LATELY // 1

Finally got around to joining in with Bleubird Vintages Bits and Pieces this week. So here we go, enjoy!

1. Slipper Season. 2. Birthday Cards. 3. Stocks. 4. Dexter's note. 5. Saturday Morning lie in.

LATELY // 1

This last 2 weeks have been manic! Stupidly I thought i'd have more time once the kiddos went back to school, but no. I'm back & forth to those school gates like a flippin' boomerang as Flo is only doing mornings.  So, it's been ages since I blogged, or even took an interesting photo, or even done an interesting thing. I could blog about how much i'm ironing name lables into blue school uniform, but it's dull. Very dull. So instead i'll just witter on briefly about how fabulous my little miss Flo is doing at school! I think i've mentioned before about the nightmare year she has had at Pre-School in terms of leaving me, so the fact that she is literally S.K.I.P.P.I.N.G to school every day is amazing & lovely to see. Her teacher pulled me aside this morning to tell me what a lovely, kind & confident girl she is, and my heart melted just a little bit! Dexy is loving being one of the big year one guys - all grown up & doing brilliantly already. And, little miss Indi is now a big old eater! Well, kind of. By eater, i mean she's sucking veggie slop off of a spoon, but she loves it, and we love watching her hilarious faces as she tries something new for the first time! She is comedy gold... i've got some snaps of that on my other camera for another post.

So, that in a nutshell is the past 2 weeks here - here's just a couple pics. Enjoy x

BAD DAY DESERVES A GOOD SUPPER

Argh!
As much as I worship the very ground they walk on, my little darlings have almost finished me off today. To say today was pretty much the day from hell is an understatement, and it just kept going & going & going.
It started off with school shoe shopping (i should have known then it would all end in tears). Now, I  thought I was being a right smart arse getting to the shoe shop by 9am, obviously beating every other mum who has left it to the last minute to get the school shoes, but -ahem- no, not so much..... Every single child in the WORLD needed their feet measuring apparently. Today. Right here in Bath. At 9am. (Do you even know how insanely impossible it actually is to get three kids out of the house by 8:45?)
So, there we stood with the best of them in the vacuum sealed shoe shop waiting with our little ticket, like something fun was about to happen. Until finally, one of the 'expert measurers' plonked my kids on a machine that expertly measured their feet on the 'expert measurers' behalf and then proceeded to whip my kids up into a frenzy about some shoe that has a toy in the heel. A toy in the heel which actually adds £10 to the price of the shoe. So obviously they both want this heel toy concoction and were not moving until they had them. To be honest, I would have let them have the moon on a stick at that point due to little India adding to the ambience with her rendition of 'get me out of this freakin' buggy now woman' at the top of her lungs.

That joyus experience cost me £75. That's food out the window this week then.

And then it went on & today, Florence was the gift that just kept on giving. Tantrum about no sweets in the Supermarket. Tantrum about the arm off of her new shoe toy falls off. Tantrum because I wouldn't let her eat 4 yoghurts before dinner. Tantrum from Flo because..... well, it had been 5 minutes since the last one so WHY THE HELL NOT.

And, India's teething BAD and will not be put down (thanks Chris) and Dex just joined in on any old rucus that was going on. Although he did instigate a few things and called me Mrs Poohead Billimore at one point. Not funny at 5pm when it's screamed in your face, but kind of funny now after a glass of red wine.

And breath....

Actually, why am I re-living this? Am I mental (that's rhetorical thank-you very much) Do you see what these holidays have done to me, do you????

So, anyway - School is back next week and what's the betting that by day 2 I will miss them like crazy?

Madness.

SIMPLY PRETTY

I thought i'd share some snaps i've taken over the last couple of days. Nothing really marries them, apart from the fact that they are all simply nice photo's. Enjoy!

