Allotment in winter

I made my first trip for ages to the allotment on Sunday (the allotment, aka lottie, has, like everything else in my life, been somewhat neglected of late - I blame the builders!)  I swear there's some sort of witchcraft going on there - it's the most Zen place in the entire universe - I can feel myself relax the second I walk through the gates.  My trusty assistant was with me, helpfully available to lean on me every time I tried to take a photo or to tell me, with a look of desperation in her eyes, as I tried to hold her, naked bottom pointing to the ground, legs in the air, that she didn't, in fact, only need a wee...

'What's this, mummy?  What's this?' 'Why, that's perpetual spinach, darling' (pause for proud moment - yes, I can identify that mystery green leaf, even though I haven't been here for an eternity)

I was absolutely amazed at how much is still growing away there:

I think this is broccoli of some sort. Or it could be a cabbage.  I'm not so proud of myself now.  It's definitely a brassica of some sort

('Look at may waife's brassicas'... Name that film.  Extra points for this one, it's tricky)

 

Okay, this one's another brassica.  Cavolo nero?  Anyone?

 

I know this one!  Yay.  This is definitely blackcurrants.

Right, this isn't a brassica and it isn't a currant, I can say that with certainty.  It's a leek.  Or it may be garlic.  It's oniony, whatever.

And obviously the trusty old rhubarb is sprouting away already:

Crikey, we still haven't eaten our way through all of last year's rhubarb crop - I'd better get on with it or we'll be disappearing under some sort of pink-stalked mountain.  

Crumble, anyone? x

PS - thank you, you lovely lot, for your comments on my last post - it's so great to know you're all still out there - I really do appreciate your words and have been quietly reading all your blogs in my absence, even though I'm not always very good at commenting x

oooops (or: granny ripple blanket ta-dah)

Well hello peeps - I'm ba-ack!  It was touch and go for a while there - I wasn't sure I'd survive the demands of the enormous piles of washing/mounds of dirty dishes/hordes of fighting children/days at work - but I did.  Phew.  Now, does anyone know why it is that all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, life can just go up a notch in the crazy stakes?  There hasn't been any big event or occurrence to have caused the unusual levels of busy-ness that I've been experiencing lately, but crikey - life really has been crackers.  Anyhoo, I'm aiming to just get through this next week (am working five days - oh em gee - I know I used to do that all the time, but that was in the days before I had three small people to coordinate too) and then I'm hoping life will just slow down a touch.  Please...
The few weeks since my last post have seen the following things happen:
✪ middle has lost a tooth (don't underestimate the importance of this event in the life of a six-year-old!)
✪ big has been on his first ever overnight trip with school - I didn't cry *proud of self*
✪ small has made the jump into big girl pants full time (though I'm now thinking that I'm not sure which is worse - changing nappies or endlessly traipsing potties full of poo to the toilet for disposal...)
✪ we have decided, after spending months teetering on the fence of indecision, that we are not going to move house and we are, instead, going to extend (oh yes, excitement in my neck of the woods is reaching almost unbearable levels).  Expect to be bored with updates on a regular basis...  Edit: yes, Fee, full commitment is required now!
✪ we've seen the Olympic torch (note to self: next time I think 'oh, it's so early on a Sunday morning, it'll be very crowded, I won't bother having a shower or brushing my teeth until we get home again, we'll never see anyone we know'.  Think again...  And of the four people we saw that we knew, one is a news reader on our local BBC news and therefore doesn't even get out of bed without a full face of make-up and a pair of shades on...)
✪ I've redecorated the boys' bedroom - floor to ceiling - spanking new wall colour (Farrow and Ball 'borrowed light', if you're interested) new light shade, new curtains, new bedding - the works.  I nearly killed myself twice - once when moving their bunk beds from one side of the room to the other (I just about burst everything in my entire body shifting that beast) - and the other time when their solid wood wardrobe nearly toppled over and flattened me (Mr N would have been a bit surprised to come home to find only hands and feet sticking out from underneath the wardrobe - a la wicked witch of the west.)
✪ we have invented a rather thrilling new game (I say 'invented' - you'll probably say 'pah - my family's been playing this tired old game for literally ever' when I tell you what it is - but for the moment, we are thrilled at our originality).  The game starts with one member of the family saying a category - eg dogs - then everyone has to decide what dog they would be if they were, indeed, of the canine persuasion.  (Without a doubt, we are: Afghan; Westie, whippet, labrador, border terrier).  The game is more 'hilarious' if you decide as a group what one member of the family would be - 'you'd be a bloodhound'.  'Ha ha!'  'Nooooo - that's not fair, I haven't got droopy eyes, you idiot.  Anyway, you'd be a greyhound, you skinny dork'.  'No I wouldn't - I'd be a border collie'.  'You wouldn't - everyone loves border collies - nobody loves you...' etc etc ad nauseum.
Hours of fun, I tell you...
On the crochet front, I've been a busy old bee, but for the moment I'm just going to show you this:

Ta-dah!!!

