Lazy Day

Just a quick one tonight. Been a slower pace today, our muscles are very sore indeed! Garden looking good though!
It would appear that Jenny has gone mad and thinks I am married to Bob The Builder and she is a cat!!* Nuff said me thinks!
And Ruth has more in common with an old nun than I first thought! Both her and Sr. Josephine's suggestion about the soapy water seems to be working, definitely less flies this morning, hurrah!

Daisie xxx

* See comments on yesterday's post.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well, it was past 1am on Tuesday morning when we finally got to bed. Walls and ceilings all gone!

Window men arrived at half eight yesterday morning and we had two new windows by ten! Thanks Padiham Windows!

We filled the first skip within an hour and so I had to ring and order another (there goes the budget). The floors through my house are BLACK! I seem to have been sweeping and mopping for days and it never looks cleaner. Poor Nathaniel not yet walking looks like we've been sending him up chimneys!!

Flags in the 'garden' up yesterday (well some of them, we got a little disheartened in the pouring rain and went to bed) and the rest came up this morning. Not so hot today so work was easier.

This is the view from the gate;



This was the view from the back door;



The new slabs were delivered but the man couldn't get the lorry down the side of the house as the skip man hadn't been to collect so he dropped them at the front of the house and Simon and I have carried them round to the back. I have muscles like Popeye and am sure my arms are longer than they were when I woke this morning!! Flags are in place but they need a little tweaking. Dark now so pics tomorrow.

Children all settled naked in their beds, blimey it's really warm, expecting it to chuck it down later, can feel it in the air.

Simon and I are carrying the last of the plasterboard up to the bedroom before we get washed and climb into bed with a Cornish pastie I found in the freezer. Am looking forward to a proper meal tomorrow, on a plate with vegetables!

My Oak tree is covered in greenfly and it's attracting flies (not a good thing in a garden the size of ours). I have done a little surfing and I either have to plant nettles or buy poisonous sprays. From the depths of my memory I seem to remember Sister Josephine ( a very green fingered nun) saying to spray the leaves with very soapy water. I have done this thinking that if the flies are still there tomorrow at least I'll have a lovely clean tree. Any top tips for dealing with aphids?

Daisie xxx

Feeling Hot, Hot Hot!

The heat today is amazing and very close indeed. It's one of those that when you stand under a tepid shower you feel fresh and clean but by the time you have rubbed yourself dry you are a horrid sweaty lump again! Goodness knows how hot and horrid Simon is feeling, he is still sealed into our bedroom (I did let him out last night) pulling the last of the ceiling down. We popped out this morning and bought some very green insulation for the room, it is made from recycled plastic bottles so is great for the environment and great for Simon too as it won't make him itch like fibreglass insulation does. Everyone's a winner! We (Simon ) also ordered some new stone flags to re-do our 'garden' to come with the rest of the building supplies for the room (only one delivery charge; cunning or what?). His reasoning being that if we're having a skip here we may as well fill it (with the walls and aeiling from the bedroom, the old flags, the shed wall and roof etc etc)! Watch this space for exciting developments.........

Blimey, amidst all the building madness and heat I actually made something!!

These are three handbag party invitation cards for Elizabeth's up and coming 7th birthday party;




Each card has the initial of the recipient and the tags are colour coordinated. The hole for the handle could have been better but I tend to get an idea and run with it and get excited when it looks good and forget to be slow and patient with my craft knife, whoops!

Off for a good sleep now as will be baby juggling and skip filling tomorrow!

Daisie xxx

Sunny Day

While poor Simon has been sealed into the bedroom pulling down walls and ceilings the sun has been beating down so we all went for a walk and left him to it!

We had a swing;



A small impromptu picnic that resulted in me having a wet bottom and in white linen trousers it's not such a good look! Note to self; put a big blanket under pram when next tis sunny!

Francesca wore her new 'crocs' (they are not genuine but they do have flashing flowers on the side and were a bargain at a certain supermarket that is 'Scandinavian for value'), her feet were sweaty and half way through our journey her feet had blisters. Being a terrible mother as I am, I had no plasters on me. Here are some I fashioned out of an old tissue (snotty bits removed) and a sticker that one of them got from the dentist that was screwed up in my purse;

And it was so hot and I was so tired that Elizabeth helped (only for three feet or so) to push the pram home;

Hope you've all had a lovely sunny day too?

