March 15

Some scenes from a rather busy weekend. Flea markets and dinner with friends. It was busy in not-so-good ways too, but I'd rather not get into that. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, did you get up to anything good?

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March 7

 

 

On Saturday morning our plans to visit the farmer's market were thwarted. We awoke, wondering why it was so bright in the house, and glanced out of our living room window to see branches, heavily laden with snow. It had snowed several inches overnight and more fluffy white flakes were still falling.

Mikey saw the snow and shouted "Mummy, snow! snow! snow!" He would not stop shouting until we got dressed and found our snow boots, he put his on all by himself. Mummy fumbled for her coffee as she was not yet awake, while Mikey stood at the door still shouting. We walked outside in the snow for about an hour, wandering around our military housing complex, Mikey kicking the snow with his little blue boots and chasing the few birds that had dared venture out. On the way back we came across Sarah outside with her lovely dog, Beni, who was very excited to see Mikey and licked his face.

 

  Someone seriously needs to tell me how to properly expose for snow.

When we got home, after we'd unraveled ourselves from our snow-cover layers, Mikey did some watercolour painting while mummy worked on fixing up his toy box bench, cutting foam and fabric to make the seat cushion.

 

  

  

 

The toy box has been sanded down to take the gloss off, it just needs some primer and paint now. Sadly it's a mixture of solid wood and wood veneer so I can't just sand it right down and stain it.

The seat cushion also needs to be painted. I wanted to paint some elephants on there because they're Mikey's favourite animal but I tried to draw some elephant outlines and they're really not all that good, they looked somewhat like demented trees. I am thinking that I will perhaps paint some birds on there instead as they're a little easier for me to draw. I'm hoping to get it all finished this weekend, but I may need to enlist the help of a friend to watch Mikey while I go to the basement to spraypaint.

I know I'm posting this at an insane hour (it's 3.40am here) but Mikey woke up and I've just been on the phone to my mother in-law, talking about my sister in-law's wedding. Then I called my husband (who was in a bar in Chicago with his brother, cousin and friend. tsk tsk!). Now I'm not tired at all, I'm going to regret this tomorrow (today?) I'm sure.

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March 5

This morning Mikey woke early again. In an effort to not be outdone I decided I would start some of today's work early, Mikey helped by handing me nails and pretending to hammer. We completed our new noticeboard from an old picture frame and some chicken wire just as the sun started to come up.

 

Sorry the photo is not so good, we don't get much light in that little corner of the apartment. The little calendar in the top left is by Lisa Rupp Design.

 

 

 Our afternoon was spent drawing with sidewalk chalk and climbing the side of the large hill near to our apartment. Tiring work, now we are going to spend this evening snuggling out of the blustery wind and reading some Beatrix Potter together from some of my old books while eating yoghurt and granola. Mikey has asked to hear The Tale of Tom Kitten several times already in the past few days, he thinks that Tom and his sisters are very naughty.

We have big plans to finish cleaning the house tomorrow, as well as doing some laundry and of course fitting in some outside time.

I'm re-reading Buddhism for Mothers by Sarah Napthali. It's just as insightful the second time as it was the first, perhaps moreso.

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March 3 - The Rhythm of Spring

We're slowly slipping into our daily rhythm for Spring, it's not a forced schedule but more like how the rest of our days naturally evolve around the necessities of set meals times, sleep and household work.

Here is a rough outline of how our days look at the moment, although I haven't written in snack times but they kind of fit in as we go:

Morning

• Wake up
• Breakfast and TV time
• Yoga, which we do together now that Mikey is old enough to copy mummy. He thinks that getting into the positions is pretty hilarious. Downward facing dog is his favourite, he's not too good at any that involve standing on one leg.
• Household chores and/or errands
• Free Play, which is Mikey's unguided play time. Sometimes he will play alone while I finish my household chores and other times I will play with him.

Lunch

• Naptime, during which mummy either does more chores, does some crafting, does some blogging or naps along with Mikey.

Afternoon

•   Outside play, if the weather is reasonable, which involves either the playground or going on walks. It really has to be peeing it down with rain or snow for us to not go outside, just because he sleeps and behaves so much better if he has a good amount of outside time. If the weather is bad then we do indoor constructive play which involves playing and listening to music, painting, drawing or building with blocks (sometimes we bring these activities outside with us).

