With the room decorated now we've been able to take a step back, Tem's had chance to catch his breath, and decorate for Christmas. Along with the hanging decorations & tinsel from previous years, I found a lovely star for the top of the tree at the local charity shop & we have a lovely Robin in a snowy window which my Grandma sent for Meira last year. I also got my sewing machine out today and made a draft excluder for the dining/kitchen door. A simple enough thing to make but a good achievement for me as I've not sewed more than a button for quite a while.
A place where I can keep family and friends updated on what we are up to.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
It's begining to feel like Christmas
With the room decorated now we've been able to take a step back, Tem's had chance to catch his breath, and decorate for Christmas. Along with the hanging decorations & tinsel from previous years, I found a lovely star for the top of the tree at the local charity shop & we have a lovely Robin in a snowy window which my Grandma sent for Meira last year. I also got my sewing machine out today and made a draft excluder for the dining/kitchen door. A simple enough thing to make but a good achievement for me as I've not sewed more than a button for quite a while.
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Friday, 2 December 2011
Decorating & days out
Well its been a little while since I posted so I'll try & remember all the little things we've been up to. Firstly the decorating has leapt forwards, the walls are plastered & sanders, the ceiling is papered & painted, the coving is just awaiting another coat or two of paint, the woodwork (bar the wall with the radiator) is sanded, sugarsoaped and rinsed. So this weekend we're hoping to finish the woodwork, cleaning & painting, finish the coving, and get the lining paper on the walls.
M & I had a lovely day out with Uncle Tom & Daisy Dog in the week, we went to a local canal where we spent 3 hours walking, eating lunch, getting muddy and spotting ducks & canal boats, it was such good fun.
M & I had a lovely day out with Uncle Tom & Daisy Dog in the week, we went to a local canal where we spent 3 hours walking, eating lunch, getting muddy and spotting ducks & canal boats, it was such good fun.
Saturday, 26 November 2011
TTBS November Moodboard
A bracelet I made after following this blog, though the page link is not for the November Moodboard you can find the link on the lower left of their page http://tacklethatbeadstash.blogspot.com/2011/11/stashbusting-beadalong-progress-week-6.html
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Christmas Lights
We havn't had such a great week as Meira has not been very well, first it was teething but then she picked up a heavy cold and this lasted for about 10 days. Then on Friday night she developed an rash as a reaction to something, it appeared on and off till end of Sunday though it didn't bother her.
Over the weekend Tem was able to get the chimney breast in the dining room plastered, after a fiasco with the first bag setting before he even got a few trowls on the wall, and the coving chalked in though that he had to do by hand as the nozzle broke!
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
A two week catch up
We brought the Dolls house down from Meiras bedroom as she has really started to play with it, carrying our little role plays like knocking on the doors and shopping for food and going to bed, it is lovely to watch.
and still on the house theme this is our bargain mirror (£30!) which looks lovely hanging on the previously blank wall in our living room.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Last week was half term here which meant that a few of the groups we normally go to weren't on so we had a couple more play dates and walks around the town. Meira went to Tem's Mum's on Thursday to celebrate Diwali and had a fantastic time meeting new people and wearing beautiful clothes which in her own words made her look like 'Princess Meira'. I should have some photos soon so I'll add them when I get them.
On Saturday we had a visit from Lynn and her Dad, Pat. Lynn brought Meira a box full of books, the photo here of Meira reading was about a third of the books. There are some lovely titles here which I remember reading as a child.
On Sunday Meira and I made Pumpkin soup, yum. Earlier in the week I bought a pumpkin and used half to make a sausage and pumpkin casserole which Meira enjoyed, turns out she's not keen on soup. Last night I turned the remaining soup into a lamb curry and after some patience and cunning from Tem she emptied her bowl. It's becoming hard to tell now when she's playing up for a reason or just because she can!
I had time to do some jewellery making at the end of last week, though Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday she didn't nap so as she drops her naps I'll have less time to play. But I do have a new medium to play with, Resin. I have seen some lovely clear bangles with items and pictures imbedded into them and after some research I found it is something I could have a go with at home. Do I orders a small amount of resin and a mold and I made a bangle with clear resin and red glitter. It worked really well for a 1st try, and even better as a lesson. I learnt that your drying surface needs to not only look flat but to actually be flat, I learnt that the type of mold I used doesn't give you shiny sides (which I wanted) and that if you file a rough edge with glitter in it you get an even rougher edge where the glitter comes away. I have ordered a second mold made from silicone which should ensure I get a shine to my finished surface, it is also a different shaped bangle so I'll have two to play with.
