Some of you may have been waiting for this...(ahem)

One bright, sunny but cold morning I opened my front door to find the fairies had left me a surprise! I knew it hadn't come from The Royal Mail as neither of my dogs had morphed into the Hound of The Baskervilles.



'Oooo! How exciting!' I thought. 'What could be in here?'

Well it was definitely for me so I knew the fairies hadn't made a mistake.




However I was wondering whether I may need magic to be able to get into it - you guys didn't tell fibs!



Having finally excavated through the tape look what jumped out at me!

After wrestling That Little Blue Guy into promising to be good I was able to display all the bountiful munificence to which I had been treated!

And do you know? There was only one thing that was returned to me :-)

10 things that make me happy.

It is raining here today. Again.



I have read lots of blogs when I should have been doing other stuff.



I have been doing the other stuff but it has made me cough.



I think I will make a'Happy List'.





1. Watching my old dog sleep. For a biggish dog he can curl up very small.



2. Watching my black dog prepare himself for sleep on a cold day. His very fluffy tail is curled around to cover his nose and half his head. Everytime he does it I have stop and watch. It makes me smile.



3. Going painting. I did this last night and had a fabulous time. Those women make me laugh and the painting gods were smiling on me. Things were finished off.



4. Posting parcels and packages. I sent things off to April and also to Missus Stashbasket and a young man on the other side of the world. I hope all are pleasantly surprised with their mail.



5. Learning new things and finding them less complex than anticipated. I taught myself how to knit a picot edge this week.





6. Gifts from friends - I was given an 'official helper badge' this week.



7. Knowing there is only a month until we head for the sun.



8. Destructoboy.



9. Princess Curly-Wurly.



10. CK.

Preen! *Glow* Swish!

Am currently overcome with a feeling of great 'Hurray For Me'ness because in the last 24 hours I have packed up and posted off my

parcel.

So Esther, if you are reading this - watch for the postman!

I also sent off my package to my pincushion swappee, so secret swap person if you are reading this - watch for the postie heehee ;-)


And lastly I am minutes (literally minutes) away from completing my



doll da russki and can I just say now - I love it! I love it so much I have actually already done one of my own for me and have a list of people who want similar. Won't show you any hints b/c it will give it all a way but I hope my lovely swap partner likes it too!

So forgive me a little preen & glow but I am truly rubbish at the whole 'finishing things' thing(especially on time!) so am feeling quite chuffed that I can tick these boxes as done. Locket, I know your 'Uncle Jim is here for the weekend' surprise hasn't quite reached you yet but hang in there, I seem to be establishing a precedent ;-)

Girl done well

Last Monday morning it was back to school for us here on the hill and Princess P-Dub was champing at the bit to get back. This is not a natural state of affairs particularly after Easter holidays filled with chocolate and snow but she had a reason. A really good reason. Do you remember this? And this? Well, Monday was the day results came out.

I waited by their exit that afternoon and she came out quite smiley but not bouncing off the walls so I figured she had done alright. As she was regaling me with the structure of marks - bronze, silver, gold and something she and her friends were calling prehistoric (ie; below bronze [I thought it pretty clever, can you tell she has watched Time Team obsessively sincethe age of two?]) one of these frineds came bouncing up saying 'Guess what Princess C-Dub got? She got a p..'

"Shhhh...... " I said "Let her tell me."

"Well, Mrs Tree said that three were of such high quality she had to regrade them and create a whole new level of mark - it's platinum and I got one! Come in and have a look at my certificate"

So there you have it, 11 weeks of shouty Mummy, stressed small girl and one whole Sunday spent with a pen in her hand, writing for more than 10 hours resulted in that particular small girl feeling so proud of herself and floating with the satisfaction that comes from a job well. I hope it is a message that stays with her.

I blame Moogsmum. And RicRac. And possibly Lucy Locket.

I can't remember exactly when it happened but in the last few weeks I have had an urge to make a bag.

Ric Rac's world famous 'one hour bag' tutorial has been sending out its siren call for some time now but I have resisted as I am not a natural sew-er. However after the purchase of the £1.50 bag (or as we call it - 1.5 kilos of fabulous and posh scraps) it all became clear. There is over 3/4 metre of enormous dark brown, very heavy, chenille fabric (which can I say is an absolute bugger to sew b/c it frays like there is no tomorrow) which was just crying out to be partnered by the fabulous aqua and brown spotty poplin.

Poplin. Isn't that a great word? Just roll it around your tongue a little bit. Pop-lin. poplin

So I drew the pattern as directed and after some little swearing and fiddling I came up with this.

I can't begin to say how much I am chuffed with myself. I had planned to give it to a friend for her birthday but noticed in the morning that the fabric had been clipped a little too vigorously and was fraying along the bottom. Nothing that two clothes pegs and few drops of Tacky Glue can't fix!

