Angel Jem's City Cottage

Following on from being bkmads, here are the bookmarks that got sent out as a result of the bookmark swap I organised during April. Six people took part, Wendy , Alison, Sarah , Susan , Gill and me and we had an agreement; make at least one bookmark for the next person on the list and keep working your way down the list if you like/ feel able/ haven't anything better to do. These ladies all have better things to do, but they are little gems! So, here is my haul! Wendy made a monochromatic parallellogram (spot the teacher) which, I think, will grace the book in my ensuite, if you don't mind, Wendy. It is Sarah Ban Breathnach's 'Romancing the Ordinary', so that's quite classy, isn't it? Gill's Rosy dream has to go in the book in my new bag (currently 'The Memorykeepers Daughter' by Kim Edwards. Jodie Picoult recommended it on the cover & I like her work.) This is my waiting book, so it can take me a while to finish & get to go everywhere...

I am dangerous with a computer, my husband says. Go and visit Best of British; Crafters Days Out in Britain . I got it up & running! Alas, I'm the only post at the moment but this is an appeal.... PUT ON YOUR THINKING CAPS.... I want everyone who reads my blog and everyother cute blog in Britain to have an idea. Think of a place, post about it and let's have plenty of ideas for the summer! Gosh! I should be on 10% at least for this! What no money? Eh well, I'll settle for the kudos!

Victoria May Plum of the Cornish candle Company now has two blogs; one is her personal site with tales of her days, picture of wonderful shining cornish beaches and thoughts and views on a host of different topics raised by being a small business owner in a big business world. It's very interesting, go see for yourself. She has also just started a new blog called Days In Cornwall , an ambitious venture to record ideas and inspiration for ... well, Days in Cornwall, actually. It aims to have most of the info you need to plan and execute a day out in Cornwall but all told in a personal rather than a business way, so the details are authentic rather than a catalogue of features or amenities. It gives you a real taste of the place. At present there is only one entry, for the Padstow May Day festival, but the post gives you a real feel for the place. I look forward to reading more..... and wouldn't it be lovely to have one of these for each area of the country, so that when we go ou...

I like polka dots. I like them on shoes . I like them on backings in websites And thanks to Mabel, I can admire them in someone elses house. Go see .

Ok, this post has nothing to do with May or clouts and south of Stoke all sorts of people are wondering what a clout is anyway, but it struck me today as I put on a thin stringed vest top that I had, indeed, cast my clouts and that I wasn't sure whether May the month or the bush had been out or whether taking ancient Aunt May (she's one of those whiskery old relations that everyone has) out counted. Let's hope the good weather continues for the next few months and that the summer isn't burnt out by 15th July and rain descends for the summer holidays. (You know it always happens that way, don't you?) Although, as my husband says, if this is global warming, why would anyone in Britain worry? Cafe society here we come! (That is not my opinion, I think we should worry about the polar bears. Perhaps a good hairdresser could volunteer to go and cut their hair so they don't get too hot. Someone like Herbert Howe , perhaps?) OK, after that little detour, here is my litt...

Earlier this week I spent three days working hard in the house; I tidied & cleared the boys room, the princess' palace and the upstairs toy room. I am so proud of the work I did I have to show it to you.... but one day at a time. So, today's corner is the Princess' Palace. We painted it pink and yellow last year. She chose the colours, and then told us off because we put the pink on the bottom and the yellow on the top! We did have the bed set up in the middle of the room, but that cut down on the available floor space for playing and also gave her a gap to fill with toys and books every chance she got. Now all the furniture is around the outside and there's a big floorspace with no little spaces to cram! She likes playing with her dolls, especially Polly Pocket, and has a dolls' house, dolls' bed and a high chair which she sometimes staggers downstairs with. She cannot sleep without her Ellie and, God forbid, we never forget to take her on holiday or sleepo...

By Robert Browning (written in c.1845) Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England--now!! And after April, when May follows, And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows! Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge Leans to the field and scatters on the clover Blossoms and dewdrops--at the bent spray's edge-- That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, Lest you should think he never could recapture The first fine careless rapture! And though the fields look rough with hoary dew, All will be gay when noontide wakes anew The buttercups, the little children's dower --Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower! Don't you just love April?

