Y is for... yesteryear

I have loads of photos of my childhood - not least the ones my friends plastered my house with for my hen do.

This one is my favourite though - look at my little worried two-year old face!

I don't know what I had to worry about at that age!

Thank you to Fiona for this suggestion - and thank you to everyone on twitter who joined in with suggestions yesterday when I got stuck on x.

Just Z to go. It's amazingly good timing really as tomorrow will be my last day of blogging for a while.

X is for... x marks the spot

At some point on Friday my surgeon will be coming to see me with a big black pen and marking the spot where he's going to be operating. Excuse me while I have a little freak-out....

I've been having regular panics about Friday over the last few days. It became very real today when I went in to hospital for pre-admission tests. I suppose I need to think about the fact that this time next week I'll be back home and on the road to recovery.

So I'll just keep taking deep breaths and remind myself that it will be worth it to be fit again.

Two letters to go! Any ideas for Y & Z?

W is for... wife

Do you remember that bit in Sex and the City where Carrie talks about labels?

"Maybe some labels are best left in the closet. Maybe when we label people bride, groom, husband, wife, married, single, we forget to look past the label to the person..."

Well I have to say: I like, no, love having the label of "wife".

So blogland, do labels matter?

V is for... veritable feast of haberdashery

I love haberdashery - preferably vintage but brand new is just fine too. In this little concoction I have vintage threads, buttons and lace. The cute bowl was a wedding present made by my friend Lisa.

Not many letters left now - I have no idea what to do for z.  

U is for... us

Our little family.

I'm a woman of few words today - I'm mainly making lists. Lists of things to do before I go to hospital; things to take to hospital; and things to do when I'm convalescing. The list making distracts me from thinking too much about the surgery.

Hope everyone is having great weekends so far - what have you been up to? Today I had a huge lie-in to make up for a shattering week, did a bit of shopping, met a friend for coffee and cake and bought an iphone :) I decided I'd need something to keep me entertained in hospital and my laptop might not be a good idea after back surgery. I'm researching apps at the moment - anyone got a recommendation?

T is for... time

Photo by laffy4k

I always run out of time. I don't have time to do all my work; I don't have time to clean the house; I don't have time to write; and I don't have time to make things.

It's become more obvious when I've been writing my to-do-before-surgery lists that there aren't enough hours in the day for me to get everything done.

But what do I actually do all day? I know I spend too much time on the internet in the evening and too much TV watching. During the day I seem to be mainly on conference calls or in meetings.

How can I get more done? Any ideas?

S is for... shopping (and surgery)

Look at this big pile of parcels that arrived today...

The little parcel was Touche Eclat which I certainly needed after my 13 hour trip from Belfast yesterday (a long story involving a ferry, trains and automobiles).

The square one was....

which I bought from the wonderful H is for Home.

And the final parcel was a beautiful tapestry kit that I'm planning to stitch up whilst I'm recovering from surgery. I'm going in to hospital next week for an op on my back and will be recuperating for a few weeks so when I saw this in Emily Peacock's shop I couldn't resist.

I should maybe stop shopping for a while now but I do love getting parcels in the post!

R is for... reviewing the list

I haven't done a list check in a while so here it goes...

