Another winner!

posted by Babs on Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Well, I’m amazed.  I thought it was fairly easy, but I didn’t expect it to be guessed correctly in the first comment, and within a few moments of me posting it!

Yes Sandee, you are spot on.  It is in fact, an old whisk that we don’t use any more, if we ever did.  Mind you, some of the top chefs still use them. They do the job very well.

whisk

I can see I am making these too easy.  You’ll need to think hard for the next one, it isn’t quite so easy.

Sandee, I have emailed you, but if you don’t get it, could you please contact me.


Babs

Tuesday Teaser #2

posted by Babs on Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Get your thinking caps on again.

This item would be found inside the home. I imagine most of you either own one, or have seen one in use at some point.

Rules.
The first person to guess the item correctly gets a Magnabeetle of their choice.  If it hasn’t been guessed correctly I will post a photo showing a little bit more, so you all get another shot at it.

Have fun!
teaser2
I think this one is easy, but Mo doesn’t think so.  We’ll see.

I will probably have a Tuesday Teaser every two or three weeks, or I’ll run out of ideas.


Babs

Everything comes to those who wait!

posted by Babs on Sunday, 4 April 2010

Remember this? Well today is the day I get my own back AND I had the camera!

We were having Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner tonight.  I was just about to tuck into mine, which was still firmly seated on my plate, and Mo called me from the kitchen.

“What?” I said.

“Look what I’ve done” she said.

“What?” I said.

“Come and see” she said.

“Is it bad?” I said.

“A bit” she said.

It was obvious I wasn’t getting anywhere with the questions so I very carefully pushed my table out, remembering what had once happened with my bolognese projectile, and I went into the kitchen.

“Camera!”  I yelled, and rushed back into the lounge to get it.  See what a good blogger I’ve become?

Bolognese sauce,

Mo had a grin spread across her face and bolognese sauce spread down her top.  She pointed to the floor.

dinner, floor, spaghetti, bolognese

It was a pitiful attempt at competing with my glorious spread on our lounge carpet, but still, I  got a photo this time.

“It just sort of slid off the plate” she said.

“Ha ha ha” I said.

Mo gave a sheepish grin …..Click.

sheepish

The carpet HAS to go!  Who lays carpet in a kitchen?


Babs

Furniture Project

posted by Babs on Thursday, 1 April 2010

We’ve been looking for a unit for our satellite box and DVD recorder for a long time.  All the units we’ve seen are either far too large or far too expensive, so we decided to make our own.  We’d already made our own fire surround and lamp tables, so we decided to follow the same style as the tables.
table, lamp table satellite box, DVD recorder, unit, making a TV unit
Mo collected all the wood and got busy sawing it up.  We make a good partnership.  I design and make the items, and Mo does all the sawing, screwing and sanding down.  It’s a messy job, and when you have to make it in your kitchen, it’s a bit inconvenient! Still we do enjoy making things.

We got as far as fixing the bottom front on and discovered our screws, for some reason, wouldn’t hold that piece.  As my sister would say: Pee, Po, Belly, Bum, Drawers!  Don’t ask.

Now what’s the good of having all that building work going on next door, if we can’t benefit from it?  Mo promptly went and told the builders of our plight, and they kindly gave her four 4″ screws, that did the job perfectly.

The main bulk of it is done and now I’ve just got the trim to put on and shelves to go in.  Then Mo gets the rotten job of sanding it all down, before I varnish it.

Looks a bit like a rabbit hutch at the moment doesn’t it?

I’ll probably bore you with more photos as we go.


Babs

We have a winner!

posted by Babs on Wednesday, 31 March 2010

There were some very interesting guesses, and Jaffer it does look like a saucepan with a copper bottom!  A few people got it right, but the Magnabeetle goes to Grace for being the first person to guess correctly, and I have no idea how Grace guessed it straight off.  Congratulations!   The Magnabeetle of your choice will be on it’s way to you as soon as I get your details.

It’s called a ‘Kendama’ according to Google, and who am I to argue with Google?  It’s a Cup and Ball game as far as I’m concerned.  And I can get the ball in the cup!

Teaser1b

I already have the next Tuesday teaser lined up so be ready.


Babs

Tuesday Teaser #1

posted by Babs on Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Well, here’s the first of our Tuesday Teasers.  I will try not to make them too difficult to guess, and will add a little clue if I think it’s needed.

