Growing Pains - The "Mummy Needs a Nap" Edition

Oh the sick, evil, twisted irony of growing pains, I remember them well! The irony being that I always was and still to this day am a short arse and now my poor wee girl is suffering with them too. She's as much of a short arse petite as I was and yet I remember those pains being absolute agony and Chloe doesn't seem willing to let them pass as "mildly uncomfortable" either.

For anyone lucky enough to be unfamiliar with growing pains, they're a pain sometimes cramp like in nature which occurs in the muscles of the legs and arms, usually in the evening or at night when the child is tired and probably already a bit grumpy, they can occur earlier in the day but often because of a fairly fast paced or "on the go" sort of day with lots going on and tons of places to be.

In short they cause almost no problems during the day leaving kids to run and skip and hop and jump and play all day long and crumple in "agony" almost at the very mention of bedtime resulting in most parents (my own mum and even with 20/20 hindsight me included) thinking their kids are faking or laying it on a bit thick.

It's been going on for about ten days now with it either keeping Chloe awake until almost midnight or she's fallen asleep a bit earlier than normal only to be woken out of a sleep in pain for a couple of hours at half past daft o'clock. She's not been at her most reasonable for the past couple of weeks, neither have I for that matter.

I'm actually dreading the next couple of days, tomorrow her class is walking to the library in town in the morning then on Wednesday and Thursday night Chloe's in her class play. She'll need to go back to school at 7.00pm both nights, the play begins at 7.30pm and then she can go home at 8.00pm, so that's two fairly busy days considering that 8.00pm is already a good half hour past Chloe's usual bed time routine. I know she's six now and most kids stay up a bit later than that, but I've said before that this is her bedtime routine and we don't mess with it. She knows when she wants her shower and jammies and to curl up for the night. She just never has been a night owl, the kid loves her bed. I just know both nights are going to end in tears by the time we get her home and ready for bed the pains will have kicked in and it'll be a rough night for all involved. Thursday will definitely be worse than tomorrow.

And speaking of her being six now, the whole lack of sleep thing meant that the poor child's birthday passed as something of a non event. She did go to soft play hell with a few friends in the afternoon but she just couldn't seem to be bothered with the whole thing and didn't want to go running around with her friends. I'm fairly certain it's the lack of sleep catching up with her, we're just hoping now to cruise into the weekend and she can go to the cinema with a friend on Saturday and have cake and popcorn.

I just hope these growing pains realise Chloe isn't destined to be some great six footer and clear off sometime soon because there just isn't enough caffeine in the world:)

Totally Bazaar

Unless you've been nestled under a rock for the past few months you might have heard me mention Totally Bazaar.


I've been raiding the vintage fabric stash (I can't just keep it all for myself after all) and making like a demon for the past couple of months in preparation for Totally Bazaar and now here we are with just one week to go before the event takes place on 3rd April (that would be Mothers Day in case you've been under a rock inside a box).

Totally Bazaar will be held at the Holiday Inn in Belfast and it's well worth the trip to come and pay all of us a visit.

Admission has been lowered for the event and is only £3 for adults and £1 for under 13s and all ladies attending the event will be entered into the giveaway with a chance to win a gorgeous Mother and Daughter Glamour Hamper. Totally Bazaar opens its doors at 11am so why not come and spend a few hours surrounded by the very best of vintage and handmade and then have a long lunch at the award winning Junction Bar and Restaurant at the Holiday Inn.

As if that isn't reason enough, 50 exhibitors will be showcasing at Totally Bazaar and with bags, accessories, jewellery, clothing, homewares and everything in between there will be something for everyone along with special Mothers Day offers and I'll even be hosting a giveaway myself.

Every purchase from my own stall enters you into my giveaway to win a luxurious handmade lavender pamper hamper containing handmade candles and soaps, lavender sachets, neck pillow, eye mask, lavender filled bath teabags and a wonderfully thick and soft cashmere spa cloth to really pamper yourself.


And the best bit of Totally Bazaar is that while it's in the very heart of Belfast, it's also on a Sunday. Ha, free parking!!

A full list of exhibitors can be found on the Decadence Vintage Clothing website, but for a sneaky peak at some of the handmade goodness on offer, click on the following shops and have a wee nosy.






I'll see you there.

I don't care about the seeds, I'll poop where I like!

