Nature in the home...

I stumbled upon this gorgeous idea from Little Green Shed via the lovely Charmaine from Littlenestbox. Its such a lovely idea, and I'm so excited to join in!  We're always popping a few garden blooms in jugs and jam jars around the house.

These little beauties were found in the field next to the children's nursery, they are a delight in our bedroom :)

Happy days!

Happy Tuesday! What a lovely sunshiney start to the week here in Cornwall.

Saturday was a very wet and windy day on the farm, so we tucked ourselves away and baked (feta, courgette and mint cake recipe to follow), and had lovely friends over for a children’s supper. Sunday was, in contrast, so very gloriously warm and sunny. There are some newly arrived calves (aka “moos”/ baby cows, depending on whether you are 2 or 3), which we visited (there are 21 of them – counted carefully by Edie, skipping the numbers 13 and 15). We wandered around and rescued the daffodils that had been snapped of in the wind and the house is filled with spring.

A mountain of washing was folded and put away and some terribly organised weekly/meal planning went on, finished off with a lovely roast.

Happy days indeed xx

Littlenestbox - Modern Decor for Kids!

A couple of very close friends have had babies recently. I have been dying for this to happen to buy them presses! I am totally in love with the utterly gorgeous work that the lovely Charmaine creates in her London Studio - such amazing home decor for your bubas - superb handmade goodness to brighten up your nursery!

"Hello Little One" Giclee Art Print by Littlenestbox 

I am so pleased with the print, its perfect. There are so many more like this in her shop as well as simply gorgeous mobiles and cloud pillows. I'm hooked. 

Butterfly Baby Mobile

Cloud Crib Mobile

She even has some totally unique Christmas decorations (that you can make yourself - I just love a bit of DiY!)....how amazing will these look on a tree?

DIY Paper Christmas Ornaments

You can find Charmaine's shop and many many more wonderful things right here.

Boot cuffs, baking and boredom...

Well, a lovely productive weekend is being had so far.

1. Friday spent baking lots of delicious things with the boy for a lovely afternoon tea with my lovely grandparents (who brought beautiful daffodils and they really made me smile!) ... Booster bars and Banana cake, as well as a big batch of freezer meals - I'm going to love coming home from work knowing that that's another thing not to worry about next week!

2. Boot Cuffs - headbands, ear warmers, fingerless mittens and pyjamas, all things aded to the Etsy and Folksy shops this weekend :)

3. Boredom - an odd one, but definitely made Ross and I smile at 3.30 am when Charlie wandered into our room and told us he was bored... sleeping at night not exciting enough then Charlie? My word!

Monday January 2nd 2012 - New Year Brilliantness!

Today's Three:

1. Start as you mean to go on - LOVELY (?!) morning run, got to get the fitness thing sussed this year! It was so worth it after I had done it! Felt great - brilliant start to the day, now just to make sure I continue with the sentiment...

2. Crocheting - simply addictive, that is all!

3. Christmas - last mention, I'm sure its still ok to, (the tree is still up) has been such wonderful Family time. I'm back to work tomorrow and can't believe how quickly the time has flown(!) it has been so amazing to have time off to spend with the children doing nice things, beach walks, the zoo, the aquarium, long woodland walks etc... Rather sad to wipe the message from Father Christmas off the Blackboard wall though...

Saturday 24th December 2011 - It's the most wonderful time....

Todays Three:

1. The tent is finally finished, hope they love it!

2. Lovely Christmas Eve Beach Walk - weather was lovely, charlie had such fun running in and out of the sea, throwing pebbles and being chased by my dad...ahh!

