What I Did at the Weekend

Evenin' guv'nors.

Lads, for the first time in LITERALLY A HUNDRED YEARS, Husband had a whole weekend off. This is a very, very rare occurrence for us, so we made the most of it yesterday by doing nothing until 3pm, then going out to buy some new binbags for Perfect's nappy bin.

So today, we put our feet down with firm hands and DID SOMETHING. And we have had such a fantastic day, it's been so, so nice.

We went out for breakfast...to Dobbie's Garden Centre in Livingstone. It was BRILLIANT! You get more breakfast than you can shake a hairy stick at for like, four Scottish rubles and it's braw (if it helps you, like it helped me, don't think about how they can charge £1.90 for tea, but only £3.99 for six different types of meat because it really does taste good). We decided on Dobbies because Perfect loves the fish, especially those giant gold-fishy looking ones with the brains.

We then went outside to look at the chickens. Oh, fellas, how I would love chickens! I'd love to watch them run around, and me and Perfect could feed them, and sit in the garden reading stories while the chickens pecked at our feet. Oh! Brilliant. Unfortunately, Husband is extremely short-sighted on the chicken front, and point-blank refuses to engage in conversations entitled 'Why We Need Chickens and an Eggloo' (that's what the chicken huts are called, is that not the most wonderful thing you've ever heard? I love a good pun).

Anyway, none of that matters because it turns out, Livingstone don't stock chickens. So we went over to the shops instead.

Quick aside chums, but recently I've subscribed to Bloglovin' which has saved me many, many seconds of time finding new blogs. One of them (and I know I'm so late to this) is Caroline Hiron's blog on Skincare (available here but I'm not taking responsibility for you going over there) - honesty, that woman knows her stuff. Sooooooo in a never-ending attempt to turn myself into a grown-up, I've grasped the opportunity to buy more skin junk. This'll surprise you, but I'm extremely suggestible to new skin stuff and makeup, and chickens - someone only has to wave a pot under my nose and go 'this'll make you thinner, funnier, brighter and more lady-full' and I'm on it like a car bonnet. So today, I bought this:

I haven't used it yet, but I'm expecting it to change my life! And my face. I'll let you know.

Anyhoo, we came home from the shops and had a lovely cup of tea. Aw! And then I made hummous! What?! I did! After seeing a recipe on Eating With My Fingers, another wonderful blog, very sad but very funny. Here's an arty photo (ha!) of the twenty-million chickpeas I had to shell.

and then, after a bit of kitchen magic, they turned into this:

Yum yum yum! It's so delicious and easy, honestly, give it a go. This is the one with Tahini, but there's an even easier recipe with peanut butter. If you try that one, please let me know how you got on! Anyway, it's so good that I've been digging into it all afternoon. Oh, skinny-ness! Why are we never to be friends? The only downside, and it's a very little downside, is the recipe makes enough to feed a thousand people, so we're going to be eating a lot of it over the next few days. But! It's probably very healthy.

So, I started a square-a-day blanket for Perfect, as you know, which was going ok-ish. Then someone on facebook linked to Attic24 (I know I'm so late to this too) and I was hooked! I'm SO FUNNY today, it's like I'm on FIRE! But really, she's awesome. So, I've changed my mind, decided not to fret about the wasted hours spent on the sqaure-a-day, and I'm doing a ripple instead. But guess what? I love it!

It's handy doing crochet because it's so portable. It's only one hook, one ball at a time, and the pattern is stored in my mega-portable brain. It's so easy too, once I got the hang of it, and it's very soothing to do the same thing over and over. Like cleaning the kitchen! (False, that was a wee dig at Husband, who seems to not notice junk lying about in the kitchen. Sorry for bringing marital discord over here, he really is the jewel of my face, apart from Perfect). This blanket is quite wide though, so it takes a wee while to do a row, maybe forty minutes? But I'm not a very quick crochet-er yet.

So that's me! A lovely day doing things I love, with the people I love most in the world.

Oh! It got a bit soppy at the end there for a minute. I think it's passed now though.

The one with all the baby updates

Hello chaps!

