Category / Project 365

by jo

Project 365 – Week 29

Sunday 12th July. We went to Shrek’s Adventure on the South Bank, which was fun – though we were shattered so made the most of our Merlin passes and sat on the London Eye for 30 minutes afterwards. You can guarantee you’ll get a seat there, you see. We’re over half way through having our passes and I’m wondering if we’ll renew next year – we’ve definitely got our money’s worth.

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Monday 13th July. The last Rainbows of term, I get my Mondays back! H made a medal, and got ANOTHER badge which has been sewn onto her uniform so I don’t lose it between now and September. Phew!

H rainbows badges

Tuesday 15th July. And a swimming badge too – her 15m! We thought she’d got her Stage 3, but her teacher says they’re not quite there yet, so I guess that might come around Christmas time if she keeps up the hard work. I’m hoping for a break with all this sewing…

H 15 M

Wednesday 16th July. Received a big box of Dora and Friends goodies – more to blog about and very soon. You might spot the little pictures over on my sidebar. I had to carry it home on the train and fortunately didn’t drop anything. The box is also large enough to hold all H’s schoolwork from the last two years! (which we received on Friday)

dora and friends

Thursday 17th July. Knitting! My feeble attempts at crochet have created this. While I’m just not good enough to join in the squares we’re doing for the cushion for our local pub, for the former bar manager who died recently, I’m good enough to make a hat for a half of Guinness. Fine by me.

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Friday 18th July. So I won a £20 Nickelodeon Store voucher, went to buy myself something nice (like say, an early Rugrats DVD as the first few series were awesome), and ended up buying H some Spongebob pyjamas instead. Can’t complain, as she does love the great spongey one, and it looks much better on her than me too! Anyway, the original pyjamas were too small, so Shaun swapped them for these today and advises the Nickelodeon Store on Leicester Square is much nicer to visit (read: quieter) on a weekday.

spongebob pyjamas

Saturday 19th July. Football again, H has decided which name she wants on her birthday England shirt – she wants 15 – Stoney. So I’ve ordered from Sports Direct who have England shirts for £22 at the moment, with additional letters. Sorted. Phew. Anyway, my favourite bit of football is the fact H runs, runs, runs and walks just a little bit. It has to be the most exercise she gets every week (about an hour and a half of doing stuff) and she doesn’t complain. Well, she does complain about stuff, but not about running around for that long. I love that she gets to play with Shaun at the very start too, having a little kickaround before it all starts. I watch from the side and occasionally scare the girls when I decide to join in (well, it makes them scream anyway). We’re thinking about going to watch Crystal Palace Ladies play this Sunday.

saturday football

by jo

Project 365 – Week 28

Sunday 5th July. H had a party, and we went to buy a new umbrella for our outdoor area. However, we don’t have as much money any more. Fortunately, we have some Love2Shop vouchers. We had an awful experience in Homebase the previous weekend, being kept at Customer Services for 45 minutes before we walked out, so I reserved in store at Argos. Shaun paid for the umbrella, only for them to have a power cut – not their fault, mind! About 45 minutes later we finally had our umbrella!

blue parasol

Monday 6th July. Our paddling pool has has holes in it. Arse.

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Tuesday 7th July. When you get a song stuck in your head, your child tries to video you singing it and ends up taking a bad photo. AKA too tired to remember to take a picture, this is all there was.

20150707_192730

Wednesday 8th July. Impromptu meet up after school today, which resulted in H and her friend writing some songs. Bear in mind she’s five, likes One Direction and is learning a Bruno Mars song for school. This is the result.

song

Thursday 9th July. My desk fan. Best thing ever. A USB desk fan. All MINE. 

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Friday 10th July. Gave H her copy of ‘First News’ which she settled to read. We weren’t sure if she was too young, but had to bear in mind although she’s still five, she’s doing mostly Year 2 work at school anyway, including watching Newsround. She knew it was the ten year anniversary of the London Bombings this week – I had no idea she knew anything about it. So I thought it was probably time she read a bit more.

