The loft conversion

I mentioned before that we recently had our loft converted into an ensuite bedroom and promised to share some photos... so here they are! I took the photos last night so they are a bit dark, but during the day, what, with six velux windows installed, it is a very light filled room indeed. The only thing I disapprove of is that now, when I look in the mirror, I can see how old I look!

We were very pleased with the local builders that we used. They got on with the job, from start to finish without disappearing off to do other stuff, and were happy finish off the whole room including decorating and laying the flooring, it all within the budget.
They built in these wardrobes....


... and this little bathroom cupboard with glass shelves and lights in the shower room.

We love it! Thanks!!!!

Yesterday I made some reusable tumble drier sheets. I liked this job because it was so easy to do. I borrowed the idea from a site called Homemade Mamas.

I got an old towel, cut it into strips and left them soaking overnight in a bowl of diluted fabric softener. Then, this morning, I took out a couple of them, squeezed them out a bit and popped them in the drier with my laundry. When the drying has finished the towelling sheets go back into the bowl for next time.
Another project I've started is to make an outdoor playpen for little Hope.
I got a load of cheap decking tiles and painted them white. Then I've enclosed the area with trellis. It isn't all fixed so we can move them when we want to. But it is ok for her to play outside while I'm nearby sorting washing or busy in the kitchen. She got into this bowl of water that was meant for washing her hands with her boots on.
And then she sat down in it!

Some advice please...

I think the time is approaching for us to transfer Hope to a cot. Hubby and I have been talking about where to put it/her as for now she has been sleeping in our room. Ideally we'd like the kids to have their own rooms. Hubby is all for converting the understairs cupboard! He doesn't like my idea of moving our bed down to the study. So I'm thinking of moving her in with her big sister. The problems with that would be the different bedtimes (HM likes to read in bed) and so far HM's inability to keep all the little bits and pieces off the floor. It is a big age gap but it might be workable for the next couple of years. If there is anyone out there reading this who has managed a similar situation and has any good ideas I'd welcome comments.

Time now to relax for a bit with a cup of camomile tea, Celebrity Big Brother and a cuddle. I've been enjoying this series of CBB. Stephen Baldwin was very entertaining - shame he's already out. And the Tree of Temptation is funny. I'm not sure who I want to win, though.

I started sowing my seeds last week. Some of them have started to come up. I just love growing things. I put some of the seed trays on Honor-May's windowsill as it has a warm, sunny aspect. I warned her that they were there and asked that she "leave them alone or what will happen?" "They won't grow, Mummy." Good, I thought. She's sensible, I can trust her. Anyway, this is how I found them when I went into her room this morning. No doubt she'll blame the dogs. Very active imagination, she has!

Even though the big dog was sitting on it, one of the hollyhock seedlings was breaking through.

After I put baby down for her morning nap, I popped out to the shops. (Hubby was home!) I went into Homebase as I want to give the kitchen a bit of a freshen up. At the moment it is all green and I've been thinking of adding some other colour for the door and woodwork. I ummmed and aahhhhed for ages between this porcelain blue and candyfloss pink, but the blue won in the end 'cos it was much cheaper and it is gloss (the pink was satin). If I don't like it, I could repaint later with pink, maybe.

This is what I mean.

When we first moved in I covered everything up in this Cath Kidston wallpaper. (Actually, father-in-law did, thanks!) I still really like this, but I don't like that the kitchen is so dark and feels pokey.

So I'm thinking of painting out this area in ivory to lighten it up and keep the paper elsewhere.

And all that stuff on top of the units has to go!

And perhaps a general tidy up and reorganisation to clear the clutter.

She's lovely!

Please Henry, can we have some more....

I invited my Mum to dinner tonight as I had bought some pork and Hubby won't eat it. I need someone else to share it with. I got Henry to make some more of those lovely warm plum sundaes. So yummy. There he is chopping up his plums!

Honor-May made the apple sauce and whizzed up the baby's dinner. It was lovely. Hubby didn't join us. He is still unwell and unable to eat much. I made us some thai hot and sour soup for lunch ( I had chicken bones in the slow cooker overnight) - Nigel Slater's recipe. It is my favourite soup even though it hurts a bit to eat! My nose and eyes were running. I put 3 times as much chilli in Hubby's (at his request) but he didn't bat an eyelid! However he said he couldn't eat any dinner. But as soon as my back was turned, he was tucking into a pot noodle.

It has been great to get some energy back and so today I've done lots of clearing out and tidying up, including my bits and pieces on the dresser (and those drawers have been done too!) Mr Sainsbury delivered the shopping. I got a big load in. You get free delivery if you spend over £100 and I'm going to try and make it last 'til the end of the month. I do wish the delivery man didn't feel the need to comment on it though. He asked if it was for all the neighbours, too.

I was still very grateful to get some help with the washing up after dinner. Thanks Henry.

Oh look. My photos are in black and white today. Of course I meant that to happen! Hubby has just checked the settings on my phone for me. I never knew it could do that. I was a little nervous that I had sabotaged it while trying to wash it this morning. The baby had had her grubby mitts on it and it was smeared with food, so I had to clean it. These photos show that I have done a little painting today. Here are the cupboard and inner door frame before....

and after. Not a dramatic difference and harder to see in black and white, but I used ivory gloss to try and smarten things up a bit.

I did the radiator, too.

Ta, daaaaaaa!!!!

My hyacinths are in bloom - look even better in colour!

