Gothic to Vintage....

Today has had a cleaning/sorting vibe :-)

I have mopped, dusted and vacuumed downstairs and Milly has been sorting and dusting her room. We had started tidying her room on Monday with the intention to break it down into small chunks through the week.

We had the unexpected company of the lovely Amy yesterday. She was unwell and off school and L had an important meeting.

 As we were at home for the day we were more than happy to look after her:-)

I made my bed so she could lay on top under a throw. Milly woke briefly as she got settled  but fell asleep again so Amy read and rested too:-) I kept checking in on her and eventually woke Milly so I could make them something to eat. They had a quiet, peaceful day together.

When Amy left we went up to start on the sorting but Milly had a headache and said she would rather do it tomorrow - even though it meant she would probably have to do it on her own as my Mum and Dad were visiting.

The reason Milly is sleeping in our room is down to the visit of the spiders when El was staying last month! We set up the blow up bed in our room thinking she would stay with us a while and then - as has happened in the past - go back into her own room. She loves her room but the spider episode had terrified her and she chose to stay in our room.

She woke one morning - having been in our room about a week or so - and said how lovely it was to wake in our room, it was so calming and bright and made her feel awake as soon as she opened her eyes

Milly's room is dark purple - designed by her  a couple of years ago. She absolutely loves her room and enjoyed the process of putting her design together, it really suited her at that time - dark and gothic.

For quite some time she has been keen on vintage fashion and design - her tastes are changing.

She asked if we could repaint her room.

 She said that having white walls would also make it much easier for her to see any spiders on them - which was a major problem with the dark purple -  although she wanted to be in her room and chose to sleep there - she was lying awake at night with a torch scared about spiders :-( 

 It is no small task to cover the dark paint on walls and furniture though!

I said we should talk to Alan about it as he would be the one doing the hard work. Being the wonderful person he is he hardly batted an eyelid and said yes, if we could find a way to afford it and if he was able to get time off work to get it done in one go rather than it taking up many weekends to do. 

So a lighter, brighter bedroom is on the cards - hence the sorting and decluttering!

Our plans are to de-clutter and sort things out this week and then next week we are away. On our return the furniture will get painted and then the following week Alan is taking time off whilst we visit El for three days so he can paint the walls.

 Off white walls and a cream colour on the furniture ( this has been a compromise by Milly as she would have preferred a duck egg blue. We have to think about the future colour changes she might want though and the amount of work/money it takes to re - do them each time )

A vintage throw ( pinks and duck egg ) and wallpaper from Next is our starting point and now that I have a better idea of the look she has in mind I will source things to complete the look on a budget. I will also try to think of a way we can get some of the duck egg colour onto the furniture that will make Milly happy but still make it easy to re - paint if the colour scheme changes in the future :-)

So, the Birthday sleepover went well... 

 Alan had taken a couple of days off work so the girls were able to sleep in the dining room on mattresses...

 We woke them at 7 ( following Milly's request ) to open presents.

Many more Monsters to add to the growing collection alongside Pushing Daisies series two and a Cd with all the Sherlock Holmes stories on to down load on to her i pod, some brush tip felt pens to add to her collection of pens. She received a lot of money which was promptly spent - over the next couple of days - on more monsters and music downloads.

I struggled to keep my eyes open after the early start but after making breakfast I had a bath and read my book whilst the girls played with the Monster highs and chatted. Then we all got ready to go out.

 Milly's request when discussing Birthday plans had been to go to Silloth to visit a chip shop cafe for  - in Milly's opinion - the best chips ever, visit the amusements and do the walk her and Alan have done in the past which takes them along the beach to Skinburness. Silloth is quite a run down seaside town but for some reason Milly has always enjoyed going. We have made many happy memories there over the years...

We had lunch in the cafe and walked along to the arcade where I gave them both a fiver to use on the machines. It was bitterly cold and as the girls had opted for fashionable wear rather than practical the walk had to wait for another day :-))

Back home and after a breather it was on to preparing the requested meal of Roast chicken for birthday tea :-)

Amy came around to drop off Milly's present and ended up staying the night :-)

We had a relaxing morning before we said goodbye to Amy and then after a late lunch we headed off to meet half way with Liz to hand El back :-)

Saturday was spent relaxing, I stayed in bed the whole day and Alan and Milly went out together for a while but generally chilled out.

