Milk anyone?

I'm not generally a Pink sort of girl.  Strange, considering I am now the proud mother to one of the girliest 5 year olds I've ever met.

So here is an item of mine. Pink. I think I acquired it from my lovely paternal grandmother. I don't recall her being into pink that much either, I do like this jug though, especially if it was hers. She came from Co. Carlow, married my Grandad from West Cork, 8 children & I think 24 grandchildren later, I think we can safely say they settled nicely in East Cork.

This jug was made in Carrigaline - now just a short 15 minutes drive from Cork city, 30 minutes drive from where my grandparents family home was. When Dan and I got married, our wedding reception was a mere 2 minutes drive from my grandparents family home, my Nana had sadly died just 2.5 years before our wedding.

Later we found ourselves living approx. 25 minutes from where my grandfather was born. And now we live 8 minutes drive from where this jug was made.

Small random (perhaps even boring, I'm actually okay with that today ;) ) facts to you, but small cute information about me & my family, I look forward to sharing these facts with my grandparents over a getting-to-know-you-again cuppa and some homemade madeira cake when our Loving Father wakes them up from their deep sleep ♥

Disclosure: I like this jug even more now I've typed this memo! I think I should start displaying more pink around my home, not only in one little girl's bedroom :)

Update: Bye bye lovely pink jug. You fell out of the fridge last week. I miss you already but so glad I took photos! ;)  and newsflash, my hubby reckons he was given this jug by a mutual friend when he moved to Ireland and she moved away. Doh!

Hang on! Not finished with that yet!

My name is Emma and I am a hoarder.

I have a terrible habit of hanging on to this and that, for another day. I call it practical and sentiment, others may call it loopy, clutter and just too much.

And I get it. There is a side to me that craves order and simplicity.

My daughter (Little Miss T) is starting to show the same... I want to say traits but to me, that sounds harsh... habits. She stuffs all kinds of things into a handbag, then weeks later gets upset because she can't find something. Sounds familiar to me. 

About 2-3 years ago, I started taking photographs of sentimental things and throwing them out afterwards. I don't even remember looking at the photos after, I just feel better after taking them. A bit of closure before moving on. 

Last month, I taught my little girl this handy trick. Here is the photo we took together. Her favourite trainers (her Welsh daddy calls them 'daps'). Hello Kitty trainers. She wanted to keep them but couldn't use them anymore. They were kindly given to her last year by our lovely landlady. T had smaller feet then but kept trying them on for size. She was thrilled when they could finally be worn, just in time to start her first year of school ♥

We might not look at these photos again but who knows. They went into Nanny's bin so easily after we had a photoshoot and tried on her new Peppa Pig replacement trainers though. We're so alike at times, it's uncanny...

How to get some sanity. Part 2.

(for Part 1, please see my 1st of January 2014 post)

Can't believe I can finally say something has worked.

Handing over tons of baby clothes, 2 moses baskets, high chair... it's great!!! I even started decluttering my wardrobe, a full bin liner later and I feel like a new woman! Haha. Well, not quite. I see progress and floor space in my laundry/spare room, which is comforting.

I've had a few REALLY positive weeks, where I've felt more like myself, more in control of my feelings and managed to declutter my home and mind a little bit... Happiness, success and contentment swooshed through my veins... that word 'swooshed' is lovely, isn't it? 'Swooshed'. I think Miranda Hart would approve.

This weekend, I admit to having a wobbly. Overwhelmed and out of sorts, to be honest. I'm not saying this for sympathy, that isn't what I'm about. I say it out loud/online because I wish to be open and upfront with my family and friends. I don't wish to be the kind of person who makes life appear all rosy and perfect to the outside world while secretly panicking, sometimes welling up with frustration and fears. Colleagues in the past have often commented on my smiley disposition, calling me 'Smiley Em', sometimes giving out to me for being cheerful. Pah, it amuses me that they considered it strange! I feel intrigued and a little proud to be thought of in that way. Though I don't want anyone who observes my (or anyone else's) external cheerfulness to ever feel like it's never broken or tampered with anxieties behind closed doors. So much so, they may feel uncomfortable or even inadequate about their own abilities. I think herein lies the issue and even negative view about mental health. We shouldn't feel like we can't be honest, when people ask how we are... or when we feel low and want to speak up. Pride too is a dangerous thing.

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is more treacherous than anything else
and is desperate. Who can know it?

And I remind myself and you, my friends, there's no such thing as perfect in this system! We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I'm learning to find and work with my strengths.