I'm so sorry I've been off the blogging network for so long, but I have many, many reasons for to why. These reasons are tenfold, but here's two of them:

1. My computer and laptop BOTH gave up the ghost
2. So did my camera

And I don't know if you've ever tried blogging with no camera or computer, but let me tell you Chinas, it is not easy. I even tried doing it on the iPad but the blogger app suh-hucks and I couldn't get it to go right. But yesterday me and husband finally bit the bullet and shot (hahaha!) out to buy a new laptop and lo! Less than twenty-four hours later and I'm back in the bosom of the blogsphere. And what a lovely bosom it is too.

So, a quick update on the ol' pregnancy! First, to set the scene, here's a picture of me a week ago:

Yes, I am a whole week more pregnant now, taking me up to 36 weeks tomorrow. Sorry that this is such a rubbish picture, Husband has this stupid rule where he'll only take one picture and if it's rubbish then too bad. And husband is good at a great, great number of things but taking pictures is not one of them. Anyway, am I not GINORMOUS? Really starting to feel like a beached whale.But I am not complaining chaps, not at all, because I have had the easiest pregnancy in the entire universe. No joke, it's been a complete doddle. Probably because I'm carrying the most perfect babe in the entire universe.


So husband and I have mainly been decorating and buying things for the future King (or Queen) of the Universe. You would not believe how much stuff something so very little needs, it is mental. Now, Bumbaleerie Mansions is in a horrendous state at the moment due to all the re-jigging of all the rooms, so forgive these hideous pictures. First, the Moses Basket!

That is in our newly decorated bedroom, and I love it with my whole soul. I wish I could fit in it, it would be lovely to be rocked to sleep. Next, the high chair!

I know you're thinking, why would you even bother taking a picture as rubbish as that? I know. But I can't bear to take the plastic wrapping off in case it gets dirty so I've just peeled it back a bit so you can see THE COOLEST HIGH CHAIR IN THE WORLD DOT COM. It's chrome and leather, oh yes, this baby is STYLISH. Next, a present from Auntie Sister! (My sister, obviously, not the baby's)

It's a little....em...something.....babygrow?...can't remember, with LITTLE TORTOISES ON IT! And it's TITCHY, I don't even think anything will be small enough to fit in here! Quick aside, Sister has been knitting up a storm for the baby, honestly you wouldn't believe how much knitting Sister and Len have done for Baby Bumbaleerie, it's like a wool shop in their crib. Anyhoo, Sister started knitting about five minutes ago and she is the most perfect knitter in the entire world. Her tension is PERFECT, she chooses excellent colours and she's got a knack for picking the coolest, comfiest patterns in the world. She's so annoying. And LEN, the fabulous LEN, has knitted a shawl! And it's so gorgeous, I'll get a picture up here of it soon, but it's massive and perfect, and so soft, and the baby is so lucky to get it. It's a real heirloom.

And I've been knitting too! It's very difficult when you don't know what flavour of baby you're having so I've been trying to knit a mixture of stuff. I'm so close to being finished this one:

But not close enough that it's finished in time for this post being published.


Hmm, so what else? Well, I turned twenty-eight last week (gaaaaahhh! Twenty-eight!) which was hideous, but better than turning twenty-seven for some reason. And I got a lovely present from Len and Roy and Sister:

But it's no ordinary handbag, oh no! It's a changing bag! Isn't it cool? And you'd never guess that it was a changing bag, never in a million years. Which is exactly what I wanted, because changing bags are SPECTACULARLY naff.

And also, Len made me a birthday cake. Now, I don't know if you're familiar with the story of the woman who tried to make a hedgehog cake for her daughter's birthday and it was so scary that the children at the party started to cry - if not, find it here. Anyway, I was plunged into hilarity for several days when I first saw it and sent it to everyone I know. So Len, for she is truly Len the Magnificent, made me this:

Happy, happy days!

Some news

Hello chaps. It's been so long, and I'm so sad about this, I'm sure you've all left to read another blog because you know you'll not be getting anything from me. But please come back, because I've got a good excuse for being away for a hundred years. See if you can guess:

and...

or maybe:

or even...

Oh yes Pals, the Bumbaleerie baby is due in September. And we are over the moon. Really, really, OVER THE MOON. I absolutely can't WAIT to see him/her (but probably a her) - and that's why I've been away for so long. Because the last few months has been 'Husband, d'you think I might be.....?' 'Husband, it says I'm definitely....' 'Husband, I can't really climb stairs because I'm.....' 'Husband, I think the baby needs that giraffe, I've got a really strong feeling' etc.

