Katryoshka's third Give-away - a fantastic brocade bollero

Hi everyone and welcome to our third give-away. All you have to do to be entered into the free prize draw is follow our blog and 'like' our Katryoshka facebook page. The prize this month is a one size bollero jacket with puffed sleeves that I made from a piece of shiny brocade fabric bought some time ago in the Alum rock road area of Birmingham. The area itself is interesting as its as close to Bombay as you might find in the UK with lots of sari and eastern food shops. The jacket is a very versitile and useful little piece which goes well dressed down with jeans or dressed up over a special dress. Good luck to everyone, Kat x

The Room Angel - a short/long animation project

Just finished a project I started when Alpha male went away recently. I had always wanted to do some animation so when the perfect time opportunity presented itself I began with much enthusiasm. It took ages though so I lost a lot of the momentum along the way and I won't be attempting another anytime soon but the tiny's love it so its all been worthwhile in the end, Kat x PS I hate the sound of my voice!!

Holiday reading

Whilst buying holiday necessities, I spent yesterday morning wandering through a few local charity shops looking for some inspiring holiday books, (as in books to read on holiday as apposed to books about holidays.) As a huge fan of anything Alice in Wonderland imagine my delight as I came across this old book about making toys from the story. It so cool with lots of details and illustrations so that's the holiday project sorted. Now I just need to formulate a plan around how to smuggle all the necessary sewing equipment and fabrics into my suitcase without being detected by the luggage police aka Alpha Male, wish me luck!! Kat x

Albear's first month at White House Farm

I haven't blogged as much recently as in the last month a new project has taken over. Meet my new love affair, Albear, a three year old Welsh Cob. The story goes last year we happened to visiting family back in my old stomping ground and decided to take a turn at the old stables I grew up on. A ramshackle farm in a quiet suburb of Southport, Greaves Moss Farm was an absolute dream for me. At the time I was a teenager in need of their own world in order to begin carving out an identity away from my family. As somewhat of a slow developer I was only just beginning to mature. I had a youngster there and spent long days at the stables even sleeping over with other horse mad friends. Activities included a fair share of asbo type behaviour such as races around the local parks and midnight hacks to the petrol station for snacks. We were able to do what we wanted at the farm and felt so free that even visiting last year it felt like yesterday. So there I was last year reliving some of my happiest childhood memories, now a wife and mother of two, when I happened upon a new field of youngsters. There was Albear , two years old and never experienced any human contact. Forward a year and I was finally ready to collect him although I had been experiencing some anxiety over the fact he was still unhandled and now a three year old colt. With some drama we managed to transport him down to White House Farm and the last month has been a blur of gelding and slowly introducing him to his new way of life. I am pleased to report he is responding well and its defiantly love, (from me to him anyway and hopefully like wise). Its exciting and I feel like a fourteen year old again! I hope to keep you all up to date with his progress from wild beast to safe family pony so keep checking in! Kat x  

Chicken and Quail

Just a quick blog post about Chicken and her friend Quail pictured below in Emma's kitchen. Chicken has appeared on this blog previously here and here. They came to be pals after Chicken was left without company thanks to Emma's staffordshire bull terrier Tyskie, and Quail was rejected from my daughter's nursery several years ago due to being bullied by his brothers. They live together in a hutch at White house farm and every evening they parade around Emma's kitchen amongst the not all together bird friendly dog and cat residents. What is extraordinary is their bond with each other, quails are certainly odd birds indeed but what ever the dynamic is, it works for them. True love! Kat x

Treyc Cohen drops in!

