Beautiful Brilliant Sun Shiney Day

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present. ~Babatunde Olatunji



The View From Here

This is my view.

Firstly, let me say that I feel overwhelmingly blessed to have our house. It is and will be a fantastic house in a beautiful village, and for that I am really grateful.

But we don't have a garden, just a small courtyard, so to let off steam we go around the corner to the village park.

And I plonk myself on the grass with my knitting and my tea (yes, my tea, carried carefully around the corner in my largest mug) and from there, this is my view.

There are swings, and a climbing frame with slide and firemans pole, and a pitch with football goals and a rugby bar, and a basketball hoop.

But when someone calls "please come and push me on the swing" or "can you come and be in goal" I'm never quite so eager to jump up as when they call "can you come and hunt for wolves with me in the forest" or "we need you in the faerie wood for a tea party". 

Yup, this is my favourite bit, and my prefered view.

How To Really Love a Child

Struggling a bit, if I'm honest.
Not confident that I've got everything in hand.
So I've made a list to remind me what I'm aiming for, inspired by a post of the same name over at Shivaya Naturals

How To Really Love A Child

Listen :: get down and really look at them :: stand still :: tell them you love them :: say yes more than no :: make things with them and for them :: paint things including, but not always, paper :: follow their plans :: build their ideas :: let them help :: point out their strengths, not their weaknesses :: tell them when they make you feel wonderful :: keep it to your self when they make you feel tired :: build dens :: make biscuits :: forget imperfections :: laugh at mess :: go outside :: stop shouting :: let them bath at lunch time :: stay up to play a game :: eat chips at the beach :: don't be busy :: remember how small and precious they really are, and how fleeting their childhood really is.

The Generation Game - Rosemoor

There are some things in my life that I am immensely grateful for, some things that I am lucky enough to have that I know few people have, and one of those things is my Grandparents, my children's Great Grandparents.

And this past week we have been lucky enough to have four generations of my family here, and have been out and about loving summer and feeling blessed. We have been to Rosemoor to see the William Morris exhibition (photographs not allowed). Rosemoor being one of the other things I am lucky enough to have, just down the road.

My Mum came over from France for a week, and drove my Granny up from Tiverton several times during her stay.

I cannot tell you how much I love these women, or how much they both mean to me, or how wonderful it was to have them both all to myself for a few days.

Well, when I say all to myself I did have to share with the children. To be honest really Fred had my Granny all to himself and I had to share!

She does love children, my Granny.

Having my Mum around for a whole week was like all Christmases come at once. I don't think there is another person on Earth who I would rather spend time with. And I don't think that's sad either! She's cool, my Mum!

Rosemoor was in full bloom and typically beautiful. We had a lovely afternoon of rose smelling and Fred chasing. If only every week could be like this.

His First Cricket Match

Finley was selected to play in his first ever cricket match. You can see him, pictured here in the blue helmet, all padded up and ready to take his turn to bat. Unfortunately he was 7th and never actually got to bat, but he did get to field for his team.

We didn't get to see that though, as Fin's side were batting first, and by the time they were out I had had to take the two little ones back to bed.

It was a lovely evening though. I had my knitting, the little boys played on the climbing frame behind where I was sitting, and the weather was beautiful.

I still had no real idea what was going on, having never quite got to grips with the finer points of cricket, but asking Fin didn't help much, as it turns out he hasn't really got to grips with them either! 

Spring Adventures - A Gypsy Wagon

My friend Lizzie has just bought herself the most beautiful gypsy wagon, and put it in her orchard. Isn't this just magical!

The wagon itself needs a bit of re-upholstering inside, but is totally roadworthy and has been bought to use.

The heavy horse that will have the honour of pulling it will arrive next spring, once the wagon is ready to roll.

Lizzie said that once all the kinks had been ironed out and they had taken it out a few times, we could take it off for a week or two next summer!

If ONLY I wasn't violently allergic to horses!

Gutted!

Borrowing Boys

So, Your own bigger boys are at school, and it's not raining, and there's a perfectly good rope swing down in the woods that isn't getting used on its own, so what to do?

Borrow your home schooling friends boys of course!

Jacob, the eldest, was a little unsure at first but soon got the hang of it. By the time we left he was throwing the rope out and jumping after it. I love watching children when you allow them to set their own boundaries. I really believe that by saying 'not so fast' or 'not too high'  we override their own survival instincts to some extent.

Jacob was cautious at first, then daring by the end, but I neither encouraged nor discouraged what he wanted to do. His own survival instincts told him how far he could push it. These are children who are used to this level of autonomy though. I'm sure if this had been a group of boys who were used to having an adult dictate their safe boundaries at every turn then they wouldn't have been as in tune with their own capabilities.

Harry, at 5, had his safe boundaries all worked out and had a healthy fear of heights. He watched at first, but then curiosity got the better of him and by the end he was asking me to swing him higher than anyone else had ever gone! 

Even little Peter had a go, grinning like a Cheshire cat the whole time!

Amateur Archeology

When we first moved in the back yard was littered with earth, leaves, bricks, stones and bits of plaster, along with other unidentifiable objects. Most of it was swept up and disposed of, but some of the larger lumps got piled up in a corner. Jack was watering the tree's, which are all in pots, when he discovered a piece of broken pottery in amongst the rubbish.

He got a mixing bowl and filled it with soapy water, then spent oven an hour careful cleaning his 'ancient treasure'. He even changed the water half way through 'just to make sure it's really clean mummy'!

He was so proud of his piece of broken old pottery, and so concerned that someone might try to steal his then 'valuable ancient treasure' that he has hidden it somewhere ' safe and secret'. I did ask where that was but apparently it's in the 'White Knights castle where they keep their wonderful ideas'!