Happy New Year!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Kitteh loves goggie

Or is he just saying, "This goggie doesn't quite smell right, must rub my kitteh scent all over him".

New Year

It's almost a New Year, do I have any resolutions?

Yes I do, but they're pretty much the same as I have every year!  But I'll list them anyway...they're mostly about getting priorities in order!

1. Always make time for prayer everyday.  I do usually manage to get some time alone in prayer every day, if I don't I feel grumpy and a bit disconnected.
2. Continue reading through the Bible chronologically.  I began this year, but wanted a bit of time in the New Testament, so I want to get back to that.
3. Read some really good books with the girls.  I love reading to my little girls, but often let time slip away in the evening so that we don't always get time before bed.
4. Get into a good cleaning/organising routine at home, without giving into failure inducing perfectionism. I've joined a group thing to inspire me:
5. I want to live the greatest commandments:
   
   

   The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12: 29-31

   
   

   Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-40

   
   Of course I am not going to perfectly live these commandments, but it's what I want to think about, and pray about. If Jesus said they were the most important and that all the law and prophets hang upon these scriptures then it certainly means I ought to spend a lot more time thinking and praying about them. What do they mean practically?  Does my life reflect this in any small way?
6. To continue our date night every other Friday...that's me and hubby I mean.  It's been a lovely time together and I hope that we can always make that time.
7. And, here's a biggie, to not feel guilty for resting! :)

Do you make New Year resolutions?  What sort of things are you thinking about for 2012?

Edit to note: I've reverted my previous post to draft, it was supposed to be a interesting 'fact' type post but it was obviously misunderstood.  I tried to rewrite it more clearly but was just getting ridiculously stressed about it.  So it's down for now.  I have no desire to write even slightly contentious posts, call me a wuss but that's not my bag dude! :)

The feast of Stephen

I hope you had a blessed Christmas this year. We did, my poor Mum was poorly but she was well enough on Christmas Day to eat some dinner and play some games.

Today is traditionally St Stephen's Day in England (I presume it is in other countries too). It is also known as Boxing Day. Boxing Day is traditionally the time to collect money in an 'alms' box for the poor or to distribute to workers in thanks for a year's hard work.

Bizarrely it is also Wren hunting day today. I've just read that it was illegal to hunt wrens everyday of the year except on the 26th December.

"The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
On St Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
We hunted him far and hunted him near
And found him under the bushes here.
Hurrah, my boys, hurrah!
Hurrah, my boys, hurrah!
Knock at the knocker and ring at the bell,
And give us a copper for singing so well."

So armed with this information, I'm off out with Boots the cat to kill some tiny birds... ;P

Not. :)

On a more serious note, I think that Boxing Day has two merits in the Christian life. It is a day to remember the poor at this time of year (in fact a reminder that we should always remember the poor) and it is also a time to remember the first martyr - Stephen.

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:59-60

'Lord, do not charge them with this sin', only someone whose whole heart was given to God and who was filled with the fruit of the Spirit could possibly, as he was being painfully stoned to death, cry out for forgiveness for his attackers. Unlike me. I feel like blaming someone if I stub my toe, so I have a long way to go. But we press on.

Here's to a wonderful New Year.

Hugs.

Merry Christmas!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Merry Christmas to one and all! 

2 The people who walked in darkness 

Have seen a great light; 

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, 

Upon them a light has shined... 

6 For unto us a Child is born, 

Unto us a Son is given; 

And the government will be upon His shoulder. 

And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, 

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

7 Of the increase of His government and peace 

There will be no end, 

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, 

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice 

From that time forward, even forever. 

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 

Isaiah 9

I am Lionel Ritchie's agent

I've been blogging on this particular blog for over a year.  Blogger has since added a stats function to it's features.

In my sidebar you will see my most popular posts.  I have reached 9,389 pageviews - wow, I am now a spiritual giant in the land of Christian blogs, I am a wise sage mother giving advice to thousands...or am I just Lionel Ritchie's agent?  You see of my 9389 pageviews, 2,177 are people searching for a picture of Lionel Ritchie.

