Monthly Archives: April 2010

Writing Workshop – Untill the next night

 in pain / Wednesday writing workshop / worry by

I am anxious, trying not to think about what might be wrong I am trying hard to banish any worrying thoughts from my mind To compartmentalise my health worries Separating them from our everyday life But I am tired, oh so tired, exhausted beyond belief Trying hard to keep up with my boys which I do manage most day’s But my nights suffer for it The thoughts they run free in the dark No longer masked by the bright sunshine of the day They invade my sleeping hours Leaving me no where to hide So how do I verbalise my worries? Will talking about them make them feel more real? I […]

The Gallery – Portraits

 in blamance / boys / receipe / The Gallery / The minimads by

This weeks prompt over at Sticky Fingers for The Gallery was Portraits, how apt seen as I received these from school this week. They don’t get much more adorable than this, do they? I am so lucky to have two such wonderful children, so some special things about my boys. I love nothing more than my morning snuggles with Mini, he often comes and joins us at some point during the night and we love it, we are cherishing the fact that he wants to be close to both me and MadDad.;;;;;I I love the fact that tucking Maxi in to bed is always such a treat, he is usually asleep before […]

A weekend spent in the Garden

 in garden / grow your own / sunflower club / veg by

I said that I had grand plans for the garden this weekend, well the weather was mostly kind and we did manage to get quite a lot done Onions have been planted out, 2 varieties, Red Barron and Bedford Champion.  We have also sown some spring onions (Lisbon) direct in to the bed. Rainbow Chard has been transplanted in to the bed too, alongside side Chinese Broccoli, which is a new vegetable for us. We have also direct sown the runner beans, peas and dwarf beans in to another bed. The potatoes have been planted in to our two barrels. Our Sunflowers have been transplanted too, the boys are so excited […]

Come over and take a look at TheMadHouse Makes – Blatant Self Publicity!

 in folksy / handmade; homemade; crafts / sewing / shop / thamadhouse makes by

As you know I love to craft and make things, whether that be with the boys or for the boys.  They have certainly brought out the creative side of me. So in order to help fund my fabric addiction and also to try and bring in some extra money (which we sorely need –  £82 for 2 pairs of school shoes!), I have decided to start selling some things that I make. Now I have no idea what will sell, so I am dipping my toe in the water, but I would also like to say that I can make to order should anyone wish. So please take a look and […]

Spiritual Sunday – Grateful

 in grateful / spiritual / Sunday by

This morning is such a contrast to yesterday morning.  Yesterday the sun was beaming in the windows, we had the doors all wide open and spent the day in the garden, but this morning it is grey, dull and RAINING, but in some ways this only makes me feel so grateful that we made the most of yesterday and really enjoyed it. So some other things I am grateful for this Sunday. The Rain… yes the rain.  We planted some vegetables and seeds yesterday and this rain is doing a pretty good job of watering in the raised beds. Warm porridge with maple syrup, our breakfast of choice at the moment. […]

Dear So and So – The Hospital Version

 in Dear so and so / hospital by

Dear Bolshy Horrible Young Woman in Hospital What goes around comes around and it is no wonder that the nursing staff and consultant treated you in the way they did.  Your language was appalling, you were forever off having a cigarette and missed rounds twice, you answered your phone in front of the Consultant.  Courtesy and politeness cost nothing, even if you are in pain.  You are young, you will learn. A very Angry Mad ——————– Dear Nursing Staff Thank you very much for the superb treatment I received this week, I know that you are understaffed and underpaid, but you really did make things much easier for me.  You work […]

Raffle in Aid of Cancer Research

 in blogs / breast cancer / charity / friends / raffle / secret ability by

My wonderful talented and very clever friend Abi from Bub’s Bears and Mutterings from the moor decided to start a raffle for one of her fantastic bears in aid of Cancer Research The response has been overwhelming and she is well on her way to reaching her target of £200, but offers of more prizes have been flooding in, so below is a selection of what else you could win.   Prudence the chicken made by Claire A Book of weird and wonderful short stories by Abi’s husband A Tea Cosy from Kelly Beautiful handmade cards from Al  A stunning cushion by Amber An amazing reversible adults apron from Julie   […]

Been In Hospital

 in anemia / hospital by

I have been in hospital a couple of nights and had to have a number of blood transfusions due to serve anemia.  I have also had a B12 injection as I am lacking in that too. I have also undergone a number of tests, scans and x-rays, but the doctors have not yet ascertained why I have this anemia, but I am coming home and we are going to continue investigations as an outpatient.  I am starting to look a lot better and actually have some colour, although I do feel a bit like a vampire the amount of blood I have seen over the last couple of days. Thankfully It […]

Childrens Craft Showcase – Volcano’s 1

 in childrens craft / childrens craft showcase / craft / volcano by

I dont know about your children, but my two are now obsessed with volannco’s thanks to the icelandic one. We caught them making thier own volancic ash cloud with dust and mud from the pavement and then water on Friday evening and decided that we would have a go a making our own active volcano. Materials Bicarbinate of soda Vinigar Bottles Hot water Food colouring Funnel Salt dough is optional, mine wanted their bottles to look like mountains! Method Fill the bottles 2 thirds full with hot water and add a drop of washing up liquid and food colouring (to make your lava authentic!).  Add two table spoons of bicard to […]

Looking Back – The toddler years

 in innocence / maximad / minimad / toddlers by

As my boys are growing up, we seem to be having less of those incidents that make you want to scream, you know the ones….  where everything goes quiet and they are up to something.  I have had quite a few of them. Permanent Pen Maxi once drew on everything with a black pen that you used on paper to make a road for a car to follow, no where on the box did it say the pen was permanent, but oh my it was, he was 20 months old and nearly didn’t live to see his next birthday.  The sofa, the walls, the doors, the TV, in fact most things […]

