End of an era

Last weekend saw the removal of the cot from Miss T's bedroom. It has lasted six and a half years and four babies and has been put up and taken down so often that it practically fell apart when we looked at it. It stands now in the front yard, looking sad, awaiting a trip to the recycling centre:

I am at once pleased and saddened by its exit from our lives. When I put it out there my heart tightened, just a little bit.

But not as much as it did when I first saw Miss T, all tiny and baby-like in her new bed, snuggled up under a blanket my mum knitted for me when I was born.

In the week she has been in it, do you know, she has not got out of bed once?! How fabulous is that? We just say 'Goodnight, love you, stay in your bed please', AND SHE DOES!

X

The wedding magnolia

I wrote this a few days ago on a lovely bright day when I was feeling jolly good about all things. Today is grey and wet, and I am cold and tired, so finding this made me feel a little more Hopeful...

Eight years ago W and I came here and wandered around the streets, wondering if this was the place for us to settle and raise a family. It was a beautiful Spring day, the sun was shining and we looked at all the Victorian terraces and thought they were pretty. Not to mention near the sea.

But the thing I remember most about that day was the magnolias. Every other house seemed to have one. Different shapes, sizes and colours, but all magnolias, all in bloom, all beautiful. We decided we would have to have one.

So after our wedding and our big move from a two up-two down in London to a Proper Family Home, we bought a magnolia. It was small and sat happily at the corner of our shed.

Fast forward seven and a half years and our magnolia is a nine foot beauty, providing privacy and prettiness to the patio that now sits where the shed was. It is beautiful and I love it. And it is coming alive again for the Spring.

Magic...x

I notice, glancing over my shoulder at the garden, that the magnolia has definate white tips to all those lovely buds. I have a nasty feeling I am going to miss the flowers while I am at work this week!

It's oh so Quiet...

It is Friday afternoon and all is well...Peace reigns in the House of bears.

One sleeping peacefully:

One playing DS as a Friday Treat:

One Making Animals Go:

One wrecking my recipe book while expounding long-windedly about what she is going to make and for whom:

And on the hob:

...A basket of goodies for W to conjure up some yummy tea.

In addition, the oven holds a chocolate cake, the coffee pot holds a new brew, and the dining table holds my afternoon's entertainment:

Lovely! Hope your Friday is as good. x

In which I cannot work my camera

Hello! I had a bit of a blog hiatus over the weekend, mainly because I thought my camera was broken. We did lots of lovely things with the kids- a long muddy wander through the woods; a good climbing session at a newly installed adventure playground; a trip to a teeny tiny farmer's market and a subsequent exploration of a town we thought we might move to one day (we decided we won't); W and the kids made pasta- FHB and the Mouse showed little continuing interest, whereas (surprisingly), Custard proved very useful for the prolonged turning of the handle. Sunday tea for W and I brought a pile of the best cheese scones I have ever made and a lemon meringue pie of epic proportions.

I would have shown you all of this, except my camera was broken. I charged the battery. I put it in, took it out, open and shut the lens cover, swore a bit:

Me (grumpy): My ---- camera is broken. It's only 6 ------ months old.

W (takes camera from me): Let me see. (Turns battery around and switches camera on) There. It helps if you put the battery in the right way round (Smiles, smugly).

Ahem.

Anyway...Monday brought one poorly Mouse and a bit of a write off of a day, but today? Oooh, it is Lovely! Blue skies, the definate promise of Spring in the air, three children at school, a clean house (well, I had to do something yesterday), and orders from W to go and buy myself some new plimsolls and jeans, because everything I own seems to be falling apart. I am also under orders to replenish FHB's wardrobe because as the boy himself tells me- he's growing like a weed.

Shopping!

I have been such a good girl for the past couple of months, so any sort of interesting shopping, especially shopping that I do not have to feel guilty about, is Pretty Exciting!

This morning Miss T and I have been to Matalan. Not the world's most glamorous shop I admit, but when you have six people to clothe, it is all good. Look...

Flowery Shoes! In the garden!

Miss T and I had a bag of chocolate buttons and a drink out there this morning. It was so nice. I do not think I have been out there to Just Sit since October. I did, however, discover that there is quite a lot of work to be done out there. There always is. Four children and a cat carve up the grass to a point where we have seriously considered astro-turf.

I did find one small, not entirely healthy looking patch of crocus (croci? crocuses?), but it is, at least, a sign that Spring is around the corner:

Tomorrow brings a trip to Next (for me) and H&M (for FHB). Woo!
x

Edited to add:

I have just collected FHB and Mouse from school.

FHB:  Ooh, Mummy, I like your new flowery shoes.

Me (pleased): Thanks! I got them today.

FHB: Yeah, they're cool. You look like you should be going to play darts.

Me: Darts?

FHB: Yeah, you know, somewhere really cool like a darts club.

Me: crushed.

Today I am mostly...

Cleaning:: reluctantly
Smiling:: at Miss T and Custard actually playing together!
Laughing:: at Miss T's pulling my hair across my face under my nose and telling me I have got a 'stosh' (mustache)
Drinking:: ginger tea
Wishing:: my tea was more gingery.
Eating:: a chocolate mannequin pis, leftover from Christmas, still good

Reading:: (accidentally) a series of Very Bad romance novels on my Kindle (having down loaded them and begun reading, I thought I may as well finish) and
Having the mickey taken out of me:: by my husband, who thinks it is hilarious
Planning:: on giving the bears dusters and getting them to clean their own rooms after school
Feeling excited:: about FHB having fencing lessons at school
Feeling glad:: to have my dear boy back again and not the angry horror we have lived with for a few months
Dreading:: the nit combing session that awaits at bath time
Worrying:: about what the next few months hold for my family and I
Trying:: really hard to be thankful for what we have
Realising:: that my Niece Who Has No Plan will be four in two weeks and I need to make her a gift
Looking forward:: to a quiet weekend of finishing projects, starting new ones and strolling along the beach
Forgetting:: that I still have to go to work tomorrow first
Enjoying:: my happy bunch of daffs, plonked in a jug

Thinking:: that I might not clean for the next hour, but may wander through Rightmove for a bit in order to do some...
Dreaming:: of where I would like us to be.

Have a lovely day...x

Fab Fotos

A couple of photos for you today. Both taken on my stomp around London last week:

How fabulous are these Bishopsgate Bunnies?

And this graffiti? Love It!

x

Cold crochet catch-up

Wow it is cold here today! Miss T and I have done our out-and-about jobs in record time and are now hunkering down in the living room wih CBeebies (her) and a good book (me), some raisins and biscuits (her) and some chocolate (me- it's early, I know, but needs must). We have hot milk, hot coffee (lashings of) a warm cat and a new blanket to snuggle under:

I also have a pile of crochet to be getting on with. My pouffe cover is growing (a collection of words I never thught I'd string together!)

My cardi is about a third done:

And I have started whipping up granny squares in the hope of making a blanket. I do not know if I have the staying power...

I will leave you with a photo of Custard being a multicultural storm trooper. I am looking forward to this afternoon's dressing up ensembles, as a large and very promising parcel has just arrived for Custard from my sister-in-law. x