Reddy Made

Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z!

Right I've got to get this finished tonight as my chores are queuing up and I have a swap to send to dottycookie for the fabulous Back to School Swap.

Q is for Quantum

I really did get this word in one go on a double word score and torpedoed my husband out of the water and the game. A truly once in a lifetime experience!

R is for Recruitment

That's what I do, folks. I find people jobs. But do they ever thank you.....

S is for Su Doko

I am totally and utterly, with every neuron in my brain, addicted to this little tease. As soon as my Hubbie walks in through the door, I grab the paper and run off to do it (I messed up tonight, too may 2's). I have actually bought the Times book 3 times over - well you aren't going to remember them are you? When I was pregnant, I averaged over 20 puzzles a day. That's some habit..

T is for Tea

This is the busiest part of my house. There is never a full rack of clean mugs. I live really close to the school and I always have friends or family popping in on the school run...

"I can't stop long"

"Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Oh, go on then."

I'm really fussy about tea, and when I worked I had to make it myself. Why don't people wash your mug before making a new cup? It's just not right! I used to love the first week back after New Year when the office kitchen would be full of fresh lemons and herbal tea. Detox time. By the time 11 o'clock came around, the lemons would be drying up and the PG Tips would be back in force. 

U is for Us

My little family. Brill

V is for V for Vendetta

I absolutely loved this film. It just caught me in the right mood. And V's voice is so hypnotic.

W is for Weight

I saw that Erin had already mentioned this so I don't feel so bad about bringing up my demon. You see I know all the good foods to eat, and I am reasonably intelligent, but for some reason, I can't quite get my head around the simple fact that to lose weight you need to EAT LESS. Simple isn't it. I can run a house, manage two offices, even get a degree, yet I still believe that if I buy every diet book I will, by word power alone, lose 2 stone. It's not going to happen is it?

 

X is for

X-factor. Every year I say I won't watch it. Every year I do. But I always moan all the way through just to make myself feel better.

Y is for Yahtzee

So simple. 5 dice and 1 shaker. So addictive.

Z is for signs of the Zodiac

My dad, my sister and I are all Aquarians. My mum is a Leo. Guess who's the boss?

I'm sure there is no science in this but my sister and I both married Geminis. I don't read my stars ever. I think its mumbo-jumbo. But I do find the character traits in each sign spookily accurate. I'll leave it at that.

Phew!

N, O, and P are for....

Nice things, Opthamologists and Pink!

We went shopping over the weekend for our winter wardrobe. I have a real ritualistic approach to the seasons, as soon as the 1st of September came round I knew it was time to start sorting out the summer clothes and put them into hibernation. My big sis thinks I'm nuts, and she'll be wearing sandals into October - sheesh. Its just not right. And winter clothes are my absolute favourite. I love, velvet, needlecord and lots of textured scarves. I loved being pregnant over the winter - I just couldn't do belly out!

And you have to start with a pair of shoes.

I certainly don't need any new Mary-Janes, but I couldn't resist. These are my go with everything shoes. I actually bought these because of the heel. They look like they have been carved out of wood!

And a new pair for Dylan. When D was a baby I really struggled to find nice clothes for boys, but since he's grown a bit I'm starting to really enjoy buying him nice things.

He doesn't give a monkeys about clothes, and quite rightly too. He's too busy rushing about doing boys stuff. I know that the first time he wears these they will be scuffed and covered in dirt but for a short while they will look like this.

And of course there's Edith. Now that's a whole clothes obsession in itself - but more of that later. I just couldn't resist - and those shoes had to have a friend to play with

I know it all looks a bit self-indulgent, but I really love to start the season sorted and then I put my purse away until Christmas. I've decided that this way I'll spend less. When I was younger and single I would spend pretty much all my salary on clothes, and I lost the meaning of having "nice things".

O is for Opthamologists, Opticians and Ogglers.

I've worn glasses since I was 9 years old, and I reckon my eyesight was never right even before that. I have a proper love/hate relationship with my eyes. I know how important they are and for that I am eternally grateful. However, I am practically blind without my lenses and if I ever lost my glasses I reckon I wouldn't make it out of the house. I was bullied really badly at school just at that sensitive time when how you look is so important, and standing out for the wrong reasons is not cool. I spent my teens and twenties desperately not letting anyone see me in glasses. I gave up in the 90's as practicality overcame vanity, but still would never wear them out at night. Strangely enough, I could not, even now, dance with my glasses on! I wear continuous lenses now and I love the fact that I wake up and can see. My prescription by the way is -6.5 in each eye - proper Mr Magoo

Anyway, after Edith was born I suffered a bleed in my eye so I'm off to the opthamologists tomorrow. It's really brought home to me the importance of my eyes.

