More cake!

We had our obligatory school holiday bake sale last week - this time raising money for Help for Heroes.

Mimi made monster cupcakes, fairy cakes, an apple and cinamon tray bake, a chocolate smartie cake and a chocolate fridge cake. I helped out with some chocolate kisses, a victoria sponge and some dog biscuits. Well, we have to say a very big thank you to our lovely neighbours, family and friends who gave generously. We managed to raise over £80 for our chosen charity!

Here's some photos of our wares:

Olympic Torch comes to L-o-S

It was a rotten wet, wet, wet day in L-o-s but that didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits as we cheered on the Olympic torch from our al fesco table at Affinity. Complete with BBQ,  'caberet' singer and much flag waving, it was the perfect way to mark this memorable occasion. Brought a little tear to my eye.

Not sure what my boy thought of it all. But glad he was there so that we could share it together. 

A Victorian school boy here for breakfast....

... then trots off to Victorian school for the day. He's got a 'Victorian' lunch: bread and cheese, pasty and home made biscuits with a glass of water.

Let's hope he avoids sitting in the corner with the dunces hat on!

Hoorah for the holidays!

It's the school holidays and the kids are having a great time with their cousins (well, Dr Green's cousins) Tom and Flora who have come to stay for a couple of days.

Us girls have been out for tea and cake at Stop the World. Followed by a bit of shopping and home to do some sewing. Flora's gingerbread man is the one with green buttons, Esme's is a gingerbread lady.

Meanwhile, the boys have played on the Wii, popped out for a quick round of par 3 golf, back home for some lunch and PlayStation, and are off in a bit to kick a football around with Dr Green.

On the agenda tonight we have home made pizza, a movie for the boys, a movie for the girls, and Aunty Rachel will be turning up early evening. It doesn't get much better than this.

Our Mabel....

... is turning into a beautiful dog. Just look at this photo, she's changed so much over the past 2 weeks. Her nose is elongated and she's starting to have a really elegant look about her. She's got those wonderfully long eyelashes that curl up at the ends.

More puppy photos

Mimi's new play mate.

Not much time for blogging...

... not much time for doing anything but looking after the nipping, pooing and weeing machine that is masquerading as our new puppy! Spent the last few days peeling the puppy, Mabel, off of my shoes and clearing up little puddles and packages.

Off to the vets this evening to get her first set of jabs and some puppy advice. Dr Green will be there for moral support - I'm useless when it comes to needles and kids/small animals.

The kids have been fighting over puppy holding time. Something else for me to referee. Cakes has suggested that Mimi gets her own puppy for Christmas to stop hogging this one. No chance!

Dr Green, the puppy magnet

Oh, I know this is going to get boring..... more puppy photos. Dr Green and Mimi with muchos puppies and Cakes with little Mabel.

And they call it Puppy Love

Here she is, looking a bit bedraggled after a huge saucer of milk, our puppy Mabel. We had a visit yesterday and are counting the days until she arrives home in two weeks time.

There's also a photo of Mimi with four of Mabel's siblings.

Stop Press: Cakes enjoys non football related activity

Here's my boy doing a bit of art and craft and loving it. Don't think this is going to be a regular occurrence but I'm chuffed to have lured him away from the Play Station, football cards and his football for half an hour.

Mimi on the other hand will need to have the felt tip pens surgically removed from her paws. She has decorated a small rain forest's worth of A4 paper. Trouble is, I don't like to throw any of it away. I love the fact that she has her own little take on things in an abstract/border line weird kind of way.

Have got some friends visiting tomorrow, so will get the kids to help bake a lemon cake later.

Yippee for family holidays with friends

Let's get some comments about the weather out of the way. Yes, the Clifton curse struck again. It's August for goodness sake, where was the sun!!!

Anyway, the Cliftons and the Warrens managed a fun break in Weymouth. The kids had a ball racing from one caravan to the other and really enjoyed having their best mates around. David and Lorraine were perfect company, as per usual, however we now know that Nick and Lorraine should not compete against each other competitively!!!!

The rain held off for most of the day when we had a large gathering of Bossoms, Cliftons and Warrens on beautiful Sandbank beach. The kids braved the sea, body boarding and jumping waves and we all enjoyed a fabulous game of cricket on the sand.

Thanks to Uncle Martin for recommending Tyenham - what a wonderful little village that was - and what an exciting drive through MOD territory to get there. Blown up tanks and all.

Dr Green is hooked on fossil hunting. The kids enjoyed it too. Well done to Daniel Spaniel for finding the most amazing intact amonite on Charmouth beach. The hubby is green with envy.

Had some lovely meals out - we did the obligatory trip to the Smugglers Inn, always a fave. Had a few nice evenings in the Mash and Barrell terrace and a real giggle most nights in the caravan with the gang.

Thanks everyone for a really enjoyable holiday. x

Day trippin'

We took a lovely drive down to the Kent/Sussex borders yesterday to visit the wonderfully preserved Bodiam Castle. Just Mimi, Dr Green and I, as Cakes is at Cub Camp, enjoyed a sunny day climbing castle walls and picnicing by a river bank. Next stop was a quick visit to Rye and then on to Hastings and St Leonards by the sea for a little foray onto the beach.

Enjoyed the obligatory cream tea at Battle on the way home. Can't wait to get to Dorset now for a whole week of this.

Her ladyship

Relaxing in her Molton Brown bath bubbles.

Can I go to bed yet?