Sunday was busy, I had a lot of ebay things to do listing, photographing and packing. Then Milly and I went to the Animal shelter to walk Poppy and Skye:-) Very few dogs in as they have managed to re-home 17 since Christmas! There were a couple of new dogs in, one of whom was very thin and bedraggled but was more than happy to play ball with us. I thought I would get much more attached to the dogs. I am happy to be helping out, walking them, playing with them and giving them some love and I have surprised myself that don't feel the need to take them all home! Milly on the other hand would love to have a houseful :-) We popped in to Asda for a few food items and a cossy for Milly. We are off to Centerparc for a 4 night break next week and she has grown so much her cossie no longer fits.

Today we met up With Liz, El and Catharine at Tullie house. The bridge was closed so we had to go through the millennium subway.

A lovely afternoon finished off with a nasty, windy, rainy, drive home in the dark.

 Luckily the most wonderful husband in the world had warmed up the casserole I made yesterday and cooked new potatoes and carrots so I had a nice hot meal to eat when I got in whilst snuggled on the sofa with my nightie on :-)



Talkin' and walkin' round Whinlatter and Talkin tarn!

A valentine day meet up with old friends ended a spell of time where we haven't seen each other nearly enough. A lovely couple of hours winding our way along the play areas with swings, slides and water play.

Must get organised and ensure a regular get together is put in the diary to ensure we don't let months go by again.

A beautiful day today for a walk with more good friends round a beautiful place :-) 

Talkin Tarn holds an appeal different from the lakes around us.

I can't put my finger on what that difference is......

 Our second visit and gentle saunter on the path around the Tarn watching Charlie trying, and failing each time, to swim out to catch ducks was great fun:-) 

Trees to climb  for the kids and many other dogs to play with for Charlie.

We borrowed El for a couple of nights and said goodbye as the sun began to set.

Home for Pizza and chips.

Landmark Birthday tomorrow.  

Apparently we are getting up at 7 am to watch Milly open her presents!!! 

An early start with plans for more fresh air later in the day, this time by the sea. :-)

On the brink of teenagedom:-)

In a couple of days we will have a teenager in the house :-)

Stage one in the celebrations today as my Mum and Dad very kindly hosted a family get together.

The most delicious roast beef and all the trimmings and Milly was in heaven. Her first mouthful of yorkshire pudding ( my Mum does do the best Sunday dinner ever! ) she sighed and said

" Mmmm...... content" :-)

Many roasties later she was a very happy and very full bunny :-)

A visit to see my Sister and Brother in laws lovely new home and then back home to flop :-)

Although I am slightly apprehensive - because teenage hood is often spoken about in such negative terms - I am also quite excited about this part of our journey.

I am not saying it won't be challenging - we have seen changes emotionally and very obvious physical growth - over the last few months and it is fair to say that some of them are hard to deal with - for Milly as well as us!

I believe that if we continue to talk, stay patient, treat each other with respect and try to find ways to stay connected, we will find our way through.

Sounds easy right ;-)))

Animals and Arachnids

We met up with Liz and the girls at Trotters Animal park on Tuesday.

We got to the pay desk to find the soft play area was closed :-(

Shame because it is nice to have a break in there for some indoor play and  - as was the case on a wet and windy Tuesday - a warm up. A very nice surprise when we paid to find that this month they had a children go free offer on - that more than made up for it :-))

Started off with a cuppa and for the youngest member of the party..... a marshmallow mountain :-)

We had a lovely time and El ended up having an impromptu overnight stay with us.

The giddy factor was HIGH!!!! They hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks.

Milly hadn't slept well the night before and had been up early and you would have thought she had had a drink!

Milly made cookies all by herself - a first she was very proud of even if she didn't like the finished product - didn't stop her having a couple though :-) We enjoyed them.

