The Peapod Patch

Smarty pants

2009-10-06T15:51:00.004+01:00

A couple of weeks back we attended the wedding of one of my cousins up in North Yorkshire. A pretty frock, make up and blow dried hair for me, best bib and tucker for the boys. Didn't we look smart?

Especially the little fella in his smart shirt ... it was even ironed for the occasion by his Nana! (I'm not known for ironing clothes!)

It was fun watching the deteroration of tidieness throughout the day, two or three hours in and he was a very different child having totally smeared himself in chocolate truffles :) Those table favours came into good use trying to keep him quiet through the speeches!!!

The venue, Goldsborough Hall, was super posh. A gorgeous house with awesome chandeliers and gardens that looked unreal because they were that perfect.. you know the kind where there is literally not one weed to be seen as far as the eye can see, the gravel has been raked into patterns and the grass looks to have been cut with nail scissors ... by hand! The day generated lots of post match analysis on the drive home the next day - you know disecting various relatives and their weirdness alongside discussions about how we want our own wedding to be. We just can't get that one sorted in our heads at the moment!

Overall we had a very nice time, it was lovely to see everyone all dressed up and the weather was perfect so we could spend most of the afternoon outdoors. Keeping a one year old entertained and well behaved throughout was a challenge - quite long stretches of weddings are either really boring (official photos anyone? yawn) or require small people to keep uber quiet. Keeping the other half entertained on the other hand was quite easy ... he rather took advantage of the free champagne and was more than a bit merry by about 4pm! Boy-oh-boy did he suffer the next morning. Don't think he realised he can no longer hack the pace like he could in his youth :)
Toodle pip
J
x

It has been a while...

2009-09-30T12:01:00.003+01:00

Ooops where did that month go? Well, mostly it was spent moving house, unpacking boxes and sitting for hours on the phone trying to get the darned broadband sorted out. Don't get me started on BT and their inability to provide even basic levels of customer service. But excuses, excuses I should have got round to this before now. Bad blogger!

So, yep the big news is that the peapods have a new 'temporary' patch... welcome to number 22!

We just about survived the move - I would not recommend moving house with a one year old ... ever! But the bad backs and aching arms have healed, I've stopped dreaming about stacks of boxes and we have just about got the place habitable. It is very odd being back in rented digs and it has taken some time to feel settled again, partly because we are very much hoping that this will be a fairly short term home for us.

We have found upsides to the new digs ...
- Being able to walk to work (loving it!)
- Flick of the switch central heating (no more smoky stoves and shifting coal - hurrah!)
- Big 70s windows as opposed to dark and gloomy cottage windows and three foot thick walls ... no seasonal affective disorder for me this year as I can see sunlight!

And a few downsides...
- No garden to speak of beyond a very yellow poorly looking lawn - no veggie plot, no herb patch, no raspberry patch or apple tree :(
- The terrible bright blue bathroom
- The awful oven (it only has one shelf and takes about 4 hours to cook anything)

I'd take some pictures but they are not very inspiring - think suburban identikit houses. Deperate housewives only for the over 60s - twitching curtains a go go!
Toodle pip
J
x

Pumpkin and (cutie) pie

2009-08-27T20:55:00.005+01:00

There have been some autumnal activities going on round here recently. I've knitted a new hat for R's winter wardrobe after realising all the ones we used last year no longer fit...

The pattern is a vintage racing helmet from Sirdar Sublime made using odd balls of stuff from my wool box. I love making hats, one for me is casting on soon!

And in preparation for moving house we've been harvesting what we can of the garden produce, including our pumpkins...

A tad early for Halloween but I've been told they store well so, fingers and toes crossed they should last until the end of October.
Toodle pip
J
x

Sock it to 'em!

2009-08-14T19:48:00.002+01:00

Just a quickie to record the fact that I have completed knitting a pair of socks...

The lovely self striping wool was a birthday present this year and I have really enjoyed making these. Portable, pretty and very wearable!

Toodle pip
J
x

Chop, chop

2009-08-11T20:44:00.004+01:00

Ever since he was tiny the munchkin has been blessed with a very full head of hair. It was very long, dark and spikey when he arrived and gradually over the months it has evolved into the most lovely blonde sun kissed curls. However, this last few weeks things have got a bit out of hand. The curls were starting to grow sideways, the ends were tickling his ears and dropping in his eyes - basically it had all gone a wee bit bonkers. So Daddy took the little chap to the barbers this morning and ta da, we have a tidy new look ...

The before and after shots!

Sitting still while being snipped was a bit of a challenge but he managed without screaming the place down, thanks largely to the rice cakes and biscuits we plied him with to encourage him to sit still. Doesn't he look all grown up?
Toodle pip
J
x

Party time

2009-08-02T20:14:00.002+01:00

Normality returns after a hectic week at the patch. Visitors have departed, the cards have been put into the memory box, the balloons have been deflated, the bunting has been taken down and packed away, and the last crumbs of birthday cake have been snaffled with a cup of tea.

Yep, the birthday party of the year is done and dusted ... and I can finally get round to blogging about some of the things I've been up to over the last few months. I can't quite believe how much planning went into one little tea party!

We had the hand knitted birthday tank top...

The hand knitted present...

Just in case you can't tell these are wonky cast of animal characters from his favourite book 'Monkey Puzzle'. Here they are lined up ready to be popped into their jungle print bag...

We had the crazy idea last minute bunting I sewed from my scrap bag ... not pictured how did I manage to miss snapping that?

And finally the (very badly) hand crafted birthday cake...

This highly engineered structure was meant to represent the little man's favourite toys - stacking cups - but it turned out to be just one giant pile of highly coloured sticky icing :) It slid all over the place during construction yet the icing was like working with glue. Well at least it holds memories!!