And it's BRILLIANT being pregnant! Sure, you can't do things like drink wine or eat brie or bend over too well. And maternity clothes you can wear to work are scarce on the ground. AND people look at you like 'hmmm, fat or pregnant?' but it's ACE - she (for the sake of argument) kicks ALL THE TIME and she's very, very strong and clever. She's probably going to be the cleverest baby in the whole world.

And I have celebrated in my usual fashion. I was going to knit a jumper, or a blanket, but instead I thought, no, KNIT ALL THE THINGS! So I have been:

And I've developed this almost SPOOKY connection to the baby. I know for a FACT that she loves jellycat toys. So I've bought a hundred million of them. Here's the latest:

Husband has put his foot down with a firm hand and said 'no more Jellycats' - well, that's the POLITE version of what he said. He also said that the baby would need things like a cot and a highchair, so Jellycat toys were not a necessity. Well, I'll be the judge of THAT. 

So that's our gossip! We've been for the 20 week scan now, and of course she's perfect - even the scanning lady said the baby had 'gorgeous feet' - and she's an EXPERT! The scans are less than fun because you have to hold in your peep for a million years to push the baby forward and it's total agony. AND Husband keeps making me laugh ON PURPOSE so I'll maybe peep myself. But it's totally worth it because you get to see the baby on scan, and I just KNOW she's going to be brilliant. And now we're on the countdown to September, bring it on!

Hmm, so in other news - I know I promised you a virtual tour around Bumbaleerie Mansions but it's in a bit of upheaval at the moment because we're moving rooms for the baby. So I think I'll wait until we've got the baby's room sorted before I do that. Also I've got about three pairs of breeks (Scottish word for knickers) lying about just now and like I said, I can't bend over to pick them up.Well, I probably COULD but you know...I can't be bothered. And I don't really want pictures of my breeks on the internet. Howzat for a catch-22?

In making news, I was working on a quilt for somebody's wedding present, which I finished and then forgot to take a picture of. But here it is NEARLY done:

All fabric from the wonderful Eternal Maker, go and have a wander. They post really fast too, so say someone had asked you to make a quilt for May in January, and gave you the money for it and everything, and then you forgot, and suddenly it was the beginning of May and it had to be finished for the 10th May, WELL! You wouldn't have to worry at all, because they would get it to you sharpish. 

I'm going to finish now with a story called 'How I Guessed I Was Preggers'.

So, I'd made Jamie Oliver's spring veg lasagne for dinner on the Monday night and decided to re-heat it for dinner on the Tuesday. So I did. But I accidentally burned it to the bottom of the pan and when I took a spoonful out, the bottom was all black and blistered and I COMPLETELY lost control of myself. I was crying and wailing, and yelling for Husband, who almost broke his neck running down the stairs to see what was happening. 'LOOK!' I sobbed, 'LOOK! It's all mank and it smells horrible and I HATE it! You have to take it outside right now, get rid of it!' By this point, my flesh was crawling and I was starting to boak. So Husband gallantly carried the pan outside to the bin, cleaned up the kitchen and got rid of the smell, obviously thinking that I had finally gone mental. And the whole time he was doing that, I sat in the corner, rocking and doing 'gentle moaning' and shaking. AND THEN, spent the rest of the night doing that thing when your spine shivers. At about half ten, I thought, 'that was a weird reaction' - and bought a pregnancy test. 

Toodle pip!

Saturday

Evening, fellas!

I have commented before on the work we're doing in Bumbaleerie Mansions - mainly painting SLASH decorating and it is the opposite of fun. Anyway, we're needing a kitchen floor. Bumbaleerie Kitchens is quite big so we're needing quite a bit of floor. And we've been putting it off for ages, because Husband hates nothing more, NOTHING, you understand, MORE than salesmen. He hates that no matter how many times you say 'we're just looking, fanks' they still insist on telling you all this junk - like, how many colours the tiles come in, how they can be fitted, how they'll look upside down, but NEVER THE PRICE.

So, we need carpet for two rooms, walnut floor for the hall (YAAAASS!) and slate tiles for the kitchen. Easy.

