The Golden Rules

I've been reading the sweetest little home making book which gives many a tip for the ‘newly married modern woman’, I'm talking 1933 if you hadn’t guessed!! I love the way that the housewives were told to act like home making was a career choice. I really don’t know when it happened but so many people act like they are embarrassed that they run the home all day (and don’t stop at 5:30).

Here are some Golden Rules ive put together from the hundreds on offer in the book!
The Golden Rules of homemaking!

1. A place for everything and everything in its place.
2. Don’t put off till tomorrow what should be done today
3. Make the most of what you ave, don’t worry about what you could do if you had this or that
4. Clear up as you go along, and you’ll never find yourself in a muddle.

Life

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. "


We had a lovely weekend at HH towers, doing lots of lovely Autumnal things with The Nephew who came up to visit us this weekend.  Fires were lit, places visited, and too much food was eaten.  The car was cleaned, the kitchen practically demolished (we’re talking about a fifteen year old boy now!), and the pup was run ragged by said 15 year old running non stop the whole time we visited a super cute little village called Collieston.

I had to drop The Nephew off home today although it’s the start of the Tattie Pickin holidays, and decided to have a leisurely walk down to The University and in past a book shop to waste time before my bus came.  It was such a lovely day in a sea of rainy dark ones, so I had to take full advantage of it-although I had prepared for bad weather when setting off this morning and therefore had to carry around a snowboarding jacket as well as all the bags for the weekend!

I was struck by how beautiful all of the golden and auburn leaves were and the still calm sky.  I remember walking the same route four years ago when I would head into university.  I remembered, as I neared the grounds, looking over to the library, and the view that used to greet me.  I saw how the new library was now impacting the landscape, and I was part of the group that was ‘before’ that building.  I am someone who will say ‘I remember when…’.  I saw the happy new students, I saw lost ones, and I saw groups of friends walking around giggling and laughing about an ‘in joke’ only they would ever get.

I loved my time there, I truly did, and if I had the chance to work there…you wouldn’t see me for dust…  I know I idealise it.  Because while walking around I noticed that I was probably only one of a few looking up and around as I did so.  I could see how lovely it all is, and how beautiful, because I'm not there studying, and racing against deadlines.  I can kick the leaves up, and sit on the wall to watch the world go by, because I have a day off…which is actually a day off from everything.  I can go exploring and take pictures, because you know what?  I’ve earned it!  I've cried in the basement of the library because I was the only one in the whole wide university (and probably the history of all universities) that didn’t understand or couldn’t remember.  I've claimed that Wikipedia is an excellent source, and been verbally beaten by a lecturer.  I've got lost, or fumbled papers or words in a talk. 

I love my life NOW, just like I loved my life THEN. I hope to always feel ive got the best RIGHT NOW.

There have been times when I haven’t acted like that, IF ONLY….was the watchword in my vocabulary for a long time. But I really hope I can always love what I have now, even if it is at the back of my head. Even if it is only me catching myself mid sentence, I hope and pray I can be better at this.

Sheila



Getting Ready for Christmas 2010...the GH way!

Oooh does anyone have Novembers Good Housekeeping? I had to get it as it had Nigella Lawson on the front, and although I know lots of you don’t like her (probably for the reasons I do, remember, I liked Sophie Dahl’s show), I just adore her!

Any way, good old GH has an A-Z of ‘saving money this Christmas’, which although we read every year in various magazines, blogs, free supermarket mags, hear about on tv and the radio, I really do like feeling more organised, even though I can be a million miles from it! So far I’ve written the lists of what to get everyone, and I’ve got a few bits n bobs for stocking fillers, but I do feel more at ease when I have a list to work off of, then I wont buy two big presents for the same person, and nothing for the next!

Here are a few of the tips (in plenty of time too):

1. Get organised-online shopping may be easier, but the postage costs can mount up. Check out how much you need to spend to get free delivery, if it’s a big store then you may have needed to buy those other things anyway. Don’t waste on ‘next day delivery’, get organised so you don’t need it, or get free delivery in store. The same goes for posting cards, if you need to do it, get organised and post with a 2nd class stamp!

2. Get rid of the clutter-its almost as if this one is also to do with the first tip, as you get more things you need to get rid of the old! Well…pre-empt it and start clearing the way and cashing in at the same time. Have a look at ebay, amazon and play….(although you won’t catch me getting rid of any old books!)

