off to Lancashire

Had a panic last night when i realised i hadn't made my dads birthday card yet ! Finally finished it way after my bedtime and i know my dad will really appreciate it being handmade as he still has things i made him when i was little.
Me and the pixies will be going up to lancashire tomorrow to stay at my mum and dads for a week ( Andy's getting in some serious degree work in the peace and quiet at home ).
I cant wait it will be a lovely change ,am currently working out how to get all our 'stuff' into one rucksack and underneath the pram and were also taking Doodles so its gonna be fun getting us all on the train! i will have to mentally prepare myself tonight i think lol .
Also have some exciting news to tell my mum and dad ,grandchild number 3 is in the making :) I'm so excited i couldn't sleep last night :)


Have started knitting a teddy bear my most ambitious project yet .

Rainy day walk and puddle jumping .

Introducing Onu man

This my first finished knitting project :) please don't laugh hes a bit basic but i enjoyed making him ,knitting is very therapeutic and i love making toys for my pixies . I asked Ben what we should call him and he said Onu man !? oh well atleast its a original name :)

needle felted ladybirds for our seasonal table when it gets more summery .

This is what i found when i opened my craft basket (converted from a picnic basket) our cat Smeagol curled up asleep in it !

Uncle Tims 40th birthday party

Yesterday was Uncle Tim's 40th birthday so we all went to Nana and grandads for a 'party' .
The house soon got full of people so the pixies escaped to the back garden and i was more than happy to join them :)

Nana and Grandads garden has been all stoned over rather like a giant cat litter tray so most of the play involved stones, stones in the flower pots,stones in the toy pram Nana bought for Daisy and Ben,and Nanas favourite stones in the house :)

Daisy in the front garden (which is also stones).

Pixies at the bottom of the garden.

The very hungry caterpillar and other pixies

Had a idea to make The Very hungry Caterpillar today :) I'm really pleased with him and so was Ben who took him outside for a snack .

really enjoyed making these ,needle felting is the perfect craft for me i can just about make something in the evening before i fall asleep . and somehow just making these simple tiny things seems to give me such a sense of achievement and happiness .

making a giant train track in the backyard .

We haven't done anything too exciting recently as we had a phone call saying that someone wanted to view the house so i have been mostly tidying up (in between reading books and helping a Playmobil Witch ride in a fire engine) . The people that viewed our house really liked it so fingers,toes and eyes crossed they want to buy it x

making muffins or rather licking the bowl clean of muffin mix!

yummy muffins .

mummys photos

This is our local nature reserve in full spring bloom.

This is the pixies 'fishing' there was quite a few men fishing around the lake and when we walked past one he had just caught a fish and was pulling it out of the water (much to my horror not a fan of fishing) i couldn't watch, but the pixies were fascinated and then Ben saw the maggots and said 'ooowww baby worms' .

ameture toddler photographer Wednsday

Today we went to the nature reserve ,after we had walked round the lake and thrown stones in it we headed for the playground .
So instead of me taking photos i gave the camera to a very excited Ben to see what he would take photos of and these are the rather wonderful photos he took :)

this is my favourite :)

museum and leaving my brain at home .

Today i decided would finally go and look round Hanley Museum via the shops for a new sun hat for Ben ,white vinegar,and chemical free suntan cream , unfortunaley i left my brain asleep on my pillow thismorning and i clean forgot what my pin number was to my card !!! tryed so many times my card was 'frozen' ! luckily the bank gave me some money over the counter thew! and she said they can un-freeze my card when i remember my pin trouble is i havnt remembered it yet :( ooops.

There was a animation exhibition on at the museum which was fascinating to look at but the pixies were more interested in the screen showing the Rory the racing car tv show.

I couldn't help thinking of the Terminator when i saw the Fiffi The Flower Tot models :)

Windy miller

Sony advert bunnies.

Daisy loved the freedom of being able to explore the museum, mummy didn't enjoy chasing after her quite so much every time i tryed to read something she was off into the next room so the museum was done at toddler speed.

but she was a little scarred when we came to the stuffed animal bit and i have to admit im not a fan of stuffed animals either there's something a bit morbid about it especially the squirrel that some child had pulled the ears off and the museum had put a little bandage round its head :(

This is the tree where the earless squirrel lived :)

Daisy looking at a little Adder from the safety of a perspex bubble.

The Spitfire room was brilliant and Ben loved seeing a aeroplane close up.

After the Museum we went for a picnic in the park.

busy munching .

Daisy kept running off banana in one hand sandwich in the other :)

Ben with his new hawian print hat which he picked out himself.

baby ducks the first we have seen this year .