A simple Thank You and other stories...

We've been fed by friends a lot recently so I've been sending a few of these cards. Still loving my rubber stamps.

This weekend we're returning the favour; and looking at the weather (hot & sunny) I might be forced to invest in a BBQ for the first time in my life, and harvest some of our lovely looking lettuce (call me Felicity Kendall).

Just hope a bit of sun shines on Glastonbury too, although from the pictures I've seen so far it looks like the damage is done. I randomly found my pass from Glastonbury 2005 yesterday, as I tweeted, I really do keep EVERYTHING. For me that year is summed up so well by this great video.

Watched it? Well, as that MEGA rain fell I was cosy in my tent, on high ground, phew... and whoever it was holding Kylie on a stick, they spent the WHOLE weekend right at the front of the pyramid stage.
Ah mud memories.

2005 - f**k the mud and have fun
2011 - digging up lettuces and mother of two
hmmmm.

Being 26

This blog has been a bit sparse on things I've actually made recently. So I've had a bit of a dig around in the archives and I'm indulging in some reminiscing on this rainy day here in London.

Many moons ago, (seriously MANY moons), when I was 26, so nearly 10 years ago in fact, I made a book about BEING 26 and I thought I'd share a few sample pages from this very exclusive publication! It was really a book that wanted to be a blog in a way. A journal/log/fake magazine of all the things I got up to when I was 26.... so here goes.



The contents page... can't quite believe how many holidays I went on!



One of my favourite pages. I do love info-graphics! A Venn diagram of all my friends.
It's nice to look back at; and sad in some ways as it reminds me of the people who've fallen along the wayside... but there are lots of new people I could add to this now. Plus the little unattached circle would now be attached as bizarrely a guy I met when I was 14 ended up at the RCA with one of my friends from college. So it all hooks together nicely!



I'm a really hoarder; so this just showed lots of the ephemera I had hanging around at the time. I can never through away gig/exhibition/show tickets...
I have a vague memory of flicking through old FACE magazines (showing my age again) for spread inspiration and copying the lines with dots and boxes from something... (the book was only for me afterall)!



Wow - some of the stuff here is still on my to-do list.
The concertina book is a timeline of my Granny's life with world events set against her own photos... it's still not finished.
The Architecture book is similarly incomplete.
I have good intentions though.





A couple of pages about my favourite haunts and hang-outs in London town... a few places have disappeared (RIP The Spitz, SHOP, Souvenir) Many I wouldn't know if they still exist or not, my map is different now I guess, but there are lots that remain on the Top 10 (ST John!)



It got to a point with this book that I had to just finish it; which I did eventually, when I was nearly 28. As a compromise I just added this page with a few of the other ideas that I'd wanted to include... Looking at it now I don't know what took quite so long (hmm, oh yes, Quark. Urgh).

The picture is of me in my flat of 5 years on Kingsland Road. Such a great flat. Sunlight poured in all day. Wouldn't be such a lovely place to live now as it has the new East London line running right next to it... although of course now I live with the District line at the end of my garden.

So Yes, 2001/2002 - Holidayed, listened to 2 Many DJs and DJ Shadow, went to see Legally Blond at the cinema (made Hugh go too) and got my first pair of skinny jeans from a dodgy guy selling knock-off Diesel on Hoxton Market, and I didn't even own a digital camera.

It's over 60 pages long so I might share more later. Right now I'm just enjoying reminiscing... what were you doing 10 years ago?

To all you 26 year olds out there, (you know who you are!) make a book, you'll love it when you're 35.

Time flies when you're sleep deprived

Yep, I've started another project...



We're only the third month in to this photo project (started a bit late) and already Henry almost got his five-month shot taken in his gro-bag (baby sleeping bag to those not in-the-know).
Hugh was just about to put him down to sleep when I suddenly remembered we hadn't taken his picture and hollered upstairs like a fish wife for him to bring Henry back down for his photo shoot!



He ended up in the same top as his four month shot, looks like stripes are going to be a theme.

Inspiration for this was found here on the lovely Famille Summerbelle blog. Glad to see they didn't start until month three either!

7 things from 7 days

The second installment of this somewhat ad-hoc series!


1. Half term included a trip to a theme park. This is seriously out of character for us... and was a sort of hellish fun. Probably won't be repeated for a long time. We taught Coco to throw her arms in the air on thrill-seeking rides though.*

2. Sleep is still a hot topic in our house; I've been ignoring my blog a bit in the last few weeks in preference of rest, it's become essential to prioritise early nights to ensure sanity...

3. Acquired some new storage from Kempton Market. A much cheaper version of the cupboard I was lusting after at Clifton Nursery! And it means we've been able to unpack some of our 'fine' china (after TWO years; can't quite believe we still have boxes that we haven't looked in for that long).
Of course the cupboard is destined for a little tweaking...

4. First harvest from our veg patch was consumed.

5. Posting a birthday card to my Mum - Happy Birthday Mum! - Coco is getting quite into making cards. In fact, amazingly, Teddy has a birthday nearly everyday.

6. Stripy supper - a new tactic in the food wars.

7. Finally - what I was hoping would be a great photo-op turned out to be a bit of a wash out! We had a street party for the 'Big Lunch'... was great to meet and socialise with neigbours, but damp bunting just doesn't make a pretty photo. Next time.

*My parents NEVER took us to theme parks.
When I was little I wished that they would.
As a teenager I was quietly curious.
As a childless adult I was quite proud of their doggedness at refusing to give in to whining children.
Then I went on my own, and I TOTALLY understood their position.

I really cannot ever imagine my parents at a theme park... my Dad can't stand a queue in Waitrose, or more than 10 people in an art gallery.
I respect them for not taking us, as it truly would have bought the worst out in the whole family. I'm already constructing a false memory of my Mum getting hot and bothered, my Dad loosing his temper, my brother crying at not being able to go on something, my sister... hmmm actually that just stretches the imagination TOO far...

List Love / List Hate

My life seems to be full of lists at the moment. I can see about six right now from where I'm sitting.
Every time I get a spare minute I write a list of what I need to do. I even have to do lists of lists I need to write.
I do love lists, but I feel this is getting out of control.
Might have to go cold-turkey on the lists.

Stripe Mania Multi-tasking

Holly at Decor8 and her friend Igor are doing a bloggers-wear-stripes thing... you can read about it here, but basically it's about bloggers wearing stripes.



I'm not normally very good at joining in things like this, but as I was hanging out the washing earlier (oh the glamour) I suddenly realised how many stripy things were on the line...
So I did a quick change and got Hugh to take a photo.

My little helper changed too... no convincing from me needed. This is her favourite dress at the moment, way too small and way too hot for the weather, but she is developing a mind of her own. Her outfits are getting a little crazy. I need to make her a badge saying 'I dressed myself' or otherwise people are going to start wondering if I'm participating in some weird sort of child-fashion-abuse.



Two recent outings of the favourite dress... layered with spotty leggings and her nursery t-shirt for a quick bike ride and striped up to the max with tights. I have started sharing her more bizarre ensembles on instagram/twitter (have to amuse myself somehow)!

Yes she does literally help me hang up the washing, but for some obscure reason will only use GREEN pegs. What is wrong with this child? I've got a feeling a doctor wouldn't be able to answer this question.