Happy Birthday to Me :)

Good afternoon from sunny with blue skies, not a hint of cloud and oh so warm early spring day Suffolk :)

What the perfect weather for a birthday :)

It just me & Little Son here today - he's off as his school have a couple of teacher training days - rather nice as MrVV is working not at home today.  We've had a lovely time so far - we've been out to visit my Grandma, Little Son has iced the cake I made yesterday;

We also prepared a roast dinner for later and spent time messing around in the garden - wonderful to feel the sun on our skins and be able to wander around in bare feet :)

He unearthed his diabolo from the muddle of his room.

We cleaned a winters grime from the swing - I thought he might be too old for this now and I might be able to use the space for chickens - perhaps next year!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you

To all the lovely ladies taking part in the Birthday Swap - my family looked on in amazement as I opened a pile of lovely pressies this morning at breakfast. I opened more when we came home at lunchtime AND I've got a note from the postie to go and collect some more from the sorting office tomorrow!! So many wonderful things, crafting supplies, gorgeous jewellery (all made by other swappers), things that dangly, things that smell divine and some really gorgeous cards too. I shall be taking photos tomorrow and starting to write my long list of thank yous to you all.

I've also had lots of lovely pressies from my family and other friends - again so many handmade pretties and it would take me forever to photograph every one of them - perhaps I'll do a random selection of some of the more unusual ones.

As we didn't get to Cambridge this weekend and my birthday always comes as such a surprise to MrVV, I am owed a couple of things (tbh I may put these on raincheck till later in the year). However we did get to the cycle shop on Saturday and my beloved bike is now sporting a huge new basket and an extremely comfortable, almost sofa sized (with no rips) saddle - MrVV even cleaned my bike for me!!;

Right - there's a little while till big son gets home so I think I might take one of my many new books into the garden for a read.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Slight change of plan

Good evening

I know - I'm not supposed to be here - I should be in Cambridge relaxing in the hotel having spent the day sightseeing and shopping HOWEVER I'm not. The reason? A 7.30am phone call from MIL to say she wasn't well - seems there's a bug going round her sheltered housing complex - she said she'd still come to be with the boys if we wanted but it wasn't a chance I wanted to take - colds yes but bugs if they can be avoided should be.

We managed to change our booking till next weekend (tbh in the grand scheme of things its only a minor blip) and instead have had an unexpected day together as a family. The sun was shining this morning so we decided to head up to Southwold.  A lovely long walk along the prom was had - stopping to have our first ice-creams of 2011. We arrived quite early so there weren't too many people about - the beach had a few families with tinies building sandcastles and the Prom was fairly clear;

A quite trip around the town was necessary to - the boys disappeared off at one point leaving me alone in the shop which sells lots of CK bits - I left empty handed!!

MrVV & I have spent most of the afternoon watching the rugby - trust the Irish to scupper our plans of a Grand Slam - I'm sort of watching the Wales/France match and hoping that the French win ;)

I wish I'd taken a picture this morning when the postie arrived - I'm taking part in the birthday swap and quite a few parcels have arrived today (all hidden away till Tuesday) - his face was quite a picture as he handed the pile over to me - 'Been spending on ebay?' he asked - I didn't even attempt to explain the truth to him!

Right back to the match - the French are doing the right thing at the moment ;)

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Dolly Daydreams & lovely parcels

Good evening

I sat down to write this post at 7pm - just after the boys departed to their clubs - no I'm not a slow typist - my Mum phoned. Just a quick call! to confirm some arrangements and put the world to rights. Here I am 2 hours later with a slightly pink ear and bowl of cold pudding (Dutch Apple Cake & custard made by Little Son). The funniest thing was said by Mum - she mentioned a lady she'd met at work who'd talked non-stop for the 2 hour session Mum was supervising (she works in a creche) - the phrase pots & kettles ;) It might explain where I get my ability to ramble on about nothing much from ;)

Anyhow back to business - dollies - lots of - well actually 5;

My favourite new photo

The Rainbow Raggy 'Spice Girls'

The 2 newest ones

All 5 of them were delivered to their new home this afternoon - the girls in the shop were having fun with them when I left - dolls were being placed around the till and the shop - here's hoping they sell well and I get to restock very soon.  I also left with a request to supply some of my teacup pincushions - I shall be delivering those on Monday.

