Look What I got!!!

Hello, been into town with my friend Mick who's down from Aberdeen for the weekend. We did all the charity/cheap shops and look what I got;



Thank you to Francesca for taking a photo of me in my new skirt. It's a PER UNA one, ooh posh! And it's knitted!!! I just love it, it has a thick sage green cord waist band that fastens with lovely silver shiny buttons. The best bit is that it only cost me £6.50, alot for a charity shop spend but I just love it so and it's only a fraction of what it would have cost new, or that's what I keep telling myself. Here's a close up;




And as a bit of a thank you to Mick for making me go shopping on a Monday morning when normally I would be changing beds and doing the weekend's ironing I made a card for him to give to his friend who is boat mad and emigrating next week, here it is;





Am going to fondle my new skirt, Daisie xxx

Tidy House?

Well, the day has been eventful, we haven't got dressed all day!!! Bad Mother, again! We've had a lazy day, Simon spent the morning in bed with a terrible tummy ache (I think the same bug that Elizabeth and I have had) and the girls did many interesting things with the bricks, Nathaniel tried to join in but got no further than eating the bricks, bless. I will post some pictures of their creations (and they took many) soon.

Just wanted to do a quick one tonight and show you my new tidy work station, this is the tidiest it's ever been (no, really)! I found loads of things that I forgot I had, it's been like Christmas.

Let me take you on a tour; this table sits behind the door into the kitchen so is a general dumping ground for all things paper and items belonging to the children. When my cry of "Tea's ready, clear the table!" this is where everything ends up! The green drawers were bought by Simon when we moved in here (1997) to store our, wait for it, cassette tapes. Needless to say we moved onto Cd's and then moved on again and now have MP3s instead. The drawers are now full of lovely toppers and embellishments for cards, card blanks, envelopes, stamps and inks, stencils and lots of other interesting things. On top of the green drawers is a huge stack of beautiful handmade papers Simon bought for my birthday. In the yellow box are cut out bits from last year's Christmas cards, ready to be turned into gift tags for this Christmas. The magazine boxes and the top shelf are where I store my SAMS card, great for all sorts of occasions. On the left of the top shelf there are reels of bargain ribbons, many of which have not been put to use yet.....The margarine tubs are filled with off cuts of felt that I use for badges and to decorate the Daisie Davies Gift bag. The bottom shelf has flat boxes with loads of compartments, these are full of buttons and tiny pegs and ribbons and sequins. Under those are boxes of acetate sheet, Simon made me stock up as he believes the time of the OHP may soon be over! There are loads more things hidden away and you can see on the right the assorted children's craft boxes and pencil cases. And last but by no means least, my trusty guillotine is there for all to see.

This is just paper crafting, wait til I show you a picture of my fabric room!

Night, Daisie xxx

Am sewing again...

...it seems like ages since my machine was last out and there were tiny bits of annoying thread all over the floor that make the drum of my vacuum so colourful. I took an order on Friday for a dress, similar to the one on the website but in a larger size. It has a wedgewood blue t-shirt top and a full pleated skirt in linen with a beautiful blue bamboo print.





I made the dress last night and while my mind was thinking of amazing things to do now the machine was out and plugged in I made a little shoulder bag with the off cuts of fabric. Then while awake in the night feeding a small boy I realised I could make a fabric flower with the off cuts of the blue jersey. I made the flower this morning after breakfast and have mounted it on a brooch back so that it can be on the bag or on the dress or on a cardigan over the dress, the possibilities are endless!





Not sure what the rest of today has in store for me but as we're in the UK we seem to have lost an hour in the night and it's supposed to be summer time???

Daisie xxx

Remember to check the meds!!

OMG, I am the worst mother in the world! Elizabeth had a sore itchy arm late last night. It turned out to be a small insect bite and nothing major so I trooped off to find her some Anthisan to soothe it. The itch soon went away and she was asleep in no time. It wasn't until later that I looked at the tube, it looked a bit battered and I wondered how long we'd had it. I couldn't remember when we bought it so I checked the expiry date; use by October 1995! That has been in our medicine drawer a very long time. I have since checked all the dates on everything in the house and although I found some out of date none could quite match that! Needless to say it has been dropped in the bin and is on the shopping list to be replaced!

No pics tonight, only a quick one as I'm making a linen t-shirt dress that was ordered yesterday, hurrah! Haven't had the sewing machine out in a while so some more creations may be in the offing too!!

