More and more textiley stuff has been produced at PixiTowers this month. There are one or two Secret Things, which will not be mentioned now, as they have to be finalised and certain people Must Not Know about them....

A week ago I finished making 'funny bunny' an amigurumi toy. I found the pattern on the Lion Yarn site and had a go. Her ears should be flatter, but I rather like her and think she looks quite sinister.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the little bag I made for MaPixi and decided to make one for me too. Inspired by futuregirl's birdcage bag (check out her website - she is FAB) I came up with the little bag design below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well I've discovered the joys of crochet! There are some fabulous sites on the internet that offer instructions and advice and many free patterns.

Lion yarn is a wonderful place and where I got the pattern for my first completed bag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can't see the lining on the photo, but I followed instructions by Futuregirl and the lining fits the bag perfectly. Next up will be a rabbit for Cath's little girl's 2nd birthday...

 

watch this space

OOooooh it's a lovely feeling - lots of buds appearing and warmth in the sun.

John and I had a walk into Ely and indulged in a cup of tea, crumpets and cheese scones at Peacocks, the excellent tea shop down by the river. Couldn't resist buying a few packs of seeds for the garden on the way home.

As if by magic, just as I finished putting in rows of lettuce, rocket and parsley, a short, sharp shower watered them in for me.

I love this time of year. Full of optimism and ready for anything.

We have decided not to move, but to do up the house we're in. (unless the Perfect House appears on the market) maybe a bit of redecoration and the addition of a conservatory would make it feel  a bit different. It would be good if it were to be more 'ours', and not just me moving into John's family home.

Roast pork for tea. Yesterday,  we went to collect Mogget from being serviced, and called in at Goodies Farm shop on the way home. The rare breed pork from there is delicious and I'm looking forward to it immensley. Better get on with it then pixi!  

Finally got round to making New Year Resolutions.

Keeping the blog a bit more up to date is one of them.

Back to work in January after a good Christmas with the family. We went to see Charlie, John's Dad in Northumberland for New Year and he was in good form. Ma Pixi came to visit for a few days and then Derek (my older brother) and little brother (jon) with his family (Ginette and Stanley and mad dog Jim) came over for Derek's 50th birthday celebrations. We celebrated Christmas all over again and then New Year and Derek's birthday during the course of the day. Stanley was very taken with Aidan's Christmas present of a diabolo and soon both boys were getting quite proficient at 'Grinding'! 

Stan's birthday was 30th Jan, so he was given a diabolo of his own. Ginette told me that it was the only present he'd been really excited about, not sure if he would get one, but really, really hoping!

John and I went out to look at a house last weekend, in one of the nearby villages. It wasn't quite right for us. The main concern being that the guest bedroom was up a very narrow, steep staircase and we thought that mapixi would probably break her neck on them. As we haven't checked her will, we decided to wait for something safer!

I think this may be The Year of the Move. It still feels like I'm living in someone else's house, so we will sell both properties and buy somewhere new. Just have to wait till the right place is on the market. We have kids, cars and cats to consider!

Ash Wednesday is looming and I have decided not to give up something, but to take up something positive. I've bought a small sketch book and I'm going to try to draw every day. I might scan in the better pictures for this diary.

to be continued ....

 

We've been rather busy this last month, getting married and going on honeymoon.

We had a really lovely day. The sun shone - yes it really did! I think we had the only sunny weekend of the entire summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind us are friends from work - Annie, Emma and Andy. Aidan is on the left of the picture and Grace is the laughing young lady on the right. My other bridesmaid is in similar clothing to Grace, but wearing a pink top and pashmina She is Ginette, my brother Jon's partner. Maybe they'll be next to tie the knot...

Aidan was best youth and arrived with John in the Morgan. He did sterling work, shifting traffic cones and sensibly not losing the rings!

Grace and Ginette were wonderful bridesmaids. They kept me calm, fastened me into my dress (no mean feat - there were a lot of button loops!) and were appropriately admired for being gorgeous by everyone. Here we are, having just arrived at the church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Dress.

It was designed and made for me by the lovely Tracey Ormerod. She is a phenomenally talented lady.

 

Last week was not good.

Liverpool lost to AC Milan. Even so, we had a good evening at Cafe Centrale, watching the match, eating Greek style food and drink and enjoying the company of Mabel.

The loss of the match paled into insignificance the next day when Mabel was taken ill with a stroke. There was really nothing that the vet could do for her, so the following evening she was put to sleep.

Bank holiday weekend was cold and wet, glad we didn't take Artie camping. I think the kids would have been very fed up.

This week -

Plans are to go into Cambridge tomorrow. Buy wedding shoes for my lovely bridesmaid, Grace and for me. Order a pair of wedding rings in readiness for the big day. A bit of retail therapy at the Lakeland shop and at Rohan. Maybe a trip into Game for the children.

Pop into school and finish writing reports on the dear children.

Start teaching Grace how to make bobbin lace as her 'new skill' for her DofE Award.

 

I would love to be bouncing around getting all excited because Liverpool had won the Champions' League again, but sadly, they didn't do it.

We had a good evening watching though. Kebabs (souvleika??) pitta bread, dips, retsina - head should be a bit sore today, but I seem to have survived without any problems.

Elsie is showing off a bit - being Italian she was keen for AC to win and she's been stamping her tyres and singing the Italian national anthem all night!

nearly half term - getting excited about that - having my wedding dress fitted :-)

Seven excited boys, one excited big sister piled into two cars..(bit of a tussle as they all wanted to ride in Artie :))

We were booked into Spymasters at nearby Bar Hill. John and I were planning to go to the big Tesco for an hour while the children were secret agents, making their way through a series of booby-trapped rooms, decoding secrets and detonating locked doors with plastic explosives. We had also arranged for them to provide a party tea.

No no NO nO!!! a POWER CUT!!!! the electricity board said they couldn't renew the supply before 5.30 that evening.

So we drove all the way back again sent the kids out to the local park to have a game of football. John and I rushed off to the nearby petrol station, which happens to have a small supermarket (by then all the large supermarkets had closed for the day) and managed to buy a few loaves and fishes to feed the hoards. 

Boys are great!! they were totally unfussed and ate all the food we provided, even though it was hardly haute cuisine, and they must have been disappointed.

Peace and quiet in the house now they have all gone home. Going to watch the Beatrix Potter DVD this evening, with a glass of wine in the hand and a cat on the lap.

Will report on Spymasters when we have tried it out.

 

Littlest Pixi (Aidan) is 13 today, so their was a considerable atmosphere of excitement in the house this morning. He woke up at 5am and got dressed, breakfasted, clean teeth etc, woke his sister, opened cards etc. By 6.30 he couldn't contain himself any longer and woke us up too. We gave him a bag of swag, the contents of which he arranged over the living room carpet. He seemed very pleased with his presents. A couple of games for the Wii, a DVD, a CD and a few t-shirts - bits and bobs like frisbees that claim to fly for quarter of a mile.... keep him fit running after that!! Then off to school for a normal day's work. This evening we said we'd take him out for a special meal for his birthday... He has chosen to go to the local greasy spoon!!! Cheap date that boy ..

Here he is looking scary in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great day Aidan!!