Spurred on by this I've set myself up with a Folksy shop - when it gets stocked I shall shamelessly self-publisise on here and Facebook ;)

I finally managed to send my swap parcel off to Pene today - hopefully it will be with you tomorrow / Monday :).  A knock at the door mid-morning brought my parcel from her all the way from Scotland. Without giving too much away - lets just say there are some similarities ;)

All wrapped up - very springlike - with an extra something special for an event next week

The contents - a lavendar heart, seeds, chicks in tutus, new gardening gloves, choccies, a gorgeous book, a crocheted daffodil (now on my coat) and a lovely tissue holder (wanted one of these for a while). Thank you Pene very much for being yet again a wonderful swap partner:) and Emma I now need to turn my attention to the other Spring swap and get my pressies for EmmaBearForever sorted.

I must go now - we're off to Cambridge (just the 2 of us) this weekend and my MIL is coming to be with the boys. My house is a mess and as tempting as it is to leave it for her/them to sort I really ought to make some effort and find the spare room - moving some of my piles of fabric and half finished makes to one side. I've loads of those I want to show you but will do it another time - mainly as some are for birthday pressies for my S&B friends and of course one of those is Dawn and she might just peak in ;)

See you next week - keep your fingers crossed the weekend is sunny and the CK shop is fully stocked ;)

xxx Vicki xxx

It started with cake...

Good evening

How was your weekend??

Ours started Friday after school when the boys arrived home - hungry as normal. They were very pleased to find I'd been baking (and getting carried away with icing sugar again);

Chocolate buns with vivid red icing

In blue gingham cases - so cute and very tasty

The reason for cake - I was in a good mode - the day had been sunny and I'd finally been able to wear my favourite red Mary-Jane shoes;

Saturday was a very busy day. Little son and his school brass band were taking part in a concert at Snape Maltings concert hall. It is an annual event and it celebrates music within all schools in Suffolk. Schools have to apply and only about 45 are selected. There are 6 concerts and each night is a different group of schools - all ages and abilities. Everything from the County Youth Orchestra to a group of Y4's who'd only been playing their guitars since September!

A view of the concert hall across the marshes.

Little son had to be there at lunchtime for a technical rehearsal - it wasn't worth going home so Mr VV & I headed off for a walk along the river bank and a quick look around the shops;

This Barbara Hepworth sculpture is always popular with young visitors - it was unusual to find no-one peering through the holes ;)

Another sculpture - just can't remember who the artist was!!

Once rehearsals had finished it was time to come home, get sorted, shoes polished and smart & clean clothes put on (him not me) and he had to be back there for late afternoon. This time for a rehearsal for the final piece which involved all the children and teachers who had taken part.

Whenever any of my boys are involved in shows I get a tad nervous for them so I was relieved when we found out that their brass band were opening the evening. They played very well and we could hear the improvement in their playing since we last heard them last summer.

Little son is the 2nd white shirt from the right - next to him is his mate, T who is the son of my fellow blogger Dawn. From where us parents were sitting high up almost into the gods it was hard to get a photo - this is the best one out of the 7 or 8 I tried to snap - my little camera really isn't keen on dark/nighttime pics.

Today has been a very quiet one - little son didn't emerge from his bed until almost 11 o'clock. We've spent the day at home just pottering, gardening for some and sewing/knitting for me.  We managed to watch the rugby this afternoon - what an exciting match - well done to England :)

Right I'd best be off - I have a glass of red calling me and also some bloggy swap pressies which need wrapping ;)  Pene that's right, I'm finished and shall be (hopefully) getting your parcel off to you either tomorrow or Tuesday - shall be emailing you as well.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

PS - Like most bloggers, I've been horrified with the scenes coming out of Japan over the weekend. I can't imagine what those people are going through and will be doing so for many months to come.

Who can resist a little bargain ;)

Good evening

Well the wall to wall sunshine of earlier in the week was replaced today with blue skies/grey skies/fluffy cloud/great big black ones which threatened rain and then blue skies again! Was really windy too - at least it meant the washing got dry & aired - such an exciting life I have sometimes!!

As you all know, I have a bit of a thing about charity shops - can't walk past one and am getting pretty good at spotting something lovely buried under piles of stuff that I doubt will ever sell. The ladies in my local Church shop are getting to know me very well - even putting aside things they think I might like. Here's some of the lovelies that have been rescued by me over the past few weeks;

Easter/Spring themed linens - 4 napkins and pretty cloth.

