I usually hate all these clichés about how quickly time passes, especially as a mother of kids who really aren’t that young anymore but five years have passed since Bob kissed me for the first time and two years have flown in since we got married.

I can’t believe it. We’ve been joking about it this morning but in all seriousness it barely feels like a month has passed since we first started seeing each other and it’s five years later. It’s funny because I don’t think I really believed in “the one” until Bob came over one night and never left, we’re that sickening couple who are constantly being cutesy with one another and I am proud that I spend every single day of my life with my best friend.

So here’s to the next year and all the others that come after. I love you, honey. Thank you for being my husband.

Posted under family

My lovely friend Anna posted a link to this story today about a throwaway comment made by Sharon Stone about Meryl Streep and the relevance to modern women. I have to say that I’m really not one to pigeonhole myself into a label, indeed on first glance I thought, “Hmm, I’m half and half” but actually in reality I have to admit that I recognised a lot of myself in the description of the unmade bed stereotype.

According to the definition in the Times, the only boxes I didn’t check were: drinks red wine (I think red wine is vile. Actually, I think all wine is vile but I’m trying to train myself to drink white) and carries a large handbag (I don’t. I actually still lug around a massive backpack like the eternal student I crave to be). You wouldn’t believe it to look at me, but I’m pretty clued up on current fashions and styles yet I spend the vast majority of my life looking like I’ve just rolled out of bed – and not in that sexy, tousled Eliza Dushku way. More like a yeti. I do occasionally impulsively do my hair, sometimes I even put makeup on but that behaviour tends to be reserved for special occasions like Christmas.

So what about you? Are you an unmade bed or a pristine pillow?

Posted under Uncategorized

Just a quick post from me today!

As a Mum of sons I do feel frustrated at times because all of the super-awesome crafting and sewing projects seem to be directed at girls or little boys, so I’m excited to see what will come out of this idea of “Celebrate the boy” month, run by Dana and Rae. They’ve set up a Flickr group for inspiration and showing off your spoils too.

Let me know if you join in!

Posted under recommendations

Last week it was my Dad’s birthday and since we’re on this “saving money” bent AND my Dad is the most difficult person in the world to buy for, I decided that I’d make something for him. But what to make? My Dad isn’t really into dolls, works on a building site so knitted goods would be nice but impractical, isn’t really a big cake fan and doesn’t watch much TV. ARGH!

In the end I decided to go with something I remember my Dad liking as a wee treat – the quintessential Scottish treat known as the Macaroon bar. Now, don’t mistake the Macaroon bar for a Macaron – these are polar opposites in the confection world. The Scottish macaroon bar is overwhelmingly sweet, traditionally made from mashed potato (seriously!) and coated in chocolate and toasted coconut. I’d been given a copy of the Maw Broon’s Cookbook for Christmas last year and it has a recipe for Macaroon bars inside. Bonanza! Or so I thought…

Unfortunately the recipe is extremely unspecific, calling for ‘medium-sized potatoes’. I mean, that in itself should have been a warning sign. How do you define a ‘medium-sized potato’?! Anyway, clearly my spuds were too big because despite using almost TRIPLE the amount of icing sugar called for in the recipe my mixture never turned into a dough. Ah well. Instead, we popped into Glickmans which is a fabulous wee shop. It’s the oldest sweetie shop in Glasgow and can be found just down from the Barras on the London Road side. The lovely lady behind the counter suggested that I try their technique which is to use a fondant centre instead of the traditional mashed potato so I shall give that a try next time. Luckily they supplied me with a box of Dad’s favourite chelsea whoppers and a macaroon bar that worked!

So tell me about your crafting or culinary failures! What have you tried that has been a dire mistake?

Posted under baking, cooking

Poor Greer. Since she started nursery one day a week prior to Christmas, her little body has been bombarded with germs – moreso than it already was with two brothers and a sister at school & nursery – and this weekend she’s succumbed to a horrible cough and cold which meant she had to miss her weekly Waterbabies class today.

Luckily, she has Mummy & Daddy, a snuggly quilt made by Auntie Kat and a lovely warm sweater made by Auntie Pad to keep her going.

I wish I had her energy! When I was sick, I could barely get out of bed but Greer’s ploughed on quite happily – as do the other children when they’re sick. Maybe it’s a case of different priorities?

Anyhoo. I shall be back later in the week to blog my utter failure with macaroon bars and hopefully a success story too!

Posted under family

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all well and happy this fabulous Friday. Isn’t it a glorious day? I may or may not have had a little too much sugar this morning. Combine that with GREAT! EXCITEMENT! as Bob & I are getting a night off parenting tonight and perhaps you could forgive the gratuitous use of exclamation marks. Bob’s wonderful parents have volunteered to take the three youngest tonight while Findlay goes to his Dad’s, so we’re actually going to spend some time together that doesn’t involve housework. What a novel idea! Have you got anything fun planned for the weekend?

