The First Of Six

Ok, where do I start. Deep breath, when I was pregnant with Baby G I piled on the weight and I still haven;t lost it. At the minute I'm feeling very down with myself and I've only got myself to blame and no-one else - I know that .For months now I have been saying " tomorrow I'll start my diet " " from tomorrow no more chocolate" . Well now I've had enough and I have to do something --about me....
My wardrobe consists of 8 of these ... varying in different shades of black.



Hub ever so nicely said that he was a bit weary of seeing me in these and said I had to go buy myself something new. So I bought these.





Can you see the problem? I am stuck in a baggy top rut because they are the only thing I feel comfortable in, they are my security tops!
Tomorrow is the 1st of June and I am going to do it this time - I have told everyone out there who reads my Blog and now you all know .. I have no more excuses not to lose my baby weight and get back into my pre -pregnancy clothes.
I am giving myself 6 weeks, at least to get a good start and I'm going to give an update every Monday. I hope I won't bore you all too much with this and I will still continue to post about other things . If anyone out there has any hints , tips or nice diet recipes all help will be gratefully recieved.
Wish me luck.

Postcards, A Tag And A Day Out In Durham

A big thank you to everyone who has sent Milo postcards and cards, here is his collection so far. Since I last showed his cards we have recieved more from Lisa, Alison, Maree and Vanessa.



You guys have been so generous and kind sending him cards and stamps and other goodies. If anyone would like any cards or anything in return please don't hesitate to ask....

Now I've been tagged by Vanessa and Sarah,
I'm going to separate the answers with pictures that Hub took from our day out in Durham on Monday, they are from our walk along the river...here goes



1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I had been working at T-Mobile for about 6 months and had just recently re-met the man who was to become my husband ( little did I know it at the time). You know something ,as hard as I rack my brains I can't really remember - it must have been all the nights out and alcohol consumption around this time!



2)What are 5 things on your to do list today?
Find some postcards to send to some sweet little girls in Oregon - done.
Take Milo to the museum seeing as how it's school holidays - done.
Type up a blog post - nearly done.
Knit some knickers - half done.
Sort out the washing - hmmmm



3)Snacks I enjoy.
Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.. I think I'm addicted!



4)Things I would do if I was a billionaire.
Move house probably abroad, Travel a lot, decent education for the boys, make sure parents and siblings are comfortable. Make sure Hub got to swim with dolphins and pass my driving test.



5)Places I have lived.
Sunderland
Newcastle
Finsbury Park in London
In the dreamland in my head.



Now I'm supposed to tag 6 people but I'm just going to leave it open for anyone who would like to do this. I've also been tagged for 'quirks' by Lina but I'm going to save this until another day.

For everyone who commented on my quilt, thank you so much. It has now been delivered to the intended recipient and I think gratefully recieved. Sorry I haven't managed to reply to you all individually but it has been a bit busy here with it being school holidays.

2.10pm

On Sunday 25th May at exactly 2.10pm there was a momentous event in the Periwinkle household. Are you ready - I PUT THE LAST STITCH IN MY QUILT!!
My first attempts at applique, quilting and binding. It is all hand sewn, there is puckering, the corners are rubbish and I don't know wether to be glad or sad that it's all done.. I think relief sums it up nicely.

















I haven't forgotten that I have been 'tagged' and there are also more postcards for Milo, but today is now officially Quilt Day ......

Anyone For Cricket Or A Sponsored Walk?

To say that Hub is a bit sports mad is an understatement,not playing though just watching anything from pool, football to cricket and he has even been known to take a day off work after watching the NFL. Now you may or may not know that cricket season is upon us , so every day when he gets in from work the telly goes on so he can find out cricket scores. He is teaching Milo about cricket and has even taught Baby G how to give the umpires hand signals for a ' 6 ' ! So yesterday morning he took Milo into town to get him some cricket gear. It;s a good job that Milo does like cricket.



He got a new fielders hat too - if you hadn't already guessed he has a bit of a penchant for hats.


On an afternoon Milo goes to nursery school, each class in the school sponsors a child from Africa.. today was the big Sponsored Walk day where all the classes walked around the park to raise money to support their child. It was also a non uniform day so guess what he wore?

The starting post.


Half way round.


Stopped at the bandstand for an impromptu concert.. Twinkle Twinkle and Incey Wincey Spider were the songs of the day.


