Things Making Me Smile

So far this week I am not liking the darkness, getting up in the dark, the grey grey sky that has rained forever for days and days and makes you all wet from the knee down because even though you have your longest waterproof coat on the wind is driving the rain sideways! I am not liking that I have put my Berkies away for another year and winter feet are upon us. Gone are the funky coloured nails (no one will see them now except me in the shower) and trimmed are the lovely nails I have cultivated in the warmer weather to protect my socks.

But what socks;


The children bought me these in the summer for the astronomical price of 50p! This is the first time I have worn them. I love them. My favourite title/name/label/occupation/vocation/passtime......

Also liking my brilliant door mat;


Isn't it fabulous and it cost me less than three squids. Much happiness when I saw it and the happiness continues ever day when I wrestle my way back home through the wind and rain and open the front door. The picture has been turned many times but blogger seems to like it sideways??

So to sum up; tis wet and cold and miserable but if you look there are always things to make life seem better.

What's making you smile today?

Daisie xxx

Attack Of The Gloom

I got got by the gloominess over summer. The weather was bad, my sister suffered a terrible loss and for reasons of her own hasn't let me give her the support and love I wanted to. It brought back sad memories from my past. We're living mostly upstairs still and there being six of us made this an adventure for about three days before we all felt squashed and longed for some privacy. I feel a bit fat and a bit old and a bit useless. I feel like a bad mother and a bad wife.

My rational brain knows this is not true but it's how I feel.

My mood has improved some with the return to school for the children and work for me. The days in the week have some structure and I like the comfort of routine and knowing what's happening next.

Nathaniel is enjoying being a schol boy, he's learning lots everyday and loving being with his 'boy friends'!

Francesca has settled well into Y3 and has her favourite teacher again this year.

Elizabeth is adjusting slowly to the more intense pace of Y6 and we have been looking at secondary schools. When she brought the application pack out to me after school I thought I would sink to my knees in the play ground and howl at the sky. I was very restrained and simply burst into tears and hugged her (she was glad none of her chums were there to see).

Sebastian just gets bigger and bigger everyday, he jumps with two feet, he sings songs, makes jokes and is thoroughly entertaining from the moment he wakes in the morning until he goes to sleep at night.

It saddens me that they are growing and changing so much. every now and then it hits me how far they are from being babies. They are fierce independant individuals. They are their own people. They are my babies.

I am trying (as I did when Seb left the breast) to embrace the changes and look at this time as a new chapter in our relationship. A new adventure for us to share. A small part of me grieves though for my four tiny bundles. I feel powerless sometimes when they are hurt by their peers words or actions, when they struggle to achieve something they want to. Wrapping them tight in my arms and holding them to my body and loving every fibre of them is not always enough as it once was.

Anyway, enough random emotional ramblings for one day!!

I had a boost when a lady from the Alternative Women's Institute emailed and asked me to attend their vintage tea party again. I had a wonderful time last year and readlily agreed. That prompted a 'stock take' as making time has been on the small side since I started work. I was pleased with how many lovely things I have made and ready to go!

The party will be in the run up to Christmas so I have started to compliment existing stock with gifty type things. I have added some felt tree decorations to the Folksy shop and they will be coming with me along with some robins.

I have been knitting these lovely yummy hand/wrist warmers/fingerless mitts (whatever you want to call them). Each pair is slightly different and I love them all;




And for cold evenings I am knitting this mitre square blanket to keep me warm and snug;

Happy Birthday Sebastian

Two years ago today our smallest boy entered the world and made our family complete.

It was a long hard day, after a battle with my iron levels I was eventually 'allowed' to birth him at home only for him to be a million days late over a fortnight late so had to go in and have my labour induced.

Nathaniel and I spent all morning waiting at the hospital waiting and waiting. They evetually got around to giving me the jelly at lunchtime. Simon arrived and took Nathaniel to school to fetch his sisters. My lovely friend Claire (don't know where we'd have been without her) brought them all back to the hospital with a picnic.

