Odds.....

27 February 2014

It feels like it has been a funny kind of seven days, an odd week.  In reality it probably hasn't, I may just have remembered more odd moments from this week than normal.  We came home from being away on a Saturday afternoon, I usually shop for food on a Thursday but decided we would eat from the cupboards for the rest of the week.  We have limped along with our meals with no planning, it has made me glad I do bother.  Trying to make coleslaw without carrots and pizza without cheese is, well, interesting.

I spent an hour, at home, on Sunday afternoon on the phone trying to get my husband, three adults and six Explorer Scouts through a four foot stream of water that was blocking the road.  They had been out on an over night expedition and this was the only route out of the valley they were in.  To add to the mix one of the vehicles they were in was refusing to start.  Three hours later they were through with the help of a local farmer and a long tow rope.....

We gave our eldest a Meccano set for Christmas which he opened and set to with immediately.  There are lots of little pieces in a Meccano set, all of which are vital for construction.  He did this in a ideal location the way into our living room, the rest of the floor was taken up with other presents.  Our house is open plan downstairs we have little wall between our dining and living rooms just a large opening half of which is taken up by a chair, ours is not green and is in need of a little attention, the rest of the opening is the way into the room.  So to get into the living room you had to step over or through Meccano in action, is my child the only one who does this, plays in less than ideal places!  This is his first set so when he couldn't find a piece we had no box of spare bits, like we do with Lego, which we could ratch through to find a replacement.  So after the initial excitement it was cast to one side as it could not be completed.  In January I contacted Meccano to ask them if we could have a replacement piece, we searched high and low for it the day it went missing and concluded it may not have been in the box in the first place, a quick trawl on tinterweb revealed others had had the same problem.  This week an envelope arrived with a Calais postmark, at first I thought it might be a random object my husband had ordered on eBay, the account is in my name, but no it was the missing part from Meccano!  So eight weeks later the set is being worked on this time on the children's worktable rather than the floor!

It is definitely moving towards Spring in these parts.  The temperatures are still on the cool side but the sky has changed.   After months of heavy, gloomy grey skies they are now white and fluffy with patches of blue.  It makes me want to spend afternoons outside even if we are still having the odd shower.  So I planned to go out on Tuesday afternoon regardless of the weather.  The children really wanted to go to a local National Trust place to visit the bird hide there.  I had not banked on the closed signs being up when we got there, we live in a tourist area, in the Winter the area closes, sod the locals.  This is an unusual site tho' as you pay an entrance fee to visit the gardens and some of the grounds but there is a public footpath running through parts of it, so it is not closed completely.  Despite this, as we wandered around, I still felt like we were interlopers we did see several members of staff doing winter maintenance who didn't seem too perturbed to see us.  We had a lovely hour in the bird hide drinking hot chocolate, eating biscuits and watching our feathered friends.

...and ends on a sadder note.  Every Monday we go to a friends house to a singing group she runs, it was cancelled this week as her youngest was unwell.  The next day the little one was in hospital having tests.  Last night a gangrenous appendix was removed.  I am deeply shocked at how quickly it all happened.  So, so grateful that the GP she went to see on Tuesday referred them immediately to the hospital.  So, so grateful that it was picked up in time.  My thoughts are with this lovely family as they come to terms with their week.


Fear

25 February 2014

Last night I had a conversation with a fifteen year old.  I have known this lad for about a year.  When I first met him he was very quiet.  Now he has revealed himself to be very funny, he has perfect timing and is very quick with his quips.  I can guarantee he will make you laugh, a lot.  I have realised that he is quiet when he is out of his comfort zone, when he feels that he has taken on something that he doesn't feel able to handle or is capable of.  He seeks me out, alone, to ask me and tell me things.  Inside the comedian exterior he is lost.  He has lost his identity, his sense of self.  I had a conversation with someone this last week about two children who were the same.  They feel very scared, as opposed to trepidatious, about doing something new.

