Nothing says "Home" like

Homemade Pie

I was at work today trying to teach some year 4 children about the Vikings and all I could think about was my need to make "Pie"... Not any pie, Strawberry, Rhubarb and Apple Pie..... As I skipped out of work when I finished I dashed to the supermarket and bought the ingredients, all British I add......

I like to bake with the children but sometimes it is nice to just get on with it on your own. The first thing I do is put on some music and tie on an apron (this is an absolute must). Our Grandmothers would have worn an apron all day and have had different ones for different occasions. Aprons are like a uniform for me, when I one I am ready for my task in hand. I even have an apron that I wear when I am gardening, I will show you another day... I admit that
I am not a feminist and have quite a traditional view when it comes to my home.

Here is my pie just waiting for the pastry crust.

Looking all pretty waiting for cooking
In all its glory straight from the oven.

My house smells wonderful.

YUMMY !!!

My Garden

I love my Garden, dont you think that when you are in the garden you drift away and can be anywhere? I doesnt matter if you have a city garden or a country cottage your garden can be your sanctuary. I like the country cottage type gardens that you see on paintings in very nice antique shops, roses climbing over the arch and foxgloves swaying in the breeze with a rickey garden fence just waiting to welcome you. One day I know that I will own such a house but until that day I have may garden and make it my own.

One of the things that we have i our small garden is a little vegetable patch. Last year we had great success growing from it and hopefully this year will be the same. In this corner you can see tiny white turnips growing and purple sprouting brocoli. In the back you can just see the beans and the frame.

These are our peas, they are only small yet but hopefully they will grow. I think that we are a bit cooler up in the North than our Southern friends so it may take a little longer.

We also have some strawberrys growing at the front of the house in the glass porch where they get full sunshine and the glass makes it very warm in there. This was tonights supper and they tasted the absolute BEST EVER.... So yummy.

Here is my Strawberry Tea set waiting to be used. The plate is large and holds lots of lovely ripe strawberrys whilst the jug and pot holds your cream and sugar. I dont think that we will get enough strawberrys for filling up this dish but once the pick your own opens I will be there in a flash. The strawberrys you can see here we kindly sent to me by Summer by the Sea in a giveaway so they will have to do until the real strawberrys are ready. Yum Yum !!

Home

HOME :::the house or flat/apartment that you live in, especially with your family:

The topic for the following month of blogs is HOME..
I am going to try and post everyday and hope that it will include many posts about my home and what it means to me. I have lived in my current home for five years and I think that we are finally putting our own stamp on it. They say you have to live in a house and get a feel for it, but seriously five years is a long time.

For the last five years I have had the most awful carpet in the main room and dining room, well today it finally came up and was disposed of. It truly was the most hideous carpet you have ever seen. So we have plans for new flooring and maybe afew well choosen accessories to give the room a life and I am afraid to admit this.... The piano has to go. It is beautiful but neither of the children play it now and it is too big to have sat their collecting dust, so sadly we will be selling it..

What does home mean to you?

Sarah x

The last day of May

I climbed Mount Everest and conquered it... YAY!!!!

The feeling when you get to the top is amazing.. Truly!!

Ok so my Mount Everest was actually Mount Ironing and it is done. I know that some of you people dont believe in ironing but it just had to be done. It was spreading and spreading and taking over the house.

The last month has been hard trying to post every day and I have only not posted once which is not bad really. I wasnt going o do it again but the topic for this June is Home, Home is something that is very important to me so I may just have to post again for June. Please forgive me if I dont get it done every day.. The days I work are pretty dull as I am sure you wouldnt want to hear about my day at work but I have afew ideas for Home...

We are hoping to go camping in a couple of weeks time and have spent the day looking at various tents, ours is just not big enough for the four of us. It is amazing how much stuff you end up taking and I am talking essentials NOT the tv or DVD player. It has been a super week been with the children and now we only have seven weeks to go until the end of term and then we have the summer holidays.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Sarah xxx

Show and Tell Friday

Please call over to see Kelli's Blog and her Show and Tell Friday

Here is my show and tell for this week.

My Mum made this bear by HAND SEWING as a gift for my Daughter.

It is fully jointed and is the most beautiful thing. She sits in my Daughters room keeping an eye on her. She even has a little Tutu, Ballerina shoes and flowers in her hair.

My Mum is a truly wonderful crafter.

I hope you like my show and tell for this week.
Sarah xxx

Mini Quilt Swap

Today I received my Mini Quilt Swap from Sally-Ann at Dotty Designs , just look at his lovely parcel waiting to be opened.

Here is the beautiful quilt I received.

And lots of other goodies

Here is the back

Sally-Ann it truly is beautful, Thank you so very much..

Sarah xxx

Happy Birthday

Just to say Happy Birthday to my "Little" sister Kelly... 27 Today...

We had lunch and even cake but I forgot to take a picture..ooops!!!!

The things my Mother taught me

My Mum sent me these as she thought I would like to share with you..

* My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE - if your going to kill each other do it outside- I just finished cleaning.

