Busy Betsy

A cheerful New Year

2012-01-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all my lovely readers. I hope this year will be a healthy, peaceful, loving and successful one for you all. Personally I am also wishing for inspiration, time for crafts, reading and seeing a fair share of new art and contemporary craft. To start the new year I have brought back a cheerful notebook from Holland to brighten up an otherwise corporate black desk. Thanks for following me and hope that in 2012 my life is back in full swing and I will be able to update you all far and away about my musings.

Love, peace, crafts & happiness. X

Souvenir from Zeeland

2012-01-03T09:15:00.001-08:00

I know that I am not alone in buying souvenirs from places I love and visit. However I have never been one to buy the typical souvenirs, the ones that my children love, emblazoned with "I love Wales" or "I was in EuroDisney". I'd rather buy a subtle reminder of where I was and one of the things I brought back from a visit to Holland was this lovely stone pear. I noticed it immediately as I walked into this beautiful antique shop in Veere, located in a former church. Apparently the lady who made them had done two but the shop assistant at De Pagter informed me that one customer had, rather disappointedly, bought a single one, breaking up the pair. Much to my delight I must say. I love the grey concrete colour and the rusty stem. It reminded me of the canal house I lived in a long time ago that had bare walls, concrete floors and wooden and steel beams showing everywhere. The pear also reminded me of the Dutch still life genre, whether it is the sincerity of the 17th Century Masters or the almost spooky Realism of the Twentieth Century artists.

I also nearly bought some prayer chairs but they were child size and I wondered how long we might be able to use them; the monkeys are growing fast and although I love the design I realised it was better holding off until I found some adult size ones. Instead I picked up this shoe mold. I have always loved them but never acquired one. Not sure if this is going to be the first of many but at this point that is totally irrelevant. This one will always be a reminder of a lovely visit to Veere.

Photographic Fortune Cookies

2011-12-23T04:09:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year I was at the National Photography Symposium at the Bluecoat in Liverpool as part of Look11 the photography festival and picked up a couple of fortune cookies that were pinned on washing lines around the Bluecoat courtyard. I admit this was in May but as it happened I found them this week as I was tidying up the dining room after Christmas. I suppose I could have waited another couple of months to write about these for Chinese New Year and I imagine everyone thinking 'how come you didn't notice these the last 8 months?'. I do not exactly live by the mantra "a dusted home is the sign of a wasted life" but things do get put in drawers and corners where I do not look every week.

The couple who put up these fortune cookies were Leila Romaya and Paul McCann. The project was called Hui Yi Lu (Notes from the past). "Hui Yi Lu" celebrates Liverpool's Chinese community and came together following a series of photographic workshops within this community. Twenty large scale photographs were displayed throughout the city centre but then there were these miniature images enclosed in delicious fortune cookies. I was debating whether to open them or not as it felt somehow barbaric to destroy these lovely parcels but it was the monkeys' persuasive skills that made me, not so much because they were curious about the story but they'd fancied the biscuits!

Inside them we found two miniature images one of a boy inscribed 'travelling by sea' and one of a girl inscribed 'Martha'. Boy monkey is very keen to keep his find, perhaps I should suggest to keep it in his special box and one day we might find out more about these children. I managed to get a small bite of the cookie and I must say they were the best ones I have ever tasted.

Leila and Paul also took part in Redeye's Lightbox project and for their group show "Excavating Utopia" they created the most fabulous wall paper from images they had taken of objects in interiors along "Park Road". This road is not so much fictional but a medley of many Park Roads that photographers in the group visited and is a wonderful imaginary picture of how they perceived life in Park Road.

Have a merry green Christmas 2

2011-12-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

I am having a flashback as I am writing this. Christmas has come round a lot quicker than expected. Luckily nearly everything is wrapped up but there are still a few presents to get and a shopping list to be made.

I was hoping to make all my presents this year (the usual wishful thinking) but didn't get all that far. I did manage to decorate the house with natural and recycled materials. There are the recycled wreaths from the last few years and natural things collected by the little monkeys.

My friend Juliette Hamilton makes fabulous willow items and I bought this lovely willow heart from her at Christmas Craft Cafe. She does great workshops at Arley Hall for those wanting to try their hand at willow weaving.

I made this basket when she did a demonstration in Paupers Wood for Easter and had put eggs, chicks & feathers in it. It is now re-styled for Christmas with apples & pine cones collected by the monkeys and it looks just as pretty.

This year we have gone mad on trees in the house and they are totaling four!! This sounds more lush than it is. We've got a lovely smelling natural tree in the lounge, decorated with lovely bright baubles by the monkeys. Then there is the little fake one in the kitchen (like everywhere else in the house with red decorations) and both monkeys have got one in their rooms. Boy monkey a black tree with red and silver decorations (to fit in with the Manchester United and Flamengo team colours) and girl monkey has got a pink one with turquoise baubles. I'd never thought I'd give in to a pink plastic tree but I am trying to make her pre-Christmas time as special as I can as she will not be here with me at Christmas. Oh the joys of time sharing kids; she's not best pleased to have to go on a plane when all her friends are here. Anyway, for now she's enjoying the Christmas spirit at home.

As always at Christmas I am keen to bring to the fore the ways we can make this a greener time. There are many ways to reduce, reuse and recycle and I would love to hear from anyone how you'd make this a greener Christmas and any views on whether a real or a fake tree is better for the environment. Opinions seem to be divided but would love to hear your thoughts.

As a token of good will the lovely people at Ecover have got a Christmas Clean Aid kit to give away for one lucky reader. So please send us your tips either on the blog or 'Like' us on the Busy Betsy Facebook group and send us your tips there. Meanwhile enjoy the following tips from the Ecover team:

Wear and Care this Christmas and add some eco to your festive wardrobe. Why not rock the office Christmas party eco-style this festive season? Visit www.estethica.co.uk for a list of eco fashion labels or check out our favourite Ada Zanditon’s Autumn Winter collection
Buying a real tree? Visit the Forest Stewardship Council website to make sure your precious pine has been farmed sustainably – www.fsc-uk.org
Use last year’s Christmas cards to make this year’s gift tags – cut out the pictures and thread through some cotton – hey presto, recycling at its best. Don’t forget to save this year’s cards to use in 2012!
e-Christmas cards – why not try Facebook, Twitter or email rather than snail mail to send your seasons greetings?
Recycled wrapping paper is a really easy way to score ‘green’ points at Christmas and doesn’t cost the earth. Try the selection at www.ethicalsuperstore.com
Turn off the fairy lights at times when you are out of the house or in bed – it’s both safe and energy efficient!
All of Ecover’s range is now made from Plant-astic – a sustainable plastic made from sugar cane. This means that if you choose Ecover this Christmas to deal with your dirty plates, wash your best table linen, and keep your home clean, not only will your home be free from chemical nasties but also the packaging you’re choosing is better for the world around you too! And it just got easier – Ecover’s online shop means that you don’t have to worry about heavy shopping bags either –www.EcoverDirect.com
Travel together – try car sharing with friends and family or taking the bus to the shops to do your Christmas shopping
Once you’ve filled up on turkey, yorkshire puddings and brussel sprouts, wash the dishes with Ecover Washing Up Liquid (Busy Betsy thinks this really smells the very best, honestly I have tried them all!)– you can even use your grey water to feed the Christmas tree!

And the Dish ran away with the Spoon

2011-12-02T02:54:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was a day of strike for many people but a day of rest in our household. Forced by school closure we had to stay home for the day. There are many things I can say about the strike but I won't considering the amount of abuse Jeremy Clarkson and others have had (and I am not saying I would have said the same thing, it's just an example!). Anyway I don't think I get any pension at all, jobs in the art & craft world aren't the biggest earners, but at least we are all trying to keep the economy going by turning up for work. Also I won't start on the government but the Teletories don't seem to make it any better. Enough said!

On the positive side we had a lovely time in West Didsbury, home of a lot of independent retailers and food establishments and of course the uber-cool. The monkeys were promised a trip to town but then I realised there were marches along the bus route so I took them to "And the dish ran away with the Spoon" instead.

I am not sure but think the shop had a make over recently, perhaps it was just the Tiffany blue ribbons that caught my eye. This is a lovely little place. In their own words small but perfectly formed, with a lovely selection of cakes, great interior (straight back to Grandmother's kitchen) and lots and lots of old fashioned sweeties.

Boy monkey decided he'd wanted two of each. I'd tried to persuade him that the nice man behind the counter had enough to do but I was given an ultimatum: tears or sweets. What's a mother to do? The lovely man behind the counter, who looked like he'd walked straight out of the "Notting Hill" bookshop was most obliged and served the little man monkey accordingly. This place is well worth a trip if you find yourself stranded in West Didsbury.

And if you are in need of cakes as beautiful as these just give them a call. Details on their website : www.dishandspoonfood.co.uk

Sniff sniff

2011-11-24T13:24:00.001-08:00

I was most surprised to read this morning that Sir Philip Green's group Arcadia is not doing as well as they'd hoped due to the nice autumn weather. What about due to the cuts and the economy not doing well? Mr Cameron could be one to blame? Since when has fashion been 'in season'? One cannot buy a bikini in August when all the birds are falling from the roof as a result of the heat as the winter collection is in store. And as I was desperately looking for a warm winter coat in February I just caught the end of the winter sale and clearly nothing left in my fairly standard size. So really having clothes in season not selling does not make sense to me at all, as we haven't had a history of having clothes in store at the right time.

Anyway I was sent a lovely box of Olbas products to try and there is nothing like a keen duo of monkeys raiding your wares and giving their opinion. The products could not have arrived at a better time as boy monkey has been sniffling for over a week, girl monkey has got a sore throat and I am getting one as well.

So, instantly most products were tried and tested. I was only expecting some packs of tissues (remember those with the same "crunch and release the vapour" skill as the box we tried some time ago). Well, they were there and immediately divided amongst book and sports bags as they smell so nice and according to the monkeys, are the best for a cold at school. The big box of tissues had to be rescued as they liked it so much last winter that they wanted to divide that one too. The best thing of all I thought was the Olbas Bath, a bubbly bath product with a menthol scent that really opens the airways, and is inexpensive; how good is that?

The menthol lozenges come in two flavours, honey and lemon (given the thumbs up by girl monkey) and blackcurrant and aniseed, which I love. Anything with aniseed is a good thing in my book. On a regularly basis I get sent aniseed cubes from Holland that dissolve in warm milk, hmmm best thing to send anyone to sleep.

The one thing that I have left in the box is the vaporiser. I shall keep that for when it is really necessary. I have a real thing about air fresheners, room sprays and vaporisers, somehow it doesn't feel quite natural to me to have these extra chemical scents in the house, not quite sure whether they are healthy especially now that so many of us have allergies. Anyhow, do believe that this menthol thing will do the trick when needed. Girl monkey has no preconceptions so no doubt she'll have it in her room.

I wish I could run a bath with the nice Olbas Bath in it but sadly my boiler is poorly too; a cold shower it is in the morning. Wish I could cheer it up with a lozenge.....

Christmas Craft Cafe

2011-11-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

Just a couple more days to go the the Christmas Craft Cafe at the Northern in Didsbury. There will be a few familiar faces and there will be new ones selling brilliant crafts. There will be funky knitwear, jewellery, photography, graphic design, willow items (hope there is a skull there) and lots more.

The next Craft Cafe will not be until next year. For info and applications please email craftcafe@hotmail.co.uk.

In the meantime information about exhibitors is posted on the Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craft-Cafe/119085868181793

And for now I shall make some more jewellery!

Being green

2011-10-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

Remember these? In April they were only an inch high and not long after they had grown into some respectable shoots. In August however there was no sign of any fruits andI was told I was the only Dutch person who could not grow a tomato. By September they had grown into something monstrous but not in a successful way.

And as the conservatory was starting to feel like the Day of the Triffids with six of these all around my I was on the verge of throwing them out. Watering them felt like a real waste and then all of a sudden I noticed one small tomato growing. In the meantime this one has been eaten; shared between me and the monkeys. However boy monkey told me tonight that we've got 13 tomatoes growing! Well that is not bad going for an initial layout of about a pound.

On another green note I have really enjoyed trying these Ecover products. Regular readers might know that I am a very keen supporter of green cleaning products due to my monkeys' sensitive skin but also I really like the smell; so much better than all the chemical ones.

Anyway I will not go on about how wonderfully clean my house is now and how fresh it smells but I just wanted to let you all know that Ecover is giving away two iPads every two weeks until December, when a grand prizer winner will also receive a holiday. All you have to do is photograph youself enjoying the 'Ecover effect' and register your entries on Ecover's online magazine: www.the-splash.co.uk. The competition celebrates Ecover's all new plant-based packaging and will be decided by public vote. I think I might check this out myself and see if one of the monkeys can take a decent picture of me that doesn't just show my legs and is blurred.

Oooh that looks nice !

2011-10-18T03:36:00.001-07:00

I know that many of you are very keen on self-sufficiency, crafts and the 'make do and mend' trend. This vogue seemed to have really caught on in the last decade and hopefully will keep going strong for a long time to come. What with all the cuts and the *brilliant* politics provided by the teletories, no doubt we have no choice but to join in.

However, as with festivals, I have noticed a waning interest in craft fairs. There seem to be too many rules and regulations to keep some going and at times it feels that the interest is stabilising rather than growing. Do we think that making items and selling them for a marginal profit is not sustainable? Are the running costs and fees for market rights becoming too high? Has it taken the WI feeling out of the fun. Or have we come to a conclusion that we really are not living in the 50's any more and we also need to keep up with what modern D&T is producing? I always said I would have loved to live in the 50's, would have made my life so much easier I think with everyone knowing their place in society, families staying close and not moving too far away (let alone to another country!). Or am I living in a dream world? Whatever it is, whatever anyone feels about bygone times and the eagerness to make and mend, one thing that seems to be on the up is the vintage style packaging of goods in the supermarkets.

Cath Kidston seems to have had a big influence here and many magazines and shops do not just show and stock her items (it's becoming a bit too much almost, at some point they were exclusive, last year Tesco's had her bags!) but her flair for florals and chintzes are evident in many photo shoots and shop windows.

(I know I have used this image before but it is a lovely happy image. Just like my kitchen, full of bunting and cakes :-)!).

But when it comes to packaging in shops I noticed Marks and Spencers started with pretty cakes in lovely 50's inspired boxes. Today I saw this lovely box of chocolate eclairs at the Coop. It would have look good in any tea room so obviously I could not refuse to buy one. Mind you I did share.....

And then the other day I received this lovely parcel:

Initially I thought it looked like a lovely box of soaps and tissues but much to my surprise it was a box of feminine goodies. Lil-lets have asked for the advice of a group of young girls and have clearly gone to town with their new packaging. All wrappers can be taken off and no one can guess what's inside! Products even come in 'whisper' wrappers. The teenage market will be delighted. I know how embarrassed my little one can get at times when this topic is mentioned but with this new pretty packaging that doesn't scream about WHAT YOU HAVE GOT IN YOUR BAG, no doubt this range will catch on.

