Beamish Museum trip :)

Scott broke up from school 1 day earlier than the rest of the boys so we took advantage of not dragging what felt like a minibus full of kids with us and accepted my Mum in laws invitation to a day out at Beamish museum.

Now, bearing in mind last time I was there, Ben was 6 weeks old! Hes now 15! There have been lots of updates and bits added and to be honest I cant even remember what it was originally like apart from the main street where the shops are - and even those have had so many bits added to them!

It really is like a step back in time and even though there was a chill in the air it was still a lovely day, Evie enjoyed looking at everything going on around her whilst eating mini chocolate coated doughnuts!Scott was completely taken with the steam train, trams and the noisy old motorbikes - the steamtrain was his favourite though as we got to stand on the bridge while they blew the smoke up between the slats - everything disappeared completely for a minute, until you coughed your way back to reality! Oh and Fry's sweet factory - they were making cinder toffee but all i could drool over were the sweet making tools!! lolThe old school was interactive, you got to play with the old toys and walk through the classrooms which were set up with blackboards covered in poems. The old changing rooms were just like you see on the older movies - no high tec shower stalls here! There were teachers standing there telling you exactly how it use to be....yes they even had THE STRAP!! The tables were so teeny and the chairs would have suited Evie perfectly they were so small! Next it was on to the farm which has the usual pigs, bulls, chickens, ducks etc and they all seemed really co operative! lol They are probably use to the public, being on show 24/7 must make them immune to the camera because after the initial snub of 'heres my bottom - take a pic of that!' - we got a full display of completely un-shy superstar wannabes! lol Yes the pig was rather scary close up - I still have nightmares about that scene in Hannibal!! *shudder*

And finally...

Me and hubby - we just enjoyed spending some time together for a change, it seems like we both have so many projects on the go at the minute that even though we're there for each other all the time, it was nice to just breathe and relax for a while :) (no comment on the wrinkles - i was squinting in the sun - honest!) ;)

Thank you Sue (my mum-in-law) for a lovely day :)

Dresser makeover project...

I love Freecycle - or Freegle as its now called!

Someone posted mentioning they had a dresser to get rid of that had a rounded back - ok, so when they said rounded back I did wonder how on earth it would lie flat against a wall *yes dippy blonde moment* What they actually meant was that the top of the dresser unit was rounded - oh boy did I skip when I saw this!! I am in the process of sanding it all down, look how smooth that top is... - im going to leave the top a natural wood and add beeswax to protect it then paint the rest of it a duck egg blue eggshell, then it will be ready to decorate for its first party.

On a Friday night we have family night so in conjunction with Dimple Prints we are going to have our very first Nicholas Family Cookies and Milk Bar! I have jotted down lots of ideas for the cookies including cookie pops and a huge chocolate cake which is made to look like an Oreo! We will have milk in bottles with stripey straws and lots of other bits before we settle down to watch our Friday Family night movie! (any recommendations on which movie??)

So excited to get this done so im off tomorrow to go buy the eggshell ready to start the transformation!

Oh and if you wondered how I get so much done.......when Mummy loads the washer, Evie loads the washer, when Mummy sands dressers - Evie sands dressers...you get the picture..believe me there isnt much Mummy cant do without a little shadow!! lol

Toblerone No.1 Teacher

Thanks to the wonderful people over at Toblerone we had an offer of some No.1 Teacher bars to give away. However what with me not getting the parcel until almost holidays, not having enought time to send them out for kids finishing the school year and a combination of the kids being poorly they suggested that we use them for our children to give away to the teachers! How sweet is that!Thankfully we managed to get them to the school for pick up time on Friday just in time to hand to the teachers as the kids broke up for 6 weeks. Toblerone had made the wraps for the chocolate as a special one off so that was sweet and im sure there will be lots more offers coming up and i promise next time there wont be a deadline of kids holidays in the way :)

Phew!!

Last week = little boy + sickness
Weekend = little girl + sickness
Last 3 days = mummy + sickness

...dont you just hate bugs that stick around and make everyone sick!! :(

Sorry about not posting the winner of the piping nozzles but as you can imagine im kinda lacking time on the pc when the screen makes you feel icky!The Winner is DEANNE!!!

