Countdown to 2009!

Hi everyone - firstly, just a little note to say - Yes I'm still alive! - Thank you for all your kind enquiries, I did not go away altogether, but I have some serious catching up to do with all your news, which I look forward to doing next week when I will have 2 whole lovely weeks off work!
Life has been pretty hectic, in a not so good way! - Firstly I arrived at work one morning about a month ago to find that during the night half the shop ceiling had collapsed - It is all sorted now thank goodness, but it was a lot of mess and upheaval, and although we only had to close for a very short period of time, it gave some people fuel to say that we had "gone bust" which is not a nice thing to keep hearing, even if people are saying it in a joking manner. I don't know, what is it with these small towns and the gossip that people like to spread?!
Anyway, to show you all that I have not 'gone bust' (well not just yet anyway!) here is a photo I took today of our shop window, which I think looks lovely and christmassy

We are very busy this week, trying to get things fitted for christmas (poor Tim is going to need a month off work, never mind a fortnight!) and we also have a few internet orders to complete, which was very welcome in the current economic climate (but don't get me started on that!)
We have also been really busy christmas shopping like everyone else. shopping for 3 of our own children, both of our (large-ish) extended families. not to mention 3 of our birthdays and our wedding anniversary also fall over christmas! - thank goodness for the internet is what I say.
But anyway, onto the title of this post - I love New Years, I think I love the prospect of a brand new shiny new year even more than christmas. It has nothing to do with the fact that my birthday marks the start of the year (35 if you must know!) It is all to do with the lists, the goals and the brand new Diaries full of empty pages. I love starting the year by making a lovely long list of all the things I hope to achieve during the year - this years items include such things as "Knit a pair of socks" and other life changing events like that!

I like making lists full stop and I make a list every year of how many books I read too. Here is my lovely new diary which has a page for each day - big enough to make lovely lists on each page (I'm aware I'm starting to sound really anal now, I know!)
I also have a smaller handbag diary for appointments, although usually I end up carrying both around with me simultaneously. So I leave you with a piccie of a corner of my kitchen, with my Good Homes Calendar (lovely photos) and my spotty diary - Oh and you might just like the hyacinths I picked up today too.
Take care and I promise I won't leave it so long till my next post x

Weekend Ramblings

Hi Everyone, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, just been really busy doing other things, and to be honest have been suffering a little from 'bloggers block' One of the jobs that has been occupying most of my time has been adding more fabrics to my website . As I mentioned in my last post, we will be advertising in the Ideal Home magazine, the Christmas issue of which is due out in Early November, so I wanted to have as much choice available as possible ready for then!
I love this time of year when the clocks go back and I can start organising for christmas - My hubby is quite the opposite, he hates the dark mornings and dark evenings, but it makes me feel all cosy and festive!

One thing we have done this week is hand our boxes in for the Samaritans Purse charity. We always do a couple of boxes each year and it keeps it in my childrens minds that not every child is as fortunate as them.
We went for a lovely walk the other evening along Filey Brigg. It is a great walk, which is only possible at low tide, and you have to make sure you don't hang around too long as it is possible to get cut off by the sea, there are hundreds of rock pools to explore and loads of sea birds to identify. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me but when we returned home, I saw this photo opportunity, which I thought perfectly summed up our family

Finally while wandering around the house, I decided to take a photo of this window seat in my dining room, it is a favourite place to sit, or snooze, especially in the late evening when the sun is going down.

So there you have it, a bit of a mixed bag of a post, I'll try not to leave it as long next time
Natalie x

Tumble Driers, Haircuts and Granny Squares!

What a strange week it has been so far - nothing out of the ordinary has happened, but it just seems to have been a loooonnnngg week!
I have a couple of days off work now, the first in ages, I am off tomorrow to take delivery of a new tumble drier, my old one finally gave up the ghost at ten years old - probably decided it had had enough after years of being overworked! I have gone for a condenser tumble drier this time, as the siting of it is nowhere near a window, and have tried to find one as energy efficient as possible, but the best I could find has a 'C' rating.
The in-laws are also coming through tomorrow for a long weekend, so me and the hubby are taking advantage by having another night out - (the second this year - steady!) and I am having my hair cut and coloured on Saturday in preparation and am really looking forward to it.
My eldest son has joined the Filey Sea Cadets this year, which you can find out about here He is desperate to get his uniform, but I must admit to being a bit concerned when he announced after one session that he thinks he might like to join the Navy - he is only 10!

Thank you to everyone who had a look at my new website and was kind enough to leave a comment, it seems from your comments that we have achieved what we set out to do which was create a clean looking, easy to navigate website which was free from gimmicks. We will be advertising in the christmas issue of Ideal Home magazine, and each issue thereafter, so if you read Ideal Home, look out for us! I have done a little draw, and the winner was Kelly, so thank you very much Kelly (and everyone else) for taking the time to comment, and if you e mail me your address I will pop a little something in the post for you!
Finally, I can't go without letting you know about my Granny square progress, as you can see from the pictures, I have completed 29 and have another 16 which are waiting for the final two rounds of pink to be added, so that's 45 in total. I had originally intended for this to be a 56 square blanket, but I now have another plan for it, and so it may become bigger, but details of that in my next post.
Have a good weekend everyone - Natalie x

Going Live!

Well, after months of waiting, my website is now live! - I would love it if you would take a look, and if you would tell me what you think, that would be even better! - You can find the website here, or by clicking on the link in the sidebar. We will be adding lots more fabrics over the next few weeks, and for all my blogging friends out there (or friends of friends of friends) you can receive a 10% discount on your order by entering the promotional code Summer08 at the checkout.
For everyone who is kind enough to leave some feedback, I will enter you into a little draw, I haven't decided what the prize will be yet, but it will definitely be something nice!
No photo's on this post, but I'll be back later in the week with some piccies of all the crafty things I've been up to this week.
Natalie x
P.S - And for anyone who is wondering, yes, that really is me on the homepage!

