Knitting

30 January 2013


On the needles this week is an ever growing sock shared last week I have turned the heal, rejoined  and am working on the foot part.  I have cast on the other sock as I find knitting the cuff fairly tedious.  When I can swop between the two it feels quicker!  I am also still working on the jacket shared a couple of weeks ago, I have now completed the back, left front and half the right front.  I hope I can get it finished before the temperatures warm up!

I had a knitting related injury this week.  I managed to stand on my knitting with bare feet, I did not realise that is what I had stepped on but it hurt like mad.  When I looked down I saw, to my horror, that the needle was stuck in my foot!  So, never leave your knitting on the floor where you are likely to be walking in bare feet.

I am still reading and enjoying The Shock Doctrine.  It continues to terrify and engage me.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks WiP Wednesday and Ginny for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading.

Achievements

29 January 2013

We live in a society that loves to measure everything, it seems that very little is immune from targets these days.  This is one of the reasons that we have chosen not to use the education system to provide our children's education.  Paradoxically by not measuring all your child's achievements against a set of targets it can mean that they often happen without you really noticing.  You suddenly realise that they can read a sentence when they couldn't last week or they can add up numbers in their head or hop on one foot.  Last week we had two huge achievements in our house ones which I want to shout from the rooftops as they have felt so important and amazing to us as a family.

We love to canoe as a family.  We have taken the children with us from a very young age, in both cases before they could walk.  We have always ensured that we are on calm water where the likelihood of capsizing (the canoe tipping over) is minimal, it has yet to happen and the canoe has often been heavily laden.  As the children grow older we would like to spread our wings and attempt trips on more challenging water, but to do this the children need to be very water confident and be able to swim.  We have a good network of state run swimming pools in our country which sadly have a rule about the number of children that an adult can take swimming at a time.  This is a recent rule and I have yet to establish why it has come about.  Suffice to say if your child is under 4 then it must be 1:1 and if between 4 and 7, 1:2 adult/child.  I took my eldest swimming every week until the arrival of my youngest then it became much more erratic.  I was reliant on my husband being around or a friend who had 'capacity' to take responsibility for another child, this did not happen that often.  My eldest is eight now but can barely swim and what that means is that the age 4 to 7 ratio still applies!  We tried swimming lessons but they were not suited to him at all, he finds being in a group of strangers so stressful that he could not engage in the lesson.  So at the end of last year we started to go swimming once a week as a family to try to improve on the water confidence and swimming skills, until last week progress was slow.  My eldest simply did not want to put his face, let alone head anywhere near the water.  Then last week we went to a different pool, in the pool were some dive sticks which he really wanted to play with.  He got into the pool not wanting to put his head in the water and only being able to swim with a float held in two hands and got out being able to swim under water and collect several dive sticks at once, all in the space of an hour!

On Saturday we went to a birthday party, this is one of eldest's least favourite activities.  I have learnt from past mistakes and he was a lot happier this time than last.  In the room where the games where being played was a box set of Roald Dahl books.  When he asked me what he could do I got them off the shelf and asked if he wanted to look at any of these books.  Usually when I suggest a book to read he rejects it straight away and he has read very few fiction books since learning to read, his favourite being fact books which he read for hours at a time.  I was most surprised when he sat down and read not one but two books during the party, The Twits and Fantastic Mr Fox.  Since then he has read The BFG and is halfway through James and the Giant Peach.

It has been quite a week!


Reading

28 January 2013

Winter has definitely arrived in these parts.  In the last week we have had several days of snow.  We have been reading several books about Winter this week including this lovely book we found in the library.



The Bear's Winter House by John Yeoman is wonderfully illustrated by Quentin Blake.  It tells the story of a bear who, to the other animals in the wood, is behaving rather oddly as winter approaches.  He is building a house so that he has somewhere warm and cosy to sleep in winter.  The other animals think he is daft, but when winter comes they soon realise that it is very cold and windy.  They ask the bear for shelter and he kindly lets them in but they are too cosy and excited to sleep!




It is a delightful story with wonderful illustrations and is a great introduction to hibernation for young children.

Weekending

27 January 2013

Another week has flown by, the year is now three weeks old.  We started the week with snow!  We woke on Monday morning to about an inch the children were so excited especially my youngest as she does not remember the snow we had last year.  After shopping and a library visit in the morning she and I spent the afternoon outside building a snow castle, making angel patterns in the snow and clearing our neighbours path.

Tuesday started badly, we got a phone call and message from our Tuesday and Thursday friends, within a few minutes of each other, to say that neither could meet up with us this week.  My lovely weekly rhythm just stopped beating, the children were devastated.  I called our Wednesday friends to check that they were still on for meeting up and thankfully they were.  Even better they phoned back a couple of hours later to say come over for tea, stay the night and play all day on Wednesday. The children were really excited and could not wait to set off!  We spent some of the time making gingerbread men and reading the story about the gingerbread man that does not want to be caught. They had a great time playing, playing, playing it was amazing they were together for twenty four hours and did not fall out at all in that time.  The spent a large part of Wednesday out in the snow in the garden.

