We went camping... Sort of... Euro Camp

For those of you that know me in real life you know I don't "do" holidays that have the words camping, caravans or the great outdoors in the description.

I have adamantly refused to go camping unless it has an en-suite and room service 

So the idea of Euro Camp was a little alien to me (my husband has just admitted he thought I'd finally lost my mind when I suggested it)

But as we have to cut our cloth accordingly and we are no longer just a couple travelling alone, I decided to "give it a go"

As I didn't want to get stuck somewhere horrendous for a week, I booked us 3 nights at Paris La Croix du Vieux Pont and it was in a caravan not a tent but hey it was almost camping... Right?

And I wanted to take the girls to Disneyland Paris so two birds, one stone and all that...

Price was as cheap as chips, 3 nights including the ferry was £220 and then just fuel costs on the top, so all in about £340, which lets face it for a family of 4 is pretty cheap.

We set off early on the Sunday morning, hoping that the girls would sleep the majority of the way to Dover, Isobel pretty much did whilst Amelia never closed her eyes, she was amazed at stars in the sky and I think she was just far too excited. The girls were fabulous on both journeys and as it was a bit further than I initially thought I was amazed at how good they were. Isobel had a slight blip on the way back where she cried for 30 minutes because I wouldn't let her have a lolly 30 seconds after complaining she felt sick but apart from that they were both great.

Lesson learned on the travel side of things - give a day for travelling and don't leave the return journey too late in the day, get home for a reasonable time as it knackers the kids out too much

Ok so we get to site and I am amazed at how beautiful it was, I don't really know what I was expecting but it was lovely.

Booking in was very simple, English agents see you to your caravan so no language problems, marvelous.

The van was ok, it was clean (ish, as expected for a holiday caravan), beds were ok and after hearing a few horror stories about beds I was pretty relieved that the beds were clean and comfortable. They supplied most kitchen/eating equipment and they even supplied a BBQ and coals (not that we used it) which I thought was excellent.

I have to admit the worse bit for me was the staying in a caravan, but that was me and my snobbery issues rather than anything being wrong with the caravan itself. It was also pretty cold at night and the early hours of the morning it was freezing so next time we need to take warmer clothes.

But the actual site was fantastic, pictures don't do it justice. There was lots for kids to do and the facilities were great.

The only gripe about the site was eating/restaurant facilities weren't great. You have to reserve a table to eat in the restaurants even if they are empty??? So the first night we had to go to their fast food hatch, which was very overpriced and the food was pretty rubbish. Then when we did go to the restaurant it was pretty much the same story very average food that was overpriced. 

My last gripe is that the shop shuts ridiculously early so the night we got back from Disney at 8pm there was no where open to get milk and we had to go off searching for milk which we found for sale in pub of all places a mile from site. 

All a learning curve for us Euro Camp newbies and next time we go we will definitely be far more prepared.

BUT we loved it and are looking to book again for Easter holidays. As long as I can get over the fact I am in a caravan and I may have to cook a bit but apart from that I can't recommend it highly enough, the girls loved it which at the end of the day is the most important thing, it was beautiful, lots to do and a great (cheap) family holiday. 

(Oh and I must add that I was very surprised at just how "Middle Classed" the clientele was, far more Abigail and Thomas's than, well, lets not get into the whole name debate but you know what I mean)

Its just deciding now where we go at Easter.... Brittany... Vandee.... Normandy.... Decision, Decisions...

And we are looking at going Glamping at Warwick Castle next summer as well, next thing you know I will be buying a sheewee and an inflatable mattress ;-) 

Halloween Tip... How to keep your pumpkin fresh...

I can take no credit at all for this post as I've pinched it from facebook but I thought it was a great one to share with Halloween fast approaching :) 


After you scoop out and carve your pumpkin, dip it in a large container of bleach and water (use a 1 tsp:1 gal mix). The bleach will kill bacteria and help your pumpkin stay fresh longer. Once completely dry, (drain upside down), add 2 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to a quart of water. Brush this solution onto your pumpkin to keep it looking fresh for weeks.”

