Lifestyle - My Week on Instagram #3

This week featured my parents Ruby Wedding and my birthday. There were a lot of food photos! :)

My week looked like this:

1. Madam in her cape.

2. Madam gave her uncle a pretty new hairdo.

3. Waiting for my Parents Evening appointment.

4. Pretty rainbow.

5. Glittery nails.

6. Big girls pouting faces.

7. Pudding from birthday lunch with friends. 

What did you get up to this week? Hope it was as fun as mine!

Love, Pearl.

Craft - Frozen Cape for Madam

What did you do with your Saturday night? I ended up spending hours making an Anna/Elsa cape inspired by Frozen for madam. She, like many many other little girls around the world is totally in love with the newest Disney film.

She asked me, originally, to make a cape like Queen Elsa's coronation one, but that one is really too hard for me to recreate easily. Princess Anna also has a purple cape on for the majority of the film and this has a pom pom trim. I decided to make a combination of both of them. It is full length on her and flows really well.

checking the length!

I found this simple tutorial on Pinterest and used that to make the cape. Obviously I scaled it down to make a child sized version and also made the hood a snugger fit as I didn't want it to be sinister! 

I chose to make the hood and cape ties in a different colour and fabric to the main cloak, just to make my life more complicated! It all went well until I came to attaching the hood to the cape and then I managed to break my sewing machine needle. :(

After a frantic hunt through the house I managed to find the spare needle I knew I'd seen somewhere. *Mental note: buy more machine needles!* After finishing attaching the hood I only had to add on the pom pom trim and the neck ties. Simples. Yeah, except the trim wouldn't go through the machine!

Pom poms pinned in position.

Hand sewing trim down the full length of both open edges takes ages! And I had promised it would be ready for the morning. Argh! I just used a simple back stitch and got cracking. That's a lot of pom poms.

But I am so glad I did it. It really finishes off the cape perfectly and it makes it look less like the quick sew it really was! (She has ordered a red one and a black one as well. You know, to be Red Riding Hood and Darth Vader. Obvs.)

Finished! Just waiting to be snuck into madam's room for a morning surprise...

Madam has not taken it off since waking up to find it hanging on the wardrobe door in her room. Well, except when I insisted during painting at Sunday Club earlier!

She wore it over her coat whilst walking to church and back and she wore it to the restaurant for my parents Ruby Wedding lunch. She even wore it whilst we watched Frozen after getting home from the restaurant again.

a demure, queenly pose

yeah, that's more like madam!

I'm glad all my effort was at least appreciated and the number of people who've commented on it has been quite satisfying too! But, no, I'm not making any more that quickly. At least not with pom poms!

She asked me to take a video of her dancing on her bed in it this morning, so here it is for your amusement...

What did you do with your Saturday evening? I think my next one will be *much* quieter!

Love, Pearl.

the blog is in triple figures!

Today marks another milestone in the life of this blog. This is post number 100, though I am equally as excited about the next post as well as I'm a big fan of George Orwell's classic book 1984 and 101 might be a fun thing to play on...

 

I remember reading that for university in my first year (along with Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) and being really taken with it. It introduced me to the ideas of dystopia and of the whole big brother thing. I wrote the best essay of my entire university career based on those books and a few films. That would be leisure futures for anyone who is interested!

 

I wish I could have done more stuff like that, I might have ended up with a higher degree classification...

 

Anyhoo, that's the past and it's all done with now. Maybe I'll go back to uni again one day and study something just for the enjoyment of it. I guess I could sign up to some of the Open University free courses as a start...

 

This afternoon I will mainly be doing laundry and working out what I need to pack for our trip. I limit myself to one suitcase as well as my backpack as I can't be supervising lots of baggage as well as a madam. She'll have her own backpack to put her toys and things in for on the train, but I'll still end up with all sorts of extras, I can tell.

 

I also need to sort out our picnic for on the train. I do love a good train feast and I tend to end up feeding madam almost continually as it keeps her occupied and stops her whining! Lots of sandwiches and some pasta salad are in the offing along with crisps and fruit and probably some form of biscuits...

 

There may even be cake.

 

I also need to remember to take lots for us to drink as I always seem to be really thirsty on trains. Shame I can't take booze, but being pissed in control of madam just wouldn't work. Neither would a hangover in the morning! And I'm guessing lots of diet coke is also out as it'll just make madam want some...

 

I am mainly excited about getting to see friend L and her vast baby bump tomorrow, but madam has now told me for the hundredth time that she's excited about going to see daddy... I know, I know that's the way it should be, but it is infuriating. Especially as she's told me she doesn't need me to be her mummy whilst we're at daddy's.

