Christmas 2010

It was such a lovely Christmas this year. We spent it at my mums, who as usual put on a lovely spread and ensured a good time was had by all.

The kids pretty much got everything they wanted, and it was great to see Kaz and Chris and Max too. We don't all get together very often (every couple of years or so) so it was nice to see them.

It was good to see my brother Tom again, he's mad but totally fun. And I managed to get a few pics before he became completely incoherent due to vodka intake. lol.

There were of course the obligatory party games (designed by my folks) which was well received, great fun and caused much laughter and hilarity.





As always, it is necessary to dress the youngest members of the family up...purely for entertainment value. tee hee.

and as always...me and Steve engaged in camera wars too.

Ethan and Daniel had a great time, although we didn't see much of them, as Ethan was busy constructing the model kits we bought him, and Dan was engrossed in his new game. but so long as they were happy, that's all that matters at Christmas time. it's about the kids after all.

Thanks for the wonderful Christmas everyone. Lets hope for a happy and healthy New Year, with lots more get togethers. xxx

Loz x

It's snowing !!!

Well, they said it was coming, however, we didnt think it was coming with such gusto!

I still havent got anything other than my phone to take pictures on but it doesnt stop me from snapping off a few choice photos to try and capture the moment.

Loz x

Christmas Party

Today was Laurence's Christmas Party at pre-school. It was really nice, and although I didn't managed to take very many pictures - because of child protection etc, I did manage to snap one at the end.

I always find it hilarious at toddler parties, especially Christmas parties, when Santa finally makes an appearance, and all the kiddies have been so looking forward to it...the door opens, the jingle begins to play....and in walks some skinny thirty something with a poor excuse for a Santa outfit on, a badly fitting beard and a half-hearted ho ho ho!

The kids freeze, panic, then run screaming to their mums and dads.

It's a classic moment too, when Santa begins handing out presents, calling each child's name in turn, and although each of them is waiting with baited breath for their name to be called, when it is, they freeze (again) the bottom lip starts to quiver, and eventually, it is mum which has to go and collect the present.

Somehow, it seems vaguely cruel to start off a child's expectations of Christmas this way.

Funny though. :P

Loz x

Christmases all at once.

For those that don't know, for 10 years we lived next door to a very unsavoury family that went out of their way to make our lives a living hell. The son, Mark Weston, has today been found guilty of murder, a murder which took place 15 years ago. He was tried for it once, but was found not guilty because of a lack of evidence, however, since the double jeopardy law was relegislated in 2005, it was reopened. He was tried at Reading crown court, and today found guilty because of new DNA evidence.

For the last 6 years mark weston made our lives unbearable, he made countless anonymous phone calls to the police with ever growing accusations about us, including, firearms in the house, our home being used as a drug factory, child abuse, violence etc etc. The list is endless. The police couldn't do anything because the calls were made anonymously, our housing association had their hands tied too.
To be honest, we were afraid of how far the harassment would escalate. To the point where I would no longer take the dogs for a walk, or feel comfortable letting the kids out to play.

He and his family lied about us constantly (as they had done the previous occupants of the house we lived in) and the verbal abuse was daily. They turned the rest of the village against us, turned my husbands parents against us, and caused us to live in fear and isolation.

We moved because of them, and had to rebuild our relationship because of them. But we pulled through. Knowing that justice has finally been served has made today one of the best days of my life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-11982681

Loz xxx

It's Christmas !!

Well..not quite, but it always feels like it when the tree goes up.

I was absolutely gobsmacked at the price of real trees this year. We usually get our tree from a local farm which has a side line business this time of year with them, but even their prices had gone up. Countrywide were the worst..nearly £60 for a 6ft tree, which is already netted (so you cant really see what you are getting) !
Needless to say, I am not paying £60 for something which will last for just a few weeks.

Daniel just had to have his picture taken with Santa outside Sainsburys on Saturday. He absolutely loves Christmas, and has no problem showing it to the rest of the world. So thank you Father Christmas for making his day :P

Joseph is really starting to find his feet now - well, his tummy at least. Laurence adores him, and as this pictures shows from the way his head is blurred, he is always playing with him. It's the best kind of socialisation there is, to have a big family of differing ages. Whilst I agree that it is important for kids to learn how to get along with their peers - like in a school environment - they only have to do that for 6 hours a day. For the rest of their time, including all the ever growing holidays, and weekends, they have to mix with all ages. Allowing kids to socialise with a varied group of adults, kids, babies etc, is vital to encourage a rounded sense of society in them I think.

