Slow Days

We are having such crazy-weird stuff happening with our weather this week, with rather an unwelcome amount of rain each day but then also some glorious snatches of incredible sunlight as well. It's been strange, sometimes weirdly warm, damp and humid, other times unseasonally cold. This amazing rainbow arced over the rooftops for about ten glorious minutes before it faded, it was so huge that I couldn't capture the whole of it on my camera.

The light that followed the rainbow made the landscape look so strange, like an illustration in an old, faded book. So where has our Summer gone then, what on earth has happened to the weather? Is it the same where you are? 

We have been indoors a lot this past week as a result of the non-summer happening outside. It's been kind of nice but kind of disappointing at the same time. I keep feeling overwhelmed by the feeling that we are wasting away the time, that these precious days are slip-sliding away in a boring blur of nothing-in-particular. It makes me feel restless and lethargic all at the same time. I keep dreaming up ideas for possible interesting outings to entertain the Little People, but my ideas flit away before I can make anything of them and so we stay home and do very little. Oh yes, we did make a trip to our local cinema to watch "Inside Out" on Tuesday afternoon when it rained for most of the day, the Little Peeps did enjoy that.

Thank goodness for my camera habit. My little old Canon Ixus is always to hand and throughout the day I point it around the place and press the button almost without thinking. The images tell a story of gentle activity and play that are making up these slow days.  There has been a steady stream of rather old fashioned play going on, which has delighted and surprised me. Blanket dens and cushion thrones have been designed and constructed, wrecked and rebuilt. The old Brio train track came down and did a sterling job of entertaining for a few hours.

This nostalgic wooden mosaic puzzle was a gift from me to Little B at Christmas, and I confess I brought it as much for my own pleasure as his. I had one exactly the same as this when I was little and absolutely loved it, and despite a few frustrated hissy fits, he has loved playing with it too.

There has been an origami revival, with many mornings spent at the dining table working on a stash of paper weaponry. These are called "Ninja Stars" or "Shurikens" and there are loads of easy to follow tutorials on YouTube if you have offspring fascinated with weapons. And paper. You just have to be prepared to step in when the wild throwing starts, I can tell you that it's actually quite painful when the pointy end stabs into a fleshy part of your body. These ninja stars have been confiscated more than once, even slung into the recycling bag after one particularly hurtful assault. Take heed.

We have baked quite a bit this week too, the Little People seem to be constantly hungry and it's a job and a half trying to keep it all healthy and nutritious. There is only so much fruit and salad you can feed them after all. We've been baking these Oaty Cookies for years now, they are very easy to make with Little Ones and taste really yummy. I did try out a healthy non-sugar version from the Deliciously Ella website, but sorry to say they just weren't all that nice. Too bananary.

I've tried to make sure that every day, no matter what the weather, that the Little People get out for some fresh air. Some days this has simply meant turfing them outside and instructing them to Go Play with neighbouring children on the street (scooters, bubbles, bikes, chalk etc) while I (guiltily) get some work done. Other days we have gone into town to run errands and visit the shops, as much for the getting-out bit as for the necessary re-stocking of dwindling food supplies and purchasing of new school stationary supplies.

Yesterday we had a lovely little jaunt into town, doing a few jobs first then stopping at the bakery to pick up some warm pasties for lunch, then calling at the market for a paper bag of beautifully juicy cherries. We took our fodder to a bench beside the beck and ate a spontaneous picnic, then carried on walking up to the woods and back down the leafy lane to visit the pigs and chickens (sadly, the pigs have gone :( to who-knows-where...). I know these outings aren't much, but it seems to be all I can manage at the moment.

Similar to last year, this week I have responded to requests to "make something out of felt". In a fit of extravagance, I decided to completely ignore my box of cheap acrylic felt and invest in some nice felt with wool in it. Oh the joy!!! Completely worth the splurge, we are now the proud owners of this yummy stack of good quality 40% wool content felt for all of our crafting and stitching needs. I bought it from the lovely Sarah who runs her felty empire entitled "Paper-and-String". Find her online shop here, also via Etsy. Her considerable wares are delicious and very tempting. Don't dare look at the buttons....you've been warned.....