I also don't wish to moan. As I sometimes tell my gorgeous little daughter who has her moments, 'lots of moaning doesn't make us beautiful (inside or out)'. It may sound a little harsh, but I'm realistic and she appears to understand what I mean. I want to teach my children that it's okay to have good days, bad days, happy days, sad days, up and down days - and it's okay to express our feelings about them too, good/bad/indifferent. Sure, I'm protective and wish for their days to always be happy ones, but unfortunately we are in the lowest line of imperfect humans and this isn't really possible. We can try to make the best of them though :)

So, I forgot my lunch on Friday for the first time in years and was rescued by my lovely father. Made a silly mistake and broke down while driving yesterday (I know, I'm still learning, I should expect these bad days). Felt overwhelmed while it poured with rain yesterday on our family morning out and burst into tears. Panicked and shouted at my child today because they were doing something dangerous and didn't know it, they sulked until I calmly cuddled them explaining I wasn't cross, but I was scared, I loved them that much, they're irreplaceable, hence I reacted and shouted so loudly in the hope that they would stop, which they did.

This weekend has not been an easy one. An emotional ferris wheel. Felt like a failure at points. I did find pockets of sanity and happiness during a few moments though. When my husband made me a hot chocolate and gave me a proper cwtch (Welsh for a lovely warm hug), when our baby boy expressed 'Song, Amen, 'hovah' during our morning meeting, when our little girl sang a cute made-up song in the car on the way home after my blubbering episode yesterday morning and she also made her bed look beautiful this morning. Propped up cushions and everything.

I am grateful for my little things. I hope you can be too.

Tomorrow is Monday. Plenty to do. School starts again. I'll be cleaning up the same daily/weekly messes. Washing machine will be on full blast. Maybe the dryer too. The stereo, most definitely.

Dreaming with a Capital P...

Anyone who knows me well, knows I'm a bit of a dreamer. I'm always bookmarking and saving creative ideas, specifically on how to improve my life, home and habits.

Recently, I started planning to pull the children's bedrooms apart, wanting to create a larger play area in their small spaces; then I remembered I need decent beds and decent storage... so where did I go for ideas?

Pinterest.com of course.

A website made for nosey people like me who dream of being creative and inspiring. The app on my phone is well-used, cherishing the ideas and sweet dreams at the ends of my finger tips. Not just for housey items. Pinterest is also handy because I finally found out how to french braid my daughter's hair, I discovered a homemade recipe for children's playdoh and I mastered a recipe for Toad in the Hole - well, I say mastered, I mean that it turned out well enough for hubby to ask for it again! All thanks to the simple search on the app. Anyway, back to housey inspiration.

I fail miserably in the funds department you see; but I always have hope that one day, I'll have a measure of organization without it costing an arm, a leg and/or a family member... more than likely my ever enduring husband Dan... or secondly, my ever generous handyman Dad.

I'm not materialistic, and choose not to be. Money can help of course and there's nothing wrong with buying items you love and need but money isn't quite the solution and guide to happiness for me. Personally, I would probably be more stressed out if I spent too much money on something I could do myself or accomplish with a little help. I'm happy when I dream, when I'm involved and when I see projects from start to finish... always trying not to dream too big, though I suppose I do occasionally have unrealistic goals. Who doesn't?

The discovery of a handy woman called Ana White has really inspired me * www.ana-white.com * She draws up plans and recreates different household furniture, inspiring and educating those of us on a tight budget. Amazing stuff can be made from pallet wood and 2x1. I'll never forget what wonders my Dad made with his tools and some pallets while I was a child. One day, I would love to have a piece or 4 of handmade furniture proudly and lovingly made from scratch by me and my little family. And as I have my Dad's genes, I would hope the item/s would pass Dad's safety test - he is, after all, the master of safety - always making sure shelves and furniture never get the chance to fall down!!

Another thing I can honestly thank Pinterest.com website creators for:  I have found out what styles I like.

*French vintage with a modern twist and some Norwegian decor*  - this is what I like :)

There are so many interior styles and designs. I like Ikea for inspiration too, especially clever storage ideas for children's rooms, many make so much sense. My preferences though: I like painted wood, warm tones, soft furnishings, comfortable, durable, pretty but not OTT. I like shabby chic but some aren't to my taste, I can tell at first glance if it's something I adore or not.

Kirstie Allsopp had a programme a few years ago about upcycling, reusing and restyling furniture, rather than buying new. It saves landfills from overflowing and initiates careful, creative and unique decor, instead of uniform, mass produced, disposable trends. My kind of ethos. Makes me want to revisit my local freecycle page and get on with a project before 2014 becomes a 'barely ticked any jobs off my list' year... hmm...

