Beautiful Homes and mini gardens

Note to self do not make jokey comments about bodyparts and losing them!!!

Toby had to be taken to A and E on the afternoon of our May Fayre because he managed to run into a deckchair and split his ear! No sooner did we get that mended with glue did he then lose his tooth whilst digging into his lunch and proceed to swallow it!

I have spent this week clearing out and reorganising my workspace in order to achieve some sort of inspiration for new products to sell at the shop. I am sure this has been aided by my avid viewing of Kirsty Allsops homemade home! I love it and especially loved it when she furnished her children's playroom with a wooden toy carousel that we sell, it is made by a local craftsman. It is as bright and colourful, as it looks on the programme, a real toddler pleaser!

I then realised that we actually sell a few of Kirsty Allsops products, her style whilst doing up her Devon cottage is definitely in keeping with the THB teamstyle. We have her lovely retro sewing kits, picture hanging kits and tool kits which are full of useful but beautiful items essential for any new homeowner or refurbisher. The candles are divine they make my workroom smell gorgeous and I haven't even lit one yet, they come in a box with a matching set of matches an absolutely perfect gift or treat to self!

For the younger aspiring house owners, of which my children definitely are, I think I may have biased their TV viewing so that now they avidly watch Kirsty, Grand designs and Jamie Oliver!

The Moulin Roty sewing kit is a must, it is another one of those products that is just so beautiful and nostalgic to look at but also usable.

The children spent a busy weekend making mini gardens because they want to enter the Cath Kidston competition to win £100 of products. Ellen said she would give me half the prize and Molly spotted the tee pee tent that sleeps 6 and has decided she would buy this. It does look very lovely, it is almost a grown up, mummy version of our children's tee pees. I think it would be great to have the large version surrounded by a little camp of kids ones in the garden for the Summer.

Poor daddy was also being creative but he instead was creating a penthouse run for the ducks, I declared that I would not be able to sleep the night we move the ducks out of the house and into their own house in the garden due to the fear of the dreaded fox! So we (that is the royal we!) set forth to make a run that would include the new pond that Toby dug out for the ducks, as well as their house and thus be completely predator safe. It is nearly complete and will be quite plush when finished but I have to say it does look a little like the house that jack built at the moment. I am sure the ducks are going to absolutely love it and I will be able to sleep soundly knowing they are safe. The ducks are now grown up and have the purest of white feathers, they waddle into their run in the morning, skipping underneath the ponies legs on the way, much to Ellen's horror and then in the evening they come and stand by the back door ready to be let in for the night.

My veg patch is doing well, I was joined in it by the ducks at the weekend and puddle proceeded to play in and out the dusty bluebells with the canes I had just put up for the peas I had planted. It was hilarious! I will endeavour to take some photos of this event next time it occurs!

Ducklings and Bunnies

Ducklings have arrived in my household and bunnies have arrived in the Tree House Blue household, we really are feeling full of the joys of Spring.

In keeping with this wonderful vintage image of ducks and bunnies ,( that incidentally was another Country Living Show purchase from many years ago) the new range of Maileg bunnies have a nautical or watery theme attached to them.

The baby bunnies are just so sweet in their little romper suits and the medium bunnies even have armbands, I think these would be a great gift for a child who has just passed a swimming exam!

Our new little arrivals will not need armbands I am sure because they are already trying to bathe in their water bowl which results in a hilarious scene in which one duckling gets into the bowl then the other pushes him out and so it goes on with 2 little ducklings going round and round in circles until one finally gives up!

Demonstrating our family and company ethos of "no batteries required" my twin daughters asked for a duckling for their 12th birthday and after a few seconds deliberation on my part we decided to do it!

Far better than the computer games and mobile phones so many other 12 year olds ask for I thought, so I decided to delay the inevitable requests for these in the future and run with the ducklings idea or should that be waddle!

I made a duckling cake which looks homemade I know, but the girls appreciated it and their little brother Toby declared that for his present to his sisters he was going to dig their ducklings a pond.

I can see now that when we are going on our searches for new products, there may become a bit of a duck theme because they are incredibly funny and sweet to watch, ours should grow up to become the white aylesbury ducks and they have been named "puddle" and "poppy".