Summer Snippets {one}

☀ It's the start of the long six week summer break here, and just as I did last year I thought it'd be nice to share some little snippets of life as we pootle gently through our days. I woke up late this morning completely disorientated, not knowing what day of the week it was or what on earth I was supposed to be doing. It was a blissful feeling when my brain finally woke up and I realised I could take my time and nothing much was needed of me for a while. I adore this feeling so much! It's relief mixed with an overwhelming sense of calm. All is well, it's the summer holidays and we will be operating on a completely different schedule for the foreseeable. Yippeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

☀ Summer holidays for me generally means a lot of juggling. As with most mums of school age children, I'm used to multi-tasking and mixing my parenting with work commitments, and this summer holds a fair amount of both for me. I'm cracking on with lots of Yarndale stuff, working on the content for the printed brochure as well as the big Creative Community project that I organise each year. I designed and made these little "treasure bowls" last week as a project for the Yarndale brochure - they are made from pure wool which means I can put them into the washing machine and felt them.......so much fun! I'll show you more in a separate post as I've got another felting project on the go right now too. 

☀ Luckily for us our allotment is only a couple of minutes walk from our back door so we are easily able to nip up most days and check on our small but precious crops. These are my minuscule, super-dwarf beans which I am so in love with - they are ever so cute! Despite their diminutive size they are starting to deliver us some delicious beans and I couldn't be happier. it's like having a row of really well behaved little children all performing over and above what is expected of them. Gold star award for the teensy bean plants, top of the class.

☀ The sweet peas aren't producing a whole lot of flowers to be honest, and look a bit on the spindly side. I have a feeling I forgot to pinch out the growing tips at the seedling stage, so the plants never bushed out like I expected them to. Ah well, I'm happy to be picking small posies each week which are scented to perfection, even if there isn't the abundance I was hoping for.

☀ Our small tenty green house is working out really well and keeping our plants nicely protected from the winds that whip across our sloping hillside plot. We've got cucumbers, tomatoes and chilies growing in here and I love seeing how well they are doing.

☀ This was yesterday's harvest, gathered with a great deal of happy enthusiasm by myself and Little B. We had to carry out a fair bit of adventurous hacking to get to the teensy raspberries through the riot of brambles in the overgrown soft fruit bed. It was rather painful and our haul was a little on the small side, but still, the excitement was unrelentingly high. I let Little B eat the raspberries with some greek yoghurt and honey and he said they were super-yummy. And check out my cucumbers, how good do they look?! So proud of my veggie babies.

☀ I'm working on the printed patterns for my new Summer Ripple blankets this week, which is quite hard going. Taking step-by-step photographs as I create the borders and writing up the patterns isn't nearly as enjoyable as the hooky itself which has been hugely pleasurable. But I'm making good progress and hope that everything will be ready to go by the end of this week. Maybe even Thursday.

And in other news, I know I am late to this particular party but I've just discovered frozen smoothie packs at the supermarket. Wow, they are brilliant! They nestle in the freezer between the massive selection of lollies and ice creams and the bags of ice cubes, so you have to kind of know to go and look there for them. There isn't a huge choice in Morrisons, but the above concoction was made from a Red Smoothie pack (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and mango), blended with a dollop of greek yoghurt and some milk. Yum yum yum, sooooooooo good. The Little People are ecstatic that I'm willingly offering to make these for them without thee need for begging or nagging on their part. 

We've had this multi purpose blender for almost a year now (it's a NutriPro 1200) and it's fantastic for general blitzing jobs in the kitchen (making breadcrumbs, chopping nuts, blitzing soup, making curry paste, hummus, dips etc) but I've never been bothered to make smoothies with it. However, it really is the bees knees when it comes to blending chunks of frozen stuff, I've been very impressed. 

☀ The curious mixture above came out of the Green Smoothie pack and consists of frozen kale, banana and mango. And in case you're wondering what that bitty sawdusty stuff is, well, that's lemongrass. Took me a while to actually read the packet and work out why everything was covered in sawdust. I divided the pack up into individual bags so that I can easily make up one smoothie at a time (that isn't all kale and no fruit)  - it gets mixed with apple juice and water to produce this.........

.....mmmmmmmmmm. It looks a bit overly health conscious, but actually tastes delicious. Little B couldn't be persuaded though, he took one slurp and said it made his tummy hurt and could he please stick to the pink one. Guess I'll be the one drinking the kale smoothies then.

