Bye bye March!

Helllooo, im back....... and im not mental anymore, yay!!

Here i am, i was having a fat day today(what other kind is there at almost 36 weeks pregnant) so i selected my favourite black GAP maternity jumber and skinny jeans....i did also have my riding/leather boots on this morning as it was pissing it down, then this afternoon turned warm and sunny so i went for the sparkly leopard print pumps with a sparkly accessorize silver scarf!

I know this is a bit of a crap photo, but i was rather excited. Mr P's camera has been broken for aaaages and i sorted it out today so i was a bit snap happy!

This is kind of a jumble of this past week, all rounded up for you. Im back on my way 'up' now, things have sorted themselves, the house and my mind!

Firstly, look at this fab fruit/veg box. Turns out some neighbours of our farm had dumped some garden rubbish over their fences and into one of our fields....words were had...this was the apology gift!

My garden, AH MY GARDEN! Its all coming to life, March has been so warm that im sure you've noticed blossom all over the place is well in bloom already. This is our apple tree, 3 days ago it was just a mass of tight buds, now look at it!!

My mum and i spent a very hard Sunday in the garden at the weekend. It was amazingly productive, we were completely shattered afterwards, not to mention, hot grubby and sweaty(mmm nice)!

I trimmed back the lavender, a job which i didn't do last year, morning sickness stopped me from much of anything of any use. I also trimmed my herb garden right back(the bricked bit behind the table there) and the verbena bonariensis and all the lovely new sprouts are reaching for the sunshine already.

We've already sat out at this table this week and had to use a parasol it was so sunny!

Im not going to do much proper gardening this year(for obvious reasons) my greenhouse will be bare, but i intend to buy some simple bursts of colour for these pots...cosmos daisies, petunias, Dhalias etc .

This is the front garden, i love this little wooden border which Mr P created for me, its full of spring bulbs and primroses and is a lovely sight as you walk in the front door or sit on the bench below the front window facing out onto it.

Look at this stunning jagged edged tulip, its such a bright red!

And these anemonies, i could have a garden filled with just them and be entirely satisfied!

I think my porch needs a coat of creosote, but that might have to wait till next year. I think for now i'll get another box ball for the otherside of the mat. Look at that hosta springing to life!

I like to take photos like this so in about 6 weeks when everything springs to life i can look back and see how bare it was!...My Japanese maple is coming to life, one of my favourite trees.

There's also some chocolate mint, a hosta, a tub full of Geum's and a bare pot waiting for inspiration.

My Araucana was strutting around picking the worms out of the mole hills today.

I have no idea where she is currently laying her eggs but id love to find out as i miss those little blue beauties!

I love that you can buy a little pot of lilac violas for just a pound along with the bread and milk.

I also love the cheery purple pots they come in! These will grow and spread and fill out the pot i choose for them, so they're a little investment!

I know this is another table shot, but im so relieved its so tidy and clean now. My mum was on her hands and knees with a knife cleaning and weeding the gaps between the slabs. She curses Mr P, as 'all it needs is a bit of cement'...ok mum, i'll put it on his list x

Mr P bless him has been such a good boy this week, he borrowed this from the yard and guess what he did...he cut the lawn!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO EXCITED about this!

And here it is, my lawn, in all its half cut glory. You see, after 10 minutes it got a puncture. Poppy spent an hour with him fixing it and was so excited to learn how to do that-every cloud i guess?....Another 10 mins on and it ran out of fuel, damn it! So, its still parked outside my bedroom window, but 80% of my lawn is mowed so im not complaining!

My shadows trying to get in on the photographic action!

This is next on Mr P' list, carpet and other bits waiting for a bonfire.....

He ticked this off his list though-my leaky pipe? Fixed!!

Ah! Heaven is a functioning dishwasher. Didn't realise how much i needed this baby until i couldn't use it!

****Drumroll please*****

*****TA DA!!!!****

The result of weeks of work upstairs can now be revealed. My dad, step mum, and mum and i have spent a loooonnng time preping and then painting this space. Then we had the new carpet laid and it finishes it off perfectly. Im still 'tweaking' the rest of it in terms of prettifying the area, but you get the picture?

This is the area which leads through to the nursery...