3. Download this great toolbar from http://www.getinvisablehand.com/ Browse your usual shopping website and if the product is available cheaper elsewhere (48 stores, including john lewis and amazon) it alerts you and gives you a direct link to that site!

I always like to check out all of the free events organised by the council at this time of year too. There is always loads of FUN things to do round about now, so I hate to waste any time doing boring stuff. Being organised isn’t bad, bad is scouring the shops-I hate that! Hopefully you’ve got on top of your lists anyway! AND read GH, it’s a really good issue!

Yummy Autumn Food

Last night I had a hankering, you know when you just WANT something? It can be good, it can be bad, but you want it, and nothing will replace it. Mostly its chocolate and I'm telling you, a piece of fruit will not fill me up the way a piece of chocolate does. Yesterday my hankering for was Toad in the Hole.

I must confess I'm a bit of a philistine when it comes to sausages. I eat Cumberland but that’s about it, I'm perfectly happy with a good Irish sausage. As long as its not filled up with rubbish and gunk I'm happy. My friend told me about a great butchers website here, its excellent value for what you get.

Anyway, I will be making this recipe tonight, but I’ve made Toad in the Hole countless times before, and its not technically something you do need a recipe for, but here it is anyway.

Ingredients

8 Good quality sausages
1 Onion
‘A dash of olive oil’
(For the batter)
100g Plain flour
2 Medium eggs
300ml Full fat milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 (about 200)
2. Chuck in all of the sausages (a good snug fit) and throw the sliced onions, the dash of olive oil  and the seasoning over them
3. While that’s cooking (10-15 min) make up the batter-sift the flour and add a pinch of salt, make a well in the middle and crack in the eggs, beat lightly, then add the milk slowly. Just keep going until its lovely and smooth
4. Take the sausages out of the oven and pour the batter over them.

Supper should only be about 25-35 mins away now, or when the batter goes all goldeny and crispy!

"Mum, can i have some?.........please?"
"Just a little bit Daisy, your tummy is too little"

Dumb days and saintly sheds!

Don’t you just adore this time of year? It makes it so easy to use up left-over’s and call them some other culinary masterpiece! (masterpiece is maybe too strong a word!!) I just feel like in summer you can’t throw everything into a slow cooker with some raw veg and loads of gravy and then come home to an actual meal. Everything is fresh in summer, which is great-because you eat so late in the day and the sun is still shining, but I love Autumn and Winter because they positively call for left over’s and therefore thrift (which is the watchword now-a-days)!

We’ve been eating out of the slow cooker loads what with the horrible rain and dark clouds that have been following me about The Shire! But it’s ok, as the sun did peep out for a little while yesterday. I think its so magical when its cold but bright, we had so many little ones come into the library today with their gloves on and their little rosy cheeks and noses! It was too adorable for words!

Yesterday I did probably the most ‘blonde’ thing I’ve done in a while, went out with The Husband to work, made my own way home and forgot I never brought my keys with me…D’oh! For some reason I believed I could ‘break into’ my own home and climb in through the window I always leave ajar, however when I got home I promptly figured that I wasn’t going to be able to click the window off the hatch with my credit card and had to find something to do for two and a half hours!

So although I may not be able to run off with the Pink Panther Diamond any time soon, I feel very happy that I have finally ticked one thing off the Autumn Things To Do List and got the shed cleaned out. Everything was thrown out of the thing (which still had paint/china/dirty towels in there from its previous owner), but it was tidied and cleaned up in no time at all really. I got the fire pit set up for getting rid of the unwanted stuff and also a cosy night outside with The Husband (who thinks I’m the number one ditz around), but alas, it started to get dark as we headed inside.

I got some bulbs planted in the containers that have been sitting empty for much too long with some compost I found hidden in the back of the shed too. I still need to tidy up the garden a bit and will probably continue to do so for a while now as we’re lucky enough to have three quite big trees, but the shed looks quite empty and so can take the bikes for over winter.

I’m so happy that I managed to get outside, and I guess it was possibly a blessing in disguise that I did as dumb a thing as I did, or else I would maybe have put cleaning up out of doors until it was much too late. I am becoming increasingly addicted to sewing up some Christmas decorations I read about in The Christmas Book…I’ll be posting about that once I can finally show off a finished one though!

For now I hope that you’ve been able to keep on top of your own Autumn Chores Lists!

