Thank you x

Firstly i obviously need to say a huge thank you to all of you lovely girls who've taken the time to restore my faith in blogging. I cant believe how many lovely, sweet comments and emails ive received this week!

Im pleased to say i will continue with my ramblings, and if there is anything you would like to read more about, just let me know! I know we're all guilty of reading and running sometimes(me-alot of the time!) but its been really reassuring to know you're with me!

So, firstly i have to show you what i got for mothers day! The girls and i were up at 6.30am as i needed to do another boot sale to rid the house of a bit more clutter, the girls and daddy firstly called me into the bedroom and presented me with a beautiful card....i then had to wait there while my gift was wheeled into the lounge and i was instructed to close my eyes until the TA DA! Moment!...Well, you can see what i received below!......

A new wheelbarrow! And not only that, a PINK wheelbarrow!

Now, you might scoff at the idea of a wheelbarrow as a mothers day gift, akin to receiving a washing up bowl for some women, but this was actually something i needed.wanted!

For the last three years ive been using a holey, rusty barrow with a flat tyre.

And when you consider how much use i get out of one-it takes my laundry from the utility to the line, my shopping bags from the car to the house, my logs from the pile in the field to the back door in winter, i couldnt live without one!

A new barrow was even on my birthday list this year, but i didn't know you could get pink ones!

Mr P really pulled it out of the bag this year...thanks baby x

Sunday was a really special day. After the car boot(made another £45) my mum brought my brother over and i cooked a huge lasagne with salad coleslaw, garlic bread, salad etc for us all. Mums favourite! Mr P even came home from work at around 5pm to share the day with us. He then spent the rest of the evening mowing the lawn-the girls had THE best time left to learn how to ride the mower themselves, lots of videos were made to show them when they're older.(for the safety conscious among you the cutting blade was disabled when they dove it and it was kept in the lwest gear-slowest speed possible, and Mr P was in the garden the whole time!)

After we'd eaten, something special happened, there was a light shower of rain, then bright skies....and right outside our lounge window, the most beautiful rainbow came out, ive never ever seen the start and end of a rainbow-both of which were in our field, it was truly a sight to behold...i guess growing up on a housing estate was why id never seen the start or end of one before? It must of always been hidden behind a house!(im not sure the photos show this but honestly, you could see the ends of it!)

Not only was there one stunning rainbow, as the sun got stronger ANOTHER one came out above it!


It was a perfect mothers day. I cant believe this time next year i'll be a mother of 3!!!!!!!

So this week is a hectic one, the kids break up for easter on friday, 17 days off, then 3 days back at school, then 4 more days off...i didn't plan this baby very well did i? I'll be 37 weeks pregnant on friday(only 3 left) and im dreading the holidays to be honest!

Im trying to make the most of every child free day, and yesterday i headed off to IKEA to get a few things for the baby and the house but they didn't have half of what i wanted so of course i ended up buying some crap i didn't need instead!

This lustworthy item called to me, but i think it was about £18 so i resisted!!!

Really don't need another blanket but this one was so lovely with its pretty fluted edges.

They also had it in blue and green if you want to grab yourself one!

But here's a shot of some goodies which did come home with me.

(Ive just noticed this is a distinctly 'Pink' post!)

The daffs were bought at the car boot sale on sunday, a pound a bunch, i bought two but the lady gave me 3, how kind? They're the big double fluffy ones, cant wait for them all to come out.

(...I took this photograph at about 7pm yesterday evening, look at the light, low sun, gently lighting the house, beautiful)

Onto the goodies. The CK memo block was a gift bought by my step mum who i spent the day with on friday, we had our mothers day then as she was working on sunday. She treated me to it from Johm Lewis, we headed there to stock up on baby essentials(i think i have everything now).

The pink spotty candles, pink glass candles and strange white towel things you see there were all IKEA.

When i saw these candles i got SO EXCITED, i wanted to bundle the whole display full of them into my trolley and run for the exit door!!!!!!