They've even done away with the obvious blue cords (that seem to stick out of bikinis at times when you are trying to be cool) and replaced those with a pretty "Candystripe" red & white garden twine like cord. And the best bit of all: lovely ribbons. Can I suggest other manufacturers have a look at this and get inspired?

Three down, three to go

2011-08-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

And with that I mean the weeks of the summer holidays. I cannot believe that we are halfway there. There are always lots of mums moaning at the start of the holidays saying that six weeks is too long: they all find it a drag and kids get bored. I absolutely love it! So does girl monkey although boy monkey loves school so much that he misses it. The solution is a bit of home schooling to give him structure in the day and we are all happy.

So far it's been a "staycation" but with an international feel. The six weeks started of so nice with plenty of sunshine, the Manchester Mela, a visit to Roman Chester and lunches at Cafe Rouge. We've packed in plenty of picnics in the park and especially the dinner time ones had a calming effect on all of us. The days when the sun wasn't out we had plenty to do inside; the monkeys love making up things so we had a home cinema and French cafe to name a few. The hospital one was a good one although I was really not well and in bed but it gave the kids an excuse to do something different. We always like home cinema: curtains drawn, drinks in bottles and a big bag of home made popcorn all go down well. To fill the time the monkeys made tickets for the film, arranged the seats in the lounge and put stickers on, created a counter to sell sweets and crisps and it all made for a fun time. A lot cheaper than going to the cinema and a good way for them to practice a bit of maths and earn a few pennies as I wasn't allowed in without buying a ticket and sweets!

I have always liked the idea of home schooling as I do not always agree with the standard state school education but at the same time I wouldn't like to take the little ones away from their social life at school which I believe gives them a good grounding for secondary school. However the summer holidays are always a good opportunity to do more at home and the monkeys came up with a brilliant idea: "French Cafe". We had a cook, a waiter and a very smart guest. We prepared a french style lunch with pate, cheeses, baguette, salad, jus d'orange and salade de fruits. It was a great way to learn about home economics, table settings, geography, to practice french words and maths.

In the holidays I don't really have the time to do any crafts but I started on a quilt for girl monkey.

Both monkeys are a bit too young to get involved although they helped me choose the fabrics. The theme really is Dutch fabrics and turquoise. I've sewn the squares on and am now hand quilting with apple green, I think it is going to be very nice.

I am writing this as I am still in bed (oh the joys of summer holidays!) before going to Oulton Park race course to see Mr G. do a crash course in skidding. If any of you are looking for something different to do in the South Manchester/Cheshire area, there is a lovely place called Coffee au Clay where we went yesterday. This is a lovely light and bright cafe with good coffees and cakes and nice pottery items to paint. The monkeys had a ball choosing items and colours and it is so well organised and presented that it made for a very relaxing experience (most mums do not associate paint with relaxation) and I even thought I should have brought a book.

Apart from pottery painting they also do letter decorating with fancy papers that you are able to take on the same day so I have a feeling that that is what we will be doing next week. For now enjoy the summer holidays!

Home sweet home

2011-06-19T10:21:00.001-07:00

I have just come back from a fantastic and relaxing weekend sans-enfants to find some lovely goodies on my doorstep. The Avon lady has left me a bag of lovely toiletries and then there is the latest Mollie Makes with a lovely flower felt kit to make, very Busy Betsy! I can't wait to sit down and start browsing. Recently I raved about Making magazine which seems to have become less to my taste with every issue so am pleased to see the latest addition of craft magazines.

And lastly there is the delivery of Thirst Pockets Multi Cloths to try out. I am slightly intrigued by this new product. The press release read that they are "the innovative new household helper with a split personality". I wondered whether that would make me very confused, there is enough drama in my house at times! It then followed with "Is it's [sic] a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a brand new product from Thirst Pockets - the Thirst Pockets Multi Cloth. It's no surprise that this innovative little household helper is having an identity crisis - because it looks like a kitchen towl and performs like a cloth. "

Now that explains. I think I will put them to use tonight as I have come back to a house full of icing sugar and dough as girl monkey made a cake for her dad on Father's Day. On that note Happy Father's Day to all the daddies in the world.

With love X.

Forgive me I am not a photographer

2011-05-16T04:29:00.001-07:00

I have just come back from a fabulous weekend in Liverpool where Redeye organised the National Photography Symposium (NPS3) at the Bluecoat coinciding with the launch of Look11 the first Liverpool photography festival. It was an absolutely amazing weekend with very inspiring speakers and photographers and an astounding amount of great photography shows all around the city.

It has been so overwhelming that today I am just trying to catch up with some news, digest some of the information and look through some of the great publications I brought back. My feet are aching and I have a need for a foot rub (anyone willing?).

Look11 is on for another 6 weeks and I urge you to look at the website to see what is on. Below I have only listed the very few shows that I managed to see. This is not a deliberate exclusion of others, purely time constraints. To list all that is on would be madness and besides it is great to discover yourself what is on where. Anyway one of the few shows that I did see was Excavating Utopia: Park Road at St George's Hall. This was put together by one of the Redeye Lightbox groups. I loved the set-up, the fabulous wall paper by Leila Romaya and Paul McCann and the well designed catalogue.

On Friday night the Bluecoat organised a hog roast to entertain the visitors of Look11 launch and Lightnight. I tweeted this and in about 5 minutes I had every hog roast restaurant in the UK following me on Twitter. No doubt they'll unfollow me soon when they realise I am not in the catering business!

There is a very good exhibition at the Bluecoat Confined that had chillingly good images. Well done to Sara-Jayne Parsons for putting this together. The show is on until 10 July.

Also at the Bluecoat was an installation by Sharon Mutch (see below) who is not only one of the Excavating Utopia photographers but also photographer in residence at the Bluecoat.

As I spent most of my time directing people to various lectures and shows I didn't really get the chance to listen to many of the presentations but I did hear the lovely David Moore who spoke about his work in the Confined show at the Bluecoat as well as some of his other work. Totally fascinating. A list of his books is available here.

I also had the pleasure to listen to the delightful John Stoddart. Not only does he take brilliant shots of A list celebrities, he is also utterly charming and very funny. His road to stardom did not come easy and it was refreshing to hear about his early career.

As I met and heard so many wonderful photographers I am kind of embarrassed to put up these snapshots from my phone. Forgive me I am not a photographer, but I would like to shout about those who are and I hope that many of you will get to Liverpool to see the wonderful shows that are up as part of Look11.

I am now going to have a quiet moment with some of my new books Is Britain Great? 2 by Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale from The Caravan Gallery and Still Life Killing Time by Edmund Clark.

For reviews from NPS3 please see the following so far:

http://mythoughtsarecurly.wordpress.com/

National Photography Symposium

and follow the hashtag NPS on Twitter #NPS3

Something old....

2011-05-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Something old....

... and a few more old things, then add something blue and then there is something new:

I am quite pleased with this result. I don't think I was ever going to wear these white shoes again and thanks to the wonderful world that is Ebay I found a rainbow of colours in sprays.

Palm Easter Tree

2011-04-22T08:37:00.001-07:00

Have we all enjoyed a great Easter weekend? It's been absolutely glorious in the North of England. Apparently it's been warmer here than in Spain and France, unbelievable.

I am not sure if it is a sign of the times or whether it is just me but I am very keen to keep to traditions. I had planned traditional fayre for the whole Easter weekend, starting with Green Thursday (called White Thursday in Holland and Belgium) and for the first time we made a 'palmpaasboom', a palm Easter tree. When I mentioned this to friends here I got blanks so it may well be a Dutch tradition. This 'tree' in the shape of a cross was decorated with ribbons and flowers and carried around on Palm Sunday. I have never actually seen this carried in a parade at school or elsewhere but this is what happened up to the sixties apparently. The monkeys love learning about what they call the 'olden days' and they like that we do things on certain days so I thought this would be a great thing to pick up for years to come.

On a trip to Delamere forest we found a couple of sticks that we turned into a cross and decorated with yellow ribbons and Easter decorations. The monkeys then had a great time threading biscuits and sweets for a couple of garlands that they were allowed to eat today on Easter Monday.

I searched online to find tips to turn bread dough into a cockerel or an Easter chick to put on the top and found that it was remarkably easy:

Make sausage shapes of about 15 cm, then make a few cuts in one end for the tail and a few at the other for the comb, pulling one bit out to make a beak and sticking a raisin in for an eye. I wasn't all that sure when I put them in the oven but .....

the result wasn't bad:

And this is what our tree looked like in the end:

Proportionally the chick is a little small but I'll divide the dough differently next year and make a bigger one. In the meantime the cross is going to be used for a sword by boy monkey. I am glad the monkeys get into the spirit of reusing and recycling too!

I could have been a farmer's wife

2011-04-20T15:51:00.001-07:00

Yes I could have been a farmer's wife, should have been perhaps but never would have been as a farmer never crossed my path. Having grown up in the Dutch country side, a mile from the seaside but having been addicted to the London high life I have a strange mixture of sentimental feelings for both places. I do think the seaside wins... the smell of the North Sea and that of the flowers and animals is really quite appealing. I have no green fingers yet but would love to grow my own veg. I have a real make do and mend attitude and never waste anything and often dream of living on a farm. On top of that girl monkey would love to move to a farm near grandma in Holland; that would make all her dreams come true (well apart from that being an actress or a chef). Farm life is getting a little closer though in Didsbury with plans of getting a few chickens and growing rhubarb in the back garden.

The week started with some inspiration at a book launch at the Albert Tennis Club organised by Action for Sustainable Living. The book entitled "Didsbury Dinners" promised to give tips on sustainable living and some good recipes. It ain't a Nigella or Jamie but we should all support our local community and the effort that has been made and make this a sell-out publication.

The lovely volunteers made the event a memorable one and we got some lovely goodies. I particularly love the shopping bag: Love Food hate waste, the strap line was made for me! We got to taste some vegan snacks (the pastry was a little wasted on me) and I was nearly persuaded to join the WI. Who knows when I've got more time on my hands and an actual house fairy who could deal with cooking and monkeys I might even give this a go.

For the moment I am feeling quite green and sustainable by growing my own tomatoes. I am very proud of these so far.

Having just recovered from neck pain I decided to do some work in the garden and do my back in. I'd spent a day pulling weeds, planning the kitchen garden and making space for the chicken coop and then I decided to put this little baby together:

It promises to be a tropical Easter weekend with chocolate eggs melting everywhere so had to buy this beauty to BBQ some goodies.

Girl monkey cheered me up by planting some Phlox and to relax from all the hard work I bundled some lovely purple and white flowers (weeds I believe!) for the kitchen.....

.... and added some lovely smelling white lilacs to a bouquet in the lounge.

All I need now is a cup of tea and a foot rub. Shame I've got to do that myself......

Hello Summer!

2011-04-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Surely this was the hottest weekend I have ever experienced in Manchester. Looks like it is fast becoming the Nice of the North (well not quite but you know what I mean).

After finishing the last Busy Betsy order of the week it was time to put up my feet and enjoy some sunshine. I wish I could write lots about what I had done but there isn't much to report apart from enjoying the sun and relaxing. The weekend felt like a proper holiday and for the first time in months I feel totally recharged.

The weekend was a real community affair, hanging out with friends and neighbours, going from place to place. By Saturday night the monkeys and their friends were in holiday mood too so they set up camp in the back garden, complete with chairs, duvets and sticks to build a pretend fire, whilst the grown ups were preparing a fabulous barbecue.

This seemed the perfect moment to open a bottle of Shloer as the new flavour had arrived on Saturday morning. As I have said before I really do like the drink but was quite blown away by the new taste : Summer Fruit Punch, which apparently is a limited edition drink. Not sure if this is a marketing trick but I will stock up for the Summer. It is like Pimms but without the alcohol. I loved the taste of cucumber and even the colour resembles Pimms. The monkeys call Shloer kids champagne and were thrilled to see the new flavour but girl monkey and her friend weren't impressed. I think the taste was perhaps a little too grown up for them. No problem: more for me!

To break up the celebrations a bit we went for a walk around Delamere Forest yesterday and guess who we saw on Hunger Hill:

Smiles all around for the monkeys! Well it is still Lent for me but I will be tucking in soon....

To finish a fabulous weekend I dropped off my car for an MOT this morning and got the pleasure of driving around in the latest racing car:

Well racing is a slight exaggeration: I don't think I've ever driven this careful. Felt a bit like a granny behind the wheel and sure enough I did get the occasional stare from particularly the male drivers, needless to say I did not go cruising. A visit to Tesco and straight back home!

Just four more days and it is the Easter holidays, the start of a few fabulous weeks!

Hello April

2011-04-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a good start of the week. Well apart from the fact that my phone went from full battery to empty overnight and failed to wake me up this morning. However I got myself and two monkeys washed, dressed & fed within 20 minutes so got to school on time.

I then made a sturdy cover for a MacBook Air. It looks a little like a summery purse, which serves the purpose just fine in my opinion. I am not sure if it will catch on to a wider public as it has already been deemed too girlie by some in my immediate circle. Anyway if anyone is interested in something that does not look like a laptop bag please email us at info@busybetsy.co.uk.

Preparations are in full swing for the hands-on Craft Cafe at the Didsbury Arts Festival and the Christmas Craft Cafe later on in the year. We are looking for artists so if you are interested please send us some images of your work to craftcafe@hotmail.co.uk.

A couple of times a year I sort out my kitchen cupboards and today I realised I have a decent amount of semolina and almond flakes that are approaching use by dates in the next month or two. I know it is still Lent but on the other hand I do not like food waste so baked an almond and semolina pie.

I've cut myself a decent slice and I'll make myself a cup of tea, put my feet up with the new copy of Making Magazine and get some great inspiration for Spring. I love the cover, the content is most likely going to be very good, It simply is the best craft magazine around.

I heart Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

Life is too short and I believe we should enjoy every day as much as we can. Therefore we should celebrate as much as we can so if there is a celebration to be had, join in! There will be some grumpy boots out there complaining about Christmas becoming too commercial, the Americans introducing Halloween and Valentine's day but there is nothing to stop the shops from doing this really and if you can't beat them join them! The monkeys and I truly enjoyed this morning, they'd been looking forward to it all week (well since the Chinese New Year's celebrations waned off).

The monkeys woke up to a little surprise: a chocolate heart shaped treat with a card from the lovely June Lily studio. These were free to download and ever so cute.

I got up earlier this morning to make them eggs on toast (both in heart shapes!). This sounds like I never make them anything in the morning, which is not true of course but I wasn't sure how much time heart shapes would take with a half sleepy head!

Girl monkey composed me a poem at the table:

Dear Valentine

I love you said mum, I do

It's Valentine's day

Hearts all around

Love is in our hearts

Awww.....

