One hundred and eightyyyyyyyy!!

OK 180 is pushing it but tonight Mr A and I have shared a lovely bottle of prosecco (I know it's only a Tuesday and a school night but....) and a game of darts.  You could call it our guilty pleasure....Mr A bought the dart board last year with some birthday vouchers I think but we haven't had it out for ages.

We have a natty little hook for the board which is normally hidden behind a frame picture....very cunning .  We we take down the picture and up goes the dart board.

We still have the Jubilee Union Jack bunting up in our breakfast room so that had to be tucked away.  I've decided to keep it up to help get Bradley Wiggins into the Malliot Jaune in the Tour de France, Andy Murry into the Wimbledon final and to support team GB at the Olympics....come on!!

The watercolour paintings have all been done by my Dad.  The one in this photo is a boat on a loch in Scotland.  My favourite one is the one we have to remove to play darts....sorry Dad!

My winning dart from the only game I won as Mr A beat me 4 legs to 1...for those of you in the know....a double 2 checkout isn't anything to write home about but I was a very happy girl!  A win's a win!

We then changed tack and had a game of closest to the bull...one dart each and the furthest one away gets the last dart...yes this is my dart !!  Although I again lost over all to Mr A, I scored two bulls to his ZERO bulls!!  Happy days!

Olympic Torch Relay....it's here!

OK I'm playing catch up now (I'm not sure where the time has gone) as the Olympic Torch is now on Day 20 I think up in the Newcastle area but let's pretend it's 23rd May and it's Day 5 of the Olympic Torch Relay Bristol to Cheltenham...are you with me?...I'll set the scene..it's an absolute scorcher of a day, not a cloud in the sky just beautiful British sunshine. Perfect!  


Miss M's school have allowed parents to collect their children from school before lunch if they'd like to take them to see the Olympic Torch, otherwise the school will take the children...so needless to say there is a lot of excitement on the school run this morning. So hamper in hand, Miss E, Mr A and I picked up Miss M and headed to the beautiful Old Town Gardens for our pre torch picnic lunch.


Not only is the torch here, but it's actually going to go past the end of our road...I know how exciting is that!

Not letting go of her flag, Miss E has a quick power nap before the Olympic Torch arrives

We weren't quite the first people to arrive to get a space but we weren't far off.  Nice photography Miss M.

So while we waited for the Torch we rolled down the grassy slope....

....we hid behind our flag....

....and peeped out when we thought Mummy had put the camera away...gotcha!!...

....we practised waving our flags...

....and had a cuddle with Daddy...

And look, we're not alone now, the crowds are gathering.

We're edging closer....

We now have green streamers to wave as well as our flags

It's here!!  The "torch kiss" to pass the Olympic flame onto the next Torch 

The Torch is lit...the flags are waving...the crowds are cheering...the cameras are snapping.  It really feels like such a magical moment.

Off on the next leg of the relay and we're off for an    ice-cream.

Rhubarb

Our neighbours gave us some lovely home grown rhubarb yesterday so after a quick recipe search I opted for Rhubarb Crumble Muffins using a recipe from the BBC GoodFood site. Rhubarb-crumble-muffins I didn't have any buttermilk as the recipe required so I substituted this with natural yoghurt and it seemed to work fine.  Not only are they delicious but they are relatively low in fat and 213 kcalories per muffin.

The crumble topping is really what makes these muffins I think

Lovely chunks of rhubarb

I love teal

Remember that tray of felt cut outs I shared a couple of days ago? http://lisamonis.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/swift-scissors.html
Well last night was sewing night and today I have a tray of spring and summer flowers in lovely baby pink, luscious bright pink and a very very delicious teal...which is now officially my new favourite colour.

I had originally only made one teal flower in each of the styles but on completion I rapidly went back to my templates and cut out another one of each. 

I am planning on adding apple green leaves to the small and large rose shape flowers.   Some of these will then become hair clips, I've not decided whether to use kirby grips or barrettes yet...that's tonight's job.

I'm going to try for the first time to attached some to elastic hairbands.  I tend to use these more with Miss M and Miss E than I do hairclips at the moment so I'm going to give it a go and then how they sell.

I know from past experience that pink (especially bright pink) sells really well but I'm sure this lovely teal colour will give pink a run for its money.  

This is my original design which I've always included in my collections.

Kate Middleton Duchess of Cambridge has been rocking (are you allowed to say that about a royal?!) teal recently looking stunning in this dark teal suit... (Daily Mail)

and beautifully elegant this week at an Olympics Celebration do in light teal so I'm feeling very current and bang on trend! (Daily Mail)

Woof woof

Friday afternoon is playdate and tea day with our very lovely friends from ten doors down. Now our friends are just a little bit dog crazy and  as our Friday playdates just wouldn't be right without cakes, Miss E and I decided we'd make doggie cakes....woof woof!

Which one is your favourite?

Almost too cute to eat....but only almost....yummy!

This one looks like he's already had a slurp of the post playdate wine!

I think this one is definitely my fav x x x

Swift scissors

It's damp and grey outside but my scissors are sharp and gleaming and I now have lots of bits cut out ready for sewing for the first hair clips and hair bands for my Summer 2012 collection.  I can't wait to get sewing and make these flat shapes into what I hope will be stunning flowers...I'll let you see when I've done.

Checking in - May 2012

I am listening Poker Face by The Magnets.  I went to see them live last month with my friend Jan and they were fantastic. If you haven't come across The Magnets yet, go and have a peep at their website. http://themagnets.com/  Jan and I had a great night and resorted to being like giggly teenagers by the end of the evening when The Magnets came into the theatre foyer to meet the audience.  "I've touched a Magnet!" did escape our lips more than once I'm afraid to admit!  We diligently went to say "hello" to each of the 6 Magnets and got them to sign our CDs.  Both Miss M and Miss E love singing along and The Magnets, Gobsmacked has now become our new favourite car CD....thankfully knocking Peppa Pug off the top spot....result!

I am eating a green Jelly Baby...and yes I do bite off their heads first.  


I am drinking a lovely big mug of Earl Grey tea....so rock and roll!


I am wearing skinny jeans, brown boots, a navy jumper and caramel coloured pashmina scarf...I was hoping to be in something a little more Spring like but it's still cold and damp.


I am feeling tired....I'm sure I said this last month...I think I'm missing the sunshine.


I am reading through Issue Thirteen of Mollie Makes.



In my garden things are looking very green and wet.  We've been told we're experiencing a drought but it's been the wettest April for 100 years!


Around the house the big news is that Miss E has moved into a big girls bed which is hugely exciting.  Mr A and I moved all the furniture around in her room to create what we thought would be the best layout, only to put the bed together and then decide actually the original furniture layout was the best!  So an hour and a half later and we were back to where we started!!


I am enjoying watching Miss E signing and dancing to I gotta feeling by The Black Eyed Peas.  For some reason she has to wear a sparkly pink hairband when doing so...it seems it's part of the uniform!!


I am creating a new felt flower design for hairclips and hairbands which I will share shortly.

Outside my window it's grey.

I am thinking what a lovely day I had on Sunday with my friend Dee who is absolutely the best.

I am loving my family.  I've been running some evening training sessions recently at work and I feel I've missed out on some family time.