The kitchen is nearly there. The units are all in with doors and drawer fronts etc. But we have to wait until wednesday for the tiles to go up, so I wont be posting any pictures until then. but it looks good now, and at least I have some space to work in.

Today is tip run day. I have a multitude of bags and boxes to load the car up with and dump, and sadly, most of the stuff is non recyclable. It pains me to have to dump it all, but it's no good to anyone else (no freecycling then) and I cant even find an arts and crafts use for them either. 


Loz x

A nice day!

Had a really lovely day today. The boys and I went to a indoor softplay centre and actually got to meet up with a few other really friendly HE families. Some of the names were familiar, so it was nice to put faces to them.
Laurence had a great time playing with so many children, usually when we go there during the week it is fairly quiet, but today there were a couple of parties going on so the place was pretty busy.

Of course, when I got back I was greeted with.....'The Kitchen' and all its' mess. I know I will just have to grit my teeth and get on with the tidying and organising (which really  needs to be done anyway), but right now, I just don't feel in the right mood for it. So I'm going to make a cup of tea, grab a couple of party rings and sit down to watch countdown and deal or no deal whilst playing with Joseph and putting Laurence through the pain of trying on a bunch of new clothes which have finally arrived! :)
(when I say it like that, it sounds like I still have a load of stuff to do and probably wont get to watch much of either programme anyway!) lol.


Loz x

Nearly Christmas...

Sadly, we didn't get chance for all of us to go into the village for it's annual Victorian Evening and 'Christmas lights switch on', however, Ethan and Daniel took a trip in to sample some of the fun which was on offer, and as usual they concentrated on what food and rides there were. Daniel was most impressed with the swan ride, whilst Ethan preferred to take pictures of the tree which they put in the river. It looks so pretty.

I suppose soon it will be time for us to also get a tree and start decorating. This year should be lovely because Laurence is that much older and will be able to get involved. We are definitely having a real tree, but since moving I know we dumped all our old decorations, so I'll have to pop down to the Christmas Shop and see about stocking up on some new ones, and getting the kids making a few too.

I am so looking forward to Christmas this year. I couldn't enjoy it last year because I was full of morning sickness which lasted all day!! I shall be making up for it this year however.



Loz x

Fighting Frustration....!

It's another Monday morning, the fog is shrouding everything in an eerie gloom, and my kitchen is still no closer to being finished. At 8.20 this morning, the new fitter came and began to organise himself. At 8.50 he left the house to get some things which he needed, and here, at 11.30..he's still not back. As a result of all this fannying about, my patience is really wearing thin with everyone.
Poor Ethan tried to explain to me today, that he has been thinking about his future, and instead of games design, he would love to go into film making, and would I be able to help him discover more about it. 
In principle, that is fine. He wanted to know some basics, so we researched it and printed off some worksheets and some explanatory notes and set to discussing what we had found. 
Then...he yawned.
Now, I know it was just a yawn. Everyone yawns...and not always because they are tired or bored. But I - in my current frazzled state - took it personally.
He began to complain that he couldn't understand what was written in the research notes we had found...I begged to differ arguing that if he couldn't understand simple notes, then he would be stuffed when it came to trying to understand anything more complicated, and that if he couldn't persevere with two sheets of paper he ought to give up now (basically, I know this is one of Ethans' ploys to get out of having to read something).  
I do not adopt a completely autonomous routine with Ethan. I cant afford to. If I were to leave him to his own educational devices, he would flop and flap about all day not actually doing anything. I know there are some out there that will argue that that is the best way for someone to learn, but I know categorically that it is not the best way for Ethan to learn. So whilst I try to allow him to discover as much as he can on his own, and I have no concerns with what methods he decides to use, or how long or how little he takes with something (or indeed, what that 'something' may be), I do like to keep some basis 3 R's routine in with it.
So when he turns his nose up at having to read something, or yawns when I am trying to explain to him what he couldn't be bothered to try and understand in the written notes, yet he still insists on wanting to know more about it, I begin to pull my hair out and my fuse comes dangerously close to burning out.

This is the first proper upset we have had together, and i do believe it is mostly because of the stress of not having a kitchen - that is after all where we do most of our work together, and we had such a nice routine going, which has been recently thrown into the air and scattered to the four corners of my sanity. 

I am hoping that as this week goes on and we can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel, and things begin to feel something closer to normal, that things will settle down and our routine will continue.

