Black magic

Two of my black (yes black) tulips...Im only sorry I didnt get more bulbs at the time, but they look SO magical everyspring :)

How time does fly...

Would you look at the size of W.B (and Aideen) ? These pics were taken last year by Aideen...we`d just rescued W.B and she was a little scrap...Aideen has grown quite a bit too !

dirty baby = happy baby

Just look at those mucky hands...Daisy is the expert at muck in our house...she revels in it :) 

Mirror, mirror...

Sean took this snap without my knowing it yesterday morning as I put some lippy on...not one for makeup I just felt I needed it...its my fav lippy that my big sis, Gretta , in Mayo gave me...she is forever trying to get me to dress up ...like a woman and not a "farmers wife" :)

Sean said he took it to show me how blue my eyes really are...it was weird for me looking at this pic, it was like looking at all the kids eyes...especially Shaunas xx

Garden living...

some old fashioned cottage garden flowers...my favourite kind of flowers ! The Ladys mantle is from my aunty Maggies garden, (extra special now shes passed away) and the wallflowers, Sean rescued for me from a wall that was being demolished one day as we were out walking ...romantic !

Aideen worked her little heart out today in the garden...here she is digging in the base of the Maypole !

Sean made the Maypole from old scafolding...its a whopping 12foot high...cant wait to see it all decorated on Friday, Annah is bring some fleece strips, I have some ribbon and yarn so it should be really colourful !

An ogre called what ???

Daisy bless her is saying more words a day than we can keep up with ! Shes gonna be a talker this one ! My sister gave the kids a "shrek" bubble bath for Christmas and Daisy gets a great kick out of playing with the empty container...bless her...she went for it today and tried SO hard to say "Shrek" but it came out "Wekk", you can she by her lips the effort she was putting in !

Collecting wood...

Sean was busy after HS lessons today so myself and the kids went for a walk as Aideen was anxious to start collecting wood for our Bealtaine fire for Friday night...it was lovley until we were nearing home went the Heavens opened ,and we sheltered under a tree...but what a lovley surprise we found ! A little footbridge and some amazing lilys !!!!

A hug in a mug :)

After I came back from the walk with the kids Sean, bless his heart made me a wonderful mug of tea and the scones I had baked earlier were cooling so I nicked one ... bliss !

Knitting...

Sean models his snow-boarders hat that I made for him this winter , he loves it :)

Also tonight I added a hatching chick to the basket of eggs I knitted for Annah who has started a wonderful creative venture (see her blog Spoirid.Blogspot.com). Life is so short I think you should put all yoru creative eggs in one basket !

An evening with friends...

This evening we all went to Callums 10th birthday party...it was a lovley afternoon spent with friends, Annah and myself even got a chance to nip off and take some pics of the wonderful "carpet" of cherry tree petals (which Shauna called "pink snow") that were strewn around the neighbourhood near Annahs home.

The kids all had a ball, Daisy loves going to the Knights as they have a big house so she has lots of room to run, run ,run ! And despite the rain she spent lots of time outside, as you can see the wind got the better of her at the end :)

Saul ,the little chef managed to share a whole cake into four !!!! I wont mind getting portions at his restaurant when he grows up :)

sick hamster, worried kid !

Alas "cuddles" has reached the grand old age of 2 , which is old in hamster years...Aideen has sobbed, cried and sobbed some more over the last few days...we`ve made a vidoe of her playing with him and I also made a "blanket" which she rubbed over cuddles and now can hold it close to her...shes so sad her friend is going to Heaven, to be honest we`re nearly crying too...she gets SO close to animals, its a gift...we`ll keep you posted.

Mend and make do

I also finished the first row of flowers on Daisys handsewn patchwork quilt...its a tradition, Ive made one for all the kids...and it takes me months ! But I have patches on Aideens from people who have passed on and its so nice, its like having a hug from Heaven ! So if anyone wants to give me (or post me) a patch or an old shirt ,jeans ,whatever I`ll gladly make it into a patch for Daisy :)
I also (at last) finished knitting the Mother Duck, only Dad and the kids to go ! Aideen said "oh its great mam but why didnt you get it done for Easter "? ...excuse me for not having 48 hrs in my day :)

This week I HAD to darn Seans fishing gloves , the poor dear...he was so glad to have them back he wore them all evening ! My little boy is happy again :)

Latest scrapbook page

This is my latest scrapbook page...I tried something different, I used the kids paints and painted the page orange then using a scrap off an old photo I dipped it into white paint and printed the journal lines...

Eternal flame

I spent the last few days cutting up old wood that Sean wont be using in the shed , my fingers are full of splinters but as you can see by the lovley fire in the sitting room ,it was well worth it ! Theres NOTHING as cosy as sitting by the fire either alone or with loves ones, either knitting, reading or simply flamegazing !

Its a working man I am...

Heres Sean and Michael working in Michaels allotment...so now the dinamic duo have fishing and digging to do all summer :)

stone wall and gates

I have a real "thing" for old gates and stone walls, they just melt my heart...brings me right back to childhood in the countryside !

A simple picnic and walk in the college

One of our favourite walks is the old college grounds...its so peaceful you can forget you are in the town completley ! we keep a flask and a pack of biccies handy for when the sun comes out ! Daisy walked her little socks off that day, to say she is so young and so small shes a great walker, Aideen was too ! Oh and I just couldnt resist adding in the pic of Sean , eh, answering the call of nature...who could ?