So on Thursday we headed off to a town we don't visit that often to swim and drop off something for repair, we took friends with us.  The swimming was great the pool was warm and pretty much empty, the children's swimming skills suddenly clicked for them both.  We had lunch at the poolside before heading into town.  We ran our errands before heading to a fantastic park for a play. We headed home tired and happy after a grand day out.

On Friday it snowed all day, big fat flakes that settled by the evening we had about three inches.  We made our own snowflakes indoors using a wire form a bit like this except ours have 8 spokes.  We have hung them on our tree.  We also read books about snow and winter, talked about hibernation, played the Winter cooperative game and enjoyed the cosines of our house.

Over the weekend we went to a lovely birthday party on Saturday.  My eldest who is not a fan of parties sat and read two Roald Dahl books whilst the party went on around him!  On Sunday we played at home, made some more play doh to play with, I sewed two cushion covers, read several books with the children and we took part in the RSPB Big Garden Watch.  You spend an hour counting the birds in your garden, you count the numbers each time you see them and then submit the highest number you see at any one time.  We had few visitors this year compared to last.  It was really, really windy and as our garden is pretty exposed the birds were not visiting even though we put out lots of food.  Those that did were clearly struggling against the wind!

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...having a library nearby which always has a great selection of books that we can bring home to read and share.

...a friend with a lovely offer on hearing that my weekly rhythm had stopped beating.

...the fun my children had when we stayed overnight at a friends house especially my youngest as it was her first sleepover.

...outdoor play in the snow.

...waking up to new snow and seeing the tracks of a fox that had walked past out house in the night.

...a fun morning in a swimming pool.

...reflecting on what is important to our family and making plans for the future.

...a lovely birthday celebration at which my children were happy and had a great time.

...time to knit and create.

Eating

26 January 2013

In cold wintry weather a hearty stew is a comforting meal to end the day.  I have several recipes that I like to make one involving lots of garlic and another has the addition of dumplings.  This winter I have been making a stew with green lentils and whatever root vegetables I happen to have in my veg box in a given week.  The other great thing about stew is that you can chop everything up, fry it a little and then leave it to cook whilst you get on with something else.

Green Lentil Stew

1 onion chopped
2 types of root vegetables chopped*
2 garlic cloves chopped
250g green lentils
1 litre vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried rosemary or a sprig of fresh
1 tsp dried thyme or 4 sprigs of fresh

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and fry onion until soft and clear, add the chopped vegetables and cook for a few minutes.

Add garlic and cook for a further few minutes.

Add lentils, pour in stock and add herbs.

Bring to the boil and cook on a low heat for 45 minutes, there will not be much liquid left.

*I have made this with a carrot and a turnip, a carrot, a potato and celeriac, a carrot, couple of potatoes and a parsnip all these combinations tasted good.

Authenticity

25 January 2013

Welcome to the January 2013 Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Authenticity

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by Authentic Parenting and Living Peacefully with Children. This month our participants have written about authenticity through character, emotions, and establishing authentic communication with their children. We hope you enjoy this month's posts and consider joining us next month when we share about Honesty.

***
 
Sometimes the words won't flow, they get stuck, trapped by an invisible gate or are jumbled up like a pile of clothes waiting to be washed.

Sometimes the words are not there.  There is nothing to say.  I listen intently but I have no reply.

Sometimes the words come fast.  So fast they are tripping over each other.  I stop listening and out they pour out one after the other.

As a child, I have been told by my mother, I spoke little in my first school until about the age of ten.  I have no memory of this, my memories of this school are good ones, I enjoyed my time there, I was allowed my silence, my quiet.  Not so at my next school, I was not happy to be there with teachers who spent an hour a week with you, who needed you to speak, to hear your words to check your progress.

I joined the workforce and loved my first job.  I was valued, respected and trusted.  I moved to another and hated it.  I vowed I would never stay in a job which I did not enjoy, where I was not valued, respected and trusted.

Now I am doing the most difficult, unpaid, job of my life as a mother.  Never before have I been so bombarded with information and advice even when it has not been asked for.  It has been hard to stop the flood, to dissect the words to find the ones that I want, to be a parent who is respected and trusted by my children and for my children to learn these important values.

I know I can listen, but am I always present? Can I wait to hear what my child needs and wants to tell me, it's easy to stray, to have your mind elsewhere planning and thinking.

I try to be mindful with my words, to speak as I would be spoken to, but sometimes those words flow out fast, without thought, they hurt and I apologise for I am wrong.

I have to trust my children, to allow them to be themselves, so they can walk their own path not mine, they can lead not follow.

I want the best for my children but I have to let them develop and learn at their pace, if I dictate the pace I am measuring them up to my standards.

I am trying to foster respect and trust through love and kindness, not control.

This is me.

***
APBC - Authentic ParentingVisit Living Peacefully with Children and Authentic Parenting to find out how you can participate in next month's Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival!
 
