Mostly....#6 - Storms, Pumpkins, Killer Heels and Drunkards....

I'm not going to lie, it's been hectic round these parts lately.  Life takes over sometimes doesn't it and blogging takes a natural backseat.

I thought it was about time I brought you up to date with what's been happening....

Last time I wrote I mentioned (in this post) that I was heading out with some friends for a night out.  Nearly a year earlier, Mr Husband (after a considerable amount of badgering) bought me these shoes for Wiggles's Christening:

Image courtesy of newlook,com

Six inches of black suede heel and - squeeeeeee - tiny skulls!!  What could be more exciting?  Few things in life, surely?  After many faces pulled by my Mother, I decided that perhaps they weren't quite right for a Christening, and sadly these beautiful specimens remained unworn.  Until last week, when I decided that if I didn't wear six inch heels on a girl's night out, when the fluff was I going to wear them exactly?

So wear them I did!  And I hobbled and staggered, and danced and walked very, very carefully in them indeed and I still love them, still!  We had a great night.  Pizza and wine in Prezzo first of all, followed by cocktails then, slightly giddy dancing in, ugh, a nightclub!  I have pretty much always hated clubs, but if there are plenty of people I like going then I'm game!

I snaffled myself a new dress specially for the occasion and I was really, really pleased with it.  Particularly as it was only a measly £20 from Tesco!  I'm going to save it for my Christmas work do as it really is lovely, a little bit glamorous without being overdressed.

Sadly I didn't get a full length picture, but here is one of my lovely friend Tilly and I, with an obligatory glass of wine!

The following day my slightly fuzzy head needed to be outdoors having some cobwebs blown away.  We managed to find four - FOUR - geocaches in one day - a record for me!  Mr Husband was pleased as we seemed to find lots that had evaded us.  After that it was home again for a yummy meal for just Mr Husband and I, we don't get to do that often enough!

Sunday we had lunch with my Mum and Dad to celebrate my Mum's birthday.  We'd been told that there was a pretty big storm on the way and my Dad made jokes about having to dig out the candles - little did we know!!

Monday morning we woke up in the early hours to a power cut and A LOT of strong wind outside.  We checked the children and went back to sleep as there wasn't much else we could do.  When Mr Husband woke up for work at 7 o'clock the power had still not returned. Assuming it would be back on at any time we sat out the storm watching branches snap and leaves whirl madly around. Damage locally was quite extensive, lots of trees down, tiles dislodged and even some roof damage to local houses hit by trees. Power didn't return that evening, or the next morning, or the next evening! In fact it eventually came back on again on Wednesday evening. Three whole days and two nights without power was too much for me! We found candles, camping stoves and tea lights to see us through. We spent the dark evenings playing hungry hippos with the children before they went to bed, then reading books by candlelight after that. Eventually I'll probably look back on the experience fondly, but right now it's a little too fresh!! Partly because we'd been watching atop many episodes of The Walking Dead and I'd developed an irrational fear of after dark zombies and partly because I clearly rely far too heavily on mod cons for my own good, plus I'm quite partial to heating!!

Thankfully power was restored in time for Biscuit's long awaited Spooky Party! Five little five year old girls dressed as witches and pirates screamed around having a ball. They were all lovely and really well behaved. Biscuit is lucky to have such sweet friends. 

Then on Friday I went out with some of the lovely people I work with for a Thai meal after work. My very lovely friend Roo took us all to her brother's  restaurant in a town a little way away. The food was AMAZING ! Though I only managed a quick phone-shot of the starters, they didn't hang around for long!  I've never been out for Thai food before, but I will definitely have to go back. The diet went out the window for the night and I happily stuffed myself silly! 

I think that's everything!! Next weekend is my Village's Autumn Fair, I'm manning the children's stall and have been collecting toys, games and clothes all ready for what feels like ages! Fingers crossed it'll all go swimmingly! 

Love, love,

Mostly.....#5

I've been a busy little bee of late! And I haven't done a little round up post for ages, so here goes....

As I may have mentioned, and as you may have gathered my favourite friend in the whole world got married on Friday. We had rubbish weather, but a lovely day!! She looked beautiful. And for as long as I live I will never forget how funny it is when a bride in a big dress needs a wee!!! I think, personally, what I will remember the most from that day is how fabulously Biscuit behaved. She looked adorable and I was just so, so, proud of her.

Proud Mama

On Saturday it was our Village's Open Garden weekend. Essentially people with really very lovely gardens open them up for other villagers to have a nosey. I often feel a little weird about this and traipsing around strangers gardens can seem a little intimate, but it is very interesting! I helped my Dad out for about half an hour sitting on the gate of a beautiful garden, taking pennies and asking questions. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. 

My Mum goes to the local Art Group and they had an exhibition in the church of their paintings.  Because Biscuit goes along with Mum during the school holidays I suggested that she paint something for the exhibition.  She was thrilled.  She painted a little picture of a garden, with some birds, flowers and butterflies.  In the middle she drew a jail where the naughty babies go.  No comment!!!  Anyway, because she did so well, my Mum bought her a "prize" for entering.  She gave her a little pink bracelet and Biscuit was pleased as punch.  She wore it all day and told everyone we bumped into that she'd won First Prize!  It was the only "prize" but I'm not telling her that!

There was also a great Farmers Market taking place on our Common to coincide with Open Gardens. It would have been rude not to take a look.... We bought Homemade Damson Chutney, bunches of wild garlic, a bag of local onions and a big bunch of rhubarb. Lovely!! 

On Sunday we went up to the allotment, planted some carrot, parsnip and spring onion seeds. We earthed up our potatoes (they have to be buried to stop them going green) and did a spot of tidying. All very productive!

After that we went for a lovely walk up the hill behind our house. We allowed Biscuit a well earned trip to the swings on our way home which she enjoyed. She usually bumps into a little chum and has a chat. She's a sociable creature.

We used some of the wild garlic to slow roast with some lamb shoulder. Our whole house smelt amazing! Then we used our rhubarb to make a crumble, a proper Sunday!! 

On Monday I had to work in the morning, some overtime, which is always handy. As I work part time, working on a Bank Holiday doesn't phase me, though I can understand why those who work full time treasure those days off. I'm happy to help out. It was busy and exciting. 

When I got home we had bacon sandwiches. We pottered around for a while then all went for another walk around a local nature reserve. The weather over the weekend had been such a contrast to Friday's, it seemed silly not to make the most of it! We saw Dragonflies, butterflies and some horses out on a hack.

When we returned home Mr Husband watched the football and the rest of us enjoyed tea and blueberry pancakes in the garden with Mum, Dad and my brother. 

I've had a really lovely long weekend, spent enjoying friends and family. I hope you've had a great time too. 

Love, love

Mostly...#4

I thought I'd bring you all up to speed a little bit with what's been going on around here.  Last week we spent a blissful few days on the Norfolk Broads, eating, drinking, boating, climbing - you name it! It was fabulous fun!

We spent one day at BeWILDerwood, I didn't really know how to sum this place up as it could be described in so many ways, so I must confess I got my google on.  I liked very much liked this summary which I found on Trip Advisor: "BeWILDerwood is a wild and imaginative adventure park with magical treehouses and hints of intriguing characters.  The setting for the book "A Boggle at BeWILDerwood" by local children's author Tom Blofeld, it's a wonderful and mystical place.  Parents are encouraged to play alongside their children, which makes for a fabulous and brilliantly exciting time for the whole family".  I just love the whole concept!  Plus there is nothing plastic there, no gawdy rides that eat pound coins, no flashing machines to dance on, everything is made of wood and requires imagination and a whole lot of energy!

There were climbing frames, rope swings, boat trips, walks, yurts, slides, zip wires, den building forests, tree houses - you name it! I really can't recommend it enough, it's such a lovely place to spend time and the staff are wonderful and friendly.  They have a story telling corner and when we went in summer a couple of years ago they were putting on an excellent little play outdoors to tell the story of BeWILDerwood.  The only slight downsides were that on the day we went it was freeeeeeeezing!  Though the staff were lovely and let us use a beautiful little party tent to feed This Baby her lunch, so we were able to warm her up.  Plus there were lovely little bonfires dotted about where you could thaw your hands!  The other downside (and it's not much of one) was that I was carrying This Baby in her sling, so couldn't join in as much as I would have liked.  Next time we go though - look out!    

                       

Anyway, I'm not going to carp on about our time away, regular readers will know that we had a great time, I just want to mention this place in particular.  

In other news: That Baby has taken to drawing and painting in a BIG way this half term!  She went with her Gran to Art Group this morning, happily armed with her box of paints and a new set of brushes.  It's really lovely!  She sets up camp wherever she can and sits beautiful drawing, colouring and narrating to herself whilst she does it.