A baby is completely dependant on its parents to care for it and meet, or attempt to work out, it's needs.  Within their first year they start to make small steps away, coming back to the parent, the safety net.  As the child grows as does their desire to explore, to make sense of their surroundings.  But as they explore we naturally want to keep our children safe, away from harm.  If we tell our children to be careful or suggest that they may not be able to do something is this really that helpful.  Who is really fearful you or your child.  By using these words you are planting your fears into your child's head.  They may have not even considered whether or not they could do what they are about to  do but your words have planted some doubts into their head.  You are their wise protector and you think they cannot do it so maybe they can't, rather than enjoying the moment this becomes their overriding feeling.  When we are distracted, we usually fail. If it really is that dangerous should you be there in the first place.  The best way to keep a child from harm is to give them freedom to explore and let them get on with it.  This may feel counter intuitive but they will become better able to anticipate and avoid dangers as they get older, but they can only develop these skills if they are given the support they are need and treated with trust and respect.

Last nights conversation made me sad.  Sad that a young man on the brink of going out into the world independently has not been able to build the resources he needs.  I have heard his parents speak to him.  He doesn't trust himself or his abilities, he has no sense of who he really is.  The restrictions placed on him are necessary because he has not been able to build a framework for himself, he doesn't know what he could be capable of because he has not had the freedom to explore.  His parents fears have become his.

Moments...

24 February 2014

...happiness time with my whole family, my mothers face when she opened her present, not having to cook for a week, rest and peace

...sadness at a comment my mother made this week which really shocked and surprised me

...creating music, two cardigans, drawings, plans for next month

reading Mathematics Minus Fear by Lawrence Potter and these picture books, I have written a short review of each one here* 47. Who's Like Me by Nicola Davies, 48. Animal Homes by Debbie Martin, 49. The Hedgehog's Balloon by Nick Butterworth, 50. The Fox's Hiccups by Nick Butterworth, 51. The Badger's Bath by Nick Butterworth

...learning about musical instruments, rhythm, music scores, Lord Nelson, cannons, bones, animal families, mammals, animal homes and habitats

...thinking about my nephew who is really unhappy at the moment

...hoping to catch up with friends this week

...looking forward to a visit to our local Fire Station this week

* Joining in with the 300 Picture Book Challenge

Gratitudes

23 February 2014



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...

...meals cooked for me

...peace

...a restful week

...some lovely days out with my children and my parents

...time with my family

...a safe drive home

...a safe place to call home

...my husband fixing the problem with our flue which meant we could not light the wood burning stove the week before we went away

...free wood from a neighbour whose tree came down in a recent storm, into our garden!

...secondhand bookshops

...a bag of clothes from my sister in law for my eldest

Peace

21 February 2014







I have been reminded this week how lucky I am to live in a country that is not at war with itself or any other country.  Despite being a work of fiction, The Beautiful Truth set in modern day and wartime Poland, has been well researched and paints a vivid picture of life for ordinary Polish people trapped in their occupied towns and cities.  Many resisted the occupation, life must have been one of constant fear and hardship.  No one talked about the Second World War when I was a child, I did not study this period at school, it is only since having my own children that I have come to know anything about this period in history.  The more I read and learn about the war the more I have come to understand why no one wanted to talk about it.  I cannot imagine what it would have been like to have been alive at that time.

When you look further back in history we were a country often at war with others.  We had a huge navy and were often sending great warships off to battles.  As I walked round the HMS Victory this week it is really hard to imagine 800 men living and working in such a small space.  The noise, in battle, must have been overwhelming, especially for the younger members of the crew probably aged around 12 who may have been at sea for the first time.  The number of men who died on ships such as these must have been huge and there is a reminder of this in the Mary Rose Museum.  Whilst the remains of the ship is on display, for me it is the artefacts of life on board that are more interesting. The loss of life on this ship was huge, it sank close to the harbour bounds, and though life was lost it was preserved in the mud and has now been painstakingly preserved.  We will never understand what it was really like to live and work on such a ship, the noise the action, have been sunk with the ship.

I have noticed this week, whilst being away from home that I have less 'noise' in my head.  I am thinking, always thinking about what we are going to do on that day, the next, food, washing, jobs I need to do round the house, activities to do with the children and so it goes on.  It is distracting, it stops me sleeping but not this week it has all gone quiet, if only I could find a way to turn it off or down at home........the peace is wonderful and relaxing.

