Attic24

Tuesday Twenty

1. Back yard windmills making me smile

2. Little Nut Tree gently opening it's first leaf of the season

3. Brightly coloured washing line

4. The slant of the afternoon sunbeams

5. Evidence of Little B's outdoor playtime

6. Nap time/Mummy time

7. A little sweet accompaniment to my afternoon cuppa

8. A little hooky accompaniment to my afternoon cuppa

9. The wondrous oh.so.blue colour of the sky

10. The glowing yellow of neighbourhood forsythia

11. The picturesque beauty of my 3pm school run

12. Putting my new/old chair in the front garden for sunshine sitting

13. After school hooky time in the front garden while Little Peeps played out

14. Making lime and honey dressing for a salad

15. The golden light and chimney shadows at 6.30pm

16. An early evening walk up a hill to take in the view

17. The colours of sundown

18. Walking back through the woods

19. The wondrous sliver of moon in the still oh.so.blue sky

20. Plumping up my pillow and smoothing my blanket ready for bed

♥

Twenty pictures that capture the simple beauty and happiness of my Tuesday.

♥

 

 

 

Artwork in Progress

Do you remember back in October last year I wrote about the delights of treating myself to a little bit of visual loveliness ie buying myself a print from an artist? The artist in question is called Caroline, you can see her card above and get an idea of her style. It's very "me" don't you think?

This was the print I brought from her shop, it's called "Twisty-Twirly Town". Isn't it lovely? I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. Bright and colourful little houses will forever twang at my heart strings, I am powerless to resist them.

Caroline's work is delightful. She works her magic with papers and glue, I think the correct arty term would be "Mixed Media Collage". It's a simplistic medium for sure, I mean a four year old can snip up bits of paper and stick them down, can't they? But do not be fooled. This work is intricate and time consuming and the designs are deceptively sophisticated. I just adore the way that dozens and dozens of weeny bits of paper can all come together to create such magic. It's beautifully clever.

This is how each of Caroline's artworks begins it's journey, with a simple line drawing to scale (roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper in this case). Coming up with the design in the first place is of course much more of a process, and often ideas brew for a good while before they get to this stage. Take the above design for example, would you like to know the story behind it?

Well when I first discovered Caroline's work, in amongst all the beautiful flowers and birds I discovered a houseboat, and it immediately made me think of my beloved Connievan. So I emailed Caroline and asked in my bestest, most persuasive email voice if she would ever consider working a caravan picture? I described my dream caravan to her, which included most important details such as a cute, roundy-retro shape, blue and white gingham curtains, strings of bunting and pots of flowers. Sweet Caroline, she listened to me go on, but as she was already busy with a new creation (a gypsy caravan), she kindly and politely told me that I would need to wait.

Ok. I can do waiting I said. And wait I did.

That was until the beginning of last week when I had a surprise email from Caroline, telling me that she was about to make a start on the retro caravan picture we had chatted over last year, did I remember? ReMEMber?? Why of course I remember! How ever could I forget? Will it have blue and white gingham curtains? And strings of bunting and flowers and birds? And pretty please could there be a red spotty jug of flowers somewhere??? Oh I was soooooo excited, I cannot tell you. Caroline emailed me the above sketch of her design and I felt like my heart had been grabbed and squeezed hard. Honestly, I couldn't quite believe how exciting it was to see the beginnings of my her new art work.

During the past week, Caroline and I kept up a daily banter by email, back and forth, sharing the journey of this sweet creation. She would send me email updates  ("I'm planting flowers!") and some pictures of her Work in Progress. It was so much fun! Bless her, she even consulted me on various elements ("the curtains are going to be spotty and not checked, I hope this is ok, I would hate you to get upset by the curtains lol")

Some of the pictures she emailed me of work in progress just made me swoon. Look at the spotty jug of flowers, how incredible, how teeny tiny and adorable!

The spotty jug of flowers (which I had excitedly requested) was placed sweetly on the outside table, along with a cup of tea. Sigh.........perfect. Just perfect.

I began to try and imagine Caroline at work, how it must feel to be her, sat at a desk/table creating this work of art. I imagined her contentedly snipping and cutting and placing, surrounded by acres of colourful papers. I began to feel very curious and a little nosey. I wanted to see. So I asked......

......and this is what I discovered. A sweet, light working space.....

.......and a to-die-for stash of papers! Yum yum!!

I have to tell you that seeing these pictures and reading Carolines regular updates ("ughhhh I am completely brain dead - the concentration just exhausts me so much!!") made me remember the way it is when you create in this way. I know what it feels like to be so deeply involved with a piece of work, because I used to work in an almost identical way with fabric and stitch. It's both exhilarating and exhausting, especially towards the end when there seem to be a gazillion little decisions to make in order to pull it all together successfully.

With this piece of work, it was the wee Birds that were the finishing touch and proved hard to get right. Too much detail can sometimes kill a piece of work, as can the wrong colours. But Caroline is an experienced artist, and she chose to sleep on it and come back to the birds "with fresh eyes". Yes, yes, I remember that trick, it works wonders to sleep on it. Good plan.

So I had to wait an extra day to see the finished piece, the suspense was huge! I kind of felt that we'd been on this wonderful journey together, and now we were nearly at the summit and she was making me wait! Bah, how cruel!!!!! And yet of course I understood.

The pictures that arrived on Saturday, were so worth waiting for though.

Take a look..............................................................................

WOW. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't it just the most delightful image? So much fun and happiness and carefree delight in that picture, it captures the essence of caravan holidays in such a perfect way.

