Friday Poorly Blues!

This is my world today, sadly drained of colour due to a stinking cold.  After walking my boys (very slowly) to school I fell on the sofa with my knitting without even tidying away the Lego Deathstar you can see that my boys were playing with first thing.  Lacking a real fire I have my truly wonderful DVD in the background and my eldest cat Hamish, who jumped into the frame just as I clicked.  In a few moments I will collect my boys, get home, jump in the shower and welcome my jammies and cosy socks to fall on the sofa once again.

Hope I feel better tomorrow!!!

I heart nellie&elsie!

My postman brought me something AMAZING again today, something from Etsy which is always a good thing. Something from someone very talented, from someone lovely, from nellie&elsie and I LOVE nellie&elsie. The items are always wrapped in old dressmaking patterns with such care. I am so lucky. Take a looksy.....

and inside, something made just for me, requested by me from a similar one I saw on the nellie&elsie blog site.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It's a lovely tote and really big. I also received the pictured below Mr Darcy button. I have been waiting for these to appear in the n&e shop so I could buy one ( isn't it delightful?) but I was given it as a gift for being 'such a wonderful customer'. How sweet is that? I am so grateful and touched. Thank you special lady!!!

Here I am wearing a previous purchase of an Austen Corsage cleverly made from pages of Emma. I love the items in this shop and if I could I would send the world there to buy from such a deserving Etsian. Everything is so romantic. I love books so being able to wear one as decoration is a wonderful thing. I put it on today to cheer me up as even though the house gets terribly noisy when my boys are off school, when the weather is wild and they are bickering over Lego Star Wars on the Wii because they don't want to brave the outdoors, they are back at school today and the house is oh so quiet and oh so still and it always takes a little time to adjust. My package has definitely helped so with a heart filled I'm off to bake devilish Chocolate Muffins from my favourite indulgence cookbook, the Hummingbird Bakery book.

Ali

Happy Day!!

Look what the postman brought me today!!!!!!!!

Why am I so happy? The Christmas edition of Good Food is the start of the excitement building in me. Any second now the internal sleigh bells will start to ring and stay with me until New Year. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I get VERY busy, a little stressed but I do love it so......

I had a quick page turn to show you!

Doesn't it look inviting?

It is a wet, wet, day here so I'm off to my Gaggia and will devour every page listening to the rain hammering outside dreaming of all the delights I can make and bake this winter.

Procrastination!!!

Like many of us I am a champion of procrastination! I get many things done when I should be doing something else.

Today's something else is ironing. I admit a love/hate relationship with all things domestic but I do get a certain amount of satisfaction in getting a job done. I have a hate/hate relationship with ironing. I confess a lot of the problem is me. I am not one of those people who iron each day to keep the pile down. I manage a couple of large sessions per week with lots of 'meaning to do it more often' in between. Even with a CD or my Doctor Who 'ironing DVDs' , I do not enjoy it and would do pretty much anything else to avoid it.

So........

Should I use up those overly ripe bananas and bake (THE BEST - courtesy of The Hummingbird Bakery Book) banana bread?

Should I reply to that letter from my US buddy that came this morning?

Should I get the felt and fabric out and start working on those designs for Christmas?

I could just sit and knit under the guise of needing to get on with those Christmas gifts.

I am even considering cleaning the toilets!!!!!!!!

OR should I just get away from this PC and get on with the IRONING!!!!!!!!

That is the problem with procrastination, you can't do it forever!

Ali

Birthdays and hangovers!!!

Now do not be mistaken, it was not MY birthday!!

It was my youngest Son's sixth and after two cakes (one home, one party; it made sense at the time) biscuits and a party I was in need of refreshment.

Unfortunately I was distracted from the quantities of red wine consumed by my large glass, (this is my default excuse!) my knitting and Jason Bourne. Suffice to say, today I am a little hungover and I am too old for hangovers!!!!!

Aren't the colours beautiful?

My dearest friend has a birthday tomorrow and I still have lots of knitting to finish and a huge cupcake to bake courtesy of my new purchase from Lakeland and it's still the October break from school so my boys' are around distracting me.............so I went begging to my beloved Gaggia.....

.....and ate the obligatory slice of party cake.

Now I must not let myself get distracted by my favourite blogs or my favourite drug... sorry I meant site, Etsy! If only!!!!!!!

Ali

I love reading blogs but is writing one a good idea?

I figure, I love reading blogs, catching up each day (hopefully) on my favourites and I started to wonder....should I start one? Is my life interesting enough to discuss with the world? Are my thoughts varied, expansive, coherent enough to embark on such a thing. I used to write a journal years ago before my children came along and the process of putting thoughts to paper turned into repetitive ramblings about motherhood. This blogging malarkey could be a way of sharing my thoughts, getting them out there like I used to. Still this week may not have been the best.........three birthdays which include copious amounts of baking, knitting and general organizing. Have I got time to write?? Well here I am writing!