First shop: Salesman sidles over, catches us unawares. Husband was looking at prices and sizes, I was seeing how far my fingers sunk into the fibers. 'HOW CAN I HELP YOUS?!' bellowed the saleschap. (DIVERSION: I hate nothing more, NOTHING MORE, than people saying 'yous' (as in the plural of 'you', I'm assuming). It's NOT A REAL WORD)) So Husband was already twitching, and even though my nerves were jangling, I managed to say 'WE'RE JUST LOOKING FANKS' (WJLF). And Husband and I looked back at the carpet.
'Righto!' said the cheery one. 'Well, just so you know, we've got a special offer on blah blah words words selling carpet blah blah more talking...' and so on for FOUR MILLION YEARS. Eventually, we muttered something about maybe wanting laminate or learning to fly so it wouldn't matter what we were standing on, and glumly walked hand-in-hand to the door (me and Husband, not me and Husband and Salesfella)

'I don't even want to do this any more' whined Husband once we were back in the safety of the car. I rubbed his hand soothingly.

Second shop: Started well! We found loads of offcuts that were big enough for our rooms, nice nice. And we were congratulating each other on not having to speak to anyone when we came across a salesboy hiding between the rolls of carpet. Hiding. Between the rolls. Of carpet. Husband said later, it was like a praying mantis waits for prey.

'Hellooooooo! Can I help yous?'
'WJLF'
'OK-doke, what is it yous are looking for today?'
Small silence. 'Carpets. That's why we're in a carpet shop'
'And do yous know what colour it is yous are looking for?'
...it was at this point that I held my hands over my ears and started shrieking. My nerves cannot cope with repeated uses of 'yous'. I'm like Mrs Bennett with my nerves (wee Pride and Prej ref there).

EXIT STAGE LEFT.

Third shop: A saleslady! I was so pleased to see her, I started to weep over her polyester skirt. But! My relief was short lived. She was one of THEM. But, a bit more mental and scary. She curled her lip at me, did a quick up-and-down of my outfit, grimaced at Husband and barked 'How may I help yous today?' Husband looked at me mournfully. So, I took the bull by the horns and said 'Do you have a toilet I can use?' The salescow recoiled (I don't know why,  I wasn't going to pee on her. Maybe I looked like I was though), and said 'Our toilets are for customers ONLY. Are yous interested in flooring?' 'NOPE!' I bellowed joyfully, 'WE'LL JUST BE OFF THEN!' And we were off.

But that means that we've still no carpets/wood/tiles.

So, to make today not a total wash out, I made some foccacia or maybe focaccia or even foccaccia. Here's some pics:

Me kneading.

Me sick of kneading, the dough's WELL sticky

Me developing the 'Bumbaleerie Method' of kneading. Much more nice.

In the oven. Exciting, isn't it?

And the finished product, complete with garlic oil, chili oil and the ol' balsamic:

Go and buy Paul Hollywood's book, it's so easy and delicious and the money will help him continue to be a Silver PHOX!

A Magical Place

Oh, Husband and I went to the most MAGNIFICENT place in the entire universe! Before I go on and ON about it, I should credit Anne over at My Blethering Blog for introducing me to this land of EverythingThatIsGood, go over and read her post on it, it will rock your socks.

Steptoes Yard in Montrose, or as they call it the 'only museum in the world where everything is for sale' or as I call it 'HUSBAND THIS PLACE IS MORE MAGNIFICENT THAN ANYTHING I'VE EVER DREAMED OF!!' It was amazing.

It was like a gigantic, magical farm full of things and stuff. I didn't get very many pictures of outside but INSIDE:

Every square inch was filled with magic and rainbows (Husband says 'junk', but he's rude and lacks imagination). There was a whole room dedicated to glass:

a whole room dedicated to crockery:

boxes of postcards and pens:

It was MENTAL! And I know what you're thinking: Eilidhbelle, you're a lady of wonderful taste and style, surely you didn't pass up the opportunity to bag some wonderful items for Bumbaleerie Mansions?!

Thank you for asking! I did! A PINK PYREX!

