heartbeat!

did you use to watch Heartbeat as a child.. not the one set on the Yorkshire dales with "Greengrass" and all sorts of different 1960s policeman .. but the childrens art programme with Tony Heart!!??

aww i use to love it anyways.. one of my favourite bits was the children's pics that were sent in and they would have the gallery .. i always wanted to send in a picture with my name underneath.. Charlotte age 8... at the time though i just wanted to draw wedding dresses or princesses so i doubt they would have showed one of my paintings!!..


anyways i have been collecting a few pictures over the past year.. as i kind of wanted to re-create the wall of flowers that is featured on the lovely Posy blog that I'm sure you all read..


well i finally got bored of my plain ol wall and figured i had enough to fill it..


..but then i got scared..lacked the confidence of filling the wall completely with pictures so just settled on a few for now.until i got used to seeing a few prints on the wall. this wall has been completely empty since i decorated in April


anyways I'm pleased with the result.. its like my little own heartbeat gallery .. and i feel like it brings the room in a bit more whereas before it felt a bit sparse !!

















this is one of my faves... i painted the frame cooking apple green by farrow and ball .. and i think the green of it works really well with the Albert Williams print..

I bet you didnt realise...

that in my spare time i was a delicatessen owner and sold hung up meats from my kitchen did you!!!??
having been inspired by littleGems blog to make a carrier bag holder .. i thought while the baby was having his lunchtime nap and oldest boy was watching cbeebies id have a go using an extra piece of fabric that i had left over..



anyways here's the finished result..it keeps making me laugh as it looks like a giant piece of pepperoni or salami just in floral!!!





i think i needed to cut it with perhaps a curved edge instead of making a long sausage!!



its got quite a few bags in it though so that will save us some space in the sink cupboard were usually plastic bags run wild!!..

Keep the change!

"keep the change"..did your mum ever use to say that to you when you went to the shop for her when you were younger??

. yes.. mine to.. in fact i think she said it to me so i wouldn't say "oh i lost it !" whilst slipping a marathon ( yes what is now a snickers!) bar up my coat sleeve or hiding a curly wurly in my pocket!!..

obviously it was never a massive amount probably enough to buy me a sweety treat anyway to me it was a huge amount!!

anyway in the present day. i work with my mum .. we work on the same reception.. there i was wondering what to do for my lunch hour.. didn't see the point in going up to town as i didn't have any money on me.. so up pops mum and says " i need some superglue . will you get me some and then you can keep the change!!!".. i was out of my chair and had my coat on faster than you could say "show me the money!!!"..

anyways i bought these pretty little things .. and how good is this and defo shows how Ive changed over the years.. i had change to give back!!

i got these lovely cushion covers 3 for 50p.. ( i know they might as well have given them away!)

these sweet little black shoes ..look at the lovely floral lining.. I'm thinking with thick tights and a little t-dress..

and a lovely cream and pink with grey edging Betty Jackson cardigan.. the photo doesn't do it justice but its lovely and i have a gorgeous plum and grey and cream tartan kilt that it will look perfect with !!

so here we are . a nice unexpected trip to town for free for me.. and guess what ..couldn't buy superglue any were how mad is that!!!

oh thank you all for your nice comments regarding my quilt.. oo I'm getting more and more excited as it takes shape.. I'm trying to take it slowly as well so I'm not rushing to get it finished and the end result look totally pants which is normally the case for my projects so I'm giving myself a night off from it and will tackle the sewing of the backing on etc over the next few days!!..

this week i'll be mostly

making a patchwork quilt!!!!!

have already sewn all the squares together .. just need to put it onto some nice backing and finish off with the bias binding..

as I'm utterly hopeless with this binding.. I'm going to get mummy dearest to help me.. ( in other words.. I'll bring on the cups of tea whilst she gets to it !!!!!)

more pics of this little project later in the week.. cant wait for it to be done!!!

cooking with mother!!!

if you go onto the "money saving expert forum" they have a recipe section on the "old style" forum.. its great..theres tons of recipes all that are pretty low cost but mostly scrummy!!

if you type in Old Style Recipe Index in the search part it should bring it up..

so me and the oldest boy thought we would make some gorgeous chocolate brownies with the base that's made from wheetabix... that's right wheetabix. it sounds a little strange doesn't it..but these are just gorgeous.. i love em.. they are so versatile as well .. you can put dried fruit in, nuts.. or just lots of different chocolate chunks.. hmmm I'm salivating as i type here!!

you will need four crushed up wheetabix.. ( get the little ones to smash them up..great fun!!)

( oldest boy is using the pestle from my pestle and mortar to smash up the wheetabix..going so fast you can hardly see him!!)

4oz caster sugar

4oz self raising flour

2tbsp cocoa powder ( i normally put more in for extra chocolaty goodness!!)

a packet of chocolate drops ( but you can just buy a big bar of chocolate and smash this up to!..Asdas own dark chocolate works very well for this!!) ...and anything else you want to add e.g fruit, walnuts, etc

mix all this up together and then take

4oz melted butter/marg

1 egg

stir both into the mixture...

pop into a baking tray .. i use a smallish raised lipped oven tray so that the mixture can rise a bit

you can use whatever really just depends how big you want it or how deep..

either stick in grease proof paper or whack a bit of butter around the dish with your pastry brush!

bake in oven for 15 mins on about gas mark 7

leave to stand for five minutes and then cut into squares and tuck in!!!!

guess what ...

hubby took the hint ...... heehee !!!!

Jugs Glorious Jugs!!

i have quite a few jugs that have been picked up over time .. but you know at this minute in time .. none of them have any flowers in.. ( hubby if your reading this.. please take the hint!!! )

the thing is i do have a thing for jugs.. I'm always on the lookout for them.. i never pass by the opportunity to buy one..does that make it an obsession .. and what would this obsession be called.. am i a "juglimaniac" !!!???....

what are your little obsessions for your home??