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon January 25 with all the carnival links.)


Knitting

23 January 2013


On the needles this week is a sock, the first of a pair.  I am knitting these for my mum for her birthday.  She could knit a pair for herself but she really wanted a pair knitted by me, apparently she keeps borrowing the pair I knitted my dad for Christmas!  I feel really honoured that she has ask me to make them.  I was not sure about the colours of this yarn at first, and am still not totally sure but it is the one my mum chose, I do hope she likes them.

Reading wise I am continuing with the same book as last week.  It is a compelling read and continues to hold my attention such that I am finding many ways to create time to read a few pages!  I mentioned last week that I had recently finished a book.  I enjoyed it so much I have shared my thoughts here.

Joining in with Tami for sharing of this weeks work in progress and Ginny for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading.

What are you knitting and / or reading this week?

Crafting

22 January 2013

 
I have been making some snowdrops and leaves this week to put on our seasonal table in the spring.  We have not had an area suitable for such a table up until now.  Over the last year or so I have been decluttering our stuff and this has freed up a space on a small table in our living room.


We were given a beautiful homemade tree for Christmas from some friends.  When I got it home and put it on the table I thought it was too lovely to only be bought out at Christmas.  So I have decided that it will make a centrepiece for our table.  In the spring I will take off the current decorations and add leaves.  Underneath there is a small vase in which we will put seasonal flowers.

I have yet to decide what else we could have, I think we will keep it simple for this year and add a small thing each year.

The pattern for the snowdrop is from this book and the leaves from this lovely blog.

Joining in with Nicole for this weeks sharing at Keep Calm, Craft On.

Reading

21 January 2013

Despite most of the rest of the country being covered in snow, we have had very little, a dusting.  Whilst we are waiting for the snow we have been reading a lovely book this week about snow. Snow Bears by Martin Waddell.


It is the story of three bears who go out to play in the snow.  When their mother joins them they are covered in snow and she asks where her bear babies have gone, they then proceed to pretend they are not her babies but snow bears.  They have lots of fun in the snow with mummy bear before heading inside to warm up by the fire, where something strange happens to the snow bears.....


This is a delightful, gentle story which my youngest has enjoyed at bedtime every night this week.  The illustrations are a beautiful accompaniment to the story.



Joining in with The Children's Bookshelf a sharing all things related to children's books.

Weekending

20 January 2013

We started our week, as usual, with a trip into the local town for food shopping and a visit to the library.  The afternoon was spend snuggled by the fire reading our library books, we were cold from our trip into town.

On Tuesday we woke to another cold day, we were due to visit friends for our usual play date.  I decided to have an early lunch of soup at home rather than taking lunch with us as we usually do.  We set off and about a mile down the road there was about two inches of snow, we have to drive over a high pass to get to our friends and the snow got deeper the higher we drove.  I hoped that there would be no snow as we dropped down the other side, there was less but still a couple of inches.  We were on a main road at that point which was clear but our friends live on a quiet lane some distance from the main road.  We did make it although it was icy in places and we had to stop to let a huge flock of sheep go past.  Most of the children were playing outside in the snow, but as we had not had any snow we did not bring any clothes suitable for joining in, my children did not seem to bothered as we were offered clothes to borrow.  They had a fun afternoon indoors playing with any of the children who got cold outside or who, like them, did not want to play in the snow.

Our usual Wednesday friends were away this week so we went swimming together and joined a friend for a play and biscuits afterwards.  My youngest and I made gingerbread men to share, it was a recipe that I had not used before from this lovely book.

The next day our friends from the south came to join us for lunch.  We had soup, I used some from the freezer and the remains of three others which were in the fridge!  It all got eaten.  After lunch the girls and mummies braved the cold and walked and scooted up to the park.  It was a bit cold for standing around, so we headed back after a short play for a hot drink.  My husband had got the fire going which was very welcome.

On Friday we had been hoping to go and join a home ed group for an activity, but it got cancelled on Thursday night as folks were pulling out due to the snow forecast.  I was sceptical about it reaching us, and sure enough it didn't!  So we had a morning at home building and playing with a wooden train track.  After lunch I walked up the village with my youngest the wind was biting but it was good to get out.  She has recently started to ask question after question and we stopped alot to look at and talks about things that she noticed, moss in the wall, ice crystals, lichen, numbers on houses, pub signs and I am sure there were more.

Over the weekend we had a quiet time at home, keeping busy.  We read books together, played with the railway track, drew pictures, read joke books and made each other laugh, played board games, went for short walks up the village, had friends over for dinner, kept warm by the fire and generally enjoyed each others company.

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I am grateful for...

...no snow, much as I love the stuff it does make our home edding life much more isolating if we cannot get out and about to visit friends.

...time to finish reading this, it is the first book I have really enjoyed reading for ages.

...spending time outside everyday this week, despite the cold it had been dry and provided you wrap up warm it has felt great to spend some time outside.

...sitting round a tables with home edding mummies, chatting and crafting, whilst all the children played happily together.