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Saturday 11th July. Football of course. Seven girls turned up this week – enough to make a team. They were given pink bibs. H wasn’t happy about this (she hates pink, loves blue). I chatted with another parent about how a lot of people are saying it’s sexist the girls get to go for free, whereas boys pay – but there are 20 boys, to usually 2 or 3 girls. 7 girls is a huge step forward – having a team of girls is massive. They were given pink bibs and called the Pink Ladies which I approved of for the Grease connection, but that was it. They were fabulous, so proud of them all – even though they didn’t win and had help (two of the girls were really little, and all the boys were much older). We were all cheering on the pink ladies at the side of the pitch, it was lovely.

pink ladies

by jo

Project 365 – Week 27

Sunday 28th June. I woke up at midnight, after collapsing on the settee after the BBQ, as it was England’s crucial game against Canada – which we won. Which I managed to stay awake through, and couldn’t then sleep for an hour afterwards, taking me to around 3.30am. It was stressful – but so enjoyable. There have been so many people I’ve chatted to who have talked down the Women’s World Cup, and it makes me want to cry. You have women representing our country, who are amazing ambassadors, no scandal, no overpaid spoilt brattishness (some of them even have full time jobs) – just women proud to be playing, amazed they’ve achieved so much, and belief. It has been amazing and I’m so proud and looking forward to the FA Cup Final on the 1st August. H’s home learning was to write about an Olympic sport, though we’ve since found out there’ll be no Team GB at the Rio Olympics which is a great shame. H will have to cheer Australia instead.

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Monday 29th June. New glasses. I almost forgot it was time for H’s annual check, booked her in at a local opticians on the high street, and within an hour we’d had the test (her eyes are the same as last year which is good) and had chosen her glasses for this year. I was particularly pleased as these ones were free NHS ones – they’ve changed so much these days. The whole thing didn’t cost me a penny.

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Tuesday 30th June. Picking up H’s glasses after school, we wandered back through the village. It was lovely and warm, and we stocked up on ice lollies, stopping for a quick break by the ponds (and a sneaky Feast). After having had my love of Carshalton taken away for a bit, it’s creeping back again. I like that we’re in London but it doesn’t feel like you are. You can still get a bus to Heathrow (and pay with your Oyster), taking just an hour and a half. We’re close, but not too close even if the rents are astronomical. If you close your eyes enough and use your imagination, that isn’t All Saints Church by the ponds, it’s a mysterious castle.

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Wednesday 1st July. This was the hottest day of the year, the day when Southern Trains really messed up and I finally snapped (translate – started another blog which collects my bad Southern Trains poetry that I write when the trains are delayed – it’s in the public’s interest for them to be on time now otherwise more bad poems will occur), the plumber fixed our two leaks, and it was hot hot hot. So Shaun got the paddling pool out the night before, and after school we sat in it and it was SO good.

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Thursday 2nd July. Of course, there should be a photo here. But I forgot to take one of the England game, which reduced me to a mixture of sadness (the way we were knocked out) and relief (the third place game kicks off at 9pm), but yes, I stayed up until 2am watching the football, and as soon as the whistle went I was back to bed. Midnight kick off’s are not good things on a working day. I even had to have a weak coffee – my first caffeine since November.

Friday 3rd July. We didn’t make it to Andy’s wake in The Sun on Thursday due to many reasons, so popped in on Friday to raise a glass and learn to crochet. Which, incredibly, I picked up really easily. I’m not sure how – but after customising the way I hold things and knowing what was important and what wasn’t, somehow I cracked it. Which was quite surprising as the first time I tried I was hopeless and we gave up. So yeah, crochet! Let’s just get it finished now…

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Saturday 4th July. England’s last World Cup game, and our school fair. H has football of course, which Shaun has taken her to. I said “I want to take a photo of you in your kit. Do a World Cup pose” (as the players almost always have their arms folded) so she did this one. If your girl plays football and you’re taking pictures, don’t forget about the Football Association’s We Can Play campaign – right now it is an amazing time for girls to love football, so many more opportunities are being created, and it’s exciting. Football has never just been for boys – it’s for everyone.

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by jo

Project 365 – Week 26

Sunday 21st June. I bought tickets for Miffy the Movie, so headed out with H early first thing. Poor Shaun, his Father’s Day not starting off so well as it was the London to Brighton bike ride, and all trains had stopped from our local station, so he had to drive us to Morden! But it was fun, and soon we’ll be Miffy bloggers which makes us happy!

