how to bore people with photos of your tomatoes

yes these are them, my tomatoes. grown from seedlings, watered , loved and now...eaten

bits and bobs

I took Lily to soft play today for the first time ever. Don't know why I have not taken her before but I have not. In fact I was thinking that she does not do a lot of normal kiddie things and i must assume its because of our parenting. Today I just giggled as I watched her return all the stray balls to the ball pit. I went over and said "darling you don't have to clean up , just play like a child" Ok mummy, she replies and runs off to primly slide down the slide. she got right into it and her friend Emma , who is a year older than her and is a seasoned soft play expert, showed her how to get all the way to the top of the big tower thing. they had a ball climbing and sliding.

My tomatoes are all ripening now and we have had my home grown cherry tomatoes in our salad the last 3 nights. they are so flavourful and fragrant having not seen the inside of a fridge. I just go outside and pluck them off . I am like a proud mama showing them to everyone who will look. My neighbor has been growing runner beans as well and they all came over the fence so now I am awash with them too. I had a moment of guilt when I thought she might be on the other side thinking her harvest was so crap this year while I had 50 runner beans on my side , but after some investigation I see she has plenty so... I am eating runner beans. I actually love them even though I am not a green bean fan but with these I remove the stringy bits and chop into bits. place in the microwave for 1 min with a drop of olive oil and a tablespoon of water and lovely crisp beans come out. I cool them and put them in a salad as I am a salad person.

My good friends Gavin and Catherine had their second baby boy last week, Jasper. He looks so adorable and I wish I could be there to go and see them and give them all a hug. I am so pleased for them and after having a chat with cath in the week I am absolutely certain I will wait to have another baby in Cape Town. She is the only other person I know who has given birth on the NHS and even though its OK and everyone lives you want it to go better. I see the NHS has been in the spotlight with America using it as a what not to do. Of course all the British public have now jumped to its defence. Why do people do that? moan and bitch about something until its criticised and then they jump to its defence. Don't get me wrong bits of it are very good but it comes down to this.. there are not enough doctors , nurses and midwives to go around. this countries population grows on a daily basis and its all at bursting point. I also have an issue with the "free" thing. Sure if you are on benefits or under age or a pensioner its free for you, but as a working adult you pay national insurance contributions which go towards this exact thing. My husband pays in excess of £350 a month to NI. just saying..

I have decided that now is the time for me to drag out Kristian's vintage I pod and make it my own. I want to put all the music I love in one place. I will keep you posted on my wide and varied music taste.

My lovely friend Sandi posted me a magazine she knows I love and another one she loves for me to try. I was so happy when i received them and it made me realise that its these little things that friends do that make them good friends. I am blessed with a good handful of good friends that truly care about me and I about them. Some are old , I have known them forever and know exactly what they are thinking, friends and some are newer friends that I am learning things about every day. But this much I know, most of my good friends don't even live in the same country as me and even after 5 years away we are still close. I know who my true friends are through that alone and for that I am grateful

Just a small note to say. have any of you seen that new Shakira video where she is in the cage!! what the hell are these people doing to me. I have an impressionable 3 year old!!

party time

On the Saturday we had Lily's little party. I invited a friend and her daughter who I see every week and a few of the little girls and boys from Diddi Dance. Due to it being right in the middle of summer holidays only 2 little ones could make it and a friend from South Africa brought her cute kiddies along. It was such a lovely day . For the first time Lily did not cry on her birthday and even smiled all through us doing her happy birthday and candle blowing. I made some lovely cupcakes and iced them with a cream cheese icing and little pink flowers. We also had fondant fancies , teddy biscuits ,and cherry bakewells. I did a fruit platter and some mini rolls with cheese and ham for the picnic part and all the kids sat and ate their food on the rugs I had put down in the garden. We moved onto a little sticking activity . I had spent like, 400 hours drawing and cutting out 6 teddies with clothing that the kids could stick on with googley eyes and pom poms for noses. they absolutely loved it and I can highly recommend that for a 3 year olds party. the pass the parcel was slightly less successful. I put on the cheery chitty chitty bang bang song and so we went ,however, once one child had received their layer with gift they were not at all interested in passing the gift around so I passed it from child to child..still fun though.

There were glaring gaps in our guest list as one set of grandparents , uncle and honorary auntys and uncles and precious children were missing..and they were sorely missed. I had a little empty bit in my heart and wished that everyone could be together.

here are a few photos of the day
Lily , Emma and Connor tucking in
the teddy bear making
picnicing from left Evie , Emma and Lily
some of the table

someone turned 3!

On Thursday 13th August my little baby turned 3. where have the first 3 years of her life gone? She is a fully fledged 3 year old now with strong opinions and an imagination second to none. She has no less than 3 imaginary friends who celebrated with her. Milly , Sister and Boo Boo all came along to join in the celebration. She wanted to go to the park on her birthday which was great as we bought her a beautiful pink bike. The fact that she only pedals backwards made it quite an exhausting visit.

he had an entirely pink cake which was her request and she ate it with relish.

So ..happy birthday my darling girl. You are the sweetest , most special little girl and you fill mummy's heart with joy

xxx

bits and bobs

Over the last month I have taken very few photos but these are the ones I did take. First one in central London on friday. We met our friend Leila for a spot of shopping.
theres the gorgeous Leila
Kristian , the giant man. this is Carnaby Street
you must excuse the blur but I was trying to be quick. heres my little munchkin watching monsters inc with her Sully (from monsters inc) on her lap


She has such long beautiful hair now we plait it sometimes. her backpack is cath kidson and the little cat is Mr Cat. I am sure you all know Mr cat by now. Please note my oak floors. I will weep when we are parted
Greenwich park after we went to the cinema for lilys first cinema experience

this is a "not another photo" face
running!
In the cinema waiting for bolt to start