Daisie xxx

Tagged!

Didn't post last night as was just far too hot and tired, so was Simon (lovely man) only the ceiling left now and some horrid hard stuff to remove from the fireplace he found behind the wall, I hope it's as nice as the one we found in the girls' room!

Twiggy has tagged me, here are the rules;

1. Link to the person who “tagged” you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post.

5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Six random facts about me;

1. I have three beautiful children but would secretly (or not so secretly) like to make it four!!

2. I have a thing for stationary, especially pens! Simon and his friend Anthony often refer to me as Pauline and they're not joking!!

3. Bruce Forsyth drove the car for my Nan and Grandad's wedding when he was just a young man.

4. I knew Simon was my true soulmate when after spneding our first night together (blush) he brought me marmite toast for breakfast in bed! Our song is 'Deep' by E17 (oh the shame), never have the radio playing random songs when being rude for the first time, it may come back and haunt you!!

5. I used to nurse terminally ill nuns for a living and thoroughly enjoyed it and still didn't 'catch' God! Mum says I should write a book about working in the convent as we had some very funny moments, she likes to ply me with wine and let me ramble, we all end up with sore faces and sides from laughing so much! Maybe I'll blog a few tales some time.....

6. Both my breasts are roughly the same size.

I would like to tag and find out more about Jenny, Terri, Sharon, Lynsey, Ruth and Kelcey. Sorry if you've had this one before girls, I lose track!

Daisie xxx

NB: #6 was Simon's suggestion when I ran out of ideas, he has been obsessed by this fact since we saw a programme about breasts on TV, this woman had a B and a DD, never seen anything like it before. Apologies to anyone with differing breasts!

Demolition has begun!

A very exciting day here at the Davies' household.

Elizabeth's friend Myah came at breakfast time and stayed with us all day, we did some housy jobs this morning, tidying, sweeping, hanging washing etc. We planted up Elizabeth's Busy Lizzies and taped Simon into our bedroom!

Me and the children set off to our favourite play centre and had so much fun. We met up with my friend Alison (hello, if you're reading, you said you'd left a comment but I can't find it, leave me another!!) and her son Thomas. After lunch we were joined by Julie and her daughters Jemima and Annabelle.

Nathaniel learned that with hot sweaty legs he could climb up the slide;



He wasn't quite sure what to do when he got to the top but Francesca soon put him straight.

He also learned how to climb up big bouncy steps and how to come back down again;

This pic is fab, all three of my babies together and no one is crying or shouting or being mean to one of the others. Sibling bonding at it's best;

When we returned home at the end of a long day of playing we discovered that in our absence Simon had managed to take down a whole wall but was desperate to get out for some coffee and a wee (or a wee and some coffee);

Have I told you how wonderful my husband is? Much better than Bob the Builder!! Three more walls and one ceiling to go........

Daisie xxx

Am I feeling Lucky?

I have been at party with the children most of the day having a wonderful time in the sunshine. Children in and out of the paddling pool and sliding down the slide far too fast on their wet bums!

Poor Simon has been removing window surrounds and skirting board, poor boy, he is my workman hunk today though :-) and I love him!!

I have just been here and left a comment and am now keeping my fingers crossed that I win! What are the chances?

Daisie xxx

Just A Quick One

Blimey, busy day, walls not down yet but man coming with windows on Tuesday morning so we better get moving quickly! The room looks huge now it's empty and Simon has painted lovely blue patches all over the walls so we can try and choose the final colour. Such a big decision!
Off for a good sleep before another busy day tomorrow.
Daisie xxx

My Poor Fingers!

No, not a knitting related injury this time! I have sore fingers from moving far too much furniture!! Simon very kindly crushed my fingers with a very big wardrobe. He assures it was an accident and I have forgiven him (almost)!

There will be pics tomorrow of our very empty bedroom (too tired now) before we take the walls down, ooh excitement! And a bit of scaredness too!!

A nice picture of Francesca and her very best boyfriend, Harry, she says she'll marry him when she's grown up, ah!

