It's The Little Things

Slowly we are finding places for things, organising areas and the house is beginning to feel like home:

 We now finally have a clock in one of the rooms!  The grey "bed" is Dave's Robo Physio bed.

 The inside door in the entryway has a lovely wrought iron feature, which is perfect for attaching twine in order to display cards.  With all the chaos of the move we were unable to display and appreciate Dave's birthday and our anniversary cards, so they too are included in the display. 

 In the same area is a shoe and slipper basket, Dave's walking pole, our magnetic white board and a basket of leaflets.  The white board is likely to hang on the opposite wall and our calendar/organiser will probably fill this space.

 The bookcase that used to be in our lounge fits rather nicely in our downstairs bedroom.

 I even have room for a knitting nook in the corner.  At the moment I am using a folding camping chair, but my intention is to find a small "tub" chair for this corner, preferably from one of the local charity shops.

 A selection of stuffed animals are guarding the area in my absence!

 A friend recommended " Joseph and Joseph" and their products are not only cheerful to look at but really well thought out design concepts.

Since the kitchen in the old house was really small, every nook and cranny was used in some way and as a result we actually had three utensil drawers and one deep pan drawer.  This kitchen is a lot bigger but not as well designed and we only have one utensil drawer.  This cleverly designed insert has meant that we have been able to fit in almost three drawers worth into one space!  Cool or what :-)

 We are now also able to store our crockery in the kitchen.  Most used items are placed on this tiered rack and the overflow is stored in a cupboard with the mugs, teas and coffee.

 This interactive world map has instigated many interesting adventures and questions over breakfast and lunch.  Pip has had fun finding our dear friends on the map as well as learning about new places and their habitats.

Only two chairs are currently displayed, the other two are housed on their side just underneath.  We have managed to seat all four of us round the table with just one leaf in use, but for more space we can pull the table away from the wall and utilise the extra leaf. 

 

The Ikea Effect

On Friday we travelled to the Ikea store at Warrington, Cheshire.  Our main reason for the trip was to sort out much needed storage for the front room.  The trip which should have taken just over an hour took in excess of two hours, traffic jams and road works were the order of the day :-)  We love the Ikea store most particularly the Swedish ability to shoe horn massive amounts of storage in the smallest of spaces.  What we find difficult is the one way system around the store which is exhausting for someone like me who lives with an invisible chronic illness.  At one point those comfy beds all lined in a row were incredibly inviting!  Needless to say coffee, analgesics and anti-inflammatories have been my main stay since the weekend but the pain and exhaustion have been worth it :-)

 A pip juice for a Pip :-)

 A paper mobile.

 Perler bead fun.

 A mine craft creeper in the making.

 A wooden grid.

 Hiding.

 A cheeky face.

 Working on the doors.

 A happy helper.

 All done!  Well almost :-)  There are two doors still needing to be finished but we ran out of steam!  The average bedtime for the adults in the house has been midnight at the earliest ;-)  I had hoped for an early night but we are currently on diabetes watch.  Benedict has encountered a pump problem and so we are back on emergency injections until a new pump can be dispatched and so it is a two hourly check and further injections if needed throughout the night. 

Catching Up

We have had a busy, fun week and I am grateful for these past days.

At the weekend we caught up with some longstanding friends, who we have not seen in over three years!  Guillermo and his family have travelled over from Spain and have been in the area these past few weeks:

 The man himself taking photos.

 Showing off his cowboy boots that his older daughter brought back from Oklahoma on a school exchange.  The kids pretend that they are not with him when he wears them :-)

 Pip with Carmen and Paula.

Benedict and Pip have spent some extra time at holiday club this week.  The whole experience has been such a positive boost for Benedict's confidence and he has been buzzing everyday with new information and has loved hanging out with the other kids.  Needless to say he was quite sad, coming home today as the realisation of his situation sunk in :-(  I am praying that something good will happen for him soon and I know that God has a special plan for him, so this keeps me going :-)

 Yoda Pip!

 A medium sized Japanese Knot Bag for Miss G, the head at Pip's school and the mastermind behind the three week holiday club.  She was there everyday from seven in the morning until six at night and was not paid a penny!  The other army of helpers were paid out of a special fund.  She is a keen knitter and I thought she would appreciate somewhere to keep her many projects.  Her office currently looks like a tornado has swept through, leaving a trail of chaos in its wake ~ hama beads, kids toys, spare school uniforms, books, books and more books! Knitting projects, stuffed toys, photographs, coffee mugs, musical instruments and paper strewn everywhere!!  Despite the chaos, I bet she can lay her hand to anything needed :-)

Dave and I have not lain idle, we have caught up on paperwork, the household budget ( sorely needed), the top part of the house has had a jolly good clean and I even managed some baking for the kids lunches at holiday club:

 Pizza Pinwheels ~ the savoury version of cheese and tomato.

The sweet version ~ peanut butter and chocolate spread.

Tomorrow we are off to Cumbria to visit Kathryn and Mary Grace, so no doubt there'll be plenty of pics of the little one.

Tootles, San x