I mean look , stunning CKesque pink glass candles, which smell AMAZING, and polka dot candles-how often do you find these?!

The polka dot ones were also available in baby blue and yellow(i think)...Perfect for easter!

Ive now rearranged my mantle piece to incorporate the new pretties...

Do you love these as much as i do?!...

Here is a close up on the name of the scented candles if you want to look them up.

I think they'd make beautiful presents...

I also saw a new design of duvet cover in there. It was white with pretty rose buds all over and was so soft, almost flanelette like, you can view it Here @ the IKEA website, but it doesnt do it justice! They only had one single one left so i think its going to be a really popular design.

They also had LOADS of rosali duvet covers in my local store(southampton), i cant believe we all went so mental over them a few years ago and now they're so readily available!!!

The little white towels you see there were bought as ive been hunting for some terry towelling nappies to use as burp cloths, but so far had no luck(or they've been reeeallly expensive!) these were the perfect size and only 40p each in ikea! I was really lucky to spot them i think!

On Monday of this week i had to go to work (this saturday is my last shift-cant wait!), on Tuesday i caught up on housework, today, a final boot sale will be done with the last of the items ive sorted(its currently 4am and i cant sleep!).

On Thursday im going on a post pregnancy clothes shopping trip to primark-for essentials of course! And a little visit to CK in winchester...and on Friday im having my hair done...crikey, the weeks are whizzing by!

Thank you all for checking in with me.....

Hope you are all well today?

Love Kirsty xoxo

new seasons wants...

This post has been squirrelled away for a while now, mainly because i havnt had the time to finish it. But now i find myself with a hour or so on my hands, mainly due to the fact that instead of whisking me away for a lovely pub lunch(as promised) Mr P is actually out combining, making up the time lost through illness this week, im so mad ive hidden the sharp implements from myself to protect him when he does eventually walse in. But enough of that, i know i can rely on you guys to cheer me when im at my lowest and i hope a few pretty images and ideas might do the same for you?


Ok, well firstly, whenever i vist IKEA i try and sneak a few photos, i say 'sneak' but its not as if anyone has ever objected, i just get a few funny looks (nothing new there then). I love to spend time going back over them in my picasa albums, just a cheaper version of a home magazine i think-and i know where to purchase all of the items should the fancy take me!


I wouldnt say im a fan of everything in Ikea, for example white floors sofa cabinets etc would so NOT be a good look in a farmhouse, but chunky pine, simple lighting, and a few gorgeous cushions and pretty nets-now thats very 'me'.


Take the 'look' below, how many of us would have the room for a chaize like this one? And how many of us could put up with fighting over it with with the= kids-dogs-cats-partner= delete as appropriate...?


But the lamp-now that i like, and as soon as we have had the electrics redone here id love one just like it. Ive already got a little section in my notebook for 'electrics', where ive drawn out each room and put x's where we need plug sockets, they are VERY few and far between in this cottage.
As most of you know we have a 'red room', a rarely used lounge, it has laminate flooring, which, while practical(god im trying to write in sentences but distracted by the cast of 'GLEE' on radio 1-sorry guys) is not to my liking in this bloody freezing house! The red walls were also not my choice but a necessity according to the Mr, due to the fact that the walls were bright orange.So I have this room but kind of in reverse, a white sofa and red walls, brown reddish CK daisy fabric curtains, similar chandellier, same TV cabinet, but i hate it, yet i love what ikea have done...hmmm i think i need to study it further...


Wouldnt we all love a neat little officey/crafty space like this one? Main problem in this house is we cant to the whole 'shelf' thing, which is another cottage sacrifice! The white looks good though and is do-able for my spare room(no pets/shoes/food allowed!)

Now monochrome isnt my thing but im looking forward to 'doing' the dining room this year and i think id really like a similar wallpaper to the one used behind the sofa in this photo. I feel as though im slowly moving away from the 'shabby' chic look, not completely, dont panic! But the house is just feeling so cluttered, i think less is more for this house and its just taken me a while of living here to realise it.

