As every mother knows.......

......... its incredibly difficult to do ANYTHING with children around.

I had a child off school yesterday with a rather nasty cough. She managed to get past my cast iron defence against sicky days (I admit the lashing rain we woke up to helped her cause!).

Subsequently I spent pretty much the whole day mushing about not achieving anything (although we did watch Mamma Mia another couple of times, just to really get those songs embedded deep into our psyche!).

I was wondering why I didn't get on with anything productive/creative. We are out of the phase where just as you get into something someone trys to eat something they shouldn't, get stuck in the catflap or has a major poo emergency (well mostly!).

No, we have entered a new phase of 'interupting the flow' with those dreaded words

"Can I help!"

The words are a contradiction in themselves, they are very rarely helpful.

Of course it was with those immortal words that I have many of the skills I possess today (thanks mum!) , of which I am very grateful. With that said I generously step aside and let the kids have a go. Watching tentatively as they get the carder jammed and get very carried away with the spinning wheel. Luckly the short attention span meant it didn't last too long and they soon wandered off to make potions or terrorise some boys.

So with normality returned and everyone at school and work, (there was a brief attempt for a stay at home from the eldest, but I felt her excuse that Hedgehogs kept me awake all night was little weak),

I am off to Hand paint the 3 skeins of wool the children 'Helped' me card and spin!

Pics to follow shortly (promise).

Cheerio x

Is this the answer to the housing shortage?

BBC NEWS England Kent Knitted village put up for sale

Its got to be eco friendly right? and surely it will be warm? Could you live in a house like this?

I think i'd better get knitting!

Also here's a link to some wonderful sheep art I was discussing at college the other day.

YouTube - Extreme Sheep LED Art

My creative projects are in a bit of a dull moment. I have spent some time washing, carding and spinning some plain white fleece (trying to make a small dent to the massive stock pile of Hampshire wool I have in my parents garage). I will probably play around with dyeing the wool when its spun.

Hey Teach cardigan - Summer 2008 - Knitty is coming along nicely, I've nearly finished the back, its an absolute pleasure to knit, the softness of the bamboo and tencel just glides through the fingers.

I must go now and annoy the youngest by singing along very loudly to Mamma Mia!!

(payback for all those sleepness nights!!)

Enjoy x

Rhythm and a permission....

Whether it's down to the insight gained from my counselling training or my age (more than 21.....a little bit less than 40!!), I don't know, but I am finally getting the hang of the rhythm's of life. Whether they be the cycles of the seasons or the lunar phases, everything has a rhythm and I'm finding it a lot easier to get on with life if I just Go With The Flow.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, a number of reasons why, but a main one being nocturnal wanderings of a child. So in going with the flow I shan't be feverishly hoovering the living room and straightening the rugs (even though I have crafty ladies coming), I don't even think I'll bother putting any washing on.

No, today is about doing want HAS to be done and the rest of the time will be spent doing soothing activities like scouring some fleece, maybe a little dyeing. I might even (shock, gasp) watch a bit of tele and do some knitting (in the afternoon I hear you cry, thats just not done!)

Yes, sitting down in the afternoon, it is allowed (of course I have the luxury of not having to watch cbeebies to do it now)

Therefore, this post is an invitation and total permission to go and Have a little sit down if you want one!

Enjoy x


p.s I'm too tired to post pics so I'll take some of my soothing activites and post them during the Up Swing thats bound to follow soon.

Ahhhhhhhh.........

Well the Easter Hols are over and everyone has, somewhat reluctantly, gone back to school and work. If the intended purpose of school holidays is to have a restful time then we've failed. All 3 girls looked pretty worn out this morning, but I was thinking that may be a benefit. Tired children can just sit quietly and soak up the information can't they? Going back to school should give them a bit of a rest!!

Of course, going back to school marks the beginning of the last term. The summer term is for doing as much learning outside as possible, sports day (urrgh) and planning the summer entertainments. I'm on the school PTA so I will be gunning for a Sponsored Walk this year.

So far we're booked in for the Larmer Tree Festival Fun For Kids . I'm doing a Wonders of Wool workshop and can't wait. Lots of prep work though which I will probably typically leave to the last minute. Come and say Hi if you're going.

Other items on the agenda is my alternative route to Recession Busting. Instead of following the advice to shop our way out of recession (borrring) I shall be Knitting, Growing and Baking my way out who needs money anyway :-) .

