Comfort Seeking

It's been a difficult week on the home front, it always is when there are germs lurking. Poor Little Man (although not so little these days) was knocked off his feet by a virus and spent four days battling it. He is a good ill child mind you, spending the days 100% horizontal in a nest of cushions and blankets on the sofa, very still and quiet. And yet it is surprisingly draining being at home with him in this state, although I'm not quite sure why exactly. Could be the unsettled nights we have both been dealing with, the continuous underlying low grade stress that mothering a poorly child brings. On Friday, Little B was also knocked off his feet, so I had two ill boys jostling for recovery space on the sofa. It was a difficult end to a difficult week.



To deal with the low-grade stress, I found myself in full on comfort-seeking mode. First up fresh flowers. Got to have a jug of fresh flowers on the table when there are germs lurking.



They add comfort and colour, and a reminder that Spring is just around the corner.



The other thing (aside from crochet) that I always, always do when the Little People are ill is bake. It's an instinctive act, something that seems to happen so predictably when illness hits, that it makes me proper laugh at myself. I am a funny thing for sure.



I made the naughtiest, most indulgent, comforting thing I could think of :: Tiffin. I made it partly for J (it is his absolute favourite, and it was Valentines day), and partly cos I had this extra special need for a mouth full of chocolate. This is a no-bake recipe and utterly divine, the recipe is here.



I also baked a carrot cake which turned out very well indeed, the recipe is here.

This morning (Saturday) I am very happy to report that both my boys are very much better. Still not 100% but oh it is good to see Little Man actually able to use his legs again after a week of The Wobblies, and to see Little B playing and smiling again and not laid low by a rocketing temperature.



I spent some time this morning doing a little Home Blessing. Cleaning and tidying, folding blankets and plumping cushions, picking up a whole mountain of toys, books, clothes and miscellaneous crud from the floors and surfaces. What a job. You should have seen behind the sofa....on second thoughts, maybe not. We found lots of Long Lost Things though (a toy canon ball, a wind up torch, a tape measure, a steering wheel, a bouncy ball, several keyrings, lots of lego bits), so that was a bonus.

I took away my gone-over pots of bulbs from the mantel and replaced them with pots of bright new shoots. Such a pleasurable job! These little yellow pots of narcissi are from the local supermarket and only 50p each, I love having them in the house so much.

My comfort reading has been this delightful book, oh how I LOVE to be inside these pages! This was never a part of my childhood reading (they were written in 1980 when I was twelve) but I so wish it had been. I have a similar feeling about Sylvanian Families, I know I would have loved them so much as a child. This book is one of four seasonal "Brambly Hedge" stories by Jill Barklem, such sweet tales about a community of hedgerow mice, but it is the illustrations that really make the books. The one I've been reading this week is Spring Story and I also have Summer story, both bought second hand. I see on Amazon that you can buy a very lovely little box set which contains all four books, it's called " A Year in Brambly Hedge "..think I might have to invest.

I was sat in the Big Chair earlier with a mug of frothy coffee, having just re-read the Spring Story again. I turned round and looked at the room I was sitting in and was overwhelmed with a sense of relief and gratitude. Home. My boys are on the mend, the floors are clean, I've new green shoots on the mantel, Yellow daffodils on the table and Spring is round the corner. Thank goodness. Thank goodness for Home and all it's little comforts.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Comments

[Magali Garcia]

Glag to know they're doing better!!
Magali

[Rosanne California USA]

I don't know how I missed this Tiffin - Going to make this for sure. And, for those of you in the US, if you have a Fresh & Easy near you they have digestive biscuits!! I'm so hungry.....

[Amy]

The four Brambley Hedge season books and another, The Secret Staircase, are among the select book that have survived from my childhood and my children are now enjoying. Just a few days ago, my 7 yr old chose The Secret Staircase for designated homework reading time. Timeless.

[Alessandra]

love your positive attitude and feelings!!!!
happy Sunday, xxx Ale

[Kate]

Sorry about the boys being ill. Hope everyone in the house feels good now. I just live looking at pictures of your home. So welcoming. You have a lovely style.

[Annie Chermak]

Oh, I LOVE Brambly Hedge!! I have the sweetest Brambly Hedge Tea Service complete with teapot, sugar and creamer and two "Summer" cups/saucers. The teapot says on the bottom, "They found Mr. Apple in the kitchen drinking mint tea with Mrs. Crustybread." How fun is that?

[Angela-Southern U.S.A.]