And then we got a fantabulous delivery:

And look what was in the handbag:

A very pretty and delicious selection of cupcakes from Airy Fairy Cupcakes. Can't wait to tuck in!

After our lovely breakfast I went to have a neck and shoulder massage. I think I pulled a muscle whilst having my hair washed at the salon the other day. I have been suffering from a stiff and painful neck since and it is spreading throughout my back. I've been taking Arnica and Ibuprofen. Any other tips gratefully received!

Shortly I will be off to pick up a delivery of Shloer. Nothing better to celebrate Valentine's day with a few bottles of tasty bubbles. As it's for the monkeys and it is only Monday after all a few Shloer cocktails are the perfect treat. The monkeys call it kids champagne and even demand to have it in champagne glasses. We'll pretend we're drinking Kir Royal later.

I've been asked if I can prepare food in a heart shaped dish tonight (should have chosen that one instead of the turquoise dish); let's see if I can snap one up in the sales next week and I shall be prepared for next year!

Happy Valentine's everyone!

Turquoise Delight

2011-02-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

I had some rather exciting post today. Usually it is just bills or unwanted marketing (even though I've signed up to eliminate this). But today I got four exciting letters and a lovely parcel courtesy of CSN Furniture Stores: a fabulous Le Creuset turquoise baking dish. I've always wanted a Le Creuset product. I think the colours are fab and apparently they are of great quality too. I've had numerous baking dishes over the years and they all seem to crack within a year of purchase so hopefully this one will last longer.

On top of that it is in my favourite colour: turquoise. I will have some friends over for dinner tonight so I might be adventurous and make something in it. And can I just say compliments to DHL this was only in transit for a day. After all the hassle I've had with Royal Mail (see previous post) in the past few months this was rather refreshing!

Kung Hei Fat Choi

2011-02-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

Today was the day that the monkeys have been looking forward to for weeks: the day of the Chinese New Year Parade in Manchester's China Town. It's been a yearly highlight since we moved here nearly seven years ago. Over the years we had a lot of screaming with fear from either of them and there was a little anticipation again from boy monkey today but there was no need to worry as we only saw the end of the parade. No dragon in sight just some fireworks.

We went to the usual supermarket to stock up on our favourite Chinese biscuits, sweets and crackers and of course some delicious Jasmine tea.

Along the way we acquired some paper dragons and a free bottle of Amoy soy sauce that were handed out. How nice is that! I passed on the scientology newspaper; I think I can deal with my own stress. Instead got a fortune cookie, which told me that I will soon discover my hidden talent. I shall let you all know when I find out. It's not going to be singing that's for sure.

We are currently waiting for a food delivery from the best Chinese take away The Laughing Buddha in Didsbury. With that we will have started the Year of the Rabbit nicely. I love traditions and I love celebrations. Life is too short and I think the more fun things we can do the better. Next on the calendar will be Valentine's day.

Zzzzzzzz......Sound Asleep

2011-02-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Girl monkey is ready for the holidays, she's had a very busy week. On Tuesday she took part in the G*Mania musical, yesterday she had the wonderful task of being in a focus group at Boohoo for their younger range Boohoo sister and today she sang in the Manchester Young Linguists award. I think for once she will sleep well.

G*Mania was a great experience for her. The cast (amongst others Rikki Loney and Shaun Smith) were a delight. All the boys were so good with the little ones and the girls were cheering from the wings. I think she never wanted to leave that stage.

Then yesterday she absolutely loved going to the Boohoo office. She could not stop looking around and felt really grown up sitting in a meeting! The girls got some lovely goodies to take home: her hat-scarf-mittens (I am sure there is a cool word for this) has not left her since.

Luckily sleep is being aided by this amazing invention: a Sound Asleep pillow. When I read about the competition on Kids Confidential I thought why not give it a try and was delighted when I won. I thought that this would be a nicely scented lavender cushion, something really relaxing. However it has an inbuilt plug for an ipod or you could connect it to a CD player (for louder volume!) and listen to your favourite songs. I really hoped this would not do the trick and was almost disappointed. I had visions of girl monkey dancing around her bed and getting excited from all her favourite tunes. On the contrary, she obviously absolutely loves it (what's not to like for an eight year old?) but does fall asleep whilst listening to her music. Brilliant! Thank you Kids Confidential for letting me win this!

I am glad too that it is half term now as I feel like I am currently employed as a taxi driver.

From UFO & UFA to FO & FA

2011-02-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

With all good intentions I vowed to do my tax return straight away in April last year and guess what? This happened again last minute. Although all related paperwork was in one pile there were about 6 other piles that needed filing so that is what I have been doing in the last few days. Had very little sleep as a result but my life seems to be in files now. UnFinished Admin is now Finished Admin. Yay!

Every year I plan to get rid of the UnFinished Objects as well but that also is a slow process. My craft room is full of things to finish and (I know this gets boring), I do plan to get on with a couple. This week I pleased boy monkey by cuting up my sister's coat and sew the back image onto a pillow that grandma gave us last summer. My sister never really keeps anything, she's is quite the opposite from me but I think this coat must have been quite expensive and she hoped that I could use it for something, and I did! Everyone happy. It was a Donaldson coat, a brand that was quite popular in Holland in the 90's but I am not sure it still exists.

Next project is finishing a quilt that has been in the making for 10 years! I never have an issue getting any Busy Betsy orders out but when it comes to making things for me or the monkeys it takes a little time. Wish me luck and hope to show the finished quilt soon!

Hunt for Storage

2011-01-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

I moved house nearly a year ago now (help that went by far too quickly!) and am still unpacking boxes. I know that sounds pathetic but sometimes life gets in the way (and it did big time last year). And then there is the issue of where to put the things when you unpack them.

I don't find it easy at all to find anything that is affordable and nice, hence my upcycling of old things. I painted this turquoise beauty below, last year but until the beginning of the year when it replaced the Christmas tree it was kind of hidden behind an armchair. I had taken of the old knobs and replaced them with 8 antique ones that I had found in a lovely shop on Portobello Road a long long time ago. Unfortunately I needed two more and having moved away from the Capital of Great Finds I had a hard time finding anything decent. That is until I saw these in the John Lewis sale last week. I know they are not old and not just pale blue and white but so far no one has noticed any difference.

I do need another chest of drawers to go with this one. I am not into matchy-matchy so open to suggestions and am thinking possibly white or black to go on the other side of the fire place. I have just come across the FurniturebyCSN website and have seen a couple that might work really well.

I also did notice a fabulous bookcase that would just be perfect to display the Busy Betsy jewellery. It is called Elements, twelve square holes in a beautiful dark wood with rounded corners! I realise it needs a bit of saving up but it is always good to have a goal! If anyone knows where I can buy a lottery ticket with the winning numbers do let me know: info@busybetsy.co.uk!

Thank you!

PS Quilts will be added to the shop soon.

Are you sitting comfortably?

2011-01-13T14:16:00.000-08:00

I have always had a real love for chairs, particularly early 20th Century ones and those designed by the various artists who've also designed for Alessi (a favourite brand of mine) in the latter part of the Century. Years ago I was tempted to buy the miniature chairs at the Design Museum in London but then realised that for that whole collection I could actually buy myself a designer chair so decided against that idea.

This week I went to meet with the lovely Charlie Haworth at Photolink in Manchester to discuss ideas about involvement with Redeye and saw some other fabulous chairs in wonderful colours. These chairs, named 'Casamania' were designed by the amazing Fabio Novembre and were created using a three-dimensional scan of two plaster sculptures; one female, one male. They are absolutely brilliant and will cheer up any meeting or dinner party.

One of the chairs that has been high on my wish list is the Barcelona Chair in white by Mies van der Rohe, but common sense tells me that these chairs can only survive in an environment without little monkeys. So until mine have grown up I shall not even think about these. In the meantime I thought I should just admire the Panton and Eames chairs in the Vitra range and particularly the chairs in the Kartell range. Now among this last group is my all time favourite chair by my absolute favourite super duper top designer Philip Starck so imagine my surprise when Santa brought me these:

Two Louis Ghost chairs!!

The chairs fit beautifully in my redecorated white dining room and go beautifully with the contemporary yet Victorian surrounding. I never thought Father Christmas thought I had been this good but I must have done something right last year. I shall continue what I am doing and who knows what the bearded man might have in his sack for me next year!

Royal Parcel Disaster

2011-01-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

We all seem to be suffering from a "Kate (now Catherine) & Wills overload" but rest assured the Royal in the title has nothing to do with the second-in-line to the throne and his bride-to-be but with the ever inefficient Royal Mail parcel service.

In my quest to diminish my migraines I have taken out every book of the library that deals with the matter and am now trying one new supplement every month to make sure it doesn't give me any funny side effects. For the month of January I am taking magnesium every day. So far not bad, I have had a couple of headaches but mainly caused by stress due to unsatisfactory delivery of parcels!

One of these was a jar of frozen bee pollen, said to relieve headaches when added to smoothies. Sent by the vendor with an ice pack, first class recorded, it was in the post for a week! The jar was warm (clearly kept in nice conditions) and rendered unsuitable to use. Needless to say I had to return this via Royal Mail, wasting my time and regretting the fact that my wanted bee pollen had to go back.

I understand that the Christmas period this year caused a lot of delays but would have hoped they had cleared these by early January. Another such parcel containing a lovely bottle of Shloer arrived about 3 weeks after it was sent, packaging damaged, lovely liquid still in the bottle though!

However another package arrived just two days after having been sent, slightly damaged but within good time. As I didn't know what was in it, it was a surprise and a very nice one at that: a lovely box of Lotus Olbas tissues! It even came with instructions on the side: "Crush the tissues to release the oil vapours. Breathe in the natural vapours before and after blowing your nose." Honestly they are so lovely scented I did not need to crush anything at all. I love the minty smell, they work like a treat and are soft to use for my little red nose. Someone, somewhere knew I was in need of some TLC!

I think I am done with the parcels this week apart from returning a pair of jeans bought on Ebay. They were listed as brand new, never worn. Unfortunately they had been used and washed. The name of the person listing them should have given it away: fashion rags. For someone who works at ASOS you'd thought they know better. Never been duped on Ebay before but there's a first for everything I suppose. Anyway enough ranting about parcels, it is time to stick my nose in some magazines!

Happy New Wellies!

2011-01-03T13:16:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone and happy new wellies to me! I have obviously been good this year! I had been on the hunt for Joules wellies for a few weeks (see my 19 December post) before purchasing some cheap supermarket ones but fortunately Father Christmas does exist and put these in his sack for me!

Tonight is a bit of an anti-climax after a couple of weeks of great fun. For the first time in weeks I find myself without any friends and neighbours to entertain and it is very quiet indeed. Thank goodness my friend Carole turns 40 tomorrow and is planning on an all day party. That really will be the last day of the holidays as the monkeys return to school on Wednesday and I will find myself back at work!

This year saw the best start of the year though. I have never experienced such a fun 1 January. Normally that day is my anti-climax day when nothing happens but the cure for that is clearly spending time with friends, neighbours and their families in the local pub for a friendly community atmosphere.

I haven't really got any New Year's resolutions. I never really do. I did vow to sort out my migraines with alternative therapies so if anyone has got any ideas, please do send me an email. Still looking for a pot of bee pollen.

There is something I do feel every time at the start of the year: the need to start afresh. The best way of dealing with this is a bit of decluttering and a proper Spring clean (yep I feel like I am repeating myself!). And then of course there is the new diary, with the intention of keeping all the writing ever so neat and beautiful.

For a number of years I had a perfect one from Paperchase. A lovely turquoise diary with a page per day and hours on every weekday page. Unfortunately this year they decided to produce this one in black only or in some student style ring bound version with funny pictures on the front. Not the kind of thing I'd like to take to meetings and too big to pop in my handbag. After searching high and low I finally found one in a lovely shop in Windermere produced by Legami, a brand from Milan. And look it is nearly identical:

It has even got a colourful ribbon instead of a black one. A good start of the year!

Busy Betsy sold quite a few bracelets over the New Year's celebrations and we've got a stack of orders for necklaces which means that my mind will be taken off saying goodbye to all the fabulous Christmas decorations for nearly another year.

I hope you all had a great start of the year too and feel energetic for all the great plans for 2011. Good luck with putting away the festive decorations this week and please do remember to recycle your tree if you had a real one!

M & M (Mistletoe & Mulled Wine!)

2010-12-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the first night that I am truly in the mood for Christmas. We'd been to the Christmas Markets in Manchester (where I stocked up on lots of Dutch goodies) and visited the one in Chester. We'd organised a Busy Betsy Christmas Market and I've been to numerous nativity plays and concerts but I suppose due to all the work and a certain amount of stress I couldn't really relax and get in the mood.

Tonight however I have put my feet up after finishing wrapping presents for friends and delivering the last of the seasonal wishes by hand; feeding 6 little ones and making sure they had a good time. I don't think they are all asleep yet but at least I can't hear them at the moment.

I have put up my feet in front of the fire, enjoying a cup of mulled wine and 'macarons de Paris' that are now available in my local supermarket. They are my favourite treats and they have finally reached the UK! Meanwhile I can't stop looking at my tree, I totally love it. It was purchased again at Golden Days nursery where I believe they have the best trees in the South Manchester area. It even had a pine cone on it:

I usually let the kids decorate the tree. Sometimes I give them a colour scheme and other years I leave them to it. They've decorated my tree in red and orange, red and silver and also multi coloured but this year I'd asked them to decorate in red, white, blue and turquoise and they did a fantastic job! The picture does not do it justice and I hasten to say that I have put a big ribbon at the top above the apples but girl monkey liked them so much and got upset when I suggested we change the composition slightly that I just had to run with it. The red and white gingham ribbon on the top inspired me for the colour scheme next year: red and white gingham and green decorations.

As a final touch I have put up some fresh mistletoe tonight. Now let the festivities begin!

I shall throw another log on the fire and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and the very best wishes for 2011!

Have a merry green Christmas

2010-12-19T13:58:00.000-08:00

I am so excited just a few more days until Father Christmas comes. I love this time of year; I've got a roaring fire going, the lights in the tree are sparkling and there is snow outside. Sitting in my comfortable arm chair I can't seem to get a permanent grin off my face looking at all the decorations and the tree.

The last two weeks have been extremely busy. For Busy Betsy this is the most hectic time of year with most orders coming in last minute. We've finished them all for the week and are now enjoying some quiet time, roaming around the Manchester Christmas Market (apparently it rivals the German ones!).

In order to get the house ready for Christmas I tend to do a fair bit of sorting out, with trips to the recycling bins and charity shops. And on that note I had to say goodbye to my favourite pair of Joules wellies. They cheered me (and many onlookers) up on rainy days over the past few years but the many holes in them now make them totally unsuitable. It seemed that all Joules wellies have sold out everywhere so I had to content myself with another brand but as they are zebra print with pink lining I think they will be equally cheerful.