Aside from the resin I had time to make a few jewelled presents for Christmas and a couple of birthdays happening before then, and a few other pieces, which I've put photos of here, which are as yet not for anyone in particular. It will be 2-3 weeks before my new resin mold is delivered so I'm working on different wire wrapping techniques, as shown in the white earrings here, and I have some non tarnish copper wire now which I can practice with more cheaply than with the silver plated and it really sets of some of the beads I have which were loosing some of their beauty by being next to the silver colour.
On Saturday we had a visit from Lynn and her Dad, Pat. Lynn brought Meira a box full of books, the photo here of Meira reading was about a third of the books. There are some lovely titles here which I remember reading as a child.
On Sunday Meira and I made Pumpkin soup, yum. Earlier in the week I bought a pumpkin and used half to make a sausage and pumpkin casserole which Meira enjoyed, turns out she's not keen on soup. Last night I turned the remaining soup into a lamb curry and after some patience and cunning from Tem she emptied her bowl. It's becoming hard to tell now when she's playing up for a reason or just because she can!
I had time to do some jewellery making at the end of last week, though Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday she didn't nap so as she drops her naps I'll have less time to play. But I do have a new medium to play with, Resin. I have seen some lovely clear bangles with items and pictures imbedded into them and after some research I found it is something I could have a go with at home. Do I orders a small amount of resin and a mold and I made a bangle with clear resin and red glitter. It worked really well for a 1st try, and even better as a lesson. I learnt that your drying surface needs to not only look flat but to actually be flat, I learnt that the type of mold I used doesn't give you shiny sides (which I wanted) and that if you file a rough edge with glitter in it you get an even rougher edge where the glitter comes away. I have ordered a second mold made from silicone which should ensure I get a shine to my finished surface, it is also a different shaped bangle so I'll have two to play with.

Wednesday, 26 October 2011
More weekend fun
Tem thinks Meira has got my organising trait, I was sorting out some of the odds and ends which come out of his work pockets, screws, drill bits, wall plugs etc., into some organiser boxes and Meira was helping. Infact the boxes you can see her playing with in the photo she emptied and then rearranged putting them all back in, mostly keeping different colours together. The second photo is Meiras footprint, we made some more play-dough at the end of last week, it was just self-raising flour and water mixed together and Meira loved helping to mix it, we mainly cut out geometric shapes, followed by moulding apples, pears and sausages, all at Meiras request. She makes a good pear and sausage shape.
I also did a bit more knitting so my scarf is getting longer, its now 16" or 41cm depending on how you measure. And I set up a Facebook group called Made by Zoe (http://www.facebook.com/groups/239906382734600/) so I can show my Facebook friends what projects I'm working on and what I've made, like some of the jewellery I have put onto here, though I probably should show some more on here I'm being cautious not to put on any made for Christmas presents. I have put a photograph of a mini beaded Christmas wreath I made using a 'How to' leaflet I got from Beads Direct in my last bead order. I'm really pleased with it, it does need some ribbon to hang it from but it was a great project to use up some plastic beads I had laying around.
I also did a bit more knitting so my scarf is getting longer, its now 16" or 41cm depending on how you measure. And I set up a Facebook group called Made by Zoe (http://www.facebook.com/groups/239906382734600/) so I can show my Facebook friends what projects I'm working on and what I've made, like some of the jewellery I have put onto here, though I probably should show some more on here I'm being cautious not to put on any made for Christmas presents. I have put a photograph of a mini beaded Christmas wreath I made using a 'How to' leaflet I got from Beads Direct in my last bead order. I'm really pleased with it, it does need some ribbon to hang it from but it was a great project to use up some plastic beads I had laying around.

Baking with Meira
On Sunday Becky came over and we made some cupcakes with Meira, it was very messy and great fun! In the first photo you can see Becky pouring flour into a bowl so Meira could spoon it into the bowl on top of the scales, it took a while to get to the right amount but it was good to see Meira doing it herself, with a little help. She loved the mixing part, and when it came to pouring the mixture into the moulds (putting it into a jug and pouring worked best with Meira helping) she pointed to where it need to go. Her favourite part though seemed to be the tasting, both of the mixture from the bowl and of the flour, sugar, and cocoa powder on the table.
Monday, 17 October 2011
A bead week
Oh yes, and this is what happens when you give a toddler a box of plastic beads to play with ('Oooo, pretty Mummy'), they don't stay in the box for very long. You'd think I'd have this sussed by now wouldn't you?!
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Messy play
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Fun with stickers
Meira loves stickers, although she's not too pleased that they loose their stick and mostly don't come off from paper again. We haven't got any at home so today Meira and I made some using some plain white labels and colouring pencils. She stuck them to a picture we drew, to herself, to me and onto her cup. We then used then to attach wool as hair to a picture of a princess and it gave me an idea. So I made a spider and a bird and attached them both to a length of wool so the could fly. I had fun with this, Meira was more interested in taking the wool off from them then using a sticker to re-attach it. We've had a very fun morning.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Fun in the Garden
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