Today was a great day, an Open Day I was involved in had arrived and even a terrible hangover caused by last nights absence of the Muse children wouldn't dampen it. A couple of months ago I went to the Tracy Emin exhibition, see the post here. The blanket hanging below was the result of that trip and was created as a request for artwork from our branch. The fabulously glamorous singer Treyc Cohen came to unveil it who was simply marvelous, a real star in the making. What a way of supporting a charity by offering your time in such a gracious and humble way. Many thanks Treyc, it was a pleasure to have you at our branch!! xx

A time to dance

There's nothing like letting off a bit of steam and frustration with a darn good boogie. Take this morning for example, day six on Alpha Male's American business trip and I'm home alone attempting to meet end of term demands. After a night battling toothache I awake with that typical bolt upright 'OMG, I've over slept!' feeling, I hadn't but was thrown into an state of immediate panic as it was Anya's much looked forward to school trip. I breezed into the kids rooms announcing the need for immediate action in the getting dressed for school department. They obeyed sensing irate mother syndrome and I progressed downstairs to shout at various dogs and cats, feed the horse and release the chickens. By this time the kids were downstairs requesting various time consuming breakfasts including porridge which is always a drama in itself. Once they were dealt with I was able to begin getting myself dressed. As I was busy bheing stressed and rushing about Jane Wiedlin came on the radio with that 80's classic 'Rush hour'. As if my subconscious knew what I needed my hand reached for the volume dial and I began bouncing around the room with such energy and vigour that my endorphins shot through the roof and for those precious minutes I could have been anywhere, having a carefree and thoroughly enjoyable moment. When the song ended I felt a release of calm energy overcome me and the morning continued successfully aided by my new, relaxed self. If in doubt.......dance! Kat x

What's next??

The last few months seemed to have been littered with dodgy occurrences where my brain appears to have been anywhere except where it should have been. Case in point, yesterday my daughter was having a friend over so I nipped to stock up on frozen goodies before picking them up from school. Fish fingers and chips seemed a sure fire way to avoid any dinner time dramas. It was a nice hot day and I decided it would be a fun idea to take the kids to the park before going home. The dilemma was, what about the frozen food? I decided the car was too hot so I hid the bag of food under the car until it was time to go. Now you can guess most of the story, we return and even as I am lifting my son into the car I am thinking 'don't forget the food, don't forget the food!'...................I forgot the food and was half way home when I did the predictable sharp intake of breath and turned back. The good news was it was still there although I had run over a packet of fish fingers and half of the chips. Not to worry though as they were still protected and good enough to eat, at least the kids didn't notice anyway!! Kat x

And the winner is........June giveaway!

Better late than never our Monthly giveaway, won by Tanvi!! Bit paranoid as I look about five months pregnant!! Has anyone any good stomach exercises?? Kat x 

War Horse

So as promised, the War Horse post. I don't go to the theatre very often and have mostly enjoyed going to see lighthearted musicals like Oliver, the Pirates of Penzanze and Chicago. War Horse was a very different and the compelling journey through history was a somehow deeper experience. To begin with the New London Theatre on Drury Lane in London's West End is very minimal with none of the usual OTT, dramatic styling I generally associate with theatres. For the War Horse production there were no permanent props to behold except a very effective strip of 'sky' that hung above the stage and featured many emotive images and drawings of landscape to give the spectator a greater sense of where they were being transported to. I won't dwell too much on the story itself as I think its best seen fresh and without much preparation but I will emphasis its a deeply moving play supported beautifully with elements of dance, music and dialogue. The cast are so professional and awe inspiring but the stars of the show are the 'puppets' created by the internationally renowned Handspring Puppet Company. They really are more 'horse like' than horses if that makes any sense. Even a none horse fanatic can understand the emotions and feeling these majestic creatures convey and tissues are advised at all times.

Kat x

Getto Hen strikes again!