Tonight I had to do some proper cleaning and I wasn't amused. The former Mr. B. looked after the monkeys for one day and stayed at the Betsy residence which includes a cat. Never been keen on the animal and not really knowing how to look after them he'd closed the door to the poor thing's playroom and therefore she used the kitchen cupboard as a toilet! All our baking and lunch box equipment was stinking and I think I may have to replace a shelf in the cupboard. More hassle than it was worth but one lives and learns. Thankfully I had the Ecover sprays ready to make it smell a bit better. My friends at Ecover sent me some fabulous green tips this week to get us through the festive season. I think they are helpful and hope they can trigger some green thinking with others:

Get some eco in your Christmas wardrobe – why not rock the office Christmas party eco-style this festive season? Visit www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk for a list of eco fashion labels
Buying a real tree? Visit the Forest Stewardship Council website to make sure your precious pine has been farmed sustainably – www.fsc-uk.org
e-Christmas cards – why not try Facebook, Twitter or email rather than snail mail to send your seasons greetings?
Recycled wrapping paper is a really easy way to score ‘green’ points at Christmas and doesn’t cost the earth. Try the selection at www.ethicalsuperstore.com
Banish those stains – red wine, gravy, cranberry sauce stains are rife on Christmas day. Remove them with ease Ecover’s Stain Remover – so effective it’s been awarded a Which? Best Buy
Turn off the fairy lights at times when you are out of the house or in bed – it’s both safe and energy efficient!
Treat your guests to some eco luxury – pop some Ecover Hand Wash in the bathroom and try Ecover Room Fragrance to keep your house smelling fresh
Travel together – try car sharing with friends and family or taking the bus to the shops to do your Christmas shopping
Once you’ve filled up on turkey, yorkshire puddings and brussel sprouts, wash the dishes with Ecover Washing Up Liquid (Busy Betsy thinks this really smells the very best, honestly I have tried them all!)– you can even use your grey water to feed the Christmas tree!

Having done all that cleaning I am looking forward to opening this lovely bottle of Shloer on the mantle piece. Nothing better to keep you in the festive spirit than a bottle of bubbly! Don't get me wrong I do appreciate an alcoholic version but this time of year it flows too freely and I need a 'clean' day every now and then and Shloer is the best choice. If you’re looking for a little more sparkle for your Christmas entertaining, Shloer is on hand with some mouth-watering ideas to keep the food flowing and the family happy – whether that’s a traditional roast, or a lighter alternative. Simply visit the official Shloer Facebook page at www.facebook.com/shloer to find recipes, shopping lists and information on the latest promotions. You can also pick up some tips on how to roast the perfect potato from one of the many Shloer fans, who are always on hand for a pointer or two! A number of my friends do not drink at all and pouring either white or pink Shloer in a champagne glass doesn't look any different and doesn't make anyone uncomfortable having to come up with excuses why they are not drinking.

I am going to put my feet up and open that bottle!

25 Chocolates until Christmas

2010-12-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

Yay it's the first of December and I am really getting into the mood for Christmas. Christmas cards have started to arrive (seems to be earlier every year) and today the monkeys and the cat opened their first door of the advent calendars. Yes you read that well : cat! Never knew they had these for four legged creatures too but she was all too happy to get her treats. Strangely she got six in hers and the monkeys only got one.

My first trip this morning was to the local hardware store to buy a shovel. It was much needed today as I could hardly back up onto my own drive. I love snow and it is very early this year, adding to the Christmas feeling but I am worried about the roads. Last year it was total mayhem with me and a few friends trying to turn a car manually so I am now a bit more prepared for icy roads and pavements.

I had a really homely day today. Lots of baking and decorating done with a house full of friends. Today was my friend Jo's birthday and we got to christen the dining room. I have mentioned this before but it is kind of ready now, missing a few chairs still but we've got enough to have friends round.

I am very pleased with the result. It was not exactly a minimal effort as the painting took some time but it was done on a very limited budget and I think that the team who filmed the house last year would be very surprised to see the change to this:

From this:

After school we had friends of the monkeys round and we all had a lovely time playing in the snow. With baked potatoes in the oven and a freshly baked cake it felt like a proper winter's day from long long ago when I lived in a little village with my mum and dad. This sounds quite sentimental but I suppose it is the time of the year.

Tomorrow I will be engrossed in photography and Friday it is back to preparing the Sparkly Busy Betsy night that is coming up next week.

I am back

2010-11-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that my last blog post was before the summer. An awful lot has happened and I have valid reasons for not having posted. Busy Betsy has been very busy with several big projects but all has calmed down and after a fabulous Halloween and Bonfire party I am now getting ready for Christmas. There will be a Busy Betsy Christmas Party soon and for that I really want the house ready. I think this year might be a red, white and blue Christmas. A little trip to Ikea last week helped me in getting some decorations for the theme!

Even though I have concentrated on several projects I have not sat still around the house and have put some layers of paint on several items and walls here and there. In the last few days I have been working on getting the dining room ready and have finally painted an old wooden towel rack that I picked up in a Liverpool furniture dump some time ago. I shall be posting some pictures soon but just wanted to let all you lovely followers know that all is well in the Busy Betsy household!

From Victorian to Modern on a budget

2010-06-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

I think I have set myself a challenge now by trying to transform all the rooms on a budget.

Next on my to do list was the very oppressive dining room. The men who lived in the house before me really loved the Victorian colours and decorations. When they lived here the dining room was full of heavy Victorian furniture, display cabinets and frames. There were lots of pictures and prints on the walls and the doors were dressed in heavy curtains with fringes. Girl monkey thought it was fantastic! She felt she was living in Buckingham Palace she said. I had to tell her it was all going......

So my project of last week was to repaint the room in white and ivory. What was a very dark room that I avoided at all times and used as a dump is now a lovely light room where I would like to spend all my time.

However it doesn't have any furniture. The wonderful over mantle mirror was a find by BB2's lovely mum. It arrived covered in paint splashes (still is a bit) and it was dark brown wood. As I found a lot of paint in our magic cellar the costs for decorating so far are under £20. Not sure if I can manage to find furniture for around £30 but I can only try. I am doing very well so far I think.

Many friends have suggested I should sign up for a decorating programme on TV but I don't think they'd be interested in me. Last thing I heard was one of the channels was looking for couples. They were interested in their decorating skills but more so in their arguing. Reality TV at best I suppose. As a single white fairly well behaved mum I do not fit that category....

Next up I think is dressing on a budget. I am fashioning a skirt out of something at the moment. More about this to come.

From dowdy to nautical on a budget

2010-06-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

I think we all know what that means. No one has ever said they were doing their bathroom on a budget when it involves thousands of pounds. I could have put on a shoestring particularly since I didn't have a fixed budget. Suppose I've been reading too many make-over stories and am now using the lingo!

Anyway the bathroom in our new home was quite old fashioned, beige fleur-de-lys wall paper with a gold and blue border and a broken blind in the same pattern. The bathroom is in good condition really and although I did not like the six flower tiles scattered above the bath it would have been too much of an expense to replace those.

My friend had a stripper (why do I find that such a funny word? I keep calling it steamer!) and I got to work with that for a few days. Then off I went to B&Q for white bathroom emulsion and milky white gloss paint for the dark brown bath surround and the shelf. I replaced the brown toilet seat with a lovely tongue and groove number (reminiscent of beach huts) and found some stripy white and navy fabric from Ikea in my cupboard to sew a lovely new blind.

The tricky bit was dealing with the hideous flower tiles but Ebay came to the rescue. As it happened the only tile stickers that fit my size tiles came in a packet of six and had a nautical theme! Perfect! The monkeys then put their souvenirs from Anglesey and Holland from last year on the shelf and we had a lovely new nautical bathroom.

And the budget? Under £50. I wish I could do every room under £50. It would be a challenge but I could always try....

Global Art Project for Peace

2010-06-10T15:51:00.000-07:00

Every two years the Global Art Project for Peace organisation encourages people around the world to create a work of art for peace. By signing up you'll get partnered with someone from another part of the globe and the idea is that all messages of peace are being sent simultaneously at the end of April/beginning of May to create a movement of peace. I was a little late in sending mine, due to circumstances beyond my control (the former Mr B is really the cause of the havoc in my life but let's not go there), but the message was there nonetheless.

I really love the project and this year I took part for the second time. It was only about four years ago that I found out about the project, but then it was too late to register, so I got my first 'taste' in 2008.

I love the anticipation of receiving something from somewhere at some point. All that is known is that it is a message of peace. Although I had the contact details of the other party, we had not been in touch so I had absolutely no idea what I was going to get this time. I couldn't have been happier though. The parcel that arrived was beautifully wrapped and addressed. The letters of my name were individually cut out and stuck on the outside; a work of art in itself.

After that first layer of paper I found this box:

.... girl monkey was very intrigued; she had no idea what a double zipper was and looked concerned a the picture of steaks on the box. When we unwrapped what was inside, we found this beautiful collage on panel:

It is beautifully executed, with lovely messages and in my favourite colours! It is going to have pride of place in my new home.

With love and in peace I have sewn this cushion for my partner. I hope she will enjoy this token for her home.

Pottering in the garden

2010-04-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

After some drilling and sawing I finally had the chance to potter around the garden today. It was yet another glorious day in sunny Manchester and the monkeys had all their sports equipment set up in the garden leaving me to deal with my own things.

My lovely friend had come over from Chester and got me these Sweet Peas, apparently they can grow up to three metres. I am not really a gardener but I am learning as I go along.

I am a lucky girl because I have a shed where I can keep all my little pots, seeds and tools and I was very happy organising it all on the shelves and hooks. I can now see how happy my father has always been in his shed.

Having grown up in the country side in Holland I added some sentimental touches to the garden: I found an old brush in the cellar and got the old wooden clogs out. I have said before my cellar is a treasure trove and after some rumbling around I found a sweet little hen that I had hidden amongst the plants but when the monkeys found her, they made a little shrine for her.

I then spotted an old wind lamp that I put on the "new" garden table.....

... and then we found a little treasure in the garden too:

a beautiful mushroom. I told the monkeys not to touch it as I heard that mushrooms in the garden can be poisonous, I think we better get a garden guide and wise up!

Candyfloss

2010-04-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

For years girl monkey had wanted to choose her own colours for her bedroom but I always had to tell her that the landlord might not like her choice of decorations. Now finally she is allowed to have what she likes. I never thought I would agree to paint her room pink but she really deserves to have the room she wants.

The colours throughout our new house are a little dull (apart from the salmon pink hallway!); they are all shades of beige with a hint of mauve although it doesn't really show in this photo. I have got great plans for the rest of the house but had to start somewhere so I started at the top. Girl monkey helped me a little and is now really proud of her 'new' room.

After a few days of decorating this is the result : a candy floss room ....

.... and I put up a family tree decal. The little picture frames with family photos will go up later in the week and I will have to repaint some of the woodwork but so far the work has been appreciated.

Of course I now need to start planning boy monkey's room. He'd like a football room and has settled on a red white and blue theme as these are all Manchester United colours. I am trying to find some classy wall paper though, perhaps striped or some vintage wall paper. I really liked the Cath Kidston football wall paper a few years ago but sadly that is not in the collection any more. If anyone knows where to get it, please do let me know.

I think I have overstretched an arm in the process as my shoulder is a little sore, I might run a relaxing bath in a little while but for now will enjoy the Comedy Gala on C4. Awaiting my favourite comedian.....

Jellytot toasting

2010-04-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Although there seems to be no change to my daily routine (still getting up early and looking after the monkeys, thinking about work, doing the chores and coming up with new designs) I do have a holiday feeling. The last few school holidays were really hectic with work and/or moving house but this time it seems I have a bit more time on my hands.

I was able to paint a few more walls today, thanks to the neighbours who were looking after the monkeys and cooking me a lovely Sunday lunch.

As it was such a nice day again the little ones spent the whole day outside. They put up a tent in the garden and even persuaded my neighbour to sleep outside with them. I happily declined, it is far too cold still to sleep outside. The monkeys were very keen however; they'd never been camping before. They had made a little pantry in the tent and taken food for breakfast and their midnight feast. They'd also taken about all the cuddly toys and cushions from two houses to make the tent cosy. Nicely wrapped up in about 5 layers of clothes with about another 5 layers of duvets/sleeping bags/blankets and a hot water bottle they were all ready for bed. Well nearly anyway. What else is needed for a camping adventure? A campfire! So as the hot chocolate was being made the little ones gathered around the campfire to toast jellytots (in the absence of marshmallows). It was getting dark just after eight and by half past eight they were all nicely tucked in.

I then went back home, feeling slightly sad to miss out on the fun but feeling more sorry for the neighbour who was leading this adventure on her own. It wasn't to last though.... half an hour later I got the first phone call to say that boy monkey wanted to come home to mummy and five minutes later girl monkey came crying in as one of the other monkeys had made her scared in the dark.

Bless them. Not sure if there is going to be another camping adventure soon. I think next time I will have to come along but will only do this when it is warmer. Call me a Sissy but really it's got to be more exciting than sleeping in my own back garden if it is going to be 0C!

Happy Easter everybody!

Wood Craft

2010-04-03T13:22:00.001-07:00

It was a glorious day today in Manchester. I had planned to paint girl monkey's bedroom but after the ceiling I needed a break. Her room is not of the straight forward 4 walls and a ceiling kind of variety but has an alcove and many different nooks and angles. Besides I wanted to join the wood folk for a bit of fun in Paupers Wood.

A truly unique place where children can run around a wood without having to stick to the paths and be worried about where they are walking. Here they have the experience that we had when we were little. Building dens, finding bugs and simply running around the trees and bushes. It is a wonderful place to teach children about nature; you can even have a party here. The lady who runs the woods is such a lovely person and she has really made this into a community project.

Today there was an easter egg hunt. This wasn't just a chocolate egg hunt but the young ones had to spot different colour cardboard eggs that had a letter on them and guess the word they made once they'd found them all. For the little ones there was a hunt for role play eggs that were collected in a basket made from an egg carton and a lovely little glittery handle. At the end they all got a medal. Again this was home made, from gold plated clay and string. Everyone thought it was the best prize.

There was also willow weaving. Local crafts girl Juliette Hamilton showed us how to make several willow items. I truly hope she is going to run some courses because she had the most gorgeous items on show. The kind of things I'd see when I go back to Holland everywhere but never see here.

I made this little basket that can hold a tea light. I proudly hung it in my garden. WIth my recently acquired wooden garden furniture it feels like the garden is turning into a real outdoor room. I am hoping to turn it into the most adorable garden based on the place where we stayed last summer. I can only try.....

Make do and mend

2010-04-02T14:47:00.001-07:00

The Easter holidays started yesterday with a trip to the DIY store. I needed to get shelves to build a cupboard, a curtain rails for the utility room and paint for this little cupboard. However I only came away with a few pots of paint; turquoise for the chest of drawers and Candyfloss pink for girl monkeys bedroom. The little thing has never been able to choose a colour for her wall but now that she has her own room she'd want to put her stamp on it. I let her choose whichever colour she wanted, even though I am not a fan of a pink bedroom.

