Fabric Fabric everywhere and not a stitch in sight!!

I have all this fabric which is really getting into a bit of a mess, because I keep going through it, and then lose all momentum. I'm not sure what is stopping me, but instead of moaning I may just have to get on with it and start sewing!!! Ya think?

So I have started working out some colour stories. A couple of which I will show just in case your'e interested. I have some ideas of what to do with them, and I have really been wanting to make cupcake pincushions, don't ask me why, but I really am loving cupcakes at the moment, thankfully Im not baking them, because I could do with shedding a few kilos right now. I need to find a really good tutorial on cupcake pincushions because I'm a bit hopeless it seems. So if you have any links that can help me, then please form an orderly queue. I'll keep you posted on my efforts! You might want to go and make a cup of tea or something though because at this rate it might take a while...

Soccer, Soup and a Roaring Fire

Nick had his first game of soccer this year. The season had already started a good few weeks ago,although he hasn't played because he rolled off my swiss ball and broke a bone in his shoulder!!!
Yes I know it sounds really good, with me having a swiss ball and everything, and does conjure up images of a fit busy mother, but here is the thing. I haven't actually used the swiss ball yet. But I have to say it makes quite a good foot rest whilst I sit in front of the tele! I have good intentions, but my husband keeps telling me the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So I suppose the only way to go is up then!
Anyway I digress...
Nicks game. Blackpool (9th grade) won 2 nil, and I can't remember what the other team is called, because apart from the odd, "great shot", or "go Blackpool go!" yelled from the sideline, I spent most of the game chatting with one of the other mothers. But the point Im trying to make here is that winter is on its way. We have had a cold blast from the South and you can feel it. The scarfs are out, and Iv'e lost my gumboots, so its a trip to the Warehouse to buy another pair, because I know from experience that by the months end, we will be standing ankle deep in mud! I have made a mental note to buy some warm 'sideline clothes', because there is nothing worse than freezing at your childs soccer game and trying to muster the enthusiasm to cheer on the team and pat the Player of the Day on the back at the end of it all.
However apart from what seems like a cold miserable prospect on the horizon, I do love the prospect of getting home on a Saturday morning, with a frozen face and muddy kids, to a big stock pot full of homemade vegetable soup, and a roaring fire. We have had a brilliant summer, but the thought of a tucking down for the winter, and eating winter fare, whilst Mike brings in the firewood, brings me great joy!!
Footnote: Around July or August my opinion may have changed somewhat, and I will be looking forward to summer once more. However for now I am happy to look with aniticipation to a New Zealand winter!!!

Good Wifes Guide

There has been a spate of emails going around titled Good Wifes Guide. I feel I need to redress the balance somewhat so have made up my own Guidelines for the modern Housewife.

Good Housekeeping
A wife’s guide for 2008
By Liz Jury©

· Have dinner ready. Line up several takeaway menus next to the Visa bill on the breakfast bar. This is a way of letting him know that you have been at least thinking about dinner. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed. Therefore make sure you phone your take-away order in ahead of time ensuring he can collect it on his way home from work.

· Prepare yourself. Get changed into your old trackies or those comfy pyjamas, and pour yourself a glass of wine.

· Be gay. Remember its okay to add a bit of spice to your marriage. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

· Clear away the clutter. Make sure your coffee group friends have all gone home before your husband arrives, and pour yourself another glass of wine.

· Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc, and pop them all on the dining room table until someone claims them.

· Over the cooler months of the year, don’t forget to wear your big rabbit slippers, they are comfy and will provide you with immense personal satisfaction. Pour yourself a glass of wine.

· Prepare the children. Remind them not to tell Daddy about the dent in the rear bumper of the car, which happened that afternoon at the mall, or they can forget about getting that playstation game.

· Be Happy to see him. Especially if he brings wine with the dinner.

· Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire. The wine should help here.

· Listen to him. Blathering on and on about his day. Remember, to him his topics of conversation are more important than yours. You may need to pour another glass of wine at this stage.

· Make the evening his. And remind him that the kids need a bath and hair wash before he reads them their bedtime stories. After that he might like to load the dishwasher.

· Your goal. Ah... have another glass of wine.
· Don’t greet him with complaints and problems. You are probably becoming a little incoherent at this stage, but what the hell open another bottle.

· Make him comfortable. Offer him a glass of wine.

· Arrange his pillow, and then lie back and watch Coronation Street.

· Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement. It will be enough for him trying to recall why the hell he married you in the first place.

· A good wife always knows her place. Credit card in one hand, glass of wine in the other.

Talk about Cats...!

Anna took photos of the cat population in her room, thankfully none of them are active mouse catchers!!

Here I am at my computer and its 4.46am!

Yes I have been up since about 2.45 am. Woken by a very large crashing sound, we found Matt who's bedroom is on the bottom floor of the house, chasing our lovely tabby Cleo (actually not so lovely) who had thought it best for all concerned to bring in the nights takings (namely a sorry looking but very much alive mouse) inside to share with the family. Mike my brave and unflinching husband and Matt number one son with an ice-cream lid (huh?) both in boxer shorts for battle gear fought galantly and managed to get the mouse outside. Before he could lock the cat door, Cleo was back in (with the mouse) and wondering why on earth we weren't praising her and giving her crunchies as a reward.

The ensuing battle probably had the neighbours calling 111, because the mouse ran under Emma's bedroom door, who awoke to find Mike hurtling into her room with a floor mop and a very crazed expression. Cleo made a break for it but I managed to head her off at the pass which in this case was the stairwell, chasing her back downstairs, still with the poor mouse at her mercy, followed by the screams 2 floors down, and a great deal of scuffling with a few utterances about b****y cats.

So its what?... 2 hours later and Mike has just reported that Cleo is outside our bedroom window...WITH THE MOUSE IN HER MOUTH!

Well the house is clean...

So it's obvious I haven't been very crafty, but now that the house is clean, I guess I can go for it!
Kids are back at school, and my oldest boy Matt, 16 and a half has started working! He is doing a 3 month trial, and then starts his builders apprenticeship! Now that should be handy having a builder in the family! I can't believe 2 of my 4 children are working. How can that be possible when I still feel only 18? (well kind of!).
I dont even know if anyone has read this blog, so maybe I am just typing to myself... but if you would like to comment please feel free!!

School is back next week and dont I know it...

Ah yes, its that time of year when you realise the carefree days of the summer holidays are fast diminishing, and the school routine is about to take hold again. Fighting through the stampede of mothers and kids trying on school shoes, I end up taking the devil may care attitude towards the price, in my desparation to escape the humidity and the other 150 mothers and their off-spring, trying to get their kids to stand still while they grapple with buckles and velcro. And then there's the stationery. First the purchase (how much did you say?!!!), and then cover with the dreaded Duraseal, which curls up and sticks to everything but the books. I at least try and get the front cover crease free, but the back...? Ah well who looks at the back cover anyway?