No sewing today :(

I'm still trying to help my house recover from the neglect it suffered over the weekend. I'm still not 100% myself.


The house is hot despite having every window and door open and 2 fans blowing. My hands, feet and legs are REALLY swollen, my hip is really playing me up and in turn that's making my back pain close to unbearable. I just feel "meh". (Yup, that is a word according to moi).


I can't do any sewing because I'm finding that the majority of the time, I need my feet up (I haven't quite mastered the "how to use the foot pedal of the sewing machine whilst in a reclined position" technique).


I did, on a little inbetweeny moment, make a lovely fruity sauce to have with ice cream :)


1 cup sugar (or less if you don't like it too sweet)
1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used frozen, so not sure how it would work out with fresh)
1 1/2 cups chopped and peeled apple
3 tablespoons of lemon juice


Heat it up in a pan (but not to the boil) and keep stirring.
The blueberries should completely reduce and the sugar should be completely dissolved. The apples pieces will remain whole, but be very soft.
Then, once it's cooled, it's ready to serve on your desserts :)


Yummy. At least I accomplished something today!

I was going to include a lovley picture showing just how pretty the berry colours against the ice cream are, but wouldntcha know, uncooperative PC. Again. So, you'll just have to use your wonderful imaginations :)

Monday Monday

The hectic weekend has just hit me today. I slept fine last night and for a long enough length of time, but I'm just tired out.



I have attempted to get the house back into order, but only got half way there, before giving up and rooting around in my sewing to do box instead.

I've half heartedly started a quick summer mess around outfit for the small person made from old clothing, but put it to one side once I discovered there was no elastic to hand (and no energy to go find any). I also finally finished stitching the panels of her new curtains and bedspread together. They are now folded neatly waiting for me to make the next move forward.

I looked at the large expanse of curtain, and the even larger expanse of curtain lining, realised it would be another floor cutting job, and knew that if I got down on the floor cutting out, I'd be staying there until Mr Bogert returned from work and picked me up off the floor. The bedspread seemed simpler, but Mr Bogert has "tidied up" the wadding I had for it (and I really wasn't putting up much of a fight for activity anyway). So, there they are. Waiting.

Then I thought, well I'll put my feet up and watch a little afternoon TV to chill out and maybe regain some energy. Telly no worky (another issue to deal with at some point). Telly upstairs? Nope, too far away. So I just lay there feeling tired until Mr Bogert got home. Luckily for me, Small person is extremely good (especially lately) when Mummy's tired. She did some drawing, played dress up, played with her dolls and cars, played on the DS, and then to cheer me up she put on a show. My favourite 2 songs were called "I love Mummy and Daddy" and "Daddy's got a spikey face".

Early night tonight, then maybe tomorrow I'll feel more like me (and maybe that bedspread and curtains will finally be ready for use!)

Open Gardens - part 2

Well, that's it all over and done with. We did manage to get around everything and the weather was far better on Sunday. We've taken lots of photos which I've yet to sort through them all.

The scarecrow competition was judged and the winner was the operating table (photograph in last post), we looked at all of the flower arrangements in the church, we stopped and had a ploughmans lunch at The Old Rectory (where I left my cardigan - mush for brains again!) and we looked at all of the craft things by the old smithy.

Our Pirate scarecrow

Sheriff Oaks

The man (David Salt) who does all of the metal work (from Wyvern Forge) had some beautiful pictures of creations either he or his colleague has made. Now if only I had some spare cash, I'd certainly comission a pretty new garden gate.

I bought a bowl from the wood turner to keep for my Grandad's birthday. It's made from local ash. Every time I see the wooden items at different village events (he usually has a stall at Christmas) I just love the smooth finish and the lovely rich colours and patterns of the wood. I made Mr Bogert buy me a lovely bowl made from walnut the last time we saw him :)

Unfortunately, the bee keeper couldn't make it on Sunday, so we missed them. I really wanted to see if they were selling honey. We did however spot a bees nest hanging in a tree in the churchyard :)

Also, I am very cross with myself >:( We walked past the wool spinning lady, but as she was taking a break and having a chat, I thought, well I'll just come back later. I forgot! So cross. She spins using fleece from the local farms, and I really wanted to see what she had for sale. Fingers crossed, she'll come to another village event soonish.

