An unexpected treat

Just a sneak peak of some gorgeous super chunky yarn I've been treated to this weekend by my hubby. I'm going to make myself a scarf with it as it's so wonderfully soft and I'm loving all the colours! I prefer variegated yarn to plain for most things and can't resist it. He also treated me to some yellow baby dk which has lovely flicks of pink and green so will look fab when made up. I'm not sure to what yet tho.

It's such a treat because my hubby normally complains about the amount of wool and other oddments I have scattered around the house. For him to see it in the shop and buy it for me without being asked was a lovely surprise.

I really do have a fab husband who I love very much!

I know I'm too late to add my link for Handmade Monday this week but please go and have a look at the blogs that are linked. You'll find the link on my sidebar to the right.

Til next time!

Brrrrrrrr!!

I can't believe how quickly Autumn seems to have hit! I know we haven't had the best summer but I really didn't expect to be needing big coats and the heating on before the end of September. But here we are! It did give me a reason to find my mojo and get my crochet hook out though. I realised that the Littlest doesn't have a winter hat so thought I should do something about it.

The photo shows the hat I made over the last couple of evenings. It's in a lovely soft baby chunky yarn and i'm not sure if you can see from the picture bit I added a scalloped edge just for a bit of interest.

Of course the Biggest wants one now, so the hook will be out again later when she decides what colour she wants.

I know I have been missing in action for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that! Sometimes life gets in the way a bit and over the last few weeks I don't seem to have had a minute to myself.

I have been a busy girl on the baking front. We seem to have turned Tuesdays into mummy and Flip Flop's  baking day. We've made lots of pasties, Herman bread and of course Herman cakes. The biggest hit was apple and blueberry muffins and though i say so myself they were delicious :)

More of the same this week, too. She starts school nursery next week so I am making the most of it!

I'm linking up with Wendy for Handmade Monday over on  Handmade Harbour  Go and have a look at some lovely blogs :)

Til next time!

Silent Sunday

Home, Sweet Home

We''ve had a lovely family break in Norfolk, lots of shopping, and playing and exploring to be had in one of my favourite counties. It's a pity the weather wasn't kinder but you can't have everything, and we did manage some lovely rain free days. Without a doubt the hit of the week was Bewilderwood The kids loved it, even if our pockets didn't! I don't often say this when spending lots of money as I really do believe attractions, and merchandise etc aimed particularly at children are way overpriced and take advantage of a parent's love of their child and wish to make them happy... but it really was worth it.
We had exploring and climbing and boat trips and face panting, and two very happy, giddy, tired girls.
The picture I posted for Silent Sunday was taken in Bewilderwood, Caoimhe told me it was her fairy's house and got very excited telling us about the colourful fairies and elves she could see as we walked round. Oh to have that powerful, wonderful, innocent imagination all over again! It really is what being a parent is all about!

Needless to say there has been no making from me over the last week, aside from some cooking of course (and we had homemade pizza, by far exceeding in quality, taste, cost and fun the efforts of takeaways and even the prepared ones from the supermarket. We made these with round pitta breads, a dollop of passatta, cheese, mushrooms, and strips of ham and even fussyeater Caoimhe ate the lot!) So I have nothing recent to share with you. However I am keen to show eager for Handmade Monday as I have missed it over the last couple of weeks. It's such a lovely community and it's always nice to see what everyone has been up to.

I have an afternoon of baking planned today, and I have some carrots and potatoes bubbling away make potato cakes for dinner. But that isn't very exciting to show you...and I haven't started the cheese and veg pasties for tea yet, or the Herman cake for afters. So I have decided to share a couple of ATCs I made for the ATC trail on UKscrappers a few weeks ago. I used my new steampunk digikits from Daisytrail on a backing of some scraps of paper from my stash.

Hopefully I will have more to show you next week. I really need to get my crafty mojo back so I''ll be looking at the blogs linked up to Handmade Monday for inspiration!

Til next time!

Ps sorry about the format of the photos. I'm using a new app to blog from and frustratingly it won't let me move pictures where I want to. Grrr.

Silent Sunday

Testing on Animals

No I've not gone mad! Today's blog post is a product review for monsterpetsupplies.co.uk

Anyone who knows me in 'real life' or who follows me on twitter/facebook will know that I love my cats. They were my babies before my real babies arrived and although I am not, and never will be, a crazy cat lady, (not sure my hubby would agree!)  they do pretty much rule the roost. For those who don't know, I am owned by a beautifully fluffy, chunky, vociferous silver tabby and white Norwegian Forest Cat (and for more about this remarkable breed see here  ) and an almost equally fluffy,equally noisy, tiny little black bundle who was rescued as a 6 month old, and whose parentage is questionable..(put simply a mog) and who has never really grown much in the 2 1/2 yrs that she has shared our home.  I am quite fortunate with my kitties, in that they are not especially neurotic, nor faddy eaters, though I do suspect this is luck rather than good management.

