Roskillys........ Yummy

A trip to Roskillys has kept us busy today. This is what I have been looking forward to most this week (and dreading! As we were missing the other person who loved the place as much as I do!). We met up with Mum and Dads friends Michael and Jane-Marie and their little lady Mollie. We all had the most wonderful lunch, I had homemade chunky soup with crusty rolls. Afterwards between us I think we had every flavour of ice cream the place sold. Mollie took us on a long walk around the farm and lakes, through the fields and bogs! Definatly a 'wellie walk'. We ate apples from a tree that had recently fallen but had still managed to produce fruit. After our walk I persuaded Ben to go back into the farm shop selling local artisan's work (pottery, glass work, the most fantastic wooden furniture that I will never be able to afford, paintings and lots of things that would look great in my house!!!). I bought a vase and a decorative dish made by a local potter with a hare on them. They should look quite nice on my dresser (that I keep saying I'm going to reorganise - this will prompt me to do so).
We are all now back at the cottage waiting for our curry to finish cooking. (I think a diet is in order when I get home next week)............

We have had a fun the last two days. The weather has been fantastic (blue sky and sunshine)and we have been out and about making the most of it all. Yesterday we went to Porthleven, a tiny village on the coast full of little 'trinket' shops selling lots of touristy things, that the children love, and I try to avoid (although I did see a few things.....) when we walked into the village the main street was busy with people all waiting for the imminent 'pram race'. We only had to wait 10 minutes or so before the first of the fantastic decorated carts hurtled down the steep hill towards us picking up quite alot of speed before bouncing of the hay bales and almost tipping on it side to get around the corner. It was fabulous and the children all thought it was wonderful, they hadn't seen anything like it before and didn't stop laughing until the last cart was long gone (around the harbour to the pub on the other side). Our favourite cart was decorated to make it look like the Chilean mine shaft, complete with escape pod!
We carried on walking to the beach and played a game of rounders (girls winning of course). We all had a paddle in the surf. Most of us managed to fill our boots with water and small pebbles!
As the sun started to fade we all made our way back to the cars, looking as Liz would say, very 'cornish'!!!!!!! Or as I would say bedraggled.....
We had been quite clever and had put the roast on to cook before we left the house on our return all we had to do was turn the cooker up to finish it off and sort out the veg. A day outside had made us all so hungry, and what looked like far too much food was eaten up in no time at all. The children all went to bed tired and happy.
Today we woke up to say hello to Ben and Samuel who had got out of bed at 5:30 this morning to go fishing!!!!! Unfortunatly they didn't catch anything Boo and hiss! After breakfast and a bit of a rest for the boys we went over to Praa Sands for a run on the beach (Andi organising the relay races) and afterwards a fabulous lunch of muscles and cheesy chips, yummy.
We spent the afternoon 'crabbing' in Penzance. Only two crabs were caught and three of the tiniest fish i have ever seen. Funnily enough we managed to squeeze a little bit of shopping in (Tanya bought some wonderful dresses and I bought a cute little purse).
The day was finished of in the cow shed where the farmer let the children help feed the month old calves. They loved it and gave them their bucket of milk and a hug. The farmer knew Dad really well as he was one of his customers, he chatted to Mum for quite a while which was nice.
Sam went to bed really early, as did they all apart from Emily who is now 'very old' which is where I'm heading now as it's gone midnight xxx

Can't wait for roast

Day 2 in the 'big holiday house' hehe we have woken up to beautiful sunshine xx Sunday roast is what everyone is looking forward to. We are just about to go for a walk along the beach. The meat has already gone in the oven on a low heat so that when we come back it will nearly be done and the house will smell wonderful.
Tamsyn made up a 'quiz' this morning over breakfast for the other children. Andrew says she has now cought playareah!!!! As yesterday she cried because she didn't want to join in as she didn't think she would be any good, and today she can't wait to answer as many questions as possible.
Cup of tea and then off to the beach....... Fabulous....