...sharing food with friends, I really enjoy cooking and it has been great to have a table full of great company to share it with, twice this week.

...finally working out what has been causing the friction between my children, something so simple and obvious that was very easy to resolve, calm has been restored.

...a cup of chamomile tea first thing in the morning and stories in bed with my children.

...our seasoned wood supply which my husband is now stocking up for next winter.

...decluttering and being able to pass on unused, unwanted or outgrown items to friends who will make use of them.


Less

19 January 2013

I have just finished reading a book that I found reassuring, inspiring and thought provoking.  Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne was a book that I kept seeing mentioned on blogs and a forum that I visit.  It was always praised and being recommended as a book to read.  As someone who is trying to simplify our lives I wanted to read a book that promotes less is more.

It was reassuring to read about things that I am trying to implement in my family's life.  I have been going steadily through our stuff over the past year, decluttering and reducing.  I have introduced a rhythm into our week, we like the predictability and order it brings.  We live without a TV and try to limit our screen time to a minimum.  I try to be as mindful as possible in the way I speak to my children.  I have reduced the amount of audio we have in our house.  These are all covered in the book.

I am inspired to continue with my decluttering process, to continue to reduce the stuff we have in the house.  I have always felt that if my children were bored that I was not quite sure how I should respond, I wanted it to something that they dealt with themselves but I was not totally comfortable with it.  I am going to try and find comfort with leaving them to deal with it.  As part of my rhythm in my week I am going to ensure that I always include ordinary days as the author calls them, days when we are not busy to restore calm and balance in the week.  I know my children need these days in the week but I need to remember to ensure that they are included.

There are three areas in particular that have drawn me in and made me pause for thought.  The first is advice on how to react when a child is out of sorts for an extended period.  When things are not right and the disquiet extends beyond a bad mood.  The author suggests 'treating' this as you would a physical illness such as a fever.  He takes you through the steps you would go through for a physical illness and then apply them to a soul fever as he calls them.  You notice, you quieten things down, you stay at home, you let it run its course and hope for a strong return.  This seems so obvious to me when I read it and I will attempt to apply this the next time I feel one of my children is out of sorts.

When talking you through simplifying a child's toys he mentions fixed toys, those that only do one thing, he describes them as being too finished.  I have been looking at the toys we now have, trying to decide whether they are fixed or not and where you draw the line.  Are toy cars fixed, they do allow imaginary play but is that enough.  How about a marble run with pieces that you fit together?  I am looking at all our stuff through a new pair of eyes.

The last is how I talk to my children.  The author advocates talking less, making the words you do say matter, not bathing our children in words.  The more we talk the less they listen.  A child cannot play deeply and thoughtfully if we are talking through their every move.  He suggests that in certain situations if we must talk make it an observation without judgement or praise.  Talking less is a way of decluttering it gives a child more space for their own thoughts and feelings to develop.  The words we do use are so important, I do try to be mindful about speaking to anyone, to speak to others as I wish to be spoken to myself.  I often forget.  So before I speak I am going to try to remember is it true, is it kind, is it necessary.  The necessary meaning are your words more important than silence.  I am going to try to make this my pause before speaking.

Eating

18 January 2013

This post is all about soup.  At the weekend I visited my local farmers market and bought a large bag of veg with the intention of making a big batch of soup to freeze and eat for lunch during the month.  At this time of year soup is a great lunch meal, whether you at home or out and about.  It is easy to put in a flask and drink to warm you up whilst outside.  I made nine pints, we ate some over the weekend the rest went in the freezer.

I also had some rather wizened looking swede that had not been eaten yet, none of my recipe books had a recipe for swede soup so made one up, all quantities are approx as I did not weigh anything!

Swede Soup
1 onion
400g swede
1 small potato
1 small carrot
Freshly grated nutmeg
2 pints stock

Dice the onion and fry gently in butter in a saucepan until soft and clear.
Peel and roughly chop the other veg, add to saucepan and fry gently for a few minutes.
Add the nutmeg and stir through.
Add the stock and stir, cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
Allow to cool a little and blend.

I also made some carrot soup.  All the recipes that I have found for carrot soup include two ingredients that I cannot eat, tomatoes and lemon juice or it is the ubiquitous carrot and coriander which is notoriously difficult to get hold of where I live.  So I had a go at making it with coriander powder and it came out rather well, in my opinion anyway!  Again quantities are approx, due to not weighing anything.

Spicy Carrot Soup
1 onion
500g carrots
2 tsp coriander powder
1tsp cumin powder
Pinch chilli powder or more depending on your taste
1.5 pints stock

Fry the onion in butter in a large saucepan until soft and clear.
Roughly chop the carrots.
Add the spices to the onions and stir in, fry gently for a minute.
Add the carrots and mix throughly to coat with the onion spicey mix.
Add the stock and cook until the carrots are soft.
Allow to cool a little and blend.