I'm so glad to see some signs of Spring in the garden, even if the cat is less than chuffed to have her hunting and pooping grounds hijacked for seed planting.

We've even had a solid few days of nothing but blue skies and sunshine here, it's great being able to do the school run without bundling up in coats and scarves for a change.


We even have some colour to look at in the garden, although it is only a teensy tiny little bit, but the fruit trees are back again. I don't know why but I'm always a bit of a pessimist about these trees every year so I'm even more chuffed to see the trees completely covered in apple and pear buds just waiting to blossom.


And I know it's only parsley but it's one of the brightest greens in the garden and one of the precious few things out there which is ready to eat. The poor thing's been a bit savaged by us lately, but it's nowhere near as bad as the chives which are in two fat bunches and the grand total of 4 inches long. Every time they make a bid for the sky we pounce on them for everything from soups to sandwiches. We're trying to give them a bit of a break, really we are!


And my dogwood isn't just a tangle of pink branches any more, well it is really but there are a couple of little lime green spots in there to break things up.


And finally a little apology. I've not been around an awful lot lately, one thing and another keep cropping up and robbing me of days at a time. I've missed my early morning blog reading, commenting and coffee reading but I'm hopeful that things will start to settle down somewhat in the next week and I'll be back to my usual routine and catching up on what you've all been up to.

Kids, cars and all the rest

Well for starters Chloe's been sick, just a dose of the flu so nothing too serious but it has been a lurgy filled week.

She better now and thankfully back to school in time for her trip to Carrickfergus Castle because her teacher has a good two weeks of lessons planned around that one trip.

The car went in for MOT and failed, our little darling of a car which never fails us and never lets us down is in a bad way. This led to a week of

1. panic
2. phoning around for quotes, including our car guy and all mechanics in the family
3. concluding that we couldn't afford to have it fixed
4. considering whether we could fix it ourselves
5. that would be a no
6. SORN the car
7. apply for a tax refund
8. and relax, because
   
   we're not exactly in any dire and desperate need for a car at the minute and I'll be able to put my hands on something with four wheels for Totally Bazaar next month.
   
   Speaking of which, I'm very nearly ready at the minute, always good to be finished with three weeks to spare. Think of all that lovely time spent panicking that I haven't enough stock or the display looks like guff and all the fiddling and fidgeting and general faffery I'll get done between now and 3rd April:)
   
   I've just the giveaway to put the finishing touches to now. Totally Bazaar is on Mothers Day this year so I'll be giving away free entry with every purchase to win a gorgeous handmade bath and bedtime hamper. As I say, just a few finishing touches and I'll give more details but suffice it to say, it's proper "send the hubs to the cinema with the kids, pop on some music, grab a book, wine and lock the front door so they can't get back in" luxury.
   
   All the cats in my neighbourhood seem to have taken up residence in my garage since we put the cat flap in for our cat.
   
   I'm a bit sick and tired of chasing cats.
   
   Some of these cats really should be on diets, a big ginger one in particular. If I can't get hold of a car for Totally Bazaar, I could probably ride the cat stock and all, it's that big.
   
   We've whittled Chloe's birthday party back somewhat. She originally wanted a big party but after we went to a big party last weekend it quickly became apparent that Chloe prefers smaller groups. She got into it eventually and really enjoyed herself but she probably doesn't want to spend the first 20 minutes of her own party locked to my hip so we're having a smaller do at home with about 10 of them and her teacher's happy to let them all have cake pops on 4th in school so we're all good.
   
   And finally ... I had Chloe's parent teacher meeting on Wednesday (her first day off sick, she can pick her days let me tell you). The good news is that it's all good news. She's really come out of her shell this year and volunteers to speak to the whole class more often than she used to. Her attention can be a bit off at times but her teacher said that's a bit like pointing out that kids like sweets, she's definitely not the only one in the class and she's improved since before Christmas. She's had a dramatic improvement in her reading level, though admittedly she still doesn't enjoy it as much as other subjects but the best news is that she's way ahead, a year or twos lessons ahead in maths. I couldn't have hoped for better news, but we will keep working on the attention span.

Possibilities and Absolutes

I'm possibly going back to work.

I'll possibly need to wind up my little business.

Robert will possibly be a stay at home dad.

He absolutely can't take over my little business.

Chloe will possibly have some adjustment issues.

Then again she possibly won't.

Robert will possibly have some adjustment issues.

