Refreshed and recharged!

Every now and again we all need some time out, some time to reflect and re-focus.  I for one have been taking that time recently to re-charge my batteries, take stock, and spend time with my friends and family in the run-up to our baby's upcoming birth.

I've been spending a lot of time in peaceful places.  How lucky are we to have views like this almost on our doorstep?  The kingdom of Fife is a beautiful place indeed and there are so many wonderful places to spend time.  I've been to the beach a lot, enjoying the sound of the water and breathing the fresh air.

Spending time in my garden has also made me happy.  Now I'm no gardener by any means, but I like to look at pretty things and seeing all the beautiful spring flowers bloom over the last few months has certainly lifted my spirits no end.  First came the crocuses, and they brought a welcome splash of purple to the garden after the long months of winter.  Next the daffodils appeared, and their cheery yellow heads bobbing up and down made me smile from the kitchen window as I washed dishes.  Finally my tulips made an appearance and their lovely colours brought brightness around the edge of the patio.  I'm so glad I thought to plant bulbs last autumn and I was delighted to see all the colour in the garden.

For the first year since moving into our house, we have daisies growing in our grass.  Every time I see one I smile and think of our darling Daisy.  It will be her birthday soon - where did the last year go?

It hasn't been all peace and tranquillity!  There's been trampolines and picnics, trips out and visits to the park, school activities, after school activities, camping, creativity and mess - in general just a huge old dose of real life.

There's also been an extreme amount of DIY going on at home, with the PC buried under a pile of dust sheets for what seems like weeks!  It's finally been uncovered and we're now back up and running online.

And I'm back to blogging.  I enjoy writing; it's good for me to have an outlet to write and share.  And of course I get to interact with lots of lovely readers, which pleases me no end.

Thanks for all your continued good wishes and kind messages - it's always so nice to hear from you!

Best wishes
Debbie

Chocolate and Black Cherry Cake

I've been planning this creation in my mind for some time and at the weekend I finally got the baking tins out and came up with this - Chocolate and Black Cherry Cake.  Not quite a Black Forest Gateau, due to the absence of any alcohol, but deliciously chocolatey with fresh cream and black cherries.

My "secret ingredient" on this occasion (i.e. cheat ingredient!) was a tin of black cherries in syrup.

I made a simple gluten-free chocolate cake mix cooked in two 8-inch sandwich tins.  Then I layered together with fresh whipped cream and some of the syrup from the cherries.  I spread another layer of cream over the top and piped swirls of cream all around the edge before filling the space in the centre with cherries and syrup.

I sprinkled crushed chocolate Flake all over the top, too.

I had leftover cherries and syrup, so I made individual versions - chocolate cupcakes topped with fresh cream, cherries and syrup and chocolate flakes.

Delicious!

We took the large cake to my mums for after dinner and needless to say within a couple of days all traces of this cake were completely gone!

Best wishes
Debbie

Happy Easter!

We've had the chance to spend lots of time baking and making in our house recently.  Here's Lizzie's Chocolate Nests - so easy for the kids to make and such an adorable treat for Easter!

The snow and cold weather may have kept us indoors (unusual for this time of year) but we have made the most of it instead by raiding the craft box and having fun coming up with Easter-themed creations.  Here's our paper chicks!

Now that the lighter evenings have begun and the daylight hours stretch out longer and longer, I'm hopeful that the snow is finally behind us and we can look forward to warmer, brighter days enjoying the outdoors!  First we have two weeks of school holidays to fill and enjoy, so I'm off to browse on Pinterest for more ideas!

I hope you have all had a lovely Easter weekend however you have chosen to spend it.  It's been an indulgently lazy day for me today; very much needed and thoroughly enjoyed!

Best wishes
Debbie

A Proud Mum

Little Lizzie took up a new hobby this month which has been keeping us really busy.  After deciding that her previous career aspiration to be an X-Factor contestant is no longer for her, she's decided she wants to take part in Got to Dance instead.  Fair enough - she is only seven, after all - and the world is her oyster!  So dance classes it is; she's enrolled in a local dance school and has thrown herself wholeheartedly into mastering the works - ballet, jazz, contemporary, disco.... to name but a few.

This week I had the opportunity to sit in on one of her lessons and I realised - as I watched her throw herself about, twirl and spin, pose in dramatic fashion and hang off her teacher's every word - that I had a lump in my throat and tears threatening to fall.  Not at her skills and dancing capability - yet - she has a long way to go and is very much at the Bambi-on-ice stage of learning to dance.  

I felt emotional watching her as I realised I was proud.  