P is for Pink

Yes, the colour that never appeared in my house before April this year is threatening to take over the place. When I was pregnant with Edith, I was told that they were 80% certain I was having a girl. I was so sure that I would not be overtaken by pink and that actually, my daughter could wear some of Dylan's old blue sleepsuits. Oh how wrong was I!

Before I was pregnant I picked up some Vintage Laura Ashley quilting squares for £2 in a charity auction. They sat in the drawer for almost a year. Then when I found out I was pregnant I thought I'd have a go at making something with them. I was sure that the hospital had got it wrong and I could always give it away if I had a boy. I didn't even own a sewing machine then so I sewed everyone of those squares by hand.

But when I saw the finished article, something went pop in my head! From that moment I wanted a girl so badly.

I'm fussy about the pinkness of things and need to offset with some blue otherwise my teeth start to stand on edge, and don't get me started on Barbie pink, but for the moment I am going to indulge my daughter the way it should be!

K,L and M are for

Knitting, Lorries and Mary-Janes...

I have just come back from my weeks holiday in Cornwall which was just the best. I can't believe that after so much rain, we actually got to use suncream! It was sunny all week apart from the drive there and the drive home. You can't ask for more than that. Our camper van quota was topped off nicley for the year and we counted over 80 in varying shades of lovliness. I just had to do it and bought another reminder

I'm sure everyone else will think its naff but I just love it

Whilst we were there I decided to try my hand at some knitting. I have a serious problem with knitting. I try to do it but it just doesn't like me. I think its the speed demon in me, but I find it so frustrating. Anyway, I decided that my first project should be a scarf, as I surely couldn't go wrong with something that simple? I bought myself this coat from Boden recently and I wanted a

y

a nice scarf to go with it. Here goes

I'm happy with the length and the colours but the bloomin thing has turned into a sausage! I told you I can't knit. Please can someone tell me if I can stop this happening!

Anyway, I'm going to do another one and this time no sausage.

L is for Lorries

Its not an exaggeration to say that lorries are all over my house and in my life constantly. Dylan has an obsession with the things. We had to play "What Lorry am I?" all the way to Cornwall and trust me you have to know a lot about lorries to play this. It must be genetic. My dad used to drive a lorry back in the Seventies, and I used to go out with him in the cab to scary places like spaghetti junction. I remember thinking the most exciting thing ever was being in a convoy on the M6. I now realise that we were just stuck in traffic jams. A bit like the ones that I have to step over every day.

I also have an extraordinary amount of knowledge in this field as I used to be a Transport Manager. I followed my Dad into all things Logistics and now I seem to be passing on the Reddy gene to my son. I tell him to be a doctor but he wants to drive a truck. He'll learn. And if he doesn't I'll lock him in his bedroom! In fact the first recognisable thing he's ever been able to draw was a lorry. I think there is no hope

M is for Mary-Janes

I have an unhealthy desire for these shoes. It stems from my school days when I coveted a pair of leather mary-janes in bright red. They were in a shop in Brecon called Noydd Rhulen and were made by a specalist company. The shop has gone and I have tried to find them on the internet but with no hope. They were too expensive for me to buy back then, so I have been overcompensating ever since.

This is a selection, and its growing. If I have passed the lorry gene to my son, I am seriously in danger of passing the shoe gene to my daughter. I simply couldn't resist

I feel like the ugly sister desperately wanting these slippers to fit me!

Oh, and in regards to the ice-cream situation, I am happy to announce that I did have one every day. And although I now have an ice-cream spare tyre, at least it was organic!

H, I and J are for

Holidays, Icecream and John Lennon

I 'm having to rush a bit because I am off on holiday from Saturday and I really haven't even started to think about packing yet. I always do this. I leave everything until the last minute and then I go in to "the zone" for the whole of the day before, ironing, making lists, tidying the car etc. Its like a cathartic act. I usually have some great crisis the day before. Two memorable events that spring to mind are, losing my car keys and losing my passport. Both the day before and both times very stressful. Once, we also got up at 3 in the morning to go skiing only to find that we weren't going until the next day! Please let tomorrow go smoothly...