As you can tell we gave him a hand made birthday - the best kind if you ask me.
Toodle pip
J
x

One year old today

2009-07-28T20:39:00.004+01:00

Happy birthday little man! Oh my how you've grown :)

We've had a soggy old day in this neck of the woods. The birthday treat to the local rescue zoo was a bit of a damp squib, not much to see apart from a very cute baby wallaby. Most animals were sensible enough to hide deep in their various enclosures well away from all the rain and the scary looking wet people. Then our celebration lunch out was a rain check too as the place we wanted to go was closed. Doh!

So we just stayed home and played with new toys this afternoon. Grandma and Grandad came for tea and to play and we did a little mini celebration for the munchkin .... here is R enjoying his smoosh cake :)

I'm just out of shot panicking slightly about the impending clean up! Proper party shennanegans coming up at the weekend so more birthday news to follow in a few days.

Toodle pip
J
x

Memories, miles and millions of boxes

2009-07-14T14:52:00.003+01:00

After a long period of wondering and waiting things are starting to happen at the Peapod Patch. We've finally got a buyer for our house - hurrah! Things are not done and dusted till we sign on that dotted line, but (dare I say it*) things are looking promising and it looks like we will be on the move. Once we have got ourselves into rented accomodation we can then be much more flexible about re-locating further north, once the right career move comes along of course.

*I'm working against my natural pessimism by actually stating in the open that we have a buyer for this place!

Unfortunately, things are not looking quite so rosy on the jobs front with another turn down this last week. Oh well - everyone says keep at it and the right one will turn up eventually. I sure do hope so. The process of applying for jobs, doing all the thinking and preparation and then driving miles and miles to be interviewed is completely draining ... especially when you don't get the job after all that effort :)

The up side of the long journey to attend the job interview was a lovely few days spent with my Mum. One evening we fished out a box of family photos and trawled through them ... ah the memories. Not to mention the terrible fashions and the even more terrible haircuts! Makes me very determined not to do home cut hair for my little monster. I will have to dust off the scanner when I get chance and share a few of the best ones :)

So that is the miles and the memories covered. Just the millions of boxes to tell you about. The prospect of moving sends the better half into a frenzy of happy packing madness - he just loves boxing up and he has to be physically restrained from boxing up all the essentials far too soon. We are heading out on daily scavenging missions to acquire cardboard boxes ... bins, skips, back of shops ... beg, borrow, steal - you name it we'll be there jamming them into the car. My late Dad who was king at the art of 'acquiring' would be proud! The house is disappearing under piles of brown flat pack and acquiring that strange smell that only cardboard can provide ... lovely!

The haul from today!

Toodle pip
J
x

Adventures in a tin shack

2009-07-02T20:35:00.003+01:00

The post holiday blues have firmly settled on the patch this week as we returned from our first proper family holiday.

We spent a few days exploring Pembrokeshire which was just what the doctor ordered. The weather was very kind to us with the sun shining pretty much all weekend long. Our Tin Bungalow was utterly fabulous. Quiet location, fab interior decor and a lovely garden. None of my photos do it justice - it was truly fantastic. The only downside was the massive electrical storm we had on the first night, a tin shed in the middle of a field is not the most comforting place to be when the lightning starts a flashing!

The little man had lots of lovely first experiences...

Paddling in the sea...

Digging sandcastles...

Eating a whole yummy ice cream by himself...

Taking big train rides...

Taking little train rides...

And making new friends

(Explanation required: this dopey half dead fly was hanging around in the conservatory while we ate breakfast and R was fascinated by it .. shouting, pointing and generally going nuts about it - consequently we named him Felix and nominated him as R's new friend!)

A fun time was had by all...

I'm looking forward to next years hols already!
Toodle pip
J
x

Tea party of the year ...

2009-07-01T21:03:00.005+01:00

So our baby boy turns one in a few weeks time and the tea party invites have gone out to various Nanas, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. We've quite got into the spirit of planning a proper celebration for the munchkin, which is most unlike us - this baby lark is obviously going to our heads :)

Much of the effort is (and will be) going into the home made feel that represents us lot as a family. Lots of homemade edible goodies will be made for the day itself, R will be getting a home made present (if I ever get the blinking thing finished in time) and I've a home made birthday boy outfit almost done and dusted.

But the first home made thing I can share with you all is the party invite...

A hand crafted embroidery portrait of the birthday boy himself!

This was inspired by an embroidered portrait of the White Stripes we've had hung about the place for years. It was quite scary doing his face, I traced the basic shape and positioning of features from a photo and agonised for ages about what colours to choose for skin, lips, eyes - there were a few 'oh my god he looks just plain wrong' moments where I thought I'd created a picture of a funny looking alien but I think it turned out ok considering. The finished article was then photocopied onto card and bingo - one dozen party invites!

We also let the little man loose with some poster paint and he signed every one with a lovely splodgy hand splat. When I say let him loose I mean we pinned him down painted his hand red with a brush and then forced him to splat 12 pieces of paper in quick succession before plonking him in the bath!! I cannot imagine the carnage that would have ensued had we really let him go with the paint.

Toodle pip
J
x

Stop that door!

2009-06-05T20:58:00.003+01:00

Craft update time. I don't have much to report at the moment. Progress is being made on a few things but they are either far from complete or need to remain under wraps as they are surprises for the Reu's first birthday next month(muchos excitement at casa peapod!).

One project I can report on is this that I recently made as a house warming gift for one of my sisters...

It looks super neat because it is made from a ClothKit thingy which gives a very professional finish - makes a change from my usual wobbly efforts. I was sent the kit as a gift when I took out a subscription to Sew Hip Magazine. I've dabbled in sewing magazines on and off for a while now, especially if they have a pull out pattern! Other titles I've tried have always seemed to be pitched at the more mature seamstress - complete with features like how to adapt a blouse pattern for when you get all crooked and your shoulders get all hunched over! There is a cheery thought huh?! Sew Hip has a young and fresh feel and I'm already a big fan. Seems like I'm not the only one, some back issues have been going on Ebay recently for as much as £15!