Proud of my little girl, who joined a class full of other girls aged from younger than her right up to late teens, and didn't bat an eyelid at saying hello and making new friends.  Proud of my little girl, who had no hesitance whatsoever in launching herself across a room, swinging her arms for all her worth, running as fast as she could and exactly as she had been told to, without a shred of self-consciousness.  Proud of my little girl, who has quickly idolised her dance teacher and listened intently to every instruction, trying her hardest to please.  Proud of my confident, outgoing, determined and enthusiastic daughter...  All the qualities that frustrate me at times but ultimately I wouldn't change for the world.  

She may not end up with a career as a singer, or a dancer - she may change her mind a dozen times over before she even reaches her teens - but the qualities and attributes she has now, the confidence and interpersonal skills she's developing at seven I am certain will take her places in life - wherever she may wish to go.  

And that made me proud.  A very proud mum indeed.

Best wishes

Debbie

Finally - another finished quilt!

I finally finished the little quilt I had been working on for Lizzie - I'm working my way through my unfinished projects and I'm delighted to show you the finished result of this quilt!  This was my first attempt at quilting blocks and I'm very pleased with the final article - the pattern came from a book I borrowed from the library.  I used an old fleece blanket as the reverse of this quilt, rather than cotton fabric, to make it more snuggly and cosy - being striped made lining it up a little more challenging, but overall it looks pretty good!  I used an old white fitted sheet cut up into strips to make the border for the quilt top and some leftover fabric from the blocks stitched together into strips to make the binding.

Lizzie was delighted with it, and that was the main thing as far as I was concerned!  She's been watching me working on it (on and off) for months, and was beginning to get slightly impatient waiting for it!

Here's Lizzie modelling the finished quilt.  Most nights she sleeps with it over her duvet, but it is often brought downstairs to snuggle up under on chilly days - and we seem to have had a lot of those of late!

I now just have two quilts left to finish and then I'll allow myself to make a start on some bits and pieces for the baby's room.

Best wishes
Debbie

My pregnancy - 23 weeks

With less than 15 weeks to go until we meet our new arrival, I'm beginning to feel as though the reality of bringing home a baby might be just around the corner.  So my thoughts are turning to the To Do list - and, quite frankly, there's a LOT to do!  After Daisy died and we packed up all our baby things into storage, the baby's room became the spare room and from there it didn't take much time at all to become the junk room... and we're now at the point where there's barely space to squeeze in amongst all the "stuff" that has accumulated in there over the last 9 months.  We made a start on clearing the room at the weekend; a trip to the tip later and some items stashed up the loft, and we seem to be making some progress.  There's still plenty to be done though, clearing space and finding a proper home for everything, before we can make a start on re-decorating and furnishing the room.  All of this at a time when there seems to be so much happening with work, school, activities and so on, that there doesn't seem to be many hours in between to make much headway.  And all of this with just 14 weekends remaining, and I'm starting to feel just the tiniest bit of pressure!

I'd really like to have the baby's room ready before our baby arrives; although it will be some time before the baby will be sleeping in there, I'd like to have a proper room set out with all the baby's things organised and accessible.

When I finish at work I was thinking about starting a sewing project or two (I know, I know - I haven't finished the last one... or two, or three!) - I was going to make bunting to hang on the wall in floral fabrics with letters spelling out the baby's name, along with a matching cot quilt and a patchwork cushion cover for the chair in the corner.  Something pretty and pink, that I can spend time concentrating on in the run-up to the baby being born.  I've never tried making bunting before but a friend of mine gave me a pattern and I'm hoping it will be straightforward.  I'm not sure how to go about the lettering, though - I've seen iron-on felt letters online which might be an idea, unless you have any other suggestions?

In the meantime I seem to be adding more to the To Do list than we are completing - my husband is going to be very busy over the coming weeks, as my expanding bump is beginning to get in the way and I need to take it easy more and more!

Best Wishes
Debbie

Fundraising Success!

Weeks and months of hard work and preparation culminated in our Charity Party Night at the weekend!  I was delighted to see everything come together, and we gave away dozens of fantastic prizes on the night - from hotel stays, to racing championship tickets, to shopping vouchers, meals, nights out, theatre tickets and more.  Our tombola was a great success and I was so pleased to see all our tombola gifts snapped up within an hour.  We enjoyed a mind-blowing dance display from a local performing arts school; everyone was on the edge of their seats and the girls impressed us with their talents.  The party atmosphere ensured everyone had a good time and the dance floor was packed until the end of the night!

Our efforts raised just over £3500 for Fife Sands, our local group of the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, in memory of our daughter Daisy.  I'm such a proud mum - my darling girl may only have lived for 29 hours but everyone knows her name.  The money raised will ensure that support continues for bereaved parents in our local area, which makes me very happy indeed; we cannot bring Daisy back, but we have managed to bring a positive out of her death and to have received so much help from others to achieve such an amazing sum of money for Fife Sands is both humbling and overwhelming at the same time.

Now I can relax somewhat after having so much of my time taken up with the planning and organisation of the event!  Until the next time...

Best Wishes
Debbie