family

a family portrait I made for my Bro for Xmas..I'm the pink one!!

I've been away from blogland for some time again..I'm amazed I ever found the time to write posts several times a week! Life seems to have upped the pace and Ive spent  a lot of time in the hospital with my fabulous 89yr old nan. My Mothers day involved finding my nan collapsed on the floor of her bungalow in a very sorry state. I am so thankful that I happened to be going to see her that day, as I usually only visit once a week with my little terror boy on a Tuesday. Also, my folks were on holiday and had been away a week and still had another week to go. You never can tell where the twists and turns of lfe will lead you..I really hadn't imagined my Mothers day spent in Casualty until 1 in the morning! But thankfully, nan is doing really well and is due to return home tomorrow.

Although it's been a stressful and tiring couple of weeks, I have spent hours and hours chatting with my nan and I now know a whole lot more about my heritage...so many stories of my family and of life in the wartime. I've really enjoyed that part of it, sometimes it takes a big shake up of things to show you how important family are.

There have also been babies born, the lovely Chloe had her babe at home (I'll leave her to tell the details!!). it seems quite profound that I should see a baby, just a few minutes old on Saturday and then my dear old Nan at deaths door on Sunday. Ah well, the wheel keeps turning...I enjoy the ride but I'm pretty tired right now...and on that note I say farewell for now! 

Hope all you fellow bloggers are well and happy...hooray for family and hooray for friends!...life just wouldn't be the same without you crazy bunch 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Whoaaaah slow down there...how could it be that my last post was nearly a month ago..? There's been tantrums galore and mummy meltdowns aplenty and even a little crafting going on...but no progress, as yet, in the craft crap room!

Exterminate..we have come to destroy your brain...and sanity!

Just thought I'd treat you to a delightful sneak look at my amazing organized simplicity (NOT!!!!) in action...this is taken from where I sit. Its the carboot loot pile which I am casually adding things to as and when I unearth them. Oh, and the boxes of beer are not a sign of my decent in alcolohism..I just work in an off licence and need lots of boxes...honest!! In 2 weeks time (when I try to flog it all at a carboot)this will be gone and I begin to eek out a creative space, but until then...the stash grows!

oh the shame :(

On a lighter note..Ive managed to make a few little things, on my ironing board, as it is the only worktop in the room at the moment. This was for a friends little boy. They are fiddley to make but worth the effort I reckon.

another sketchy card!

Fortunately there's been some fab sunny Spring days lately and the kids have been playing outside a lot. We bought some massive chalks and the kids have now covered pretty much every surface in the garden, including the table and chairs, the walls, the fence, the shed.....

 So nice to have 5 minutes peace though...a rare thing these days!

Well chickadees, got to go and sew now, got an idea involving a very small canvas...an owl, a hare, a fox and a little bird! Watch this space...

Hope you are enjoying Spring or Autumn, depending on which side fo the globe you're at!? 

Peace, love and all that hippy stuff to ya xxxxx

confessions

Confession no. 1...I live in mess
I borrowed a book from a friend the other day called Organized Simplicity which has spurred me into a clearing out frenzy. I have been avoiding dealing with my ever growing stash of stuff for a long time but suddenly its time to get rid! It must be a Spring thing. The down side is that as I delve into the crud and try to sort I'm feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff I've accumulated over the years. Kids stuff, craft stuff, kitchen stuff...agggghhhh stuff. Anyway, todays mission was the "craft" room whih has become a catch -all for stuff that doesn't have a home in our home.

To cut a long story short, this is what I would like.....

 

This is what I have....

Bit of a way to go yet (an understatement indeed!) Unfortunately, you cannot put anything against the outside walls or it goes damp and we also have to squash in our wardrobes and drawers as our bedroom is only just big enough for a bed and nothing much else.My friend summed it up perfectly for me really when she said that she can't even begin to start simplifying because the reality is so far from the ideal catalouge style image you have in your head of how you want things.  Like I've said before, it really feels overwhelming, which seems quite ridiculous and such a spoilt western world problem but a feeling nonetheless! 


Confessions no.2... I spend way too much of the precious little of the child-free time I have staring googley eyed at the computer. Looking for inspiration, looking at other peoples lives, procrastinating and faffing about (like I'm doing now...)

duuuuuh

I know I'm incedibly lucky to have a home and food and time to create but I feel ashamed at the amount of "stuff" that I'm consuming.  I will pay greater respect and attention to where products come from, how they are made and who they are made by. I have been doing this for a while but this past week has bought everything into focus. We need more room to breathe, play and create in and less stuff!

This years mantra   "Simplify, simplify, and simplify"

 and some inspiring quotes I'm loving at the moment...

... "Whatever we treasure for ourselves seperates us from others; our possesions are our limitations" Rabindranath Tagore

... "Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"
William Morris

and I love this one ..."It is through creating not possessing that life is revealed"  Vida D. Scudder

Peace x

(there are so many more confessions but I'll save the interesting ones for later ;) ha! )

Icy Daze

I'm sad to say that its all thawed out now, but for a few fun days we had ice and no mud!!  Its weird to think that most of Britain has been covered in snow today , flights have been cancelled, people are snowed in but all we've had in Cornwall is rain, rain and rain!

We visited the Eden Project today and discovered this lovely lady in a wooded area. We have been there many many times before but generally only keep to the same path, so today, inspired by my friend Chloe we ventured in a new direction.

It's lovely to see all the snowdrops appearing in the woods amongst the fabulous twisted willow.

It is a really inspiring place to visit and full of imaginative ideas. The aim of the project is to promote awareness of environmental issues and promote sustainable ways of living, growing and being. Its super kid friendly too and there's enough to keep them interested and happy.

Well my lovelies, hope you are well and enjoying the weather wherever  you are!

xxx