To Infinity and Beyonddddddd.....

Like many other 'LUCKY' children

this Summer

my boys were treated today to a

special trip to the cinema!!

To see...

Buzz and Woody have always been

heros in this house...

Remind you of anyone???

Finn has enjoyed doing a

REMAKE

using his new camera...

'...Hey Buzz, look, Finn has a new toy!'

'Woody, it's OK, Jacob and Finn will,

never throw us out.  But thats not to say

their Mother won't sell us on EBAY!'

 At least no one else can see you in the dark cinema

wearing your 3D glasses...

 (How very fetching, NOT!!!)

Unless you can't bring yourself to remove them,

 for the rest of the day!!

Even when you have to go looking for a new car for Mummy...

Unfortunately Jacob,

that one won't fit us all in,

let alone tow a vintage caravan.

(yes, still dreaming!)

Love Claire. xxx

.

Fairy Godmother Extraordinaire

A few months ago my neice

'Lola'

was born.

She was baptised on Sunday and I

was thrilled to be asked to take on the

lifelong task and honour of being her

Godmother.

I now am the proud Godmother to

Hannah, Phoebe, Grace, Tuilelaith and Lola.

Phew!!! So many God daughters.

No boys....?

I don't mind though,

Rarely have I had the chance of being proper girlie

being a mother of boys

and sister to brothers,

even my cousins are all boys!

So in honour of being

Fairy Godmother once again

(Claire smiles to herself feeling all warm and lovely)

this post is having a bit of a theme...

'Fairies'

Do you believe in fairies?

Have you ever been to the bottom of the garden

looking for them???

Shhhh don't frighten her away...

I managed to 'snap' this one from my very own garden.

I have a few

Flower Fairy prints.

But the above pictures are all from

this lovely book

If you look closely at the pictures of the

Flower Fairies above

you may notice that they are embroidered!

I've checked this book is available for all you

book junkies on the various book selling websites!

Flower Fairies even have their

very own website!

Whilst getting my 'Fairy Fix' on here

I stumbled upon this gorgeous

website

Visit her for lots of GORGEOUS things

to download and print off...

BE WARNED THOUGH

seriously scrummy things to do,

perfect for us crafty girls,

or rainy day things to do with the children.

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl."

James Matthew Barrie (Peter, in Peter Pan, act 1)

 
"...because you see They live in nests on the tops of trees; and the mauve ones are boys and the white ones are girls, and the blue ones are just little sillies who are not sure what they are."

James Matthew Barrie (Peter Pan, Chapter 17)

Caravan Of Love...

A few years back

everyone started to get the

'Camping Bug!'

Me included!

Even good old

Cath Kidston

cashed in on it,

producing some stylish gear

in her fab fabrics.

Well folk have progressed

this year and have developed

another bug...

'Caravanning!'

Now my tent is sat

beautifully packed away in its

very own shed in the garden,

and during the Winter months,

hibinates in the loft.

If I say this very quietly,

in just a whisper...

...so she can't hear

...I am hoping she will start to

grow herself some wheels!

Just have a looky at this vintage beauty...

Beautiful Constance

is featured in this great book...

She is a bit of all-right is old Connie.

I'd love to be able to tell you that

I took these delightful photos of her...

But alas...

I have not been that lucky.

But if you visit HERE

you too can also have a nosey

around at her interior and a few others

to boot.

In the 'afore mentioned'

gorgeous book

'My cool caravan'

on pages 12 to 15

you will find the little tale

of Lydia, a lucky lady

who is the proud owner of a

'Cheltenham Springbok'

see HERE for a couple of the same photos

used in the book.

Well this is where I would love to tell

you that I am the proud owner of

such a wonderful 'van'

but nope!

Mind you...

if I were to bid only

last week

on Ebay, for the exact same

model, PRE-restoration,

I could have been the proud owner of one.

It went for £415!!!

Now I don't think thats too bad a price.

Obviously a lot of work needed,

far beyond what I could manage,

but a few months for her

in a specialist garage,

and I think you'd be on to a vintage winner!

Thanks for reading today,

I'm off to dream of Summer holidays

in my very own 'van'

lay listening to the rain on the tin roof,

and not on the canvas for once!

Rain...Booooo!!!

Love C. x

PARK of TATTON and the SHOW of FLOWERS!

Seeing as it's on my doorstep

I just HAD to go didn't I?

Be rude not to really!

Friday morning saw myself and

'The Grusome Twosome'

take ourselves off to the

Tatton Park Flower Show

After the short journey of 15 minutes

to get to the show,

I was sick of hearing hails of

the name of this very blog!

What is it with my pair?

We arrived, parked in the gorgeous

parklands of Tatton,

very close to these guys...

At one point Jacob was worried for his

sausage rolls,

the Fallow Deer

were so close!

Then Mummy spotted this...

Well, you're getting to know me now eh?

Finally we are at the gates,

about to buy our ticket

(Mummy isn't organised in the pre-purchase

of such things!)

When a lovely lady came up to me and

offered me a spare ticket that she had!

Talk about being our

'Lucky Day!'

Plus, kids go free!

So we're in,

relaxed,

sun shining,

boys smiling and

we make our way to here...

Mummy loved this...

and this...

and lots more!

But boys were getting hot and bothered

in a very warm marquee,

so we went back outdoors to find

the show gardens.

Best in Show

was, in my opinion,

a little drab,

clever,

but it didn't 'float my boat'

as they say.

Finn on the other hand

loved it,

he has had a new camera recently

and it was the best form of entertainment

for him here,

he took well over a hundred shots,

and several of the gardens I didn't

really go mad for.

It just shows you how

boys differ so much from girls

and what they like.

