The power of positive thinking!

I spotted it through a chink in the curtains , as i turned out the light and was kissing the children goodnight. Needless to say the children didn't go to bed straight away as Mummy had flung open the curtains and was jumping round the bedroom with glee ( a little overexcited perhaps ?)
After some jumping up and down on the bed , some looking out of the front door , some singing and dancing later we tried again with the goodnight kisses . Two little boys rushed to great me ,as i stepped outside, with shouts of ' look Mummy we found a diamond!'

The poor old chickens were a bit scared of the snow at first , although Snowdrop managed to overcome her fear to help herself to a little snack.

After we came inside the boys made some turtles from the satsumas and nuts. Its is a wonder that there were any left to make things with as we have been managing to get through a bag of oranges a day at the minute ( which seems really excessive but works out at about two a day each on average ... and they are very yummy and good for us..excuses excuses)

For Sarah and Clair

It worked ! ITS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow fair!

Can I just tell you all that we have barely had more than a couple of snowflakes here and i am completley and utterly JEALOUS!!!!!!

I WANT IT SOOO MUCH.

I LOVE it when it snows, It is guaranteed to cheer me up out of even the foulest of moods.


Positve thinking is required ( there isn't a single situation where this isn't an amazing idea)

I have woken up to a blanket of snow.

Fat feathery snowflakes are twirling to the ground.

Everyone is very chuffed .

We all have a marvellous day playing outside in the snow then retreat to the warmth of the fire and eat some thing warm and hearty ( soup/ stew or the such like)



Tomorrow please..or def Yule ...or failing that ...Christmas day.... or last resort a week on Wed ( my birthday)


I do believe in snow days ...i do believe in snow days ................

Wet Wednesday

Another lovely morning spent in the park with friends , in the rain, with snacks and cocoa!

The children walked through puddles, ran through puddles, sat in puddles and my personal favourite ..crawled through puddles!

And not one panicky ( a child ! Out in THE RAIN! SAT IN A PUDDLE!!! Why they'll catch pneumonia!) overprotective parent in sight.

Incidently our wellies are still wet on the inside...

Please look at this

Just a quickie please have a look at this link and sign the petition Thanks


http://myzerowaste.com/2009/12/copenhagen-summit-is-failing-you-can-help-change-it-in-5-seconds/

Age of stupid

I watched the Age of Stupid last night. It is a brilliant film. For those who haven't seen it is told from a futuristic point of view by Pete Postlethwaite who is pondering why nobody ( well the masses) did nothing about climate change while they had the chance. It was really moving and shocking. It didn't really tell me anything i didn't already know apart from reiterate how STUPID some people really are ( If you've seen the film i'm particularly talking about the ignorant little group in Bedfordshire!!)
It really made me think how some of my own ideals have slipped a bit , little things really, but they all add up. It has made me think about some personal ...goals? targets? ....sounds a bit business like ..aspirations maybe that i would like to stick to for next year ( or for a lot of them the remainder of this year too!)


Try to reduce the amount of rubbish we produce ( we already recycle everything that is recycleable and compost , but still seem to have a lot of rubbish) Obviously i need to be super vigilant on what is coming into the house!

Try to eat seasonally ( again we do this to an extent but find it quite hard when the children love fruit like banana's oranges and grapes .......Ok so i rather like them too) Perhaps allow one different type of unseasonal fruit a week?

Use the car less as a family .....all of these things seem a lot easier in the summer!

Make more toys , clothes , cards etc... generally anything i can really.

Keep an art journal , do more art crafts stuff ...on a adult level

Spread the word ( i find this quite embarrassing at times ...nobody wants their friend to start preaching at them why they shouldn't drive their car round the corner ...or why Fruitshoots are not the best thing since sliced bread, but maybe i can encourage other in more positive ways ...hhmmn may require more thought on this one!)


Eat more living foods, we do quite a bit of this but then some of this clashes with point no.2

Not easy this is it??!

Finally a nice pic of the garden to finish off , beautiful green and damp ( if a little overgrown ...hey tidy gardens aren't my thing )
If you haven't seen the film it's definately worth a view if only so you can recommend it to people who think it's not worth bothering!

SSShhhhhh!

Don't tell the children , but i've made them all a little toy now! I'm really pleased i've got them done , and have been averaging a toy a night. Impressive stuff eh! Last night i made the sock monkey and added the frill to the frilled dragon lizard ( you didn't think it was a dinosaur did you?) Hopefully i shall be able to resist the urge to go ..

' i've made you something...want to see?

Do you like it ?

.....You want it now?

...Well you should't really ...but ..ok! '

NO Charlotte .... you must resist.

What to make now? I'm making another little stone set for a lovely mama and her baba, but then what? Little dolly anyone?