It's what I wanted to achieve when I started this blog.

Makes me chuckle every time I view my stats. :)

Like a child

I want to feel Christmas, how it used to be
With all of it's wonder falling on me
This season has felt so empty, oh for quite a while
I want to feel Christmas like a child

I want to see snowflakes fall to the ground
My brothers and sisters all gathered around
Singing "Away In A Manger" as we sit by the fire
I want to feel Christmas like a child


It's been so long now, I can't say
Just when I lost my way
But I'm going back to how it was
When this day meant everything
And we spent our time remembering
The baby Child born for us

It's all about Jesus, asleep in the straw
This infant, this King, this Saviour for all

So I don't need bells to be ringing
'Cause I'll join with angels singing
Gloria
And I can feel Christmas like a child
I want to feel Christmas like a child...

by Third Day

There is a great beauty in the belief of little children.  Truth is truth - and not some philosophical relative concept to debate.  Belief means that something is true, real, definite.   Faith is simple, unquestioning.

As Jesus taught us, we are to be as little children. 

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.  But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea...

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 18: 1-6; 10 (emphasis mine)

Oh to have such a simple, beautiful faith that my angel would always behold the face of my Father Who dwells on high!  To cling to the knowledge that we have a Saviour Who died for us and a Father Who allows us by the blood of His Son into His presence!

The beauty of God is indescribable, the love of God is unfathomable.

Garlic chicken wrapped in bacon

Last night I made some garlic chicken wrapped in bacon.  Now I don't have a specific recipe so this is just an explanation of how I made it.

You take boneless chicken thighs, unroll them and then grill on high/medium for about 5 minutes on either side (or longer if needed) until browned.  I meant to take the following picture before I started grilling - so this is a picture where they've had about 1 minute of grilling (then I remembered the photo)! Instead of 4 largish chicken thighs (which is what I would normally get) I had all these little ones! The amount of grilling needed to brown off the chicken will depend on the size of the chicken thigh.

Take a couple of garlic cloves...

...put them through a garlic press and then mix with margarine or butter.

Cut some bacon (I used smoked bacon) up into strips, enough to have one strip per chicken thigh.

Put a teaspoonful (or larger for larger chicken thighs) of the garlic butter into the middle of the chicken thigh, fold it up and then wrap the bacon around.  Some of the butter will leak out, but that's OK.

At this point you need to start warming up your oven to around 200 C.

Grill each side of the wrapped chicken until the bacon is browned - up to around 5 minutes per side. 

Once the bacon is browned all round take a fresh piece of kitchen foil and line a deep sided oven dish or tin. Put in the chicken pieces still wrapped in the bacon, pour over them the juices and melted garlic butter left from the grilling and then wrap up the foil like a parcel.

Put into the oven - now I did these for 30 minutes in the oven.  But check your chicken is thoroughly cooked through if you have larger pieces of chicken thigh.  Because it is wrapped in the foil with the butter and juices it should remain lovely and tender.

Happy Homemaker Monday

For more Happy Homemaker posts visit Sandra's Blog

The weather in my neck of the woods:

It's a wee bit chill.  The sleet and hail has been coming down on and off all day.

Here's the forecast for today (from BBC)

• Today
  After a locally icy start, it will be a cold and windy day with sunny intervals and frequent wintry showers. These will be a mixture of rain, hail, sleet and snow, the snow largely confined to higher ground.
• Tonight
  Showers feeding in off the Irish Sea, falling as sleet or snow away from coasts, and giving slight coverings in places. Occasional clearer spells allowing local frost and ice.

Max. Day 4 (°C)


Min. Mon Night 3 (°C)


Things that make me happy:

Sitting in my bedroom with a hot cup of coffee reading my Bible or praying.  I know that sounds a bit pious, but I really do enjoy it.  It's my 'me-time' with God.