The veil was made for her by Simon's Mum, nothing to do with me, personally I hope she runs away and does it in secret (on the cheap) like me and her father did!! No, I don't mean that really, can't wait to be 'mother of the bride'. Although I will wait for the right man and scare off anyone I feel unsuitable.

Daisie xxx

A Tidy Stash

Here is my baby in her party clothe's on Saturday;


The chef set went down very well with Cara and a wonderful time was had by all!

As I have mentioned we are embarking on a major renovation and (I don't know about you but..) our house becomes a giant Rubik's cube where you have to move three things to make enough room to move another and the mess is always a hundred times worse before it gets better.

A perfect example of that took place today.

Here is how my paper craft corner looked this morning;

A terrible shambles but it looked worse when I moved it all onto the dining room table;

After hours of huffing and puffing (both me and Simon) carrying things up into the attic, packing things into boxes and generally making more mess, the girls wardrobe and small cupboard made their way down stairs. I filled them with all my goodies and it looked much tidier;

And it looked even better when we closed the doors;

Now all I need to do is find my piano under the mounds of stuff that has been put there on it's way to somewhere else!

Daisie xxx

Look What I Got!!

The postman brought this today;


Inside it there was this;

I put my phone in it and did this;

And made my crocs look very old, tired and rather dirty by doing this;

A huge big thank you to Terri who sent me these lovely, lovely goodies just for leaving a comment on her blog about sewing my finger into my machine when I was a new and inexperienced machinist! How we laughed!!

Now, I didn't do any knitting last night as I was browsing through the magazine that Jenny sent me earlier in the week and thought 'I can never make that' and then I got to thinking why on earth not!? So I got out lots of lovely coloured tapestry threads and started a new project (Heather's baby will have to hope that cardigans do grow on trees or that we have a very mild winter)! I have taught myself some new stitches with help from the blurb at the back of the mag and a quick look at youtube (really good, learned lots of knitting things there too). Watch this space, as they say.............

Simon and I have taken car loads of stuff to the tip and I have sold plenty of things on eBay this week making space to rearrange the house while we renovate our bedroom. I will no doubt bore you silly with talk and pics of our DIY. The plan is to make the bedroom slightly smaller and much neater by building a walk-in wardrobe (or a big cupboard) and I am very excited indeed. We have these mad ideas (well, I do) and my poor husband spends his summer holiday up to his eye balls in plaster dust and nails! We had planned to do the house up quickly but we have lived here since 1997 and haven't finished yet. Must stop having babies, it really slows down this kind of job, ha! I do have a beautiful kitchen, fabulous bathroom and the two back bedrooms are wonderful. By the end of the summer upstairs will be complete and the girls can have their own bedrooms, ooh!

Off to sew..........

Daisie xxx

Making Stuff

Here are the amazing goodies that Jenny sent to cheer me up, what a love!


The 'Stitch' magazine has some wonderful ideas in it, perfect for Christmas gifts (OMG, Christmas is coming)! Lovely oriental character stickers, sparkly pink corners (Francesca has her eagle eye on these), and a little pack of ribbon bits and beads and a sherbet dib-dab thingie.

I have had a day of making things, Nataniel has mostly slept, think it's what he needs. Francesca and I had an afternoon at the table making a cushion for Elizabeth's teacher (to go on the new chair in the class room);

This is the card I made as a thank you for having Elizabeth this year, Miss Hall is wonderful and I hope she gets Francesca in Y1 because she's brilliant;

It's a pretend clip board and I have put the teacher's name at the top and done ten spellings (wonderful, caring, kind etc), marked them all right with a big tick and put ten out of ten at the bottom and a well done sticker. It's a shame the picture's not better as am rather pleased with it.

I also made a card for Cara (Saturday party girl) with a decoupage "lily of the valley" fairy that I got in a kit. Don't usually do decoupage but I got the bug and made this puddle duck one for a little girl who will be seven on Saturday;

I got the stamp free on a magazine a bit ago and haven't used it before, I stamped four ducks in black and coloured them in with soft pencils. I trimmed each image differently and layered them up (can't really see this in pic). Mounted them on some pearly pink paper and then on torn handmade paper and fluffed the edges. I finished the card with a broad pink ribbon threaded through the spine and tied in a bow at the front.