I will come back to haunt you – Writing Workshop

 in breast cancer / hospital / mastectomy / sepsis / Wednesday writing workshop by

I was hot, yes I know I was in a hospital and they are always hot, but normally the dressings clinic is OK.  Yes the window is open, but I know that I am a little off, just not right, I can not put my finger in it and it is about to get worse. The nurse has returned with all the things she needs to remove these stitches and I will be so glad to see them go.  No blue thread making  my chest look like a zip, no more pulling and pressure as the skin tightens around them.  I am so happy to see them go, the boys less […]

The Gallery – Joy

 in joy / mini mads / The Gallery by

Joy, I have been brought lots of joy in to my life, MadDad especially brings me more than I can ever express, but sometimes it is so hard to capture that Joy in an image. That first day when we brought Maxi home after the hardship of getting him – Pure exhausted joy of my wonderful husbands face. Their first bath – I went from having a baby to a baby and a toddler and MadDad made sure he was home to do all the bath-times! The overwhelming joy of being a family of four. That is joy on Maxi’s face, pure joy at receiving a Star Wars Clone Wars Blaster […]

A bit of Making

 in handmade; homemade; crafts / homemade; crafts / sewing / Spring by

I am starting to get my creative mojo back after a nasty bout of Flu and Vertigo and it feels good.  No it actually feels great. Inspired by the signs of new shoots and Spring outside my front door I have made new cushion covers for both the sitting room and the conservatory/playroom. Simple envelope style, in the sitting room from some seconds Laura Ashley picked up last year. Something a little more funcky in the conservatiry, Pop Garden By Heather Baily. I have also been making birthday presents for Maxi’s friends.  Simple personalised purses filled with wooden beads. Sugar cubes, inspired by ……  I can not find the post, so […]

More Spring Cards and Crafts for Children

 in art / childrens craft / childrens craft showcase / Easter / Easter Crafts by

  The boys have been busy making again, the above one is made by stamping with half a potato and mini made this all by him. This one is Maxi’s, his writing is getting to be excellant and he did the spelling all by himself. Maxi did the cutting out on this one and it has become a classic in this house! This is Maxi’s Easter Bunny Basket. This was maxi’s Easter Bunny Egg, which he made all by himself at school.  He didnt win the competation, but them some of the eggs were pretty perfect a nd I am sure the parents had more of a hand in them than […]

When the Sun comes out to play, so do we

 in days out / Easter / family / garden by

It is so much more fun when the sun is shining and we have been making the most of the last few days of MadDad being on Annual Leave, before I have the boys to myself for the last week of the holidays next week. Vanilla Scones from The Pioneer Woman – Yum Chocolate cakes – never fail to be eaten I tried this, not very successfully, but had a great day out. The boys went to Locomotion at Shildon, which is part of the National Railway Museum They had a brill time and are already asking to go back. We all enjoyed the sunshine in Saltburn yesterday (after football practice), […]

Jury Service

 in Dilema / family / Jury Service by

I have been issued a summons for Jury Service at the beginning of June.  I do not fall into any of the categories that are able to decline or are ineligible for attendance, but I just don’t know how to fit it in with our family commitments. I know that sounds such a terrible thing to say, but MadDad works and leaves at 6.30am and doesn’t get back in to 5.45pm.  I drop Maxi at school at 8.30am and then I look after Mini and my mum till 12.30pm when I take mini to preschool. I collect both the boys from preschool and school at 2.50pm and 3pm respectively, keep them […]

Colour Swap

 in blog swap / Colour Swap / handmade; homemade; crafts / sewing by

I also took part in Dolly Dollops colour swap this month too.  I was paired with Vicki, from Vintage Vicki My colours were pink and green and you can see that Vicky has had a good look at the blog nad realised I am a lover of Hot Pink! What a fantastic parcel indeed, I received some felted soap, which is mine all mine and a bar of chocolate, which I polished off on my own too! Look at this fantastic bunting, isn’t it just brilliant. I have popped it up in the kitchen and I have to say I love it, thank you Vicki. But there was more! Vicki made […]

Farndale and the Daffodils

 in dafodils / Easter / Farndale / Lambs / North Yorkshire Moors / Spring by

Daffodils (1804) I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the Milky Way, They stretch’d in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed — and gazed — but little thought […]

The joy of receiving and a great big thank you

 in gifts / giving and recicing / link love / swaps by

Me and the MiniMads have been blessed this last couple of weeks by the kindness and creativity of bloggers. Firtly we were lucky enough to win a copy of a children’s book that Cystal Jigsaw wrote herself. The mini’s and I are treasuring reading a little of this each evening and are trying to make it last. Did I tell you she wrote it herself! The wonderful Sandy of Baby Baby, who I often think is me in disguise sent me some chocolate sustenance and some buttons for the boys (who open the package and ran off with them before I could take a piccie) and some fabric she has been […]

Egg Hunts, Child labor, Bonnets and Boogieing

 in childrens craft / dancing / Easter / Narional Trust / social club by

Ormsby Hall, a place I have visited in my youth, but not since, but we took the boys on an Easter egg hunt there, which was fantastic. They had to find all the clues in the Hall gardens. Mini and Maxi had so much fun and I got very muddy in the process, but it was a fun hour on what was a dreary Easter Monday. Ormesby Hall is a National Trust Property and we have annual membership, so it costs us nothing to get in and this year the boys are getting to the stage where they can enjoy the activity packs in each room, which is only 50p for the […]