Then again he possibly won't.

I absolutely have a lot of thinking to do and decisions to make in the next couple of months.

I'll absolutely put my family first over everything else.

There will possibly be a headache or two.

I'm absolutely not at all sure about much of anything at the minute.

Anything is absolutely possible.

Ah, ah... why am I drippings with goo?

Because you name the adhesive and chances are I've been elbow deep in it at some stage this week!


Gift bags (birdhouses*) for Chloe's garden party/mad hatter's tea party/sugar fuelled kid frenzy themed birthday party on 2 April. Ten down ... 18 to go! Along with a stack of 30 rolled paper lolly pop sticks ready to carry 30 cake pops to school for her actual birthday on 4 April.


Fabric Easter egg pendants for Totally Bazaar on 3 April


Fabric disk pendants for the same shindig.



All in gorgeous vintage cotton prints.


And a new display for the pendants. I had a clear one but somehow managed to snap it in half after my last fair. Not that I'm complaining, it's one of those things that I ordered, received and immediately didn't like but because the only thing inherently wrong with it was that I didn't like it I couldn't justify replacing it. Does anyone else do that? I like this one a lot more than the last, it was black acrylic and black isn't really me either but because I picked this up as destash I felt perfectly happy blitzing it with sandpaper and smothering it in glue.


Don't pay the wrinkles no mind either, honestly it's still damp they'll flatten as it dries.

They will!!

Also on a related note, all manufacturers of Super Glue should be brought up on charges by trading standards. Super Glue is not super, at best it's barely OK, so so even. Henceforth all Super Glue should be referred to as either OK Glue or So So Glue.

*The Birdhouses - I think I originally spotted these on Flickr sometime last year and I've seen them pop up all over the place since then so I don't really know who to credit for the idea. They're fairly simple to knock up, but if you need a tute, Just call me Martha has a lovely one already for you.

Killing dead things

Nine times out of ten if you hear me say that I've been killing dead things all day, what I really mean is that I've been doing all those stupidly annoying little jobs that build up over time, keep me out of my mind busy for an entire day working through them and leave me shattered and worth tuppence, slouched in a chair come 10pm and someone else could scour the house for hours on end and not be able to tell what I'd been up to all day. The things that need to be done and are a nightmare to do but make no visible difference whatsoever. Think renewing car insurance!

Every now and again though, I'm talking about the little jobs that matter to me and only me. At the end of the day I feel completely satisfied knowing they're done but they make no difference whatsoever to anyone else.

Like I finally sat down and recycled all this year's Christmas cards into tags for birthdays and Christmas this year. It might not be much but it makes me happy.



And I finished two more circle skirts and a little dress for Chloe to wear when we're on holiday in June. It's a bit dark and miserable to take photos of the skirts now, but I managed the dress earlier.


Besides a circle skirt is a circle skirt is a circle skirt, if you've seen one ...

And not only that, but the repair basket is only half filled now instead of overflowing! The hubster's work trousers are sorted, I've finally taken up two pairs of my own trousers (they've only been waiting a year or so) and I've let the hems down on Chloe's school trousers too. She's grown 6 feet since the start of the school year (she has, I swear she has judging by the number of hems I've let down since Christmas) and we still really need those trousers. It's just a wee bit too cold for a skirt just yet and Chloe hates tights with the venom only a five year old at the head of the bathroom line with 30 kids waiting impatiently in line behind her can muster.

So I'm done for the day and it's high time I treated myself to a nice hot brew and a curl up on the sofa with a good book for a while.

Gift it?

I'm asked more and more often by my customers these days if I'm willing to send items as gifts and the simple answer is that I'm more than happy to send any purchase direct to the giftee if need be.

Image courtesy of Swirlyarts

I get that we're all busy beavering away, between work, kids, housework, school schedules and just trying to find five minutes to sit still once in a blue moon it's all too easy for one day to blur into the next and before we know it birthdays, Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and all those other days loom before us and sometimes schedules just don't allow for us to make the trip home or to see a friend on exactly the right day or weekend. Even thinking of Christmas this year when travel of any kind was pretty much a no go if not downright dangerous and the thought of a gift making it through the post once, never mind twice was stressful enough.

That doesn't mean that you don't want your gift to arrive on time though, sure you can always visit at the weekend later.