Knitting

16 January 2013


On the needles this week is another part of the jacket I shared last week.  That piece was the back which is now complete and this is one of the front pieces.  Progress is fairly slow for many reasons, one is that I have been knitting less this week, after my constant knitting for Christmas I am slowing down a bit for a while.  Another reason is that I have been reading more.

I have read a whole book in a week.  If this is something you achieve regularly then you may think it odd that I am claiming this as an achievement, but I simply cannot remember the last time I read a book in a week since becoming a mother.  I have started to read something very different this week.  The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein is a sobering read, it is a take on the economics of disasters and her belief that many people are exploited as a result time and time again.  I have read another book by this author No Logo about the rise and power of brands in our society.  I really enjoyed it and hope I enjoy this one too.

What are you knitting and reading this week?  Joining in with Ginny for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading.

Simplicity

15 January 2013

Welcome to the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Continue your reading read on at the bottom of this post by clicking the links to the other participants' posts.

***

I endeavour to live my life, with my husband and children, as simply as possible.

What this means to me is talking and communicating with others in a manner that is respectful and how I would wish to be spoken to myself.  We always talk things through, especially when they are important to any one of us, and give each other space to reflect on our discussions before making a decision if one is required.  I try to ensure that I talk to my children about what we are doing on a given day at a time that is appropriate for them, in the case of my eldest this is the night before, and my youngest at the moment, in the morning.

It also means taking life slowly not doing too much in one day.  If we are going out then one errand/visit/plan in a day is enough at the moment.  It is important to me to allow enough time not to be rushing and stressing about being late or getting everything done.  If I need to do extra tasks such as making gifts then I think and plan ahead and to ensure that there is time to get them done on top of our usual day to day, again without stress and rushing.  I don't get to the end of each day and think, I wish I could have done such and such today, if it really needs to be done I will do it, if not I will fit it in when I can.

It is about our possessions, our stuff, being just the right amount.  There is a word for this in Swedish, Lagom, but sadly not in English.  I came across this expression on this lovely blog.  I am still working on finding our lagom, of finding our right amount this is very much work in progress.  I have reduced the amount of items in our house quite considerably in the last year but I feel that we could reduce even more.  Each birthday and Christmas increases our possessions and means that we have to find homes for our new things so sometimes it feels like two step forwards and one step back, particularly as we have had three birthdays and Christmas in the last three months!  All our stuff has a home a place where it can be put away, for the children's things it is important that they are accessible to them, so they are all on low shelves.  If they are stored in a cupboard then the cupboard must also be organised and accessible.  For me, it is also about shopping with purpose, with a list if necessary and not coming home with several items that we bought because they were a bargain and were not really want we need, let alone want.

The most important part of living simply for me is to have a rhythm to our life.  We have a weekly rhythm with days at home, days with friends and a day to do our weekly food shop.  If it is Monday then we are shopping, if it is Thursday we are meeting friends, if it is Saturday it is a home day.  Our days at home do not have rhythm we do not paint on one day or do crafting on a particular day, I never feel that these days disappear into doing nothing, they are always full.  Our 'home' days are also about doing things as a family so we might go for a walk or visit a Museum, go canoeing or swimming.  We have a rhythm with our food too.  I plan a menu each week based on the contents of our weekly veg box, we shop for the food we need to cook that menu.  We eat seasonally, and therefore as locally as possible, so we feel the rhythm of the seasons through our food.

A life lived simply is about being mindful in your decision making and communication, it is rewarding, fulfilling and enjoyable.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated - Confucius

***
Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Continue your reading by clicking the links of this month's posts on what simple living means to our participants. We hope you will join us next month, as we discuss new beginnings!
  • The Moments In Between - Amber from Heart Wanderings takes her yoga practice off the mat to focus on the ordinary moments which make mothering magical.
  • Simple living - what it looks like to me - Does simple living mean we have to be selfish? And what does selfish mean anyway? Mrs Green from Little Green Blog ponders in search of a more simple life...
  • A Simple Life is a Peaceful Life, For Me - Destany at They Are All of Me writes how simplicity is a very necessary part of her daily function and crucial for coping with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder.
  • Getting Back to the Basics - Minimalism was the first step toward living simply for Momma Jorje. Now she's got big plans on getting back to the basics of living in order to live a simple, healthy, family-focused lifestyle.
  • Simplicity - What living simply means to sustainablemum and how it is woven into the fabric of daily life.
  • Simply Living - Sophelia of Sophelia's Adventures in Japan writes about her reluctance to tighten her budget after years of living in poverty, but also her anticipation of the pleasures of simplifying her daily life as she and her husband prepare to adopt a child in Japan. 
  • The Simple Life: A Work in Progress - Joella at Fine and Fair ponders her idealized vision of simple living and discusses the steps she's taking to get closer to it. 
  • Simple Living is Simply Living - At Living Peacefully with Children, Bart and Mandy hope to help their children focus on what is truly important by simply living.
  • Happiness, not Greatness - Lauren at Hobo Mama discovered that ambitions got in the way of simply being.
  • Shifting to Simplicity - At Authentic Parenting, Laura shares a couple of ways in which she tries to simplify her life.