3. Loving the Christmas Spreadsheets. Some time ago I mentioned my Christmas Geeky Spreadsheets. Well, so far so good, and they appear to be making the festivities go swimmingly so far! I am pleased to say that as it stands presents are bought, some wrapped, food planned and ordered without any further trips to the supermarket! Fingers crossed...EDITED...the ultimate quest for organisational nirvana has hit a couple of pre Christmas bumps that could have ended disastrously! So, I ordered all food online to avoid crazy supermarket shopping with millions of people. For the last couple of weeks I have thought gleefully about it all arriving on 23rd Dec between 6pm and 9pm. Turkey, veg from a local place and a big supermarket shop. Turkey email confirmation lost, and credit card used to pay for massive online shop had expired. All rectified, but dangerously close to time! Those were a couple of dicy moments...lessons learnt though and all the mega panic thoughts that I'd ruined Christmas a distant memory after a couple of glasses of mulled wine :)

Tuesday December 20th 2011 - 5 more sleeps

Today's Three!

1. DIYed Tent - Really excited about starting the tent we're planning on making for the kids for christmas. Found this lovely tutorial for an indoor A-Frame tent on mycakies.

2. Crochet Heart Decorations - I made a load of these for the tree this weekend - so easy - tutorial here...

3. The Planner - finally finished it. The first few days have been brilliant - such a massive time saver :). I love a good printable!

Wednesday December 14th 2011 - Today's Three Things!

Today's Three:



A little bit of DIY decoration making...

1. 'Tis the season - getting so excited about Christmas, lots to be very thankful for, happiness and health and a wonderful family.




2. Gingerbread House - I'm planning on a bigger version this weekend, so this was the trial one. Looking forward to making a bigger one this weekend, just hope I can perfect the recipe by then!

The finished trial version:



3. Organisational Nirvana - the quest continues to make life as simple as possible through mega planning, and for the latest phase I'm putting together a home planner...I just LOVE lists!

- Happy Days!

Saturday 10th December 2011 - Sunny Saturday stuff.

Today's Three:

1. Beautiful sunny day with a lovely long walk and lunch on my brother in laws boat - the children loved it!

2. DIYed Christmas decorations - cutting out reindeers and trees from felt to assemble for some dangling tree decs.

3. Baking - made some of Mrs Beetons tea brac. Super easy and super yummy. Love classic and simple baked.

BELATED - Thursday November 10th - Pickles, Poseys & Plates...

1. Neighborly love - yet again my adorable neighbors have given us treats, dearest Roland arrived yesterday with a pot of marrow chutney and pickled onions which will be ready for Christmas - human kindness is a remarkable thing...

2. Bloomin' marvelous flowers - My lovely grandparents popped over last night with a lovely pot of Hyacinths - my favourite bulbs, I keep meaning to pland some in the garden, so this is a wonderful treat to brighten up the house.

3. DIYed Plate - I've been making some decorative plates for people as gifts for special occasions (weddings, children's birthdays etc..) and I've just finished one for my grandparents. The family home that my mum and her 5 siblings grew up in, and the subsequent 13 grandchildren and now 2 great grandchildren have known all our lives, was 100 years old this year and they organised a big family party to celebrate family life in the home. Unfortunately they had to cancel it for various reasons and I know they were so disappointed, so I thought I'd give them a plate to keep and remember :)

Meet Herman

Herman is my new friend. He is a sourdough cake. My lovely friend at work gave me a Herman starter. It was a very odd thing. In a ziplock bag he arrived. Pale and creamy and bubbling away. I looked after him, by stirring and feeding him. After 10 days he was ready to be split into 5 portions and given away apart from one, which was fed again and lovingly baked into a delicious cake!

Above is Herman #2. I posted a portion of the first to my mama in London...and 10 days later she sent me another one back, he is DELicious and filled with apples and pears...and there is another batch bubbling away in my kitchen.

Monday November 7th 2011 - Cheerio Choo Choo..

Charming moments of the weekend were...

1. Charlie's cheerio's Choo Choo train. So funny watching him discover a way to transport his cereal around the lounge. I just love the amazing imaginations that children have - magical!

2. Took this pic of lil' Edie Rose off the camera from Halloween - a perfect plump little pumping - ahhhhhhh!

3. Chilly Crisp Sunshiney Mornings - So frosty this morning - it was BEAUTiful on my early morning walk to work. Ahhh winter is coming, and so is Christmas!