Book I'm reading:

The Power of a Praying Wife
The Power of a Praying Woman

~Both by Stormie Omartian

What's on my TV today:

Not sure what I'll be watching today if anything.  It's my church group tonight.

Image from Flickr 

I am looking forward to the next episode of Living with the Amish on Channel 4 on Thursday though.  Six British teenagers go to stay with Amish families.  I loved last week's episode.  One of the girls who is a Christian was disturbed by what she saw as the inequality of Amish women and men.  She couldn't understand why the women only did domestic work whereas the men worked in the barn raising and in the workshop.  One of the Amish women, a lovely young woman, explained that she was happy.  She was happy serving just as Christ served.  And she genuinely looked happy.  As they chatted on the steps the Amish woman shared the scripture about Christ and the church and its relation to marriage.  The British girl stated that she believed that the Bible wasn't something to be taken literally because the world had changed (etc), yet she admitted she wished that she had the same faith, the same solid foundation.  At this point she broke down in tears because, she explained, she just wanted to know that  God was near and to feel His presence.  I cried too, lol, because I'm soppy.  Anyway, the Amish woman was so lovely.  She put her arm around her and said that at times like this we often look back and see that God's hand was upon us all along.

On the menu for dinner:

Pork chop risotto (one of my perennial favourites)

On my To Do List:

• Tidy house;
• Ironing;
• Work (also for those who don't know, I do 2 hours a day in the kitchen at my girls' school - yes, I'm a dinner lady!);
• Mend an old Blazer given to Squidge for her Christmas show, she's playing a reporter.
• Find an angel halo we have to lend to a friend for her daughter's Christmas show part.
• Church group tonight at our Pastor's house.

In the craft basket:

I'm rehashing a duvet given to me ages ago into a table runner and a cover for our tumble dryer.  I will be using my Nan's lovely old sewing machine.  See pictures.

The colours are just perfect for my kitchen right now.  I'll make one narrow runner for the table.  Which will leave me enough for the cover for the tumble dryer (see later picture)  and then I'm hoping the back of the duvet can be used for two curtains for two smaller windows in the kitchen.

The sewing machine is rather old, as you can see, but it is electric.

You can see the colours all together here.  I think it will go nicely when it's finished.

I don't have the largest kitchen and no utility room.  So the tumble dryer sits at the diner end of the kitchen.  I'm going to make a cover from the duvet cover.

Looking forward to this week:

Getting the kitchen/diner looking nice.  Putting pictures back up, etc.

Tips and Tricks:

Put old wallpaper, or other paper, on the top of cupboards in the kitchen, when they get mucky and greasy just chuck away.

My favourite blog post this week:

The Cross Speaks to Us by Michele at A Quiet Gracious Life.

No words needed (favourite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Poor Boots.  She slunk into the living room yesterday looking not too impressed.  Squidge had made her a collar.  She sat on the window sill sulking so after taking some pictures I took it off. Poor old moggy.

Lesson learned the past few days:

That, although it is important to pray and seek God for Church and for other people, it is OK to talk to God about your own worries and concerns.  He wants us to cast our cares upon Him.  He's our Father and wants us to come to Him as little children.

On my mind:

• Some friends who are sick.
• Christmas.
• Things to do around the house
• My hubby, who has been so busy recently.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

Psalm 62:5

Happy Monday!

Homemade countdown calendar and update on kitchen

I made a Christmas countdown calendar today.  It's stuck to our mirror in the living room. I had some blue card, which had been given me a while ago.  I LOVE the colour and the texture is great.  I created a frame effect by putting some purple paper bordered with silver paint pen and then more blue card on top. You can't tell by the photograph but it has a bit of a decoupage effect as I used sticky pads rather than glue to stick everything together.  The pudding is a clip art picture I found on the 'net.  I cut it out of brown paper and then used white paper for the white sauce, pink paper for the plate and of course red and green paper for the holly.  There is a touch of green glitter glue on the large holly and it is all finished off with the silver paint pen.

We haven't put up our Christmas decorations yet.  When do you put up yours?

