Sunshine

   

 

 

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.

Weekending

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.

We have been mainly.......

crazy busy this week, well I have.  I have been meeting myself coming back!

The week started with the end of a folk festival which for me, sadly, fizzled out rather than finishing with a bang.  The headline act had had to pull out due to a bereavement in her family.  Whilst this was disappointing what was more so is the way to was handled by the festival organisers.  We went to the festival with another family.  Both of us have fairly young children and were not staying up until the end of the music each night.  By chance one of us did on Sunday night, so found out through an announcement at the end of the music that there was a change to the programme on the following night.  During the Monday we could not find any information anywhere about what was going on, if we had not heard the announcement the night before we would have been none the wiser until the final concert started at 1pm.  Part of me really wanted to stay to listened to the other bands playing that afternoon, and the other part just wanted to get home knowing that I had a busy week ahead that needed organising.  I have never felt like that at the end of a festival and it has really marred my whole experience of it.  The tickets were not cheap, I will be thinking long and hard about returning for another year.

After a lovely sleep in my own bed the next day was very full.  I had to plan a food menu for the week, write a shopping list, unpack, start packing again, hang up wet camping gear, and go food shopping.  I got in the car and started to drive up the village before I realised that I had a flat tyre, humpf.  I phoned my dh to ask him to come and car swop, it was already quite late in the day and I still had a million and one things that needed doing and there was not room on my list to fit in changing a tyre.  Luckily for me he obliged and we were our way.  Shopping done I started on packing and unpacking at the same time before cooking tea and then driving North to talk to a group who I would be assessing on a d of e gold expedition for four days.  I fell into bed exhausted.

I woke on Wednesday and packed the car and drove North, with my youngest, to meet the group out on the fell.  We found a spot to park the car, packed up a bite to eat and wandered to a good vantage point and waited for them to walk towards us.  We waited and waited and waited, their supervisor arrived and we waited.  Eventually, running very late, they did arrive, very wet and tired the ground it seemed was very hard going with a lot of bogs.  They walked off to their campsite and we drove off to find ours.  We pitched the tent, cooked tea and then drove off to meet the group at their campsite and check they had made it ok, all being well we headed back and fell into bed.

Thursday was a beautiful day, the sun was shining but it was bitterly cold in the wind.  We met with group a couple of times and spent the day, walking a little, eating a picnic, enjoying the views, playing wonderful imaginative games with my youngest, knitting, brewing tea on our little stove and eating cake.  It was an oasis of wonderfulness amongst all the busyness which was filling my head.  The coldness carried on into the night, it was very clear not a cloud in the sky and the moon so large and bright it was like a torch shining into the tent.  We woke the next morning to ice in the tent!

We met with the group once again on Friday morning, another bright sunny but cold day.  Whilst waiting I played the most wonderful game at the instigation of my youngest.  With absolutely no props she announced that I had to come and get in the car as we were going shopping for food for tea.    Shopping done we then went home and cooked tea, ate it at the table and then we washed up the dishes.  This lasted for about ten minutes, we were sat on the edge of a grassy field.  The group arrived soon after and we chatted for a short time before heading on our way, the, to continue their expedition, us to home.  After unpacking yet again and cooking tea I fell into bed really early for a very long sleep.

The weekend marked two days at home with no need to pack up and go anywhere for the first time in days.  I did some washing, took the car to the garage for a service, packed up a tent from the festival which was now dry and hung up another wet one from the last few days.   The best thing was a phonecall from a friend inviting us over to a BBQ, no cooking hurrah!  We said goodbye to daddy who is off overseas until the end of the week and then had to wait in for the d of e group as they were calling at our house for a debrief.  This is to bring the expedition to an end, a review of what they have achieved and for me hand back their signed books.  All done we headed to our friends for a lovely evening.  Sunday I 'celebrated' my
wedding anniversary or perhap I should say I observed the day as my husband was not with me to celebrate. I have a quieter week ahead, I hope!

Bonding

I have spent the last 48 hours in the company of my youngest, whilst my eldest was at home with daddy.  We have had a really special time together, I have not spent so much time just with her since she was born.

We were away from home as I was assessing a D of E Expedition this involved a lot of waiting around, often in bleak cold places.  It was often not possible for me to carry any bits to keep her amused whilst we were waiting but they would not have been needed anyway.  We spent the time talking, cuddling, nursing.  She has sung for me, beautiful made up tunes often with words.  We have spent much time playing at life, getting in and out of imaginary cars, going imaginary shopping, cooking imaginary food and eating it.  She would find bits of grass, leaves whatever was lying around and make picnics with them for imaginary dolls.  I could sit and watch her play for hours.  She has been completely content.  She is always much happier when outside, even it is really cold she puts on extra clothes and is still happy.  The last two days have, I think, been heavenly for her I have loved spending this time with her.

We have been mainly..........

celebrating with friends this week.

We started the week with our usual trip into the local town for shopping and a visit to the library. We spent the rest of the day at home preparing for our camping trip, cooking food and getting stuff out of cupboards.

The next morning we woke to pouring rain, really really heavy rain, which stopped after an hour the sky cleared and the sun shone. We spent the morning at home finishing off cooking and packing up the car before setting off for our midsummer camp with friends. We had a wonderful few days which you can read about here.

We packed up from camp in the pouring rain on Thursday, it also felt really cool after the wonderful heat of the previous two days. It was still raining when we arrived home. I managed to get the car unpacked and most things put away before heading out to do a D of E (Duke of Edingburgh Award) assessment for a local Ranger Guide group. Before an expedition can go out they need to have their readiness for carrying out the expedition checked through talking to them about their kit, their route, their map skills, their awareness of risks, the country code and what to do if things go wrong. I qualified to do this last year and really enjoy meeting young people and supporting them to achieve this award. I was glad of my sleep that night!

