a new start

i have got me a part-time job

alarm goes off at 4.30am, i keep hitting snooze, finally heave my weary body up at 4.45am, creep downstairs avoiding sleeping dog trying to trip me up, shower, lovely nylon/polyester mix uniform on, bucket of coffee and toast, barrow-load of under eye concealer, leave at 5.30am and walk for 20mins watching the sunrise over town (very peaceful and beautiful at that time), quick cuppa in the canteen then a 4 hour shift doing someone else's shopping, home with 2 jumbo sausage rolls for my babies and a box of 3 for 2 cakes from the bakery counter which we share at the kitchen table after i have swapped my work shoes for my lovely slippers

i do this 3 days a week

(although i have just done 5 days back-to-back before my contract even started as they need the staff!)

but i won a weekly leisure pass in the non-uniform raffle on my first day there so i'm not complaining!

gcse's

clever teenager passed all her gcse's

1 a

3 b's

3 c's

3 d's

1 e

mother's brains

twit twooooo

cut cardboard tubes into 3 different lengths and staple one end of each flat

paint your tubes

using fingertips, blob on chest feathers

add google eyes and foam beaks and patterned paper wings

this is lottie's family

gilbert green, penny purple and ruby red

and this is ellie's

this parliament has resumed after summer break

cake pops

crumble up leftover spongecake

(this is the cutoffs from rainbow cake which have been in the freezer just waiting for us to make these)

add cream cheese, icing sugar and small marshmallow pieces

squidge the mix tightly in your hands to form a solid ball

place balls on baking tray and put in freezer for 30mins to harden

take out of freezer, shove a stick in each ball

melt dark chocolate and put sprinkles in a bowl

coat each ball with chocolate, cover with sprinkles

and enjoy

ellie ate 3 for pudding (i think she liked them)

jam tray bake

this is it with half the topping sprinkled on before it went in the oven

jam tray bake is a variation of nigel slater's marmalade tray bake (ie: it's got jam instead...never)

pastry made with an egg, baked blind

jar of jam spread over pastry

crumble topping made of butter, dark brown sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon

180c for 30mins

we had it topped with honeycomb ice cream because we don't know the meaning of the word 'restraint'

our very own pillowcases

saw these on whimsylove (thank you)

pack of fabric crayons (£3 ebay incl.p&p)

plain pillowcases from charity shop (50p each)

plonk children and crayons and pillowcases at table (and cookie cutters to draw round if you like)

and let them do their thang

once design finished, iron on and

you get this

and this

(i read until i fall asleep on my pillowcase, hence the title)

and this (very van gogh)

and i have just worked out who ellie looks like....

sings like her sometimes too

a new friend

introducing our very new little friend

 princess charlotte

she has beautiful blue eyes and is very chatty

(when i let her have a word in edgeways)

and we like her very much indeed

visitors

croydon folks enjoying the sea breeze

mmmm brownies

lovely marble swirls

just out the oven (notice 3 pieces missing?)

lottie is making ice cream today so we can have a warmed brownie with a scoop of vanilla on top for pudding....happy saturday to us

tshirt bags

i saw these on whimsylove

get a tshirt and turn it inside out

sew along the bottom hem

turn back the right way

cut off the sleeves and neckline

you have a bag!

lottie sewing her snoopy bag (one eyed - how talented)

ellie sewing her hippy bag

our bags

ellie finds a use for the cut offs

have you noticed her gob is wide open in all photos?

tiara, epaulettes and bag

also a cat carrier

lottie's bag was bursting at the seams carrying this lump

just great

dentist reacting to my tooth that broke last night

was eating one (just one) square of dark chocolate and felt something rather hard in my mouth...lo and bloody behold, there's half of my molar that has just come away, no pain, just flaked off

so got up early so i'd be the first at the dentist in the vain hope i'd get an appointment

found a lovely bunch of people at seahaven dental practice who fitted me in straightaway for a consultation

i go back in 4 weeks for a crown

the only thing i hate about age is the decline of one's physical attributes

pet in a basket

doris vera (ellie's name for her vintage bike) already proving herself useful for things other than riding

retro pastimes

when i were a lass, the toy shop sold transfer sets

rub the images onto the card with a pencil and you had hours of fun

and still have change from a thrupenny bit or some such imperial coin

(i dunno actually as i was only 3 when we went decimalised)

anyway, we found these in wickle and both the girls wanted one having never seen them before

and i remembered that if you leant on the sheet whilst rubbing, some of the transfers come off and really make you want to swear

she is 16 at grandad's

surprise! a vintage bike with basket

ding ding!

money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omg harry potter dvd set

thanking clever uncle

 (and speaking to other uncle in canada later)

ellie went to bed saying she'd had a lovely birthday so thanks to all who made it happen...grandad (for collecting the bike from hove), lynn (for knowing about the success of a certain dvd set and amazing food and drinks), toby (for being the entertainment), wickle (for being such lovely people), ellie at tizz's (for being so calming and professional), lottie (for smiling once) and me (for being mum)!

she is 16 in lewes

waiting for cake

an extra surprise!

(thank you wickle)

the bravest piercing ever

she is 16 at home

on her birthday throne

lottie made a banner

she likes smelling things

sparkly cake!

carrot cake with drippy cream cheese frosting