11 Mar 2011
by Tamsinin Bedraggled Mum, Slightly Insane Tags: Blog, Husband, Mommy, Mother, Tired, Zombie
This is hilarious.
Boy I have been invisible of late. It’s amazing how busy things have been and how quickly I’ve come to neglect poor Saffa. You see, I have just launched another webiste and it has taken up all of my free time. The Canny Crafter is my little baby and it needs lots of TLC. Still massively in development, this site is my dream come true.
You know, one of those things that you think of and think of until one day you go, “If I don’t do this now I am going to have to take my head off and leave it somewhere.”
So off I went and did it. Boy is it scary. Scaaaaaary. I have a massively loud negative internal voice. Actually, if any of you know of a way of switching the bugger off, let me know. The voice says things like, “Rubbish” and “Pah” – a lot. Stupid voice.
I also need to thank (as if this is some kind of insane Oscar speech by a deranged lunatic) The Husband for his patience and help, and The Person for HER patience and help. I have always said that the two of them are like brother and sister from another mother, and the help they have given me (as well as the rolling of eyes) has proven that quite thoroughly.
Why the Invisible Mother? Because I am shattered. My poor offspring is spending a lot of time with a zombie. I even drool slightly. Yesterday I fell asleep on my keyboard. My computer (thanks Windows. Not…) rebooted thanks to updates and while I was waiting for it to restart itself I fell asleep. How sad is that.
So, here’s to your weekend! May it be full and fluffy and lovely. Mine is going to be about a wedding! C and K are getting married (they sound like a designer brand advert, snort) and The Husband and I are their photographers.
Yes, I also think they are NUTS for choosing me, but hey…
We are off to Bath for three days of shooting, bonding, chatting and laughing. And celebrating the marriage of two amazing humans. Wahoo!!!
I promise to update here more often, and to try and be more entertaining. Promise.
01 Nov 2010
by Tamsinin Fascinating Things, Parenthood Tags: Child, Exercise, Spooky, Squidge, Zombie
Oh, how I love zombies, vampires, ghosties and ghouls. As much as I love brilliantly creative people who can make food that completely and utterly captures the delightful creepiness of Halloween and spookiness.
Yesterday Squidge and I went for tea at a local cake shop that makes the most divine creations ever. She wore the hat I got her on our half-term travels (and that she won’t take off at all) and I took photos of her special spooky treat.
It was hard to watch her devour that chocolate when I am still on my hardcore diet (more on that later) but I was extremely, very proud of my self discipline. Still, how awesomely weird is this cupcake? I love it!
Please excuse blurry photos, they were done on me old crappy HTC Hero.
The scary mouth ghost
Yumascrumalicious cake
Phone art: What she made when cake was done!
31 Oct 2010
by Tamsinin Bedraggled Mum, Saffa Tags: Child, Guilt, Husband, Knitting, Mommy, Mother, Saffa, South Africa, Squidge, Tired, Zombie
This whole changing of the clocks thing. Can I just state, for the record, that it bloody kills me? When we change forwards (or is it backwards?) Squidge wakes up at a hideous hour for about two weeks and we stagger around like half-dead zombies of doom.
When we change the clocks backwards (or forwards or sideways) Squidge wakes up at a hideous hour for about two weeks and we stagger around like half dead zombies of doom. Good thing today is Halloween, people will think I am wearing make-up.
See the pattern here? It’s not that I MIND being an exhausted parent, you know. It’s a badge of honour! The bigger the luggage under your eyes, the more hardcore a mum you are. Dammit.
It’s the fact that I have no control over this deranged fiddling about with time. In South Africa the clocks remain niiiice and steady. No mad evil genius twiddling about with dials and controlling time stuff there. Just nice and quiet ticking (sorry) along, year in and year out.
Then I moved here, had a kid, and got confused as to which time zone I was in.
Today was spectacularly mad. The Husband has ambled off to a three day bachelor party in a canal barge on a river somewhere. Alone, I waft about the hallways of the home in a white gown, sobbing. Actually, I’m wearing stripy pants that I LOVE (see pic above) and a white t-shirt and am not so much sobbing as crocheting…
ANYWAY
I forgot about the clocks. I did. No clue. SO imagine my GUILT when I got annoyed with my offspring for waking me at 5:30am this morning. Only, she didn’t, did she? NO. She woke me at 6:30. A VERY healthy time and not at all bad.
You see, my child never sleeps beyond 6 really. This entire half term of travelling (update post coming soon) she woke me at 4:30/5am every day. For her to have entertained herself for an hour (she did!) and then call me is so good. And I got crabby because I thought it was 6am.