Finally! - Bo Bo's Bedroom

Finally, after a couple of months, Bo Bo's room is finally finished - well, I say finished - I still have to put a few pictures on the wall, but I always find that bit the hardest and it seems to take the longest.

The lamp I made by glueing all different scraps of fabric (cut with pinking shears) onto an old white shade, then finished off the edge with a pom pom trim

And here is a little unit that is above her cot

All in all I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, the wallpaper on the chimney breast wall is 'Summer Palace' by Laura Ashley, as is the Roman Blind. I am going to have a picture of Bo Bo with her brothers blown up and made into a canvas to go above the 'fireplace'.
I must add however that a fair few toys have to be removed from the room prior to photographing for the sake of 'styling' which included a bright pink plastic motorbike, a bright pink little tikes car and a bright yellow mini plastic patio chair, which I'm sure you will agree you would never see in an ideal home spread!
Moving on, last night we were fed up of being in the house and decided to go down to the harbour at Scarborough for a wander around - that's the beauty of living by the sea, a ten minute car journey and you almost feel like you are on holiday yourself

This first picture was taken of the harbour as we arrived, you might just be able to see the castle up on the hill

But it wasn't long before it became dark, and this is the harbour again at night time. We headed back to the bright lights for some Harry Ramsdens fish and chips, a couple of pounds worth of 2p's played on the slots and a ride on the merry-go-round

Not quite the Saturday nights of old - but still sounds like a great night out to me!
Natalie x
P.S. - If anyone is wondering, we always refer to Georgia as 'Bo Bo' - Bo is her middle name (as in Bo Derek) but since the day she could talk she has always called herself Bo Bo and boy has it stuck!

Sunday Ramblings

Hi Everyone
Well, surprisingly its a beautiful sunny Sunday here in Filey, after all the recent rain, its lovely to see the sunshine, but unfortunately it will be just through the windows today as I have loads to do in the house, and I have just seen hubby carrying his toolbox into Georgia's room, which can only mean that he is going to change her window. When that is done, I promise I will post lots of pictures of her room, you will recall that decorating it was a mammoth job, involving taking all the plaster off right down to the wooden framework. I have shown you snippets, but have held off showing you the whole room until the final bit (i,e the window) was completed.
Yesterday we had a lovely day visiting York. It is three years since we bought any new bedding for our bed, so I picked up this lovely set in BHS.

Even lovelier was that it was discounted when I took it to the checkout. Sorry the pictures are so dark, but I took them late last night. the bedding has really vibrant embroidery on it, and I think it will look lovely with some Cath Kidston floral pillowcases behind the main pair.
While I'm at it, I also wanted to show you this lovely mannequin I picked up in a quaint little shop in Whitby. Georgia refers to it as 'Lady no 'ed' so that it how she is known now. It is my intention to pin all my brooches etc onto it - pretty isn't she?

A week or so ago I was tagged by Joanne and have to tell you 6 quirky facts about myself - I can't promise they will be wildy exciting, but here goes!

1. I am such a light sleeper that I simply cannot sleep without earplugs, years ago, when there was a spate of car crime on the estate where I lived, I was always the one able to give a statement to the police, because I only had to hear something on the street at an unearthly hour and I was out of bed to see what it was!

2. I have had a baby in the 7lb range (Callum 7lb 10), in the 8lb range (Georgia 8lb 4) and the 9lb range (Nathaniel 9lb 2)

3. I love to run, I have a treadmill in my bedroom (OK so I wish it wasn't in my bedroom and I am thinking of places to re-locate it to) I try to run at least 2 miles a day, usually uphill for extra pain!

4. 18 years ago I was a WAG - my boyfriend at the time never made it into the first team, but during that time I met Gazza and went to a party at Vinnie Jones house.

5. When I was 14 I won a competition in the local paper and became their 'Junior Editor of the Year' I really wanted to become a journalist, but that dream died when I left school and realised that if I got a job I could earn money right away. Funnily enough, my Eldest Callum now dreams of being a sports reporter for a national newspaper so I will encourage him all I can.

6. I have to wash my hair every day, it is very fine and looks greasy really quickly, I am jealous of anyone who only has to wash their hair every 3 days or so!

So there - not that fascinating. I am now supposed to pass this on to 6 other bloggers, so I will hand the baton to Tracy, Josie, Lucy, Jessica, Julia and Debbie
See you all later in the week
Natalie x

Lovely Swaps from Sarah

A couple of months ago, Sarah and I from Pink Petal designs decided to do a swap, it has taken us some time to get round to it, but last weekend I received these lovely items in the post

I love everything, although I said to Sarah that the lovely crocheted coasters are destined for my dressing table, I don't want anyone dripping tea on those! - Look at the little baboushka doll, isn't she sweet? and Sarah made the little rolling pin especially, after I saw it on one of her previous posts. Sarah sells lots of her lovely things on etsy, you must go and have a look.
I thought I would also give you an update on the Granny squares. With 19 done, there's still a long way to go, but I am still enjoying it and think it will be a lovely project to crack on with now the nights are pulling in again (Boo Hoo!) My mum had a look at her stash and sent me a big parcel full of wool oddments, some of which were jumpers she knitted for the boys when they were babies, so each time I look at my blanket it will remind me of those days.

So we are into September now, the boys went back to school on Tuesday and the Summer seems all but over. It has been another strange Summer hasn't it ? - My thoughts are now turning to Christmas, I like to start my christmas shopping early, or at least get ideas together, and with lots of christmassy craft projects lined up for those long winter nights, I'm sure it will be here before I know it!
Natalie x