Felt and Fairy Cakes

A quilt for Florence

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I made this quilt for Florence today. It's not the most perfectly pieced together creation,

but I like it, and it'll do the job!

Rainy days...

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Thanks to Grandma Woof-woof, we had this big cardboard box stashed away for a rainy day such as the one we had on Monday. Ned and I had great fun putting this mini home together, complete with fairy lights, cushions, and curtains. I think it could be around for a while...!

(The reason Flossie looks so big is because the pics were taken with a wide angle lens - she's only little really :)

The great Barber bake off

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Jack and I had a mini bake off on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, Jack won... These were his cakes. Mine were pink with white hearts, but the icing didn't have enough icing sugar in, so it collapsed :( They can't have tasted bad though as every single one was gobbled up at church lunch!

59p!

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What a bargain for such a large and locally grown cauliflower :)

Another painting...

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Thanks to my children having a long nap at the same time this afternoon, (yippee!) I was able to finish this 'Southwold' painting which I started yesterday.

Ezra and Flossie

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Ezra James Maag, 9 weeks

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What a gorgeous boy!

Happy little cousins

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On Saturday night, the Maags and the Townshends came round to toast marshmallows on Stefan's new fire. Before we went outside, we got the babies ready for bed together and it quickly turned into a photo shoot...

Pretty in pink

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This is Flossie in her new pijamas - she loves them!

Southwold Inspiration

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While we were in Southwold we went to the Serena Hall gallery after my auntie Sarah recommended it to me. It was lovely - i liked pretty much every piece of work she had done and was very inspired to get home and paint something! This is my own version of a Southwold painting... It's not great, but will do until I can afford a proper one! http://www.serenahallartist.com/ http://www.serenahallgallery.com/

3 wonderful years

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Playing on the beach

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The Barber-Nason-Downie-Swift-Collins-Burton Family

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Southwold

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Last week we were on holiday in Southwold with the Barber family. We had a great time! The weather wasn't brilliant but we still managed to fit in 2 trips to the beach, and Jack and William even swam in the sea! Despite having a newborn baby, we found it a relaxing holiday and it was lovely to spend time with everybody, especially Grandad Don and Grandma Woof-Woof!

Baby Florence

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Florence Betty Rose Barber was born on 26th July 2010 and weighed 7lb 5oz. She is now 5 weeks old and is a lovely calm baby. Edmund is a very good big brother and has started calling her 'Babby Betty' as Florence is too hard to say!

Edmund in a basket

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this is the life

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the face of a cheeky little boy

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...trying out watercolours....

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Sorry for not updating my blog very often! Here are a few things that we've been getting up to since I last posted....preparing for the new baby...only

7 weeks to go!

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Black and White

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Jack has bought a new screen and a new lens for photographing at the Eskdale Festival this week, so of course we had to have a practise with them!

Saturday Toes

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Attention all crafty people of Whitby!

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Look what I found in Yorkshire Trading today! It's sticky-backed fabric. I know the pinky colour is a bit funny, but the rest of it is lovely. I'm going to cut hearts etc out for greetings cards and maybe customise a bag or two - How exciting! And to top it off, it was £1.99 - go and get some!

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Here I am doing some painting. More greetings cards on the way...
Thanks for the picture Bridget!

Mint Cupcakes

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Yummm....these mint cupcakes were DELICIOUS, even if I do say so myself :) I coloured the mixture pink so they looked pretty too. Then along came everyone for music practise and they were gone! More baking tomorrow I think...

Recycled Roses

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Having enjoyed Mum's Valentine flowers, the time came for them to die and so I was about to throw them away when I realised the roses had dried out and looked just as beautiful as when they were fresh! So here they are....recycled :)

Edmundosaur

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Blue Duck

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Bath time

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18 months and 2 weeks old

Eve's 2nd Birthday

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New Cards

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Not sure about these designs. I think they look a bit unfinished, but I don't know what to do!

A thankyou cake

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More Designs...

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What do think to these designs? Would you like to buy greetings cards like this? Can you think of how I can improve them?