Whilst on holiday I plan to have an icecream every day - maybe even two! Well, everytime we have icecream Dylan gets fed up with it really quickly so I end up having his too! So far he has been given £50 from relatives to "buy an icecream" - that's alot of dairy heaven. Basically, I start my diet (again) first week of september, so until then....

And now onto John Lennon - no connection to holiday but I have this unhealthy fascination with him. Always have. I have this picture at the bend in my stairs, and sometimes his is the first face I see in the morning.

Oh, and J is also for jewellery. Not the expensive diamond and gold type, but the pick up a new one when I'm feeling a bit down type. I feel naked without my necklaces. I get a rush when I find one that matches a new top, and especially when it doesn't break the bank. I know there is a fine line between affordable and tacky and I hope I never cross it. Anyway, every now and then my necklaces get attached to each other like clingy children and this happens

It takes me ages to untangle them and I get really cross. My favourite is my "goes with everything" necklace. It only cost £14 and everytime I wear it, people comment on it. This necklace makes me smile.

G is for

Guitars.

My house is full of them, and it really isn't a very big house. This is S's passion and obviously we all have to listen too. I introduced a 1 Guitar at a time policy, but they have all managed to find their way down from the attic and are congregating like sulky teenagers behind chairs and on windowsills. S practices every night. His patience astounds me. He can sit there practicing the same riff for hours and most of the time its unrecognisable; but every now and then I will look up from the sewing machine and be amazed that I know what he's playing. If music be the food of love and all that...

Dylan has caught the bug too, and has 2 guitars of his own already. Edith and I will continue to be the percussion section I think. She plays a mean drum beat!

Its not the guitars that are the problem, its all the stuff that comes with them. If we had a pound for every book, well, we'd have a bigger house to store them for a start...

This is about a tenth of the total. I reckon we must have every song ever written.

G is also for "Giving Birth Stories"

Isn't it amazing how a group of women can sit and recite to the minutest detail their own private giving birth story? It doesn't even matter how long you have known them, whether its 10 minutes or 10 years, every detail is told, from internals to epesiotomies. I think its great, and I particularly love the way its impossible to forget.

F is for

Freedom of Expression

I love to have a reason to sew. Sometimes, when I'm asked to make things for people and they stipulate what they want I feel a little bit "out of the loop", and I much prefer it when I'm left to my own devices. So when a new baby comes in to the world I get all excited. Enter Ioan, my friend Cerys' brand new bundle of joy. He's a whopper too.

I recently made his brother a cushion for his birthday, so out came the cushion box

 

What a mess! I'm always really envious when I see other bloggers neat little piles of fabric. Mine is more of a jumble than a stash. I reckon if I got organised things would take me half the time, but there we are, I told you I was a speed demon.

Anyway, the theme for Ioan's room is trains, so I had a little look through some magazines for inspiration and came across a similar design to this

Its so simple but so lovely.  I cheated a bit this time and bought a ready made cushion from Tesco, but I promise not to do it again! I was a bit caught out this week with time and I do have a 4 month old daughter! (Am I forgiven?....). Well I finished it with an hour to get ready and head out the door to a christening so I was pretty chuffed.

F is also for friends and family obviously

And talking of family how could I forget F is for Family Guy simply the funniest programme on the tv at the moment. I know its not to everyone's taste, and as a family who love the Simpsons, I thought there was no room for another cartoon American family but I was wrong. I love the way its so irreverent and there's never a mushy moral tying it all up nicely at the end. Everyone needs a bit of silliness in their lives.

http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=family+guy+static+pyjamas

E is for

Eiffel Tower

I'm warning you...this is a really strange one. Everyone who knows me well knows this one strange fact. I have a really bad phobia of the Eiffel Tower. There I've said it so please don't hold it against me. I've had it for as long as I can remember, and my mum thinks its been there since I was 3ish. I wish it would go away as you just wouldn't believe how many times it pops up in books, newspapers on tv etc. My husband has to check the newspaper for me and if he doesn't you can guarantee it will be there somewhere (just you wait and see). I've had therapy for it but my willpower was too strong so I'll probably take it to the grave. As I've got older, its moved onto other things and I'm not good with any tall metal structures, particularly bridges and worryingly pylons!) I'm sure before long they'll build a replica tower in South Wales and I'll be totally housebound.