I forgot the measurements of the shelves and couldn't find a nice curtain rails, and just as well as I found a lovely one with glass knobs in the cellars later on.

My first project of the weekend was this chest of drawers.

One of my friends is leaving the country at the end of the month so she is trying to get rid of many household items and furniture. I was in need of more storage so I picked this one up earlier in the week, I knew it needed a lick of paint.

I started with a pale blue (Dulux Seahorse Blue) as I had planned to give the chest an antiquated look by rubbing some paint of with steel wool.

Once dry I gave it a few coats of turquoise and put some antique doorknobs on the drawers that I picked up in Portobello Road several years ago. I was really pleased with the effect so in the end did not sand of any paint around the edges to show the first layer. I know it is there so if I ever wanted to do that I can.

Tomorrow girl monkey and I will start playing with the Candyfloss pink, can't wait. It is great to put my stamp on the house too!

A spring cleaning kind of weekend

2010-03-28T14:07:00.001-07:00

It was yet another glorious weekend in Manchester City. The first few years I moved here I often thought about the beautiful sunshine in London and found the rain hard to accept; however with all the changes in climate it seems Manchester is now sunnier and warmer than it is in the capital; smiles all around.

For once I had a fairly calm weekend, at times the monkeys were looked after by neighbours and friends so that I could get on with things here. I unpacked yet another few boxes, measured cupboards to fit shelves and worked out a painting and wall-papering schedule. My sister is coming over on her first ever flight in a few weeks time so naturally I like it to look very homely here.

WIth boundless energy I spent a lot of time scrubbing indoors and outside, starting with the car.

Ecover had sent me a few lovely bottles of laundry liquid to try and I was all too happy to do that today. The products were concentrated so less packaging which pleases me and for the first time ever I was happy to try out a bio laundry liquid. My little monkeys are very sensitive to cleaning products so I have to be very careful with what I use. A friend of mine said this week that she always bought whatever product was the cheapest on the shelves but for me that is false economy. I tried that once or twice (and not even with the cheapest products) and the poor things came out in rashes. So now there is only one brand for me and that is Ecover.

I always love the smell of Ecover products and as I was in the mood for cleaning anyway I got out the Ecover floor cleaner as well and cleaned all the floors. Lucky me I did this twice this weekend! Well not by choice though.... The monkeys wanted a little project for Easter and remembered a puppet show they did for fathers day several years ago so they got out one of the big removal boxes, got the paints out and made a lovely Punch and Judy Easter show. They were not the only two in the room however.... the little kitten joined in too and within minutes of stepping in a big plate of blue paint she managed to get all her little blue paws all over the white kitchen floor, the new white kitchen table, surfaces, plates, you name it. I wasn't impressed. Thinking back it looked quite funny, like what you would see in an advert but I got in a panic as the monkeys had used cheap poster paint from the pound store and I was worried that I couldn't clean it up properly. Again this purchase was false economy as I found out some time ago that the paint wasn't washable even though it says it on the pot. If you buy cheap, you buy twice! Oh the wisdom of Mr Orange!

Now I also did some painting myself. Before the previous owners lived in the house, it was occupied by two ladies who'd lived here for more than 60 years. When they moved out they left some pieces of furniture that remained in the cellars ever since. I love pieces of history of places where I live (I could never live in a new house) and brought up one little cupboard as I needed storage for all my toiletries. Once cream it was now absolutely filthy and covered in cobwebs. The size was just what I needed though and the sides are made of pierced metal, really lovely.

With a little TLC, some cleaning, a lick of paint and a small piece of wall paper I now have a lovely 'new' item in my bathroom. I was "well pleased" as the monkeys would say.

I have to try my patience as I only have two hands but I really hope I can get all the painting and wallpapering done by the summer. I will keep you updated on progress....

Was hoping to put up my feet tonight but the BST has confused me a little and I realise that it is nearly 11 PM. Might just squeeze in a few chapters of the book I am reading (My Life in Orange).

Happy New Home

2010-03-19T14:40:00.001-07:00

It has been a while. Many things have happened in the past few months the most important one probably being that the monkeys and I moved house. Well we moved into another house, removal men moved most of the stuff although I did make quite a few trips picking up the last bits and bobs. It was a long and hard process but we got there and we are already feeling very much at home.

There is lots to do and no doubt will show some of the changes here. I really enjoy moving house, it always gives me a real thrill, starting afresh, making changes to the home and I love the smell of new paint. The monkeys however are not so keen on moving house and have been really unsettled for a number of years. They feel so much happier now that they think (who knows?) they can stay here forever.

The house has a wonderful history and feels very homely. The fact that we feel so at ease has been helped by the lovely neighbours next door and across the road and the sellers. I was always afraid of the process of finding a property in the UK as I find the whole situation daunting. Everyone knows horror stories but luckily I have found some very lovely sellers who have been on stand by in the first few days to see if everything was OK. They've even come to do the garden!

The neighbours have been very welcoming. The first weekend here we found a lovely surprise on our doorstep: sunny daffodils and heart shaped home made biscuits. Isn't that lovely!

They have also been all so helpful, especially last weekend. I had the first mother's day in the house and to be honest mother's day without a father really isn't the same. It basically is like any other day but of course there are the lovely gifts made at school. To be honest the monkeys did try to make it very special for me. In the absence of a father girl monkey had gone shopping for breakfast with the neighbour and the two of them had organised a little something with BB2. On the day itself they made me a lovely breakfast (girl monkey is a master barrista!) and made the day super special by getting up early (!) in order to organise this.

Since moving up north I have really started to value my neighbours and over the years all of them have made my life so much more fun, bearable and practical. There should be a neighbours' day in honour of them!

Since moving in I haven't really had much time to myself so I am now going to put my feet up and read.

Today I made a .....

2010-01-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas time is over again. This always makes me feel a little sad. I love the lights and the trees and particularly the Christmas spirit. Everyone seems that little bit nicer in December. Today however was the last day of Christmas; all the decorations have gone, the tree is in the garden and baubles packed away for a little while again. Funny how quickly this time went. Initially, after I put the tree out, it felt like my lounge was twice the size (my tree was not only six foot tall but also 6 foot wide, just a bit too big for the house!) but amazingly it now feels quite normal again after a few hours.

I'd realised that Christmas had gone when I went shopping last week and saw all the Valentines gifts out at one of the department stores. I was reminded of this again on Sunday when I saw the Easter eggs and bunnies at the check out at the country's leading grocery store. I wish I was exaggerating but I am not. Is there no time to reflect anymore? No time to just enjoy a lull; instead we are rushed to another festivity. When I was little (ooohh I sound old!) I was really looking forward to all the decorations in the shops, eagerly and patiently awaiting the right moment. We are now faced with an overkill and greed sets in too quickly; I can already imagine the monkeys telling me which egg they'd like in 4 months time. And really I cannot blame them; retailers are simply brainwashing them, they can't ignore it.

Enough sentimentalism. We did enjoy a few lovely days playing in the snow. One day back at school and yippee back home again for a couple. It still looks magical outside. Whilst the monkeys were entertaining themselves with snowballs and sledges I found some extra time to start working on the collection of cushions soon to hit the shops and I made a monster. Boy monkey didn't think he had as many cuddly toys as his sister and wanted something from mummy's shop. He was very pleased and did not let go of it for the rest of the day. Always nice to have happy customers!

Undercover

2010-01-03T12:24:00.003-08:00

Happy New Year to all of you. It is only (or already?) the 3rd but I believe we can say this until the middle of January; I am sure there is a rule in someone's book about this.

Today was unfortunately the last day of the fabulous Undercover exhibition at Nexus Art Cafe in the Northern Quarter.

I love Nexus and wish I could spend more time there apart from the occasional meeting and I was totally impressed with this exhibition. There were some wonderful works on display; I wished however there was more information about the artists.

This dear head was one of my favourites. I have been looking for one for a while and if I could would have loved to buy this one. It was created by Laura Mullen, can't wait to see more of her work.

My absolute favourite work however was this window installation. It looked good from the outside but just stunning from the inside. It was created by Annie Harrison and it is sad that this is going to be taken down. I realise certain pieces of art can not remain forever but it is just beautiful.

I could have kept looking at this for hours. I couldn't explain why but thought it was genius; suppose my love of textiles and all things white and circular may have been an influence.

Hope these artists and Nexus will put on a similar show soon.

T-Rex tooth found!

2009-12-30T15:43:00.001-08:00

It has been another lovely and memorable Christmas again.

Girl monkey said to me a few weeks ago that she really didn't want as many presents as last year as she spent too much time unwrapping and she'd rather have fun with friends & family. Wise words from a seven year old.....

Invariably the monkeys get given a present that is meant for an older age group which not only means they can't really play with it (often involving some chemical reaction) but also that they need parental guidance. Not wanting to sound ungrateful but for those with children you will know that it is rather helpful to get something they can occupy themselves with whilst you are cooking dinner, doing admin or making that all important phone call. This year boy monkey (five and a HALF) was given a lovely kit suitable for children 8+, lovingly chosen by male friend who has two little girls. Having opened the packet and delayed the process for about 24 hours I can now see why he had such a big grin on his face when he handed over the present. It is the best "parental guidance needed" present ever! In the package was a t-rex excavation kit. Initially I was worried that it would be very messy and dusty but I really do not care about the mess anymore. Boy monkey started of with his chisel but quickly swapped it for the brush and left me to do the hard work.

In the course of the day I have unearthed some bones and brush in hand I have unleashed my inner paleontologist. This is not something the little ones can do whilst I am preparing dinner but something I keep being drawn to whilst stirring the pots. I love it!

I have been productive on another level as well though today. BB2 and myself have been working on the summer collection of beaded jewellery (soon available online at www.busybetsy.co.uk) and a range of soft furnishings.

As I am writing this the time on my clock turns to 00.00 and I cannot believe that in 24 hours time a new year begins. A lot of changes have taken place in 2009 and more are to come in 2010 but going with the flow certainly eases the nerves and as BB2's mum said today : "I believe in chilling out", I think that is a good motto to have.

Wishing all my readers a happy, healthy and creative 2010! XX

Let it snow

2009-12-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

These last few weeks I had to plan hour by hour and with only 5 days to go until Christmas I think I might have to book in some half hour slots. I was hoping to relax now that the monkeys are off school and Busy Betsy had the last craft event of the year yesterday but I don't think it will happen. I am banking on next year's Christmas time being an easy one.

I did enjoy the snow though today. Boy monkey wasn't all that impressed with the wet flakes on his face but the ladies had a lovely time pulling the sledge around South Manchester.

When things will slow down a little I will try and be a good blogger again and catch up on all the nice things I wanted to share. I have promised some mentions here and there and will get to these soon.

Meanwhile should I not get to you in the next few days I would like to wish you all a happy holiday season!

Holidays are coming...

2009-11-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

It is not even December yet but I can feel a festive feeling in the air. The Coca Cola advert is on the telly and friends have expressed their cheer on Facebook and Twitter. Christmas trees are being hauled into shops and the Christmas Gift Fair season has started.

Today BB2 and myself were in Fallowfield. The morning started slowly, probably due to a drizzle and cold wind but we had a lovely afternoon, selling nice jewellery and trinkets.

We will be at Ivy Manchester on 5 December, Northern Lawn Tennis Club, Didsbury 6 December, Manchester Craft Mafia at the Whitworth Art Gallery 12 December, Broadstone Mill, Stockport on 20 December. We will be at several private events in between. Our party information is available on our website www.busybetsy.co.uk.

Hope to see you soon!

Yo-yo bag

2009-11-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

There is lots to write about but due to lack of time I will have to delay posting about all the nice things I've seen and nice people I've met. There are quite a few fairs coming up and I need to make more stock, especially bags. Today was a good day to do some sewing, the weather was awful and I lost my voice. A bliss for some people and actually it really made me focus today. Anyway here is what I did tonight whilst enjoying the lovely Ant & Dec.

I got some silks and satins together .....

... made some Suffolk puffs....

... made a little drawstring jeans bag (with a big drawstring!) and decorated it with the little shiny yo-yo's.

I'll finish it tomorrow; I need to sift through mountains of paperwork now.

Sleep well for later....

In the pink

2009-11-18T14:20:00.001-08:00

I am in good spirits, BB2 and myself attended the "In the Pink" event at Virgin Active in Didsbury tonight and apart from the comment : "Did Richard Branson clear out his cupboards, haha" we had fantastic feedback on the new range and were delighted that many lovely customers found Christmas presents.

We had brought with us chunky funky jewellery, beads, bags, bangles and brooches.

You might wonder what the items in the lower right corner (photo above) are. I can tell you that this is bunting, lovely colourful bunting. This can be used in the garden, in the kitchen, party room, bedroom, wherever you fancy really to brighten up a room. There is a reason for this explanation. In the past few weeks I had some interesting requests: little bit of string to hang up our Little Shopping Bags to be used as laces, clothes peg clips to be used as tie clips but tonight I was asked whether these colourful bits of fabric were men's thongs! Well I ask.... needless to say the girl in question was very embarrassed when she found out the triangles were something else. However, if there are any takers, i quite happily sew a few together to make for a funky Christmas surprise, I'd even sew some pompoms on.

For those of you who watch Big Brother, the lad with the little girl in the picture above is Stuart, selling raffle tickets. Doesn't mean anything to me as I do not watch the show but I assume he must be local.

We met some really lovely beautiful people tonight and hope to be in touch with them for some time to come.

I am now going to put my feet up, tomorrow is another busy day. XXX

't is the season to attend fairs

2009-11-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

Busy Betsy & BB2 will be attending a number of fairs and events in the next few weeks and some of them have been organised in aid of charity such as the one this coming Wednesday. The event is in aid of Genesis of which I am a huge supporter. On a number of occasions I had to attend clinics myself at Wythenshawe Hospital where the Genesis team is based and thank God that they are there. Of course I'd love you all to come and say hello to me but please do come and support Genesis. Thank you!

Busy Betsy's Etsy Shop!

2009-11-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot to mention but BB2 & myself have finally managed to focus on the Etsy shop : www.busybetsy.etsy.com. It is still very much in the making, as we are also working on the new site (www.busybetsy.co.uk) but we do have some items in the shop. Please have a look and tell us what you think!

Thank you!

Feeling all "Martha" today!

2009-11-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

Years ago in my student house in Leiden we had an exchange student from America for a couple of months at the end of the year. She was a lovely girl with the sweetest mother who sent her parcels from the US all the time, as she really missed her favourite food from home. This way we were introduced to Marshmallow Fluff, Reece's peanutbutter cups and Oreo's. We really missed these too after she left, thankfully it wasn't long before the first American Store was opened in Amsterdam where we could not only buy these but a slice of real New York Pizza too!