Toodle pip
J
x

I seem to have misplaced my mojo

2009-05-30T12:40:00.004+01:00

Crumbs, it has been a while. I seem to have lost my mojo. Not just my blogging mojo either, life in general seems to have got really hard recently. Nothing bad has happened, and when I look at it I have nothing at all to complain about and a hell of a lot to be thankful for, so I feel really shallow wallowing like this. It just seems like everything is getting me down at the moment and all I want to do is curl up and sleep for a very long time.

Time to find some new energy and turn over a new leaf. Here is my plan of action:

Work stresses. I need to stop working extra hours for no extra money and acknowledge that when I have a 16 hours per week contract, then all that work get out of me is 16 hours worth of effort. Plus, I need to double up the effort to look out a new job. I've actually already done this and I submitted two job applications just yesterday.

Family stresses. Once we all get over our sickies and stop feeling sorry for ourselves (we've had a family cold doing the rounds for the last 10 days now and him indoors has a bad back again) then me and the skinny one need to up the effort to spend more quality time together. We are going to ask for some help from the rellies and try having the odd night out/afternoon off from the little man. We adore our little family unit of three but we're getting very insular of late and we have starting being very very crabby with one another. Case in point one night this week where I just about wanted to wallop him (hard) for the way he was breathing. Unreasonable ... moi?

Health stresses. Now I am no longer breastfeeding (sniff) my waistline seems to have ballooned instantly, and just when I thought I'd got away with not piling on stones after having a baby, my metabolism goes into hibernation while my appetite still rages on expecting those extra 500 calories per day, preferably in the form of saturated fat. So I'm going to have to stop making trips to lovely cafes for tea and cakes just to pass the time and get me through the day and start exercising more. I need to do this to be around to see my little lad grow up and offer him the energy he deserves. Sounds heavy but I really need a kick up the proverbial for this one.

House stresses. We need to get our house sold to allow us the flexibility and financial release to relocate should the new job situation go my way. We've been on the market for almost 12 months now and have had 30 plus viewings but still na da. Not much we can do here really given the current financial woes ... want to buy a pretty Welsh cottage anyone? Any reasonable offer condsidered. But in the mean time I must commit to keeping on top of the housework and invest some time in doing those little DIY/tidying jobs that would make the place look even more presentable. Plus, I think renewed energy going into the veggie plot and garden would be no bad thing. Knowing our luck we might just be here to harvest all those veggies in a few months time!

Money worries. These are just irrational and silly as we are actually doing alright money-wise at the moment. So, I just need to stop stressing about this one. In fact one of my resolutions ought to be a positive one to go out shopping and treat myself more often to some lovely things...not the edible stuff obviously. See point above!

Craft Overwhelm-i-ness . I need to review my list of things to make, prioritise them and spend some time actually enjoying making stuff again. I often think my making habit is a bit of an emotional barometer ... if it starts feeling like a chore to pick up the knitting or sewing then I'm heading towards a bad place emotionally. I think if I can get some stuff finished before starting anything else new then I'll get that sense of accomplishment I probably desperately need at the moment.

There that feels better. Ah, the power of the confessional blog post that virtually no one reads. I feel more positive having blurted this lot out and for having seen in black and white that I do actually have plans to address some of the stuff that has had me lurking in the doldrums these last few weeks.

Oh, and my final resolution to self must be to get back into doing this blogging lark. It might help if I learnt how to take a decent photo, looking back at some of my posts my photos are gawd awful!

Toodle pip
J
x

WIPe out!

2009-05-05T14:54:00.002+01:00

I've had a run on finishing up some WIPs over the bank holiday weekend. I love how there are little stories behind each and every one...

After much pondering we booked our first family summer holiday a couple of weeks back. We are staying fairly local and heading down the coast to explore Pembrokeshire for a few days. So many places I've never been to and all virtually on our doorstep - tut tut! Anyhoo, we've booked a totally cool place to stay The Tin Bungalow and we are off exploring. In readiness I've bought plum a bucket and spade set and run him up a beach bag ...

Working with plastic covered fabric was ... interesting. Much use of masking tape to stop it sticking on the machine, then much cursing as several fingernails were lost in the process of peeling off the masking tape which has stuck tight!

Then today I have put the last touches to Reuben's hand made cot quilt ...

This is another one of my signature scrappy squares quilts, based around the same colour scheme as a tiny quilt I did for his moses basket while I was pregnant. I keep swearing I'll do something more adventurous with my quilting but I keep coming back to these, I think I just love squares (not to mention spots and stripes)! I'm still very much a learner when it comes to quilting but I tackled doing proper binding for the first time on this one, just don't look closely at my supposedly mitred corners. They went terribly wrong but I couldn't face unpicking anything - so I just fudged them :)

My final work in progress story is less positive. I've ended up ripping out half a jumper I was knitting for myself from a batch of charity shop wool. With no ball bands to determine fibre composition I thought I'd risk making something wearable with my find, a few evenings in and my skin was shouting for mercy! There was no way I was ever going to be able to wear the darn thing so I had to give up. I'll hopefully use the wool up for something that will have less contact with my skin. I've been meaning for some time to turn my attention to crochet and I've a tinkle of an idea running round my head based on a granny squares blanket design I saw at the WonderWool exhibition last month, must get practicing.

Toodle pip
J
x

Knitted graffiti!

2009-04-29T20:05:00.006+01:00

I've yet to see this on the streets of Aberystwyth - underground graffiti artists who 'tag' through the medium of knitting. Very odd indeed. I'm not sure what to think about this, although I think I'll stick to making bubba clothes myself rather than making a leg warmer for a local lamp post.

Check out Keep Cardiff Cosy!

And read the original article here Too cool for school huh?