Sadly however this meant that I have had to keep it for myself - aaaah shame! But no one can tell unless I showed them - which of course I have done every time someone says how lovely it is hee hee ;-)

So then I thought I would try something smaller. Enter emergency email to Mrs Moogsmum asking for zip assistance (would love to know I was getting hits b/c of that phrase!) and she sent me a fabulous tutorial. Sadly I am unable to link b/c I'm crubbbish but tonight I have made the little bag thingie in the collage.

Pr. C-Dub had a friend around today and Babyman was feeling a bit left out so we followed Julie's lead and rounded up all the scrappy crayons, dug out the silicone cake moulds (Julie's right - the cakes come out in pieces rather than pretty) . We sat for over an hour stripping, snapping and placing crayons into the moulds. He was desperate for the girls to ask what we were doing. They didn't, much to his chagrin.

Another collage - moving from L to R we have - the outside of the first attempt at purse/baglet making, madeline shaped crayons, crayons awaiting melting

Row Two Crayons pre-stripping and post Picasa!, unintentional t-shirt batiking, lego block shaped crayons.

Row Three Pr C-Dub and her friend being all craaaazy, Babyman working his fingers to the bone, the inside of the first attempt - ooer, real silk that is!!

The bag thingie is okay for a first attempt but I think with a bit more practice they may actually get better. We shall see........

A modern day fairy tale

Once upon a time there was a snail. His name was Soucho. He was a very happy snail, filled with the joys of the ever approaching Spring. With the sun shining so brightly in the sky Soucho thought it was the perfect day for a walk.




There are so many interesting things to see - Oo! Hello there!! Would you like to join me?

{{quiver, quiver}} What's that hiding in the shadows? I don't think I like it. I've read Hairy McClary.... {{quiver, shake}}



EEEEEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWFITZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



No matter which way I turn, there it is! Aaaaaargh!!!!



Run away! Run away!

So Soucho raced at top speed (about 0.62 kilometres per hour) to a lovely dark spot under a rock until Scarface Claw went home to have a sparrow for tea.

Everybody lived happily ever after. Except the sparrow.

THE END

Many thanks to the fabulous Missus Moogsmum for her lovely craft ability in creating Babyman's friend, Soucho.

Things.....

...... I have made recently.



and



photos I have taken that I love.

Oh! My! Stars!

Has anyone ever thought that the gods have a sense of humour? Just yesterday I was bemoaning on (I think it was) Little Cotton Rabbits that quite obviously the blogger pantheon had it in for me as I NEVER win in any of the 'celebrate with me ' competitions that go on.

Checked out my emails tonight and there was an invite to go here - mochimochiland -and choose one of those fabulous patterns.Trouble is - I don't know which one. Please help me!

Mother's Pride (no, not the bread).

I don't know if any of you remember this at all but it is due in tomorrow. Yes, 11 weeks of school work has to be handed over tomorrow for lots of non-assessment and marking by the teachers (they have two in Pr.C-Dub's class)over the Easter break. And I am absolutely chuffed to bits with the effort she has put in to getting this work done.

I have helped her find information and organise it but she has had to understand it. At every point she has had to explain to me the words on the page. And now at the very final hour we are left with one finished river project of 14 pages long with an appendix and a cd of her fictional trip along the river.

This is suprememly exciting b/c her first project this year consisted of three pictures and four facts about endangered monkeys pulled off the internet the morning of handing in! You see, she forgot to share with us for SEVEN weeks that she had homework!!

I know they won't actually grade this mammoth effort and perhaps that is right but I also know she gets A* for effort and possibly a jolly well placed B+/A- for her work.

You see - Mother's Pride (beam, beam)

Today* I have mostly been busy.

(strictly speaking it was yesterday but bear with me, it has been a long day at the coalface.)



Tomorrow (okay, today) is World Book Day and after many years of ignoring it this year our school has decided to do the dressing up thing. Not being good with decisions this has been a saga for Babyman - Capt. Jack/The Doctor. Capt. Jack/The Doctor. Oh! Who can choose?!


Princess C-Dub on the other hand had no hesitation and wanted to go as Ping from the Dragonkeeper books. You may remember this saga from a previous post.


Having an unanticipated morning off work I made a dash to our local (very old-fashioned) haberdashers because the night before I had remembered this.


So with my fanciful Hannah Montana dress pattern (nine pieces for a child's dress!! And I didn't even bother with the interfacings!!), a zip, some bias binding and two and a half (!) metres of posh, Chinoiserie-type fabric I headed home and nearly had panic attacks over how to lay the pattern, which part to cut first, why wouldn't my material look like the layout in the instructions and where the bloody hell where my material cutting scissors?!?!?!?



