There's quite a major birthday here next week. A very special little girl will be celebrating her first birthday and being the girly girl that she already is I know I've got to pull all the stops out. There are gifts still being made, a party to plan and decorations to be completed. The latter was where I turned my attentions today; cutting out triangles that will hopefully soon form bunting. All the material comes from my stash (which strangely seems to have a lot of blue in it) and the only new purchase was the bias binding that Ii'm using to string it all together. I just hope ... read more
A day at the farm
This picture just perfectly sums up how Little Miss C's been recently; full of beans and keen to explore everything, normally with a cheeky grin on her face! Yesterday we had a lovely day out together at Wimpole Home Farm, along with an old friend and her two kids. We dodged the showers for most of the morning, but still managed to squeeze in time to see the pigs being fed and a first sit on a donkey. After lunch, at the insistence of an adventurous three year old, we went over to the adventure playground where the rain caught up with us properly. After such a dry period, it was ... read more
Bags for little ladies
When going to a little girl's first birthday party you certainly can't arrive empty handed. When the birthday girl also has a slightly older sister then two gifts are required so as not to give mum and dad a headache later on. Therefore A, and older sister B, were both the recipients of these lovely little bags, each containing a new bit of bedtime reading. Both bags were made with fabric from my stash with the girls' initials added in felt. Not difficult to make, although sewing round the curved edges of the letter B made me realise just how little time I've recently ... read more
Breakfast without words
(Blueberry pancakes from the fantastic River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook) ... read more
A dress for Jemima
Do you remember this little lady? I'm delighted to be able to tell you that she's no longer sat in the cupboard in her underwear, but instead has a very pretty dress to wear. In fact, the exact dress that my version of Jemima had when I was a little girl. Talking to Mum, she has no recollection of Jemima having any clothes other than the dress. This Jemima should have a more varied wardrobe, just as long as I can find the time to complete everything before Little Miss C's fast approaching birthday. I have a long list of sewing projects to complete before her birthday - so long in fact that ... read more
Moore at Hatfield
We managed to squeeze in an extra day out at the end of Mr C's week off work. Hatfield House really is no distance from where we lie, yet for some reason we hardly ever go there. The local BBC news did an article recently on the Henry Moore exhibition that they are currently hosting (Moore at Hatfield) so we decided to pop along and have a look. The sculptures are spread about in the West Garden and that separation between them does give each one its own space in such a way that they don't feel like they're competing with each other. Each one has its own character and ... read more
River Cottage Baby Frittata
It has been non-stop here over the last week or so. A family holiday in Norfolk (pictures will follow just as soon as I get round to it), catching up with various friends that we haven't seen in months, and Mr C with a week off work in an attempt to get various jobs done around the house and garden. Finding time to go online just keeps getting knocked off the end of each day's to do list! There has also been the arrival of many new books (both new new and old) and various new recipes have been discovered. The first of these comes from the very new River Cottage Baby and Toddler ... read more
My studio
I've been wanting to use those words since we moved into this house nearly two years ago, but finally last night I had a permanent place to keep my sewing machine. (Mr C - if you're reading I'm claiming squatters rights now so if you want the space back then tough!) This cabin at the bottom of the garden was where the previous owner of the house used to teach music therapy to autistic children. When we looked round I instantly knew what I wanted to use the space for, but once we moved in other jobs took priority and then Little Miss C came along and it went to the bottom of the to ... read more
Oat and Raisin Cookies
I've got the NCT girls coming over this afternoon and after a long weekend at home the cake tin and biscuit barrel are rather bare. Last night I had a quick look through my various cook books and came up with this recipe for oat and raisin cookies from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. One thing I did notice when looking at the recipe was that it required 4 baking trays for 20 cookies. Now, I don't know about you I don't actually own four baking trays. Mr C thought I was a bit excessive having three, but seeing as my oven only has two shelves I couldn't work out how to fit four ... read more
Nella Last in the 1950s: Further diaries of Housewife, 49
Nella Last in the 1950s is the third (and sadly last) of the books (following Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49' and Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49 ) that have been compiled from the many diary entries that Nella Last submitted as part of the Mass Observation project. The title is pretty self-explanatory and contains entries from the 1950s. Admittedly not as "exciting" a time in history as the war years or period of change immediately following them, but fascinating all the same in terms of seeing how a normal ... read more