My lovely friend had her baby and so the blanket was duly edged in navy and sent off to keep him (Bertie) warm and cosy (and I bet he's had a lot of use from it in this cruddy weather we've been having lately).  Ooh, that reminds me - something else that's had a lot of use lately is my new wellies - thank you all for your suggestions for resolving my wellie crisis - I am now the proud owner of a lovely pair of black Hunters with a gusset.  Gussets - the best friend of ladies with walkers' calves (and ladies with bladder problems too, I should think, but that's a whole other gusset issue altogether...) x

Pants: the revenge

Apologies for the slight disappearing act - I've been hidden under a pile of 'big guwl pants'.  My very grown-up two-year-old has decided that she doesn't want to wear nappies any more, she wants to wear big girl's pants.  Fairenoughski, you might say, but the only drawback is that she doesn't actually have a clue about the whole 'wee in the potty, not your trousers' business and so, after five hundred changes of clothes, two miraculous wees on target and one poo that prompted the comment 'look mummy, it's like a snake!  I made a wiggly worm' we gave up on knickers and have reverted to good old nappies.  Much of the past couple of days has been spent in the following way: daughter strips completely (why??), sits on the potty, gets up after two nanoseconds, tells me she's done a wee, I look, tell her that no, she hasn't done a wee, she sits down again, gets up after two nanoseconds, tells me she's done a wee, I look, tell her that no, she hasn't done a wee, she sits down, gets up again after....  You get the idea.  When we actually ran out of clean trousers to put her in, we put a hold on baby-led potty training.
In between bouts of toilet-related fun, I've been trying (and mostly failing) to get some time in at the allotment between downpours.  Everything seems to be going berserk at the moment - everything needs planting/pricking out/staking/weeding (lordy, the weeds are sprouting like mad) all at once, and it's been rather tricksy to get anything actually done because it's been so blooming wet!  My assistant didn't mind the rain though:

All great fun, until she splashed a bit over-enthusiastically and got mud in her wellies.  Then we had to go home.
I've also been experiencing a bit of crochet-fest lately.  The squares for my all star blanket are piling up nicely:

I also felt the need to make some granny squares (or 'stash-busters' as I like to call them):

I've made twelve of these now and am currently joining them to make the front of a cushion.  I'm thinking of backing it in some lovely brushed cotton that I've got, but I'm a bit puzzled about how to join fabric and crochet - does anyone have any suggestions?
And finally, the boys wanted me to photograph this for you all to look at:

It's a good job I took this photo when I did - a split second after I took it middle aka 'Captain Clumsy' knocked the table and all the soldiers fell over, prompting the sort of heated discussion that only two brothers can have.  (Gaaaah - is it me, or do all brothers argue all the time?  Please say that it's normal, or I might have to take myself off to my bedroom for a weep).
And then, because I'd taken a picture of the boys' toys, baby (who I really feel needs to be re-christened.  I'm thinking Foghorn Lil might be a good name, but maybe I'll just call her 'small') wanted me to take a photo of what she was playing with:

So there you have it - life in my neck of the woods.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for your comments on my last post and to my new followers and I'm sorry I haven't had much of a chance to get round to replying or visiting you - I'm planning a bit of a blog-blitz tomorrow to rectify that, but in the meantime, thank you so much for visiting me - it's so brilliant to know that you're all out there! x

Play dough recipe and 'how to'

Now, here's a thing I've been meaning to share with you for absolutely ages - how to make playdough. You can make it for virtually no money at all and it lasts for ages as long as you keep it in an air-tight container.  The recipe was given to me by my good friend, Mrs Hen, who you may remember me saying previously has magic ways when it comes to children - now, I'm not claiming that is magic playdough, but you never know, it may buy you long enough to make the dinner in peace...
So, here it is - my playdough 'how to':

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour
1 cup table salt
4 tbsp cream of tartar
2 cups water
2 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil
Food colouring

Method

♥ Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 3-5 mins.  Stir continuously, even when it becomes difficult to stir - stir on!
♥ When you have something that resembles playdough in the pan (this shouldn't take more than a few minutes) remove from the heat and knead and squeeze so that it forms a big, smooth ball of dough.
♥ Give to your assembled small people for them to enjoy (once it's cool enough for them to handle) then sit back, relax and enjoy watching them have fun, while you bask in the glow of thrifty satisfaction. x

PS - I'd really love to hear from you if make this - I hope your kids enjoy it as much as mine do

Happy new year (or: 'the one in which I have a birthday')

HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU 

BLOGLAND LOVELIES... 

...and I hope 2012 is being kind to you so far.