This little tip came from....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/hipandhealthy/

You know I love a bargain...

I posted a little while back about searching for winter clothes for the girls in the middle of summer.

I know I may be a little crazy but hey I like a bargain :)

So I got my girls Uggs at bargain basement prices and next on my hit list was Hunters

I stumbled across this fabulous website http://www.countryhouseoutdoor.co.uk/ where I got bargains galore!

Including my girls Hunter Wellies for only £17.45 and I have to say I am thrilled with them, delivery was super quick and the girls love them.

Thought I'd share this little gem with you

Happy bargain hunting...



(P.S. I am in no way associated with Country House Outdoor I just thought I'd share my find)

How to bag a bargain

Ok in all honesty I am rubbish at getting bargains, it always seems like too much hassle to save a couple quid but as I am getting notoriously tight in my old age I appear to be turning into my Nana.

I got a fantastic deal a few months ago on my tumble drier, brand new from a shop but through ebay, a cheeky bid of £79 won me a £300 tumble drier! Woo to the Hoo!

Now it is the middle of summer and the weather is glorious my mind turns to winter (obviously, duh) so I am on the look out for kids Ugg Boots and Hunter Wellies, I refuse to pay full wack (for Uggs any way) but of course I want new so its a bit tricker.

But once again eBay came up trumps and I have got two pairs of Uggs one for £24 and the other for (wait for it..) £15!! and that included the postage.

Its safe to say I was bloody delighted

I have to say that they would not be my first choice in style if I was paying £140 but for the kids they are great.

and I of course wont sell their old Uggs until the weather turns cold so I can get a good price for them. 

Next thing you know I will be cutting out coupons...

Christmas...

Is it too early to talk about Christmas?

Ok, I know its only June (I say only, this year is FLYING!)

But whilst we have had all this beautiful weather, I have been sat in the garden planning my Christmas to do list

and here is a little taster of some of the things I hope to be recreating and selling this christmas.

Now of course they will not be exact replicas (please do not report me to the fraud squad) but they are my inspiration. (courtesy of the great and almighty Pinterest)

Let me know what you think?

Christmas Cushions....

If you haven't already discover Dear Lillie site please go and look its Beautiful with a capital B!

Christmas Stockings

Christmas Bunting

Happy Summer Solstice

Well to be honest it hasn't quite gone as planned...

Isobel has a nasty bout of croup and I have spent the last three nights sharing a bed with her (how do co-sleepers do it all the time???) which has resulted in very little sleep, she has also been the grumpiest, clingiest little bugger during the day so not much has been done. 

And then yesterday to top it off my sewing machine died!!! Not that it was totally unexpected as it must nearly 20 years old and was handed down to me so I can't complain too much but still ARGH!!! 

Thus resulted in most of yesterday hunting down a new machine. I want to properly upgrade next year to an all singing and dancing embroidery machine so I didn't want to spend a lot and thanks to good old eBay I found one. 

So my Summer Solstice was spent driving to Manchester with a poorly moaning child to pick up a new sewing machine.

We did manage to make some sun cupcakes this afternoon and I have discovered that cake decorating REALLY isn't my thing! I was rubbish, impatient and lost interest after about a minute but the girls enjoyed it.

Amelia also now thinks it will snow tomorrow after my shambolic attempt at explaining what midsummer was all about.

Just rubbish! But I did buy some lovely Sweet Williams to cheer up my kitchen table :)

Lets hope winter doesn't appear just yet...

Fathers Day Gifts...

I'm a bit late with this post (sorry) well I have actually written it once and didn't save it, a few choice swear words were muttered I can tell you!

Anyhow this is what we did for Fathers Day this year...

I like to do something personal with the girls for Fathers Day, they enjoy doing it for a start and I think it's nice to have something to keep and remind us how little they were (are).

Last year they painted gnomes and as we are currently doing the garden I thought another garden based gift was on the right lines.

This year it was bird houses! Even though I'm not quite sure any birds would actually fit in the hole???

