A week later and things are just about back to normal.

This time last Saturday I was making pizza bases and mocktails for the screaming hordes of proto-teenagers inhabiting my house. And CK was out in the rain off to the shops for more mocktails ingredients.

Oh the difference in a week. I am at home in front of a fire enjoying the sight of tired dogs recovering from a walk in the rain. My jeans are in the drier also recovering from a walk in the rain. CK is once again out getting drinks but rather than the supermarket, tonight he is in the pub with his bastard brother. It has taken said bastard brother nearly 12 months to come and face me and he arrived full of stories about what a state my old man dog was in last January. No apology you understand.

I suppose I shouldn't hold my breath.

As the Queen has two birthdays so Princess C-W decided to have TWO sessions of opening presents last Sunday. Firstly there was the gifties from her fellow non-sleepers to open before breakfast. A treasure trove of delicious goodies that she is TOO mean to share fully. Among the deliciousness a pair of softie mice magnets that are too sweet to be left alone.

Once the house was all ours again Pr. C-W decided it was time to open family gifties. This shirt is from her brother.

And then she opened her gift from us. I think she was a little pleased.

It is a purple i-pod nano engraved with her initials across the back.

And finally we round off with a little crafting action from this week past. With the addition of some Amy Butler decorator weight fabric the repurposed Fortnum & Mason teatowel is now an apron.

A little re-adjustment is required around the armhole-y bits to stop the boobwings going on but I am quite chuffed with the finished product.

Trouble is being as it IS my F&M apron I can't really wear it much in case it gets dirty ;-)

Blogtoberfest Day 22 Perhaps it hasn't gone after all.....

the very lovely Wonderwoman(not!) braved the heavy rain and came for a visit this morning. Both destructoBoy and I were pleased to see her as it brought a welcome break from the intense competition of the Inaugural Ironing Board Table Tennis World Championships that was taking place in the living room.

With d/Boy off sick for the day he lurked while Maria and I chatted. As you do. One of the things we spoke of was our swap commitments and I confessed my worries that any contributions may be Scarey Mary-ish, not least my first attempt at hand-knitted and then felted fabric.

She was kind enough to not only calm my nerves but give me a few tips for successfully turning this into a bag for Pr. C-W to take to a dinner party (!!!) this weekend.

Feeling a bit cheerier I coyly brought out a few other WIPS for her keen assessment. These are jammie shorts for d/Boy and his mate, Dervish to wear for the Halloween sleepover. Obviously they have a pair each because, quite frankly, sharing a bed with Dervish would be like trying to hold a cyclone in a glass let alone a pair of pyjamas.

I am quite chuffed as I constructed the template from a pair of in-house pj pants. Didn't actually cut around actual jammies as I love them too much and was scared they may end up in pieces.

The two girls aren't getting pjs as I am unsure what size Dynamo wears, just that she is waaaaay taller than Pr.C-W. So I made an accidental trip in the hammering rain to the lovely fabric warehouse down the road and 'found' some lovely Halloween fabrics.

Again suggestions were made. So tomorrow (after doing the bag for Dynamo's birthday present bag) I shall be adding some applique to the Irish linen background (less than £5pm!! Yay for old-fashioned haberdashers) and then quilting in the ditch before backing it with the spooky spider and witchy-poo quilting fabrics to make cushions.

Picture is a bit blurred but this is 2/3 of a teddy bear destined for the school hand-made Christmas.

Finally is this year's Christmas piece for painting. Unfortunately I wasn't there the night we began so Miss painted my background.

No. It wouldn't have been my choice either which is a real shame as I am LOVING the pattern and it is soooooo quick to paint up. I just feel a little sad when I look at everyone else painting this on to a plain cream surface.

All this is in the last two weeks so perhaps my crafting mojo wasn't gone but just sleeping.

freak weather conditions...

... on Dorset hilltop lead to extremely stressed hausfrau.


We had some rain here today, it reminded me of Summer;-)


We also had some gusty winds.


