Happy Birthday Papa!

Today is the little gnome's birthday. Even though we are not there, we are all sending huge amounts of love.

Happy birthday, with extra love from May!

What I would really like today

Is a quiet day, a catch up


I have been chasing my tail, walking the dog, delivering training, stretching my mind, working, struggling too finish gifts in time for birthdays, entertaining children.

But today I would like a quiet day.

Re-edited at 8.44am after feeding the family, putting the laundry on, loading the dishwashing machine, hoovering, taking the children too school and walking the dog - things are yet to go to plan but I did find this from REforms blog

What I need:
More hours in the day
or days in the week.
More room to breath
or a cleaner.
More money in my pocket
or someone to sew up the holes.
More of an organised house
or somewhere safe to put my camera.
More chocolate
or a personal trainer.

More weekends away
or a really long sodding holiday.


mmmm, she is so right there!

A typical Bank Holiay?

It is the Easter break right now, well actually it is just an extended weekend as for the first time in my lifetime the schoool holiday is not at the same time as Easter so it is back to school tomorrow after a short break.













This long weekend included a flurry of snow, yes a real live flurry over a few days, nothing settling but it was mighty cold walking May along the river.



So today, Bank Holiday Monday we made our trip too Oxford. Louie had wanted to visit Lyra's Oxford again - last time he and I went to see Callum Innes at Modern Art oxford and he bought this book, so today was the designated day to set off on our Oxford journey.













It was very dark, rainy and cold but armed with a little map we wandered round colleges, bookshops and strange little pen shops, saw random reindeers in the window, walked in the footsteps of J.R.R Tolkein and C.S.Lewis and found the house of the artist William Turner.




































Now we are home, warming up, rainboots off and back to school tomorrow

A Good Friday

Today we did this


then this


and more of this


we almost avoided all the rain there was by fluke

ate cake at the wonderful Picnic


then watched a movie

came home and did the third dog walk of the day

A Good Friday

If you are not at knit night this is what you are missing

Birthday cakes for ella and emma, happy birthday! X

sent from knit night so hurry up and get here

Team Zissou

The newest team member, watching crufts 2008.

Blogged from my phone and haven't worked out how to turn the photo round yet....

a trip round the garden for the little gnome

The little gnome has been sending updates of the garden, an orange tree with juicy plump oranges, budding and growing plants, with more than an essence of sunshine on the back garden, so this post little gnome is for you.

May had to get in the shot too



clashy colours



a single tete a tete






the acer starting to bud



the clementine armandi ready to pop it's flowers



The little gnome's Camellia starting to flower

mothers and daughters

So we spent the weekend trying to finish things off. Whirly had a project for the new baby next door - a little hat on circular needles, I was trying to finish the edging rows of the present for my mum. This has to be done by Thursday to be posted to her for her birthday, a 16 row pattern x 70 times. I did not get much done yesterday, visited the mother in law for Mothering Sunday which involved us catering (that should read *me* as hubby did none), driving two hours each way but at least we walked May on the beach... well Louie and I did as bama has a break in her foot, hubby was tired and Mother in Law set of with us but then her feet hurt too so she was collected.

mothers and daughters, mother in laws, mothers in other countries

Happy Mothers Day Mae x x x