Stalls, Snips and Trips

Its been a busy old week - started off with the handm@de craft fair in Cambridge, which was great fun - so nice to meet up with some of the lovely crafty folk I'd met last year at Oxford - amongst them paperleaf, quercus silver, pennydog, twinklyspangle - and also to discover some other great handmade delights - such as the lovely Fabric Nation, Made by Kate, and Hannahchan.

This is my stall - apologies for the poor quality photo, but there are lots more images of the fair on the handm@de flickr page.


Meanwhile over in the "its the half -term holiday and I am a child what can I do now" world, what happens when you get a boy of 7, a pair of scissors, a bathroom mirror and an active imagination? This is the fringe result of that combination. Not sure about the boy's new look myself.



There was nothing else to do but head out of the door in an attempt to channel that energy elsewhere.

iPod Attire and Random Notes

Only a few weeks til the Handm@de Cambridge craft fair (April 4th - come along!) hence the sudden panic of "eek have I got enough stock!"

Had a successful sewing day this week and made 5 more iPod Touch covers:



They were all intended for the craft fair but I couldn't resist adding one to my folksy and etsy shops.

Meanwhile back in home hazard land:
Anyone with a small person or 4 legged being will know the frequency that cups and mugs somehow manage to splurt their contents all over floors, tables and chairs - generally accompanied by a cry of "It wasn't me!".

In our house a shout goes out of "spillage of the day!" each time this occurs. Usually on a daily basis. This week the floor was drenched in a cupful of water (these cups do like throw themselves around) and my youngest decided to write a sign to ensure no-one would walk on the offending spot.

" "Don't Walk Here" is what I am going to write" stated the child and proceeded to write the sign and celotape it to a nearby chair. Here is said sign:



I think that sums things up nicely.

A Hair Curling Day

Youngest sat in the hairdressers and pointed to one of the large, glossy images hanging on the wall.

"I want my hair like that" she whispered to me.

The picture showed a mass of long wavy locks. Long hair - no problem. Curls - oops. Daughter has the sleekest straightest hair ever. And is obviously too young to venture into hair perming.

Kind hairdresser didn't flinch and offered to put waves in using one of her heated implements, and little one was delighted. And the result and her smile was a lump in the throat moment.



Curls glorious curls - for one day only - and worth every penny to see her skip through the town, checking her hair every 5 minutes just to see if they were still there, and breaking into a delighted grin to find they were still there.

Let Them Eat Cake

Aided by my two little helpers I made the Christmas Cake last week - a bit of a last minute cake due to being caught up with life generally and forgetting all about cake until a few days before Christmas.



The children helped decorate it - hence some size and colour variation in the little baubles on the tree, but I think that adds to the delight of the cake. And it tasted good too - I can confirm there is very little left!

Making Sense Of It By Alice (aged 5)

Explaining to the children why Billy Cat was no longer with us. Billy was black and white. Alice, aged 5, sat quiet for a while.

"Every time I look in the sky and see a cloud with a little bit of black in it I shall know that that's the cloud Billy is on".

I think I shall do the same too.

Garden Soup

A delicious summer soup recipe created by Alice.



Ingredients

I cupful of orange juice
I cupful of rainwater
2 handfuls of rose petals
1 handful of grass
Slivers of apple
2 oz dried pasta
Shredded tissue
A few twigs



Method:

1. Whilst parents are not looking remove orange juice from fridge and take into garden.
2. Wander around the garden gathering your ingredients.
3. Add the ingredients into any container you discover (search house and garden).
4. Realise the soup is not quite perfect so sneak into house to obtain some pasta and apple. Also "borrow" some tissues while you are there.
5. Tear up the tissues into pieces and add to the mix until they are completely soggy.
5. Add this to the broth and stir with one of mummy's pegs and a red crayon.
6. Carry the dish precariously into the house to show off your masterpiece.
7. Wonder if the tissue was just too much so remove, squeezing as you do, then deposit said tissue all around the garden.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Oh To Be 5 Again

This week has been a celebratory one, as the Small Daughter reached the excellent age of 5.

The birthday cake was made and decorated - and surprisingly I was able to hide the finished product from her until the grand occasion.



All Small Children insisted on helping with party bags to give to her friends at her party - I love using these white bags for children's parties, we change how we will decorate them each party, the final decision rests with the Party Child. Small Daughter wanted the boys to have pirate pictures and the girls to have fairy pictures, - no stereotyping there then.





I seem to find birthdays a reflective time - "goodness I remember celebrating your **th birthday with you!" to friends and family, with recollections of events that have long gone, some we are glad we left way behind us, some we wish we could recreate.

And when I looked at Small Daughter on her birthday, clever, funny, happy, independent, brave, I could recall the moment she arrived and the emotions of that day so clearly, it could have been last week. So I guess birthdays are not just about the cake.

But a fine cake it was.

The Sound Of A UK Bank Holiday

A cold and damp Bank Holiday in the UK. Prospect of joining hoards of traffic searching for sun/warmth/amusement/activity/entertainment/peace did not appeal, nor did a day of listening to cries of "I'm bored" "What can I do now?".

But we were saved. By Julie Andrew and co.

Yes, The Sound Of Music was being aired across the land, so we settled down, curled up on the sofa, glued to the screen. We embarrassed ourselves by singing aloud, annoyed each other by singing aloud, got tearful when the nun told them they would never be alone when they crossed the mountains, and generally had a good time.

Today The Small Children insisted we watch it again.

They now know some of the words to the songs and replace words they don't know with any other that sounds vaguely similar.

"When the door bites, when the bee stings...."

(Which is highly amusing the first time, but less so the 200th)

Rain is forecast again this week, I hope Mary Poppins will be able to pop by........