I left them at 12 and went to bed. I rarely get to sleep til I hear them come up though. I think I was in a half sleep when I heard them come up and shortly afterwards felt Al get up. A while later I heard what sounded like crying in the hallway so I rushed up to see what the matter was. Milly was hyperventilating and El was comforting her.

 A rather large spider had decided to join them in the bedroom :-(

I couldn't see a thing - no glasses on - and had to balance on the bed and a ledge and use the spider catcher whilst reaching over the bookcase high on the wall. Precarious position and a delicate operation to maneuver the spider catcher around to shut the sliding bit without dropping the spider. I am not a fan of them either.

I managed it though and then the girls told me that they had had to wake Alan shortly before as there had been another one. They thought he might have lied about finding it putting it out of the window and this was the same spider. I said I didn't think he would do that because he knows how scared she is. Now was not the time for discussion though as by now it was about 4am and I was very keen for them to get back into bed so I could do the same :-)

A quiet morning although El was awake at about 10 and that meant Milly had to be too :-)

We met up with Liz and Catharine mid afternoon at a halfway point to hand back El :-)

Whilst waiting in the car park for Liz to arrive...... giddyness took over again.

Coffee, scones and chat before saying our goodbyes.

A flying visit to Aldi and a quick stop at my Sisters <3 on the way home.

Milly interogated Alan about the spider when we got in and believes he did find one and that it was just a busy night for spiders in her room :-( She is on a blowup bed in our room til we can clear everything out of her room, hoover, dust and put it all back in again. She might just be able to go back in then.

After tea Milly had a bath with lavender oil in and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. I thought I wouldn't be long after her but aching/restless legs are not conducive to comfort so I am taking the opportunity to catch up here :-)

Milly came back down after a couple of hours as she had woke and couldn't get back to sleep. She was peckish so asked if we could do pancakes together. 11 o'clock!! I wasn't keen initially it has to be said however it didn't take long at all and I am happy to facilitate her growing independance in the cooking department - even at odd hours :-)



Growth spurts, duvet days, struggles and beach therapy :-)

Milly has shot up! I swear she put on an inch overnight. She came down the other morning and had to do a double take - she is 5'7" now just 2" shorter than me. That would explain the past few weeks of constant eating and inability to stay full for longer than an hour :-)

The flip side to all that growth is a period of hibernation and out of sync body clock.

 For quite some time her pattern has been to be asleep around 12pm (ish ) and waking around 11am ( ish ) give or take an hour or so either side. 

Over the last week to ten days she has been unable to sleep at night and consequently unable to wake any time before noon.

Initially I was ok with that but as it lengthened into a week I began to wobble - especially as it was 4 or 5 in the morning she was awake til even though she was in bed well before that. She had asked to be woken at certain times each morning but would then fall back to sleep. I made her breakfast and would call her down and she would come down grumpy and inevitably we would end up grumpy with each other through the day. She didn't want to go anywhere or do anything.
 One morning when she fell back to sleep again I felt myself getting very angry. Instead of doing or saying something I might regret I sat and tried to understand where the anger ( fear ) was coming from. I knew my reaction was so much more about me and where my head was at that moment - a lot going on at the moment  - stressy head on ;-))
Having been here before and working through it I found it much easier to process and came out of it very quickly.
I decided to accept where we were and not continue to worry and try to change it.

The next morning I went to wake her at the time she had asked me to. I woke her gently and asked if she wanted me to start breakfast. She asked me to wait half an hour then start it. I did that and then instead of asking her to come down I took it up to her.
She stayed in bed all day - daydreaming and watching friends DVDs.
Throughout the day I took her snacks and lunch and left her to it. She got up late afternoon, had a shower, brushed her teeth etc and got dressed and came down very chipper:-)
Over the next few days our time together - quality rather than quantity :-)) was harmonious.

One evening we sat cuddling and ( I can't remember how it came up in the conversation or the exact words ) her duvet days were mentioned and I said something along the lines of  how glad I was that she was able to enjoy the time to cocoon and how I had been worried for a while about her lack of motivation but had become more relaxed about it.
She said, yes she had noticed and it had made her happy :-)

She had requested a walk on the beach and so we set off one windy and rainy day to get some beach therapy:-)

We didn't stay too long - just long enough to blow the cobwebs away.

