All posts filed under: Life

Springtime Nests and a toddler Gooseberry bush

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Schlafly farmers market in Maplewood was our first stop this morning, the last of the Winter markets. Queen’s Cuisine Bakewell tarts are a true joy and we snaffled two, to enjoy with a cuppa later on.  Those Eccles cakes are pretty darn good too.  The founder of Queen’s Cuisine is a Brit in the Mid-West like me, so I always love to stock up!  Her baking is so good. I got me a Gooseberry bush (this one is a toddler, but it will grow!) from Yellow Tree Farms.  Gooseberries always remind me of my Grandma who had a massive and very spikey Gooseberry bush in her garden! Herbs from Yellow Tree Farm Potatoes from Silent Oak Farms Mushrooms from Ozark Forest Mushroom.  These guys had a mushroom rub which I wish I had bought, sounds delicious.  Next time! Black bear bakery pasties.  I bought the Saturday Morning Bun from Black Bear and it was perfect!  I love their price labels too. When we came home we made some Springtime nests which are always an Easter …

First Birthday Today!

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I have had this blog for a whole one year.  A whole entire year, keeping at it through the struggles (mainly technical) and the joys (everytime I get a like or a comment, I give a little joyful squeak!).   It has been a very fulfilling year and I have loved working on this blog and improving and building on it. When I started I was flapping around like a fish out of it’s bowl.  Looking back at the castle and weed inside with the water and me outside wondering how to get in.  Gradually I began to swim about again and get to know my castle and the weeds surrounding it.  My fish water has become clearer and clearer in my bloggy fishbowl. I have to thank Pip Lincolne’s JustB blog school and  my fellow students for really boosting me along with the blog.   Sarah at Home to Roost and Lou at Make Do Sew have been constant companions and we all encourage each other with every step. When I first saw Home to Roost, …

We’re all going on a Summer holiday

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This week’s list for #52lists is ‘Favourite things for Breakfast’. I thought this would be a hard one as I don’t usually want anything to eat as soon as I get up. Normally I go to the gym after dropping the boys at school, so I wait until after that for brekkie. I do love to make banana, choc chip, cinnamon and peanut butter bread, it is so easy and it uses frozen bananas very well, it keeps well, so it is a great breakfast treat rather than a staple. I have only just found a recipe I like for Granola so I am going to stick to it for now. I made another this weekend, but it wasn’t as good as this one. Granola is more of a regular breakfast food than cake – honest! Favourite things for breakfast list. If you want to check out my other lists and photography craziness on Instagram, check it out here or click the little blue camera over there to the left and have a wander through …

Favourite Words on a Windy Day

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Today started with wet snow, in the middle was snow and at the end was wind and lots of it!  This is me working on my windswept look! This week’s 52 lists project today was ‘Favourite Words’, so I asked around the household and these are ours.  As you can tell, I don’t have spell check when I am writing the ole fashioned way.  At least I can add ‘learnt to spell onomatopoeia’ to my list of daily achievements. I could walk around all day saying ‘Polyp’, it is such a great word and just the sound of it makes me want to giggle! Do you have any favourite words?  Do you like them because of the meaning of them or the sound or the spelling? Most of mine are great sounding words, but I think ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ covers all bases.  It even popped up in predictive text while I was typing it on my phone.  Impressive.

February Photo a Day 2013

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Another month of daily photos complete!  I must say, I do like to look back over the month and see what I took.  Some of this month’s have been a struggle and resulted in a quick snap and done, like ‘fork’ and ‘where you ate your lunch’.  On the other hand I am really happy with some of the photos like the ‘hope’ mittens and the last one ‘upside down’.  Nothing like a mess about with a few apps to make a boring prompt a bit more interesting, which I suppose is the whole point of the challenge. If you fancy joining in, here are the March prompts – Fat Mum Slim photo a day. Day 1. Fork Fork in a cake at Handmade Happy Hour in Home Wine Kitchen which is a fabulous local restaurant and venue. Day 2. Pattern. Close up of the pattern in some vintage fabric I bought from Miss Ohio Vintage, I plan to make a summer infinity scarf with it. Day 3. Something beginning with e.   A school …

Trees in puddles, reads and granola.