Dinner

• After dinner we have some calm play with quiet toys to help wind down for bed. We also do a little singing.
• We read some books together.
• Daddy takes over for bath time.
• Mikey goes to bed, which is when mummy gets free time.

This is all subject to change of course, as the evenings start getting lighter and we begin to slip into summer then we will have more outside time and go on walks after dinner. But this is it for now.

It's taken me a while to realise the importance of a daily rhythm to the smooth running of our days, for me to actually pay attention to the natural rhythm that our days fit into all on their own and embrace that rhythm. It makes things so much calmer and simpler, mikey really benefits from the security of knowing what will come next in his day.

What's your daily rhythm? Do you have one? How does it work out for you?

My husband left this morning to fly back to the States for a week. It's funny, I've noticed that no matter how long they are gone, be it a week or an entire deployment, it still royally sucks. Hopefully I can get some work done while he's away though, I have furniture to finish.

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March 2

 

  

Freshly ground coffee, thanks to the gift of a coffee grinder from some friends, and Schoko Brotchen for breakfast. Perfect.

I've been feeling very tired recently, I feel like I'm in slow motion, as though I am on the very edge of the beginning of being ill. I have been like it for a while so I don't really think I'm coming down with anything but that wont stop me from saying to my husband, "You know, I think I must be coming down with something," every couple of days.

My excitement for Spring has caught up with me, I have been trying to fit in too many things that I decided I needed to do before it arrived and I'd just quite like to have a nice rest instead. My husband is leaving on Wednesday for a week long trip to the States for his little sister's wedding. She is getting married to the son of American missionaries living in Africa whom she met at Bible College, he is a lovely young man and I am sure that they will be very happy together, I'm excited for them embarking on this new stage of life together. I am very sad that I cannot be there for the wedding, but immigration issues stop me from re-entering the States until my Citizenship Application clears.

Instead of going with him, Mikey and I will stay behind and try to have some restful time between seasons before we start to pick up the rhythms of Spring. These bright and breezy days we've been having are perfect for opening up all the windows in the apartment, banishing the last little parts of winter that may be lurking in the corners and dusting the hibernation cobwebs out of our minds.

I finished my knitted camera strap cover yesterday, it's very plain but I quite like the minimalism.

 

It's surprisingly difficult to get a photo of it when it's attached to my camera, sorry about that.

It was very easy, kind of like knitting a sock. I wont give you specific directions because it was so easy that seems pointless, but if you want to make one of your own you need to cast on enough stitches so that the width doubles around the strap and can be sewn together to make a tube. Then knit a row, purl a row, repeat, until it is as long as you want it to be, cast off and sew up the seam. You could get all fancy with different stitches if you like, I might make another one in a spiral rib pattern.

I'm also in the market for a new camera bag, I've seen some beautiful handmade ones on Etsy and of course those lovely Jill-e bags, but sadly they are all out of my price range. I love this idea though of turning a regular purse into a camera bag, except she says that she uses the foam that's used in ironing board covers for the padding and I don't think that's protective enough. I would probably use wetsuit material or the stuff they make camping mats from.

We bought our new car yesterday and it will be ready in 2 weeks. This is what it looks like:

It's pretty perfect for our little family and drives like a dream. There is more space inside it than you'd think for a Mini, it's our little Tardis.

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February 28

My friend and I ventured out to a flea market again yesterday, the weather was lovely and we managed to pick up quite a few goodies including a balance bike for Mikey that looks brand new but only cost 8 euros. He hasn't been able to go on it yet because we need to find a wrench to adjust the seat, but he loves it very much and has been wheeling it all around the house.

Here are some of the other goodies that we purchased, all were very cheap. We also got a couple of planters and a decorative pottery wall hanging thing for 50c.

 

Cute phone, and it works! But Mikey seems to have commandeered it to play with instead.

A gorgeous little alarm clock!

We spent the afternoon looking at cars, our 17 year old BMW (which was a free pass it on...) is finally starting to fail on us. We will still pass it on to the next person for free, perhaps they can fix it up if they're interested in cars or use it for parts as some of the parts inside are new. We test drove a Mini Clubman, we think this is the car we want. It is lovely, has great handling and plenty of room for getting Mikey in and out thanks to the weird half door it has. It does look a little funky though, it's one of those longer Mini's. I'm sure I can live with that.

