Joining in with this week’s Gallery at Sticky Fingers

Share/Bookmark

So, in addition to Violet Posy, Mum in the Madhouse, The White Approach and Growing Spaces, I shall be attempting a Storage Solution this month.

Storage is always an issue, unless you are a minimalist-type (and perhaps even then….I always assumed that minimalism was just about being better at putting things away than the rest of us.) And I happen to live with a) a man who cannot abide ‘stuff’, especially if the aforementioned-stuff is out-of-place and b) two Girls who have lots of stuff and a reluctance to put it in the right place. Or rather a lack of designated space in which to put the stuff. So it seemed an obvious choice to focus on toy storage for this month’s challenge.

Thus I give you The Before Shot of their shared bedroom:

I have a Tots 100 Home pin-board on Pinterest where I’ve been pinning images to inspire me and perusing the Homebase website with monotonous regularity.

As it happens I do have plans for The Girls’ room. When Dimples resisted the transformed Cot-Bed in her nursery, we moved her into the Bunk Beds in LBG’s room. Surprisingly, she was more content there than on her own. The beds were separated out, which necessitated the removal of some furniture to the now-empty nursery. So there are now two beds, which form an L shape up against two of the walls, a large Ikea wardrobe, and a built-in bookcase, two large windows (and the door). With two children in one room, there is a lot more ‘stuff’ than there once was, less floor space and, I suspect, a soft-toy breeding programme under the bed. I definitely don’t remember buying all of those animals.

I also promised LBG, to smooth the transition into sharing a room, that I would redecorate. She has chosen a theme, and is patiently waiting for the change from blue to purple. Unfortunately we need to replace the windows, which is timetabled for the end of the year, and until that happens there is no point in redecorating as we will only have to do it all again after the windows and frames have been changed. In the meantime, the new theme is something to bear in mind with the Storage Challenge: anything added to the Girls’ Room will have to co-ordinate.

Thus my plan of attack, in theory at least, will be:

1. Declutter. There are too many soft toys, or things they no longer play with. There will undoubtedly be broken bits, damaged things and an unholy amount of teeny-tiny toys from front-of-magazines, Kinder Eggs and Happy Meals. All of these things should be sorted out.

2. Categorise. If I want The Girls to tidy things themselves, they need to know where they should go. Categorising will help with labelling, which will help them learn that everything has a plce.

3. Store. The main areas that need attention are

• under the beds- their bedlinen is tucked here but apart from that, it’s wasted space. Floor level is a great height for small children to access easily so I could store stuff under the bed.
• Bookcase- this holds a lot of books, which the children need access to, but extends beyond their height so I can only store so much on the shelves that they can get down independently when they want to.
• Other storage unit? This would be a solution to the issue of access.

So that’s it. If you have any suggestions or great storage ideas, do let me know. And if you happen to be in the Bromley area, feel free to lend a hand .

Share/Bookmark

Once the base layer was done, I could get to work on my Jubilee Door Wreath, which was very quick and easy. Whilst The Girls were tasked with making flowers from spare crepe paper, I covered the wreath in napkins in much the same way that I did with the Spring Wreath. Bizarrely, because I didn’t want to fold the napkins in half, I ended up with a very hexagonal wreath. It’s growing on me.

Next it was ‘flower duty’. The Girls made a couple of super crepe paper ‘balls’ which I was able to adjust to form something approximating roses.

I folded one napkin into a concertina, then stuck the two open sides together at both edges, and formed a rosette, which I stuck in place on the wreath, adding a red cupcake liner and a squished up piece of blue napkin in the centre to finish my giant rosette.

Realising that the cupcake liners were the fastest way of making flowers, I scrunched three of them up, sticking one inside the other, to create a carnation. I’ll definitely be remembering that for Remembrance Day later in the year.

I also cut one of the napkins up into strips and made a couple of rough roses by rolling them up too. I stuck it all together on one side of the hexagonal wreath.

Then, just as I was about to hang it, I remembered a wreath that I have seen somewhere which used teeny tiny bunting. This was exactly what was missing and was the work of minutes to knock up: I just folded some red electrical tape around a length of blue ribbon at regular intervals, then cut out a V shape from each ‘flag’. Once the mini-bunting was added to the reverse of the wreath, I hung it from the front door.

I doubt that the Queen will pop by for tea, but at least if she does, she’ll know that she’s very welcome!

