on my to make list, I just need another couple of balls first.   Maybe another trip to Texere Yarns but more likely a browse at Purple Linda Crafts cause they do afghan hooks too.

As is usually the case with my crafts though, I seem to spend more time online reading about it, talking about it or shopping for it than I actually spend doing it.  This has been no exception and this week I have spent a good hour or more watching YouTube videos on making granny squares.  The instructions seem straightforward enough, as do the video but I've tried and frogged many attempts this week.  I'm just going to have to get a real live person to show me.#

That's enough rambling for one evening.  I might just go and pick up my hook now and start actual crafting.

Hello World

This blog had been lying dormant for a good long while. I think it might be time for a revival. I've downloaded the blogger app to my phone so updates should be nice and easy. Now all I need is to find something to write about...

DIY Diary

Since I've had no response at all from my two requests to the Woman's Success Planner people about possible shipping to the UK I have gone ahead and made my own.

So here is a very photo heavy post.

To start with I've used A5 paper.  White 160 gsm and yellow 120 gsm.  The covers are made from an old receipt wallet (hence the logo on the front) and they were all punched and bound by me using my trusty bind-it-all.  This version covers mid July - end Sept with monthly pages continuing to the end of 2011 and the whole thing is about 5/8" thick (well those are the bind-it-all coils I used)

Here goes:-

 Now to start filling it in and using it.

Diary / Planner Quandry

I don't normally write about diaries and such here (well let's face it, I don't normally write about anything here) but there have been a few planner posts recently that have raised a few questions for me.

At the moment I have a large plain Moleskine journal I use for everyday writing.  You know the type, from what I had to breakfast / lunch and what I did, to why I'm feeling particularly good / bad today etc etc.  It includes details of what we've done on holiday and tickets and prints from my beloved Pogo printer to support that (infact together with my day per page logbook this has completely replaced my scrapbooking and it's much more me than rearranging pretty papers that make me feel inadequate and bereft of an artistic gene).

So anyway, from front to back is my journal and from back to front is my planner.

My planner goes like this:-

- Weekly schedule / timetable
- Year to view (Oct 2011 - Sept 2012)
- April 2011 Month to view
- May 2011 Month to view
- June 2011 Month to view
- July 2011 Month to view
- August 2011 Month to view
- September 2011 Month to view
- Blank
- School Holidays - Easter 2011, week per page
- School Holidays - Spring Bank 2011, week per page
- School Holiday - Summer 2011, week per page

Generally my days are not overly planned, especially when I'm not working.  I tend to just potter about and do bits and bats here and there.  I HATE housework and do the bare minimum and I REALLY need to do more, plus I'm hoping to be working more hours once LJ starts school in September (Eeeek!  My baby starts school in Septemeber) so I need to get more organised.  I need to write everything down, not just the ununsual stuff but the everyday / week / month stuff.

I've been looking at new planners for the upcoming academic year but just cannot settle on one, then I read Laurie's post on The Woman's Success Planner (WSP), closely followed by Rori's posts on the same.  These have got me itching to try it out.  Unfortuately they don't appear to ship to the UK so now I'm tempted to dig out an unused Moleskine and create my own, using ideas from the Woman's Success Planner and adding a few of my own.

So here's where I'm hoping someone is actually reading this blog because I'm after some help / suggestions as to what to include.

So far I have:-
- 2pg Year to view with annual tasks and events listed (birthdays, pet vaccinatons, insurance etc)
- 1pg Monthly tasks and ongoing tasks (thank you WSP)
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg Month to view
- 1pg Weekly tasks and ongoing tasks (I don't think I'd use the meal planner and shopping list the WSP has, the family calendar and notepad on the fridge do this very well for me)
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg Week to view (columns) with the very useful daily tasks circles, tasks area & health tracker ala WSP
- 1pg Week in Review and expenses
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg (where required) School Holiday plans - Activity ideas separated according to free / paid / indoor / outdoor,

Rinse and repeat as required.  I estimate that I will fit about 6 months into 1 large squared Moleskine.  Together with my Quiver pen holder I think that it should be more than enough.

At the back of the journal I will have the next 12 months on a double page spread (or possibly 1 month per page) for forward planning.

I would like to note here that I'm not trying to 'rip off' WSP and would gladly buy their product if it was available to me.