I was good hausfrau on Sunday afternoon and began the sort out on my green house (house which is green not glass-paned structure filled with delicious homegrown vegetables) in the garden. It was very exciting. I found lots of fabulous things that I had actually painted! Not finished you understand but painted.


Except this one.






This was finished and ready to hang. And I even hung it, drilling holes in the wall and everything! This fella is in the Peter Ompir style.


I also found this





This is a little pegboard. The lighting is a bit crubbish so the picture of the whole thing was rubbish but the colours are really good in it. The whole thing is approx. three peg sections long. I love this lil bird. This one is finished too.


There were also some Christmas things. This perky wee fella and lid are half finished, just a few more strokes on his beard and a thick coating of varnish will make it 100% done. Sadly as he has been languishing for some years 'oot ther' he has become a little rusty on the edges but I shall call it shabby chic ;-)





This is a Jamie Mills-Price pattern. (note rust spots)





This morning I put out several boxes of crubbish - old paper, new paper that got damp, boxes of skanky china dolphins someone gave me years ago (why??). It was a good feeling.


This is the other Christmassy thing I freed from my indolence. Now I have (finally) glued his feet on it is another outing for the varnish then WHAMMO! he is done. Of course I also must varnish the three Wise Men who sit in those spaces then perform a little jiggery pokery construction then voila! another finished item. But he is cute, no?





Finally I have my delightful bin.





Tres grown-up and elegant I think?





Now this I really should finish but am kind of stuck on those pointy bits. The painting there is all fiddly and I need to 'think' about it some more.


So back to the freak weather.....





In September!! Would you credit it?!?!?


One of the side effects of this clear-out was boxes lying around waiting to be assigned new lives. The rubbish had gone out and I had nearly cleared my desk. This left just one little box and I was going to see if a friend wanted its contents. Next time I looked out the front door it was just as if there had been a blizzard blow through.


This was the content of the box spread wide across my garden. I spent the next hour sweeping up wet bloody polystyrene beads. As the wind blew. And the rain came down. I was less than amused. (Some may say they were leopardmonkey guts ;-)


Because this post doesn't have enough pictures I want to show you the box I did for my Russian Doll swap giftee.

I was a little chuffed with this one because I made it all up myself. The words in Cyrillic writing around the outside read 'Happy Days'.




I liked it so much I have done the whole thing again on a tray for my house :-)

black tie, babushkas and birdies. EDIT**

We had our first black tie event of our two week run on Saturday.

We got invited to this party.

Being in Dorset meant we had lashings of fizzy pop (well, sparkly bubbles) and a jolly large ham on the bone Aunt Bessie had cooked up for us. The whole evening was wizard and smashing, even though George came dressed in black tie rather than a ballgown. Uncle Quentin was furious!


Having waited with much anticipation I was far from disappointed when CK emerged in his tuxedo. Move over 007, there is a new secret agent in town and he doesn't hang around in the greenery letting the grass grow over him. Sadly our posh frocks had a somewhat limited outing this weekend as our babysitter turned into a pumpkin at midnight, and as we didn't really want to explain to Social Services why our children were being cared for by a massive vegetable, we were home by the witching hour.


HOWEVER ..... this Saturday night should prove some little what different as the childer are coming with us to the event of the Millenium.

You see having opened this I found this rather stunning arrangement inside and



(I must confess) thought it had come from one of you clever blogger people but oh no! Because once I was able to tear my eyes away from the gorgeousness of the envelope


I read on and saw this



'Oooooo! How exciting a wedding!' I thought, 'Must start looking for a suitably posh frock.' Then I read on again and went a little pale.



Fortunately I was rescued by a couple of fairy godmothers and shall be off to celebrate in full ballgown finery next weekend with the boys. Although I did wonder if diamonds may be a bit too OTT, thought I would go with pearls instead. So much classier, right? (Because I am such a classy bird!)





The old Russian Doll Swap is all done and ready to go. I've even managed to create a little sneaky peek!



