My week( a little CK!)

Hmm, two little chairs and one big empty bowl...what could it all mean??....

yes, the little people have been baking this week! They had great fun, and i was impressed, they know which order which ingredient goes in when and they can crack the eggs in minus any shell! We baked granny buns(so called as granny bakes them every day for the farm coffee break) and cheese scones. They lasted all of about, ooh five minutes?!

While Ruby was having a nap Poppy and i had some special time together, we both had a cuppa and a cake, lovely.

I must say i was in desperate need of the tea and cake i havnt had a chance to catch my breath this week yet, id forgotten how knackering it is actually looking after your own kids, with school and pre school occupying most of their time until now ive pretty much had it easy!

Its been weird not being able to just 'pop' into town for a lipgloss or a 20 minute mooch round the charity shops...for a trip out you have to feed them first, try to dress accordingly, ie going out with wellies on but taking flip flops, cardigans, raincoats, then put up with the 'i wants' all the way round!(i havnt even mentioned the 'im hungrys and i need a wee's!).

I did find some salvation yesterday though, we went on a little family trip into winchester(mainly to visit CK but also to visit Reeve the baker--mmmm yummy!) Id like to ay i was very restrained, but that would just be a BIG FAT LIE!.....

Firstly, i'll show you the window which greeted me...the newly done-Autumn window!(insert ooh's and ahh's here)....There are lots of new prints to swoon over im loving the red ones personally.(click pics to enlarge as they look a bit dark)

Ok, so wanna see what i bought? You do? Really? Oh ok then....
(THE PRINT IS MORE GORGEOUS IN REAL LIFE!)

The apron is in my absolute current fave fabric, the stone roses. The vest was a snip at just eight quid - so you see, i had to have it! Its soo soft and although the photo doesnt do it justice, the fabric is really pretty, i can wear it in winter with a white top underneath.


Oh, and a glasses case...how did that sneak in there?!(well i had to have something in this heavenly new oilcloth didnt i?!)

So what d'u think of my purchases...none of which have been noted by Mr P yet, how good am i?

Now, if i hadnt gone to CK i could've gone to The New Forest and Hampshire County Show, which is a great agricultural and equestrian show held every year just down the from us, they have lots of great livestock tents, horse shows and fab plants stalls....but then i would have just spent loads there too...oh well i'll have to do The Romsey Show in september instead, Joules are always there so i feel more treats coming on!

Onto other things from the past week, did you eagle eyes spot anything different in the tea and cake photo?

Ive finally got round to painting my dining chairs! They've been given the F&B(shade is new white)treatment and are now looking fab, the photo below does not do them justice as its so bimmin dark in my house, but trust me they're soooo much better than the old 'orange pine'! Two people have even asked where i purchased my 'new' chairs from?! result.

Sadly since the day i painted the chairs we've had torrential rain, so alas the underside of the table is still awaiting its transformation. I might go for a lovely green for that though, i picked up a brand new tin of paint at the bootsale ages ago for a pound in just the right shade of green, i'll keep you posted. I also feel the need to paint the orange pine fireplace too so hopefully i'll get onto that next week, i have so many items of furniture which i want to paint so ive set myself a target of one thing each week.

This jug of floral loveliness came from my very own garden, i picked them for the sunday dinner table, we had Mr P's brother and family over for a roast as we seem to have aquired half a pig in our freezer which id quite like to use up! It was yummy and there were bloated tummies all round!

Now if you're like me, holidays or no holidays the kids are in bed at 7pm, (or 6.30 if i dont let them watch ceebeebies and they realise the bedtime story hasnt been on yet!).

Mummy needs her 'me' time. So as soon as ive finished this post i can get onto delving into these three beauties, kindly donated by a friend going through a love split and cant bare to look at them(they were 'hers'). I kindly snatched them out of his hand and have got my new paperchase notebook(with cute food characters all over the front), pink rollerball pen, and set of multicoloured post-it's at the ready, i'll select my first few recipies and make sure all the ingredients are purchased at tesco tomorrow! Hurrah for lovely cook books!

Goodnight x

Happy hens...

I thought you might like to see a couple of better photos of the new hens as the first ones were rather dark! They've been enjoying roaming about my garden, snaafling up all the worms and slugs which have come up during the wet weather we're having...at east someone's enjoying it!
Kirsty x

Mixed bag, pretty garden,new folk and my room!

This is a bit of a mixed bag post today, im thinking my posts will probably be a bit thin on the ground over the next few weeks-as we all know the holidays are(or will shortly- in our case)be upon us so do forgive me if i dont get round to leaving comments and stuff, i always read ones left for me and will surely still spend my evenings reading through everyones posts(scanning for lovely photos is what i really mean).
Ive got a little list of the things i want to do with the girls, an actual, written list, so im thinking if i share the list with the girls it will guilt trip me into actually carrying the activities out, instead of getting carried away doing mummy things! Plus my little Ruby is ging to be a big girl in spetember so i need to make the most of our special summer left together.
Firsty then, i went to my mums friends house in the hampshire countryside this week, she runs a cattery and always has a house full of dogs and different animals so its always a lovely visit, i took a few inspirational photos(mainly of the garden)which i thought you might like to share?....Plus a few other things which we'll have a look at too.....

I have GOT to get me one of these-a secret garden!!