Watching the snow with Daddy

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Tulips, Sam and Tom

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It is strange, but lovely, having Jack working from home now. And it also proves useful. Like today when I had to go to the dentist for my first 2 fillings! - I made sure Edmund was tired before I went so that he could sleep and Jack could get on with his work.

When I got back from the dentist, I suddenly felt very creative, which I haven't for a long time.

I got my watercolours out and set to work...and am pleased with the result. Tonight's task is to somehow turn it into a greetings card design on the computer.

The reason Sam and Tom are in the title is because they were Edmund's 'words of the day.' He just woke up this morning and started saying them, clear as day! He sounds so cute! :)

New Years Day

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Here is Edmund's new bedroom. It will still be a guest room aswell (there is a bed on the other side) but seeing as Sam is the only one who comes and stays in it, they'll just have to have a sleepover! When the new baby comes, he/she will sleep in the hammock in the same room as soon as they are sleeping through...it had better be as good a baby as Edmund was!!

Here are my lovely boys on our New years day walk in the snow :)

New Years Eve

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For the first time ever, Jack and I had a quiet New Years Eve in on our own. We had spent the day re-arranging the house so that the little bedroom became Jack's new office, and the big bedroom would be Edmund's and Baby's room. Edmund went to bed very happily in his new room (it is much nicer!) and Jack and I had a special dinner. Well, special for Jack...I had marmite on crumpets (which is actually just what I fancied) and Jack had a steak feast with the steak he had been bought for Christmas - thanks Rachel and Stefan!!!

We spent the evening watching The Painted Veil, which we both really enjoyed and went to bed just before midnight and enjoyed everyone elses fireworks :)

Me, Rachel and Stefan

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Stefan & Rachel

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Christmas Carols and Snowy Walks

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Mike was supposed to be leading the Carol Service at church this morning but he couldn't come because they were snowed in! John stepped in at the last minute and did a great job. It was a lovely meeting and the children were very sweet in the Nativity play. It all went to plan except for Edmund falling off the stage (thankfully Suz was there to catch him, but you could hear gasps from the audience!)

I did take a couple of pictures but they weren't very good as I was too busy playing the piano aswell as trying to keep the little sheep quiet by feeding them chocolate raisins :)

After church, we came home, had a quick lunch and Ned had a well earned sleep. We had planned to go for an exciting snowy walk with the Maags but it was too risky to drive anywhere.

So, we ended up just walking along the sea front. It was FREEEZING! We didn't stay out long - poor Edmund had such a red nose, as you can probably see from the picture :)

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After our Hot Chocolate, we went on the hunt for 'Presents for the Grandads'...a very difficult task. Next we purchased a few more Christmas snacks from the CO-OP, renewed my book in the Library (for the 4th time...) and finally made our way home via the park. Considering many of the schools were closed today, we were surprised to have the whole park to ourselves - such fun!

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Today was a very exciting day for me and Edmund. Because Edmund only has soft shoes, he has never walked outside before, but due to the snow he could wear his welly boots today. He walked all the way to town, except for a few times when I carried him a bit (because he was soooo slooooow!)

It was lovely to see him exploring everything..Smelling all the bushes we passed, pointing at the birds in the sky, kicking and eating the snow :)

We decided to give Musictots a miss this morning, because we suspected no-one would be there, so our first stop was Doodlepots (Edmund's most favourite shop in the world) for a mid-morning Hot Chocolate.

Time to start blogging again...

2009-12-01T19:54:00.002Z

Since moving house, our lives seem to have tripled in busy-ness!

Here's a list of things that have happened in the last few weeks:

*Ned has had his first Hot Chocolate
*He's painted his first plate at Doodlepots
*He's swallowed 2 earrings
*I met my girl friends for lunch
*Edmund learnt to walk
*Grandad John had his beard shaved off
*Grandad Doug came to visit for the weekend
*Edmund had his first trip to the dentist
*Church music group have learnt lots of lovely new songs
*We had guests staying in our guest room for the first time
* I'm going to be leader of the church Youth Band
*Jack has designed, printed and assembled a lot of calendars
*I'm booked in for my first filling
*Sophie came for lunch
*Thursday meetings have been at our house
*Stefan bought us a Chinese takeaway
* And we're still waiting for Josie's baby...