Off to do some more knitting now, cardigans don't grow on trees you know!!

Daisie xxx

Flat Battery

Just a quick one tonight as I am still very tired but it was great to be in my own bed last night. Thanks for all your kind thoughts and wishes. Nathaniel is a little brighter and has eaten today, good sign.

I wanted to show you my completed sewing project for Cara's birthday on Saturday;

Francesca really liked the hat, may have to make some more of those!!

I wanted to show you the wonderful things I received in the post today from the beautiful Jenny but the camera battery is flat so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow. Thanks Jen, you made my day!!

Bed again now, mmmmmmmmm sleep!!

Daisie xxx

We're Home!

Nathaniel was admitted to hospital on Thursday morning, hence the lengthy absence!

We were sent home today (not because he is fully recovered but because they were busy and needed the bed). He is better than he was but is still a poorly boy with another seven days of toxic antibiotics to take.

It was hot and smelly and noisy, some laughs were had though;



We found a great way to always have the vomit bowl with us (didn't manage to ever catch it though);


I took along my knitting bag and my book but only managed the tiniest pair of bootees and two pages. I averaged about two hours sleep a night; if it wasn't Nathaniel it was someone else's baby!

Am off to climb into my nice clean bed in my nice clean pyjamas and sleep until morning!

Night, night Daisie xxx

Vomit and Cake

A big thanks for the lovely comments, Francesca is fully recovered now and eating like a horse to make up for the two days of poorliness. Nathaniel on the other hand is very ill indeed! He is hot, being sick around ten times a day (soon after he eats anything). He is a miserable boy and it's very sad to be his Mummy and not be able to make him better. His neck is swollen today so off we went to the docs today to be told it was ...................... wait for it ...................... a ...............virus! Getting to the doctors was a mission in itself. I phoned at 8 when the surgery opened. Yes, they would see him today if I could go now. Cue quick get dressed, gather lunch boxes, book bags etc, throw children in car and call KaeKae's Mummy for help!! The wonderful woman sorted my girls and took them to school/nursery for me, what a star!

This is the cake Francesca and I made as a thank you;

Crafting has taken a bit of a back seat this week as am mostly rocking a small boy, cleaning up sick and washing (millions of) clothes! There are some more baby knits going on and the birthday project is nearly complete. I have an idea for a pair of tired jeans that were on their way to the charity shop but.............

Daisie xxx

The Lost Weekend

Blimey, what a weekend!

It started at 4pm on Friday when Simon bunked off work early so we could go to Ikea! We were in search of a chair for Francesca (pics will follow) but bought lots of lovely other things too (don't you always)! We thoroughly enjoyed our sweedish meatballs for tea.

We arrived home long after the children's bedtime so flung them into bed super quick and were not far behind them. We need sleep for our big adventure on Saturday.

We got up and ate a hearty breakfast and set off to see Dr. Who at Sapceport in Liverpool. Simon and the girls have been to this one before but I haven't so very exciting indeed! We met up with our friend Paul and his daughter, Taryn, who is a bit older than Elizabeth and is a Dr. Who maniac just like us. The plan was to see the exhibition and then head back to Paul's to watch last weeks episode closely followed by this weeks finale. Paul's other half had made Lasagne for everyone too, how good an evening was this going to be!!

Just to make Twiggy jealous, here is a snap I took of the outfit that Dr. Two (see what I did there) wore in the final episode. I'm sure I detected a distinct niff of Tennant;


And here we are with a Hath;

The evening was splendid and Dr. Who was marvelous (we're now counting the days until the Christmas Special) but another late night for the children, bad parents that we are!

Sunday morning we were woken just after five by Francesca, I told her to go back to bed and was told that she 'felt sick' I sent her to the bathroom and snuggled back down but soon dashed through at the speed of light when I could hear her retching, poor baby. I spent most of the day rubbing her back and holding her hair out of the way. Nathaniel also spent the day chucking up. It was vomit city here! I went through so many pairs of pyjamas that by the end of the day I was wearing some terrible grey bottoms that are easily a decade old and haven't washed well and a Beavis and Butthead (remember them?) T-shirt of Simon's. I was the most attractive woman in the country, I can tell you!

Everyone much better this morning, just a little limp and tired!

