a special day

It's funny how most blogs shut down around Christmas day and I, on the other hand, am here. It is probably because it's a day when I sit down and do allot of nothing. The chicken is in the oven and the veg are cut so what else is there to do but chill out and watch my hubby crash over and over at formula 1 on the x box. I have found this year quite tricky as I have been distracted by our up coming move. I also felt the pressure of getting the right gifts for the kids and had a mad panic last night as i realised that one child only had one gift in his stocking..there was a mad panic and lets say with no other options available he now has a major stash of sweets. We were lucky enough to be woken at 7am which is a lie in for our standards. Although all through the night i was worrying about one child not being able to sleep due to excitement and could I sneak his stocking in without disturbing him...i did attempt it at three in the morning with no success. We are alone this year which I find very sad but at the same time It Is busy enough already. Only one child has actually admitted to being disappointed with our choices and I find that very upsetting but I guess It Is inevitable once in a while. My wish for this year was to try and teach the children more gratefulness and not be distracted by the desire for stuff.

i have a great tip for all you mums out there.....This year I put each child's presents in a separate basket so they would know exactly how many they had and so to avoid the" is that it " issue...It did work really well. I hope that you day is relaxing and full of family love......because that is after all the greatest gift...

use it or loose it

For five long years my loved one's ( you know who u are) have had to listen to me moaning on and on about me wanting to move house...well the day has finaly arrived..well nearly anyway, that we can get out of here! We have found a home that is all alone and in need of filling up...you can be sure we will fill it up. This brings me to the "subject" of the moment.."throwing out stuff" and boy do i love it. I could be accused of being a little on the dramatic side but i don't want to take anything that won't be used or isn't gorgeous...was it william morris who said "don't keep anything that isn't either beautiful or useful". I just love that concept and am trying to use it as i pack up the house. It is very tricky to keep to this system when you have a whole load of people living together because sometimes you just have too....like extra clothes that haven't been grown into yet...or old photos that haven't been organised. I do have a system for all these things but im not nearly as good at keeping to it as i would like. I found piles of cd's and dvd's that u get free with the news paper and music that im pretty sure will never be listened to. The idea of moving on to a house and having minimal stuff is a wonderful thought

We are planning on buying a new couch from ikea after the move which is very exciting and the new house has already been painted white so its a lovely blank canvas to work on

This week has been a dissaster!,knowbody has died, we havn't gone bankrupt, I didn't dye all the whites pink....but by the state of my mood one could be mistaken for thinking all these things had happened. The reason for the dissaster you ask? Well somebody (yet to admit) put the bread flour in the self-raising tin and vis versa...For anyone who knows me, cakes that don't rise and soggy bread is by far worse than bankrupsy. To make things worse I proudly gave some carrot cake to our neighbours who are without a kitchen....when I

tasted them later on they were like bread pudding....OH THE SHAME...
Last night after recovering from the rage of this discovery I simply had to get straight to work in the kitchen and make sure I hadn't lost my touch. I am now the proud owner of a batch of perfect cupcakes..YEAH !
It has got me to thinking. Should something this small have such a big effect on me? I have been questioning over the past year the role as housewife without children at home through the day. I certailny haven't come to any conclusions but one thing I know for sure. This role as housewife is of great importance to me! For as long as there are people to bake for I will be doing it.
What worrry's me most is what happens when there is knowone to bake for? but hey that's years away right? ...gulp, martha x

summer

I was hoping and planning to post regularly this summer but it has all gone to custard due to my phone breaking and then the lap top so ill have to jumble all the news up together..

two weeks in to the holidays and it was going ok...the weather made it alot easier. We had freshly laid turf in the garden that couldn't be touched for two weeks, now that is tough when the sun is shining. The kids seemed happy enough to play with toys and go out for a hot chocolate every couple of days.

After two weeks me and Israel were ready for some time away from the little one's so we headed off to Soul Survivor for five days. Boy did we have a good time it was restful and there was plenty of time to enjoy the peace and quiet we needed. On returning home i was ready to read some good books and start some sewing project's.Florence doesn't really need any more clothes but i cant seem to stop myself making them anyway. I copied a shirt that fitted her well and made a few adjustments. I am very pleased with the result and thankfully so is she.

its an easy question for me!!!" where would you like to go for your birthday? "Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis..i cant say enough good things about this place.

This week Steve and I hae taken a whole week off together to date each other. He is off to the Formular 1 tommorow but for the past few days it has been all about eating and walking and going to places that are new. We have packed every moment with the best we can think of. I have to say it has been a real success. Monday in Lyme Regis was wonderful but it is difficult for me to tell you why this place is so special you just have to go their. On wednesday we walked from Budleigh Salterton to Otterton mill. We ate a lovely lunch and only had just enough time to walk quickly back for school pick up....oh my poor tummy, it was very full. Today we went to the Hour Glass pub in exeter which does the best rib eye steak we have ever had. I can safely say that Steve and I know exactly what we will be doing when we retire....EATING!!!

giving in to Joseph

I have looking and pondering on this Joseph Joseph stuff for a while now and didn't really think much to it until this weekend when I was struck by design lightening in a local shop. The most gorgeous salad bowl e..v..e..r. and i just had to have it. Part of the reason for this seduction was the colour which matches my kitchen aid and other stuff i have in the kitchen.

Elsewhere in the house there have been alot of sewing projects going on. In particular these summer tops which was an inspired idea from sainsbury's. I have copied a very simple design and made it fit me perfectly. The first attempt was ok but not perfect but this one turned out great. I think it will look great with some white trousers.

feeling grey....

So for me right now it is all about grey......i know the whole world was painting their sitting room's french grey five years ago but, it takes me along time to catch up and by then everyone else has moved on. My sitting room and sewing room is currently cream with a red feature wall. I liked it for a long time and it was cosy in the winter but I'm tired of it now. We also need to cover up all the marks the kid's leave on the walls from mucking about.

Colour is a tough one for me, I don't see warm colours and cold colours. There are so many shades of grey to choose from but i think i have narrowed it down to a few. This time I am going to try to cover more than one wall in the colour and the other walls will be white instead of cream as it sets the grey off beautifully. The curtains I have will work great with grey although if i'm honest I'm bored of them too. One thing that bothers me about re-decorating is that it has a domino effect on the rest of the house making it look shabby and in need of painting too. Looks like I'm gonna need allot of paint....