I wrote to Caroline to express my happiness, it was actually quite hard to find the words. I wanted to say what a privilege it had been to be taken along on this creative ride, how very much I had enjoyed the whole process. I wanted to say how it seemed to me that she had managed to look into my heart and capture everything I most love about trips away in Connievan :: experiencing the joy of outdoor living, yet feeling so cosy and at home at the same time. Of stars and birdsong and cups of tea and nature and cosy family times. Of fun and happiness. The picture says it all.

Shall I say a little Ta-dah at this point?

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A mixed media collage by Caroline Rose Art, entitled "Settle".

You can buy yourself a print of this fabulous collage in Caroline's shops, either Folksy or Etsy.

I hope you've enjoyed sharing this with me, I felt it was a story worth sharing. I love to celebrate creativity, it makes me so happy. It also makes me want to dash off with Connievan into the countryside, to string her with bunting flags, fill her little jam jar vase with wild flowers and settle down with a cup of tea to wait for the stars to peep out.

Happy Days.

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Edit to add :: thank you SO much for all your sweet words, it's been such a pleasure to find you enjoying this as much as I have. In case you missed it, Caroline left you all a message.....

"Thank you all so so so much for your lovely comments, I am so touched by all of your lovely words about my art. I had such a fun week with Lucy while working on this one and hopefully we will do it again soon!! If you don't see the print in my shop - just let me know - I am trying to keep on top of the sales but sometimes I lose track!!! xxxx"

Poor lass, she has been completely floored by the terrific response to her artwork, I really don't think she expected such a deluge of orders (although I did tell her she would be busy this week!) She is the most kind, sweet, modest lady and she asked me to let you know that she is doing her utmost to keep on top of everything and will get orders out as fast as possible. But please accept that there may be a very slight delay as she catches up with it all, I'm sure you understand. Thank you all so much!

x

 

 

 

 

The Magic of Seeds

Yesterday morning I really fancied a good cup of coffee, you know a Proper Coffee made from freshly roasted and ground beans, with hot, well frothed milk on top. I didn't just fancy it actually, I was absolutely gasping for it. I cut back my caffeine intake a few months ago, switching to drinking decaff at home, but I do confess to loving the hit from a decent caffeine-fuelled cappuccino. A few times a week when I'm out and about in town I indulge and enjoy, it's become a real pleasure and something I look forward to during the week. Somehow it tastes better because I'm not having it so often.

Anyhow, yesterday....late yesterday morning I walked the two minutes to the bottom of my street where miraculously there happens to be the most fantastic coffee shop. They roast and grind 35 different types of coffee beans on the premises, and my-oh-my the take out coffees are superb. But they are made of strong stuff. Uh-huh, s-t-r-o-n-g. About half an hour after drinking my delicious cappuccino yesterday, I was hit sideways by a wave of caffeine, the sort that leaves you feeling jittery on the edge of your seat and unable to sit still. I kind of like the feeling, it causes me to rush about and  DO Things.

So yesterday's caffeine rush combined with the sun shining induced a frenzy of outdoor activity. It was marvellous! I got such a lot done!

I decided to do something quite rare and impulsive for me and Plant Seeds. It's been quite a few years since I did this, as although I reliably buy seeds each year, I don't actually ever plant them. I tend to put them in a bowl in my kitchen, gaze sweetly at the pretty packets each day, and leave it at that. Not so this year!!!!! No, no no!! This year, aided by that terrific cappuccino, I got down to some dirty work and seeds have really been planted. I'm so happy!

I find the whole idea of planting seeds absolutely mind blowing, I really do. They never fail to astound me, these little tiny brown dry things. How marvelously clever they are! It really does seem like magic to me, that you can stick them into the dirt, provide water and warmth and lo and behold they will germinate and sprout and push their little shoots skywards.

The first seeds to hit the earth were Pot Marigolds (calendular), which I adore. I decided to plant them directly into this old colander which I bought last weekend in a second hand shop. I'd remembered seeing one on Steph's blog planted up with flowers and the image had stuck. I thought it was a fantastic idea to use one of these for flower growing, it has in-built drainage holes and everything. A little bit of Kitchenalia Chic.

On Friday I purchased a couple £1 pots of sweet pea seedlings from the supermarket. Now as with the seeds, I also buy these every single year then forget about them, leaving the poor things to become spindly, tangled and root bound in their pots. The resulting plants therefore begin their growing lives in rather a traumatised fashion and never recover to grow as they should. I always then feel dreadfully guilty and annoyed at myself, but not so this year! No, no no!! This year, aided by that terrific cappuccino, I got down to some dirty work, gently separating the seedlings out, pinching out their growing tips (as advised by Mum) and transplanting them into some large pots. Happy, happy, happy :o)

The caffeine was still coursing through my body at this point, so I rushed down to the cellar and located my Tub Of Old Seeds. These are the seeds that have been reliably bought-but-not-opened during the past four years. Four years of flower dreams that never came to fruition. Hahaaaaaaa!!!!!! Not So This year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This year I am making it happen!

First out of the seed archives is Morning Glory, how I love love love these exuberant climbers. I am very excited at the thought of having them twining around and about the place this summer, producing their gorgeous trumpety blue flowers each day.

I found some old chipped china bowls in my back yard and thought I could sow my seeds into them instead of the usual little plastic plant pots or trays. That way I'd be able to bring them inside to my teeny-tiny kitchen windowsill and they would look quite at home. Also, they wouldn't leak water everywhere cos there aren't any holes.