So, if you need something sent directly just drop me a line with the recipient's UK address at the time of purchase and I'll sort the rest. All gifts are sent gift wrapped in simple ribbon tied heavy cream calico gift bags with a handwritten tag and the usual confirmation bumpf (receipt, shipping label) will be emailed to the customer, rather than included with the purchase as they normally would.

The bags are entirely reusable and can be used again and again for gifts or storage or even to fill with dried lavender or herbs and used as a scented bag.

Gift wrapping is free of charge on all single purchase items, however if you purchase more than one item with the intention of each item going to separate UK addresses then the full postage cost of each item as stated in my shop will apply. This amount will be invoiced separately via paypal.

Oh and if you happen to order a purse, coin purse, one of the minis, full sized wallet or whatever it is, it'll be sent with a new penny in coin compartment for luck because you can't give an empty purse as a present.

Reasons I love you - #1

Because even though you're five and should know better, in fact probably because you're five and do know better, you still call nostrils "snotrills" and I think you might be onto something.

Britcraft

Business Decisions and Shop Update

I've been mulling over a few things in the back of my mind for the past six months or so regarding my little business and I've finally made a few decisions which will lead to some changes in how I run things here.

Most of these changes are small, many will go completely unnoticed by everyone but me. However, the first and perhaps biggest change which I've put in place this morning is that Leanne Woods Designs will no longer ship worldwide.

I realise for a business this probably seems a little bit counter productive. I've effectively reduced my customer pool to those living on the tiny group of Islands known as the UK but after some thought I'm completely fine with that, if anything I'm happier.

It's always been a goal of mine to use as many locally sourced materials as possible. Many of the fabrics I use are manufactured right here in the UK a smaller quantity are made in neighbouring EU countries however those were still purchased locally, I never add to the volume imported where possible. With things like zips and some hardware which just isn't manufactured anywhere in the UK I will import but I try to offset these items by using carbon neutral companies for things like stationary, business cards and packaging or by making donations.

Because of this I never felt comfortable with the idea of shipping worldwide, it was something I did way back when I first set up shop and it hasn't sat well with me since then. The idea of sending a purse or a handbag halfway round the planet when I'm completely and utterly positive that something could have been sourced closer to home seemed ludicrous to me.

I'll announce any future changes in time, but as I say they're teeny tiny compared to this and most won't have any dramatic effect to the shop or products on offer.

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Mini Pocket Purses - Now in Stock

Passing the buck

So I'm getting more than a little bit concerned about our upcoming holiday (if you missed that post by "our" I mean Chloe and I, Robert will be living the life of a bachelor for a fortnight).

The thing is Chloe is very independent for a five year old, you could never describe her as being clingy or attached to my apron strings. She's also very familiar with the area we live in and the town as a whole, because I don't drive most of our time together is spent locally so she always knows exactly where she is. If anything this has made her even more independent and I'm confident enough in her ability and the fact she has some common sense that I let her have a lot of free reign, or at least what she considers free reign.

I let her go into shops by herself while I wait outside and I don't make her stay within arms reach of me while we're out and about. She's always in sight but for instance I'm fine with sitting outside The Streat having a coffee while she plays in the square with whatever kid she's just met for the first time. Plus we've more safety nets in place than I could even list here, if we were to become separated Chloe knows exactly what to do and where to go depending on what part of town we're in whether it's the statue in the square, my old office or any one of dozens of shops staffed by people who know her and know my number.

Giving her so much leeway also makes it a lot easier on both of us when I have to take it away for one reason or another. Like if we're at the museum, obviously they don't want kids tearing all over the place and because it's a one off thing Chloe's happy enough to stay within arms reach without being frustrated or getting an attitude. She always knows it will be business as usual once we're home again.

The problem, and I know this is a complete cop out, is that I've always passed the buck when I need to reign her in for while, "the museum don't allow kids running around", "Kids have to stay with their mummy in the supermarket, the manager says so!". You get the idea. It never started as intentionally lazy, we just genuinely only visited places with rules about kids to begin with, but sometimes for the sake of a quiet life I have stooped to blaming someone else for her having to stick by me.

I know, trust me I know!

Only now we're off somewhere for two weeks to a place neither of us have been before, we won't know anyone from Adam and I can hardly tell her the entire country wants her to stay close, can I? She just isn't that gullible.