Sunday November 6th 2011 - Organise-Mania - Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!

I have high expectations of what I want to be achieve. Sometimes my ideas are unrealistic. I'd rather be this way than not though...

One of my best friends once dropped the phrase "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" into our conversation. I liked it alot. So much so infact, that I think about this phrase all the time and try to apply it to to my daily rumblings of a routine. I know that I'm not always going to be able to do EVERYTHING I want to do, time is very precious and in short supply, but if I don't give it my best shot, then that I will regret.

1. My Love of Lists - In the spirit or trying to be super dooper organised, I've started a mega Christmas TO-DO list. This has been arranged in spreadsheet form (what a geek I am), including separate tabs for Presents, Food, Decorating, Cards. This is the first attempt and I'm sure it may need revising ALOT, but I hope that I may be able to use this as a basis each year and take a little stress out of the happy time!

2. Christmas Cake Bake-Off - I decided that this year, as the whole clan aren't going to be together, that I wanted to make a Mini-Christmas Cake for everyone from the same batch, so that we can all share a piece of Christmas cake on the day, even though we aren't all together. Today was the day, turned out rather nice, now time to feed the cake...pass the brandy :)

3. Mega Meal Planning - I am in love with the life is messy planner by mayi carles. ESPECIALLY the meal planning. I really believe that you will not use something that you don't like the look of. However I love the look of these and have found that I am using it to the letter, wonderful to find things that make life that little easier :)

Happy Days

Saturday November 5th 2011 - Bonfire Night, Baking and Cloud Dough?!

Yippee its the weekend! A long old week, this week, so so glad to have a couple of days off work to enjoy the best things...

1. Fireworks Fun - watched a firework display at a friends house last night, Charlie surprisingly liked the spectacular views and noises, while little Edie was not convinced!

2. Bumper baking - some River Cottage Booster Bars today (click for the adapted recipe), rather de-lish looking, honey, oats, peanut butter, dried apricots...mmmm...Charlie has just help dig a couple of potatoes from the garden("they're very tiny potatoes mummy")and its rather chilly outside, so we're looking forward to them cooling down before we tuck in!

3. Cloud Dough - saw this lovely idea on pinterest which mixes flour and baby oil to make a lovely sensory dough. Charlie and I made it today and he absolutely LOVES it. He's been hiding dinosaurs all day - so adorable!

Tuesday October 25th 2011 - Organising above and beyond...

Source: None via Carolyn on Pinterest

1. So the day started with a chilly walk to work at 6.45am today, with an oh so spectacular crescent moon following me on my way. It was beautiful!

2. Trying to be super organised mega woman this week, totally inspired by a blog I've found written by Mayi Carles called heartmadeblog. She has so much enthusiasm and makes these brilliant planners, I've got the life is messy planner and it is just heaven for me a lover of lists, and at the same time looks brilliant! They say you're much more likely to use something if you like the way it looks, so here goes... :) And now to work on promoting my Etsy and Folksy shops....

3. Another part of mega organised week is getting ahead of meal planning and using the slow cooker for meals on the days I'm at work. So far so good, we've had a hearty stew, macaroni cheese (brilliant), and tomorrow its chicken noodle soup, my personal fave. Mega satisfying to whack the ingredients in at 6am and getting home to a nice hot meal with virtually NO effort! Here's to finding a super idea for thursday, Pinterest here I come!.

Sunday October 23rd 2011 - Today's Three Things!

Today's Three!


1. Wintry walks - lovely walks in lovely gardens, such beautiful flowers, I just LOVE Hydrangeas :)

2. Baby bloomers - tried a new pattern out this weekend and made a lovely pair of baby bloomers for Edie - adorable especially with her chunky thighs!

3. First steps - Lil' Edie Rose being amazingly awesome and walking - soooooo fantastic!

- Happy Days!

