Morning all...

How the kitchen use to be....

Thought I'd pop on to let you know how another weekend of DIY is going...

On Thursday I spent most of the morning at a Pre-school meeting.... although Danny is going up to "big School" in September I am still helping out at Pre-school... I find it incredible to think that they don't seem to have a artistic member of staff.. I suppose when you have always drawn, painted and crafted at something you assume its easy and everyone can do it... anyway I will be helping out in the mornings while Daniel is at school, so at least I will be in the same village as his school...

Thursday afternoon was a trip to the library and then picking Mr P up from work and after a change of driver we were off to Bristol Ikea... I don't like driving to or around Bristol I am sure if an emergency occurred and I had to get there then I could manage it but on this occasion I let Mr P drive... lol

The traffic on the way up was not too bad but we hit the motorways around Bristol at rush hour and it was horrendous... but we made it there in fairly good time giving us 3 hours to shop... after some meatballs and berries in the restaurant ( which were very scrummy!) we headed to the showroom... and the shopping began... The sink I had chosen on line was "out of stock" so I chose a single sink instead of a bowl and a half... and I eventually chose taps.. who'd have thought it so difficult.. after tracking down the breakfast table and working out its location in the warehouse we headed for the checkouts

Unfortunately as we headed for the doors to drive around to the collection point a tanoy announcement asked me to go to returns... isn't it amazing how something like this can make you feel incredibly guilty... even though you know you haven't down anything wrong!...where-upon I eventually found out that the taps were out of stock too... oh joy!

So we collected the sink and headed home through the bad visibility drizzly rain we managed to miss a crash on the motorway, there were 5 or 6 cars on the hard shoulder and a light smattering of debris all over the road but luckily that was the only accident and after about an hour we were home .... Chinese for tea and then off to bed ready for a day of plumbing and final kitchen destruction..

We popped to B & Q and picked up cabinets and a few plumbing supplies and a new tap, identical to the one I chose in Ikea... still took me an age to choose it though! lol

and now after an afternoon of removal, clearing and fitting we have managed to add a new window sill and blinds and Mr P will be chasing in some electrical wiring, fitting skirting boards, running new plumbing and fitting a boiler ready for inspection... so another busy day ahead today...


The children are still with mum and dad... and mum even managed to take Daniel to the hairdressers and he had his hair cut properly for the first time ever... not a hack job done by me! lol

Its a beautiful crisp sunny morning here, which will be fantastic tonic to raise our flagging energy, I was up with the sunrise this morning... I didn't sleep well and I felt a little off colour so I thought I might as well get up and let you all know whats going on... feeling better now after a cuppa tea and a breath of fresh air...

with any luck we'll have hot running water again after a year and a half of going without... although currently with the water turned off we have no flushing toilet... :D
however I think its that usual thing of it getting worse before it gets better! lol

Well its 7:30 and Mr P is still in bed... I am of to grab a bowl of muesli and another cuppa
have a good weekend
Alex
x

Oh I do so love enamel ware!

I recently spotted a fabulous piece of french enamel ware on Troc, Broc and Recup
and I fell in love... one of those "I covet thee" moments... lol
So I popped over to her little blog shop and clicked it into my basket...
although Paypal was all in French I just kept plugging away and eventually it was mine...
Yesterday it arrived and I love the wrapping paper...

I was in the middle of trying to choose some fabric to cover the old cork notice board that no longer fits with the new kitchen colour scheme...

I am so loving my new enamel ware lunch box... however it will be a loving home for my small crochet projects and the tray in the top will be perfect for scissors and darning needles... the lovely heart was sent as a little gift when I purchased 3 more felt birds from Rachel at Contented I must photograph them... plus I have to pop over and purchase a couple more... I accidentally felted my original green one... its still good but very small and a little "curly" around the edges now! lol
I eventually chose a fabric for my notice board... would you like to see?

I love patterns and deep, strong colours... I do love pastels but I rarely seem to go for pastels on their own...

I think I may add more jute string so that I can hold more notes and cards on it... but I am happy with the overall effect... the fabric was from the Scrapstore and I have a little more left that I think i might use in some Christmas bunting for the kitchen... I might have enough for a tea cosy if I am lucky! ;D

The rustic heart was bought back in the spring from a shop in Sherborne... and the bird was from Patchwork Pottery a couple of years ago...
I do so love birdies! lol

anyway I had better get on and tidy up a bit... I have a couple of chick flicks to watch before tomorrow... and a glass of Baileys with my name on it! lol

Today I have been writting out preserving recipes from books that I had from the library, I had better take them back tomorrow too...

I am so excited about getting my kitchen finished then I will be picking the victoria plums and apples in the garden...

