Busy

We have been so busy since last I was here.

We had a day in Manchester (well, Salford really) and visited the Imperial War Museum with some friends and nearly got run over by a tank, argh....


Then we walked a way to Old Trafford to watch a pre-season friendly match. It was Nathaniel's first time and he was very impressed. I don't do football but had a very good time indeed. By the time we were 2-0 up the Mexican wave started and went round and round and round and round and round (you get the picture), Francesca loved this bit best. She watched it go all around the stadium and squeaked with delight when it reached us and she threw her arms in the air.

And we managed to get a very good look at Fred The Red;



A very bad picture but we really did see him and he really did wave at us, the excitement was just too much!!

Think I may be a football convert, not heavy matches but I'd do friendlies again with the children 74, 311 people all playing the same silly games and cheering at the same time was quite good fun really.

Thursday I went out with just my big girl. It was just what we both needed. She has become very argumentative over the last week or so. I think being with her sister all the time has been hard (they either like each other lots or not at all, there is no in between). Elizabeth is seven going on fifteen and some days is really like Kevin the teenager. I find it hard because half of me wants to hug her and baby her and part of me just wants to beat her about the head when she is horrid. Not that I would you understand........

Anyhoo, we set out for Blackpool in the morning leaving a very tired Francesca and Nathaniel at home with Simon. We were on a search for new pyjamas and just needed to be together. No pyjamas were found but there were other treats to be had for her and her siblings (and me too!!!!) and there was not a raised voice to be heard. She even held my hand!? Apparently that's ok as long as it's not near school!

Today the children and I left Simon to have a rest from us all before he goes back to work on Monday. We collected Nathaniel's little friend Erin and her Mummy and set out for a play day here.

This afternoon I went to see my midwife and came away feeling much much better. She has taken some more blood and is going to phone me tomorrow with the results. She spent ages listening to me about my fears of not being able to give birth at home. She was very supportive and sympathetic. She has said that she will deliver my home birth pack on the 21st (two weeks time) as long as my levels have not dropped any further. The risk of excessive bleeding is minimal given my history (the lovely woman spent ages digging out my old labour notes and bleeding during and immediately after birth have never been a problem) so she sees no reason for it not to be 'safe' for me not to deliver in hospital. She will help me fight my corner if my consultant thinks differently. I feel that if this becomes a battle now I won't have to fight alone and that makes me feel stronger. Still have to take loads of iron but it may all turn out right in the end, as they say.......

I have some button goodies to share with you all tomorrow.

Night, night, Daisie xxx

Bargains And Brooches

Hello, blimey, what a lovely day we had yesterday. The children and I got up early, leaving Simon in bed (See what a good wife I am?) and made breakfast. For some reason we didn't hear the post man when he knocked to deliver these rather marvelous Jeremy Strong books that I won on eBay for Elizabeth. With a bit of luck they may last her until the end of the week, I have never known such a veracious reader at only seven years old!



So because we missed the postman and I am going out on Monday (with no children, woo-hoo) we decided to leave Simon in bed and venture into town and then along to the sorting office.

I have been on a hunt for black leggings all week to wear with my knitted boots and big jumper. So we went into all the cheapie clothes shops and at first I could find no leggings but I did find this beautiful skirt;



For only a single pound, how good is that?!

Really rather summery but I may wear it over my leggings and boots with a big black jumper? I did manage, eventually, to find some leggings, they are few and far between. They were everywhere last year, look at me being a fashion follower, ha ha!

After lunch Lynsey came to call to give us one of her beautiful invitations and also to give me some of her amazing 'freecycle' envelope stash! What a great pal!

Then Simon's Mum came and joined us for a cup of coffee and a catch up.

I spent the rest of the afternoon knitting a lacy scarf for me (yes, for me!) with some brownie- purple yarn that I picked up last year with the intention of knitting something for me. The time has arrived. I am making nothing more for the fair until it is finished!