Wonderwool

2009-04-26T21:26:00.007+01:00

Today I've been to the Wonder Wool Wales exhibition.

Fun was had pottering round lots of inspirational stalls - plenty of colourful stuff going on, lots of spinning and feltmaking, classes, a sheepwalk fashion show, and hundreds of crazy ladies wearing bonkers home made creations :)

Wool was not purchased. There was some beautiful but way too expensive yarn which I really would have liked to buy, but I couldn't justify the money for what I had in mind (a crocheted blanket since you ask ... not that I've learnt how to properly crochet yet!). And lots of the yarns on offer were too itchy scratchy for me - most natural fibre/real wools drive me nuts and send my skin crazy. I did get some back copies of a magazine at bargain price and some edible treats though, they had a parallel local food festival going on at the same time and the stalls were all mixed together. Now those little foody purchases I could justify :)

Toodle pip
J
x

Fabric fix

2009-04-25T19:54:00.003+01:00

I've had a fabric fix today thanks to a trip to meet my Mum for lunch in Shrewsbury. Three delicious courses and two fab fabric shops later and I had purchased a few bits and bobs for the many many sewing ideas floating round in my head. Six felt squares, three fat quarters, two bell buttons, two yards of gingham ribbon, one yard of plastic backed fabric and a partridge in a pear tree .... sorry, I mean and a McCalls pattern for a miniature armchair!

Phew :)

This is my latest completed project - an 'oooh I want to do one of those' tutorial I saw during fat quarter month over on Sew Mama Sew.

Neat huh?

Their site is a dangerous cyber space to hang out, their frequent and detailed tutorials give you confidence to tackle all sorts of clever thingumy bobs and I find every time I visit I'm adding more ideas to the virtual to do pile, scratch that, usually it means adding another batch of printed off instructions to my sewing projects to do pile.

So that was it for my fabric fix, tomorrow the focus moves onto all things woolly but more of that another time.

Toodle pip
J
x

The many faces of bo ...

2009-04-22T15:33:00.008+01:00

Please excuse the self indulgent bubba admiring, paging through the little man's photo archive yesterday I was struck at how his personality is emerging through all his different facial expressions ...

Frustration

Delight

Double delight

Shouting with joy

Shocked

Curiosity

Grumpy

Who me?

Suspicion

That's funny

Crumbs

Toodle pip
J
x

Easter holidays retrospective

2009-04-22T14:57:00.006+01:00

We've had quite a few little trips out here and there over the past couple of weeks and each time I've thought, oooh I must blog that, and then never got round to it. So I'm doing a retrospective to catch up :)

Trip 1 - en familia 'Yorkshire branch' visiting Salts Mill in Saltaire. Lovely architecture and tall towers for photo posing ...

Highlights of the day were a fabby art shop with lots of lovely notebooks and pencils to covet and delicious cake in the Salts Mill diner served on very cool crockery. We very much wanted to take a little something of the flatware home with us but common sense prevailed and we took the moral high ground. Consequently, all we came away with was this little card which held our receipt...

Lowlights of the day were being ripped off at the very scary chip shop by being charged 10p extra to have our take away chips in a tray (I know we should learn to lunch in a higher class establishment) and then getting caught up in football traffic, cue wailing baba! His timing is perfect.

Trip 2 - shopping spree to York. Breakfast at Bettys - R showed a fondness for Bettys cinammon toast, he's developing very expensive tastes...

I managed to finally buy new trousers (ones without elasticated waists - huzzah!) and get a treat from here. Apple and almond face scrub and a tube of their fab hand cream - because I'm worth it.

Trip 3 - seaside excursion to St Annes for some bucket and spade action, ice creams and charity shop bargains galore - £3 for a big bag of pale turquoise wool, kerching, a quid for a giant cone of sock wool, double kerching :) This time I'm going to make something for myself!

Here's R enjoying the sand ...

Trip 4 - A spontaneous outing to a distant garden centre to acquire some potted herbs for the herb bed. Pointless detour via Berriew to visit the Andrew Logan sculpture museum ... closed :(
And a very worthwhile detour to Montgomery for delicious lunch here ...

The apple pie has been firmly established as a 'pudding memory' to be talked about for years to come :)

All this and I've got a double day trip coming up this weekend and then goodness knows what birthday jollies to look forward to the weekend after. Crikey what a busy April! And have you spotted how food based all our activities are? Lunch here, cake there, ice cream here, a bit more cake there -but what is a good day out without food huh?

Toodle pip
J
x

A duvet day

2009-04-12T20:15:00.003+01:00

Despite the nice weather here today and the urgent need to weed the veggie patch and put the seed potatoes in, I decided to shun the wellies and spend a happy hour or two creating with my sewing machine. Well, in fact the sewing machine took the minor part as it felt like I did more ripping of seams and unpicking than I did of actual sewing :( I was working on transforming a recent charity shop bargain - one of the Monsoon curtains I blogged about here - into a duvet cover for the little man's cot.

Here's how it turned out...

I've just got the two bottom seams to hand finish this evening. The darned machine turned poorly on me at the last minute with just two bits to go ... so I've shouted at it and left it to sulk in the corner! Here's hoping that it feels better by tomorrow as I have more Bank Holiday sewing plans up my sleeve.

Toodle pip
J
x

Pasg Hapus!

2009-04-12T11:28:00.003+01:00

Which means Happy Easter in Welsh!

I suspect we might have a few smeared happy faces this week ... little man has had his first tastes of choc choc.

Where's my Easter egg?

It has been a while since my last post and we have been busy bees here at the patch. Another trip up North was completed to see my family (which should have felt like a holiday but didn't as it was so tiring!), work has been a bit bonkers for me and to cap it all we've been sleep training the little man. The bags under my eyes are not a pretty sight!