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Monday 22nd June. For my birthday present I bought a spiralizer type thing as I need to lose weight (more of that to come with my latest monthly update, it isn’t good news) – and finally cracked tasty courgette noodles tonight.

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Tuesday 23rd June. After school H decided to play me a few songs – except the only songs she can play are Hot Cross Buns and Jingle Bells. Although I’m pleased she can play them both on recorder and her little piano… ahem.

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Wednesday 24th June. We were sent some fabulous books from the new Collins Big Cat series. Now H is a Free Reader at school these are ideal, and already she has been reading at least two a night, or just looking for things in the world atlas. Our review will be a video one… this could be interesting!

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Thursday 25th June. A perfect sitting outside after school day, eating ice lollies. There’s an Ice Cream van which parks outside school which offends me (school can do nothing about it) – they’re expensive, compared to our super cheap lollies. So yeah to us!

ice lolly

Friday 26th June. Our laundry basket had fallen apart so we needed to go to Ikea, so went after school. Ikea now has the veggie balls, also suitable for vegans. I’m not vegan, but it’s handy to know. They were pretty delicious too – and for a plate for me, and a child one for H plus drinks, it came in at around £6 which is a bargain. I was full for the rest of the evening too.

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Saturday 27th June. A social BBQ gathering, and a lovely sunny day too. I got this picture of H inside a tube in the garden – she had a brilliant time, and it ended up being a late one. So late in fact I was asleep on the settee by 10pm, but awake in time for the England Women’s game at midnight, and stressed enough to stay up until 2am on Sunday morning. I haven’t done that for a long time…

H party

by jo

Project 365 – Week 25

Sunday 14th June. We went for a drive to our new Aldi (which didn’t have the Lacura makeup I was looking for), and for a walk to Cane Hill. I’ve loved the Cane Hill building since I first saw it – when it existed it stood on the top of a hill above Coulsdon looking down. Sadly, there was a fire and most of it has been destroyed. Worth a google though. This is the main entrance these days. Sad. It looked like this back in 2008.

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Monday 15th June. The latest Anorak Magazine arrived for H last week, and she hasn’t put it down. She probably should soon, as the new Storytime Magazine arrived too, and there’s an Okido due imminently as well!

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Tuesday 16th June. H’s friend came for a playdate after school, and both of them insisted I play with them. This is WRONG! At their age they should be getting embarrassed to be seen with me. I’m obviously doing something wrong. Anyway “Elsa” decided to jump on the trampoline while wearing a Hungry Hippo Hat. While singing that James Bay song they all sung in their assembly. SAVE ME NOW.

trampoline

Wednesday 17th June. H keeps growing – or her clothes are shrinking. Love this dress, but it’s Age 7 – big on top, but not long enough already. Sigh!

H dress

Thursday 18th June. Waiting for my train at Mitcham Junction.

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Friday 19th June. A sad day. The funeral of a workmate and friend, and a great send off. Work closed for the day, and there was a good turnout for the funeral. Afterwards we had drinks in the pub over the road where more people from the past came to pay their respects. I don’t want to post a picture of anything to do with today, but there are plenty.

Saturday 20th June. My 30 year school reunion. Way back in 1985 someone in the system in York decided to make all the Grammar Schools comprehensives. Our beloved old Mill Mount school was closed, we merged with the boys’ school (Nunthorpe) up the road and became Millthorpe, and crucially, we never got to go back. Until yesterday. I took an early train back to York, meeting friends in the pub beforehand and all of us going together inside our old school. An amazing day, an amazing old building (it’s Grade II listed). Seeing our old classrooms and traces of the times we were there. Memories. The one thing everyone did makes me smile – we had two sets of stairs in the old building. The (what we thought was grand in our heads until we saw it again) ‘up’ staircase, and the spiral ‘down’ one the servants of the house would have used. So everyone went up the down stairs, and down the up stairs. Obviously I didn’t take this one, my good buddy Sheena did, I’m just going up the ‘down’ stairs. Rebel.