We spent the evening together as a family, I had a bath and the girls gave me some peer massage they had learnt at school, it wasn't what I wanted but it was alright. Just before 9 I wanted to push so after a quick shift change a new midwife took me down stairs, I delivered Sebastian just after nine. I fed him, introduced him to the rest of his very tired (but so well behaved) family.` I bathed and dressed, dressed my newest addition and drove us home. Everyone was snug in their bed before midnight.

I think he is the luckiest boy, he arrived and was so brand new and already he had five people that loved him so much!

He is built like a rugby player, he has shoulders like his father, big and strong. A fact we were grateful for when he suffered a terible bout of pneumonia when he was just ten weeks old. He walked and jumped early and is so full of joy. He hides his hands and makes jokes. He is kind and affectionate and we love him so.

Sebastian pretending he's a big boy with his brother Nathaniel;



Happy birthday little man, can't believe it's two years ago!!

Counting The Good Things

There have been some very sad, heart breaking events in the past week or so. Things I am not able to talk about here because they concern others. Although I have cried, life with small people has to carry on in as normal a fashion as we are able.

I am trying to count the good things.

Fresh baked scones in my new cake stand;


A new wall, although the delight was not in having a wall but watching my big and littlest man 'work';



Finding pretty mosaics when stuck in Oldham waiting for Simon on a work mission;



And baking chocolate cake for our friend's 12th birthday, happy birthday Lily;


Daisie xxx

ooooh, we've had a busy week this week, with Simon back at work and no major works going on I have been able to take the children out and not feel guilty about him working hard at home.

We've had two trips to the cinema, a marathon cake/scone baking session, a food shop (boring), a trip to Ikea for birthday meatballs and yesterday we walked in the sun through the woods over the road and had a fabulous, if a little muddy, time;






There has been some enbriodery, of sorts, and some other crafting going on, we have friends coming tomorrow and a new window for the dining room is being fitted, busy busy busy!!

Daisie xxx

Happy Birthday!!

My beautiful baby girl is ten today.

Where did that time go??!

It seems like only yesterday and a whole life time ago since I held a tiny bundle to my chest and was so proud and so thankful that my daughter had arrived safely. After several years and several miscarriages I had feared I would never have my own child and here she was, small and perfect.

I love her a little more everyday.

She has taught me more than anyone else I have ever known.

She taught me to be the mother I am.

She teaches me something everyday.

I love her so much, my beautiful, big girl, Elizabeth;


Here she is last year, the year before and the year before that!

Big Boys And Pizza Packaging (Sketchbook Challenge)

After the disaster that was potato printing I have been keeping my eyes out for other print block making materials. I have even eyed up lino blocks and cutting tools online, I used to love lino printing at school, the danger of the sharp little diggy-outy tool and the fact that it never quite cut how you planned but looked cool anyway. I think I may invest in some bits for Christmas card making...... a plan is forming.....

Anyway, with eating in the bedroom we have gone for things that make little mess that can be eaten with fingers and kitchen roll. The other night the children had pizza and salad. I folded the bases in half to a satisfying pop as they snapped and then thought, oh, I wonder;


They were big enough for me to draw my images on with the wrong end of a paint brush;


I covered them in some whispers ink from my stash and printed away;



I quite like the look, I think that the base was a bit soft and flimsy and the ink didn't cover as well as it should but I like the textured look of the prints.

I also managed to enlarge the images of my boys;


Something went wrong with Sebastian's lip, don't know what happened, I redrew it a few times, went back to my tracing and checked the small squares, went back to my original image to double double check. It seems he was pouting all along but I didn't notice until he was 'big'.

I mixed some water colours and made two new shades (tints?) of purple and mixed some grey tones for their background;


Simon is back at work today so the renovations will slow down now, we're going to do some washing, do a food shop, see if a friend's in for a play and get back to 'ordinary' life.

What are you doing today??

Daisie xxx