2013 is the year for.....

..... not setting resolutions, goals, achievements, lists etc that i'll never complete. This time I've come up instead with a list of categories I'm going to try & complete each month.

Image Source

My 2013 list:

Faces - who did I see?  Time spent with family & friends.

Spaces - this is mainly for the home or the campervan, our own personal space.

Places - where did we go?

Aces - what did we achieve?  This can be anything from learning something new, finishing that book that's been on your bedside table for weeks, or completing that garage clear out you've been meaning to do for years!!!

Some other ideas to think on might be:
- favourite blog find
- favourite book find
- favourite recipe find
- favourite creative project


Are you planning any lists or resolutions?

Before the year ends.....

...... I always start every year with new goals & lists of all the things I'm going to do in the new year, forgetting all the wonderful things we have actually achieved in the year just gone.

So as a reminder, as I was a particularly bad blogger this year, here's some highlights of my 2012:

I turned 40!  I invited some of my closest girlfriends for dinner & my husband cooked, served & cleared up - he was marvellous.

I got a job, which is partly why I've been a very bad blogger.  I'm loving my job.  It's food related & I spend even more time with my head in a cook book!

Image - http://www.101cookbooks.com/supernatural/

I discovered the lovely site - Eat Your Books - it's a wonderful site that saves me hours of searching.

My son O won the athletics cup for his age group in the summer.

My son T came off his skateboard many times (we've had a number of stitches!) but he's still smiling & boarding.

My daughter M learnt to rollerskate.

My husband learnt to make bread.

We went to Devon & the boys all surfed, my daughter learnt to body board.

I learnt to crochet, sadly there isn't enough time to crochet as much as I'd like.

I got a new camera.  We finally have some lovely photo's of the kids.


I'm sure there's lots more that I've forgotten.  But for now we look back with fond memories & look forward to many more yet to be created.......

A little story about a bag.....

A very, extremely, couldn't be more embarrassingly, late post about the lovelyest of lovely bags.

11th December 2011 I won a competition!  It never happens.  I never win anything.  This story is about the bag pictured below.

Now, please excuse the number of photo's.  It has taken me ages to get the images into here (lack of photoshop & other whizzy gadgets on my mac). I did originally have them all in a lovely grid in a PDF doc but it wouldn't let me publish the page.  I wanted you to see all the different fabrics & the detail!

I entered a competition on the lovely Tales of Ted & Agnes website & I won!!!  That's really all there is to it.  But I LOVE this bag.  Everyone comments on my bag.  So I'm really posting this as I want all of you to know about the lovely bag too.  Pop over to the gorgeous Ted & Agnes website if you haven't been there before.  And even more excitingly Rachelle Blondel (from Ted & Agnes) has got together with her equally lovely granny chic friend Tif Fussell from Dottie Angel & the two of them have written a book which I can't wait to get my hands on.


So, check out Ted & Agnes, check out Dottie Angel (I'm sure you know both of them already) & check out the lovely bag below.

This little post gave me a good excuse to tidy out the bag so I could photograph it!!

40!.......

Yesterday I turned 40 & I have to say, so far I'm actually quite enjoying it.  I have a very happy marriage, 3 wonderful & healthy children & a lovely home that needs continual TLC but I quite enjoy that.

Birthday card from my kids

I didn't have a massive party (not that you shouldn't), or a panic that life is slipping away.  Life is good.

Beautiful flowers from a friend

Of course things will go wrong.  The children test me most days.  The pets get sick - my son's beloved hamster needed an emergency trip to the vet last week, with what has turned out to be a broken knee!  We're always struggling for money (but who isn't).  But generally, life really is good.

Earrings from my mummy

Now I'm wondering if I need to set myself some challenges, some goals.  Whenever I do that I never complete them.  Does that matter?  Even to complete half would be pretty good.

Etsy .... at last

A few years ago I set up an Etsy shop selling childrens handmade clothes.  It went ok, although I never actually sold anything on Etsy, all my listed items were sold through craft fairs & private sales.

Lately, I have been enjoying my crochet & have decide to start listing my items again.  Afterall, as much as I would like to, I can't keep everything I make.

So, here is a little preview of what's been going on.

A set of coasters made for my lovely Granny - they match her living room!

Hairbands for my daughters friends - I've made so many of these

Bunting for a friends birthday

Tiny heart bunting for a friends newborn baby - it was obviously a girl

So, there we have it.  I've added a link to my shop - only one item listed at the moment.  I had to do it twice, so lost enthusiasm to do any more today.

Me Time!

This year I have been able to spend some time on my hobbies.  The kids are growing up & becoming a little bit more independent.  It has given me time to sit down occasionally (usually whilst a passenger in the car!) & do a little bit of crochet.

The pattern for the cushion came from the very clever Lucy over at Attic 24.  I changed mine slightly by adding a small flower on the reverse.

I'm so pleased I've found the time to create again.  I'm hoping I can share some more projects with you soon.

I've been away too long

I have been absent from blogging for far too long.  I've had many attempts.  There are 10 draft posts but nothing new published.  The blogger layout has also changed for the user - I'm not sure I like it but will probably get used to it soon enough.

I have still been reading your lovely blogs though, which have kept me inspired.  So, I will try & update you all with some lovely things & see how we go.

Today, mainly to escape from the 11 loads of post-camping washing, we went to Ikea.  Mad on a sunny day but needed to go for bedding & wanted to avoid the bank holiday rush!

Look what we found......




It really is so sweet - foxes, hares & other woodland creatures.  I think the brown side is even nicer.

And to go with it......

 
I also got some extra fabric to make some more pillowcases......



I didn't see this fabric so will have to go back......


They also had some sweet little cot sets (I think they had acorns on), blankets, muslins & other duvet sets.  Sadly no babies in our house anymore, so no excuse to buy.

Thank you Ikea for your lovely new woodland range.

Happy Half-Term

We've spent a very happy half-term this February.

We discovered Kilkenny Lane Country Park & Adventure Playground in Oxfordshire.  The dogs were walked, the children were able to whoop & run to their hearts content amongst the climbing frames.  We took a flask and slices of banana & coconut loaf to enjoy, a snack always keeps everyone going longer.

We took a small detour home via the lovely village of Shilton where we popped into the Rose & Crown & sat in front of their lovely log fire!

We've enjoyed lots of pyjama days & movie nights, with homemade popcorn & hot chocolate with marshmallows & whipped cream, of course!  One of our favourite movies was the Bridge to Terabithia.  It was incredibly sad towards the end but my children (6, 8 & 9 years) loved it.

 We also enjoyed a night at our own villages production of Sinbad.  Sorry no photo's of this one.  We go every year & throughly enjoy the evening.  It was very Jam & Jerusalem.  If you ever watched the Jam & Jerusalem Christmas Special you'll know exactly what I mean!

I've even managed some knitting!

Hope you've all enjoyed your half-term too.

Happy Saturday's!

It's crisp, cold & sunny outside.  The ground is covered in snow.  We're tucked up warm & cosy inside.  There's a banana & coconut loaf in the oven & 'You've Got Mail' is on the telly - my all time favourite movie ever.

Source

And sadly it's so true, all the small independent bookshops are closing.  There is a lovely little bookshop in Hungerford, which always has amazing books that you'd never think to look for online unless you already knew about them.

Bring back these lovely shops like 'The Shop Around the Corner'!  Can you recommend any amazing bookshops in your area?