50

Sorry about the title of tonight's post but I'm literally bursting with expletives and venom and just could not be trusted to write anything remotely polite. All I have to say is....TECHNOLOGY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaaagh!
There, that's better.

See i could have gone on and on about not being able to access broadband at all last night at all and then thinking I could not access it today at all so going to the local public library with a very chatty sausage monster just to let you all know I still love you and then being told by DH when he got home from work tonight that he had in fact fixed it last night when I;d gone to bed in disgust and had in fact told me just before he went to work at 7.15 this morning that he'd fixed it last night but I OBVIOUSLY don't LISTEN and then excitedly reading everyone' s blogs on the PC once the kids were in bed tonight prior to doing my 50th yes 50th already I know doesn't time fly when you're blogging post and then the monitor screen went suddenly blank so here I am now on my little old laptop that I bought off of work when I was made redundant - keep everything crossed and we might just get there.

Phew!!

I had a great weekend and have survived half term. My two seem to have bickered, niggled, argued, told tales and wrestled for a week whilst I have been peacemaker and shouting dictator. However, they both told me on Friday that it was the best half term ever as we got to stay at home. Usually we would be away at my Mum's and the kids wouldn't see their friends. This time we've been to the Country Park with mates three times and they've climbed trees and just chilled.

Yesterday they were still off for teacher training days so we got some prep done for tomorrow:

Did you know the strandy bits in pumpkins are called Pumpkin Brains?

I found that useful fact on t'Internet whilst researching pumpkin recipes. I cannot bear to throw away all the pumpkin flesh and with two disemboweled pumpkins there was a whole lot of flesh.

So I made pumpkin soup from the tatty bits and froze loads of it. I made roast pumpkin (for which I have discovered a lovely recipe if you're interested) with the chunky bits. Then I steamed and pureed some more tatty bits and invented some muffins that were actually not only edible but also very yummy.

Pumpkin and banana muffins - ta daaaaa...

I may need to tweak it a bit but if you want an exclusive Moogsmum Hallowe'en Use Up Your Tatty Pumpkin Bits Pumpkin and Banana Muffin Recipe let me know and I'll post it. I am still working on the name for the recipe though.

I had da Minx all to myself yesterday afternoon and not surprisingly she had an agenda. Sewing with Mum whilst talking constantly in a voice that could be heard at the top of the road was her plan!

First we had to make a dolphin for her class at school. She's in Dolphins Class.

Here's Dippy the Dolphin.

Taken from this pattern:

From this book that cost me 40p at the library sale months ago:

Apparently her teacher loved it when she took it in today and gave her a big hug!

She also wanted to sew some straight lines so we decided to make her a bag. She chose all the fabrics. I had to fight the anal controlling adult (apart from when she eyed my best scrapstore stash!) and let her go with it. Here's her design front:

and back:

and lining:

Isn't it great? I love how those fabrics look together and would never have chosen those myself.
So now my lovely (albeit very noisy) Minx has given me a billion new ideas for bags etc.

Okay okay - I give in. As you may have noticed this is my 50TH POST and there seems to be a certain tradition among you lovely crafty blog folk when one reaches such a momentous milestone in one's blogging career (work with me people, I'm stringing it out here to build the suspense!) and that is ........ A 50TH BLOG POST GIVEAWAY!!!!!

This is it all you lurkers out there and, especially, all my non anonymous bloggy buddies - if you leave me a comment on tonight's overwhelmingly waffly post your name will go into a hat/bucket/dog's bowl/smelly sock and I will ask the Moog to draw a random name out of said receptacle and the lucky lucky winner will receive some hot off the presses (making them tomorrow!) crafty bits from the Moog.

Go on say something.

If you've never said anything before say it now - as long as it's repeatable!!!

Now, I'm off to watch some of our Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia video to recover from the excitement of being back in the land of the living.

Love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S. I'll close the draw for the giveaway at 12 noon on Friday