After the Morning Glory came the Nasturtiums, variety "Jewel Mixed". Love love love Nasturtiums. L-o-v-e 'em. Love their sweet, humble beauty, love their vibrant colours and love the way they are always so cheerful and happy looking.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I planted Nasturtiums!

After the Nasturtiums came Cosmos, variety "Dwarf Sonata Mixed". These will hopefully become foot high daisy type flowers in shades of pink and white, with delightful feathery soft foliage.

Sweet little magic seeds, I am willing you to grow. I am already dreaming of pyjama clad early morning summer forays into my back yard to snip away at nasturtiums, sweet peas, cosmos and marigolds. I'm hoping to create the most gorgeous little cutting garden out the back here, I can hardly wait. I don't need armfuls of flowers to be happy. Just enough to fill a little glass ink bottle or a weeny hand painted jug will do.

Of course, I do realise that planting seeds is a relatively easy thing to do, and that it's only the very first stage in a long line of stages before the flowers appear. I do realise that I am now responsible for the upkeep of these seed bowls, need to administer correct amounts of water, need to sing and chat daily to them in order to encourage growth. I do realise that there will then come the business of PrickingOut and PottingOn, and then possibly some HardeningOff? In actual fact it's quite a lot of sustained effort to nuture a flowering plant from seed. But I am up for the challenge. Yes indeedy. Bring on the magic.

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Doing my Job

I have my off days like anyone else, but mostly I have to say I adore my job as a stay-home-mum. It suits me down to the ground and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to do this job, a job I love with all my heart. I'm not a worker really, no not really. By nature I'm far too idle and ditsy and free-floating to be a good employee, I do pretty much hate being told what to do. I like to feel free, I like to feel that (within reason) I can pick and choose what I want to do each day, set my own schedule according to my mood and the weather.

That's not to say that I don't like routine, cos I do. I like to have some basic structure to my days,  and certain things do need to be done each day, and I do need to be in certain places at set times each day. But that all balances out with the deliciousness of being able to free-float in and out and inbetween the must-do's and must-be's. Like I say, it suits me down to the ground.

I'm really enjoying this stage of Motherhood, I like the playgroup/nursery years a great deal more than the baby years I think. We get to have quite a bit of fun, Little B and I, he is terrific company. I'm enjoying the pace of our days and weeks and feel we're finally achieving a good balance between together time and away time, catering for each of our needs pretty well I'd say.

Thursday is the one day which I leave open without plans. No music groups, no toddler groups, no playgroups, no arrangements. Sometimes my in-laws come across and look after Little B so I can skip with my bag to knit and natter at the cafe. Sometimes I take Little B with me to knit and natter, where I spend much of my time trying to keep him away from the coffee machine which he is obsessed with. But lately, we've just been hanging out together at home on Thursday's, and it's been lovely to enjoy a bit of quiet down time together.

Yesterday though, well yesterday was declared (by me) to be a day for Going Places. The sun was shining and I suddenly thought how grand it would be to walk down to the station and take a train ride. I ran the idea by Little B, and he responded with a great big Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! and an excited kicking of his legs. So down to the station we went to get on a red, shiny train.

Little B had selected suitable reading material for the occasion, and we chatted about various forms of transport for the whole fifteen minute journey. Actually, no that's not true as we did look out the window quite a bit and pointed out things we could see. Sheep and tractors and lorries and the such like.

We journeyed to a nearby town in search of essential clothing supplies for my offspring who will not stop growing. Destination Large Supermarket. We got to ride in a lift. I bought Little B some incredibly dinky-sweet Fireman Sam underpants and new pyjamas with dinosaurs on. New socks and jammies for the Little People too. And one or two wee things for Mummy which snook into the basket, I'll show you those in a bit.

Once all the shopping was done with, we walked the few minutes back to the station and jumped on the train back again. But instead of going all the way back to our home town, we got off a stop early, at the village we visited a month or so ago,  the one with the fabulous play park. What a grand plan that was, Little B was all smiles, and I felt all puffed up and pleased with myself. Doing a Good Job today I thought, what a happy day of Going Places and having fun being Mummy!

Unlike last time we were here which was during the school holidays, today the park was deserted when we arrived. Totally empty and all ours. It was great.

We had the whole run of it, even the giant sandpit which is usually full of kids on busy days.

It was a beautiful day yesterday, still quite chilly, but unmistakably an early Spring sort of a chill and not a late Winter chill.

I was delighted to see some early blossom, it looked so very, very pretty.

And full blown pussy willow too, a sure sign that Spring has most definitely sprung in my patch.

After a good while playing at the park I began to feel peckish, so I persuaded Little B to pause and come have lunch. He was devilishly busy collecting up handfuls of wood chippings and shoving them through a hole in one of the little stone walls, but at the mention of food he came running. We sat at a wooden picnic table in the sunshine and ate some sandwiches, biscuits, bananas and grapes that I'd bought with us. How I love to picnic eat outdoors, I really do love it. So simple and so satisfying. I did have a little bit of picnic envy as a family arrived at the next table and the other Mummy had thought to bring a flask. Damn, I slipped up there, I suddenly felt most desperate for a cup of tea when I spied her pouring smugly from her flask.

The sky was a hazy blue, the sun a sort of pale, watered down version of it's usual bright self. But it was truly blissful to have hazy blue and pale yellow shine down on me as I ate lunch.