Some of the noise going round in my head lately has been my thoughts on education and the future of my eldest.  I have been trying to identify why and what it is about secondary education in Britain that I am not happy about, writing it down has helped to make it clearer.  I have made some peace with my thoughts this week following a discussion with my parents.  I had thought that they were totally opposed to me continuing to home educate the children beyond primary school age, but after discussing with them my thoughts and what outcomes could and need to be achieved they have changed their minds and are in total support of whatever I do.  I know that in the back of my mind this was bothering me, I would have taken the decision based on my eldest's needs not what they thought.  But I know that if they had not been supportive it would have been harder for me and I would have felt that I always needed to justify what I was doing.  I still need to give this more thought but my head feels a lot clearer now and I still have plenty of time!

What do you do to find peace?


Knitting

19 February 2014


My sock knitting is just not happening this year, first of all I cast on these but I decided the yarn didn't go with the pattern, then last week I shared these.  I had noted that the cables can make the socks tight so I cast on more stitches as suggested and went up a couple of needle sizes to make sure they fitted.  I had got to the heel flap and thought I would try them on to see whether I needed to make them any longer and I couldn't get them on, I couldn't even get them onto my youngest's feet, they might fit a baby......I have put them to one side whilst I decide what to do.  In the meantime I have cast on a cardigan for myself using the wool I frogged from a project I knitted ages ago and never wore.  I am going to add sleeves this time and have been using these notes to work out the pattern, so far so good....

I have read another book this week which I really enjoyed.  The Beautiful Truth by Belinda Seaward follows the journey of Catherine as she travels to Krakow to find out about her father who disappeared when she was child and in doing so makes discoveries about herself.  The story moves between war torn and modern day Krakow.   I particularly enjoyed this book as I have travelled to Krakow myself, the places described were familiar to me.  I am back reading Mathematics Minus Fear, I am away at the moment and only bought two books with me, I should've bought more!

Oh, and before I forget I finished the shawl and shared pictures of it here, my mum loved it!

Joining in with Tami and  Ginny for sharing of yarny works in progress head on over to see what others are busy with.....

Moments....

17 February 2014

...this week of...

...happiness a day out with friends, getting my mums present finished on time, a safe journey through the wind and rain

...sadness that my husband has had to go home whilst we stay at my mums for the week

...creating shawl, the start of a new cardigan, birthday cards, painting, a cafe, a town with lego

...reading The Beautiful Truth by Belinda Seaward, and these picture books*, 41. Queen Victoria's Knickers by Jackie French, 42. The Great Granny Gang by Judith Kerr, 43. Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins, 44. One Mole Digging a Hole by Julia Donaldson, 44. My Adventure Island by Timothy Knapman, 45. How Many Sleeps by Amber Stewart

...learning about vehicles, South America, rainforests, letters, orchestras, ballet

...thinking about my sister in law who has been having terrible pains in her hip

...looking forward to a visit to this place

*Joining in with the 300 Picture Book Challenge

Gratitudes

16 February 2014



Joining in Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition

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

This week I have been grateful for...

...our singing group

...a lovely day out with friends

...a restful day at home

...surviving the very high winds we had one night

...a neighbour coming to check on me after the storm as he knew I was on my own with the children

...a gap in the weather which enabled me to drive safely to visit family

...a beautiful warm spring day

...a weekend with my whole family, come together to celebrate my mums birthday

...a wonderful meal out with my family

Shawl

14 February 2014


The project that has taken out all my time over the last couple of weeks is finally finished.  I was blocking it when shared my knitting earlier in the week.  I love this pattern and would love to make more of these, however I am baffled by the gauge and sizes given.  My working gauge and finished gauge were spot on but my finished dimensions are smaller than those given.  I blocked it quite hard, I couldn't stretch it any further without ruining it, so I am not sure where I went wrong.  It is a little on the small size but I hope it will be ok for my mum, it fits me fine but she is a little bigger than me so I do hope it it is not too small.  I sound like am being really negative about it, I love it really!