Being away from home meant I was t'internet-less for the best part of a week and I got back to literally a gazillion blog posts to catch up on ... I hadn't quite realised how many I now follow. Have I mentioned that I'm totally obsessed with reading blogs these days! Most of them make my own efforts look rather pitiful and I'm often green with envy having had a little peek into these people's lives, homes and craft creations. Him indoors keeps threatening to ban me as he says it makes me seem very dissatisfied with my lot in life ... can I help it if I was meant to be more rich and talented than I actually am?

I think some general blog improvement is required round here. Having started out this thing as more of a personal record of stuff that goes on in my life, I now feel the urge to become more part of the community out there - it looks like a lovely friendly place to be. Any tips from fellow bloggers most welcome!

Toodle pip
J
x

Come rain, come shine

2009-03-30T19:27:00.002+01:00

What ever the weather the little man gets taken on a walk every day, sometimes just the once but usually at least twice - once during Daddy's shift in the morning and once during mine on an afternoon. I find it is a good cure for the dreaded afternoon grizzles and the blast of fresh air does everyone good. Today we decided to document our favourite route ... the Talybont loop.

Ready for the off ...

Round by the pretty church ...

Up the lane ...

Past a house I'd like to live in, the one on the left. Sewing room on the top floor, window seat in the bay window, greenhouse out the back (you get the idea!) ...

Over the bridge ...

To say hello to the fishes in the stream ...

We get very excited when we say hello to the fishes ...

Then past Mummy's other dream house which is in the process of being renovated and stripped of its character. They pulled down a victorian glass house/conservatory that was on one side of this cutie ... next the plastic windows will go in ... grrr!

I think it is the symmetry of the place that I love. It is how you would draw a house as a child and I think it would definately suit some roses round the door ...

Then is is a quick scoot round to the playground ...

For a quick swing swing ...

Before it is back home for a well earned cuppa and a sit down. Phew!

Toodle pip
J
x

I'm a lucky lady

2009-03-27T19:17:00.004Z

Just a quick post to say I got a lovely pressie today from t'other half - a no specific reason, just an 'I saw this and thought of you' pressie. The best kind!

It is a book of cute Japanese baby makes - little toys, clothes and storage thingies designed by Aranzi Aronzo. It has things like a nappy holder with appliqued poo on it! Erm ok :) Maybe not - but some of the other designs are fab. It looks really fun and a bit bonkers, especially with the translated instructions.

More things to add to my long to make list. Which reminds me, enough of playing computer and on with some knitting!

Toodle pip!
J
x

Sowing the seeds

2009-03-25T17:09:00.009Z

I grabbed a quick half hour in the garden this afternoon. Things are starting to sprout (including the weeds!) and things are looking a little less soggy and bleak out there.

The first plant to be called into active production this year, as usual, will be my favourite - rhubarb.

I have three active plants and if the harvest is anything like last year I'll be stocking the freezer and no doubt be calling upon the Nigella archives again to help me use up the crop in something other than rhubarb crumble. Rhubarb ice cream anyone?

Then I popped these little beauties in - just cheapy supermarket ones this year...

Can you see where I'm going here? I have a vision of a colourful sweet pea pyramid cascading gently next to the path and providing me with daily batches of lovely scented blooms to put in my various little jugs on window sills round the house. Well a girl can dream can't she? Last year slugs ate most of them and the rest got toppled by strong winds but this year maybe my luck will be in!

I also planted a batch of salad leaves, leeks, beetroot, courgette and thyme. No photos as they are just pots of mud at the moment - Dave calls pots of mud my speciality as I'm awfully good at them and every sowing I usually end up with several duds!

Toodle pip
J
x

Mothers day

2009-03-22T16:45:00.002Z

Just a quickie to blog my mothers day pressies. I had a little lie in this morning followed by an extra squidge from the little man - and these lovelies ...

A daffodil hand picked from the garden and a box of rose and violet creams ... yum, yum! Unfortunately, Dave is working today so the full princess day will have to take a rain check.

At playgroup this week the older kids had been making paper flowers in a vase for their mums, the ladies that run the group didn't want those of us with babies too small to get involved in the crafty stuff to feel left out so they made us one too...

Sweet huh? I can't wait to receive real hand made craft goodies from the little man, or even better join in the fun myself! Happy mothers day to all the other mums out there.

Toodle pip
J
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And the moral of the story is...

2009-03-21T21:26:00.002Z

Never leave the house without your handbag! I popped out to fetch Dave from work this evening, a twenty minute round trip that I do one way or another on most days. I literally just scooped up baby and grabbed the car keys on my way out - as I normally do. Sometimes I do the run still in my slippers, not tonight - thank gawd!

20 minutes later and I'm sat in the supermarket car park just up the road from the Uni with a very poorly car :( A giant pop was heard while negotiating a dastardly speed bump, followed by grinding noises from beneath the beast and bits of car related debris scattered in the road - arghghghgh!

But without my handbag I didn't have my breakdown details on me, I didn't know the postcode of my location to tell the breakdown people where I was (lots of spelling of welsh road names required), and I didn't have identity on me to prove who I was when the recovery man eventually turned up - no boy scout award for me this evening, 'be prepared' ?? erm what!?

Thankfully Dave had his mobile on him so I was able to 'straight through' 118 118 and get the number for the AA to request a rescue. Simple enough you would think? Oh, no. My car insurance that I bought from the AA in December came with free breakdown cover - but the muppets couldn't find any of my details on their system (breakdown and insurance are two different sections who clearly don't communicate with one another). They wanted to charge me £120 just to come and take a look. What? No way hosay. By this time R was wailing, he was hungry and tired and wondered why his Mummy was getting all cross in the middle of a strange car park instead of taking him home to bed. A quick breast feed to shut the munchkin up and then onto plan B - ring the RAC. I knew there was a good reason I 'forgot' to cancel my old breakdown cover from my previous car! So finally we had someone willing to consider coming out and rescue us, just the usual hour and half wait to sit through - by this time we'd called in Dave's Dad to come and rescue the little man and get him home to bed.

