Rain Rain..

Go away!
I comforted myself with the fact everything in the garden was being watered. That's now done. Then that DD1 liked playing in the puddles. Have exhausted that now. Then we had one glorious day of sunshine where we went for a long walk, raided local bramble bushes and came home tierd but happy. Having been *outside* and enjoyed *being out without rainmacks and wellies* and (shock horror) actually got to get a few jobs done, without feeling guilty about driving into town (something we've had to do recently, for fear of being caught in a downpour, DD1 getting soaked, DD2's buggy/sling becoming a swimming pool and both me and Taller Half (hence refered to as TH) resembling drowned rodentia.)

And then we wake up to torrential downpours... so long summer - yesterday was nice.

Charlie 2 boobs

Well, DD2 is living up to her nickname. She now weighs in at 10lbs 1 1/2 ozs. She weighed 8 1/2lbs when born 24 days ago...
Does my nappy look big in this?

The Search For Sensible Shoes...

*Sigh* did think on saturday my dd1 would have to go to and from school barefoot when she goes for the 1st time on Friday (5th sept). Have been searching for sensible (without a ridiculos heel, and without being a 'must have ballet pump style' - great for looking pretty, not so when wanting to walk to school, and having a daughter who likes to step in puddles, and would wreck these shoes within minute of putting them on.) school shoes, in the right size....

Now y'see the comment above should be easy enough to attain - you go into clarks, child is fitted, they tell you width fitting and you buy shoes which are (A) right size (B) right width. Ooooh no, this is not the case. You go into clarks, and are told your daughter (who when last fitted for shoes was a 'D' width fitting) is a 'G' and that she takes a 9 1/2. Tried a 'G' on, and you could have got both her feet in one shoe. Which although would have possibly saved on expense, but I doubt they'd only sell you one shoe at a time.

Eventually went to our local john lewis this evening, wide eyed and desparate, had her properly fitted, and atttained a pair of sensible mary janes in black leather (with leather insole, for breathablity) in a 9 1/2 'E' - so although they got the size right, god only knows what the shop assistant in clarks was mesuring when she got the width, its sure wasn't dd1s feet!

Tab Tops For Dummies

Link for making tab top cutains. Super simple, and saves a large ammount compared to shop bought, especially if you can find a remnant on ebay big enough for your window.

http://alternative-windows.co.uk/tabtop-curtains.htm

Starting School

DD1 is 4 1/2, and will be starting school in september (5th to be precise) - it now seems much closer. A friend of ours turned up with some prefectly servicable 2nd hand uniform (her daughter, 2 years older, had outgrown) and we're going to try and find school shoes (in a size 9 1/2 D width fitting - that'll be fun, nad a whole other post) tomorrow. Waited until we knew she'd got hopefully all of her growing in, so we didn't get to the day before she starts and realise they were now too small. Thankfull for that as when we started the holidays she was a size 9.

DD1 also seems very comftable with the idea of going to school, and has friends she knows who'll be in class with her.... all in all looks like we're in for a smooth transition. However, it does now seem to be getting very close. And you just cant help but feeling your 'baby' is all grown up!

Zero Waste

A friend of mine has recently launched a website for zero waste - http://myzerowaste.com - which is a highly inspiring tale of liveing without waste, and trying to reduce impact where ever possible by limiting the rubbish you produce. There's also a pledge section, where you can take a number of promises, to reduce your waste and to encourage recycling among family and friends.

One of the pledges (there were 4 I didn't already do) I took was to take a container to the butchers instead of using the wrap and plastic bags they give out. I went, container in hand to acquire some chuck steak for our slow cooker. having passed my container across, and having a bit of an odd look from the butcher, I proceeded to put my re-useable contain in my reuseable bag. Then I made an observation....

The people in the q were all giving me a *funny look* - but the majority of them had re-useable bags.... surely a reusable container is just a natural progression from a re-useable bag? I mean, I han't used one before, until pledging to do this as a method of reduing our waste, but I'd toyed with the idea, but just never remembered to take container to the butcher when going. It was the fact I'd promised which was the push I needed to make myself put it in the bag the night before, a foolproof method when trying to herd 2 children in the morning - I'd even written it on our notice board.

I suppose the question I'm posing is - is it such a progression to have a reusable container? And where do *normal* folks draw the line at being eco? If my container seemed a bit 'weird' to the others in the q, is that because reusable bags are now the norm, which is good, or are they viewed more as a fashion accessory?

Cheesecake....

Ingredients
2 package cheam cheese,softened (8oz)1/2 cup sugar1/2 tsp vanilla2 eggs1 graham-cracker crust,9Directions
Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with electricmixer until well-blended. Pour into crust. Bake at 350'F. for 40minutes, or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours orovernight, Makes 8 servings.NOTE: You can also use lighter Neufchatel-type cheese.Variations: For chocolate, melt four squares of semi-sweet bakingchocolate; add after eggs and mix until blended. For candy version,sprinkle 1 cup of chopped candy bars on top of cake before baking. Forpumpkin, add 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamonand a dash each of nutmeg and cloves in the first step. Then add eggsand proceed as directed.
Servings: 8 servings