This is turning out to be yet ANOTHER manically busy week. The Clifton family is just about holding it together and limping through to the school hols.

On the plus side, Mimi has been offered a modelling contract for a fab and funky kids' agency who have lots of big name clients. She's extremely excited. I've sold some handmade goodies this week so have some extra cash to spend in Brighton with the girls on Friday. I'm off to see a friend of mine tread the boards on Thursday evening in a production of Absent Friends (my second trip to the theatre in 2 weeks, yippee!!).

Tomorrow is a mad one - school trip for Cakes, Mimi has a musicial production, play dates and finally both kids are at Cubs. I'll enjoy that glass of wine at Ugo's with Dr Green whilst they are both down at the Coal Hole.

Dr Green is looking forward to a day of golf on Friday whilst I'm swanning around in Brighton. Just hope he remembers to collect the kids from school. YIKES!!

As the World Cup draws to an end, the Clifton sweepstake is hotting up. Jake has Germany and Uruguay, Esme has Holland and I have Spain. Viva Espanol!!!

Footballs coming home...

... not! It seems to have packed its bags and moved permanently away from these shores. Shocking result last night but great evening of football at the Bossoms. Loved the football pitch that Alex had painted onto the lawn for the pre big match footie tournament. And well done to Jake's team - Jake, Neil and Alex - for winning the trophy. Scrummy bbq food and, as always, the best company ever. Thanks everyone. (Photo of Jake in action and with his treasured trophy.)

Lovely North Norfolk

We have just returned from a really relaxing break in gorgeous North Norfolk. The Clifton curse gave us only two days of poor weather. For the latter part of the week, we were basking in sunshine. Cakes is no longer translucent, Mimi has topped up her tan and Dr Green is off-white, dare I say sun-kissed!

With thanks to mum and dad, we stayed in Fiddlers Barn a wonderful barn conversion in Binham. The village itself has everything you need - as the other half mentioned frequently. This includes a well stocked shop and a great little pub, The Chequers, which brews its own beer and provides take-outs! Dr Green was in his element. A few minutes walk from the barn and we were walking around the stunning remains of Binham Priory.

The beaches are vast with a natural landscape - Brancaster, Holkham, Wells next the sea. The kids enjoyed paddling in the sea at Brancaster on a particularly warm Wednesday, collecting treasure (shells) and sliding down sandbanks.

On the not so good days weatherwise, we managed trips to Norwich and an animal sanctuary (surprisingly enjoyable for the grown ups too). Blickling Hall was also a highlight, as was the visit to the National Trust shop. The Blakeney seal trip was a memorable occasion. Thanks to Captain Roy and his patience we managed to see some otherwise elusive seals basking in their natural habitat. Had a successful Joules shopping trip in Holt too.

Oh yep, can't forget lots of good eating out. We LOVED The Hosst Arms in Burnham Market. That was a huge cream tea and, yes mum, the ladies loos are amazing. Lunch at Byfords in Holt is highly recommended. Great wholesome food (and portions) and it's blinkin' reasonably priced. (The Victoria sponges are the largest I've seen at £8 a cake.)The Cliftons had a nice meal in the Jolly Sailor at Brancaster. But, best of all, we had many visits to The Kings Head in Letheringsett (that's the one in the photo). Mimi would have loved Kate Humble's autograph but she was hiding behind a large glass of white - Kate not Mimi that is. All in all... heaven. We will be back.

Cakes is off to camp

OMG, cue the tears (from me), Cakes is venturing off to Cub Camp for the weekend. It's his first trip away with the cubs and I'm sure he will have a fabulous time. All the charging around in the woods and not washing - right up his street.

The rest of us Cliftons are going to enjoy some much needed time at home. Don't tell Dr Green, but we have a day of gardening planned for tomorrow. We've fence panels to erect, general garden tidying and chicken/guinea pig houses to clean. I'll butter him up with a big cooked breakfast first thing.

Let's hope tomorrow evening is a bit warmer for Alex's 'outdoors' party. Not sure how I'm going to incorporate woolly socks into my party outfit otherwise.

Mimi is 8 today!

Wow... how did that happen?! Must go and get ready and start the birthday celebrations. Just waiting for Auntie Rachel to arrive so that we can pop in to the school plant and cake fair. Then we are off to the zoooooooo!!!! After that it's take away and sleep-overs with Holski and Spaniel. Plus a bottle of sparkly in the fridge for Dr Green and I to chill out later.

Yippee for the school holidays

No more spellings and no more homework deadlines.
No more stroppy kids pretending to have a headache first thing.
No more scrubbing stains out of uniforms we've forgotten to wash.
No more preparing lunch boxes at 8:35 in the morning.

For two weeks we have no routine, structure or manic tear-your-hair out rushing about. H E A V E N!!!!!

Wow, what a beautiful morning...

... am sitting here writing this whilst the kids and hubby are tucked up nicely in bed enjoying some much needed kip. For some reason, I'm up far too early but am enjoying a lovely cup of tea and a relaxing flick through my life bible - Country Living magazine.

Watched The Delicious Miss Dahl on iplayer yesterday. My god that house is beautiful. Apparently, it's not her home but one that's up for sale in Crouch End for £1.5m. Found some stunning pics of the house on another blog....

http://home-biba.blogspot.com/2010/03/delicious-miss-dahl-bear-with-me-tou.html

What with all this inspiration, I'm fired up to get creative in our home - especially now that we are not moving. Maybe we can have a rummage at Battlesbridge today and lunch at The Hawk. Now that's a plan..