It is a magical place, the Sea, I never fail to feel better after a visit - whatever the weather.

Sherlock, Shakespeare and Skins

Waiting for Sherlock to start.

Re -watching the first series on DVD with Milly, having a cuppa and a giant, chewy, cookie fresh from the oven :-) We ate enough of the brownies we were perfecting and decided to move on to practice cookies :-)

The last few days were spent away with friends. Milly swam and ice skated and had a great time. I was well looked after by Liz's Mum, who has very generously invited me to stay with her when Milly is with El.

I was tired today but I wanted to get the spare room done to make things easier and - as I need Alan's help - today was the day:)

  We managed to move bags out to get the pasting table up and then re - organise the bags back in the room and set up boxes on the table to sort all the ebay items into. 10 things sold over the last couple of days and so I packed them all up for posting tomorrow.

Milly had a much needed lazy start to the day :-) Amy came round for a while. When Milly got back from walking her home we all set off  to walk with Beauty in the late afternoon sun. A lovely frosty walk finalising plans for Milly's birthday and some ideas for things to do this week.

Milly loves the TV series Skins and has been re - watching the box set she has. She is very excited as

the new series is back on soon. She has shown an interest in Romeo and Juliet after memorising part of scene 2 that she saw in one of the episodes. As we talked about it I asked if she wanted to see a play and she said yes and she also wanted the book so that is in hand.

 Shakespeare for Kidz is performing at The Sands in Feb which is perfect timing :-)

As we were coming through Carlisle on our way home yesterday she saw an advert for the Little black dress Exhibition at Tullie house and asked if we could go to see it. That is on the cards for the end of this week.

Not too sure what else the week holds for us but we will just take it as it comes :-)



Ebay....

Over the last week I have made the ebay selling into a very streamlined process:-) I just can't help it organisation is my middle name - I can't not organise  - it just happens ;-)) When you have little energy anything that makes things easier is a huge advantage and over the years I have become adept at making things easy:-)

 I washed a pile of things one day then Mum, Alan and I ironed them the next.

 I then spent a few days taking photos and recording the details of each item and postage costs on paper before putting them in a clean plastic bag. These in turn go in a large cardboard box and I now have a head start on items ready to list.

I list a few each morning - after a bit of a break whilst I had to go about increasing the amount I can list each month - and check messages etc on and off during the day. I parcel items each evening and try to post each day. I have posted off about 12 items so far. I have literally hundreds of things to sell and it is a time consuming process - especially if you have messages to answer etc.

Over time this week I have refined things so I have a box ready with all the things I need. I have my camera and lead, with spare batteries. A white table cover to use as a back drop. Sender labels printed and cut ready to stick on parcels. Pens, pencils and tape measure. Thank you notes created, printed and cut to size ready to go. sellotape and brown tape -  Mum has just rung today to say Lidl have a parcel tape dispenser and 2 rolls of tape for £3.49 so I asked her to get me one and that will save time too. I have a file to keep all the invoices in with proof of postage stapled on. I have a hole punch and stapler in the box with spare staples ready. I am going to make up a spread sheet to keep track of all the sales, fees and profit.

I am away for a few days and when I get back I will wash and iron a few items at a time to add to the box of items ready to list. I also need to sort out the spare room and get a pasting table in there and keep all the bags of things ready to be washed under it and the boxes of things ready to go in there too. I can set the table up to be able to take pictures and parcel things up so I have everything in one place. Then we can get the dining room table back in action :-)

 By doing this it should just fit into my day to day life and I can do it in easy stages without it taking over.

 .

Monsters, Migraines and Madness :-)

Monster high passion is still high and tonight we spent ages searching eBay for Barbie dresses. There are outfits for sale for the monsters but they are in short supply - well the styles Milly likes are! She has very definite ideas about what she likes :-) I had a brainwave and started to search for Barbie outfits - with the idea we could buy some and see if they fit or that we could adapt them - and when I found some I thought she would like I called her through which led to us searching for quite some time and morphed into other searches as it usually does :-)

I am going to look for some used Barbie furniture next. She has the beds now that handily turn into a jewelry case and a mirror  but it would be nice to add to them.

