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.

Making, baking and a spot more knitting.

After my initial devastation at breaking my blender( cracked the jug...arrrggh) i discovered its till good for smoothies you just need plenty of clothes for mopping up purposes! My new fav smoothie of the week is this lovely berry number ( still equally as nice with obligatory handfuls of spinach , just turned it a rather horrible brown colour so here it is pre-greens)

Finally made a start on advent decorations , que excessive use of glitter and felt.

My Mum , Dad and Nana came to visit us today with some early birthady presents for Jamie and a LOVELY big pile of wool for me!!!! It was so lovely to see everyone and to get some knitting help from my Mum. In honour of the occasion i baked a cake and bought strawberries even though they were dutch , not in season, EXPENSIVE, and not as nice as when you have then in June! You'll be pleased to hear i managed to choke them down anyway.

My lovely new wool ( are we sensing an obsession here?)

That little row has grown and had some red added! And unable to contain my excitement and wait until i've finished one project i have already started on some arm warmers , green and red stripes ( do you see a theme emerging here?) I might have to forgo sleep tonight to get them finished . Addicted moi?

Love you more!

' Mummy i love you more than a million lizards on a million T-Rex' backs.'

My name is Charlotte and I can't knit!

I am a knitting novice, i did learn when i was a child but promptly forgot how as soon as i lost interest.
Spurred on by pictures of gorgeous knitted items , made by lovely talented knitters i decided it was worth a second go. My Mum gave me some wool and some needles and showed me how to do a knit stitch and a purl stitch, and of i went gripping on to the needles for dear life.
I managed a few rows alternating between the two stitches ( not intentionally either) before i had to stop because my hands hurt from holding the needles too tightly! Undeterred i decided to have another go, i got a book out the library and was determined to knit Maya a scarf for Christmas. However.. first i would have to learn to cast on .....so last night once the children were in bed i had a go...
OMG...It was so difficult, i looked at the book , i watched 3 videos, i swore , i cried ( well no tears more of a hissy fit actually) i proclaimed that i couldn't do it. And then i pulled myself together!

And this is what i did.

I DID IT!!!! This may look like the most pathetic little inch of knitting to you clever knitters out there but i am sooo proud of it.And i love doing it , already it is strangley addictive watching it grow. Hopefully by Christmas it will have grown MUCH bigger.

Recipe for Flapjack

Take one little helper, Some delicious organic ingredients ....pecans....mmmm

mix together and if you have any left bake in the oven for 20 mins .

Yum.

200g butter melted

4 tbsp Agave nectar

100g Dark brown sugar

mix over low heat then add pre mixed

100g flour

250g whole oats

200g mixed nuts and seeds ( pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and pecans)

bake for 20 mins gas mark 4

Cheeky hens

We have had our three little chickens for exactly eight months today. Thats seven months of gorgeous , free , golden yolked , eggs .Mmmmmmmmm. Luckily everybody likes eggs ( although some more than others!) and we manage quite easily to get through our three a day. Although we are now throughly spoilt , when we were on holiday you could noticably tell the difference between the shop bought ( organic free range) and ones from our own chickens. The yolks ( on the shop bought) seemed so pale and not nearly as tasty. Makes you wonder exactly how ' free range 'they really are. Cuddly blue ( named by Sonny)

Cornelia ( brown one , Jamies) Snowdrop ( white one ! Maya's )

All of the children really love having the chickens (Well if i'm honest Maya prefers to admire from afar!) but Sonny REALLY loves them , he takes them treats , he picks them up, he brings them in the house..' take her back in the garden !! ' And he tells everyone that Cuddly is HIS chicken. Getting chickens really has been a brilliant experience for everyone but especially my little lover of all things living!

Thanks girls!

Yogatastic

I'm back! It was BRILLIANT!!


I feel energised and relaxed all at once. It was tough though i was really sweating. It was a different type of yoga to what i've done before ( used to do Hatha i think it was ) but i really loved it. I did a handstand for the first time in years ! I found some of it quite comfortable and not too tough but some of it was a real stretch.



I particularly enjoyed the meditation at the end , a dark room with complete quiet apart from the sound of rain on the window. Heaven.

I can't wait for next week!

Yoga

I'm going to my first yoga class in 15 years later ,and i'm so looking forward to it! I used to go every week in my teens but what with jobs and babies and families and money i don't seem to have managed one since.

I practise at home and some times the kids join in and sometimes they don't , but i can't wait to spend a whole hour doing something just for me , without the tea needing cooking ( ok so i'm doing it before i go!) or the phone ringing , or a bum needing wiping ( tmi) or an argument needing settling , or the washing up needing doing.

Just me ( and my buddy)

for an hour


bliss

A few pics

A few random pics that i have finally got round to dowloading from the camera ( all 651 of them !)

Challenge over

It has been 30 days now since i started my green smoothie challenge, and parts of it have been a challenge!
I have LOVED the smoothies every morning and will definately keep them up, i did one morning have a bright pink smoothie ( beetroot) when we were away and i forgot to pack the spinach ( what a bizarre sentance that is , normally its your toothbrush you forget!) . It was nowhere near as nice , i found it way too sweet and a bit syrupy( urgh)


Anyway on to the sweet stuff, this i found harder than any other aspect . At times ( when others were eating chocolate) i found it torture. But towards the end i found i wasn't as bothered about it. It was easier to just not have anything sweet rather than use alternatives , as it didn't always quite hit the spot. I don't know that i will definately keep quite so rigidly to this but i will def give it a go. The other things, the exercise, the no pop, the salad with every meal were relatively easy (although i didn't always have a salad , because it just didn't go with some things !)


On the whole the noticable improvements have been
Less energy slumps, not specifically heaps more enrgy but definately less peaks and troughs.

I've noticed that i feel happier, or perhaps less irritable.

My digestion (tmi) has been better

And i'm sure it has helped with the fact that i haven't caught this dreadful cold/ bug thing yet ( famous last words!)

On the whole i'm really pleased i did it and will definately carry on with it ( although perhaps not so rigidly!)

Balance

This post is a special hug for everybody who feels sad or just a bit down at the minute.




This post is because i know not everybody likes it when the air grows colder and the nights draw in.



This post is just a reminder that without the darkness there wouldn't be the light, and that for every bad time there will be a good one too.

A walk in the woods

We met up with another Gp Mama(and Baba) today and went for a walk in the woods . I hadn't been to this particular bit of the woods before but they were beautiful!

Sonny had been unimpressed with the idea of leaving the house this morning.

' i'm playing'

' the park is cold'

'anyway, i want to stay here'

' i'm not listening to you Mummy'

However as soon as we got there you couldn't have met a more happy and content child , he looked at trees, watched squirrels, poked fungi, collected leaves, drank pumpkin soup, and told of the virtues of having your own chickens( lovely blue eggs)

We are looking forward to going again , albeit wearing TWO pairs of socks next time!

And we timed it nicely as this was what happened when we got home.