Small Changes. Big Difference.

Last weekend was one of getting jobs done, nothing too exciting, just small little jobs, but some of them have had a huge impact on our home!

Firstly the light had gone on  the first landing, which is a dark enough spot as it is without any natural light.  We put a brighter bulb in and a larger shade and its lightened the whole hall way up massively!

Second was a new toilet seat!  Little Owl couldn't get on to the toilet herself with her seat on there so we have invested in a 'family' toilet seat!  Little Owl loves it and again, the room seems brighter having gone from a black to a white seat.

Then it was the turn of the coat rack!  This came with the house and we've just carried on using it.  Little Owl's play kitchen sits underneath it, which didn't leave her much space to play as she grows taller.  The new bulb upstairs has helped to lighten another dark corner so we decided to raise the coat rack by about 6 inches.  This was going to mean a stretch for me to hang my coat but would really make it a nicer space to play for Little Owl (why can I hear all my teachers saying "there's no such word as nicer"?)

The trouble is, we took off the coat rack and our hallway suddenly felt light and spacious!  But we couldn't not have a coat rack... so we found another spot!  Just behind the front door! So obvious but we never thought it would fit there, the fit is actually so perfect that we think it was made for that space!  As an added bonus, it makes the entrance to our house seem so cosy and homely - love it!

There was one other small change this weekend - picked up my new glasses from Frames In the Lanes too!  So far only my mother and one student have noticed but I have had a few compliments on my hair!  

My old glasses had seen better days!  Love the news ones though!

Aren't they fun!

Cross Monday Week 35

Its coming on!  The plant on the right was two evenings work and its not finished yet but it also marks how big this section is.  There's a few bars to go beneath it and then its the vine which marks the end of this section and will finally show me the space I have for Little Owl's name!  I'm pretty sure I won't get there this side of Christmas but hopefully in the new year I can start planning that bit.

My Sunday Photo

Robertsbridge Bonfire. Last of the season.

Owlfit of the Week

I LOVE this pixie hooded coat!  I picked it up at a flea market in Lille (that's a post I really need to write) for €20 and I'm so glad I did!  I wasn't sure of the size as Little Owl wasn't with me, but in the end it came down to the fact it was the only one!  It's quite thick and a snug fit which keeps Little Owl super warm, and I love the off centred zip, and how it matches the tip off the hood.

It just so happens that we have some matching cord trousers!  They are from M&S and I found them on ebay, they featured in one of my first owlfit posts!

Not many of Little Owl's trousers still fit from last winter but luckily these still do!  I love the detailing on them, and the colour just happens to be my favourite!

Christmas Cake

Papa Owl has decided that this year he is going to make us a Christmas Cake.  His mum makes one every year, and usually he persuades her to cut him a healthy chunk which we enjoy over the festive period.  This year we are going to have a whole cake!

Now you might have noticed by now that I am no baker.  So I had two jobs to do, the first was to take photos!  Little Owl and Papa Owl weighed all the fruit and mixed it together.  Papa Owl then gave it some brandy to drink.

 My second job was to take Little Owl out for the day so Papa Owl could work his magic.  I have no idea what was involved but like the good "blogger's hubby" he took some photos.

So that's our Christmas Cake all wrapped up!  Literally but not figuratively, as it needs "watering" with brandy once or twice a week until about a week until school breaks up and then its time to ice it ready for the big day!

I am joining in with Little Chefs linky.  If you click on the picture above you will find a blog where the amazing Baked Potato Mummy bakes amazing food all of the time and with her toddler! 

I am also linking up with Thinly Spread for her Festive Friday Linky, all things Christmassy until Boxing Day.

Our Bathroom

We're at the very beginning stages of planning for a new bathroom.  We've owned our house for just over 3 years and are slowly renovating it room by room.  So far we have completed our bedroom, Little Owl's room and our living room.  Our dining room is a work in progress, with an aimed completion date of Christmas 2015.  We are also hoping that our bathroom might be completed by then too.  To be honest its a bit of a dream, I don't dare to believe it could happen.

We started by sketching out the bathroom with all the details on like the window, doors (plural), alcoves etc so we could measure and record them.  This is by no way to scale!

So our bathroom is currently two rooms, our current bathroom has a bath and a sink and not enough room to swing a cat, not even little Bonnie.  Originally it would have been one room, I suspect the maid's room.  

Have you spotted the unique feature?  Yes, we have a door to the garden from our first floor bathroom!  What's more, you still have to go up steps to reach it!

The plan is to open this back up to one room, and probably remove the chimney breast to allow us more room for storage, and some wall space for radiators.

We hope to fit in a bath, separate shower, toilet, sink, and off course a shoe rack for our garden clogs! 

Cross Monday Week 34

Finished another section!  Technically that means I am half way through which would make my completion date 6th July!  That's two months earlier than I originally thought but I think it is optimistic.  The outside border took me 4 weeks to go round with the green and its not all crossed (midway on the right hand-side clockwise round to the top left needs a second stitch).  I then need to do the same with the gold, and then again with the red, so that's 8 weeks.  Then there is pink and two shades of blue to add!  

However, I am really pleased with the progress, and in teacher's speak, July is this year!  This next section is the last proper section in the middle, then I just need to add Little Owl's details which will take some planning.  Exciting!

My Sunday Photo

Hastings Bonfire 2014

Hastings Bonfire took place a few weeks ago now but I thought I would share a few photos from the night.  I don't have many photos as its quite hard to take photos whilst processing with a toddler surrounded by flaming torches.  I'm sure you understand!

Did you go to any bonfire celebrations with your family?  I've written quite a few posts linked to bonfire season on my blog which you can find here but Papa Owl has written a post all about the origins of bonfire, and why it's so popular in Sussex!

Owlfit of the Week

 

I'm so excited to be sharing this Owlfit from Little Bird at Mothercare with you!  I've had the skirt for a while now but the rest of the outfit has been surprisingly hard to come by!  I hadn't discovered Little Bird before this season and I so wish I had listened to my friend when she said to nab stuff quick!  

I bought the skirt first, but they didn't have the cardigan in the shop at the time, so I thought I would order on line when the weather got colder... BIG MISTAKE!  I didn't even wait for the weather to get cold and yet they sold out everywhere!  And trust me, I've been looking!  I eventually found this one in the Lakeside store, a mere 70 miles from home, and it's aged 4-5.  Little Owl is 2.  It is baggier than I would like but I've missed out on weeks of potential wearing time already!

The socks - well they really are hard to come by, and if a shop get them in stock, members of the Little Bird group on Facebook buy the lot and then sell them to other members of the group at cost plus postage.  Others sell them on ebay for twice the price.  I am not kidding!

I got these socks from an old school friend who happened to post on Facebook that she was going to a baby group at her local Mothercare.  I cheekily asked her to look and she found them!

So that's the long awaited Little Bird Owlfit.  Having waited so long to get the Owlfit together, I couldn't wait to take the photos, but it was raining... so I tried to take some at my friends house... it wasn't successful and Little Owl wasn't really in the mood when we got home... here are some outtakes!

Love my Little Owl!