8 months today!

Our little baby turned 8 months old today! Sorry for the absence but things have been pretty busy lately. We celebrated Ivy’s Baptism on 20 May, which was really lovely. Lots of family and friends came along and we ate loads of cake! I’ll post some photos soon (no, I will, promise!). It’s been super hot here so we’ve been spending lots of time out in the garden and making the most of the sun… picnics with Grandma and visits to the swings, ice creams in the park with lovely friends. Ivy’s been doing ok with her eating and trying lots of new things, but her sleeping has got worse and I am suffering as a result. My evenings have been pretty short as I try to get into bed as early as I can to cope with the broken sleep that most nights bring. Sob. It’ll improve again soon, I’m sure. Although she has no teeth yet so we have all that to come! We’re pretty excited about heading off on holiday soon with some close friends and their little one. It’s a holiday in the UK so the chances are it’ll rain all week, but it’ll be great to get away.

Me and my little sis have set up a little etsy shop called ‘dearivy‘ where we sell greetings cards. Stop by and have a look some time…

Family, Holidays, Home, Summer, Uncategorized

May 28, 2012

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Lately

Here are some recent photos of Ivy. My sister came to stay last weekend which was lovely – she made some greetings cards while Ivy watched! Ivy loved having her Auntie here to play with.



Some photos of my happy eater. Ivy is really enjoying her food which is lovely to see but it makes me sad (and very happy) to think that she is growing up and it’s happening so fast. She’ll be 7 months old tomorrow – wow! She is just such a joy to be with each day and we have so much fun together playing, laughing, singing, tickling, dancing. It’s been a rainy week (so much rain, much needed) but we’ve been out and about together. We joined the local library, something I should have done long ago. I’m trying to be better with money, you see…no more buying new books for myself on amazon. We’ll walk up there later to see what they have.

It’s Friday, which means the weekend with Daddy is nearly here. We have no real plans other than to enjoy being together. I’d like to bake something sweet for us, or perhaps I’ll try making bagels (using your recipe Pia, if you see this!).

Wishing you all a happy weekend.

Baking, Family, Food, Home, Spring, Weekends

April 27, 2012

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Update

A few snapshots from the past few days. It was Stu’s birthday on Saturday, so we went here for lunch. My parents came to look after Ivy for us. I think she rather enjoyed hanging out with her grandparents and it was nice for Stu and I to have a little time to ourselves. Today we had some friends over for tea and cake and I made Stu his favourite lemon cake. We chatted, caught up on news, ate cake and chocolate, drank tea and prosecco, played with the kids (Ivy and 11 month old Noah) and just relaxed. It was lovely! The sun shone, I dried laundry outside (woop), the tulips are happy in the garden, the birds were singing. Ivy’s eating is going really well and she now has water from her pink cup!

Hope you all had lovely weekends x

Baking, Birthdays, Family, Food, Spring

April 15, 2012

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Bits and bobs

We spent the Easter weekend with Stu’s parents up north and we all had a lovely time, especially Ivy, who got lots of cuddles and attention from her grandparents and great grandma. We came away from the weekend with a baby who now sits happily and works her way through the pile of toys in front of her, tasting each one as she goes of course.

We’re now two weeks into solids and Ivy seems to be enjoying her food. I’ve been taking tips and ideas from Annabel Karmel’s book.

My blanket is growing fast and I’m loving having something to pick up whenever I get a minute to myself (and when I’m not checking Instagram like a mad woman). We’re really lucky that Ivy naps so well during the day. It’s raining outside today (what else would the weather do on a bank holiday Monday) so we’re cosy inside listening to nursery rhymes, playing on the mat, making baby food blocks to freeze, eating chocolate buttons (we were given SO much chocolate for Easter – yum) and making the most of Daddy being around on this last day of the long Easter weekend.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend x

Crochet, Family, Food, Spring, Weekends

April 9, 2012

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This week

The garden is coming to life and the pink/red dwarf tulips have been totally gorgeous. The rest are on their way and should be out soon. Pansies are going mad. Birds are devouring the bird seed from our feeder – lots of Robins and Goldfinches with huge Woodpigeons and Blackbirds catching the fallen seed below. Our little bird inside has been enjoying her first tastes of food. The wool finally arrived for my blanket, so I now have 25 balls of the most gorgeous Merino wool to crochet with. I know what I’ll be doing if I’m lucky enough to have some quiet moments to myself this Easter…

Hope everyone is enjoying the change of season, be it from winter to spring or summer to autumn!

