My little button

Making and painting

Making plaster of paris dinosaurs and flowers on a blustery afternoon.  And that Golden Syrup tin is such a beauty.

Making it

I have very little ability when it comes to anything needle, wool or fabric based.  This is ironic considering that my brother Simeon happens to be a skilled technical wizard in the art of pattern cutting and making breathtaking clothes.  For heavens sake even his own jeans! Actually I'm going to tell him off for not having his own website so I can plug it!   Anyway these tiny shoes were hand crocheted by my Aunty Jean when my first child, Ottilie was born.  Aren't they exquisite.  And the red knitting?  Well actually I did it very badly and it took weeks and it's only 30cm long.  Still at least I tried.  And the button cards......another obsession.

Letters and cups

Ottilie, Rufus and Agatha letters on our dining room wall.
Glass french coffee cups and beautiful handpainted black cups and saucers from my Pretty Vintage stock.  www.prettyvintage.co.uk

My front door

Have just realised I can put text on my images.  Yipeeeee.

Cotton reels and cardboard cars

It is so often the simplest things that lift your spirits.  I have a bit of an obsession with lots of beautiful colours together, like felt tin pens and colouring pencils in their tins.  These cotton reels are old ones I picked up from an antiques fair.  I saw a kilner jar filled with them and it was £40, so I found a stall that sold the reels that cost £1 each and put them in a kilner jar I had at home.  It cost me half the amount they were charging and gives me twice as much pleasure.  Oh and this is a cardboard car that Ottilie made at school.

My beautiful girls

My beautiful girls.  A rare moment of calm before school.

Pota-toes!

Sugar and Creme Anglais

I'm trying to give up sugar in my tea.  Well actually I can't drink tea without sugar so I'm trying to give up tea!  For some people that may not seem like such a big deal but for a lady who takes three sugars in her tea first thing in the morning this is a major break through.  Like most things in my life it may not last but I'm actually getting rather a taste for herbal tea, which I never dreamt possible.  Actually it's quite interesting to note that if I don't start the day with a huge dose of sugar I seem able to avoid sugary products much more effectively during the day. 
Anyway in honour of my possibly short lived abstinence I thought I would do a post to test my resolve.  I took some images at Christmas of making Creme Anglais.  I have never made it before as I always thought it would be super complicated but actually it was a breeze.  It's also tastes like the nectar of the gods and coupled with warm homemade Madeleines from the oven tis a match made in heaven.   See what I mean....sugar and I are great friends.

Dolls house food.

The Elm Hill Craft Shop in Norwich sells a whole host of beautiful stuff and I'm a bit biased because my Mum owns it.  For example look at these super clever dolls house accessories.  www.theelmhillcraftshop.co.uk

Making bird food

RECIPE
Lard
Raisins
Nuts
Bird Seed
String
Yoghurt pots
Elbow grease
The stupendous Nicole back where she belongs for the afternoon.

I love you 100.

One of my favourite conversations  in our house is how much we love each other.  A typical conversation goes a little like this:
Agatha: I love you 100 Mummy
Me: Well I love you 1000
Agatha: I love you 2000
Me: I love you 10,000
Agatha: Well Mummy I actually love you.................(pause for sometime).........................7, and that's a big number!
PSI'm afraid Miriam that this is as cheesy as I can bear.  I'll work up to it.  By the way are you famous?

 My lovely husband.
Russian dolls, which I'm completely mad about.
Gosh don't our cupboards look busy!

Soap and silver tap shoes

This is one of the best french household items we have bought.  A beautiful big bar of soap which fixes to the wall above the sink on a chrome fitting . It's genius, smells delicious and looks tres chic.  Oh those French!
Oh and who doesn't love a pair of silver tap shoes?

Kerplunk and a lovely football

Kerplunk and guess who LOVES his new football.

Snowy art and writing morning (and a bacon muffin)

This is what our dining table was meant for.  I love getting the children together with the felt tip basket. They all get so absorbed in what they're doing.  Colouring, writing, glueing.  These are the moments I really cherish.  All helped smoothly along by a warm bacon muffin.  I mean it doesn't get much better does it?  Oh and I love pages of handwriting (Ottilies).  My font affair rears it's head again.

Bees, boxes, beautiful shoes and best friends

A trip to Cambridge on the train with my lovely friend Kate.  Some train travel, some hot chocolate, some ticket juggling, some sensible newspaper reading from Kate and some marshmallow brain fluff Grazia for me!  Jamies for lunch (game meatballs, mmmmmmmmmm), 39 steps and wine gums, a teeny weeny bit too much shopping from me while Kate pretended it wasn't obscene that I bought something in every retail outlet we entered.  My purchases above make me happy happy happy.  Thank you Cath Kidston for my heavenly bee brooch.