White has always been a bedroom look ive favoured, i think with all the chintz and mix and match i have in my home, i need the peace and tranquility of a white bedroom, ive often considered papering the wall behind the bed, but just cant commit to it, i love it when you can lie in bed on a rare peaceful sunday morning with the curtains open and feel relaxed with no pattern distracting your mind. Do you know what i mean?

Ranunculas-who can resist???

Ive only reall recently discovered Ikeas kitchens, they're amazing value, im eyeing up a sink at the moment but Mr P isnt keen. This kitchen is very me, looks clean but classic and not too clinical (alliteration anyone?!). Just lovely. But how many people do you know who have ceilings as high as the ones featured in the ikea cataloge? Must be a sweedish thing i guess-no wonder they need those stools!

I have a couple of the cushions which match these lampshades-have you seen how much they go for on ebay-crazy money. I know you have one melmel...anyone else?

A stone floor like this is lovely but we are often found laying on the floor in front of the fire of an evening so a little too hard me thinks-underfloor heating would also be a must!

I already have the chest of drawers and bedside tables in this Hemnes range, ikea furniture is great in that its so solid and heavy but the two chest of drawers like these in my room were bought a year appart and the older one has started to yellow slightly-not happy about that.

Lovel lamp, might use this compilation of pic's and bits for the sideboard in my red room, maybe a little reorganisation would bring it back into favour?....

I do hope you hav'nt minded my running commentary on the ikea photos, i know we all take our own little ideas of each 'set', just wanted to give you an idea of the bits i love.

The next few photos are things im admiring this season. Im so glad xmas is over-all that red can get a bit too much, so lets look forward to spring with a few cheery brights and some lovely classic dinnerware. Ive used photos from lots of different sources so if theres anything you love let me know and i'll try and remember where i nabbed the image from(if i dont mention it alongside the item that is)

This year ive decided id really like to have people over for dinner more, at the moment i dont have any matching wine glasses-im reealllyy good at smashing glasses unfortunately! I got six of these from ikea, id been swooning over some Laura Ashley ones for a couple of years but to be honest, they're so thin that i think these will be far better value for money.
I also bought a set of these plates, they really are not shown to their best in this photo but they're classically beautiful and i think im only going to use them for best.

Do you like these? For non crochet-ers like me they're great! They're called Ketty and they are pot holders-they come as a two pack for 2.99, ive nabbed one but have kept one as a giveaway prezzie!How fab is this little lot?! They're called Drommar and they're plastic so you can make pretty patterns on your cake creations and then just give them a rinse....

EB/Rice lovliness......

How funky is this storage? It would certainly cheer my cupboards on a grey day!

Love these, budget wouldnt stretch though!

MMMMM Greengate lovliness-always holds a special place in my heart, this year i might collect a few pieces this year. Fell in love with some stunning green wine glasses of theirs at the xmas CL fair but they were too expensive for my nimble fingers...do you think these little china cups would survive?!

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!...........

Might mix up some pure white chinaware in with my cornishware to make it go a little further, more ikea anyone??!

Ive had my eye on this stunning cake dome for a long while, do i go for it and buy it before they discontinue it or is it something else to gather dust?

If you pop over Berryred you can ooh and ahh at all the lovliness on offer, such as this, ah it makes me happy!

I WANT ONE OF THESE THIS YEAR! Trying and failing to curb my jug obsession this year.

I need more cutlery and love the designs of these but they are no good in the dishwasher-the hunt continues....

Drommar plastic cake doilies, cute but they dont leave much of a design unless the cake is huge i reckon!

This adorable birdie tray jumped out at me at ikea, the colours are so lovely and the kids adore it too.

Again, these beautiful glasses are by Berryred.....

So there we have it, i hope you've got a little inspiration bubbling from todays post...and whatever you're up to, have a lovely day x