It took a lot of persuading to get Little B to leave the park, we were there quite a long time. But eventually I really did kind of Need To Go if you get what I mean (no facilities at the park unfortunately), so I scooped him up (literally) and trotted the few minutes to the little station to wait for the next train back.

I sat on the platform bench and crossed my legs (getting desperate for Facilities), and Little B sat and crossed his legs too. He has new pumps this week look, dinosaur ones, very cute. Already well worn in.

By the time we arrived home, Little B was flat out asleep in his pushchair, worn out from the mornings excitements. I had about an hour and a half before the school run so I quickly chopped and mixed and got the dinner on to slow cook (a curry, this recipe but made with red lentils and mixed peppers. It was delish). Then I set about playing with my new purchases.....

This is what I bought for myself from the Large Supermarket, I just couldn't resist their happy, carefree, colourful charms. They were only £1 each and I felt so giddy putting them through the checkout and stashing them away in my bag. 

I spent a while jigging about in the back yard, clearing away the dead things from some of my big pots so that I could satisfactorily "plant" my windmills. Oh what fun! They look so charming!

I can see them from my kitchen window, spinning round and round in the breeze. I love them.

After all that, I had a weeny window of time left to make myself a brew and sit out in the sunshine a while. I've positioned a chair and cushion right outside my back door for just such occasions as that's where the afternoon sun hits at this time of year.

I sat and thought about our day, and what a good time we'd had together, Little B and I. In fact, our days and weeks are really full of simple pleasure I have to say, we've settled in to a very lovely weekly routine. You may remember I told you he had started going to playgroup two mornings a week? Well the first fortnight was hideous and I felt constantly wrung out with the emotional strain of leaving him when he was crying so much. But then on the 5th day, his lip wobbled considerably, but he Did Not Cry (oh joy!!), and on the 6th day he was subdued but no quivering lips. And by the time we hit the 7th day (which was last week), he positively beamed with happiness when we arrived, waved goodbye to me and ran in to play. Such a humongous relief, I can't tell you.

Right, all this talk about Doing My Job is making me think that right now I should not be sat at my desk chatting to you. Sorry, I do need to go now. Need to scoot off and attend to the business of cleaning. It's Friday morning, Little B is happily at playgroup (yiipeppepeeeeee) and I've got some Home Blessing to do.

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Sea Fix

Every so often I find myself pining for the sea something terrible. Yes, every so often I do need to get me a Sea Fix, and it's a very strong need. An Urge even. I've been feeling the pull of the sea throughout most of this year, and have tried on numerous occasions to plan a weekend jaunt to the coast with the Attic family. But the family doesn't suffer from the same kind of withdrawal symptoms that I do, and they don't feel The Urge like I do. They moan about the one-hour-and-twenty-minutes it takes us to drive to the sea from here. They moan loudly, and so I give in with a shrug of my shoulders and a slightly heavy heart.

But....I do happen to be married to a very lovely, thoughtful man. The kind of man who arranges a day off work and decides he will use that precious day to whisk his wife to the coast for her Sea Fix. Kind of a day-late Mother's Day treat he said. Sweet Man ♥ So yesterday morning bright and early, I was leaping around with excitement making up a picnic, assembling picnic rug, cool bag, boots, bucket and spade. Preparing for our jaunt to the sea. And after depositing the Little People at school, we set off to drive upwards and to the left (North West?), heading for the quaint little village of Heysham.

It's almost exactly three years ago since we were here last, you may even remember  it? It hasn't changed one jot. It's a very quirky, quiet (oh so quiet) place, hardly a soul about. No traffic, the roads are practically deserted. We park our car as we did last time, on a quiet residential road quite high above the sea below. It's cold, bright and blustery, quite a perfect day to be beside the sea I think.

We walk briskly down the path to reach the promenade. I am not walking exactly, I am half running and half skipping. J is laughing at my visible excitement, I cannot contain the pure pleasure of simply being beside the sea. Of seeing it, hearing it, smelling it. The air smells wonderful. Sharp and salty and fresh and full of Goodness.

Of course we do not have the Little People with us, but oh we do indeed have our Little B! He is wearing his yellow wellington boots and seems to be picking up on my excitement, he is chatty and points and exclaims a lot. We take him into this little sandy, windswept play area and he enjoys lots of climbing and sliding. But my feet are itching to get down onto the sands, and soon enough we head to the beach.

The tide moves in and out very quickly here, it's famous for it. There was hardly any visible beach when we arrived, yet within half an hour, all this gorgeous ripply sand has appeared as if by magic. Marvellous! Just right for a spot of running, jumping, throwing and shell gathering.

Little B is new to the idea of beach combing, having never done it before, so I teach him the art. I help him to look for pretty shells which we rinse clean in the little sea water pools. He examines them closely, then slings them in the bucket. So far so good. But then I turn around and find he is throwing them all out of the bucket. No no! We need to collect them! Keep them IN the bucket! But he is intent on throwing them out, one by one, out they go until his bucket is empty. Ok, begin again. "More" he says. Pick up, rinse in water, put in bucket. Collect about eight, then they all get thrown out. I give up trying to thwart him and just enjoy watching him instead, he is delighted with the whole process obviously.

I can't really do much beach combing myself cos I am having to supervise the Little fella. He is stomping in pools of sea water, splashing water all up his trousers and into his boots. He is tripping and stumbling over slippery rocks, he is investigating great piles of stinky seaweed. But oh my, he is having fun! I take a few snaps of him doing his thing, and I gaze up and down the deserted beach. Bliss. I am full of sea-bliss.

