Lazy Saturdays

Had a very lazy day today, well lets just say I haven't done a single thing that actually needed to be done. The washing is piled up, the house needs a hoover, I didn't even bother to make the kids bed.


I figured that there is always tomorrow, so lets just go out and have a nice day instead.


The kids were both feeling a bit under the weather today, so they requested a day with Nanny and Grampy instead of coming out with us.

We dropped them off late morning and P and I decided to pop to Cosco for a bit of a stock up of essentials (wine and the likes!!) I finally bought myself an SLR camera, I having been saving up for one for a while and got a Nikon D3000 for a good price in Cosco.

We then drove to Henley and had a nice lunch in Cafe Rouge, no kids what a treat. I dragged P into a vintage shop and bought some lovely ribbon wrapped around an old bobbin. Not sure what I am going to do with them but they are nice to look at whilst I make my mind up.



Bought a very sweet little hand made mug with a blue tit on - I will tell you all about my blue tit obsession one day. This shop was full of Cath Kidston and general loveliness. I could have browsed all day.

Tried out my new camera back at Nanny & Grampy's house and took this picture of little Bong aka Alex.




He then took this picture of his spiders that he had made last week at his art club, hope you like it. They used potatoes to print the spiders.




I have spent some time ordering some more of these beauties to give to my Mother in law's for her cake stand. They are from Ebay made by a lovely lady called Vicky.





We decided that they look fairly simple to make and will have a go ourselves when we get a bit of time.

Made some lovely sea base for tea, couldn't convince Bing or Bong to have any they both wanted spaghetti hoops on toast!!

Finished off with a choice of three of these each.






Little Bong fantasises about the sweetie jar, he is always telling me which three he will pick or what treats he will restock it with, the boy is obsessed.

Not much crafting done this week, have managed to do a bit of my union jack cross stitch cushion but not much else. I am hoping this week is a bit more creative.

Very excited also as I have managed to persuade my mother in law to come with me and Daisy (Big Bing) to the Country living show in London at the end of March. One look at the leaflet and she was persuaded. Can't wait, I'm sure I won't be coming back empty handed.

We have a busy day tomorrow, Daisy has a project to do for Monday, there is nothing like leaving it all to the last minute is there! Family around for tea and all the jobs that I haven't done today need doing too. I always thought Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest - fat chance in this house. Enjoy whatever you do at the weekend. x

PS Daisy has been moaning that she wants her picture in my blog, so here she is Big Bing in all her loveliness, taken last summer.

Tai Fishcake Supper

Recipe as promised

You will need:

1 Clove Garlic

Thumb size piece ginger

1 red chili (deseeded)

1 stick lemongrass

30g breadcrumbs

1tsp fish sauce

300g fresh uncooked prawns

1 Haddock fillet

Juice 1 Lime

Small bunch coriander

Place garlic, ginger, Chili and lemongrass into a food processor or in my case a mini chopping machine. Whizz until finely chopped.

In the food processor add the breadcrumbs, fish sauce, prawns and haddock and pulse for a few seconds. If you aren't using a food processor then you need to chop the prawns and haddock finely and mix in a large bowl with the breadcrumbs and fish sauce(I blitzed the prawns and haddock individually in the chopping machine - works just as well). Mix all together with the chili/ginger/garlic paste.

Add the juice of 1 lime and the finely chopped coriander.

Mix until smooth fishcakey paste is formed.

Take a dessert spoon of the mix and roll into a ball shape and place on a plate which has been covered in cling film. Squash the ball shape until it resembles a fishcake shape. Cover the whole plate with another piece of cling film once you have shaped all the mixture.

Should look something like this - hopefully

Chill for up to an hour in the fridge (helps them to keep their shape) then fry in a drop of oil for about 3 minutes each side.

Serve with a chili dipping sauce.

Tastes lovely. We had ours with salad and a jacket potato, unusual combination but Little Bong won't touch the fishcakes so we had to incorporate them with something he will actually eat. Fussy eaters grrrr......

When you feel fed up just remember those little things

Another few days of feeling stressed and fed up, life is a bugger at times, but hey ho it still goes on. Here are a few things that I ....

My new Sarah Smith fabric shopping bag, just loving the pretty Daises. Do I really need another bag, I think not but it didn't stop me from parting with my cash!

The lovely Hyacinths on my kitchen window, they are just opening up and a starting to smell divine.

My jug of Daffs on the table, a jug of my favourite yellow flowers always brings a smile to my face.

And of course anything from the lovely Cath Kidston. This was my bag I made from my Cath Kidston Sew book. I added on some vintage red & cream buttons just to make it mine. Then Daisy saw it an begged it to be hers.

And of course my big fat ginger pudding of a cat Pepe, the lazy thing has been sleeping on my bed all day and doesn't look as though she is going anywhere soon!!

P is now back at work after two days in bed and is feeling much better. His business has been causing us stress over the last few days, people not paying on time, the usual rubbish you put up with when you run your own business.

On the plus side though I made a malt loaf yesterday, never made one before. It was for school as they are having a healthy eating week. They are selling healthy snacks at break time and today's is malt loaf. It smelt great and I think I might pop into town and buy some malt and make another for us to eat at home.

Making some lovely Tai fish cakes for tea. I might take some pics and post the recipe later. Got loads of ironing to do tonight worse luck. Anyway must dash ,off for tea, biscuits and chat with two friends.

The best laid plans...

Today hasn't really turned out as I had planned. After our wonderful meal out yesterday evening, the lovely P didn't sleep a wink and come morning was feeling pretty dreadful, full of pounding headache and feeling sick. Was it a bug or was it the food? Who knows but he spent the day in bed trying to decide.

So my lovely day at home with lots of crafting planned turned into a stressy day with very little being achieved. I went to the dentist and endured a filling, came home and tried to complete all the housework that needed doing. Was interrupted with a phonecall from microsoft who had phoned back to try and talk me through a repair to my laptop that spectacularly stopped working last Wednesday. An hour later and my laptop is still pretty poorly and my housework is still unfinished.

I spent some of the afternoon sorting out paperwork for P's business and finally finished of the housework. My next task was to try and build a playmobile farm from a picutre I had printed off the net, I know those assembly instructions are filed away safely just can't remember where. After an hour of fiddling and much cursing the farm was restored to its former glory and now takes pride of place next to the riding school and playmobil pyramid on the lounge floor!!

Picked Bing and Bong up from school and headed home in the damp sleety rain. Great joy at the sight of the newly erected farm. Half an hour of lovely play was followed by argueing when little man accidently broke the farm building. Little lady started shouting and for some unknown reason little Bong felt the urge to take a small bite out of little lady's arm.

Little Bong was sent to his room to have a serious think about his biting antics whist me and Bing decided a lemon drizzle cake would definataly cheer us all up. Bing is very excited about the blog and wanted us to include photo's of the cake making adventure, both the camera batteries were flat- grrrrrr!!

Anyway the cake turned out a treat and tastes great, so that was my day, not as relaxing as hoped but hey ho thats life I guess.

Things we like in our house

I thought I would show you a few things that we (or should I say me) like in our house. These are the little things that make me smile and make our house feel like our home.

Any thing old fashioned or retro, I love our old phone, you never fail to hear its loud ring, it can even be heard over the hoover.

I have to confess I do have a bit of a union jack thing going on. There is something comforting about those familiar red, white and blue colours.

A little bit of Emma Bridgewater to cheer you up!

I love to collect things, not big collections but more like little huddles of things, I can always find room for a huddle.

A little huddle of bears all snuggled up together.

And our bedroom thats full of Cath Kidston lovelyness, each evening I look forward to snuggling up in our bed.

I hope you like the cushions, I made the hope one and a friend made the love one.

Well had better be off as we are going out for a posh meal tonight. We are going to Gordon Ramsey's Claridge's. It was my Christmas present to P, so am really looking forward to some good grub and a peaceful meal on our own without Bing and Bong spoiling the proceedings.

Bing and Bong have gone to the in laws for the night, they are going to drop them at school tomorrow morning so I am hoping for a peaceful start to a Monday morning. Its just a shame that I have to go to the dentist at 9.30. Hoping to get some more crafty things done this week too.

A little bit of ginger loveliness for you!!

Well I have decided to be brave and start a blog. I have spent ages following craft blogs and love having a sneaky peak into the lives of other crafters. I always come a way feeling inspired and full of great ideas and creative thoughts.

A bit about me then would probably be the best place to start. I'm a stay at home mum who loves looking after my family. I really enjoy baking, cross stitching, making pretty things in general and enjoy spending time in my garden.

We have a big fat ginger cat called Pepe (pictured above) who we rescued almost a year age. She is a great source of entertainment and I seem to spend a lot of time just watching her and playing with her.

My two little ones (well not so little anymore) keep me very busy and both like arty crafty things too.

My current projects on the go are:- an Angelina Ballerina cross stitch, and big union jack cushion cross stitch, bunting to go around my sons bed, a cushion to fit on my daughters blanket box. I would also love to learn to crochet. Lots to do but not nearly enough time.