Morning everyone,

Hope all poorliness is improving.

Debs - I'm fine thanks, wore myself out yesterday in a fit of preserving, made some lemon curd and some marrow chutney and now have it in my head that I need to make some of this sticky onion marmalade, the ILs got us some and it is very tasty, will let you know if I succeed in recreating it!

Impressed by all the crafty talk, I think I'm being risky if I let J use some washable pens!

The decorating is coming along, wall painting is finished now and both of the rooms look so much better, they have just had scratty bare plaster walls since we moved in

It's been quiet on here, has Penguin set off? Has Amber moved yet? Does anyone know how it went?

Deb there was a serious lack of Wham - mostly George Michael covers. Bit disappointing.

BDQ - it doesn't come out so glittery but it's easier.

our UK tv through the computer cheat isn't working tonight, so I'm missing out on Wham

Ah, I thought it was smaller previously Viva. What have they taken out? I thought ELC had a bit of a cheek with across the board rises this year given the negative inflation.

Deb thanks for the tip of mixing glitter in with the paint. That would work quite well for my Christmas cards.

Glad that you managed to get C some shoes Viva, even if you do need extra thick socks! If you're still waiting for your friend you could come over to the dark side - it's Wham night on xfactor!

BDQ - you can also mix paint, PVA glue and glitter and paint with that.

BDQ - glad to be of service! Glitter - gets everywhere but it does look lovely. Pritt stick doesn't work so well as it doesn't always dry clear. Use a PVA type glue

Viva - glad to hear that the tiniest feet in the group are now in shoes! What a bugger about the Happyland offer.

Very clingy boy here, who finally succumbed to sleep with 2 very red cheeks - yippee - more teeth as Daddy's off to the UK for work!!

Hi all,

have been lurking but nothing useful to say! Lottie eventually got proper shoes today! - she's only a 2.5F but we had to get her a 3 as the cruising shoes which are all they do in a 2.5 are not up to walking outside in soggy glasgow. a pair of thick socks are keeping her tiny feet snug though.

Jealous of the happyland village bargains - we bought it for her birthday wioth gift vouchers although they have put the price up by £10 since we bought it, while taking out one item, so I shall comfort myself with that!

Am currently trying to avoid watching strictly until my friend comes round later. willl have to go and spend money on line to distract myself!

Thanks Deb that's really useful! We're going to make some Christmas cards for the GPs and I've got some Christmas sponges from the elc so I think painting on the paint will be the best idea.

I though the Christmas sponge pack was a real rip off btw - the paint it came with was blue, yellow and a pinky red. Not very festive! But luckily they had a Christmas colour paint pack which helped separate me from a few more hard earned pounds though.

Deb, another crafty question - glitter this time. Apart from 'you must be mad, don't have that evil stuff in the house' any tips for adding glitter? Is it just a case of scattering glue on card and sprinkling the glitter on, or would it work equally well with a pritt stick type glue! Just for future reference!

BDQ - not too much paint, and don't press too hard - not a thing a toddler understands though!If you have sponges like these and you want to see what the shape is supposed to be, not just a blob I would paint the sponge printer then hand to the child. If it's the experience not the outcome then just pour paint into a flat tray and let them get stuck in!

Notice how quiet I am when the talk gets all academic or political

Sorry E was such a handful today deb. S was like that on Sat, bedtime was such a relief!