 

Yeah, thanks for that...

 

Today is also my mum's birthday and I will be playing taxi for her and dad when they go and see younger brother at the restaurant where he's sous chef in Hull. It's very nice, it has to be said. Mum made bro book it and just told my dad he was taking her. I like her style! 

 

Also, dad has bought her a spa day which she's taking the day before their hols so she'll be all primped and pampered and ready to go. Lovely, *not jealous at all face*.

 

I wish I was going somewhere nice and warm for a few days. I don't need hot (I don't like hot) and I don't want more than a few days as I just want a bit of a change of scene. Ooh, I could go to Barcelona. I've been once and really liked it. Obviously that'd probably be too hot at this time of year, but I think I could forgive it that for the amount of stuff there is to see and do... I'd also like to not take madam, but that really is just wistful thinking!

 

 

 

And I could get the chance to go back to the Sagrada Familia as we didn't get any time to go inside it when I was there last. It's a truly awe-inspiring building, it'd be fascinating to go inside. I shall be avoiding Las Ramblas though, far too many pickpockets!

 

So this is it, the monumental centenary post. I hope it was worth it!

 

A day full of events

Today is special for many reasons. It's the first day of May, it might not be blazing sunshine, but it is quite definitely Spring at last. Today is also my uncles birthday, he's 60 this year and my mum (his big sister) made me hunt down a copy of his favourite childhood book for him!

 

In the end we (I) managed to find a first edition of Noddy and the Magic Rubber. Hopefully, it has now arrived safely at his house and is still in the almost pristine condition it was in when it left us.

Also my lovely friend H has set off on her Pedals for Pounds 4 tour of Yorkshire. She is cycling an impressive 80 miles today and madam and I are getting ready to go and wave and cheer when she arrives in Hull later today. My parents are also coming and have planned to have tea at lunchtime so that they can hang about and wait if poor H is a straggler! (such confidence in her skills)

I'm so proud of her for taking on this monumental task. If you think that someone cycling 240 miles in aid of charity is something you'd like to get behind then you can sponsor H (and her dad P) on her Just Giving page they're looking to raise a total of £2000. So go on, bung 'em a fiver, they deserve it!

 

And the number 80 is also significant to me today as I am up to my 80th post! I started this little blog as a bit of an experiment on the 31st January and I genuinely wasn't thinking that I would have the willpower to keep it going after the first novelties wore off. But here I am after 3 solid months of blogging almost every day.

 

I'm quite impressed with myself. Also, I'm over 3000 pageviews and last month I broke the 1000+ pageviews in a month mark! Thank you so much for reading. It's so nice to know that what I say amuses and/or entertains enough to keep you checking in. I don't think I'm going to be one of these people who get to blog for a living, or even part-time. But I hope that I can keep plugging away.

I hope that by trying to be honest with myself and admit to the things that frighten me, that hold me back, that inspire me, that make me smile I can carry on giving a voice to the people who haven't learned how to speak up yet. That I can inspire anyone to just go and ask. It isn't the end of the world.

 

You are not a failure.

 

You can get better.

 

I can get better.

 

It's just a marathon not a sprint. And sometimes you have to stop for a breather. But you'll get there, same as I will.

 

So thank you again for reading. Thank you for supporting me when I needed it most. Thank you for still being here even though I spout sentimental guff every now and again!

 

Love you all :)  

Sunday update

Yesterday I bought more storage boxes. Now this is a good thing for the most part as it helps with my tidying, but I'm meant to be getting rid of stuff not just making it neater... I filled the first one with my overflow yarn stash that I'd got out of the living room. So that was totally necessary.

I haven't decided what I'm putting in the second one. Fairly sure it won't take me too long to work it out. Madam has tried to claim it for toys, but that isn't happening. I've been thinking it's probably going to end up with my patterns and things in...

I let madam make my mum and dad an anniversary card for my parents last night. She spent ages covering it in stickers and then very carefully did writing on the inside and on the envelope. It was really cute. She has such a great concentration face, complete with stuck out tongue...

I reviewed my novel so far and have decided that chapter 7 is better than I had thought. I shall put it on the site in a bit. I also managed to remember a couple of things I'd put in earlier chapters that I need for later on! The next chapter has progressed some, but I need to think of the next clue and I don't really know what to do this time.