On holiday in deepest darkest Cornwall xx

We arrived late last night at the holiday house. I can't believe how big it is! It's got 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms a massive kitchen/dining room ( bigger than the downstairs of my house) a games room and a really nice lounge. We definatly found a fabulous house. It must be quite old and is full of beams and granite posts. It's decorated in a very old fashioned 30's style and full of old paintings and old crockery. I dream if living in a house like this! They have put down the middle of the kitchen two old and battered wooden farmhouse tables. Big enough for all ten of us to sit around and have 'elbow' space. It's utterly fabulous. The weather today had not been though!!!!! It has rained most if the day but we are all so pleased to Just sit and relax it hasn't seemed to matter. Ben and Sam went of into the nearest village in search of today's paper this morning. And Andi and Ben ventured of at lunch time in the rain to hunt and gather pastys for us all. Tonight we are all going to settle in and play some games (the girls were narrowly beaten at pictionary last night so will need to improve tonight) and Andi has written a quiz for the children for after tea. We have cottage pie in the oven just about ready. It's just really nice to enjoy spending time with each other without always having to rush about. It's just such a shame Dads not here to enjoy it with us!! He is missed all the time but this week much more by all of us (as this was Dads best week of the year). He loved his holiday with all the family so much and would talk about it so much. We have decided to make sure we all have a fantastic time and try not to be too sad as he would not have wanted that xxx I just hope he's looking down pleased we are all away together and having lots of fun, building new memories for all the little ones xxx

Busy, busy, busy.........

Tonight has been busy. Samuel had football and Tamsyn had art club after school. We then had two friends (brother and sister) of Samuel and Tamsyn's over for tea which was good fun. Their Mum had to work and my lot love to have them over so all people were happy. They even ate my tea, which was a change from last time they came over.......... After they left Tamsyn made her robot for her whole school homework due in on Friday. She is very pleased with her efforts and can't wait to take it in tomorrow morning. I'm going to have to find a box to take them in so they don't get crushed in her bag
Emily had her first 'big girl with words' pantomime practice!!!!! They are doing Calamity Jane this year which sounds like alot of fun. I had to pick her up but they didn't finish until 9:30/10 ish by the time we got home. The older group obviously practice for longer so I will have to remember to make sure Emmy gets an early night, the night before and after as she will be fit for nothing at school if not.
I've been working in Liskeard all day (which is not really what I needed) so i'm feeling quite tired tonight - can't think why hehe.
I really need a day off work this week to get ready for our holiday (we go away on Friday) but i'm sure I will fit in packing, in between Beavers, rugby, art club, friends over  and a week at work aaaaaggggghhhhhh I'm sure it will get done, it always does. One day I will learn but probably not in the near future - it would never suit me.
Emily was a sweet heart when she came home from school today. I came home quite a tidy house. She had gone around picking the many things we had all dropped along the way this morning, as we were frantically getting ready for school. All the washing was picked up from the bathroom floor and the table had been cleared XXXXXXX big kisses for the very grown up Emily. She had also done a wonderful job to her bedroom (not that Tamsyn and her friend kept it that way for long!). She has been such a help this last couple of weeks. I think she can tell that i'm getting tired and not doing so well without my days off to clean the house (when all the children are at school - such a difference) Long may it continue, Bless her.
How mothers cope when they work full time every week I have no idea. I've only been doing this for the last 6 weeks or so but don't think I could do this for ever, and remain mentally intact.
Must go as I have a load of washing to sort out now - no rest for the wicked.

I said there would be more things........

Oh and the flowers my girls painted on the wall out in the courtyard.
Arn't they fabulous?

Things I love........some of them

Baking              Family photos (especially from when I was young)         Milk chocolate

Bunches of flowers all over the house          Bunting            Gin and tonic         Apples

Picnics      vintage finds (especially ones from Granny Mary's or Granny Cleo's house) 

Smell of washing on the line        Cup of tea in a crisis       CSI on telly very late at night

Daffodills and tulips       My massive oak table       Cake stands and cup cakes

Quilts to wrap up in on a cold night         Mulled wine     Friends/family over for roast

Benjamin (always xx)       Chatting to Liz until three in the morning putting the worlds to right

The childrens antics       Boden      My dresser and all the 'bits' on it      fabric

Tablecloths for all occasions        chunky wine glasses        Kirsty Allsop (tv presenter - homes)

Deep red (paint and material)      The coat my Dad got me for Christmas a couple of years ago

Walking the dog on the beach           Victoria sponge cakes            my summer house in the garden