Pattern: Guernsey Triangle by Jared Flood
Yarn: Dazzling The Natural Dye Studio, Shade Malmsmead (sadly no longer available)


Joining in with Tami for sharing of finished yarny projects, head on over to see what others have been making....

....and Nicole for this weeks Keep Calm Craft On head on over to see what others have been making....

Knitting

12 February 2014


Usually when I have a frantic knitting time to get something made by a deadline, and I don't have the time to knit anything else in the meantime, I can't wait to cast on or get on with another project.  I did manage to finish knitting the shawl which I shared last week, I am still blocking it.  I was concerned about finishing off with kitchener stitch, it looks ok but it is not the best of finishes.  I think it was more about the provisional cast on than my kitchener stitch.  It looks a little better now that it is blocking, if I don't try these things I won't get better at them, I think I know what I would do differently next time!  So having the shawl off the needles I thought I would be eager to start the next thing but I found I didn't want to and had a break from knitting for three days.  I spent that time frogging a cardigan I knit ages ago and hardly wore because it looked awful on me.  I now have a big ball of wool which I have decided I will knit into another one of these with sleeves this time.  I have to confess I did also spend some of that three days searching on Ravelry to check there were no other cardigans I wanted to knit......I have now cast on another project a sock for me.  Those of you who visit here regularly may recognise this yarn as I have shared it before, I cast on one of these but frogged it as I decided it was the wrong pattern for this yarn.  I think this pattern suits this yarn.

I have also been reading a lot this week too.  I picked up two new books in the library when I visited on Thursday and have read one of them already.  The Still Point by Amy Sackville was a wonderful read that I could not put down.  The events in the book take place over the course of a day.  A hot summers day.  They are interwoven with events from one hundred years before in the Arctic and the old house that Julia, one of the main characters, is now living in and which has belonged to her ancestors for many generations.  She is trying to make sense and order in the belongings that are cluttering the house she has inherited and makes a totally unexpected discovery.  Julia's husband meanwhile is wrangling with difficult decisions of his own.  I read this authors other book Orkney last year and loved that too.  Next up I am going to read The Beautiful Truth by Belinda Seaward.

Roaming

11 February 2014

Welcome to the February 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting Fears

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories and wisdom about parenting fears.

***

I wonder how many times you have read or heard words along the lines of, children don't play outside as much as they used too or we had so much more freedom when we were kids?  Familiar?  Ring true with you?

I played out a lot as a child, we had a large garden and lived on a road that was quiet, few people owned cars and we played in the street after school, at the weekend and during the holidays.  As we got older we roamed away from the street and wandered far.  There were no mobile phones but we always had a bag of small coins so that we could make a call from a phone box if we needed to.  As a teenager if I went out at night I had to be home by a pre agreed time but if I wished to stay out later I could ring home and negotiate to stay out later, provided my parents knew where I was, they usually agreed.  As a child I gave little thought to what this meant to my parents other than I never felt that they were restricting me or had what I felt to be unfair 'rules'.  It is only since becoming a parent myself that I have fully understood and am in awe of the freedom that they gave me.  Could I as a parent do the same?

The world I grew up in is different to one that my parents grew up in and so is the one my own children are growing up in.  There were no mobile phones when I was a child but as they were not part of anyone's life you couldn't possibly miss them.  But does having a mobile make a difference to ones decision making or does it make it harder, it is easier to stay in contact but what happens when you can't.  Has all the connectivity we have actually made it harder as a parent rather than easier, the silence is deafening and scary rather than business as usual.

The media would have us believe that the world is a place fraught with dangers. They would have us believe they are commonplace, far more so than they were in the past.  I cannot reconcile myself with that view of the world.  News travels fast and is easier to 'publish' to the world, instantly at the click of a button.  Have things changed or do we just know about more goings on now.  Would it be better if we didn't?

My children are still fairly young, at the moment they don't have a desire to venture far from me or their father.  But there have been a few occasions where my eldest has gone out of my sight.  Each time this has been at his request and we have discussed it.  This has felt totally natural, as I expect it was for my own parents.  He has yet to request this in a situation that I have not been happy with so it remains to be seen how I feel and react then.  I have come to realise it is impossible to know.

