The earth moved......

...but I slept through it (insert own jokes here!)

Picklesdad however DID feel the earth (house) move. He was awake already mind you. If he had been asleep the whole house could have come down and he wouldn't be any the wiser!

He was reading a Tess Gerritsen book in bed and when he heard strange rumblings from the loft he was a little scared I think!

He bravely went and checked on the Pickles who were both still snoring in their respective beds. He came back to bed and frightened me that he thought there were birds in he loft again. (Blooming big birds to be confused with an earthquake mind you).

So did anyone else feel the earth move last night or did you all sleep through it like us Picklettes?

Bad Mood

Apologies for my Meez being in a bad mood but like me she has had a PANTS week. Nothing to do with ACTUAL pants you understand, just a horrible week.

Some so called friends of Picklessister are being mean to her and she has been coming home in tears each night and I can't bear to see her sad.

So far this week things have been better. Let's hope it stays that way or I'll be visiting the school.

On a happier note

Picklessister has a county loaned Saxophone for lessons at school and to use for practice at home.
Oh deep joy!

Pickle is not impressed and shuts herself in the conservatory, shouting "It's too loud" and the mere sight of the case.

Tuesday evening is Pickle's parents evening, so I hope she has been a good girl. All will be revealed tomorrow!

A Kinky Linky Love Tag

The lovely Jo Beaufoix has tagged me so I am honoured to be passing on the tag.

*Start Copying Here*

I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!)It’s real easy!Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially!

The benefits of Viral Linking:
1.One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!

2.Increase your Google PageRank fast

3.Attract large volume of new traffic to your site

4.Build your community

5.Make new friends!

Linky Love Tag

The Strategist Notebook
Link Addiction
Ardour of the Heart
When Life Becomes a Book
The MalaysianLife
Yogatta.com
What goes under the sun
Roshidan’s Cyber Station
Sasha says
Arts of Physics
And the legend lives
My View, My Life
A Simple Life
Juliana RW
Mom Knows Everything
Beth & Cory’s Mom
A Mind Forever Voyaging
enjoying the ride
Jennifer’s thoughts
Mom of 3 Girls
Amanda
Don’t Make Me Get The Flying Monkeys
ExPat Mom
Just Jessie
Wilson Six
Krisitn
Nuttier Than You
Shonnte
Summer’s Nook
Laura Williams Musings
Melissa’s Idea Garden
Eve atConfessions of an Everyday Housewife
ChristiS of the Blah Blah Blog
Stephanie at Stop the Ride!
Diane at Soap, Blings & Girly Things

Amanda at Amanda:Mama’s Musings
Kristin at An Ordinary Life
Mama Zen at The Zen of Motherhood
Atomik Kitten
The Sassy SouthernerA Room of Mama’s Own
Exploring Autumn
Immoral Matriarch: CatechizerReal LifeBoogiemum
Living and loving every minute of it
Huckdoll
The Daily Rhythm
The Rocky Mountain Retreat
A Mom’s Life
Jenty’s Ramblings
Jo Beaufoix
Sortacrunchy

Ribbon Rock Star

Hollydolly
Jen at Absolutely Bananas
Lori at Fairytales and Margaritas
Blue Momma Life in the Fishbowl
Picklesmum

Almost Mrs Average at The Rubbish Diet
Hoffy at Hoffy's Channel Swim
Ruby at Living in Bury
Perfect Housewife - Yeh right
Cookie Bee

Go for it Ladies and Gentleman!

Don't forget to leave a tag on your tagged comments, if you get my drift!

Happy Valentines Day

** UPDATE**
Please notice the all dancing Russell in the clip below!

Who says romance is dead? My valentine gift this year was definitely the most original I've ever received and probably not many other ladies got one either...it certainly beats over priced flowers and fattening chocolates.....



Picklesdad (with a little help from Picklessister) made me a 'Russell Bearand' bear when we were at the Build a Bear workshop in Norwich the other week. They based him on this clip of the man himself from the Russell Brand on the Road Documentary which was on BBC4 recently and somehow they kept him hidden until the big day.




MY Russell has the white y-fronts and sexy cowboy boots too and a very fetching hairdo...



Thank you so much Picklesdad, I love the bear and I love you too.

PS I gave Picklesdad the Katherine Jenkins autobiography, not so imaginative but he liked it!

A sunny Sunday

While Picklesdad was watching Rugby, the Pickles and I went for a walk across the fields near where we live.



My favourite spooky tree is still there...



and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, not too cold and lots of sun to make shadows with!



At the playground on the way back (probably the only reason Pickle agreed to coming) I took the chance to photograph some crocuses (?) that had been planted around the trees and village sign.

Once upon a time.......

...I wasn't a Picklesmum, or any Mum at all. Then I became Flippersmum, because 10 years ago today, Flipper (as she had big feet on the scan photos) made her arrival into the world, breech and 6 days before the planned c-section.

This post is for you Flipper, AKA Picklessister, to let you know how proud we all are of you and to tell you how much we love you.

Have a very Happy 10th Birthday!

Love from Mum, Dad and Pickle.
x x x x

My Meez

You may notice my Meez is wishing someone a Happy Birthday, but who? and when?

Watch this space to find out!

Picklesmums adventures......Across the border!

On Saturday, we were awoken early by an over excited Picklessister whose birthday it is this week. Instead of a party she wanted a family trip to a Build a Bear shop. The nearest ones are Colchester or Norwich, so we set off into NORFOLK with sat nav for Norwich. By the time we reached Thetford, all the cars on the opposite carriageway were covered in snow, but we were yet to see any on the ground. It wasn't until we reached the outskirts and the Park and Ride (take note Bury Councillors, Norwich has 6, yes 6 park and rides serving the city centre) that we saw our first snow of the year.



The car park was pretty treacherous but very pretty in the snow.



Much to Pickle's delight our bus was a double decker and more importantly to a 4 year old girl PINK!



After a coffee in Starbucks (other coffee venues are available) where Picklesdad had a soya latte (yuk) we went to the Build a Bear shop as Picklessister was about to explode with excitement.

For those of you who have not had the delight of a visit, I shall briefly explain it.

1. You pick an empty bear skin (nicer than it sounds)
2. You put in a plastic heart with special rubbing and wishing ceremony
3. Stuff your bear
4. Brush your bear
5. Spend hours and hours and pounds and pounds choosing clothes for bear, from knickers and socks to skateboards and mobile phones
6. Enter details onto their computer system so as to get 'birth certifiate' (and lots of mail outs from company)
7. Pay for bear which is then packed into massive red box, to lug around Norwich for rest of the day!
8. But you do have 2 very happy children and a lighter wallet.

So a fun day out was had by all, especially our new friends 'Sally' and 'Benji'.



Just a quick shot of Norwich's fancy updated market. I didn't venture inside as it you to give me motion sickness as it is all on the wonk inside!

3 for the price of 1...

This post covers 3 topics from my and fellow bloggers posts and is therefore very environmentally friendly!

1. Picklesdad's new diet.
2. Rubbish Cooking.
3. Losing weight.

After being inspired by The Rubbish Diet blog, I ventured into the back of my fridge to see what was lurking. It wasn't too bad, the worst I found was a slightly 'old' sweet potato that I had bought in a moment of madness and have no idea how to cook.
So I gathered all the veggies I could find that needed using up and made......SOUP!
I also added strange tin of mixed beans from back of the cupboard and 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and voila, low fat, yeast free, dairy free, SOUP!