I am also starting to get hungry, as being by the sea always makes me feel ravenous. Always. So we choose a place to rest up for our picnic....see in the above pic, on the far right hand side, there are three benches on the sea wall there near the red life belt? We choose the middle bench and chow down. Brown bread sandwiches wrapped in tin foil, fruit, crisps, slabs of lemon drizzle cake, chocolate and a mug of steaming hot tea. The view makes it taste divine.

After lunch we take a little wander through the village, and I indulge in some blatant Housey Appreciation. I LOVE looking at houses, love examining the details.

LOve the cobbled pathways everywhere. I also fell madly in love with that sweet little coloured glass lantern, and I confess I had some Bad Thoughts about grabbing it and running away with it. Naughty, naughty.

We end up by the little village green and I remember these lovely benches from our visit before. I wish we had pretty benches like this in my town, with a picturesque landscape to rest ones back against.

We continue meandering, along Main Street, past a closed up bric-a-brac shop, a closed up cafe and a closed up diner, up the road and back to the hilltop where the car is parked. The view looks different to when we first arrived, less sea and more seaweedy sand. But still beautiful. I breathe deeply and inhale the air one last time before we head for home.

What a fabulous day. We return with sand in our boots, and some fabulous memories. Oh, and one solitary rock which is the result of Little B's beach combing activities. He refused to throw that one away, stuffed it hastily in his little coat pocket to bring home. A reminder of a day well spent.

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Saturday Happy

:: coming downstairs early on Saturday morning and loving that I still feel completely bowled over by the happy sight of my Shelves. Also loving that I can now photograph the flowers on my table without being overwhelmed by horrendous backdrop of visual doom ::

:: these are Fridays Fresh Flowers, the most beautiful, highly scented narcissi. The smell of them fills the room and is indescribably beautiful. Not every member of my family shares the same thought, but I care not ::

:: pottering. Happy happy. Watering the growing things on my mantel and loving them so very much. Lost count of how many successive yellow pots have filled these hooky tins this year, I will keep buying them week after week until they are no longer available ::

:: same goes for the hyacinths, think this is possibly the 4th or 5th batch. Pink this time, I'm really looking forward to them ::

:: pottering some more. Happy happy. Notice with a lurch of my heart that my new book is still sitting looking gorgeous in my newly acquired funky red wire In-Tray. Must make it top priority to find a Window of Opportunity for it ::

:: the urge to bake strikes, I immediately think Lemon Drizzle cake. Start to assemble ingredients but realise I've not enough sugar. Send Little Man running down to the little shop at the bottom of the road to purchase required sugar, then spend happy time making it happen. The resulting smell that fills the air is quite divine ::

:: suddenly remember that on Friday I bought the Little People new things from the discount bookshop in town and get them out. Am unsure as to whether sticker books involving animals, fairies, princesses, dinosaurs and lego people will still cut the mustard with 7 and 9 year olds, but I am pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm ::

:: ahhh just like old times. I lovelovelove watching them become so engrossed with these simple books, just as I often did when they were much smaller. Sticker books are ace. Children busy with sticker books are ace ::

:: busy busy now, jobs to do. Dash upstairs to strip bedding off two beds and one cot. Big smile when I go into Little B's bedroom to see that he's managed to build the train track all-by-himself. My heart expands as I imagine his happy play ::

:: beds are stripped, washing machine sets to work, then a little spot of happy Pegging Out. It's not especially sunny, but there is a breeze and I am sure they will pretty much dry outside. I look up and down my back street and see there are many back yard washing lines full of laundry flapping in the breeze. It reminds me of a book illustration, so I go search it out and read it to Little B ::

:: this is a really delightful childrens book with the most heart warming illustrations. My Mum bought it for Little B's first birthday. It's called Peepo! by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. Little B is not yet at the stage where he'll sit still and be read to, but he does like doing the "peepo" bit of this book very much. And instead of reading the verse (which is wonderful but lengthy for a 2yr old), we do a sort of spotting game with the illustrations ::

:: 1 o'clock, and miraculously I am All Alone in the house. Children are out with friends, J has taken Little B to visit grandparents, and so it's just me by myself. I ponder over what to do with this precious window of time, and decide on something a little unusual for the time of day....a bath. A deep, hot, luxurious bubble bath. It is absurdly lovely to sink into the hot foamy, scented water in broad daylight, feels very decadent and naughty ::

:: post bath time now, and I am on a roll. I am continuing the naughty/decadent theme and feeling jolly happy with myself. I bring up to the bedroom a steaming hot cup of tea, a slice of still-warm lemon drizzle cake, and the Urgent Item from the top of my in-tray to deal with. I am in my pyjamas fresh from the bath, and into bed I creep ::

:: getting back into bed in the middle of the day feels kind of guiltily wrong but beautifully right all at the same time. As did the middle of the day bubble bath. And my friends, I can very, very, very highly recommend it. My pleasure-o-meter soared off the scale ::

:: this book, oh this book is fan-TAS-tic. I've read it all, cover to cover, devoured it, lapped it up. I'll be chatting more about it very soon, but for now, let me just say it's one of the bestest books I've ever bought ::

:: out of bed now, tea and cake in tummy, precious book on bedside table, back downstairs to real life. Bath and bed in the middle of the day!! HA!!!! yeah, I did that, and it was oh so GOOD! Pootling about and I spy my basket of ripple. Think to myself that it's been a while since I got it out and gave it an appraisal ::

:: it's looking very bright and joyful. I notice that the last six or seven colours have run through quite a rainbowy phase, so I decide that my next set of colour combos will shake it up a little. A few sparks need to fly I think. Still having a ball with this blanket, I don't think I really want it to end. Which is why I'm working on it oh-so-very-slowly. Eeeking out the pleasure of it ::

♥ What a gloriously simple, Happy Saturday for yours truly. So happy. So blessed. ♥

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Outside Potential

One of the things I love about this time of year is the subtle shift of focus from indoors to outdoors. It's still a bit early here to spend any great length of time outside, ie it's still bloomin' cold! But I am starting to spend little pockets of the day out in my backyard, pegging out the laundry, checking over my rather forlorn pots, pottering about with Little B. And it feels rather good.

