today

My garden ends in this funny little triangle. I have long wanted to make a bean tee pee for the kids, so today I thought I'd try and wee experiment...

 Joa and I went into the field next door and cut lots of long lengths of willow that is growing there.

 Andy had made planters all around the edge of the garden. So I stuck the ends of the willow branches as deeply as I could into the planters

and tied the tops over. In a few weeks when the weather is more stable (please!) we will plant a little bean seed at the bottom of each branch and come the summer I imagine a shady and delicious den at the bottom of the garden. My garden guru also said the willow might well grow. So we will watch this living den with interest and see if my vision fulfills itself.

 the kids certainly find it a perfect place to eat a post school ice cream :-)

 The post man delivered a parcel today from a dear friend, in it among other things, this beautiful yarn, which I will knit into something for me,

 and lots of lovely pieces of fabric and some very brilliant 'cat agent' sew on badges for the kids. Happiness!

 We made pasta salad for lunch

 which we ate in the garden.

 I got another present from another friend (my lucky day today!) a vegetarian haggis brought back from a recent trip to Scotland.

Today was so lovely, filled with these wee moments of pure bliss, happiness, joy, carefree, love.

 There seems to have been time for everything and the evening sun is setting and the peace continues,

bodes well for a good weekend, which is what I wish for you x

spring cleaning

Yay, the new cable has done the trick and I am back with pictures again. 

going to add some pussy willow to the wreath

I won't try and fill in all the details of the last few weeks, it's been a busy time ( when is it not). The main thing for me is that I feel finally nearing a place where we can get back into a normal routine and that soon the kids will be going to visit with their dad without me. This is good for them, but also good for me. I have missed having time alone, I have especially missed running and I hope to start again this week.

So with this feeling of new starts came a clearing, sorting and tidying:

The shed was one of the biggest jobs, it was filled with Andy's fishing gear and just general junk, but I tackled it and Andy collected the rest of his gear and it is now like this:

the cleared shed

 We are preparing the green house (under instructions from a friend who is holding my hand with the garden this year) for wee small plants...

 and Rebe has her own room.
She had been sharing with me since autumn, but I came to realise that she did need her own space. So when my mum came to stay last week, she very kindly helped us to paint and rearrange and she even bought Rebe a lovely new duvet and cover.

 Rebe's very happy there, and I am also quite glad to have a space to call my own again.

As you can see from previous posts I am happily doll making in the evenings...

 and finding time for other things too like a spot of painting...

and sewing/ upcycling

 It was mother's day yesterday and although we don't really celebrate it in this house I got a lovely card from Benny:

me holding a butterfly

 and a really bright, cheerful one from Rebe too:

 She also brought me coffee in bed (made from water from the hot tap yuck yuck).

Benny has been poorly the last 2 days. He has started going to pre-school 2 mornings a week. He is so proud and so excited to be going and has settled in beautifully. However of course it means he will bring home all sorts of bugs...

 So he has been listening to lots of stories and napping.

So life is good,

 light is incredible

 and my knitting bag is clear...

Now is that not a philosophy for life :-)

pumpkins and pictures

 Friday was Rebe's last day of term and the school had a 'reuse and recycle' fancy dress theme. Rebe and I had made her a vampire costume out of (mainly) bin liners, but complete with a very sweet tin-can bat. I had some lovely pictures of that to show you, as well as some pictures of a cool duplo farm the boys and I made. But when I uploaded the pictures to the computer I found those mysteriously gone! Oddly enough there were 18 pictures like this....

 and no less than 42 pictures in a series depicting Joa peeling and eating a boiled egg...

...and then... AHA! The giveaway... the culprit takes a self portrait....

Once I had found my camera again (somewhere I was sure I hadn't left it and with significantly less charge in it) and got a picture of this boy making a very delicate and careful job of decorating a 'thank goodness it's the half-term break' cake.

 To surprise Rebe on her return from school we left it on the table with one of our 2 pumpkins.  Benny and I wanted to make this one into a fairy house (the other we will carve into a normal jack-o-lantern)

 He thinks when it is halloween we should take it to the woods and leave it there for some real fairies to come and live in. I think that is a great idea and something I'm sure we'll do :-)

The boys also finished their painted pumpkins by sticking some tissue paper at the back and sticking them to the window.

Joa also discovered that not only is the oven good viewing, you can also warm your feet at the same time. I mean can TV do that?!?!

Well, we have had a lovely start to the holidays already and I am so happy we have over a week to just be, to relax and unwind and be together. We have a few things planned but not too much. I hope your coming week is filled with peace and joy and laughter :-)

2 Under Rainbows babies finished and waiting to be shipped to heir new mama's

I've waited all week...

...for Saturday morning.

Doing just what we want...

 like eating the last of the honey, straight from the jar...

 ...comb and all!

 making special gifts for our neighbor

 reading favourite books

 planting and watering

and good old play.
Oh how I love and cherish Saturday morning's like these!

sew happy :-)

This last week has been full of joyful crafting for me.

 I am getting through the incredibly long list of 'things to make before I go on holiday', I have finished Joa's birthday trousers,

 Dogs for a boy who loves dogs. I also made Benny's Birthday trousers:

 Cowboys. These are reversible with a dark denim on the other side, I'm hoping that they will last him right through the winter.

If you love organic cotton look away now or risk being green with envy...
My dear friend, who visited last month with her son, lives in Aachen in Germany. Lana Organics which produces the most beautiful (and expensive) organic baby and children's clothes is also based in Aachen. Every so often they have an outlet selling the remnants of the fabrics used to make their clothes. My friend went along and just look at what she sent me:

organic t-shirt material in a dusky rose, yellow and rainbow stripe

 pink and blue interlock with the sweetest wee bunnies

 terry in stripe and green

 furry? Just perfect for jackets :-)
 Oh I am so so in love with all of these and so excited that she sent me so much of them all that I will be able to make so many gorgeous and organic clothes for the kids. I am deeply thankful to her and my mind has been buzzing with all of the things I would like to sew.

I thought I'd show you some pictures of our playroom (only because I just tidied it lol) I like seeing the play spaces people have created for their children and I thought you might like a peep at ours.

 Blocks, dolls house, vehicles and duplo

 little play silks and big play cloths.

 dolls and the most essential: a big pile of blankets.

 our books and some dressing up clothes.

We do have other toys and lots of other books but I keep them out in the shed. I find that if there is too much in the room the kids become over whelmed and find it difficult to play with anything. I notice when this happens as they tend to go into the playroom, make an unholy mess and come back out again 2 minutes later still looking for something to do. A few choice, open ended toys and lots of space is what works best for our kids.

Today has been so lovely, the weather fine and summery. I went for a 5km run this morning which was great, then Andy took Rebe and Benny off to town on some messages leaving Joa and I to sit and read together in the garden.

 Oh how I love this boy! I can't believe that he is going to be 2 next week.

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend too (and getting to do lots of sewing as well )
hugs x