getting ready for halloween

Today I have been preparing for our halloween party. So far I have found all the things I had hidden in the cupboard I have a lot of decorations saved up ready.
I have also made some cakes, I made an extra large second batch as they were so yummy I accidently ate half the first batch

Now they just need decorating in the morning.

Also we made between the three of us this;

she is our witch to play pin the nose on the witch with. We have also made 12 noses for all our guests to have one each.

I am really looking forward to our party, now if only I could remember how many people we have invited...........

More rummaging around in boxes

Remember last month when I went rummaging through the children's grandparents things whilst helping them pack for their impending move?

Well today I have been rummaging whilst helping them to unpack! AMongst my treasures are this material;

I'm not sure what I will do with this but it was heading towards a black bin liner when I arrived! So I said I would find something to do with it to save it from going to the tip. Just need some inspriation now.

I also found metres of curtain lining, will be fantastic when I get as far as making my curtains for the house.

I also have tables clothes, my favourite being this one;

Can you guess why I love- those of you that no me well will no that I love the snow and I love christmas! Along with the table cloth which fits my dining table, I have also found 2 smaller table cloths which would fit the size of a coffee table. One of these has a stain on which I am hoping will come out in the wash. There were also 4 matching napkins. I was very excited about this find.

There was also this beautiful bowl;

I love it, it is so pretty.

But what I got most excited about was these;

I don't actually know what they are supposed to be, but I have plans to turn them into cusion covers for my living room. The picture does not do the gorgeous fabric justice. I can't wait to get started on them. Hopefully by the end of the month I will be blogging to show you some of the things I have made. Baring in mind the long hours I seem to be spending in uni it will be some feat to manage to make one cushion cover let alone complete my list.

Does anyone else out there make lists? My lists always seem to grow despite making efforts to complete items on them. Maybe I will be brave and post my making list sometime soon, it has many items on it.

Our weekend

I really am appreciating our time together as a family now that it feels so limited, what with uni and full time school. Yesterday was my friends little girls 5th birthday party. Then today I asked the children what they would like to do and the answer was to go on the train to London.
Stephanie is really getting into her writing and drawing since she has learnt that she can write real words, so understandaby she needed to bring her pad and pens with her. This is Stephanie on the train doing her favourite thing;

At the train station I picked up a leaflet of different attractions we can visit, so whilst we were waiting we decided we would go to the London transport museum, why have we never been before considering how both of my children love trains and buses so much?

  This are pictures of both my babies driving a bus, don't you just love the uniforms??

They also had a turn at driving trains, had a look around some trams and saw horse poo on the floor. Yes I did just say horse poo on the floor. It was in context and thank fully not real! The museum has horse drawn carriages with model horses you can look at. The replica poo is from the replica horses and typically my children thought it was hilarious!

After we had been around the museum we went for a walk and found ourselves in Covent Garden. It really was a day for exploration. Stephanie was very unsure what to make of this statue though she couldn't work out if he was real or not- Bless!

Ok for some reason this picture won't upload, will try again another day...

Then on the way home of course the children indulged in a a little ore drawing/writing. Playing very sweetly on the whole journey home, possibly helped somewhat by the fact we were on a high speed train so we were home pretty swiftly.

Family time

Things have been rather manic since I began my PGCE, I'm not home very much which is hard for us all. So today I had a day off and I loved it. We had a proper family dinner where we all sit around the table at the same time to eat and chat about everything.

It was great.We had the potatoes from the garden the rest of the veg was from the vegetable box I have been having delivered. It was very tasty.

Speaking of vegetables from the farmer and garden my lunch was also very tasty, I made a spicy parsnip soup.

Whilst I was in the garden collecting the vegetables I noticed how neglected the garden is looking and messy. I must find some time to get out there and sort it out. Will try and do this over the weekend.

times flying away from me!

Wow where has the time gone? I seem to be stuck in a never ending circle of reading/cleaning/travelling and there isn't much time for anything else. So have neglected my poor blog.

Today its Dylan's 12th birthday so really am having a case of where has the time gone today?

I am still trying to keep up with my ethical/ eco attempts even if I have been a bit on the quiet side. I have reduced our household waste, I am not quite filling a bag a week now, so am very pleased. Have also had news from our council today that they are planning on sending out brown wheelie bins over the next few months in which I can put cooked food as well as uncooked food. Which means anything I can't compost at home can still avoid landfill. I have got to get a new composter as well, due to our current one being full! I have had to put compostable goods in the normal bin as I have nowhere else for it. So on my to do list it is!


Now remember a few months back that I said I plan on cutting down the amount I buy people at christmas/birthdays here to prove that I really am trying is evidence in the form of Dylans birthday present pile;

He still does not know what they are as I only gave him one small one this morning before he went to school. He will get the rest when he gets home this evening.

The children have also asked if we can have a halloween party this year, I have agreed and have suggested they may like to make some of the decorations etc themselves out of the old toilet roll tubes etc I have been saving so far Stephanie has made some witches candles;

Lots more ideas are being hatched at the moment, will post as we manage to make them