Daisie xxx

Cheap Hats!

It's just been me and my boy today as the girls both do a full day at school on Friday, we miss Francesca but have fun together even if the house is a little quiet!

We played 'boo' when we changed the beds and Nathaniel thought it was very funny when I climbed into the shower to wash the tiles, so much so that he gave himself hiccups! Poor lamb with only a crazy mother as entertainment!!
We have prepared a wonderful tea and washed floors so my home is all lovely and ready for the weekend (don't forget it's Simon's official birthday tomorrow)!

While doing a bit of a shop this morning I came across something for the girls, although I feel a little bad about it. When your mother makes hats and all you get is the left over sale items from Sainsbury's you may class yourself as a neglected child, must give them the childline number later!! But at £1 each I couldn't resist the bargain and they are quite cute, what do you think?!

Daisie xxx

Happy Birthday Simon!!!

Well, it is my lovely Hubby's birthday today. Happy Birthday my sweet!!
He has a few silly presents that the girls and I have gathered over the last few weeks but I wanted to show you what we have made for him.

Here is a Dragon card (he likes dragons and has two tattooed about his person) I made in the same style as my sparkly window cards. The dragon is drawn (by me) on acetate sheet and attached into a window in the card, this causes a lovely shadow to fall on the inside of the card when it stands up, the effect is quite cool. He seemed to like it!!



The girls also made cards, Francesca doesn't believe in market research and only makes cards that she would like to receive, this one has Cinderella on the front. Elizabeth designed a Ferrari style car and drew herself and Simon in it which is slightly alarming as neither of them can drive!!




We printed some photos off and put them in a nice frame for him to take to hang on his office wall at work so he doesn't forget what we look like and he secretly likes to show off his beautiful children.





The girls (with only a little help from me) painted a wooden racing car. It came in a kit with paints etc. Francesca started and painted the biggest flat surfaces red, Elizabeth continued the red on all the fiddly bits; the spoiler and fins (I can feel a telling off from Simon coming, may not have the correct technical terms). I had to paint the wheels as they had a habit of turning whenever the brush got near them! I also painted a red helmet on the little man and Elizabeth drew him a face!

We're all rather pleased with the end result and here he is:

Simon was at work stupidly early this morning and is working late tonight so we are having a 'grown up' birthday tea tonight (ie: something the children don't like so we never get to eat otherwise). I am not making a cake today as he won't be here for us to sing to. He is pretending to be the queen and having a birthday today but an 'official' birthday on Saturday when he can lie in and we can have cake and a proper birthday tea all together!

Have a good day, we love you Simon!!

Daisie xxx

A Family Expedition.

Well the snow didn't arrive, instead we awoke to glorious sunshine and chilly winds. The need for a walk was mighty so we wrapped up warm and set out on a Davies' Expedition!

Here are my lovely men:



Along the way we met an obstacle; a huge tree which must have fallen down in the high winds we had last week. We had lots and lots of fun getting over it to go on our way;

After two hours and maybe as many miles (we only go slow because Francesca's legs are not yet long enough for great speed) we were very cold and snow flakes began to fall from the sky so we made our way home. Boots and jeans needed to be removed at the door, we were very muddy and wet. The girls immediately snuggled down with hot-chocolate and the plan is for a lazy afternoon and we may even watch 'Cats' and have a good old sing-a-long!!

Hoping you are also warm and snug,

Daisie xxx

Good Egg!

Well the snow was there this morning but wasn't up to much and we ended up spending an age in the bath and then going to have lunch with my Mum and Dad so no long walks in the snow today. It is starting to fall again and hopefully there will be enough to make a snowman (or snowwoman) tomorrow.

We spent so long in the bath because yesterday my Dad arrived with the most amazing Easter egg, not only does it not make you fat or rot your teeth it also makes you smell lovely! It came from lush and is in my favourite fragrance; 'Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds'. The bath bomb had seaweed in it too so we pretended to be mermaids!

The children were given far too many chocolate eggs so we melted some down and made crispy cakes with mini eggs on the top, they'll be delicious tomorrow with a hot cuppa when we get in from our long cold walk (if there's any snow)!

Am off now to knit (making a present for my friend's 30th birthday soon) and watch naff telly and maybe help get rid of some of the Easter eggs!