Sheila

x

The lists start here…

Over the weekend we met up with my aunt and uncle who will be hosting Christmas this year (well, really like every other year-it just so happens it’s now our tradition too), and started talking about what things we’ve bought or made so far for the big day. Aunty has just had a great big bonus of £200 worth of M&S vouchers which she is going to be using for Christmas Dinner. So I really need to get my thinking cap on and start to mind map what I could possibly offer to bring. I just know that if I don’t suggest something she will claim that she wants for nothing and I am sure there is always something that can be done to make the day easier and more enjoyable for her (even if she is an effortlessly perfect hostess).

This, in turn, got me thinking about what I would like for Christmas. It always goes:

“Sheila, what are you wanting for Christmas?”
“Um, em…well….i cant really think, anything will do”

When in fact, although anything will do, its always nice to actually get the thing you’ve had your eye on for a while. Its not even like I wish for particularly large things. So while although I'm thinking about what I can bring and do for Christmas dinner, ive also got my ‘Dear Santa, may I please have..’ hat on for myself….here are a few things I'm thinking of..

Day trips and visitors

Snuggley under blankets? Check!
Cosy warm cocoa? Check!

New book? Check!

Puppy on my lap while sitting in the sun porch as its raining outside? Check!

Well the weather outside has been rain, rain, rain..booo, but I have been hiding under duvets, blankets, eiderdowns, etc.... That was until Friday, anyway, when we had The Nephew over for the weekend.

Last week The Husband went on a stag weekend with his friends. They were out in the middle of nowhere shooting clay pigeons, getting up to hi-jinks and pretty much running about in mud like boys! I went over to The Mother in Laws house to help her look after our new little niece. My poor sister in law is really poorly at the moment and can’t bend down or do really basic tasks so looking after a teeny tiny baby is nearly impossible. So being without my husband I thought it would be a good chance to help out and see the baby. While there I’d noticed that the teenager in the house was being left to his own devices, which just won’t do!!!

So we picked up the nephew and went home on Friday night to spend the long weekend having lots of walks, stews and fun! We had a late night on Saturday eating popcorn and watching bad TV, and were planning a lazy Sunday when my uncle phoned and invited us down to St Andrews with him and my aunty to meet my cousin. Apparently they were planning to meet half way between both houses, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, but once they had decided it was Dundee and checked the weather decided on the much sunnier St Andrews! I think it also had something to do with the fact there are much more shops for my aunty to spend money in while in Dundee!!

The Husband rushed through to get the teenager out of bed while I went to get started on the pancakes, sausage and bacon (the best breakfast there ever was). About an hour later we were heading out of the village and on our way south. Three hours later we had pulled up on the main street (Yay, no waiting or fees). It was so great and beautiful down there. TH and nephew had never been and the last time I went was twelve years ago. My cousin had studied there and managed to do her best tour guide impression, which even kept The Teenager impressed and entertained. There were so many gorgeous independent shops which were a visual feast and made my aunty and myself sigh with both longing and delight.

When the walking (walking and stopping for the girls to look in shops) got too much for everyone we found a nice place for ice cream and then got lunch a short while later. With Daisy Dog tucked under the table we went for a lovely pub lunch, where we filled ourselves to the top with hearty food and lots of ginger beer and cola.

We headed home, full up and sleepy from the sea air to little snacks and early bed times. I bet the house seems so quiet when our little teenager heads to his home today. I hope it won’t be too long before he decides to come back to us (as he knows he will get fussed over!!)

x x x x

Autumnal days off

Good morning, how are you today? Isn’t it well and truly Autumnal outside? Yesterday was so cold and blustery that while picking brambles Daisy Dog and I had to make a hasty retreat inside, lest we be swept over a cliff edge into the roaring sea! Needless to say not many brambles made it into the crumble!!

Today seems much sunnier outside, one of those, “oh it does LOOK nice, but don’t go outside or you will FREEZE” days! It is lovely and bright to have a peek through the window at though-which is a massive change from yesterday, I had to go about lighting candles at mid day. I have been wrapping myself up in eiderdowns, bedspreads and duvets as the house is starting to get cold in the morning and fearing that its going to be another winter like last, in a much bigger house, I feel like id like to keep the heating off for as long as possible. The husband cares much less than I do, which is odd as I get cold so easily, I'm sure I was always destined to live in Kefalonia.