I had a good squizzy into all of my pots this week to see what's alive and what's not. I'm happy to report that the honeysuckle is re-sprouting, as are the chives. The rosemary has bright new tips growing, and the mint is having a good think about waking up. Not too sure about the rest, lots of dead looking stuff, but then I did have a lot of annuals in the pots that are not supposed to carry on.

My Creative Mind is starting it's familiar annual journey into all things Outdoors. My head is buzzing with the possibilities, and it's simultaneously thrilling and exhausting. I am conjuring up all sorts of mental images (my Minds Eye is boggling!), plans to prettify. I'm thinking new bunting. Crochet seat pads. A bench (with cushions). More vertical planting involving trellis. More big planting involving erm..Big Things in Big Pots. Shrubbery? Small trees? I am hugely excited about it all.

One thing I think blogging is especially good for is Recording Progress and documenting Before-and-After endeavours. So with this in mind, I took a few photos in my back yard yesterday, even though at this time of year it all looks a bit grim. Consider this the "before" element of a work in progress.

I stood on a chair in the corner with the camera held above my head to take a photo so that you can get an idea of the scale. It's L shaped and tiny. Each stone square measures 60cm, so I've got about 12m² in the main bit as you come out the kitchen door and then a little bit more under the kitchen window.

This is the view directly out of the kitchen door. I love that old stone wall, although I would equally love to see some greenery scampering up there. Ivy perhaps?

This is the outer boundary wall that you'll probably be familiar with as this is where I plant up and photograph most of my summer annuals. Funny, I remember writing about this wall in one of my early posts about the back yard...here it is, June 2008. The ideas I had back then for topping the wall with a bit of fence and creating a narrow raised bed to grow climbers in are still in residence. I'm currently looking for a builder who can do clever things with stone as I've decided the raised bed must be made of stone. Like the house.

This is the view down to the teeny bit of "working" space I have outside, where I keep my pots and tools and gardening paraphernalia. It's not very pretty. But I'm visualising (in my busy Minds Eye) a weeny potting shed at the end there. Painted aqua blue and strung with bunting. Can you picture it?

And now we're looking back again, into the main square of space. To the left is the window into the dining room, my desk is under that window. I'm thinking of moving my herbs and putting a wooden bench under the window, as the sun hits that spot just in time for early morning coffee in the summer.

I have to say, although this is a small, humble little space, I really do quite like it. It has potential to be an awful lot more than it is, and isn't the Thought Of Potential one of lifes most exciting things??

J very frequently says how much he misses our old garden, which was quite a substantial corner plot. Lots of green hedges and flower borders, a large lawn, apple trees, a playhouse for the Little Peeps, a vegetable bed. Of course, he forgets how much work is involved with a garden. He forgets how irritated he used to get when the grass needed mowing and the hedge needed trimming and the large shrubs needed pruning. He says he feels guilty that Little B is growing up without a garden to play in. Pah, what rubbish I told him!! So to prove my point I took a whole load of photos and some (very sweet) video footage of Little B at play last week, to show him just how much fun can be had in our small back yard.

I filled an old washing up bowl with warm soapy water, and out came the watering can. Lots of watery, soapy fun was had.

The dumper truck was also brought outside, I wish you could hear the babble that accompanied this play. It was joyful!

A little water and a few pebbles, what good, clean fun.

We pottered and played with the water for a  good while, then I decided to introduce a bit of dirty fun.

Ahhhhhhh yes, lets get dirty! Digging and filling up pots with damp earth, it was wonderful. A lovely little time spent outdoors before cold hands, wet clothes and sleepy eyes told us it was time to head back inside for afternoon nap.

And just as I was packing the play things away, I happened to notice the fresh buds on my sweet Little Nut Tree. Oh joy! I was given this small sappling in the summer when it was in leaf (it's a hazel tree) and of course being a deciduous tree it lost all it's leaves when the weather turned. I was very worried that it might've died, but I hoped with all my heart that it was just going to sleep. I am soooo excited about those leaves coming back again.

In fact, I am excited about an awful lot of things right now. So much Potential, so much creative fun to be had in the great outoors. I am brimming over with the thought of it all to come.

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Sunshiney Day

A glorious day today in North Yorkshire, it made me realise with a flutter that oooooooooooh Spring is not far away, yippeeee! We had no plans when we woke up, were waiting to look at the sky and allow the weather to dictate.

J suggested a trip to Ilkley park, to do what dozens of other families were doing, ie exercising their offspring in the fresh air.

The park is justifiably popular on sunny days, so many families, so many children. Lots of noise (I adore the collective sound of children hard at play, makes me happy deep down inside).

