Monday, 14 December 2009

Calling all you Delia's / Nigella's and of course Kirsties....

HELP REQUIRED

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bored with the 'evening meal' chore in our house...

there is soo much that this one wont eat or that ones does not like that the weekly Cottage Pie, Jacket Potatoes, Fajita Wraps and 'something' with chips is now running rather thin.....

I NEED IDEAS PLEASE....

Any ideas that you ladies have or tried and tested family meal ideas....

Thanks

Thursday, 12 November 2009

Birthday Cakes

Today I have received a real treat, well not really for me but they made me smile non the less.

I had ordered cupcakes for my sons 2nd birthday this week, decided to have a change from a ThomasThe Tank cake....

I found a lovely local lady on line and placed and order for 9 bright cupcakes and this is what arrived....









How lovely are these....


Cant beleive its nearly two years since my baby arrived....




xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Cant wait...

Sorry couldnt wait to show you this pic of my dresser.


I picked it up in the paper for 35.00 and gave it a little TLC..


what do you think ??


Thank you for all your adice.

Just a quick post to say a huge thank you for all of your advise on my previous post....


I have to say things have hugely calmed down lately, H has settled back into school and J will be starting nursery in Jnuary...I have to say I am the worst, I would be just as happy to keep them home with me doing NICE things until they are 16 !!!!!!


I thought I would share a photo, id ont do this much, of my three boys.....monsters....


like butter wouldnt melt hay !!!!!
xx
Take Care all and will be in again soon with some cheery pics of life in Devon
xx

Sunday, 23 August 2009

I am still alive....well just about !!!!!

Hi there everyone.

Am so sorry that I have been away from blog land for such a long time but life has been pretty mad.....

We have moved house and are settling in well to the new place, getting use to the space is taking quite a while but im sure that I will cope....

I have also had to undergo general anistetic, 4 teeth out.....not very nice at all and am already fed up with custard and mashed potatoe, could kill a roadt beef meal !!!!!!

I have been keeping my eye on those who make me smile and will return with something more interesting to say soon.

Take Care and thanks for the comments.

Tor

xx

Thursday, 16 April 2009

For Sale Vintage Cot

My baby is day by day turning into a bigger baby and he is outgrowing his cot.

This cot would not appeal to everyone as it is what i would call 'vintage'

It is in need for a little TLC to the white paintwork but the painted inages to the ends of the cot are fine.

If you follow this link http://mollychicken.blogs.com/my_weblog/2008/10/she-tidied-her-room.html to Molly Chicken, the cot that she changed into a sofa is the same as the one I have.

I am fully open to any offers you many like to make if this cot appeals to you.

I will leave this open for a week and then make a decision.

Thanks and if you want any other photos of mine then please just ask.

xx

Wednesday, 8 April 2009

Happy Easter....

Sorry I have not had time to post recently but I really do not know where the times goes......sad excuse I know...


I do however, follow all of my favourite ones daily and so please do keep up the good work you guys......


Anyway thought I would spare a second to share our easter tree...


HAPPY EASTER ALL !!!!!


Friday, 20 March 2009

Help.......Recipe Needed !!!!!

Calling all you cooks......

I need a recipe for a fullproof desert and for some lovelt cupcakes.....

We have been invited to my sister in laws for a roast on sunday and I have offered to supply the desert. I have a recipe for a Baileys Cheesecake which I have made more times than I would like to mention and fancied something nice and new but EASY to make....

Plus I have offered to make cupcakes for the children !!!!! Me and my big mouth !!!!!

Any Ideas ????

xxx

Thursday, 19 March 2009

Bridgewater For Sale

Ok ladies, I am selling my Emma Bridgewater Toast and Marmalade tea pot (Full Size), Cream Jug and Sugar Bowl with Lid.

The Tea Pot retails for £49.00, the jug £19.95 and the sugar bowl and lid £19.95.

It has NEVER been used and sits on my kitchen cupboard, such a waste.....

Please leave a comment below if you are interested in buying them from me and I will be incontact.

Do not have any idea of how much to ask for these peices so please give suggestions....

Thanks

xxxxxxx

Sunday, 15 March 2009

So much to cath up on....



Well I really do not know where the time goes these days, the weeks seem to merge into each other. I do make time daily to catch up on some of my fav blogs and see what you are all up to.
Things have calmed down in the Montandon household, Harrison's swearing issue has been bought under control and yes ignoring it worked, I have to say that things got worse before they got better and I dont think that I have cried so much for a long time.....but it worked and yes we do still have the odd F&~* or B*gger but thats about it... we have now moved onto another delightful phase, such is life I am starting to realise...

