The house is oh so quiet...

with out this little girl.  Charlotte looked so grown up this morning, back in her school uniform.  She has started at the new half of the school, and is one of the older children now. So she no longer has the school book bag but a chosen ruck sack, I swear this morning it was welded to her back!!!



Right I'd better sort the house out before I go back to work this lunch time.

 

Cx

Summary of our Summer

I thought I would do a summary of our summer rather than document every place and every thing we have seen.  It's been a crazy 6 weeks and I have thoroughly enjoyed all aspects.  So here we go:-

We have been to 5 Seaside towns:- Hastings, Brighton, Great Yarmouth, Formby and Southport.

We have been to 2 Cities, London and Liverpool

Seen 2 films at the cinema. The Lorax and Brave

Had a teddy bears Olympics, yes I know we're mad!!

Met several Superlambananas!

Stayed over at a friends house and ate pizza, drank fizzy wine and got freaked out by Wallander!

Been to 3 musuems:- Victoria & Albert, The Science Musuem and The Liverpool Musuem

Went on the Liverpool Eye

Went bowling and came last!!!

Drove 1384 miles

We had a traditional English tea party

Been to the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London

Seen Victoria Pendleton's golden letter box and Stotfold

Slept in a four poster bed

Rescured my Mother and Daughter from the sea, fully clothed

Seen The Tornado steam train and Kings Cross station

Took 365 photo's

£££ spent, haven't worked that one out, maybe it's best I don't.

So there you have it, that's what we have been doing over the past 6 weeks.

Thanks for stopping by.
Cx

Holiday blues

Well we are well and truly into the school holidays, this week is a quiet one after having a few days away in Hastings.  Les and I used to live in Hastings about 9 years ago and we haven't been back together since, so for us it was quite a time to remember all those memories from way back when.  Monday we spent the morning mooching around the old town (which in my mind is the best part of Hastings) then in the afternoon we went over to Rye which we really enjoyed, such a quaint little place with loads of character.  Tuesday was spent in Brighton I love this place it has some of my favourite shops, it was such a hot day with loads of people on the beach making the most of the weather. Wednesday, Mum and Dad joined us for the day, it's only a 2 hour drive for them so we spent the day around Hastings, doing all the touristy stuff.  Here are some photos from the week:-

Up on West Hill, in Hastings.

Just look at that glorious blue skies, were have they gone!

Banksy's kissing policemen, found near the train station at Brighton.

It has become quite a tradition that when my Mum and Charlotte are at the seaside they always take a paddle in the sea.  I have to say that this was extreme, one minute I watch them splashing at the waters edge and then the next minute they are in the water fully clothed. Not sure what happened something about the tide, and sinking into the pebbles and then being drawn into the sea.  Very funny but scary at how strong the tide can be.  I was the dutiful daughter and went and bought my Mum and Charlotte a change of clothes.

An after shot of Mum in her new clothes!!!!











So I'm feeling a little flat this week after having a lovely week in the sun.  Still I'm off to Mum's next week for a couple of weeks, can't wait to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen for a while.  I also hope that my Brother gets the keys to his new house as I want to help (even if it is to make tea!) and to have a good nosey.

Right I'm off this post has taken ages as blogger has been playing up (again), really does drive me nuts!!!!.

Take care all
Cx

What is about this time of the year....

I seem to go to pot and never seem able to update my blog, maybe it's because of the end of term stuff which is going on at the moment. This week I've gone to a local farm with Charlotte's year group which was really good fun and we only had one heavy shower, but we all had waterproofs and welly boots and it was quite fun splashing in the puddles but naturally I had to do it quietly and discreetly! What else other than Birthday parties, catching up with friends, leaving parties, school reports (well done Charlotte), parents evening, coffee mornings oh and reading a certain book in a couple of days!! I must also say a big 'hello' to the ladies at the Bromsgrove crop who again made me feel so welcome after going AWOL for over a year.

We are also in the process of some home improvements, replacing carpets, painting several rooms and Karndean flooring in the bathroom. With this though involves lots of people visiting the house for measurements, but it will so be worth it in the end.

A good friend who I got to know through her little girl Abbey and Charlotte starting school together is moving to Switzerland at the beginning of August. We have a really nice friendship, we don't live in one another's pockets (which suits both of us) but we help one another out with the kids etc. She's in the same position as me and doesn't have any family close by to help out. It's a real shame and I'm really going to miss her and the kids. So next Friday we are off out to give her a night to remember. I've promised to take my camera with me to take some pictures for her. I'm thinking I may make her a small scrapbook with photo's of the kids in to remind her of home.  Anybody got any ideas for something a bit different I could do?

So creativity wise I've been creating a few layouts. I don't know though once I've created them they don't give me that wow factor. I just seem to lack inspiration, but I have a ton of new stash to put on them. I get quite frustrated with myself which seems to make things worse.  Anyway here are the ones I've made over the past couple of weeks.