And then today Smiley Carol spread joy and laughter far and wide on her round b/c she knew she was carrying this package of delight for me.



Yes the clever and beautiful Jodie over at RicRac had been sharing the love (and possibly the gin, not sure if I was meant to be seeing elephants!) internationally. Being the youngest (b/c I am y'know. What? I haven't mentioned it before? Oh that will definitely change!!) I wasn't waiting for anyone's help I jumped straight in and ripped the packet open.



Ooooooo! Squeeeeeeeeeeee! Did you see what is now living at my house? I am so very lucky and extremely delighted to welcome Maya into my life.




Also thoughts required on this. Please comment honestly and ruthlessly but obviously not so much as to make me cry, 'kay?

Everything except the gingham came in my fabulous pile of scraps from Kate. Do you like it or is it too bitty? I would love to get feedback on this as I am discovering I have a major flaw when it comes to quilting - colour stops being my friend! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!

*** EDIT here*** The gingham is to be folded back until it is only 1 or 2 squares high. There is only a second layer b/c I cut the first layer when trimming the edges. It really won't be that deep a gingham border and anyway - I like gingham!!!

Help and support required. Send urgently. ** EDIT

EDIT: Okay to prevent confusion and allay distress let me put it clearly:

* 100s&1000s are little spherical non-pariel sort of things which are used for cake decoration, ice-cream toppings and for making the internationally reknowned and also world famous 'Fairy Bread'.

* below is the picture of an international comparison of Australian and UK 100s&1000s. The Australian ones are at the top of the picture. They are bright and shiny and very pretty. The lower ones are the UK ones (also known as 'foreign') - they are all quiet and shy in their colouring.

Hey y'all.

this is a long weekend (aka public holiday, bank holiday) this weekend here in the UK (yes I know it is in Aust as well but I'm here on top of the revisionist history hill and it is my blog so.....) and my brother-in-law is arriving at some point this afternoon.

I don't know when b/c CK and his brother couldn't actually figure out which train he might catch. Two sensible, very grown-up men of wide travel and experience, both with access to the innernets yet googling 'train time to on top of the hill' seemed beyond them! Consequently I am housebound despite my paints and brushes being down at school b/c I have to wait here to go fetch B-I-L should he have caught an earlier train.

Do I seem a little annoyed? Hm! This would be becauseI had plans. Plans do you hear? It is not often in my life that I am sufficiently organised to actually have plans which I actively follow through (loads of intent but little completion) and I was looking forward to getting a tick in that box today. I was 'good mother' this a.m. and did reading with Babyman's classmates then normally while they had assembly I would go and paint some more of my cupbaord out in the hall but no, it has been moved hasn't it? So rather than mooch around school for the three hour assembly Mr Headteacher indulges in I came home to do my boring Friday housework. Which is when I spoke with CK.

My fabulous plan for going back down to school for a few hours this afternoon has gone the way of the dodo and I have been lurking at home getting in the way of my dogs' snoozes. And I have been mulling. Mulling over what to feed these people this weekend (Yes. It is only one more than normal but still....). Mulling over just how revoltingly dusty my living room was (note 'was' - got a demolition crew into blow up the dust bunnies' megalopolis!) . Mulling over the mini-quilts that are calling to me (I bought fabric and I may be in love) . And mulling over the juggling that has to take place this weekend. Birthday parties, swimming, mopping up Club Penguin provoked tears, choir recital at church (is it bad if I take my knitting and just sit up the back quietly?) and all the dirty clothes that lurk out in my laundry.


Not the most clear picture but you should be able to see the difference between the insipidity (is this a word?) of the UK 100s &1000s and the Australian ones. The foreign ones are also made differently. They are hollow, little puffs of coloured air made solid.

So to keep myself going throughout the weekend I am going to finish painting the little box I am working on and will send it out to somebody on Tuesday. Would you like it? Leave a comment. I shall select a name from a number entered into the random interger generator more commonly referred to as CK. Perhaps on Sunday. Maybe Monday. At some point over the weekend anyway. Interested?