Thursday 29 July 2010

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

.



Wednesday 28 July 2010

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)



Monday 26 July 2010

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

Saturday 24 July 2010

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


Thursday 22 July 2010

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)

Tuesday 20 July 2010

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)



Saturday 17 July 2010

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