To give a child any degree of freedom I believe requires one to trust, that may seem obvious.  But I also believe that it is not possible to trust anyone if you don't believe and trust in yourself.  It also requires you to care, there are sadly many children who are given so much freedom that they don't know what to do with it.  The freedom is often from neglect.

It is a balance, I believe, between staying safe and trusting, between protection and over protection.  It's a fine line sometimes but one that I hope will feel right and stay instinctive for years to come, even if comes with the worry that mothers feel.

***

Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaVisit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants (list will be final around 5pm PST February 11):
  • When Parents' Fears Escalate — If we didn't self-doubt, we probably wouldn't care enough about our children to struggle with understanding them. But how do we overcome self-doubt? Read advice from Laurie Hollman, Ph.D., guest posting today at Natural Parents Network.
  • What ifs of addiction — After seeing how addictions of adult children is badly hurting a family close to her heart, Hannah at HannahandHorn shares her fears for her own child.
  • Sharing My Joy — Kellie at Our Mindful Life shares her fear that others think she is judgmental because she makes alternative choices for her own family.
  • Building My Tribe Fearlessly — A meteorite hit Jaye Anne at Tribal Mama's family when she was seven years old. Read the story, how she feels about that now, and how she is building her tribe fearlessly.
  • Fear: Realized — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen shares how her fear of car accidents was realized and how she hopes to be able to use her efforts to overcome the remaining fears to help her children overcome their own.
  • I'm a Negligent Helicopter Parent — For Issa Waters at LoveLiveGrow, the line between helicopter parenting and negligent parenting is not so cut and dried.
  • My Greatest Fear For My Child — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama admits that she has struggled with not allowing her fears to control her and how the reality of this was blown wide open when she became a mother.
  • Procactive Steps to Calm Parenting Fears — Every parent has certain fears related to dangerous situations, That Mama Gretchen shares ways she is preparing herself and her children for emergencies.
  • Homeschooling Fears – Will My Children Regret Being Homeschooled? — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares an interview with her now-adult children that answers a question she had throughout their homeschooling.
  • An Uneasy Truce — Homeschooler and recent convert to unschooling, Tam at tinsenpup shares just a few of the things she tries to keep in mind when fear and insecurity begin to take hold.
  • Fearing the worst, expecting the best — Tarana at Sand In My Toes writes about fears that come with parenting, and why we must overcome them.
  • Can I be the parent I want to be? — Amanda at Postilius confronts her struggle to peacefully parent a preschooler
  • Out of Mind, Out of Fear — How does Jorje of Momma Jorje deal with her pretty steep, long-term fears regarding her son's future?
  • I Don't Homeschool to Manage My Kids' Transcripts — One of Dionna at Code Name: Mama's fears of parenting is that she will get so caught up in the monotony, the details of homeschooling, the minutiae of everyday life, the routine of taking care of a household - that she will forget to actually be present in the moment with her children.
  • Beware! Single Mom Camping — Erica at ChildOrganics shares her first adventures as a single mom. She laughed, she cried, she faced her fears.
  • Parenting Fears And Reality Checks — Luschka from Diary of a First Child shares her three biggest fears as a parent - that most parents share - looks at the reality behind these fears, and offers a few suggestions for enjoying parenting.
  • Parenting fear : to kill a pink rabbit...Mother Goutte tells us the story of a pink rabbit that disappeared, came back, and became the symbol of her worst parenting fear...
  • Roamingsustainablemum considers whether allowing your children freedom to explore the world safely is harder now than in the past.
  • Meeting my parenting fears head-on — Lauren at Hobo Mama had many fears before she became a parent. Learn how they all came true — and weren't anywhere near as scary as she'd thought.
  • Don't fear the tears — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger worried that letting her children cry when going to sleep was tantamount to the dreaded parenting moniker, CIO. She discusses what actually happened after those teary nights, and how she hopes these lessons can carry forward to future parenting opportunities.
  • Will I Still be a Good Mom? — Mercedes at Project Procrastinot worries about her mothering skills now that breastfeeding is no longer the top priority.
  • Pregnancy Fears: It Happened to My Sisters, It Will Happen to Me... — Kristen at Baby Giveaways Galore discusses the difficulties with pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding that the women in her family have had and how she overcame them.
  • Fears — Meegs at A New Day talks about how her fears before parenting led to a better understanding of herself and her desires for her daughter.