Inspired.

Later alligator ♥

PS - So my friends, where do you go for inspiration? What housey stuff and styles do you like and how do you go about achieving your ideal home/storage?

And any tips on how to get my home decluttered (sigh) and happily functional without spending much money? (and bearing in mind I have 2 little cheekychops who like to 'help')

Emotional encounters

I've recently been watching 'Long Lost Family' episodes on YouTube (with Davina McCall).

If you like true stories about long lost family members and emotional reunions (along with a few tips about genealogy), then I reckon you'll enjoy these programmes. Be sure to have a few tissues nearby though, some stories are heartwarming, others heartbreaking. Mostly the former.

I have had some lovely experiences in my lifetime, rekindled friendships after years without contact for whatever reason. One friend in particular contacted me after approximately 9 years without hearing from each other. Circumstances changed where we were unable to communicate with each other for a long time but I always knew I'd hear from her again. The day I heard she was searching for me, I cried. And when we spoke again, it was just amazing to hear from her after so long and we now keep in regular contact via texts and occasionally skype! :)

I would like to share a desire I've had for a while though, to find a dear old friend who may still live a big blue sea away.

I'm excited and hopeful about finding her and sharing stories yet feelings of trepidation surge through me. Will she be happy to hear from me after all this time? Will she still like me for who I am? Can the phrase 'friends forever' be uttered again? You see, we lost contact, went different paths. However, over a decade has passed, life moves on. From what I recall, what happened in the past is trivial now... We're both adults now. I'm a wife and a mum. Maybe she's a wife and/or a mum? I would love to know and I feel like this could be a good time to reconnect. I hope she feels similar. I've missed her for years, never forgotten her warm, bubbly, silly sweet nature.

So recently, I was told a little information which I didn't know before. A few minutes on Google, and I see her face again. Albeit from 4 years ago, but still. A new identity, I discover. Married now. I dig a little more. I do believe I have found her and a possible way of contact. But wait... some more familiar faces pop up. Her husband may know people I know right here in my home country... well well... Ireland is a small world...

*Blog saved. Weeks pass. Nearly 2 months, here's an update.*

I was waiting to hear back with bated breath.

Hoping.

Then an unread message popped up on my phone. HELLO! and it is who I hoped it would be. And she sounds happy to hear from me. I'm delighted. Still nervous and slightly scared of rejection yet feeling comfortable enough to find out more. Definitely still delighted. Emotions rush about, I scurry to find words and photos of my family, to describe my life and past 13 years in 13 words:

Graduated, work, Dan, love, wedding, moved alot, sadness, good friends, Jehovah's support, babies!  = 13 words?!

I receive a lovely reply with photos and memories and I'm chuffed. Chuffed to bits that I have found an old friend after so long. She's well, happy and indeed, she is married to an Irish guy who knows people I know! Married the same year as me. Crazy world we live in.

I'm excited to meet again. My friends, especially back when I was an only child and teen, were like extended family then. Losing her, and my other friend mentioned above, was like losing family, to me. I thought about her alot, wondering how she was, was she happy. We had fun as teens, I wonder if we can have fun as adults. One day I hope to find out. Until there, I'm looking forward to rekindling an old friendship with HUGE thanks to Whatsapp, email and Skype. A long way from the snail mail we used back in the late 1990's & early 2000's. Though I do love receiving letters and cards still. A rare treat. It was lovely to hear we both still treasured each other's letters, despite silence, moves and marriage.

I was still giddy, days later.

(I wrote this is May, publishing in November. Second Update: we're still in contact and it's lovely hearing what happens in her life, just as it was when we were younger.)

Have you ever wondered...?

I always knew I wanted to become a mum.

Now that I am one, I think back to the days when I wondered what it would be like... and I question 'Was it what I expected back then?  Could I do better now that I'm here?' etc etc.

So I ponder.

I didn't really have expectations... which is probably a good thing because it's not what I imagined. The sleepless nights, pure exhaustion, constant worries and regular illnesses are part of daily routine. However, I must add before I depress too many friends... the warm fuzzy feelings, love and consistent home entertainment (without the need for a screen!) is delightful and I wouldn't trade it for all the wine in Tuscany... although perhaps I'd swap a bottle for a night or 2 off every 6-9 months ;)

Carrots, carrots and more carrots

Turning into a rabbit, I am.

This afternoon, I realised I had about 2 kgs of carrots and may need to use some up soon.

We love carrots in this house, but there's only so many things I can think of doing with them... coleslaw, mash, sliced, diced, steamed, grated, pureéd, soup etc etc etc. I grate them and add to all sorts of meals so the kids get their vegetables, one way or another.

