Summer Sizzlin'

The weather has been pretty hot and humid in the south.  Al fresco eating has become the norm and jumping in the new  paddling pool to cool off has become an  essential part of our day.  We have lived in the garden, although at times it has been too hot to remain outside. The newly tiled kitchen floor is providing much needed coolness  and seems to be standing up to the wet piles of towels and footprint trails very well. 

We were a bit busy with builders and babies earlier in the year to make full use of the little vegetable patch at the bottom of the garden but our  neglected raspberries  are doing well and the strawberries are providing a tasty treat  for a small  paddling pool soaked and hungry child. 

This little girl is growing so fast and is about to enter her pre school year; three years, five months today and as full of chattery happiness  as ever.  It has been very precious seeing her take on the role of big sister so well.

She loves life with her little sister and often announces "I love  my Mabel, I'm going to keep her forever!" 

That's a relief, almost as much as ending up with a sweet little babe  who seems very happy to carry out daily life under the shadow of her busy sister. I will enjoy the peace while it lasts, although the house is far from peaceful at the moment as we have two extra (spanish students for a month) and my lovely craft corner seems to have become the local music mixing room  and is filling up with hungry teenage boys!

I have been playing around with the manual settings on my camera and cannot decide which strawberry photo  I  prefer. Obviously with eleven people in the house this month to feed and do laundry for I shouldn't really have time to gaze at photos, much more fun though!

So is it focus on strawberry at the front or do you prefer the focus at the back?  

Big life decisions!

Hat Fair

Hat fair weekend always brings with it such a buzz and adds an amazing creative vibe to our beautiful little city.

The name originates from the street performers leaving a hat out to collect contributions from passers by. It is run every year and most certainly worth a visit.  There are many events all around the centre of town, a huge range of fun performances to entertain.   

Such a happy, sunny walk down the high street last Sunday as the  busy vintage market was setting up  and preparing for a busy day.

Signs showing where all the events were happening, lots nicer than the usual ones.

So many amazing stalls, sadly small children were not as keen to browse as I was.

Lots of interesting objects to look at.

 

So many pretty shelves full of fascinating items.

I love the mix of colours against the table of these vintage items.











As I walked round the corner I was too early for this performance.

I was tempted to find a chair and wait, so many wonderful things to gaze at.

These little jars looked lovely with freshly picked flowers in.

Totally an idea to steal for the kitchen table at home.

Have you ever visited the hat fair? 

Do they have them in other places too?

Using the Teapot

A cup of tea, time to step away from the happenings of the moment, to savour the ritual and enjoy the refreshment it brings. 

As with most things in life the temptation is to rush ahead and miss the tiny bit of happiness that comes with this moment of stillness.

Following a link posted by a friend yesterday I was inspired to blow the dust off my shelf of gorgeous teapots and enjoy their loveliness even more.  The author of the article rightly asks why we think nothing of making coffee in a cafetiere but seem to regard  making tea in a pot as difficult. 

I always make coffee  'properly' but  had forgotten how much nicer tea is in a pot.  Apparently better for the environment, certainly  cheaper and a far richer tea drinking experience, tea leaves are to be embraced.

Afternoon tea always needs something yummy to accompany it and as I was using the lemon anyway it seemed a shame not to try out a new flapjack recipe

As well as using all the usual flapjack ingredients this one also uses lemon.  Surprisingly it really works and they taste even more delicious.

Happy baby gurgled away in her pram, the sun is finally shining and it is almost the weekend.

Truly a happy moment, most certainly worth the minimal extra effort.

Do you use a teapot?

Blog Loving

I could well be the last person to realise that google reader is closing down in a few hours.  Until very recently I have used it as a way of reading all my favourite blogs. Keeping up to date with all the crafty loveliness and general stories of life has been very easy and I was a little bit unsure what losing google reader would mean, how would I keep up to date with all the adventures in blog land without it?  At least I have realised just before it was too late, although I am still a little in the dark about what the loss of it will mean.

All is not lost as I have discovered bloglovin and very easily imported all my blogs, in fact I think it is much easier to read and follow blogs and I like how clearly it is laid out.

I have added a little button (top left at the side of my blog) if you would like to keep up to date with all the happenings at the oldpolicehouse.  It would be  so lovely to have you as a follower.

No idea where this was originally from - credit will be given if known - but it really made me smile!

On the subject of following if you are on twitter do hunt me out @fostergrace  and send me a tweet so I can reply.

How do you read your favourite blogs?

Thirteen Weeks

Thirteen weeks: ninety one days since this little girl joined our lives.

 It was only thirteen weeks before that we first found out about her and  saw a little   face on the monitor in the dark scan room.