However what did make an impact on me for the rest of my life was the celebrations of Halloween and Thanksgiving. We celebrated Halloween long before anyone had heard of it here and were delighted with our little pumpkin baskets full of sweets. Jennifer's mother had sent over boxes of decorations and food, including a turkey. She explained to us what we should eat on Halloween, that we should keep the pumpkin flesh to make puree to freeze for the Thanksgiving pie and told us what to do with the turkey.

We had a very memorable, scrumptious meal and every year before Halloween I will think of that wonderful time we had in this bubbly student house. I know we all complain about the commercial side of Halloween but that celebration we had just with friends, be it with some plastic goodies and tat, I will never forget. Sadly I cannot remember her surname, I would love to tell her that I have never forgotten her stay.

Today we made our own pumpkin food : pumpkin soup with melted cheese, pumpkin and apple crumble and pumpkin puree (probably going to be used in a cheesecake). Girl monkey said that the pumpkin and apple crumble (a Nigella recipe) was the best thing she'd ever eaten.

I feel I have released my inner Martha again, spending all afternoon in the kitchen. It feels like I am the happy housewife, clothing protected by a gingham apron, smiling from the pages of one of her magazines!

A Vintage Halloween

2009-10-31T15:58:00.001-07:00

I was here today :

and I had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day, it felt like Summer, there was a lovely atmosphere, great vintage clothing and lovely friends popping in. My lovely Dutch friend came all the way from Chester as a surprise, so nice! The monkeys came with me and had good fun, especially since they were spoilt with sweeties, cherry lollypops, homemade biscuits and hoola-hooping sessions. Boy monkey was dressed as a skeleton for the occasion!

I never know what is going to be popular at the fairs, it seems quite random but today the bags were especially in demand. The little shopping bags attracted a lot of attention and all the ginger bread bags sold.

I had some of these clips left from the previous fair and was quite pleased that girl monkey arranged them on the basket and took a picture at the time because today I learnt about a novel way of using them and I was so surprised that I wanted to share my amazement with you. I don't like plastic but am often too lazy to use containers so I tend to use these clips to close dry food bags. Girl monkey uses them as book marks or to clip papers together and no doubt there are other uses. As I said to the gentleman who came to my stall this afternoon, they really are quite versatile. Indeed, he said, they could be used as tie clips. He then showed me how it would look and liked it so much he bought two! Now there's a new idea. Any more takers? Quick, because I haven't got many left.

After the fair the monkeys were invited to a birthday party in the "Secret Garden" as they like to call it. It is a secret garden indeed but know as Paupers Wood. A beautiful plot of land, urban woodland I should say, in West Didsbury, that is being maintained through a community project. We've been to the wood several times and it is truly magical. The party was fabulous, there was a small fire for roasting marshmallows, hot chocolate, hotdogs and the lit pumpkins at the end of the afternoon really made Halloween special.

Unfortunately when we got home I was pulled into trick or treating. The amount of sweets handed out just makes me feel unwell. Girl monkey had the great idea to hand out her sweets to anyone who came trick or treating at our door but instead of waiting for the bell to ring she left her lovely pumpkin basket with sweets at the door as she did not want to get disturbed during X Factor. It comes as no surprise living in Manchester that her basket got stolen and I had a lot of tears after the show ended. Hope to find some half price ones at the supermarket tomorrow to make her happy again!

Home alone 2

2009-10-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

Can't believe I've just had day two of being home alone and still had not any time to myself. Mind you haven't really been home so I suppose that's were the problem lies. I did manage to spend a bit longer in my bed this morning. Got woken up at 10.30 (!) by Busy Betsy Two (BB2) who was lying on the beach. Although it was nice not to have to get up for anyone in the morning, it did feel like a waste of time somehow.

I quickly went downstairs and finished some UFO's for Saturday's Vintage & Craft Fair. Hope to see you all there!

Half term mayhem

2009-10-28T17:03:00.001-07:00

One half of the term flown by, a few more days and then the monkeys will come home singing Christmas carols. Alongside Beatles songs though, they are practising these for a themed 80th anniversary celebration at school. Girl monkey is busy practising her jive and looking forward to her sixties outfit. Anyone got one in the wardrobe for a petite 7 year old? All I've got is in her favourite houndstooth pattern but was my grandma's so clearly a little big.

The half term started with a fun 70's party organised by one of our friends to celebrate her birthday and wedding anniversary but also to raise money for a very worthwhile cause. She is going to undertake a major challenge cycling in China. Money will be raised for the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Trust to fund medical research at the Wolfson and Weston Research Centre for Family Health in London. Very noble especially since she has just given birth to her fourth child!

Sunday we spent the afternoon/evening in Blackpool, admiring the lights. The monkeys loved it, all the glitz and colour. Girl monkey's friend observed that many girls were wearing very short skirts in the cold weather, what could we say?

Monday we were off to London, the monkeys were going to stay there for a few days. For me it was only one night and some works of art later before returning to a slightly colder Manchester. On the way there the little ones discovered Doodlebuddy on my phone and created numerous art works themselves. Some actually more challenging then the Turner Prize works I went to see at Tate Britain although I shouldn't really say that as I am keen supporter of Modern and Contemporary Art. I did feel slightly underwhelmed at the Turner Prize exhibition though. Three out of the four artists did impress me however I had expected more of it. Anyway it's too late in the day to think about this now. Tomorrow will be my second day of book keeping seminars and I need to prepare for the Vintage & Craft Fair so I better leave my screen alone now.

Sleep well peeps!

Swishing for Genesis

2009-10-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Last night saw the second charity event of the week, this time at the gorgeous Eleven Didsbury Park Hotel.

Organised by Innerglo, the evening was fabulous as usual. As October is breast cancer awareness month, last night was organised in aid of Genesis. There were eye catching pink cupcakes complete with pink ribbon icing (sorry photo not great, it was a little dark and my phone doesn't work well in good ambience!) and lots of pink bubbly.

After a talk about the charity and some wardrobe advise we swiftly moved onto the main part of the night : Swishing! Loved it. Walked in with a dress that once fitted like a glove, now might show a bit more here and there, and walked out with this lovely Indian beaded scarf. Now that was a great swap, all in aid of Genesis.

I never really knew about dress agencies but after tonight I think I might check them out; especially in the current economic climate and my desire to recycle. I saw some really great, never or hardly worn items for a snip. Perhaps if one day I sell the other half of my record collection for a bit more than the £10 I got today I might treat myself....

UFO's ready to go

2009-10-13T04:08:00.000-07:00

No I am not involved in extra terrestrial activities (not even extra curricular for that matter) just finishing some UnFinished Objects. Earlier this year I said I wanted to use up all my fabrics before buying new ones and I am still sticking to this principle. I keep finding all kinds of lovely fabrics and ribbons in my drawers. Hoping to move house soon I am trying to get everything organised in neatly labelled boxes and if I find a work in progress I will put it aside to finish.

Today I had a very productive morning. The scarf I only started last week though but I finished some brooches, some egg cosies, mended girl monkey's NEW mittens (not worn yet, why the hole?) and finished this knitted bag that had been in the making since March....

I hope to get a lot more items done in the next few weeks so that I can start afresh in my new abodes (shop & home!).

Beatles, bugs & butterflies

2009-10-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

I apologise for probably the worst image of the evening available but it is purely used to illustrate the Debra Charity Ball I went to last night. Until the ball last year I had not ever heard of Debra (Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association) but this charity provides crucial funds for children suffering from EB, a dreadful genetic skin blistering condition, worsened by touch. I was so saddened by all the pain these little ones suffer and all the work that needs to be done before they can even leave the house. Please, do all click on the link above and try to leave all the chocolates alone this week and donate the money saved to Debra.

The snapshot just shows the beautiful painting that my friend Rosana donated for the auction and the lovely Emmerdale boys leaving the stage after scooping up a trophy for their skills on the playing field. The ball was held in the Palace Hotel and apart from the fire alarm going off and all of us having to leave the building the night went smoothly. Still wondering though about table 14, there were no names on the table setting list just "Celebrity table". Now I always find that a little sad and I did not recognise any of them (as expected). They may have been from some soap series but as I don't watch any, even their names on the list would not have clicked and for those who do watch I suppose they will recognise them anyway. Next time be brave and just put a name down, make up one if you have to......

Today we were off to Liverpool. When I first visited the city, about 15 years ago I was not impressed but I have been back several times since last year and am in awe every time I find myself near the docks. The buildings still standing and the new ones fit perfectly together and it really feels like a happening place, much more so than my beloved Manchester. I was even impressed with the Liverpool 1 Qpark carpark, loved the view from downstairs, seeing shoppers walking on top of the dome.

There was a surprise for us and all we knew was that it started with a "B" and that it was new. Girl monkey thought it was the Beatles museum and she wasn't far off as we went to the BugWorld Experience. Both monkeys were very impressed; we were shown a very good movie of bug life and were allowed to touch the biggest millipede I'll ever see, this one was about 6 years old and we were told they could live to about 8 and could reach a length of about 30cm.

Then there was also the biggest snail in the world. I never knew they could grow so large. This would not be possible in our garden as I am not very kind to the species. Don't get me wrong, I do pass them on to the neighbours or give them a lovely meal in the bin.

Before long we hope to move into a new home and girl monkey gets very excited about the new room decorations. The butterfly wall paper and mirrors in BugWorld are now on the list. And then we got to admire some examples of existing butterflies as well. We tried to find the ones we saw in Chester Zoo but no luck. However there were hundreds of stunning examples. BugWorld Experience is certainly worth a visit.

We ended the day in our favourite haunt Tate Liverpool where I stocked up on lovely books for presents and the Mini Masters art classes. Girl monkey impressed some visitors by pointing out works by certain artists, love her!

Not just an ordinary Tuesday

2009-10-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's been busy in the Betsy household lately. So busy in fact that I do not just live from day to day but from hour to hour. I do not leave the house without my calendar and find myself checking my list in the car every time I have done something. Hence the lack of blog posts... We had a fabulous time during the Didsbury Arts Festival and I hope to put some images up of the art works produced during our workshops and of the Craft Cafe as well. Whilst knitting away to produce some items for the next fair I got a call from my lovely new business partner to go and take measurements....

... not for a new house but to go and buy some furniture for our new shop! So exciting. This is it :

Ok there's lots of things there that need clearing out and it will need a lick of paint but in just a few weeks time we will be up and running! I can hardly believe it, this is a dream come true. Things are looking up! I am now in need of sleep (the new bed isn't great, wishing for my old bedroom back) but as soon as there is any progress I will post more images and information about my new life as a shopkeeper.

A green, clean house

2009-09-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

This is me. I've just put my feet up and I think I deserve to as it is nearly midnight.

I had some very disappointing news today and rather than preparing for the Macmillan Coffee Morning tomorrow and the Craft Cafe I really wanted to chuck it all in but then I remembered that a lot of people need help and support through Macmillan so on I went. I did get some support myself from my dear friend C who knocked on my door late tonight (in her pyjamas!) to give me a hand but rather than scrubbing we sat down with tea and cakes. It is just so fabulous to have friends like her but I won't name her, she'd be too embarrassed!

I've had a very productive day though with the green surprise parcel I received yesterday! There was plenty to get going and I am pleased to say that I did finish my challenge.

First up were the window cleaners and it was an easy choice for me to make. They both did the job but the Ecover product smells lovely and the other was just horrible. In principle Ecover products win it every time for me. For a while I was worried that they weren't produced in this country but just having read that the distance from Belgium and France where the ecological factories are, to London is about the same as the distance from sunny Manchester to London so all in all that's not bad. I have tried just about every other green window cleaners and none of them did the job. You might ask what's with the scrunched up newspaper. Well, this is recycling at it's best. Several balls of newspaper were used as support in the trug of cleaning products, which is good in itself but as newspaper produces the best streak-free windows I got them out of the trug and recycled them again!

I got to test the Ecover multi surface cleaner versus the Flash one in both the normal containers and the spray. I've never really been a fan of sprays as I feel it gets everywhere and I can't really control where the drops land but was quite using it in the bathroom. I did read it was safe to use around food as well so I needn't have worried. I do think that both products do the job equally but again I would choose Ecover any time purely for the green credentials.

I didn't think I was going to test the heavy duty products but girl monkey got quite excited. Until recently she's never seen any ads on TV but since a few weeks has been telling me I need to use Bang because it does the job! Now there's brainwashing for you. She's also picked up on the fact that some supermarkets sell most products for under £1 and she's seen a cream on telly used by a lady that is 43 (Linda Evangelista) but looks 26 due to the cream. When I jokingly said : "Oh just like me then" I got a very dismissive "NOoo"! Anyway after all my cake baking tonight (Dutch Spice Cake and Butter Cake) I did have the pleasure of spraying some Ecover Power Cleaner and it worked like a dream. Wouldn't use Bang ever again, the chemicals got me very worried! Please everyone try to save our planet and consider the health of all in the house and switch to greener products. For the cynics amongst us, really every little bit that we can do will help! I could go on about the need to think green but my brain is turning to mushy peas and I need to get some energy for tomorrow.

My house now smells lovely thanks to Ecover and the cake baking and am all ready for some fundraising. I should be going to Urbis afterwards for the Buy Art Fair but might give it a miss, there is always a 'tomorrow'.

Sleep tight everyone, I am going to try my best but think the monster next door might wake me up several times......

A green surprise!

2009-09-23T12:25:00.001-07:00

Apologies as I haven't been a busy blogger lately but it seems that my life had been taken over by the monkeys' social life and girl monkey's ballet performances. Apart from that I have been sewing all hours to get my stock up for this Sunday's Didsbury Craft Cafe. I am really excited about this event and will hopefully get some pictures together to show you all after the weekend. Amongst many other things I will be taking these :

.... Busy Betsy's Busy Lizzies. With quite a few pre-orders for Christmas these little girls will keep me busy for some weeks to come.

I had a little surprise today: a lovely green surprise!

Occasionally British Mummy Bloggers get asked to do some product testing and I am really excited about this one. I do this a couple of times a year but usually am asked just to fill in a testing form and am often fairly underwhelmed with the product so I do not see the need to tell the world about it but this time it is different as I got sent a fabulous trug with Ecover products. I know that some of you will stop reading now as you totally disagree with writing about products but because it is Ecover and I am a green queen I am delighted to give them some column inches. I'd like to be as eco-friendly as I possibly can and am normally not a fan of plastics but the trug the products came in is made from those recycled bottle tops that did not end up in my recycled Christmas Wreaths and will come in handy for storing some of the monkeys treasures.

I will be doing a lot of product testing tomorrow as I am taking part in Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee morning on Friday, hoping to raise some valuable funds for this very worthwhile cause. I would like my house to look spic and span, in all it's glory. A challenge at the best of times, but with my new goodie bag full of Ecover products I hope it is going to be a breeze!

Well, there will be an update tomorrow, wish me luck!