So – the title of my blog post today is artistically challenged because I really am. It’s not even funny, I am the most cack-handed wannabe artist that I know. I wanted to do art for Standard Grade – which is the Scottish equivalent to GCSE – and the art teacher pretty much laughed me out of the room. I can’t draw to save myself, I don’t have the techniques for painting but I am so keen! I’ve been trying to create faces for the little dolls I’ve been making and I just can’t seem to do it.

These are the new dolls – four girls and a boy (I’m going to put together a tutorial for the boy doll at some point soon, promise!). They’ve been sewn up and finished for almost a week and are sitting on my sewing chair just waiting for their faces. As a reminder, this is the dolly I’d made for Elise:

And I wasn’t thrilled by the face. I ended up repainting the eyes more than once because I felt they just weren’t quite what I’d expected. It sounds like such a simple thing doesn’t it, to draw an eye? But I’m a big believer in the power and mystique of eyes, and I want these dollies to be loved and cherished so it’s important to me that the eyes are enchanting, beautiful and not at all frightening. So I shall plough on with drawing eyes until I think I’ve found an eye that works. Wish me luck!

Posted under for the kids, sewing

This week my access to free healthcare, adequate medication and clean water saved my life.
This week, a natural disaster has removed access to the most vital supplies for an entire nation.

The Disasters Emergency Committee collects donations and distributes them to the agencies on the frontline. This is a list of the member agencies. £10 will barely buy you a cafe lunch, but it will save lives in Haiti. Looking at the photographs that have been splashed across the media & the internet my primary reaction is guilt that I can’t be there to provide physical help for the undeniable horror that an entire nation is feeling, but we can spare a few quid.

Please, give what you can to help Haiti.

Posted under Uncategorized

First of all I should preface this in bold capital letters: DO NOT WORRY, I AM HOME AND BEING WELL LOOKED AFTER. Which means that when I tell you I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance last night you won’t fret about me, right?

I’ve written and deleted this a few times because I don’t really know how to explain it without it being really scary! So brevity is the way forward. Last night I collapsed unable to breathe and was rushed up to hospital by ambulance and my aforementioned ear & throat infection turned out to be a raging case of bacterial tonsillitis. I am now taking enough medication to floor your average-sized elephant and the Doctor reckons it’ll be a good week before I’m back to full strength. Tonsillitis! I can’t believe it, I thought it was a bit of a sore throat you know? This is unbelievable.

Of course, this has hit me right when I have reams of deadlines to meet and crafting that I want to do. I have a stack of half-finished projects waiting for me and I just don’t have the energy to deal with any of it. Ah well. I’ve been well warned that I need to rest up to let this clear so I’m going to spend the next few days doing very little and enjoying having Bob pamper me.

Thanks for all the lovely comments in my last post and on twitter – you’re a bunch of superstars!

Posted under me

This is pretty much how I have spent the last 48 hours, and how I expect to spend most of tomorrow.

I’ve been hammered with an ear and throat infection with a wicked fever to boot, poor Bob has been my nursemaid and has looked after me ever so well. It’s still sore to swallow but I’m hoping that by tomorrow I’ll have refound my energy. I am the world’s worst sick person, poor Bob.

The lovely quilt was a wedding present from Bob’s Aunt Jill, who is one of the most awesome and inspirational women I have ever met. Perhaps I should tell you about her one day

Posted under me

Having read this on Friday, I asked Bob to make some bird food to hang up in our garden. Passing birds already have a pick at any food the hens leave but with the snow still covering the ground their supplies of worms, insects and vegetation are vastly reduced. Bob and Nairn made these in a matter of minutes and had a bit of fun doing it too.

Findlay spent half an hour on Tuesday cracking open the massive bag of monkey nuts that always seems to go uneaten after Hallowe’en and these were crushed in the food processor and added to some of the quail feed and layers pellets that we have lying around. Finally Bob melted some fat and added into the mixture, shaping three reasonably large balls with a length of wool through them so they could be hung up. Once they’d cooled and the fat had solidified, Bob hung them on our washing line where they’ll hopefully tide over a few birds until the snow goes away.

We were lucky enough to have bird seed on hand, but the advice in that article is to put out leftovers like grated cheese, porridge oats, soft fruit, unsalted bacon, cooked rice or pasta and the insides of cooked potatoes. If you’re feeling especially generous, it’s suggested that you could put out mealworms, fatballs, crushed peanuts, dried fruit & seeds and grain. All of these things will bring a host of little birds into your garden as well as assuring their chances of survival are just that little bit higher while the weather is so dreadful.

Posted under with the kids