We've had a busy, busy holiday - but it's been busy in a good way, not a crazy, stressful, manic way.  Life up to the holidays was just bonkers and I felt like the treadmill was defiantly stuck on full speed - something had to give or I'd have ended up in a little, soggy heap on the floor, sobbing into my wine glass - and so I just stopped blogging for a little while to create a bit of space in my crazy, hectic days.  So now, with the presents distributed; school plays dutifully observed and copious amounts of food consumed, I am back in the land of blog - three lbs heavier and another year older than last time I was here, but I'm here and I'm happy.  Hurrah!

I have ta-dahs to share with you and ideas to run by you (I rely on you talented gals for inspiration, you know) but for the moment, before I have another sneaky birthday drink (who'd have a birthday on New Year's Day, eh?) I'm going to share some photos from my fabulous, shiny, new Christmas present camera with you (thank you, Mr N, you really can take a hint...):

 The first one I ever took with my new 'baby' - so far, so good...

 Hmmmm....not too bad, a bit blurry perhaps, but okay...

 Ohkaaaayy...I really don't know what was going on here, but I will just say that it was New Year's Eve.  

(Note to self: alcohol does not improve performance as a photographer.)

 Hmmm...now, these two photos are proof of two things: 

1) I really need to get myself on a photography course; 2) my children actually do jump on each other's heads.

Here's to 2012 and hoping that it brings good things to you all x

A little teeny bit of a catch up

Erm, okaaaay, so it's been a while...I'm thinking that if I just write like I've never been away then maybe you won't notice...attempting to fill you in on all my goings-on over the past two weeks would, frankly, be a) daft and b) a bit boring for all of us, so here are the edited highlights, presented in bullet point form (I used to have a proper job once upon a time, you know, one where I was forever using bullet points.  There's not so much call for them now I spend my days running around after small, noisy people...)
✪ I have hoovered the entire contents of not just one but two boxes of Rice Krispies off the floor/worktop/bread board/cooker.
✪ I have caught a regurgitated marshmallow as it flew from middle n's mouth (think Witches of Eastwick and you have an idea of what my Saturday night was like).  Nice.
✪ I have finished my blinds!  Yaaaaaaayyyyyyy....no more goldfish bowl-effect sitting room for us:

I'm absolutely thrilled with them - they have turned out exactly how I'd pictured them and they make such a difference to the general cosiness of the sitting room. 

✪ I've also finished my cowl.  (Pause for a happy dance).  No pictures today though - there'll be more on that when I've found someone to take pics of me modelling it (in a headless way, of course...)

✪ I bought a dresser on a whim; as you do:

Love it!

✪ There's been plenty of crochet action on my summer hols blanket too:

It's neeeearly fiiiiiniiiished.

✪ An exciting parcel also plopped onto my front door mat this week.  Here it is in action, Claire:

This is the most stunningly well-made and beautiful tea cosy I have ever seen - Claire is a real artist and I urge you to visit her lovely blog if you haven't already done so!

And now I need to go - Mr N's just walked in the door after spending three days in Paris with 90 14-year-olds.  Who'd be a teacher, eh? x

✪ Sunday stuff (on a Saturday)

This is a bit of a belated post - these pictures are actually from last Sunday, but I'm working on the 'better late than never' principle here'

Check out the dog 'refreshment facilities'.

I just love this little shop, which is really no more than a tin shed, but it's been decorated so beautifully and has such an amazing selection of things for sale, that it's a sheer delight to visit.  It's right next to a canal just down the road from us and it caters for passing canal boats as well as walkers so it has everything those two groups of people could possibly need from diesel to fridge magnets (shaped like canal boats, of course) to maps.  Unfortunately it also sells sweets, which the kids get very excited about, and homemade cake, which Mr N and I get very excited about.  (I'm not sure how a slab of coffee cake fits in with my 'oh god, I've still got half a stone of post-baby weight to lose' diet, but what the heck - I loved every mouthful.)  They also have adverts in the window for canal boats that are for sale.  Mr N and I have spent many a happy moment fantasising about being footloose and child responsibility free and living a simple existence on one of these - not sure if Ocado would deliver to a boat though, which could be a problem.

Can you believe all five of us were up, dressed and ready for action by half past nine?  In the morning?  On a Sunday?  Unheard of.  I got into one of my 'right, let's get out and about and do something' moods and so we loaded the car with all the essentials - the boys' bikes, hot chocolate, chocolate biscuits (there's a theme emerging...) and wellies and headed off for some fresh air slash high-calorie action.

Look at this lovely little thing, with a chunk taken out of its wing - I wonder what caused that?

This is the ideal spot to sit and eat chocolate biscuits (or a dried fruit bar in baby n's case, poor girl, she doesn't know what she's missing):

We forgot her coat (oops), but she completely rocked the 'I'm wearing my older brother's jumper' look:

I have to say, I think it works really well with the Gruffalo wellies. x