Moments...

10 February 2014

...this week of...

...happiness a walk in the winter sun, snowdrops, a restful week

...sadness for a friend who is having a tough time of it at the moment

...creating shawl which is off the needles and now needs blocking, snowdrop fairies, parsnip cake, dens, a cafe, the start of a sock,

...reading The Still Point by Amy Sackville, my second book by this author, to my children 
Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson, and these picture books*, I have written a short review of them here 34. Wide Awake Jake by Rachel Elliott, 35. Ella Bella Ballerina and the Sleeping Beauty by James Mayhew, 36. In the Country by Benedict Blathwayt, 37. The Winter Story by Jill Barklem, 38. The Toy Hospital by Elaine Mills, 39. Peace at Last by Jill Murphy, 40. Peacefulness by Lucia Raatma

...learning about electricity, dinosaurs, music scores, orchestras, hibernation, flight, digestion

...thinking about people in the South West of England, struggling with the continued rain and flooding

...hoping my daughter gets rid of her cough soon

...looking forward to visiting my parents later this week

Gratitudes

09 February 2014


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...

...dry days

...winter sun

...the delicate and wonderful snowdrops

...our singing group starting again after a break while our friends moved house

...a lovely walk in the winter sunshine

...a restful day at home

...a friend coming to our house for a play

...my husband returning home safely to us after a week away

...a request from friends to join them for a day out next week

...beautiful music

...wonderful books to read from the library, free!

Halloumi

07 February 2014


Last week I posted about my adventures in making my own yogurt.  I mentioned that I had been given the perfect present from my mum for Christmas, she knows me well!  A book on making soft cheese, a couple of moulds and a thermometer.  She had no idea that I had started to make my own yogurt and that I was buying local raw milk.  So far I have successfully made mozarella, feta, cream cheese and Halloumi.  I love Halloumi and we eat a fair amount of it in this house.  It is an expensive cheese to buy and one packet of the cheese does not go far in our house.  The recipe in my little book uses three litres of milk, at 80p a litre, to make about 500g which is cheaper than buying it ready made and it gives me a quantity or whey to use too.


We use Halloumi in all sorts of recipes but my absolute favourite is an adaption of one from this book, which I don't own myself, but I pinched the recipe when it was first cooked for me many, many years ago by the mother of my then boyfriend.  It was really hard to get hold of Halloumi then and given the price I only ever made this as a treat.  The original recipe has lime zest and juice in it, I am not able to eat limes so I have taken them out and replaced them.

Halloumi with Caper Vinaigrette

1 heaped tbs drained capers
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 Shallot finely chopped
1 tsp mixed herbs (dry or fresh)
2 tbs white wine vinegar
3 tbs good olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the above in a jug.

Slice the Halloumi and fry in a pan with a little oil if needed.


Serve the slices with the vinaigrette drizzled over, you may need to use a small spoon to get the bits out otherwise the all stay at the bottom of the jug!  This is lovely with some crusty bread or rolls, I make focaccia, which is delicious dipped in any leftover vinaigrette.


If you wish to use lime then you need the juice and zest, omit one tbs each of vinegar and oil and the shallot.



The perfect lunch, any takers?

Joining in with Shop Local #6 over at Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary.




Knitting

05 February 2014



It has been all about a shawl this week again, I am getting closer to finishing now, despite having to rip out three rows this week.  Somehow I had managed to knit two stitches together without realising it, it was in the middle of a section of knitting the same stitches right through the row, when I got to the patterned part, well it wouldn't work because my stitch count was out!  I managed to rip it out and get the 300 odd stitches back on the needle quickly this time and get back to where I was.  I now have  just eight rows to go which doesn't sound like much but I have 348 stitches and still increasing so each row takes about half and hour!  I would like to have this off the needles by the weekend so I have time to knit the provisional cast on and block it.  This is my first time knitting with a provisional cast on and I opted to have them sat on a cable wire rather than spare yarn, the pattern requires kitchener stitch to finish them off which last time I used I made a complete hash off, I am hoping I don't this time as it will be really obvious.  Just need some quiet time to concentrate!

