Holiday Acceleration

This was me almost a year ago- I look happy but if you look closely maybe a bit overwhelmed., well a lot overwhelmed.... It had been a hard run up to the holidays. New baby (a very beautiful one), long recovery from the birth, feeling down, stuck in for weeks due to the weather. The weather, wow, it was harsh for us here. Minus 14 may be nothing to some of you overseas but the kids and I found it hard going. I am a bit more prepared this year, with the right gear, and a little bit of a better place in my head. I have been a bit anxious though, Christmas trees on sale today actually made me tearfully scared, but I pulled myself together and I have plans, lots of plans with the kids, for my family. We will have beautiful family Christmas.

Till Tuesday

Wow I really am almost getting a little regular posting thing going here with these Tuesdays- and thank you Aimee for my title that just jumped out my head and onto the keyboard..... Its nice when things just happen without premeditation. I spend a lot of my life praying for things, wishing for things, worrying about things- somehow this blog has just become, and that makes me happy.

Quiet morning, while Neve had her nap I tidied, drank tea and then lay down for half an hour (we had been awake since 5am....) just relishing the quiet, the calm and a wee bit of sunshine coming in the window.

Afternoon was a Library trip, with eye watering fines for me (I kept that Lisa Stickley sewing book toooo long), quick charity shop trip- two nice bowls- my green and blue! An afternoon of painting, cooking and general larking about. That baby loves Gaga- leaping about as only a toddling toddler can do!

Till the next one, bye bye xx

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby

Corny title but its Finn's favourite song and very apt as this weekend we celebrated my folks 40th wedding anniversary- the Ruby one!

They stayed at Cameron House and we spent the day with them and my brother and sister in law. It was a lovely day, very chilled. Though my dad did make a wee speech. The top picture was snapped by Finn and I LOVE it as its just captured my Dad perfectly. I think he was talking about falling in love with my Mum's big brown eyes here- we were all welling up!

There was cake, wine, play and a nice November walk. I am lucky with my family, very lucky.

We ended the weekend on Sunday, just the four of us, a quiet day today to recharge, we made cake and veggie stew (Finn on the mushroom chopping- a failsafe for kids to help, blunt knife, nothing can go wrong!). Bring on the week, we are ready for it. Jxxxx

Candlelight

I pick up single sugar bowls, mainly Meakin and Johnson Bros and they make great tea light holders. You can pick them up for under a pound. Good for dips also. I lit some last night as it had been a long day.....

Poppies

Elizabeth Prince makes these. Lovely. Bit late for Poppy day, sorry, but I wanted to post anyway. Find them here.

Party Cakes!

No not made by me but by my super talented friend for her sons fourth birthday. The cupcakes are so clever- I was quite taken by their wee faces! The dragon cake gets my vote too as its colours are so pretty- you can't see in this pic but he was dusted in glitter! We had a lovely time at the party on Sunday. xxxx

House Gig- Calamateur

Now I am rarely in touch with the current zeitgeist these days but on Friday night I might just have been.
Well thanks to my friend Nic anyway. She organised a house gig with Andrew Howie aka Calamateur. It was amazing and my pictures in no way do the event justice. Nic's house is beautiful and I tried to capture that with a few pictures. What I couldn't manage to capture though was the warm, red, fairy light and firelight lit room that the gig was held in. It was so so special and if you could bottle that atmosphere you would have the reason why house gigs are so 'now' and so popular. For me its the unique feeling of being in someones home, comfortable and warm, coupled with the excitement of live music, and how 'close' you get to the musician. And aren't we always told staying in is the new going out!

Andrew's music was 'gorgeous' to quote Nic- my personal favourite his cover of 'Jesus is for Losers' (think about it). You can check out Andrew here and if you are lucky enough to get the chance to go to a house gig jump at it. Funny enough though telling my Dad about it tonight (he is a bit of a musician) he said 'what's new about that we were doing that in the 60's folk scene'- So Nic if you are looking for more musicians he is available- and you may get some more Johnny Cash covers to boot! xx

Autumnal Thrifting

Now I know it seems like all I do is thrift shop but let me tell you its just once a week, its always just a few pounds and its just about the only indulgence that I give myself! Well apart from a bad Etsy habit now and again!

I feel like I am building my kitchen up like a nest for my family, odd as that may sound. I have always loved Tessa Kiros's books where she has such lovely bowls and jugs and serving platters- they are almost as memorable as the recipes themselves. So to gather an arsenal of serving ware, mugs etc etc gives me real pleasure- just as much as creating the lovely meals served in them for my family.

My heart skipped a beat today when I saw this chopping board- I have yet to establish but I am certain my Mum or my Nana had it- so familiar and nostalgia inducing was it when I saw it. Still in its shrink wrap and labelled 'Autumn Flowers'. Very apt.

The plates are lovely milk glass and just what I needed for family meals. So there you go two posts in one day. Must be a record!! xx

Pheeewww...

Predictably its been a hard few days for us. Super busy at work, sleepless nights etc etc. But the good news is its over till next Monday!! These are a few shots from around the house when I had a minute today. Its been a beautiful sunny cold day- one of the few blessings of winter. These sharp bright days make everything seem more real and we have been trying to enjoy as much of it as we can. Quick break for bubba naps and back to work soon. xxxx

Everything will be ok

Well this is how this morning is panning out for me- up since 5am with a small boy being sick. Baby woken too and well getting up just seemed easier. This sofa pulls out to a bed and its the best for poorly kids.

We seem to have been having a bit of a spell of sickness here- Nevie was sick in Asda on Friday- everywhere- and let me tell you its not a good place to have a vomiting baby- helpful they were not.

Man its hard balancing everything, already I'm thinking about how I will get through my working days this week with so little sleep and stress levels. But I don't really mind because if I can't be there for them when they are sick and I love them so much, its just how it is being a mother.

A quote I love is 'everything will be OK in the end and if its not OK its not the end', and I'm sorry I don't remember who its by and no energy to search just now! So if you can enlighten me so I can attribute properly that would be great. Cup of tea now.

Obsessions

These 70's mugs are fast becoming an obsession- I blame Hanne from Babyramen!

This particular beauty came via Nicky Perryman's shop- aka The Raggle Taggle Hawker. I find Etsy great for buying vintage. More often than not the items are at a really fair price and the sellers like Nicky are so friendly and passionate about what they do. Check out Nicky's shop. I'm a bit over Ebay just now....

Happy Friday everyone and have a lovely weekend, Jxx

Till Tuesday

I don't work on Tuesdays and Fridays, but for some reason a Tuesday is my favourite off day! I look forward to it all weekend! There is something about a day off just after Monday with the children that feels so special.

I am so so thankful to have this day with them and try hard to make it fun for us all. Our usual is about the house playing, out to wee town centre for play and shopping and maybe coffee. Today bad pink donuts were purchased. The light was lovely and its slowly looking like winter sun- hence garden and back door pics!

Charity shopping today netted the following- Finn got a big pot of Hama beads, Nevie a wee wooden dog toy and me a little red dish- pictured.

Thats my new CD by Julianne Regan (All About Eve) and Wayne Hussey (Mission). Its well worth a listen. David was down at Leeds seeing the Mission and this was a present.On in the backround today.

TUESDAY IS ALSO MY DAD'S BIRTHDAY- HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA- WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH! HAVE A LOVELY DAY. XXXX

xx