In the space of an hour and three quarters I managed to (finally) cut out all the pieces, completely trash the dining room and nearly cry at least once. Then I went back to my day job.

(Note the pieces of pattern paper and cloth scraps in the back corners of the room? Those were strewn from one end to the other and over every surface.)

I was even bad worker person today in that No. One borrowed child spent the day sitting at the dining room table playing with scraps of material while I did sewing. However the story she wove was very interesting and if you ever wish to know about dolphins, nets, fishermen, Bratz dolls or the perils of being a Bratz Doll and sharing your bed with a dolphin - I am the one to ask!

It is obviously something that has been on her mind as nearly the first words Pr.C-W said to me this afternoon were 'What am I going to wear tomorrow?' I told her that we would sort something out. (Nothing gives me that warm glow as much as tormenting a small child;-)) At this point I still had work to do on it.

During the dance hour I managed to finish setting the sleeves but had not yet attached the back panel so when they came home all tired and sweaty and REALLY hungry it looked a little bit like that crumpled heap lying there on the table. (BTW can you see my violet-hued slippers under the table? Cool, huh!)

Let me just tell you now that no matter what your children did for you last Sunday or may tell you tonight- I am officially the best mother in the whole wide world. Ever! Just imagine how pleased she is going to be when she wakes up and finds not only does it have a back panel but also some bias binding and a hem!

So nearly exactly 12 and 3/4 hours later I am finished, done and ready for it to come home tomorrow night (yes, alright fussy ones - tonight) trashed and mucky. I really don't know how you sewy real imaginary people do it. Kudos to you all for your ability with a motor and a needle.

Just before I go for some sleep let me show you my weekend's bargain.

Louis Moreau, the posh London quilt-y company, come here every six months or so and sells off lots of stuff. There isn't usually much there to catch my eye as it is either too big (end of bolts, etc) or far to small. It was obviously meant to be a Goldilocks afternoon as I found several bits that were just right and had to bring them home with me.


A mix of silk, texture, print and colour. Even the dark brown has a good feel to it for a solid bag.

Final word now, eyes starting to close of their own volition, must go to bed; the two legged bird has to be up in a just a few hours to catch the grumpy worms!!

P.S.Babyman decided in the end (there may have been some slight nudging going on, I wouldn't care to say) to go as Arthur Dent from Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy - jammies, slippers, a dressing gown and a towel - how straightforward is that?!

P.P.S. Received something today to put in Bunny Hop Swap pal's parcel - very pleased with myself.

Nowhere to run to baby ........

>





....... nowhere to hide.

A biography in just six words.

You know how some houses have wallpaper? Well in our house the wallpaper will never be mocked by future generations (although our carpet probably will) because it is constantly changing.



I mean that in both a figurative and a literal sense. Here at Trash Towers the wallpaper is aural (this another of those words pronounced differently here from Australia). When the radios are all turned (which is most of the day) you can hear Radio Four from anywhere in the house and while I recognise it is not a big house, it is quite up and downy and cornery.



I preface this post in this way because I heard a fabulous interview and follow-up on the Today programme over the last week. Some (obviously very nice) bloggy fella has a whole site dedicated to people's personal stories. Stories that encompass a whole lifetime or simply a snapshot of moment but they must be only six words long.



*Wow!* Doesn't that give a body pause for thought? I was reminded of it while reading Princess Genevieve relating of her Norwegian trip. Apparently 'the Vikings were a violent people'.




A snapshot of my autobiopgraphy today could read - 'Two children starve while mother blogs.'




Although with the minutes edging ever closer until I take my teenaged face off to meet up with the fabulous Missus Moogsmum tomorrow it may well say - 'Kidnapped! Cage knitted from steel wool.'



As CK has pointed out this is a terrific example I am setting for both my impressionably aged children. Not only have I built up an online friendship with some faceless (although now not thanks to last week's post) internet persona who may in reality turn out to be a 50 foot tall (the height grew with the telling over the weekend) Scots bloke with a nice line in white vans and building collections of caged people BUT I have arranged to meet up with said friend. Apparently tomorrow I am to look for secret signals which will be used to call in the rest of the army of Scotsmen with similar interests. That and put a pair of boltcutters down my knickers!






I have never been clear in which branch of spec./black ops he was involved but am beginning to think it may have been a little kinky!






The game is over and exhaustion has set in. Until they negotiate my release, goodnight!

I am officially old now!

This post has now been edited to include the photoes Monkee Maker was unable to view. Rather than simply polish her glasses she has requested that I actually fix the errors that were made!

Enjoy. (7/02/08)

Please excuse the date on this post. I may have started this on Saturday but your calendar isn't wrong - today is Monday!