So being inside on a very rare day off I gave myself leave to do exactly what I like. This morning to far ive sat in bed rereading Pride and Prejudice as I thought I needed some romantic motivation in my life, I've also listened to my beloved BBC Radio 3, and done a little bit of online shopping. If the day ended now I would happily say it was a great one!

Its all part of my ‘Getting Ready for Christmas-little and often’ buying plan-so its not really like treating myself, well except for the one teeny tiny book I bought myself.  I had reserved Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer at the local library, but the copy had went missing before I could actually get it, and so seeing as it would be much too awkward to go and collect it from another district, I decided to treat myself.  I got it from the Hawkins Toyshop and so it was only £8, and as I needed to get a couple of cute little stocking fillers for my nephews and niece I thought it would be a great opportunity to really do the whole ‘little and often’ thing!  I have bought two as I know someone who would love it too, following on from my last post I could start my own Great British Bake Off with my friend!  I also got these super adorable paper chains, which I thought I could mix in with some especially Christmas ones, which are a bit more expensive, to make them go a bit longer.  I know it will look great on the Welsh Dresser we’ll be getting next month.

Now I'm off to the Post Office to get some vegtables so that I can make some life restoring soup, and properly snuggle down for the rest of the day!

Bye for now,
Sheila
x

The Great British Bake Off

I am loving The Great British Bake Off, it is amazing!!  I think everyone is fab, and actually cried last night when someone went off...too scared to say who incase its still to be watched!!

Its now part of my 'must views' and i know that im going to miss it the second its done! 

Pumpkin Patch Swap

I've now got my partner for Crafty Helens Pumpkin Patch Swap...yay!!!  Im paired up with this lovely bloggerette, im very lucky as ive also found an amazing blog too!!  I love it when you just wonder through all of the blogs clicking from one person to the other and find a whole new group of blogs to love!!!

I need to start thinking of some great Autumn inspired items!!

Sheila
x x x

Our Anniversary

Its getting very, very exciting in the HH household! The countdown to our second anniversary is on!! The husband has decided to whisk me away, and I tell you, I'm not complaining. We will be heading to The Marcliffe Hotel, which is a super cute and old fashioned place in the West of the city. Although I love my life, we have had a bit of a rough ride for some of the year, and we have both been really tired lately.

I love this time of year, and we’ll be on the gateway to the highlands so we can investigate everywhere, and I mean everywhere!! We used to go antiquing in a small village called Kincardine O'Neil which was really great and we always found loads of odd things there. However, since moving we haven’t had an opportunity to visit as its just too much of a drive.

It’s also a great time of year for reasons other than foliage, as I always feel like it’s a fresh start when Autumn rolls around. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to shake the whole ‘term time’ thing, and I always make up new resolutions in September!! So it seems appropriate that as The Husband and I head into a new year of marriage we look at how we can make more time for each other, or get the best from the time we can carve out of the week!

However, there will be no problems making time for each other while at The Marcliffe, I'm making spa appointments and looking over the menu all the time!!

Blanket goodness

Hello there, how has the Long Weekend been with you?  We've had such a fab time, I'm feeling very lucky!

Its just been rotten weather here, but really perfect for the HH household.  We had a bit of an Indian Summer, but it then turned back into dark, dank weather-um, pretty much the same as our Summer!!!  I love Autumn, Winter and all things snuggley!  So we've been fine and happy!  After visiting The Chocolate Bar with my friend Holly I knew I HAD to visit there with The Husband.  It is the most amazing shop in the whole of the North East!  There are so many chocolates wrapped up like teeny tiny jewels I can hardly count them.  Its run by three women, and you can always see there little ones running around!  The seats are super snuggley and cosy, and there are loads of windows to peak out at people from.  When The Mother in Law visited here this weekend we all ventured over to Ellon to have a good look around and eat too much!!  We had chilli hot chocolate and some cake-oh my goodness it was just too good for words!!  We sat up at the counter on the super sleek bar seats and stared at all of the gadgets behind the counter....oh and the extra sprinkles for our cocoa!

Afterwards we had a lovely walk around to see some china and some beautiful old books and then back to the car via a charity shop.  It was jam packed full of lovely things but most wonderfully of all-thick wool blankets!!  I was so super happy that I ran at the poor Husband and begged him to hand over the cash ASAP.

All I could think of when I saw them was of an old Cherry Menlove post from ages ago!!  I am so excited to get the blankets on a good wash and hang them out to dry...then I can decorate them and stick them up around the house!! 