Sunday October 16th 2011 - Today's Three Things!

My daily bread!






1. Home baked bread - a cheats version of soda bread, turned out rather well, house smells delicious and I'm now mega inspired to make our daily bread rather than buying it, so have tried to start my own starter...just another 10 days of waiting to see if it works :)

2. Lovely long walks - we've spent a lovely weekend outdoors having a couple of hearty stomps - todays was topped off by a lovely roast with runner beans and purple sprouting broccoli from our allotment! Cornwall is one beautiful place, beaches, countryside, woodlands and stunning gardens, super lucky to live here.

3. So excited to have made my first sale in my Folksy shop! Admittedly it was my friend, but very happy all the same :)

- Happy Days!

Tuesday September 13th 2011 - Today's Three Things!

Today's Three Things!




Image from...

1. Happy little children - despite such early rising times from one little mischievous elf named Edie, the Talling children are so hilariously fun at the moment, although full on manic most of the time, its so amazing to see them interact with each other, starting to play and laugh hilariously at each other. Its infectious - one will start giggling, then the other and it can go on for a good 10 minutes! Superb!

2. Organisational Nirvana - After a super dooper massive organisational push over the weekend, I'm feeling on top of the mayhem once again! Mountains of washing washed and sorted. Piles of paperwork filed and tidied and children's meal planning finally nailed, with the help of a Pinterest Pin and subsequent brilliant blog find Wendolonia. Finally Charlie T is actually looking forward to his meals with the fabulous bento box ideas I found on this inspired blog, with loads of great food ideas for children. Amazing!!

3. Early Family Christmas (in November!!) - I am so unbelievably excited about the prospect of our early family Christmas. The last couple of years have been odd Christmases, its now that we are all older and with husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/children etc that its proving much more difficult to all meet up. This year at Christmas again we won't be all together, but have all booked a long weekend away to have our own little early Christmas - I can't wait...they'll be 10 adults, 2 babies, reindeer, faux snow and fun and frolics! Super excited about having my family together (for the first time since both babies). Yippee, pass the turkey!

Life is sweet - especially when you make it so...

Today's Three:










1. Healthy Wholemeal Banana Breakfast Muffins were made at 7am with the help of a happy little 2 year old, happy that was, until he realised that you have to cook them! Bless him, a long 25 minutes followed until they were ready! But they were a yummy start to the day!









2. Summer Berry Jam finally made with blackberries from the garden and Cornish strawbs, now to find some cool labelling ideas...hope my neighbours like jam! So easy to make and such a tasty result!







3. Happy lovely people - today I've seen one of my bestest friends the beautiful Poppy! She's getting married on Saturday and i'm so excited for her, it's going to be a wonderful day! Can't wait! Also so so looking forward to the arrival of my mama, she's coming to stay tomorrow and she's having the babies overnight when we go to the wedding - such an unbelievable treat. So lucky :)

The sweet peas are from my lovely neighbours and smell so divine, as I say life is pretty sweet right now!

Monday August 29th 2011 -Sun, Sand and Sewing!

Today's Three Things!










1. Finally a little sun has come and put his hat on in Cornwall - hip hooray! We've had such a wonderful, wonderful couple of weeks with the family visiting from London, it's so wonderful when they come down and see how much the babies have changed and grown - happy days were had and memories made! We are so lucky to live near the beach and have spent some fab days there recently, building sandcastles, splashing in the sea ( with Charlie falling over lots) and eating sand ( mostly Edie).












2. Sew much fun! This time it's been PJ pants for Charlie - he thinks they're brilliant ( if a little short!), but I'm really looking forward to having another go and making a matching pair for Ross!


3. More neighbourly love! I absolutely adore my neighbours Roma and Roland, they are so unbelievably kind and thoughtful. Roland has given me a beautiful bunch of home grown sweet peas again, the smell divine! I'm hoping to return the kindness with a pot of homemade blackberry jam, with berries from the garden, which I plan to make tonight!

Happy days!