I'm nearly ready to get the chickens so all in all I am enjoying a peak in my mood at hte moment... its strange but as I clear the house and get it into order the stresses on my mind seem to be lessening and I am starting to feel capable of dealing with things more...

the children are off to Mum and Dad's tomorrow morning and I have a few errands to run and then I will pick up Mr P from work and we are off to Ikea to buy the sink, taps and breakfast bar... Soooooo excited!

Thanks for popping by... hope you are all well and even though the weather down here in Somerset has been horrendous today I hope the sun is shining wherever you may be!

take care
Alex
x

Birthday Weekend Fun

Sunday was my 39th and we spent the day doing some more kitchen DIY...

You see where the lower key cupboard is?

Forgot the before picture! sorry...

the one with the jug and nest on it.... well Mr P cut a hole in the back of it and has cunningly hidden the horrible telephone socket and managed to run the cable that needs to go to the telly in the lounge through the under stairs cupboard and through the lounge wall.... so my temporary fix of a telephone extension lead draped around the door like some kind of glitter less tinsel has now been resolved... I was so pleased and he thought me insane as it was not in his opinion very exciting... but its these little niggly things that we "put up with" that really make a difference when they are done...

now as the under stairs cupboard is very deep and gets shallower towards the back its not that usable, I do not like enclosed shed like spaces... and needed the storage to be towards the front and accessible... however we do still need access to the rear of the under stairs as we will have to treat some bricks once we have removed the driveway on the other side of the exterior wall...

the previous owner put in a driveway above the damp proof course and has caused problems... but that's another story for another day... lol

and the above picture is the new solution to my storage problems... this will house baking and preserving and other occasionally used items.... I painted the brickwork between the shelves each a different colour... partly because I am a colour addict and because while emptying the racking (that is still in the cupboard behind the shelves) I found 6 tester pots that I used to paint blown "Easter" eggs a couple of years back...

So I gave them a good shake and started painting while Mr P sat and rolled his eyes at my apparent insanity... lol

Now the great door debacle.....
Paint it white... stable door it..... replace it with a shaker style ready painted door.... or get rid of it completely... Mr P likes doors and the fact that stuff is hidden within... I like openness and space and the fact that its on view means I have to try harder to keep it tidy... a skill I hope to get good at as I grow older... not panning out as hoped at the moment though! lol

anyway!

Our kitchen has 4 doors which feels ways too cluttered for me... all the doors (apart from the white UPVC back door) are pine and varnished... I much prefer doors to be white and blend into the wall... not stand out like a sore thumb... so with this in mind I decided yesterday that the door on the under stairs cupboard had to go....

by far the easiest option and it appealed to me... Mr P... not so much!
anyway Mr P carelessly left a screwdriver lying around and while he was in the garden the door fell off all by its self... honest!

So Mr P set about removing that strip of wood that stops the door from going all the way through the frame and sanding and cleaning it up ready for painting....

I took a photo of the new all improved storage area this morning and its the best birthday I have ever had!

my birthday in the traditional sense was really good...
I expected nothing so everything was a bonus and a real treat

Jamie bought me (with her own money!) a picture and a heart key ring
Daniel gave me (bought on his behalf by Jamie) a lovely picture frame
Mum and Dad gave me a gift voucher for a meal at the pub down the road and a jumper
My youngest brother gave me a BIG bottle of Baileys....mmmm yummy!
Mums friend Janet gave me another gift voucher for the pub
My best buddy Joanne gave me 3 fabulous magazines and a tea time set (you can see it next to the teapot below)
and Parents in Law gave me a jumper and came to visit with a Birthday tea...

and for someone that really shouldn't be eating cake this little caramel cake was perfect...

All in all I had a lovely calm go with the flow day and I loved it....

Mr P is working short days this week as his current employer has given him a quota of hours that he has to work each month and as long as he is at work during core hours he can do the rest when he likes... so this week he can finish at 4 and have Friday off...

with this in mind we are aiming on getting the last part of the kitchen finished....

I might have hot water next week... I have only been without it for a year and a half! lol

finally I would like to thank everyone who has sent me birthday greetings via face book...
I don't really use face book much but it was really lovely to have so many birthday wishes yesterday...

really big hugs to you all!

x Alex

Domestic Goddess.... in training!

I received a surprise in the post this morning...

I had completely forgotten that I had won a giveaway over at Faerie Nuff
so this morning I am now the proud owner of ...