Firstly I received my lovely Valentine swop.....


my lovely gifts included:
A spotty wooden spoon
A wicker wreath
A Valentines Make and Do Idea book
A 'Scrath and Sniff, valentines card
A east of india heart

A heart broach
How lucky was I..... thank you soooo much Catherine (Molly cup cakes)
For those of you who live locally you will understand how lucky we are to have such a beautiful place in the middle of our town. Decoy lake is on a good day one of the most lovely places you could wish to visit and at this time of the year when nature is starting to wake from its wintery sleep I love it, oh how I love to take a seat on this bench with my cup of tea and let the children enjoy the play park that is mother nature.....


I have soooooooooo many projects that I would like start but just not enough hours in the day, however, I have made a start at giving a new life to a set of table and chair that I was kindly given..... I have decided to paint each chair and recover the seat pads, heres how far I have got....


My mother in law comes to visit everiy Friday, I go to market and buy fruit and veg suplies for the weekend and collect her from the bus station........In conversation I said how I would love to be able to crochet granny balckets to go onto the boys beds, no Ben 10 for me, I want their bedroom to be bright and colourful, a real delight for the eye..... she tried on a previous visit to teach me, however, with two small children at your feet that was easier said than done..... but look at what she has made for me..


68 square of delightful colour and vibrancy........we have decided that we need 88 for each blanket and so this I think will keep her busy until the spring arrives, I have however had more lessons and now she has made me sone middles and I am slowly turning them into squares.....

Once the covers are comnpleted for the boys beds, mine is next and here my colour scheme.....pertty egh !!! ??
Finally I have been lucky enough to have a little time for some thrifting..... and here are my finds.....


What my mother would call a 'Piss Pot' £4 in the market, I can see it outside the front door in the spring full of colourfull blooms.


A set of pretty bowls, how lovely will these look at a summers BBQ, I see them briming with strawberrys and a huge blob of clotted cream.......£3.50 for 5.. !!!!

and some silver cutlery, 5p per peice, woow oh yeah and the pretty napkins you can see underneath another bargain at £1.50 for 6.......
Add to that little list a lovely pair of vintage curtain which you will have to wait for next time to see.
I have been taking my photos on my Blackberry as I dropped my camera on christmas day and he no work now !!!!! but I have a new one on the way so I hope that the quality of pics that you see are soon to improve......
As you see we have been busy........ also going on we have had......a smear test, Hand foot and mouth x 3, an ill husband, a broken food steamer AND slow cooker, two viewings on the house (yes were too are on the market) and 1 Diet started tonight, after I have eaten a large box of Maltesers and drank a bottle of Rose wine .... woops......
take Care and see you all soon...
xxx

















Saturday, 28 February 2009

Mel Mel.......

Think I have put the comment mod on, whatever that really is...

It just says that I need an invitiation to view your blog ?????

xxx

Friday, 27 February 2009

Help and Advice Needed.....

Miles appart from my usual posts I am today asking all you mummys out there for your help and advice.....

As you are mostly aware I have three boys, 4,2 & 1..... well my four year old, Harrison, has recently started reception school and seems as a rule to be enjoying himself, even though we have had a little blip this week involving a few tears when I leave him...................

well...........the problem i have is........... swearing................swearing ........................ and more swearing.....

It is really awful, the F word and the TW*T word is being used continually and in the perfect contects.......

I have treid to ignore him but the just keeps on " Mummy, Mummy, Mummt TW!T Mummy Mummy F%£&ING"

I have even tapped him hand.........oh and his backside when he was swearing as we walked up the stairs......

Today I have been marching him up the stairs to his bedroom and making him stay there on his own, then when I go to get him back down I remove a toy from his box explaining to him what and why I am doing it.........

He also seems to be really agressive at the moment, full of stomping feet and slamming doors...... is this just a 4 yr old boy feeling his feet or is this the sign of things to come....

Will welcome any advice and tips you may have......

Sorry now bright and colourful photos today but I dont think you would like to see a picture of a tantrum......


xxxx

Friday, 6 February 2009

Stocking Up incase we are snowed in !!!!!




I have today popped to the local (supermarket) corner shop......and stocked up on some essentials for the weekend incase we see a flurry of snow or two.....in my trolley were of course nappies......as we use about 14 a day, Milk (6 pints) and a lovely fresh whole grain loaf of bread !!!!!! plus





two bottles of lovely rose wine, saturday night would not be complete without a glass or two....oh yeah and a bottle or two of Henneys Cider, plus JS had the vintage one so am trying that for the first time...