The photograph exhibition seems to have been quite well received. We're hoping we may have generated enough interest to get a new member or two, but if not, at least most people know we're here now. It didn't take long to break everything down either. Much quicker than putting it up! We'll keep all of the prints safe now until another time.

Here's a quick snap of how my personal display was arranged.

I also managed to get very slight sunburn. I put sun cream on, I just obviously didn't put enough on my ever expanding cleavage. Ooops. Mr Bogert found this amusing as I'd spent a good few minutes nagging him about his sun cream. It's not really bad though, not sore, just slightly pink and itchy. Thank goodness for aftersun lotion.

The whole weekend was finished off with a lovely BBQ. All those involved in some aspect of planning or running the weekend were invited round to one of the gardens for a get together. The evening weather was just right, and it was so nice to see so many familiar faces. We all brought our own meat, but our hosts provided salad, bread, drinks and dessert. We took extra meat and shared it with some neighbours from down our road and the man from the smithy who does the metal work I mentioned. It was a perfect end to a lovely weekend.

Obviously somewhere in the midst of all this we celebrated fathers day. Mr Bogert was treated to breakfast in bed made by the small person (so it was toast, a yoghurt and a banana), he had a huge box of chocolates which even he didn't manage to finish in one sitting (but blamed that fact on the 3 desserts he ate at the BBQ!) he got his Dad head which he was very impressed by, and his lovely hand made card. Alexandra ran him a lovely relaxing bubble bath and put his towels in the bathroom. So he actually ended up having a bath with Eeyore the Donkey and 2 rubber duckies. (He REALLY didn't want me to show any of these half awake pictures of him in public, so I'll just give you a really quick sneak peak.....)

(See. All gone.)

We also called round to Grandads to deliver his Father's day gift, and then met my Dad briefly at one of the local pubs to have a drink and give him his card and gift. Yep, we just about managed to cram everything in!

Today is my day of rest (after I've cleared up that is!)

Open Garden Weekend

Well, it's arrived and so far, going well. Everything was mounted and labelled on time for the photography exhibition, my flowers came together really quickly for the church flower festival (and I didn't even drop them on the way into the church, which is a miracle considering the size of the arrangement and my clear lack of balance at the moment!) and all scarecrows that needed to be made, were made.

We've had a really busy day today, staying with the exhibiton for far too long in the village hall (and sampling several different home made cakes sold by the WI ladies, in fact we gave the small person sugar overload and paid severely for it!) then we made our way around some of the gardens and took photographs and also took extra photographs as we came across more scarecrows. The day however, ran away from us, and we've got to go back out tomorrow and see and photograph everything else that we missed (which was tons!).

I haven't been in to the Church yet, but here's a photograph of the flower arrangement. I can't show you the scarecrows. The PC has decided it no longer wants to play with my photos, so it wont let me download the piccies from the other camera :( As soon as it's behaving again, I'll post the pics. Sheriff Oaks (which is for my Nan and Grandad) and our pirate can't wait to be introduced to you all. Our pirate looks a bit like he's already been hanged though, but at least he's there. The pirate scarecrow was made last night (again from some of Potato Salad Heather's old clothing that she passes to me for fabric) and his head was made this morning whilst watching Tinkerbell on the Disney Channel. I don't think I did too badly

There have been some fantastic scarecrows all around though. Take a look at a few:

Dad Heads!

Yesterday was our fathers day craft project at toddler group. All the kids got to make dad/grandad heads using papier mached tinfoil balls as heads. The idea is in one of the Usborne crafts for kids books (I think it's the one with ideas to make just for guys/dads.)