* My mother taught me RELIGION- you better pray that comes out of the carpet

* My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL-if you don't straighten up I'm going to knock you into next week

* My mother taught me LOGIC- because I said so, that's why

* My mother taught ne IRONY-keep laughing and I'll give you some thing to cry about

* My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS- shut your mouth and eat your supper

* My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM- will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck

* My mother taught me about STAMINA-you'll sit there till all that spinach is finished

* My mother taught me about WEATHER- it looks as if a tornado swept through your room

* My mother taught me how to solve PHYSICS PROBLEMS- if I yelled because I saw a meteor coming towards you would you listen then

* My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY- if I've told you once I've told you a million times don't exaggerate

* My mother taught me THE CIRCLE OF LIFE -I brought you into this world and I can take you out

* My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION-STOP ACTING LIKE YOUR FATHER

Anything sound familiar?

Beautiful

BEAUTIFUL

The flowers from the clematis growing in the garden.

Cannonball !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We took advantage of a lovely sunny windy day and took the children out for a bike ride. There is a lovely park near to us which apparently used to be a coal mine and they made it into a beautiful park and there is also a woodland. It is within walking or riding distance of our house but the roads are so busy I took the children over in the car loaded with bikes whilst Andrew cycled over ther and met us. My son wanted to take some pictures whilst I was driving so the next couple of pictures are by him and not me as I was driving.

Andrew joined us and off we went. It is the perfect way to explore the park and we found bits that we had never seen before. Cannonball is what my son shouts as he pedels off "REALLY FAST MUM".

I have no idea where he got this from. There is a skate and BMX course in the park and he looks longingly at it every time we go but I usually tell him it is too buy for him. Well today I was a brave Mummy and asked the "Big Kids" if they would let him have a turn around for one minute. To say he was thrilled was an understatement and the big kids were shouting him on. Shame that Daddy had gone off with the camera so I didnt get a picture.

Here is one of me, well sort of.

We even had a cycle around the woodland, it was perfect.

My son asked me what the noise was, all you could hear were the trees.

Perfick !!!!

Show and Tell friday

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Kelli is yet again hosting Show and Tell Friday, pop over to her blog and have a look.
Hello, todays show and tell suggestion was something you got on a trip. Well my recent trip to my parents house brought back lots and lots of goodies and here is one that I wanted to show you. It is a little cardboard box with tiny boxes inside about the size of a box of matches..

There are 18 boxes inside and they are full of wonderful little sewing goodness.

Here are three and the others have things like pins, needles and hooks inside. My Mum had two of these boxes and she said that she picked them up at a car boot sale.

I will be finding somewhere for them soon.

Holiday memories

Nearly two years ago we went to beautiful Cornwall on holiday, it truly is the most magical place and we would love to go back soon. The children ad the most wonderful time. i thought that I would share a couple of pictures. The first one is of Polperro, quite the traditional quaint fishing village.

Here is the Eden Project. If you are ever looking for inspiration for environmental issues then this is your place. It was so good that we went back again. I think that this was the highlight of the holiday for me.

Just some flowers taken whilst walking around The Eden Project.

I am so lucky

I had a wonderfull time today as I took off early and spent the day with my Mum and Sister. We had a look around some of the shops and had a lovely lunch. I would have take a picture of the cake but I ate it too quickly and all that was left were a couple of crumbs (Carott cake, Lovely)..

My Mum has been having a sort out and had some things mainly from her sewing room for me and been the kind daughter that I am I was only TOO happy to take them off her hands. I cant possibly show you everything that I got as it will be the longest post ever but take a look at the next picture of the boot of my huge estate car and you will get the idea of just how much I came away with.

The books are actually hiding alot as there is another bag underneath them. My poor Hubby been the kind gentleman that he is never said a word when I asked him to reverse the car into the drive for me. He just looked at the back of the car, said something under his breath and smiled.
I thought that I would show you some of the things that I was VERY lucky to be given. All of these things apart from the ribbons were made by my GreatGrandmother who was born in 1892 and her sister Emma who was born in 1872. My GreatGrandmother was raised by her sister when their mother died, their were eleven brothers and sisters.


The top one was used to trim the edge of a pillow case and the two on the bottom are ribbons.

Crochet

This was a collar from a dress or a blouse and has been trimmed with lacework on the bottom.

We think that the top is a cuff from a dress, it looks and feels very delicate. The bottom crochet.

I love all of these but this has to be my favourite, it is crochet and is the cuff from a dress. I would love to have clothes like this, all made to look beautiful with ribbons and lacework. My sister thinks that I was born in the wrong period. I would love to be able to time travel to other times in History, I may not want to live there for long but to experience these places and times would be wonderful for a short time. Would you like to time travel? Where would you go to?

Iam not sure exactly how old these things are but they are so lovely. My GreatGrandmother was married in 1912 , this is a photograph of her on her wedding day.

I am lucky that my Grandmother kept things and have a box full of newspaper cuttings and birth certificates so that I am able to find out information about my family and complete a family tree.

I will show wome of the other things another time, I just have to find somewhere to put them now.