Start date: 30 August 2009
Finish date: 27 May 2012

1. Research family tree
2. After doing family history, visit some of the places my family lived
3. Make my first quilt - top is done, binding is made, just need to buy the wadding and finish it now.
4. Build a website from scratch
5. Get married!
6. Have a go at geocaching
7. Write a book
8. Write menu plans- seasonal and cheap- every week for a month (0/4)
9. Grow potatoes -  they are in the ground
10. Join a screenprinting class
11. Go on safari
12. Move house
13. Do something creative every day for a week (7/7)
14. Do something creative every day for a month (0/30)
15. Run 5K (run the whole thing)
16. Eat 5 things I've never tried before (4/5)
17. Cook 5 things I've never cooked before (4/5)- Rabbit, liver, rice pudding and Christmas pudding
18. Make a scrapbook of my 30th birthday
19. Make a scrapbook of my hen do
20. Make a scrapbook of our wedding
21. Try waxing (at a salon, not eyebrows)
22. Write a routine for cleaning/house management
23. Go to opera for the first time
24. Go to the ballet again
25. Donate blood
26. Volunteer 101 hours (3/101)
27. Make & write thank you cards for Amanda & Kate
28. Perform 101 random acts of kindness (1/101)
29. Read the ones I haven't already from this list - ( only 3 so far: Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy & To kill a mockingbird, The Great Gatsby)
30. Participate in a craft fair
31. Blog daily for a week (7/7) - I did this, did you notice ???
32. Blog daily for a month (25/30) - almost done!
33. Finish the charity shop quilt I bought
34. Make a zine
35. Learn to make clip frame purses
36. Learn to knit
37. Learn to crochet granny squares
38. Organise and tidy craft room
39. Go to an auction
40. Document my tea cup collection
41. Get a promotion
42. Climb Snowdonia
43. Have another horse riding lesson
44. Select & take part in a “big” charity event like the Moonwalk
45. Take part in a beach cleaning event
46. Get up at 7am every day for a week (7/7)
47. Get up at 7am every day for a month (0/30)
48. Learn another craft I haven't already done
49. Set up bi-monthly craft nights/afternoons
50. Set up a water butt
51. And a compost bin
52. Take part in illustration friday, once a week for a month (0/4)
53. Visit a farmers' market or farm shop once a month-
54. Continue to run the Christmas giving tree at work every year (1/2)
55. Treat myself to a 'treatment', either in a salon or DIY, once a month
56. Go to yoga once a week for a month (0/4)
57. Make lunch to take to work every day for a week (0/5)
58. Make lunch to take to work every day for a month (0/20)
59. Write a love letter to Ben every month (6/33) - have missed a couple of months so will need to make up for it
60. Start a new collection- perfume bottles? Vintage clothes?
61. Go on a picnic
62. Visit a local attraction once a month e.g. beach, park, museum etc. (3/33) - slacking on this one too
63. Update my blog template - yes, today!
64. Make a skirt
65. Make a dress
66. Go to a classical music concert
67. Polish up my French before next holiday in France
68. Buy a Diane von Furstenberg dress
69. Buy a vintage dress
70. Donate something to freecycle, or a charity shop, once a month, on average- this is a habit now, give things to freecycle, charity, jumble on a regular basis
71. Turn down plastic bags for a month (0/30)
72. Make some reusable shopping bags to fit in my handbag
73. Visit five countries (3/5) - South Africa, Mauritius and Dubai
74. Write a letter to myself to be opened on my 35th birthday
75. Find a photo of myself that I like and frame it
76. Make a cake for Ben's 36th birthday
77. Have a session with a personal shopper
78. Learn about a historical period (Tudors?)
79. Read 10 biographies (1/10) Read Julia Child's
80. Have a boudoir photo session
81. Make something from each of my craft books- donate to charity any books I don't make anything from
82. Finish working through the book, “ The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to be the Artist You Truly Are”
83. At least once a month, go to sleep without reading first (it drives Ben mad!)-
84. Buy new glasses
85. Go to New York again (with Ben)
86. Re-stock etsy shop
87. Find a new band/singer every month and listen to their album (4/33)
88. Get my hair cut every 8 weeks (I hate having my hair cut) (2/17) - had it cut again and have another appointment booked
89. Go to motocross or fishing with Ben once every 2 months without complaining (on average, season permitting!) (0/17)
90. Eat a piece of fruit every day for a month (0/30)
91. Pay my naughty library fine and don't get any more fines!
92. Make something and give it to a friend for no reason
93. Make 100 handmade presents (10/100)
94. Plant a tree
95. Have a spa day, just because
96. Give snowboarding another try
97. Watch 20 of the Times top 100 films (1/20)
98. Read a newspaper every day for a week (0/7)
99. Learn how to use my mac (I really need to learn the shortcuts I'm so used to with Windows!)
100. Start an art journal
101. Sleep outside 

Hmmmmm not going that well! I need to get a move on.

Q is for... quite messy really

I have a confession - I'm messy. If you were to walk into my house right now you'd be greeted with a pile of coats on the floor as they've fallen off their hooks; an assortment of random tools sitting in the hallway; a dining table piled high with crafting supplies and (if you were to venture upstairs) this:

This was once my craft room. It currently could only be described as a mess. I need to have a major sort out methinks. I want a desk, a sewing table, tidy organised shelves, pretty pictures on the walls and a whole lot less clutter.

Please tell me I'm not the only secret mess-maker?

P is for... pretties on flickr

I love flickr - here's a little mosaic of some of the pretties I've found recently.

1. a shelf of high hopes..., 2. twig, cut and stitched, 3. blanket amanda, 4. Just a little peek..., 5. Ruby, 6. dreams are not negotiable, 7. I love my dream job, 8. 8 april. 10 am., 9. stitched.roses

O is for... oh how I love these five things

It's Sunday Five Faves time...


1) I've been listening to the Billy Elliot soundtrack most of the week - will I ever grow tired of it?

2) I got this book out of the library and it makes me hungry just looking at the cover let alone reading any of the recipes. I'm looking forward to hiding Ben's most hated vegetable (courgette) in the Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes or the Courgette and Camomile Cupcakes. Yum!

