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All Change and the Blog may be down for a couple of days

Hello my lovely readers, You will be seeing some changes over here in the mad house over the next week or so, but as part of this the blog will be down for a couple of days - possibly.

So please don't be concerned and can you all please do me a big favor and change your subscriptions and any blog links you have to

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See you on the other side!

Making our own spotty shirts for Children in Need

Like lots of mums, I packed my children off to school this morning wearing something spotty in aid of children in need.  Now like lots of mums, I couldn't find anything spotty at all, so I decided that we should make some ourselves.

The boys had so much fun armed with my permanent markers and a shirt each, they made their own spotty t-shirts.

Don't they look grand?

We popped some card inside the t-shirts to stop the pen going through to the  back and then I left the boys to it.  Maxi was amazing in helping Mini.  He drew a lot of his circles for him and then the drew a line in the middle and coloured in half each/

It was a joy to watch them work so well together and whilst they did it we talked about all the children less fortunate than them in the world and decided to give away 4 toys each to the charity shop, which I dropped off on the way home from taking them to school this morning.

The Gallery - Before and After

I love cooking and baking, there is something magical in putting together a list of ingrediants and turning them into something delicious.  So for this weeks gallery I give you:

 Before

 After

Come and join me on Frugalicious Food, as I am taking you step by step through the soaking, making and baking of Christmas cakes and puddings, as Sunday is stir it up sunday.

Self Promotion - You can buy Christmas Gifts from Me

I have been busy making and have lots of new and lovely makes available, so I though I would have a little self promotion, as I can not see me getting these all on the Folksy shop before Christmas, so here they are.  If you are interested in purchasing anything, then please e-mail me or tweet me.  I except payment by paypal.

Tea Cup Candles (please click on the image for more details of the scent) large ones are £8.00 plus £3.00 postage and the small ones are £3.25 to £3.20 each.  Each candle is lovingly crafted by myself with 10% fragrance oil added.   They are made with 100% Eco soy wax, which has numerous benefits including being longer and cleaner burning (Soy wax is non-toxic and burns cleaner than paraffin, with no petrol-carbon soot which can blacken walls).  You can wash the used tea cup in hot soapy water and reuse the tea cup.

Washable learn to set the table mats.  These are again made my myself and are backed with towelling and make the placement of cutlery child play. £6.00 each, plus £1.90 postage.

 

Crayon (£4.00) and Pencil (£6.00) rolls complete with the pencils and crayons, postage is £1.90.

Mini bunting, the pennants on the bunting are 4 inches to tip and there are 12 on each length of bunting.  £5.00plus £1.90 postage.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Spiritual Sunday - For the Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

As a mother I can imagine nothing worse than sending my children to battle, knowing the chance was they would never return. 

Whilst we are thinking about the dead, I would also like to point you to a very moving, but amazing post by an inspirational lady over at Brighton Mum Teenage Angst.  Karen's beloved husband and partner died in October and this post is all about quality of death.  She is so, so right, how can you have a quality of life without a quality of death.  Please do you and read it, but have your hanky at the ready.

Me and the boys had no luck with paper poppies this year, they kept losing them, so I decided to make a couple of felt ones with them.  They cut the felt out and then I sewed on a button and a broach fitting on the back, which made them much more secure.  We still donated for more poppies too.  I was also amazed at Maxi telling me why we did the 2 minutes silence on Thursday (both boys were home ill).