Clover Yard

A Dream Come True

Gosh, feels like ages since my last post.  I've had a lovely week since Easter.  Hubby was on holiday and it was just so nice to have his company.  Even though we just hung around the house most of the week it was nice to potter together.  Pottering is what I do best, next to sleeping (when asked which of the Mr Men mummy is, my son points to Mr Lazy - hmmph!).  There is a distinct difference between being "laid back" and lazy, I say. 

Anyway, I must tell you about something amazing that came my way last week.  Derek had asked me for some ideas for my birthday this year and I obliged with a short list.  23 items later...now please don't get any ideas, I'm not materialistic, not very, I just thought I'd be helpful.  It turned into quite a whimsical wish list - really, some of the items will SO never happen.  Top of the list though was a piano.  I have ALWAYS wanted a piano.  Growing up, we didn't have room for one, and weren't a very musical family anyway.  But my best friend, Katharin, had a house full of instruments - drum kit, piano, didgery doos, harmonicas, you name it.  She taught me to play Love Story on the piano when I was around 12 and to this day, I can still play it with both hands, although I haven't a clue how to read music.  ANYWAY, after dropping our little boy off at nursery one day last week we had a walk round town.  Passing a house clearance shop, I decided to pop in for a nosey.  Normally I'd have to drag Derek into one of these places but he quite obligingly agreed.  Lo and behold, what did I spot but a lovely old piano.  Imagine my delight!  I had a little tinkle of it and asked the owner a few questions and half an hour later the deal was done and 2 hours later it was in our house! 

My beautiful, beautiful piano, you are a bit bashed and there isn't much room for you but oh how I adore you...

It really felt like fate had played a hand and I'm so chuffed I could burst.  Already I am driving the neighbours potty with Abba's Super Trouper (both hands).  Little boy is also taking requests - he can do "the scary song" on the low keys and "the happy song" on the high keys.  It's a hoot!

It is my ambition to be able to play Debussy's Clair de Lune by my 40th birthday (I've a wee while yet!).  I'd better go practice...

Thank you my wonderful dear husband, you have made a girl's wish come true.

Climb aboard the Eggy Bus!

Well, it's all over.  There was laughter and tears, chocolate and beers (sorry) and lots of Rennies consumed (we really know how to party).  And a wonderful discovery that my little boy's drawing skills had progressed from random zig zags and sribbles to real facial features - eyes and noses, smily mouths and thatches of green hair.  He had a wonderful time with a couple of his friends decorating eggs (and himself) proudly presenting to me Mr Rock Star complete with glitter and stars.  How cute!!  Now, you may be curious about the shady looking character at the back of the eggy bus.  My husband's effort.  You must understand that he is a trained artist, quite competitive and cannot help himself.  There was a bit of a stunned silence as he revealed his masterpiece.  Goodness knows what or who his inspiration was but if ever there were a bad egg sat at the back of the bus then that was it.

It felt very strange to celebrate Easter with flurries of snow every half hour.  I think the only way it didn't feel really like Winter was that the birds were twittering away through the showers.  I can't remember them doing that in the depths of November and December.  Also, the snow just disappeared when it hit the ground so sadly no snowmen.  Not one this year, yet.  Despite wrapping up well, J (my boy) wasn't too keen to venture far to roll his egg so we settled for the steepest part of the garden....

Wheeee...crunch.  Goodbye Mr Rock Star, hello egg mayonnaise sandwiches!

Hope you had a good one. xx

Happy Easter

Just in case I can't make it up the stairs to blog over the weekend from eating too much chocolate, I'd thought I'd wish you all an early Happy Easter! 

I am very much looking forward to having a nice family get together and have my hubby all to myself for the whole week after, woo hoo! 

Better have a little warm up.  The kettle's on the boil, the table is set.  Now, which slice would you like?

 

Sweet anticipation

Spring is coming...it really is, I can feel it in my bones.  I'd go as far as to say we had a warm day this week.  I imagine one day soon I'll be throwing off with gay abandon the boots I have worn to death this winter and donning my lovely squishy Clarks sandals again.  Knowing our fickle weather this could happen overnight and I don't know if this world is quite ready for my pasty, dare I say fuzzy winter legs!  Which is why I've invested in some of this...

It's an organic self-tan from Green People. I think I came across a recommendation on a blog for it (sorry I read so many I don't always remember who). I never have much luck with these things, I usually have a streaking issue (referring to the product that is), and a rather potent "eau de Rich Tea biscuit" wafting from my self.  I have a wedding coming up next month (on the Isle of Iona, can't wait!) and just want to have a bit of a healthy glow.  I shall be testing it out very soon and will post results (I will spare you the photographs ;o)  Any tips/recommendations would be gratefully received!

I've had a good week, meeting up with friends, getting myself a part-time job (argh!) and of course some charity shopping (I really can't help myself)...

Saw these pillowcases and thought I'll have those - very Cath don't you think?