My husband has been out all day playing guitar with his friends, this has given Mikey and I a lovely Sunday to relax and watch a film, we've been watching The Sound of Music. I am almost finished knitting my camera strap cover, it's very soft and I think it will be just perfect. I've also been cutting up some of Mikey old pajamas and sewing them into things, I will show you when they are done! We're hopefully going out with friends to Schwetzingen to look for a restaurant to eat at tonight.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

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February 7

Homemade bread. So easy and delicious, it made the house smell wonderful all Sunday afternoon.

Homemade bread, grilled and filled with a homemade burger, cheese, tomato, red onion, rocket/arugula, sauteed wild mushrooms and Dijon mustard.

The snow has melted away and left us with milder weather. Friday afternoon Mikey and I caught a bus to a nearby German mall with a friend and got rained on while waiting for the bus home. We bought some goodies including some indigo tights for myself, a colouring book and new toy car for Mikey, a few craft supplies and some groceries to make lovely treats for the weekend.

On Saturday we spent the entire morning at our local animal shelter. We had originally intended to go look at kitties and pick one out to adopt, but sadly they did not have any indoor cats and we don't live in a place where we can have an outdoor cat. So instead we spent the morning looking at bunnies and guinea pigs, petting a gorgeous friendly white cat with a black tail and looking at lovely doggies that liked to bark and run around in circles. Mikey liked them all very much and was upset when we had to leave.

On Sunday afternoon while waiting for the bread, Mikey and I strung pasta on string and then painted it to make a necklace. He really enjoyed the simple task of stringing the pasta and also making lots of mess with the paint.

On Monday if the weather is still mild I think Mikey and I will go for a walk around the allotments to see if we can spot any greenery and to wave at the trains from the bridge.





How was your weekend?

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30 January

 

  

  

 

Mikey and I have spent a lot of time playing indoors, cuddling up in soft blankets with stuffed animals, reading books, napping, knitting and playing with toys. We're hiding out you see, from the cold snow outside. We're really enjoying this cozy time, although I have to say that I will be excited when we see the first greenery of Spring.

This morning, however, we were forced to leave our nest in order to catch a little mud-coated bus into town. I needed to buy some food and yarn. Hibernating is not much good when you have very little food in the house, plus you start feeling the need to get outside for some fresh air, no matter how cold it may be.

We chased some pigeons, ate some bread, got caught in a little snow and returned home with our prizes. Mikey loves the little bakery nearby, when he knows that we're on that street he will start saying "bread! bread!" until we get to the door when he will say "Oooooh, bread! Mmm Mmm Mmm!" He likes to eat the little sunflower seed covered wholewheat Brötchen. That is his treat for being a good boy while shopping.

 

  

 

My dear husband is away this weekend, he is just over the border into France for four days, sadly for work and not leisure. He should look forward to coming back to a lovely cozy and clean home.

"The most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid."

RIP J.D. Salinger

(Quote from Nine Stories)

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Butternut Squash Recipes and Thanksgiving menu

Posted at Foodie Friday

I adore the combination of Chicken and Bacon, when I lived in England I would have a Chicken and Bacon salad sandwich every lunchtime from the sandwich shop next door to where I worked.


I'm also working through my Squash addiction, you know what? Butternut Squash goes amazingly well with bacon, it also goes well with chicken. Score!

This recipe is modified from a Jamie Oliver Recipe. Serves 2.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
2 Chicken breasts (skin on preferably)
Oregano
1/2 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into very thin slices
Bacon (about 6 rashers, 3 for each chicken breast)
Heavy Cream
Red Pepper Flakes
nutmeg
Salt
Pepper



Preheat the Oven to 400F. I had mine at 410F because it seems to run a little cold sometimes.
Season the chicken with the oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a casserole dish and fit the squash slices around the chicken as snugly as you can, have them standing up instead of laying flat. Carefully pour a little heavy cream around the squash (not on the chicken). Place bacon rashers on top of the chicken, 3 to each breast.

Season with a tiny smidge of grated nutmeg, some salt and some pepper. Drizzle with some olive oil and cook in the middle of the oven for 25 to 35 minutes.

I served mine with some sticky olive oil, garlic and oregano roasted potatoes. It got the thumbs up from everyone, including Mikey who appears to be just as addicted to squash as I am.