I've found it almost impossible to be grumpy when on the allotment. I shall also be pumping a bit of time and energy into getting a plot going at our local school. To do something similar check out Landshare and RHS - Campaign for School Gardening - Home . Of course when I say 'pumping time and energy into' what I mean is nag/encourage/bribe the Man of the House to go up to school and help me make a plot!

And in the oven today is bread and a Lemon Drizzle cake.

After much pondering and computor gazing I found this pattern

Hey Teach cardigan - Summer 2008 - Knitty , so I've started knitting it (see left & right) and I'm imagining its going to be my protective garment, my suit of armour! Its going to be my Magic Teacher Top!

Now the weather is typically gorgeous so I really must be outside. I can feel a dyeing session coming on (that's wool people, please don't be alarmed) , which I might attempt outside on a fire and there's Art Therapy at the end of the week (almost forgotten about that didn't you! yes!) so there should be some interesting pictures soon.

Thanks for droping by.

Ta Ta x

All Change...

The children have all returned and I have a house full of noisy girls again......just how it should be!!

And not surprisingly I felt pretty knackered by the time bedtime rolled round, so it was an evening on the sofa with knitting and tele for company (the man was listening to the football upstairs). Sadly, I think I'm getting sucked into The Apprentice after I told myself I wouldn't!

I have finished Noah's trousers and they have been sent off with Nana to be delivered, as usual in my haste to get them to the recipient I didn't take any photo's of them finished but I'm hoping my lovely sis will send me a photo of Noah wearing them so that I can add them as the first Finished Object for the blog.

The scrap blanket, I have decided, is now to become a Scrap Cushion (possibly for my brother as he recently requested one). It wasn't really inspiring me, the squares I did in stocking stitch didn't lay right and I much prefered the squares I knitted in garter stitch (they hold their shape so much better). Being a bit of a perfectionist I'm going to start a new Mitred Square Blanket doing all the patches in garter st. I might even try and convince a child or two to knit some patches.

Its funny that I end up doing more creative things when the girls are around than when I am alone. I think its because I know there's not much point doing any housework as they will only make the house untidy again. Generally they get on pretty well and will often immerse themselves in a very involved game, so I tend to stay out of the way, providing food and water as required, leaving me to 'do my thing!'

On the spinning front, I have 5 skeins of the choco rasp drying which means an awful lot of time is spent going through patterns contemplating what it wants to be. I'm thinking wrap/stole vs garment.

A garment would be more interesting but then I always get anxious about not having enough wool to finish something so frog it then hate it! I do quite fancy a lovely woolly blankie type thing as well,

oh well, time will tell.

Now I have to decide whether its worth putting the washing out!

Temporarily Redundant Mother.....

We are half way through the Easter break and it has (so far) been pretty relaxed. I think I earned some 'Good Mum' points for doing horsey things and allowing a sleepover and then the Big Girls went off to their Dad's leaving just three of us. The youngest kindly becomes twice as loud and twice as demanding to fill the void (ah bless)!

Luckily I bought in A Cousin for company and they played 'Piling Cushions' while I did a bit of sneeky spinning.

The Easter Bank holiday co-incided with The In-Laws 50th Wedding Anniversary, where I'm (a little) ashamed to say ate far too many Easter Eggs (I do it for the Kids of course, save their little teeth!) and drank more than I know is good for me :-( But we all had jolly good fun and the Weather Fairy came up trumps.

So, circumstances have given me a day off! (Yes another one, I feel like I'm cheating!!)

The Youngest and Dad have embarked on a big family outing to Weymouth on The Train. I couldn't go as I have a hair appointment booked *imagine hurt and disappointed voice here* Yes I know, its a shame, but it'll be a nice bonding time for Father and Daughter.

To balance out all this child free time I've gained I dedicated some of the morning to tidying The Girls rooms for their return (instead of spinning) because I am off to the hairdressers in a bit (her remit is something Striking!)

The other creative projects are plodding along. A couple more skeins of the Choco Rasp (can't wait to get knitting it), Noahs Trousers are quite literally on the last leg and a little attention was paid to the scrap blanket.

With most of the last few days involving family gatherings I've been spending more time eating than I have been knitting!

I'm off to do a bit more tidying just to show them all I love them and have been thinking of them.

Ta Ta x

A Puzzle...

