A Queen In The Making

Having the chest infection from hell, mega antibiotics, an inhaler and being told by my doctor to rest (whatever that is) I decided we'd have a pyjama day today.

I made a start on Elizabeth's snow queen costume while the children snuggled under blankets and watched Night At The Museum II.

I used this pattern as the basis for the dress;


It still needs some fine tuning, a little tightening in areas and a huge net under skirt but I think it's looking rather good;


Oh, and a zip;

Elizabeth loves it so it's ok.

Daisie xxx

Fifteen Years Ago Today

I met a beautiful young man with tattooed arms, big boots, biking leathers and sparkling blue eyes for a drink and a dance. The rest, as they say, is history!

So thank you Simon for fifteen years of love and understanding, four beautiful children, two lovely homes (we have lived in two houses, we don't have two!), several clapped out cars, long late night bike rides, cups of tea when I am ill, numerous laughs, lots of hugs, millions of kisses and for being the very best friend a girl could have!

Happy anniversary, I love you so much!

xxx

Knitting And Squealing Show!!

I was up at 5.30am sipping my lemsip and blowing my nose in preparation for such an exciting trip.

I collected Gil and we made good time, jumped the queues as we already had tickets and started a mammoth knitting fest! I managed not to meet anyone from blogland, sadly, but was spotted by many of folks as I ran from one stall to the next squealing "Ooh, look at that!!" It was so brilliant!!

I spotted a knitted boat but feel very bad as I think it was a project from Leeds University but I'm not sure if that's right or if it's something I read somewhere else or just made up (baby brain again), sorry, but it was truely fabulous;


It had it's own knitted ship's cat;

A knitted anchor;

There were many knitted sea creatures; crabs, fish, octopusses but my favourite has to be this seal and her pup;

I bought some of my favourite flowers for a project just for me;

And some yummy yarn just for me too;

I also bought some clothes patterns as I have to make a costume to end all costumes as Elizabeth is The Snow Queen in the Christmas production . She is very excited as she usually ends up with a crappy part. In year one she came home and cried as she had been given the part of a reindeer and, I quote; "It's not fair 'cos I am the best reader". I have huge amounts of flowing white fabric, gems, glitter and not much time but am sure she won't be disappointed with whatever I manage to create for her.

I got lots more little things, things to make gifts with, things to give as gifts and things to admire and stroke in a non-sinister way!

One of the nicest things about the day was watching lots of older, posh looking ladies sitting around on dirty carpets in corridors eating packed lunches like students, it was fabulous, wish I'd had more balls and asked if I could have photographed them!

How was your Sunday?

Daisie xxx

The Excitement Mounts!

One of the random shots taken when trying to take a good picture of the children. The boys look quite good in this one and the girls just look like they're maniacs!

The yucky poorliness has finally got me, as I knew it would once the children had recovered. I am hot and shivery and snotty and achey and felt so bad yesterday I went to bed at 6.30 last night. I wish it had made me feel better but it didn't! It has not dampened my excitement for tomorrow though. I am off to get Gil early in the morning with a small boy and some water and snacks to see us through the day. I have my money ready to spend! Squeal! Can't wait.

Ddaisie xxx

Harrogate Anyone?

Is no one off for jolly oohing and ahhhing and stash buying in Harrogate?!

Anyhoo, just popped in to show you my hat with it's rosette (yes, Daisie Heights really is that dull at the moment);

Bad pictures again but this time in the kitchen. I've managed to take a picture with no chin, how is that possible?!

I have started knitting another hat for Francesca with some beautiful Juniper yarn today on some lovely new bamboo needles I treated myself to. So smooth and nice to handle and an absolute baragin too.

And just to prove that I am not the only person in our house unable to take their own picture;

Although I think Nathaniel looks quite cheeky in this shot!

Daisie xxx

My New Hat!

The girls are much better and have returned to school. They are still coughing on and off but are a million times better than they were this time last week. Nathaniel on the other hand has got worse. Today he seems a little more like himself but for the last three days he has been so hot you could fry eggs on his back and he has been so miserable, falling in and out of fitful sleep. Today he has asked for crackers with cheese and has drunk more than he has been doing so maybe things are on the mend.

Sebastian too is miserable, he has a sticky eye, a snotty nose, and is un-put-downable. Yesterday as Simon was at work, Nathaniel on the sofa crying I had to have him in the sling so I could do the veg for tea and clean the kitchen and just move and use my arms;


I did manage to knit myself a hat because I loved Elizabeth's so much;

Proof, if proof were needed that you just cannot take your own photograph! Please excuse the washing hanging behind me to dry and the loft hatch and the general bad 'styling'!

