Its August. In fact its mid August. Kids holidays are in full flow and they’ve definitely hit that stage where they are now bored. Oh to have 6 weeks off to get bored.

Doesn’t help that they are now at that age where they aren’t as easily entertained, trips to the park just don’t cut it, they want to either be glued to some electrical device (Ben) or shopping (Bethany).

Ive been trying had to remember to take more photos, not only because of the complete lack of photos from 2010, but also because without photos, I can never remember what we’ve been up to.

The big news is the kitchen is now well and truly finished, done, complete. All in all it took 6 weeks from start to finish, well and truly over the week we’d initially been given. A long long process that I wouldn’t particularly like to go through again. 6 weeks of mess, furniture and appliances all over the place and dust. Dust from units, work tops, tiles over everything and everywhere. Still, its done and that’s what counts.

We’ve gone from this...(ordinarily not this messy, I had started to empty cupboards at this point, honest)

To this..

Cupboard fronts that aren’t peeling off, doors that actually shut, what a novelty. Worktop space to prepare food on without it going in the sink, brilliant. Pleased with how the splash back turned out, very simply a piece of board, papered in the same paper as the dining area, with a clear glass splashback over the top, to tie in both halves of the room.

The bit that is seemingly most used is the new bit, affectionately known as the ‘butty station’ Dead handy, next to the fridge, by the tassimo, perfect for making sandwiches, drinks, eggs on toast, the lot. Brill.

Before...(mid stripping obviously)

and after..the butty station

and papered...

Had to celebrate so this weekend we had family round for a summer tea party, praying that the sun would shine, which thankfully it did. Spent all day Saturday cooking and baking as I decided I wanted everything that was to be served, to be homemade. Epic fail on the jam front though, well and truly overboiled it, having been side tracked by a quiche and egg custard, resulting in jam that required a chisel to remove from the jar.

So not homemade jam.

Three attempts at macaroons later and I was happy (read that as I was most definitely NOT doing them again) with the results. Firstly tried pistachio, a particular favourite of mine but which we didn’t actually like much. Sent them to work with Beech to be told that no one there liked them either. Fail.

2nd Attempt, this time, pink ones. Still not very good with a piping bag, they came out tasting nice, but looking like little piles of dog poo. Fail.

3rd time lucky, still not round and shiny as they were supposed to be, but I could live with the flower shapes that plopped out of the bag, so went with those. Apparently they were very nice, they didn’t last long enough for me to try one, always a good sign of a tasty macaroon.

You can just about make them out on the right hand side of this photo. What you cant see on the other end of the table is these…

What would an afternoon tea be without cupcakes from Amanda Magpie of Manchester Tarts. Gorgeous. Also managed to grab people for photos, which was unexpected.

Billybob and Granny (mummy)

Billybob, Granny (Mummy), Nana Liz, Grandpa Silverpop

Aww bless.

Now that all the house mess is sorted, its meant Ive had time to scrap again. Using couple of the photos I took of Bethany recently, and a bit of a play on words from the Right Said Fred song, Deeply Dippy, I managed to do Bethany @ 12 page, just before she turns 13 in a months time.

Another to get printed on to canvas to join my expanding gallery at the top of the stairs.  It is weird having some time on my hands now, front room is sorted, newly painted, kitchen/dining room, done, Bethany's room I repainted last Friday during my day off to freshen it up, and Ben's room was updated likewise the same day. He's well and truly off football now, but in that his bedroom was decorated in red, white and black, its also very handily the colours of the WWE logo. New duvet, new rug and a red blind, and its transformed into a room he loves. My bedroom was finished a while back and the garden was tidied up and patio power washed prior to my tea party so there's no 'projects' on the go which feels a little weird.  Whats a girl to do with spare time she's not used to?