Mill Mount down stairs

by jo

Project 365 Week 24

Sunday 7th June.  H got her hair cut – eight inches off – more about that soon. Afterwards we headed to Morden Hall Park who were relaunching the National Trust 50 Things campaign, and had some fantastic creatures for the kids to meet. They weren’t allowed to touch the tarantula, though were allowed to touch the snake. It was really good – and we got several of the easier 50 Things ticked off and stickered while we were there. This is when H met and stroked a giant cockroach.

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Monday 8th June. Rainbows in the park. You probably can’t see it but this field was full of daisies – H stepped really carefully around them so as not to squash them. I also made it to our new local Decathlon store. Oh my goodness, SO much nicer (and more reasonable) than Sports Direct. I have a new favourite sports shop…

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Tuesday 9th June. H’s hair – in the bag. I need to put them into ponytails to be able to send off to the Little Princess Trust and we’ll be raising money for them too.

H's hair

Wednesday 10th June. This is what a Hungry Hippo looks like. Our dry run for the Carshalton Carnival parade on Saturday. Everything fits. Phew.

Hungry Hippo Carnival

Thursday 11th June. I’ve been sent some wine which is chilling in the fridge, and of course as soon as I get the wine the sunny weather seems to have disappeared!

 

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Friday 12th June. We still managed to have our tea outside – we’ve done it a few times this week. So pleased we bought a new table and chairs set a couple of months ago, as we’re getting close to July now, when our rent increases by £230 a month. Living in London and renting is a big pile of poo right now and there’s nothing we can do about it.

eating indian food outdoors

Saturday 13th June. The day of Carshalton Carnival, and despite the clouds there were colours and eventually some sunshine. Being Merlin passholders (which is nothing to do with the fair), and then having to pay £2-£3 a ride at the carnival made me realise how much we’re saving by having them! A lovely day with some sad news, and a visit to the pub afterwards to raise a glass. Now the stupidly busy week coming up is set to start. Oh boy.

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by jo

Project 365 Week 23

Sunday 31st May. We had to go into Sutton today to get last minute school things and Father’s Day stuff. Shaun went off to get his hair cut and H and I did a sneaky shopping trip. We found these sandals, and at only £6 they won’t break the bank (good job really!) – we had to go down two sizes too – I’m like that in my Birkenstocks, weirdly.

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Monday 1st June. Back to school and H chose a new library book at last – it had been three weeks since the last one (which was okay as it was one of the Katie books by James Mayhew) – she chose a TinTin book. I told her we had one upstairs and went to get it – only to find it was the same one, but of course in French (we bought it the last time we went to Belgium, seven or eight years ago)!

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Tuesday 2nd June. Southern Trains are my favourite thing to moan about as they’re so unreliable. Then they’re reliable and you think they’ve changed, just to find that actually, no, they’re still the same. Anyway, their app broke this week. This was the message I got when I tried to look up my delayed train. Ends up the train was 18 minutes late, the app kept crashing, and I still somehow made it to school on time to pick up H.

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Wednesday 3rd June. H had her second playdate this school year and she had a brilliant time! We walked past the River Wandle which has been done up and cleaned up – it’s looking so much better now.

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Thursday 4th June. Having our tea outside in the warm, although I was a bit shivery. But still, eating outside after school – you can’t beat it. I picked up a Higgidy Quiche for me, and some salad, then did home-made potato salad, it all seemed to taste fine anyway.

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Friday 5th June. I made a trip to H&M Kids on my lunch break this Thursday just gone, spotted this dress in H’s size and HAD to buy it. Luckily she likes it too!

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Saturday 6th June. A busy day – H had football first thing, we headed up to Mayfield Lavender afterwards as it was just up the road. We had a wander around the fields picking up litter and enjoying the space before it all gets too busy again. After that we drove into Sutton for a look at their Chilli Festival which Alex had told me about the day before. It didn’t disappoint – in fact, the biggest downside was the amount of stalls who didn’t take cards and me not having enough cash. H tried lots of mild chilli sauces and enjoyed it too. The stall which made the biggest impression was The Chilli Alchemist for their fabulously shaped bottles. They have chilli popping candy in test tubes too which H bought for herself! The whole presentation of their stall was fabulous – it drew you in. It’s no coincidence we spent the most money there – and they took cards!