A bit more proof;

And a bit more;

I can never get the angle right, my nose always looks huge, it is too big for my face (especially my mouth) but not as huge as it appears in these pics. I think I was going for an enigmatic smile but ended up looking wierd. The hat looks good though! Just look at the hat. I am just knitting a rosette to go on the front and then maybe I can find someone to take the picture for me....

Daisie xxx

PS; I will be at the knitting and stitching show in Harrogate on sunday and wondered if anyone from blogland fancied meeting up later in the day and comparing purchases. Juicyfig is meeting up with me and if I like the look of her in real life she may even get a sneaky snuggle with Sebastian! I am very excited and really looking forward to it and very sorry that Jenny won't be able to make it this year :( Let me know if you'll be there, would be lovely to say hi. I will be easy to spot - I'll be the strange looking woman with the big nose wearing a baby and a purple hat!! xxx

Making

The poorliness is slowly lifting, the girls are well enough to argue with each other! Coughs are hacking and noses are running but everything else is now settling down. I on the other hand am feeling worse.

We did some paper craft today and it links in to two posts I have read recently but I'll get to that in a mo.

Firstly I covered some reclaimed embroidery thread boxes to put my recycled wall covering note cards in;


They look really rather good and with two possible craft fairs coming up before Christmas are good to add to my 'stock'.

Amanda posted today about crafting with her children and I have to agree with her, it's not as enjoyable as one might think. I find it easier now they have there own craft 'stash' or I fill a box with select things from my stash that they may share, therefore they don't need to even be near anything I don't want them to touch. I am a bit of a control freak though and find it hard not to completely take over offer advice. I have to admit though that their artistic ability is improving with age.

Then Dottycookie mentioned the rumour in blogland that we edit out all the messy bits. Well, I may try (sometimes) but lets be honest if I edited out all the mess there would be nothing left. See;


This is one of Elizabeth's creations;

This is Francesca's, a kind of summery christmas birthday extravoganza;

Nathaniel went with a green theme;

I did try with some stiff wire and some red buttons to thread them together to make a heart shaped tree decoration but sadly it just didn't work. The wire was too stiff to get through by hand and when I got the wire working tools on it it just broke. So I either need some thinner for fingers or thicker for pliers. Any advice would be lovely.

Nathaniel was truly bemused by my struggling and gathered the disgarded bits and pieces and threaded them all together. It was lovely to watch him concentrate with the snot and dribble rolling down his chin;

It's not quite what I was aiming for but the look of 'this is how you do it' did cheer me up!

Daisie xxx

Day Four Thousand And Six In The Big Poorly House

Well, only day four but seems much much longer! Everyone slept better last night so that has helped, Francesca mightily cheerful when she got up this morning, or she was until she had to go and be sick. She always manages to get it in the toilet. What a trooper. Ten out of ten for aim!! The coughing seems to have gotten much worse but the temps (of all the three big ones) have been much more managable today and the peaks and troughs that go with paracetamol working and then wearing off have been less traumatic for all concerned.

I have finally managed to knit a successful hat;


I seem to be very bad at hats or else I have just never found a very good pattern. I knitted one for Sebastian before he was bron that looked lovely but it's too short (think I mentioned in an earlier post), I then knitted a bigger size for Nathaniel that came out so big it fits Elizabeth although she doesn't like it so it's waiting to be frogged at some point. I managed to get not a bad one for Francesca but that too is on the short side. I don't think it's just me though as the lovely cotton hat that Jenny knitted for Sebastian is too short too. Maybe I just make children with long heads? Nah........

This beret was so quick to knit and looks amazing and best of all it is made with some super chunky yarn that Elizabeth picked out for herself at the scrap store when we went during half term. She wants some flowers knitting to go over one eye and a scarf to match. She may have to wait a short while though as the Christmas knitting is going very very slowly at the moment.

Nathaniel's tower building skills have improved today;


A double tower. Give the boy a box of bricks and he will be happy for hours on end unless this happens.