I've tried explaining that she'll have to stay a lot closer to me than she's used to, and we've had lengthy conversations on the subject where she'll spend a good 30 minutes agreeing that it's much better and much safer to stay close, only to walk away after we're finished talking and casually fling a comment like "sure the pool's not far away", or "Aimee's been before, I'll stay with Aimee" over her shoulder. Aimee's 8 by the way. I've visions of much frustration and tantrums on both our parts. I may need a holiday to recover from this one.

Oh 'eck

OK, I know it's been almost a month since I last posted, but I have excuses. Don't I always come armed with excuses?

For starters it was January and January is not the lovely quiet month everyone says it is. I've been lied to, I've lied to myself. I have to try and remember what January is like so it doesn't bite me next year!

I've had all the ick things to deal with like tax returns (never as bad as I think they're going to be) and paperwork to complete because Bob's out of work (worse than it really should be), but we've packed in the fun stuff too ...

Countless bike rides around the Floodgates


Trips to the duckpond



The birds really aren't walking on water, it's just frozen solid.

And I've been a busy little beaver making new stock.



I've even booked my first fair of the year, so I've been making like a woman demented for that too ...



Totally Bazaar is run by Decadence Premier Vintage Fairs, the same great organisers who bring you Frock Around the Clock each year. It'll take place on Sunday 3 April 2011 and starts at *11.00am at the Holiday Inn, Ormeau Avenue, Belfast so if you're in the area feel free to drop in for a natter.

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On top of everything else we've been kept really busy by school things too. First there was the Exploris visit, a really fun day for the kids in school but it did come with a ton of extra homework. I don't mind homework but Chloe was being a bit of a nightmare about it, then she came down with tonsillitis and that explained everything. Obviously then once she was better and back to school we had a mountain of homework to catch up on, but at least it's finished now.

We've had two sponsored events to take care off and then there was pirate day!. Have you tried finding a pirate costume in the shops in the middle of January? It can't b done, so another thing went on the to do list and it had to be made from scratch. I've photos and I'll show them to you but they're on the camera and I just haven't had a second to deal with them yet.

I've a stack of foodie photos too and I will get round to posting the recipes at some stage, it just won't be today because today I'll be mostly making birthday presents for my mum and dad and finishing 3 skirts for Chloe so that I can drop them in the suitcase ready for pressing and packing before the holiday. I know it's not until June but I just like to know these things are done, then I don't have to think about them again. It's my own fault really, I cut the fabric and pinned it all and set it on the back of a chair where I could see it. Every. Single. Day. So it has to be done today, for my own sanity.

And at some stage in amongst everything else I'll manage to squeeze in my 30th birthday on Friday. I might sit down for a coffee or something instead of carrying it around with me like the cup's attached to my hand.

* You really have to love an organiser who appreciates that loading the car at 6.00am on a cold Sunday morning in April is not a big ol' bundle of giggles and let's us have a lie in!

Happy New Year

First things first, I hope everyone had a happy and relaxing new year. We took it easy here and saw the New Year in with a movie and a glass of champers which has been in the fridge for donkey's years. I was a bit worried it might have turned into vinegar it's been in there so long but it was very lovely:)

I've seen countless posts about New Years Resolutions in the last few days and to be honest I wasn't going to bother myself because I never wholeheartedly make them so I've never gone a year and kept any resolution I've made, but ... I did manage to keep one of last years so I may just have another go this year.

I said back at the start of last year that I would try and appear in a magazine and then in true Leanne Woods form I did nothing, zip, nada, bupkis. Then in October I received an email from Alice Blackledge of Sew Hip asking if I'd like to write a tutorial for them.

Let me think about that one for a second ... aye go on then!




Issue 25, with my tutorial for the Evergreen Wallet went on sale on 31 December 2010, so I just made it by the skin of my teeth and what's better is that I even have a copy to prove it.

That was the important part of the resolution because a few months ago my brother's girlfriend was getting off the bus when she say a girl reading a magazine that she had folded in half and could have sworn she saw this bag in the shopping page but without knowing what magazine it was, it may have even been an old copy of something I could never confirm it.

And back at Halloween in 2009 I might have had a cushion in a special edition of Chat but I forgot to buy it and couldn't get a back issue either. A friend of my mum's thinks she remembering seeing the cushion in there but didn't have her copy any more so I'm still none the wiser if it was in there or not.