I had an appointment, so I missed the start of the session. The small person made a couple of heads, but as I hadn't been able to join in we made 3 more at home today.

What do you think?

This is Grandad head (above with comparison photo :D)

This is Grandpa head (above and comparison piccie :D)

And this is Daddy head. I truly think this is a shrunken version of Mr Bogert :D ( I figured if you've been on the blog in the past, there's no need for a comparison piccie!)

I also managed to complete the mini scarecrow for the flower display (which I'll be putting together on Friday ready for the weekend activities). He needs a name.....

My selection for the photography exhibition

I have my final selection of photographs for my personal display at the exhibition this weekend. Now I just need to get them printed, mounted and labelled! (there are actually 3 others, but they're on Mr Bogert's external hard drive, so I don't have them to show you.)

OK. I know in this last one she has a filthy vest on, but the one going to print has been edited so you can't see it. (This was her macaroni cheese stage!)

Getting "it" done

"It" being that mamoth to do list swirling around my head (and somewhere on a piece of paper in the house).

Peg doll scarecrows from toddler group for the flower festival. CHECK

Nan and Grandad's scarecrow for the flower festival. CHECK

Prepped the "Dad head" craft for toddler group. CHECK

Sorted my personal photos for the camera club exhibition. CHECK

Taken new versions of old village photos for the exhibition. CHECK

Reply cards for places we've been invited to made and posted. CHECK

Name cards ready for printing for the photograph exhibtion. CHECK

Yesterday Mr Bogert, the small person and I took a walk around the village taking the new photographs to go with the old ones for the exhibition. So that Alex didn't get too bored, she had a bag with her to collect flowers. When we got home I showed her how to press them. Once they're ready we're going to turn them into a lovely birthday card for Grandma.

We also made apricot flapjacks yesterday. Alex is really becoming a great little chef :) She helped make pizza for dinner the night before. Mr Bogert swears it's the best pizza he's ever tasted. (and he's been to Italy and New York!)

The Dad (or grandad) Head craft is ready to go. I sat scrunching balls of tin foil on Saturday and then covered them with PVA and white tissue paper. Now they just need the kids imaginations, some more tissue paper, some more glue and some paint, and they should look fantastic :)

We've just finished the small person's homework. This week it's Oscar Orange and the letter "O", but that's one she already knows very well, so it was a very quick painless experience! Now she's sitting drawing rainbows and the sea with a big tin of lovely coloured chalks. Later today, we're going to make the last fathers day card. One for Grandad (my Dad).

I've also been planning and plotting the flower arrangement from toddler group for the church.

Last year we had a rainbow tower of flowers with lots of lovely butterflies the children had decorated "flying" around it. This year in keeping with the scarecrow theme (for the competition the committee is running) I thought we'd have scarecrows too. I'll post piccies once the actual arrangement is made on Friday.

Last years Rainbow flowers

I also want to get on with my sisters birthday invitations so that they're ready to go once the time comes so I want to get cutting out more Sizzix numbers and swirly squares. If I don't get chance today, it's not the end of the world 'cos I'm off ALL week! Yay!

Papercrafting

All this morning the small person and I have been sticking lots of little bits of paper to lots of other little bits of paper. Very theraputic (but I really must get some housework done!). Alexandra has been creating lovely collages using some sizzix cut outs I gave her and other bits and pieces from her craft drawers. We also made a Father's Day card for Dady and Grandpa. We still need to make one for Grandad. I can't show Mr Bogert's card (as he does occasionally drop by to see what I've been up to whilst he's at work) but I can show the masterpiece that is Grandpa's card.

I whipped up 2 very quick little notelet cards as replies for a wedding and a birthday party, I just need to sort out envelopes now and get them in the post.

