Busy few days.

Haven't post anything for a few days but have lots of photos to add to show you what I have been up to!

Have finally finished my lovely, warm scarf! It is doubled over in the picture which is how I have worn it. It is so soft and warm! I am really pleased with it and may use the pattern for a couple of Christmas presents.

Spent a lovely weekend in Surrey and Brighton with Daisy, Helen & Evelyn. We visited the Laines and managed to do a little bit of girly shopping. Also found a Montezuma chocolate shop - heaven! Their white chocolate buttons are to die for and are definitely NOT for sharing! Also managed to catch up with a few old friends. Amazing how time can fly by so quickly. It was very cold but sunny and I was glad of my new scarf.

We ate a wonderful lunch then finished it off with ice cream on the pier. Did I mention it was cold? Never too cold for ice cream at the seaside though!

Whilst we were away, Mark and the boys looked after the chickens. All six of them are in this pic but some are too busy eating to pose. Millie (the black one), Rosie, Betty, Mavis, Hilda & Mollie. They are such good hens that give us the most delicious eggs. Even during the worst of the weather they were still laying.

I need to do some baking now to use up all the eggs that have appeared whilst I was away. I have a lovely recipe for an orange & almond cake that is wheat free and uses 9 eggs so I think that will be a good place to start.

                                              Daisy, Grace and Agatha

The children had some friends around and they made this gingerbread house left over from a kit at Christmas. The girls had such fun making and decorating it and the boys had great fun breaking it up to eat it!

Pancake Day!

Very few things rekindle happy childhood memories, but my Mum made a mean pancake! Topped with Tate & Lyles Golden Syrup, I could eat them faster than she could make them. Hers with so thin, golden and always a perfect circle - my mouth is watering just writing about them..... Anyhow, I have children of my own and so after dinner we got down to the serious business of pancake making! We had to have two types, as Alfie can't tolerate wheat, so he had a buckwheat mixture and the rest of us had traditional. I say the rest of us, what I mean is that James had one, Mark had two, little Daisy made her way through THREE! and I..........I had half a pancake as that was all the mixture I had left! It is true I could have had some of Afie's buckwheat mixture but I'd already promised the little people that they could have it for breakfast tomorrow - liberally smothered in chocolate spread. The half pancake I did get was very nice though and a squeeze of Golden Syrup made me feel about 8 again...

I have added these pictures of the house and garden as work has finally started on the new drive. With a bit of luck, most of the work will be done this week with a little bit of landscaping to be done the following week. You can just see the dumper truck that has been taking several tons of our garden to a new home! The boys are desperate for a chance to sit on and the mini digger. I am just desperate for the work to be finished! Am hoping for some exciting news about the sale of the land tomorrow.....

Thunderbirds

Have not had much time for writing over the last couple of weeks. The tail end of a bout of pluerisy is keeping me fairly tired as is the huge amount of sorting and clearing that needs to be done. The decorator is due to finish today so the inside of the house is ready for the estate agent photos. Just need to get the outside landscaping done now, but as I said in an earlier post, easier said than done!

It is a strange thing to watch the house change colour. We have got quite bright colours, or rather did have until the obliterator paint, also know as magnolia, was liberally applied to most of the walls in the house. The only rooms to escape are the living room, dining room & bathroom. Oh, and the cellar, but thats another blog altogether! The house does look clean and bright though I have to say that I am missing the Tweenies and Postman Pat that have lived on James' wall for the last 5 years and the Thunderbirds men and machines who have provided company at night for Alfie for the same length of time. There are so many memories of this house and most of them happy ones. It will be sad to leave.

This photograph of Alfie reminds me of Mark painting the Thunderbirds machines and men on his bedroom wall. It was taken for his 5th birthday when he was obsessed with Thunderbirds. To be honest, he still loves them now, as do Mark & James. Me, I'm more of a Jane Austen girl and Daisy loves Hannah Montannah!