World's happiest OH

 My lovely hubby is the world's happiest bunny today, just as I started writing my post from yesterday we had a knock at the door, it  was a courier with OH's new arsenal goodies.
 Normally their new shirt comes out a little closer to his birthday in August but for some reason it's earlier this year. But look at his beaming smile, he is so happy posing in his new top. He wanted to wear it to work today but I've hidden it so I can give it a wash first. In the past his new shirts have had a lot of dye left in them and he went pretty pink after the first wearing.

He also added this little romper suit and bib set for our impending arrival. When we found out we were having DD he ran out and brought her a little arsenal baby outfit almost straight away so I just knew he would do it with this one as well.

And a special free gift for preordering his shirt. In the new arsenal colour scheme and just the right size.......

for DD to toddle around with. OH already has a big backpack he uses for work so she took great delight in wearing the new backpack and acting just like daddy. I don't think OH has Peppa Pig toys in his bag like she does but I can't be sure lol.

x x x x

Finding Fun Week 6 - Rainy Days and Sunny Days.

  *Sniff..... It's the final week of Finding Fun. But it is certainly going out with a bang with this weeks suggestions being the best yet!!! Today is definitely a rainy day at Frugal HQ so we moved the making a den suggestion into the kitchen.

First we put the big airer into a semi circle, and then stood the A frame airer in the gap as an entrance tunnel.
Then we covered the whole thing a some big blankets that we usually use to cover the sofa, but somehow building our den was more important lol. Once it was built we popped some pillows and cushions inside to make it comfortable. And climbed on in.

 Once Mummy had snuggled in, DD moved all her most important things into her new home such as her drink, a half eaten biscuit, dolly and dolly's carrier. It was a little bit of a squeeze but with some rearranging we all managed to fit in.

It was so cozy and comfy in fact that DD happily nodded off for a while, and I took the opportunity to pop our adventures on here. Carolyn I never thought for a moment that by week six of Finding Fun I would be blogging from inside a homemade tent in my kitchen. I really hope that there is Finding Fun 3 being planned somewhere, I would quite happily do this again :) Thank you for 6 weeks of fun and entertainment.
And thank you to everyone else who entered this year, I have loved reading all your adventures over the weeks and seeing what everyone got up to with each theme.

 x x x 

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Busy afternoon

 Yesterday afternoon we had glorious weather, and it really soaked into my skin and got me moving! First off was DD's lesson for the day which was the letter A. We also referenced yesterdays lesson which was squares by decorating the letter A with squares I cut out from scrap paper. I was really impressed with DD's attention span today as we sat down for a good 20 minutes to complete these two projects without complaints or wandering off. We are only on day 3 of trying this scheme and already I feel she is gaining from it. Our reward for making the pictures above was a malted milk biscuit each, because the weeks theme is cows and they have little cows stamped on them. Tomorrows lesson is the number one which she will be starting with Daddy while I am at my knitting group.

 While DD was having her afternoon nap I also hooked out the patchwork quilt I started working on forever ago and made another 2 stars to add to it. It was lovely to just sit in the open window and sew. I'm hoping to work on this project a little more over the summer and possibly end up with a new quilt for winter, but we shall see how it goes.

And finally I completed another task on my spring clean/before baby to do list and blitzed a bookshelf. I've bagged up 4 carrier bags full of books that I've either read, tried to read and hated or just lost interest in. They will mostly be destined for the charity shop but some I've registered for Book crossing.

After all that I am going to relax with a cup of tea and watch DD have a tea party with her stuffed animals
x x x

Yesterday evenings doings.

While I was entertaining DD and crocheting flower squares to use up my stash and make a nice blanket....

..

OH was digging this wonderful wooden headboard out of our communal bin shed, cleaning it off, giving it a polish and attaching it to our bed. We've needed a headboard for a long long time, and the ones we've been looking at in the charity shops/furniture stores have been around £20 so that's a nice amount saved for a rainy day!!!
 Isn't he a clever chappy? I am so blessed to have him in my life, he's wonderful.
x x x

P.S It's nearly time for my 100th post giveaway to one of my lovely daily readers and followers. I'm getting excited.
x

Finding Fun Week 2.2

 Just a quick blog today as I have a house full of people. I wanted to post a quick snap of our game of Cluedo, which was one of the suggestions from Carolyn for this weeks FF challenge.
 I have my brother and a few friends over today to watch the football and have a takeaway pizza feast with so it was the perfect opportunity to get a game on the go. After a few rule checks and mini debates over how to play we were off and running!
 It was fantastic fun and kept us all happily occupied for an hour.
x x x

Saturday Shopping

  Last night was horrible. Poor DD had night terrors and woke up screaming and almost inconsolable at about 4am. It took forever to calm her down and settle her back to sleep and today I am paying for it. I was planning to have a good mooch around the charity shops but I was just to tired today. So instead I wandered up the road to the local museum to add some books to the Bookcrossing shelf and pick up something new and interesting. I'm going to try Eating Cake by Stella Duffy. I think it was the title that appealed to me.

  Today the museum was also hosting a Unique arts and crafts fair. It's a regular event where local crafters and artists can sell their handcrafted wares. There is lots of wonderful variety and a fantastic showcase of different talents. I wish I'd taken my camera to take some snaps but alas I'd forgotten it. I did however have some change in my pocket and picked up 3 delicious looking chocolate and raspberry scones. They are made by Teresa from Teresa's Cakes who if you are local makes cakes worthy of legend!!!!