3) The latest copy of Homes and Antiques magazine dropped through my letterbox yesterday - it includes a gorgeous little DIY project to make lace votives that I need to try.

4) Glee - I just can't get enough of it! Sue Sylvester vogueing was fantastic!

5) I want this t-shirt! I can't buy it though as have vowed not to buy any news clothes until June - maybe even July!

Happy bank holiday weekend!

N is for... not thinking about it

Happy Birthday mum

I'm not thinking about something so as a bit of a distraction I broke out the quilling tool and paper and made this card for my mum's birthday. The pink makes me happy :)

Hope you're all having lovely weekends. x

M is for... mum

It's my mum's birthday soon so I thought I'd send her birthday love from me, Ben and Toby x
This photo is from our wedding (what do you mean, you'd figured that one out?!) - the champagne was flowing and I was dancing my little socks off (in fact, I was barefoot by this point) with my Mum.

I was watching something earlier about whether we turn into our mums. I don't know if this is something that becomes more evident once we're mothers ourselves - we'll have to wait a while to find that out - but there are early signs already! Which is no bad thing - for a start I think I get my kindness from my mum.

What did you get from your mum?

L is for... love

Ten things I love:

1) ben of course.

2) and Toby.

3) my friends and family.

4) my sewing machine.

5) pink.

6) paper.

7) flowers.

8) skiing.

9) cake.

10) making things.


What do you love?

K is for... kindness

You know those tests which ask you how your friends would describe you? Well I'd like to think mine would say that I'm kind. It's something that is important to me - I strive to be kind to others (and myself) every day. I'm not a saint - of course I bitch and moan sometimes ummm quite a lot - but I try to live up to what I hope my friends think of me.

So I get sad when I see that other people aren't so kind. People don't give up seats any more, or hold doors open enough, or just smile at someone. Everyone is in such a rush all the time.

So, slow down and smile. And let's all be more kind. x

J is for... jars and jugs

I think jars and jugs are my most used items in my home. I fill them with flowers - from big fake gerberas and pretty fresh narcissi to delicate grape hyacinths and chrysanthemums.

Or I fill them with pretty threads...

Are you a jar & jug addict too?

I is for... island paradise

A few years ago we went on an amazing holiday to the Caribbean - two weeks of sailing to desserted islands around Bonaire, Curaco and Venezuala. This photo is of just one of the beautiful places we visited. It's also where I learnt to snorkel, saw dolphins, a turtle and ate fresh tuna (straight from a fisherman).

'I' could also be for ice cream (white Magnum please), Internet (I spend too much time on it), ironing (I avoid where possible), ipod (I have an old-fashioned pink classic), iris (I have three outside my kitchen window) or indigo (one of my favourite colours).

H is for... husband

My surprise

I was going to do H is for Home but I decided on Husband. Yesterday he surprised me with a trip to London to see a West End musical that I've been wanting to see for five years: Billy Elliot. It's been a standing joke that every birthday and Christmas I've been making very strong hints about going to see it yet we never have. So yesterday we got in the car and set off to destination unknown. I will admit, I had an inkling of what the surprise was but I didn't dare say in case I was wrong. By the time we were on the train London-bound I was pretty certain I was right. Of course if was all confirmed when we left Victoria tube station and I saw the theatre.

I've seen quite a few musicals but Billy Elliot is now up there with my favourites (Phantom, Joseph & Hairspray) - it was really funny (loved the topical jokes after the interval during the miners Christmas party); it was tear-jerking (the letter from Billy's mum); the music was fabulous; and the dancing was spectacular.

The only problem is, I want to go again!

THANK YOU BEN! x

G is for... green

1. Living wall in Anthropologie, 2. Chillies, 3. Peas, 4. Just to Say, 5. Succulents on my windowsill, 6. Green buttons brooch, 7. Green shrub & new fence, 8. Four Green Buttons Pin, 9. Nigel Slater broccoli & bacon soup

F is for... feet

I realise I'm running the risk of attracting the wrong kind of attention here but when I was looking through my photostream the other night I spotted quite a few feet photos...

All different seasons and footwear are featured here, giving you a snapshot into some aspects of my life!

Skiing - I'm a relatively new skier - I've been going for five years now. I've really missed not going this year. We do have a trip planned for next season though and I can't wait.
Gardening - I'm not very good at gardening but I do have some gardening boots - and some pretty flowers.
Toby - he has a foot fetish (uh-oh I really will get some attention now!) and one of his best tricks is to do 'high-five' with our feet.
Summer - I love summer, the next two shots are me out and about in the countryside enjoying the sun.
Walking for charity - in the last photo my feet are a blur as I reach the 26-mile mark in the Playtex MoonWalk a couple of years ago.