As I was looking through the sports day photos earlier, I was struck with the similarity of this picture with the image on the screen that memorable Saturday.

This is the moment when I should show you the scan picture but in the midst of the chaos of the building work and general upheaval of decorating since, they seem to have disappeared.  

Safe in the lower part of the double pushchair this little babe quietly slept through most of the noise of sports day.  Hiding away just like she had for six months of pregnancy.

Seeing her little face with her hand to the side and her sweet little rounded nose just like all her siblings brought back vivid memories of the almost identical image  on the ultrasound screen.

Thirteen weeks seemed a very short time to prepare for a new baby.


Today I realised how much has changed and even though it has only been three months, I cannot imagine our family without her.

Five days old

A perfect little gift.



I know this will be a precious photo as it made me realise just how special she is and reminded me of this verse:

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139


Do you have a special verse or poem?

Home made baby wipes

 Sorting out the endless washing earlier I looked at a towel that had certainly seen better days  and I decided to re make it into small baby wipes.  I usually use a baby flannel to clean after a nappy change but these wipes are a much better size.

Here's how to make super simple baby wipes:

1.  Find a handy size tupperware box  and cut up an old towel  (fleece fabric works well too).  Use the box lid as a template if you find that helpful but there is no need for accuracy.

2.  Check the wipes fit in the box, 

3.  Make a cleansing solution :

You will need

Camomile tea  (to clean)
Drop of tea tree oil (antiseptic)
Drop of lavender oil (smells so nice)
Dash of Olive oil (or any you have in the cupboard)

In a bowl mix the tea bag with hot water and add the other ingredients, let it infuse for a while and enjoy the amazing smell.


4.  You can either pour it into a bottle and put it onto a dry cloth when wiping baby.  Be prepared for comments from any older children ....I am sure you can guess what they think it looks like!

or you can soak the wipes in the solution.

5.  Put the wet wipes ( wring out if very wet) in the box and find a sweet babe.

Of course these wipes have lots of other uses, even if you don't have a small person to clean.




Smelling a lot nicer than throwaway wipes, simple and easy to use, saving money and the environment.  

Thrifty and green, not bad for five minutes of effort!

You will also have a slightly perfect mother moment; the one that you feel when you are able to offer freshly made cakes to visitors or someone pops round when you are baking bread. 

Tell me what makes you feel "perfect" for a moment!

Crafty Corner

A little place to create: Space  to make something new, a respite from the  everyday rush. A  small corner to safely store  all those beautiful crafty bits and bobs including  fabulous fabrics.  The building work and subsequent rearranging of the house meant that finally I have my own crafty corner.  

Welcome to my   little place of inspiration and escape.

The gorgeous cupboard is doubly special as it was given to me by one friend ( it was her grandparents) but had been restored by the grandfather of another friend. I love how a simple piece of useful furniture can contain so many   memories.  It sits nicely in the corner holding all my lovely crafty items.

This little space of mine is home to lots of lovely pieces, the flower painting was done by my oldest girl at primary school.  It reminds me of three  favourite things; flowers, bright colours and my children.

I am surprising myself with a  love of orange flowers at the moment; a framed piece of happy fabric, my gorgeous vase and my latest crafty venture, the lampshade.

I love my new happy lampshade so much.  I was surprised at how quick and simple it was to make.  using a vintage piece of fabric, which I am pretty sure started life as a duvet cover.  It was from the seventies - does that make me vintage as well?  A scary thought.

I used a  lamp making  kit similar to the ones here and  helpful step by step  instructions from here.  I can see I will be making a lot more and as soon as I find the leftover   fabric from the boys  curtains I will be starting with a football lampshade  for their room.  

This little space which seems to be all my own, what a treat in a house of nine, has so many beautiful items including some very special cushions.

This super squishy one was made by a lovely friend,  I admire her taste so much I used her blog name for my babe (without realising it)!

This cushion, so special it has been placed far out of the reach of messy children and dark haired dogs sits neatly next to my vase of knitting needles (also placed high as they have been scarily used as weapons  in the past).  Made for my fortieth by the friend whose grandfather restored the cupboard, it is very precious. Not only because of the beautiful stitching and thought that had gone into the design, each petal reflecting one of my babies  but the love and care that went into making such an amazing gift.  

I truly love it and it makes me feel so happy every time I glance at it, which is a lot as I like to feel happy!

I have been spending a lot of time on pinterest recently, feeding a small baby has lots of benefits especially time to browse the net and not feel guilty. If you look at my pins there are a lot of gorgeous craft rooms, maybe one day I can grab a few more corners and make a room.  This room is on our summer holiday decorating list so soon it will look even nicer.

Do you have a special place to create? 

If you have a crafty blog and have written about your craft space please do share it, I love looking at places where people create.