A SPOOKY LITTLE GHOUL LIKE YOU......

                                HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE.........

                                  A 'BEFORE' SHOT OF THE PUMPKINS!!     

                                                 HALLOWEENY PANSIES

                 
                                             OLD  CRONES...............

                                    I'LL PUT A SPELL ON YOU............................

                                               THE PUMPKIN PATCH.............

                              PUT THE LIGHTS OUT, WE LOOK BETTER IN THE DARK........

      IT HAS BEEN A LOVELY EVENING, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS LITTLE CANDY CORN FAIRY AND BABY PUMPKIN..........HOPE SORAYA SLEEPS TONIGHT AFTER EATING ALL THOSE SWEETIES!!

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TRY TO REMEMBER THE KIND OF SEPTEMBER WHEN LIFE WAS SLOW AND OH SO MELLOW....

Well I don't know about slow but September has certainly been mellow for our family. On the 21st September 2012  at 13.57pm we welcomed this gorgeous little boy into the world.....

SAMI NOAH 7lb 12oz with his beautiful Mama, my daughter Carly

    (you wouldn't know she had just given birth, would you?)

I was lucky enough to be in the delivery room with my daughter and SIL and witnessed the arrival
of our second Grandchild and first Grandson. I have always wanted to actually see a baby being born, although I have four children of my own it isn't  quite the same as you are a little pre-occupied!! It was such a wonderful experience made so much easier by my daughter who gave birth within three hours of arriving at the hospital, with no pain relief! I didn't think I could love that girl any more than I do but let me tell you she really amazed me, such strength and focus I have never seen before in my whole life. What a wonderful girl! Our SIL was such a great support through the whole event, encouraging, loving when he needed to be and also strong when it was required. I am so grateful to them both for letting me fulfill my dream. 

A few hours later and Papa brings in our precious Granddaughter, Soraya, to meet her new baby brother, Sami.  The look on that gorgeous little face was priceless, you have never seen a bigger smile! Her first words were "Is he real?" and then "Can we keep him". She is such a proud big sister and that little boy has had enough kisses to last him a life time! My husband and I feel so blessed to have these two little cherubs in our life, the future is bright!

                                                Cuddles with Mama......heaven
 
With all the excitement happening in our family I  have found some time to do a little Autumn decorating, this is my favourite time of year and I always look forward to doing so. For now I have just taken some photos of my Autumn fireplace, so cosy.

I think I might be adding a few more choice pieces as the week goes on, its such a large fireplace and can take it! Even Hermione and Howard the hares have been given some Autumn foliage! I love these little guys, they were presents from my brother and sister-in-law and I always keep them on the fireplace (the hares I mean!). I will probably add some Halloween bits and bobs when we are into October...

  I love this clock, again a present from Mo & Sharon, lucky me! Anyone who knows me knows that I love owls and at least one (mostly more!) features in every room in the cottage! The flower arrangement was bought two years ago from TKMaxx.

I recently bought these adorable blocks from Sparrow Primitives who sell gorgeous handmade accessories for every season and just about every occasion. I will definitely be visiting their online shop again!  I have so many decorations acquired over the years that I tend to only buy one or two new ones a year now but these really caught my eye.

I will be posting more piccies of my Autumn decorating in the next week, the Seasons go by so quickly and I really want to make the most of this wonderful time of the year. I have also been given some lovely gifts recently from my Family and will share those with you, don't know what I have done to deserve them!
 

Just had to add this photograph of Soraya, she has recently started Ballet lessons and though I am probably very biased, I think she is a natural!

TTFN  ANNEMARIE XXXX

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WE FADE TO GREY.....OH MY!

I have been waiting a while but at last the orange pine has gone and it feels so good!  Trying to decide whether to paint my dresser cream or grey was a dilemma but I eventually opted for Farrow & Ball French Grey. 

 Before the makeover, with doors (which I decided to remove) and very orangey.

And we're off!  Sorry about the poor quality of the picture!

 

  The finished article which I think looks 100% better, much more cottagey.

Now adorned with my favourite china, Nicholas Mosse, Emma Bridgewater and other favourite nik naks. So pleased. Thankyou Hubby! (Want to paint everything grey now, don't tell him, I will break it to him gradually!)

TTFN  ANNEMARIE XXXXX

P.S. My Sister-in-law has joined the blogging world, please take a look here . xxx

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MY GIRL

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day, when its cold outside I've got the month of May. I guess you'd say "what would make me feel this way?" My girl, talking 'bout my girl........

Beautiful then and beautiful now!!

Happy Birthday Carly, we all love you so much!