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by jo

Project 365 Week 22

Sunday 24th May. Recovering from Eurovision, we did what all sensible Euro-music fans do, and picked our favourite songs to play H. I think we may have stayed in our pyjamas for most of the day until I saw a 50% off code for Zippos Circus who were in a nearby park. We booked tickets for the 7pm show, so H got to go for the first time. It was interesting – the animal side of things I wasn’t so keen on, but all the people parts were incredible. More often than not I’d be clapping along then realise I was mid-clap with my hands and mouth open, completely gobsmacked at what was going on. The bikes inside the large sphere were the most impressive – managed to get this photo with four of them inside it.

zippos circus motorbikes

Monday 25th May. My dad’s birthday. So  I showed H some pictures of him, to remember the Grandad she has never met. We drove to Knole and it was the perfect weather, with loads of activities and space to walk and climb. I keep forgetting we’re really close to Kent here – we need to explore more. Knole is a beautiful place with beautiful deer all around – and somewhere we’ll definitely go back to. I’m still getting my head around the fact the family still live there, in a private area which they rent from the National Trust. How cool?

Knole

Tuesday 26th May. Back to work for me, Shaun and H had the week off. Lucky things. Today they kept it simple and made cupcakes. When I got home from work we headed to the park, where H started to cycle on two wheels for the first time which was amazing. This also means we need to buy her a new bike as her current one is way too small for her.

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Wednesday 27th May. Shaun and H went to Legoland, and I worked. In fact, I worked a 8am to 6pm day with my lunch break being the travel from Wandsworth Town to Tottenham Court Road – I had a meeting at Google. Fortunately afterwards we went to The Angel for beer with old and new friends, and it was an excellent time. We walked past what was the 12 Bar to get home. Sad.  It’s just a shell.

12 bar Thursday 28th May. Back to the park again after work, and more cycling on two wheels as well as moving onto paths. H still can’t quite start herself again but she’s getting better – the balancing is fine, it’s just the starting off. Her new trampoline arrived on Wednesday, so Shaun spent an hour putting it up – it’s really nice and sturdy. We raised the money to buy it by selling H’s baby toys (a good way to declutter and convince her they need to go as well!).

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Friday 29th May. Rainy. In between the hailstones we got bits of time outside, so tried to get H’s home learning done. She was having none of it, until we decided that a Lego Carnival Float would be a good thing to draw and write. I ended up doing a lot of the drawing, with H adding a lot to it and customising it, and labelling it with the things she’d added to her model. I had to help her draw it, but she’s written and labelled and coloured everything that needs doing..

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Saturday 30th May. A lazy day, we all needed it after the previous week. We painted one of the wine boxes we have outside that we use for plants – it’s all bright and colourful. It is now covered in varnish, drying – soon to be returned to the garden.

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by jo

Project 365 – Week 21

Sunday 17th May. We had a lazy day today – we all needed it, but also we were waiting for the delivery of our new Dishwasher from AO.com. It came on time and we were pleased – it’s nice and quiet. I sorted through my wool and fabric, and found my lovely fabric stash – these four are my favourite bits, and I really need to start doing some patchwork soon.

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Monday 18th May. It’s National Vegetarian Week! So I’m going to photograph my evening meal every night this week until Friday. Tonight was spag bol – we have 30 minutes from getting in after Rainbows, so not long to prepare food, so I need something quick and easy. This works a treat every time, even if H gets it everywhere.

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Tuesday 19th May. Soup, of course. Tonight’s was asparagus, butternut squash, spring onion and a bit of vegan cheese on the top. It worked. After a tough night at pilates it was nice to come home and relax with my soup and the first Eurovision Semi Final – even though Shaun went out so I was trying to settle H as well as stuff my face!

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Wednesday 20th May. We had an invite to the Tesco Vegetarian Kitchen range in Central London. It ran from 4-6 and stupidly I’d booked our food order to come at 4pm, so was resigned to not going. Except the food man turned up right on 4, and we got there by 5, so had plenty of time to eat this lovely stuff. Yum! In stores soon.