When I was a little girl (and now I'm not so little) I wanted to live in a symetrical house, you know, door in the middle, windows either side, white picket fence, roses round the door etc. Well, I live in an end of terrace that is far from symetrical, the door is to the left of a rather nice stained glass window and the upsatirs is double glazed and down isn't and it is lovely our house but not symetrical. While my children on the other hand..... I have managed to have two girls and two boys. I have a brown eyed girl (Elizabeth) and a blue eyed girl (Francesca) and Nathaniel's eyes are the brightest blue and Sebastian's seem to be the darkest brown. So a little bit of symetry there me thinks. See;

Chocolatey brown eyes like his biggest sister and his Mummy. And look at his six week old chops, how I want to bite them!!!

Daisie xxx

Oh For Goodness Sake!

Blimey, we are ill! My poor daughters especially so. But because they have raised temperatures I cannot take them to see our doctor. We all have a rather nasty bug (to varying degrees) but I think Elizabteh also has a throat infection that would benefit from a course of anti-biotics (much as I dislike the things) but after answering lots of questions we now have a code number for tamiflu. I am not going to bother going to the swine flu tratment desk at the health centre. It's a virus. And just how many times have we been told as mothers of ill children that what they have is a virus and it will go away in 5 to 7 days. And how exactly can a diagnosis of swine flu be made using a tick sheet over the phone/internet?! We are doing the age old thing, lots of warm drinks, regular paracetamol and plenty of snuggles! Elizabeth is coming out the otherside already. I have no doubt that Francesca and Nathaniel will be back to usual by the end of the week too. I am not too concerned for Sebastian as he is getting homemade DaisieDavies antibodies every two hours (or more if he feels like it)! It's no wonder really that the number of cases of swine flu are so high if everyone who has a sore throat or headache is being given tamiflu! Oooooooooh, am ranting now, must stop.

Anyhoo, being stuck at home has enabled me to put some of these fab christmas buttons in my shop;


I have also managed to complete a very special custom order for a very special customer *waves at Laura with a silly grin* when the calpol has been effective and have managed to knit a little and Nathaniel managed to make a wonderful tower before the drugs started to wear off and he had to lay down again;


And I have discovered that it matters not the size of fevered child laying in your lap, you can still sew these;

Yes, I know they don't yet have laces but lets not be too picky!

Hoping you are all well!

Daisie xxx

Bargain!

Look at my new shoes, look, look, look;


A pound, yes £1, one whole British pound, one hundred pennies! That's 50p per foot (although Simon and Elizabeth have some theory that the right shoes is worth 65p and the left only 35p, I didn't ask them to explain as my brain already hurts)!

Can you believe it?! I hardly could! Brilliant though and spangley and I love them :-)

What's making you happy today?

Daisie xxx

Actual Knitting!

Terrible photos again but real life, finished knitting!!

Francesca's hat;


With love-heart shaped doo-dah on the top;

This pattern is quick and simple but seems to knit up a little short. She could do with another inch to tuck her ears in! Sebastian seems to have the same trouble and isn't very happy about it;

There is more Christmas knitting on the go after a recent trrip to SAMS (scrap store) and some gifty type things on there way into the shop. Just need to find a few more hours from somewhere......

Daisie xxx

This Is Me (again)!

I loved Gina's comment on my last post, made me smile!

During the Art-As-Therapy course we had eight weeks to work individually and as a group and look at ourselves from the past, talk about the present and think about ourselves of the future. For the beginning of the course I was huge and pregnant, full of hormones and tired, then I was huge, pregnant, full of hormones and fed up of still being pregnant. It was hard, I cried alot! We were a small group of varying ages and backgrounds and everyone was very supportive. I found my Friday afternoons a big comfort after a long week.

We all had a large canvas on which to do our self portrait, using any art medium we fancied. It took me a long time to decide what I was, what I looked like. I am a thirty something, five foot something, with long dark hair, big brown eyes, a large milky chest (which isn't always milky but is always large), an abundance of freckles and usually dark bags under my eyes and snot (not mine) somewhere about my person. I didn't fancy painting her!

I thought about what I was, what I am. I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a house keeper. I keep all that I love safe. I am a big warm sphere that pulls all that is special into the centre and keeps it safe from harm. The darkness around me is the holes that I frequently fall into (to varying degrees) and am always aware of even when they are far away. Probably a bit deep but it was a great experience and I feel better for it. I like the outcome and it will hang on my wall.

We also did a family tree exercise which isn't finished yet but will be.........

Daisie xxx

This Is Me!

No, really! After many weeks of self analysis and exploration (not always comfortable or easy) this is my self portrait. Painted in acrylics on canvas. I quite like it!

Daisie xxx