Somerset countryside

Surf dude Dexter

Flo looooves ice cream

Happy as always - India 

India & mama

MISS MISERY GUTS

Urgh. This week has pretty much sucked. Apart from a couple of nice lunch dates with family & friends, it's been pretty grim. The weather has been awful (again), the stuff on the news has been so depressing with all the mindless rioting - how upsetting to see so many of my old stomping grounds brought to their knees - and to top it all off, all 3 kiddos have the worst hacking cough. I ended up taking 16 week old Indi to see the doc as it's just so awful to see something so sweet & tiny having such a hard time - it breaks my heart. It really doesn't help that we live in one of the most polluted cities in Europe & with soooo much traffic here during the hot summer months it's no wonder we feel like we're suffocating some days (at 3am this morning I was so annoyed with Bath & it's air quality that I was surfing properties in Falmouth! Don't think a move is on the cards though).  So, for the last 3 nights, sleep has been pretty limited, and I am a total zombie. I have a perma-drip of caffine running through my veins in a vain (!) attempt to keep my eyes open, and my arms & legs working in some sort of manner. BUT - things could be worst, a lot lot worst i know so as much as I like pissing & moaning about poor little old me, i thought i'd try and turn that frown upside down (i know i know, i even hate myself for using that line) - so off I pootled to pintrest for some happy therapy (that's looking at pretty pictures to you & me). This is what I found..... enjoy!

One day i will my own Airstream. And it will look like this!

How adorable is this!! Kinda funny too...

I'd love love love to live here.

This is such a fab idea. Will start doing this i think with our kitchen black board.

I love the colours. Perfect :)

Sources: one two three four five

SEASIDE

Ahhh, summer.
Glorious sunny, warm, balmy summer.
Long lazy days, filled with the kids tearing strips off of each other children playing happily, burnt sausages beautifully marinated seafood on the BBQ & children running about gone 10pm because its too humid to sleep long relaxed evenings in the garden drinking wine watching the sunset.
Ah yes, i do love Summer.

saunton sands, Devon

The thing is though, here in old Blighty we don't actually ever get 2 months of un-interrupted sun & warmth. It's rare to have more than a couple of days at a time with the sun beating down on everyone giving us all a healthy glow & much needed Vit-D boost. So, when the sun does come out you have to get at it & be quick sharp about it too. So that's exactly what we did for the day on Wednesday - we packed enough food to feed an army, buckets, spades, hats & our sunnies & we drove down to Studland on the Dorset coast, and headed straight for Knowle Beach.

The kids LOVED it. I was amazed by how confident Dexter & Florence were in the sea considering neither of them can swim properly yet & also that Flo had an icy 'falling into the sea fully clothed' experience in Polzeath back a couple of Novembers ago!! It looked as if Dexter was making his way to the Isle of Wight at one point he was that comfortable, and Flo managed to play a game of sea golf (i don't know either).

It was one of the best days we've had so far as a family of five this summer and we're thinking of heading back there in a couple of days for more. Bliss.

RABBIT!

source

WOW! I have not been this excited about an album since I was about 13 or 14 and discovered 'Come on feel the Lemonheads' but I just had to shout out to whoever would listen the whole world about my new found love for this group & this album. Rabbit! and their album 'Connect the Dots' is exactly what the world and his wife have been waiting for. It's music that cheers you up, lyrics that make you giggle & blush, melodies that make you dance around your kitchen smiling - tunes that get stuck in your head which you actually don't mind LOVE being there. This album is so happy & i don't know if that's because where I am right now, or whether it's the perfect soundtrack to my summer, but whatever - it works & you have to listen to them and then you need to march your little dancing fingers straight into itunes & download the album because, honestly you'd be daft if you didn't!

source

I first stumbled across them when I was reading the blog Pacing the Panic Room where they provided the soundtrack to an amazingly cute maternity video can watch here (i think i have already gushed about this on twitter!)..... aaaanyway, i'm blabbing on but i totally fell in love with the song Magic, so had to get it for myself. Well, it was obviously my birthday or something as there was a whole album waiting for me on itunes, which within minutes was blasting through the speakers in my kitchen.

Everyone loves it here - India falls asleep to Ladybug, Dexy & Flo go mad for Magic (over & over!) and I can't get enough of Pea - the lyrics are as sweet as pie & make you giggle. Maybe I love this album because I can hear lots of little snippets of some of my favourite bands & songs in there. I swear can hear the harmonies The Beach Boys would be proud of, the cosy love-ness of The Magic Numbers, the clever lyrics of Evan Dando.... i don't know, this album makes me think, which is good, it means it won't get boring. This is one album that will be played in this family for a long long time & will most definitely contribute to the soundtrack of me. Hurrah!