The lady said it was from the fifties but I'm thinking she was false in her statement - I'd say seventies or eighties. It comes with a lid but it was MINGING and is in the dishwasher as we speak. The lady asked for twelve quid but I talked her down to £8, which I thought was a fantastic bargain. Husband was also thrilled (not true.) AND THEN, I spotted these bad boys:

I summoned the Lady. 'Madam' I sez, 'I must have these for entertaining purposes. Name your price, although it is totally irrelevant, I shall be taking them no matter how many times I have to cross your palm with silver.' Husband glared at me over her shoulder. He had said previously that I could only get them if they cost less than 17p, which was frankly unrealistic. Sometimes Husband loses touch with reality.

'That's an original lemonade set, from the 50s' she said doubtfully. Husband rolled his eyes, he always thinks people are trying to con us, whereas I believe EVERYTHING no matter how unlikely. 'It'll cost you twelve quid, no haggling'. My brows furrowed. 'I thank you for your frank honesty, my good woman. However, it cannot have escaped your notice that there is one glass missing from the set. There are only FUNF glasses, where there would have once been SIX. We simply MUST come to some arrangement regarding the bucks, before my Husband keels over in your fine establishment.' I leaned closer and winked at her, lady-to-lady. I think she appreciated that.

'Tenner.'

'SOLD! Don't wrap them up, I'll need them for the drive home where I'll be pretending to live in yesteryear and toasting other passengers. I thank you for your time, and also your magnificence in this matter.'

And we left, one of us (me) skipping (carefully, didn't want to drop what is almost certainly original 1950s glasswear, and not something that could have been picked up in Asda), while hissing 'Husband! I think I made a new friend! I am friends with Steptoe Lady! We're mates! She almost certainly thinks I'm charming!' even though said Lady was glaring at us, clearly happy we were leaving. Husband was practically running back to the car, holding on to my sleeve in case 'you're tempted to buy more crap for our house'. UNGRATEFUL!

I love the Royal Mail (sometimes)

I don't want to give the impression that I'm always buying stuff, but it just so happens that recently I've gone flippin' mental with Paypal and bought ALL THE THINGS! Brace yourself.

Are you braced?

Feast your eyes on THIS:

You tell me if that is not the most beautiful fabric you have ever seen in your entire trouble and strife! Isn't it wonderful?! It's a Michael Miller what I bought from Etsy, and it is going to maybe bayby turn into one of these bad boys:

also from Etsy. It probably won't though, I think that fabric is too nice to cut. Is it just me who has this problem? Anyhoo, I've never made anything from a proper pattern before, but Len Goodman (my mum) (not her real name (obviously), see explanation below*) said she'd show me. Len is a proper maker - she's made loads of stuff and most weddings in the entire, gigantic extended Bumbaleerie family have at least one Len Goodman original on show, usually a bridesmaid dress.

*Len Goodman's real name is Eileen, but she gets called Leenie. I started calling my parents by their first names for a hilarious laugh but it turns out that it's really difficult to go back once you've started doing that.I was texting her a rude picture one day and predictive text changed 'Leen' to 'Len'. And I was quite literally over the moon to have a new nickname for her. (ASIDE: I thought I'd invented the name myself but it turns out he's some kind of dancing judge. Whod've thunkit?)

Similarly, we were playing that game with my Dad when you work out your 'adult entertainment name' by putting your first pet's name with your mother's maiden name. My sister introduced my parents to this game and said it was to get their 'stage name' but I put them right as I am the daughter that DOESN'T lie to them, and that makes me their FAVOURITE. Turns out my dad's first dog was called..........wait for it........ ROY! ROY PRATT! True story. So he gets called Roy now, which I think you'll agree is a marvellous name.

People say I must be unbearable to live with, but I'm not sure why.

Anyway, anyway, anyway. One last parcel that I've been waiting AGES and AGES for is this:

Stamps! Stamps that I am turning into artwork! OoooooooOOOooooooh! I do like a good stamp.


And that's all today's news. Glad to say Farewell to Monday though. Why is it ALWAYS Monday and NEVER Friday? Someone should look into that.

Technology

Lads. The technology in Bumbaleerie Mansions has gone mental, I was lucky to escape WITH MY LIFE.

The computer started making a weird noise - you know that sort of noise that makes you go AHHUSBANDTHESKYISFALLINGDOWN ? Well, that.

I have taken refuge. Husband is trying to fix the motherboard. I don't know what this is, because it really is spectacularly boring talking about motherboards and my brain miserably sloped off while husband was talking about it. As I understand it, it's a sort of magic plate. Possibly made up of electric and internet.

