matilda's mummy

happy anniversary us!

2008-06-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. It has been quite the lovely day - not as lovely as it was three years ago but that would be a particularly hard thing to beat. It is a Tuesday so I was doing my childminding bit and Joe took the day of shedreworking to hang out with me which was the best gift ever. We have celebrated by eating cake all day long and I cannot imagine a truly better past time. Apart from maybe eating cake and watching the first movie we went to see together (it is incredibly unromantic but entertaining so I dare not tell what it is - am a tiny bit embarrassed because I love it so much!) but that is what we are doing now.

Matilda has given us the best present ever by pretty much sleeping through the night. I never thought I would entertain 'controlled' crying or anything like it but 13months of sleeping in 2 hour stints has changed my mind. It has gone a lot better than imagined but certainly not without tears (mostly mine I have to say!). It does mean however that Joe and I are sleeping on the inflatable in the living room. Which reminds me of when we first bought our nest (4 years ago) and slept on the 'pump & jump' whilst we decorated. All lovely!

So camping out in the front room and feeling like a whole new person sleep wise has inspired me to crack on with plans for our ideal home. Whilst I lay here on this giant lilo I am dreaming of flush white walls, soft neutral carpets, painted furniture, vintage textiles, polished wooden floors, big bright windows, sliding doors, self cleaning bathroom, bucket fulls of built in storage and the cherry on the top...a laundry room! If it's a really good dream it is full of fresh smelling neatly folded clothes as well!

Thank you Joe for putting up with me and my constant nagging. kx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATILDA!

2008-05-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

miss soft

2008-05-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

matilda allowed me a night off (she slept straight through from 7pm-10pm...it hasn't happened since)! i had a blissful evening making this little bunny softy out of an old cashmere cardigan which had been felted (for this very purpose) and scraps of material.

have throughly inspired joe! he has sent me off to the local charity shop to stock up on woolies.

Spring has Sprung

2008-04-26T12:50:00.001-07:00

There is nothing like spring to give one a new lease of life.

Having just recovered from horrid baby feeding related illness and frankly never ever feeling as poorly as that in my life I feel as if I am waking up to a lovely fresh sunny sparkly world…with a very dusty house! Am full of vim and vigour and ready to tackle cleaning out the cupboards, digging the garden, painting the house, growing our vegetables, knitting, baking, finishing those graphics jobs, making all the antenatal babies birthday gifts, keeping on top of email correspondence, designing the much talked about extension, running my own business and of course updating my blog regularly with fascinating prose and yummy imagery all whilst looking after Matilda, Joe and our little nest, making sure all are happy, well fed, clean, entertained and content. I actually cannot see how I will fail.

I am not quite sure what has put such a spring in my step. Whether it really is the fields full of lovely lamblies or if in some wierd way my mind cannot let me body rest and is determined to make up for it now.

Hope I can keep up! Might just pop the kettle on and think on it some more….

Happy tulip arranging!

Jolie Heaven

2008-04-15T11:57:00.001-07:00

Having finally got round to picking up the copy of Country Homes & Interiors that my lovely cousin sent over last week. I discovered the oh so important article on the delightful Jolie.

Jolie is the yummiest yarn shop ever run by Dany & Linda. I want to move in! Looking at all the gorgeousness actually makes me feel like I may be in heaven. Well done ladies. Am thoroughly inspired. And big thank you cousin Sue!

where do the days go?

2008-04-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

i actually have no idea what i did with my time before matilda came into our lives! tilly is almost one whole year old and i have no idea where that time has gone. i am pretty sure that i must have sat around a lot. although all that sitting around was spent wisely (knitting, designing and taking tea) i do feel a certain smugness now that i can juggle baby, washing, cooking and still present a yummy afternoon tea (admittedly not so much home baked as in days gone by but sponsored by the coop who do a jolly good lemon cup cake.)

since a tiny girl all i ever wanted to do was be a mummy and run a house and even though my days are filled with care giving and housewifery i have to confess to missing a little something. there are moments of the day - usually when miss tilly has worked herself into raisin and rice cake frenzy only to pass out in her pram - that i feel a huge urge to make. anything. anything at all. ceramics, paper, yarn, digital, textiles. anything. i am filled with a tremendous desire to create. so i arrange my environment (let moose out, do the dishes, put a load of washing on, make a milky coffee) sit down ready for urge to manifest itself as something gorgeous only for it to frankly disappoint me!

this in itself is nothing new. i have always preferred what soandso has made to my own efforts and that s okay. but that s not so much the disappointing thing...it never gets a chance to properly disappoint because it never gets finished!

so with that in mind from now on i am making a conscious effort to finish what i start!

my best waste of time

a very very belated...

2008-01-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

The Hostess with the Mostess!

2007-12-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Mostess aprons are simply fabulous and a lovely website to boot. I would just love to be wearing a dotty Marilyn whilst dishing up a splendid Christmas dinner. Too lovely.