Anyway, I will update later, as matey has just walked in through the door, and is cracking on as I speak. lets hope tomorrows pictures show a little progress.

Loz x

Fitters and footers...

Last night, I found myself lost for words. A rare event.

After the fitter had left my husband and I stood back to take in what he had done in all its glory. At which point, my husband nearly popped an artery with laughter.

Take a look at this picture. Now, granted, if like me you have no idea about fitting kitchens, you may not immediately see what the problem is. But let me explain...

You see, this is a corner where two of our brand spanking new kitchen units meet. Both should be drawer line base units (which as you can see, the one on the left is, and one on the right isn't).

However, the genius of a fitter has made a crucial error in this installation.

I am in this picture holding up a piece of wood in the exact position where the drawer should be. Notice the lack of space on the other unit for either a drawer, or a door even!!!

The fitter installed 3 units. screwed them together (unlevel, but that's another story) but either forgot, or didn't know that he had to use spacers in this corner.

Yes, I sound like I'm just going on and on about it, but seriously, when you have someone in your home to make improvements, the last thing you expect them to do is make a hash of it. But, having said that, it's a sad sign of the times that service in general isn't what it used to be.

......................................................

On a lighter note, Ethan made another of his tape sculptures today, this time his left foot. The plan is to make every part of the body and eventually join them all together. Ethan has had great fun in figuring out how to make the structure stronger, musing over alternative materials, and even delving into the thought of much larger scale applications. 

He wants to create a permanent structure from his tape 'casts', so he has also looked into using plaster of paris at some point. The idea being to create a tape replica of himself, then eventually a full sized 'statue' of himself which he then plans to decorate abstractly in some way. Personally, I love watching him experiment with new things like this, and also beginning to think outside of the box. 

Art was never something Ethan showed a great deal of interest in, but then I don't think anyone had ever approached him with any ideas other than the usual things you expect at school. 

He has even talked about what it would be like to re-create a full sized house from tape...or at least something big enough for a couple of adults to comfortably move about in. I love the ideas and can't wait to get hold of some industrial sized rolls of sticky tape. :)  

Loz x

Rant...continued...

So, the kitchen fitter turned up at 10.12am this morning, he left at 1.30pm, and in that time did precisely......well, take a look.....

Kitchen at 10.11am this morning.



 




 kitchen at 1.35pm this afternoon.

 



Now, I'm no genius, but surely in 3 hours something more than this should have been achieved???

Well earned rant...

I'm going to sound like I'm complaining as you read through this, and if I'm going to be honest, to an extent...I am!
I am at present having my kitchen replaced, and it's only taken them 6 months to finally get going with it. (sarcasm)
So, Tuesday afternoon at 1pm, we had a nice carpenter chappy turn up on the doorstep, saying he needed to take some measurements. Which in itself is fine. However, we were then told that the kitchen would need to be ready for dismantling at 8.30 am the next morning! which in theory is fine too...except we are a family of 6, with the kitchen being the hub of the house!

We are now eating out of boxes piled up on the dining table. And can we find anything? No. 

I'm pleased to be getting the new kitchen as it was certainly long overdue, and there is only so much patience you can have with an outdated 70's kitchen staring at you every day.  But why is he taking sooooo long?

Yesterday, it took him all day to remove 7 units and about 90 tiles. he is supposed to be finished completely on Friday. Lets wait and see shall we.

Ghost hand...!

So, this is Ethans' first attempt at a tape sculpture.

As you can imagine, he now wants to do various other parts of the body, and have things like legs hanging out of the ceiling, and headless yet fully clothed bodies wandering the village.

Could be fun !!! :)

Chills, turns and sticky tape...!

Well, it's a frozen and misty Monday morning, and the walk into town with Laurence was bracing to say the very least!

I am secretly wishing for some good snow. I would love to take the kids sledging, and get everyone out in the garden building snow dens and snowmen, but all we have had so far is a light dusting. 

Still, something rather excellent happened over the weekend. Joseph fully turned over, and now there is no stopping him. No matter where you put him down, he flips over, buries his face into the floor and pokes his bum in the air! What a clever little lad.


The first attempt at tape sculpting is completed. We grabbed the first thing that came to hand which would serve as a good template and didn't require much fiddling about with.

It came out pretty well, although we are in two minds as to whether we use the same method again, or try for something different. 
The method we used was to wrap the object - in this case a bottle - in cling film first, then cover in tape. It's fine, except when you come to cut a seam (so you can remove the bottle) the tape cuts fine, but the cling film tended to tear and bunch up a little which made patching up the seam a bit messy.
The alternative method is to cover the object with a layer of backwards tape first (sticky side out) then continue to cover normally. I can see how this might make cutting the seam easier. So we'll try that next.


