A few weeks back the lovely Chelsea over on Sea, field and tribe held a giveaway and I won!!! 
It was such a touching post about Basha Boutique and the work they do in Bangladesh.  Basha (meaning house) and asha (meaning hope).  They help give the women of Bangladesh a chance to improve their lives - you can see the interview here that Chelsea had with Robin to find out more.



The parcel arrived this week - the kantha is beautifully hand stitched, soft to the touch and lovingly made.  I can't wait for winter to come when I can start wearing it.  The earrings were beautifully packaged and are made from re-purposed sari fabric and hand-crafted copper leaves.



Basha Boutique have recently launched their website and you can see all their amazing products they have for sale - support an organisation which is changing women's lives for the better.



Thanks again Basha and Chelsea for the beautiful gifts.

♥

So YAY!! Glad the news is out now - although many of you knew already because I am rubbish at keeping secrets.  And how can you blame me with such exciting news as this!  We found out on the 15th May.  I had been for an ultrasound as I have PCOS and I have a cyst on my left ovary.  Unfortunately it is still there but it's nothing to worry about and will hopefully disappear.  Anyway, after the ultrasound I just had a feeling.  The sonographer had mentioned that I had definitely ovulated that month (no idea how they can tell but they can) and I just knew.  So on our way home we picked up a test.  And it was positive.  We couldn't believe it and actually didn't at first! The next morning we took another and it was positive again.  I found it a bit weird that after my first GP appointment they just refer you to a midwife and then that's that.  No further tests or anything.  The home tests are so accurate these days, there is no need for anything else.

We are so super chuffed and quite surprised how quickly we fell pregnant as we were told it could take quite a while due to me having PCOS.  After I found out I got hold of my friend Emily who is a dietician and she helped me work out an eating plan which cuts out sugar and processed food and I got back into exercising.  I honestly believe that those 4 weeks of healthy living helped us get to where we are now. Without a doubt.
















The first few weeks after I found out - the nausea hit and it was bad. I honestly do not know how I got through. And poor Mani didn't know what hit him. It was awful and I was like a zombi. I survived on cheese toasties and soda water. But it is so much better, I still get nausea most days but it is fading slowly. Now I just want to start organising and sewing quilts, knitting blankets and buying clothes!!

After our first scan on Monday it is beginning to feel more real.  Seeing the little one moving around, only 3cm and hearing the little heartbeat was beyond amazing.  It really is a little miracle.  We go back for a further scan in 2 weeks where we will get some ultrasound images.  We got some yesterday but as baba is still so small they are not very clear.



Thank you to each and every one of you for your messages and good wishes - we are feeling super blessed and cannot wait for everything that is to come.

♥

We are super thrilled to announce that Baby Choudhry is due January 2014 (the 19th to be exact!)
Let the chaos begin...

How often do you find yourself wishing the day away, wishing it was more exciting, more special, more riveting?  Sometimes I get so bored with day to day stuff.  Its monotonous and hard sometimes.  Getting up to an alarm, shower, breafast, work, get home, make supper, chores, go to bed and do the same thing the next day and the next. But we don't often realise that these normal days should be treasured.  I found this quote on A Cup of Jo and it made me realise that normal is good.

 So enjoy the normal, embrace it - you never know when it may not be so.
♥

I am loving having a garden and one thing I wanted to do was to make it a haven for wild birds and animals alike.  So, I have a few feeders hanging in the big tree at the bottom of the garden which has made our garden pretty popular in the bird world.  House sparrows, robins, doves, magpies and jackdaws so far.  I must admit though - I prefer the smaller birds!  I then noticed that we have some house sparrows nesting in the outside wall of the house in a little hole.  Come winter we will have to block it up to prevent any damage but I knew then we should put up some bird houses for them to nest in.  We had some pallets in the shed which I had found on the side of the road so I got Mani to work.

There are loads of ideas on the internet for making your own birdhouses.  You just need to google "DIY bird box" and you are flooded with options.


 We didn't follow specific instructions but just read a few and then Mani just made it best he could.  It maybe isn't the prettiest bird box (I think it is but Mani is not convinced) but it does what it needs to and hopefully we will get some birds nesting in it next season.  I also like the painted roof which matches our shed and garden furniture.