All input feedback gladly received.  Thank you for reading this far.

Normal service will resume shortly, I have been sewing :-)

More Work In Progress

I got around to firing up the sewing machine at long last (it really does need a table top resting place, I'm much more likely to use it if I don't have to dig it out from under the kitchen table)

A couple of hours last Saturday were dedicated to piecing together the 2nd of the two quilt tops I'm making for the boys. I had originally intended the Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo fabric for LJ



And the Riley Blake Allstar fabric for TJ



But they've each independently decided that they want the other.

Both tops are now complete, as you can see, the next step is to piece the backs and get them layered. We are in the middle of sorting bedrooms and I'm hoping to have the quilts completed at the same time the bedrooms are ready. Better get off here and get sewing then.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Crayon Rolls

I've done more sewing.  Mainly making crayon rolls for the school fair this Thursday but it has got me back into it.  I've also finished cutting the sashing for LJ's quilt.  I want to get both tops finished before I start on the backs, mainly because I want to piece a label into the back and at the moment both boys want the Cogsmo quilt.  I need them to see both finished and choose one each before I write on the label and sew it in.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the crayon rolls I've made

Apologies, I should have credited my source.  The pattern came from here

Productivity At Last

I finally cranked up the sewing machine this weekend and got some sewing done.

DH has gone down south to visit friends for the weekend (it's my turn next weekend) so my sewing machine has taken up residence on the kitchen table.  I spent Friday afternoon before the kids got home and Friday evening  (after a KFC dinner and a snuggling up in Mummy's bed movie night) piecing together fabric that has been cut for months.

Do you know when you're going so well you just want to get 'this bit' finished before bed?  Well that's how well it was going.  I got all the blocks pieced and sewn into rows but starting after 9pm meant I didn't get to bed 'til the wrong side of midnight!

I spent an hour after dinner piecing together the rows and I now have a completed quilt top ready to press.  I want to piece the back and piece in one of the labels I had printed up by the lovely people and Spoonflower.  Fortunately this should come together quickly as it'll be made up of a couple of large pieces af fabric plus some fancy twiddly bits and a label.

So here is the finished top.  It's a combination of Kona Solids (Sage, White & Red) and Cosmo Cricket's Cogsmo (Spaceships Aqua & Gears Aqua (white sashing), Stripes & Tossed Robots (red sashing), Sprockets Multi & Spaceships Tangerine (sage sashing))

TJ approves and is impressed with the size (about 6' x 4'), the last quilt I made him barely covers his lap now.  I can't remember where the pattern idea came from.  I know I saw another quilt with a similar pattern and fell in love so out came the squared paper and colouring pencils.  Obviously I tweaked the pattern to fit the size / layout I wanted.  For the technogeek that I am, you can't beat squared paper and coloured pencils for quilt planning.

Here's hoping the creativity continues, I have all but 1 lot of sashing cut for LJ's quilt and obviously both quilt backs.  LJ is having Riley Blake Allstar fabrics, photos will follow.

Is that normal behaviour?

The week before last I asked my husband if he had any plans to do any baking within the next few weeks. Not as random a question as you might think. It's my birthday this week and he has been known to gather the children and bake me a cake. Infact the year before last they made me a Nigella chocolate fudge cake which was to die for. I had to give some away though, there's only 4 of us here and I'm supposed to be dieting (have been for years, hmmm) so DH took some to work and DS1 took some to school to help.

This year a friend of mine who makes wedding / birthday cakes to order has started on the mini Christmas cakes that she will be selling later on in the year. In a fit of inspiration I asked if she'd be able to be me a large one (approx 3" sq) early. Happily she agreed and as she has over 100 cakes to make I wasn't expecting anything different to the standard (Orangey gold with a Christmas tree on it). I told DH I had ordered myself a birthday cake and his reply?

"Is that normal behaviour?"

What? You mean ordering your own birthday cake is not normal? Darn it, lol

Here it is, it's gorgeous isn't it? She added that lovely flower and a candle just for me. It's just the right size for all four of us to enjoy a slice each without there being too much to straying from the my diet, lol

Day Zero

I was reading a blog and saw that the author, Sharon, is doing a goals orientated project where she aims to complete 101 goals in 1001 days and blogging about her progress.