Well done Mostess girls!

pompom beret

2007-12-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

matilda s pompom beret is the first proper knitting project i have finished since she arrived. although it doesn t quite fit yet (a touch on the generous side). matilda and her hat still attract lots of lovely comments. particularly from matilda s beautiful cousin martha who exclaimed

i want one!

made from gorgeous duck egg blue and yummy chocolate cashmerino it is super snuggly. perfect for these alpinish days. i so enjoyed the knit and looking forward to finishing some of my other projects. oh so many to complete for christmas.

(horrible photo of me but think m more than makes up for it.)

matching mittens too

have to just apologise for my photos...they always look so much better in my mind s eye...

thank you amanda

2007-11-22T13:06:00.001-08:00

wow! my lovely coffeeswap pal amanda spoiled me rotten. what a wonderful introduction to the world of swapping.

i thought i did very well. it was looking like a very average day and after a pretty horrid month and a particularly horrid few days my parcel arrived with perfect timing and i managed to resist the temptation to open it until matilda had gone to bed. all the tea things were tidied away and i could enjoy each beautifully wrapped package individually. and oh there were some beauties!

the very pretty stitch markers were the first i opened. i have to confess that these are the first proper set of markers to ever find their way into my work bag and i love them! cannot wait to use. and i know just the pattern to try them out. as you can see from the photo the coffee quickly found its way into kitchen and is still being enjoyed - fudge brownie!?! thank you. i am eating the 'candies' as i type and they are yummy! yarn...well what can i say...i love love love it! i am just so not sure what to make with it...either mittens or a beret or much more likely something for matilda. but i know that i will love it for a little longer before 'cracking' in there. amanda thank you ever so much.

the last present i opened was the gorgeous ballband dish cloth. but frankly i think dish cloth is too lowly a term for such a delightful piece of knitting. i heart it! especially since i know amanda was working on it during the swap. presently i am using the 'dish cloth' as a runner on my red vinyl 50s drop leaf table (my favourite piece of furniture in the house...apart from miss tilly s cot.)

a truly wonderful parcel of loot. i feel charmed to have been partnered with the lovely amanda and i hope you like your spoils too...when they arrive...soon i hope.

hugs xx

my answers to the coffeeswap questions

2007-10-13T12:21:00.001-07:00

1. Whole bean or ground? whole would be lovely so much nicer when freshly ground but we don t have a grinder so ground please.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? fully loaded! the more the better! (i have a 6 month old baby girl who doesn t sleep much...zzzzzz)

3. Regular or flavored? mmm...either is yummy.

4. How do you drink your coffee? i like a mug too. normally one that my husband has made. (he is a potter of thoughtfully made tableware.) although i love a proper china or porcelain cup and saucer but more often for tea.

5. Favorite coffee ever? my 11am cup. normally a latte...sometimes with a dash of vanilla or hazelnut syrup...or sometimes a mocha. again one that joe has made (he is also a barista) sitting on the sofa in our village coffee shop with my knitting and matilda sleeping peacefully in her buggy...i wish! brand? i m not fussy.

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? oh! think have just answered that sorry. well maybe i am? hmmm...not too strong. had a very nice cup of brew at a friends the other day who told me it had been through the digestive track of a cat! seriously! apparently it takes away the bitterness. seemed to work but don t fancy being the chap who has to harvest those beans. anyway am digressing. my pet hate is when the milk is burnt but that has nothing to do with beans.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? actually anything! i like muffins a lot. fresh and cosy from the oven in the morning. maybe a scone or custard cream or carrot cake in the afternoon. and definately very dark chocolate in the evening with an espresso.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? i think i ve said enough.

9. Yarn/fiber you love? i love love love cashmere. of any kind! so delicious and decadent. also silk and alpaca are yummy too.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? acrylic!

11. What's on your needles? a cashmere pompom beret in duck egg blue and chocolate for matilda. a skinny but long moss stitch scarf in a lovely new debbie bliss alpaca silk for me. and a breton stripe jumper for my tiniest nephew. none are near completion.

12. Favorite colors? red. of any shade is normally what i go for. but loving soft greys mustards and neutrals also. and likewise enjoying greeny blues and browns. oh! and also granny smith apple/cerlery green.

13. Allergies? nothing i can think of.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? oh gosh...on the spot and mind has gone blank. there is nothing i can think of that i really really don t like. and so many things that i love. especially surprises!

i should be doing other things

2007-10-13T01:10:00.000-07:00

oh my goodness! with the very exciting event of the coffeeswap three i have been nibbled by the blog bug and given in. whilst matilda (and joe and moose) snooze i have grabbed the odd minute to look at so many lovely pretty blogs and find it all so inspiring that i thought i would just jolly well join in! i am hoping this will be the incentive i need to get back to work and make gorgeous things to post on my blog. so here i am! my mind has gone blank!