I've also been slowly working on my Thanksgiving Menu. I'm still not wholly confident with Thanksgiving tradition considering this is only the 3rd year I've celebrated it, but I'm trying my hardest. We're having a number of friends and work colleagues over to celebrate, I get excited about cooking for a lot of people. In my own personal dream world I wear a lovely apron at all times and host posh dinner parties every night of the week, and we're rich... you know so I can afford all of the expensive ingredients. And a big kitchen.

Here is the menu, "Brit Girl Cooks American Thanksgiving" with recipe links where relevant.

Starter -

Butternut Squash Chowder - I did a trial run of this last Tuesday, it went down very well with the family, including my husband who is quite picky about his soup. I neglected to take photographs so I'm afraid you'll have to take my word for it. It's possible to make this ahead of time, so I'm going to be making it the day before Thanksgiving in order to free up my time to wrestle with the turkey et al.

Fresh bread - I am so not baking my own, it would be a disaster. I'll get getting some from a local bakery that morning.

Main Course -

Turkey (wondering if I can get a hold of a free range turkey out here but seems doubtful, only butterball ones at the commissary and I've yet to see a single turkey on the economy) Probably a Jamie Oliver Recipe or just a slather-it-with-butter-and-throw-some-herbs-up-its-bum made up recipe.

Homemade cranberry sauce - Only if I'm actually able to locate some cranberries, I looked last time we were grocery shopping and saw none, absolutely none whatsoever, fresh or frozen. May have to make do with a jar. That makes my tastebuds sad. Making this a few days ahead of time.

Mashed Sour Cream and Scallion Potatoes - You can't even imagine how good this is. If ever there were decadent potatoes, it's these.

Cider Roasted Vegetables - Oh my goodness yum. Simply the best way to cook veggies, no question. We had them with potatoes and bratwurst on Thursday night. I stained my hands pink with the beets and just now realised I forgot the mushrooms. Ooops. This can be made 2 hours ahead of time and reheated.

Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges - Again with the Yum. I made Sweet Potato Casserole last year and it was, well, a horrible sickly sweet gloopy mess. I made some grilled sweet potato wedges in the summer, they were great so I'm hoping these will be just as good. We're trying them out this weekend.

I know... there's no green bean casserole. I'm sorry but you Americans eat some weird food sometimes. The husband has requested it, but I'm not making it... the mere thought of it makes me want to vomit. Honestly. I'm sorry.

Is there any other important staple that I've somehow managed to miss?

Dessert -

Undecided, but it's a throw up between Bourbon Sweet Potato Cupcakes, Pumpkin Bread Pudding or Pumpkin Spice Muffins. I'm leaning towards the muffins at the moment. May have to force myself to make all of them in order to decide... what a hardship.

A final question, what does one usually have to drink during thanksgiving?

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New Food Books

Posted at Foodie Friday

I hesitate to call it a cookbook, because although it does happen to contain recipes, that's not necessarily what the focus is.

I'm a bad girl, I have cooked some lovely new things this week but have not had the time nor patience to photograph and write out recipes. Our visitors have left now so we're slowly getting back into the swing of things with an empty house. There will be more actual food in the near future, especially as my darling husband just ordered The Flavor Bible for me! I'm really excited!

The book I've been reading is called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. I've been reading it on and off since it arrived a couple of weeks ago. I've talked about various chapters of the book to anyone around me who will listen. Whenever I open my mouth my husband announces that he doesn't want to hear another word about the book and would read it himself if he were that interested. Hurrumph.

I've always wanted my own vegetable garden, but now I'm more determined than ever. I just need to wait to get out of the apartment and back to somewhere with a backyard. I want to learn to make cheese, Kingsolver makes it sound so, well, awesome.

More importantly she stresses the importance of locally grown food. Not just in flavour or vitamin content, but also as being important to the economy and environment. Living in Germany has its challenges on this front. The food in the commissary is mostly imported from the US, I've always had a hard time with that. I shop on the economy quite a lot, but there are some American things that my poor darling husband cannot live without. Similarly there are a number of things from the UK that I miss, but they're less readily available so I am generally forced to do without (until I get visitors bearing gifts of course!) however it's been nearly 3 years (2 in the US and 1 in Germany) so I'm pretty used to it by now, my poor husband has only been away from the US for a year. But because of the exchange rate I simply cannot afford to do all of our grocery shopping on the Germany economy.

There is a market in the center of Heidelberg, but their prices are quite expensive. There is however a small roadside stall near to where I live that has locally grown fruit and veg. As a bonus they're very cheap too.