I will post some pictures later, but Im off to check on Sunday Dinner!!

Christmas Extravaganza Weekend

Yay, I am already overwhelmed by excitement about Christmas and all thing which can be put in the category of Over The Top!!!

I've bought us tickets for the Country Living Christmas Fair, which we went to for the first time last year. It was so much fun last year, and we both got to take part in two demonstrations which I think was unbelievably lucky, so I hope it’s just as great this year. On the same weekend as the Fair we’re also going to see Scrooge at His Majesties Theatre.

It’s my all time favourite theatre and A Christmas Carol is one of my must reads every December-so poor Mr HH is being dragged along on what I'm calling our Christmas Extravaganza Weekend.

Thrifty Christmas

Don’t get cross with me for mentioning the Christmas word right now, I'm not trying to antagonise anyone!!


As anyone who knows me already is aware, I adore Autumn and Winter more than any other seasons, yes sunny summers are great, but on a rainy day I’d much rather make a stew than pretend I want to eat strawberries and cream in the grey sun porch! With this in mind my aptly named friend Holly and I have been planning the galas and fairs we’re going to attend.

Although this is really great and a lovely thing to think of right now, this is the first Christmas The Husband and I are going to have with a relatively big family. Before now there were so many disagreements that we only ever had to buy things for a handful of people (excluding all of those little spare presents to be kept at the front door!). And now, with all of those hatchets well and truly buried, we have more than twenty people to buy for…a really big shock for someone from a teeny tiny family!

We have…ooops, I mean, I have been creating my lists again so that I can prepare this operation with military precision (When Hubby is ex-Army, why can’t he think more of my plans?). Its really not because I am an organised person, I really am the least organised Librarian in the world, I mean Dewey organised the worlds knowledge into 10 classes and I forget to defrost supper I if I need to iron something in the morning….anyway… Its mostly because seeing as money is tighter than normal at the moment I want to be able to take advantage of every little sale or bargain that I can, and being organised will help me do that.

Much too often I don’t leave enough time to shop on amazon for a great title and I have to go to the bookstore. I run around and grab anything, just so that someone can unwrap something…I really don’t want to, nor do I think I can afford, to put myself through that. So, while the evenings are still light I will be merrily cross stitching or sewing, I will be crafting as well as sneaking on to ebay for bargains galore and hopefully, when the nights are dark and the winds are wild I will be tucked up inside safe in the knowledge that Great Aunty Whatsit will have something to swig on Christmas Morning!!

What a week, what a week..

What a week, ranting, horrible, evil work week!!  When Friday rolled around it was all I could do not to scream out loud because I had already promised to do a shift swap for someone and I had to work on Saturday morning.

There I was, almost skipping from the building, when a giant rain cloud passed right over me...and......let the sun peep through!!  It was the biggest smile I had on my face all week!!  So there I went, walking-the boss was too close for me to do any skipping at this point really, on to the bus stop when what should happen?....the bus appears right away to take me into town for a bit of 'pick me up' shopping.

Anyway, the sun was getting brighter and brighter the more we headed into town, so much so that I treated myself to a milk shake once I got into Union Square.  After a little look around the shops (why is it that when you find you have money there isn't anything in your size?), and a bit of a nice wonder about, I got straight onto the bus home...where I found The Husband and his friend having a very fun afternoon eating olives, cheese and bread in the back garden...talk about medicine for an awful week!  A couple of hours of the weekend had me in a very good mood again!!

From there we walked down to the harbour, where we met a friend for drinks in their garden at the beach and we pretty much sat there for three hours although it only seemed like three minutes!  We got home, got the BBQ and firepit set up and ate so much chicken, burgers and smores that we almost fell asleep outside under our little blankets!

I am really, really working on not sweating the small stuff, I promise I am, and this weekend has really been exactly what I needed.  I am so, so lucky to have a great husband, lovely friends, and to be happy with what I have (most of the time!!).

I hope everyone's had a great weekend too!

Sheila

x x x

Sherlock Holmes

Oh dear...I am much too sad for words.  I have been living for Sundays and the BBC's greatest recent show, Sherlock.

I can not wait until there is more, there really must be more....how can I drink my cocoa with marshmallows on a Sunday night without it?

Changes

When I was little I grew up in a small fishing village about twelve miles from where The Husband and I now stay. It was good and exactly how I want my children to grow up. The village was so small that it was easy for me to go about and explore, I walked everywhere with my family and as we owned a yacht (which my Father built-we weren’t rich!) I was always busy and had stories to tell from the weekend.