☀ A photo of our Big Chair, just because I love it so. It's an oversized chair-and-a-half that we inherited from J's parents who were throwing it out and it fits an adult and willing small child quite nicely for film watching and snuggling. I change the blankets over regularly as they get a lot of wear and tear on this chair, and I'm really enjoying the bright pop of colour that the Sunny Granny Stripe is delivering right now. In case you were wondering about the cushion, that's the Water Lily cushion I made last year using Stylecraft Batik yarn (see here for yarn and pattern details). It's grown on me considerably since I first made it, and I do appreciate the more subtle colouring set against the exuberance of all my blankets.

☀ The Big Chair is where I sit when I can't sleep and come downstairs in the very early hours of the morning. I'm generally a good sound sleeper, but due (I suspect) to my hormones, I'm having some very disrupted nights just lately. I wake at 3am feeling as if someone lit a fire under me, and then find it almost impossible to get back to sleep again. I feel anxious and a little panicky, with a racing heartbeat and a mind that refuses to switch down a gear. I've learnt not to struggle with this any more, and instead of tossing and turning I get up quietly, come downstairs, make a cup of tea, sit quietly with the cat and read or crochet a little until the rest of the household wakes up. I was surprised when I got up yesterday morning to see that it was still dark at 4am. So I switched on my my fairy lights and lit some candles, and waited for the sun to wake up. It was so peaceful as I yawned my way through those darkened early hours of the day.

☀ Little B - so very, very happy to be on his summer break home from school. His happiness radiated out of him today as he loafed about listening to music, playing with his lego and watching insane cartoons on Netflix. He played outside too, kicking a ball around with his friends on the street and riding his bike up and down and up and down. The start of the summer holidays always feels so light and joyful, with endless days stretching ahead to be enjoyed and filled with good things. Oh, I'm hopeful for many Good Things. Always hopeful, that's me.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Comments

[Eleanor]

Reading this while the snow falls makes me yearn for warmer summer days! Thank you so much for sharing.

[Annie Brodrick]

Lucy a group of butterflies is called a Kaleidoscope isn't that just perfect!!!

[CINDY HUXTABLE]

I love your posts. Your blankets inspired me to teach myself to crochet. Im working on a king sized cupcake blanket right now. I too wake up at odd hours and can't go back to sleep. I am sure it is hormones too. Its nice to hear someone else is out there dealing with the same things. Your posts also make me want to see Great Britain. You are the best....

[Jo Hyde]

So hated that anxious fluttery feeling, it seems a lot of us wake really early and cannot get back to sleep again. Its best to go with the flow and not get stressed about it all if possible. I found a slice of HRTcake9 recipe on internet) might. Lots of seeds etc if you like them.... a spread of butter helps! Enjoy the hol
idays.

[Jackie]

I love holidays tooo, I can't wait to see your little bowls post!

[Kimmy]

I remember my summers as a child and I'm glad your little one is enjoying himself. I've had sleep problems like you mentioned for a long time. I'm 66 years old, so I don't think hormones have much to do with my situation. I've been awake (in bed) since midnight and then got up to go to work at 5 a.m. I have many nights like this, but I generally do not get up because I think that resting in bed might be better than nothing. Needless to say, I feel very tired today. However, I'm not willing to take any meds because I think the side effects are generally worse than the things they attempt to fix. Incidentally, my other half is my age and he sleeps like a baby for more than 8 hours a night on average. I'm SO jealous of his ability to sleep! BTW, Melatonin does nothing for me. Life is good otherwise. I have no worries to keep me awake, so maybe it's just that I don't need as much sleep as the average person? Of could it be that it's just very difficult to shut down the creative brain?

[Leah Wheatley]

Oh I do love the summer holidays especially as I am off for two glorious weeks. I always have mother's guilt at times that I should be doing this and that with my kids but sometimes it's best to just be. Xxxx

[Charlotte.]

The taste of fresh vegetables is so much better than those that have been shipped in to store. Enjoy your Summer.

[Debbie]

I wondered if there will be any Connie Vanning? Havent heard much about your darling little camper.

[Miriam Stevenson]

Waking insanely early and enjoying the lack of pre-school run stress resonates very much with me also. I love the holidays. In previous years I worked long shifts as a nurse and juggled expensive childcare. Such a pleasure to not have that worry this year. I am poor but happy and love the time it gives me to be creative with my cross stitch/ crocheting and play all sorts of board games with the kids. Thanks for sharing Lucy. Love your work :) x

[Pom Pom]

Oh, how lovely to have six weeks off from all things school-ish.
It is such a good idea to get up when you can't sleep. I rarely get up because I don't want my husband to come downstairs and check on me. Ridiculous, I know. I'm going to start getting up. Decided.
Enjoy your holidays!