I took lots of inspiration from these borders, packed with plants of so many varieties, the photo somehow looses the detail, it was stunning in real life....

Janet,the lady who's garden this is loves post boxes! She bought this one on ebay, i feel a new obsession coming on!

These cheeky little fellas were tucked between the plants all over the garden, i cant decide if they're creepy or cute?

I love the whole 'box balls'thing, and her garden made me more determind to incorporate some in my garden next year when i start figuring out how id like it to look. She also has a stunning pond, and a mediterranean mosaic seating area/cove type thingy which i will photograph next time,im going back shortly to collect a beautiful pine wardrobe ive bought from her, cant wait!

How charming is this chap? He looks great in the garden-a bootsale bargain so im told, our Janet has a bit of a boot sale obsession-worse than me! He suits the garde so well.

PLUS yet more box balls!

I dont think my budget will be stretching to one of these! Its so lovely, inside and out, i honestly could live in it!

Although its not vintage enough for me i love the classic style of her lounge, the wooden oak floor and laura ashley chairs are my favourite features of the room, you can just see the dresser in the conservatory in the background, full to bursting with blue and white china!

Ruby and Jade the Dachshunds found a kindrid spirit in my Ruby, they let her carry them like babies and didnt leave her side while she quietly watched tv while we ate our ploughmans sat in the kitchen(i was drooling over the green aga the whole time!).

Back home now ladies....

Three guesses whats through the mesh?...Whats that, chickens you say-you'd be right!!

We had some new family members join us this week-of the feathered variety, five chickens to be precise! Mr P's friend bought them over from his farm for me on wednesday.

The girls are so majorly excited, this morning poppy got up, pulled a jumper over her nightie, put on her wellies, and begged me to let her go and check for eggs, naturally i let her(i had been asleep at this point,sleepiness induced by 2 bottles of wine and a very late night of chatting with my best friend M over for dinner! Im a good mother honest!). Poppy came back triumphant with one huge egg. Yesterday at school she had lovingly crafted and painted her very own 'egg collection box, grain pot and feeding pot' she had carefully placed her blankie inside said egg collection pot and the egg was lain on top like some golden artefact, bless her, thats my (country) girl!

Want to meet the ladies? i think these two are Daisy and Fenella, theres also Charlotte Lucy and my one-Aunt Bessie(named after my favourite frozen food supplier!) I suggested the girls name the chickens after school friends.

Now, im not sure how much of my little spare/junk/craft/sewing/dressing room ive shared with you up till this point so i thought you might enjoy a sneaky peak? The idea being i'll give it a tidy have a play with the pretties and show it to you shortly, come on in then!...

My cosy place...

The following are a couple of goodies my day thought i 'might like?' and dropped by with earlier in the week!!! The old sewing box belonged to my nanny but i think she has a new one, it even has old sewing stuff in it!!!!

But this has to be my favourite of the treasures, an old pink chair! It even has the name and address on it of the lady who first owned it!!!

Well, thats it for todays show and tell, im annoyed as i dont think there will be a bootsale on tomorrow given the inclement weater, never mind, i shall have to amuse myself feeding the cows or something.....Happy holidays everyone!!!! x

making me smile...

Hi all, just thought you might like to share in the nice things ive been appreciating this week...we've had Poppy's first ever sports day, she did really well and i was a very proud mummy watching her...she enjoyed it at first but quickly got tired as it was in the afternoon, she did have 12 races to take part in- and shes only in Reception class, so that was no surprise! I think the egg and spoon race was her best one, she didnt drop her egg once!


Other than that ive been enjoying the peace and quiet of home..this is the view i have out of my kitchen window, stright onto the maize field, its really coming up now so we're hoping for lots of rain, as it really could do with a good water!

Stinky cow parsley actually looks quite pretty lining our track!

Dog dog always comes along with mummy when im wandering around the farm....

And the two cats like to watch what im up to, Darcy is quite camoflaged sat here on our log pile!

Although in these photos it looks like quite a grey day, it was actually about 6pm on a really warm hazy evening, just the kind i love for a stroll through the fields.

Im so enjoying my fantastic front boder, in it are; Roses, mint, thyme, Poppy's, Salvias, Peonies, white french lavender, Hostas, sweet williams, Foxgloves, Geum, Geraniums, plus.....

This amazing hollyhock which im watching daily, waiting for it to burst open...

This year i also have some Phlox planted for the first time, this photo doesnt do it justice but its the most beautiful candy floss pinky white colour, i love it and cant wait for it to spread a bit more!
I adore the beauty of this french lavender, its doing really well this year, how lovely would it be to have a garden full of it?...

These stunning purple Anemone's have popped up from nowhere, so pretty, i had red ones earlier in the year too, i think they're one of my all time favourite flowers....

Ive had a huge clump of these daisies pop up too, for ages i hadnt a clue what the plant was(even with help from Clare at this gardens life!), i just looked like fennel, then they started popping open and Voila!

This stunning green tree fern has decided to pop up in the base of a potted Acer, im leaving it there thought a its zinginess makes me smile.

And finally, when im out there gardening on the patio, these two are sat in their favourite place in the front porch, watching me, and snuggling.

I hope youve enjoyed this little journey through the things im enjoying this week and id just like to say a huge thanks again to all of you who have left lovely cooments/contacted me personally, you're all so lovely xxxxxxxx