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Learn something new every day :)  

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Friday Fill-ins!!

1. A cup of tea is something Lloyd looks forward to in the evenings.
2. books, cats and family makes a place feel like home.
3. Everything has its beauty appreciated by somebody.
4. scones and cream need the taste of strawberries?
5. Art makes me feel calm, peaceful and relaxed.
6. LOL I just noticed I forgot to write my dream down this morning before I forgot it.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing with some crafts, tomorrow my plans include taking the younger two to spend their birthday money and Sunday, I want to spend time outdoors enjoying the good weather - maybe enjoy the fire pit!


Find your friday fill-ins HERE

date night...

Last night Lloyd and I went to New Asian Village for dinner.  We had a lovely supper together and were laughing because he was telling me how our server looked like Monkey - and I thought he was saying he looked like a monkey and I was thinking he was being rude and he was laughing because I thought he was being rude when he was talking about Monkey from a tv show.....an OLD tv show....

THIS  tv show.  I don't think I EVER watched this show lol but I guess Lloyd did!!!

I love the atmosphere in the new restaurant BUT I much prefer the food at our usual Indian restaurant.   It wasn't the first time we'd been there and I still think the other place is better.  The food was ok - just not as good - I didn't bother with dessert, so we went to Starbucks afterwards for coffee and I had a hot chocolate for my dessert instead :)  We sat by the fire and chatted for a while.

I bought a book I needed for a project we're working on next week, and we picked up a birthday gift Susannah needs for a birthday party.  Then home...

It was a nice evening.  I'm looking forward to next weeks night out when we're meeting Val and James again :)

French knitting

Yesterday we bought two French Knitting sets and this morning we set to work with them!  We have been curled up in bed watching the breakfast news and the children have been knitting.  Abby got straight to it and had a long snake coming out fairly fast.  Sam needed a little help.  He is left handed and found it a little fiddly - maybe I should have set it up in a different direction for him (???) but he soon got the hang of it and now he can do it all by himself and says he wants to keep doing it all day (although right now he is in the shower singing lol)  

Last night I started two granny squares using a crochet app I added to my iphone.  I've made some progress and I'm a little bit happier.  I bought a cart load of yarn yesterday (Lloyd is a little freaked I think hahahaha) and am excited about making a blanket.  Watch this space!!

Knitting for chickens!! :)

How bizarrely cute is THIS???  They're a REALLY odd bunch in Somerset, England!!
(my old home town)
 ;)  

Thursday Thirteen....

(Inspired by another blog this week) 

Thirteen things I love about Winter:

1. How beautiful the hoar frost looks after the fog clears.

2. Time for crafts and reading

3. hearty comfort foods

4. Having an excuse to be a homebody!!

5.  Curling up and watching lots of movies - we don't really watch any tv during the warmer months.

6.  happy faces on snowmen

7.  rosy cheeks on the children when they've been outside playing

8.  fresh fallen snow - glistening in the sunshine

9.  hot chocolate by the fire in Starbucks!

10.  The ice festival

11.  all the lovely coats and scarves you get to wear.  And kick-ass boots!

12.  Watching the snow fall once everyone is at home all safe.

13.  walking through the woods and over the back fields, seeing animal tracks in the snow, enjoying the peaceful stillness one a cold sunny day.

You can find the Thursday Thirteen HERE

Great post on Ragged Roses today....

A fab post all about Landgirls, rationing, and how the war effected diet and health in the UK:

Ragged Roses

It's not a heavy fact based post - just pictures form a museum trip - but I found it very interesting :)

Enjoy!!

A blog to check out!!!!

A fabulous BLOG from Whistler - in the heart of the Olympics.....also creative crafty knitting.....but it is wonderful to see the pictures form Whistler :)

Head over and take a look!!

Making supper..

Susannah made supper last night - our version of Joannes hashbrown casserole.  It was yummy as always - this is a family favourite now :)

Go for Plan A!!

THIS is a GREAT article on encouraging passion in your children :)

Random Dozen

1. Have you ever fired a gun or shot a bow and arrow?  Bow and arrow yes.  real gun - no!  Paintball gun - yes!  I would like to make it to the gun range this year at some point though!!!

2. Do you know where your childhood best friends are?  Yes - almost all of them.  I married one of them :)  I'm in touch with many of them still.

3. Do you usually arrive early, late, or on time?  I'm almost ALWAYS on time....except for Val.....and for some reason with Val I'm always just a few minutes late (sorry Val).

4. Are you more of a New York or California type?   I LOVE New York, but these days I crave hot weather and sunshine year round and so I would probably head to California...but more to the wine growing areas than anywhere else.