So, what do you do when the kids are in Kiddie Heaven (A.K.A Nana and Grandad's), doing what kids should be doing in the Easter Hols when its not raining, i.e running about in a gang of cousins, getting dirty and making lots of noise.

Well, I could slob about in a dressing gown and watch Daytime TV.............the novelty of that wore off after Homes Under the Hammer!

I could clean the house from top to bottom..................mmmmm, maybe not.

I could beetle over to Kiddie Heaven and get involved, sooth hurts and break up fights (spending the whole time thinking of all the stuff I could be doing at home!)......

No, there's only one logical answer really, when you have an unexpected day off you really should 'do that thing you've been meaning to for ages and never do because there's too much other stuff that needs doing'.......in my case......

Cover a Cushion!

A close up of the detail.

I did grapple with my dusty sewing machine for about 5 minutes but as I was only getting frustrated I decided to hand sew this piece of material I bought for £5 a few years ago (with the intention of wearing it as a wrap around skirt but it didn't really hang right).

I re-discovered it recently as I'd put it in a bag for a clothes swap. I decided to keep hold of it and turn it into something....and now I have. We like soft furnishings in our house.

I suppose I had better tidy the sitting room now to display my handi work in!

A Change of Direction

Due to a change in circumstances (i.e. school holidays) I've embarked on a new creative project.

Its interesting, diverse and very challenging. I like to call it,

'Keeping Children Away from Screens'

This is a before shot!

I'm finding it really quite difficult as there seems to be constant requests to watch tele or go on the computor (that's inbetween requests for food!).

To add to the challenge (and oh I do like a challenge) the girls have an unspoken agreement to always be in a ratio of 1:2 moodiness.

The weekend wasn't too bad, the weather was pretty good over the weekend so I managed to banish them to the garden and on Sunday we went to my friends farm for a modern day Barn Raising in the shape of erecting a Poly Tunnel. It was a dry run as more prep was needed and a few more bodies, but the kids did some good Free Ranging over the fields and for a brief while were out of sight AND earshot!!

So as usually happens when its school holidays the sun has retreated (probably too many kids about!) and the stakes are raised. Today might need to involve paint, mess, baking, bit more mess and maybe a bit of un-tidying. I shall smile serenely and let it all wash over me....only 14 more days to go!!!

On the woolly front, I have plyed my Choco Rasp Wool and its looking and feeling wonderful.

I've also found this amazing book which I shall leaf through when I feel my nerves start to unravel!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Knitting-Inspirational-Stitches-Textures/dp/0500285578/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239007972&sr=8-1

And if all else fails I can go to Mum's.........................................

The Calm before the Storm

Life has got in the way of my creative endeavors the last couple of days which left me feeling a bit frustrated and grumpy, and this is my last day at home alone for two weeks as the kids break up for Easter tomorrow and I'm at college (yeah!)

So today, I had a little talk with myself and got myself organised.

I managed to make my bread dough and hang the washing out before I made my way to the Market under my own steam. I set off on my bike passing the car with a little smug smile to myself. I can walk the walk AND talk the talk!!

My route into our local town is along the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal, a beautiful ride, accompanied by the melodic voice of http://www.katewalsh.co.uk/ on the trusty Ipod, while I reminised about my time as a Narrowboat Dweller and fantasising about maybe returning to a life on the Canal (when the kids have left home maybe, I'll fill my boat with fluff and turn into a mad old spinning lady....with lots of cats....maybe?) Anyway I digress......

With a bit of effort (I have to get back up a very punishing hill) I now feel good at having some exercise, shopping in local shops not supermarkets and buying fresh fish for dinner.

The lesson for today's post then is, sometimes the effort involved in doing something you know you should is a lot less than the effort that goes into feeling bad about not doing it. (I've spent the last two days making lists and then feeling annoyed at not ticking any items off it!)

Well done me! My prize is banishing everyone from the sitting room and watching ER with my knitting! Its taken about 5 years to train everyone to leave me be but definately worth the effort.

Progress on Noah's Juju trousers is steady and I've nearly filled two bobbins with the wonderful bamboo/tencel/alpaca/wool mix. I've been looking into Bamboo. Its fantastically soft and a great sustainable plant but the processing of it uses lots of chemicals (you can't win!). Here's a link anyway.

http://bamboo-fibre.net/aboutus.aspx

Ta-ra x