So thanks to Hobby Craft (again, even though it ends up costing a small bloody fortune every time I go in) I got the houses and paints, which I then lacquered after the girls painted them to make them water resistant.

They had a great time covering everything in paint and glitter (including my kitchen, glitter EVERYWHERE) but they enjoyed it which was the main thing and Daddy (and Grandad, they did him one as well) loved them.

I also got Daddy a Ladybird World and a Horrible Science Kit, as I want to encourage them to be interested in the natural world and science, I can't think of a better way of learning than doing stuff with Daddy :)


I hope you all had a lovely Father's Day xx

School Dilemmas....

I'm having a dilemma about whether to buy Amelia's school uniform or not

I have contacted school admissions and she is still first on the waiting list so our chances of getting in are pretty certain but its just a case of waiting it out

But I don't want to leave buying her school uniform until the last minute as... well... I like to be organised and not being organised is making me itch!

Basic school stuff I have e.g. Pinafores, Skirts, Trousers, PE stuff as its the same for both schools, its the school logo'd items that I want to order.

Do they run out? Do I have to get my order in early(ish) or can I wait until August (will I survive that long without ordering, is more the question)

Argh!! 


I think it would have been much easier if we were say 6th on the list and then I would know we wouldn't  be getting in and I would have come to terms with it and I would have bought all my stuff.

Or do I just buy the bare essentials and try to make do?

Bugger!

What a difference a table makes...

My very talented husband turned his hand to carpentry a few weeks ago and made a fabulous garden table out of old scaffolding boards that were originally destined for our log burner next winter (curtesy of my Dad, thanks Dad!).

I was trawling eBay for an old dining table that I could paint up and looking for inspiration on Pinterest (which will eventually be my downfall, remember this moment when you see me on Sky News defending my right to sell my own children for stuff I've fallen in love with on sodding Pinterest)

Anyhow I came across scaffold tables and showed them to my OH whilst I idly suggested that he could make one, thinking no way on this earth would he do it but he did!

And not only did he make it with enthusiasm, he made it in only a day and a bit AND it's great! I love it!

It has totally transformed how we use our garden, I have sewed on it, we have eaten virtually every meal at it (ok the beautiful weather has helped ALOT), we've had a family BBQ where 11 people comfortably sat around it, the girls have painted & drawn at it and if the apocalypse ever happens its easily strong enough for us to hide under...

It truly has changed our summer habits, just praying now that we get lots more nice weather to use it.

Saying that though, I was even planning autumn BBQs, cosied around the chimnea and eating at the table (I've gone mad!!)

I still need to sort chairs out for it, I think I'm going for a mix of wood and old wrought iron, I've not decided yet. Lots more Pinterest browsing to do....

My husband also appears to have "the bug" and is going to make me a pergola and a bench next.

All exciting stuff for my garden, what with new flower borders going in, my soon to be completed veggie patch, I am a happy girl.

I will keep you posted :)

We are going green.... Ish

And I don't mean like the Incredible Hulk, well not most days anyway.

Once upon a time a long time ago I developed a bit of an interest in Paganism. I was young so the magical aspect was the initial draw but it was the nature base of the religion that made a more lasting impression.

As time went on I changed my out look (as you do) and never really gave it much thought again... Until now

Not that I am particularly interested in the religion as such but I feel pulled towards a more natural, self sustained way of life. Maybe it's becoming a mother or maybe I'm just that way inclined I don't know but I would like my girls and I to follow the seasons, be aware of the changes that nature goes through, try to source produce locally etc etc

Now don't get me wrong I am really no earth mother, I have no plans to run around naked during the full moon (even though my husband may encourage this) and I shall not be ditching my car for a broomstick, no I'm definitely no earthly goddess, I like the finer things in life too much.

So here's the plan to introduce a bit of nature into our lives...

We have already started buying our fruit and veg from the local farm shop, which the girls love doing as they have chickens running all over the place which they find hilarious 

All meat products I am trying to source locally or at least be British, I tried my local butcher but I was a bit disappointed with the quality so this is a work in progress

We have started composting

Breaking myself in gently this year we are growing pumpkins (very badly), strawberries and sunflowers then next year a small veggie plot is the plan.