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Thursday 21st May. I should have gone out tonight with friends, but was too tired after the week and the way it was going, plus I knew Friday was going to be a tough day at work. So I stayed in and ate this comfort dish I always turn back to for a quick and easy curry. We had no coconut dairy-free yoghurt (we like CoYo), but fortunately Shaun had some Alpro Soya coconut milk so I used that instead. It works too – and good as a quick fix. Fortunately the Eurovision second Semi-Final was on, so that kept me far too entertained when I should have had an early night. How yellow does it all look? I think I went overboard on the Turmeric!

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Friday 22nd May. As a Merlin Premium Passholder we were sent vouchers to take our friends to the South Bank Merlin attractions, so we planned to do it after school today. The SeaLife Aquarium was empty (brilliant!), the London Eye busy, but we had fast track passes. Had our friends paid for everything it would have cost over £60 – a brilliant saving! We went to Pizza Express for our tea, where I had the Giardiniera for the first time – minus mushrooms (as we did a deal and it was the most expensive thing on there, and suitable for vegetarians). It was really good too!

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Saturday 23rd May 2015. Eurovision. One of the musical highlights of my year! I know two people who go every year, and I’ve decided that I need to go to Sweden next year, not sure how though. Anyway, this year they designed an app which brought much hilarity (to me) where I tried to attempt to make the logo look like a tiara (I failed), I drank a load of Jeeves (thank you Lidl for getting it in-store in time for the big day), and had fondue. So no food picture today… I am joining the kids with the disturbing trend of selfies, and this is mine, celebrating Guy Sebastian’s inclusion for Australia this year.

eurovision selfie

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Project 365 Week 20

Sunday 10th May. Today was ‘Rainbows Go Global’ at the Girl Guiding South HQ and fun outdoor area, which also happens to be right next to Painshill Park. It was awesome and exhausting. I’d put a picture in, but it involves other kids so I won’t be, so instead you can see the badge I was awarded for going!

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Monday 11th May. Rainbows again. The joys of a warm day meant H’s shirt from the previous day was washed and dry, her new badge sewn on. She had lots of fun tonight and I could see a more confident H emerging – she stood up and talked about things rather than being shy. It makes me so happy as she is a shy girl, it feels like a breakthrough. We got home and put on the Matilda soundtrack I’d bought from eBay. She particularly liked that she had the words to read along to on the CD booklet.

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Tuesday 12th May. This was easily the busiest day of the week and Sunday was stupidly busy. From rushing to the Osteopath, H’s swimming lesson, PIlates and more, somehow I found the time to also make tea for everyone, even if it was just chopping up vegetables and putting them into the Soup Maker.

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Wednesday 13th May. Ocado had Douwe Egbert’s on offer for £4, which included the limited Edition Orla Kiely jars. So I ordered two. I figured if they picked two of the same I might be able to swap one, but if I ordered three and got three of the same that would be tricky. So I saved myself £5 – I’ll still have to buy the other jar at full price, but oh, the pretty!

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Thursday 14th May. The latest issue of Storytime Magazine arrived. I asked H a question to be met with silence. My baby bookworm was so engrossed in her magazine. Magazine subscriptions are the best presents you can get, I think. H is subscribed to Storytime, Okido and Anorak magazines, and has been getting the free Lego ones since she was born, pretty much!

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Friday 15th May. At knitting on Thursday night my friend Katharine gave me a pile of Brownies and Guides annuals – some of which I remember owning back when they came out. H loves them – she’s been engrossed in the Brownies annuals, and has already started asking when she can join. She’s got a Very Long Wait.

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Saturday 16th May. It was our first Summer School Fair today – it was busy, hot and tiring – four hours on the raffle was not good for my back. I had to pop to the shops afterwards and went to Lidl as I’d heard they had Jeeves in stock – their bargain priced Pimm’s-A-Like – and there it was in all its glory. We had a couple of glasses later on and I can confirm it is just as good as the proper stuff. It also costs half as much, if not more. Bravo Lidl! As they say, ‘Get it while you can!’ – so I did…!

Jeeves from Lidl - their bargain priced Pimms

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