Daisie xxx

Retail Therapy

Once we were organised yesterday me and the children went to a craft shop nearby where I had some birthday money to spend (from my brother) and it was like being in heaven, a little on the expensive side, but wonderful none the less and it wasn't like spending real money!! I bought, amongst other things, a large paper punch with the image of a dress which I have had my eye on for a while. Later we went out to our cash and carry and I bought some beautiful handmade papers (love fancy papers) and here is what I made whilst slurping wine last night:




While sorting out my dress photo I found a cool one of Nathaniel, we should call this 'Things To Do With An Infant Whilst Cooking' Number 3; give child large comedy vegetables!! Haha!!!




The snow is beginning to fall and the forecast is for much more over night so hopefully we'll wake up to lots of lovely whiteness and we can go for a walk in our wellies and throw snowballs then come home and get warm and eat chocolate easter eggs!

Daisie xxx

Croissant For Breakfast!

Blimey, what an appalling blogger I have been this last week. Apologies for lack of posts, didn't realise it had been so long. To be truthful not much has been happening!

Well it's the beginning of the long Easter weekend and both the girls and Simon are at home for four whole days, woohoo! Haven't made many plans but will see what the weather's like and what we feel like.

This morning Elizabeth, Nathaniel and I came down to have croissant (Asda had run out of hot cross buns yesterday) in front of the fire as it was very cold and both Simon and Francesca were fast asleep. The children had a late night, we went to visit some friends and the children all went off to play and I sat and nursed a coffee and had a lovely chat. Thanks Alison!! But it had turned 8pm before they were in bed, Elizabeth seems to be OK but it'll take Francesca a few days to catch up!

Here are my babies having their breakfast picnic;

Off in a while for some retail therapy (have some birthday money to spend), hopefully show you some pics soon.

Daisie xxx

Cushions!

Elizabeth was stupidly sick yesterday all over my bed, ugh! An even with Simon trying to contain sick in one place it was all over the duvet and the sheet and the pillows and on the cushions! We stripped everything off as quickly as is humanly possible while trying to soothe a distressed child but it had seeped everywhere. A friend washed our big duvet as she has a HUGE washing machine but sadly it wasn't dry last night so Simon and I spent a chilly night under our summer duvet and pink fleece blankets from the girls' beds. But what was more annoying was only having one big cushion on the bed. We use them to prop up and read or watch telly or have long intellectual conversations (snigger) and last night none of that could happen as we had to share a cushion! So this afternoon Francesca and I knocked out a few more;



Simon is working late tonight and I can't wait for him to come home and sink into the cushiony loveliness that is our bed!

And more importantly Simon and Nathaniel will be really comfy the next time they do this;

Elizabeth is much better now!

Daisie xxx

More Thread Than You Can Shake A Stick At!

Mum and Dad arrived this morning with my birthday present; more thread than you can shake a stick at! Really pleased with it, such an array of colours! Thanks very much!



And the other day I promised you an amazing recycled make and finally here it is..
I bought some jeans in the sale (they were down from £20 to 2) but they were far too long for me but too good a bargain to miss. I have worn them for a couple of weeks with the bottoms turned up but thought the look wasn't quite me so I took a pair of scissors to them!
Here are the girls with the left over bits;

Within minutes the girls had thought of a new use for them and with some felt scraps, some coloured thread and a little flare here is the finished product;

Elizabeth asked for blue flowers and Francesca being only four and still believing that more is more opted for love-hearts in three shades of pink and a big flower with a button centre!

Daisie xxx

It's My Birthday!!

Well, here I am entering my thirties, argh!
Bit scary but feel I have alot to show for my life. I have three beautiful children and because of many miscarriages and one horrific car crash I feel like the luckiest mother on the planet. I have a wonderful, dedicated, loving husband. I have a lovely home, although it may be cluttered and pushing the far boundaries of 'shabby chic' it's our home and I love to be in it. I have a new business and a flare for creating. I also have three elderly, slightly neurotic cats, but the less said about that the better!
I also have some wonderful friends and have received some wonderful presents; from my oldest friend, Heather, I got some beautiful jewelry, thanks! And I have a rather expensive bottle of champagne, thanks Gil! And from Swirly Lynsey I got, amongst other things, a fabby little book for ideas, like me she dreams of making things too! She has covered the book in knitting patterns as it's one of my new skills. On random pages throughout the book there are scribblings by her and her two small daughters, something to surprise me in years to come...


Elizabeth made me a birthday mask, I hate to say it but I didn't wear it when we went out shopping, bad Mummy!