While I knitted Simon made the card backs for my brooches;

I used a free printable backing paper pattern I got from my Artymiss subscription but printed it out at A4 and then printed the text over the top. Because I did it like this and not smaller blocks of the same patter it means that every one is slightly different depending where it was on the sheet and where I cut it.

I think they look really good;

The photos are a bit bad as the flash is now insisting on going off for all photos as we enter the dreaded British Summertime!

Daisie xxx

Boots And A Dilemma

Well I spent some time this morning making an apron for my craft fair (big pockets for change) with some tea towels that I bought for 30p at IKEA ages ago. I have already used some for a present and made this one for me;


I made one for Elizabeth too as she will be coming to keep me company. Really looking forward to it. Girl bonding! We rarely get much time to ourselves and we'll have all day. There will be a big flask of peppermint tea (biscuits?) and some good books going with us too!!

I also spent an age wrestling with a big sheet and some patch work daisies, nightmare. I gave up and put that little project aside to do the ironing (yes, it was that difficult). Will go back to it in a little while when I have read all the new posts in my blog reader.................

Then after lunch my very lovely friend Claire asked if I'd like to go shoe shopping. Well, that is a bit like asking if I wanted to breathe in and out!! How could I say no?! We left our respective children with their respective fathers and off we went into the wild blue yonder (well up the road a bit) and I bought these beautiful knitted boots! Squeal! There're not genuine Uggs (as if!) but I love them and they are snug and cosy and knitted and ooooh! I could only love them more if they were purple!

The dilemma is.........excusing terrible photographs (tis hard to photograph your foot!)............do I wear them like this;

Or like this;

Or one of each as I did for the pics?! I must also appologise for my frighteningly white legs! At least because of the flash going off you can only see the white and not the hair! Haha!

Daisie xxx

Too Tired?

Blimey Swirly, what a wuss!

We have been out together today buying many fabulous things! We started off the day when we met up at Tumble Tots with Nathaniel and Tara, they had a lovely play, we layed on crash mats and chatted (we haven't done that in ages)! We were going to have a browse in the charity shops and then we decided to venture to Accrington instead. What a good idea.

I bought a book for Simon, a Sesame Street video for the children so they can see what Bert and Ernie look like (we refer to Simon and his friend Anthony as Bert and Ernie), a lovely knitted wrap around top for just £3 (there would have been a pic but the camera battery is flat), a number of lovely goodies for the children for Christmas, some size 13 knitting needles for an up and coming project, some balls of lovely wool, some Christmas tree decorations, a book for me to read at bedtimes and three amazing paper punches (heart, star and flower) that I found in the pound shop! Can you even believe it?! We couldn't either and I think that Swirly and I upset some of the locals with our squealing!

All this and a huge bag of fruit from the super cheap veg shop for little over £16, how good is that! And I'm not too tired, unlike my husband was out partying last night (yes, on a school night too) and is quite fragile today, ah, but not too big an ah!

Daisie xxx

Buttons!!!

We finally made it to Manchester Art Gallery to see the button exhibition!! We've been meaning to go for ages and I'm so glad we did, it was fab!! I was tempted to sweep them all into my handbag and run home and count them and sort them and just love them but that would be a bad thing to do and I do try to be a good girl. I did take millions of pictures though but have only included a few in my blog.....

Oh, to have £3 million to spend on buttons....



More buttons than you can shake a stick at.....




There were lots and lots of novelty buttons and children's buttons, in this pic there are mini wooden sailors (on the left), shiny metal saxophones, butterflies, pandas, dogs, fish, flowers and some funky plastic sunglasses. I used to have some of these on a cardigan in the height of style when a small girl in the 80s....




There were buttons on boots....

And buttons on gloves....

And a super button hat that we all tried on....

All this excitement was too much for Nathaniel....


And I just don't get this, do you....?

Anyway, I could stay here and ramble about buttons all day and the trip to Primark that followed, lets just say that Elizabeth has lots of new knickers and two t-shirts, Francesca has two pairs of trousers, I have some linen trousers and Nathaniel has two pairs of PJ's and seven new vests!!!!

Off now to explore Lancaster Castle....

Daisie xxx