I've also made a start on my sister's 21st birthday party invitations. I've been stuck for a while because the thought of cutting out that many 2s and 1s by hand made my head spin. Completely forgot I have some sizzix number dies! Yay! They're far less chunky than my original idea, but I think these will actually look better anyway. I've made a few different combinations in the colour scheme chosen by my sister, I just need her to look at them and choose the one she wants. Then I can get on with it :) Which colour combination do you like the best? (there's a fluffy pink feather or two to be added under the 21 badge pointing towards the top of the card, and I may think about some added sparkle, but for now this is the base.)

Black DL size card with hot pink gross grain ribbon across the centre, swirl corner square sizzix punch with swirl number "21" mounted on.

In other more amusing news (well it made me smile anyway) the postman delivered a letter from my work today (you know, the boring day job). It's a notification for my long service award! And I only started work there just whilst I was studying! 10 years is way too long to spend in a job you didn't want in the first place, never intended to stay for, and still don't want to be at now! Oh well, another 5 weeks and I'll be away from there for a whole 12 months getting to know my little wish number 2 :)

Which reminds me, I never shared a picture from our 20 week scan. Look :D Squigglepop's getting bigger by the day :D

Right, back to housework, making lunches for tomorrow, doing homework with the small person and making important phone calls. I've had my fun for the day :)

Scarecrows everywhere!

Well, yesterday was busy. The children's centre open day was great. It's a really lovely place (I especially liked the garden area). Everything was light and spacey, the staff were really friendly. I already knew 2 of them anyway who've been supporting the Toddler Group. I really hope that I can take squigglepop to a couple of things once Alex is settled in school. The baby massage seemed good, and I'm interested in the baby first aid course. It just all depends on travel and time.

They also run adult classes including Christmas crafts, easter crafts and summer crafts. I REALLY want to go and join in, but I suspect I wont be able to (time and money wise) :(

When I got back from the children's centre and Mr Bogert returned the small person before heading off to work, we went around to Nan and Grandad's for lunch. We weren't going to stay too long, but we thought we'd at least sort out a few bits and pieces ready for making their scarecrow. Well, we ended up making the scarecrow. Finding the bits turned into lets just stuff the legs, then we thought we might as well add the shirt, then it seemed mean to leave him headless. He just has a few finishing touches (a hat, a waistcoat and a sheriff's badge).

Meet Sheriff Oaks :)

Sheriff Oaks is wearing Grandad's shirt (which he would like back, please), Potato salad Heather's old ripped jeans and a yellow duster for a neck scarf. His head is made from half and old pillowcase stuffed with an old towel and then stitched with cotton and embroidery thread to form his features. The cuffs and bottoms of the trousers are tied off with elastic bands, and then his whole body has been stuffed with old newspapers (the small person loved that bit!) He has a piece of wood running from his head to his bottom to give him a bit of stability. I made it up as I went along, so on the whole, I'm quite pleased :)

Back home I made another yummy milkshake.

• 1 mango chopped up
• 2 bananas
• 1 large carton of vanilla yoghurt
• top up with milk in the blender and whizz it all together

The scarewcrow peg people got prepped and the kids had fun putting them all together today. The straw really didn'twant to stay on the heads though :( Here's a mini collection of them ready for the flower festival.

And last but not least was our trip to the theatre. Turns out my Mum and her partner had booked to go the same night. We saw their car in the car park, but couldn't see them anywhere in the theatre. I really enjoyed the show. The set was well planned, the cast were great and it was a generally enjoyable night out. We both agreed we preferred last years production, but that had nothing to do with the performances, just that we liked the plot for Spider's Web more. I really hope we can go again next year.

So, you can see I have 2 things to tick off that craft list of mine. I have got a new item to add today though and that's prepping the craft for next week's toddler group. I'd forgotten (surprise surprise) until I checked my notes, that we have got father's day craft next week. We're going to be making "Dad heads" to give to the dads and grandads as gfts. The idea is from one of the Usborne Activity books. I really love all of the different books they have for cooking and crafting with kids. Anyway, the dad heads are going to take a bit more prep than the usual ones. I'll show you my progress. I also need to track down some skin coloured paints 'cos we don't have any!