AOB:

Lynsey is back at home and seems fine after her mystery illness, good to have you back!

Appologies to Jenny, when I said "I didn't think you were that old" I didn't mean you were old I just meant that you look so wonderful and youthful in your photo! X

More sewing being done (as well as lots and lots of washing) so will be back soon with completed projects, one hopes at least!!

Daisie xxx

New Project......

Firstly a quick update on Swirly; nothing to report unfortunately. She has had an x-ray and an ultra sound scan and they haven't yet decided what is wrong or what they are going to do about it. They are going to keep her until tomorrow and observe her (that sounds scary). At least she can eat now!! Mr. Swirl has been and delivered some crafting for her to do so she doesn't get too bored!

Now here is a pic of the start of my next project for a birthday present.


Francesca has been invited to Cara's party on the 19th and I hope that the lack of crafting time this week doesn't continue or it'll never get done! There is something really yummy about pink gingham for a summer birthday. Am really excited about this project. I have seen similar things done by other people and want to put the Daisie Davies stamp on it.

Here are some felt teds with tiny buttons and bows on their chests. I admired them when visiting KaeKae's Mum yesterday. They were attached to a paper gift bag. She dropped by with them today for me, how nice is that! I have earmarked one for a new baby card that needs making soon and have thought of how to incorporate one into the birthday project. One ted in need of a use, any suggestions?!

And finally before I go and get the sewing machine out is a pic of Elizabeth's new hair;

Daisie xxx

A Bit Of Excitement On A Wednesday Night!

Blimey, there I was cooking pie for tea, Nathaniel at my feet not being helpful, Francesca soaking in a tub filled with raspberry flavoured bubbles, Elizabeth practicing her spellings when the phone rang. OMG who the bloody hell is ringing a mother of three at this time in the evening!? T'was Swirly! Oh my, she is poorly, poor pumpkin. Could I take her to the hospital? Of course I could!!

An hour later after shovelling tea down three small people and clearing away the dishes and after much yelling of "brush your teeth!" "have you had a wee?" "Get in here NOW if you want a story!" all the babies were tucked up in bed. Simon came through the door, I pointed him in the direction of his tea and went to the car (the car that I am trying not to use this week, that's friendship for you!). Off to get the patient. Then off to Blackburn to find the hospital, it's all got terribly complicated since they closed most of Burnley's Hospital. We were so used to having it all on the doorstep :-(

I collected her and her bag and off we drove into the sunset (well sort of) with no children in the car!! That never happens! Out at night time with no off spring! Not quite the jolly jaunt one would hope for but probably the best either of us are going to get for the foreseeable future! Ha ha!

Didn't get lost, hurrah! We found her room and were greeted not too warmly by a grumpy staff nurse who was about to go off shift. Maybe she'd had a hard day? I felt very sad leaving her, she can't have anything to eat or drink until they have decided what it is she's got and what they're going to do about it. I gave her a big hug before I left and am sure you all are sending big cyber hugs too. I will keep you all posted!

The crafting I had planned (and walked a long way to get fabric for) for tonight will have to wait until tomorrow now but nevermind!

Daisie xxx

Our Personal Hairdresser!

This is my sister Naomi;


She is an amazing hair stylist and she does our hair for free!! But because it's free it doesn't tend to be as often as we'd like and because it's free we can't complain, ha ha!

She whisked Francesca off to the bathroom for a quick wash and condition;

Francesca has a terrible bit of hair at the front of her head that always falls in her eyes (even when I wet it and slick it down and tie it up) so after much persuasion we opted to cut in a fringe, I have an inbuilt fear of fringes (but that's another story) but Naomi worked her magic and the results are brilliant, Francesca keeps looking in the mirror and giggling! Lets hope it does the trick and her hair will be as neat and tidy when I collect her from Nursery as it will be when I drop her off!!

Elizabeth had to wait until after we'd eaten to have hers done, Naomi needs to keep up her strength!! We have a picture of the post wash and condition;

But not one of the finished look. Elizabeth's hair is at least six inches shorter than it was this morning and it looks wonderful! Will try and post a pic of her tomorrow with her beautiful new locks.

My head is much better today and am feeling a little more human, thank for all your lovely comments!

Daisie xxx