Today we have had an inset day off from school, which has been lovely.  I love spending time with Charlotte she really is a pleasure to be around (even if she doesn't stop talking) and on a day like today I realise why I love being a stay at home.  She wanted to do some baking with a kit that she had been bought for her Birthday a couple of years ago.  I said I would be on hand to help her but she was to read the instructions and to measure out the ingredients which I had to explain were the markings were on the scales.  She loved it.  Here she is showing me what she has done, do you like my new pink mixing bowl? Les accidentally broke my Mason and Cash bowl so bought me this one from John Lewis which I'm happy with.

I am immensely proud of this little girl she has had an amazing school report and has done so well this year.  She has made good progress in everything she does, including her reading which is 10 years 11 months!! Next September she wants to learn the violin who would of thought it.  The school that she goes to at the moment is a split site, she's at the original base, but in September she goes up to the new school with the older ones, it's a little daunting for her but she will be fine. The original school is right beside the river so its prone to flooding although it now has a special flood wall protecting the school, the risk of it flooding is still high. 

Right enough of me droning on.

Have a lovely weekend.
Cx

P.S This spacing is still driving me crazy. ARGHHHHHHHH

Work life

Over the past few days I've really been struggling, I've felt so tired and can't get seem to concentrate on anything.  I'm blaming this crazy weather we have been having, it's funny we always seem to blame the weather here in Britain.  Last week I was fairly creative though and managed a few layouts, I drew inspiration from Shimelle and based some of the layouts she created for NSD 2012.  The photo quality isn't great but you get the idea.

This one is my favourite, I love the typewriter book plate that I purchased from Broadway last week.  The photo was taken before I went to London with the school back in May to see Matilda, which by the way was fantastic.  I felt that I needed to document my working life before having Charlotte and that I gave up my career to have her, which was the best decision of my life, and I don't regret it one bit.  Whilst writing the journalling it made me realise that maybe I would like to go back to work (part time - I would still want to be around for Charlotte) and that it would be a shame to let all that experience and knowledge go to waste.  This will soon be possible as Les will be retiring in September. The only drawback is that I've had nearly 8 years off and my confidence levels are pretty low (lets face it you don't need much confidence as a stay at home mum!). Also who would take me on, 8 years is a long time and the way the econmic climate is would anyone take the risk in employing me.  Lots to think about - but one things for sure I don't want to be a dinner lady for the rest of my days, some of my colleagues have been doing the same job for over 20 years, I just can't see myself being there that long.  Not that there is anything wrong with being a dinner lady, I work with a lovely bunch of ladies who are all very kind and a real laugh and they help to keep me sane.

Right I'd better run, thanks for listening to me moan on.

Cx

National Trust

So schools back and so normality reigns, although I have to say that I really did enjoy half term.  It was nice to spend some time with Les over the Jubilee weekend and we went out each day.  The 3 days Les was at work I managed to get loads of little jobs done that have needed sorting for a while, including painting!! 

Most weekends we have been going to National Trust properties, our membership runs out in July and we realised that we only visited 2 houses last year.  So we thought we would pull our fingers out and visit at least some of the properties local to us, regardless of the weather.  We have been enjoying it so much that we're renewing our membership you only have to visit a few properties and you've got your money back, and plus Charlotte seems to enjoy it.

We had been to Snowshill Manor before and thought we would go back and see how it had changed if it had at all.

The following week we went off to Hidcote gardens, wow what a place, I loved it so much we went back last weekend!.  This was just gardens the Manor house wasn't open to the public.  I loved the way the gardens were sectioned off and based on different rooms, they had made holes in the hedges so you could walk through into the next room.  The garden was filled with seasonal flowers and the colours were so vibrant and bright, whoever designed it wasn't afraid of using colour.  I found it very inspirational and could spend all day just wandering around.

 

Charlotte loved running around in between the hedges.

It had been raining the day before, I love the way the water sits on the petals.

Les and Charlotte standing like soldiers in what they called there sentry box.  Crazy pair!!

The last house we went to was Charlecote, the weather was glorious and we took a picnic so we could sit along the river Avon.

Crochet on the lawn.

This is my favourite photo of the day, I love the way Charlotte is looking at her Daddy!! This fills my heart with so much love for the pair of them.

So with half term last week it gave me some spare time to scrap. I'm really embracing journalling on my layouts and love it.

I hope you made it to the end of this post, thanks if you did!

Cx

10 things on the 10th

So the 10th of the month has come around again.  Here are my 10 things, this idea I 'pinched' from Nathalie who done this last month.