Stupid clocks. Stupid Saffa Mom. Poor little Squidge.
THIS is why Salvador Dali painted those clocks, I’m telling you. His head was done in by this madness.
08 Aug 2010
by Tamsinin Knitography Tags: Blog, Knitting, Zombie
The Stylist
Over the past six months I’ve rediscovered a love of knitting that has taken over a good part of the lounge and it has always been my plan to include some of this passion in my blog. And today I am launching Knitography!
I was going to call it Schnitting (shots of knitting) but that just kept making me giggle. In the shot to the left you can see my stylist getting to work on the first Knitograph.
In the Knitography pages I’ll be taking photos of my current knitting projects in weird and/or wonderful locations.
I’ll be including the pattern I’m using to make the project (where copyright allows) along with mini lessons on how to knit, how to get the most out of your stash, and much more. This is for me to keep track of my knitting history and get back on track with my photography.
The photos will be alright or hideous or awesome. Mostly they happened by chance because I still struggle with Fstops and apertures. The mini-lessons are there for anyone to enjoy and will hopefully inspire people to join in with this awesome craft. And soon, with luck, I’ll be featuring crochet too. I have an entire book of crochet zombies and vampires to make so I have hunted down some lessons.
Feel free to send in your own knitography, I’d love to feature it, and your own tips, tricks and fabulous patterns. All are welcome!
So, get started and visit the Knitography pages you can see to the top right. It’s still new so I only have one project running at the moment.
05 Aug 2010
by Tamsinin Slightly Insane Tags: Accessories, Mommy, Werewolf, Zombie
I just galloped down the stairs and whisked this delectable beauty from the hands of an unsuspecting mailman. Isn’t it gorgeous?
It is so soft, has so much space inside, plenty of clever storage compartments, is perfect Mum-Size for all Parental Emergencies and it has a werewolf on the front.
P.S. Sorry about poor focus but “real” camera’s battery is dead.
My life is complete.
30 Jul 2010
by Tamsinin Parenthood, Slightly Insane Tags: 31DBBB, Mommy, Shoes, Squidge, Zombie
Today we went to see Toy Story 3. It was Squidge’s first movie ever! Well, by first movie I mean actual going to a cinema, buying popcorn and sitting in the dark. She was initially quite apprehensive and didn’t like how loud it was.
I summoned the courage to go and ask them to turn it down a notch, after all the cinema was full of kids and it isn’t good for any of them, and even my ears were ringing a bit.
Yes, I am a total paranoid mother. Yes. I won the award.
Toy Story 3 was a success! She cuddled in my lap the entire time and loved every minute. I loved every second of the cuddles and contact. Total win-win brilliant morning.
The afternoon was spent with S and her two tots, H and M. S is a total breath of fresh air (if you’re reading this S, I already told you this today!). She’s from Barbados and she’s straightforward, easy to get on with, and so darn chilled. When I’m with her I feel completely relaxed. It’s rare for me as I’m usually quite, well, paranoid.
It was on this lush afternoon of relaxing on the beach, pootling through Brighton, and meandering through the mall that two other lovely things happened. Well, three actually.
The first was the purchase of a Buzz Lightyear toy exactly the same as the movie toy. He does all the same things! I’m not entirely sure who I bought Buzz for because the two of us have been playing with him ALL afternoon. Shooting his laser at each other, making his wings pop out and flying him around, saving each other from the evil pink teddy. Awesome. Pic above is Squidge flying him around after supper.
I had decided this morning that I had to cave and visit Schuh. They’re having a sale and I adore, adore, adore their shoes. This is the same place I got my Zombie Shoes I mentioned before. And you’ll NEVER guess what I found. Oh yes. I found MORE ZOMBIE SHOES. Except these ones are pumps. These Zombie shoes I can wear every single day. The other ones are reallllly high and I can’t wear them for long stretches, which is obviously gutting.
Now, oh oh oh, NOW I can wear them as often as I want. It took me all of ten seconds to buy them. How often does that happen? And the other great part? They’re called Zombie Stompers. I actually can’t stop laughing.
And then I found another pair of shoes. A pair that have a moderate heel and just delightful design. I slipped them on and my 
feet finally understood what it was like to be wrapped in a curtain. They are incredibly soft and clutch my feet perfectly.
Obviously I bought those too. All the pics you see here are of these amazing shoes. Thank-you Schuh for being in existence. I heart you.
P.S. This is finally completing another step in the 31DBBB challenge!
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