A handbook to teach me all I need to know about being a domestic goddess... and boy do I need some direction in this topic...
However I will need to recruit friends to entertain once I have mastered the skills explained withing this little red bible of domesticity! lol

I have tried on the gloves and Jamie laughed her head off!
a little harsh I think! ;D

however these might look very fetching when cleaning out the chickens (when I eventually get them!) and it will also give the neighbours the final proof that I have completely lost it!
Thank you Pixie Dust for the lovely gift...

Now onto a little Crochet love... I am getting all floral with some little big wool... very cosy!

I bought an old pattern from eBay for this shawl... the pattern shows up much better in the plain colour...

I am going to have to make it a patchwork pinwheel as I don't have enough of any one yarn to do it all the same... if it turns out nice I may work out how much I would need to do it in one colour and start another one... its a fun pattern to do...

This is a pattern out of a newish book

The flower pattern is from here too...

I am thinking of making these squares into a cushion cover front and use some cord for the rest of the cushion...

I still have the baby blanket to finish... and another couple of pieces that are still WIP's...

I really need to focus and get some things finished... lol

hope your having a good Thursday...
we are off to the Library this afternoon and on Friday Mr P and I will be driving down to Cornwall to collect my new car...

its all go here
as usual!
//(*_*)\\

take care
hugs
Alex
x

Saturday is not a good day to travel...!

Friday night the children went to my Mum and Dads and don't tell anyone but Mr P and I nipped down the pub... shhhh its a secret just between you me and the gate post.. OK?

To be honest our little jolly almost backfired...
its usually a lovely quiet country pub and when 2 people who to be honest don't go out very often get a night to themselves we do like a nice evening, not a rowdy town pub experience... been there done that and now I am all growd up its not my preferred choice for an evening out any more..... however it would appear with the town pubs failing and closing fast the country pubs are getting busier and noisier...

Now this particular pub has it written up everywhere that children are permitted if they are well behaved and bad language and rowdy behaviour will not be tolerated and you will be asked to leave...

However I think in this economic downturn they are willing to waiver this rule in return for taking your cash... therefore our tranquil pub visit was in fact hindered by a table of 6 middle aged ladies who had been there since 6pm and we arrived at 9pm and where mostly bladdered... they were just getting there main courses when we arrived and the evening consisted of them talking about ex's and how the bar'stewards weren't worth crying over and there was the odd loud announcements of how much they loved each other.... half a larger was spilt over the most sober person in the party... I think she may have been driving ... however she did not look fabulously amused... and when they started talking about ordering coffee the 2 drunkest ladies demanded larger and whiskey...

we ate our starters and main meals and made hastily for the bar to finish our drinks and watch from a safe distance.... when they did eventually leave, the rest of the table abandoned the lady that was the drunkest... she was left to stagger to the door on her own and nearly ended up on her arse... once outside Mr P (who was having a cigarette) watched in horror as she was snatched from near death as she almost stumbled into the main road....

After our evening with the added bonus of a side show we strolled home again and turned in for the night...

In the morning we left for South Wales and headed for Bristol and the bridge clutching the £5.50 for the toll gate....
we hit a really bad downpour at Bristol and pulled into a service station for a bathroom break and a coffee... giving the surface water a chance to drain off as people were not altering their speed to match the conditions and you could not see very far at all...

back on our way again we eventually crossed the bridge and made it to Llanelli...

The lady I purchased the Eglu from was very nice and her husband helped Mr P load it all into the back of the car and it only just fitted into the back of the Volvo estate... that's a lot of Eglu...

on the Welsh side of the bridge the traffic wasn't too bad... some road works near Newport had an average speed limit in place and this did seem to keep the traffic moving on the whole...

Through the tunnel...

and over the bridge... with another sudden downpour to spoil the view....

The other bridge was shut for repairs...
On the English side as we skirted around Bristol the rain hadn't happened and yet the traffic was horrible...

Eventually we managed to get off the motorway at Bridgewater and get home without too much trouble....

Mr P chilled out for the rest of the afternoon... but I was too excited to sit still, I had stuff to do and my back and shoulder were stiff from the trip so I did some gardening and weeding...

Sunday morning Mr P popped out to help a friend with some mechanics and when he got back I had managed to cut half the hedge and mow the lawn... he kindly finished off the rest of the hedge...(shoulder and back not good!) and then we built the Eglu... which grew and got scarily bigger until eventually we had finished...

ta da!

Its nearly as wide as our garden....

and now I am so excited...!

The hedge has stock fencing in it and its pegged down with barbed wire along the bottom... the previous owners had a basset hound and use to keep chickens too...

So once I have the chickens I will let them have the run of the whole area for an hour or 2 before bedtime....they can help me with my gardening! lol

Daniel wants a white one... but we'll have to wait and see...