Another one done

This is the latest addition to be added to the handmade Christmas i am aiming for. I am rather pleased with her and hopefully Maya will rather like her too. I am loving making presents this year, its the first year i have seriously undertaken making things as gifts. So far we have a dolly a scarf and some ( nearly) finished arm warmers for Maya, a decorated candle for my Mum, a set of decorated candles for MIL, some fairy playdough for a little friend, and some lanterns for teachers and friends. Hmmn seems more than that when i think of it all ...oh well

Still to do is , a sock monkey for Jamie, a frilled dragon ( lizard) for Sonny, some wrapping paper, ( everyone) Oh and some stockings . I really wanted to make something for Martin but i've really hit a brick wall. He doesn't need or want gloves, hat , scarf or socks. I'm a bit stumped i did think maybe a decorated glass...but now i'm not sure.
Any ideas?

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer..

Had a very shiny nose and if you ever saw it you would even say it glows....Today we have fashioned red noses for ourselves, eaten a very lovely Sunday roast cooked by moi....

eaten strawberry liquorice....

gone a bit mental decorating our bedrooms with tinsel....

fished out the christmas decorations from the loft...

made some new decorations out of things we'd found.......

created tasteful loveliness in the room ( for all of ...ooh five minutes)

put the candy canes back on the tree AGAIN.......

and sat with our very favourite people in front of the fire.

Inspired by nature

We changed the season table yesterday and inspired by all of the lovely outdoor finds on there( and a book i found on stone painting) i decided to make a little nativity scene .

I thought it worked rather well so made another one for the gp season swap ( sshhh its a secret....)

Take one messy haired mumma..

who also looks veeerrry tired .......

spend the next hour with a crochet hook, a needle and thread, a dread comb , some wax ( shock , gasp ....it was only a bit honest!) and your poor achey little arms in the air and .......

Ta da one smiley slightly tidier haired mumma.....well for at least half an hour anyway!

One cold and frosty morning..

Well if it's not going to snow then the next best thing's a heavy frost. Sparkly and crisp and white. What a wonderful sight to wake up to ( even if it was a tad chilly going down the garden to let the chickens out!)

The very first decoration was taken from the top drawer and hung on the tree ( I have massively cheated on this one , i couldn't find a branch with enough ..well branches to hang things on so i brought the Rosemary tree in from the garden. It works though AND it makes the room smell nice too , bonus )

Small small choclately loveliness was taken from the other top drawer and inhaled.

And a tiny little door was opened on the sparkly cardboard calendar that Mummy bought from the shop yesterday in a fit of nostalgia ( I couldn't resist )

Oh and i finished Maya's scarf and have already started on the arm warmers! Wahoo!!

Six years ago today...

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday my baby

Happy birthday to you

Ta da !

Look what i made!!!!!!!!! My very own pair of arm warmers! Made all by myself. I'm a little bit happy ....can you tell?

Ok so there was a slight change of plan since last time,the arm warmers have been made out of what was going to be a scarf . The stripey boucle wool was proving quite tricky to knit with ( for a novice) So i was rather pleased to discover that i'd made them to long to be arm warmers ( were talking way past the elbow) as i wasn't sure i could face knitting another one .

So i made it into this ......

Note how impressed my little model is!

Ok so heres the secret...I cheated, it isn't actually a hat , it doesn't have a top bit . Really its a glorified one size fits all , headband. But i'm still jolly proud of it anyway.

And finally here is Maya's Scarf, hopefully i shall get it finished by Christmas. Hopefully i'll have it finished before .. more projects to do you know !

Glittery days and dark nights

We have been very busy today making some more decorations for the advent tree. I decided this year to do away with the horrible chocolate calendars and make 24 little decorations to hang on a little tree ( or perhaps a branch...ok so i haven't found anything yet but i will!) And every day the children will take it in turns to get a decoration ( and perhaps something small and yummy that isn't crappy chocolate) out of a little set of drawers that have also been given a seasonal facelift.

The children have all helped to make things for it , Maya has sewn some felt decorations , Jamie snipped some snowflakes and Sonny was in charge of all things glittery .

I did wonder if perhaps i was being a bit mean making them take it in turns , after all i never had to take turns ( only child) with my advent calendar . And it was my favourite part of Christmas , opening those tiny little doors to see what kitsch little picture was hiding there. Was it a robin? a present? an angel? And then the ultimate ....the double door on day 24! I keep them for months afterwards just so i could close the doors and start all over again. But then if i'd only opened one every third day maybe it would have been even more exciting ! Hmmn we'll see.

Those odd looking shapes on the back are Sonny's rather unconventional snowflakes , which i think look beautiful despite having control freakery issues about them ( me not him!)

And while this was happening inside this was happening outside.

I know a lot of people really struggle with shorter days , when the nights draw in , everything colder and the world seems to turn inward a bit.

I really love it though...all of it...the dark nights , the dark mornings, the cold weather, rain, wind, snow...ESPECIALLY snow . I appreciate that unlike those poor people in Cumbria (who especially DON'T love all those things at the minute) I've never been in a situation where i have been at the mercy of the elements, but i love the cold wintry weather none the less and can think of no better sound than the rain on my windows.

Beautiful Autumness

Season Table A few garden pics ( although the camera doesn't do the beautiful vivid colours justice)

Final few blackberries , they were devoured seconds after the pic was taken.