Barge ware painted enamel mugs - not good enough to drink from but pretty enough for flowers :)

More playing cards to use as labels - these have the prettiest backs.

Another ladybird book for my growing collection - first one I've found in quite a while.

Trying to think what I've done since I last wrote - started filling in my census form - just waiting for boys to decide what they'd like to put as religion, debating between Jedi & Nintendo at the moment! Though little son did 'get married' in a Hindu ceremony yesterday! (They has an RE day at school and were visited by 6 different faiths). I've almost finished another pair of dolls. I've been losing my battle with the spiders again - I just don't want to have to add them to my census form as permanent residents in this house! Oh and I've been getting things together for the 2 swaps I'm doing and I've just realised there's another birthday coming up soon on the Birthday Swap list!!

I suppose I really ought to go back to my corner of the sofa and battle with yarn & thread then.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Hey there MrBlue :)

Good evening

What a day - blue skies from 7am until the light faded about 6pm :) The ideal day for throwing all the windows open and for making my washing machine work overtime.  It has been the most lovely early spring day - it was great to leave the gloves & hat at home when I went out this morning.

It was the perfect day to start taking photos for this months Scavenger hunt - plenty of shadows to choose from but I'll share those at the end of the month. BTW I think I've found some Lions - they appear in the most strangest of places ;)  The sunshine brought out some of my favourite things too;

Daffodils just starting to burst open.

Ladybirds coming out of hibernation.

The postie brought me a little parcel today - these rose beads which are destined to be turned into jewellery;

I also finished the first 2 raggys for the shop;

I have another pile of limbs to turn and stuff later this evening - this is my least favourite part of the process.

How was your weekend? Ours was busy. Saturday morning Little Son and I took part in a protest march through the town regarding the proposed library closures - we made it onto the local news bulletins and also the local paper too;

Yesterday we visited friends in Essex for lunch. All 4 boys disappeared off upstairs - the beauty of the common language of Nintendo ;) We did manage to get them outside for a while too - just wish I'd taken pictures of them all on the trampoline - big son who is ungainly on dry land is even more so when he two or three feet up in the air!!

Right off now for a wander around blogland and to say Hello to all my lovely new followers :) - I feel a giveaway coming on very soon!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Oh joy - the spell check isn't working - sorry to any English teachers who read my ramblings ;)

The north wind doth blow.......

Good evening

And its felt cold enough to snow here for the past couple of days. All dreams of spring and the wearing of less layers than a polar explorer have gone out of the window. Today I even resorted back to the thick ski-mittens the boys bought me in the January sales - have been tempted to wear them in the house too.

In a bid to trick my body into thinking its warmer, I've treated myself to another hycanith - it normally lives on my kitchen window sill but I couldn't get a clear picture of it on there;

Some people hate the smell of these gorgeous flowers but I love it.

The postie brought me a new toy yesterday - a glue gun.

I've had such fun sticking things together - some repairs - like this brooch thats had its stone out for ages and ages;

And I've also been making a few little bits (earrings mainly) towards another stall (no date sorted yet);

I've also treated myself to some new zingy springy fabric & buttons;

I was brave today - I went to visit a local shop and took some samples to see if they would stock (on and sale or return basis) some of my makes - they said yes. Therefore I need to start churning out a lot of Rainbow Raggy dolls - my sewing table is becoming covered in body parts;

Just incase I get 5 minutes this week, I've treated myself to not one but two new magazines - I'd seen the Simply Homemade one on loads of blogs and MrVV managed to track one down for me whilst he was out and about;

Big son went on a course last night to train to be a Young Leader with the Scout Association. He's been a member since he was just 7 and is now helping each week with the Beaver Troupe. The boys love him - I don't think they really believe he was ever as small as them. He's earnt himself a new badge to sew on his uniform. He had more dates for more training later in the year - should keep him busy;

Lastly little son came home tonight and handed me 2 school paper towels which were wrapped around something. He goes to a Science Club one lunchtime each week and last week, they made bathbombs - he handed them over with the words 'Happy Mothers Day Mum' - early but lovely :)

Lastly the new list for the Photo Scavenger Hunt is out - I just wonder how many Lions I shall find in the Suffolk Countryside???

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx