Birthdays, bunnies & magic chickens

What an odd week its been, There's been good things;

Birthdays (thanks for your well wishes blogging buddies by the way)..

pressies (learn to crochet book,wool and hook),

pretty birthday purchases from Cath Kidston (rosy bag,cushion covers and a chair),a girlie day out (bliss in a house of stinky boys) and visits to posh shops at Bicester Outlet village, CAKE, my phone deciding to work again, nice offers from nice blogging ladies and the insurance paying out for a nasty stain that they couldn't get rid of on my sofa. Yay!

then theres been the not so good things;

A stinky boy who doesn't know what to do with himself now he's not at school and is getting very depressed, poorly chicken...shes depressed, CAKE (yes, it has to go on both lists) too many bills to pay and not enough money to pay them with so I'm depressed, my favourite cup getting broken (sad, I know but tea always tasted better from that cup) nobody buying the house and having to turn down nice offers from nice blogging ladies because my brain isn't up to it. Boo

Well I think the good things outnumber the bad, so lets not get too miserable about it, but if there is one thing I've learnt this week it's that in posh shops, posh people dont have posh manners.They can be downright rude.

"is that a bunny I spy, Muriel?"

"why yes Maureen, I think it is....quick leg it"

Anyway the naughty chickens have been causing havoc in the front garden again along with Eddie the even naughtier free-range bunny.Not only have they scratched up most of my lilies that were just poking through they have also thrown most of the gravel path onto the flowerbeds, made dust baths in the most annoying places (behind the gate) and eaten along the front hedge.It has taken on a distinctly bald look from hen height down! (maybe they want to take a peep at the passers by)

Eddie likes to round up the ladies, I think he's lived a sheltered life,having only had guinea pigs for company when he was younger and one mean bad rabbit that came to stay for a very short while.

I think he's starting to think he may actually be a cockerel, he's taken to eating chicken food..not good when it blows your head up to twice its size as you're allegic to it and does a jaunty little dance around the ladies in circles until they are dizzy. Needless to say all this silly behaviour doesn't wash with the ladies and a sharp peck on the bottom usually sends him off again into the shrubbery.

We did used to have a cockerel for a short while.Merlin...Merlin the magic chicken, who started off life as Hattie. Hattie grew much quicker than her other pals and then decided on Christmas eve (yes really) at 3am to confirm that she was indeed a he. Infact she wanted to tell us 'she' was a 'he' every 10 minutes. Even when I put him in a cat basket in the kitchen under a blanket, he still insisted on telling us at the top of his voice.Lovely.

One week and several irate neighbours later, Hattie went to live a new life as Merlin with my sister in the country. Town definately isn't the place for cockerels!

I've loved looking at everyones garden photos recently, spring is such a lovely time of year, everything new and fresh looking (until those dastadly slugs get everything) I'm dying to add some plants and move bits around but I'll just have to do it in other peoples gardens whilst the house is still for sale,inbetween the showers,hail storms and thunder (a gardeners life, eh)

.

Rodney's just busy on Frog patrol

Ta Da!

Congratulations to GIGIBIRD!...you won the giveaway prize draw for the heart and lampshade cover..if you email me with your address, I can get it in the post to you!

All the names were placed in a pink polka dot bag and my delightful assistant Laura (my niece!) picked out a winner...

Ta Da!! oops rubbish photos again, but hope you can read my scrawl!

packages in the post

Just thought I would share this short post with you...

I received a package from this lady the other day..I thought I must have been going a bit mad and had purchased something without realising...could easily happen as I'm very ditsy and I'm always having a mooch on her website..pure eye candy! So whilst opening the package and preparing my story to hit Pete with, (cutbacks you see) I came across the most wonderful little present;

(apologies for the bad photo but its very early in the morning!)

I was absolutely touched by this kind act and as the tears welled up and headed south down my cheeks whilst reading her lovely words on the card enclosed (I'm a wuss) it totally restored my faith in human nature, in Karma and in life in general. I know when you go through bad patches there is always somebody having a worse patch than you, but remember the kindness of people will always shine through and brighten up your day, no matter how bad it seems.

Well Clare,I'm going to give you a plug whether you want one or not because I think your website is wonderful and I still so love the vintage glass lampbase I bought from you a while back..I love a lot more of your goodies too but I'm having to be very restrained at the mo!