I finished reading Consolation last night and loved it.  I read about half the book in the last two days as I could not put it down, I didn't want it to end.  I would love to read more by this author.  I got used to the flitting about in time and between a stream of consciousness, a first or third person narrative, I rather liked this by the end even if it sometimes took me a few sentences to work out which characters the narrative was about.  Now I need to decide what to read next, in the meantime I am going to finish off Mathematics Minus Fear first.

Joining in with Tami and Ginny head on over to see what others are busy making...

Nightie

04 February 2014


When I decide what we are going to give our children for Christmas, yes I do the deciding as my husband shows no interest, I like to give them four small gifts, something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read.  I try to make at least two of these, usually the something to wear and one other.  I was struggling to come up with an idea for a second 'make' for my youngest when a conversation with a friend gave me an idea.  We were talking about what we were giving our children for Christmas, as she too had run out of ideas for her youngest, when she mentioned that she had made a nightie for her daughter the previous Christmas.  My youngest had mentioned several times during the year that she would like one, I had been looking out for one in the shops as it never occurred to me to make one, but could not find one that she liked.  Soon after I was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time in our local sewing shop alone, which gave me the perfect opportunity to find a pattern and material.



This was the second garment I have made following a bought paper pattern, the first being trousers which I made in the summer last year.  Despite their being some more new techniques in this pattern I  managed to make this in a day.  I knew that it was slightly more complicated than the trousers so I spent a long time before hand reading all the instructions to make sure I knew exactly what I was supposed to doing.  I find it really difficult to visualise what I need to do from written instructions I work much better from pictures.  Most of the instructions for this nightie did not make any sense but I figured once I had cut out the pieces and started to sew it would make more sense, lucky for me it did.  I didn't sew continuously during the day, I did a bit and then left it, did a bit more.


It is not by any means the most perfect garment, the hem at the bottom is a little odd in places but my daughter loves it and wore it for three days, whilst we were home, once she had opened it!  The pattern has been really useful as I used it as a base to make up some viking costumes.

Joining in with Nicole for this weeks Keep Calm Craft On, head on over to see what others have been busy making......

Moments...

03 February 2014

I have a slightly different Moments post from my usual roundup, this week.  This is a reflection on the month using goals suggested over at this blog, so here is my January Slow Living Essentials.  You can read what others have been up to this month too.

...nourish we have a veg bag delivered, from a local farm co-op, every week. This month we have had brussel sprouts in the bag nearly every week, and last month too!  It is not a favourite vegetable in this house so I had to find recipes that I could hide their flavour a bit and hope that they still got eaten.  We have eaten lots of Colcannon and I tried a sprout and potato hash this week which also went down well.  We are at that time in the season when I am longing for change in our veg bag,much as I love the winter veggies, you can have too much of a thing can't you?

...prepare just before Christmas I bought some pickling onions that were heavily reduced.  I had been meaning to buy some all autumn but forgot whenever I went out shopping as I didn't put them on my list!  I didn't manage to do anything with the onions before Christmas as I was busy with other things.  So come January I needed to pickle them before they started to rot in my veg baskets.  I always soak them in brine, salty water, first to crisp them up, then drain and rinse them, put them in jars and cover them in vinegar cooked up in a spice mix and cooled.  Easy and tasty.  The only difficult bit is leaving them long enough before eating......should be three months.