Honey please can you email me your address to debbie(at)countryheartandhome.com and i will get them out to you asap :)

Hugs
Debbie
x

May 2012 retreat - Windermere, Cumbria!!

I am so excited to announce the first of next years Creative HeART & Soul retreats and it is in one of the most gorgeous places I know!

The Terrace, Windermere – a unique row of Three 4 star, grade II listed large holiday homes located in the heart of Windermere village, yet conveniently secluded from the hustle of the town in private grounds. Designed by AWN Pugin perhaps more famous for designing the Palace of Westminster these house are beautifully kept and as a result were awarded ‘best contribution to the visual appearance to Windermere village’ in 2008.

There are copious amounts of single, double, twin and kingsize beds – NO ONE will be sharing a bed.

The majority of rooms have ensuite facilities plus there is the added master bathroom etc on each floor of each house.

All bedrooms have TV/DVD combos and most have Ipod alarms, game stations etc. One of the houses even has a cinema in the basement, another has a hot tub and another has a pool table/games room!

Since there are 3 houses that we are taking over there is more than ample parking and we have a lot of outdoor space should the weather be nice to us!

The teachers we have lined up so far are our very own Tracie Hudson, Celine Navarro, Lida De Witte and another international teacher who is yet to confirm

£375 all inclusive – accomodation, food, 6 classes plus make/takes and goodie bags. If you know Creative HeART & Soul you will know attention to detail is second to none and we have lots of surprises throughout the weekend!

Please email debbie@creativeheartandsoul.co​m to book your space now!

Deposit of £50 due at time of booking then a monthly payment of £50 on the first of Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan and a final £25 due on the 1st of Feb!

WIN a set of 24 clear piping nozzles!!

As I love baking so much I couldnt resist picking up these when in TKMaxx at the weekend! A set of twenty-four acrylic icing nozzles that will create swirls, stars, rosettes, and many more designs for decorating cakes and biscuits. Comes complete with a clear, plastic, durable case for easy storage.
I did try to explain to the lady at checkout why I needed 2 sets without sounding like a complete baking fiend...failed miserably! I just knew you would need another set too - I mean, who can ever have enough cakestands, cookie cutters and well, erm nozzles! lol

All you need to do is leave your details via Misterlinky below! I will pick someone at random on Friday 22nd July - to get an additional entry just refer a friend (or 10!)! Simply put your name in the name section alongside your referred friends name (debbie/joanna for example) and pop a link to your own blog in the link section again, just like you did on your first entry...make sense?? lol

Good Luck!! If we get more than 100 people enter the giveaway I may take a little trip to TKMaxx to see what else they have in store! You could get lucky!!

Sundays bargains!

Dont you just love it when you unintentially do something and you dont realise until someone points it out??!!

I managed to find both this bowl and candle stick at a local charity shop and it wasnt until Ben asked if i was now buying things in sets that i realised they were made for each other! How cute are these and boy didnt i need another standing bowl!! lol (Although wouldnt it look fab filled with sweets on a candy table and for only £2 for the bowl and 50p for the candle stick well i couldnt say no could I! ;)

Another bargain of the day were these gorgeous flowers £5 reduced to 75p - for that price they have brightened up my windowsill no end! :)

I also managed to pick up these two beautiful blue glass sundae glasses which i think would look fab holding those tall lollies on a candy table - £1.50 each!Have I told you about my love of TKMaxx (im sure I have?! ;) Well, depending on what the buyers bring in depends on how high my blood pressure gets and boy has it been off the charts lately!! Look at those, that huge glass will be the centre piece of a wedding project i have coming up - filled with pink champagne it will be just perfect and £11.99!! Well, I couldnt say no (I cant say no very often if you hadnt realised!) LOL That gorgeous HUGE GIGANTIC glass container will hold lots of momentoes of babies for an upcoming baby shower - either that or im really losing my marbles and concidering filling it with water and a pair of goldfish for a wedding table! (good job they had more than one in the store as i certainly wouldnt use the same one for sweets and fish!!) haha

Then of course theres something that cost me nothing but means a lot - it took an awful long time to think of all those things I love about Evie - everything from her nose to her toes, watching her grow and helping her down this path. I love the little pics which are from when she first met her Percil bunny - which is now conveniently called Percy thanks to Rosie! lol ;)