Hello Spring! Hello Garden!

With the weather getting a little nicer,

the sun shining a little warmer and longer

and the rain taking the odd break from falling onto Ireland, 

the gardening season starts again.

And we LOVE working in our garden.

Today, my favourite husband picked up a tiller

at Tullamore Tool Hire

to save a few days time digging over the MAHOOOSIVE potato plot. 

 Boys and their toys. 

A little while ago, my mum and I have sowed peas

and today, Alfie and I discovered some tiny baby pea plants

growing happily in the sheep poop in one of the raised beds. 

How exciting!

Also the herb garden looks quite well.

The lemon balm,...

...thyme...

...and leafy chives are already growing again.

But we've managed to kill the oregano, rosemary and lovage.

We also discovered baby beetroot plants...

baby butterhead lettuce,...

and baby spinach.

The lion's tooth didn't fail to impress!

And our hens! The non-stop cackling in the chicken run!

Cackling hens make me SO HAPPY! 

My mum had planted some spring flowers 

into some of our gazillion flower pots

and arranged them at our front door.

Look at the colours!

And even the babies in our tiny indoor nursery 

are springing up like mad

to catch some of that very rare springtime light!

Like this apple tree...

... as well as these sunflower, lovage and mint seedlings.

They will have to move out, soon. 

Finally, the gardening season is back. 

The winter was really, really long and we can't wait

to work on a few new garden projects we have in mind for this summer.

Enjoy the sun!

Plant a few primroses,

sow some summer flower seeds

or keep a few little pots with herbs on your kitchen windowsill!

Happy gardening, everyone!

Fingerpaint Freakiness!

 

 

Today was the day for finger paint.

So the artist said.

 

 

No thanks... no brushes today!

 

They're called finger paints!

 

 

Not brush paints, you know?

 

 

 

 

Finished!

 

 

The artist has left.

 

Bath time!

 

Lena



What's in my makeup bag?

Sinéad from Bumbles of Rice asked other bloggers
if they would show the content of their makeup bags.

I think it is a lovely idea to share tips and tricks with other sleep-deprived mums
to let us help each other "to look human after theee hours sleep."

And of course, I'm quite nosy sometimes.
I just like to see other peoples makeup bags. Ha!

Even though I wear makeup since nearly 20 years now, be warned: I don't use fancy brushes or applicators, I don't buy extraordinary makeup brands and I don't watch vlogs to be up-to-date regarding new stuff on the face painting market out there.
Sorry.

But now: Let's go!

 

I take a shower every single morning.

I simply don't function without one.

Even if it's only a 2-minutes-speedy one,

I NEED that to feel comfortable.

I wash my face in the shower, too,

(Of course. Try NOT to wash your face in the shower

and tell me how you got on. Thank you.) 

and 2-3 times a week I give it a scrub.

 

I've got very dry, sensitive skin.

And it all got worse after my 2nd pregnancy.

But these two products really do a good job for me.

I use the Garnier Moisture + always at night

and sometimes in the morning.

Sometimes, I use the BB cream instead.

In the morning.

 

I love both products.

 

 

 

I also use make-up every day.

If I went for the BB cream in the morning,

I only use a very small amount

on top of that.

If I went for the moisturiser,

I use a bit more.

I have no explanation, why and when I use what.

I just do either the one thing

or the other.

 

 

Blush.

Only a bit.

To contour the cheekbones.

I use a travel-brush thing.

You take off the lid

and push up the tuft

and apply the blush.

 

At the moment it's a Maybelline one.

I don't really like the colour,

it's a bit to "pinkish" for my skin tone.

But I couldn't be bothered to spend more money

for just another blush.

Typical me.

 

 

My pencil collection.

Every day: Eyebrow pencil.

Black kajal.

 

Sometimes: Grey kajal.

 

Very rare: Turquoise eye liner.

More for the odd night out.

Once a year.

Twice, maybe.

 

 

The use of eye shadow is reserved for weekends

or special occasions.

Sometimes, if I remember to,

I use the liquid one DURING THE WEEK, EVEN!!!

I know.

Call me posh!

.

I love it, actually.

I should use it more often.

 

The Smoky-Eye-Triple-Thing from Rimmel

is used more frequently.

For evening events.

The second n the line, the turquoise one matches the turquoise eye liner.

The brown/beige Rimmel stuff just went in the bin.

I maybe used it once or twice.

It makes my eyes looking even MORE tired.

Nobody wants that.

 

 

Last but not least

and used EVERY day:

Black mascara.

I like this one a lot.

It's not expensive,

it's applied quickly

and that's what I need in the morning.

 

 

Because after applying all the other

different creams,

powders,

shadows,

gels,

sprays etc...

the patience of my baby boy is almost used up

and he's clinging to my leg.

Whining.

Screaming for attention.

The poor fella.

 

That's it.

My facial morning routine.

It looks as if I spend ages in the bathroom.

But I don't.

The face painting takes me about 5 minutes.

5 well-spent minutes.

Because if I don't plaster

the black circles,

the blemishes and creases

and if I don't moisturise my poor dry skin

every morning...

I simply don't feel well.

FACT.

 

 

This was my contribution to this linky.

 

If you want to see more make-up bags,

read more about mammies hiding nightshift traces behind layers of beauty products

or if you want to share your make-up bag content and your morning-beauty-secrets

with the blog world and the www, you can do it all ...

 

... HERE!

 

 

Happy reading!

 

Lena

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our weekend 16./17. May 2015

We teeniesitted our friend's kids (10 & 13 yrs) this weekend.
I didn't know what was going to happen and therefore I was ready for everything.
For them bitching, fighting, screaming, refusing to eat my food, noise, overtired kids, discussions about bed time... all that teenager's parents stuff I thought teenager's parents are dealing with all the time.

But: It was FINE! Nobody bitched, nobody fought, screamed, discussed bed time or annoyed me in any way. They ate the food I made, we spent a lovely day in Athlone yesterday and all day at home today. There were waffles, movies, cakes, games, chats and the days and the night just passed by and everybody had a lovely time. Ha!!!

Come here, teenager's parents out there!!! What's the big deal, like??? Here's my ultimate tip for how to cope living with youngsters: Only live with them for two days. Ever. Within these 2 days, feed them cake and spaghetti, let them stay up late, let them play with their tablet PC's and mobile phones as long as they want, ignore them when they talk shite and make sure that they are neither your own kids nor staying with you for more than 36 hours.

Be grand!!! It IS that easy. Trust me! I tried it and it worked. :-D


Oh... and look at this easy peasy and uber quickly prepared salad:

It's chopped iceberg lettuce, cherry tomato halves and mini mozzarella halves tossed into a colourful bowl. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over it and freshly ground pepper and sea salt added to taste. I LOVE the colours, the crispiness and the simple and delicious taste of it. And the kids did, too. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

LENA

Get out!

There are days, when I suffer from bad cabin fever.

For no special reason I feel like I need to move.

To get out of here.

And if I'm lucky, the weather isn't bad and I can take the family for a walk.

 

 

So we did one day last week.

The girl moaned while she put on her coat, the husband took the dogs, Alfie hopped onto my back, we all stuck our feet into not so fashionable outdoor footwear and off we went across the fields around the house.

 

 

And it was just perfect:

 

 

 

 

 

When we got home, the urge feeling of "getting shit done" had passed.

 

Everyone was happy.

 

LENA