~oOo~

The decorating (painting and papering) in the kitchen is finished now - yay!  I'm just waiting to be sure the paint is dry before I hang the curtains.  We had a bit of a set-back though.  We have laminate wood floors in the kitchen.  Yesterday after running the washing machine I heard a squelch noise as I walked across the floor.  Water seeped up between the laminate planks.  I called my Dad (hubs was at work) and we discovered that we've had a drip from a pipe behind the washer for a while.  Under the flooring water was everywhere.  It's warped all the planks.

I could have cried.  I'd finally got the kitchen looking nice and then the floor is ruined.  *Sigh*  I will have to put up with concrete floor now until we can sort it out.

BUT - God is with us, He cares for us.  Despite my homemaker despair, I know that I have everything in Him.  He is in control.

Lol, the fact is the flooring we had down was the remnants of flood damaged flooring from Hubs' parents' house.  They had a flood a few years ago and we got all the pieces that weren't damaged. I thought that was quite funny that those that escaped their flood were damaged by our own little flood!

22 Days 'til Christmas!

Christmas is coming,
The goose is getting fat
Please put a penny
In the old man's hat.

If you haven't got a penny,
A ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny,
Then God bless you.

Kitchen decorating

Our kitchen has desperately needed decorating for quite a while.  Time and money have prevented it.

When we first moved in, in November 2001, our house needed new roof, rewiring, new windows and doors, a boiler, central heating.  There was no kitchen fitted either.  There was a lot of work needed doing, and still does.  When we decorated the kitchen/diner and papered the walls the edges just would NOT stop curling.  We tried all kinds of glues and devices.   Well, because there was so much glue, every bit of dust and cat hair in the air stuck to it - besides the fact it looked awful because the edges wouldn't stick down.  I have put up with this state of affairs until this year.

We finally got enough money together and bought paper, paint and some new curtains for the diner end.  Because hubs is so busy with work and church we weren't sure when we would do it all, but we started the stripping of paper and the rubbing down of woodwork.

Hub's Dad took pity on us and asked us if we wanted his neighbour, who is a decorator, to come and get it all finished in time for Christmas!  What a blessing!

So it's nearly finished.  I thought I'd give you a snapshot of the wallpaper and the new curtains.  It's a bit different, but I love the colours.

Wallpaper

Close-up

Curtains - not yet hung up

I'll try to post some pictures when it's all finished.

Christmas card designs

My church asked me to design a Christmas card that we can send out with service times on. At the time of designing the preaching had been all about the sacrifice that Jesus made leaving His throne in Heaven to be born in a manger (basically a feeding trough). That He came to suffer and die and we can forget this in all the glitz and cosiness of a modern Christmas.

The first card that I designed is the one you can see on the right with the baby Jesus in the hay but shown on the cross - obviously not nailed to the cross but shown with the cross as the background to show what He was born to do. But this was after some consideration deemed a little too sensitive and could be misunderstood. So I then very quickly designed the second one which shows the baby Jesus in the feeding trough or manger. I tried to get the effect of a stone trough (based on some pictures I found of 1st century feeding troughs)...but I am not entirely happy with the aspect of the baby in the manger. It doesn't quite look right to me. But I didn't have time to correct the picture as they needed printing.

The Like Sunshine in the Home is obviously not emblazoned across the originals! :)

The Bible text is from the NIV John 6:38  "For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me".  I didn't add the verse this was done on the computer at church, but I think it looks good and it's a wonderful scripture.

Simply breathtaking video

Tempest Milky Way from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Psalm 8:1-3

Kitteh vs Air Purifier

This really made me giggle...



I had a 'deeper' post in my mind but it's late and it's beddy-byes time for me.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Happy Mummy, Happy Home

Puritan kitty....

I thought it might be worthwhile just to mention that in all my pondering about TV and Facebook, I'm not embarking on a ultra-Puritan lifestyle where I abstain from all fun things and ban Christmas and birthdays. :) I think the John Piper quote that I had at the top of the page could perhaps give that impression! I'll change that I think, although I do very much agree with the sentiment of the quote. I rather like John Piper, I like to listen to him talk, gentle and not all dramatic and shouty.