Can you spot Milo?

As for the new hat, it has barely left his head since it left the shop. That was 99p well spent!

The Real Reason Why I Still Haven't Finished My Quilt!

Is because Boris has come to live with us.


He loves to read Blogs - which is always a good thing.


And play with Milo's toys, the noisy fire engine is a firm favourite


He would love a bike of his own but he's a bit small


We were going to go to the library with Milo's new bag but then remembered it was Thursday and it's closed today


So we played at librarys instead. Boris had returned his book late so he had to pay a fine into the new money bank which Sarah very kindly sent a certain little boy all the way from Oregon.


Somewhere else that has been added to my list of ' places I'd like to visit ', especially after we read this book which was also from Sarah. Thank you so much for sending these presents and the postcards.


Boris is off to play football now but he has been warned that he must take off his muddy trainers before he comes back into the house. He says it was very nice to meet you all and he hopes to see you again soon.

Presents From Oz.

Back in February I was reading Lulullollylegs Blog when I saw a link she'd added for someone called Kellie , so I thought I'd pop across to say Hello.
Since I started my Blog I have met some lovely people and Kellie is one of them. Whenever I have been stuck with something or needed help or advice she has helped me or pointed me in the right direction. A few weeks ago as a thank you for all her help I sent her a small present.
Then yesterday we very fortunate to recieve an unexpected gift that she sent us all the way from Australia. When she had said she was sending a parcel I was expecting stamps for Milo!
When we opened the box I was lost for words as we unwrapped gift after gift, can you see all this?




There were cushions for Baby G and Milo


This is the back of the monster cushion


There was a bag for Milo - he loves things with his name on and the cars are like his favourite VW Beetles.


Inside the bag were 2 books with gorgeous pictures and information on Australia,


There was fabric and a tissue holder for me ( excuse the trying to be arty picture which failed miserably!). All the fabrics she used are just gorgeous.


That little blue fella is trying to sneak in again!


There were sweets, postcards from Megan, Benjamin and Jessica, a tin of ' Milo ' and some ' Milo ' energy bars ( he doesn't normally get chocolate early in a morning)


I hope I didn't forget anything, it was like Christmas came early!


Thank you so much Kellie, you have thoroughly spoilt us.

Freddo's And More Postcards

Back in April Adrienne declared her love for Freddo. Now I'm never one to come between a girl and her true love so I offered to send her some.
This is when Adrienne came up with the idea of a swap - Freddo for a Tote. A girl can never have too many bags , so a few days ago I recieved this in the post, isn't it pretty. Inside there is also a little clip - she must have known I always lose my keys in the bottom of my bag and spend forever standing on the doorstep raking in my bag - not anymore!


Hub also recieved a present, but a blue legged thief is trying to pinch them!! I wonder who that can be?


The boys recieved a present too, which Milo has claimed


As far as Milo is concerned anything with Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Buses is a winner


He also got another three postcards. Big Thank you's to Adrienne, Louise and Sabine ( who doesn't have a blog). His little collection is growing nicely now.


Thanks again to everyone who has sent cards and stamps x

Pies and Wow, Wow, Wow

This morning whilst Baby G was napping, Milo and I decided to do some baking. Policemans helmet and PJ's are optional - as it was 7.30 am!







These pics just reminds me how much I really dislike this kitchen! Milo made a pastry man and some mini quiche. I made sausage and tomato pie.





and he wants to cook again tomorrow!!

Then we went to the library for some new books, he was a bit upset as his friend Joan the librarian wasn't there and she lets him stamp his own books - but when we got home and opened the front door his mood soon changed as there on the doormat was 5 pieces of post all for him.

There weren't many other words apart from wow, wow, wow and ooh as he saw 3 gorgeous bird photographs made into postcards from Leanne, all with different denomination stamps on them,



a cute card and a bundle of stamps from Lisa & Sarah - I think they had raided their own stamp collection as there were some quite old stamps too,



and a pretty Rosalie Quinlan card ( I might just keep this ) and another bundle from Rachel.



I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stamps and didn't know what to look at first, but it was the first thing he told Hub about when we met him off the bus after work.

Milo wants to say a BIG BIG thank you to you all for your generosity and thought that has gone into what he has recieved so far. You sure know how to make a little boy happy.

Now to go and find something we can do tomorrow.