I know it perhaps appears as if Getto Hen is just another obsession but this Hen surprises me all the time. If you don't know her story catch up here and here. Now her original chick has disappeared hopefully to some nearby back yard and she's caring for five new babies. Still living wild and roosting secretly away from the many foxes that grace White House Farm, she cares for her young as we would, protecting and defending them fiercely from any potential threats, what a top bird!, Kat x

A lost weekend

After the recent dramas between Alpha male and I we decided to go and spend some quality time together away from White House Farm. He arranged it all and everything remained a secret until we had delivered our children to my Sister and Mother receptively. Then we headed through London to our Hotel. I have this strange minor obsession when I am out and about our capital city of not looking like a tourist, (which of course I am). I try to achieve this by dressing eclectically and side glancing at tube and bus maps in rather a sly manner so it appears I know my way around. I also charge at great speed through the barriers at tube stations only to have the doors wind me by slamming shut due to my oyster travel card running out. I don't know why I'm bothered but I am! Anyway we had a great first night as Ben had bought tickets for Derrick Carters secret party at a warehouse in Shorditch. Back in my late teens, when I was obsessed with American house music, he was one of my favourite DJ's and he was playing on the night I met Alpha male, eleven years ago. We danced like mad persons for a few hours and then took ourselves back to the hotel. I guess now I'm a bit older I consider the next day as equally important and it happened to be a lovely day of wandering about aimlessly. Highlights included the Tommy Nutter exhibition at the  Zandra Rhodes Museum of Fashion and Textiles, itself a fantastic conversion of a former cash and carry warehouse. Menswear designer Tommy Nutter was one of the pioneers of funky men's tailoring in the 60's and 70's and the museum had loaned some fabulous suits he'd made from the likes of Cilla Black, Twiggy and even Mick Jagger's suit when he married Bianca. That evening we went to go and see War Horse, an epic tale that really deserves a blog all of its own so watch this space. I cried a lot and struggled to walk effectively but that was down to the ridiculous high heels I chose to wear, (farm girl enters city and does extreme glamour awkwardly). It was great to get away and reintroduce each other to our carefree selves. You can live a decade with your partner and know every side of their personality but on a day to day basis when your busy functioning as a team to get things done its easy to forget certain aspects, the fact you simply enjoy being together. Thanks Alpha male for a really special time, I know I'm a lucky girl!! Kat x

The man himself Tommy Nutter, 17 April 1943– 17 August 1992

Twitter saves the day!!

I have been feeling very disillusioned with Twitter lately. The truth is I don't really know how to use it and initially simply enjoyed the process of documenting and shrinking random thoughts into one or two sentences. I was about to close my account down this week when its true value became much clearer. I have had the recent task of organising an open day for the charity I volunteer at. This is indeed a tricky task because our resources are so few but I felt that what the event needed was a 'celebrity' guest to draw local people into our branch. The first person I set my sights on was Tony Christie, the legendary crooner, who lived nearby and was known to most people after his recent comeback. However despite various leads I got on-line it all came to nothing. The date of the open day was creeping nearer and nearer when I discovered there was another local celebrity who was ideal, X-Factor contestant Treyc Cohen. Couldn't find any contact information for her on-line so I turned to Twitter and several tweets between the singer and her agent later I had a celebrity booked, willing to donate an hour of her time for a good cause. I am so pleased and indebted to Twitter and can now acknowledge that it does indeed provide a unique platform of communication between its users. Many thanks to Treyc and Twitter!! Kat x

R.I.P. The Tarotvan

I had the man over to service various caravans the other day. Poor him, he dreads my calls as he knows its always long and complicated with such old vans and this visit was no different. The result was that The Tarotvan was given a verdict of extreme old age ailments which sadly meant I could drag it round Staffordshire spreading the word of the Tarot. Instead its gone to live permanently in the Croft, offering wise words to those who visit and anyone who fancies booking an appointment and taking a journey to our corner of the world. God bless you Tarotvan as I have had such fun within your four fragile walls, hopefully you can continue your service from your final place of rest, Kat x 

http://thetarotvan.co.uk/index.htm 

Old fashion photo shoot

Just had a computer returned that had lost all its pictures when it caught a nasty virus last year. Found these pictures from when I attempted to design yet another website to sell clothes I'd made. Nothing came of the website idea but I really like the left over pictures taken one random summers day, Kat x