People have tried to catch me out to see if I'm lying and always regretted it afterwards! In fact to get the picture above I had to type in "cartoon eiffel tower" just in case. That was a real brave step I can tell you!

E is also for Edith, my beautiful 4 month old daughter. I  can't begin to tell you how special she is.

But I can tell you I'd climb the eiffel tower with no rope if she was stuck at the top!

D is for

Dinner Date.

Its our wedding anniversary today. 6 years. I can't believe its gone so quickly. In some ways it feels like forever and other ways its all a blur. In those 6 years we've had to change and become parents which has been a real eye opener, but I think it has made us stronger too. Thank you S.

We went out for dinner last night which is a rare treat. We have only left our son a handful of times and never left Edith before. What on earth will we talk about? Oh I know - the kids!

Bottoms up

C is for

(S)Camper Van

and in particular, spotting them. It all started on our summer holiday 2 years ago when we started counting them on the way to Cornwall. Well, we've lost count somewhere around the low hundreds but we still have to shout "scamper van" when ever we see one. And the winner is the person who guesses the next colour (Trust me - It beats counting Tesco lorries). There is something about the classic design which gets you every time - I am truly amazed that Volkswagon haven't started to make them in that style again.

We don't own one (apart from little ones like this) although we'd love to. We have a caravan instead. No not some cute retro Airstream type with floral curtains - oh no ours is the white alluminium, tartan blankets over knees and orange velour seats variety that drive you crazy on the M5. Its a great thing to do though and we haven't met anyone yet under 55 so we are always a bit of a novelty. Its like being on holiday with lots of wise mums and dads who are always there with good tips. We would have preferred a scamper van but we needed the reliablity. Yes I am sure the purists would argue with me but I've seen too many on the side of the motorway to be entirely convinced. Instead, I've decided to fill my home with lovely reminders of sea air and salty chips.

you see C is also for Cushions, which I am constantly making and appliquing for childrens birthdays. It seems I have run out of sofa space in my little house so I'm having to give them away.  This one was a disaster, loads of sewing mistakes and puckering up but Dylan liked it so I'll keep this one for him. They are the best critics 4 yearolds - Everything is "cool mum!" Phew.

B is for

Bags.

Like most of the ladies I know, I have a serious addiction to shoes (more about them in later posts) and bags. I believe its in our biological makeup. Actually it does extend further to jewellery, clothes and household goods but I could be here all day. Anyway, back to bags. I am desperate to try out all the bags I have seen on various blog pages, and especially  the Amy Karol Pleated Beauty Handbag. I've started to dream about them all, tote bags in various colours floating through my brain - Just like eating cheese late at night, looking at blogs past midnight can cause sleep disturbances! So, in my usual style, whilst waiting for my new sewing books to arrive from Amazon I woke up one moring and just had to sew a bag. I made to pattern out of my head, 2 large H's sewn together, and an Amy Karol Artsy Clutch on the front.  I was still in my pj's when finished making  myself this

Its now taken the place of my "really-too-expensive-but-hey-I'm-10-days-overdue" nappy bag as it sits really nicely on the handles of the pram. Well, when my sister saw it she had to have one as well. Hers is the same fabric but on a deep pink background and I really had to struggle to give it away. So now everyone wants one. I've made 2 more so far but I'm starting to get bored so its onto the Amy Karol I think.

But, I made this because you can never have too may bags!!

B is also for Blonde Boys

I said to myself "only one entry per letter" but I couldn't not mention to 2 most important men in my life - Dylan and his Daddy of course. They gang up on me when I'm bossy and shout "Blonde boys rule!" which is really annoying for about a nanosecond. Dylan's hair was literally white as a baby and people would stop me in the street to comment on it. As he's getting older its getting darker which makes me sad and scared that my little boy is growing up. I have always let his hair grow long because I can't bring myself to get it cut. When Edith was born I took him for a Big Brother haircut which was a disaster and I ended up an emotional wreck. Its growing back now and thank goodnes still curls. Is it just a freak nature thing or is it just me, but don't  boys seem to get the best hair and eyelashes? Well they do in my house...!