But I know this one's real, got a paper cut rifling through the pages and everything:)

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So now for this years resolution. Sleep, that's it, I'm going to make a real effort to sort out my sleep patterns this year because my brain still thinks it's a night owl, but my body thinks it's an early bird which leads to a lovely combination of my brain keeping my body awake til stupid o'clock and my body dragging my half bedraggled brain out of bed at half past a freckle and I end up losing about 3 hours a day to laziness and a good dose of knackereditis.

I think I'm going to embrace the early bird and start shifting my bedtime forward a bit at a time until I'm at least going to sleep the right side of midnight, hopefully then the 5am wake up won't be so hard to deal with and I'll make better use of my time.

More time of course means I should get more done in a day, like keeping accounts up to date every week, making more stock so I can approach more outlets, hopefully write another tutorial or two for Sew Hip, work up a few new patterns when my brain isn't addled and with a bit of luck I'll have more energy too for things like exercise and the most important one of all ... spending time with my family, time of the non knackered "can we just sit here on the sofa and watch TV variety".

So what are your plans for 2011, any resolutions made or are you going to be clever and keep those to yourself for the time being?

The post Christmas skinny

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, or just a lovely weekend depending on whether Christmas is your thing or not.

Ours was eventful but very enjoyable even so. Santa was good to Chloe this year, a little too good due to an over-compensating nanna but that was expected I suppose.

I should probably get this out of the way early on or the whole "over-compensating nanna" comment will seem a bit odd. Robert was made redundant the day before Christmas Eve! I know, shocker.

At least it should have been, I feel like I should be in more of a panic about the whole thing but I'm not, he isn't either. Don't get me wrong he's very uncomfortable with the whole "unemployed" label, if ever there was a bloke not built for unemployment it's Robert.

If I'm concerned for anything it's my appliances. Robert is a born fidget, I think we'll be ok until Chloe's back to school but if I can't get him occupied with something else after that he'll take the toaster apart, probably the fridge too I just know it.

If I'm honest I've had an iffy feeling about the place he was working since September, I don't know but the guy he worked for just seemed far too laid back for my liking. He didn't seem to care when things got done or even if they were done and if you're running your own business that kind of blasé attitude coupled with a small amount of laziness is just a recipe for disaster.

Anyway, so, over-compensating nanna.

My mum is, at her heart, a deeply disorganised person. No money at the end of December would have meant no Christmas to my mum because on 23rd December my mum would still have most of her presents to buy, along with all the food and likely a bill or two to pay.

She's always been like that and we love her anyway.

However, because she's so disorganised my brother and I are the type of people who set out to arrive at an appointment 30 minutes before we need to be there just so we can be sure where the place is, we're organised, never late and had an attic full of presents in September and freezers full of food in October.

So my mum could be found in Smyths on Christmas Eve, regardless of what I told her she was convinced that Chloe would wake on Christmas morning to nothing because the same thing happened when my brother and I were kids (another story, too long for a tangent).

Now I have to find room for all the things we got for her, plus the stuff my brother and mum had already bought for her (an entire corner of a huge room filled with presents, I swear to you) plus my mum's last minute panic purchases that include a toy kitchen almost as well equipped as my own kitchen, swing ball and a 7-in-1 football/air hockey/snooker table thing all of which I will find a space for, but the Spongebob instruments are staying at mum's house! She made that bed, she can lie in it:)

Apart from that Christmas was really nice, oddly more relaxed than the last few years, likely because we don't have to cram all the visits and guests in before Robert goes back to work.

Now if I could just figure out what to do with the rest of the gammon, we've had it in everything and there's still about a pound or so in there.

I am totally over gammon!

Merry Christmas

Well here it is. Christmas is finally upon us, the kids are probably running around the house like something possessed waiting for the arrival of Santa Clause, I wouldn't mind a visit from the big fella myself:)

The presents should all be wrapped and the turkey well and truly defrosted, but just in case you're only remembering to do that now, you'll be needing this, you can always have that bird on Boxing Day.

But, if you're completely ill prepared and nothing is bought, made or wrapped or you've forgotten to tear a few pages off the calender and Christmas has jumped out from behind the bushes at you this year don't panic, sit yourself down and take it easy because I've heard a rumour that they're planning on making this a yearly thing. And sure it can't be ruined if there's an unlimited supply of do-overs, can it?

Merry Christmas everyone, and if I don't see you before then a very Happy New Year too.