Today I decided to make some curried carrot soup for tomorrow and prep some for another day (myself and my kiddiwinks got some for snacks this afternoon too...).

Parboil, cool, freeze. Done.

But what about dinner tonight?! Uh oh!

Fiddlesticks. Fed up of peeling veg today...

I'm taking a vegetarian chilli out of the freezer! :D

What do you like to make with carrots??

It FELT great!

So I finally managed to pour my felting equipment on our large kitchen table. Been waiting to do this for a couple of weeks, ever since my lovely post arrived from Jayne.

Baby happy, daughter at the ready with her helping hands, clean and dry... so we started the process and here are photos as promised :)

We followed Jayne's instructions (see her Facebook page called Flowerfelt by Jayne). She's in Co. Kerry, Ireland, makes some beautiful flowers, corsages, broaches etc.

I read the instructions out loud and we both figured out how to do the layering together. Something my 4 year old Teagan enjoyed, once she understood the layers needed to overlap so that the fibres would merge later on. She helped with the olive oil soap, lathered it up with a scrunched up plastic bag. Thoroughly enjoyed the satisfying creation of bubbles. She didn't like waiting around while I made sure everything was correct but that's to be expected... she's 4 :D

Anyway, I did the process of dipping the final product in hot water, then warm, then cold water to shock it. So cool. Teagan happily stirred it with a wooden spoon while little brother watched on.

The felt is almost dry (left it dry naturally, it's taken the full day and a half because it's January... the heating isn't always on and well... it's cold weather and I didn't want it to shrink too much so have been patient for a change) so watch this space...

Now to decide what to make. A flower (for my hair) I reckon... what do you think?

♥

Food, glorious food...

I love how my kids enjoy their food.

Teagan can be a bit fussy at times, a bit like me I suppose. She often judges a meal by the way it looks. With some encouragement (okay, and some reverse psychology sometimes), she'd eventually sample it and make her honest, sometimes callous, review - eg. Dan made a yummy satay recently; she licked it and loudly exclaimed 'but it's got peanut butter in it! I don't want/like peanut butter in my dinner!' etc... you'd swear she didn't like peanut butter... she actually does! We explained that wasn't very kind of her to say it wasn't nice, just because SHE didn't like the taste, we liked it, Daddy kindly made it for us...

Anyway... we taught her about tact and kindness and how to be respectful at the dinner table. We thought it was resolved.

Bearing in mind, she IS four.

A day or two after, she burst out in praise of the evening meal 'I like THIS dinner, this is my favourite, the best dinner ever!'

We commended her for saying lovely things, and then the bombshell hit...

'I like it because it DOESN'T have peanut butter in it!!!'

And proceeded to go on and on and on about it for weeks later.

She is her father's daughter *wink *

It's SO pink and FLUFFY!!

Last week,  I was sent a lovely little package of felting goodies to test out and review - thanks to the lovely Jayne @ Flowerfelt by Jayne (on Facebook).

Since I received it, there's been a hectic week... been out, had visitors, fallen down stairs, rested back, teething baby, funeral, preschool... and another funeral tomorrow... that's not all but I won't bore you with details.

Needless to say, my new felting experience has sadly not been sampled yet :( It's been put aside for a rainy day. Which could be this weekend by the looks of the weather forecast!! Never looked forward to a rainy day so much before! Teagan keeps eyeing the felting pack as it's something she can do with me... if I can cope with a 4 year old handling MY fluffy wool ;) Watch this space.

How to get some sanity. Part 1.

Sorry, you have come to the wrong place!

I haven't got a clue. And I'm in need of a clue... badly.

So I am decluttering my home in the hope that I can declutter our lives and brains. Hopefully it'll help us feel more than tired blobs of mush.

The great news is some of our friends are expecting their first babies this year.

I have everything for babies and yes, I hear you, I still have a baby... but he doesn't need some things anymore. Moses basket x 2 (small and large), clothes (newborn until 9 months), muslin cloths... blah blah blah. Not needed.

I'm excited about the clear out!

And I can preempt what you might be thinking...  and eh... no, I don't think so :)

I'm looking forward to enjoying my little ones a bit more this year. In 2013, I struggled. Depression hit and I really found a new and almost overwhelming low. So now that it is 2014, I'd like to think I can better it all and start finding my old, bubbly self. I want my kids to continue reflecting happy, sensitive, generous personalities, despite knocks and blips. Not be taken down by my low and currently grumpy exterior. To declutter my mind and relax would be nice. So here goes.

Ideas (on how to reach this goal) on a postcard please ;)