This and that

Written 2 Saturdays ago::
It's a beautiful day here today.  The sun is shining and the air has a wonderful crispy autumn feel to it.  Later, one of my university friends is getting married in Edinburgh.  Wedding, Edinburgh , friends, sunshine.  A good combination, I think.

This last week has been quite a long one.  Baby Kitty Cat (poor girl has a lot of nicknames - Tiny Fat Sport, Seal Pup, Sausage, Squirt - Kitty Cat is my favourite, we've yet to learn what hers is!) has been poorly........bad cold, teething, upset tummy, I'm not sure where one started and the other ended but the combination hasn't been a happy one.

The nights are turning colder so I have harvested my tomatoes.  Not much sign of red is there?  They flowered and fruited very late.  I did hang them up in the kitchen for a few days but I think I really knew there was no chance of ripening.  There's a similar number outside which I'll bring in soon.  And I think I'll be making a few jars of green tomato chutney.

 I was quite proud of how tidy and pretty my kitchen looks in the above shot but thought I'd be honest and show a wider view!  Kid magazine, mail, kid camera, baby listener, lists, raspberries for supper, dishes, broccoli stalk for Freddie the rabbit......and so on.  The kitchen is small, this is most of one side - but it does have a very big window, which I love, forming one end to the right of the sink.  The other long side of the galley shape has a little more surface space plus the cooker - I try to keep that side clear as I hate clutter while I'm cooking.  It would be good to have more space but, hey, it is bright and it does the job.

Now::
Well the last 10 days or so have flown past!  I fully intended finishing that post before going to the wedding.  Completely unrealistic.  The wedding was lovely.  So much fun to see my friend and her new hubby looking so happy.  And Edinburgh was very beautiful.

I've been hoping to show a few pictures of the present we gave Katie for her birthday.  A one year old with three older siblings doesn't really need anything, but we wanted to get her something.  Not least because those same older siblings wanted to give her presents.

Her favourite book at the moment is Dear Zoo.  It is such a lovely book, great animals and very simple.  She makes a brilliant snake sound. Ssssssssss!

We decided to get the 8 animals from the book.  Elephant, giraffe, lion, camel, snake, monkey, frog and dog.  They came from Myriad Natural Toys and Crafts - some are Holtziger and some are Ostheimer.  I've used Myriad a few times over the years.  They stock the most wonderful selection of natural, often wooden, toys - I love pretty much everything they have.  Most of the toys are handmade and so are expensive compared to many others - but theirs offer so much more.  For a start they just feel so much better and they are the sorts of toys that will last and last and will be played with for years.  We often ask my bothers or John's family to club together to buy some of the bigger items.

At the moment I'm keeping Katie's basket out of reach so that they are special toys to play with while we're reading the book.  She loves to hold the relevant animal while we're on the page and then put it into the basket ready to find the next one.

I'm sure things will change over time and that we'll play with them differently as Katie develops.  But I think it will be many years before she out grows them.

And in other news::
I'm planning a give-away in the next week or two.  I don't want to predict exactly when as the chances are I wouldn't keep to it.  But do keep an eye out as I will definitely be holding one........the goodies are ready and waiting (but it isn't a basket of gorgeous wooden animals, sorry!).

And I did get the chutney made.  Yummy.  I have a similar number of tomatoes still outside but should really get them in this week and make another batch - again, there's little chance of them ripening.