Cupcake party

2009-09-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the day that girl monkey had been looking forward to for a while. It was the day of her CUPCAKE PARTY! Because her birthday falls around the August bankholiday weekend it is a difficult time to organise a birthday party. This year however she had friends round on the day and a party for her school friends.

I absolutely love parties at home. My all time favourite was boy monkey's pirate party last year but the one today is now sharing the top position.

It was very easy to come up with a plan; we were going to have 12 girls all aged between 7 - 8 and they are all easy to please. These little things love everything that glitters and sparkles and know their top 40's better than I do! Girl monkey loves baking and make-up and High School Musical and Hannah Montana and.... just about anything really. So we came up with cake decorating and some girlie activities. Over the past few weeks I found some sweet decorations and some lovely plates, cups, napkins, etc with cupcakes on them.

The trickiest thing was to come up with a good cake. As it was going to be a cupcake party I was hoping to make a giant cupcake. There used to be several fabulous tins on the market, two halves (length ways) put together but I couldn't find these. I did find another one but thought it a bit pricey especially as it might only be used for one party. And then one day on the way to boy monkey's sports coaching I stumbled upon Spreadborough's in Cheadle, which happened to be the place where my friend Jo had bought some super glitter for a cake she made some time ago. This place is a real treasure trove! It looks like a florist but has an extensive cake and craft department as well.

The result is this : a moist Nigella chocolate cake with glittery purple butter icing, edible sparkly flakes, flowers and butterflies. The fairy was the only non-edible decoration. Girl monkey loved it!

Upon arrival all the girls got a glass of "champagne" (sparkling grape juice) with a fancy cocktail stick with a strawberry; they thought it so grown up! They even behaved like grown ups, all standing around, chatting about this and that and enjoying the music.

Then we got some unusual beads and waxed string out in shades of blue/green/red and made necklaces and bracelets and the girls sat down in turn to have their nails and hair done. We got some very funky colours, sparkly ones (of course) and even French Manicure. There was glitter and braids for their hair. Oh, how they enjoyed that!

When they were all "ready" they played musical statues whilst proper food was being prepared (I made sure they all good some carrot sticks and cucumber on their plates just in case!). And instead of the usual party pudding of jelly and ice cream, I made a cupcake "bar". I made 48 plain, chocolate and lemon cupcakes this morning (the house still smells lovely) and purple butter, strawberry and lemon icing and there were loads of decorations. I couldn't guarantee they were without e-numbers (and it probably wouldn't have been that much fun!) We had all sorts of sparkles, diamonds, rainbow drops, love hearts, smarties, blueberries; just about any colour of the rainbow was available. They all had a lot of fun and so did I.

The 2 hours flew by and they weren't keen to go; there is always the anticipation of the party favours. I have never really been a fan of party bags. Not because they can get quite competitive (and I am sure I am to blame in this department... ) but because they are usually full of rubbish. Loads of sweets and cheap plastic toys and I am not in favour of either of them. I am also not keen on the plastic bags they come in although I have found many uses for them (sandwich bags, disposable bags). I do realise though that a kids party of humous and carrot sticks and tulip bulbs isn't the way to go either so I try to opt for something in the middle. For today's party favour I chose a cupcake cookbook, a cupcake lipgloss and a flump (they seem to go in the party bags every year as the only sweet). As the book was too big for a bag I wrapped the whole lot nicely in some colourful gift wrap and it just looked lovely.

It seemed that everyone really enjoyed the party. I better put my thinking cap on for next year's as I am sure that will be discussed sooner or later.

New family members

2009-09-04T01:36:00.001-07:00

You win some, you lose some and today we are getting two new family members : Bubbles and Dream.

Girl monkey got a small fish tank for her birthday and as it had to be up and running for a week before the fish were allowed we are (finally!) going to get them today. In anticipation she has decorated the tank with some nice pink ribbon and a sweet note saying "Welcome Home fishes". Bubbles is going to be a silver goldfish (yep that does sound funny but is true) chosen by boy monkey and Dream is a yellow one. I thought they'd go for the lovely orange ones with the nice fins.....

Meanwhile before they arrive I will make some more of these brooches to take to Craft Cafe.

I think the next new member of the family is going to be a cat. We are not worried about the fish as the tank has got a lid. In my younger years it was just a glass bowl and every other week or so I noticed changes on the fish : different spots, slightly different colours and it wasn't until years later that my mum confessed that our lovely cat fished out the goldfish on a regular basis and she had to run into town before I got back from school to get me new ones. That's not going to happen in my household!

The joys of Manchester

2009-09-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

The monkeys went back to school today. I was a little sad, facing a day without all the banter and laughter but I had planned a morning of hard work so that I could quickly set aside my tears. However that was not to be. Since Mr B moved to London he's parked his car on the road here and on the way back from school I noticed something different on it : some undoubtedly hooded asbo's had pulled off the grill and on closer inspection I realised they'd smashed a window (an attempt to force it open with a sharp instrument had clearly failed) and had climbed inside to open up the boot. To their annoyance they'd only found an old bottle of coke and two broken straws from the little ones.

Instead of being sad and trying to make up some new items I now had to call police, insurance, body shops etc. Oh the joys of living in Manchester. I am seriously considering a move down South. London seems to be a safer place to be and at least there's a nice flat available. There's nothing about the house here to keep me and with no prospect of getting something else I might as well....

I managed to cheer myself up with this lovely bookmark though. I am going to curl up with "The Visible World" and carefully place the cute toadstool between it's pages.

"W"hat's it gonna be?

2009-09-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I read about the "Knit a Poem" project on the website of Manchester Libraries. I was intrigued; I had read several articles about music and knitting collaborations over the years and am aware of all the groups meeting up everywhere but wasn't quite sure what this was about.

It turned out to be a project organised by the Poetry Society to create the world's first giant knitted poem to celebrate the centenary and obviously I wanted to sign up for this.

I got assigned the letter "W" of the yet secret poem. The words are going to be stitched up over the next few weeks and the poem will slowly be revealed.

The idea was to knit up your odds and ends but the sample had to be knitted using 100% DK wool only. I've got all sorts of lovely fun fair colours in my stash but all acrylics (used for toys and decorations, not for clothing I hasten to say!). However no lovely bright woollies. Now some time ago my friend Jo brought me a bag of brown, beige and bottle green yarn from her grandma's old shop and wondered if I could do anything with it. Never one to say no to craft materials I tried to come up with a project. I could see myself using the green ones for some Christmas decorations but so far they'd stayed in the bag. Luckily as they were the required 100% DK wool I could used them for the "W". The nice coincidence is that grandma's grandson Adam was poet in residence at the Wordsworth Trust last year. The colours may not have been the juiciest ones for the project but the yarn has got an interesting story to it.

I am looking forward to the find out the whole poem and to see the final result.

"Oh sweet butterfly, just fly away from me"

2009-08-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

We're having a quiet bank holiday weekend, partly due to family members who can't plan in advance, partly due to the fact that Betsy herself needs a bit of a break. However we did spend a lovely day with friends in Chester Zoo. It wasn't our first visit but many areas had changed since we were here 4 years ago. This time round we did see all the attractions, most animals are just amazing and stunning but we were particular delighted with the new butterfly journey. Such wonderful colours and patterns on their wings.

I can't remember the name of these with the transparent wings but in flight they were even more stunning.

I tried to capture a number of quite big purple ones chasing each other but they were not in the mood to sit still. Their colour seemed almost unnatural, but was just so beautiful, I'd just go back to the zoo to see them. I will now chase my monkeys here at home and hope for a quiet night.

The future is orange (3)

2009-08-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

Orange seems to have been a dominating colour in my life recently (as has purple!). I suppose radical changes in life bring about radical changes in many areas and I suppose Orange is there to brighten up my life... Anyway that was not what this blog was going to be about. I really wanted to pay attention to "smart consumption" or "intelligent shopping".

Last night I stumbled upon an interesting article in a fashion magazine about the new way of acquiring fashion. Today's fashion lovers seem to be more eco friendly, concerned with the welfare of staff in factories and are moving towards greener shopping. Garments of higher quality that last longer seem to be in favour of the £2 jumpers from the high street stores it was believed. I am not entirely sure this is the case, the cheap stores in town are like a souk at the quietest of times. However I do believe there has been a change in how wardrobes are being put together. Charity shops seem to be full of fashionistas of all ages and swap parties are becoming very popular. Sewing classes and books teaching us how to embellish clothing are advertised everywhere and for those who know me or follow my blog I absolutely love this!

I come from a family of hand-me-downers. And I don't just mean from brother to sister etc. I mean grandma's, aunts, nieces, cousins, mothers, daughters, everyone is at it and has been for the past 60 years or so. I do not know how this started. Economic crisis may have had a hand in this every now and then but most of all my family does not seem to like waste. Why throw out something good if someone else can still use it? I am a true "Make do and Mend" girl and although the mend doesn't apply to all the women in my family they certainly know how to find me with great quality items. I have some lovely (proper) vintage tops from my grandmother that go back about 50 or 60 years (via my youngest aunt, a real fashion doll) and have worn many items that have come from any of my relatives over the years. One of my cousins used to buy the most over-the-top dresses in her younger years and I have made some great skirts out of these. If you do not have this culture in your family head down to your nearest charity shop. It is often hit and miss but there are some great items and fabrics around. These places have become so popular, helped by the likes of Kate Moss e.a. who pick up the most gorgeous items.

Back to the orange : when I went to see one of my aunties in Holland recently she had nicely put together a bag with fabulous tops for me, some my size, some quite oversized but still looking fabulous with my skinny jeans. I know that I will dye some tops, refurbish some others and this orange one that was rather dull (but lovely and soft), I brightened up today with a lovely "God save the Queen" iron-on transfer (these can be found aplenty on Ebay).

After I finished the t-shirt I went for a quick hunt around my local Oxfam where I bought a brand new version of My Life in Orange by Tim Guest. It is a biography about growing up in a Bhagwan commune. I remember the Bhagwan followers walking around Amsterdam in their orange, pink, purple and red-ish clothes and they used to scare me so much. My mother who is scared of just about everything (I should write a book about her!) had put the fright into me at some point by saying that they would try to kidnap people so that they would get more followers in the commune and as a young teenager this had some kind of effect on me. In fact about 20 years later I still jumped into shops if I heard or saw any Hara Krishna's in Covent Garden! Anyway I had read an interview with Tim Guest when the book came out and it was on my list to read so here was another lucky orange find.

God save the Queen, Orange save my day!

Stepping up a gear

2009-08-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

Sadly the summer holidays are already coming to an end. Six weeks gone in no time! That means that Craft Cafe is only a month away.... meaning I need to produce a bit more to fill the stall. I am slowly stepping up a gear and have been making some lovely dollies and cushions. A little snapshot of what my work table looked like earlier.

I have also been baking a bit. It is girl monkey's birthday tomorrow and she had a little tea party for some friends earlier today. Next week will be THE cupcake party (lots of baking then!). I'm praying for some nice weather tomorrow as she'd love to go to a maize maze.

I better get on with hanging up the decorations whilst enjoying V Festival on the telly. Wish I'd been there....

Back home from home

2009-08-19T13:49:00.001-07:00

The monkeys and I are back after a week of fun, sunshine and blissful lounging in the Netherlands. The trip seemed a little hectic with a day in London before and after the journey and all the driving to Dover and from Calais to the Netherlands but it was all worth it.

In the Netherlands we stayed in a teeny weeny village called Driewegen. Although my parents lived a seven minute drive away I had only been there once for a flower arranging course with my sister. In fact the house we were staying in was that very same place I had been to and what a delight to come back. The owners of the house have gone on a very impressive pilgrimage to Rome and hope to get there after three months walking! Hats off to them!

We were very lucky that they needed guests to look after the chickens and the cats and I thought it would be a great way of familiarising my monkeys with pets and country life. Boy monkey usually walks on the other side of the road when he sees a cat you see.

Upon arrival (through the back garden and door, the usual thing to do back home) we were welcomed by a lovely vase of flowers outside and some pears from the garden on one of the numerous tables outdoors.

Indoors we were greeted by the cats and to my surprise boy monkey kind of fell in love with one of the three, a tabby cat called Guus. Upstairs was a lovely welcome note on the door and inside it read :

(Good night for whoever sleeps here). Girl monkey really liked this pink room and wanted to make it her own but at nighttime she decided she'd rather share a bed with her little brother in the new and dark environment. Boy it did get dark there at night!

We were so lucky with the weather, if we weren't at the seaside making sandcastles we were exploring the expansive garden with it's many lovely seating areas, fruit trees and chickens (we didn't find any eggs even though we tried).

I came across many beautiful plants that I had never seen before and tried Japanese wineberries in our trifle. The plums weren't all that ripe but we picked a few and it was just lovely to eat something grown in your own garden (well theirs...). If I had someone to help me I would love to have an allotment. Maybe I should put an ad in the papers... could do with someone around the house and garden.

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-07T04:12:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for me I will be here :

See you all soon! XX

Mini Masters Yves Klein session

2009-08-04T13:52:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe that we had the last session of the first year of "Mini Masters". Most of the little ones will go of to school now but luckily a couple will be coming back in September. We had a lot of fun, explored many artists and movements and on top of that enjoyed a piece of cake at the same time.

Our last session was based on the work by Yves Klein. We talked about the Monochromes, International Klein Blue (the colour of paint especially made for the artist), the furniture and the reliefs in the pictures. The "Mini Masters" then chose their favourite colour and started to build up a relief. One way of replicating the reliefs in Yves Klein's work is to use little cotton wool balls. I never knew they painted so well and created such a beautiful surface. I should have thought beyond clouds, snowmen and Father Christmas before.

Needless to say we had a number of purple and pink pictures but there were also some yellow and blue.

I had a lot of fun talking about art with the little ones. I hope "Mini Masters" helped them to develop a love for art and creating art themselves.

Wizards, Goblins and Knights in shining armour

2009-08-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

With my new National Trust membership card and handbook in hand we went to find a nice place to walk today. There are quite a few places to choose from within 30 minutes drive and we decided to go to Hare Hill near Alderley Edge. This was described as a "tranquil woodland garden, especially spectacular in early summer" with a walled area. It isn't exactly early summer but I decided to take the chance. As I am a NT newbie I clearly did not read the information properly so when we finally got to Hare Hill after several detours we found the gates closed.

Luckily we were close to another lovely place :The Edge.

We had taken a little picnic and true to the North West, as soon as we sat down to enjoy our meal we felt a few drops of rain. Luckily this only lasted a few minutes and we had a beautiful afternoon. We particularly enjoyed our picnic, Mr Betsy had come over from London and brought us some delicious Poilane bread and I had made a simple chicken salad from some left over roast chicken, mayonaise and chives from the garden.

