St. Michaels Mount

If you are friends with my husband on facebook, You've already seen half of these pictures..... The second part of our trip was to penzance. Like the pirates of penzance. 

It's on a little island just of the coast.... at low tide, a walk way is revealed for you to trek across.
This castle is still home to the St. Aubyn Family.....and has buildings dating back to the 12th Century.

There are many stories and legends about the castle. One is that St. Michael the Archangel appeared to fishermen here in the 5th Century AD. 

and yet another (quote from BBC):

"Legend has it that the Mount was built by a giant called Cormoran who would wade ashore to snatch up livestock from local farms and take them back with him.  A reward was offered in return for killing the giant and a young boy called Jack came forward. One night, when Cormoran was sleeping, Jack crept over to the Mount and dug a deep pit halfway up one side. In the morning, Jack blew on his horn to wake the giant from his slumber.  The giant came running down the side of the Mount but could not see Jack as the sun was in his eyes and, not noticing the hole, fell into it. Jack then filled the hole in. Jack became a local hero, and from then on was known as Jack the Giant Killer."

There is a heart shaped stone in the path leading up to the castle that is said to be the giant's heart. Supposedly if you stand on it, you can hear the heart beat. 

You can find some more interesting info here. 

Word of warning, this post is a bit heavier on Milo and Heather Pictures. My wonderful husband was photographer since I was carrying Milo. All the pictures were so great that it was hard to pick which ones... There were like 200, so I think I did good narrowing them down. 

So as I mentioned in my last post, We left our carrier at home....so we took our stroller here. Do you remember the first and second pics... how the castle is at the top of a hill? so yeah, its all really bumpy stones--think cobblestone on steroids.....and they have these "Stairs" that are just basically rocks in the ground similar to KoKo head hike with the rail road ties (for my hawaii peeps). So needless to say, Strollers are not allowed. Lucky for us, they had this hip seat thingie that worked pretty well.... until she fell asleep and became a limp rag doll. 

It was gorgeous up there. The view was absolutely breathtaking. We took a ton of pictures but they really don't do it justice....and the weather was great that day. 

Could you imagine this being your house... I mean, people still live here!!! insane!

It wasn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. Probably because people don't want to make the trek to the top. 

Well that's all folds. St Michael's Mount was great! We had a blast. I am finally getting over my sickness I picked up on this trip...We also ordered a hiking carrier... we ended up getting this Bush Baby carrier. We got it on sale because it was a demo that they would use at trade shows. Oh yeah! I'm off for a walk in it today. Hope everyone has a great week. Happy monday!

Road Trip: Land's End, Cornwall

Milo and I (mostly I) am feeling a bit under the weather. We went out of town this weekend and the first day it was crazy windy and cold.... the second day is was beautiful and sunny. My body sorta freaked out a bit with the crazy weather change... then to top it off, I started a 15 day introductory offer at the local hot Yoga place.... today. Unaware of how I was going to be feeling. Yay. anyway. We had a great time. We went to Cornwall--land's end to be more specific. 

It was a 5.5 hour drive--not including stops. Milo was a trooper even though she was bored out of her mind....and the drive was pretty. We passed Stonehenge... Just your average drive :) 

As I mentioned, the first day was crazy, windy, cold... we planned to do a couple hikes and realized an hour away from home that we left the carrier. I was so angry with myself. We've been hemming and hawing on wether or not we should buy a hiking carrier....we didn't get one yet, but I guess I got so caught up in thinking about the hiking one that the other one slipped my mind. anyway, it ended up working out ok.... we just had to do things a little differently. 

  

Milo loved picking the flowers...she wouldn't stop till every flower was destroyed! Then we went to the petting zoo nearby... 

Milo had a great time. The lamb's baaaaaa almost sent her into shock at first, but then she warmed up. By the end she went stampeding towards the cows and scared the dickens out of them. 

Moooooo

At first we attempted the easier hike with the stroller... but it didn't go so well and then we decided it was too cold to even worry about going any further. My child is even hogtied to keep her legs snuggly warm in the blanket. 

That afternoon the sun came out a bit and really made the countryside come to life. 

Did I mention that our hotel was right on the edge of a cliff....at the land's end... 

The second day was crazy beautiful.....so we had a little fun...

 It's not hawaii, but it sure is pretty.... open fields filled with Yellow flowers, cows, sheep, or even stonehenge. I'll post more pictures soon from our day in penzance. 