Crochet, Family, Food, Plants and flowers, Spring

April 3, 2012

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Picnic time

We’ve had a lovely couple of days with my sister here – picnics on the river bank, clear blue skies, slow walks in the sunshine, iced coffees, cuddles with Ivy (who turned 6 months old yesterday), shopping, and a sneaky early evening glass of prosecco in the garden amongst the pots of tulips that are starting to bloom. Ivy has been such a lovely happy girl. I am so looking forward to the months of fine (hopefully) weather ahead and hope we can have many more picnics together.

I now have all of the wool ready to make my crochet blanket, so I’ll be getting on with that over the coming weeks and hope to have something to show you soon.

Crochet, Family, Plants and flowers, Spring

March 29, 2012

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Sunshine

Today was such a sunny day and this week is looking like it’s going to be sunny every day! I expect this is it now for the whole year, we brits have had our quota of clear blue skies for 2012! The chubby monkey kicked about on her mat today while I hung out the washing. Lovely!

Claire at Oscarlucinda was kind enough to pass this sunshine award on to me. So, here goes. A bit about me…

Favourite colour?
Navy blue without a doubt – I just adore it.

Favourite animal?
Birds – Robins are my top bird but I love all small garden birds.

Favourite non-alcoholic drink?
Elderflower cordial with sparkling water and lots of fresh mint. But I do love tea a lot.

Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook, don’t do Twitter.

Favourite number?
5 – just like the shape of it and that it’s used as a half, like 0.5. We got married on 5 December.

Favourite day of the week?
Sunday – the most relaxing day of the week, being lazy is allowed. Sunday papers, Sunday brunch. Good things.

My passions?
My little Ivy and our new little family of three, homemaking, Victorian / Edwardian houses, English villages, gardening, tulips, cooking and baking yummy things, wine, tea and cake, pretty fabrics, interiors magazines, walking, birds.

Getting or giving presents?
Either is lovely but I do love wrapping gifts nicely for people and I love collecting gifts for people as and when I see things I know they’ll like in preparation for a birthday or other occasion.

Favourite pattern?
I love stripes for clothing, gingham for upholstery, cushions and curtains, but I adore anything floral by Liberty.

Favourite flower?
Tulip. No doubt about it. Oh, but anemones are also lovely, as are sweet peas and hydrangeas…

I would like to pass this on to Lottie and Ashley if they fancy joining in!

Home, Spring

March 27, 2012

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Day with Grandma

Today we spent the day in Abingdon with my Mum! We lived in Abingdon when I was first born, so we made sure we walked past the two houses we lived in all those years ago. The sun was shining so we had a picnic lunch by the river. A perfect day!

Family, Spring

March 22, 2012

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Weekend away

A few snapshots from our family weekend in Sidmouth, Devon. There were about 20 of us all staying in a hotel on the sea front and we had such a lovely time. Sidmouth was home for my Grandad and my Gran grew up not too far away. We used to go there every Boxing Day when my Great Gran was still alive, so visiting the small town brings back lots of lovely memories for me.

We spent the weekend walking around the town (lots of cute shops), along the esplanade, around the award-winning Connaught Gardens where the hyacinths were in full bloom and the tulips were beginning to make an appearance, drinking tea in the sunny hotel lounge – Ivy spent a good hour blowing raspberries through the window at the people walking past on the street. She was such a good girl and seemed to enjoy meeting many new family faces. We had a mixture of sunshine and showers, but we wouldn’t expect anything else! I bought a few pretty items which I’ll show you once they’re unpacked!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend whatever you did :)

Family, Holidays, Plants and flowers, Spring, Weekends

March 19, 2012

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Teething ring from here. Ivy loves it a lot!

It’s been a fairly lazy week so far with lots more dribble. We went to music again yesterday. It’s for kids from 0-3 and there’s lots of bouncing, clapping and singing. We walk there and on the way home we pass by my favourite cafe. As I’ve joined my husband in giving up sweet treats for Lent I had to resist buying a piece of what looked like the most amazing carrot cake in the world and instead went for a mocha (definitely doesn’t count as a sweet treat, although it is one).

Started my first proper crochet project, a single colour giant granny square blanket. More on that soon.

Crochet

March 14, 2012

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