A good day

Wednesday was a good day:

* Little G's first morning at 'big school'. He was so happy trotting off, not giving me a backward glance. His brother was very proud of him in his new school uniform! My baby boy all grown up.

* a wonderfully clean house and pile of freshly ironed clothes after my cleaner had been. I am sooooo enjoying having a cleaner again!

* had this little lot was delivered, ready to make a chunky blanket for snuggling under in front of the telly, inspired by Kate's blanket at Just Pootling

* I am loving the beautiful September we have been having. Wednesday was a particularly lovely day - just a few puffs of white clouds. I sat in the garden in the evening sun at about 6.30pm. Baby E was asleep in her pram on the patio, Little G was chilling in front of the telly while his big brother was at football training. I actually read some of the weekend papers for 10mins, basking in the warm sun before it went down behind the trees.

* Baby E was a dream baby on Wednesday. Having done an enormous, leaking, complete-change-of-clothes-required nappy in the morning, she was super-happy and chilled out the rest of the day. She gave her first proper chuckle - one of those heart-melting, bubbly, belly chuckles that babies do which make you want to laugh along with them. Thankfully it was in response to Daddy being silly but I was also stood right next to them. So much nicer for us both to witness it, and for it to be caused by Daddy, as he misses so much of the good stuff when he is at work all day.

* leftover apple & blackberry crumble, eaten cold, whilst watching the Great British Bake Off - delicious! Followed by some crochet in front of GBBO. Most evenings are filled with a cycle of feeding and rocking Baby E to sleep, but she was so chilled yesterday that she dozed or sat happily in her bouncy chair all evening, so it was a rare treat indeed for me!

Yesterday? Not such a good day....but I'll say no more about that!

Have a lovely weekend!

A weekend of sunshine

The weekend started early for us with the boys having great fun in the garden until way past their usual bedtime. It was so warm & lovely out there that I just didn't have the heart to bundle them off to bed!

Trampoline fun

Playing together (makes a change from fighting/arguing!)

Daddy getting in on the action when he got in from work!

Saturday was spent doing lots of stuff around the house. Our odd-job man was here for the day getting lots of job finished for us (he's worth his weight in gold, as Mr Wilfing is rather challenged in the DIY skills department!) and helping Mr W. move furniture around. Mr W. declared he was "nesting" and got lots of tidying and sorting done, which I just haven't been able to do lately (due to not being able to bend down!)

Sunday we met up with friends in a local country park for a picnic lunch and afternoon of playing. While everyone went off for a walk through the woods, I sat under the shade of a tree in my deck chair and got a few ripples done! They came back with ice-creams, and a deliciously refreshing lemonade ice lolly for me (I have a thing for home-made lemonade and lemonade flavour things at the moment!)



Crochet in the sun!



Sun-dappled play area

We had to drag the children away from their friends at about 5.30pm in order to get home for supper, bath and bed. We all had a lovely afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather, and it was so nice to see the children playing outdoors and away from their various 'screens'.

The lake at Barnwell Country Park

Happy Friday!

It's Friday and it's warm and sunny - what's not to be happy about?

The garden is starting to bloom which always lifts my spirits:

Wisteria

Cosmos

First rosebud - it will be pale yellow when fully open & smell amazing

Allium

Californian Lilac - coveres the front of the ugly garage

Lupin

Busy Mr Bee!

I grew the lupins from seed last year - loads of spikes still to open

The wisteria is starting to climb up the front of the house. When we moved in, it had been cut right down to a stump but is now slowly coming back. Needs a bit of training though!

The chair is finished and in the nursery. I think it could do with some cushions to make it a bit more comfy for breast feeding, but my first crochet blanket looks rather cosy on it.

My lovely new pink Birkenstocks. My pedicure is not looking too bad that I had done on holiday at Easter. A few small chips starting to appear...

Lovely pastel ripples on my latest crochet project - a baby blanket...

A little treat for myself to read in bed later. I've been naughty and already bought Country Living this week, but I have been restrained for a good few months!

As well as the garden, I am also in full bloom! 36 weeks tomorrow and getting bigger by the day. Random strangers have stopped me in shops and in the street to ask when I'm due - they all look slightly shocked when I tell them I still have a month to go. This photo is actually rather flattering, and I look a lot bigger in the flesh. But I have had lots of compliments today on how "blooming" and "well" I look which makes me happy (as I had been feeling rather cumbersome and unwieldy this week!), even if that is code for "flippin'eck you're enormous!"

My new doormat. Just a cheapo one from B&M Bargains, but we had to throw the previous one away after I trod in dog poo getting out of the car on the driveway & then wiped it all over the doormat & trampled it all up the hall! Don't get me started on how cross I was, as we don't even any pets, so was furious to have someone else's pet leave us the gift! But the new doormat makes me slightly happier.

Looking forward to a lovely weekend of sunshine (or at least warm and dry!) with my boys. We're off on a picnic at a nearby country park on Sunday with some friends.

Have a lovely weekend!