School's Out!!

Yoohoo the holidays have started! I have just composed and printed off the script for the next 6 weeks. This sounds rather rigorous but it isn't. Over the last few weeks I have gathered leaflets from local museums, libraries and other nearby venues that organise activities for free or for a minimal charge. I have put this information in a calendar and added various parties and commitments that we already made and hey presto a nearly full calendar. I am in the process of making a lucky dip pot for those moments that we might be bored. We've got theme days(various nationalities, colours), home cinema, park, baking, painting, crafting. Of course if we don't feel like doing the available activities then obviously we won't and might resort to a lazy day with books on the sofa or in the garden, but at least I do not need to worry about not having anything to do. 

I am glad that yesterday was the last day of term, I just love having the monkeys at home but I was also getting very embarrassed taking my girl monkey to school in the last couple of weeks because of her shoes. They didn't last very long at all, i.e. a month and they were plastered on the inside with all her good behaviour stickers. Is this a common thing to do nowadays? It doesn't help hygiene and if she'd keep them on it would be fine but she is ever so happy showing her stickers off to anyone!

I don't think I will achieve a lot on the craft front in the next few weeks but here's a little project for the next few nights. Mr Betsy came home the other day with a very practical but rather dull conference bag. I managed to find a piece of fabric with a flower that just covers the logo on it that I ironed on today with bondaweb. I will embellish it in the next few days and hope to use it lots as it has quite a few pockets on the inside. I'd like to have an organised bag for a change!

Also I am making lots more Suffolk puffs (had enough of these yet?) to liven up a dull skirt. I am going for small ones this time rather than the big ones that I used on everything last summer.

One thing I do need to do is come up with an idea for a circus cake. Girl monkey is having a Circusology party at the end of the summer and would like a circus cake, layered if possible. I haven't looked into it yet but if anyone happens to have a great idea and would like to share it, I would be more than grateful!

Eton Mess

Girl monkey went on a school trip today and even though I know that she is well looked after by teachers and other mums who are able to help, I am always thrilled to have her back home. So to celebrate her lovely day out I made her favourite dessert : Eton Mess. This dish, which is traditionally served at Eton College at their annual prize-giving event at the end of May, is made with strawberries, merengues and cream. We made ours with strawberries and raspberries. Instead of making the 'mess' before serving, I put everything on the plates for everyone to mess up themselves. This of course is the best part for the monkeys! Girl monkey added some freshly made rhubarb compote on top of her merengue (she'll have rhubarb with anything...). 

I told the monkeys the anecdote of the Labrador that had supposedly sat on a picnic basket that contained the ingredients for a picnic pudding and that's how Eton mess was invented. They looked at me with utter disbelief and in keeping with the dog story started licking their plates (help!), not a morsel was left....

On the craft front, I have made some more Suffolk puffs, enough to make a little cushion and am finishing a Beach Hut hanging in Kantha (it is too wet to be photographed at the moment).

More Suffolk puffs

My work table was a very happy place to be today. Girl monkey's friend Mia left a bunch of lovely flowers at the front door yesterday afternoon and I put them right where I can see them all the time. I looked after her and her little sister on Friday and she thanked me with these in her favourite colour purple (even her bedroom is purple!). Though I have always said it is not my favourite colour it is starting to grow on me and I really like the shades of the flowers. 

Girl monkey made a lovely drawing for me last night that I could use as a 'design' and as she had such a poorly head on Sunday I wanted to make a little surprise for her . 

I had this maternity top lying around in the pile of fabric that needs sorting out and made a little skirt out of it. I am not used to taking pictures yet of works in progress but luckily remembered when I cut off the top. So here we are.... and of course I could have ironed...

I used her design to decorate the front and back of the skirt with some Suffolk puffs (there's a surprise!) and some buttons. There are three on the back but with shorter stems and a little closer together.  She was delighted. 

I took boy monkey on the bus after nursery to do some shopping at Hobbycraft and the book stores. I picked up a couple of lovely books. I really liked Danielle Proud's House Proud, I had wanted it for a while but had never seen an actual copy so this was a nice find. I think I have unknowingly tried all the projects in the book but it is so nicely put together that it is certainly worth adding to my craft library. 

After picking up girl monkey we went to the children's art gallery at school. It was so nice to see the art works of all the years together, there were some really stunning pieces. Boy monkey did "Myself" and girl monkey "Island at night". I quickly wanted to put a red dot on them in case someone else would snap them up! Girl monkey encouraged me to buy several other pieces and didn't quite understand that mummies and daddies might want to buy their own child's work (and just that one). Both monkeys's works have a proud place at home now.