CURRENTLY OBSESSING OVER....KITCHENS

Ahhh, i LOVE it when i'm introduced to something new. Finding a new interiors magazine, shop or design website feels like a treat & i literally obsess over it for ages. Well, you can imagine then my utter joy at discovering Pintrest - literally all my Christmases and birthdays have just arrived, smack bang & on my desktop - happy days!

Pintrest is where i can keep all the links to all the lovely things I see on the web & want to share on here and it's also where i get to swoon over pics of interiors from all over the planet. This week my obsession is kitchens!!
I LOVE a good kitchen, it is totally the heart of any house hold & just like that chappy in the Ikea add, you will always find me in the kitchen at parties. My kitchen is probably my favourite room in my house, and although it's not the largest kitchen in the world it's where i like to spend most of my day (& not only because i'm within close range of food, yadda yadda). In fact, if my kitchen was large enough to fit a sofa in, i probably would never leave. Currently my kitchen is powder pink, with a huge blackboard wall which the kiddos draw me lovely pics on, and I write endless lists. If I could, i would probably have a house full of kitchens..... and these lovely ones would all be in there.

sources:  one two three four

I love them all. Muchly. And I am so going to do that recipe idea at home.

Enjoy x

23.06.11 | GLASTO

This weekend is Glastonbury Festival, and I don't need to be told twice that i am being a big fat baby about not going. Yes yes yes, i KNOW I have a beautiful new baby girl & that's the reason I am not there, and obviously I wouldn't trade my gorgeous little Indi in for a trip to Glasto (even if she gave me about 3 minutes kip last night) but I still feel sad that i'm not going to be a part of it this year. My love for this festival is HUGE and as a true Glasto regular i feel like my heart's been ripped out this weekend (dramatic? yes I am, deal with it.)

But, rather than get pissy every time I see one of the students from up my road walk past my window with their backpacks, tents & trendy wellies, i thought i'd channel my negative energy into a postive blog post instead...... far out man.

I've been going to Glasto since I was a little 8 year old in 1989. That's me in that photo up  there with my Ray Bans & my skinny ribs...

My mum took me, along with my baby brother & i'm going to be honest, i hated the place. I hated the fact that I couldn't watch TV, i hated sitting in a field being bored, i hated only being allowed to eat chips because they were cheap. I hated having to sit listening to some old hippy warbling away on the pyramid stage (that hippy was Donovan who I thought back then was crap, until my mum bare faced lied to me & said it was Jason Donovans dad! Apparently as soon as she did I sat and watched as mellow as yellow - probably dreaming of the day Jason & I would be thee wed.) Anyway I digress... as the years went on I started to quite like the place and by the time I was a teenager I was hooked -well & truely addicted to the magic of Worthy Farm! I've been with best friends, housemates, ex-boyfriends, even on my own once & it's always been amazing, but for me the fact that it's become our annual family reunion makes it all the more special. There are things we do every year, like send a postcard from the festival postcard tent, meet up on Thursday night at the cider bus, visit the stone circle on Sunday, watch the bands from the right speaker, take a photo outside Joe Banana's, have a massive row (!)..... i could go on, and on as I have so many happy memories of Glasto. I'd need the whole weekend to blog them all, so here are the few that spring to mind;
Firstly, it was the time me & my best mate Caz plucked up the courage to get some cider from the cider bus. It took us about an hour to get the confidence to go, £1 in hand and mumble the words "cider. please.1 pint. of it." only to be hit with a question "sweet or dry?" ...... shiiiiit! I dunno, sweet or dry/sweet or dry/sweet or dry.... arrrrrgh. Traumatised by my first cider buying experience, i opted for sweet which was rank & i have never consumed it again by choice. I am forever a dry cider drinker because of that moment!
Oh & then there was The Lemonheads scar! Whilst watching The Lemonheads (still love you Evan) in 1994, my arm got scratched by someones' bag zip & it bled. So, in my 14 year old wisdom, i kept picking the scab for weeks to come, so i could have a Lemonheads scar for life - which, err i don't have.
Then there was the crowd surfing moment, which i ended up doing alone as my then boyfriend lost his bottle & stayed put, with one of my wellies which he didn't think to bring with him when he came to get me from the front. It was a very cool experience & i *think* it was to Dodgy when they were playing 'Good Enough' - that was a good year for bands that year, all Brit-poppy and lovely.