Reading

14 January 2013

My youngest loves reading books about animals at the moment and particularly loves having this story read to her.


Little Dolphin's Big Adventure by Renne is a beautifully illustrated story about a dolphin.


He swims in the wake of a boat, racing it along, he is having so much fun that he does not realise how far he has travelled and is unable to find his way back to his sandy bay.  He meets some other dolphins who he has fun playing with, but he realises that he is missing his friends and family back in the bay.  He does find his way home in the end.  On some of the pages there are fact boxes with snippets of information about dolphins, where they live, what they eat etc.


This book was given to my eldest when he was younger and he still enjoys reading it especially to his sister!

Joining in with The Children's Bookshelf a sharing of all things related to Children's books.

Weekending

13 January 2013

It has been lovely this week to get back into our weekly rhythm, it is comforting like a fire on a cold winter evening.

We started the week with our usual trip into the local town for our food shopping and a visit to the library.  As always after unpacking and lunch we spent the afternoon reading our new library books.

On Tuesday we visited our friends who we have not seen for ages for our usual play dates.  Illness, them not us thankfully, and Christmas has meant we have not seen them for about six weeks.  There were several families there again and the children all had a wonderful time playing together.  It was really calm and peaceful this time.

The next day we had a wonderful day of outdoor play with some friends.  We took a picnic and drove up the road for a lovely day out in the sunshine.  It felt so good to feel the sun on our faces again after so long.  The world feels huge when you can see the blue sky.

The next day we drove south to join our friends for lunch and a play.  Just after she had woken up, my youngest said something which proved to me that rhythm that I have worked hard to introduce into our week has all been worthwhile. We see the same the same sets of friends each week, each on a particular day.  She knew it was the day for our Thursday friends without knowing it was Thursday. It was good to catch up after a break over Christmas.  The girls had fun icing cakes.  The drive back was long through the dark and thick fog.

Friday we headed for a day round the county.  We started by dropping off a hire car that my husband no longer required as the job he was to use it for had been cancelled, such is the life of being self employed.  Then we drove to another town for swimming and lunch with friends.  After the children had played for a bit and the adults chatted we headed to pick up our flour order from a local mill.  On the way home we dropped in some more friends for a cuppa and to drop off some bits.  We got home exhausted after a long day out!

We had a fairly busy weekend based mostly at home.  On Saturday we headed out to the local famers market to pick up some supplies.  In the afternoon I cooked up a batch of soup to put on the freezer for eating this month.  On Sunday I had one of those days were I was highly productive without much effort.  I cooked up more soup, baked some bread, made some rolls, did some washing, hoovered the house, put together a big bag of stuff for the charity shop, read books with the children, danced, played, read some of my book whilst the children and my husband went for a bike ride and fell into bed happy and content.  A perfect end to the week.

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect and be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for....

...getting back into our usual weekly rhythm.

...time to spend catching up with friends I have not seen since before Christmas.

...a great day of outdoor play a rare treat at this time of year.

...an evening out helping out some local young people they are always wonderful company.

...this wonderful book.

...time to bake bread, by hand rather than using the bread maker.

...my wonderful local farmers market which runs all year round, it is great to buy produce from the person that grows it, and it is local too!

...making soup with the wonderful veg bought at the farmers market, my freezer is now well stocked for the month.

Eating

11 January 2013

I haven't posted a recipe on here for ages so I thought it was time, with it being the start of a new year, to start sharing them again.  We eat as seasonally as possible here, so we are currently eating lots of root vegetables.  I am always on the look out for new recipes.  I am not sure where this one came from, probably an amalgamation of several recipes.

Root Vegetable and Blue Cheese Bake

1lb Carrots
1lb Parsnips
1lb Potatoes
Knob of Butter
5 Spring Onions
Approx 100g Blue Cheese (I usually use Stilton)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Peel and roughly chop the vegetables.  Boil in water until tender, drain and put in a bowl.
Chop the salad onions.
Melt butter in the same pan and gently fry the salad onions for a minute or so until soft, add the vegetables and stir to coat with butter and mix in the salad onion.
Chop the Stilton into small pieces
Put the vegetables in a large, buttered dish and scatter the cheese on top.
Put in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes until the cheese has melted.

I usually serve this with green beans (if I have any frozen ones from the garden), cabbage cooked or made into a salad.



Sunshine

10 January 2013

   








Yesterday we arranged to go out with friends as the weather was forecast to be cloudy but dry.  We woke up to find a clear blue sky and sunshine.  It's the first time we have seen the sun properly this year, except for a few hours on the beach on New Years Day.  It was wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun on our faces again after so long.  The world felt bigger with the open blue sky, rather than thick grey cloud pressing down on us.

We had a great time, walking, playing, swinging, jumping, hiding, clambering, climbing, eating, drinking, talking and creating with our friends.  As I drove home through our village there were lots of mums walking to the school to pick up their children, I wondered wryly who had had the best day of learning.