I can't decide whether to make another riddle or use a different idea this time. It would be nice to inject something else so that I can get the two parts of my plot to converge for the final part. I appreciate that if you haven't read chapter 7 you won't realise there are two parts to the plot yet! ;)

I've nearly reached 20,000 words and I'm worried that if I'm nearly halfway through I'm not going to have enough material to make my 50,000 word count goal. Especially as my total words I'm aiming for is 63,500 as I'd written 5 chapters before we started. Oh dear.

It's nice to know that my writing has inspired a friend to give it a go to. I don't think she's ready for a camp just yet, but there's another one in July she might like to try! You don't have to write 50,000 words either, there are a few people in my cabin that are aiming for much lower figures.

Last night, after having written for a bit I had to then do some crochet. Madam has asked me to make some pockets to put on her cardigan and also a couple of little flowers to spruce it up a bit. It's nice to see that she's getting into the customisation bug nice and early. I've been adding bits to her clothes since she was tiny.

I did, at one point, sew her name in teddy bear letters onto the back of one of her hoodies. I need to unpick all the letters before I get rid of the jacket as she wants to keep them. This was not something I had thought hard enough about at the beginning!

 

I started this post before lunch and it's now about 4pm. I have been shopping with mother and we've got madam a really pretty dress from Monsoon with a matching shrug. So that's her wedding outfit organised as well! She is going to need some shoes to go with it, but I'm guessing that won't be too hard. Even if we can't get matching she could wear white or silver...

 

I have also food shopped. Without a menu plan this week... I'll have to do it in reverse and hope I got most of the things I'm going to need, though obviously, I can top things up. I am going to be making easy pea and ham soup at some point, cause it's my favourite and I've got a hankering for it.

 

As I have spent far to long on this post I better share it with you all, I suppose!

 

Oh, and madam is currently in a shower cap with her hair slathered in conditioner and then mum and I are cutting it off. It needs done, she won't let me look after it properly and if we can start over it might be easiest. 

On writing, anniversaries and birthdays!

I picked a front cover for my novel :) I'm suffering from major writers block at the minute and progress is being ridiculously slow. But at least I have an idea of what the cover will be for if it ever gets finished!

 

I did try and write some more last night but only managed about 250 words or so. I think I might have to re-read everything and remember all the things I set up already and then do a bit of planning in the notebook I bought specifically for novel planning which is currently empty!

 

I need to focus a bit more on the characters I think, at the moment they're somewhat 2-dimensional and I think it might be time to get some back story going. For example, I've introduced some characters from my Imp's past and have mentioned something he did. It might be worth writing it out (even if I don't necessarily include it in the novel).

 

I have been trying to sort some playlists on my iTunes to give me a bit of chilled background music to write by, but I'm suffering from a distinct lack of choice. I set up a playlist that plays the least played tracks I listen to, but that just means it's very random! And also tracks I'm more "meh" about.

 

My parents are celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary today. This means next year I have to remember to provide a decent present and card! I have an idea to get them a nice piece of glass made by my friends at Gekodesigns and using the millefiore beads they were given on their last trip to Venice.

 

This is probably a better idea than some more artwork or something as the picture I got them for their 30th is still waiting to be hung! It's really cool too, an orange Chinese dragon on a dark blue background... But I'm not bitter!

 

They are going for a meal tonight at the lovely Rolando's restaurant. I have had several very nice lunches there (though we're still in mourning for the pear and pecorino sandwich). And we did have a nice evening meal with my aunt and uncle when they were here for madam's 3rd birthday. I am relieved of taxi duty on this occasion as it's only local :)  

 

For the rest of today I think I will mainly be trying to occupy madam. My parents have to go and do boring things that utilise the car so I can't leave them to babysit whilst I escape to the cinema with Small Print Larger! Curses... (though I don't think my parents are particularly talking to madam after the nail varnish incident). Might give it a go for tomorrow though... ;)

 

I also have to fathom out what I'm making for dinner, I think I have lots of things in the store cupboard that I could utilise. I then need to do my menu planning for next week. I get to be really busy on my birthday, so I doubt I will be doing much celebrating... Though I will get my Kindle! I shall mainly be playing with that and seeing if I can indeed transfer music onto it :)

 

I will also be downloading various things for me to read...

 

I am slightly undecided about this birthday. For the second year in a row it will be being overshadowed by external events going on around it. Whilst I am of an age where I'm not that fussed about the actual birthday, I would like a calm one next year! I also would like to have a meal at the Japanese restaurant in town as I've never been :) 

 

I shall also attempt to overcome this blooming writers block soon! 50,000 words is an awful lot!