So glad the boys are on the mend!The worry and nursing can take so much out of mum.Hope the rest of the weekend will be better for all.Love the blue dotty jug of daffodils.The sweets look devine,Alot of chocolates here this week.As they say:'There's no place like home'...so very true :)

[Cockney Blonde]

Glad your little people are on the mend. Love the photo of your room, it is so bright and colourful, like a page in a book. Can I come and live there?

[Linda Young]

Thoughts and good wishes to you all,you feel so usless when the children are poorly ,that applies even when they are grown up with babies of their own. Just to let you know have been having a great week hooking granny squares to assemble into fish and chip baby blankets ,the colors are really lovely together and I am feeling warm inside making something for a baby so far away ,with os little of its own

[marianne rees]

Hi all
Here in Australia we call Tiffin, Hedgehog, some receipes don't have the syrup and some have an egg in the butter mix but yours seems easier so will try it after a grocery shopping trip, don't have pecans or cranberries.
love you house and wish I was there as it is so hot here, looking forward to a hint of Autumn, but not for about another month. regards marianne

[ninifee]

I love Brambly Hedge - I bought the complete book of all storys last year. Good idea to take a look in it tomorrow. But first I will write down the carrot cake recipe - and I think I will use the frosting for my rainbowcake I will bake for the birthday of my girl - thank you so much for sharing it with us. I like the way you "love" your home very much - it´s so good to read from you.

ninifee

[Lee]

1980,I was 28 lol.What a delightful post.I adore your room can imagine your house is divine sooo snugly n cosy.So glad to hear your boys are getting better.Always LOVE your pics.Huggles to all.xx

[Susan Schrott]

Glad your little boys are on the mend. Your writing, along with everything else, is simply lovely!

[Jane]

What a beautiful picture from the Brambly Hedge book - it looks so cosy and comfortable. Saly when my kitchen is like that it just loos cluttered and distressing! Glad the boys are on the mend, and all is right with the world again. :-)

[OM]

I'm glad the boys are getting better :)
I thought you might like to know that I've (tried to) use your Spot-On edging (is that its name? The one you used on the interlocking ripple blanket) tutorial here: http://amothersoath.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/the-rainbow-basket.html
Thank you very much for sharing your wonderful creations with all of us!

[Amanda]

So sorry to hear your boys have both been poorly!! My Little Man had croup followed by tonsilitis recently and it completely wiped all our energy, even though all we did was sit at home and cuddle him. It's so draining when they are ill, isn't it? It's the worry and wanting them to be well again that does it, I think. Glad to hear they are on the mend though and you have found some home comforts to cheer you too!

P.S. The back of your sofa sounds exactly like ours ;)

[salem]

love your blog

[Sabine]

Oh, I love Brambly Hedge so much. I prefer 'Poppies babies' but my daughter the 'secret staircase', the 8 little Films are really lovely too and we love too watch them again and again.

[Truly Myrtle]

It's one thing to have one little one poorly on the sofa - I find it becomes quite another to have two ;)
Yum to the tiffin and carrot cake and a great big sigh of loveliness to the book - I LOVE these sorts of books - so much to read in the pictures and sooooo cute :) I'm a huge fan (and quiet collector) of little things and have all my little things lined up on my mantlepiece in my bedroom and my dressing table. I think I'd have loved Syl families had I been younger too.

[hanne]

Lovely pictures, and it sounds wonderful with all the good feelings! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

[Rhianon]

We too have had child sickness in our home. I have found comfort in cuddles, baking bread and cakes, crocheting my first blanket, daffodils, and escaping to your wonderful bright blog....thank you!

[Karen]

Glad your boys are on the mend. It is draining having illness around, Your beautiful home and baked treats are just what you need right now.

[se7en]

Oh we love the Brambly Hedge collection too... it reminds us of our visit to England a couple of years back!!! YOu can get the whole collection and it is so on our wish list!!!

[Gill]

We made tiffin for St Valentines day too, and I have a big bunch of daffs on the coffee table. They are such a ray of sunshine in our snowy, foggy weather here in Norway. I have picked some pussy willow twigs today to force indoors.

For your earlier commenter, I think Poppy married Dusty Dogwood...it's some years since reding these to my daughter and her knitted characters are up in the attic . Perhaps it's time to bring them down again!

[Thistle]

Lovely. I feel the same way when my children have been sick and are finally getting better: thankful for the time I can spend at home while they are ill and grateful for general good health with only a few of these hiccups now and then.