Angel Jem's City Cottage

There are small pieces of detritus left everywhere.... Tea cake wrappers on the tables and shelves..... The biggest serving pot and other bits and bobs left out on the table, moved across especially for the party.... Washing up all over the kitchen..... And I take 4 peanut buttercups, a Tunnock's Teacake (I had one of these with a candle in as my birthday cake last night!)  and a BIG cup of chai to sit with my feet up, quietly, watching.... https://soundcloud.com/samuel77/home-fires-main-theme?in=angeljem/sets/good-music

And when you got your first comment how did you feel? I found a new blog friend this week and commented on her post, then another and then another. I like reading back posts when I find a new person. It makes them more of a full personality to me. But it got me thinking; how did I start writing my blog? And when did I get my first comment (and who off?) My first post was called Angel Jem; From Mess to Less.  Ho hum, that aim has never quite happened, has it? And my first commenter was the lovely Cherry Menlove. I'd been a blog-hopper for ages, had been leaving comments on others blogs and then decided I should probably dip my toe in and go for it. Cherry Menlove was one of my favourite reads, and I was delighted that she stopped by and commented! Back then (2007) there didn't seem to be that many blogs out there. Everybody knew Posy and Yarncraft and Cherry Menlove and Dottie Angel , and people popped up for a few years and then disappeared. Some blogged to promote...

And it was not fun. No, seriously, I really am built to handle more than one at a time. Or perhaps I am attuned to a more vocal child. Son Number 2 is a sweet and deep thinking, quiet person who enjoys explosions and a good dose of science. having just him without the voice of his elder bro is weird. He doesn't step up and talk louder. He just smiles a lot more. And getting him to say what he wants to see or do or eat can be next to impossible. Except pizza. He likes pizza. So we had a family day out that was chosen for him but not by him. It has to be science-y based. It has to be interesting. It has to be a short drive away because although we had all day we didn't want to spend all day driving. Thanks to your lovely advice, we chose a secret nuclear bunker in the heart of the Cheshire countryside. Hack Green Nuclear Bunker was built at the height of the Cold War fear of nuclear war and only decommissioned in 1993. It was one of a set of secret bunkers from which th...

After I had such a good Blogmas I took a week off and then I've been pretty regular writing my posts since then. I really enjoyed writing a post a day (ok; publishing a post a day. Lots of them were written at the weekend and scheduled to appear at the right day) and figured that if I saw another thing that caught my eye and made my nose twitch (that's my give away good sign) I'd try again. Well, a rather lovely blogger called Helen at I Will Bloom is running Fab-ruary . 28 prompts to help me find the Fab, in life and in myself. They appeal to the part of me that likes lists but hasn't put them in one place, and to the part of me that knows happiness comes from recognising what makes me happy. So the plan is to blog a Fab-ruary post every day in addition to  my own blog schedule. These might only be a line long, or a short list so I don't see a problem with doing both. 28 days of happies making 2015 the best Fab-ruary ever. If you fancu joining in, run ove...

I want to be a more regular blogger in 2015, so I think I'm going to introduce more regular weekly posts in an effort to ensure I can always put something up to share and not leave the blog to my own whimsical inspired vagaries of whether I have actually done anything or gone anywhere. The plan is to join in with Meal Planning Monday with At Home with Mrs M  as long as I remember to link my post to her page. Otherwise it's just a Meal Planning Monday by myself. By the way, Helen at I Will Bloom , Mrs M has the SAME planner I have; she's filling hers in next week and has a good review of it here . Wednesday is Midweek and a good time for a review of what life's up to. Every Wednesday I propose to look through the week so far; what am I reading, watching, making, doing, how am I feeling and what will I be doing that weekend. It might get a bit samey, so I'll probably be changing which areas of life I look at now and again. So Friday seemed like an appropriate ...

Finally... finally the chance to take photos has arisen; the weather is fine enough, I'm home (two weeks off school; I love Christmas break!) and the living room is tidy enough to risk taking some photos.  At last... only five days late.... here is my Christmas Tree reveal!!!  A lot of my decorations come from the St Nicolas Tree decoration company. Their website is here, but they only sell to trade so to buy as an individual person you need to look at The Christmas Company website , where they have a full range of decorations that cover history, important places and special occasions. We bought a couple (don't ask me which ones came first!) and just found them so easy to buy one or two at places we visited on holiday. For a few years I could just about remember which we bought and where but now I just find it easier to write on the back. You can see below we get decorations from everywhere we go... the Paris bauble actually came from Chartres! And the cones...