So Little Lady unearthed this super-cute book from the Shelves of Doom last week, hence the plea for felt crafting materials and assistance. And anything that Little Lady is doing, Little B also wants in, so they have each chosen an animal and we are working a little each day on it. I'll share the results with you when we have results to share! {this book can be found on Amazon UK and Amazon US }

I'm sorry there hasn't been much hooky to show you of late, I've been working behind the scenes on a number of projects which aren't yet ready to share. I made a brightly coloured flower garland last week, the pattern is for the Yarndale brochure. I'm also in the middle of another decorative project which is for the Yarndale calendar, so I am busy and working and doing stuff, but nothing much that is ready to show just yet.

My Harmony blanket is almost ready for it's grand Ta-dah moment though, and I am very excited about it! I need to take a few more photos when the light is good enough and finish up writing the pattern, but all should be good to go next week. Thanks to those of you waiting patiently for this, I am so sorry for the delay.

Right - sounds like I am needed to go referee a squabble breaking out, then looking at the time I need to hot-foot it to the kitchen and rustle up a speedy pasta dinner. These slow days aren't always so slow..............

xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Jolene]

Those cookies are about the best ones! Totally forgot about them. When I was a kid I used to feel totally cheated by them; always thought the raisins were chocolate.. But now adays I love them, so simple! Well, I use sausepan to melt the butter just because Im to lazy to watch the microwave..

Nice blog by the way, love your work and envy the way you can crochet! My fingers and wrists does not agree on my wish to crochet all the time. Any suggestions or tips on how to avoid pain i hands?

Best wishes!

[barbara micheau]

Love your flower garland! Will you be sharing the pattern?

[Nicola Wray]

You have such a hectic life, do you Journal? I've purchased a Midori TN, you would love one of these!!! I'll leave you to check them out on YouTube!!! Xxx

[Jennie Craine]

Crazy weather here too, and never seeming to tie in with what the weather pundits tell us!

I made the Deliciously Ella banana flapjacky thingys, but instead of sultanas I used Craisins (dried cranberries), and one less banana, which gave a better balance - not too sweet or banana-y.

Those felt animals look like they will be fun, and a change from crochet. Love those little flowers : )

[KristenJ]

Where I come from in the American Midwest, that yellow light landscape is often a precursor to tornadoes, yiiiikes.

I can't wait to see the finished blanket. Your work is always so beautiful. :)

[Michelle]

Lovely post xx

[Erika]

Oh, British weather seems to be like we had it last year. *yaaak* I hated it. Always humid, every day raining. Almost no summer. I felt almost cheated last year ;-) This year we have a great, great summer. Temperatures about 98°F and more. To be honest, sometimes a bit too hot. But everything is better than last summer... So I enjoy it as much as I can :-)

[Nancy]

Hello Lucy
There is crochet inspiration on a grand scale in Bristol at the moment. We have a Shaun in the City arts trail which consists of about 70 very large models of Shaun the Sheep (from Wallace and Gromit) in a trail around the city running over the summer holidays. They are all different and fantastic.
One of the best this year is "Woolly Wonderland" which has been made by Vicky Harrison and is entirely crocheted. It took her hundreds of hours to make but is really completely amazing - google it and have a look. The pictures dont really do it justice, its beautiful !

[Danielle]

In the Netherlands the weather is great! Around 24 degrees Celsius and dry. Not enjoying it too much though... We are moving our youngest into a bigger room, so working hard inside and we only enjoy the summer temperatures during our meals in the garden (with the company of too many wasps).
I'm enjoying your blog updates about how you are spending your summer days, but also looking forward to more crocheting updates!

[Lidia]

Hola Lucy, vivo en Argentina y aqui tambien el clima ha cambiado. Estamos en invierno, pero la temperatura de la semana pasada fue de 35 grados celsius la maxima, quizas mas calor del que tienen ustedes en verano. Me encanta tu blog, Lidia

[Ella]

If you are looking for some baking inspiration for baking I can really recommend the Ella's Kitchen (as in the baby food brand) big yellow book of baking as they have some great sweet and savoury ideas and its healthier but not as healthy as Deliciously Ella. Also a revelation for me was swapping sugar for coconut sugar in baking, especially cookies. Enjoy the rest of your hols. I love yor blog and have always been meaning to thank you for all of the inspiration!xx

[Beate]

Frankfurt/Main/Germany here - we had terribly hot weather, with a new record of 39.6 C in Frankfurt this past Friday ...