This n' that

I've not been well the past few days, I've had an infection. I felt so ill. I borrowed Mum's car and drove myself to the doctors and afterwards nearly fainted in the chemist and then couldn't even drive myself home. I had to wait for Mum and Dad to come and get me, lol! I feel a bit better than I did, though I've been in bed most of the day. The antibiotics are starting to work.

I didn't sleep well last night, when I finally did get to sleep in the early hours of the morning my pesky kitty woke me up fighting with next door's cat! I think I've mentioned a few times how my kitty's paw is against every paw in the neighbourhood. She's got quite a few battle scars.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures
How cute is this?

I've thought about getting some Feliway, have any of my readers used it? You can get plug-ins that give off a scent that calms cats down. Humans can't smell it, but cats can.

Long time, no see

Hello blog-friends! I feel like I haven't blogged for ages! In reality it's only been 3 weeks, which in the grand scheme of things isn't that long a time.

Well, what have I been up to?

• Work, done a bit of overtime due to staff sickness;
• A few meetings in the evening at school;
• Visiting a number of schools in the evenings too, Chatterbox is going to high school next year and we have to choose before the end of October. We've chosen the best school for her we hope. It has a lovely new building, good student care, good exam results and good discipline. We've prayed that we've made the right choice. God will protect her and bless her.
• And then all the other stuff that comes with church and parenting.
• Oh and I've been doing some drawing and sketching again, which I'm enjoying. I haven't had time the past few days, but it's been fun.

Chatterbox has impressed me this evening. She's written Macbeth out in a more concise form with some modern language changes. I'm so impressed. She's done this so that she can do the play with her friends at school. I struggled with Shakespeare at High School and she's mastered it at Primary School! I did giggle when she said, "Mummy, what are entrails?" Yuk, lol.

Squidge has decided to join the running club at school. However, it got rained off today. We've had some pretty wild weather today. The tail end of Hurricane Ophelia apparently. We've had, rain, wind, hail, thunder and lightening. Anyway, I can imagine Squidge being good at running, particularly long distance, she's quite wiry and never still. I was good at cross country in my youth and I'm wondering if Squidge will take after me.

Well, I can hear the hubster has arrived home from his music group meeting at church so I shall sign off.

Pip, pip.

Being blown about like kites...

Here are a couple of videos from yesterday. When we got home from school yesterday we wanted to go and find out just how windy it really was, our house was quite sheltered.We certainly enjoyed the gales as we felt the dying effects of Hurricane Katia - obviously no longer a hurricane but more a bit of a gale! The girls fell over a few times though!! LOL.

Wind across the lake:



The girls striding forth, can you see that they both have 'staffs'. Chatterbox announced that she was Moses! :):



I really enjoyed our time out. As we walked I thanked God that we live in such a beautiful place. The fresh air was wonderful, the hills were (as ever) magnificent), the gales were entertaining, and I love spending time with my girls. Just lovely.

Happy Homemaker Monday

For more Happy Homemaker posts visit Sandra's Blog

The weather in my neck of the woods:

Here's the forecast for today (from BBC website weathercheck:

Monday

Becoming very windy with storm force winds gusting to 60-70 mph inland with 80 mph on coasts and hills. Cloudy all day with rain on the hills.

Monday night

Staying very windy. Rain on hills easing away and clear spells developing further south, where it will be dry through the night time.

Max. Day 17 (°C)
Sunrise 06:37

Min. Mon Night 11 (°C)
Sunset 19:32

Things that make me happy:

Sitting here indoors when there is a gale blowing outside! :)

Book I'm reading:

Just the Bible. I'm in Deuteronomy now. Still not started Bleak House by Charles Dickens, I will at some point! I read a coffee table style book about the Titanic from the library, it was very interesting. I might share a few facts if I get time.