And last weekend we spent a thoroughly enjoyable day at a nearby forest collecting pine cones for kindling for the winter

We have been hanging bird boxes and lady bird houses

                                       

And of course making the most of the beautiful weather and working out doors.

With the summer solstice being only a few weeks away I need to get my thinking cap on as to how we are going to celebrate our first nature festival


Out of small acorns grow huge oak trees



:)

Did you get your first choice school?

Excuse me whilst I sob into my pillow...

We didn't get our first choice....

Or second choice....

We got our third choice!

I think that is why this post is two months late, I've been in denial and pretended it wasn't happening but now it's time to face facts and admit it to myself.

At first I wasn't too fussed as all three schools are good schools, (it was actually my second choice but my husbands third so thats how it ended up in bottom place) and the third choice school also has an excellent school nursery that Isobel can start in January.

But as time has gone on I've got more disappointed.

There isn't much in it regarding Sats and Ofsted BUT my first choice school is the best school in the area, and has a fantastic reputation where as my third choice school has just had a new head who is doing marvels with the school it's just not quite up to my first choice.

And the killer kick is we missed out on our first choice by 0.03 miles!

0.03 miles!!! Gutted!

So we are on the waiting list and up to now we are first in the que (yes, that's how close we were, missed out by one sodding place! Excuse me whilst I go and sob again).

And just to rub my nose in it, pretty much all of Amelia's nursery friends are going to my first choice so the mums are all glowy and happy and I want to scream!! Ok well maybe not a scream but still it gets me all irritated, not that it takes much but hey ho.

But and it's an important but, I do know how ridiculously lucky we are that we have such good schools to choose from and its a nice middle class area so no Jeremy Kyle types but still I am keeping everything crossed we get the call we are in, it will probably come the day after I order her school uniform....

Erm my plant pot is waving at me....

Well not quite waving but it's definitely high fiving me!

I'm convinced this little hand has just appeared. We've had the pot for eight years at least and I have never seen the hand before.

My husband thinks it was covered with soil but I am really not convinced, I think I would have seen it.. Surely???

But it's starting to creep me out a bit! I mean where on earth did it come from???

So my plant pot can high five off... Unless it could be the next hand of God like those images in toast...

Hmmm... I wonder how much I would get on eBay for a haunted flower pot...?

Home Made Yorkshire Puddings - Revised

Another food blog!!! 

As you know I am determined to start cooking things from scratch and next on my hit list was Yorkshire Puddings.

No more Aunt Bessie's for us (well that is the plan)

I trawled the Internet for recipes and they all looked pretty similar and easy enough and this is the one I went for.

125g of plain flour
300 ML of milk
2 eggs
Pinch of salt & pepper

Sieve the flour into a bowl
Make a well and put in the eggs
Then mix until firm
Add the milk and mix thoroughly

Leave to stand for 30 minutes

Oil and pre heat muffin tray

Add Yorkshire pudding mixture and cook for 25-30 minutes

Do not open oven door until they are cooked (as I learnt to my horror last week as I ended up with very flat stodgy yorkshires and I only opened the door for a second)

Makes at least 12 Yorkshire Puddings and I always have some mixture left.

And that's it! Simple and very tasty Yorkshire puddings. Amelia currently will only eat yorkshires so I am judging her as a bit of a expert and she says they are much nicer than Aunt Bessie's so that's good enough for me :)

Update

Ok after my early smugness my yorkshire puddings stopped rising (damn you yorkshire puddings!!)

So after much sulking and head scratching (and the power of Google) I know add 3 eggs rather than 2, make sure my oven is on full wack, get my oil sizzling before I add the mix and then turn the oven down once the mix has been in for 10 minutes and (touch wood) they have been great since.

Making real gravy.... Revised!

I was a bit nervous of this one for some reason, but in reality it was very simple and absolutely delicious.