This is what she came back with this morning, I KNOW I'm biased, but I do think it's on the excellent side...

This Baby seems to be developing in leaps and bounds, she can now crawl faster than the speed of light (that's how it feels anyway) and is completely unafraid of any adventure.  She's taught herself to climb up stairs now so I can't turn my back on her for even a minute -the little tinker!  She's also taken to lifting up her arms in the air and kneeling up so she's as tall as she can possibly be when she wants a cuddle.  If you're cuddling her and you're eating something that you haven't shared she gets her eyes as close to your mouth as she can so she can see what your nibbling and work out if she wants some.  It sounds revolting, but it's the cutest thing.  I love seeing her assert her personality.  Her top front tooth is coming and has just broken through her gums in a tiny, sore looking dot. She's taken it so well, despite her face getting pinker as the day goes on she hasn't complained or lost her appetite - but more on that in another post!

Thursday is going to be an exciting day as my very best friend ever is coming over for tea and cake and she's bringing with her my bridesmaid dress and That Baby's bridesmaid's dress.  I suppose I will technically be Matron of Honour as I'm already married myself, but I'm not sure I like that term!  Anyway My Best Girl gets married in May to the loveliest man and I am so excited for her.  

Next week is my birthday and then two days later That Baby's birthday.  We have a party planned for her on the Sunday which she is so thrilled about.  Unbeknown to her we're also collecting her from school on her birthday and taking her to a local garden centre to buy her the goldfish she's been hankering after for an age.  She will be so pleased.  She's been coming up for names for her fish-to-be  for an age.  So far Nuzzle and Scratch seem to be winning!

So that's a little life update from me and mine!  I hope you are well and happy dear reader.

Love, love,

Mostly...#3

Well! Where do I start? I thought I'd treat myself to a swanky new blog design. I'm very pleased with it, it's swirly and pretty and a million times better and more coherent than anything I could ever come up with myself. I have to thank the lovely Carrie at Carrie Loves Design for her excellent design skills and jaw droppingly speedy installation (clicky linky at the bottom of the page). I would definitely recommend her to anyone without hesitation. What do you think?

I managed to mess up my blog when tidying up a little and (somehow) accidentally republished a load of old posts. Apologies if I clogged up your feed a little this weekend!

Speaking of weekends, I've had a lovely one, hope you have too? It's been one of those where we haven't really done much, but I've really enjoyed it.

Saturday morning I had a lovely lay in, which felt decadent and was very much appreciated. In the afternoon we all went to the supermarket to chose some food for a meal for my in-laws who were coming to visit Sunday. I love doing this, it's sad I know, but planning a lovely meal excites me!

When we got home I cleaned the house. Again, I know it's sad, but there's something quite therapeutic about having a bit of time to scrub things down, freshen them up and have a bit of an organise. I laugh at my Mum because she is OBSESSED with cleaning. She does it pretty much everyday. I do think it's unnatural to clean that much...

Saturday evening Mr Husband and I snuggled on the sofa in a nice clean lounge with the fire on watching Lewis. We've both detoxed from Sky now, it's nice to watch itv player and feel smug at it being free! We also ate toffee popcorn and I watched like a hawk to make sure none was dropped.

Sunday morning Mr Husband had his turn for a lay in. When he got up he started making lunch for everyone. My Ma & Pa in law arrived with a bottle of vodka, a bottle of whisky and a bottle of Jack Daniels for us; brilliant! They were given them as Christmas gifts and don't really drink so we got lucky!

We ate a lovely roast dinner together and they played with the children before heading home. Once they'd left we decided to go for a stroll up to our allotment. I put the baby into her Moby Wrap as it'd be muddy and I couldn't face yucky pram wheels! I'm hoping to FINALLY be able to get myself the Sleepy Nico carrier that I've had my heart set on for so long after I get paid.  I might trouble you all for your opinions on fabrics soon as I'm having a tough time deciding.  The problem is they're all too nice!  Anyway, it might be the last time I carry my girl in her snuggly cuddly wrap, which makes me kinda sad...

On our way out on our little walk we bumped into Impressive E & Impressive D who we share our plot with. They'd spent the day planting in some new fruit trees and moving some existing plants about. We made arrangements to spend the day there together next weekend. We've got a lot of tidying to do, and a lot of the beds need digging over and smartening up. I can't wait!  I'm hoping Impressive D will agree to a winter BBQ.  Happy days!