I love a bit of DIY.
♥

Growing up, I always loved having lots of photographs up on the wall.  My Dad and stepmom had a gallery wall in the lounge/kitchen and continue to have one and my Mom always had various pictures up in the house.  Looking back to my bedrooms when I was a teenager - I had loads of photographs of friends and family up on my walls.  I tend to find now that we don't print has many photos as we used to; what with everything being digital.  And when we moved home we knew we wanted lots of photos of our nearest and dearest displayed.  So we decided on a gallery wall in the kitchen. The hub of the home.

And we are super chuffed with the way it has turned out.  I had been collecting frames for a while, picking them up at poundshops, boot sales and the like.  When we finally had a good collection, we started choosing which pictures to put in them.  I found this the hardest part - but I chose ones which meant something and there are a few old favourite pictures (like the one of Mani laughing as a little boy - is he not JUST the cutest thing ever??!).

 I got my inspiration from Emma's DIY Gallery wall over on A Beautiful Mess as well as various layouts on one of my boards on pinterest.  We layed out all the frames on the dining room table and rejigged and swapped for a while until we found a good fit.

I love coming home and looking up on the wall of all our family and friends.  I am also looking forward to having a few get togethers in the summer with old friends so we can put some group photos up.

Happy times.
♥

 We have been making our house a home for nearly a year now.  I am beginning to slowly accept that while I wish everything could look perfect and they way I want it to NOW that is not realistic and not how life is.  But what I can concentrate on is what we have achieved and on reflection that is a lot.  We don't tend to splash out on things for our home but we knew our lounge was missing something and when we visited Witney Warehouse and came across this mirror we knew we had to have it.  Well - at first Mani was more adimant than I was. But I came round to the idea and I am so glad we got it.  It fits right in with our farmhouse, homely, rustic feeling that we are trying to create.



If you live in the Witney/Oxfordshire area be sure to check out the Witney Warehouse - their space is packed full of vintage and reclaimed items which are super awesome and really can make your house feel like a home.  Better yet - if you like their facebook page you get 10% off every purchase in the shop!

Happy Wednesday x

To get you through another manic Monday.  I find motivational quotes, pretty things and such get me through Mondays.  They remind me to remember the important stuff, don't stress the small stuff and to enjoy every day - even if it is a Monday.  That - and coffee helps A LOT too.

//Joss and Main//

//Source unkown//

//Source//

Do you also struggle with Mondays?  What helps you get through?
x

The other evening we spotted a hedgehog in our garden.  Yes! A cute little hedgehog was just wandering along the grass- I quickly put on my shoes and snapped some pictures of him.  I only used my ipad and the light was not great but is he not the cutest little thing?



So obviously as soon as I got back inside and ever since I have been researching hedgehogs and how to look after them.  They are actually endangered in the UK so it is important to try and help them out when you can.  I have a feeling he is living under our shed so I put a bowl of water out and also a few peanuts for him (or her!).

I have found some really informative and useful websites here and here.  You can feed them wet and dry cat food (as long as it isn't fish flavoured), small bits of cheese, raisins and a whole feast of other things.  Do not ever give them bread or milk!

I spotted him the other night again, he comes out around dusk.  I will try get a video of him but it is quite difficult and I don't want to scare him either.  Hopefully I can get some more pictures of him soon!  I think my favourite fact so far is that baby hedgehogs are called hoglets! Adorable!

Have you ever had a hedgehog in your garden? 

Everyday I am thankful and super grateful for our house, our big garden, our village and think how lucky we are to have what we do.  Our little village and surrounds is so beautiful, we spontaneously went for a drive one evening last week and I snapped some photos.











As we used to live in a top floor flat, which was lovely, but especially in the summer, was so difficult.  Many a time we would open the windows and smell the bbq's and see other people being able to enjoy their gardens.  Yesterday all we did was potter (I love that word) in the garden, planted some flowers, Mani made a bird box and just enjoyed being outside.

Always be grateful for what you have - yes you can aspire to have more - but trust me - there are so many people who only dream to have what we do.

Have a happy week friends - can you believe it's June?!