PLUS lovely Kettle Chips new Cheshire Cheese and Chutney flavour...












PLUS Dark Chocolate with Orange...










PLUS Chocolate Chip Spiralos for breakfast well if they last that long....







Some new cleaning clothes to cheer up those horrible daily chores.....





How coild leave this lovely little rose plant sat reduced on the shelf destined for the rubbish bin, so home he came and he now had a lovely little home in a Laura Ashley mug..






plus his friend had to come home aswell........


Hope you all have a great weekend..... and going to strangle the kids now ......JOKE !!!!!!!


xxxxx




ps..

oh yeah in these days of white remember spring is just around the corner.....





Thursday, 5 February 2009

Pleasure and Pain !!!!

Today has been one of those pleasure vs pain days......
To start with this ........


Oh how sad am I, this was part of one of my best finds so far, for those of you who dont know, I found the Tea pot, sugar bowl, cream jug and 2 mugs in a local charity shop for £3.90....well one dozzie day I pulled one off of the kitchen unit with the iron cord.....and this one saw its last day as a tea cup when my husband dropped the sugar out of the cupboard onto it..........but there is a ilver lining... tommorow I will be going into the market to find a little plant looking for a nice Bridgewater home !!!!
Now for the pleasure.....
Many of you know that I regularly visit, what I think, is the fab blog of The Vintage Magepie......well after a number of hints to ones OH over the christmas period no little rabbit was hiding under my christmas tree and so I decided this Valentines day to take matters into my own hands and I have bought myself a Valentines / Mothers Day prezzie....
A brown paper bag....


Then a white box.....


Then some lovely rose tissure paper....


and finally !!!!!!!




***************** RUBY **********************


Welcome to our home Ruby......


I think that Nicki from the Vintage Magpie will be pleased to hear she is settlred into her new surroundings very well and is already making new friends.....

The pleasure pain day continues as I have just finished one of my favourite dinners.....
Mushroon Risotto followed by fresh from the over home made Banana Cake, all washed down with a lovely cup of tea (mine has to be Earl Grey).........but now I have to go and put on my uniform as I have to work tonight !!!!!
xxxx
Take Care all..
xxxxx
















Monday, 2 February 2009

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Well in comparison to the rest of the country we have got off lightly but we have today had a rather down pour of snow, much to the delight of the boys.....





I have to say I do become a bit of a child when there is snow on the ground, on the way back from collecting H from school I could not resist launching a rather small but rather big at the same time snow ball at him......much to the disgust of sone other passing mothers......so silly and so immature........





We now have a rather strange looking snowman on the front grass expertly built by the boys and my husband after tea.....





I could not help but post a pic of the new knifes, forks and spoons that I bought on ebay for the boys.....





They do brighten up breakfast........

By the way the pots having been lovingly painted by J and H........a master piece I have to say....

I hope you all enjoy this snow safely and like responsible....but very fun....adults...xxxxx

xx

Saturday, 31 January 2009

Ive Been Tagged !!!!

Ive been tagged by the lovely ....http://bekisbloggybits.blogspot.com/.....

Usual rules apply
Link to the person who tagged you - as you can see I cant do this bit yet......
Post rules on your blog
Write 6 random things about yourself
Tag 6 people and link to them
Let them know they've been tagged....

so here goes.......

1, I walked on my tip toes as a child.....even now I can run very fast on tippytoes !!!!

2, I gave birth to 2 of my 3 boys in a birthing pool......HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those wanting babies the natural way !!!!!

3, I was a vegitarian from the age of 7 - 24, and only started to eat meat again after getting very drunk and eating a KFC !!!!!

4, I cant sleep without pants on.......TRUE....

5, I hate mustard.......oh and gerkins..........oh and red wine, again another bad experience of drinking too much !!!!

6, I love Garfield, you know the fat ginger cat......and my parent use to have the newspaper delivered every morning and before they had chance to read it I would have cut the Garfield cartoon strip from the back page.........much to my dads delight I have to add.....

So there 6 random facts about me and so I would like to passd this tag onto.......

http://marypoppins-homesweethome.blogspot.com/ - Mary Poppins.

http://thevintagemagpie.typepad.com/ - The Vintage Magpie...

http://curlewcountry.blogspot.com/ - Curlew Country

http://vintageamethyst.blogspot.com/ - Vintage Amethyst

http://henhousehomemade.blogspot.com/ - Henhouse....

http://www.buttercupandroses.blogspot.com/ - Buttercup & Roses

There....phew.....all done...

xxx

Country Living Fair

Any of you ladies going to the Country Living Fair in March i think it is???