With Chatterbox I'm reading Wind in the Willows, with Squidge I'm reading whatever she fancies last night it was Tabby McTat by Julia Donaldson.

The girls have brought a stack of art books home from the library.


What's on my TV today:

Midsomer Murders

On the menu for dinner:

Piquant Pork. I will share the recipe later.

On my To Do List:

• Tidy house;
• Ironing;
• Work (also for those who don't know, I do 2 hours a day in the kitchen at my girls' school - yes, I'm a dinner lady!);
• Try to sew Squidge's Hello Kitty, she's developed two holes.
• Mend Chatterbox's coat (it got ripped at school).
• Church group tonight at our Pastor's house.

In the craft basket:

My art stuff, I'm doing a lot of pencil sketching at the minute.

Looking forward to this week:

Visiting some old friends on Tuesday night.

Tips and Tricks:

If you use microwave bean/wheat bags as a substitute for hot water bottles, put a drop of lavendar oil (or favourite scent) in the centre before heating. Lovely.

Did you know you can make your own by putting uncooked rice in a clean sock and knotting the end and heating in the microwave until warm?

My favourite blog post this week:

No specific posts.

No words needed (favourite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Hubs trying to light one of those lantern things, it was too windy and we gave up. (NB: It was an eco-friendly one with no metal parts - just in case you were worried!). It was so funny.

Lesson learned the past few days:

That I need to not watch so much news, it tends to stress me out!

On my mind:

• The tragic losses of 9/11 and the families who must be suffering right now.
• My dear blog friend Michele who has just lost her precious Dog Toby. My prayers go out to her.
• Boots' issue with next door's cat. She keeps fighting, she's going to have no ears left at his rate, we've had blood everywhere, trips to the vets for anti-biotics and other treatments. It really worries me and I'm wondering if she needs to be an indoor cat because these fights have been going on for weeks now.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,[a]
And blameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51: 4-10

Happy Monday!

Happy Homemaker Monday

For more Happy Homemaker posts visit Sandra's Blog

The weather in my neck of the woods:

Here's the forecast for today:

11°C
Chance of Rain
Scattered Clouds
Wind: W at 24 km/h
Humidity: 82%

Lol, 'Chance of Rain'? It's absolutely tipping it down!

Things that make me happy:

A little hand slipping into mine on the way into school this morning and whispering, "I love you Mummy".

Book I'm reading:

Just the Bible. I'm in Numbers. I'm thinking of starting Bleak House by Charles Dickens this week, it's been on my shelf for a while.

With Chatterbox I'm reading Wind in the Willows, with Squidge I'm reading whatever she fancies (we haven't started a long book this week).

What's on my TV today:

Midsomer Murders

On the menu for dinner:

Homemade pizza (I'm going to make the base in the bread maker).

Lol, scratch that, I thought the dough cycle was 1 hour but it's 1 hour 30 mins and I've left it too late.

On my To Do List:

• Tidy house;
• Ironing;
• Work (also for those who don't know, I do 2 hours a day in the kitchen at my girls' school - yes, I'm a dinner lady!);
• Adjust two of Squidge's new school skirts that are too big around the waist;
• Try to get tar off one of Chatterbox's dolls!;
• Church group tonight at our Pastor's house.

In the craft basket:

Squidge's school skirts for adjusting.
Some new acrylic paint and paper!

Looking forward to this week:

Hearing all about the girls' new classes at school.

Tips and Tricks:

I've just found out that you can freeze egg whites and yolks separately, which is useful to know for recipes where you only need the egg white or the yolk, that you can save the other part for another day. The tip suggests you save them in ice-cube compartments.

My favourite blog post this week:

This from A Holy Experience: When Perfectionism and To-do Lists Overwhelm


No words needed (favourite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Flickr

This isn't my photo, click on the Flickr link to take you to the original, but isn't it beautiful? Look at the wickle kitty paws!

Lesson learned the past few days:

That I am so grateful to be able to be home most of the day.