There is more but I can't think now......cup of tea time xxxxx            

A long week with tooth ache

Oh what a week I have had! I went to the dentist like a good girl and I cried my eyes out....... (very embarrassing!) I was in so much pain and my face had started to swell. He informs me that for £372 he can fix it with a root canal filling OUCH! both for the money and for the pain involved. If this is unsuccessful it will need to be crowned (another £400 - £500.....). Wow was I and still in pain on my return home. I was unable to go to work on the Wednesday and Thursday as my face had swollen even more and I was taking so much medication I wasn't feeling myself at all. I have to go back next week for my mammoth filling and am not looking forward to it at all.
I did have to week of work though and even though I wasn't fit for much I did sort out several loads of washing to get ourselves a little more up to date which was a much needed task completed. We were beginning to look like a wash house.
My mission to be organised and tidy is going very well. I have found a fab website 'Flylady.net' and although It may seem like she states the obvious (pick up after yourself, organise your time) sometime you need to be told or read it for it to sink in that it can actually be done. She is a firm believer in routines, if you do something every day it will become second nature and you will find yourself just doing whatever it is and it not being a big stress. I have written out a morning and evening routine in a folder and have so far stuck to it and it is working. My house is notably tidier and i'm feeling a little calmer. She says that you must try to do even just one wash a day to keep in control (and not do what I do and save it all for the weekend, and then go out with the children instead). She askes if your house is in CHAOS - Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. I love this so much as this is what i have....or had hehe.
I was watching Kate + 8 last night on the television. Kate is a lady who had twins and then went on to have sextuplets!!!!!! I find it facinating how she copes. I wonder if she is all nice when the cameras are on but is really shouty when they all go home :-) She must have lots of help.
We have not seen much of poor Benjamin this last few weeks as he has spent most of his time at work. He has worked the last three weekends in a row! Not very good at all but very good for our pree Christmas bank balance (after my teeth have been paid for). As is always the case in our family just when we think we are getting somewhere you get another problem to deal with. I'm sure we are not alone.
Anyway nothing much really matters as soon (next week) we are away on holiday, all the family. Mum, Andi, Tanya and their children are coming as well - all 10 of us in a fabulous cottage down at the bottom of Cornwall for a week. We all cant wait. It's so fabulous. Poor Jet has to go into kennels but he is staying with Casper so I think he will be fine.
Must go I have another load of washing to hang out......I love the smell of washing on the line.

Still hurting :-(

I am suffering now, I still have toothache!!!!!! I've got a dentist appointment this afternoon but it can't come quick enough! I wasn't coping at all at work so came home before lunch - I was not looking my best and was feeling quite sick due to the pain and lack of sleep (even though I went to bed before the children did last night). Hurry up.....I never thought i would want to go to the dentist so much ever.....
All I can see around me is washing, in varies stages of dirty, clean and ironing. I'm hoping that as soon as I have seen the dentist the pain will have gone and then I will be able to funtion like a human being and not the 'pathetic one' that I am right now. I will then be able to clear my house of all the washing ( I think i'm going to have to be ruthless and decide if we actually need all these clothes and try to get rid of some - two recycling bags would be a good target), whilst we are at it two boxes to the charity shop would also not be a bad thing.
My silicone cake 'tins' were waiting for me at work today. They are so nice. I used my lovely Kenwood mixer to make a cake (victoria sponge as I cant cope with anything harder today). The whole thing was fabulous. The cake just slid out of the 'tin', even when quite hot. I've got a medium size round one (perfect for us lot) and two different size square ones (perfect for brownies and carrot cake tray bake). It also came with some cupcake cases, lets hope that the children done forget and throw them away like the paper ones hehe.
Only an hour to go before my appointment YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

I've got tooth ache!

