Jubilee!

It's Jubilee time here in old England. I'm not a massive patriot, nationalism can lead to terrible things, but I do think it's good to have a sense of who you are and where you come from. I'm happy to be a subject in a monarchy, it's archaic and antiquated but that's no reason to go republic in my mind! I even went to see the Queen when she started her Nationwide tour here in Leicester. I've got pictures but my phone died recently so they may be lost forever! :(

Anyway, we've been celebrating with various friends and relatives all weekend. I think the children are exhausted! Today we had a BBQ with our neighbours. We all live practically on top of each other here and share a somewhat communal garden. Well, I have my own separate one but the rest of them share and my children play on their trampoline!

  My attempt at tissue paper pom poms (recipe here). I was pretty happy with them. I just wish I wasn't so short then I could have hung them myself...a bit more artfully...

 Yes, this filthy child is mine. A dirty child is a happy child after all! The hat has been slightly chewed by one of the neighbours dogs! We had a lovely afternoon, everyone brought something to throw on the BBQ, I also did a bit of baking. Apparently these taste like an angel crying on your tongue. I sure hope that's a good thing!

To round it all off, I found a four leaf clover, everyone tells me I will have good luck, but really I consider myself pretty lucky as it is...

God, I make myself sick sometimes! ;)

We made quills

The weather here has been pretty miserable of late. That coupled with a real lack of funds can lead to pretty bored children...
So in an effort to entertain the children for free I took them to the local pumping station museum. I know you're wondering how the mechanics of sewer engineering can be entertaining for a small child but really it is a local history museum with lots of buttons to press for tiny fingers and a fake flushing poo for bigger ones. Charming, I know, but I'm not five. Apparently its brilliant! I bought Patrick a cheapo plastic plane and that kept them entertained for a while.

 We arrived a little early and found it closed as it was a Sunday so we decided to take a stroll. We went down by the canal. I love it down there as there are plenty of old industrial buildings to admire and mourn, that coupled with the abundance of nature makes for a pretty enjoyable walk. I gathered myself a large bunch of lilac and Patrick found two feathers so...when we got home..

 Bless them! You can practically taste the concentration!

Patrick even did some secret spy letters with lemon juice (sorry, invisible ink!)












It kept them quiet whilst I arranged my lilac. A good day...with no rain! Hooray!

Getting Dirty with the boys!

What a beautiful time of year this is. It always flies by and I always seem to miss it! It's so busy with birthdays and well, life.

I finally got round to planting some seeds for my garden. I had lots of help from Patrick and Ted... if help's the right word.

Create your own free picture collage

It quickly descended into an exercise in mud flinging practise for Ted and damage limitation for me! Still, we managed to plant some White Cosmos, Cleome, Nasturtiums, Morning Glory, Basil and Coriander. Phew!

Fingers crossed!

xKatyx