Now. This was the strategy I employed to get the kids to concentrate on their Kumon. We been focusing on developing concentration. I gave them both an egg cup with 10 chocolate buttons in. Every time they stopped focussing on their work I took out one of their buttons and put it in the middle egg cup. This worked very well with Honor. Henry, however, lost 2 buttons and then the end of the world came and Daddy eventually had to physically remove him from the room just to give Honor a fighting chance. (I was trying to feed the baby when all this was going on, too!)

But I was pleased with Honor's response. And after Henry had calmed down and eaten his dinner he got another chance, on his own, to earn them back.

Scenes of Yule and snow!

This morning I have been having a good tidy up while Hubby cleans the car out (boy, does that need doing!) and the kids keep me entertained with songs from The Wriggly Nativity. So I've just posted some pics of the Christmassy and snowy bits and pieces from around the home today. I'm not sure if the snow will last much longer but even if it's gone by Christmas Day, it's been lovely to have it around during the advent season to go with the decs and make the lead up to Christmas extra special.

Last night Hubby and I went to the Italian for our anniversary meal. We had a really lovely time. We don't get out much so we really appreciate it when we do. Well, I do, anyway and got quite giggly on the white wine which seemed to be served in fish bowls rather than glasses. It was very cold in the restaurant. We had a very nice table by the window and next to the radiator. There was a large table beside us of people celebrating a birthday (I know that 'cos they had helium balloons on the table wot said 'Happy Birthday'!) and some of those people were still sitting in their coats. They were looking at us as we got seated and I could hear them muttering "look at them, they're next to the radiator!" It was still bloomin' cold though. We stopped off at the local village pub on the way home and I had an even bigger glass of wine! I'm surprised not to have a hangover this morning. Then Grandma went home and Hubby and I opened our Christmas presents (yes, already!) while we watched Moonlighting. One of my pressies was a trug decoupaged with Cath Kidston paper (see pic). Lovely.

Finally, 'Happy Birthday' to my brother, Down Under. Bet you're nice 'n warm. xxxx

Monday, Monday.

Just chilling out with the babe here watching Christmas at River Cottage. My back is very sore after spending the morning scrubbing the bathroom and then scrubbing the dining table and chairs, trying to remove all the paint splodges, before giving them a coat of varnish. Hope is becoming quite the explorer now but she really needs watching as I keep finding things in her mouth that shouldn't be there. She seems to find magazines particularly delicious!

Planning ahead...

Wow! There was actually a bit of sunshine this morning on our way to school and I didn't have to stuff a towel through the letterbox last night to stop the wind from banging it. A welcome break from the miserable weather we've had for at least five weeks now. I'm not generally bothered by what the weather is like, but I do notice feeling particularly cheerful when the sun streams in through the windows. Maybe one of the reasons/excuses I have for not wanting to spend too much time in the kitchen is because it is so dark in there? It faces north and has a only a very small window. It's made slightly more cheerful and appealing by slapping up some Cath Kidston wallpaper (green mono rose) and I was happy this morning at my lovely clean work surfaces, not that they aren't usually clean but they were stained and now they're all better. Hubby told me last night that I should not have used bicarb of soda on the tile grouting. Apparently it causes it to disintegrate! But I gleefully reminded him, they're coming off in the New Year anyway. We plan to give the kitchen a bit of a makeover. Now that Hubby is getting quite nifty with the plastering, he's gonna give the ceiling a going over and hopefully install some spotlights. And the cream colour paint we've used in the living room is nice and light and cosy and maybe we should replace the Cath Kidston wallpaper with something like that. I do like my colour, though, so I'll have to find somewhere in there to use it. I need more storage, too. Don't we all? (By the way, Henry wasn't in the mood for school this morning and was complaining of a tummy ache... hence the scowling face.)

I'm feeling a bit better today. By the end of yesterday I was worn out by the kids and even missed Hubby a bit! (Who is in South Africa again) . I could have done with a cuddle. The in-laws are away, too so there's lots of running around and I can't call on anyone to mind the baby while she sleeps to pop out and get things done. The kids have been invited to a swimming party on Sunday so I'll have to manage the 3 of them by myself! And, even worse, will have to shave my legs!!! They're also invited to a Kumon award ceremony on Saturday night. I know I'll be exhausted and the baby will be cranky but they're both up for an award and I feel I should take them. Hope it doesn't mean I'll miss the X-Factor.

Hubby and I celebrate our eleventh wedding anniversary in two weeks. Nowadays that could be seen as something of an achievement. However, I read recently that the average marriage today lasts for 11.4 years, so perhaps we should really celebrate if we make through to next May. That doesn't mean I don't have faith in our marriage. Marriage isn't easy. I've seen so many break down, couples I would never have expected to. And those couples who do make it into old age seem to do nothing but moan and groan about life with their spouse. The other day I was listening to a discussion on Jeremy Vine (Radio2) about dementia and how these old people are very vulnerable to abuse and how difficult it is for the carers and it got me worrying about what's in store for the future. I shared these thoughts with Hubby that evening and he reassured me that when my marbles finally go he won't make me live in the hen house! One day at a time, I think. Anyway, I don't want to put much detail of our marriage in the public domain. It's between me and him (and all the people in the church at our wedding who made a vow to support us - I wonder if people ever remember that part?) but, as he reads this, I hope he won't mind me saying..."honey, I love you very much and can't wait 'til you are home again!"