Love Leanne xx

Relax

Finally I think that's just about everything done for Christmas and just in the nick of time too as we've had a *lot of snow over the last few days.


Sales online were flying out but they've also slowed too. Hopefully all my customers are the same position as me and they've a couple of days of winding down ahead of them before the holidays. It's worked out well this year because I need a couple of days to put some other things to bed before the holidays so I'll be flipping over the closed sign and pulling the shutter down on Monday and Tuesday to give me time to finish those without stopping to pack orders.


In saying that, I've a few people stopping by tomorrow afternoon to pick up a few last minute gifts that they don't want to risk buying online, but that's always a nice way to spend an afternoon anyway, they come by we have some coffee, Chloe natters away incessantly and they leave with a few things, I even gift wrap! It's nice a relaxed and not at all panicky, plus Chloe will be home from school by then so I definitely wouldn't have been crafting in the afternoon.


Well, that's if she's even at school tomorrow morning. Our school doesn't close until noon on Tuesday but most of the other schools in Ards were finishing up on Friday ... and then the snow fell so when Friday rolled around Chloe's was the only school in Ards to open at all. The looks on the little kiddies faces on Friday when they found that out was priceless.

Our teachers really are hard working and when others gave up they tried their hardest and managed to make it to the school to teach the kids. I even overheard one of the older kids say that even if hell had frozen over his teacher would still have made it! How's that for dedication?

There may also have been talk of staging a coup, but Fridays are ice cream and jelly day in the cafeteria so it didn't get past initial planning.

It does make me wonder though if the school will be open tomorrow. Our local council have been brilliant, they've ploughed and gritted all the main roads, but the snow's been falling almost constantly and when it's like that trying to keep the roads clear is a bit like trying to dry yourself with a wet towel ... while you're still in the shower, it just can't be done. A lot of the outlying roads into Ards are pretty much impassable at the minute so we'll just have to wait for the morning and see what happens.


At least if it is closed we can build a snowman instead. Some kids have even built an igloo just round the corner, but I think that's a bit beyond my "pick it up and slap it on there" snow sculpting skills.

Either way there's little point in worrying about it. Now I think I'll just have another wee cup of coffee before the rest of the house wakes up, but I'll leave you with an awful photo of Chloe wearing one of her grandad's wigs.


Yes, that's right "one" of his wigs. He has many wigs, I don't know why so don't ask:)

*Chloe said it was a lot of snow, so that's good enough for me.

14 days and counting

I must be honest and admit even though I earn a living in part from Christmas, it still managed to sneak up on me again this year. I'm off later this morning to do my big Christmas shop which should hopefully mean that I won't have to set foot in a shopping centre or big supermarket again until the New Year. I've ordered fruit and veg from the greengrocer and it's being delivered on the 23rd. I'll collect the meat I've ordered from our butcher myself on Christmas Eve.

I've the family presents all in apart from my brother's but he's always a nightmare to buy for. I'll either see the perfect gift in the next couple of weeks by pure chance or I'll give him money.

Chloe's being a little chore this year. I've got all the little stocking filler type items in and the things I'm making for her. We've got her a dolls house and I'm going to give her some virtual money to spend in rag rescue and we'll make little curtains and quilts and cushions and such from the fabrics she picks. But ... she's yet to finally decide on anything else yet, the Santa letter is ever changing. Put it this way, it's a good thing she wrote it in pencil, but we really do need to get her to make her mind up this weekend and get the last of her presents in. I'm always afraid the shops are going to run out.

That all sounds great and it sounds like I'm organised and ready, but I'm still having real moments where I just think 'Oh my god, it's only two weeks!!!!!" not least because I've been working flat out this year on orders and, honestly, the house is like a tip head. I'll carry on working next week, visit the stockist at the weekend and then on Monday and Tuesday when Chloe's in school I'll just have to blitz through the house and get as much done as possible because so help me, I'm not doing it while everyone else sits on the sofa eating the malteasers out of the celebrations. They're mine!

In amongst everything else, we had our first visit from the tooth fairy ...


I'm never so glad to see that tooth finally come out. Chloe was told my her dentist back in February that it was loose and the whole anticipation of losing it has been building since then.