When we return to the states I'm going to be paying more attention to the locations of farmers markets and things like that. I'd also like to join a farm co-op if there is one nearby!

Anyway, back to the book! I found it to be completely inspiring. It kinda makes me want to go and buy a farm, it has reinforced my recent obsession with squashes! It makes me miss fresh eggs. There's one part where Kingsolver talks about her daughter watching a chickens egg exit from you-know-where, it make me laugh so hard because I remember watching our hens lay their eggs when I lived with my parents. They'd run around squawking for a few minutes and making a fuss before going inside their house and pushing out an egg.

I can't really talk about it much more without re-writing the whole book. I recommend it for anyone who is remotely interested in food, where their food comes from and the state of America's farming industry. Also if you're into gardening, raising livestock or just want a good laugh.

I also received a copy of Jamie's America from my parents for my birthday.

This one is of particular interest to me because I'm not American but I'm surrounded by them all day, every day (le sigh). I have a fascination with regional foods in the US, because quite frankly I know very little about what you guys eat. I'm in love with Louisiana (although I have never been there) and there is a whole chapter devoted to their food customs as well as many others.

I haven't yet had a chance yet to read through the entire thing, but my husband was very excited at the presence of Jumbalaya so it looks like it's going to be a hit.


I've set up a tumblog to link to interesting things I find or want to keep, mostly recipes, sewing patterns and quotes at the moment. Sort of like online bookmarks. It's here if you're interested.

Random funny of the day, slightly food related - When I breastfeed Mikey before his nap or before bedtime (yes I still nurse my 2 year old, I never expected to be doing that) he's decided now over the past few days that teddy needs to nurse before he does. So he presses teddy's nose on (in absence of an easily visible mouth) to nurse for like a minute, Mikey says "Yum" (presumably because teddy does not have the gift of language, probably due to the aforementioned mouth, or lack thereof) and then has his own turn. It is too cute.

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Baking and Crafts

Making Angel Food Cake (mummy has a new apron and messy hair)

 

A new craft/nature/activity table for a certain little boy, a birthday gift.

Close up of the pompom flowers we made with wool and found twigs.

 

What we did with the horse chestnuts and seed pods we collected over the past week.

Some Tea from the Market for Mikey. The strainer looks like a sock.

And a quote to finish.

When a child, no matter how old, feels our acceptance, when he feels our love, not just for his easy-to-live-with, lovable, attractive self, but also for his difficult, repulsive, exasperating self, it feeds him and frees him to become more balanced and whole.
- Myla Kabat-Zinn

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Laundry, the eternal chore

Seriously, does anyone ever like doing laundry? If they do then they're insane, it's awful!

I do one load every couple of days, it works out easier for me than having a specific laundry day as I share the laundry room with 5 other apartments. I also have to walk down a few flights of stairs with laundry and a toddler who is not particularly adept at walking down stairs on his own, so it's not like I can take everything down at once anyway. The bottomless pit of a laundry basket is constantly filling up and there is never any end to it. I think if I ever managed to get everything out of there I'd probably be able to see Australia through the bottom.

If I get behind and decide to have a laundry day to clean everything, I will feel satisfied once it is all done, until I realise that I am not done. Because guess what? The clothes that we are wearing while doing the laundry will need to be washed. It makes me want to scream.

I also detest putting away clothes, more than actually putting the laundry on to wash. Folding and ironing is fine for some reason. Mikey can "help" with the folding, although he usually likes to try and wear everything, we can watch TV while we're doing it and it's quite relaxing. Putting things away seems like such a chore though, we frequently have piles of washed, folded laundry sitting on our spare couch. I try to convince the husband that it's really his job to put it away, (seen as I take out the trash, fix things and generally do all of the "man jobs") he doesn't fall for it though. Damn.

Where did this come from? The husband got home from TDY yesterday afternoon. While he was away I had done all of the laundry, I grabbed the last load out of the dryer shortly after he walked through the door. I'd even put most of it away and was feeling quite proud of myself. This morning, he emptied his ruck onto the floor. An entire bag of laundry. Not all of it had been worn, but since it had all been mixed in together I will have to wash it all anyway. See what I mean? Eternal Laundry.