Once I grew up a bit we moved closer to town. I was a teenager and loved the freedom which came from being able to walk into town anytime I wished. Everything was on my doorstep and I was able to get a job in a clothes shop in town which was lovely. Discount on fabulous clothes, and all my wages spent in my place of work pretty much ensured that we always made a bonus…which invariably was spent back in my workplace!! It was a great time and exactly what I needed at that time.

When I met The Husband, and he was just The Boyfriend I moved into his home. That is probably the oddest time for me. It was my first home of my own, but it wasn’t really- it was his… In that place I didn’t learn to cook and I barely cleaned up after myself….how embarrassing!

I was so glad when we moved to a lovely area in the suburbs; our teeny tiny little flat was perfect. I cooked and cleaned and made it my own. I was so happy and proud, I made an actual home. People visited, and although there wasn’t much space we always made sure people knew they were welcome. That became exactly what I needed. The Husband and I got married, we honeymooned and came back to that flat, it was a physical example of our commitment to each other-we had made a home which one day we hoped a child would move into.

Now we’ve moved into our new home. I now live quite close to my first home ever. I've come full circle and I love it. I know not to expect anything about little ones in this home-but that’s alright. There is now a spare room which is perfect for guests, we now have a home big enough to properly have people over to, and feel welcome in. It’s a wonderful feeling to be that prepared, something I’ve never had before. I know not to think that we’ll be here forever, it’s probably the last thing I say before I find the roof caves in knowing my luck recently, but I know to take things in my stride and start handing things over to ‘The Universe’. I really need to let go and go with the flow, so I am happy to learn that skill…slowly, in our new home.

Bye for now,

Sheila

x x x

What a weekend..i need a holiday!

Oh my goodness-what a weekend! It’s been so terrible; I honestly am at the very end of my tether!

It is all to do with moving house and renting and quite frankly being very, very cross with the landlord-to the point where we think we might be taking them to small claims court! So I'm sure you can imagine how cross I am!

It has all been such a stress, added to the fact that seeing as it happened over a weekend we can’t speak with anyone with lots of knowledge and advice. I'm really not someone who can step back and let things take their course, but I'm now someone who is forced to be!

Wish me luck with this, we certainly need it.

Sheila

x x x

Little visitors

A couple of days ago The Husband and I had a lovely time visiting his Mother, when quite unexpectedly our nieces came around. It was a great surprise as I really miss spending time with little Emma, who I used to baby-sit when The Husband and I first started dating, and I never seem to get enough time with the new baby in the family, Keira.  I do have lots and lots of pictures of the little ones, but i don't want to pop any up on here just yet.  I'd much rather wait until they are a teensy bit older, and then I can show them off like crazy!!  Although both Mums did say it would be O.K. I want to be really selfish and keep them all to myself.

Keira and her gorgeous Mummy came around first to say hello, I must say that Keira is the happiest, best behaved baby I’ve ever seen. Honestly, I’ve only heard her upset once, and she does the cutest little bag puss yawn when she is sleepy! After that she just snoozes away quite happily!! So after The Husband and I argued over who was going to hold her first we were quite the thing for a couple of hours, shaking hands, kissing her head and singing songs kept us-if not Keira-entertained!

Little Emma popped round and had us in stitches when she started telling her little stories. She had been to the showies a couple of days earlier and was still buzzing from the penny slots and pretend fire engine!

I am now starting to think The Husband and I are lucky to have this time with the little ones, but we still get to go home and out to our local for a Pub Lunch if we want! I think this especially after hearing all of the talking toys-I honestly hope its quite normal not to have these, as I won’t want these anywhere near our home when we are blessed! They are so noisy, constantly chattering away in the oddest accents, maybe when we are blessed I will be quite happy to throw these things in our child’s general direction…anything to keep them amused!!

All in all it was a lovely day and really great fun to get to catch up with so many people at once. I cant wait to have our home buzzing with the children of all our visitors, as we’ve never had a garden of our own before, and we are now so close to the beach and I'm sure Emma will agree that there would be many a pretty shell to collect there!!  I really can not wait to start reading stories to Keira, lots and lots of Princess, Fairy stories, any stories, I just want to fill the heads of all children with make believe and fun! 

Bye for now,

Sheila

x