Loz x

Crafty Art...

Well, after much thinking yesterday, Ethan opted for an art project that took his fancy; Large scale plastic tape sculptures ! (pictures to follow, so watch this space).

It is just about he easiest thing we have ever tried, and is great fun because you can make a model of just about anything that can be wrapped in cling film, then wrapped in sellotape. It is also worth asking around at local packing companies for any rolls of tape they have because alot of them throw them away when there is still a good inch left on the roll...there for, you can save and recycle at the same time.

We have asked Daniel if he would be kind enough to model for a whole body sculpture....he is in the process of 'thinking about it'. :p

Arty-Farty....

OK...I'm going to admit it, as far as arts and crafts go, I'm pretty useless. Looking at and listening to what some people get up to amazes me. One HE family I met up with had successfully designed and made a full sized willow house! Others create some brilliant sculptures and paintings. So of course, not wanting to see my kids go without, I have in the past attempted to indulge them in something arty. However, I always seem to come up at a loss (I can't even bake a cake without it coming out like a biscuit, and biscuits come out like hockey pucks). 
So, today I have decided to put some serious thought into large scale projects. No more model kits, no more clay and matchsticks, no more messing about with fiddly bits of fluff and plastic bobs.
I think planning something, and making something on a large scale will hold not only my interest for longer but more importantly, Ethan's interest.

The thing is, what to create?
I don't have a huge garden, so I don't want to make some monstrosity that is going to over take what precious space we have to play in, but at the same time, I want to us to make something that involves a bit of maths, a bit of science, and some research (materials, method etc). 
I'm going to ask about for ideas on the various HE groups that I am a member of, but if anyone else out there wants to make a suggestion, then do feel free. 



Loz x

Well, it would appear that it is Josephs' turn to have a bit of a grotty day, all he really wants to do is eat and sleep...not usual for him, but no temperature or anything else nasty, so hopefully it'll pass as quickly as it did for Laurence.
However, it does put a slight cloud of doubt on whether he will enjoy our visit to the indoor play centre..Laurence is so looking forward to it as always, and surprisingly so is Ethan. Lets hope that a cuddle and something new to look at will distract him enough to let him enjoy it.

Loz x

The dilemma of jealousy.

As you know, I HE my 12 year old son. Which leaves my 11 year old son still attending secondary school. Which has caused some....issues.
Jealousy, to be precise, from my schooled son. We expected as much when we first discussed the pro's and con's and now it's arrived.
Daniel started secondary this September, and on the outside seems to love it, he comes home with lots of homework, which we help him with, and he has received 4 mentions in the weekly academic achievement awards (in the form of a letter sent to us, commending him on his behaviour/attitude etc in certain subjects).
He recently brought home his first term report which sang his praises in all classes, and according to the teachers he has settled well and is achieving good to excellent reports from them. 
All this makes us very happy, and content in the knowledge that he is adjusting to secondary life well. 
He has some issues at present with his homework, which he frets and gets his knickers in a twist about - fearing the dreaded detention for poor standards or insufficient work, and so he really does push himself to complete homework on time, and to a level which pleases everyone. However, he does get quite stressed about it.
His main gripe is that Ethan gets to 'study' those subjects which interest him, rather than actually having to sit down for long periods and go through set subjects in a robotic manner learning across the board, and that he gets to go out during the day to places instead of staying in school.
Now, Daniel does have a bit of a selfish streak running through him, and has always complained about Ethan having something which he does not have, or doing something he does not get to do, so in a way we are not surprised about his behaviour. They are at the end of the day very close in age (17 months) and this inevitably causes quite a degree of sibling rivalry which we have at times handled well, and at others not so well. We are fully aware of this, and address the issue as and when it arises. But this time, I have to admit to being in a bit of turmoil about it.
After seeing how well Ethan has responded to HE, and how much his general concentration and achievements have improved, I would secretly love to HE all the children. I think about Laurence (3 yr old) starting school next September and in truth it makes me shudder. 4 Years old and expected to learn to such a degree that he will receive his first reading test at 6 yrs old, hardly a year into his proper academic career (reception year at 4-5 of course).
And with all the pressures of the National Curriculum changing like the wind these days, and discussions about scraping modular GCSE's and replacing them for one big test - possibly at 14, just seems like a level of stress not condusive to happy learning. It would seem that it's all about gaining as much in as little time as possible, and I am sorry, but I don't think it's going to work as seamlessly as people think it will. 
Inbetween all this academia, where exactly is the time for children to just be children and learn through experience? Learn through coming across something that is not neatly set out for them in a classroom first? Learn through wanting to learn, because something has caught their attention and interest, and not through having to learn because that is the way society and government says it must be done?