So two and a half hours later I'm half frozen, starving and I apparently have a shattered coil on one of my front wheels which means the car had to be towed to the village garage to await what no doubt will be a hideously expensive repair.

Sigh. It has been quite an evening.

Toodle pip
J
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Spring is in the air ... and I've got a new bucket!

2009-03-20T22:23:00.004Z

Fridays are my favourite day of the week! They are our only dedicated family day when neither of us ever has to go into work. So, even when they are filled with numerous boring jobs and a spot of housework, and even when I feel slightly groggy due to a bit of a sniffle coming on, they remain the best day of the week.

Today was particularly nice because of the sunshine. First up was my favourite domestic task - I absolutely love pegging out laundry ...

Next up was a trip into town to purchase various bits and bobs, we dropped by the garden centre for potting compost and I just had to have one of these fab green buckets! A total impulse buy - but at 99p I've hardly broken the bank :)

Post lunch we tackled a thorough house clean and tidy round - we have a house viewing tomorrow morning so we need the place to be spick and span. Then while Dave and his little helper baked bread and mowed the lawn I tackled sorting out the garden shed. Over winter it had deteriorated into complete chaos so it needed a thorough spring clean out. No before shots unfortuntely - but here is the work in progress...

There are still a few boxes of 'misc' crap in there but it now looks a lot less like a bombsite...

And to top it all off this evening I've sat ebay listing a pile of clothes I can no longer fit into post baby. The plan is if I make enough money I will invest in something crafty - probably a batch of wool to make myself something funky that fits.

Talk about productivity overload - time for bedfordshire me thinks.

Toodle pip
J
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Kerchoo!

2009-03-18T20:33:00.002Z

It seems that a seven and a half month old baby will only let you do your own thing for a short time before they demand rather loudly that you come and play with them, feed them, cuddle them or take them for a walk etc. So, on days when I'm at home with the little man my day time crafting has to fit into about ten minute slots. These handbag tissue holders are perfect:

I ran one up yesterday in muted colours for my Mum to pop in with her mothers day card. And then today I was inspired by piece of hot pink needle cord I picked up in the charity shop for a quid so I made one for myself. Unfortunately, the hot pink inner doesn't really show on the photo!

It was a good charity shop day today as I also bagged a pair of brand new Monsoon curtains - fully lined in a cute little boys boat print. Kerching!

Toodle pip
J
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Hats off

2009-03-14T21:31:00.002Z

I've had a couple of hours quality time with the sewing machine today which has resulted in R getting a much needed new hat! During a recent blog hop I saw a pattern for a seriously cute urchin hat over on Mushroom Villagers. I recycled an old off cut of denim lurking at the bottom of my fabric basket and ta da!

My creation didn't quite go according to plan and I ended up with one of the bands sitting below the peak instead of inside - but it kinda works and I'm chuffed with the result. Here he is again driving his cardboard box train ...

Toodle pip.
J
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Work blues

2009-03-12T16:10:00.004Z

I've had one hell of a few days - driven more miles than I dare to think about, coaxed into life the deepest recesses of my still baby fuddled grey matter, and I've even worn heels for the first time in 18 months - and all for one big fat disappointment :(

To explain, we've been having a bit of a life review at the patch recently. Our findings were threefold...

1. My own job, which brings in the bulk of our family income, is looking ever increasingly wobbly due to the uncertainties of project funding and I don't really fully enjoy what I do anymore as I'm on the fringes of the profession I trained for.

2. Dave hates his job and gets paid absolute peanuts.

3. We want to move up North somewhere to be nearer my folks.

So, after much naval gazing and probably far too much thinking/discussing (one of our very bad habits as a couple) we decided to capitalise on my earning power and put me out on the professional job market again, earmarking Dave to become a full time stay at home daddy for R once I found something. It wasn't an easy decision - muchos guilt about potentially not being a proper Mum to R, reality check that I was never going to be one of those lucky Mums able to knit, sew and bake cakes for a living while being a kept woman, plus lots of puzzled faces from the nearest and dearest who think I really have the best of both worlds at the moment by working part time. But, I'm a security first type of gal and the uncertainty over my future job situation and stress about the money not going far enough was getting me down. Decision made - now I just had to get my head round the whole job market madness again.

I saw the perfect job instantly and things moved really fast. But, to cut a long story short, things were not to be this time round and I'm gutted. The job was great, the Uni was great (full of fresh feeling energy and a 100% female senior management team!), and the location was perfect - one of our top two places on the wish list. The worst thing was that I was great too. I got 100% brilliant feedback after my interview - I'd really proved myself able to get back into proper work head mode and then some - so to then be told you really impressed us but unfortunately we had to give the job to someone else was a real bummer.

Oh well, pack away the violins ... enough feeling sorry for myself and back to scanning those job pages.
Toodle pip
J
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Flower power

2009-03-05T20:52:00.002Z

Well, where did that time go? It feels like ages since I've found the time to sit down and blog what we've been up to. It has been a mad couple of weeks - what with house viewings (lots of housework required!), writing killer job applications, visiting family and getting back into the swing of things at work. Phew!

Last weekend we went for a long weekend up in Yorkshire visiting with my Mum - Reu was a little charmer and was very well behaved for his Nana. We were going to get her to babysit and head out for our first few hours 'baby free' time but I was feeling grotty with a cold so I chose a decent lie in instead ... in a house with gas central heating. Bliss!

Reu enjoyed the chance to play with his cousins ...

He heard one of Aunty Nettie's piano recitals (complete with yodelling provided by Nana) ...

And of course we all got to go out for lunch ...