J and I took it in turns to accompany Little B, following him around as he did a circuit of the climbing frame, wooden train and roundabout. During my off-duty shifts, I sat my bottom on the sun warmed tarmac, leaned my back against the metal fence and thought how lovely it as to see shadows. How lovely it is to be treated to a sunshiney day!

After the playground, we ambled along the river that runs at the edge of the park to feed the ducks. Lots of memories floating in as I recalled the sweetest video clip we have of Little Man aged 18months chasing ducks in this exact spot.

I was entranced by the tree shadows spread out on the grass. I did some silly shadow things to entertain Little B here. I wiggled my arms a lot, it was fun, well he laughed anyhow.

After the park, we drove up out of town to the top of Ilkley Moor to eat a picnic lunch.

I adore it up here, the height of this place is mesmerising, you feel so close to the sky up here.

Ilkley looks like a model village spread out before us.

The rocks up here are truly spectacular. They are ginormous.

Their sheer size is almost too much to take in, leaves you feeling a bit breathless and giddy.

We had a lovely time today, It's just the sort of simple, spontaneous family outing that I love. Nothing complicated about park visits, picnics or enjoying natural landscapes. Cheap too, only some ice creams to buy.

I had some little daydreams about Connievan today, thinking that with the temperatures warming up  a little, we might be able to wake her from hibernation quite soon. Now that is something to look forward to.

Hoping you've all enjoyed a lovely weekend, here's to a gorgeous week ahead for us all.

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Shelves of Bliss

I am genuinely a little embarrassed to be writing up this daft post. It's verging on the ridiculous. Mother of three lets shelving Get Messy. Then Mother of three Tidy's Up!!!! Hardly very thrilling. And yet.....and yet it somehow speaks volumes about where my life is at right now. About the way I am slowly emerging from the intensity of two years raising a baby into toddlerhood. About the way I'm enjoying a little more time and space (and energy) creeping into my life as Little B becomes more independent. About the way I am trying to find new routines which'll keep the place in a relative state of togetherness, rather than just letting it all slip slide.

Decluttering our home has become a major focus for me in recent months, along with reorganising how we store and display our stuff. Cos boy, do we have Stuff.

Jeez. So much stuff. Heaping and teetering, pile upon unsteady pile. Layers and layers of stuff that's accumulated over a lengthy period of time.

What shall I do with this random object? Ahh, just pop it on the shelf for now, put it away later. And there it stays for days/weeks/months.

Clear the table so we can eat dinner, but where to put the papers/objects that are littering the table? Ahh, just pop them on the shelf for now, deal with it later. And there they stay for days/weeks/months.

Open the post, but where to put the letters/bills/statements/catalogues/receipts? Ahh, well just pop them on the shelf for now, deal with it later. And there they stay for days/weeks/months.

Little B!!! You shouldn't be playing with that, you'll break it/spill it!! Put it up on the high shelf so he can't reach, deal with it later. And there it stays for days/weeks/months.

That's the way it goes. So easy to let it happen, in the rush of our busy days. We lived like this for so long, cos it somehow just simply seemed to be The Way It Goes.

But sometime just recently, this shelving chaos began to cause problems. Arguments were occurring. Stuff was getting lost in those there shelves. Important stuff that was needed, and tempers were getting frayed. Little B also grew tall enough to reach the lowest shelf. Stuff began to topple and fall. And it all got to be Too Much.

I was having coffee with a very good friend on Tuesday morning, and we were chatting about what our plans were for that afternoon. Out of the blue I suddenly declared my intention to Start Tidying the Shelves of Doom. I'm gong to do it, I said. I'm ready. I'm really going to do it! I'm going to start from the top and work down, just the top two shelves to start. She has heard this many, many times before, as I have often made similar declarations. This time though, I asked if she wanted to help me. She nearly choked on her cappuccino with the shock of that request, it was really funny! But I explained that I needed her help in a supervisory capacity only. I asked if she would come to number24 at precisely 2.30pm, to inspect the first two shelves for me. Keep me to my word. And so that's how it began. My lovely friend has come round to my house each afternoon to check on the day's progress, and it has motivated me to keep going and produce results. A Declaration of Intention, followed by a Scheduled Inspection is definitely the way to do it, in case you are in a similar situation with your own Doomed Space(s).

Anyhow......I've rambled enough. I need to show you some pics now. The left shelf first. Just scroll back up a bit to remind yourself of the Before picture. Got it? Right, now look below............

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I look at the above image and my heart soars. Whooooooooooosh!!!! So happy! So childishly proud of my efforts!

These middle two shelves are my absolute most favourite. I have my precious books all lined up beautifully, and my delicious new cat too, made by the incredibly talented Jane Foster. And then I have my newly created "dresser" style shelf. Oh my. I am SO in love with this shelf. Take a look at this next picture.....

.....see on the other side of our archway, that odd looking too-narrow pine shelving? Well this makeshift bit of furniture came from our last house and was/is a temporary measure until we can have some proper built in shelving there (I'm thinking natural wood for these shelves, rustic oak kind of thing). Well before my shuffle around this week, all my pretty jugs, vases, pots and mugs were crammed onto one of those pine shelves, more as a safe place for storage than an effective place for display. It was actually Heather who had the idea for me, to shift it about a bit and create a little bit of a dresser look on the white shelves. What a clever thinking person Heather is, it had never crossed my mind to do this. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised what a fabulous idea it was. So I bought some white cup hooks and screwed them in to hang up my smaller jugs and cups. And I'm hugely pleased with the results. I had to move quite a few books across to the rickety pine shelf in order to make space on the white shelf, but I think it looks ok for now.