Anyway, back to the Crux of this waffle. My husband and I have discussed the possibility of Daniel also being Home Schooled, because he has expressed that he would like that also,and although I would do it in an instant, my husbands' voice of reason came up with an option that I think is worth giving consideration to.
We have told Daniel that we think it is best if he completes his first year at secondary and then gives some serious thought about what he wants to do thereafter. In more ways than one, this would work out better, since it coincides with when Laurence would be starting too. If we decided at that time that it would be feasible to HE all of them, then the proverbial two birds with one stone would come into effect.

I believe in my own ability to HE my children. I enjoy it immensely, and thrive on seeing how effective it is.

Here is a brief statement from Ethan, who wanted to contribute to this:

"The good points are, that I can get taught about certain subjects, then my mum will let me learn about that subject until I want to try something else. I don't have to do as much writing and sit at a desk all day listening to a teacher going on about stuff which I forget half way through. My mum gives me the most important facts about what I have to do in my lesson, so that I can remember it all and get on with working. 

I don't make as many friends at home as I could at school, even though I didn't make that many anyway. But, my mum can arrange trips and we get to meet other HE families. The hours I work for are not as long as in school. I get to be around other people that understand when I get bored or tired and loose track of what I am doing so I can take a break, and I get to have whatever I want for lunch. I don't have to wear a uniform for 5 days in a row. There is no chance of me getting picked on at home. I get to be around my brothers Joseph and Laurence more. 

I feel more happy when I am HE, because I can actually ask about things which confuse me, and not have the rest of the class laugh at me, like what happened in my last lesson of English at school. 

If I need to research anything which I don't know about, I have a computer close by. 
I feel that I am more calm at home than I am at school...it is less of a rush. 
I think my mum would be a bit all over the place to start with if everyone was home schooled, then after a while she would get the hang of it.
I believe that if we were all home taught we would become a much smarter family, I also think that probably everyone would be better off being home taught rather than going to school. "


I like it that Ethan feels he can be honest and open about his feelings. We have always pushed for that in this family, as we feel pent up emotions and opinions are not a good thing.

To conclude then (this turned into a far more in depth blab than I intended it to be).
Daniel has his issues with Ethan being home Schooled at present, but personally I am hoping that that is a short term thing, because I would like to HE all the children eventually. I of course, welcome comments and suggestions if anyone would like to leave any. (I love to discuss...can you tell? :P)


Loz x

Monday Blues....

Oh dear...the week has not started out very well. Last night at about 4am I was woken by my 3 yr old, screaming at shadows in his room. He had a raging temperature, and was on the brink of delirium. However, a tepid sponge down and some calpol later, I managed to get it under control. He doesn't seem to have any other symptoms, other than mentioning he has a sore tummy. I am hoping a day on the sofa, reading some nice books and him catching up on some sleep will sort things out. I hate to see any of my kids upset, in pain or unwell.

Ethan has been busy putting the finishing touches to his 'report' on the game Halo. He was fascinated at the general Halo Brand, and decided for himself to look into it. He has been making comparisons with it and other games of the same genre, including merchandising, TV and film involvement, and has even attempted to record some statistics about the game into his workings.
This was completely Ethans' idea, and something he was very enthusiastic about, and I know there will be some people rolling their eyes and clucking their tongues thinking he is spending all day playing video games. The fact of the matter is, he wants to work in the gaming industry, and is finding new and interesting aspects about gaming to work on. He is managing to include business studies into his work, maths, geography and many other subjects.  And who says that he cant make a case study on a game that he enjoys? I would rather he was doing something constructive alongside a leisure pursuit and actually learning from it, than not.
Anyway, and speaking of the devil, he has now appeared, rake in hand, ready to dispose of the multitude of leaves in the garden before making himself some lunch. And I have a very unhappy little fella to attend to. So ta-ta for now.

Loz x

Demystifying simplicity......

There are things that kids these days have absolutely no idea about. Like how to work a washing machine (they dont have remote controls), and how to post something at the Post Office. 