Thankyou x

The Three B's

I've got to say I'm amazed at the responses I got to that last post,I really thought people would politely skip over that one thinking ooo-er she's having a bad day but to my surprise it seems I'm not alone,thanks to the people who left me messages about their experiences and some very good advice, I'm truly grateful.

I've been up and down this week with emotions drowning myself in endless cups of tea, far too many of those yummy chocolate chip Yorkshire tea biscuits and playing Duffys Cd at at volume that even the kids tell you to turn down ( good job we live in a detached) I have to just accept what comes and try to see the positive side,well I'm trying to find the positive side first! (It didn't help matters that my lovely Cath Kidston phone got wet in the rain last week too and no longer works...sob... AND the freezer isn't working but decided to pack in the day after we had just done the 'big shop' ...bigger sob)



Anyhow..The three B's..

B no.1 BLIGHTY

I'm jumping on the Blighty bandwagon, just in time for St. Georges day on the 23rd of April. I love our British flag combining the English, Scottish and Welsh flags and the colours red white and blue, it seems several of our favourite magazines did too recently. Fred also bought a cushion made from a lovely old a vintage flag which he blogged about.(I gave up trying to buy any old flags on eBay as one lady in particular was buying hundreds of the things)

A while back I made some Union Jack cushions that I sold on eBay, inspired by the over-priced but very lovely,Jan Constantine ones. Funnily enough most were sold to a lady in Jersey, but stupidly I never made one for myself, so in true Blue Peter spirit, here's one that that I made earlier today...

This is different to my others,some of which you can see in my 'homemade' flikr. I've used a tea towel, some French checked fabric on the back and two of the Fabrics that I won from Sara's giveaway, for the GB. I was amazed at how rusty my sewing was, I hadn't done any for a good few months as the sewing fairy had been replaced by the stressed-out devil gremlin and my sewing machine has lost a leg and is therefore acting a little drunk. But I'm quite pleased with it for a first go. I may make another...maybe with UK or ER on instead.

B no.2 BODEN

I would like just about everything in this summers catalogue, even though I resemble Fatima Whitbread in a skirt and therefore feel the need to do a comedy walk whenever I try one on ( I don't posses a skirt or dress) I still want everything, including skirts,spotty dresses and that girls' amazing figure in the bikini on the front cover, BUT, alas I can't so I'll dream on...


no.3 BOSOMS

As promised here is a gratuitous shot of my oldest hen Mavis's bosom-shaped eggs...look familiar ladies?!!!

It certainly cheers Pete up when he has a pair in front of him for breakfast...
EGGS, eggs that is!!

ps. Don't forget the giveaway ends this Sunday!

bad mummy

Ok you're going to stereotype me now, I guarantee it.

Too many Trisha and Jeremy Kyle programs to blame with dog rough parents who don't give a hoot what their kids are up to.

My eldest son, bless him.. has gone and got himself expelled from school,two months before he takes his gcse's.

Gcse's that will hopefully get him into college.

Gcses that the rest of his career path may depend on.

It isn't the first time, I think we are into double figures now but this time he doesn't get to go back. He likes to argue his case and is like a dog with a bone if he believes he is right, unfortunately this doesn't bide well with our 'must be like everyone else or you're out' politically correct society.
Assertiveness is also rudeness. Rudeness is aggression.
Aggression is unacceptable.

Oh pants.

I think 'him up there' has taken a bit of a disliking to me..he's certainly put a few challenges my way, even my best friend in the whole world died a few years back, so I haven't got him to moan about this kind of stuff to anymore.

Our lives read a bit like a tabloid problem page.Sometimes I can't quite believe the challenges we end up having to face, it seems quite surreal and certainly at times, a tad unfair..

It gets mightily frustrating, especially when you hear "well, I blame the parents" which I do hear often from people who know us but don't know our complicated little lives buzzing along behind the smiling faces.

Sometimes with children, you do your absolute best and the rest is up to them, you set the rails down and they can go on merrily along on them or go off them. You teach them manners and respect but they don't always fancy using that knowledge.

The stinky boys are like chalk and cheese. Paper and stone, Mother Theresa and... no we won't go there... that's not fair.

I've had a bad start to the week, meetings with governors and head teachers that make you feel so small and so insignificant and it takes all your willpower to hold it together just so that they don't 'blame the parents' aswell.
I'm drained and feeling a bit sorry for myself I suppose. I feel I have failed at the hardest job in the world. I'm a bad mummy.

I wouldn't normally post something like this, It's pretty personal, but I need to write it down, get it out my system and send it into cyberspace, this is my life, warts and all. I'm afraid it isn't all pretty things and fluffy chickens,It can get pretty crappy at times.

Please believe me, I'm not out for sympathy by posting this.It's quite often a taboo subject having a badly behaved child.People don't want to know about or talk about it, relations dont really like to admit why someone isn't at school today when asked by concerned friends and other parents think "thank god it's not my child"

It gets brushed under the carpet until something really serious happens (like the 7 month court case we had with him last year too, resulting in a hefty fine that WE have to pay)
Just sometimes bad things happen to normal families, living in normal houses, leading-sort of- normal lives and sometimes it really isn't the parents fault. It's just life.


ok.. I've had my rant...don't forget to put your name on the post below for the giveaway now will you...and I promise I'll be jollier next time!

Prizes and girly give-aways!

I've received a lovely prize this week from the talented Saraeden..a little bundle of cute fabrics and pretty ribbons..including my favourite red and white polka dots and some kitsch cherry fabrics...all so lovely and beautifully wrapped..thankyou Sara!

I haven't decided what I will make with them yet but in the meantime I thought it might be nice to have a giveaway myself. (I was going to wait until I opened an etsy shop, but since we've been selling the house it got put on the backburner for a while).

The Giveaway! A Louise Loves fabric cover and a vintage heart hanger with velvet ribbon

I've 'met' lots of lovely people since starting this blog back in December and had some great comments left that have often had me in stitches! Certainly one way to cheer yourself up if you're feeling down in the dumps is to start a blog. So without being overly gushy,it's just my way of saying thanks really...


So you know the drill...leave a message on this post if you would like to be included and I will pick one of you lovely people to send a gift to..one of my vintage fabric lavender hearts and a little lampshade cover (if you live outside the UK I will make you a heart without lavender just incase customs think its some kind of other herb!)

I'll pick a name out of the hat on the 27th of April (2008) which happens to be my birthday (yay!) so you have plenty of time... good luck!

Visiting Ludlow

Did you get the snow on Sunday? we had a light covering but it didn't stay long as the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day..my favourite weather blue skies and very cold! The snow stayed on the hills for a while and they looked like those coconut mountains we used to make at school.

Pete and I went out for a drive..no stinky boys..its too uncool to be seen with parents nowadays. I've wanted to visit Ludlow for a long time, it isn't really that far and I've read on other peoples blogs about how lovely it is..so off we went with Red, all excited in the boot.

Halfway there the skies went very grey and we were in a snow blizzard! but when we got to Ludlow the skies were clearer and we only had the odd flurry of snow..it was still freezing though!

We walked along the river (Red is like a sealion when it comes to water,there's no stopping him, but it was too cold even for him!) and back up through the town where they had a little market selling antiques and nicknacks, it was coming to an end and people were packing away..(which was probably a good thing as I had no money for spending on pretty things!) but we could still have a quick look.

Then we walked through the lovely, mostly Georgian town...

These houses looked onto a pretty green and the castle walls...

all the houses are kept immaculately,

past the castle ...

and back down to the river.

(pity about the satelite dish on this pretty stone cottage!!)

Ludlow was much smaller than I had imagined, almost like an island with its bridges going across on one side.I also thought it would have more Tudor houses, but it was a really lovely place none the less and I would love to go again when the shops are open and I've got a bit of spare money!

We drove home via the Clee hills, you can see them on a clear day from the top of the Malvern Hills..we went there when George was little and a sheep stole his banana they're a bit over friendly up there..and greedy!!

You can just see the faint outline of the Malverns on the horizon.

So off home through the little villages and winding lanes to get back to our hills.

***

House update;

Thanks for all your support on the house front, we had another viewing on Saturday..really nice couple not daunted by the work, but wanted more rural..a different estate agent showed them round from the same company who totally got the style of the house and loved Cath Kidston! yay! She was great. The previous couple said the stairs were too steep (!?!)..they are normal stairs of normal steepness...I think they may be needing a bungalow!

Oh this is such fun!!

hmmm.....

ok own up

Somebody's got the rechargable batteries..

It's a gorgeous day and I want to take some photos but the batteries are missing from my camera. hmmmmmmmm the x-box ate them and went off to a friends house for the day. Horrid thing....

Big Bess and Betty-eating my bluebells again!

I'll just have to dig over the chicken run instead...oh lovely! that will please the neighbours...a nice stinky aroma in the air!