Opps

Oh dear oh dear oh dear......... What can I say... It has been a hard couple of days at work and well chocolate is my friend.....

Iam working on some organisation here at home and hope that I can work at getting the house and my life a little more organised. The cycle of washing, cleaning, ironing and other stuff just never seems to end. Any tips or hints on how you are organised would be greatfully received. If I dont do something I will have to turn to more chocolate and you dont want that do you?

Soon to be in the garden.

Just a quick update on our lovely goodies growing in the porch. The beans and peas are ready to put out into the garden and the tomatoes and strawberrys are going to stay in the porch away from slugs and snails.

I cant wait for these to ripen. Last year all of our strawberrys were eaten, we think by a mouse in the garden.

All our vegetables are grown without the use of any nasties.

Make, Mend and Do...

I am finding it hard to post everyday at the moment. First it is difficult to think of something everyday and secondly finding the time is hard.

I wanted to post about this for a while so here goes.

When I was a child we used to snuggle up under the warmest sheets ever and they were a brushed cotton (i think this is what you call them). Now you dont find these type of sheets here anymore and they are just the normal type. I am lucky enough to own afew sheets that were handed down to me by my Mum and were actually my Grandmothers. Imagine my devistation when I found this

Yes, my dear children have worn them into a hole right in the middle of the sheets where their little bodies snuggle up just as their Mamma did. I have used them for about seven years and they belonged to my grandmother who dies nearly ten years ago, so really they have been well used.

Well after a chat with my Mum, I have cut them in half, sewn the two hemmed sides together and re hemmed what was the middle to form an edge. Now I have perfectly useable, warm and snuggly sheets for the childrens bed and it has cost me nothing. My Mum informed me that she can remember her mother doing this and also her Grandmother. This would be done until the sheet was well used and could not be sewn back together to get further useage and then it was used for something like a rag or the decent bits of fabric would be used to be sewn into something different.

Years ago I would have probably thrown them away and ran to the shops to buy brandnew bedding and thought nothing of it. I am not the Queen of Green and must confess that I did this mainly for the financial benefit of not having to buy new bedding but it also means that there is less thrown away for landfill.

For more inspiration on Greener living have a look at this blog,

Our Green Year

Out of the mouths of babes.

I hada conversation with my 6 year old today after he spotted a Blood Donor sign and wondered what it was. He then told me that when you are having a baby they take lots of blood (his teacher has recently had a baby). He then told me,

"When I was in your tummy I can remember that I had to dodge the needles"

It would appear that he thinks that they take the blood from your tummy and the baby has to dodge the needles, what is more concerning is he can remember DOING IT.

My 5 year old Niece also told me today that she loves me a million billion.

Children are so funny at times.

Thursday

I never got chance to post yesterday, I failed.... I spent the morning making my mini quilt for Lucys swap and seem to have got on well with that. I cant how you but here is a sneaky peek

I hope that i wil get it finished over the weekend and then in the post. Then in the afternoon I went to the local climbing wall with my daughters school for a climbing lesson. I managed to climb the 10 meter wall, it doesnt sound much but when you stand at the bottom and look up it is a L-O-N-G way up. I love it though, what an acomplishment to climb the wall and get to the top. I hope to go back soon. After leaving there and doing the school run we had a tennis lesson for my son and get my daughter to brownies. I was also very lucky to be having a meal out and a trip to the theatre which was an unexpected treat provided by my Daughters school. So you see I have a good reason not to have posted yesterday.

Reduce, reuse, Recycle

This is something that I have been thinking about today. Our wheelie bin was collected and as I watched the bin men take it away it got me thinking about what we all throw away and just how much. When taking the children to school there are rows and rows of bins outside houses waiting for them to be collected and some are overflowing. I am not judging people on what they should be doing but I do hold myself accountable for my own actions and what I can do to make my wheelie bin a little less full. I dont think that we do badly for a family of four, we usually only fill the bin to half way. HOWEVER there is room for improvement.

Packaging has to be the worst thing, you go to the supermarket and perhaps buy some yogurt. You have just paid for 4 little pots with lids and then most of them have a cardboard container supposidly holding them together. There are other itmes which are over packaged and not only is this making waste but we are actually paying for this packaging and then we throw it away. You may as well just throw some money in the bin, I bet people would never dream of doing that. Here are some intersting links that you may like to have a look at,

http://www.rubbishfreeyear.co.nz/

http://ourgreenyear.blogspot.com/

I shall get off my soap box now, normal service shall resume.

Lucky Ducky

Oh My, Look at what I got today. This was waiting for me when I came home from work and it came all away from the USA and the Lovely LEIGH.

Inside were three balls of really pretty wool in lovely girlie colours and an American Knitting magazine.
I also received a pretty card and even the envelope was nice,

Here is the inside of the card.
thank you so much Leigh, thi really made my day. I have had a difficult two days at work and I am sure that I have more grey hairs than I did on Sunday night. However I was cheered up LOTS today. This is a PIF and I have not forgotten that I have people to forward PIF's to send out and I promise I will get it sent out to you soon.