I'm also very happy to now have all my books together on one shelf too, as my crochet/craft books were widely scattered about the house before. I gathered them all together into one place, and it makes me really happy to see them there. I don't have all that many really, and they've been gathered across many years...but I think I have enough. For now.

This is my collection of feel-good books, which are of the interiors/lifestyle sort. I adore this type of book, I can spend hours and hours browsing the picture heavy pages, dreaming up all sorts of creative schemes for my own surroundings. I just love to do that, have done since I was in my early twenties and lived for the first time in my own little flat.

The other change I made was to move my collection of enamel coffee and tea pots over from the right shelf to the left shelf. I've been collecting these since I first moved to this town four years ago. I paid very little for them (no more than £4) from our local "collectors centre", and I love that I've bought them this way over a number of years. I've recently been looking on ebay for similar items, but've been stunned by the prices they fetch.

Moving on then.

This is the other Shelf of Doom, the one on the right of the fireplace.

This shelf isn't quite so messy as J did have a stab at clearing it on my behalf some time ago when I was out for the day. So funny...his method of solving the messy problem was simply to scoop up all of my stuff and shove it in a big box, then take the box down to the cellar. Out of sight, out of mind. I was livid at the time when I discovered what he'd done, but it did force me to deal with The Box (mostly craft stuff, which is now neatly stored in the cupboard below).

So shall we have a look at the transformation?

Ok.

Lets take a peek...............

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So much better I think you'll agree. I still need J to go through his collection of paperbacks as I could do with a little bit of extra space on this side. I'd like some pretty files/A4 boxes to deal with paperwork issues that we still have ongoing. We desperately need some sort of a filing system in place, somewhere to organise and store the papers that we want/need to keep. This is a major problem and a big contributor to our clutter/mess issues. Already J has made a little stack on that lower shelf, ALREADY, damn him!! This morning I noticed there were two newspapers, an unopened magazine, the water bill which arrived yesterday, and a copy of a letter he sent out yesterday. Tsk tsk, bad J.

But oh we are heading in the right direction, we really are. I am SO, so SOSOSOOo happy with the work I've done this week, with the results I've achieved.

And it has been hard work. Tough graft. I started on Tuesday afternoon, then worked quite a bit on it through Wednesday afternoon too. Plus pretty much all day Thursday when I hit the bottom shelves (above picture), as these really were rammed with an incredible amount of stuff.

Mind you, the shelves may look terrific but we've still got an Incredible Amount of Stuff to deal with. I've already recycled a shed load of paper, put away a good number of objects and created a stack of fifty-one books to donate to charity. But still J and I each have a large crate of miscellaneous objects to sort/store/file/bin/recycle. Sigh. It's not over yet. But I am determined to keep going, to see it through to a satisfactory conclusion.

I've only got to look at the Before and After photos to keep me motivated.........

Left Shelf. From Doom to Bliss.

Right shelf. From Gloom to Glory.

What a satisfying, productive week it's been.

Coming downstairs first thing this morning I was so excited to open the door and feast my eyes on this room. It filled me with such warmth and happiness.

Lovely. Simply lovely.

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 Edit to add :: I don't know how to thank you for your sweet words of encouragement, understanding and shared joy, so precious to know that you know. Humble thanks, as ever.

Also, just wanted to share this wonderful little ditty written by Penny, it made me laugh...

ODE TO LUCY The shelves of doom have left the room and taken with them the horrid gloom. They've been replaced with a beautiful space that puts a smile upon my face. They wont be missed I can promise you this for now I have my room of BLISS!

You all make me feel a million dollars. mwah xxxxxxxxxx

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Moonlight

Day before yesterday, I had the pleasure of being out of the house at a special time of day. Six pm. I was walking Little Lady along the canal, taking her to Brownies, and it was a most beeeeeautiful evening to be out walking. The moon was rising, bright, low and full.

The sky at this time of day was so clear and cool looking (it was cold). It looked completely and utterly wintry to me. Not a smidge of Spring in the air yet, despite us entering into March. Still way too cold for us to whiff Spring.

A little later now, 6.38pm. I've just marched right across town to the Post Office Depot to collect a parcel. Walking back along the canal, I love the feeling that I am out at a time of day when I feel I shouldn't be. I should be In! I should be bathing Little B, warming his milk, settling him to bed. But I am not in. I am Out! I am striding along the moonlit towpath, breathing in the cold night air, drinking in the beauty of the watery reflected lights. I am absurdly happy.

A lot of that happiness is brimming out of the brown cardboard package that I am carrying under my arm. It contains a book. A long awaited, and much longed for book. The very thought of it now in my possession is sending my heart into a giddy spin.

Two days later, and I have not yet delved into the book really. I've flicked through it a couple times just to get a feel for it, to check that it is indeed everything I hoped it would be. And each time I've done this, I've felt so overwhelmed by the images on the pages that I've felt like I need to lie down to recover. I am so not kidding. So I am waiting patiently for the exact right time to lose myself in this book (I shall lie down to read it I think). I am looking forward to that time so very, very much.

Are you curious? Wish to know what the book is? Yeah, I thought you might. It's this one. Go peek at the pages. Go on. Then you'll know what I mean. If ever a book was written for the likes of me, this is totally it.

Sigh. Tomorrow might be The Book Day. I'll let you know.

Oh, and by the way, the Shelves of Doom are No More. I did it. I really did it.

I've had a great week.

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