1. Wearing - Skinny black jeans, cream top and body warmer, Converse All Star trainers.

2. Listening - Robbie Williams, Swing when you're winning. Loving Jazz and swing music.

3. Eating - Liquorice Allsorts (loving these at the moment).

4. Drinking -  Les has just made a cup of tea.

5. Reading - Me before You, by JoJo Moyes I've just finished this book. I can't recommend this highly enough.  It's a real gritty, heartwarming story, it had me in tears by the end of it!

6. Needing - To learn how to hula hoop!!

7. Wishing - We had another week off from school!

8. Crafting - Finishing off a layout from this week and catching up on my Smash book.

9. Enjoying - Journalling on my layouts, this may sound daft, but its taken a while for me to do this.

10. Loving - The fact that it's only 6 more days before I see my parents!!

Be sure to go and check out the other peeps 10 things on the 10th via Shimelle's blog.

Thanks for stopping by.
Cx

Jubilee Day

So today at Charlotte's school they are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee. They have had to go dressed up for the occasion.  Charlotte isn't really into dressing up so she opted for dressing in red, white and blue.  We bought her a lovely t-shirt with the union jack on with the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye on. She looked sweet. I asked her to stand straight like a soldier and this is what I got!!

I took one with my Polaroid and then asked her to hold it, again it took several goes as she seemed to have had silly cereal for breakfast!!!!

So on the crafting front, not much has been happening on the scrapbooking front.  I've been wanting to crochet something for a while and to put to good use all the wool I have bought. So whilst blog hopping I saw that Sheena was crocheting a bloom cushion, I wasn't sure whether I could do it, but thought I would have a go.  I pulled the pattern from Lucy at Attic24's blog (she's amazing), it was a challenge, but once I got the hang of it I loved it.  I may make another one in my bedroom colours. 

This weather has been glorious and we have been making the most of it, we have been eating our evening meal outside which has been great. Charlotte has been enjoying the weather too, she wanted her swimming goggles on in the paddling pool, I did tried to persuade her that she really didn't need them for an inch of water!

We have been visiting some National Trust properties in the area, Snowshill Manor, Hidcote Gardens (which is beautiful) and Charlecote Park.  I'll share some photos really soon, once I've edited them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cx

7 years ago....

Les and I got married.  It was a beautiful sunny and warm day with not a cloud in the sky.  It was a fairly small affair with family and close friends only.  Thinking back I wouldn't of changed anything other than having a professional photographer, but at the time Charlotte was only 6 months old and as you know babies are very expensive!!.  So the only photos I have are from my film camera and disposables which were on the table.  I made this layout last year when I was following Shimelle's 4x6 photo love.  The layout contains 7 photos, which was from the month of July.

It makes me giggle but on every photo you look at, my Dad is holding Charlotte, no one else got a look in!!

So here we are 7 years on, still very much in love.  Thanks Charlotte for the photo!!

Thanks for letting me share with you all our special day.

Cx

10 things on the 10th

I haven't done 10 things on the 10th for a couple of months.  As it was Bank Holiday last weekend I managed to take some photos of some things that are really special to me.  So here are my 10 favourite possessions.

1.  This box belonged to my Grandmother and contains things from her life.  There are Birthday cards, telegrams, my Dad's first pay packet, photos of family, school work from when my Dad was at school, letters, appointment cards, identity cards, ration books as well as her arm band and badge from when she was a fire watcher in WWII.  I love this little Christmas box, sadly she is no longer with us but I feel close to her when I look through and smile at some of the things that she kept.

2.  My orange teddy is as old as me if a little older.  I recently found him again in the loft at my parents house.  My older cousin won this ted at the fair and gave it to my Mum for me.

3. My iPod, I love music, and think the world would be a lonely place with out it.  I love the way a certain song you may hear, triggers feelings, memories and emotions.

4. I've always admired the ladies jade bangles at our local Chinese restaurant.  So when Les went to Hong Kong a few years ago, he bought me one back.

5. My scan photos of baby C, what else can I say other than precious!  She's even waving at you all!!

6. Disney cards, yep we had them too, but not from a supermarket but from P.G Tips.  I love this little book, I just wished I had all of the cards.  Does anyone else remember these?  How about the toys in cereal boxes?, my Brother always seemed to find them first without even eating any cereal, hmm strange!!!

7. This necklace and bracelet was made by Charlotte.  Quite frankly you can't buy this can you? Very special and 'yes I would wear them out'.  The blue sweetie wrapper is apparently the cleaning cloth!!!

8. My Roberts Radio, I've had this for about 9 years and can honestly say that it's been used every day.

9. This was my first watch, bought by my Grandad when I was around 6 or 7. I loved this watch, it still works as well as still fitting on my wrist.

10. I recently found my Twinkle annual from 1985.  As soon as I started flicking through the book I instantly knew the story and the pictures and which story was my favourite.

I hope you have enjoyed my 10 most treasured items today.  Go check out shimelle's blog to see what other people have put up for there 10 things.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cx