Add to that, a couple of weeks ago one of her friends at my mum's house was coming down the hill on her scooter and the front wheel hit something. She's actually 7 and already has most of her adult front teeth so when she came off she knocked out her two bottom front teeth and broke the two teeth at the top, there was a lot of blood and a fair amount of panic. Luckily Chloe lifted the two teeth and my mum put them in milk so at the very least the two bottom teeth were reinserted the same day and took, but the whole thing left Chloe even more worried about her tooth falling out.

Robert had a sit down with her and explained that she only had baby teeth so when they fell out there was still another tooth already in there ready to pop up and take it's place and she wouldn't have to go to the hospital or anything like that, but she'd be a big girl and have her grown up teeth and that she'd need to look after them properly.

It finally came out last week in the middle of dinner and once we'd had the "mummy there's something weird in this dinner" and the "no sweetie, that's your tooth", she turned to her dad with the tooth in her hand and said "I'm going to be a big girl" with a huge grin on her face ... and then she burst into tears.

I think she was just so glad that the whole thing was over and that it turned out to be such a non event.

Hopefully there won't be such a build up for the next 19. I don't think I have it in me.

It's the law

If you live in the UK and have snow at the minute it seems that there is some long forgotten law that says you must post a photo of it.



Pathetic isn't it? A lot of the UK is buried (well buried for the UK) under snow and we've had nothing, not a jot until this tiny little smattering arrived this morning. Of course I ran at break neck speed out into the garden with the camera to snap a few photos before it all melted (which it has now done).

Anyway, if we don't receive another delivery of snow at some stage I've at least served up a couple of photos of what people in much colder countries might consider a light frost*, but here it qualifies as snow.

So there:)

*Chloe wholeheartedly agrees.

This post was called something else, but then my mum called ...

And we all know by now that my mum's a bit like deja vu in the Matrix, every time you see her it means she's been in fiddling and changed something ...

Anyway. This was supposed to be a post where I would ramble on for a few paragraphs reminding everyone about the time my mum said she was going to take Chloe on holiday with her, she even went so far as to tell Chloe that. A couple of years passed where my mum would book a holiday, Chloe would ask if she was going and be told she was a bit young to go this time and to be honest I'd kind of written the idea off as one of those things on my mum's 'to do' list that she would never actually get round to doing. So I stopped worrying about it.

Then she calls last week (this would be the first call that would have resulted in the original post, but there's been another since then).

She's booked a holiday in June and she's already booked and paid for Chloe to go and I need to get her passport sorted out. Next comes two days of me panicking because "June" is what's commonly referred to by mothers, fathers and most importantly Head Mistresses as "End of Term". It's when all the good bits like assessments, class transfers and class induction days happen.

Brilliant!

Anyway, long story short, I got my knickers in a bit of a twist for no reason because her teacher assured me that if there was a good time to take a child out of the class (not that there's a great time) it's the two weeks Chloe will be away and she'll be back in time for all the changes which happen in the last two weeks of school.

Mind at rest ...

Then my mum calls again!

I should quickly clarify something before I go, my mum, dad and Chloe were going on this holiday with my aunt and her daughter who is the same age as Chloe and they get on like a house on fire, but

My dad booked the holiday and opted for one large room. My mum didn't find out until the confirmation arrived. Now while it's entirely reasonable for five people to share a room if you're one big family, when it's actually two families sharing you kind of like to have your own space and a bit of privacy.

So my mum called and changed it to two smaller rooms, which means paying for another adult whether one goes on the holiday or not*.

So I'm off to Fanabe in June:)


Woohoo. I feel a lot better about Chloe going on holiday now knowing that I'll be there too, but I do still feel a bit rotten about Robert not going even though he's says it completely fine by him and he can man up for a fortnight. He'll likely even enjoy a small dose of bacheloritis for a while. Hopefully I can get past the feeling that I'm running off and abandoning him for two weeks.

A dip in the pool might take my mind off it:)


* Yes it sucks but that's how package holidays work here and it's the biggest reason that I never book a package, I book a flight and figure out the rest myself at some stage. Basically package holidays are set up and price on even numbers of people travelling (except 3, 3 works for them). So if 2, 4, 6 or 8 people are off on holiday it's all good and you only pay for the number of people going, but if 5 people are going then you have to pay for six because the tour operator wants the most money possible for each room. That's just the way it is. One day I hope to make my mum realise that she hasn't spoken to a holiday rep in 7 years yet she pays through the nose every year for the sake of having access to one.