While I am still waiting for the 'formal' telegram from QEII an unofficial email turned up from Windsor for my actual birthday (31.01 Monkee Maker, I have been posting late in the evening recently. Apologies for any confusion ). Just a brief note wishing me felicitations of the day from Lizzie and Phil the Greek (as one of my republican (the non-royalist, not the American version) brothers refers to them) , Chuck, Horse-Face and the rest of the mob. Kind of them, no?

So for my 'unofficial' birthday CK had the day off and we ran away to Bath sans kids. Not looking forward to the hail and snow we were told to expect.

HA!





I played around being all touristy with my birthday present and discovered a third of Bath is missing.





Do you lot up in Brizzle know anything about this?

It would seem the confusion is catching b/c CK kept coming with the birthday presents. Being a boy and tech-minded we started the day with a U/V filter. He then tried to force a camera-bag on me. Have you ever noticed how singularly unattractive they are? All pointy and grey and mesh and strappy. Just not very nice. So I said no and we mooched. We took pics, had lunch, tormented real grockles by tutting loudly as they pushed past, then we took more pictures.

Meandering around the back lanes of Bath CK headed into a luggage/bag shop. He needs a new suitcase for work travel so I figured that was our team plan. Oh but no! Oh! Oh! OH! He had another plan for a camera bag

** sigh** I think I may be in love








Still three more sleeps for anyone who wishes to join the double whammy competition. just click over here to be in with a chance to win something terrifically super smashing!

:-))

Was I confusing or confused?

Did I make it all too confusing by listing all the not housework terribly important stuff I had done yesterday?


Today is my actual birthday so thank you all lots of very much for your fabulous birthday wishes you have left throughout the day.


It has been a working day but with just two small people it really wasn't very trying. I spent the morning dancing with a two year old - it involved buttons, toy dogs and Tom Jones and Jools Holland. Then the afternoon letting a four y.o. fester in front of the telly while I shared lunch and a character assassination with two friends.

Oh! May I just take this moment to say how fabulous my brand new toy is and just how much I have forgotten in the years since I owned an SLR!! Would someone please send info on the use of ISO speeds and light values?!?!?!?


I got very spoiled today by so many lovely people.

I can't decide whether my daughter (as I believe) really had this thought when she bought me a box of 'Heroes' bob or is stashing points for next time she is naughty and in BIG trouble. When I unwrapped it this morning she said 'I bought you those b/c you are my hero.'

Aaaaaaw, too sweet huh? I promptly felt a little mean for having made her cry while reciting her tables all the way from the 2s to the 12s last night.

One of my borrowed childer met me at school today with a big smile and a HUGE pink helium balloon. 'Mummy said you wouldn't like this one but I knew you would, that's why I chose it.' How right she was. Despite the cyclonic winds and sharp pointy bits of tree hanging over I proudly carried it out to my car showing off the entire way.

Look what my boy wrote in his card! I nearly had tears!

It has been a fabulous day with lots of love, international phone calls, quite importantly - presents



and most importantly - cake!

Thank you for sharing it with me.

So now on to the exciting part of this post.

It would seem that in just the few minutes that I have been writing TrashCan I have hit 100 posts!

(stolen from www.mamalisa.com)

Who knew that 'googling' the simple but somewhat bizzare phrase 'knitted monkeys' would result in meeting so many lovely real/imaginary friends and people with common interests.

So to thank all y'all for playing here and reading about life here at Trash Towers and for seeing me through the lows and even lowers of Hilltop Malaria I am having a little prize awarding.

Because today is a double celebration (if enough people leave their names) there will be two names drawn from the prize barrels and as I seem to have created some form of confusion over the road at the previous post I will be adding all names from both here and there to the draw that will take place on February 7.

So please say g'day, leave your name below and stop back after Thursday to have a look see in case your name comes up!

*Reasons to be cheerful - part three.

I went out today with my children. Just for a walk along the hilltop here. The sun was shining, the dogs were sniffing about, the kids were on their bikes, we bumped into some friends and had a chat.

Doesn't sound much does it?

But given that a week ago I was expecting to perish from peritonitis at any second or at the very least wake to find myself suffering some nasty brain side effect from a simple virus (Seriously.

Happened to a friend of mine. He's better but will never be 100%.) I think it sounds bloody marvellous!

I am not getting all born again-y or hyper-Thanksgiving Thursday but acknowledging that in life

'A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it

You're welcome, we can spare it - yellow socks

Too short to be haughty, too nutty to be naughty

Going on 40 - no electric shocks

The juice of the carrot, the smile of the parrot

A little drop of claret - anything that rocks

Elvis and Scotty, days when I ain't spotty,

Sitting on the potty - curing smallpox

Reasons to be cheerful part 3'

Ian Dury & the Blockheads.

can take a person a long way.


As they arise I shall be noting down the 'Reasons to be cheerful, Part Three.