I liked the sound of this so headed off to Google it. I found Day Zero. I'm not sure if this is where the idea started but it certainly looks that way. You can browse random lists for ideas (or just to be nosey) and, should you wish, you can sign up and start making your own list.

I thought, seeing as it's my birthday soon, that would be a good day to start my list. I've signed up to DayZero.com and spent about 2 weeks putting together my list. I bought myself a shiney new Domino filofax in slate to use as a journal and I've stripped all the contents apart from the lined paper and dividers, written up my list and I'm all set to go.

I toyed with the idea of getting an A5, more room for everything but in the end decided to stick with the personal. I like the fact that with the personal I can have a Day Zero section in my everyday Filofax and just transfer pages between the two as and when necessary.  I'm hoping as I get going into my 1001 days that it's going to start looking all fat and well used ;-)

So I'm planning on putting the list in my sidebar, and hopefully come back and update it as and when I complete the tasks. Quite a few people have as one of their 101 goals to 'Inspire someone else to start a Day Zero list'. It is not one of my goals but if it does interest you and you decide to join in, please do let me know

Craft Update

There has been a distinct lack of blog posting here so I thought I'd treat you to a crafty update.

Firstly I received this gorgeous quilt from Kelly (Redcleo) for the Doll Quilt 9 swap over on Flickr.

Not only did she send me this quilt but some VERY generous 'scraps' of Joel Dewberry fabric that I've been lusting over, 2 packs of gift cards and a magnetic notepad for my fridge.


I spent the last two weeks putting together two fabric Dollhouses as per the UK lass US tutorial for a couple of birthday presents. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the first one, it was a bit of a tight schedule. This second one was going to be a dollhouse too but after I consulted the birthday girls parents it became a garage. It's great that it's so easy to adapt the pattern :-).

Finally, here is the finished quilt I posted off to my Doll Quilt Swap partner. I had plans to include some other handmade goodies but I was late enough just getting this out :-(

I don't think I'm going to bother even trying to sign up for DQS10. I had a really great time playing this round and round 8 but I've posted out late both times and this round I just couldn't keep up with the chatter on the Flickr groups. And to be honest the amount of re iterating of the rules (and the amount of rules) irritated me. Saying that, I feel like a teenager rebelling at rules just because they're there, despite the fact that I obviously need them as I'm fairly sure I was one of very few (if not the only one) to post out late this round. It's not fair on the other particpants and my partner, not to play by the rules so from here on in I shall be watching (and maybe chatting a little) rather than taking part.

I'm Ba-ack

I had a very successful move to Vox but they've just announced that they're closing their blogging service so I'm coming back to Blogger.

Hopefully I'll be able to move my posts accross before Vox shuts down completely.

DQS9 WIP

I have had a great day of sewing with SJ today. We cranked up the sewing machines and I put together the fabrics I'd cut for my Doll Quilt Swap 9 quilt whilst SJ made some scrappy blocks from a very impressive sack!! of fabric scraps.

I'm thinking I may have just found a use for those 5" charm blocks I bought off Ebay. But not before I've finished this Doll Quilt and the boys quilts.

I did do some sewing on TJ's quilt today too. Photos will follow just as soon as I can.

Now, do I add some sashing to wide this top or leave it as is? Hmmmmm, decisions, decisions.

Thanks for stopping by.

Karen

Doll Quilt Swap 9

I was lucky enough to get a place on the extremely popular Doll Quilt Swap 9. We were notified on 5 June whether or not we'd gotten a place and then on 13th June the eagerly anticipated e-mail containing the all important swap partner details. Unfortunately I've spent the last few months concentrating on my British Sign Language Level 3 portfolio so I haven't had much time for joining in with the Flickr Group let alone sewing. Well my portfolio was submitted this evening and barring and major revisions I am now free to sew and plan and talk about sex (no, really. You should read some of those discussions over in the Flickr Group) and do all those things with the boys that I said we'd do 'after I finished my college work.

So... I have an idea in mind and it won't go away and there's no room in my head for more. I think I'm going to have to make it up just to get it out of my head. I has lots to do with these (the Lego, not the children)
I think there will be another version so watch this space.

Now a little something for the lovely person who is making a doll quilt for me.