Baby's cot will go in this corner. For now as you can see its just baby 'bits' piled high!

Come inside...

The bed will have a plain white duvet cover on it this week and all those untidy bits underneath will be neatened up.

Another job waiting to be ticked off of Mr P's list there on top of that old bedside set of drawers.

So thats the all new clean fresh upstairs area...Hope you like it?

The nursery needs a little shelf and something nice on the walls, but maybe we'll wait until after baby arrives so that it can be a bit more personal? I'll keep you posted on the room's progress.

Ive sorted mothers day now, the gift below is what ive chosen for Mr P's mum...bought from one of my favourite local shops Kit & Caboodle in Romsey.

The shops owner Debbie is so lovely, she even supplied this pretty pink paper...about 5 sheets of it when i bought a birthday gift recently and i had some left over. I'll do a post on the shop one day, its to die for. Full of Emma Bridgewater and beautiful jewellery and a huge range of home and gift ideas!

I loved this mug, Mrs P senior has a pair of call ducks so this will be right up her street. Its a small bone china mug, perfect for a ladylike sized coffee in the morning.

You can find more Sophie Allport products HERE, they're simply adorable.

On wednesday mum and i took about 9 bin liners full of 'stuff' she'd helped me turf out of the loft cupboards, to a local boot sale. One which doesnt start until 10am, how cool is that?!

So off i went to the school run, then met her there and she helped me set up.

After 40 mins it started spitting, then it started raining...hard.

So we quickly threw everything back in the car. It was a crazy hour of selling though and i made 45 quid!! Ive got a few bags full of nice things left to sell so we shall endeavour to try again in the next few weeks before baby arrives. Not bad for an hours work though eh?!

I did pick up ONE little treat at the boot sale, a gift for Mr P. He likes to sit on the floor of an evening, preferring it over the sofa, he sits about six inches away from the TV like a 6 year old even though he's now had his eyes lasered! He then likes to eat his dinner off a stool. The last one, a little wooden one covered in CK fabric has seen better days(its hideous-seriously)...so...

Look what i bought?!...What a cute little stool!? For £3 i couldnt leave it there in the rain could i ??

And there you have it, we're well and truly back in the land of the living.

Things are coming together nicely and i think im almost ready to have this baby...Ah April tomorrow, i welcome you with open arms...bye bye March!

Oh, and I Cant wait to be able to give up my new best friend in a few weeks....

...!!!!!!!

Love Kirsty xoxo

Mental

It was Rubys 6th birthday on Friday, we had a quiet family gathering after school, as she had a joint party with her best friend last Saturday at a lovely local garden centre.

They had a 'deco-patch' party, simple decoupage for kids, 14 of them all together, sandwiches, crisps and jelly and ice cream in the on site cafe = easy time for mummy as there was no clearing up! Thought you might like to see a few nice photos before i bore you all to death with this post?

*WARNING THIS IS A LOOOONG RAMBLY POST!*

So, thats me lately, mental, i think i AM actually going mental. I just feel like i have SO much going round in my brain that if i dont get some of it out i'll end up sat in a small corner of my house rocking whilst holding my knees!

Firstly i want to apologise, i dont feel like im that 'finger on the pulse' blogger that some of you girls manage to be, i have ideas for posts, then someone else gets in there before me and writes an identical account, or i cant photograph what id like to blog because my camera is broken, or i sit down after the girls have gone to bed with all good intentions, and fall asleep by 7.15pm...So, you catch my drift right?

Things are all good with us right now, there isnt alot to show and tell for the moment anyway i guess. The bathroom(the SODDING bathroom ive renamed it) has become a bit of a pain in the arse, but as soon as its finished i will show it to you, in all its glory, please accept my apologies its taking SO LONG... you can wait a little longer, right?

Babys room/landing has had a white paint makeover and the carpet went down last week, so i can reveal all when i can get a man in to move all my furniture back to where i need it.

Of course, nothing's ever simple, and i inadvertantly managed to instruct the fitters to completely cut off the main tv ariel into the house. Major, MAJOR catastrophe. Still not fixed, no idea when it will be...thank god for BT Vision!

Mr P isnt around right now as we have been blessed with the weather we need to get the crops in. It means i have the place pretty much to myself and he doesnt get shouted at for coming home filthy as im already asleep by then!