Reilly Thomas

Hazel Alice

        
I was asked by Charlotte at mymonsterpetsupplies.co.uk to write a product review on some of the pet supplies they stock. As I have said already, mine are not especially fussy eaters, so I didn't expect to meet with any complaints from them when faced with food they had not had before (in fact they are quite used to having a change now and then as my poor old mum's cats were the fussiest I have ever met, and my own kitties were often the grateful recipients of food they suddenly went off and refused to eat!) I was not disappointed.

The first product I tried them with was a cat treat. Felix Goody Bag  to be precise. They don't often get cat treats. Not that I am a mean moggy mummy or anything, but they tend to get little smackerels such as chicken skin, bits of tuna, ham you know what it's like when you are cooking and you have cats swirling round your feet. Needless to say they enjoyed them very much and are especially happy now that the youngest family member has figured out how to open the pet food cupboard and particularly likes to dole out the treats herself. We gave them the original flavour and found them to be not too strong smelling at all, as some can be. They are also not covered in 'dust' and don't make your hands smell which is always a bonus when using them to bribe tempt your cat to do something they are reluctant to do! I think the price is reasonable for the quality of the product, and given that it is an occasional treat. They are also much better than the cheaper varieties, which are often strong smelling. They are pretty much what I would expect from a big company such as Felix, and one I'm sure I will buy from time to time.

We also tried out some Go-cat  chicken, duck and rabbit kibble. My cats are quite fond of their kibble and I always ensure they have some available to graze on through the day. That is if they manage to get to it before the dog (who, it has to be said, is quite partial to a bit of cat kibble herself, greedy girl). We have had Go-Cat before, although tend to get other brands including shops own. The price is right for the quality, it is not too strong smelling, as some can be, and seems to go down quite well. I even caught the Littlest with her hands in the cat bowl this morning so it seems that this kibble is palatable for cats, dogs and humans! (although I'm not prepared to try that out for myself!)  There are different flavours available, and I note that they make a variety specially developed for indoor cats, which mine are. Whether that's a gimmick or not I don't know, but it's a great idea for those cats who are restricted and not able to find their own mice, birds, insects...you know those special presents that outdoor cats like to bring home and share with their families! My only complaint with this product, and it really is nit picking, is that the packaging is not really designed to keep the kibble fresh, I would prefer a 'resealable' pack, as some brands offer, but that really is just a niggle and wouldn't put me off buying it in the future.

The last product we tried was a completely new one for us. Gourmet perle ocean delicacies. This isn't the type of food I usually buy, in fact I rarely even look at it on the shelf in the supermarket. My cats have always been happy with cheaper options so I have never considered buying these, or similar more 'premium' cat foods. I was impressed with the flavours, which seemed interesting and as if they had been thought about, and not just normal plain chicken, or tuna that we usually buy. The food itself looks appetising as well and contains flakes of fish. The cats certainly enjoyed them, and I don't think they preferred one flavour over another, they seemed happy with all of them. They are slightly smaller than other pouches and contain about 15g less per pouch, so I did end up giving them more than I would usually do. Not really cost effective in this economic climate, but if I do find myself with a few extra pennies in my purse and think they deserve a treat then I might just buy them again. I would also consider getting them if either of the cats are unwell, or recovering from an op for instance as they seem to be easier to digest. My greedy tom sometime gobbles at his food so quickly he is sick afterwards, but I have noticed he hasn't done whilst eating these.

Just a word about the packaging in which I received my items. It was delivered quite quickly, within a few days, and was double boxed. A lot of care had obviously been taken when parceling up and sending out, which is a small detail but one that is very important if you ask me. It shows that the sender cares enough about their product and their customer to ensure it gets there in one piece and in good condition. Can't say that for every company I have dealt with recently unfortunately!

No makes this time, although things have been made, I promise! But I've been busy getting the family ready for a long awaited holiday. Normal service will resume when I'm back from my break. In the meantime don't forget to go over to see Wendy on Monday for Handmade Harbour, you know where to find the link!

Til next time

Wedding wishes

I'm playing catch up this week as two 12 hour shifts on Sunday and Monday knocked me out of my stride. I usually write my blog on Sunday evening or Monday morning/afternoon but obviously being at that horrid work place put paid that and despite my best laid plans to write a midweek blog instead, it just never happened.

The Birthday Girl was very happy and very spoiled. She had two birthday cakes and two lots of fuss. Not sure she really knew what was going on but she made the most of it!

This weekend we celebrated my niece's wedding. The girls certainly had a good time (and those who are friends with me on Facebook will have seen the video of Caoimhe singing)  It goes without saying that the bride looked lovely. And of course I wish her and her new husband every happiness for the future. I obviously made her card, but after planning carefully what iI was going to do I realised that my embossing folders were at my mum's, and the congratulations stamp iI Iwas going to use was still in the shop. I'd bought another greeting stamp set instead which had a nicer baby greeting on it. No use remembering that at 9pm two days before the wedding though!  But I did have another lovely stamp to use which, in hindsight, I was happier with anyway. I hope they like it!

Don't forget to head over to  Hamdmade Harbour for Handmade Monday. I'm hoping to get round more of the blogs  this week as I was unable to get to many last week unfortunately.

Til next time!