So what its raining!

This morning I was woken up at 6am to the sound of a bubble bee frantically buzzing behind my bedroom curtains. It was obviously fed up with the constant bumping into the pane of glass! So I set it free and decided that it would be worth my while to pop onto the comp before Lillie rises. We have planned a 'girly' day today. Face packs, nail varnish, doing our hair and as well as Lillie's My Little Ponie's manes sat in our PJ's & dressing gowns in front of the tv!

During all the activity including redecorating our living room (which I can say is now done much to our satisfaction :o) ) over the last two weeks and only picking up the camera again this week, I noticed some pics of a little project Lillie & I started about three weeks ago that I forgot to upload or even mention!
This miniature shop (not to scale) was a birthday gift from my sister about 2/3 years ago which was totally forgotten about as it was hidden away in a cupboard that has recently been de-cluttered! Seeing as Ive built Lillie a Miniature Victorian Dolls House (I should take & upload some pics) that she really isnt allowed to 'play' with just yet, I decided to give her this shop to do whatever she likes with! Lillie has decided not to use it as a shop but as a little house.

The interior wallpaper was taken from a tester roll of wallpaper in Homebase. In fact Ive also made fake canvasses for our living room too from another tester roll! The little blue square is an Ajax cloth that looks good as floor tiles for a kitchenette area that Lillie wants included!

Starting to look very girly!

I mentioned in my last post that we were going to our local churche's Summer Fete last Saturday. We had such a lovely time & Lillie came back with a few things! Unfortunately the 'Transformers' video has no sound! Yes we do still use a video in this house. Why not, it works!

Summer Fete goodies!

With the weather change, its meant we have been indoors more this week. But we dont mind as there is always something to do here!

Looking fab Lilsie!

Lillie mixed these colours. Very funky indeed... Mmm gives me an idea for another room in the house to paint!

Thats my girl, Lille helping with the Spag Bol...

Not just one rainbow, but two if you look closely. Something Ive never seen before! Taken yesterday afternoon...

Lillie had a later bedtime last night as we watched the Michael Jackson Memorial Service on BBC2. I have quite mixed feelings about the service/extravaganza. I guess I wasnt the only person throughout the world who expected to see his gold coffin being carried in. There were points were I cried at hearing & seeing the emotions of celebrities who knew and admired him. Celebrities such as MJ's brother Germaine, his life-long friend Brooke Shields and one of his biggest fans, Usher. But then I was laughing along with Magic Johnson's memory of the KFC bucket! And respecting the words of how others felt MJ had helped make positive changes throughout the world. Its clear he was a big part of this planet we call home. I cannot say I was a fanatic regarding MJ, but I was brought up listening to & watching him dance. I never believed the scandals the media brought to the world's attention & I can see why people who never even 'knew' him are grief stricken. Yes, he was probably the worlds greatest ever entertainer and yes it is clear he made big steps in changing the music industry for the better. The 'Thriller' video is testament to this. He helped bring poverty & HIV/AIDS around the world to the fore & it has been stated (Guiness Book of Records) that he is the only celebrity to have donated the most time & money to the most charitable organisations. As for Lillie's reaction to the service, well she got upset at times especially when Stevie Wonder was on the piano & singing. She said it was a very sad song. I think it will be a day neither of us will forget thats for sure. I was around Lillie's age when Elvis Presley died & can still vividly remember the day of his funeral being broadcast around the world, my Nan playing her Elvis 7" vinyls on the gramaphone while watching the smallscreen and wiping tears from her eyes. My Grandad shaking his head at her & my Mum sitting in silence...

Loving the sunshine

Well July is now upon us. This year feels like it has flown by! It will be two years this month since we 'officially' started out on the Home Ed route, next month Lillie will be celebrating her 6th birthday and the following month sees me back to studying part-time again with the OU! So some happy occasions are fast approaching.

This past week has been a mixture of events & emotions. Last Sunday morning I experienced a mild asthma attack, the first in years. Though, I am partly responsible for what occurred last sunday morning! With all the decorating Ive been doing (amongst other day to day jobs) and with wanting to get the painting done asap, I didnt pick up my prescription for my Beclazone. Therefore, I had gone without it for what must have been 5-6 days, plus the weather & high pollen count didnt help matters. Anyway, I took Sunday off for some 'R & R' as Lillie was away on her weekend with her Daddy. Thankfully my Salamol medication & not panicking seemed to keep my breathing from deteriorating. I now have my Beclazone, which took about two days to kick back in, plus taking things easy has helped me get back to my usual breathing self!