On Friday we had friends over to play. They joined us for lunch, although they bought their own food this time, and the new, to us, Lego was much admired and played with.

Over the weekend we had a trip into the local town and managed to find a new pair of summer walking boots for me. Mine fell apart, literally, last year when on holiday, the soles collapsed on both boots. I have been using a my winter pair up until now, they are much more rigid and my feet do get hot in them at this time of year, even with the colder weather we have been experiencing. I am looking forward to trying them out.

On Sunday the children got the wooden railway track out and spend over an hour building a railway track complete with road and village together. It was lovely to listen to them playing together, taking and negotiating the differeent parts of their creation. The resulting layout was played with by one or both of them for the rest of the afternoon. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful week. I hope yours has been enjoyable too.

We have been mainly...........

visiting friends this week.

Instead of our usual trip into town and play dates we travelled to Wales to visit friends who have moved into a new house.

We set off on Monday, my husband had to drop something off on the way, as we were pulling away from doing that I realised that I had left some food in the fridge which we had to go back for, oooops!

On Tuesday we went for a lovely walk near Dolgellau, the forecast was for heavy rain but it held off and we had wonderful views too. We took the Kelly kettle with us and had a brew, hot chocolate and soup depending on folks' preferences which was much welcome, it was cold.

Wednesday dawned sunny. My husband went off for a canoe down the river behind the house whilst I went to visit an amazing wool shop, Colinette Yarns , nearby. The wool was beautiful, the shop a colour sensation. I was restrained and did not buy anything I will find a pattern first and then buy some yarn when I visit again. We popped into the local town for the afternoon and the children rode back on a steam train.

We returned home the next day in the pouring rain and had a chilled afternoon playing at home, whilst my husband packed for a weekend sea kayaking.

On Friday we dropped Daddy off early and went home and played games for the rest of the day. My youngest had fun with an old shoe box, it was a hat, a boat for dolly, a car for Lego mini figures, a shopping basket, a carriage on a train and a seat for bear.  They both had the play silks out which were capes, made the children into birds and kings. We had races with toy cars and built elaborate buildings with the wooden bricks. We had a wonderful day of creative play.

I also got creative making smoothies. I noticed when we returned home the day before that we had a lot of rhubarb in the garden. I picked some and cooked it to make something with. I did a bit of research and decided to make a smoothie with some of it. I picked bits out of various recipes that I found and came up with this recipe:

Rhubarb Smoothie

1 american cup stewed rhubarb
1 banana sliced
2tbsp coconut milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Milk

I put the first four ingredients in the food processor, I do not have a juicer or a blender this turned out just fine in a food processor, and whizzed until smooth. I then added milk and whizzed to get a thin enough mix. I used oat milk to make this, I am sure it would it would taste good using an alternative milk.  This quantity made a small glass for three of us or would make a large drink for one.  It was very moreish.

Over the weekend we were and about.  On Saturday we went to a birthday celebration for one of my eldest's friends. He had a great time playing with him and couple of his friends. We had lunch and cake before returning home. On Sunday we had an early start, and a full day out which you can read about here.  I hope you have had a fun filled week too, and when it is ever going to get warm?

We have been mainly...........

creating with cardboard this week.  We ordered a number of boxes last week to store some of our kit in the loft which, we have discovered, has mice living there!  We needed some mouse proof storage.  Each box arrived in it's own, larger, cardboard box.  At first I thought what a waste of packaging, but then realised that even though it would have been better to have had less, it provided hours of entertainment for the children.

 I provided the items that were asked for, paints, brushes, scissors and tape.  I gave them the run of the kitchen floor (it has survived!) and an hour later with a small amount of help from me, there was a sizeable ship and a house.  The ship was created by putting two boxes together and was big enough for both children to sail inside.

Over the rest of the afternoon and the following few days the ships and house were played with extensively.  The ship went off on numerous trips to watch whales and sharks, to go fishing, to find an island to live on.  A cardboard tube was found and served as a telescope to look from the rigging.  The house was a home on an island and also served as a lifeboat when the ship started to sink with the cardboard tube as an oar.

The boxes have also been used as percussion instruments, for playing a jack in the box game and hide and seek, to name but a few.  With a little imagination the uses of a cardboard box are endless!

TV

I live in a house without a TV, I grew up in a house without a TV, I have never owned a TV.  Why have I decided to live without one?  I live a busy and full life and have no idea when I would fit in watching TV, but then I suppose I have never tried to.  We do not live in a 'screen' free house, we have a screen, projector and a means of playing DVD's which we do watch, mostly documentaries.

I am always interested and intrigued to read about TV watching and children.  I have no doubt that watching too much cannot be a good thing but how on earth do you measure how much is too much, does it depend on the age of the child or the type of programmes watched?


As parents it's easy to use the TV as a babysitter, but are you just setting up problems for yourself when the amount of time that it is on increases and increases to the point where, when you do turn it off you are greeted with anger and disappointment at it being turned off and a child(ren) who are at a loss as to how to occupy their time.  Many children have TVs in their bedrooms how is it possible in such a household to be aware of how much TV your child is watching and what they are watching? 

When you are watching TV and for that matter DVDs your brain goes into sleep mode, it pretty much switches off.   If you were to watch many hours of TV or DVDs in a day you brain is not being actively used.  It is therefore not surprising that if children have many hours of screen time, that when this stops they are at loss as to what to do.  Their brains are not used to being used in the manner required for any kind of play.  My children have, from a early age, engaged in self directed imaginative play, which usually involves talking out loud with whatever they are playing with.  They are always busy and never ask what can I do now. 

In moderation, like so many things in life, TV watching has its place, it is working out what 'moderation' is appropriate for your family and sticking to it.