But, there are a great many 'jobs' on my list which are niggling at me to be finished before the baby comes in precisely 5 weeks!

This includes a major leak under the sink being rectified, i cant use the dishwasher, OR pour anything down the sink at the moment, i think if it goes on for another day the men in white coats will have to carry me off!!!!!!

Then theres the garden, oh, my poor poor garden, There are about, oh, a million ? things i need/want to do out there, but im being realistic now, my body just wouldnt be able to cope with any hard graft, and, i just don't have the time(or the energy) right now.

I still need to organise 'most' of the cupboards in my house, the uncontrollable nesting urge dictates the actions of my every waking hour right now, and the cupboards seem to be my target-tidy cupboards mean more room for tidy 'stuff'.

Ive kind of fallen out of love with my house, it just feels too challenging, the dogs/cats/kids just create SO much mess and physical dirt that there is literally a thick layer of brown dirt on every surface at the start and end of every day. Remind whats so idyllic about living on a farm?!

I still have loads of stuff to get in prep for the baby, so far i still need a mattress for the moses basket, and one for the crib, and sheets for both, plus sheets for the cot. I need to get a blind made for babys room, i need to get to ikea for 'bits' for baby's room. I also need some more 'mummy stuff' which a new mummy cant be without.

Then soon its easter, the girls are always inundated with so much chocolate that they're still trying to work through it in October so im planning something which isnt chocolate orientated for them, i will be even more heavily pregnant by then so must must must sort it out now!

Mothers day cant have escaped your attention, in the uk its in just a weeks time, shit, one week?! Where did that creep up from....cards bought, must sort gifts - x3!

So, there we have it, the latest installment in my crazy life...be back soon, hopefully feeling slightly more sane, i promise x

ICE ICE BABY

What a girl wants, a pregnant girl gets!...And THIS ladies, is not just a craving, its an addiction!

I literally have to have my ice, its SoOoOo satisfying i cant even explain.

Im still having the odd cuppa here and there but mainly its just ice and ribena, ice and apple juice, ice and water...i kind of think i understand what it must be like to have an addiction to cigarettes, or food, or drugs now, when im at work and i cant have it...well, you dont want to be around me!

Luckily ive knocked my hours down to 10 a week over two days now, so its not too bad.

I had the same craving with my 2nd daughter, it drives my family crazy, sitting there, 'crunch crunch crunch' but i know that as soon as baby is born it'll disappear, and they can have some peace and quiet again!

This is MY drawer of the freezer, poor Mr P had to do a late night dash for some the other day, as SHOCK HORROR we were getting low. And he even bought be back a raspberry pavlova too...surely..thats love?

Id love to hear of your cravings?

Have a lovely weekend all...

Kirsty xoxo

Strike a pose!

Sunday,what a day! I felt like a model for the afternoon!!

....Do you remember this post i did recently showcasing a little of the fab work done by local

photographer Mike French...??...Weeeelll, Mike got in touch with me recently to say that he wanted to add another service to his already popular family/newbon/pre wedding portrait service-MATERNITY portraits! AND did *I* want to be his 'guinea pig'-erm, hello?

Do you not know me?, i LOVE to pose, so, naturally i almost bit his arm off to take him up on this opportunity!! And sunday was to be 'the day'.

Mike said that he'd like some shots of me, some of the kids and Mr P, and the dogs even got involved too!!!

By chance we chose a perfect day, its was early spring at its best, not too sunny, not too

warm/cold/muddy....and Mike was pleased to come here to do the shots as the farm was the perfect backdrop.

I struggled with what to wear so Mike and i settled on something which would show the bump off as much a possible, i guess as these were kind of 'test' shots for him, but, if i were to do it all again i wouldnt have chosen quite such a clingy vest i dont think!

I hope you dont think im bowing my own trumpet too much here guys, im just mega excited about the imminent arrival, but hugely enjoying this special time while babba is still inside me.

I have my favorite shots out of just these few, and i havnt even seen the completed gallery!

I know its going to be really tough to choose one, but what a lovely memory to have??

Anyway, you guys can make your own minds up...enjoy x

******Edited to add-You can check out Mike's studio blog HERE to see more pics-will let you know when the entire gallery is compete!**********