Talking of the revamping of our living room, its still not finished as Im still in the process of giving the last few walls & skirting boards their 2nd coat, then it shall be finished, Woo-Hoo! The reason its not finished this week as planned is due to the extra fine weather we are having as well as my taking it easy. So, Lillie & I have spent time together in the garden playing and keeping a close eye on our patch making sure its well watered. Weve also prepared another area ready for seedlings that are yet to be sown.

Today has been a lovely start to the weekend. Lillie found a book that she hasnt seen for some time and read it to me. Even though we havent spent much time on activities such as this recently, she is becoming a confident reader and approaching unfamiliar words by sounding them out independently. I felt extremely proud of her and it reassures me that she is moving forward nicely, at her own pace. Later on we are off to our local church 'Summer Fete'. I used to love going along to fetes etc as a child & am quite looking forward to taking Lillie to her first one today. It was her idea to go & something she has been looking forward to since the beginning of the week, when she noticed all the bunting around the church while on our way to the garden centre. The rest of our weekend will be juggled about as Im determined to have the living room done by Monday! But Im sure we shall have fun & if the weather stays as it is then our garden will see us often too.

Emotionally this week Lillie & I have had one or two serious issues to deal with. It appears that Lillie has been making up negative stories regarding her time spent with her Daddy & his new family. Initially I believed what Lillie was telling me, why wouldnt I? It wasnt until a brief conversation was had between Lillie's Dad & myself that I realised these stories were untrue. So I had to sit Lillie down to discuss why she had made up such stories. She doesnt know why but does realise that Lying is not an acceptable thing by my standards. I explained that lying can & has got people into serious trouble, including innocent people & that I really dont want her getting herself into trouble for either telling lies or having lies told about her. The consequence that I gave to Lillie was that she had to phone her Daddy to apologise to him. Lillie was very nervous about doing this but I reassured her that it is the right thing to do & that I would be right by her side. Well she managed to get through to her Dad, but immediately got upset. Therefore, I spoke to her Daddy on her behalf. It was a waste of time as all he wanted to do was talk about other things that had no relevance to the reason why Lillie had contacted him. Yet again he mentioned Home Edding! Yet again I reminded him that he was 'for' it two years ago & this time last year! Yet again he mentioned that Lillie is not mixing with 'enough' children her own age. Yet again I informed him that Lillie mixing with 'enough' children her own age is not an issue for me and that it has not had any detrimental effect on Lillie, who so happens to be a very happy & sociable little person. I added that he seek legal advice like I have done on several occasions, but to no avail. I just wished he would or stop this, as I certainly wont be making any changes regarding this matter. At the end of the day Lillie is not missing out & is certainly not socially inadequate when mixing with any person of any age let alone those who are her age. Plus I can argue that friendships are not based on quantity, but more so on quality & that is exactly what Lillie's friendships are based on.

Well, Im off now to get ready for the 'Summer Fete'. Lillie is eager to get going! She is dresssed already and is singing an old 80's RnB tune, while she waits for me to do her hair!

Its been non stop!

Just a quick summary of the past couple of weeks here in sunny South East London! Our fruit/veg patch is coming along very nicely, though unfortunately lost some baby sweetcorn to the snails but now they have nothing appetising to munch on, they have since disappeared much to my satisfaction :o) However, everything is growing nicely & we cant wait for the first harvest, plus we have more seeds to sow such as more herbs & carrots!

Lillie's room has also been de-cluttered to make space for more of her belongings that have been piling up around the place. I felt it was time to have permanent homes for everything of hers! Though we are still left with a big pine storage box full of things in the living room. I just want everything organised and fresh for the autumn and when I return to studying.

De-cluttering isnt the only thing going on, as our house is also experiencing the start of a long overdue makeover! The living room is almost finished which has been enjoyable getting to grips with, Ive sanded down the pine furniture & its come up like new. Weve gone for shades of green on the walls with a dash of black by way of accessories so its going to have quite a contemporary feel about it by this time next week. Since starting with decorating last Tuesday, I havent spent as much time with Lillie. Im afraid Im not the kind of person who wants any help from anyone on tasks such as this these days, let alone my artistic daughter who would create something imaginative only for me to paint over it & upset her. So Lillie has been doing her best to keep away from me lol while Ive cracked on. I will make the time up to her next weekend with a fun day out. Cant do this weekend as she is with her Daddy.