While we were there I delivered my latest two commissions. Miss K had requested a big knitted flower for a hat she found too plain. Well, no longer my friend - here is the resulting jazzed up hat modelled by little Reu (too cute!) and his lucky Aunty...

R found modelling the hat hilarious, or maybe that was just us and he felt obliged to join in all the giggling...

The second commission will have to wait till another post as I forgot to gather the crucial photographic evidence.

Toodle pip
J
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Crafty catch up

2009-02-21T19:42:00.005Z

I've had a week of finishing off a few projects, clearing the decks ready to start on something new. I like that getting things done feeling, and it brings some exciting things nearer the top of my ever growing crafty 'to do' pile.

First up was adding a lining to the bag I've been embroidering with some coloured blobbies.

After getting some funky fabric in Shrewsbury at the weekend a quick session on the machine and the lining was done.

Making the whole thing reversible ...

I've been meaning for ages to run up a needle case to tidy up my scatty bits of plastic. So, while the machine was out I whizzed up this ...

And finally after weeks of 'gentle reminders' I got round to making a giant doorstop for our living room door. I'm a bit of a clumsy clutz and I am forever sending the door colliding into the bookcase, much to the annoyance of him indoors. So this should dull the thuds and crashes :)

Toodle pip
J
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Splish splash

2009-02-16T21:28:00.002Z

Catching up with some swimming news now we have some photos of our little water baby. Reuben did a sponsored splash for playgroup a couple of weeks back and he raised a grand total of £37 - thank you various Nanas, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles for your contributions! I'm sure this will the be the first of many times we come begging at your doors for various good causes.

So swimming has since become a weekly event for the little chap. We still tend to just sit very quietly in our swim ring just taking it all in ...

But at least he doesn't freak out! Here we are ready to jump in ...

The pool we go to is deserted at this time of year and Dad stays dry to assist with the tricky changing side of things. I use the opportunity to do some (very badly needed) activity - I am really missing my lunchtime exercise sessions now I only work half days and don't actually get lunch breaks any more. The sting is taken out of the exercise chore by being able to also grab a quick five minutes in the steam room and jacuzzi ... absolute bliss!

Toodle pip
J
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I felt like a right lemon

2009-02-12T11:54:00.004Z

Breaking food news ...

Blog hopping the other day I came across a simple lemon curd recipe over on MarmaladeKiss. I swiftly put it on my to do list for the week and shock horror I've actually managed to get it sorted. Would have been done sooner but because of our ever dwindling fridge stocks and general baby brain dopiness it took me a few days to get the ingredients together. I went out and bought the lemons and butter specifically but got home and set out to make it only to find we only had one egg left :(

So eggs were duly purchased yesterday and ta da - result!

Given that I'm supposed to watch my cholesterol this stuff is lethally fatty but as a one off, who cares?! As it is a fresh curd it only lasts, two weeks. Not going to be a problem mate!

Toodle pip
J.

Stash talk

2009-02-10T10:26:00.011Z

Over on the Sew Mama Sew blog they requested readers tell them about their fabric stash. I've really enjoyed nosing at people's material boxes and shelves, so, despite having a tiny stash that definately needs some work, I thought I'd give the questions a whirl.

What do you usually sew?

I started out with curtains, cushions ...anything nice and square basically. Then a few years back I started making very basic 'squares' quilts from scraps of materials.

I didn't really know what I was doing then but I have learnt bits of technique along the way and I'm now branching out into more adventurous things - largely due to finding ultimate inspiration out here in blog land!

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?)

In the past I have usually gone for fat quarters, but I've also been known to trawl the charity shops to buy second hand clothes and sheets etc. in cool and funky fabrics to chop us and use on my scrappy quilts.

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

Usually I head out looking for something I need, complete with my little bag full of scraps and samples from my current works in progress. I have made a promise to myself to start impulse buying more often as my stash is definately an early work in progress. We live in the middle of nowhere and the local fabric shops are pretty poor so I tend to head out for the day on specific fabric acquiring missions to various cool places I have discovered. I've dabbled in buying online but I'm not that keen. Choosing fabric is definately one of my favourite stages of making things as it usually also involves lunch out and tea and cake stops :)

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?

No, I don't wash as I like working with new material. The exception is when I use second hand stuff from charity shops which always gets a whizz through the washer before I do anything with it. So far everything I have made that subsequently needed washing has survived.

Do you iron it?

Usually, just as I cut.

How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.)

Kind of by project. But frankly anything goes - my space is limited so it all gets into a bit of a hotch potch.

Do you have any special folding techniques?

Nope, I'm also ashamed to say I have some boxes where stuff is just thrown in. I feel a stash sorting project coming on.

How do you store your fabric?

I have a lovely antique desk which is bursting at the seams with all my craft stuff and most of my smaller bits of material are in there, in boxes or in the drawers of the desk. I do have a hamper basket on top of the wardrobe for larger bits of fabric, these are mostly off cuts from curtains and cushion projects plus some vintage fabrics my Nana gave me a few years back.

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

Hmm. I don't have a well rounded stash so I'm not sure I could offer many tips. Maybe just buy lots of fabric!

When do you say enough is enough?

I don't :)

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

My scrappy quilts.

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

I'm obsessed with spots and stripes, but if I had to pick an absolute favourite it would probably currently be one of my retro kids prints, I'm in the middle of making a cot quilt for my little lad who is 6 months old.

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?

One that is bigger than mine! I definately have stash envy after seeing some of the posts on this thread. And after the confessional nature of responding to these questions I am going to have a fabric sort out and tidy up what I do have - I feel totally guilty at how disorganised I am :)

Toodle pip.
J
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Vrrmm Vrrmmm!