Anyhoo, the long and short of it is THIS. I can write. But never a picture can be uploaded.

Hopefully the problem will be fixed tomorrow so I can write about all the parcels I'm waiting on, all the making I've been doing and just exactly what's in THE SPECIAL BOX.

See you then.

I've been eBuying

Bumbaleerie Mansions was built in 1932 and I love it with my whole soul. As soon as we stepped over the threshold, I felt that the house had been waiting for us. Probably to paint over the lurid yellow the previous owners had in the living room, but that's neither here nor there. It still brings a tear to my eye, the memory of finally shaking hands with Steve 'Wide Boy' Estateagent, making small cuts on our index fingers and becoming blood brothers with the bank, signing our names in tears on the contract and skipping merrily to OUR (original 1930s) front door.

It's hard to say when the obsession with buying 1930s stuff happened. LIES! It started the minute I saw the house for sale on RightMove! Hahahaha! So now I'm on eBay roughly every four minutes, bidding for what I call 'Nice Stuff' and Husband calls 'What is this doing in my house?'

Here are some things I have bought from eBay for Bumbaleerie Mansions:

A sideboard for a FIVER! 

(Husband says I should tell the truth about this magnificent bargain. And I AM telling the truth, but he wants me to add that we had to pay £70 to get it shipped from Wolverhampton or somesuch so it TECHNICALLY didn't only cost a fiver. But actually, it did.)



Four Govencroft Jugs for a varying number of bucks. Don't want to be too accurate because I don't think I ever told Husband how much they were, and I really am too fatigued to get into THAT now.

Handy, isn't it? It's a bookend, a knitting needle holder AND a jug all in one! It's the Optimus Prime of the jug world.

A picture of a dog, from I think 1935 which turned out to be not only hideous but also very scary and sinister. It is now in the loft.

A postcard from Blackpool, dated 1932 from one lady to her friend. I love this very, very much due to my obsession with handwriting and also with 'things what are old'. It is the perfect combination for me.

Anyway, the point of this is: if you, like I do, simply type '1930' into eBay and gleefully scroll through twenty bah-millzon pages of unadulterated BLISS then sometimes you find yourself bidding on what others might call 'have you lost your senses?'. BEHOLD:

 Or, to put it another way:

A hundred million old hankies! Some with roses:

A lot with lace:

A couple of mad ones:

and a very special one INDEED:

a KING GEORGE VI CORONATION ONE!! FROM 1937! Can you even IMAGINE my excitement? I was BESIDE myself. I immediately summoned Husband, who refused to acknowledge the magnificence of the moment, apart from nodding and muttering 'Oh nice', which I don't even think he meant.

Listen, I have to confess, I was a bit worried about coming across an eighty-year old bogey but it didn't happen. They were all as clean as an eighty-year old handkerchief would be.

Now! Some making news! Due to not being able to start myfriendsnephews quilt, I decided to crack on to making a hexagonal one. Ooooooh, I hear you say, a hexagonal quilt? You must have nerves of steel! You are the bravest person I have ever even HEARD of! Yes, that's true, I am.

Well. I'm also pretty lazy. Making a proper hexagonal quilt takes ages because you have to cut individual paper templates, then pin them to the fabric, then tack in the seams, then overstitch them BY HAND, over and over and over again. And I obviously COULD do it if I wanted to, OBVIOUSLY it's not that I COULDN'T do it, which I COULD but maybe I think life's too short. So I am machine stitching mine. And I am cutting the fabric in piles. And I am not top stitching anything. Here's how it's going so far:

 The sharp-eyed will have noticed that there is not a picture of the hexagons sewn together. That is because the sewn together bit possibly does not look as good as the rose-tinted vision of perfection that my inner eye conjured. But it might if Husband irons it, which he is refusing to do.  I tried to explain that probably no-one had ever thought of doing this before (not true - there are millions of tutorials online, but Husband doesn't know that), and PROBABLY even just ATTEMPTING such a project made me some kind of VISIONARY in the making world, and PROBABLY HRH Michael Parkinson HIMSELF would want to come out of retirement just to interview me, but he won't have it. And it's not going to iron itself, so it is resting quietly in the sewing room until my next bout of creative genius.