5. Do you have a special ring tone?  Nope.  

6. What is your favorite type of chip?   I'm not keen on chips.  I like Frazzles from back home but get those about once every five years so I guess I'm not a big chip eater ;)  

7. Best comedy you've ever seen is .... Graham Norton always makes me laugh - and The Vicar of Dibley is FAB!!!  

8. Have you ever cut your own hair? To quote Dr. Phil, "How'd that work for ya?"   Yep - plenty of times.  And it worked for me fine :)

9. If you were going to have an extreme makeover, would you rather it be about your house or your personal self?  Neither really - I would HATE for anyone to touch my home or to come in and remodel my home without my input.  I think the idea of someone decorating for me is just awful and impersonal.  I can't stand the idea of getting an interior designer in or a decorator to come in and decorate the place and buying everything for me.  To me thats not a real home - it's a showhome.  To me what makes my home special are the items that WE choose over the years...that eclectic feel from trips, from holidays, from crafts, from years together.....putting it all together.....going round thrift stores and other stores...buying a few things here and there - the odd thing when we see it and love it.  Objects that have been in our families for generations.  HISTORY....whether a really OLD history or just the history we make together.  That show is great for those families involved but please don't touch MY home.  As for myself - I wouldn't want anything too radical done - I'd like my boobs lifted but   apart from that I'm really not bothered about anything else.  I think the people who want extreme things done need to work on themselves from the inside out.

10. Are you allergic to anything?  Morphine.  I had a bad reaction to this when I was in hospital with pre-eclampsia before I had Sam.  Hallucinating, vomiting, I even smacked a nurse during the hallucination as she tried to take my blood pressure.  It was bizarre!!  I also had a reaction to something the day after Sam was born - and my whole face and inside my mouth swelled up - but they don't know what it was - I went for allergy testing but nothing showed up.  They said that sometimes stress and shocks to the system  can cause allergic reactions so maybe it was that....although I didn't feel stressed after the birth - just annoyed about them constantly asking how long Sam had fed for and what time and I annoyed them by telling them I wasn't timing him or clock watching ;)  

11. Why is it so hard to change?  I think you really need to be ready and you have to WANT the change - and you MUST have the support around you -  and then it's easy.

12. One last question dedicated to February love: CS Lewis said, "To love is to be vulnerable." Please share one example of that assertion or share any thought you'd like to about this topic.   I think this is very true.  I don't think you can truly be open in a relationship - and truly love without becoming vulnerable to another.....I don't think it's possible.  And why would you want to?  When you are loved and in a secure and loving relationship you feel safe opening up about your thoughts and feelings - making yourself vulnerable is utterly worth it.  I think that is the same with your children and friends too.  When you are at a point where you can be open with a friend about the bad and the good, then you know it's a GREAT friendship :)


You can get your Random Dozen HERE

The lengths we go to......

In my craft room I have a little display of all things 'Hawaiian' that Val brought back for me from her trip there last year (well the sarong doesn't fit but...) and it includes the rather 'interesting' key ring that she gave my FIVE YEAR OLD!!  Yes, it reads 'I got leid in Hawaii'  hahahahaha  poor Val - she didn't notice what it said - just saw the turtle shape and as they ahd seen plenty of turtles on holiday they grabbed several key rings as gifts!!

Anyway, I also have a glas filled with really pretty pineapple candies from a plantation they visited.  I was find it hard to eat gifts like this - and these were soooo pretty - I put them in the glass on display and they literally SPARKLE!!!

(omg I can hear people muttering 'hoarder' under their breath hahahahaha)

Anyway, the glass WAS full...but people have been taking my pretty candies and they are disappearing. I seriously don't think they are evaporating - do YOU?????

I may be old, children but I'm not as stupid as I look!!!

Sigh....

I mentioned this to Val and she surprised me on Monday with this weird air proof bag of candies to refill my pot!!  And she mentioned that this foodsaver bag stff is not only good for keeping food fresh - but for keeping kids OUT!!!!  See - the lengths us parents have to go to, to stop our kids eating our food!!!

Art in progress...

Abigail is busy painting with acrylics this afternoon...Sam took the opportunity to draw with the whiteboard markers.  He drew me a heart :)  

Sometimes when he isn't looking for things to attack with guns and swords, he's incredibly cute :)

Fireplace..

I haven't charged my camera since Lloyd took it to Vancouver, so these were taken with my iphone.  No flash so it's difficult to see.  The fire isn't on either.  This is the new fire that we had put in on Monday.  The little cobweb shaped bits at the side are mitten warmers - they have stick things that stick out the back so you can pop mittens on them.  You can also place things on the shelves.  The doors close too.

We plan to get a round coffee table and two Starbucks style armchairs to go by the fire so we can sit and read or play chess/ scrabble etc by the fire.

I'll take better piccies later and put them on the home reno blog.

Meet Atticus!!

Lloyd brought me home this cute little guy on Monday....he's a charity bear sold in aid of our local children's hospital.  Isn't he cute?  I DID buy myself a white miniature rocking chair and the point of it was to keep my teddy bears in it - the ones Lloyd had bought me - but Sam took possession of the rocking chair and so my bears have homes here and there instead.....this little guy is small enough to stay in my craft room.