I shall just end this short post by saying how saddened I was to hear about Michael Jackson's death last night (our time). Lillie too has stated how sad she feels. Even at her young age she is no stranger to death & knows that he is not here in body anymore. But she knows his music will live on and yes we have had a little sing song & a boogie or two when we have heard one of his tunes on the radio today. We have both been brought up listening to his legendary sounds, lyrics & watching his spectacular dance moves. I just hope he can rest in peace now and that people respect the fact the he has left behind a family and allow them to grieve without unwanted & unnecessary media attention. R.I.P MJ....

Its just the start....

Louis popped in this morning to show me his first tattoo that he had done on his upper right arm yesterday afternoon... He has already decided on what his next tatt will be - an 'Arsenal' one. I cant say Im pleased about this, but each team to their own I guess lol... Anyway we shall be going together when he can as I will be having my next two done the same day!!

Up at dawn... again!!

I really dont mind being up at dawn for the last few days but I am getting a little annoyed with myself for being quite drowsy in the evenings! I fell asleep on the sofa just after 10pm last night, woke up at 2am all stiff, cold & achey. Though it was a comfort to my weary body after finally crawling up the stairs and climbing into my warm and cosy bed! But then I was up at 6am raring to go! By 6.40am, I had hung up clean curtains, took down another pair ready for the washer, had two cups of tea, watered our veggie patch and checked for any snails/slugs. This seems to have become a morning ritual, which I do enjoy as its so peaceful outside at this time of the day! Then again I also have an evening ritual too, covering certain plants with pots just in case the snails/slugs get hungry in the night! Anyway I took some more pics of our patch which is developing well considering this is the first one Lillie & I have created...

Its so nice being greeted with all this every morning...

But maybe not this ... Im certain its now following me! Or could it be that his family have settled into our house too?

Oh forgot to mention, 'Britain's Got Talent' Final 2009 last Saturday night - the best act won!

Football, foliage & fun...

Firstly, I have to mention the FA Cup Final 2009 last Saturday at Wembley Stadium! I watched the game, which was ok as far as some games go. However, Everton's goal in the first minute was legendary, but wasnt enough to keep The Blues down for long. Drogba scored our first one with Lampard's spectacular goal securing our chance of lifting the trophy! Its been two long years since my beloved team have picked up any silverwear so it was a victorious moment for us Chelsea fans. Long may it last & well into next season :o)

Now back to home life this past week... Ive been having some internet probs, well to be honest if my comp moves any slower we will be in reverse so I shall just add some labels to the pics below.

Delighted our 'Rocket' leaves have made an appearance...

...Growing stronger with our lettuce leaves now on show too! Both are doing well in the fruit/veggy patch at the bottom of our garden!

Cucumber, also settled into our patch...

Lillie's 'Jack & the Beanstalk growing kit'. We have in total, 6 of these broad bean plants growing...

...Here are 3 of them doing well at the bottom of the garden. Actually they look tiny compared to their size today!

Lillie loving her swing, this pic looks kinda warped. But not as bad as the one below our cat Rocco!

Rocco enjoying the fine weather but in need of some shade here!

Quite spooky eh?

Lillie looking for stones etc for her little painting & glueing project...

Lillie's growing collection of stones etc to be washed, dried & painted then stuck to something like 'putty' so as to create a lovely garden pic that will be hung up on the fencing or a whitewashed wall. Just one problem, Lillie cant find the stones now lol, so she has to start again...

My last post ended with a beautiful pic of my rose bush displaying two rose gorgeous buds. Well many have opened up since & look absolutely stunning....

Today Lillie & I were up very early! Summer does that to us! We made use of the fine weather yet again so by 9 am we had taken a trip to our local field with a football & a frisby for an hour long session of running, tackling, one-twoing, etc and having a few laughs in the process! Since being back home Lillie has watched 'Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets' for the 20th time now I guess! We shall be expecting a visit later on today from Louis who is having his first tattoo done this afternoon! I cant wait to see it... He has also decided to leave college this summer to find a job. I cant say I blame him as he has been in the 'state system' for 14 and a half years now and has had enough! As for now Im off to watch 'Stand By Me' for the 50th time lol... Though it will be a first for Lillie...