Share/Bookmark

I lucked out recently when I picked up Union Jack napkins for about 60p. The first set of bunting couldn’t be simpler:

(yes, that is icicle tape left up at the top edge of the window from Christmas. It hides above the blinds so I never remember to take it down.)

I folded them in half diagonally and stapled to some red crepe paper streamer I have (I bought a whole batch in different colours from a charity shop.) It looks lovely in our sitting room window.

A while ago The Girls had a fun afternoon painting with marbles. We used red, white and blue paint on a red background, and I just knew that the finished art would be perfect for a Jubilee or Olympic Project at some point this year. In fact LBG got in some great cutting practice when I got her to turn the art into small triangles.

Once we had condensed all the pages into teeny tiny triangles, I found her a glue stick. Firstly we glued the rear of the triangles and stuck them to a length of red crepe paper, being careful to stick them only as far as the mid-way point. Once I we were happy with the arrangement, then we added glue to the top of each triangle and folded down the crepe paper onto each triangle, creating beautiful and easy marble painting bunting.

This now graces our banister and gets lit up at night by the fairy lights that I put up for LBG birthday last year and have yet to take down.

Share/Bookmark

Project 366 Week Nineteen, Sunday: the dressing up box is the perfect place for a snack-break

My poor husband was obliged to work- albeit from home- on Monday so we were delighted to see Granny and Uncle Adam rock up. In honour of the occasion, Dimples stripped and ran around like a streaker whilst the Big People sampled my latest take on the Cinnamon Roll. At some point I noticed Dimples was missing and, after a short search, found her snuggled up- and fast asleep- in the dressing up box. Still naked. It was obviously that kind of day for her- she refused to go to bed with LBG after having napped, and ended up falling alseep in ‘her’ arm chair whilst DH and I caught up on some TV viewing.

Project 366 Week Nineteen, Monday: the comfiest chair in all the land

Given that Monday felt a lot like Sunday, I was rather befuddled when my alarm went off on Tuesday morning, not least because I wasn’t even in my own bed. As usual. But instead of that Monday morning feeling, I realised that it was Tuesday. Cue madness as we tried to get LBG ready for school whilst she insisted she was happier at home. Cue tears from Dimples as I left her behind with DH whilst  I did the School Run in cab. Cue exasperation that garages various couldn’t fit our broken car in until Thursday. Friends managed to squeeze us into their car so that we could still go to cooking and we had the unusual excitement of lunch at Ikea- the best thing ever for Dimples whose favourite food is meatballs- to follow before heading home so that I could repeat the cabbing experience once again. Oh, and the infamous line from LBG, who has cornered the market in storming from the room like a petulant teenager and slamming the door behind her: “I am not ever living here ever again.”

Project 366 Week Nineteen, Tuesday: Flag of St George

Wednesday followed a similar pattern of mayhem and chaos before 8am, with LBG once again insisting she was going to move in with her (fictional) Nanny and Grandfather and Dimples sobbing that she wouldn’t be Cecily’s friend ever again. I got stressed when the taxi that yesterday had been fifteen minutes early was now ten minutes late and the driver was a bit bold with his driving decisions. Nothing that a bit of retail therapy couldn’t cure, of course. Between my Pret-a-Manger Chocolate Moose and a nap, my sub-five hour night-time sleep pain was soothed. And even better, a very kind parent at school offered to collect LBG and bring her home to us until our car is repaired. LBG was beside herself with the excitement of it all- a very grown-up thing to do. I felt a little nostalgic as she seemed to grow up before my very eyes.

Project 366 Week Nineteen, Wednesday: red white and blue

Thursday brought an even greater moment in her life as not only did she get collected and taken to school by someone else, but she was taken back to their house after school for the very first unaccompanied playdate. Naturally I spent the entire day wondering if she was alright and hoping she was well-behaved, instead of making the most of my time alone. I baked to occupy myself, forcing cake onto the men in the Man Cave. I collected Dimples and spent time snuggling with my baby, who is always exhausted after nursery. LBG was delivered home at 6.30pm beaming with happiness.

Project 366 Week Nineteen, Thursday: baking to keep myself busy.

Project 366 Week Nineteen, Friday: a break in the hectic play schedule

Friday was a beautiful day- just right for playing in the garden and doing crafty things. The garage called to say that our car needed to go to BMW and the first time they would be able to deal with it was Monday so it was clear we weren’t getting it back any time soon. We had to use the bus and walk to get to ballet class on the other side of town, which was easy enough in the sunshine. Coming back was an entirely different proposition: all the buses were filled with school children and I had a pushchair so it took nearly an hour and a half to get home with two tired children. I missed the car, I tell you.