The Journey Of The Magi by T S Elliot 'A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.' And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet. Then the camel men cursing and grumbling and running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it. At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly. Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,...

I don't know... I remember so many moments from childhood Christmasses. I seem to remember that it was a frosty Christmas Eve on the way to Midnight Mass when I first realised that the street lights made my red coats look strange, that I loved the feel of sheepskin mittens inside and out when Santa let me open them early for Midnight Mass and the cold plaster of the Baby Jesus figure for the church crib as I carried it out to the scene. My childhood church is St Bartholomew's, Rainhill . It's not famous for much, except at Christmas when it puts up an almost life size crib scene; not on the grass or floor anywhere sensible; oh no. Their crib scene is suspended in the entrance gate to the churchyard. It takes a team of dedicated crib erectors to put it up. They have the skills down to a fine art. After all, the eldest member is 75 and has been putting the scene up for 50 years. That's him in the hat. He came over from Ireland 50+ years ago and started helping i...

You may remember I was complaining that I never record Christmas, I'm too busy living rather than listing. It's a good way to be, but it does rather mean that I have no records to look back on and nod at wisely while I say to myself, "I would never do that again." I have signed up to a Christmas Card swap organised by Amy at Love Made My Home  as part of which I have been twinned with Red Setter at Gone Beading and a new friend, I hope, Sandra at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom . Because I'd never visited her before, I was scrolling through her blog to get an idea of what she likes when I came across her post about Blogmas. Sandra has a lovely picture, with a list of 25 topics to write about every day in the lead up to Christmas. Writing the answers to these questions should give me a good record of what makes Christmas in my house. I can't promise to post everyday unless I get completely organised with scheduled posts and pictures uploaded before, but I...

It's easy to forget that not everything really good happens in London; this weekend Liverpool has been alive with people and happiness because the Giants are back. It's about 2 years since they last came, with the Little Girl and her Dog chasing after her Uncle the diver. This time, the Little Girl was back and so too was Xolo, the dog, but this time she brought her Grandma. We went today and waited to see them, planning our routes so that we could see both of them. My beautiful family... yes, I am the one in plain red. The streets were heaving with people and noise, the cars had left the city for the afternoon and for a few brief hours there was a lot of waiting (a lot) while people filed past; police, stewards, the press... Xolo can move  very fast indeed! And in the end there were the puppets. Massive, fantastic puppets operated by velvet-coated servants who sprang and bounced to make these puppets live. Xolo, bouncy and full of life. He raced past as fast as h...

Whether this is your most sacred festival or not, Easter is always a chance to contemplate new beginnings; death and rebirth, and the joy of being. May this Easter bring you peace, joy, love and a heart of gratitude for all the great gifts of the world. Michaelangelo's Pieta; in miniature, of course!

First tooth First steps First day at playschool A few more years of firsts that you sort of let slide because life goes by so fast First day at senior school. Wait? What did you say? What? The Princess at senior school? But she's my baby. You know, my little girl. Good grief, no. Look at that young lady. When did that happen? And she had a brilliant time. Guess I'd better learn the words. It won't be long til I need this one.

Literary Heroes. The Vyne has a display on about a ring with writing on that might have inspired Tolkien. I just loved the hat and ears that meant we could dress up for a little while as some of our favourite heroes from literature. Gandalf meets the hobbits. Love the ears!  Historic heroes. Winchester holds a special place in history as Alfred the Great's capital city. They honoured him in 1901 with a massive statue in the middle of town.  Having watched Michael Wood (another historical hero of mine!) and his fantastic series shown recently, I knew we had to go and see Winchester just to walk in the footsteps of Alf. Yeay, Alfred!! Legendary Heroes. The round table is alive and well and hanging on a wall in Winchester's Great Hall . Entry to the hall is free, which I love since it means that people can enjoy the romance of Arthur and his fair damosel whose father legendarily gave him the table without it costing a fortune!  And also e...