Linking in with The Magic Onions for Friday's Nature Table a sharing of nature activities.

Knitting

09 January 2013


I am joining in with Ginny for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading.

On the needles this week is a project for myself, after months of knitting presents for others it is good to return to knitting for me.  I cast this on in the summer and knitted about half of the back before turning my attention and time to my ever growing list of handmade presents.  It is going to be a jacket when complete, the wool is a deep purple and is on a big cone so it is not a portable project, I will just have to cast on another to take out and about.  One of the projects I completed for Christmas was a dress for my youngest which I blogged about last year.  I have now taken some pictures and shared them here.

Reading wise I have have finished reading the book about the Crusades which was interesting, it has left me feeling that little has changed in the world over the last 800 years.  I am now reading Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne and I am really enjoying it.

What are you knitting and reading this week?

Garden

08 January 2013

It is winter where I live so not much is happening in my garden at the moment apart from my garlic bulbs which are growing slowly, most of the other plants are dormant.

I am hoping this year to garden using biodynamic methods and have bought a rather lovely year planner to help with this.


Whilst I was out shopping yesterday I was offered a free diary in the health food shop which I thought would help me with organising myself to garden using this, new to me, method.  So I spent some time writing in entries for the first three months of this year, to interpret my chart and to put in when I could be doing some of the important winter jobs that I need to do.  I know that I am going to have to be organised to garden in this method, as there is often only one sometimes two days a month suited for certain tasks.  I am hoping that this focus will mean that my garden is actually better looked after, as often I start in the Spring with great intentions but come the Summer the garden is looking very overgrown and neglected.

Reading

07 January 2013

My youngest was given a great book for Christmas which I thought I would share with you all.

It is mostly a picture book with a few words and is intended to be looked at and talked about.  Each time we read this book we notice something different and the discussion always varies.


The book, Just Imagine by Pippa Goodhart with illustrations by Nick Sharratt, offers the child the chance to imagine themselves as a lot of weird and wonderful things, being very big or small, made of something else such as cheese, live in a different era etc.




This book is going to last us for many years as some of the concepts in this book are really aimed at an older age.  I can see us possibly using this book as a starting point for exploration, games or writing stories.  I hope it is a book I never tire of looking at.

Joining in with The Children's Bookshelf for a sharing of all things related to children's books.

Weekending

06 January 2013

This week has seen the end of one year and the start of the next, a time to herald in new beginnings should you so wish.

We started the week at a friends house where we were staying to celebrate the New Year.  We have been meeting up for years to celebrate together initially as adults but now as families, we are thirteen into total which requires a lot of organising on the food front.  On New Year's Eve the older children and most of the adults headed out early to walk up a big hill, it was windy and icy cold so they did not make it to the top but had a good walk nonetheless, they arrived back with a mass of wet clothing and kit.  The younger children and two adults remained at home for playing, drawing, painting, baking and in the afternoon a wet, muddy walk in nearby woods.  They loved running around and got plastered in mud by the end.  In the evening we all sat down for a buffet tea prepared by some of the adults.  Once we had eaten and cleared up we moved the tables to one side and danced to some cheesy 80s music.  The younger children went to bed and the older one's stayed up to welcome the new year in at midnight.  We all collapsed into bed soon after.  The afternoon of New Year's Day was spent on the beach as is our tradition.  We had a big cooked breakfast before setting off and prepared a stew which was cooking in the oven for our return.

We set off home on Wednesday, we had been away for ten days and it was good to be home again.  The children always spend the first hour or so finding all their favourite toys to play with, reunited after a break.

Thursday we spent the day at home, unpacking, washing, finding homes for our presents and tidying up.  I had been so busy making presents before we went away that the house was not particularly tidy when we left.   The children kept themselves busy for most of the day playing with Lego.

Friday we had plans to meet up with friends and hoped that the weather forecast was correct.  We were grateful that it was and had a wonderful day out enjoying the outdoors.

Over the weekend we have pottered around at home, drawing, playing with Lego, reading books together, knitting, playing games, making dens and snuggling under blankets.  We joined some friends for dinner on Saturday night it was good to catch up and chat with them.  After a very different week I am looking forward to returning to our usual daily rhythms.

Gratitudes

I am joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to reflect, to slow down and be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...the wonderful company of friends to welcome in the New Year.

...spending New Years day on the beach.

...the wonderful gifts we received from the friends we spent New Year with and the joy and appreciation of the gifts we gave them.

...sharing good home cooked food with friends.

...our lovely friends who welcome us into their house every New Year.

...a fun afternoon at a swimming pool with slides and 'beaches' on a cold wet windy day.

...a walk in the woods during a break in the rain, watching the children run wild in the mud, enjoying hot chocolate and cake under the trees it was great to feel the wind on our faces.

...my lovely husband driving us safely for so many miles to see friends and family over Christmas and New Year.

...a day outside with friends enjoying a fun play area and an interesting walk.

