999 on Hayling Island

 Hubby and DD checking out an American police car

We're all battling a tummy bug here at the moment. Hubby started us off on Monday night, I started Wednesday night and now DD is looking peaky this morning. Oh the joys!
 So forgive me for going into the past a little and showing you all some snaps from the weekend. Hayling Island hosts a free 999 show every year next to the sea. You can meet local police officers, sit in all the emergency cars and pick up thousands of leaflets about personal safety and home safety. It really is a fascinating day out.

We really enjoyed watching the firemen cutting someone out of a car. It is amazing just how quickly they can remove a roof with the jaws of life. DD wasn't very impressed though. "They broke the car mummy. Naughty firemen!"

Perhaps it's a little early to try interesting the police as an career, but she looked so cute playing with this policeman cutout. Officer Baby reporting for duty.

 One of the police stalls had a free keyring to make. One of the helpers showed you how to do a fingerprint of your thumb and then popped it into a keyring for you to take home and keep. They also put them under a magnifier so you could see your fingerprint really clearly and see what type you had. DD has proudly attached hers to her school bag to show everyone.

 DD made one to, albeit a bit smaller. We have attached hers to her changing bag to, mainly to stop her chewing it lol.

And a trip to Hayling Island wouldn't be complete without a visit to the local arcade! Here is DD playing with a 2p Roulette machine. She really enjoyed trying to guess which color would win next and we even made it slightly educational by prompting her to tell us what all the colours were.

 All in all it was a lovely weekend trip out together. I can't wait till we move there and everything's on my doorstep to enjoy.

x x x

Summer of color week 3

Week three is upon us already and I have finally been able to finish an entry in decent time. 

Here is bear 3 - green and purple in his glory.
I wonder what they're talking about?

Banana Overload

 Oh dear. I've done it again. Pick up a bunch of banana's for lunch boxes and snacking only to not use them and discover them brown and slightly squishy in the fruit bowl. So I knew I needed to get some baking on the go today.
 So above we have a big banana cake for lunchboxes over the week.

 And two banana and fruit crumbles, one with topping, one without sprinkled with a little brown sugar. We ate the one without topping after our lunch of cheese and coleslaw sandwiches. Baked banana's are wonderful!!! If you haven't ever tried it please please do.

After all that baking and during the small mountain of washing up both of the girls curled up and went to sleep in the sunshine. I took the opportunity to finish another teddy bear for DD's Christmas present. This one is a lot larger than the SOC bears so it has taken a fair while to sew all the pieces together, plus hiding it from her view.

 All in all a successful and busy day. :)

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Summer of Color Week 2

Phew.... it's been a hectic week catching up after our holiday with everything. When your self employed things mount up super fast! But I have just made it in time for week 2. Hooray.
 I didn't have any orange or pink felt to make a bear from but a search of my stash found some embroidery thread and a beautiful piece of hot pink ribbon! And so a new bear was born.
 Hope you like her, DD has once again placed a claim on this little bear and she is currently having a tea party with her week 1 brother.

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Why I'm the bestest SIL evers

  I am officially a bestest SIL - or I will be. Hubby's youngest sister has a birthday in August and an obsession with Katie Price. Yesterday I spotted some posters up in town advertising a book signing last night in our local shopping centre for Katie Price signing her latest book.

 
After a fairly reasonable 90minutes I finally neared the head of the cue. By this point I had learnt much from the couple of girls in front of me by overhearing their conversations. I now know the pros and cons of sunbeds vs spray tan and the difference between acrylic and shellac nails.

  When I actually got there she didn't even look up to see what I looked like, just copied the message from the post it note inside the book and muttered a quick "thanks". To be honest I wasn't really bothered but I think if I was a fan I'd have found it rude.

 And Voila! One cool birthday present ready to make me the bestest SIL ever.  Plus I can knock "attend a book signing" off my bucket list as well.

x x x

Frugal Frames

  If you are a Pintrester or a blog wanderer like me you will have noticed that frame arrangements are all the rage. No longer are they placed in sad singles and pairs around the room but actually becoming a statement piece themselves.
 I really like the arrangement in the photo above, with all the frames overlapping each other. And me being me, I decided to try it.

After browsing on Argos and Wilkinsons websites for inspiration I decided on what sizes and styles I wanted my frames to be. But at £9 for a 16x20 frame alone it wasn't a very frugal option for me. So instead I went to one of my favourite places in the world, the church charity shop.
 I found the largest frame above first and had a lovely conversation with one of the volunteers about what I was planning to do. She really got into it and disappeared in that strange and mystical "backroom" all charity shops seem to have. After 10 minutes of searching, arranging and rearranging we came up the five frames above.
 And because "nobody buys old frames and pictures anymore" they were just 50p each. £2.50 for the lot? Bargain!

 A quick visit to Hobbycraft for some mounts (I wanted them to match) and £9 later I was ready to get started. Stripping the old pictures out, giving them a good clean with some vinegar and newspaper, popping in the mounts and Voila! One art frame arrangement for a tasty £11.50.
 My next job is picking out which photos to get printed up for them, so I'm off now to roam the depths of the photo folder. I will let you know what I pick out and do a big reveal of the finished project soon.

x x x

Crafty success

 

Did you know the Summer of Colour is upon us once more? It started while I was away so I have been playing catch up. While I was running some errands yesterday for the shop I popped into Hobbycraft with idea of treating myself to some watercolour paints. I've had a hankering to paint again lately.

 Well Hobbycraft had a sale on, and in the 50p bin were several sheets of felt, in last weeks colours! Something in my head clicked that they would make a lovely little teddy bear so....

 ... here he is. My entry for SOC week 1. Do you like him? He is my very first teddy bear and I am so proud of myself, I am currently working on a larger bear as well for DD's Christmas present  and I hope to reveal it to you all soon.

 X x X

P.S - I will try and get a better photo of the bear in the daylight when I can get him back from DD lol

Salty Experiments

While I was away I saw a whole host of preserves and it's rekindled my love of all things self sufficient.
One thing that really interested me were salted lemons.  A quick Google found several recipes including a few for oranges and limes. And I happen to have an orange and some sea salt to hand.
I will keep you posted on the outcome in a few days but so far so good. 
X x x
P.S Never ever ever make this when you have a paper cut. I was in agony! ! !

Back from my jolly holidays

 My week in Devon is over *sniff. But what a week it has been full of adventures and family time. Here are some of our shenanigans from the past week.

 ..Finding a little charity shop that made me think of Angela. (Tracing Rainbows)

 Watching the clouds drift past on lazy afternoons. I think this one is amazing! It looks just like a bird to me.

 Munching delicious artisan chocolates made using delicious secret recipes.

 Getting arty with nature on the beach.

 Beach-combing and collecting interesting things. They look so lovely arranged in an old wooden jewellery box.

Look at all that sea glass and a collection of huge cockle shells just screaming for crafty uses. I have so many ideas to try in the coming days, so prepare to be amazed and dazzled lol.

 X X X

Potato Soup

We had some leftover potatoes and sweetcorn from our dinner yesterday so rather than waste them I made up a quick batch of potato soup.

Just some chicken stock and a splash of milk.  Once heated through give the whole thing a good mash and voila. Tasty filling potato soup.

I like mine thick, almost like a thin mash consistency and a sprinkle of cheese.

X x x