...reduce around this time last year we received a water bill which got us thinking about how we could reduce it and use less water.  We need to invest money in this before we can reduce the bill, at the time our income was not certain enough to start spending large sums of money, but now that my husband has returned to being an employee we can consider it again.  We have started to do some more serious research and hope that by the end of the year we have been able to reduce this very high bill and our water consumption.

green I have been making a real effort to drink more water this month as I really notice the effects of not drinking it.  I have been so busy during December that I neglected to ensure that I drank enough.  I have always found it difficult to remember to drink enough and have resorted to setting an alarm on my mobile phone to ring to remind me to drink!  A little extreme maybe but it does work even when I am busy.  If I am dehydrated I find it difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep, my skin is a lot drier and I get a lot of wax in my ears.  I have been sleeping so much better and my skin is in great condition despite the cold weather so I know it works for me.

grow it has been another very wet month.  The garden is very soggy so doing any digging is difficult.  It was not particularly cold at the beginning of the month so the weeds were growing I am hoping now that it has turned colder they will stop and die off.  The warmer weather has meant the snowdrops were out the second week of January which is very early, and my primroses are in flower too.  I managed to get my garlic planted in the middle of the month, I do hope that the continued rain does not mean that the bulbs rot before they have had a chance to 'take'.

create I have been doing quite a bit of sewing this month, more than I usually do and it has been great, I hope I can make the time to do some each month this year.  The children have had two of their friends celebrate a birthday this month.  I made each child a play cape and for one party some viking costumes.  I also made a wee man for our seasonal table, something that I have been meaning to make for a while and just never got round too, so King Winter now takes pride of place on our Winter table.


I have also been knitting a shawl for my mum who has a significant birthday in February, I hope I can complete it in time.

discover I have been thinking about maths this month and how I can enhance my eldest's learning of this subject.  Up until now it has been easy to incorporate the learning into every day life but as we move onto more difficult concepts I need to be more creative.  I am not keen on introducing learning maths for learning sake, not just yet anyway.  I have been looking at websites and reading a few books that I have found in my library and I have more to investigate thanks to some suggestions from fellow bloggers.  I love maths so this is not a difficult thing for me to spend time researching.

enhance over the last year I have been spending more and more time volunteering for my local Explorer Scout (14 - 18 year olds) group, my husband and I have been helping out on and off for the past eleven years.  There has been several changes with Leaders in the last few years and the current Leader is looking for an assistant and has asked me, the same week I was also contacted about becoming involved at a county level, overseeing the whole area.  It is wonderful to feel that I have such a contribution to make for young people in my area, I need to ponder and decide which is right for me at the moment.

enjoy I won't lie that this has been a hard month for me, the weather has been wet and grey for so much of the month that it is hard for me, an outdoor girl at heart, to be outside.  I have tried hard to fit it into our weeks and have managed to have some lovely walks and cycle rides outside, some wet, some dry.  But there has been some other lovely moments, watching and listening to my children playing together in a way that they have never done before they are getting on so well now.  Renewing friendships with friends we did not see much in the later part of last year.  Finding a new rhythm in our life after deciding that a home ed group we have been attending for eighteen months is not for us right now and that it is ok to say no sometimes.

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continuing from my usual moments post...

…reading these pictures books*, with a short review here 25. The Fairy 's Secret Party by Nicola Baxter, 26. The Sun Egg by Elsa Beskow, 27. A Dragon in a Wagon by Lynley Dodd, 28. Good for Me, Good for You by Lorenz Pauli, 29. Silver Buttons by Bob Graham, 30. A Letter for Bear by David Lucas, 31. I am the King by Leo Timmers, 32. Clara Button and the Wedding Day Surprise by Amy de la Haye, 33. Marguerite's Fountain by Rachel Elliot

*Joining in with the 300 Picture Book Challenge

Gratitudes

02 February 2014


Joining with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

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

This week I have been grateful for...

...friends who let us stay with them for a few days

...food cooked for us

...two lovely days out with friends

...the lovely adults at the places we visited who took the time to explain things to my children and answer their questions

...a dry hour to spend in the garden

...a warm fire now the temperatures have dropped

...having the time to make a birthday present at the beginning of the week in case I didn't have time at the end, which was the case

...a lovely birthday party

...a chance to talk with friends

...reading time just before going to sleep

...making my favourite pie and the children enjoying it this time, I haven't made it for ages and they haven't liked it the last few times

...homemade cheese