My new book for the week is Cath Kidston in Print which I snapped up from TK Maxx.  How sweet is this caravan...

Excuse the horrible flash photography). She (Cath) uses a particular vivid orange flower power 70's print to make a doorstop with and it's identical to the seat covers my Dad used to have in his old yellow Ford Escort...

They were hideous!!  Shame on you Cath.  Or shame on Dad, for throwing them away.  Cath could've had them. 

FINALLY, I got hold of a copy of the April Country Living.  I mean it's been out for, like, ages.  At least 2 hours.  I think I was beginning to irritate the people in our little newsagents as I kept popping my head round the door, having a quick scan of the rack and then darting out again.  I will have to renew my subscription because the anticipation of not knowing when it will hit the shelves is just too much.  That said, I was a little disappointed for the first time ever with the content this month.  It just seemed a little thin on the usual mouth watering eye candy and a little fat with advertisements.  The Poultry Pinups was hilarious though!

I was full of good intentions this week to have a bit of a spring clean and as I started ploughing my way through the chaos of the play room I thought what a lovely world of colour and pattern my little boy enjoys...

And so I let the joyful jumble be.

I'm just loving this Crayola paint range from Craig and Rose.  The shade names are great, who can resist "tickle me pink" and "alphabet soup".  Fab!  Imagine having the job of coming up with paint colour names.  Ooh, comments or posts please on "Could I really be paid to be/do _______".

Wishing you all a colourful weekend.  xx

When the Yellow's on the Broom

We headed off to the beach at St Cyrus, the most unspoilt beach I know (and the spot where D proposed to me - but that's for another post!) I paused to smell the wonderful coconuty scent of the yellow flowers on the broom.  It holds a special significance to me now after reading about the life of a travelling girl, Betsy Whyte who used to spend her winters in a small house in Brechin where I grew up. 

"The townspeople call them tinkers, the tinkers call them scaldies in return, that's just an equally insulting term. They call themselves travelling people. First they help farmers planting, then they go to the River Tay to look for shellfish, and if they're lucky they find a few pearls, take them to the jewellers in Perth and make a little money that way. And when the raspberries and strawberries are ripe they all go to Blairgowrie - that's the heart of the fruit-growing area in Scotland. It's a big festival time for them all."

Betsy and her family can't wait to get back on the road in springtime and when those first sweet smelling yellow flowers appear, they know that it's time.

I think I have a bit of that wanderlust in me too.  Although I am obsessed with the interior of my house I probably wouldn't mind if it were on 2 wheels, with a gas stove and tiny little curtains at the windows (vintage floral of course!). In fact, I'd imagine it would look something like this (cue dreamy sound effect)..

I WANT ONE!!!  No disrespect to real travelling people past and present who of course would journey in something much more practical.   Anyway, as I pinch myself back to reality, the only wanderlusting I did today was of course to my all time favourite beach at St Cyrus which is just so WILD at this time of year with trees washed up vertically on the shore (that one puzzled me).  It all looked quite strange though..

Despite the menacing grey cloud looming overhead, the wee wanderer was happy to be picking up and throwing and drawing pictures in the sand. 

A happy child makes a happy mummy.  Hope you all had a lovely weekend.  xx

I Capture the Castle

We decided to have a bit of a castle theme to our weekend and with no shortage of them in these parts we (husband and son) ventured north to Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire.  We had never visited here before and as we walked through the woods it was quite exciting waiting for that first glimpse of a turret or flag between the trees.  We weren't disappointed...

It really is a lovely castle, the picture doesn't show it but it's slightly pink in colour and is like one of those ornate sandcastles.  Although we didn't get to see inside (a 45 minute tour may have been a bit much for J), we did have a good snoop around the grounds.

 

By coincidence, or maybe not, I am reading I Capture the Castle for the first time and I am completely spellbound.  It's a book that really draws you in and has my romantic head spinning.  I just can't put it down. More about that in a second.

Continuing our trail, today we ventured a bit closer to home to Ecclesgreig Castle near St Cyrus.  Privately owned and at the moment in quite a dismal state of disrepair, I still thought it charming and mysterious and in fact out of both castles visited, I preferred this one.  It desperately needs some TLC, and you can see why below:

The castle was built in the Victorian Gothic style in 1844 onto the remains of a sixteenth century Manor House.  It is being renovated by the current Farquhar family which has involved planting almost a million snowdrops in an effort to return the woodlands to their former glory.  And very pretty they were too.

What struck me most was how much it looked like the image I had in my head of Cassandra's dilapidated home in the book.  I imagined her sitting at one of those broken windows struggling to write in the fading light of the moon.  It really sent shivers down my spine and I couldn't wait to get back home to read more!

It's been a lovely weekend, we made the most of the spring sunshine although today was a bit more typical of the season - a fitting backdrop nevertheless for sad old Ecclesgreig.  Thank you to the lovely boys in my life - D and J, for a special Mother's Day and wishing all you yummy mummys out there a very happy one too. x