At least I managed to find some nice smelling laundry soap that Mikey and I are not allergic to. We had been using that baking soda stuff which does not smell of anything, so our clothes just came out of the dryer smelling of dryer dust. We've been allergic to every American brand we had tried so far, not that there is a whole lot of choice in the commissary here. The nice smell of the new brand makes me feel a little better about it at least. In fact I was quite excited when I found my old British brand of laundry soap in the German Grocery Store and hugged it with glee all the way to the checkout. I am not ashamed.

And yuck, you saw I mentioned using a dryer? I hate the dryer. I wish we had a yard where we could hang clothes. Technically I could hang them in the house, but I know little boy would enjoy pulling them down and spreading them around the floor a little too much.

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Raindrops, brum brum's and visits

John-Morgan

European rain makes me feel right at home. Mikey and I walked to the German Grocery store in the rain today to pick up a few necessities. He wore his little boots, raincoat, a hat and looked completely adorable although he was so excited that he wouldn't stand still for a picture. He stuck out his tongue, caught some rain on it and said "Mmmmmmm" (universal word for yummy). He pulled at a leaf and got raindrops on his hand, to which he said "Ewwwwww" before wiping it on my leg. I can thank daddy for teaching him that all important boy skill.

Sunday evening as it was starting to get dark, the three of us walked up to the footbridge that goes over the road minutes away from our apartment. I know, it sounds pretty dull, but Mikey adored it. He poked his nose through the bars on the side of the bridge and pointed at the cars, which had just begun to turn on their lights. He ran back and forth to each side of the bridge to watch the BrumBrum's approach, go under and then come out the other side. He said "Ooooh!" and stamped his little feet in excitement when the traffic lights turned from red, to amber, to green and lots of cars approached all at once. You don't need to travel far or pay out lots of money to entertain kids of his age, watching his excitement makes us all happy, even a couple of random passersby stifled a smile or a chuckle.

The husband left this morning for TDY yet again. Only a few days this time around though. Just enough time for me to get a lot of things done without having him under my feet or messing it all up moments later! He goes TDY a lot I guess, just a part of his particular job in the army. I imagine it would be the same if he were a civilian journalist too. He's covering a story on a sexual harassment/assault seminar over in Garmisch this time. I told him to scope the place out while he's there so we can see about going on a small vacation there early next year.

I've got my trusty TDY chores list written, things I need to get done while he is gone -


Today - Groceries, laundry (colours), sweep floors, tidy bedroom, start article, write blog post. (All completed except for the article which I'm doing later)
Tuesday - Laundry (whites), wash floors, tidy spare room, clean up weird balcony area, finish article.
Wednesday - Dusting, washing baseboards, quick tidy all over, cooking.

The house needs a thorough clean up ready for next month. We have my in-laws visiting. My father in-law for one week, mother in-law for two (arriving together but mother in-law is leaving later) then the day they leave my parents arrive for a weeks stay. My in-laws haven't seen Mikey since he was 10 months old, so they're very excited. We haven't been back to the States to visit because I can't re-enter until I have my citizenship.

It's going to be a busy few weeks when everyone arrives, but I'm looking forward to it.

Oh and by the way. I am drinking a nice cup of tea and eating some jaffa cakes. You can take the girl out of England...

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Mikey's room and more

I said previously that Mikey's room was finished. It seems like nothing is ever finished, I can always go back and find something else to fix. It is constantly in the state of almost being finished, but I'm pleased with how it is coming together. The only two major projects I have left is to paint his red tables blue. Not because I disike red particularly, but these tables were given to us when we first got married, they were originally pine but the people who had them before us did a very bad red stain paint job on them. I've been meaning to paint them since we first got them but kept putting it off. The smaller table is in the spare room half painted and waiting for the opportunity to go outside and finish the paint. The large table is yet to be sanded, it also needs its legs reinforced as it is a little wobbly.

Mikey's colouring table, the pictures on the wall are things he has done. This table is going to be painted blue eventually.

Bedtime cuddles and storytime chair. Music time guitar in the corner, bet the neighbours love that.

Crib, pictures on the wall are from indiefixx free art project.

Window seat. He loves to sit on here and play with his teddies.

The master bedroom is coming along. I built a new dresser yesterday, but we're in the process of sorting and throwing out old clothes and putting up some pictures on the walls so it's still a bit of a mess!

I've yet to get the husband to download his photos from the Castle Illuminations last weekend, I'll post them as soon as I get them!  I also have a couple more recipes to share with you! The husband is going TDY again next week (to Garmisch, lucky bugger) so I'll hopefully have some time to write in the evenings.

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