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Edmund

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This was taken in the cottage, the evening before we moved.

My 3 babies...

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...Big Ted, Little Ned and Monkey

Edmund and I found this brand new Thinsulate hat in a charity shop this morning for 95p! So of course he had to wear it while he had lunch...

This afternoon we walked to Lidl to do the shopping. I have really missed being able to walk to the shops - it was lovely. The weather was quite cold which was nice because I could walk briskly without getting hot and bothered! I think we'll do lots of walking now that we're in Whitby again.

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Doodlepots is in for a treat!

This is my first week of providing refreshments for Doodlepots. I think this 'Double Chocolate Raisin and Biscuit Refridgerator Cake' should keep the customers happy :)

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The bottom fabric is for new living room curtains :)

The navy and white is for hall curtains :)

The cream is just lining.

And the top two are for cushion covers :)

I'm so excited!

Living Room

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This is the only bit of the living room I will let you see at the moment. The rest of

it is filled with massive boxes, which the sofas came in.

Dining room

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This is the Kitchen

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What a lovely and spacious kitchen compared to the cottage!

The most beautiful bedroom in all of the world...

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This is the en-suite. Shower to the right, Loo on the left. Still awaiting tiles and mirror :)

THE NEW HOUSE

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Right. This is the outside of the house at the moment. The diamond boys knock bricks out and put them back in again all day from about 8am until 4pm. They make a lot of noise and a lot of dust. (I gave them flapjack today which made them happy :)

Moving House

2009-09-29T17:01:00.002+01:00

It has been brought to my attention that I have neglected to update my blog recently, so here is my excuse....All last week I was packing, then we moved on Saturday, unpacked and sorted on Sunday, IKEA yesterday, and yet more unpacking today. This house is going to take ages to get right, but once it is, it will be lovely.

We chose our sofas at IKEA yesterday and managed to fit the 2 seater in the car. The 3 seater is about to be delivered anytime....Very exciting. We also bought a tv cabinet, a side board for the hall, bedside cabinets to match the bedroom furniture, another stair gate, a filing cabinet, curtain fabric, cushion fabric (absolutely gorgeous) a big mirror for the main bathroom, and of course the various bits and bobs that one must always get when visiting IKEA.

We are all exhausted. Poor Jack went back to work today. Ned and I attempted to build all the furniture we bought yesterday but that was all too difficult/heavy so we gave up and did some baking, followed by making a cardboard cottage from the sofa box :)

Oh, and another thing....Rachel and Stefan arrive tomorrow! Woohoo!

Please excuse the lack of photo. I have no idea where the camera is.

Oh dear...

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I had suspected that I would make some mistakes in my diet, but the temptation came sooner than I thought.

Monday night...2 pieces of toast with butter and jam.
Tuesday teatime.....Lasagne, followed by Ice cream with chocolate sauce.....
Tuesday evening.....1/3 bag of peanut M&M's.....
Wednesday lunchtime......Buttered roll with tinned soup and a toffee appollo from Bothams!!!

Uh oh! Sorry everyone.

I will not lose hope though. I want to be slim more than I want unhealthy food.
So tonight for tea it's Fish and Roast vegetables, and fruit for pudding. And I will continue to be good.

Thursday

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Edmund had a sleep this afternoon and woke up in a stinking mood when Daddy got home. He would not stop crying! Thankfully Big Ted came to the rescue by speaking in his funny voice :)

This morning, I worked on some new greetings card designs, and this afternoon Ned and I went to help Grandma Hilary in 'The House of Boxes and Dust'. She had been cleaning all morning so there wasn't much for us to do..phew...although we haven't even started painting yet!

Uh-oh. I have just received a phonecall informing me that my Music tots job is starting sooner than I thought! Ahhhh!!!