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THOSE WERE THE DAYS, MY FRIEND

Last weekend we celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of our Queen, Elizabeth II.  Sixty years of dedicated service to her country is an amazing feat, a lifetime devoted to her role in life. Whether you are a staunch royalist or not, this Lady must be admired for her un-changing determination and grace throughout her reign. Never again will we see a Monarch like her, never putting a foot wrong and maintaining that very British 'aloofness' that sets us apart from the rest of the world (coupled with a very dry sense of humour!).
Throughout the country we celebrated with street parties, miles of bunting, a breathtaking flotilla on the Thames, a fab concert in front of Buckingham Palace and an amazing fly past by all our great planes including the Red Arrows! This plus a four day weekend!

Here at the cottage, I decided to decorate my windows with memorabilia from the 50's, 60's and some 70's. It was such fun getting all the things together, some bought and some borrowed from friends and family. It was really great to hear the conversations of locals  looking in the windows, "I had one of those" or "My Mum had one of those"! I really wanted them to be a talking point and they certainly were. It is so difficult to take photos of these windows, so I hope you manage to spot something you may remember from the 'good old days'.

 Kitchenalia, I love the Cow & Gate Baby Milk tin,"'the food of Royal Babies", they certainly wouldn't be able to state that now in an advert, I don't think the National Childbirth Trust would approve! The tea trolley is from the 1950's, the large jar of sherbert lemons is present day but was a very popular sweetie choice in the sixties. The hand mixer is from the 60's and still works really well! 

Toys and books! Paddington Bear, Sindy doll(unfortunately she has fallen over), a toy mangle(wringer) from the 50's, a Brownie doll, school milk bottles, Champion the Wonder Horse book, Ladybird books, Enid Blyton books, PG Tips card collectors book, Pin the Tail on the Donkey game and a doggy on wheels!

Retro Techno or Techno Retro!  The Murphy record player is from the sixties, as is the Olympia typewriter (the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, its all coming back to me now!). Two cameras, one from the 50's, one from the 60's and of course, the Union Jack telephone, such fun!

 
                                               The front door wreath, I ended up making three!

                                                    Fancy Bloomers......

                                                 Tiny Tears in her pram....

                                                Triang scooter from the early 1960's

                              Our very own Jubilee Princess, ready for her Street party!
                                     The headress was made by her clever Mama.

 It was great fun decorating for the Jubilee and the great thing is that the decorations can stay up for the Olympics!!  I hope you have enjoyed  a little of the celebrations with me.

TTFN  ANNEMARIE  xxxx

  

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SPRINGY THINGIES....

EASTER WINDOWS AT THE COTTAGE.....

                                                        BUNNIES PICNIC

                                                     DOWN ON THE FARM

                                                     BUNNIES GALORE !!!

                                                     WELCOME TO OUR EASTER HOME !!

We had a lovely Easter Sunday with our family, good company and good food!! Soraya was a little sweetheart as usual , she really enjoyed the egg hunt and bashing the pinata(she has such a tidy mind, she didnt want all the contents to fall on the floor so took them out one by one!)!!

                                      So many eggs, so little time!!      

                    Pinata time, knew that saddle stand would come in handy!!

             Beautiful Easter eggs, made for me by my Daughter and Granddaughter, I love them so much I might have to leave them on display all year! 

I hope you all had a peaceful Eastertime and we can all look forward now to those long Summer days!! xxx

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SAVE ALL YOUR KISSES FOR ME - EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE ONLY THREE !!

Last week our little cherub chops turned three!! She has brought such joy and happiness to everyone who knows her! Such a little chatterbox , so cheeky but extremely kind hearted, our dogs love her which says a lot! To celebrate this wonderful occasion my Daughter and SIL held a 'Woodland Fairy Teaparty' for her and all her lovely little friends at a local Village Hall. My Daughter is very creative and we work well as a  team so managed to pull together a very memorable day between us (and muscle help from Soraya's Uncle Jon !)!!

    The Party table!  We painted and planted the little pots as place names!

Fairy wings for the girls, buzzy bee wings for the boys!

                                                                YUMMY!!

                                                   Double Yum!

                    SWEETIE TABLE (MAINLY FOR THE GROWN-UPS!!)

       The 'grown-ups' table and Sorayas giant cupcake Birthday cake!   

                             THE BIRTHDAY GIRL, OUR BEAUTIFUL SORAYA !!
She is the sweetest little angel(fairy) in the world and we love her so much...she has a very important year ahead....she is going to be a big Sister toward the end of September....exciting !!!
                        
TTFN ANNEMARIE xxx

p.s. Please visit my daughter's lovely blog Mummy's Shoes to read her beautiful tribute to our lovely little three year old xx

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