On my mind:

Church.
My girls playing outside, I love to hear them play.
The sad loss of a young woman who used to come to our church.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.
Numbers 14:24

Happy Monday!

Lavender

Flickr

I love Lavender. I've just bought myself some lavender handwash and some lavender bath oil. We also have a lavender scent plug-in air freshener in the hall - but I don't have that on all the time otherwise it gets overwhelming. Oh, and my Mum just bought me some lavender scented furniture polish! :)

I've just been researching how to make lavender linen spray (for ironing with), it looks pretty simple.

When I mention I love the smell of lavender many people have said that it reminds them of old ladies! Lol, but I don't care. I reckon this is because Yardley (a traditional perfume and scents manufacturer begun Britain in the 18th century) was big on lavender.

I'm not generally keen on flowery scents, but lavender I rather like. I also love scents like eucalyptus and sandalwood. My favourite perfume is Obsession by Calvin Klein.

What scents do you like?

Hello. I've just returned from a lovely holiday in France.

My Mum and Dad took us all to Disneyland Paris for 3 days and then onto a gîte in Malvran Brittany for a couple of weeks.

I will try to get some time to share photos, but I also have a mountain of laundry to do!! Here's a picture of the gîte we stayed in, it's not my photo it's from the brochure.


A quick point of interest, the cottage was built for the local countess in the early 1600s.

Hope you've all had a lovely summer.

Warning - photo overload!!

Yay!

Our hotel - The Disneyland Hotel - it's very pink! The girls loved the fact that we were staying in a pink hotel. The theme is Victorian style in this one.

The girls also loved the revolving door! Round and round and round.

Disney Studios. This part of the park was brill. Can you see 'Hollywood Tower' in the background. It's the Tower of Terror and you are in a lift that is falling etc. I chickened out, but hubs and my dad went on it.

The Foyer of the hotel.

Mum went on the Dumbo ride with the girls whilst Dad, Hubs and I went on through the Phantom Manor. Phantom Manor was a bit of a disappointment and broke down halfway through! Lol. The queue was so long for Dumbo that when we'd finished at Phantom Manor they were still queuing.

The Slinky-Dog ride in Toyland. The girls loved this ride. It was like a mini-rollercoaster for children. Squidge also went on RC Racer (click to see an image of it) which was quite a 'thrill ride'. Chatterbox went on Crush's Coaster (click for an image) but the poor thing, she doesn't like 'white knuckle' rides but we thought it was a kiddie-coaster - WRONG! It was quite the scary-coaster - wheeling around up and down and on its side in the dark! She was terrified and it took quite a while for her to calm down afterwards. All the way round she was crying, "I want to get off! I'm going to be sick!" And I'm saying, "Just hold it in, just hold it in!!!" LOL.

The Disney characters were always milling about in the hotel. We got lots of lovely pictures. Here is Friar Tuck in the foyer with Chatterbox lurking in the foreground.

The girls decided they wanted to be joined at the hip for a while!

Chip n' Dale in the hotel.

Mary Poppins in the parade.

We waited ages to get a good spot on the parade.

Mickey and Minnie on the parade

Squidge was picked out of the crowd to dance with Goofy in the parade (she has the purple T-shirt on).

Me n' Squidge on a rocket ride.

Meeting Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Squidge was so disappointed that Cheshire Cat wasn't milling about. She loved Cheshire Cat.

Squidge and Hubs driving.

The main street in Disney Studios. Chatterbox is there on the left LOL the right, Chatterbox is on the right! It's a good job I wasn't the one doing all the driving in France! (They drive on the right whereas here in Britain we drive on the left). When we first arrived in France Hubs wrote on his left hand 'L' and his right hand 'R'. He was fine once he got used to driving on the right though, the roundabouts were the most difficult to get used to. Oh and their zebra crossings - I couldn't get used to French zebra crossings. Some had walk and don't walk lights, some didn't but the drivers just drive right across whatever! Scary.

Sleeping Beauty's castle

Hubs and Squidge with Rex.

My next set of photos will be from Brittany.