 As you can see they certainly meet DD's approval. This picture is of her teasing me with her cake, she holds it out so you can try a bit and then snatches it away at the last minute giggling.

 She also helped Daddy price up some new stock with the pricing gun. Not sure I could bear to sell her for £14.95. To me she is priceless.

 I also picked up 10 lovely cards from Card factory. 10 cards for £1 is a deal I couldn't miss with so many birthdays in our family in the last 4 months of the year. This little lot should keep me going for a little while. As long as I don't forget where I put them!!!

x x x

Bedroom corner

  I couldn't think of what to blog about today so I've been reading some other blogs for inspiration. A lot of people seem to be doing little tours of their homes, so I thought why not.

  

This is the first place I visit thanks to it homing the alarm clock. The alarm was my husbands from years before he'd met me and is still going strong. I really like waking up to various morning chat shows rather than some horrible electronic beeping.

The book is the complete works of Austen. It was given to me on my 21st birthday by my MIL. The pages are all silver edged and it is full of beautiful illustrations. I have read from it a few times but it is enormously heavy. I'm looking forward to reading it with DD when she is older.

 This is my little jewellery chest. I love the way the wood match's the dressing table's wood.OH brought it for me a few years ago as a birthday present. I'd been cooing over it in a charity shop window for about a week prior so I was so pleased when I unwrapped it. In the mirror section I collect up all those little packets of Silica gel I seem to accumulate. I like to pop them in with knitted gifts etc if I am posting them, to keep them safe. I don't keep anything else in here as I stand things on top of it and can't be doing with moving everything all the time.
 The two drawers contain my DS games and accessories. I am a huge Nintendo fan and love to curl in bed with a game to play in the evenings. OH hates lights when it comes to sleeping so this solves the argument about me having a small light on to read a book. Every few months I clear them all out and OH puts them into his shop for sale, as interesting games come in to his store on trade I pick out any I fancy trying and the whole process starts over again. Making it an extremely low cost form of entertainment to enjoy.

  On top of my treasure chest lives the London Dragon. For my 21st birthday OH whisked me away for a romantic weekend to London. One our first evening he proposed over a lovely dinner, and on the second day we went shopping in Covent Garden. OH fell in love with the dragon in a shop that was closing down, I think it cost us £10 or there abouts. Every so often I give him a good dust down with a clean dry paintbrush or make up brush, and occasionally a new home elsewhere on a windowsill or bookcase when we rearrange everything. He tends to be one of those love it or hate it items though to most people.
 The little box came from a charity shop in Lee on Solent. It's made from old vintage Christmas cards and wallpaper and sewn together with the most dainty little stitches. I picked it up with the idea of copying the idea for a craft stall one day but I haven't got round to it yet. It should really be in with our box of Xmas decorations but I love the shape and I feel like it fits in really well with my other vintage bits on the dresser.

 So there you have it, a corner of my home and a few memories shared with you guys. I've actually really enjoyed remembering the story's behind some of the pieces. Who else fancies sharing a corner of their home on their blog?

x x x

Crochet hair slides.

 Aren't these sweet? While hunting for some knitting needles earlier in the depths of my craft cupboard I found a huge pack of hair clips. I think I picked them up in the 99p shop a little while before Christmas. Its a pack of 50 plain coloured ones so they definitely needed jazzing up.
 A quick google led me to Little Birdie Secrets and her sweet and simple crochet heart pattern. I whipped these up while waiting for our dinner to cook. A well spent 30 minutes if you ask me.

x x x

Week one of Finding Fun

 Week 1 of the Finding Fun challenge is here at last. Carolyn has made a cracking list for week one at Mess, Muddle and Fun. Pop on over and have a looksie.

It's yet another bad day weather wise here on the south coast so we are confined to the indoor ideas today. So we chose to do number 5, taking our pencil for a walk. DD was really in the mood for colouring in and I must admit it was a nice change to join her rather than use the "quiet" time to do some housework. I hadn't noticed before how DD's scribbles have changed from random marks and accidental contact with the paper, to much more controlled lines and circle shapes. She even made a straight line of scribbles and told me what it "said" which was pretty amazing as I thought she was miles away from reading and writing. Yet here she is trying already to make sense of it and copy it. Something I really want to encourage now I've seen the first signs.
 I've popped our 2 pictures on the fridge for everyone to enjoy, and to remind myself that I need to spend more playtime with DD, and more fun time for myself.
Thank you for opening my eyes Carolyn.
x x x x

The fridge and it's new art display.

Free Pom pon jumper pattern and reveal

2x 200gm balls of Rico Pom-pon in Spearmint. Fits age 2-3

 Here it is, my experimental Pom-pon jumper for DD. Sadly I finished sewing to late this evening to try it on her, but no way am I waking a sleeping toddler lol. All in all I am pretty happy with the result although my sewing skills leave a lot to be desired.
 It's made of 4 separate pieces.
2x 28 pom-pon by 24 rows.
2x 28 pom-pon by 32 rows.

 By sewing the smaller panels and the larger panels together in the way pictured below and folding the piece in half, you will make a very simple modular jumper.

I overlapped the smaller pieces onto the larger by 10 pom-pons. This gave me a nice even square neck with plenty of room for a toddler to pop their head in and out. The edges are really easy to sew up evenly and neatly as each row is nice a chunky, and the sewing stitches are hiding between the pom-pons.

 I realise this pattern is badly written up but I will review it tomorrow once I have had some much needed sleep. If you don't understand something just pop me a comment and I will get back to you ASAP.

x x x