After a short walk we headed home to eat my Dad's homemade celery soup (YUMMERS), put the little ones to bed then we had homemade treacle sponge. What hoover pigs we are, this weekend seems to have been all about food!  A happy one though.

So! That's been our weekend, hope you've had a lovely one too?

Walk snap

Mostly...#2

Thought I'd do a little round up of what's been happening in my neck of the woods:

• Mr Husband Sir has now recovered from the evil sick bugs and I'm hoping that we're all on the road to recovery. I am so bored of germs! As soon as this snot disappears I am determined to stay fighting fit...

• That Baby came home from school Friday beaming with pride at receiving a special award sticker from her Headteacher. I was a proud Mumma. We asked her what it was for and she replied "Sitting still and keeping quiet" . Hey, you've gotta take praise wherever you can get it, right? *despair*

• I'm planning my first night on the tiles since "This Baby" arrived in a couple of weeks. Some friends from work and I are plotting cocktails and amusing dancing, I am ridiculously excited, it's all in the anticipation for me!

• We don't "do" Valentines here, it makes me wretch. Love how Husband checks every year that I haven't irrationally changed my mind. This year I'm going to a WI meeting instead. I'm dead looking forward to it, we have a speaker coming to talk about Haute Couture who worked in some of the big fashion houses. In our little village? How cool is that?

• Last night we joined my Ma and Pa in their extension for a really lovely meal cooked by Pa. I didn't picture the starter, it was too delicious and didn't last long: Brie cheesecake. Amazing! Followed by quail, followed by posh trifle (retro) followed by coffee and white port (who knew?) flippin YUMMERS all of it, thanks Pa xxxx

That's about it really..... How are tricks with you?

Mostly...#1

Just lately we've:

• Finally had the snow the rest of the country had been enjoying. Not much, but enough to close the school and make happy children.

• Cancelled our subscription to Sky to save some pennies. A huge step for Mr Husband Sir who is pretty obsessed with football. He's doing well so far, listening to games on the radio. That Baby thinks its the strangest thing ever that the telly won't pause any more. I've already been told that it'll only last until the new series of Game of Thrones begins in April. He loves all that medieval bonking and beheading malarkey.

• Eaten, eaten, eaten! Cold weather makes me extra hungry. Tried not to stuff ourselves purely with unhealthy stuff, we put a whole butternut squash in the oven to roast the other day, then went out for a walk. The smell we came home to was incredible! We had sausages and butternut mash, made a nice change, plus enough left over for "This Baby's" lunch the next day, hurray!

• Panicking! We've had two scares with This Baby in the last few days. The first was when we were out in the snow, This Baby was wrapped up very warmly in her buggy and underneath her waterproof cover. Mr Husband, Sir had a fright because she was hardly moving. She's usually so wriggly, it's strange to see her so still. He started madly pulling off her blankets and covers to give her a shake. Thankfully she'd just been in a really deep sleep and woke up to smile and coo at the snow...

The second scare was today. She was on her tummy on the rug in the lounge, she loves to rub her little face in the fluff then lift it up and smile at us. Today she must have caught one of her chicken pox spots because when she lifted her face up she was COVERED in blood. I couldn't work out what had happened. I thought there must have been something sharp in the pile of the carpet, but thankfully no. Once I'd cleaned her up, and worked out the source I could see that it was nothing, but oh how my heart lurched!

• Sledging! I hadn't been on a sledge for years until today. So. Much. Fun. I wasn't sure how That Baby would fare, she's a sensitive soul usually and not the most adventurous, but she amazed me! She flew down the slopes on her sledge, on her back, tummy, even laid on her side! She loved every minute, so proud of her.

• Adding new words to our Family Dictionary.  Welcome; Smummy.  A combination of Smug and Mummy.  The Smummy.  Often heard saying things like "Well Tarquin has just received the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded to a child for his promotion of peace within the playground" Or worse still "Oh, Octavia ONLY wears Mini Boden, I couldn't bear to see her sporting George at Asda, my friends would die laughing"  Standing at the top of a hill whilst small children are sledging is probably not the most sensible place to say something like that, especially within my earshot.  You might come a cropper yourself soon if you don't zip it, lady!

• Enjoying Taggart and cocktails. When my darling boy and I first met we would drink cocktails and watch the detective series Taggart snuggled up together. I LOVE a detective series, I have so many favourties, but somehow we'd let this one slide.  The thoughtful little sweetheart decided we should revive the tradition and bought me this for Christmas:

What's been occurring your end? :