The first person to guess the item correctly gets a Magnabeetle of their choice.  Have fun!

They’ve been around for generations
Nothing much has changed
Now they’re made by automation
But the end result’s the same

Teaser1

You can find this item in many countries around the world  Though they may not all look the same, the portion shown in this photo is a must.

Now I think that’s enough clues – start guessing!

**EDIT** If by my bedtime tonight, which is about 2am UK time, nobody has come close, I will add a second photo and clue to help you, and let it run until someone either gets it right or I think that nobody will.  In the event of nobody getting it right I will decide if anyone is close enough to get the Magnabeetle.


Babs

Remember the Magnabeetle?

posted by Babs on Saturday, 27 March 2010

I’ve brought them out of the closet again.

I have decided to join Kathy and Jay and do a regular (well as regular as I can) ‘Tuesday Teaser’.  I will be giving away a Magnabeetle as the prize, and I thought it would be nice if I did a set of four magnets.  They are the new, updated avatar – with eyebrows!

Magnabeetle, fridge magnet

The winner will only get one, but it gives people who already have the original Magnabeetle an opportunity to add another.  You can then collect all four designs if you want to.  The fact that you will have to guess correctly four times to get them all, won’t be easy, but I hope you’ll have fun trying.

All going well, I hope to post the first ‘Tuesday Teaser’ this coming Tuesday.

I hope you’ll all join in the fun!


Babs

What is wrong with some people?

posted by Babs on Monday, 22 March 2010

Mo and I took a trip out the other day.  We visited the gardens of what was once a stately home, but is now a rather grand hotel.  The gardens are hundreds of years old and have been kept in as natural a way as possible.  It’s like walking in the woods.  However the grounds immediately surrounding the building are pruned to perfection.

round tree
I will write a post about this beautiful place one day, but for now I want to tell you what Mo and I witnessed while we were there.
sculpturedTrees

hotel
You see this cluster of sculpted trees?  It must have taken many years of growth and pruning to achieve such a solid, smooth finish at the base.  From a distance I thought it was a brick wall surrounding the trees.

We were stunned when a teenage girl suddenly dived in head first.  Legs flailing around, she slowly disappeared inside.  A few moments later she pushed herself out the opposite side, and casually wandered off with her friends.   As we got closer this is what we saw.
damage
Just look at the damage she did, and for what purpose?  This was her entry point.  Goodness knows what damage she left on her exit.

What is wrong with some people?  Or am I just showing my age?

Would any of you have done this as a teenager?  I definitely would NOT have, well it would have spoiled my hair for starters, and I’m sure it would hurt – a lot!  As you may well imagine, it’s a tight mass of branches and twigs inside there.

Well, would you have?


Babs

Not actually a car conversation

posted by Babs on Monday, 15 March 2010

tapI went to wash my hands at the kitchen sink today.  I turned the tap on and put my hands under the running water.  The water was like ice.  I ran it for a few moments to give it a chance to come through warm, even though our boiler gives instant hot water.  Nothing!  Still freezing cold.  “Oh, what’s wrong now?”  I thought.  Mo was in the lounge so I called to her …..

“Mo! There’s something wrong with the water!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.  It’s running cold. Come and see”

(Mo comes in from the lounge to investigate)

“You’re running the COLD tap”

??!

Should I worry yet?


Babs

To build or not to build?

posted by Babs on Monday, 8 March 2010

Remember the disappearing garden?  Well now we know why.  Just look at it now.  It obviously had to be cleared before work started.
Garden
This is not just an ordinary extension our neighbour is having built.  This is a house enlargement!  The extension was built higher than the house, and yesterday Mo said.  “It looks funny.  I wonder why he’s done that”  Today we found out.

They have completely removed the roof of the main house.  They also have a supply of new bricks up there.  Obviously to level the house up with the extension – which, by the way, is almost as big as the house!  I imagine he is having bedrooms for the kids up in the (now higher) loft area, so turning a two story house effectively into a three story.

The back view

The back view

Front of the house

Front of the house

He will end up with a very large and luxurious house, but strange that he didn’t just move and get a larger house.  It must be costing him as much this way, though he has been able to design the house just the way he wants it.  Not sure which I’d do.

Given the finances, and thinking of the tremendous upheaval, would you extend like this or move house?


Babs