If I remember correctly my likes / dislikes were rather vague with an 'I will love it just because you made it' kind of comment. Whilst this is all totally true I thought maybe my special someone might want just a little bit more information.

I love bright, modern fabrics with a hankering after Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley (in persimmon or azure) collection, Cosmo Crickets Cogsmo (it's fun, I'm using lots to make a quilt for my 3yr old son), lots of Riley Blake. Green / pink, red / aqua and hot pink / orange seem to be my favourite colour combinations at the moment, usually paired with white so as not to be too fussy. Having said that, I'm not really 'up' on all the new designs. These are just an indication of the types of designs / colours I like, not instructions on what fabrics to include lol.

I live in a house full of boys so anything girly would be a welcome addition to the house :D

I don't think I have any dislikes per se just that I prefer unfussy and uncluttered.

Was that any help partner? I hope so, a little less vague than my original e-mail I hope.

Final words of wisdom? Please don't stress partner, I really will love it, whatever you make.

More to follow but it's late here and I need to spend a little while figuring out why I can't seem to add pics to this post.

Birthday Gifts

These are my latest projects. My niece turns 13 today and she's very much a goth (or Emo, not entirely sure about the distinction) and Twilight fan so rather than the usual tenner in a card I thought I would make her something for her birthday.

I think this is Alexander Henry fabric but I'm not entirely sure as I bought it off Ebay. My Thursday was all about sewing these up and TJ kindly obliged by keeping himself occupied or sitting in the kitchen chatting and watching me sew.

Two clutch bags and a laptop case later (all courtesy of Oh Fransson patterns) we just needed to add a couple of pieces of Goth jewellery that Adam found and the gift was ready.





We delivered the gifts yesterday at her birthday BBQ and they appeared to be well received. Adam explained what the laptop case was for and DRH announced that it was going to be her new schoolbag instead :D

This Blog Has Moved

I'm trying out a new blog site which allows private and public posts on the same blog (rather than trying to keep 2 blogs updated).

You should have received an invite to see the new blog which should give you access to the private posts too, if not, give me a shout.

New blog is here - http://www.enolassneezes.vox.com

Louis Toilet Bleach

Well today is the day.  My baby is 2 today.  Can you believe at?  Time seems to have flown by.

We started with a leisurely morning opening pressies in our pyjamas, well the boys were in their pyjamas anyway.

Louis definitely seemed a lot more interested in these presents than he did in the ones at Christmas but that today was all about him whereas Christmas is for everyone.

In all honesty, we could have probably stopped with the presents after he opened his little Upsy Daisy because he was happy then... but we didn't.

When we first saw the present with Theo's name on it we thought the Birthday Fairy must have gotten confused.  I was going to put the present to one side and let her come and collect it tonight but Theo figured it out.  She'd brought a present for him too so that he didn't feel left out what with Louis getting all the presents. lol  She did a good job too, Power Rangers jigsaw was just the ticket :D

Adam wrote the envelope for Louis' card from us.  He likes the way Louis says 'watermelon'.  That and the fact that if you call him something, he says not... whatever it is you've called him.  Like, aww my baby..'NOT baby', is Louis grumpy? .. 'NOT gwumpy' and so on.  Adam asked him if he was a watermelon last night ??? And the response was... 'NOT watermelon'

Now naturally there was a bunfight to be had.  We all decamped to Tiddleypeeps with 18 other littlies and watched them run around for a couple of hours.  I actually think it went really well.  Adam and I pumped up 20 or so modelling ballons in the morning which we took with us.  Lots of the children just wanted the long balloons, then I made a couple of swords which prompted requests for more and Richard, they guy who runs Tiddleypeeps then decided to show of his balloon modelling skills which resulted in him being inundated with requests too.

After having discovered on Thursday that he could do the big slide, there was no stopping Louis, and when I tried to extricate him from the climbing frame to do the birthday cake thing I ended up pushing him, face first (from hands and knees though, not from standing) into the carpet, oops, sorry babe.  He didn't seem to notice though and after a bot of distracting tickling, I managed to pursuade him to come back to the table rather than go and play on the slide.  Unfortunately Richard doesn't do things by halves so bringing the cake out involved 2 or 3 renditions of Happy Birthday as they weren't loud enough, followed by a discussion / arguement about who's birthday it was.  By the time we got round to the blowing out of the candles Louis was screaming because he wanted to go and play and I couldn't put him down!!