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  I snapped some tree reflections this morning on the way to school.  I flipped them and popped on a filter in Camera +.  One of the  many advantages of walking to school every day, we get to spot the cool stuff and I get to photo it.   Bodhi assures me that walking to school gets his brain working every morning!  Who am I to argue?! #52lists ‘Great Things I have read lately’. I liked this weeks list, I will read anything which stands still long enough! ‘The Vanishing of Katherina Linden’ is an audio book I picked up from the library because I liked the cover!  Yes, I do choose books by the cover quite often!  I always choose wine by picking the label I like best, because I am a wine expert……  Anyway, I have just started to listen to this book and I like it so far.  In the first few sentences someone explodes, so that’s a promising start.  Dark humour is one of my favourites. http://www.abeautifulmess.com, written by sisters Emma …

Ten on Sunday the 10th. February 2013

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It is raining today, but getting 10 photos shouldn’t be a problem. This morning started off with a big thunderstorm and lots of rain. I found about 10 pairs of 3D glasses in the drawer, so Bodhi decided to put as many on as would stay! ‘Snack packs’ of Custard Cremes with a cup of tea. My first cookery book ‘My learn to Cook Book’ circa nineteen seventy something. I love the illustrations and 1970’s ingredients like cochineal! Yum, beetles… I remembers making lots of recipes from this book with the cooking cat and dog. A Knicker-bocker Glory was a birthday must. New gym togs is always motivation. I can’t wait for step class tomorrow! A montage for a guest post I wrote today. Link to the post coming this week! Very exciting and quite an honor being allowed to write for someone else’s blog. The boys of the house watched the rugby this morning. When it had stopped raining they went out to play. They came back a bit muddy. Batman looks a bit …

Rainbows and unicorns

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Ok, I lied about the unicorns, but the rainbow was real!  A double rainbow at that. We walked into a fabulous rainbow one morning which almost made us late for school such was it’s wonder. The first thing most people I met that morning asked me was, did you see the rainbow?  What a wonderful thing to start the day with! So, I had to take a few photos.  I know, shocker! I have taken full advantage of the rainbow and my iPhone 4 photo apps and I have made some cool rainbow pictures.   This photo is cropped using the square cropper in Camera +. I cropped it to highlight the rainbow and frame it with the  winter trees. I added the Vibrant filter.  On top of that, the Clarity ‘scene’.   I used Camera+ to crop out the rooftops.  Then I added Clarity in ‘scenes’.  There, the second rainbow becomes clearer.  Into Filters and add Vibrant at 80%.  Don’t forget to save!   I know this is a cheesy filter effect, but I …

I want a friend with a cafe and other pressing needs.

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As I was reading Meet Me at Mikes by Pip Lincolne, and how Pip was helping her friend out who owns a cafe, I had a huge joyful feeling that I want to be involved with a cafe. I don’t have aspirations to own one, but I would love to be able to help someone with one, not even work for them, just help out as and when.  I can help with recipe ideas and I am a very excellent taste tester.  I can carry, waitress, wash, dry.  Also decorate, paint and choose the music. This came as a very strong feeling and a positive one.  Isn’t it strange how a feeling can overtake you for a moment.  I like it. Now, who do I know who owns or wants to own a cafe?! Maybe we serve these hot chocolates?   I also want to make a random bead necklace for my friend. Sounds easy?   Of course, grab a handful of beads from my various jars and bowls.  No.  I don’t do random very well, …

January 2013 photo a day.

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Day 1. Today. Connect Four on New Year’s Day. Day 2. Something New. New Feast magazine. Day 3. Heart. In the snow. Day 4. The View from here Day 5. Movement Day 6. Mine. Some of my favourite beads. Day 7. Street. Always a handy place for a toilet! Day 8. Something beginning with T. Day 9. Paper. Vintage Fox River Onion Skin paper. Day 10. 1 o clock. Day 11. Water. Reflection and Swim. Day 12. Suprise. Lots of lovely books from the library, full of suprises. Day 13. Circle. Day 14. Something yellow. Day 15. An ordinary moment.  Frost on a pile of leaves. Day 16. Two things.  Garlic cloves. Day 17. Ready.  For my January jewelry sale. Day 18. Shadow. Day 19. Delicious.  I love finding bonkers stuff in the antiques mall. Day 20. Something you saw Day 21. What you do.  Sometimes I make zombies. Day 22. Corner.  Snow on a roof. Day 23. Electric. Day 24. Stripes. Day 25. Landscape.  At Laumeier Sculpture Park. Day 26. Together.  Bodhi and Max’s …