My husband has today announced that he is going on a football 'TOUR' not he does not play for Liverpool.....which consists of Fri/Sat & Sun in Blackpool with a large number of men and a very large amount of beer sooooooooo I have thought right then I will plan some ME time and leave the children under his care for once......

Please let me know if you are going and if you have been before would I feel silly going on my own ???/

xxxxx

More Thrifty Meals

On the same lines as my last post I have found a great and tasty meal that does not cost the earth......

You will needs:

1 bag of Sainsburys Economy Cauliflower FROZEN .......78p
1 Bag of Sainsburys Economy Plain Flour ...... 48p
1 Block of Sainsburys Economy Cheese .....1.60
Butter .... 84p
1 pint of whole milk .....94p

Boil Cauliflower until soft and drain, not the whole bag, this will do a lot of meals!!!
Melt 1 oz of butter and seive in 1 oz of the plain flour, whisk as you add the flour,
slowly add the milk and some grated cheese.
Bring sauce to the boil and pour over the cooked cauliflower,
Top with some more grated cheese and bake in over for 15 mins or until brown on top.

GREAT VALUE and HEALTHY !!!!!

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Thrifting Foods

Like everyone, we are feeling the pinch and so I am trying to return to some good old fashioned ways of cooking and providing everyday food for my family....I sat down and started to write a BASIC list such as cheese, eggs, bacon, milk, flour, butter etc etc etc the sorts of foods that you can buy and keep in the fridge/storecupboard and make an variety of things with......such as on saturday morning I make egg and bacon and then I might use the eggs to make some cakes for the boys and then I may use the eggs and bacon and cheese and make a quiche.......

sooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!

Do any of you have any thrifty food ideas that you would like to share, some tips for adding simple ingrediants to make a meal special without breaking the bank ????

xxx

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

An Award - HURAGH !!!

I have received an award...


HURAGH...


from the lovely' bekimarie' at the http://bekisbloggybits.blogspot.com/


I now need to say the rules;;;;;;; OHHHHHHHHH,
1 Please put logo on your blog
2 Place a link to the person from whom you received the award
3 Nominate 7 or more blogs
4 Put the links of those blogs in your blog
5 Leave a message on their blogs to tell them
sooooooooooooooo, i have passed this award onto....
You will have to excuse me but I do not know how to show a link without all of the www. stuff...
There Done !!!
xxx
Congratulations 2 u all

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Heres to 2009

My promises for 2009:

Look after the people most important to me....
Do what I feel is right not what other tell me is right...
Eat healthier...
Laugh More...
Dont be afraid of making a fool of myself in the name of fun...
Dont judge others....
Keep working on making our house a HOME...
Dont take life or myself to seriously...
Dont take other peoples action too seriously or personally...
Enjoy the simple things life brings.......

I hope 2009 brings you all that makes you happy....

xxx

Sunday, 11 January 2009

January Sale in the Montandon household....

Today I have looked around my kitchen only to realise that I have far too much STUFF...

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo

I am going to have a January Sale.

I plan to put things onto Ebay, things that I have bought recently and in the past...

Will keep you all posted when I have done this as there are going to be some bargains to be had......

Hope you have all had great weekends..

xxxx

Saturday, 10 January 2009

So Sad... Broken Thrifty Finds...

Today my husbands football was cancelled and so into Newton Abbot Town we went, mainly to buy cat food.

Whilst waling up the main street I saw a lovely jug and bowl in one of the charity shops, I popped in and it was only £5 so I had to have it and whilst I was paying I spied another lovely double handles bowl which I could see holding our roast potatoes for sunday lunch....
















Bargains at only £5.00 and £1.99 each I think you will agree.............

Well..................

I carried them back to the car on the handle of the pushchair and as we unloaded the children into the car the pushchair tipped back and my lovely finds fell to the floor......

The bowl that goes with the jug brok in two places, two large bits and about 50 tiny fragments....

I have glued the bigger peices as well as I can and turned it around so that I can not be seen....

The handle broke off of the bowl but I have managed to glue this very well and you really can not see it or it will not effect its use to hold roasties !!!!!

How sad was I.......................... I tried so hard not to show it but felt that these two very old peices of chins were in lovely condition until I got my grubby mits on them.....
xxxx


Sorry I have not blogged for what seems like months but I have been following some of yours.....

Attic 24 - Love ya, keep it up as you brighten any grey day !!!!

xxxxxxx