I also got some marvelous cards (my favourite bit of birthdays, I have a huge box groaning with special cards upstairs), both Elizabeth and Francesca made me glittery masterpieces. These are my favourites...

Closely followed by this one from Lynsey, the card has been made by her friend Ruth and features 'Big Cook Ben' from the BBC children's programme 'Big Cook, Little Cook'. Anyone who knows me knows I have a bit of a thing for him, if he turned up on my doorstep and asked me to run off into the sunset with him I would find it hard to resist! The sad thing is; I think it's alot to do with the outfit, he had a part in another programme a few years ago and I didn't think him nearly as fanciable in his civvies!

Here's a rather snazzy hat from the in-law's;

Francesca was very upset at bedtime last night and the conversation went a bit like this,

"You're so beautiful Mummy"

"Thanks but why are you crying?"

"Because," she sobbed "30 is so old and tomorrow you'll be all crinkled!"

Trying not to laugh I assured her that I'm not so very old and I would most probably still look the same in the morning. After close examination at breakfast we have discovered that I have no more wrinkles than I had yesterday, phew!!

And finally, a card from my friend Caroline, with a sentiment we should live by all year round, not just on birthdays..

Go, now, and eat cake!

Daisie xxx

Racing For Life

Well, it's that time of year again and I am taking part (as I'm not hugely pregnant like I was this time last year). If you feel the need to sponsor me, thanks!!

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/alexandradavies

Will be back with something amazing and crafty and recycled and marvelous, have had an idea!

Daisie xxx

Bought Myself A Present

Well, after being told off yesterday for spending my time ironing by Jennyflower, thanks for that! I have spent the day pretending to be a "Lady What Lunches", I have had coffee this morning with my friend Caroline who then took me looking at clothes and I bought myself a new top (well it is nearly my birthday) and here it is, (excuse the dodgy photo, I took it myself with the help of the landing mirror) I just love purple flowers!!


And later went to my friend Lynsey's for lunch, which was rather nice, (thanks Lyns) and after lunch while our bigger children played I sat with my small boy asleep on my lap and drank tea until it was time to go home. What a lovely day I have had!

I am now fully rested and ready for my evening with a poorly boy but I will NOT be ironing, I will be in my pyjamas with my knitting needles out, watching crap telly and drinking hot chocolate in bed. Not sure what I'll be knitting yet but I have plenty of time for inspiration to grab me!

Daisie xxx

The Ironing Mountain

I have conquered my ironing pile, at least until the basket is full again (usually only about three days in a house of five people)! Hurrah, done last night with a small boy against my chest, just love my ring sling, makes life so much easier when babies are grumpy! Nathaniel has been round the supermarket in it this morning too as he is full of a cold and the pesky teeth are still giving him trouble. I think that must be why we don't remember being so small.
And here it is, all crisp and lovely;


The In-Laws have joined us for a meal this evening and have brought goodies for me to open on Saturday, getting very excited now! Simon is counting the days he has left to go to bed with a twenty something. Poor man!

No making and doing today sadly. And there's not likely to be any tomorrow either, am out for coffee in the morning with my friend Caroline and then am out to lunch too. See how I live it up!! Although I do have to make a birthday card for a special girl who is nearly four. Does that count? May see a pic tomorrow.....

Daisie xxx

Things To Do With An Infant Whilst Cooking

Number 2
Place child safely at the back of the kitchen work surface and give said child a packet of mange touts and anything else he can reach and seems interested in. Proceed to stir fry chicken and vegetables. Remember to never stray far, small people can move very fast!

This was the fun we had last night while Elizabeth did her spellings homework and Francesca was doing something equally important so Nathaniel was either to cry by himself or help me cook. He seemed quite happy and may have learnt some new skills at the same time, he'll make someone a lovely husband one day!!

Not much making and doing going on last night, am really tired at the moment and Nathaniel is having terrible trouble growing his teeth (am sure the girls never had such problems) but have found you can crochet quite well with small children attached! Still a bit slow and not overly fabulous but keep watching...

And finally here is Francesca at breakfast time when she discovered that the seeds she planted on Mother's Day have sprouted:

Daisie xxx

My Bag's Number 1 Fan!

Elizabeth is quite smitten!