I'm glad to say the bookmark swap is going just fine... all will be revealed next Monday when it's Shakespeare's Birthday & I can post the 2 beautiful bookmarks I've received... for the lucky recipient awaiting my bookmark... it is coming, but, like a slow train, I'm always slightly late....

Please visit Kirstencan as she is in deep worries this weekend over her Stanley, in to see the vet & she needs all the support she can get.

I actually won a give-away! On Wendy's blog! And I don't know what I've won! And I don't care! Winning is not something I'm big on. I don't run, I can't do logic and I'm a Jack-of-all-trades rather than a master of anything so I never enter any competitions therefore am unlikely to win, but today I actually won! Thank you, Wendy, for the stuff & I won! I have had a really fantastic day today. The darlings went off to the holiday club & I set off to the local high street. There are about 5 or 6 charity shops there, from Oxfam to the local hospice shop, and I went to them all. I bought loads of stuff for me & the kids, but my top bargains were a pink bag for £1.50, a copy of Enchanted April as recommended by Sarah Ban Breathnach in her Romancing The Ordinary book for April, 2 (count them!) 2 skateboards that my boys have been out playing on (such fun... I will take some photos & post them) for £2.50 each with helmets & knee pads & ...

My three darlings are out from 10 til 12.30 today courtesy of the nice people at a church who are running a holiday club based on Dr Who. It's called Dr Y and is aimed at children from 5 to 11. All 3 of mine raced in this morning, so I'm confident that they're enjoying it. I also know I'll pay the price later on when The Princess starts singing 'Jesus You're my Superhero' at full pelt in the supermarket. She should have been in the Sally Army, she is so loud when she sings especially 'holy' songs from Sunday school or ordinary school. But my old teacher when I was 11 used to have an answer for that... "He who sings, prays twice over" and I'm pretty embarassing myself, although not as cute. So I have two hours to myself. What shall I do? Drink coffee? Cut and stick into my inspiration book? Ripple a few rows? Or tidy my kitchen. Now, if I was Anthea, I could tell you about the joys of a clean kitchen. But I'm not, and I won't. Ju...

I love the little strings of letters you see around you everywhere. I love TLA's so beloved of Doctors, my favourite being the one the shrink in a hospital in Ireland uses for his patients; Multiple Abnormalities Detected, shortened to M.A.D! I also make names for cars from license plates, hence my car is called Rocky (R...OCK; I had the car before the Rock made his name. How old is that!) and past incarnations have been Veronica, Arthur and Bob. My newest sad hobby is making words from the verification strings that blogs throw out at me to check I'm human. My husband says if it were only so simple to check, he'd have done it by now, but we're not talking to him yet. Lots of them are useless, gibberish & don't make any sense (yes, I can hear you thinking "Do any of them?" but keep reading, please) but I had one the other day that did make perfect sense for me. It was bkmads. Bookmad? Me? I don't think so. Addicted? Consumed? Possessed? Overwhelmed?...

I have recently (last week) finished my granny square blanket. Here it is in pride of place on my bed & edged by me*. I am one of life's impatients so I just did it... hence it just goes on the top of the bed. Well, my dearest darlingest husband, who protests about anything frilly, pretty or pink, has said that as blankets go, it is pretty useless. I think the words "no decent tuck in" escaped his lips sometime. The next time he thinks anything like that he will mutter it under his breath, or he'll be murmuring for a while when they wire his jaw together. Any way, I finished it, may go back and add some rows of treble stitch down each side as a.... peace offering, is the word, but I was basically tired of grannying. Ho Hum. Didn't do anything for two nights. My hands were restless, my humming was irritating me and I was at an impasse. I'm impressed I can spell it, don't ask me what it means. If it were Christmas time (I love Christmas) I could have mad...

Watch this Lady.

I found this test on Mrs L's blog, couldn't resist it and did it. I was thinking along the lines of Valrhona's 85% real chocolate, or perhaps a decent truffle, but no, I am... You are White Chocolate You have a strong feminine side with a good bit of innocence thrown in. Whether your girlish ways are an act or not, men like to take care of you. You are an understated beauty, and your power is often underestimated! What Kind of Chocolate Are You? Wow! Perhaps I underestimated myself & white chocolate.