He did come round though, when he saw that he got to blow out the candles.

Theo enjoyed the playing too, especially as his best friend from school, Ezra, was there.

After the party we went home to open the mountain of presents he had received from all the party guests.

This picture is the one I've chosen for today's Photo a Day project.  Louis, sporting one of Richards balloon creations, hiding behind a present.

Tina, Jack and Hannah bought Louis this spiderman top, and as soon as he saw what it was he told me he wanted to take his short of and wear it.  So that's what we did.

And I just like this photo.  Louis unwrapping presents without relinquishing the lolly pop

Now finally, why Louis toilet bleach?  Well, as you may be aware, littlies usually need a little help with their writing.  So, in order to help Jack with Louis card, Tina wrote Louis name on a piece of paper for Jack to copy.  She left him writing the card then when she came back, read what he had written "Louis Toilet Bleach".  When she asked him why he had written that he said he had just copied what his mum had written.  Tina checked to find she had written on the bottom of her shopping list and as she wasn't there to tell him to stop, Jack had just kept copying.  I'll be keeping that (handmade) card and re telling that story in years to come.  Hehe

Shopping

Today has been mainly about getting ready for Louis' party tomorrow.  At the last minute I decided, rather than just add the sweets I'd bought to the playgym party bags, I'd make up my own.  So off Louis and I toddled to get some goodies to go in them.  £100 later we're sat at home putting little bags of sweets and goodies into party bags.

OK so £100 was not all on party goodies.  I did buy books and other bits and bobs for party bags together with pass the parcel pressies, but I also bought some groceries and toiletries too, it's just that that's my beef about Tescos.  I go in there for 1 or 2 things and come away having spent loads.  Admittedly they're not forcing me to spend but still.  Our particular branch is a bit pants for food but if you want toys, books or DVDs then you're spoilt for choice.

Today's photo is one of the book aisles in Tescos.  Louis and I spent a while there deciding what to buy so I made the most of a quiet moment when there was no one else there.

Catch up

Yesterday I took myself off to Costco to get a fabulous photo storage box that one of the ladies at Saturdays crop was toting.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any.  I did manage to buy 10L of Bold 2 in 1, 6 million nappies and sweeties and dried fruit packs to go in the party bags at the weekend so it wasn't a wasted journey.

I accidentally ended up in Hobbycraft!  It was an accident, honestly.  I was following Satnag instructions for going home but I got into the wrong lane, a left turn only lane which took me into the Crown Point retail park so I just HAD to go to Hobbycraft rather than just turn around and drive out again.

I got modelling balloons for Louis' party, watch this space.

After all that traipsing round I had to rest my poor weary feet so I called into Costa for a skinny decaf latte and a spicy meatball sandwich and this photo opportunity presented itself.

On Wednesdays Louis is in nursery until 5 so after I pick Theo up from school we have a couple of hours together, just the two of us.  Today it was spent 'practicing' with the modelling balloons.  We had fun and Theo now has a balloon sword and a flower (which was supposed to be a sword but I ran out balloon after doing the handle so now it's a flower).

Today Louis and I went to Tiddleypeeps for a play and to confirm numbers for the party on Saturday.  I didn't realise it was parent toddler morning so it only cost me £3 and Louis got fed and watered :D  He climbed the stairs and slid down the big slide on his own for the first time today.  We did it once together and then there was no stopping him.  I think he'll be having a great time there on Saturday.  On the bad side, he was attacked by a very unpleasant little boy whilst he was playing in the cars!  Louis was sat happily playing when the boy just walked up to him and grabbed his face, he's got finger nail marks near his ears and scratches all down his cheeks.  The monster's Gran saw and was right behind me as I dash over and pulled him off Louis.  She took him away and told him off.  5 minutes later he did it to a little girl!  I saw his Gran pick him up and leave with him kicking and screaming under her arm.

This afternoon we went to have a cuppa and a natter with one of the mums from school.  Well when I say we, Louis fell asleep in the pushchair on the way there and didn't wake up until we were at school waiting for Theo.  I had a really pleasant afternoon, I'm hoping to return the favour next week.

Today's photo is Theo ready for his swimming lesson, showing off his new goggles.