As we were enjoying the view above and fantasising about the cave we got chatting to a couple of lovely local ladies who told us all about the goblin in the cave, the legend of the farmer and his white mare, the knights in shining armour and the local mining history. I wasn't aware of the long history of mining in this area but I had heard about the Wizard and the teenage Halloween parties on the Edge and there is of course a tea room called The Wizard next to the entrance of the park. And funnily enough boy monkey had made up a story earlier on about a knight in shining armour and some animals. The area clearly tickles the fantasy!

The ladies also told us about the books by Alan Garner, a local fantasy writer whose books are better than the Harry Potter stories in their opinion. I am intrigued and will browse through the library on my next visit. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath, his first two books, are drawn from local legends and locations and I have been told suitable for children.

A little further on we sat down to eat a snack next to the Armada Beacon Monument and there we bumped into a nice Dutch couple (they really are everywhere aren't they?). They told us all about the Armada fire warning system. Beacons were lit up and down the country as warning signs for the invading Spanish Armada. Absolutely fascinating. I am a great believer in talking to people. Not only because I feel it is important to show interest and compassion but you'll always learn something interesting whether it be about life, love or history as we found out today. We had a thoroughly lovely afternoon. Girl monkey was still talking about all the things she saw there two years ago (the monument, certain paths, the gnome tree) and I hope that in two years time she will still remember today.

Family fun day in Lyme Park

2009-07-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today we had a family fun day in Lyme Park. We'd been there before, about two years ago after girl monkey had gone there on a school trip. She had not forgotten about our walk in the "jungle" and it was first on her list of summer activities for this year. As it was a beautiful day today (hooray!) we packed a picnic and off we went.

We found a perfect spot for our picnic near the lake on a fallen tree over which we draped our picnic rug. Although it looked lovely the reason was that girl monkey was wearing a very short summer dress and I didn't want her to scrape her lovely little legs.

After a walk through the park and a visit to the deer the monkeys were very keen to visit the gardens but also the house. Girl monkey still remembered several rooms from her trip and told me all about them. Reason enough for me to become a member of the National Trust. For years I resisted, thinking it sounded like a good idea but we wouldn't actually use our membership but now that the monkeys are starting to show interest in history I feel we might get our money's worth.

The house itself is beautiful and all the guides very helpful and very informed (and very Cheshire!). The monkeys got a little guide to search things in various rooms and there were many little red bags lying around the rooms for them to explore. Some had jigsaws, others items of clothing to try on and some binoculars which I thought were brilliant. They were from the ELC for those who'd like to try them out, I think I might get them as a birthday present.

The Victorian gardens are equally stunning but the best bit for the little ones had to be the "jungle".

I do not know how to describe this exactly but it is the area south of the lake, rather 'overgrown'. Upon entering this area the monkeys spontaneously started singing "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my".

This plant surely has the biggest leaves I have ever seen. If anyone could tell me the name I would be most grateful.

Now that we have got our National Trust membership I think we will go back soon again. There are some great activities over the next few weeks and months and it is certainly worth a trip for the whole family, young and old.

Visit to my old home patch

2009-07-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

What happened to my frequent blogs? Not entirely sure. I do know that my brain has been doing overtime and that I have not been able to focus but I'll keep all that to myself.

Just watched "The Reader" and as I am so emotionally drained after that I have no energy to think so here we go...

The monkeys and I went on a little trip to London in the last few days and we had an absolutely fabulous time. Whenever I go back I just find my whole time in the capital sheer luxury. The weather for starters is always better than it is up North and is also nice to be "home" and seeing some old friends. The monkeys had a ball in the playgrounds; there was the massive sand pit in Holland Park, the fabulous pirate ship in Kensington Gardens and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain which they left, completely soaking wet from top to toe.

They couldn't stop going into the Whole Foods Market and walking up and down the High Street and I of course went back to my old favourites Ranoush Juice (my friends!) and the Exeter Street Bakery where they sell sweet pizza : raisins and lots of sugar on a pizza base basically but oh so yummy.

On Sunday we went on a river cruise to Greenwich. We had a fabulous guide who was not only very funny but also very knowledgeable. I should have asked his name because he is worth mentioning. I learnt a lot more from him than in the ten years I lived in London.

The banks of the Thames are absolutely fascinating. The juxtaposition of buildings old and new is at times awe inspiring at others plain ridiculous. It is amazing to think that 10 or 15 years ago a lot of the land was barren. Currently there is still a lot of building work going on.

The guide pointed out all the buildings old and some new....

Then there were the Dutch (effeweg.nl...). They are everywhere. Always.

I loved the red and white polkadot wrapped trees on the South Bank by Yayoi Kusama. For some reason this little group reminded me of the Supremes, must have been the big hair do's (don't ask, the mind has funny ways!).

.... and the yellow stair case of the Hayward Gallery.

More wrapping around the Tower Bridge.....

(detail of Tower Bridge)

One sight that sadly is not wrapped anymore is the Albert Memorial. When I first moved to London it was covered for restoration and I was always very keen to find out what it looked like (had not discovered Google at that point, if that existed anyway). When they finally took the "Christo" off it I was so totally and utterly disappointed that I wished the restoration had lasted a few decades longer. Undoubtedly there are quite a few eyesores in the capital but for me it has to be the Albert Memorial.

Now we are safely back in Manchester, chasing dreams or perhaps I should have said ghosts, as that feels slightly more appropriate.

The first two weeks of the holidays have passed so quickly and yep let me mention it again : before we know it is Christmas time again....

JS Bach/Zaha Hadid Architects @ MI09

2009-07-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

I seem to be spending quite some time in Manchester City Centre and the Northern Quarter in particular these days. Today I went to a lunchtime violin concert by Michael Gurevich at the Manchester Art Gallery in the Zaha Hadid installation. Gurevich performed Sonata No 3 in C major. It was very, very impressive. The room was just stunning and the music, well I have no words. What a wonderful performance. The space is truly unique and I would urge everyone who hasn't been to try and get a ticket for these last few days (it finishes Sunday!).

I am quoting the brochure as I cannot top this description: "A ribbon careens high above the performer, cascades to the ground and wraps around the audience. The original, box-like room is sculpted into new, fluid spaces that swell, merge and slip through one another, creating an environment that's perfectly tailored to its purpose."

These aren't the best images but give some idea of the fluid lines of the installation.

My creations are not on my list or priorities at the moment, although I can hardly think of anything else, so I tried to make something today. Whilst tidying up I found a collection of my grandmother's doilies that I am trying to incorporate into cushions. And here is a start :

Mini Masters explore Nikki de St Phalle

2009-07-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

What happened to the heat wave? Just got used to this lovely sunshine and now I feel like putting the heating on. Also what happened to the academic year? It has flown by. One more session and it will be the last of the first year of Mini Masters. I haven't been a good blogger recently so I failed to write about the sketchbook session but here are some images of the Nikki de St Phalle workshop. I absolutely love her work, just looking at her works really cheers me up and her sculptures and mosaics are very appealing to children. Most of her well known works are very colourful, bold and shimmery.

As a starting point for our session we took one of her Nana sculptures and traced around it to form a template for our clay work. We used air drying clay which has a lovely texture and is easy to mould for little fingers. With the clay we filled the template, building up the 3D figure.

With a tooth pick we then added texture and/or decorations.

Finally we painted the sculptures and most of the Mini Masters mixed some glitter into the paint. We used ordinary ready mix paint on the still wet clay. I find that air drying clay can be painted really well when still wet as you do not get any cracks.

I've got some ideas for the last session but won't spill the beans as I know some mums might be reading this post!

Finally just wanted to mention that my items are now being stocked at Chelsea Flowers in Wilmslow. I am very excited, dropped off brooches, necklaces, bracelets, postcards and a cushion this morning. Do go and have a look if you live nearby. Look forward to some feedback!

Easy Peasy Skirt

2009-07-03T03:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I visited a fabulous yarn shop called Button & Skein (which sadly has since closed down) where I purchased a kit to make a skirt for girl monkey. I'd like to think of myself as an experienced seamstress but I couldn't resist buying this kit. I love turquoise, it had a fabulous design on it and the whole thing was kept together by a lovely pink polkadot ribbon. Now who could have resisted that? Besides it is quite nice sometimes to make something without having to think.

If you've never made anything before then I can certainly suggest a Clothkit kit. All cutting and sewing lines are printed on the fabric and the instructions are easy to follow. However I did find their waistband instructions a little elaborate and would have suggested something far easier for the inexperienced sewer.

The skirt was made in no time and is just lovely.

The proof of the pudding was in girl monkey's smile when she noticed it in her room.

Glorious British Summer

2009-07-01T14:42:00.001-07:00

Oh the glorious days of summer.... I had to get started very early this morning in order to achieve something today. My sewing machine is gathering dust but on the plus side I do manage to finish my books and pile of press cuttings in this beautiful sunny weather. Enjoy it while it lasts, we never know here.

I have been spending too much time thinking these last few months and almost felt that I couldn't think no more but found myself contemplating a move to Notting Hill this morning as the local yobs have yet again targeted my car. I never had any love for hoodies but would like to punch down a few here and there.....

I made some random things today. I mended some items of clothing, made some brooches for sale and then made some bunting for girl monkey's cupcake party and for the school's summer fair this Sunday. My friend Liz and I will be manning the cake stall. She'd bring some doilies she said so I thought some colourful circus bunting would be appropriate for this festive event.

I also made some kneeling cushions for the garden. I've seen them over the years in various fancy shops with hefty price tags and clearly never felt the need to buy these. Some weeks ago though after a lot of potting and planting I realised they could be quite useful. Luckily I had an old worn out pillow and an old oilcloth lying around which I cut up and made myself some practical gardening cushions in suitable print.

Currently considering Take Three. Just heard that tickets for Wembley this coming weekend have been released at heavily reduced price. Apparently they need more people on the side of the stage for filming purposes. There is restricted view of the main stage but in full view of the B stage...... Now there's a thought......

Busy Betsy's back!

2009-06-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

Due to certain things happening beyond my control I have not ventured into cyberspace for a while, it was hard enough to keep it real! Anyway after a period of noise pollution from a screaming baby next door and emotional pollution from someone who should never have put me through all this, I am back. The monkeys and I had a trip to Anglesey and have spent a lot of time outdoors thanks to the fabulous British weather. We had some nice Mini Masters classes, there were various fairs, festivals and summer parties and above all Take That, Take One and Take Two. I will update on all this soon. Meanwhile I will leave you with some eye candy (obviously I keep the best ones to myself this time...).

Boy Monkey's Pie Biscuit

2009-06-01T15:02:00.001-07:00

It is absolutely glorious here in the North West and we are spending most of our time outdoors.

A couple of days ago though we went to the local library to get a pile of holiday reads for all of us and a couple of gardening and cookery books to keep us busy on a rainy day. Luckily there do not seem to be any rainy days this half term but as it is the holidays the monkeys still like to do some baking.

First of all we made a delicious breakfast treat : "Cinnamon Crunch Muesli" from Bill Granger's Feed Me Now! Cookbook.

Next up was boy monkey's choice from his favourite "Shrek" cookbook. Most of the recipes that we tried from this tome were yummy but this time he chose the ginger biscuits and it didn't work so well. Years ago I got a recipe card for ginger biscuits from the "Gruffalo Club" for girl monkey and we have used this one ever since as they are so scrumptious. Whilst preparing the dough according to Shrek I wasn't convinced it was going to work, very dry and crumbly. I tried adding some milk (this may not have been the right thing to do) and put the lot in the fridge. There appeared to be plenty butter in it and seemed OK when I got it out of the fridge but as soon as they tried to roll and cut it, it all fell apart. Naturally they were very disappointed but boy monkey then came up with the idea of making a big pie biscuit with it.

Girl monkey then decided she wanted to add some fruit which we mixed with some custard powder. We then put the creation in the oven for 15 minutes and hey presto we had a lovely fruit pie. It was truly delicious and I was very proud of the little ones for coming up with this idea.

I can certainly recommend this for any dough gone wrong but please do eat it on the same day. We put some in the fridge overnight but I could break my teeth on it the following day.

On British Mummy Bloggers I read about the Recycle Week starting 22 June which is being promoted through Recycle Now. As you all know I love recycling, upcycling, swapping and everything else that makes my life and everyone else's greener and I love to share a little tip. I am not a fan of dry cleaning, I don't like the chemicals and the rubbish plastic hangers they now use in most places but occasionally it has to be done. Also Mr Betsy tends to bring his shirts to be ironed so we do get a fair amount of hangers and accompanying plastic covers. Our local dry cleaners kindly take the hangers back and I have come up with what I think is a good way of recycling the covers : tie a know at the top where the small hole for the hanger is and use it as a bin liner. Now I can hear you all thinking that I should not use a bin liner at all but just a sheet of kitchen towel at the bottom of the bin and scrub it all out every day..... However in my world that isn't always possible and rather than buying bin liners (which I have NEVER done) I'd rather use what I have got in the cupboard. Any other tips for re-using the covers will be gladly received!

Busy Betsy

A cheerful New Year

Souvenir from Zeeland

Photographic Fortune Cookies

Have a merry green Christmas 2

And the Dish ran away with the Spoon

Sniff sniff

Christmas Craft Cafe

Being green

Oooh that looks nice !

Three down, three to go

Home sweet home

Forgive me I am not a photographer

and follow the hashtag NPS on Twitter #NPS3

Something old....

Palm Easter Tree

I could have been a farmer's wife

Hello Summer!

Hello April

I *heart* Valentine's Day

Turquoise Delight

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Zzzzzzzz......Sound Asleep

From UFO & UFA to FO & FA

Hunt for Storage

Are you sitting comfortably?

Royal Parcel Disaster

Happy New Wellies!

M & M (Mistletoe & Mulled Wine!)

Have a merry green Christmas

25 Chocolates until Christmas

I am back

From Victorian to Modern on a budget

From dowdy to nautical on a budget

Global Art Project for Peace

Pottering in the garden

Candyfloss

Jellytot toasting

Wood Craft

Make do and mend

A spring cleaning kind of weekend

Happy New Home

Today I made a .....

Undercover

T-Rex tooth found!

Let it snow

Holidays are coming...

Yo-yo bag

In the pink

't is the season to attend fairs

Busy Betsy's Etsy Shop!

Feeling all "Martha" today!

A Vintage Halloween

Home alone 2

Half term mayhem

Swishing for Genesis

UFO's ready to go

Beatles, bugs & butterflies

Not just an ordinary Tuesday

A green, clean house

A green surprise!

Cupcake party

New family members

The joys of Manchester

"W"hat's it gonna be?

"Oh sweet butterfly, just fly away from me"

The future is orange (3)

Stepping up a gear

Back home from home

Home Sweet Home

Mini Masters Yves Klein session

Wizards, Goblins and Knights in shining armour

Family fun day in Lyme Park

Visit to my old home patch

JS Bach/Zaha Hadid Architects @ MI09

Mini Masters explore Nikki de St Phalle

Easy Peasy Skirt

Glorious British Summer

Busy Betsy's back!

Boy Monkey's Pie Biscuit

I heart Valentine's Day