You see, with so much electronic assistance these days, kids believe things just happen on their own, and something as archaic as a Post Office is just mindboggling to them.

So, today, both my kids had to package something, take it down to the post office, select the appropriate postage and then pay and keep receipts. Sounds ridiculous? To some, yes it might do. But they had no idea how that worked, but now that they do, I am having to find more things for them to post!!!
I think it is important to keep hold of the more old fashioned methods of postage/communication etc  because you never know, it might one day be all we have to rely on.

Doing it the Italian way...

Cooking has always been a massive part of my life. Coming from an Italian family, there were always big gatherings with lots of wonderful food. And the fond memories I have of my Nonna and my mother in the kitchen, laughing and joking whilst cooking up a meal (and usually prancing about and indulging in general tomfoolery) will always stay with me.

Both Ethan and Daniel love cooking and experimenting with different recipes, from the complicated to the down right easy.

Here is Ethan deciding he wants some pasta for lunch. Which is certainly a breath of fresh air when most kids will be more than happy to grab something pre-packed, or fill themselves up with fatty snacks.

He is quite a stickler for detail, and so enjoys making written reports of what he does when he cooks. Each recipe has to be down to the letter, and the method is as precise as any I have ever read.

At least he wont starve to death when he finally makes his way out into the big wide world!



Beautiful Cotswolds...

Ethan has completely surprised me with his budding interest in photography. He has always been keen on images, drawing, painting and graphics etc, but had never really given cameras a fair crack of the whip. Here are some of the early attempts he made, whilst trying to capture the essense of the village we live in.




The River Windrush

                                                                                                                                                                                              This is my favourite, it's the village church. It has such a rich history and a really imposing presence, which I think Ethan has managed to capture with this striking upward perspective of the tower.                                                

I like the way he has got the sunlight coming thorugh from behind the sign on this one. It would have been a pretty boring photo without that added interest to it I think.

Hopefully on 3rd December, when the village has it's victorian night, and the Christmas lights get switched on, it will provide Ethan with plenty of excellent photograph opportunities. I just wish I had a better camera for him to work with.

Arghhhh...Christmas...!

Trying to get any ideas out of a 3 year old for what they would like for Christmas is usually such an easy thing. You open the Argos catalogue, flick through the pages and take note of the many things they point at and say 'I like dat one..I like dat one...'
Unfortunately, Laurence seems to be the exception to that rule. We sit nicely and go through each page, and he talks intently about everything, but each time I ask him, 'do you want that one?' he pauses...then says no, and turns to the next page.

I can quite confidently say, that after twenty minutes of scouring the Argos book..I am still none the wiser as to what to get him.

Still, and before I get my knickers into too much of a twist about it, at least we have had absolute success with weaning him off of the dummy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(affectionately known as row-rowf). The dummy fairy came, effectively stole his comforter of 3 years, and left him something instantly forgettable in its place. However, we have now had 4 dummy free days, and surprisingly little upset about it. So I'm proud of him for yet another reason. :)


Loz x

The joys of decorating....

Well, we moved into our new house nearly 6 months ago now, and slowly but surely we have been applying our stamp to the place, but it never fails to amaze me, the surprises you unearth when decorating a new home.

Yes, what you see here is indeed a few nice paintings of Tinkerbell, and Ariel the Mermaid...and yes, these we found under some lining paper in what is now the master bedroom!

Don't get me wrong, I am sure that who ever decided to make this delightful mural had the very best intentions of making the room some kind of girlie Disney wonderland..but seriously...it's hideous.

This is where I get on a soap box to some extent. Some would tell me to look at it and think, ah, at least they tried to make it look nice blah blah blah. Well, no. What they actually achieved is a half finished mess on the wall that is painted with industrial strength poster paint, which is impossible to cover (hence the lining paper on that wall only). The background painting is ridiculous, we have a tri-stripe effort of light blue on the bottom, dark blue in the middle, and purple on the top. I mean...really? they don't even blend in together, and the quality of the painting itself, when you get up close is horrendous.

Ariel looks like she has suffered a stroke, Tinkerbells' arms look like those of a heroine user, and the sad effort of a pirate ship silhouetted against the moon is just laughable.

I know, I know, in a world already full of hatred, cholera spreading UN workers and grossly overpaid England footballers, you would think that I should be giving a little credit to the person that tried to cheer up an otherwise perfectly normal and decoratable room. Well, all I have to say about that is this..you try to sleep with psychotic looking fairies and mermaids staring at you all night, then let me know.

Loz x