Snow

Winter is here! We woke to a light dusting of snow and it's got steadily heavier as the days' progressed.

We had to run a few errands which the girls are all the more likely to help me with if there's snow around ;o)

Our girl

Did I mention how much she loves this weather! Happiest dog in the world :o)

Hiberbation

Like the animals in the forest I have been feeling the call of the winter hibernation. As the seasons ticks over to winter I have a hard to resist urge to stay within my home with my family close.

I think that others find this annoying and strange of me but it is not something have any control over. I don't need to see other people in fact the only need I really have is for nourishing food and a blazing fire. Can anyone relate to this feeling?

We have change going on here as Paul is due to start a new job on Monday that will be very challenging and no doubt stressful for him as he readjusts. Even more reason for me to be here and to keep the home fires burning so that things can be as comfortable as possible when he returns home.

So the question is, is it ok to just drop out of sight over this period? I don't want to antisocial but really sometimes I wonder about doing more for others than for ourselves. In December we have books clubs, art classes and tutor groups booked, all of which we absolutely love but it really is a struggle to get there. Last week we made a decision not to go a Autumn Fair at our tutor group and the reaction from others was that we were being somehow selfish for not going, which to be honest was my first feeling. Now that I look back though I have to question why others should have those feelings?

Sorry to ramble but this strikes every year and I would be interested to hear if others have this Moomin Mama effect?

The Ministry of Stories

I want to go here.

How fantastic does this place look?? Can you imagine being a young person walking through the secret door into a world where storytellers share their wisdom!

Source

New commision

Alice is working a beautiful blanket for a lady who has a son with eczema so needed the blanket to be made in cotton. Just wanted to show off the halfway stage. She such a talented soul.

Inspiration from the telly!

Recently we have been watching Downton Abbey. Now it's not often that we all sit down to watch something and are ALL hooked but I have to say that we loved this series. It is shot beautifully, the attention to detail is amazing and the acting superb.

It has also inspired our learning and have been researching the Edwardians. We trotted off to the library yesterday in search of books but sadly the Edwardians seem to fall foul to that National Curriculum and there seems to be hardly anything available to children about this era :o( We found a few books on the First World War and one on Edwardian dress but it seems very difficult to find more.

Looking into the era has inspired us to establish afternoon tea though and we've dug out my old tea set that belonged to my Great Aunt Lily. Yesterday we had sponge cake and fruity scones and today I think cheesey scone might be the order of the day. It's great when you have that afternoon dip and stop the children asking for snacks before dinner.

Crochet

This is our table at the moment. Alice is working hard on commissions she has to finish but I seem to have hit a plateau and am feeling really frustrated about my inability to follow a pattern!!

Art

The two older girls have started an art course that will progress into a Cambridge IGCSE. This is what they've come up with for their first attempt at still life. I've been blown away by what a difference it's made having an artist show you how to take measurements with your thumb!

Inspiration

I've had a lot to think about recently. Family issues and friendships that have sadly melted away. I'm sad about both of these things but have also been using them to walk a new more positive path.

Firstly Paul has a new job which will give us more stability. I've never really want to be stable before but suddenly it feels like it might be nice to know that a pay check will be arriving month after month and that our future is more secure...... sorry I've just realised how boring that sounds....I'll move on.

I've been reading a lot of Glennie Kindred and revelling in her simple but beautiful illustrations.

This way of being makes sense to me and my heart lifts the more I know about it.

Things at home have lost some focus, I think this has happened because of work commitments (who'd of thought that working in a bookshop could be so stressful). It may be that finding rhythm to our day is the key to getting everything done. How does that work for others?? I've been experimenting today so will let you know how that goes.

Alice has been working really hard on her commissions from her Etsy shop, she's working on a really beautiful cotton blanket for a lady who's son is an eczema sufferer. She's also been working hard on her work for the tutor group she goes to. She's reading The Great Gatsby and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - both beautiful books. I love it that she's being exposed to beautiful literature at a young age, I wish I had!

Izzy's been seeing a Kinesiologist to help with her allergies, it's been amazing and I'm very excited about where this journey will take her.

Liv's just taken part in her drama performance, she was the scarecrow in The Wizrd of Oz and as ever we believed she was the star of the show (proud Mummy and Daddy moment).

All in all we're doing ok and feeling really positive about where this latest journey is taking us. Watching the performance had special meaning for me as I feel like Dorothy stepping on to the yellow brick road.....