I Had a Plan...

Yes, indeed I did! I had a plan to plan a speggtacular Easter...

I have not fulfilled this plan. This plan did not come go to plan.

In fact it went the opposite. I have done practically nothing to make it wonderful, other than buy a daft amount of hollow chocolate eggs, eat a daft amount of hollow chocolate eggs and then replace said hollow chocolate eggs.

I am currently lay in bed trying not to nod off again today. I am hungover and I hate it.

You would think at 31 I would know that a few drinks by the chiminea on a lovely Spring evening is never a good idea.

Long story short?

The friend left after a couple of cocktails slurring her words insisting that she was leaving sober, the man spent most of the night hugging the toilet and whilst I was in charge of it, said chiminea crumbled! Other friend then says, "is that a mobile phone melting above the tea light?" Yes, yes it was. My mobile phone! 3 drinks people. 3!!!

NEVER AGAIN...NOPE! I MEAN IT!

I will have a one glass limit from now on!

Anyways, other than the disaster that was last night we have had a wonderful first half of the Easter break.

The kids have been busy enjoying all this glorious sunshine, the new pup Reggie has settled in wonderfully and I can't believe it has only been a week.

I have got lots of washing on the line and have read 3 chapters of my book. So all in all I think it has been very productive!

I haven't even been organised with photo taking so here is a random lot :)
Enjoy x

Easter Bonnet...bunny style.

Park fun x

More attempts at growing stuff. You never know we might actually get a strawberry and a tomato.

Green fingers crossed.

Today was a little productive. A carrot cake was baked, a chocolate bunny was prepared and some chocolate Easter nests were created by the bugs of the house, but all that can wait for now x

There are many more Easter type pictures and I do take them of the older bugs but they are not very active...ergo not that interesting in pics hehe!

Hope you are all having a great Easter Break.

Happy Saturday xx

Busy Bees...

Buzzzzzzzz! 

We have been very busily buzzing here for the last 2 days. After the purchase of new furniture I was so excited I couldn't contain myself.

I looked around and I could see ALL that needed doing, RIGHT NOW!!!

The man rolled his eyes and I made a list.

2 new shelves for the kitchen(not included today as they are still drying)

The bookcase painted...Well whilst the paint is out we may as well re-paint the dresser?!? Makes sense right? This led to more eye rolling, this time followed by a sigh...

Oh definitely all white with the bookcase...3 coats later...No, the shelves would look better light grey...

Hmmmmm well where are we going to put the old bookcase? I know, you can haul ass it up the stairs and somehow make it fit into a space that is a fraction too small...you can do that right?

No eye rolling just a slow turn, shake of head and walk out of the room.

The man can be sooo dramatic at times!!!

Anyway even with all the dramatics from the man we managed to accomplish quite a lot.

The new table. We are not touching it atm. It goes nicely with the chairs and I want to be certain about what I want before we change it.

It is a bit battered and unloved but that will change. I love that it has a handy cupboard running through the centre :) It is perfect for all those floating things that somehow accumulate in the lounge.

The tight squeeze. I could hardly get a picture because our hallway isn't much wider than this! There are a few books at the bottom but I really think I am going to have to think of more suitable names for things. This is a Yarncase!

 This is the new addition. You can just see the contrast of the light grey. It looks so much better than what we had before and it is so bright. All the colours now look so cheerful and lovely. 

This is a Craftcase hehe!

Beautiful bright colours. I can't wait to add a finishing touch to this case. I think these colours are a little inspirational.

The two darker chairs are my bargain buys. Now, I did think I had a red tablecloth with white spots but it turns out it got binned somewhere along the line. I was a bit reluctant to use this green one as, at first it looked a little garish, but as I wiped it down and added the place mats, stepped back and looked, then looked again I changed my mind on it. I have to say I love its retro theme it is bringing. I was zoomed back in time to my Grandparents house of the 80s.

This is my dresser. Bought a few years ago. Started off like this. Just bare wood.

Then a little transformation later...

This green looked better in the old house in front of magnolia walls, but I got very tired of it and felt it most definitely needed another transformation. So whilst the paint was out...

TA DAH!

Phew! You can see our efforts have been well worth it. I couldn't be happier right now...Well maybe if I had a different home and everywhere was gleaming, but with children flying around the home and the 2 kitties using everything(including us!) as a scratch post that is a dream.

Happy Thursday xx

Talented Friend...

When it comes to family I definitely pulled the short straw. I won't go into details but lets just say it is not a harmonious, loving group of people, But, when it comes to friends I have pulled every long straw there is. 

I have so many people that I call friends, and they are. We are all there for each other and we have happy and sad times together. I have too many acquaintances to count, but you know what else I have? Best Friends! Yep! I said it. I took you all back to school and playing with your girlfriends and whispering to each other that today, "You're my best friend really, not Sheila!"

But I have them. I am 31 and I have 6 best friends. What makes them best? They are my family, not by blood but by friendship. ALWAYS there. Always making life so much better. I can only hope that in some small way I do the same for them.

One of these very special people is Hazel. Hazel is a creative force that has gone above and beyond friend duties.

Last year my eldest was due to start high school, because we had moved and I wasn't happy with the catchment school for a number of reasons I had to wait months for an appeal(we lost the appeal but magically one of the best schools in the area managed to find him a place...nothing to do with his high academic achievements!) during these months Hazel and her husband drove miles every Friday after being in work all day to tutor Jacob. Hazel is a dab hand at French, Spanish and was excellent at English Lit, lang and history! Her husband Edward is training to be a science teacher in secondary school. How lucky am I???

On Christmas night I ended up having to go to hospital for a crappy episode with the bipolar. This has been the worse episode in years. I had to go and stay with my brother in Manchester a lot, I was sleeping all the time, drugged up and feeling useless. Not able to do anything for myself.

Guess what this lady did?

No! She didn't rub my shoulder and say everything would get better, she didn't avoid me so she could avoid an awkward conversation. She came over one night, unannounced I might add, and with her she bought a MOUNTAIN of home cooked food! Days of work and effort cooking and baking for my little family! My freezer and fridge were filled. Homemade curries, pies, fruit crumbles, naan bread, shepherds pie. So much awesomeness! I also had a pile of goodies just to cheer me up(including her AMAZING mince pies with her own mince meat)

Awesome!!!

This lady is also incredibly talented. If you haven't had a chance to have a gander at her blog go say hi :)

For my Birthday a few years ago she made me this

ALL by hand I might add.

For my 30th I got this

and these

even creating a cake recipe and naming it Emmatines after me!!!

For my last birthday I also got something so cool and very needed.

A few years ago Hazel bought me a recipe journal so I could write and store my recipes. The man decided that it was fine to clean around it and getting it wet...it got ruined long story short lol.

So Haze made me this...

All her own art!

Photographs of her kitchen and mine. 

Look at the detail. So, so talented. I am always in awe of her drawings and art work

Because I enjoy a good tipple ;)

I finally managed to start sorting and adding to it yesterday and it made me so happy.

I feel blessed to have this unique lady in my life and I am so unbelievably lucky to be able to call her my friend. My best friend hehe!

Love you Lady xxx