My cousin breeds and shows chickens so I might see if she has 4 or so suitable birds... but definitely no cockerel... no early morning crowing for me or the neighbours! lol

If you made it to the end
well done!

thank you for popping by its been lovely chatting to you...
I had better get on with some chores
See you all again soon
take care
Alex
x

Making it happen...

Its time I took control of the reins again and stop this run away horse from getting out of control...
well that's my current view on life today anyway! lol

I have sorted out my new vehicle... all I need to do is go to St Austell and pick it up... so I will get a trip to Cornwall after all! ;D

Over the past week I have have become very disillusioned with complicated modern cars... they are generally expensive to repair and confusing to understand their workings and loose their worth so quickly... I only passed my driving test back in 2003 (late bloomer!) and I have had a real selection of vehicles over the past 7 years... generally someones hand me down or reject and never had to choose one for myself... I am 5ft 10 and over weight and climbing into small cars is a nightmare... so I opted for another 4x4 . . however it needed to be easy to repair and cheap to run...

so I opted for.......

A Landrover Defender 90.... it needs some work the passenger door is a little rusty and will need replacing but I already have a new door lined up and Mr P is more than happy to work on a simple creature like this one... he has secretly wanted one of these forever so I am currently winding him up telling him that I am going to make CK seat covers and girly it up! lol

So transportation is almost sorted... yay!

Next is Jamie and the school run....
right!
we are currently looking into the possibility of Jamie catching the normal bus service that runs through here to Shepton Mallet, dropping off at Ansford on the way...


Unfortunately the man at the bus company that deals with this stuff is away on Maternity leave.. assuming that it is in fact his wife or partner that has had a baby he'll be back next week... I will ring back next week for a quote on the price to school and back...

however Jamie is not to impressed with catching a bus at 7:30am and getting to school at 8:10am, hopefully she'll be able to find somewhere safe and dry to wait for 50 minutes till school opens... but as I told her the other choice is transferring schools, which she doesn't want to do...

next chickens!

I only went and bought a coop!
now I bet you are wondering did she go wooden or Eglu?

well I came to the conclusion that being a stubborn type and not always doing the obvious or normal thing and having trained as a designer and loving all things colourful...

yep...

I went for....


a second hand Eglu Cube.... in for a penny (lots of pennies! :x) in for a pound!

we are off to Wales on Saturday to pick it up...
I am so very excited!

Now the dilemma is...

hens or Bantams?

Today we are off into town on the bus again (which the kids love!) Jamie will be in training for using the bus without an adult so I will give her some money and she will have to buy her own ticket... then we are off to the Library... Jamie picked up 3 books last Thursday and has read them all in a matter of days! she loves reading.. and Daniel's books were read at bedtime we also borrowed 3 DVD they really enjoyed Ink heart with Brendan Frasier...

So we may grab some dinner in town and get picked up at 6pm by Mr P once he finishes work...

its a grey dreary day here today... it chucked it down with rain yesterday but its been dry here for weeks and the ground really needs the water...

hope your all well and thank you for popping by
big hugs and take care
Alex
x

Catchment

Its that old chestnut that raises its head to crap all over your day .....
Somerset County Council have informed me that:

They regret to inform me that it will not be possible to provide school transport for Jamie from Wednesday 1st September 2010 as there is an overload on that vehicle. Oh nuts!

I am sorry that it has been necessary to withdraw transport. I will contact the finance team and cancel charges for Jamie from 01/09/2010. oh that's nice ... As you know when the transport was offered it was on the condition that transport may have to be withdrawn if the seats are needed for a child(ren) entitled to free transport. fair enough....

Once we are in the new academic year we will regularly have bus monitors travelling on the vehicle and should a seat become available we will contact you at the first opportunity. I seriously doubt it... last year after 2 weeks of ferrying her to school I rang you to see if there was a space and you had binned her paperwork...! Secondly, we will ensure that an application for her to travel is given priority should a seat become available. if you loose her details like you did last year I doubt you'll do this either!

Allegedly bad news travels in threes so this is my second bit of bad news.... can't wait for the third to arrive! :s

I had lots planned today, clearing, cleaning but to be honest after speaking to the transport department... whereupon I was asking simple questions trying to work out my options and the lady on the other end of the phone was being really quite nasty...

and speaking to the admissions team as they now deal with the catchment area for school transport too... and this "lad" informed me that he couldn't tell me the actual area of the catchment for transport for that school but if we had a house in mind that we might be moving to I could ring them and they would put the postcode in the computer and it would tell them if it was acceptable.... but as the system for working out the transport catchment area was "very complicated" he couldn't help me any further...



