On thumb sucking ...

So what's that on Mary's thumb? I have two thumb sucking addicts among my daughters, and Mary had it bad, that it until I took some sock scraps and ribbon and created a means to inhibit this little habit!

meet froglet! He is tied on with ribbon, but is only at best a good deterrent, as he can actual stretch off if the addict is finding the day a bit tough! Also, the addition of some nice fruity hand-cream, lovingly applied by mummy for those sucking blisters, can also help with that, esp at bed time. A bonus if you little one likes the smell!

And Daisy liked the idea of frogglet too,so that she asked for one, and wears hers at night!

Painting wooden boxes ...

sometimes we like t o complete a craft kit, especially presents we are given!



all three children have created something special, and they are very proud of the boxes ... (mary kept going the longest and used up all her paint!)



concentration-face! both Matty and Daisy painted the sides of the boxes white...



and kept the colours very fresh!



finally they applied all the glitter glue that comes with the kit, and i added two thin layers of RONSEAL...


in order, the work of Matty, Daisy and Mary ...

Butter Chicken?

Daisy has progressed from cuddling chickens on the ground, to picking up one of our black-tails...



and they both seem happy with this development!



Don't look now little chicken, but...



That looks like a jar of Butter Chicken!



But it's ok, I am just a rotten tease - this is our favourite family sauce, but I only ever put Quorn pieces in it!

Happy Birthday Matty and Daisy ...

who had a cake-giggly-football-playmobile-hugs and MORE cake flavoured 5th birthday ...



Did I just say 5 years?!!

When hats get lost ...

Jumpers can be recycled ...



Into new hats, with ears!



Daddy took out three children and three hats last weekend, and came back with three children and two hats ... we are off to portland tomorrow, so we all need hats !

a collaboration ....

These lovely plastic buttons were given to daisy by one of our home ed friends, Mya. Daisy asked me for some fabric and i showed her how to sew on buttons with a few stitches in one place. I think she did really well!

birds of a kind ....

one of our chickenpants, by matty ...



and a lovely barn owl, by daisy ...



we have been doing some thank you letters, they do a line of writing and draw some lovely pictures!

We love Swaps!

did I ever tell you we love swaps? we do a lot of trading ... Daisy really likes our latest acquisition too!



Check out my friend's other sculptural animals at http://www.etsy.com/shop/zfla, and enjoy your visit xxxx

we'll do it together ...

suddenly daisy decided to help mary learn ...



so they set about a jig saw together ...



and the winter sun shone into the dining room, and I did sew ...

pony rides ...

matty goes first ...



here she is returning from her ride ...



then its daisy's turn ...



jenny isn't holding Beauty, who walks daisy over to me!



mary has a little rise too, and then a giggle, probably about uunderpants again!



what a lovely morning!

Mary, Louise, Daisy and Evil Matty!

Four daughters on one bench, Christchurch, Dorset ....

daisy did some sewing ....

isn't it delightful ?

See-Saw Overloaded?

quite possibly ...

What a Beauty ...

we went pony riding today, and yes, we did miss all the rain!



here is matty at the end of her ride ...



and here is daisy, ready for her turn ...



Thank you to Jenny and Beauty, we had a lovely time, and just look at that lovely Dorset landscape ...

some of daisy's art today ....

we have quite the collection of fun sewing cards now ...
I made most of them from food boxes and a hole punch ...


but daisy likes to sew them up in various ways, and created this piece of art !



and now lets all stand next to it, for the photo .... !

zoom zoom ....

more news about hamster car to follow, in the meantime, my girls have found wheels at portland ymca. these cars are really cool !

hamster battery car makeover ...

granny bought the girls a box of boot-sale cars for christmas, among them this green one which has a motor and off set wheels so it almost walks too, and can even climb a bit ... diasy likened it to a hamster and it gave me an idea so i reached for the screwdriver!


mohair, beads, felt and hot glue and hamster-car was born!


daisy played with it all afternoon! today it has been riding on a break-down lorry. as a passenger, it isnt broken down !

have a happy new year everyone !
cat xxx

hats! hats! hats!

i have made daisy and matty some new hats, ready for all the spring rain! you can wear them either way, as i covered all the seams with vintage bias binding ...
matty is a bit grumpy
perhaps she knows the light isn't very good for photographs ...

drawing boards ...

matty has drawn a lovely big 4by4, featuring a spare wheel on the back and some useful headlights for when it goes dark. there are also some wheels so the car can 'go' ...



daisy has created a 'ginormous' ant, he has eyes so he see where he is going and legs to make him walk ...

oh dear ... i had better get some 'work' done myself soon ...