Berry Wood Stain

Picture it... Milo in standing in her awesome kitchen stand that daddy made her... eating some blueberries... omnom-omnom... Mum is fixing some scrambled eggs and a bagel....humming and flitting around the kitchen....she brings her sweet little angel some eggs to see that Milo has smooshed the blueberries onto her kitchen stand....which has yet to be sealed..... 

I rush to clean it off....only to discover that is left behind it's pink berry goodness.... so what's a Mum to do?.... smoosh berries over the whole thing? That's what this Mum would do. 

Thawed out the rest of the frozen blueberries that I had... used a basting brush and painted that joker.

Brush it on, let it sit a few minutes, then wipe it off. 

                           

My birth mother was always starting random projects during random hours of the day.... I remember once going to wal-mart at like midnight to get stuff to make candles because she just had that random desire to candle it up. Another time we tie dyed everything we could find in our closet...we stayed up all night... That's one of my favorite things about her... how random and spontaneous she was.... hopefully I got a little of that trait. 

Now this process is messy. Be prepared. Use gloves, pull out a tarp or be prepared to mop your kitchen afterwards, put on clothes that you don't mind if they get dirty.  I was too in the zone to stop and do any of that stuff.....and I had to clean the kitchen floor, myself, and Milo. Do as I say, not as I do. 

You can do multiple coats to get a darker stain. I think that frozen fruits work better...and are cheaper....

After you are finished let it sit overnight to dry and soak in completely. Once completely dry, you can apply a sealer. I decided to make a sealer.....which is basically like a salve. One part wax, 4 parts oil. Melt all but the essential oil in a double boiler. Remove from heat and add your essential oil and pour into whatever container you choose. I used: 

1Tbsp beeswax

2Tbsp coconut oil

2Tbsp Olive oil

20 drops cinnamon Essential oil

Cinnamon essential oil is antibacterial and anti-fungal....plus it smells nice 

Once the salve is solid (you can put in fridge or freezer to speed up process) rub it on with a cloth. I find that old t-shirt scraps work great. Don't worry if it feels oily or greasy--the wood will absorb it. This coating will protect it from other liquids or berries seeping into the wood. You may need to repeat this periodically especially on the surfaces that are touched often. 

I tried out some other berry stains as well as tea and coffee. I didn't have frozen strawberries so I used fresh. I also just used beet juice. I was surprised it didn't turn out as bold, but it may work better with fresh/frozen beets.  

After the whole process, I did a bit of research and found that Berry stains can fade in direct sunlight...so it's best used on things going indoors. I also found some other ideas for stains using vinegar. Check it out here. 

The stains below are using vinegar and pennies or vinegar and steel wool....that blue is super pretty!

go forth and stain my crafty peeps...

Ardingly Antique Fair

I went to an awesome antique fair this week. Before I tell you about the awesome goodies I got, it's time for a Milo update. 

She has a new trick of putting things down her shirt.... 

She can now say up and uh-oh. 

Milo also gives eskimo kisses :)

She loves purple mashed potatoes... I mean, who wouldn't?! 

We are definitely into the toddler stages and now Mum has had to break out the stern voice. 

Could you keep a straight face looking at that face? 

Yeah, It's pretty hard. 

 Now onto the antique fair... The Ardingly antique fair was great....and MASSIVE! We were there from 9:30 to 4:45 and still didn't see it all. We even skimmed a lot of it.  Here are the goods:

A turn of the century stained glass window... now has a home sitting in my bathroom window. 

A few books from the late 1800s/early 1900s.... I mean, they're great for decoration. One is even titled the Blind Gamemaker. I picked that one for JR :)

A couple milk bottles from the 20s or 30s. I'm hoping to put some roses in these puppies if my rose bushes are successful. 

An old Kodak Brownie Camera--made in England. I am pretty sure it still works too! 

Kodak Brownie Camera

A Shabby Chic rocker for Milo. She loves it!

An Old gas Lantern that goes on the side of a train... still works. Oh yeah!

An oil can from the 30s. 

I condensed the next three items. You're welcome. Its a copper tea pot, pitcher, and hot water bottle. 

And another stain glass window from the 20s... it sits in my kitchen window :) 

Well that's all for today. Sorry I haven't typed much. I've had my hands full with Milo this week.... so I've kept this short and sweet....I hope you all have a great week.  I know I have.