I could go on & bore the bones of you with tales of Robbie Williams singing 'Angels' whilst the sun shone or listening to the crowd sing 'Little Saint Nick' on a blistering hot Sunday whilst Brian Wilson kind of sang along too. Or i could get excited remembering Crowded House doing the longest ever version of Weather with You with the whole crowd smiling & singing along. Then there was Dizzee Rascal literally taking me to dizzee new heights as he dueted with Florence. There was the year I was pregnant with Dexy & he danced around in my belly whilst The Thrills played an amazing set, and of course there was the year PAUL McARTNEY played Hey Jude - now that has to be my best Glasto moment. Being a massive Beatles fan I welled up as I never thought i'd get the chance to witness a Beatle singing one of my favourite songs of all time..... magical, magical, magical.
There have been rainy ones - i remember watching the world cup one year in torrential down pours, too wet to keep a ciggy lit (classy) and i remember the sunniest one where I'd bought some Spanish potion i thought was sunscreen from someone. Turns out it the main ingredient was olive oil & I was just frying my face. I looked lovely that year, Brit-abroad chic i like to call it.

I'm not sure whether this post has made me happy or sad but I miss you Glasto. I hope the sun shines on you for your 41st year and i'll see you again soon, probably as I start a new Glastonbury chapter in my life, one that involves sharing the experience with my own children :) I can't wait! In the meantime i'll stick the radio on, sit in the garden & drink some Brothers Strawberry cider & think of you.

Here's some pics from last years festival. Enjoy x

Glasto 2010

Family shot 2010

The Stone Circle

and one of the most magical views in the whole world!

HOME

One of my big passions is interior design. It all started when I studied set design as one of my modules at university and slowly over time it has evolved into homely interiors. I love browsing interior magazines and blogs & all the before & after shots you can find of peoples homes. Sometimes I find blogs which i  become crazily obsessed totally fall in love with and they really inspire me to search out little nik-naks for my own home which are a bit different. It's nice to find things that you hope are a one off,  instead of knowing that everyone down your street probably has the same Ikea Billy Bookcase as you!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE ikea almost as much as i love my own children and have been known to spend literally hours zoned out with the new catalogue - but i'd much rather spend my hours rummaging around flea markets, car boot sales & cool little boutiques than trying to find a car parking space* at the big blue & yellow heaven. 
So, here are some pics of things I've collected over time. It's just a little selection of my favourite pieces right now - this would probably be a very different post tomorrow! I am so F.I.C.K.L.E!

my kitchen shelves

i had to include this, my 4th baby. I have wanted him since I was a little girl & we were finally blessed earlier this year. Ok, ok I *know* it is only a fridge. But it's a really cool one. Pun totally intended.

our kitchen wall where I write little reminders to the kiddos, shopping lists for the mister and mainly draw love hearts.

our hallway mirror. It seems to be made out of old batteries, but i don't think they are ones we have ever had over here in the UK. I picked this up in a gift shop in Port Issac for £1.25!

Hallway coat hooks which are only actually strong enough to hold keys. Fail.

Hallway pics. I have these polaroid photos up & down the hallway - i love them. They came in a pack of cards which i turned into framed piccies. People always think the little girl in the pink Hunters is 

This is a little corner of our lounge which is soon to be taken over by some decks & a shit load of vinyl - can't wait!! :)

AND.... here are some of my fave items.

slight obsession with russian dolls at the moment....

I adore my kitchen cannisters which the mister got me for Xmas last year from Bleubird vintages online shop 

and finally my Orla Kiely coffee pot.

ENJOY x

*oh & that should read "whilst I sit in the passenger seat screaming at other drivers whilst the mister trys to find a space". I do not drive, but I am a very very good & experienced back seat driver.

A PHOTO AN HOUR

I've seen this on a few blogs lately, so i thought i'd get in on the act. I've always wanted to do the 365 Project & some day soon i will, so i thought this is a good way to ease myself in & have fun practising!  The day i picked could have possibly been a little more eventful as it was a pretty dull & rainy bank holiday, but hey i didn't realise that when i started snapping in the dark at 6:30am! Next time it will be better, maybe i'll go to the moon or something....

So, here is my 30.05.2011 (from 6:30am to 8:30pm) in all it's Instagramming glory. Enjoy!