2009-02-04T12:27:00.005Z

We bought Reu a cheapy umbrella fold stroller a couple of weeks back - mainly so Dad didn't have to lug the big one on his twice weekly bus journeys to do our baby handovers now I'm back at work. Given the recent run of cold weather (nope we didn't get much snow - boo), I thought I'd better rustle up something cosy for him snuggle into on his bus journeys. So, I tackled a cosy toes which is basically a big blanket bag with a hole in it for the pushchair straps :)

It was looking a little plain so I cracked open one of my Christmas presents for a little spot of customisation. My sister bought me the Cath Kidston 'Make' book this year and I chose to applique one of these little fellas on the foot of the bag.

It was super fiddly to do and my bondaweb stuff didn't quite work right - no idea why. Sewing the main bag thing about killed my fingers, how come fleece is so blinking tough? The sewing machine just refused to co-operate so I gave it up as a bad job and did it hand stitched .... owch. Unless it was just me who had managed to acquire some super tough fleece?

The Cath Kidston book is full of some nice ideas and it came with a plain linen tote bag that I'm currently embroidering. I don't particularly like the Cath Kidston stuff en mass, most of it is too knowingly 'vintage' for me, but a bit here and there as long as its done with a twist fits my style quite well. Some of the projects in the book I expect will work up to be quite fab using some more quirky fabric ... more things to add to that crafty to do list :)

Toodle pip.
J.

Growing up

2009-02-02T10:11:00.003Z

Reuben was six months old last week and to celebrate he had a bit of a photo shoot, nothing new there as Dave is constantly taking photos of the wee man. How times have changed ... six days old compared to six months old. This photo brings lump to my throat, everyone tells me they grow up quick but I forget how delicate he was in those early days.

He has suddenly done loads of new things this week too, he's started sitting up by himself. Ta da!

He's moved into his own room for sleeps ...

And he went swimming for the first time. I needed a trial run to practice the changing stuff ready for the sponsored splash we are doing at playgroup later this week. It was very complicated and a bit stressful even with two sets of hands. How I'll cope on Thursday is anyone's guess but I'll give it a whirl!

Toodle pip.

Rose and Trellis

2009-01-29T10:09:00.004Z

Time to log another recent craft project.

Shortly before Christmas my friend Steph posted me a big bag of yarn that she'd seen going for a song in her local charity shop, it was branded and lovely quality, mostly baby weight stuff in pretty pastel colours. I was chuffed to bits and I'm planning on practicing my crochet skills with some of it in the near future. It was so lovely to receive an unexpected boost to my yarn stash so as a big thankyou I wanted to make Steph a little something ... hmmm what to choose.

Through indulging in my recently developed blogging habit I had found a pattern for some cool wrist warmers over on the Protect the Cookie blog. I love Marie's blog - so inspirational! This is the pattern for the wrist warmers and here are my finished version - I've dubbed the pattern rose and trellis as I think the bobbles look like flowers peeping through the cables.

I had some nice black Aran wool hanging about in my stash and I ran these up in literally a couple of evenings. The bobbles were surprisingly easy to make - another new skill acquired. Steph loved them and I will be making myself a pair pronto!

Sack Boy Sack Girl

2009-01-28T14:59:00.004Z

A few weeks back my brother-in-law asked me if I'd be up to knitting one of these little critters for my nephew Jacob. Sack Boy is the character from LittleBIGPlanet (TM) computer game..... apparently. All a bit of a mystery to me since I haven't touched a computer gaming console since the 80's when it was all Pac Man and Space Invaders :)

Turned out I had actually bought the issue of Simply Knitting Magazine which contained the pattern so I thought I'd give it a whirl. The pattern for Sack Boy is also available here . Well, my effort is now completed, sewn up and posted off to his new owner so here he is ....

I managed to source the required Click Chunky yarn locally and it only took me a few days to knit up the various pieces. Finding a zip and the buttons for the eyes proved to be surprisingly hard. Living where we do is so frustrating sometimes as the craft shops are a bit thin on stock and never have quite what you are looking for. I eventually got a metal zip that was too long but I fudged a solution by folding up the excess inside the body. Buttons proved impossible. I found some perfect ones online at 6p each but it would have cost me £3 in postage to get them - for two 6p buttons I won't pay that on principle! So, my Sack Boy ended up with embroidered eyes. A slight compromise but here's hoping a 5 year old won't mind!

He's only the second teddy thingy I've ever knitted and I found it quite fun to do - nice and quick. I actually preferred him before I added the contrast stitching to make him look like he'd been made out of sacks. The instructions said 'make sure you do your whipping stiches nice and uneven to get the right look'. Now call me weird but I don't actually do messy stitching - I've spent years practicing doing tidy ones - so I compensated by trying too hard and in the end I think I made it a bit too messy :)

The original commission was for a green one please but also could he have a zebra tail,a pirates outfit and a hard hat. Bonkers :) I'll have to leave the customisations for another day as I've got too many other makes on the go at the moment.

Toodle pip.
J

Introducing the gang

2009-01-26T11:41:00.007Z

o.k. - So this is new :)

I guess the first thing to do is to introduce the Peapod gang, so here we are. Me, him indoors and the little fella who is today celebrating his half year birthday. Happy sixth month birthday Reubs!

I've decided to start this blogging malarkey to record some details of family life, like keeping a diary but easier to keep up (and easier to do whilst at work : -0 ) Plus, I've been meaning for some time to archive and log my various craft projects and this looks like a great way to do so. My crafty inspiration levels are super high at the moment, largely because I started reading some crafty blogs whilst I was off on maternity leave and now I'm addicted. At the moment I'm not sure how much I will share this site with others. Confession alert - I'm a terrible lurker! So this site might just be for me, or maybe I will be brave and come out of the lurkers closet, declaring myself to some fellow bloggers and trading info. Got to practice me posts first though :)

Finally, I think I should also explain where the peapod thing comes from; one of my numerous nicknames has always been Sweetpea and when Reuben came along Dave started calling him Peapod. It kind of stuck and here we are setting up the Peapod Patch.

Toodle pip!