...time to stop and take in my surroundings wherever I am without the feeling or pressure that I should be rushing to be somewhere else.

Nova

05 January 2013

I knitted a dress for my youngest for Christmas, as it was to be a present I knitted in the evenings after she had gone to bed.  I knew it would take a long time so I started knitting in August!  


This was one of the most complicated patterns I have followed.  It is knitted in the round using circular needles, I had used circulars once before to knit a hat, it involves stripes which I have never knitted before and stripes in the round are even more complicated.  I consider myself to be a competent, confident knitter with a few years of experience,  I love to try new techniques provided I can find the help I need.  

To knit the stripes in the round I had to ensure that I carried the yarn up that I was not knitting, I chose to do this on every other row.  The stripes were six rows wide, so a carried up in rows one, three and five.  When you are knitting in the round you are actually knitting a spiral so when you change colour you can see the join, I had to learn a new technique to hide the join, the jogless jog.  The pattern provided a link but I could not make sense of it at all and I still had a jog, I consulted my knitting book but it made no mention of it.  A google search gave me a few websites with descriptions that I still could not make sense of so I looked on YouTube and found the perfect method, simple, easy to remember and it worked.  You knit one row in your new colour, the first stitch of row two you slip purlwise and knit the rest of the rows as usual.

I wanted wooden buttons but I was unable to find any in the very small size I needed in the time I had, so I settled for some orange ones.  After blocking, this dress only just fits.  My daughter must be very big for her age, or the pattern writer had a small child as I knitted the age six size and it only just fits, my daughter is three!


She has only worn it once so far, but I think I will be trying to ensure that it gets worn as much as possible as it will not fit next winter, although with the weather we have had for the past few summers she may want to wear it in June!

If you want to knit one you can find the pattern on ravelry and it is free!

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm and Craft On.

Walking

04 January 2013

We have been enjoying the outdoors today.  We had plans to meet up with friends and hoped that the weather forecast was going to prove right and we could spend some time outside.  It has rained pretty much every day since the beginning of December with very rare moments of clear skies.  It was cloudy today but, as the recent rain has also meant thick grey low cloud, it felt really bright despite the fact that the sky was all cloud.

We met at a wood and had fun on a play trail.

 
There were big long slides, stilts to climb on, a big truck climbing frame, a climbing wall, a stand on rope swing, a very large climbing frame, water play with Archimedes screws and channels, gravel play with buckets made from old tyres, small play houses and a fairy kingdom complete with carvings.  It was a great place for the children to play with a short distance to walk between each activity.  I would imagine in the summer it will be very busy but on a cool winter day it was, thankfully, quiet.


After our play we had a picnic lunch before heading off for a walk with words trail. Every now and again we found a marker post with a quote relating to woods and nature on it.

 Diversity is Nature's Way Vandana Shiva

We also found a great place half way round to rest little legs, drink hot chocolate and eat cake.


It was a lovely day out.

Beaches

03 January 2013


Christmas and the month of December is a time steeped in tradition. I am still finding my way for Christmas traditions for my family, but our New Year ones are firmly in place and give me comfort each year.

Fifteen years ago ten adults booked a last minute holiday cottage, my husband and I were part of this group, and a tradition was born.  At that time we all worked together, none of us were married and one couple were expecting their first child.  Fifteen years on, six of those adults still meet up every year along with seven children.  We stopped booking holiday cottages once we bought our own homes, although we are such a big number now that we no longer meet in our home but switch between the other two family homes as they are much larger.

Cooking for thirteen is a mammoth exercise and involves immense amount of food.  The utility room of the house we stayed at this year had bags of food everywhere, if you wanted something out the fridge you had usually had to dig for it and the washing up never stopped.

The children always have great fun, with seven children ranging in age from three to fifteen there is always someone to play with.  There were times when they all disappeared playing in various parts of the house.


We always get together for four nights and three days and plan to spend as much of that time outside, weather permitting.  Whatever the weather we always spend the afternoon of New Years Day on the beach.  It always amazes me that every year we drive to the beach through driving rain and wind to find a beach basking in sunshine.  It is never warm, as you would expect in the middle of winter and is always very windy but the sunshine lifts the spirits.


This year the light was particularly beautiful with the sun low in the sky making the sand look like honey.  The men take a dip in the sea, well a run in and out.

Football or rugby get played.  Holes get dug, one year so big we all sat in it and had cake and hot chocolate.  I love to spend time on the beach near the sea and it is, for me, the perfect place to start the year.


Resolute

01 January 2013

It is a tradition at this time of year to make resolutions to change your habits, have new goals or projects.  I am not sure that I have ever made any resolutions per se but that does not mean that I have not had goals in life.  If you have beliefs and ideals that are thought of as alternative, quirky and away from the mainstream then it can sometimes be hard to stick to what you really believe in, particularly if you feel that you are constantly swimming against the tide.

My resolution every year is always to stay true to what I believe in, be open to new ideas and to look after myself and my family to the best of my abilities, how about you?