Daisie xxx

Last Night's Tea

I was going to do a post last night but it just got too late and I got too tired.I wanted to show you all the amazing Yorkshire puddings we made to go with our tea last night, here they are just before they came out of the oven. They were very tasty indeed and I put it all down to the lumpy batter, courtesy of Elizabeth and Francesca!!


And the moment we have all been waiting for; my latest knitted master piece. Am quite pleased with the way it turned out. I managed a quick crochet lesson with my Mum yesterday afternoon while Simon and the children did exciting things with glitter! I must confess that the flowers on the bag aren't my own handy work, mine didn't look as good as Mum's so I used hers this time! Have started a crochet project though, just need to practise a bit more but it's looking good and then I'll be knocking out flowers in my sleep (or at least dreaming of what to make with them)!


Daisie xxx

Old Friend!

Have been shopping and out to lunch and then had a visit from a very old friend, Heather, we were at school together when we were 11 and we both turn 30 in a few weeks time! Blimey, that's a long time! Here she is with two of my babies, Francesca had gone for a snooze!


Am off for a lesson in crochet tomorrow while Simon and the children create some marvellous things for next Saturday!

Daisie xxx

Can You Guess What It Is Yet?!

Here is Nathaniel 'helping' me with my latest knitting project, can you guess what it is yet?!



Francesca has had a cinema day at nursery today, the children each had to bring a twenty pence coin to buy a ticket (the chairs are all numbered and they have to find the right seat) and two ten pence coins; one for popcorn at the interval and one for fruit at the end. Francesca of course needed a purse to take all her money with her so I knocked together a quick 'Ella' type purse for her yesterday afternoon but it had to be pink! She's rather pleased with it!!

Hopefully the knitting Nathaniel is doing will be finished after the weekend and you can see my lovely new creation. Am planning a crash course in crochet when I can pin Mum down to a time, quite exciting, I like acquiring new skills!

Daisie xxx

Ta-Da!!

Here it is! This is a baby handbag for a little girl made with the recycled (unravelled and reknitted) yarn that my Mum gave me on Saturday night. It's really fluffy and the plain purple yarn is really velvety to touch, it's rather lovely isn't it?! Am wondering whether I have enough of this yarn left to make a big one for me...


May be back later, am out this afternoon so need to prepare veg for tonight, yawn!

Daisie xxx

Spring!

Well, we all thought spring had sprung but we awoke this morning to flurries of snow. We were all very excited but sadly it didn't stay :-(

The sun has been shining in between snow showers and Francesca and I got a cleaning bug!! She is a domestic goddess in training, and here she is mopping her bedroom floor, what a treasure!


After our lunch yesterday we planted our seeds, Elizabeth is growing Busy Lizzies (well, what else) and Francesca is growing Lobelia and Petunias to fill our hanging baskets in the summer. We keep looking but they are taking ages (so says Francesca) to grow, keep watching there are bound to be more pics of these as time goes on...



And when I cleared a space for them on the kitchen window sill I noticed that my orange tree has some little oranges on it. They're not ripe yet so I suppose technically they are greens, not oranges but am still quite excited!!



Anyway I need to go and do some more of my knitting, it's nearly there and just needs a few more rows and sewing together so hopefully all will be revealed tomorrow.

Daisie xxx

Flowers On My Piano

Happy Mother's Day to all those special women everywhere!

There were flowers delivered to my bedside by the two most beautiful girls in the universe followed by fresh coffee and toast by my wonderful husband. I then lay in bed for an hour with my fabby new book "The Secret Mothers' Club" by Joanne Fedler. It's a must read for any neurotic mother, it's a relief to finally think 'am glad it's not just me that thinks/feels/does that'.

Here are the flowers on my piano;


I also received two beautiful cards from Elizabeth and Francesca, Nathaniel is a little small to be crafting yet but I forgave him when he smiled!!


Fabulous writing with no help; "I didn't even get my name card Mummy!"

And 'joined up' writing from my biggest baby;

I migrated from bed to bath with my book still in tow, love to read in the bath and especially as it was mother's day (or maybe I was just lucky) no one needed to poo while I was soaking. Nathaniel joined me for a while so now smells like a girl! The girls got in when we got out and then we sat on my big bed and painted our toes.

All that and it's only lunch time, we are hoping the weather will stay dry so we can go for an explore in the 'deep dark woods' this afternoon.

There is a piece of pork and some parsnips waiting to be roasted for our evening meal and I feel like the most treasured Mummy in the whole world.

Hope all other Mummy's are being spoiled too!

Daisie xxx