Project 366 Week Nineteen, Saturday: a break in the hectic Cybher schedule. I needed some air and took advantage of a photography workshop to get outside, where Morris Dancers were entertaining the tourists.

Then came Saturday. I left The Girls in the capable hands of their father and headed into London for Cybher2012. I spent a day under pink light (more annoying than you would think) and meeting so many people I knew but had never met. It was wonderful to have people recognise me from my blog and hear that they enjoy reading it. It was also thrilling to have a conversation with Dimples on the phone when I called in at lunchtime: DH gets to speak to them on the phone a lot, but it’s a rare thing for me. I was so excited to be able to have a proper chat with her about what she had been up to. Which was good because LBG was a bit too busy to talk! I may have had a glass of wine at a bar after the conference. Or two. I arrived home to sleeping girls, a calm house and an exhausted husband.

Oh, and the Disney/ABC people were kind enough to engineer this photo of me at Cybher.

Once Upon a Time

Share/Bookmark

I perused the website with ease. I am, after all, and old hand at online shopping. I confess I didn’t really bother looking beyond the ‘Dog’ category, since that is where our priorities lie, but it had everything you would expect: the big names, the wormer, the anti-flea treatments (although interestingly, not the one that I buy), collars, the eponymous bowls and treats of all kinds. I went with the Dog Spinny because I wanted something special.

Communication was very good: an email confirming order, one confirming dispatch and a third to tell me that my products would be arriving a day late due to the Bank Holiday. Which they did. Well wrapped, with the added bonus of an extra treat. And I have to say that both Nugget and DH and I were utterly delighted with the product: designed to teach the dog to solve the puzzle and get the treat.

I was genuinely jolly impresses with the service offered by petshopbowl.co.uk: good range of products, excellent communication, great delivery service, and a super treat to boost.

*Disclosure: I received the Dog Spinny free of charge in order to be able to test the order and delivery service provided by Pet Shop Bowl, but all opinions are my own.

Share/Bookmark

My mum used to make these for me when I was a child. I’m certain it’s because it’s the only way she could get courgettes/zucchini into us. There’s nothing worse than a boiled courgette. But fried? Yes sirree, that’s the way to go.

You need:

1 courgette, grated

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp flour

According to the recipe I remember from childhood, you mix, season and fry. My variation is to use a fine grater so that you get wafer-thin slivers of courgette. I also add a sprinkle of nutmeg. Because I can.

Then you warm a pan, much like you would for pancakes. Add a little butter and let it sizzle. Then dollop small spoonfuls into the pan, cook for a few minutes, flip, cook on the other side, and serve. They make great canapes too.

And when Mum saw them, she said “You take a perfectly good recipe………..and make it better!” I am my mother’s daughter.

Share/Bookmark

Anyway, for those of you who are also attending what may be the Chic-est Blogger Event Ever, here are some pointers, should you wish to avoid me.

Twitter ID: @domesticgoddesq I am also on Pinterest if you fancy following me!

Height: 5ft 5 ish in my slippers

Hair: Shoulder-length (I try and avoid the word ‘bob’), heavily-assisted-blonde, lthough I’m not getting it done until next Wednesday so it won’t look as Stepford Wives as it usually does. Sorry about that.

Eyes: Green, hypnotic and enhanced by the grey bags of a mother whose child is a ‘Bad-Sleeper’.

Five things you should know about me…
1. I am not as slender as the blog silhouette.
2. I grind my teeth in my sleep. And talk. And sometimes walk.
3. I know the offside rule. Even though football sucks.
4. I have touched Colin Jackson.
5. I own a Slanket.

Insightful, no?

As for what I plan on wearing? I have the choice down to two ensembles. Firstly there is the retro-inspired fifties-style dress, bought for LBG’s Christening, in honour  of my online persona. Should make me nice and easy to spot as it is bursting with colour and requires heels, which could make it an issue since I shall have to wear them all day. I have no idea what I’ll wear with it…..

Plan B is a fabulous Greek-Inspired maxi-dress that I wore for my brother’s wedding in America. It’s a wonderful rich colour, would be quite comfortable and, crucially, can be worn with flat shoes- either some gold boden lace-up pumps, or a pair of biker-type-black boots if raining. Again, a little unsure of what to wear over it, since my upper arms are not my best feature.

If you’ve got any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them.

Share/Bookmark