[Joanne Roberts]

Hi Lucy Thanks for visiting my blog today. On further investigation I found the blanket pattern. Here is the link. https://www.yourfamily.co.za/crafts/serendipity-crocheted-blanket

[Tammy Goodwin]

As a teacher, I adore the summer holidays. Just being able to lounge all day and not have to do anything is luscious! I don't have my own children, so I could sleep all day if I want. Yeah those hormones suck at night...sometimes I wake up sweating....thankfully I am usually able to go back to sleep, but it may take awhile...

[curvywitch]

I often think our mid life super power would be really useful as a power source. A bit like the old Ready Brek advert. We could power whole cities. Lol.

[Angela - Southern USA]

The lazy days of summer, always my favorite! The garden produce looks lovely and tasty I'm sure! We made pickles with some of our home grown cucumbers over the weekend, such a satisficing feeling, growing your own food. Smoothies! My lunch most days, lately mine have blueberries in the mix for our bushes have been in fruit.(A very good way to hide those items the family prefers not to partake of.) A healthier version for a chocolate milkshake as well, I add milk, bananas and cocoa powder. Enjoy the slower days!xxxxxx

[Judith Dee]

Thank you for sharing your lovely life, your post today was such a joy to read. My children are now grown up but I loved those summer holidays when we rambled along picking berries from hedgerows and identifying flowers. Enjoy each day.xxx

[Mary W]

Your children are so lucky to live in such a colorful world, both in the warmth of blankets and in the coolness of drinks. Loved your post today.

[Carol]

This hot spell and drought are devastating my garden but I am picking cucumbers and tomatoes.

Enjoy your summer holidays.

[Sandra]

You link to a particularly fulsome description of menopause symptoms! Got everything covered there. No wonder women with complaints they fear are not menopause are so frequently fobbed off with 'it's your age'. The same health concerns that may be menopause concerns are also symptoms of a lot of illnesses that have nothing to do with menopause. Women often have to fight and be persistent to have them fully investigated in order for a proper diagnosis to be made.

[CJ]

The start of the summer holidays really is feeling amazing this year isn't it, with the fantastic weather. The sort of childhood summer you remember all your life. I love the idea of smoothie packs. The biggest boy made himself a smoothie with garden blueberries yesterday (grown in pots) which he liked, so I need to encourage healthy habits. I have a feeling he might draw the line at kale as well though, we shall see. Your allotment is looking brilliant, well done you. The sweet peas might just be getting going, there may be many more flowers to come. Have a lovely week, and a great summer break (in between the juggling!). CJ xx

[Nancy Duffer]

Hi Lucy,reading your symptoms was just like reading my own story.Awake each night around the same time,could not go back to sleep so I did what you do, get up read and relax.I tried not to nap during the day and not go to bed until usually ten or eleven and that seemed to help some. I have been read your blog here in the US that I feel like I am going through the stages of life with you.

[Caz]

Isn't it wonderful when the diary is no longer full of reminders to do stuff at certain times! It's so hot here that flushes or no flushes it is just too hot to sleep. I know that the second I buy a fan though it will start to pour and it will be another 40 years to the next heat wave summer...by which stage I will be too old to care! Take it easy, we'll all still be here when you post the next blanket....and those who aren't will be able to move on and nag someone else.

[Winwick Mum]

I don't like the sound of this menopause malarkey so I'd like to give it a miss if nobody minds :) We lost our cucumbers this year but I'm hopeful of plenty of cherry tomatoes - I just need them to ripen up now! xx

[Sally-Jane]

It's been a long time since I checked in with you Lucy, love hearing about your allotment successes and your crochet projects.

I suffered with the exceeding hot periods at night and eventually saw my Dr who prescribed Clonodine for them. They are migraine tablets but are also prescribed for hot flushes. Just one a day every so often helped and I've had to up the dose for the real hot flushes that came a few years later. Happy to say that with a sage/basil 'female complex' herbal tablet and 1000mg of evening primrose oil, my hot flushes are gone. Although I still need a fan at night and on hot days xx

[Louise]

I too suffer the hormone induced 3am crazies. I have been sleeping so such better after taking magnesium tablets before I go to sleep....may work for you too. X