I will not go back to instant gravy for roasts ever again, it made such a difference to the meal.

So here is what I did

Put pan with meat juices onto the hob and heated until fat started spitting

Then I added two table spoons of plain flour and mixed to a paste

I then added hot water from my potatoes and whisked

You can add a stock/oxo cube at this point if you desire (I did)

Then I whisked some more


I left to simmer on the hob whilst I dished out and it thickened up nicely

I will say that I struggled to get the flour to mix completely so I had to siv the gravy but for my first attempt I was delighted with the result.

Update!

I have figured out how to not make lumpy gravy (woo hoo) and its down what I stir with. If I use a spoon with holes in then viola I don't get lumps, which makes me a happy girl :)

Sunday catch up....

Sorry I've been a bit quiet of late, I've had a horrible chest infection that has exhausted me, along with being ridiculously busy, I don't seem to have had a spare minute.

We have been planning Amelia's 4th Birthday party and after going through every type of party imaginable she has finally decided to have a soft play party (thank god! At least we can just leave them to it). So the invites have been sent and all I now need to do is come terms with the fact my baby is almost 4!!!!

Talking of my beautiful 3 year old (still saying it whilst I can) she finally got her gymnastics jacket after we ordered it 2 months ago (don't ask). The absolute delight on her face when she got it though was well worth the wait. She hasn't had it off since Tuesday and even went to bed in it on the night she got it, bless her :)

In other news, I have managed to make a start on some of my other projects (at last!)

I made a garland for my kitchen window, I originally was going to make some curtains but as the kitchen can be quite dark I decided against it but I still wanted "something" and I saw this on Pinterest (gotta love that site) and went for it.

It looks great but I can't get a decent picture of it, for the life of me (grrr)

I plan next week to paint my kitchen chairs (I know, I've been saying it for months but I mean it this week).

Also I'm on the look out for a shelf unit to refurb and then the kitchen will be pretty much done (until I rip it out and put French doors in)

Oh and I'm after a big ass rug for in there as well.....

What else have I done.... Oh yes... sew, sew and more sewing. I have some new fabric which is beautiful to touch and predicting its going to be popular.

And I got some fabric to start making some bunting, I'm starting simple with some birthday bunting for Millie Poo so I will post that hopefully next week.

And that's about it, hubby is off next week so visits to a local farm, swimming and a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine are all planned.... Happy Days!!

For sale - Laura Ashley Hydrangea / Awning Cushion Covers...

Beautiful Laura Ashley Hydrangea cushion covers with Laura Ashley Awning on reverse

Zip closure

16 x 16 inches

£15.00 (free P&P)

Other options available

With plain cream reverse, zip closure - £12.00

Plain cream envelope reverse - £9.99

Other colours and sizes are available so please contact me.

Seams overlocked to prevent fraying

14 days return policy

For your peace of mind payment is via PayPal and you can also order on my eBay account Juleshome2012

Sunday catch up

Well it's been a busy old week

Spent lots of time with my sister, which is something I love doing and we don't do enough off, I think a little pampering weekend is on the cards soon.

Then it's been all cushions, cushions, cushions! Mad busy, which is fabulous. Well, apart from the girls wrecking my house whilst I sew (argh) but I am not complaining :)

I am currently buying new fabric for some lovely spring time cushions, bunting and I want to crack the door stop (bloody cube shape!)

Time to step it up a gear I think.

Cooking wise it's been a low and then high, I had the family around for lunch last Sunday and I was all smug about my Yorkshire Puddings and guess what.... They didn't rise!!!!!

How frigging typical!

Then Monday I made Toad in the hole and it was perfect YAY!!!

All comes out equal in the end...

But now we are all ill well the hubby and I are coughing and spluttering, feeling sorry for ourselves. A quiet weekend is on the cards with a visit to grandparents on Saturday and a little walk and the pub on Sunday.

Hopefully we will be back fighting fit sharpish.

Yummmmmy Toad in the Hole

Cushions, Cushions, Cushions

My very talented sister cutting Amelias hair

Cousins having fun!