Now I think i'll treat myself to watching a soppy movie while Jack's out at church... :)

P.S - The diet is still going well. I am being VERY good.

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Pirate Ned goes to the Pirate Park...

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...and Day 3 of the diet - Diet is going well and i'm sticking to it. I weighed myself this morning (which I shouldn't have done, but I couldn't wait) and i've lost 3lbs in 2 days! Great, I hope it continues like that :)

Rebecca is visiting Sam in Hull this week, so while he was at work today Rebecca came to visit us. We had a lovely day with her, walking in town, going to the park, and of course helping to lift boxes into the loft at mum and dad's!

Edmund loves going to the park. He likes the slide best, despite having a little accident on it today :( He has a lovely purple bump on his head to prove it...

The lack of sugar in my diet is certainly taking it's toll, so I plan to have a nice relaxing evening of stitching or painting...

Day 2...

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I have managed to stick to the diet for another day! I ate Porridge for breakfast, Chicken and Veg Stew for lunch, and Spicy Cannellini bean and tomato casserole for tea.
My friend Grace came round this morning for the first of her Piano lessons. This afternoon, Edmund and I geared ourselves up for his first session at Fit tots only to find a sign on the door informing us that it had taken place this morning instead. Hmmpf :(
So we went to the park instead. I'm off to help Mum put things back in the loft now...

Monday Morning

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This is the view I had from lying on the floor to do my sit ups :) Yes, I am having yet another go at losing weight. I am fed up of my clothes not fitting me comfortably and feeling generally fat and frumpy! Let's see how long I stick at it this time... I thought maybe if I wrote this on my blog then I can be accountable to my blog viewers! So far, it's going well. I had porridge for breakfast.

Edmund and I are making sure we keep busy so as not to think about food so much :) This afternoon, we are going to do the shopping, tidy the garden, clean the pushchair and go to the park before coming home to cook tea.

Now we're popping out to buy eggs for our healthy omelette lunch...

And then Edmund drove us home...

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Look at all that beautiful blonde hair!

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The National Kite Surfing Championships

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Today we went to Bridlington for the National Kite Surfing Championships. Dad drove from Lincoln, picked Sam up from Hull on the way, and we all met up at the beach. We watched the Kite Surfers for a couple of hours (they were pretty clever) before a stroll into town for coffee and cake, of course :)

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This is one of my favourite pictures from the day

2nd Wedding Anniversary

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(Polly would not sit still for this photo!)

Jack took me out for dinner last night to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary.

It doesn't seem like we've only been married for 2 years!

We went to Netherby House (just down the road :) and it was excellent.

The service was very good, and the food was very posh and very tasty.

Jack had scampi, followed by Haddock with crayfish, and sticky toffee pudding. I had Whitby Crab, followed by Duck in Plum and Ginger sauce and Chocolate Truffle Torte...Yummm!

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Time to wake up Edmund...

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A red dress. A red brooch.

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Tonight Mum are I are going to Glaisdale for the Theatre and a meal in the Arncliffe Arms - yummy! - so I made a new brooch this morning, to match my red dress :)

Egton Show 2009

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...and a new CD arrived today, and it's brilliant! ('There is a Hope' by Stuart Townend.)

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I also got to pick up my new butter dish from Doodlepots....

A lovely week

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This week has been lovely because...today was Egton show. I got a few bargains for Edmund and a treat for myself :) It was a very wet day but there was lots to see and Nibbles (Harriet's guinea pig) won 3rd prize for being beautiful!

Heart Leaves

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What gorgeous leaves! I think i'll have to make my own string of hearts now... That can be tonights project...

Ned, sat in a bush

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Amy in the Canoe

At the top of Catbells

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Back row - Jack, Tony, David, David, Dan

Front Row - Isaac, Joshua, Dan, Jacob, Ben, Harriet, Suzanne, Ollie, Sam and Sarah

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Chilling out while Daddy swims in the lake

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Edmund, Me and Harriet on the lake

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Dinner time in the tent