Today started early when I woke at 4.00 with a Migraine. I had got some pills from the Dr last night but had left them downstairs and I just couldn't be bothered to get up for them and kept thinking if I could just get back to sleep it would ease off. I knew Alan would have got up for me had I asked but knowing he would be up for work in a couple of hours I didn't want to disturb him.

Needless to say it didn't shift and just got worse. I got up at 7.30 and took a pill and at 9.30 when it hadn't gone I decided I would have to cancel Milly's dental appointment as I knew I wouldn't be able to drive even though it wasn't til later in the day.

I had intended to go back to bed but a plumber ( who was due to call later in the evening ) called to ask if he could call round as he was in the area. It has been so difficult to get anyone out to price up this job that I said yes and had 10 mins to get dressed.

After he left - having given me a cost but not ( in my opinion ) a satisfactory way to do the job -  I spent the rest of the day on the sofa and after having another pill later in the day the Migraine started to lift slightly. Alan came home and together we cooked some oven chips, egg and beans for tea - not exactly gourmet food but with some bread and butter and a cuppa it hit the spot :-)

Alan and Milly have played Dominoes and connect four tonight for ages. Last night we all sat down to play go fish and Alan was in a giddy mood and decided to cheat ( he did it for a laugh ) - on a normal night Milly might have found this funny - I actually did find it amusing when we got to the end of the game and we were left with odd cards ( that shouldn't happen in go fish! ) and he was giggling uncontrollably. However Milly was not at all amused ( tired and emotional at the mo)  and she stormed off saying she was never going to play games again!!

They quickly made up and Alan promised to play like a grown up tonight and stuck to his word :-)

I am still sat here when I really should have gone to bed hours ago - I find the pills make me very agitated and unsettled. Going to go in a bath now and hope that will help me settle.

Nighty night xxx

Foray into Ebay....

So two years ago, we began a massive reorganisation and de-clutter exercise!

It went well - slowly-  but well ;-))
We have rooms that are more functional with less dead areas and furniture that has better storage and - more importantly - what is stored is more accessible.

We -  the royal we here as it was in fact not we  - just Alan:-) even cleared out the lofts and now have new insulation so the house is toasty and warm.
So all the rooms and roof space is clear and clutter free.
 All done except for one room.. The spare room...
It is full to the brim with all the bits that have been left from various car boots sales Alan has done and bags upon bags of clothing from when Milly was younger. I have been saying for the last two years that I will get on EBay and try to sell things but have always been put off...
One thing is just the logistics of finding stuff in the room. Two, the hassle of washing, ironing, listing it all on EBay. Then three, dealing with any awkward people who challenge that the goods aren't as described or that they never received them. I could do without it.

However over the two years the stuff has - strangely - not sold itself ;-))  Some of it has been taken to charity shops but the bulk of it still remains. So after a conversation with my Hairdresser - and a couple of others who sell on EBay  - who said how easy it is and to just start with a couple of items, I decided it was time to strike!

Operation EBay has begun and so far it has taken up a great deal of time and energy. However this is just the learning curve and research stage so each item listed is taking time and the whole procedure is being refined so that we have a working model to follow that will make all the other ( hundreds of  ) listings a much smoother process. Files will be made and records will be kept so we know exactly how much we make ( fees for selling on EBay and fees for using Pay pal to take into account! ) and there will be a sheet of instructions so that Alan is able to do it if need be - if I am having a bad day, week or month as sometimes happens ;-))

We have decided that at the moment we are going to trust that there are more good people than bad out there and just send things by second class post, obtaining a proof of postage certificate so it keeps postage costs down for buyers and makes items more appealing to purchase as they are such low value items. We may have to reassess that at a later date but we will have to see as time goes on.

I listed four items yesterday and have sold one item via buy it now on EBay and one item to a friend on facebook . Can't tell you how exciting it is to see people watching and bidding on items - can you tell I don't get out much ;-)))
I have listed a couple more things tonight and we have sorted all the bags out into winter/spring and summer clothing and washed and hung some jackets to list tomorrow.