[Chel @ Sweetbriar Dreams]

Oh those paper weapons are awful! I keep finding them in my son's college bag so he still makes them at his age! Here in Lincolnshire the weather has been very warm today and in my house we are practically begging for cooler evenings and a little bit more rain. To see full rainbow must have been an amazing sight. Enjoy your weekend no matter what the weather xx

[Joy]

OOOOOooohhh the joys of motherhood!! You amuse and feed them all very well and achieve loads, so enjoy. A lovely walk and spontaneous picnic what more could they ask for. Enjoy and chill a little yourself lovely lady Xx lots of love Joy Xx

[Joyce Stewart]

The weather in Northern Ireland has been dismal and depressing....we have not even had one day out this 'summer'. Have to say we had a good day yesterday but had one shower which was gone in minutes......we don't have young ones to 'entertain' - we are long past that stage but I well remember our good summers when we seemed to spend most of the day outside. I do feel for families when the children can't get out to spend all day outside....likely the sun will shine again as they all go back to school in their 'winter' uniform.

[Susan]

Here in Central Texas it looks and feels like we may have an early Fall. The TV weather forecasters are hinting that there are big changes coming in September and October but have not been specific. I'm wondering if I need to buy hip boots and a canoe!

[anne@andamento]

If you're needing another cinema trip to fill a rainy day I'd recommend "Song of the Sea", it's a beautiful, special, magical film. My children (10 & 7) and I were entranced.

[Rebecca]

love your flower garland, so darling, would brighten any ones day just to look at it above say my sewing area.

[Fiona]

Hi Lucy,
I've just discovered your blog and I'm addicted!
I live in Australia, at times I crave news from the "ol'dart" so your blog fulfils that craving. I was also inspired to revisit crocheting after 40 yrs and can't do enough now. In fact I was so inspired that to recognise the work of the cancer council(Australia) and my fabulous work colleagues and equally fab/brave patients we got together to crochet a wall of daffodils.

[Robin Summers]

Here lately I have had tons of very slow days. I would love to spend a slow day with you and the peeps. You make slow days sound so fabulous! You are such a wonderful mum!! Much love to you and the family. xxxxx
Robin

[Paula]

I so love following your adventures!! Anxiously awaiting the Harmony Tah-Dah!! Your patterns are so easy to follow and they're slowly popping up all over my house!! Cheers from across the pond!!!

[Heather]

I'm a rainy-day type of person so I always love your pics of the threatening clouds and rainfall :)

I tried the Oaty Cookies for the first time today and they're amazing! I'm in the US so to do the conversions I just used my kitchen scale set to grams, worked wonderfully. I also added a little bit of baking soda to my AP flour to help with the rising, and used dried cranberries since I didn't have raisins. I got nine good-sized cookies out of the batch and my own little people are clamoring for more. Thank you for sharing it!

[Jess]

It`s a shame about the weather for the summer holidays,it`s been lovely and sunny here in south Yorkshire,liking the new blanket.

[Marie]

Gorgeous rainbow! And love the look of your Harmony Blanket, can't wait to see the big reveal! Take care xxx

[Carol]

Hey Lucy. I love your blog. It is always so colourful and you clearly love some of the same places that I do. You may find this link useful with the little ones if you are struggling to come up with something exciting to do. Hope it works.

Carol
http://www.lifeofpottering.co.uk

http://www.treasuretrails.co.uk/blackbeards-treasure.html?utm_source=Treasure+Trails+Customer+Database&utm_campaign=4a4c7ac2af-Blackbeards_Treasure_Resend&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a8f415fb6d-4a4c7ac2af-391524682&ct=t(Blackbeards_Treasure_Resend)&mc_cid=4a4c7ac2af&mc_eid=c5dee774ca