Oh yeah!! After saying the other day how pleased I was that my children were so excited to go to the dentist and how frightened I was, I now have to ring up and make an appointment. I've got the worst tooth ache in ages. I had a filling fall out a long time ago ( a very long time ago!) and now it's started to hurt. I had to take Samuel to rugby this morning and it was all I could do to just stand there, pretend to be interested and hold onto my face! I even cried in the car it was hurting so much. As I never take pain relief for anything I had no paracetamol in the house and resorted to taking Calpol 6+........It tasted so disgusting.....poor children at least the Calpol for little ones is pink! We decided not to hang around for too long after the game and came home so we could all sit on the sofa, watch a film and drink hot chocolate. It cheered us all up a little.
Ben has worked all weekend and had to do 12 hours today so we pottered around the house. I had grand plans to get my ironing done today but when your feeling i'll the last thing you need to do is the ironing (it would make everything even worse hehe).
I have had a fabulous present given to me today. My lovely Granny Cleo has given me her Kenwood food mixer. It's so wonderful and i'm so excited to use it as soon as possible. Grandad bought it for her and it still looks new. She said that she hasn't used it for so long that I could have it. I was saying to her the other day that I have been looking into buying one but as they are so much money wondered if I would use it enough to justify such an expense. Such a fantastic present I can't quite believe it. My Christmas has come early. All I have to do in return is make her the odd cake YEAH this can be done with immense pleasure. I have plans this week to make meringues (very yummy) I've still got some blackberries in the freezer so would quite like to make a scrummy desert. Which reminds me I have to get the ingredients together in the morning for Emily to take to school as she is making rock buns. She is getting quite good at cooking, her apple and blackberry crumble she made last week was fantastic. They are all into cooking which is really good, at least if I teach them interesting things to cook now but the time they leave home they will not starve or be as utterly stupid as the children in America, Jamie Oliver was teaching on his recent program (who did not know what a potato was or any other vegetable for that matter  - they thought that a potato was a tomato!!!!!!). We will make Samuel a good husband for someone...........

No rest for the wicked

I have been a busy bee today! This morning I had to go to Liz's to pick up Emily (she had a sleepover after scouts last night). I stayed longer than I thought I was going to, as usual hehe. Mum and Andi picked all the children up from Liz's house, as I was still there after lunch and took them all to watch North Petherwin play football. They had a fab afternoon playing in the park at Lifton and even met up with Sam's rugby friends who live next to the football pitch/park. As I had no children my job was to have another go at cleaning Granny Marys house out!!!!! Such a big job and quite sad. I'm trying to be a bit ruthless but at the same time save all the things that she might want or we have room for in our house. Every time I clean another cupboard out I find things that we used to play with when we were children or pictures of Granny and Grandad when they were younger, when Dad was little. It seems so sad but made a little easier as I know that she is happy where she is. It would be much worse if Granny wasn't around at all. I think the task would be even more emotional.
Its raining again and getting colder. I'm going over to Lucy and Dan's house for a party tonight. Just have to wait for Ben to come back, as he is driving Mum and her friends out to Trethorne for a wedding party. I'm feeling quite tired and would sort of like to snuggle up under a quilt but i'm sure a glass or two of gin will perk me up :-)

Art class tonight.

Emily and I have just returned from an art class! We joined Liz, Ruby and Tom at Grandma Sue's (not our Grandma but all the children borrow her now it would seem). A local artist has been teaching them for many weeks so Emily and I decided to join them to see if we were any good. I had originally decided that Emily would go on her own but thought I would go with her for moral support and ended up having a go and enjoying it. We all took in turns to 'model' for each other and I had the humiliation of sitting whilst everyone else had to look at my face and describe it and then draw from memory!!! It does make you feel very nervous and wanting to rush to the nearest mirror to check out what they have said!....."shes got a bit of a puffy face".....thanks Thomas aaaggghhh. I think that I will go back next week and give it another go. He is very patient and gave Emily a massive confidence boost when he said that he loved her caricature of me (I looked like I had my 'why haven't you done your homework' face on - never a good look). We all had a very good night.
I am now so tired after working all day and concentrating all evening that I am far too tired to clean my house (like I had previously suggested I ought!!) I feel that to achieve the organised house that I want, I must be more dedicated and stick to the grand plan. Its all very hard to do everything I wonder how mums that work full time cope. They must never sit down. Perhaps their children do not do as much after school, as I think this is such a big factor. I think, especially not it is getting cold and dark earlier in the evenings, how nice it would be to finish work, pick the children up and just come home and settle in for the evening. Without having to keep going out for beavers, cubs, scouts, rugby etc (and now I've added art lessons to the equation - how silly, I never learn). Supermums I think. I'm looking forward to the extra pennies just before Christmas though. Ive been told that I have these extra hours until the end of November so it's only for a couple more months so it's not that bad. (if it was for any longer I would end up paying a cleaner with the extra money i'm earning!).
I'm very much looking forward to the weekend this week. I've ordered some silicone cake tins/moulds and I want to cook some yummy things with the children. A fabulous carrot cake sounds nice or some chocolate brownies. Can't wait xxxxx