The flower marquee was

delightful!

Full of the heavenly scent of these

beautiful roses.

They're so perfect

they don't look real!

Then we found some veggies...

Fantastic Hen houses...

Bee hives...

Shabby chic gardens...

Cottage charm...

Potted up some plants...

Stopped for refreshments...

Newts...

(great plans are now afoot for

the building of a wildlife pond!)

Tested EXPENSIVE chairs...

(this is what happens when Mum is in the coffee queue!)

Got told off for throwing a pepple in the posh

show garden pond...JACOB!!!!

Fell in love with more roses in the

floral arrangement marquee...

All in all...

had a brill day out!

Hope you enjoyed sharing our lovely

time together.

(what's in that bag Mummy?!)

Some of the above pic's are

Finn's own handy work.

I'm impressed!

Oh...nearing the end of our busy time,

we stumble across the

Childrens Creche

strolling along up to it,

thinking it will be for toddlers,

and cost a fortune...

we see it is full of exciting big guy toys

and it was FREE!!!

So, there I was,

with 2, yes TWO hours

free childcare, on a

gloriously sunny day.

I felt the pull too strong and

was FORCED to sit in the sun

with one of these...

Hmmmm Pimms!

Then I realised I was missing my

little mates, so quickly ran back and

reclaimed them!

So, there you have it.

The PARK of TATTON and the SHOW of FLOWERS!

Love C. x

Film and Munchies Night!

As I type I am balanced

upon the edge of my 

big bed

as it has

been taken over by boys!!

No you rude girls,

not men-boys,

(Claire rolls her eyes!)

I mean

my 2 cheeky sons!

We are having a

DVD night.

We have the curtains closed,

the  TV stood on the

(vintage ;-)

'Ottoman'

at the foot of the bed and

bowls of chocolates

sweets and crisps!

We're watching...

For those of you who haven't seen it already,

or those of you who have no children

of a certain age to watch it,

just get it anyway!

The Nanny McPhee films

are based upon the story books

about

Nurse Matilda

This is a lovely film...

in my opinion there's

more action in it than the last

Nanny McPhee film.

My boys are totally engrossed in it,

and I am totally blown away with all the

adorable gorgeous

VINTAGE gear

used as props!

I NEEEEEED

the lovely farmhouse

that the family live in...

they have PIGLETS!!!

I NEEEEEED PIGLETS!!!!

...and for us all to survive

this Summer holiday...

'The Nanny I NEEEEEEED

is Nanny McPhee!!!'

Hope you're all

'surviving!'

Love Claire. X

P.S.

FOR HIRE

2 boys.

Very cute,

very cheeky

and will

make you laugh

until you wee!

(Oh Claire!)

I shall draw up a

rota for you all shortly

:o)

Coop to Quiche in Minutes!

Well known for being versatile, 

and ready packaged in their own

bio-degradable wrappers...

...locally produced,

having ZERO food miles...

...and 100% satisfaction of quality...

...are my very own

'Henny-penny's eggs!'

Can I ask you a question?

OH!

I just did ha ha,

well here's another...

What's the difference between

Quiche

and

Flan?

Introducing...

'Cheese and Bacon Flaniche!'

I wasn't quite prepared enough to make my own pastry,

besides, there was some in the freezer, ready made.

Fair enough it was of the puff variety

but I think this added to the rustic quality of my 'Flaniche!'

I had no recipe,

so I sort of just made one up.

The boys asked for seconds and begged

for it to be made again!

They even have a slice in their 'Butty-box'

for tomorrows packed lunch.

Result!

More wholesome, traditional, homecooked food.

Not too hard to achieve is my little challenge that I set myself.

Next time I will make more of an effort and

attempt the (I believe) very easy task of making my

own pastry!

Love C. X

(with a very full tummy)

Finn's special day.

My eldest, Finn,  is 8 years old

and in Year 3.

He and his Brother go to the same school that

my Brothers and I went to.

The same school our Dad

also went to!

Now when you are Catholic

you are able to take your

'First forgiveness'

and your

'First Holy Communion'

from around the time you are Finn's age

and onwards.

Lots of time is spent preparing,

plenty of extra visits to church and many activities.

School organise most of this and

plan lots of their lessons

around it.

So in Finn's eyes, he's glad it's all over!

But me, I have really enjoyed

First Born Son's

special time!

When did he get so big?

Event over and the shirt is already untucked!

Thumbs up all round,

Thank you Father Peter.

Not far down the road and

where's that angelic gorgeous

Catholic good boy gone?

I have a Ninja steath fighter instead!

Hee Hee!!!

Back home with all the family,

all 30 odd of us for Mummy's

home cooking! Yum!

(I surprised myself at such talents!)

The only photo of the food

I remembered to take was of

the gorgeous

Cupcake Tower

we made.

All with our own

henny penny's eggs of course!

And glitter!!!

So there we go,

thanks for letting me share our special day with you.

Finn has a rough time of it sometimes

but is one of the most lovely and caring

boys I know.

Earlier this year he was finally diagnosed

with suffering from ADHD.

Sometimes this disorder is vastly misunderstood

but no more so than the available form of

medication to help children who have to live with

this mean old thing!

Finn struggled with keeping still,

invading other peoples personal space,

ran recklessly around during games that

his friends tried to involve him in.

Often he would put himself in danger and

has many more accidents than others.

He can't learn for more than a few minutes

at a time without it,

and wrote in fluent Japanese before he

began to take it!  Bless!

So...

I am telling you all of this, not to convert the

anti's

nor to

educate the unknown,

but just to put to you why

I am such a very proud Mummy

of this very gorgeous special boy of mine.

I love you,

my sweet little friend...

...and I always will!

Love C. x