I realise its only 7 and a half miles between Daniels school in Queen Camel and Jamie's school in Ansford but they both have a 9am start. I considered leaving home at 8am to get Jamie to school for 8:30 and then hammer back with Daniel to get him to school for 9am....

or the other option is to drop Daniel off at school at 9am and Jamie is 20 minutes to half and hour late for school each morning....

As the lady at SCC Transport department says "you chose to send you daughter to the non catchment school" mind you as the catchment school is less than 3 miles and they consider it a safe road for her to walk along, even though there is no footpath, has steep sided banks and is a 40mph speed limit (which few people stick to) resulting in there being no provision for transport to that school at all.... I realise that many people drive loads of miles a day to get their children to school so I will just have to suck it up and put up with it...

Anyway I have decided while writing this that its not worth worrying about and it will all work out in the end.... I have a cracking headache so I am off to have a cup of tea and a couple of Nurofen and do a little crochet as that seems to calm my mind during times of stress

The weather down here looks how I feel today, definitely on of those days when you wonder why you bothered getting out of bed! :o|

Never mind.... It will all come out in the wash or some such thing!

I will post something more cheerful tomorrow
Promise!

big hugs Alex
x

Had some headache tablets and shut my eyes for a bit... headache has gone and feeling a little more positive... thank you for your lovely comments... its only school and beaurocracy gone mad so its really not worth stressing about...
going to have that clear up and get the house sorted then perhaps I can get the jumble in my head sorted too! lol

Oh well.... Never mind....

I received some disappointing news Sunday morning.... the friend who owns that beautiful cottage in the depths of Cornwall has realised that she has double booked it... she has offered me the week after but for some weird reason Daniel and Jamie both go back to school on Thursday the 2nd of September so that week would not be practical.... you win some you loose some.... maybe another time! :(

Saturday we went down to Weymouth to look at a car for me... I am currently without a car as the Freelander I was using (passed onto me from Mr P) started having some issues with starting. It was becoming very temperamental and also it requires a new rear bearing, service and MOT... the car was originally purchased on HP but after looking at the figures and the cost of repair I think we are better off handing it back to the HP company... we will have lost money either way as what we are now paying is way over what the car is actually worth...

My lovely Mitzi RVR was collected yesterday... the scrappy gave me £100 for it... I was sad to see it go... its been stood on the drive for a year and every so often I would inquire if Mr P could repair it but he stuck to his guns and after inspecting the rear bearing he was dubious, as he felt there was more to the problem that just that one thing... he feared the suspension was damaged which wouldn't surprise me given the state of the roads around here and the insane quantity of badly maintained speed bumps

and sleeping policemen...


However the car in Weymouth was typically over sold by the garage and was not "mint!" at all... so we grabbed a fish and chip dinner and returned home... feeling a little deflated we set about getting the dead car on the drive moving ready for its collection and cleared up some debris and rubbish in the front garden... that felt better...

On Sunday afternoon we wandered down the road to the Half Moon pub and met my parents and a friend for dinner to celebrate their 51st wedding Anniversary.....

Our local...

it was a lovely afternoon and we must have spent 3 and a half hours down there... lol
mind you it wasn't too busy so I don't think the landlord minded... its not really much of a drinking pub anymore its more of an eatery... I think they usually do a thousand covers a week... very good food... Mr P and I always have the deep fried Somerset Brie with a chilli sauce... mmmm yummy!

This morning the sun is actually shinning
But last night I noticed that something had bitten my leg....

Julian Beever... amazing artist...

I don't think it was this big... I am sure I would have noticed something that size! lol

but I have put some aloa vera gel on it from my trusty plant and hopefully that will calm the bite down...

Once I have sorted out my lack of transportation I will be focusing again on the chicken house and getting it all sorted out... I have started following a blog by a lovely lady in Canada I think at

Sweet Locus Lane Farm

It hadn't crossed my mind that you could freeze eggs... I know I am a bit dim... the information this lady gives is excellent she even makes her own re-usable sanitary wear... her daughters are not so keen though! lol

Well I have bored you all for long enough...

big hugs and take care
Alex
x

I have just spotted my Mitzi on eBay.... can you believe it!
I don't know what made me look
he has played the "I know little about it" card already has 2 bids and is up to £155
he has mentioned a noise from the rear wheel and a suspicion that it will need new bushes but omitted to mention the radio is original import and picks up no stations, the battery is flat and its been sat on my drive for over a year not 6 months in garage as he has stated!
he has said that the tyres have "deteriorated" which I assume for a car dealer means new set all around.... it has no front speakers, never had them from when I bought it...
It has however cleaned up nicely and I hope the winner is not to disappointed...
eBay number: 250676005488