So onward and upward. Washing, ironing, listing and storing the items and with any luck we will have a spare room back again sometime soon :-)

It was a monster (X) mash :-)

Milly had generously invited all our family for Xmas dinner this year.

We ( all the family ) were sitting round my Sisters table having a meal one weekend and she invited us all to have Xmas dinner at theirs. Milly piped up with " is it not our turn this year" :-)))

How lovely that she wanted to do that....The only slight problem was that her tendency to bounce into our room at 5am on Xmas morning would mean I would be in no fit state to be hostess with the mostess and - more importantly - stay awake through the day :-))

When we talked about that she said she did still want everyone to come and she would try really hard not to wake me before 7am. She thought that she would still wake early but decided she would play and listen to her ipod and then bring toast and tea in to wake us up and we could open pressies in bed together.

 She was quite concerned that she wouldn''t be able to sleep on Xmas eve ( past history would bear this out ) so she enlisted Amy's help in tiring her out on Xmas eve :-) They had a sleepover and on Xmas eve morning they woke at 8 and set of for a run! Then a couple of hours walk with Alan and Beauty and lots of play and chatting on their return til Amy left. She was however still bouncing and it was gone 12 before she actually slept...

Alan had said that if she woke early that he would be available to play/chat til 7:-) She asked to be woken at 7 if by some fluke she managed to sleep late - she did and he woke her at 7 and they went off downstairs together:-)

I woke to see them bringing in a tray and a big sack of presents.

And so it began:-)

She sat at my feet and the first present she opened was from Amy.....

A fantastic head band with a large velvet bow - looks even better when the price tag was removed :-)

Another one from Amy - a necklace with a bottle of poison dangling.

Eleanor's had been opened when we saw them on Friday and El had got her a rather lovely monster high doll to add to her collection :-)

Some rapid fire present opening followed :-)

Abbey abominable Monster. The one monster she was desperate to get.

A happy bunny.

Another monster.

and a witch from Buffy:-)

Gorjuss Mug and Evanessence CD followed. 

Dad got to open a porcelain plaque that Milly had bought. She used her own money for the first time this year and bought gifts for friends and family. The plaque read...

Everything I am,

 and everything I'll be

 I owe it all to you Dad,

 for so inspiring me.

Alan cried which made Milly cry, which made me cry !

Big hug for Dad:-)

 

A lovely calendar with prints from Klimt one of my favourites. I especially love the Mother and daughter one. I will be able to frame some later in the year :-)

More monster inspired books and diary's. This looks ghostly....

More Gorjuss in the form of a really beautiful journal with pockets for storing secret things :-)

Monster beds for the monsters :-)

I opened a few more and got a longed for cookery book from Milly and Alan:-)

Soundtrack from the latest Twilight movie Breaking Dawn.
I do enjoy surprising her and getting her things that aren't on her list of possibilities.

Another couple of things she would never have guessed were t'shirts from How I met your Mother with

"Suit up it's going to be legendary"

 on. And one from the big bang with

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur, happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr on it.

They were both big hits.

Super Xmas glasses from an old friend :-)

More presents opened....

Buried under mountains of paper and gifts......

 One of which is a wonderfully smelly Xmas bauble with ginger spice soap inside:-)

More presents opened

Do you think he's nodded off ;-))

Any one fancy helping me put these together so the monster girls can sleep ;-)

Time for me to head off and make bacon butties and leave them to it.

After breakfast we enjoyed a very chilled morning, long bath for me and a walk with Beauty for them. Table setting and food prep before all the family arrived.

The table in all it's glittery, bejewelled glory with homemade place mats and place cards with added presents :-)

We had a lovely meal, everyone played a part with various elements such as starters and puds being made. The prep I had done earlier in the week freezing gravy, veg, spuds etc paid off and Alan and my Sister Paula made a good double act getting the main meal on the table.

It was a great day and am pleased Milly invited everyone.

I also appreciated every body's help in making it as stress free as possible :-))

A monsterly lovely day :-)